#cookie consent examples

[all-the-fish]

Oh, you know, just the usual internet browsing experience in the year of 2024

Some links and explanations since I figured it might be useful to some people, and writing down stuff is nice.

First of all, get Firefox. Yes, it has apps for Android/iOS too. It allows more extensions and customization (except the iOS version), it tracks less, the company has a less shitty attitude about things. Currently all the other alternatives are variations of Chromium, which means no matter how degoogled they supposedly are, Google has almost a monopoly on web browsing and that's not great. Basically they can introduce extremely user unfriendly updates and there's nothing forcing them to not do it, and nowhere for people to escape to. Current examples of their suggested updates are disabling/severly limiting adblocks in June 2024, and this great suggestion to force sites to verify "web environment integrity" ("oh you don't run a version of chromium we approve, such as the one that runs working adblocks? no web for you.").

uBlockOrigin - barely needs any explanation but yes, it works. You can whitelist whatever you want to support through displaying ads. You can also easily "adblock" site elements that annoy you. "Please log in" notice that won't go away? Important news tm sidebar that gives you sensory overload? Bye.

Dark Reader - a site you use has no dark mode? Now it has. Fairly customizable, also has some basic options for visually impaired people.

SponsorBlock for YouTube - highlights/skips (you choose) sponsored bits in the videos based on user submissions, and a few other things people often skip ("pls like and subscribe!"). A bit more controversial than normal adblock since the creators get some decent money from this, but also a lot of the big sponsors are kinda scummy and offer inferior product for superior price (or try to sell you a star jpg land ownership in Scotland to become a lord), so hearing an ad for that for the 20th time is kinda annoying. But also some creators make their sponsored segments hilarious.

Privacy Badger (and Ghostery I suppose) - I'm not actually sure how needed these are with uBlock and Firefox set to block any tracking it can, but that's basically what it does. Find someone more educated on this topic than me for more info.

Https Everywhere - I... can't actually find the extension anymore, also Firefox has this as an option in its settings now, so this is probably obsolete, whoops.

Facebook Container - also comes with Firefox by default I think. Keeps FB from snooping around outside of FB. It does that a lot, even if you don't have an account.

WebP / Avif image converter - have you ever saved an image and then discovered you can't view it, because it's WebP/Avif? You can now save it as a jpg.

YouTube Search Fixer - have you noticed that youtube search has been even worse than usual lately, with inserting all those unrelated videos into your search results? This fixes that. Also has an option to force shorts to play in the normal video window.

Consent-O-Matic - automatically rejects cookies/gdpr consent forms. While automated, you might still get a second or two of flashing popups being yeeted.

XKit Rewritten - current most up to date "variation "fork" of XKit I think? Has settings in extension settings instead of an extra tumblr button. As long as you get over the new dash layout current tumblr is kinda fine tbh, so this isn't as important as in the past, but still nice. I mostly use it to hide some visual bloat and mark posts on the dash I've already seen.

YouTube NonStop - do you want to punch youtube every time it pauses a video to check if you're still there? This saves your fists.

uBlacklist - blacklists sites from your search results. Obviously has a lot of different uses, but I use it to hide ai generated stuff from image search results. Here's a site list for that.

Redirect AMP to HTML - redirects links from their amp version to the normal version. Amp link is a version of a site made faster and more accessible for phones by Bing/Google. Good in theory, but lets search engines prefer some pages to others (that don't have an amp version), and afaik takes traffic from the original page too. Here's some more reading about why it's an issue, I don't think I can make a good tl;dr on this.

Also since I used this in the tags, here's some reading about enshittification and why the current mainstream internet/services kinda suck.

[elventhespian]

So with the pandora's box of AI being released into the world, cybersecurity has become kind of insane for the average user in a way that's difficult to describe for those who aren't following along. Coding in unfamiliar languages is easier to do now, for better and worse. Purchasable hacking "kits" are a thing on the dark web that basically streamline the process of deploying ransomware. And generative AI is making it much easier for more and more people to obscure their intentions and identities, regardless of their tech proficiency.

The impacts of this have been Really Bad in the last year or two in particular. For example:

(I'm about to link to sources, and you better be hovering and checking those links before clicking on them as a habit)

Ransomware attacks have become increasingly lucrative for private and state-sponsored hacking groups, with at least one hack recently reported to have resulted in a $75 MILLION payout from the victim. This in combination with the aforementioned factors has made it a bigger and bigger risk for companies and organizations holding your most sensitive data.

In the US, the Salt Typhoon hack over the past year or so has compromised virtually all major phone networks--meaning text and phone calls are no longer secure means of communication. While this won't affect most people in day-to-day, it does make basically all the information you share over traditional phone comms very vulnerable. You should avoid sharing sensitive information over the phone when you can.

CISA updated their security recommendations late last year in response to this compromise. One of the recommendations is to use a separate comms app with end-to-end encryption. I personally prefer Signal, since it's open source and not owned by Meta, but the challenge can be getting people you know on the same service. So... have fun with that.

2FA is no longer as secure as it was--because SMS itself is no longer secure, yeah, but even app-based 2FA has been rendered useless in certain circumstances. One reason for this is because...

A modern version of the early-2000's trick of gaining access to people's accounts via hijacked cookies has come back around for Chromium browsers, and hackers are gaining access to people's Google accounts via OAuth session hijacking. Meaning they can get into your already-logged-in accounts without passwords or 2FA even being needed to begin with. This has been achieved both through hackers compromising chrome browser extensions, and via a reinvigorated push to send out compromising links via email.

Thanks to AI, discerning compromised email is harder now. Cybercriminals are getting better at replicating legitimate email forms and website login screens etc., and coming up with ways to time the emails around times when you might legitimately expect them. (Some go so far as to hack into a person's phone to watch for when a text confirmation might indicate a recent purchase has been made via texted shipping alerts, for example)

If you go to a website that asks you to double-click a link or button--that is a major red flag. A potential method of clickjacking sessions is done via a script that has to be run with the end user's approval. Basically, to get around people who know enough to not authenticate scripts they don't recognize, hackers are concealing the related pop ups behind a "double-click" prompt instruction that places the "consent" prompt's button under the user's mouse in disguised UI, so that on the second click, the user will unwittingly elevate the script without realizing they are doing it.

