#caterpillar final drive

[marinealfa24]

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[cafffine]

Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar from work. I call them my little demons but secretly I love them so so much and we let them eat the pipevine out of love as well.

[chaotic-minds-think-alike]

Finally got around to finishing this houugh... it was a lot of work but I really like the end result!! Naturally, I'll try my best to list some of the thoughts I have in mind for these guys below. Long post ahead!

These lizards are intended to be ALMOST fully arthropod-like but due to my lack of understanding of bug anatomy and creative liberties, they are in that gray spec bio area so don't take any inconsistencies too seriously (or rather, fuck logic, and accept them how I describe them regardless)

Inspirations: - my lesser detailed lizard design - my friend's slugcats - wasps for the head contours, various insects for the exoskeleton guidelines, caterpillars, various stylistic slugcats across the #rainworld tag - the burning need for something more detailed and cool in my drawing vocabulary

The actual meat of the post; extra facts: - Lizards are related to slugcats (in my au, if you wanna call it that?) or at least the very early version of them. This idea is borrowed from this post and in my au, lizards evolve a similar tail to a slugcat's to aid in propelling themselves through tight spaces, acting as a 5th limb. - Similar to my old vulture post, lizards share a similar lifecycle. The majority of the larval stage is spent underground and in tight spots, far from their main predator. Lizard larva will undergo pupation similar to how beetles do, leaving behind broken cavities in pipes where carnivorous plants favor to take root. Additionally to the vulture's terrible parental drive, they often mistake their own larva for lizard hatchlings. - A lizard's skin is leathery and retains moisture for quite a while. Some lizards have a thicker layered mantle than others, allowing them to take punctures to the abdomen and still recover. - Not pictured, but will be described, are a few outliers to the standard lizard body plan. Caramels have muscular hind legs akin to a grasshopper but this means their legs cannot slot together and thus they have a wider leg splay than other species. Eels and salamanders are not lizards but lizard mimics. Yellow lizards' antennae attach to a hump on the snout rather than the rear of the head as seen here. Cyan lizards' mantles are more square shaped due to their leap drums on either side of their bodies and have a 3rd mantle that runs the length of their tail and caps the tailtip. - Cyan lizard's organs are called leap drums and act similarly to our lungs. They are a ring of muscle which contracts and acts as a spring loaded mechanism to propel the creature via combustion through a mysterious chemical process. Because the color of debris left behind during a leap share the same color as the lizard, perhaps they are discarded scales, formerly in place to protect the cavities housing the explosion. - They have similar organs to vertebrates within their abdomen, probably surrounded by cartilage. (not that important, I haven't thought that much about this) - (More may be added later as I remember)

[mrshesh]

hi! do you have any general hcs for the cod:ghosts boys?

general headcanons - call of duty: ghost's

overview: general headcanons of the call of duty: ghost's boys!

pairing: none!

genre: fluff, pure tomfoolery

a/n: hi anon! i'm thrilled i finally got a request for these boys. i love them so much, it's getting a bit unhealthy. you're truly the best for requesting them! i hope you love it!

x logan walker

He sucks at puzzles. He’s smart and tactical, but puzzles are on another level of difficulty for him. 

He likes doodling a lot. If he has a pen and a surface to draw on, he will sketch a small smiley or a caterpillar. It has become such a habit that he doesn’t even think about it when he does it. It got so bad that once, Keegan called him out on it mid-doodle, leaving Logan embarrassed for a week. 

He loves the ocean, but beaches annoy him. He hates sand. (I firmly believe his hate for them is from Hesh throwing sand in his face as children.)

He has a picture of him and Hesh as kids in his wallet. He feels calmer when he looks at it, getting into the habit of peeking at it when stressed. 

He’s an avid Deftones enjoyer. He loves Beware and Diamond Eyes. 

He likes caramel-scented things, but he doesn’t like the taste of it. 

He has some insane dirt on Elias, and, of course, Hesh knows all of it. 

For some odd reason, he’s phenomenal at parallel parking. 

x david "hesh" walker

He loves movies. He can watch any genre! Horror? Great! Action? Love. Romance? Cute! Comedy? Perfect! He loves it all. Shows, however? Nope. 

He takes pride in his nails being clipped and filed at all times. He was a nailbiter in his teens, so he cares about his nails more than he should today. 

He can’t cook to save his life. 

Eminem is his go-to artist. He loves and respects many artists, but Eminem will always be at the top of his list. He loves Stan. 

He’s respectful in general.

He’s extremely secure and confident, yet he’s still pretty nervous when he talks to girls. 

He loves long car rides. Driving around in his car while listening to his favorite songs brings out a unique joy in him. 

He, unlike Logan, loves beaches! (He wasn’t the one who got sand thrown on him, so he’s thriving.) 

He hates coriander. 

x elias "scarecrow" walker

Unlike his son, Elias is great at puzzles! He’s disappointed Logan didn’t inherit that quality. He mourns it every day. 

He loves pickles. (Same.)

He manipulated himself into liking beer many years ago. 

People call him DILF all the time. It has happened too many times to count. He finds it funny, while Hesh and Logan are horrified every time. 

He doesn’t know how to put on chapstick. He puts it between his lips and swipes it back and forth, not on his lips. 

He got so much action when he was a teenager/young adult. He tells Logan and Hesh to “live a little” so they can experience that life, too. 

He doesn’t listen to music often, but when he does, he listens to either Korn or Chris Isaak. 

He adores Riley, sometimes stealing him from Hesh without warning. 

x keegan russ

He secretly enjoys ASMR. It helps him unwind and de-stress, but not sleep, surprisingly.

He’s excellent at the game Mafia. 

He has made way too many people giggle excitedly because of his voice. He finds it amusing but disturbing at the same time. He knows it’s attractive, but that many people? He has even made Elias giggle like a schoolgirl because of his vocal folds. 

Keegan strikes me as a Slipknot fan. He finds Killpop and Vermillion to be sexy. 

He loves grocery shopping. 

He talks to himself a lot. He’s antisocial and quiet around others, but when Keegan’s alone, he keeps having full-on conversations with himself. Merrick caught him doing it once - he never brought it up again. 

He enjoys lasagna a bit too much. 

He had a motorcycle phase as a young adult. It got so bad he learned how to do a wheelie on them, but his love for them has died down in the many years he’s been alive. 

He thinks wine is gross. 

x thomas merrick

He cannot stand bananas. Everything about them makes him gag. 

He gets such a rise out of being a bitch. He’s already annoying by default but strives to be even more insufferable for the fuck of it.

He, Alex, and Keegan smoke while being sentimental together at least once a month. (It’s always with Keegan and Alex - Elias, David, and Logan get left out.) 

He listens to underground metal like Sold Soul, and he thinks it makes him superior to everyone else. (And he gatekeeps it.)

He’s immune to pretty much all physical pain except for waxing. It’s enough to make him cry. 

He loved trains as a child.

His comfort song is Toxicity by System Of A Down. 

His appetite is insane. This man can eat a horse and still be hungry by the end of it. 

His calves are huge for some reason. 

[galacticnova3]

Since she has now flown off I am obligated to post the order of potato fairy extra large that I looked after for several days. Aka a gloriously chumby Polyphemus moth— the second one I’ve seen alive in over a decade— that decided to hang around our porch for most of its adult life. I saw the first live one on the same day, but he flew away when I tried to get close. But still, that’s a great sign that their population in my area is finally starting to recover! Anyways, here’s the wonderful big little creacher where I found her, which should probably make it clear as to why I moved her. Ants don’t mess around and I wasn’t gonna just leave her inches away from danger.

I was pretty glad I did, as even after her wings were fully dried and extended and everything she couldn’t actually take off. See: her first “flight”.

Big fan of the loud impact PLAP sound, really added to the already very good demonstration of gravity. Worry not, she was totally fine afterwards. Here she is that night and the day after! Very cute and fuzzy, 1000/10.