Attachments are also a fresh concern, as hackers have figured out how to intentionally corrupt key areas of a file in a way that bypasses built-in virus check--for the email service's virus checker as well as many major anti-virus installed on endpoint systems

Hackers are also increasingly infiltrating trusted channels, like creating fake IT accounts in companies' Office 365 environment, allowing them to Teams employees instead of simply email them. Meaning when IT sends you a new PM in tools like Zoom, Slack, or Teams, you need to double-check what email address they are using before assuming it's the real IT person in question.

Spearphishing's growing sophistication has accelerated the theft of large, sensitive databases like the United/Change Healthcare hacks, the NHS hack & the recent Powerschool hack. Cybercriminals are not only gaining access to emails and accounts, but also using generative AI tools to clone the voices (written and spoken) of key individuals close to them, in order to more thoroughly fool targets into giving away sensitive data that compromises access to bigger accounts and databases.

This is mostly being used to target big-ticket targets, like company CSO's and other executives or security/IT personnel. But it also showcases the way scammers are likely to start trying to manipulate the average person more thoroughly as well. The amount of sensitive information--like the health databases being stolen and sold on the darkweb--means people's most personal details are up for sale and exploitation. So we're not too far off from grandparents being fooled by weaponized AI trained off a grandchild's scraped tiktok videos or other public-facing social media, for example. And who is vulnerable to believing these scams will expand, as scammers can potentially answer sensitive questions figured out from stolen databases, to be even more convincing.

And finally, Big Tech's interest in replacing their employees with AI to net higher profits has resulted in cybersecurity teams who are overworked, even more understaffed they already were before, and increasingly lacking the long-term industry experience useful to leading effective teams and finding good solutions. We're effectively in an arms race that is burning IT pros out faster and harder than before, resulting in the circumvention of crucial QA steps, and mistakes like the faulty release that created the Crowdstrike outage earlier last year.

Most of this won't impact the average person all at once or to the same degree big name targets with potential for big ransoms. But they are little things that have combined into major risks for people in ways that aren't entirely in our control. Password security has become virtually obsolete at this point. And 2FA's effectiveness is tenuous at best, assuming you can maintain vigilance.

The new and currently best advice to keeping your individual accounts secure is to switch to using Passkeys and FIDO keys like Yubikeys. However, the effectiveness of passkeys are held back somewhat as users are slow to adopt them, and therefore websites and services are required to continue to support passwords on people's accounts anyway--keeping password vulnerabilities there as a back door.

TLDR; it's pretty ugly out there right now, and I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. Because even with more sophisticated EDR and anti-virus tools, social engineering itself is getting more complex, which renders certain defensive technologies as somewhat obsolete.

Try to use a passkey when you can, as well as a password locker to create strong passwords you don't have to memorize and non-SMS 2FA as much as possible. FIDO keys are ideal if you can get one you won't lose.

Change your passwords for your most sensitive accounts often.

Don't give websites more personal info about yourself than is absolutely necessary.

Don't double-click links or buttons on websites/captchas.

Be careful what you click and download on piracy sources.

Try to treat your emails and PMs with a healthy dose of skepticism--double-check who is sending them etc for stealthily disguised typos or clever names. It's not going to be as obvious as it used to be that someone is phishing you.

It doesn't hurt to come up with an offline pass phrase to verify people you know IRL. Really.

And basically brace for more big hacks to happen that you cannot control to begin with. The employees at your insurance companies, your hospital, your telecomms company etc. are all likely targets for a breach.

[myrtles-and-blood]

hi i'm not really all that new to this sort of thing but i keep seeing people use the term "deity work" and i don't exactly understand what it means? like what is it, what does it entail, how is it different from deity worship? could you explain? thank you so much

Hello! I'll explain it as best as I can, so if anyone sees something out of place go ahead and correct me! Other people have answered this before here, I recommend looking into those posts as well.

What does Deity Work even mean?

Let's say this is a giving-receiving relationship you have with a deity. I'll talk about my case as an example:

I started my worship with Lucifer, right? We talked, I gave him offerings, etc. Before I did a reading with him I noticed the responses were not like he usually responds. You know, the energies were off. The thing is I ended up landing that deity was Beelzebub just checking on what I do. I asked Lucifer and he said "Yeah I told him about you, he's nice and he wants to work with you".

"Why would a deity want me to work with him? That's weird, I don't think I have anything interesting here" Well I did have something interesting: I was (and still am) extremely disorganised and I cannot concentrate on my studies. He is The Lord of the Flies™, yes, but he also can help people with management in business and working efficiently. So seeing me was like if you saw a stray cat doing the stupidest thing it can do to get food and going "Yeah I want one of those".

After we did a reading clearing up everything and what we'll do in this working relationship, we just started. What I do currently is light his candle every time I have to study and it works wonders because I can actually concentrate. I don't know how he does it, but it's really cool. Studying and anything I find with bugs in it (related to bugs, I'm not giving him a dead bug) I give it to him. In exchange he gives me concentration and some advice to organise my studying sessions while supervising them.

This was not me just telling a story, I want you to see how it can start and how it progresses:

That deity might come on its own or maybe another deity told them about you (Hermes is the god of "I know a guy" so he does that often)

They don't choose you like "You are the chosen favourite of God", it's not that serious. They just like what you're about and probably think they have the solution to that specific problem, just like stray cats lol.

In exchange for prayers and offerings they can give you advice and guidance through a problem. Depends on your dynamic with them, the problem that you have, etc., so it can look very different depending on the person and deity of course.

They can ask you to start this working relationship OR you can approach them! Much like I did with Aphrodite, and it's amazing, so I encourage you to ask instead of waiting for someone to pop up.

Also, the fact that they want to work with you does not mean you want to do so, you know? You can always turn down an offer. With Beelzebub I told him that I did want to work with him, but it wasn't the best moment, so we delayed it! Again, depends on every situation. This means they can turn down your offer if you wanna work with them too! It's just Consent 101.

How is this any different from Deity Worship?