The next day I thought she had flown off, but then the day after that she was back on the porch! I could tell she was the same one because of her damaged antenna. She started laying eggs on the house and I realized that wasn’t going to be good for the caterpillars that might hatch, since it was a relatively long distance to any host plants even without including the vertical climb to reach branches of leaves. Since she clearly felt safe where she was, and I was also worried about ants and birds and possible insecticides, I ended up making a little “baby box” for her out of a thoroughly rinsed plastic container that initially held salted honey-roasted peanuts. I gave her a stick to hold on to which also gave her a route to climb out of the box if she wished, and provided various fresh oak leaves to lay her eggs on. Figured it would be a good setup because I could easily move it to a safe place once she was done, and keep an eye on the eggs until they hatched. I might even try to raise a few caterpillars if the eggs are fertile. However, during the process of me setting that whole deal up, she decided I looked like a good egg laying spot.

You can see the “glue” that sticks the eggs to surfaces! It was cool to see up close: she’d lay an egg, wait for it to dry, and then lay the next right by it. She ended up sticking four on me before I was able to gently nudge her to the egg laying box. The stick was eventually deemed an acceptable substitute, and over night she… made an egg stalactite of sorts on it? Very weird, I think, I dunno; most of what I read online said their eggs would be laid in spread out clusters of two to three on suitable host plants. I know it wasn’t because she couldn’t get out, as when I went to check on her she had already made her way to the top of the stick and was hanging off of it outside the box. I didn’t think to take a picture of that as I needed to drive to college, but source: dude trust me. Here’s a picture of the egg sculpture I took when I got home.

When I was done with that I went to move her off the porch where she had been staying safe for the last 5 or so days to the more wooded area of the yard, but she ended up flying off to the treetops on her own after I brought her into the open. I guess laying a bunch of eggs made her finally light enough to fly. Maybe she was feeling upset at me for not being able to pay child support and making her lay her eggs on a stick instead? Or she was just doing normal moth things or whatever. It was bittersweet to watch her go, but I’m glad she had the chance to soar the skies at least once before her time was up.

@onenicebugperday

[indigosunsetao3]

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRE4g6YQ/

Okay but look at this 😭😫👏🏻❤️🥺🥹 it’s such husband behavior and I could see all the 141 guys doing this tbh. Maybe except Price (I feel like he’d go to the ends of the Earth to find one and would be successful. Even if it means driving 2+hrs to every Tesco trying to find the cake)

What? Stop it right now. This is too cute.

Just doing read more because it's a bit long to list them all. All are SFW and fluffy. 💙

Price for sure is going to every. single. store. He's going to find this cake one way or another; he won't come home until he's got it. He loses count of how many places he tries. He makes store managers call other stores to see if they have it in stock, watching them from the counter with narrowed eyes. When he tracks down the last one, which is another hour away, he asks the store to set it aside and pays them double when he arrives for their effort (and to apologize for slightly threatening them if they sold it to someone else). Traditions are important to him and he'll be damned if he misses a year. "I know it's almost midnight dear, but it's still technically your birthday. Never mind where I've been all day, not important."

Soap is making a masterpiece. Baking may not be his forte per se but man is artistic. His creation is a variation of all the different caterpillar cakes; selecting only the best qualities from each. And yes, he looked and studied them all. He has pictures of them all over the kitchen counter with notes on each about what he likes and doesn't like. Then he sketches out his own picture and uses it as a blueprint for his design, proudly naming it Craig.

"Clyde's eyes are terrifying, bonnie. But I didn't like how Chris didn't have feet...they have to have feet or then it's a snake. And Morris was boring, not enough stripes."

Gaz is in the kitchen for hours baking. He's bought everything he needs in bulk because he knows it's going to be a learning curve. He ends up with multiple failures, that he'll take to the team to devour, before finally getting it right. By the time he finishes, the kitchen is a disaster—every pan, bowl, plate, and pot (yes pot, he ran out of clean bowls) is dirty by the time he finishes. And flour? It's everywhere, his hair, clothes, the cat. "Stay out of the kitchen. Just sit here and enjoy this...I'll be back in a bit. If you see the cat just brush him off for me, yeah?"

Ghost enlists Soap to help him. It ends up with a bunch of arguing about how to do it. They fight over where to put the milk chocolate decorative pieces, the proper spacing of the eyes, the size of the feet and every other little imperfection Ghost can find. Soap eventually leaves telling Ghost to do it himself...before coming back thirty minutes later to help him finish. It's a bit lumpy and there are little slashes where it had been pulled apart and resealed with chocolate icing like glue from Ghost's attempts to get it perfect. "It's a bit beat up, sorry love. Tried to make it perfect for you, now it looks like he's been to war with all the scars."

Bonus:

Alex, poor soul, had no idea this kind of cake was even a thing at first. He assumed a caterpillar cake was just a sheet cake with the Very Hungry Caterpillar on it until you explained. Once he knows what it is, you get a caterpillar cake every year; he doesn't care that shipping costs three times as much as the cake itself. But this year the shipment runs late and he has to call in backup...which involves Gaz going to the shops to sweet talk the little old lady bakers for their recipe while Alex frantically takes notes. He only has a few hours to get it together and while he does his best...it's the thought that counts right? At least it tastes like it's supposed to.

"I know it's not Colin but if you squint hard enough it's vaguely a caterpillar....really squint, maybe cover one eye, and stand back a few feet. I promise your real one is on its way, just had a bit of delay."

[stevesbipanic]

Steve had never given sexuality much thought until he met Robin.

He didn't have many crushes growing up, in fact he could count the on one hand.

First there was Sara Flint, Steve was twelve and they were lab partners all year, three times a week he and Sara would joke around in class. On the last day he realised this was those butterflies his friends always talked about, but by then it was too late, all he got was a kiss on the cheek and that summer the Flints left town.

It was another four years before his next one, Nancy Wheeler. Four years never finding those butterflies again, Tommy cycled through girlfriends like a rolodex until he finally landed on Carol. Sure they had been girls who kissed him at parties but they felt hollow and boring. There was even that kiss he and Tommy shared last year to "check if they were gay just in case" but he felt nothing there either.

But Nancy, Nancy turned caterpillars into butterflies inside him. She was smart and beautiful and kind. They had met when he'd been told he was going to fail chemistry if he didn't pick up his grade. He'd gotten Nancy's number as a possible tutor for extra credit. Two weekdays and every weekend they'd either be at Steve's dining table or down at the library studying. Steve passed his test and butterflies grew inside him when Nancy hugged him in congratulations. This time Steve wasn't too late, but that Halloween made him wish he was.

Steve hoped it would be another four years before the butterflies returned but the following summer brought, Robin Buckley. Robin had been different, they hadn't gotten on at first, but after Steve told off a jock for touching her she allowed him to be closer. They weren't friends but they had jokes and banter. Then the Russians pulled Robin into Steve's orbit in a place he never wanted her to be, the butterflies grew but he would've taken the blows despite them. Sitting in that bathroom with Robin he allowed the butterflies to stay but recognised them more as moths drawn to the light that was a best friend.

Steve had never given sexuality much thought until he met Robin. He assumed he was straight, I mean he had to be right? Sure he didn't feel the same way about everything his old friends talked about but he had liked girls before and he'd never liked boys.

Robin taught him a lot of her limited knowledge of the subject, they were still small town teens after all. So yeah, of course he was straight.

Steve was straight until he wasn't, until he met Eddie. Eddie who pulled the attention of his kids and brought smiles to their faces. Eddie who was loud and bright even when faced with the horrors of another world. Eddie who kept smiling through pain and smiled at Steve in the hospital room. Eddie who took him on drives when nightmares couldn't be chased away. Eddie who remembered things about Steve and asked him questions about his day. Eddie who hugged Robin in understanding bring Steve's best friend an ally in a world he couldn't get. Eddie who would do anything for the ones he loved.

Steve who was straight and didn't understand why people seemed to go on dates with people they just met. Steve who was straight and had only ever liked girls. Steve who was straight and loved Robin more than anything.

Steve who was straight until he felt butterflies grow inside him for a fourth time.

Steve who was straight until he met Eddie.

Steve who was straight until he realised he would've loved Eddie whether he was a guy or not.

Steve who wasn't really straight and loved Eddie because he was Eddie, who knew that loving Eddie was as simple as breathing.

Steve who wasn't really straight because loving Eddie was inevitable, written in the stars, a love that had been waiting all along.

Steve who wasn't really straight but didn't need a label to know that he loved Eddie, and for him that was enough.

[skullaton]

cold hands, warm hearts

Wally Darling / Gender Neutral Reader oneshot

Rating: G Genre: Fluff, friends to lovers Summary:

It's a chilly autumn evening and the neighbours are hosting their own fall festival! You decide to partake, enjoying the time with your friends. It just so happens that one of your friends is also your biggest crush.

Ao3 link: Here Welcome Home belongs to Clown a/n: It's autumn in the southern hemisphere, so I wanted to write a cute, fluffy one shot for the season! Enjoy!

Read Below ↓

Your boots crunch into the dry, crispy auburn leaves as you make your way through the small town of Home. It was this year's autumnal festival and you couldn’t wait to see what hijinks your friends planned!

The road was covered in an array of leaves, muting the already colour rich town in a blanket of yellows, reds, and browns. You marched up a hill, seeing the outline of the festival’s banners from a distance. You huffed, exerting yourself as you trekked, seeing your breath poof up in a cloud of smoke. The cold nipped at your bare fingertips, but you didn’t mind.

You can finally hear the commotion of your friends scrambling around and having fun. You tilt your head to read the banner - clearly in Howdy’s handwriting - ‘Home’s Fall Festival’. There were some elegantly painted designs, as well as some crudely decorated ones. It was definitely a whole town effort to make it.

“Don’t keep starin’! Come on in!”

You break out of your thoughts to look at the towering caterpillar who stood behind a food stall, beckoning you over with one of his long limbs. You happily skip over, grinning, “Hey, Howdy! Nice handwriting!”

“Oh, that thing?” He glanced up at the sign before waving dismissively, “Shucks, I write so often, it’s really nothin’.”

You chuckle, shaking your head. “If you say so, Mr. Pillar.”

He leaned forward on his elbows, looking down at you with big eyes, “Say, you reckon you want some food? We got hot popcorn, hot chocolate, hot dogs, hot peppers, you name it!”

Being around him was so amusing. He always made such amazing pitches. How does he keep having endless stock? And hot peppers ? Who’s ordering that?

You could only assume Barnaby.

“Maybe later!” You waved him off as you started to hop away.

He simply waved back, “Alright, I’ll be here if you change your mind!”

You went to see what your other friends were up to.

A crackling bonfire lit up the centre of the festival, its fiery warmth emanating throughout the tiny faire.

You could see Sally atop of a makeshift stage, playing out a dramatic scene from a play. Her monologues were emotive, filled with passion and drive. In this scene she was holding a plastic… skull?

Wait, was this Hamlet?

You decide not to question.

Julie sat next to Frank in the audience, arms linked as they watched in awe of the brilliant star’s performance.

Looking on, you can see Eddie and Poppy sitting at the arts and crafts tent. Eddie was gently trying to instruct how to make the perfect leaf wreath. But… Poppy would often glue her fingers together and cuss a little ‘Oh, feathers me!’

Eddie, as sweet as honey, would insist she was doing amazing.

Finally, you see Barnaby next to a wide oak barrel. A crudely painted sign stuck next to it, saying ‘Bobbin’ fer Applez.’

Then you see him. The perfect deep navy blue hair, the lazy smile and half lidded eyes of the guy you’ve totally been crushing on since you moved here.

Wally Darling.

He was casually picking up the crimson apples from the chilly water, all while flatly remarking, “See, I’m bobbing.”

Barnaby released a booming laugh, practically barking, “I’m gonna bob you on the head in a second!”

Wally just tilted his head, offering a confused smile.

The giant canine cracked his neck, positioning his hands on either side of the barrel’s opening. “Watch the professional at work!”

Then he dunked his head down into the frigid liquid, splashing it like a tidal wave onto the unsuspecting Wally. When he finally emerged, two whole apples were in his toothed maw.

Smug, he looked over the shorter man. Then his expression immediately dropped.

Wally stood, blank faced, the front of his puffer jacket absolutely drenched.

Barnaby popped the apples out, “Oh, shoot, Walls! Didn’t mean for this to be a Wet n Wild ride! I’ll be back!” He hurried his way off to Howdy’s stall, probably in hopes for something to help.

You took the opportunity to duck closer to Wally. “Looks like you’re having a splashing good time.”

You internally cringed at yourself. Damn that Barnaby!

“Ha ha. Ain’t it so?” Wally held his kind smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

You decided to unbutton your jean jacket.

“Tradesies!”

He gave a flat “Huh?”

You slid off the fabric, offering it to the shorter man. The chill bit at your skin, causing a ripple of goosebumps to run up and down your body.

He blinked slowly. “You’ll get cold.”

You shivered, offering a sweet smile, “So will you!”

He reluctantly unzipped his jacket, tugging it off to replace it with yours.

It practically engulfed him. His fingers barely peeked out from the sleeves. You wish you could take a picture of him. He looked absolutely adorable.

You held onto his puffer in the crook of your arm, feeling the wetness seep into your bones.

Another chill ran up your spine, causing you to exhale another puff of smoke.

Then in a split second, a giant wool mass would plop over you, encasing you in a tent of darkness. Wiggling out of your wool chamber, you peeked out to see Barnaby grinning above you.

“Didn’t expect ya to switch with Wallers! You can’t catch a cold now, ya hear?”

You fixed the oversized blanket so it was slung over your shoulders. You stuck a tongue out to the giant canine. “I’ll be fine! ”

“Just wait! Your tongue will be frozen like that!”

“Will not!”

“Will too!”

“Will not!”

Wally popped in, copying Barnaby, “Will too!”

“Hey, you’re not supposed to side with him!”

He gave his signature cat-like grin in response.

***

It wasn’t long until night cloaked the town in darkness. Stars twinkled and danced overhead, with the moon showing half of its beautiful glowing face.

Everyone was gathered around the bonfire, enjoying the crackling warmth on this brisk night. Julie and Sally were playing with rainbow sparklers, twirling out a magical light display. Frank and Eddie sat cuddled next to each other, staring dreamily into the snapping wooden flames. Howdy was passing out hot apple cider, while Poppy was instructing Barnaby how to make the perfect roasted marshmallow.

That only left you and Wally, sitting next to each other on a wooden bench.

You sipped on the hot cider, allowing the toasty beverage to heat you up.

You both let the snaps and crackles of the logs fill in the silence, simply enjoying the sweet moment with friends.

That is, until you could hear a soft mumble leave the puppet’s felt lips.

“I wish I could paint you right now.”

Your heart skipped a beat. You glanced over to Wally, watching as the flames danced shadows across his face. It casted an orange hue, accentuating his soft, plush features.

A pink blush tinted your cheeks. You definitely wanted to blame it on the bonfire for licking at your exposed skin.

But you knew it was because this silly little artist was staring at you with this most love drunk expression. His adoration filled gaze made your stomach twist in happy knots.

You found yourself inching closer to him, your spare hand just barely brushing against his fabric one.

“I wouldn’t mind that.”

A blissful sigh escaped the man. He reciprocated the gesture, scooting closer. You could feel his knee bump against yours playfully.

It wasn’t long before you both tentatively laced your chilly fingers together, basking in the heat of eachother’s flesh.

“Maybe we should schedule something?”

“That sounds wonderful, Wally.”

A quietness lulled between you as you enjoyed the moment. Despite the silence, you could feel your limbs tingle with exhilaration as your tummy burst with millions of fluttering butterflies.

You may have cold hands, but at least your heart is full and warm.

[the-habitat-ring]

Today’s Rose Adventures

I’ve never been particularly into roses, but after moving to the habitat ring and rescuing a lovely old fashioned rose from being smothered by invasive Amur honeysuckle and adding rosa setigera, the native climbing prairie rose as my version of Stardew Valley’s fairy rose, I have come to appreciate them more. My prairie rose is currently blooming and looks lovely growing against the fence, but I wanted another prairie rose or two to continue down the fence line not only because I think it would look beautiful in bloom but also for the wildlife value.