Worshipping a deity is more like "I love what you do please take this cookie and keep up the good work" in my humble opinion.

Maybe you live by the sea and do horse riding, that means you'll probably like Poseidon and worshipping him is a way of thanking him for all those things you like. Maybe you are the absolute worst at studies and owls scare the shit out of you, but Athena is your girl because you like her and that's it. It's like having a friend who you share hobbies with or not, but you love them and give them stuff that you know they like even if you aren't really into it (I'm not telling you to go find owls for Athena, but maybe give them a cute figurine of an owl like "I hate that, that's not my thing, but it's your thing so here you go")

I am NOT good at sports. But Ares and I are close and I like him very much, my good time boy. We still have things in common and sometimes I'll tell him "I will do two push ups for you my guy, just for you" and I instantly fall flat to the ground not even finishing the first one, but the intention is what counts. He's probably not very fond of rocks but if I find some for my collection and start rambling he will probably go "I don't know what the fuck you're on about but looks cool".

THE POINT IS, worship is honouring what that deity does, and working is wanting to collaborate with them to get to a goal that relates to what they do. I personally won't recommend Dionysus if you want to get a raise at your law firm, but who knows, maybe he helps you pick the perfect wine for a work dinner to get your boss to like you as a small treat lol.

Working needs worship, but worship does not need working. Just clarifying.

If you lose your glasses and ask Hermes to help you find them quickly because you're getting dizzy does not mean you're instantly working with him. It's a small favour, that's common in deity worship. But deity work requires a process. I think it's meant for a long term goal. You won't ask Hermes to work with you just to find your glasses, but you probably want to work with him to learn French, you know?

I hope I cleared things up. I did as best as I could, that's how I practice my stuff. Again, if you feel like adding information and/or pointing out something that's not correct, you're free to do so with respect!

Anon, I hope I cleared your confusion even after beating around the bush so much lol. 🫶🏻

[allmentalyart]

It's been a while since I last posted here! Reason for that is this giant art project that I started in December 2023. I ditched it in February last year and picked it back up in November 2024. I originally planned on getting it done in time for Christmas, but my plans got cut short and I had delay it till the 2nd of March of this year!

Enjoy my lovely beans celebrating a holiday that doesn't exist in their world XD Some of them, namely Luna and Shadow, got knowledge about our earth holidays and so the whole family decided to join in and try out this little celebration :3 For them it's a holiday of joy, love and gifting your loved ones something of meaning, so they don't have any connection to religion in this.

OCs featured from left to right:

Joleen (black and purple dragon)

Toxident (purple and blue dragon)

Daitya (black and red dragon)

Alokit (golden dragon)

Shaytan (black and yellow dragon under the tree)

Mirto (the bat in the tree)

Tarek (green dragon)

Yuraka (feathered blue dragon)

Nira (blue dragon)

Luna (white and rainbow dragon)

Shadow (black and blue dragon)

Nemesis (white dragon holding the mistletoe)

Tenebra (the very colourful purple dragon)

Demon (black and green dragon)

Nisa (cat on couch)

Sparky (dog on couch)

Cookie (hedgehog on couch)

Satab (brown dragon entering the room)

Acita (leopard entering the room)

This project was so much fun to make! I wanna redraw it one day and hopefully get it done in one go instead of having a nearly one year break inbetween. Tho at the same time I am happy I had this break! You can definitely see my progress in art. The complete right third was drawn in 2023, while the left 2/3rd are from 2024/2025. I am especially proud of the anthro versions of my lovely OCs! Yeah, they can both walk on their hinds and on all four legs. It's up to the dragons what type they prefer. Daitya for example always walks on his hind legs, while Shadow prefers to walk on all four! Just some little details I love to add in :3 On another note…this project 100 % gave me an art block XD The time it took me to finish was sprinkled with complete art blocks for weeks. I didn't draw that much cause of this! Now that It's finally done, I did finish quite a few art pieces already! You'll see some more art from now on again :D

Time taken in total: 74 h

✅Likes, shares, saves and comments are highly appreciated ❌I own the copyright to these artworks! Any usage of it without my consent is prohibited. This includes the usage of my art in AI or NFTs. I don't consent to this. Art theft and tracing is prohibited as well!

[pekoposting]

Sorry same anon as Peko’s upbringing, one more ask! Do you have red flags you don’t like seeing in Peko fanfiction?

That's fine! I was about to go to sleep anyways haha

It's mainly the common misconceptions of her character (here are the first ones that come to mind):

Pekoyama being depicted as not having a personality/interests (she. she has likes and dislikes listed on her e-handbook page)

Pekoyama not being able to have interests that differ from Kuzuryuu (Pekoyama's 'dislike' on her e-handbook page (sweets) goes against Kuzuryuu's 'like' on his! (karintou / fried dough cookies)

Pekoyama readily trying to murder people for little reason, most commonly her suggesting to Kuzuryuu if she should take someone out when they have not done anything extreme enough to warrant it, e.g. trying to take Kuzuryuu's life (she states in her FTEs she has a philosophy of 'no violence unless necessary', and while her perception of 'necessary' is a bit skewed, it's not incredibly skewed)

Pekoyama getting over her tool mindset a little too quickly, usually for the sake of getting Kuzupeko together quick without having to address things like consent issues (yes I know in her Island Mode ending she starts abandoning her tool mindset after making one (1) new friend, but deeper stuff, like most prominently for this example, being reinforced all her life to carry out Kuzuryuu's wishes will take some time to unlearn)

Pekoyama calling Kuzuryuu 'Young Master' while they're dating.

Pekoyama's speech pattern not being in character

Pekoyama being depicted as not feeling guilt over murdering Koizumi

I've only seen this once but Pekoyama being unskilled at fighting?? it wasn't in an AU where she wasn't trained to be a swordfighter from birth but she is literally the Ultimate Swordswoman what the heck

[princescribbler]

YOUR DYNAMIC IS YOUR DYNAMIC: IT DOESN'T NEED TO FIT ANYONE ELSE"S IDEAS!

(Pre-emptive content warning: discussions of depression, fetishism, ABDL, D/s, fairly extreme Ageplay and regression dynamics, and broader power exchange dynamics)

It's often hard to explain to people what my kink dynamic looks like with my fiance/ partner/ mommy-domme @giggle-byte. Am I her little? Yes. 24/7 diapers? Absolutely. Do I wear a chastity cage most days, and follow detailed routines and rules? ABSOLUTELY! So do I feel like she's the only one in charge, I'm this completely regressed and controlled 'slave', and we're 24/7 D/s? Absolutely not, and I'll try to explain why a bit further below. But also... kind of yes? But not in the way people seem to think!

See, I've been into forced regression, unpotty training, pretty intense ABDL and MD/lb things for as long as I can recall. Heck, most of my dating history I was the daddy domme like 70% of the time or more, instead of like 10-15% in my current dynamic. So finding a full-time mommy-domme and lifelong kink partner would, in theory, result in extreme lifestyle changes. Sure, some happened...but nothing i didn't ask for, beg for, PLEAD for over years of my life. Nothing was done i didn't consent to, agree with, and even generally DESIRED to have! The point i'm trying to make is this: I expected a specific 'version' of what it meant to have a mommy-domme, and especially a 24/7 dynamic, and i was just...wrong! See, my dynamic is based on MY needs, not the ones my penis thinks of when it's hard, and not the ones i read about online. my needs are mine, and they don't necessarily MATCH the expectation online! So why bother getting my partner to give me detailed rules, give me structure, etc? because it WORKS FOR US, and IS WHAT I WANT! Why do I have a bedtime? Because i struggled with tiredness at work in the morning and thrive on routine. The chastity? Well, i had panic attacks around sex, and momma suggested at first it would take my mind off the idea of having to 'perform'. Soon, i liked the whole idea, the control, the teasing, the build up...but i also didn't like actually feeling denied, and frankly when we first started, i had a pretty low sex-drive....so weirdly, my amazing fiance @giggle-byte actually helped me 'regain' some of that sex drive, enjoy and embrace...via CHASTITY! And now, it's actually her who is the amazing, controlled, thoguhtful one who handles that for me. I can ask to lock, unlock, etc...but the truth is she knows what i can and can't cope with and gives it to me without me needing to ask! But it's NOT about denial...she unlocks me every day, with few exceptions. It's not about control: I have the key, a backup key, a third backup, even in play where i 'lock the key away' in a timer lock i genuinely can't get into...it's never off my keyring as a spare. The idea is the DYNAMIC is there...but the daily rules are more open, flexible, and based on our mutual desires and needs!

Every time we reassess our dynamic we run into this over and over. Too many online stories, too many fantasies, and not enough realistic reality or even modern and flexible dynamics crept into our expectations...and suddenly, we realized that we aren't doing a 24/7 ABDL and MD/lb (and switch DD/lg dynamic, though she's slightly more private about her little side) relationship the way anyone was expecting...but it was WORKING for us very well, DESPITE that?!

The point I'm trying to make is this; Your dynamic, relationship, and needs are YOURS and won't look like a cookie-cutter idea. For some people into MD/lb, they want chastity, denial, cock and ball torture, humiliation, degradation, and the like. For some, it's purely non-sexual, cute, and loving. For us...it's sometimes very flexible, but generally it's more focused on cuteness, structure, routine, and supporting us both in our mutually shared kinky desires!

To wrap this rant up: Let's go through a few quick examples of what the EXPECTATION of a dynamic like ours usually is, and then compare it to what MY relationship looks like. Expectation/archetype against the reality!

Chastity Expectation: to be locked, denied, teased, humiliated, left wanting and desperate or degraded or even cuckolded! My Dynamic/Chastity Reality: momma uses it like a sex toy, it's not required, it's a thing i only wear for a few hours most days, but i CAN feel the desire for more...and one wore it the better part of a month, without prior experience with that, and loved it!

Diapers 24/7 Expectation: Public humiliation against my will to forcibly infantilize, regress, and humiliate or control me! My Dynamic/Diaper Reality: It's my fucking kink, i CLEARLY enjoy it and momma helped me stop feeling ashamed and worried. in fact, it's not a profound comfort and sort of security-blanket.

Switch Relationship Expectation: To constantly swap roles, or to only stay in one role at a time, or to at the very least struggle with who is 'big' and who is 'little' at any given time. My Switch Reality: It's fluid, happens without a ton of effort (admittedly this took time to establish), i can be 'baby prince papi' while she's still my 'princess'...even if it's 'momma princess'. Our roles don't match the traditional expectations.

24/7 ABDL and MD/lb Expectation: A lifestyle of complete submission, regression, denial, control, humiliation, and sexual frustration in order to become more and more needy and desperate...Eventually usually implied to end in either permanent regression, cuckolding, etc. My 24/7 ABDL and MD/lb Reality: Basically just the fun parts of that, without sexual frustration, plus my sex drive went from 'once a week' to '3-5x a day' and has made me happier, healthier, more confident, cute, and self-accepting. Oh and i get all my kinky desires met, fulfill the love of my life's kinky fantasies, al while getting MORE sexy fun, MORE relaxation, and IMPROVED mental as well as physical well-being. You know...NOT what i was told I'd receive!

So fuck the idiots who demand you follow their idea of kink. Well, don't actually fuck them, they don't deserve it, but i mean....ignore and disregard them! You don't have to have a dynamic that fits any traditional guidelines, rules, etc. If you want to have a unique dynamic, CELEBRATE your uniqueness and finding someone who shares it with you! And for god's sake, don't expect each other to fulfil a role neither of you signed up for, ok? It's OK to have a fantasy and yet find the reality unpleasant, preferring to live in a gentler, nicer lifestyle. Give yourself permission to be unique, creative, and DEFINE your needs rather thna having them defined for you! I promise: it pays off in spades!

As always, stay happy, stay healthy, and stay kinky!

-Scribbler

[not-poignant]

Are Sebastian and Alex going to learn about bdsm and safe practices/negotiation? Or do they keep fumbling around and doing what they're doing?

Hi anon,

People who learn about BDSM don't necessarily practice safe practices or negotiation.