In the Midwest, native roses serve as host plants for the caterpillars of over 100 different species of butterflies and moths, which are vital for the food web. Those caterpillars are perfect food for baby birds, and the thorny canes provide shelter for all sorts of animals. The rose hips (it’s fruit) feed birds and mammals in the fall and winter. This is another reason why I wanted more plants — unlike most roses, prairie roses are dioecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on different plants and thus require two plants to pollinate and fruit. My single prairie rose hasn’t produced any rose hips, so obviously he needs a mate (or two). Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of places around here selling native roses and they can be pricey.

Fortunately, I drive past this beautiful patch of roses on the side of the road to and from work, and after my success growing elderberries from cuttings I knew I had to try again and see if I could successfully propagate rosa setigera.

Today I was finally able to take some cuttings, but I was confused. Although I was sure that this was rosa setigera (it’s the only native rose that gets this large), all of the canes I was seeing and cuttings I took had 5 leaflets.

I have always seen prairie roses with 3 leaflets, which is unique and a useful identifying feature. However, everything else pointed to it being rosa setigera, and it didn’t seem to match any other rose species.

I posted pics in the state native plant group just to be sure, as I wasn’t interested in propagating anything else. The other native roses aren’t climbing and I don’t have a good place to put them other than on the fence, and although I formed an emotional attachment to the rose that came with the house I’m not interested in adding more non-native roses to the habitat ring. Fortunately the experts in the native plant group confirmed my ID — while rosa setigera typically has 3 leaflets, it can also have 5, so they’re not the norm but still climbing prairie roses.

The plant experts gave me a better key feature for identifying prairie roses — rosa setigera is the only rose to have combined styles (the thing in the center), whereas in other roses they are separate. I love learning new things!

I went ahead and planted the cuttings (with minimal blood and tears) in a pot covered with an old juice container to keep them humid. I would’ve taken a picture but by the time I finished it was dark out and I was being eaten by mosquitos, so I’ll try to post pics later. Hopefully my propagation is successfully and I get some roots! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[cuddlebugzz]

Hey everybody! This is definitely tmi, but since I would've liked a first hand account when I was nervous with doing new agere things - I thought it might help others! Today I'm going to talk about my experience with buying agere items, specifically, a paci, a sippy cup, goodnites, and more! Full experiences under the cut, this is gonna be a long post.

The bullet points ☆ are in the order of the pictures, except the first, I don't have a picture for it. ☆ <- mystery box ☆ <- caterpillar ☆ <- paci ☆ <-onesie ☆ <- coloring books ☆ <- sippy ☆ <- goodnites

☆ The first item that I got was actually an agere mystery box from etsy. I was really nervous about buying it, but really eager to get some agere stuff. I specifically wanted a sippy of bottle and a paci, but didn't have a lot of money, so I bought a small mystery box - I'm pretty sure it was about $15. I didn't want to buy items on their own in fear that it would be really obvious somehow - I still lived with my family.

It came in a cute but discreet envelope, and it had some snacks (fruit snacks and animal crackers, I didn't end up eating them), a crayola bath bomb, some stickers, play dough. Like most mystery boxes, I didn't end up using most of it "^^ However, the last item was the baby paci! I was really excited to have it, I'm pretty sure it was white with a manta ray on it.

It took me a few nights to use it, it lived in a box under my bed until I was ready. When I finally did use it, watching cartoons in bed while everyone else was asleep - whoops! I didn't like it "^^. A lot of the fault lies in it not being a proper adult paci, I think. I didn't fit right in my mouth so it felt weird and uncomfortable. Either way, I was excited to get an agere collection going!

☆ Another item of note I have is a baby toy, a rattle caterpillar from a baby store. Long story short, I was doing a gift drive there, and we bought some toys to put on the table as examples. We sat out there for a long time, so we were bored, and the other volunteers were entertained by the toys, even though they're for babies! I actually had one of these caterpillar toys as a baby, and we couldn't donate it because it wasn't properly packaged- so my dad let me keep it. No one thought it was weird, and the only comments I've ever gotten is about how cute it is. Goes to show that buying "baby stuff" might not be as weird as you think. More on that later.

☆ The next item I purchased was from the amazingly awesome @princeminnow ! I had wanted an adult paci since the other one didn't work, but I don't like the design of deco pacis. I just wanted one that looked like a regular nuk paci - and minnow had just that! The paci I bought from his is the blue one pictured up top, it has a sleepy bear and it glows in the dark! I'm pretty sure his stuff goes for around $14, but it's worth every penny. He's really nice and his stuff is unique and great quality! Same discreet but cute packaging, with a wonderful note :) Go check out his shop!

As for using it, I liked this one more than the other for sure! I like how it glows in the dark, and it actually fits in my mouth this time. Even if I don't really suck on it like some do, I like to chew it, and it's perfect for that. I still don't reach for it too often though, pacis just aren't as soothing for me as I thought they'd be :p Totally a personal experience though - and I'm really glad i tried it!

☆ The next thing I bought was a onesie off of depop. It was second hand from a shop called lil k1nk boutique, which was super not fun, but it had a pattern I loved in my size so I bought it anyway. I was really nervous because there was confusion with shipping, I didn't know if it would show up at my house or my dorm. It ended up at my dorm. I had a roommate who was nice, but probably would not understand agere, so I was nervous about her seeing, but luckily she was gone most of the time so I got to try it on without fear of her being in the room. I couldn't keep it on the whole night cuz I was nervous, bit I was still so excited to have it!

I wore it again at home, and honestly, as with the first paci, not my favorite thing. Like its nice, but I underestimated the autistic opposition to an unfamiliar cut of clothing (long sleeves no pants) and I was still nervous to wear it. I haven't tried it in a few months, maybe I'll give it another spin! I bet it'll be better in the colder months, when I have fluffy pants over it. Even though it didn't work out on the first try, once again, I'm still happy to have it!

☆ Another item I thought I'd mention are my justice league coloring books, because I ordered them to my dorm. I was nervous about my roommates thinking it was weird, but by this time I'd moved into a much more nuerodivergent space lol. My roommate, who is absolutely wonderful, had put together a coloring activity literally the day before, which I declined because I was busy and I don't really like adult coloring books, they're too complicated to relax me. The next day when my justice league stuff arrived (activity book and a water wow) I felt comfortable telling them about it. I explained that I always wanted these kind of coloring books, I think water wows are really cool and justice league is my special interest. Everyone I told about was very supportive, and glad I got something fun! Another example about kiddie stuff not being as weird as one might think - especially in nuerodivergent spaces.

☆ one of the most recent items I've bought was a sippy cup, the first thing I've bought in an actual store. Like a lot of age regressors, I could look at the baby aisle for one million years. But I haven't, because I thought that'd be weird.

Spoiler: it's not weird at all. I have actually been to the baby aisle with my friends before, just to look at all the cute stuff. Also, if you were to see someone in the baby aisle, you would just assume they were... buying stuff for a baby. Doesn't even have to be for a daughter or son, they could babysit. So once I was actually there looking at all the cups, it was not as weird as I thought I would be.

I went to target, and they had a good selection of sippies. I'm glad I bought one I'm person, because I would have waaay underestimated how itty bitty some of these are. Like, so tiny, they're for babies after all. And it helped me pick one, because on the internet I feel like I need the perfect one, because the internet has everything, and I'm disappointed when I don't find it. But in a store, I'm like, "aw I like that :)" and buy it. Which is exactly what I did - and I think it's perfect! It's gender nuetral, it even has stars like I wanted! Good size too, it can hold a regular drink amount. I just went through the self checkout and bought it with my other items, easy peezy.

I got home and tried it that night, with my door closed. I got some ice water in a regular cup and poured it in my sippy in my room. And let me tell you - I looooove it. For one, this thing does not spill. They are not lying this cup must sippy, liquid is not coming out any other way. It's the perfect size like I said, and once you get passed the learning curve of drinking - pro tip, press down with your teeth and a lot more liquid comes out - its wonderfully soothing. The only con, and this is lightly embarrassing, three plastic cover top is hard to open. It's a childproof cap for obvious reasons, and I have tried to uncap it only to unscrew the whole thing way too many time. Other than that, its a dream come true! Highly recommend!