And there are elements of negotiation in this story! It's not a black and white 'they're not doing this in a paint-by-numbers sort of way and therefore it doesn't count' situation, y'know?

They are two characters in their mid-20s who live in a tiny town, one of those characters is dyslexic to the point that he can barely read, and the other's method of doing things has worked for him all his life (or so he thinks), they don't have any reason/s to learn about BDSM, and it's not likely that either of them ever will.

That also doesn't mean that they can't enjoy their kinky sex life.

There has been a lot of discussion already, and there will be more and more going forwards. It might not be at the level most people want, but Sebastian has certainly obtained consent (more than once), offered and then insisted on debriefs and post-sex discussion, explained to Alex how to communicate if he hates something, and made it clear that what he likes is unusual and sadistic in nature. It's also clear that Alex likes being pushed, i.e. - not being forced to give consent in every circumstance when someone can take control and give him what he wants anyway. That's actually pretty common in some people with a child abuse background who become people pleasers.

If you want negotiation + safe practices at a certain level, you'd have to completely remake Alex's character into someone who can magically be a functional, communicative, healthy human being, and he's not that. Alex is getting better at communicating (that's how we go this far in the story in the first place), but if you expect this story to end on Alex being a perfect human who can do Instagram-level kink negotiation, then no, this isn't the story you want, anon.

If you look deeper and don't expect cookie cutter kinds of dialogue, there has been ongoing negotiation in the story since the early chapters. When Alex makes it clear through physical response and then verbal that he doesn't like yelling, Sebastian stops yelling. When Sebastian makes it clear that he has complicated feelings about hiring his ex-school bully as a cleaner, Alex makes it clear that he doesn't share those complicated feelings, especially in light of the pay rate. Sebastian consenting to Alex being his cleaner makes it clear that those terms are acceptable to him.

When Alex tries to undervalue himself, Sebastian makes it clear that he's not comfortable paying someone less simply because they value themselves less. When Alex then takes that pay, it's a form of consent to Sebastian's attitudes. Their relationship has been an ongoing negotiation since the beginning, and that's how they've grown closer. If you're used to only looking for very obvious signs of negotiation, it might be easy to miss the non-verbal and subtle forms of negotiation that are happening.

For example, it might not seem like it, but Sebastian - many chapters ago now - talking about how he likes control in the bedroom and that turning Alex on long before they'd ever shared anything sexual together, is a form of communication. Alex learns he likes the idea of it without it ever been forced on him, and Sebastian wouldn't have that conversation with someone he didn't trust (for example, Alex in the beginning of the story). They had to have trust to have that conversation, Alex had to have trust to ask Sebastian questions about it in the oblique way he did, and they had to share a common comfortability have a conversation in that direction in the first place.

In A Stain that Won't Dissolve, these things don't look like a psychologist's version of: 'Okay, what do you want, and this is what I want, and here's where we meet in the middle' - a lot of life doesn't look like this (but if you want that, I've written that in Falling Falling Stars - it still has dubious consent though, lol). Both Alex and Sebastian have poor communication on their side, and it's a growth story for the two of them.

But no, I have no intention of Sebastian ever learning terms like 'subspace' or 'RACK' or anything like that. A lot of people in the world, especially prior to easy access to the internet, figured this stuff out on their own and many of them made it work even without the rigid or codified structures of the world of BDSM (and some of those people went on to invent the world of BDSM that we take for granted today).

It's the kinks that make you kinky, not the knowledge of an acronym or the world it engenders.

There's also no reason to think that Sebastian has access to a healthy education about BDSM there, it's not like Elliott was practicing much healthy BDSM in my other Stardew fic, The Wind that Cuts the Night, :D Elliott knew all about safe practices, negotiation, and BDSM, and chose to ignore a lot of the safe stuff over messing around more dangerously.

The fumbling around is the point, basically. Growing up is messy, and dubious consent is hot (for some of us), and there are many ways we communicate with the people around us, especially when it's two guys in a town the valourises machismo and stoicism over emotional openness, and one of those guys was beaten by his father over not being macho and strong enough which makes him exceptionally resistant to communicating clearly even about basic subjects and needs.

That's the part I actually really love about this story.

[r0semultiverse]

People in the Cookie Run Kingdom fandom have apparently sent death threats to certain accounts over shipping 2 consenting adults because of an “age gap” (both hundreds or thousands of years old, idk I don't go here, heard it through my bestie)

This is what an age gap looks like apparently to these discourse accounts basically as an example or two from another fandom:

Also not all ships are perfectly happy or healthy, not everyone's going for a picket fence pipe dream here.

Some ships can exist to make each other worse.

[doodlegirl1998]

Oh my god...

I just realized something about how some characters are treated, so I'm gonna quote Joshscorcher from one of his fails videos

"You aren't a person, you ARE a disability! You're not a human, you ARE a skin color! You're not alive, you ARE a checkbox!"

Doesn't that just fit some of the characters in BNHA to a T?

We got the crazy yandere! The hotheaded rival! The hardass teacher with a heart of gold! The black guy!

And of course! The disabled kid who magically gets cured to be like everyone else!

Hori seems to believe that if he just adds pieces of representation or tropes that people like, they will just eat it up without question.

Not even considering or bothering to think about actual backstory, personality, goals, likes or dislikes.

You know, things that make a character an actual character!

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

This fits how MHA treats it's characters to a T or at the very least they develop from Nuanced characters to a stereotype which is never what you want from a series. Also Hori even fails at fitting these characters into the cookie cutter molds he tries to contort them into at times.

Let's give a few examples based on what you have said above:

"Crazy Yandere and Token Bi" = Toga (which the LGBTQ fans of MHA should be offended by, because having a Yandere who is coded very creepily (yet also not condemned for her creepy behavior in general or how she groped Uraraka without consent) as prominent representation is not good...

"Sweet generic shonen love interest" = Uraraka (well this is what Hori intends for her with IzuOcha endgame even with how weakly its built in the series. And Uraraka herself denying her feelings for Izu and freely simping for Toga. I feel so sorry for Ocha fans, how she has been written with Toga is a complete mess.)

"Hardass Teacher with a heart of gold" = Aizawa (or this is what Hori intends for him realistically a lot of his actions under a critical lense read as malice at worse and negligence at best but go off about how he cares about his kids, Hori. Despite dropping a building on them and making them believe their parents are kidnapped by villains. Or the fact that he expelled tonnes of other students prior to 1A without a care - what makes 1A so special?)

"Hot headhead rival" = Bakugou... (Well this is meant to be him, narratively speaking, but rivals are meant to inspire and respect each other. Bakugou doesn't respect Izuku, Bakugou abuses Izuku and acts as his parasite. Bakugou brings Izuku down at every opportunity.)

"The 'token black/ blasian' characters" = Rumi and Rock Lock. (While I'd say Rock Lock is good black representation. Rumi... She's not my favourite. I like strong female characters but the way she's so aggressive and violence hungry as a hero - that rubs me the wrong way. Realistically, I could see her killing a villain by accident through use of excessive force. And I can't ignore that she's used as a stick for Hori's gore porn fetish which isn't a great look as one of Hori's few Blasian characters.)

"The disabled kid who gets magically cured to be like everyone else." - Midoriya Izuku. (You could say this is the case for All Might and Aoyama too but Izuku is the most prominent example as the main protagonist.) Izuku's story and the lack of how his backstory is touched on is one of the one that's the most upsetting parts of MHA to me. Personally, I have a disability and mine can't be fixed, while I accept and embrace it now, I didn't when I was Izuku's age. I would daydream about getting "fixed" and being like everyone else so I could fit in. As an adult, I have now achieved many things that I was told that I could not hope to ever be able to do - and I didn't need to be "fixed/ made normal" to do it. Instead, I worked my ass off to achieve those things.

Izuku's story would have been way more powerful if he trained relentlessly with All Might, stayed quirkless and achieved as much as his quirked peers.

OR, if he had to gain OFA, the cognitive dissonance between how he was treated then in his backstory vs now should heavily influence him. Either way, he should have grown out of "Kacchan" and told Bakugou, his bully and abuser, to fuck right off.

The fact that Izuku isn't allowed to think of his backstory or one negative thought of Kacchan severely limits him. And it's one of the things that has stunted him as a character. All Izuku is now is OFA 'generic shonen protagonist' who will save Shig and destroy All for One. What a waste.

TLDR - developing good characters is like nurturing a particularly fussy plant, you can put down the right soil (backstory) to get readers hooked but if you get lazy and don't water it regularly (develop plot points, think through what is in character rather than what you as the Author want them to do, have them show up regularly) it (the characters) will never grow.

[stupittmoran]

Great example of why pedophilia is and should remain a crime. This child was given a choice between $10,000.00 and two Oreo cookies. Guess what he picked? Children's brains are not developed enough to consent! THE END!

[shrimpmandan]

Deadass the majority of “think of the children!!!” rhetoric operates under the blatantly incorrect assumption that kids are just. Devoid of sexuality in any form. The idea that kids don’t have basic bodily functions, or curiosities, or even just the fact that sexual development (on a mental level) begins VERY early. This includes the concept of gender. Conservatives and other sex negative groups heavily rely on the assumption that children are pure beings devoid of sin that are then “corrupted” by the outside world (loss of innocence), as opposed to gender and sexuality being innate concepts present in all children, which is partially influenced by society, and partially influenced by biology.

Most people will tell you that they first started having sexual or kinky fantasies-- as well as masturbating-- either at a toddler or elementary age. Children will start asserting their gender at around 2-3, and is consequently when a lot of (though not all) trans people first realize and voice what is later identified as gender dysphoria. Children can start asking about the birds and the bees at almost any age; I started asking when I was 2. Hell, I was always very curious about human and animal sexuality! While parents in US schools are outraged and clutching their pearls about the fact that elementary aged children are learning about the reproductive habits of seahorses (yes, they’re mad that the males get pregnant, why wouldn’t they be), I was fucking researching that shit on my own volition while I was being homeschooled! I infodumped to my own fucking mother about seahorse sex! Only a few years later I was researching how clams had sex, and slugs/snails, and worms. Cut to present day and my primary special interest is sexology and I want to become a sexologist. It’s almost like I was naturally curious and exploring an undeniable facet of the world that is stigmatized for no reason.

And another thing, of course: accepting that children are sexual also requires accepting the fact that children can commit sexual assault, particularly against other children. COCSA is shockingly common and how traumatizing it is for the kids involved is highly variable. Some people regard their own experiences as simply innocent exploration, while others feel deeply taken advantage of and dirty, or somewhere in-between the two.

Also: “children can’t consent” is honestly kind of a weird/misleading phrase, and honestly kind of depends on ages. Teenagers can absolutely consent to having sex with their peers, for example. A minority amount of under-13 children may also engage in peer-to-peer sexual contact that may not necessarily be classified as COCSA by those involved. However, it is important to note that (for both kids and teens), they may not fully grasp the full ramifications and implications of consent and sexuality (hell, many adults don’t), and under no circumstances can they consent to a much older adult. The reason larger age gaps are less of an issue with adult relationships is because, even if there’s a noticeable gap in maturity, I much more trust the judgment of a 25 year old to gauge the risks of dating a 40 year old, compared to a 17 or even 18 year old. Minors can and often do engage in consensual sex, and a lot of the issues that arise from that come from a lack of comprehensive sex education and heavy stigmatization surrounding sexuality. The amount of teens who genuinely fear being kicked out of the house for getting pregnant is frankly appalling.

That’s another thing. The idea that sex education is sexualizing kids, when sex ed protects kids from potentially being taken advantage of, or at LEAST gives them the tools to tell an adult if they’ve been molested. Don’t tell them their genitals are a “cookie” or a “thing”. Say vulva/vagina. Say penis/balls. Tell them what their body is and does. Don’t tell them that it’s always okay if mommy or daddy touches them there, or if their doctor does. Most sexual abuse happens within families, and I’ve heard PLENTY of tales from doctors offices. If anyone touches them in a way they don’t like and they don’t listen when they’re told to stop, that’s when you start biting and kicking. I don’t care who it is. Most sexual assault is instigated by someone the victim thought they could trust. Instill that survival instinct early. I shouldn’t have to tell you how fucking terrifying it is to have kids be disregarded when trying to warn about dangerous adults, because their parents refused to teach them basic anatomical terms.