☆ last but certainly not least, my latest purchase, the goodnites. I've wanted nappies (diapers) for a pretty long time. I waffled between nappies, pull-ups, and training pants for forever, but the former and latter had too many factors that put me off. Mostly bulkiness. At least for a first time, I don't want them to be bulky. But I did more research, and discovered that XL goodnites should fit me - I'm 5'2 and 100 pounds - and best of all, they have a space print!! They're perfect!! I ordered them on postmark (a spare package someone didn't want), it came out to around $15 for 9 pull-ups. It was listed as $8 but shipping was a lot xp Whatever, I bought them anyway.

(This is where its gonna get tmi, skip to the conclusion if you don't wanna read it!) I spent a lot of time nervous about my family finding them, as always. One thing that did bring me a little comfort though - I'm actually on my period right now, and I've actually heard of people using adult diapers for it. Like, it's not common, but I live with all boys, they wouldn't know that. Is it farfetched? Yeah, but it makes me feel better. And honestly it made my feel much better putting them on - they are really not that different from pads I use. I hate my period sooo much, pure autism hell, but honestly I think this might help.

A big reason I wanted nappies in any capacity was a, comfy, and b, I honestly do have issues with going to the bathroom sometimes. I think it's an autism thing, I have a lot of anxiety around getting up and going to the bathroom, especially when I'm in bed, and it gets so bad sometimes it makes me stomach hurt. I'm not sure if I'll test how these can help, as I've heard they're not super good for that, but maybe that's where I'll try real adult nappies. You can get samples on abu for under $10 sometimes, maybe I'll try that over the summer.

Conclusion: highly recommend. They're very comfy, so cute, and discreet too. They don't make any noise when I walk and they're not bulky. I love them! Great first nappy!

Anyway, that's all I have for today! Thanks for reading my incredibly long rambling, I hope it could provide a little help for anyone who needs it!

[ashleywool]

Something like butterflies: the grief nobody wants to talk about

There have been many unique flavors of grief washing over me this past week.

The most unexpected one is the grief that comes with knowing that no matter what I do or where I go, even if I leave the business entirely and never see the inside of another theater…my life is never going to be the same as it was before.

I’ve done a lot of shows in my day, and there is always a deep sense of grief when they close—even when I know the closing date when the rehearsals begin. But the grief was different. The grief was rooted in the banality-yet-relief-yet-restlessness of everything going “back to normal.” In my community theatre days, I would close a show on Sunday, and then wake up at 4am on Monday to go sling espresso at Starbucks, flipping through Backstage (yes, the paper version) on my breaks. On my days off, I’d park (sometimes illegally) by the nearest Metro-North station and make the familiar trek to Grand Central, then to Ripley-Grier or Pearl or Nola (RIP) or the old AEA offices where non-members weren’t allowed to use the bathrooms (today’s kids will never understand) and scurry between holding rooms where my name was on the non-union list for three different EPAs.

In later years, when I had my Equity card and the ability to use the temperamental online signup portal to secure an appointment, I would drive down so I could warm up in the car and search for free (or cheaply metered) parking…and then put my name on two different alternate lists while I waited for my appointment time. The last time I did that was May 2023—mere weeks before we knew for sure that Ohio was going to Broadway.

I don’t need to do that anymore. “In fact,” my agent said, “we’d strongly prefer that you didn’t. You originated a principal role on Broadway. You’re on a different level now.”

Of all the feelings that come with that statement—you’re on a different level now—I never would have expected grief to be one of them. It's not that I actively miss those things, per se. It's just weird to know that the version of me who did those things is gone.

Something like butterflies.

When I was a kid, my sister and I had a little bug house, and we would carefully capture bugs, observe them for a while, and then set them free. One time, we supplied the bug house with milkweed and a climbing stick and captured a monarch caterpillar—and the next thing we knew, it was hanging from the climbing stick as a chrysalis. After a few impatient weeks of eager checking, cracks finally appeared in the cocoon. We gently removed the stick from the bug house, placed it in the sun, and watched in awe as our butterfly hatched.

If you’ve ever seen a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, you know how awkward and vulnerable it is after it wrenches its new body and new unused modes of transportation out of the sack of goo that dissolved and then completely transformed its previous body. How must it feel? It's gotta be heckin' weird to unfurl those wet, wrinkled wings, realizing you can flap them, and eventually, when they are dry, realizing—holy poop, I can fly.

I don’t want to overly anthropomorphize a creature whose emotional capacity or long-term memory I can only guess at, but I would imagine that when a butterfly hatches from its cocoon, it probably doesn't miss being a caterpillar. By the same token, I doubt that butterflies look down disdainfully on the caterpillars whose time hasn't quite come yet, or whose time might never come. Perhaps they don’t even have an awareness that they were once caterpillars, or that they are now butterflies—they can’t even see their wings.

But what if they do know? What if they do remember? What if the butterfly remembers its caterpillar life, and recognizes its caterpillar friends, and tries to do all the things it used to do as a caterpillar, and then realizes that it’s never going to be able to relate to the other caterpillars the same way it did when it was one? I wonder if that feels lonely. Or if the butterfly is surprised that it feels lonely.

Unlike the butterfly, I don’t have an instinctual, automatic timeline for my life cycle that tells me when to mate, when to migrate, and when to die. Anything could happen next. I might book another Broadway show before the year is out, or I might not book anything else for years. I might get a different job in the industry, or I might get hired at a bakery as the night baker that nobody ever sees, or I might take my cats and go live in a little cottage off the grid, or I might get hit by a truck (which, come to think of it, does happen to butterflies too).

But no matter what I do or where I go, I’m never not going to be “Ashley Wool, one of Broadway’s original Faces of Autism™ in How to Dance in Ohio” again.

The caterpillar I was before this show came into my life no longer exists, no matter how hard I might try to fit back into the same caterpillar spaces. Like the last time I stayed over at my dad’s house and slept in the built-in twin bed that I claimed for myself at the age of three—before we’d even bought the house—situated romantically under a sloped ceiling that I once covered with stick-on glow-in-the-dark stars. I still love that bed; as long as my dad is alive and owns the house, it will still be there for me to sleep in if I need to. But I don’t quite fit in there anymore.

Of course, as an autistic person, I’m no stranger to not fitting in. But, like most people, I am a stranger to the unexpected grief that accompanies the realization of your wildest dreams. Our society is obsessed with celebrities, and the concept of becoming successful and well-known for doing what we love…and yet, when anyone who has ever been in the public eye doing exactly that, living what we think is our dream, dares to say “actually, this kind of sucks sometimes” we scoff at them.

When Britney Spears sang, "if there's nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?" we didn't want a real answer. Even 23 years later, after watching the trauma of her conservatorship play out on a worldwide stage and then voraciously devouring her memoir, many of us still say, "yeah, but so what? She's so lucky. She's a star."

Did I sign up for this? Yes, I did. Did I cognitively understand that with success also comes a great influx of people who desperately want to see me fail, or want others to believe that I’ve failed, or find some excuse to discredit my success even if it means inventing one? Also yes. But knowing it and living it are two different things.

I am deeply, gushingly, eternally grateful to everything and everyone that How to Dance in Ohio brought to my life. For as long as I live, I will projectile vomit my gratitude and love for this production and the people attached to it all over the place. Most of all, I will never stop fighting for an industry in which productions and work environments like ours are the rule, and not the once-in-a-generation exception.

But I ask as humbly as I can to please be gentle with me as I figure out how to navigate a future that will forever be shaped by an experience and an identity that only six other people in the history of the world can truly relate to.

All of us are building the planes as we fly them through a dismal, anti-artist late-stage capitalism hellscape over thousands of people who still can’t quite believe that we exist—or don't want us to exist.

We are grateful. But also neurotic. And nervous, excited and anxious. But also alive.

But also butterflies.

[magical-boy-tsukasa-official]

[Tsukasa stands in the deepest part of the labyrinth, facing what appears to be nothing more than a harmless witch. This is going to be a piece of cake for him... no pun intended.]

[Tsukasa knocks the witch off its chair first. Then he proceeds to shoot it. This witch isn't really doing much, he notices. It almost looks like a lifeless doll.]