I also shouldn’t have to tell you how terrifying it is that school-aged children in Texas can’t ask for period products or learn about periods in some schools because it’s considered to be a sexual topic, or just flatly not mandated for them to accommodate. The only people sexualizing children’s bodies are the ones screaming about how children are pure, innocent beings devoid of any sexuality. Sexuality blossoms around puberty, which can begin as young as 9 years old. Most people recount that their sexual interests and behaviors took root during childhood. Most teenagers are horny fuckers who need to be told how to have SAFE sex, not to avoid sex.

Stop desexualizing the human experience. Stop treating sexuality like a sin or a corrupting force that warps the minds of children, and not an innate facet of most humans that is constantly developing throughout childhood, and even into adulthood. Your child could be LGBT, they could be kinky, they could flatly have an interest in sexuality. It doesn’t just pop up out of nowhere during puberty; it comes to a head during puberty. There’s a difference.

Further reading:

https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/Patients-Families/Health-Library/HealthDocNew/Understanding-Early-Sexual-Development

https://www.ncsby.org/content/childhood-sexual-development

Planned Parenthood PDF Link

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/preschool/Pages/Sexual-Behaviors-Young-Children.aspx

[askgothamshitty]

Controversial take regarding the rape post:

*Tw for discussion of rape*

I think we look at rape too much through a legal and evangelical lense, which isn't very useful when it comes to dealing with the very messy way the world works. We define rape solely through how persicutable the experience was (ie how well we can fit it into the textbook definition) but sex and consent are far too complex and we end up defaulting back to prutanitarianism (i cannot spell that word) where any sex that isn't for the sake of reproduction is bad (a long shot but I can elaborate another day)

Not every sexual encounter can be easily categorized as you wanted or didn't want it. And you can't always determine what the other people wanted to do vs. didn't.

Coming back the original example, we can't say for sure if it was rape or not because it's not a cookie-cutter example. Both parties were intoxicated and therefore unable to consent, but that also meant the offending party would not be in sound mind to make rational decisions or interpret the other's boundaries. If they were strangers, then that would only make things worse. There is no way this would hold up in the court of law, nor would you be able to convince others that that person was a rapist.

But what if the offending party did force themselves onto you. You don't have tangible evidence, but you have that gutt feeling that something bad happened. And this is the part I believe we should be focusing on, providing support to women.

Creating spaces for women to talk about their sexual experiences, positive or negative. Empowering women with the language and tools to understand their own emotions and boundaries. Being when those boundaries have been violated. Providing them with support (financial emotional, etc) when things get messy.

Even if the goal isn't necessarily to prosecute the offending party, looking at things from a good vs. bad perspective and relying on the legal definition forces a lot of women and victims to do the same. This can result in a lot of women concluding that what happened to them isn't rape or isn't important enough or has too much ambiguity. It also relies on the victim's understanding of consent and bodily autonomy. Even if they find that what happened to them was unwanted, they may not be able to explain why.

My head is spinning. I can't find all the words I need to explain my point.

I just think it would be more effective not to try and fit every dubious sexual experience into one clean-cut definition. It's not productive when dealing with individual issues. Instead we should focus on helping women understand their boundaries and creating spaces for expression and providing support based on need not definition.

One girl might walk away from a black out drunk sexual experience fine, and another might be traumatized for life. We should help the latter and not debate the validity of her experience. Besides, you can traumatize someone during sex without raping them.

Also, we should consider some people just like being in risky situations. Some people just want to get black out drunk and have sex with strangers. I would never but to each ones own. We can't really stop them since the danger is a part of the allure. I think that's something people always forget. Some people just let bad things happen to them or at least put themselves in a position where it might. It's not healthy behavior, but it's reality.

This is too long. Happy holidays dear

Thank you so much for sharing your perspective and opinions! You are very articulate and you made great points. I totally agree that relying on legal definitions does more harm than good.

I really love a lot of what you said. I’ll remember this the next time this discussion comes up.

[wanderingblindly]

hi! I’m sorry to bring up a heavier topic of conversation but I know (at least I think I know. if not I’ll be very very embarrassed) that you’re US based and I was wondering what your thoughts on the ao3 privacy stuff were? and also maybe if you could explain it?

Hey there! Let's preface this with the fact that I'm not like, a specialist in these sorts of things -- I'm just some bitch on the internet. But I do appreciate your trust in asking me, so let's get into it!

Major takeaway: there were no actual material changes to the privacy policy.

I've read through the current privacy policy and the update guide (which are written in plain english and are super accessible), and it seems like all the recent changes were

Clarification of existing TOS

Reorganization of TOS to improve readability

Provides transparency around existing data collection and processing

I'm assuming your ask is in regards to their current privacy policy, so I'll do my best to summarize them below. Again, I'm just some bitch online, and all my references are from Ao3 themselves.

Data Collection citation: III.B. Scope of Personal Information

Ao3 defines Personal Information as emails, IP addresses, logs, cookies, posted content, interactions with the site (kudos, bookmarks, pages visited, etc.), referral information (how you got to Ao3), and error messages displayed.

Note that this is not a change.

This is all information that Ao3 has always collected. IP address collection, for example, is why you cannot visit a work 15 times in 3 hours and count for 15 hits -- visits from the same IP in close succession only count once.

For clarity on the other ways that they use the relatively minimal information they collect, please see here.

On a personal note, I think that Ao3 collects far less data than most sites we use on a regular basis. I'm not bothered by it -- especially considering my email address is associated with the name Liquid and not my irl name.

Data Processing citation: III.A. Applicability

Ao3 is hosted in the US, therefore the majority of their servers are based in the US, too. This means that people accessing Ao3 from a non-US location will have their data cross jurisdictions and be processed under applicable US data laws. They point this out because you may have different legal rights in these jurisdictions.

Note that this is not a change.

If you want to see more about Ao3's subprocessors, aka who might be accessing your data, you can click here.