[Once the witch is on the ground, he shoots it in the head. Still not dead. Now comes in his ribbons, which hold the witch high up in the air. He takes out his giant gun, pointing it at the witch...]

TIRO FINALE!

[But with one hit, something happens. It's not what Tsukasa expects. What comes out of the doll is a large caterpillar, already setting its eyes on Tsukasa. He's frozen in place as it lowers itself over to him, creepily smiling as its mouth opens to reveal sharp razor teeth.]

!!!

[And yet, Tsukasa can't move. He can't make himself move. Fear makes him freeze. It is going to eat him. It is going to eat him.]

...

[Why did he bring them here? Why? Why? They don't have to see this. Why? Why? Why? How can he be so careless? Was the loneliness driving him this mad? What a joke. He's a joke. He failed. He's a huge failure of a hero. A huge failure of a brother. He's a failure at everything.]

[Is that mom and dad?]

[... Where are they going? Where did they go?]

[Who is that?]

[chaosquetzal-archive]

Ch 1: Strange Visitor

Rika woke up in her camp to the smell of the dewey forest. She was finally done with her quest to clear out nearby mines of oversized Shockdust caterpillars. The mines were rich in mana crystals, a valuable commodity to be sure. The caterpillars would have destroyed several crystals if not collapsed the mine.

Still, Rika was eager to get home before the week’s end. The unifying festival of Arcfell was fast approaching, and this would be her first year participating in her hometown’s celebration. They were surprisingly welcoming of Rika when she moved there. Looking back, it is not hard to see why.

Bloody Foxkin are rare, even among other Beastfolk. Legends say one had blinded the Devil Dragon in a single slash, soaking in their blood to obtain even more power. Their hair is now a bright red as a result of this power. This legend made others steer clear of Rika her entire life. She always hated her hair color where she used to live.

She did not know what to expect when arriving in a new home either. But they welcomed her with open arms, even having a feast as a new member who joined their local guild. It was all delicious. The thought alone was enough to make Rika nearly deny this quest in the first place. She was excited to see what Zvi Village would be providing for food at the festival. Even more so for their famed baking contest. However, she did need money to buy from the stalls.

Wiping the drool off her lips, Rika quickly scrambled her gear into her pack. She made sure to not break the strange black needles she found littered on their corpses. Rika was unsure where they came from, but she found the caterpillars with dozens of these needles piercing their bodies. They must be connected to how massive the caterpillars grew.

Just one of these caterpillars would be at least three times Rika’s height after becoming a Shockdust Moth. A strange phenomena to be sure. A normal Shockdust moth would not even be distinguishable from a regular moth’s size otherwise. Even at normal size, one moth can paralyze someone for half a day. If Rika had not acted, there could have been much more at stake than some mines.

Shuddering at the danger no longer to pass, Rika put her pack on and ran towards Zvi Village.

After a few hours of running, Rika entered Zvi Village’s gates. Everyone was abuzz with excitement. Decorations and stalls lined the main street. She was eager to report to the guild, be done with the matter, and try some of the food.

Rika walked down the street with her mouth watering and tail waving furiously from the smell. She picked up the pace to prevent pouncing on one of the stalls.

While passing the local orphanage, Rika stopped dead in her tracks. A massive spike in magic boomed from the building, driving her to look over.  In that direction were several of the town guards. With the exception of two, almost all of these guards were on the ground. The two who were standing had swords pointed toward a figure sitting on the fence. Seeing danger, Rika pulled her own blade out and rushed to help.

Rika finally caught up to the guards, seeing the suspect in question. They were a young man wearing an open jacket with loose dark pants. On their back, four yellow-leathered wings furled up barely out of view, along with a tail covered with spiraling feathers. Their arms and legs were scaled with sharp claws. Are they a Dragonewt? Why are they here?

“What is going on? Can someone explain what happened?” Rika asked the guards.

The left guard replied, “Rika, thank the gods! This guy was trying to kidnap three of the kids from the orphanage here. We were going to apprehend him, but then most of the others fell unconscious.”

The Dragonewt groaned, “For the last time, I was not kidnapping those three! I saw them outside of the village being chased by dire wolves. I stepped in to save them. They did not want to go back, so I had to carry them kicking and screaming. If y’all stopped assuming so much about me, maybe I could enjoy the festival too!”

Rika looked around at the guards on the ground. They all were breathing, clearly still alive. Several were unconscious as the guard stated. Then she noticed all of them had been stuck with needles. The same needles that were on the caterpillars from the mine! Rika turned to the Dragonewt. This was something she could no longer ignore.

“Where did you get these needles? Answer me!” Rika demanded, gesturing to the guards around them.

“Woah, I see you are upset, miss. I can explain. Those are some of my feather spikes. They’re coated with paralytic venom I produce to avoid unnecessary conflict. By sharpening them, they cut through the air faster than most enemies can see,” the Dragonewt explained, turning their tail.

Rika saw some feathers close to fine barbs. Hearing a thud, she dropped her gaze as a puff of dust cleared. A spike jutted out of the dirt at her feet. Cautious, Rika pulled out the wrapped needles from her pack and the spike from the ground. Examining both, she came to a conclusion. They are one and the same.

“Then explain why I found these at our mines,” Rika questioned, holding up the wrapped needles in view of the Dragonewt.

The Dragonewt peered at the needles. He appeared lost in thought. Rika kept hearing him mutter, “Mines… mines…” The Dragonewt’s reply caught Rika off guard.

“Wait, did you get rid of those giant caterpillars then? If so, thanks for that. I did not expect them to be so resistant to that paralytic. Drove a few dozen into the first few I saw and panicked when they kept approaching. Ran into a nearby cave in order to slip away. I was not aware that it was a mine, otherwise I would have kept running.”

Rika noticed the Dragonewt had lowered their defenses, now muttering about making their venom stronger. Their arms shrank to that of a person’s. This individual had relaxed so quickly it was more threatening than calming. Studying the Dragonewt, Rika noticed there were several wounds all over their torso and arms. Some appeared to be monster bites and recent ones at that.

Rika sheathed her weapon and told the guards to do the same. They were hesitant but complied. She turned to one of them and asked them to head into the orphanage to confirm the story the Dragonewt told with the children involved. The guard ran off while the Dragonewt kept muttering about potency.

Ten minutes later, the guard returned with one of the orphanage's caretakers. They approved the validity of the Dragonewt’s claim. Rika told the guards to tend to their comrades, that she would report this to the guild.

The Dragonewt hopped down from the fence and assisted the guards, letting them know that removing the spikes would not paralyze them too. The two guards profusely apologized to the Dragonewt for the trouble they had caused. The Dragonewt forgave them, stating that this was a rather common occurrence given their appearance. As the guards woke, many went to the station to receive treatment.

Issue resolved, Rika and the Dragonewt walked off towards the guild.

“Hey, why are you following me?” Rika asked, more annoyed at the company.

“Well, I was hoping to stick around after the festival and join the guild anyway. If you’re a member, I might as well follow you to see where it is,” the Dragonewt responded, pep in their voice.

Rika considered that this person was going to be troublesome, but after seeing all those guards taken out, it was easy to accept they were strong. Maybe a bit too carefree, though.

“Fair enough. We are almost there anyway. If you are joining, then I assume you have a name?”

The Dragonewt was quick to retort, “Rude to ask my name without introducing yourself first. So Red, do you have a name?”

Rika did not expect such a direct reference to her hair so soon. She was frustrated by it, “Don’t call me ‘Red’! My name is Rika Cobalt.”

The Dragonewt ran in front of Rika, smiling wide. He turned to face her and introduced himself at last.

“Well, nice to meet ya Red. You can call me Draco Vivica. Most folks know me as the ‘Devil Dragon’!”

[canyonkingdom]

you're all going to hell two

(chapter 2, part 1)

tw: mentions of $u|c|d3, murder, invasion of privacy,

"Mickey's dead?"

Lifty's innocent voice shriveled up.

"...Yes." Terry said blankly.

The port was dead silent.

"As if you guys actually cared about that man." Camp commented negatively, polishing his newly furnished caterpillar house. "He was so forgettable-"

"Yeah, but he didn't deserve to die." Lifty lamented. "I mean, die in that way."

"It's possible he killed himself?" Terry questioned as he kept loading Lifty's forklift with boxes. "It's his cement mixer after all."

"He's an asshole. What kind of asshole would want to commit suicide if they're so full of themselves?" Camp retorted back.

"Then someone killed him..." Lifty eloped.

"Of course someone killed him, idiot!" Camp shouted back in shock of the utter stupidity. "I just don't know who..."

"You can't make a response yet." Terry said. "There's barely any evidence to work with-"

"It's not a suicide." Camp reassured.

"I don't want to believe the your word, Camp," Terry followed after, grief stricken in his voice. "It's just... shocking."

Lifty's eyes glowed. "We could investigate the case more! We could ask more questions to Spooky-"

"It's not the right time, Lifty. The man's traumatized as fuck." Camp stated almost immediately, making Lifty's happiness die down. "He already played his part, and we're not specialists at this type of case!"

"But I heard that-"

"Let;s just get back to work." Terry quipped, a smile on his face. "Lifty, bring them to the trailer."

Lifty pouted, but he followed orders. He kept the forklift going.

Camp put the towel down, looking at the orange sky.

"It's not a suicide." he repeated.

It was silent.

"The funeral service is at Tuesday morning." Max unhappily said.

The construction crew was filled with sadness and dread and everyone was a mourning mess.

Well,

expet Poke and Bruner.

They blankly stared at Mickey's dead, grayish, cemented body under the glass of the casket.

"You shouldn't have followed us, bitch." Bruner forced a laugh, but it ended in pity.

Poke glanced at the other man with sad eyes. He tapped Bruner's shoulder.

"We need to talk."

Bruner hissed, eyeing the coffin. The two solemnly went outside. They glanced upon the faces locoed with despair and sadness.

"We should tell them." Poke gestured.

Bruner didn't answer. A pang of survivor's guilt hit the two like a shockwave, but Bruner was still shaken uo from the events.

"Oh, there you guys are!" Mr. Builder's raspy voice was easy to recognize. Both people looked up to see their boss. "Gonna leave now?"

"...No." Bruner said straighforward. "We're just looking for... a breath of fresh air."

Mr. Builder's smile was of sadness. "It hits hard, y'know? One day you're having the time of your life, the next day we're doing with funeral preparations." He let out a depressed sigh.

Bruner wanted to say sorry so bad.

Camp atayed awake most nights, but this was for an unusual reason.

"Lifty," he whispered, shaking the young worker from his premature sleep. "Lifty!" he repeated.

Lifty opened his eyes groggily. "Eugh... why?" he asked.

"My trailer's down, can I please use your forklift?"

Lifty blinked the sleepiness in his system. "But why? Can't you... just use Terry's?"

Camp sighed. "Do you really think I would walk a mile to his house?"

"Yes?" Lifty fathomed, rubbing his eyes before yawning. "You're fit and healthy. I live off of food stamps and coke-"

"Just let me borrow the forklift." Camp jeered, "Please."

"O- ok." Lifty finally answered. "But you could've just called me-"

"I don't have your number." Camp immediately said as the smile in his face grew. "Thanks." he highlighted as he left the room, leaving Lifty basking in the dark.

It was incredibly weird driving a forklift at night, but Camp didn't care. He only cared for the truth.

He stopped at Spooky's house, the array of tires was enough for him to recognize it. He jumped down the forklift and scanned the area.

"Hello?" he sing-songed.

The door creaked open.

"Camp?"

Camp smiled underneath his pain. "Oh, hi! Can I talk to you?"

Spooky hesistated, his hands clutching the door. "About- about what?"

Camp was on thin ice. "Mickey's death."

Spooky felt his stomach drop. "Why?" he asked.

"I need an explanation."

Spooky sighed, pulling the door open. "Come in." he said, his mouth dry. He left Camp oggling for information.

Camp took his time, admiring the vintage, yet incredible aesthetic of the mud staining his walls. He grimaced at the sight of dirty stools, but he sat anyways. His meter for gossip was up the roof.

"So?" Camp started.

Spooky quivered. "It was scary, man."

Half of Camp's being regretted the invasion of privacy, but deep inside he knows he can solve this.

"I could- I could hear him screaming under all that cement." his voice shaked terribly.

Camp pressed his lips in a thin line. "Did you notice anything?"

"Red lights."

Camp's ears perked up.

"I saw read lights." Spooky said, "I told Poli about them but... but he just brushed it off." Camp raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" he was as confused as Spooky.

Spooky shivered. "Please stop talking about it."

Camp's lips pressed into a thin line. A pang of guilt engulfed him, yet he still wanted to continue asking questions.

"I'm-" Camp eloped. "I'll stop."

Bitterness fumed in his mind.

When he left Spooky's house, he still wanted answers. His palms were sweating as he thought of the red lights Spooky talked about, how the rescue team dismissed their existence, not even thinking about it further.

Yet one thing he can say is that it wasn't a suicide.

He felt tearing up as he returned the forklift to Lifty's apartment.

-///-

part 2 releasing shortly after, maybe, maybe...

camp's a fucking idiot and we all know it but he's gonna be alive for a VERY long time

[engelakiko]

The price of stupidity

This fanfic takes place between returning from the hospital and accepting fate. The idea to write this came to me spontaneously when I accidentally cut off some skin on my leg with a razor lol. I do not speak English, the text was translated using a translator, so errors are possible (although I will try to minimize them) (Kei belongs to @minevn)

／(＞×＜)＼

Kei made an incision in Akiko leg, below the knee, and carefully separated the muscles and tendons. Blood began to ooze from the wound, but he was prepared and quickly stopped the bleeding. The next step was the most difficult - separating the bone. Kei took a chisel to carefully cut the bone without damaging the surrounding tissue. Girl did not feel pain, as she was under anesthesia. When the most difficult part of the operation was over, Kei put in a few stitches to close the incision and stop the bleeding. The same fate awaited her arm…

*A few hours later. The next day* Akiko reluctantly and irritably began to open her eyes when the unpleasant sunlight from the gap in the curtains hit her eyes. Grumbling and tossing, she came to her senses and the second thing she saw after the ceiling and the rays of the sun was Kei gentle, beautiful face, he was smiling serenely, but when she tried to move Akiko felt an uncomfortable heaviness. Something was wrong….

-Good morning, my love. Kei said, holding out a tray with breakfast.

-You need to stay on bed rest for now, so eat in bed, I have prepared your favorite dish

W-why? “The answer to my question was a motionless, unreadable look at the blanket. While anxiously watching him, I noticed something… I couldn’t feel my leg… and my arms…”

-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- "With intermittent, rapid breathing, I threw off the blanket and confirmed my fears, in place of one of the legs there was nothing but a thigh with a perfectly applied stitch. The same fate awaited the hand, half of it was missing. Bitter and heavy tears poured down my face reflecting horror, my throat began to tear from an indescribable screech. Not only did he cut off my fingers, but now Kei cut off half of my limbs?!" -FOR WHAT?!!! Akiko screamed, barely breathing. -Darling, breathe please. We agreed with you about what will happen for deception and besides, we can’t allow you to try to go anywhere, right? Right… she remembered the agreement…

*One day earlier* "Finally, he's gone! He had to go to work and leaving me home alone, he locked the door. Finally, I'm completely alone! With great effort, I persuaded Kei to give me back my phone to contact him at work (although this was often not necessary, he stayed at home), but be that as it may, I can finally play my favorite games! After downloading the games, going through musical battles from Obey me or battles from Love and Deep Space, I didn't notice how the whole day flew by, I was absorbed in the charming handsome men! Oh, the wonderful Leviathan and the captivating Asmodeus, oh, the hot Silas and the sweetest Xavier, they completely captured my attention. Not paying attention to anything, I continued to admire them, sometimes noticing their resemblance to Kei (thoughts about whom I tried to drive away).I came to my senses only when the key turned in the lock, the door swung open and Kei, announcing his presence, entered the apartment. Quickly deleting the games, I hugged him with a joyful smile, he won't be able to find out about anything… right?"

*Present day* -After the surgery, do you need to eat or would you like me to feed you? -FUCK YOU!!! Akiko wanted to get up and move away from him, but with the new deprivations of her body it was incredibly difficult, which is why she remained in bed and, like a caterpillar that was caught by the tail, rocked on the bed.Continuous tears flowed down her face, leaving a wet and salty trail behind them, her throat, as if torn by cats, ached and wheezed, not allowing Akiko to continue screaming. She could not figure out why? Why, of all people, was she destined for such a fate, what gods did she insult, that she was cursed like that?! "How did he find out, I delet- oh, right, how could I not understand right away, he is not a person. How did I not guess right away, he knew about my every action, this whole fucking time!"

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! How come you didn't think of that right away, of course, he's part of the device, that's why he left the phone, it was a test!" Depressing thoughts swirled in her head with the same force and speed as tears flowed, Akiko had to cover her face with her hand in an attempt to calm herself down and save a grain of dignity. She wanted to block the rest of the oxygen and save herself from suffering, but Kei hand, which intercepted the remaining limb, cut off this idea -It's okay, my love, I'm here

He said in a gentle, overly loving voice, but she did not hear these words, because she was plunged into a nightmare…

[marzipanwings9099]

☎️ - "H O T O G O!" Hello, Marzipan with you! I love you!

#STB #admtake

"I miss you, you have no idea how much" - Taking a sip from a glass of chai latte and closing the door of the coffee shop with his foot, Kepper wrote on his phone. The message read: "Read just now"

"We saw each other three days ago, and you're already texting me!" - The answer came immediately, and Secret rolled his eyes.

"How cruel, I can actually block you, what will you do then, George? »

«I'll find myself a girlfriend 😀» - Before Kepp could even reply, a new message arrived - «Bad joke, you're right 🤧»

«First of all, stop using emojis, only old men do that, although with your goatee... Okay, let's move on 🙄.»

«I could write a whole list of what you violated with that message, but I just drove through a red light, so I won't get distracted, you're lucky 😤!

P.S. You used the emoji yourself, Caterpillar, so I'll do what I want, Kepper 😜! »

«Let me finish! AND SECONDLY, YOU'RE THE WORST COMEDIAN IN MY LIFE!!!»

«I love you too, baby 💍»

Well, Kepp certainly didn't expect that. He didn't expect that he almost ran a red light and was almost hit by a screeching truck. Throwing away his cup, Secret finally answered:

"When did you start calling me that? Have you been watching too many American soap operas or something worse? Hannah Montana? Fatal Attraction? Mean Girls?! Did Disney buy you out?" He smiled, imagining George on the other side of the screen laughing in confusion and typing him a caustic response. But there was no response, and instead a call appeared.

"You've played too much, I'm driving! Do you have a stop button? "

"It was written in small print the moment I decided to be your official boyfriend, I mean a stop button? Sorry, I don't like reading small print.

"Why are you texting me? Find yourself a girlfriend while I'm gone! - At that moment, George sharply turned the steering wheel, and the phone, apparently standing on the stand, rolled. - Almost missed the turn. See, you're distracting me, darling.

- I love you too, Teapot. I'm taking revenge on you for "baby", so to speak.

George's face shows slight embarrassment, but he still does not take his eyes off the road, so he gets by with a short and embarrassed:

- I have a name, by the way. And I love you, Keppy. I love you too.

- Returning to the girl, I've already found her, so don't worry.

- Well, you see! Not all is lost! You can propose to her, work at the Utimarket to pay for the wedding and let her give birth to your children, and you die on the same day!

- Is that what you dream about? - Kepp answers, frowning, barely holding back his laughter.

- Let's just say it's a brilliant plot that I've been living my whole life with, and then a boy in a cat mask showed up one day and everything went as well as possible, so I'm grateful to him for introducing me to my favorite person who recently became incredibly distant from me and I really regret it, but we need this stage, otherwise neither he nor I would be ourselves! You know what I mean, dude? - He finally looks at the camera and his feigned serious face is replaced by a warm smile when he sees Kepper smiling painfully, who, frankly, is tired of smiling stupidly.

- This is so stupid and romantic that I wash my hands of it. You won, definitely.

- I miss you too, in case you haven't figured it out yet. I'll be back just when you are, so have a good time with your friends and try not to dream about me before going to bed, otherwise I'll stutter to death. I love you! - George makes a heart sign with his index finger and thumb and Kepp, laughing, shouts into the speaker.

- No one has done that for a long time! You're so old!

- Half a year! - The only thing he manages to throw, after which Kepper throws it away.

"That was very rude, young man 🧓💋"

Secret approaches the bus, where other "smart kids" have already gathered, who were lucky enough to get into this trip for a few weeks. But he is only looking for ...

- Hey, hi! - Someone jumps on his back and Kepp almost falls under the weight of his best friend.

- Hi, Raj ... - He squeezes out, while Raj smothers him in an embrace.

- I've been waiting for this trip for ages! It's like the good old days! You and me, what if we find new friends?! This is so wonderful! I even put beads on my sneakers! - He pointed down, where yellow and white beads were indeed attached to the sneakers, mixed in with flower-shaped beads.

- Wow, you really prepared yourself thoroughly! All the monsters will run away, scared of you and your beads.

- They even glow in the dark! - Raj said proudly, and Kepp opened his mouth, feigning surprise.

The bus moved and Kepp turned on the music in one ear, and with the other he listened to Raj, who was pouring out about his boyfriend, and Secret almost fell asleep to his loving muttering. He understood him perfectly. BEFORE that, there was the period of teenage puberty, when absolutely nothing in this world is clear, and it is very difficult to curb your feelings, much less fully understand them without rose-colored glasses. Now that all this has settled down, you can begin a new stage in life: Healthy, strong relationships. And if Kepp treated this quite calmly, accepting all the changes in his relationship with George, then Raj approached it like a scientific project, thinking through every step and eliminating all hitches, or solving all problems before they arise.

- I miss him so much...

- You saw each other forty minutes ago, Raj. - He muttered sleepily, sliding off the chair.

- How do you know?

- You wrote a whole post about it in your group. Are you serious?

- I didn't know you read my channel...

- Everything from the first messages! Okay, a better topic: What do you have for a snack?

- We just left the parking lot, Kepp!

- I have a peanut butter banana apple sandwich.

- I have... sliced apple!

- Do you have any kiwi?

- Where do you think I got kiwi?!

- I love kiwi, it burns!

- ......You're allergic to kiwi.

- Nope!

- Aha! You're definitely allergic!

- Next on the list. I have almonds!

- I love almonds!... But I don't have anything else... - But Kepp had already seen the blue wrapper and Raj looked at it with pity. He held out his hand sarcastically and demanded viciously. Mercilessly and cruelly, like a bloodsucker. - NO! That's my "Cocoledi"!

- Okay. Another bag of cashews with salt and autumn chokorol.

- It's not autumn yet! Where did you get that?!

- I have my own methods. It's my little secret. - Kepp answered, finishing his soda and tearing off the wrapper. - So you're changing? - There was disappointment in his friend and his actions in Raj's eyes, but he still held out the bar. - It's a pleasure doing business with you. Oh! I completely forgot! My best, beloved friend loves this bar! I'll give it to him! - Kepp put it back in Raj's bag and Raj hugged him tightly again.

- But what's in it for you then?

- To annoy you. And you'll share my food with me, right?

- You can take it, swindler. - Raj answered, still hugging him tightly.

After some time, filled with discussions of all sorts of topics and problems and a lot of laughter, an Internet access point appeared and the entire hum of the bus immediately died down. Finally, the long-awaited messages reached everyone! And of course, to Kipp and Raj too.

- My boyfriend is cooler than yours, just admit it. - Said Raj, texting Sean. Looking through his phone, Kepp saw a bunch of cute photos. Some romantic, like newlyweds taking pictures, and some just of flowers, streets, the city, and so on.

- Never in your life, Raj, should you admit that my boyfriend is everyone's dream - Kepp snorted, scratching his eyebrow where he had a piercing. He was also texting George, discussing another school book.

- Can you two shut up? - Jason, who had been listening intently all this time, leaned over the bus seat, and both guys frowned in displeasure, looking at him.

End of Part 1 (?)