Ao3 also notes that they aggregate data for analysis on Ao3's users. Because aggregated data is no longer personally identifiable (ie, your individual email is no longer in the data set, just the number 1 representing that your email exists), there are no restrictions on how they may use this data. That means they could publish how many users they have without your explicit consent, because it does not identify you.

Note that this is not a change.

Third Party Data Sharing citation: III.F Information Shared with Third Parties

Ao3 states that it does not sell or trade data to third parties. There are limited exceptions where your data will be transferred to other parties.

The specific use cases are listed in my citation, but they generally fall under data processing (as stated above), if you choose to give information by joining an exchange, and if they must cooperate with a legal investigation.

Again, not that this is not a change.

Edit: Here's a cool reddit post providing insight about Ao3's administrative back end, if you're interested!

[kndrules]

hi! i loved your future au comic and the way you've caracterized maurice talking about how nice/weird it is being a teacher of knd operatives. do you have any headcanons about how maurice or other members of the sector v think themselves as adult and their relationship to adulthood and childhood? how to contribute to kids liberation as adults

Hello!! I think about this a lot, and yet also not enough.

The comic you're referring to brought up another example. Rachel becomes a defense lawyer who specializes in taking KND related cases, basically acting as the legal protector of KND operatives. Fanny meanwhile is a prosecutor who targets evil adults. Because we love defense lawyer/prosecutor relationships.

In general, I think it's common for adult operatives to align their careers with kid liberation. Like, it's not required and it's not the only way adult operatives can aid with kid liberation but it happens a lot.

Abby is another example of this. She's a social worker who advocates for kids in difficult situations.

Even Wally has a kid-aligned career as a pediatrician. He can use his platform to advocate for kids as well, in various ways. One of those ways is just using his leverage as a doctor against the parents of his patients. He's not allowed to have the final say in what the parents decide, but he does what he can. A real life problem with children's healthcare is that parents consent stands in for the child's consent. So the kid doesn't get a say in their own healthcare, only their parents do.

Kuki can also do kid liberation work as the Rainbow Monkey CEO. Sometimes careers that don't obviously overlap with kid liberation absolutely do.

Having people who are willing to fight for youth autonomy in any industry is a huge deal. Education, healthcare and law are probably the big ones that come to mind, but there are very few jobs that can't involve it.

What adult operatives do for the cause is really just the exact same stuff that we can all do in real life. Speak up when you see injustice and try to fight for something better.

But like I said, it's not all tied into careers. For example, Nigel never has a job. He's pretty much unemployable due to his inability to separate his politics from his professionalism, and also because of his debilitating paranoia and OCD. But even if those weren't factors, he was in prison for a huge chunk of his young adult life, and if you have a criminal record it's near impossible to get work (a very real and very evil problem). Hes released from prison as a disabled 30-something year old former convict with no professional experience at all. He's pretty much inevitably going to become a stay at home Dad.

But he can still do a A LOT advocating in his local community and for the children in his life. not only is a menace in PTA meetings, but he's got a lot of free time on his hands to get out and make a fuss. Also, and this is very specific to Nigel, his family still lives in the same house, which is conveniently attached to the treehouse. So he DIRECTLY works with the active KND operatives who use that treehouse. He can help them in varying ways, from making them cookies to keep their energy up, to feigning ignorance when evil adults show up at his front door and shooing them away.

I haven't mentioned Hoagie yet, and that's because she's the most likely to get absorbed into the things that immediately interest her and not think about much outside of that. It's the autism. Their career is like this. Hoagie works a LOT, just because she loves what she does. But she still advocates for kids when the opportunity presents itself, particularly her own kids.

In the comic I drew, Angeline mentions that the KND doesn't need adult programmers, because there are already plenty of very talented KND operatives that are programmers. However, people like Angeline can work to make space for those KND programmers and watch their backs. Hoagie can do this too in the world of academia and hard research. While there arent any kids in university, they can still help KND nerds get access to resources and stuff like that. Lots of scientific papers are behind paywalls. Hoagie can help kids get around those paywalls.

I remember talking to Mottle about Hoagie running workshops for kids, and Abby shifting to a more chill career that's somewhat similar. Just teaching kids cool stuff.

I sort of breezed past Kukis involvement so I'm gonna go back to that- As the Rainbow Monkeys CEO, she pushes for inclusivity in product design. The RM corporation now has better sizing for their children's clothing line, they have pride merch, gender affirming products, and children's books with positive messages. Evil adults complain about the company being "woke" now. She also makes huge donations to children's charities and fundraises even more money through her products.

I have a specific headcanon about Kuki and Wally doing a collaboration where the Rainbow Monkey corp has a partnership with local children's hospitals. There's a line of RM scrubs and stuff too. But that probably already existed.

And to elaborate on Abby's role, while I think it's mostly obvious, I did want to restate my headcanon that she takes over the DCFDTL 's case. I headcanon that those kids can't age, so when Abby is an adult, they're still 10, and they're stuck in the foster care system with a very high-profile, legally complicated case.

I think...that's plenty of info for now. Thanks for the question!

[kaiasky]

hey do you know anything about web development? what are your thoughts about "necessary cookies?" whenever im on any website i make a habit of turning off every cookie that i can, but there's usually a statement along the lines of some cookies are necessary for the site to function properly

Good question! I'm not the most experienced webdev, and especially not super experienced about policy. I'll try to answer, but people can tell me what parts I left out.

An early way to do web stuff, HTML forms, looks a lot like this:

If you want to send some data to the server, you'd have to enter your username and password with every request. That's a pain, so instead, we send the user a login cookie, which is just some randomly generated unique data that the user can send back to the server to prove that they're the same computer.

So that's an example of a necessary cookie, and it really is pretty dang necessary. The site wouldn't be able to keep you logged in without it. (There's some alternatives, but they basically do the same things as cookies.)

You can check what cookies a site has set in your browser, eg on firefox it's open devtools (f12 or right-click-inspect-element) and then look in storage:

You can see here that tumblr stores the user's activity graph and light/darkmode preferences in the cookies. Under GDPR, something like this is likely considered a "functional" cookie, meaning it's not strictly necessary, because it enhances my experience but I could use the site without storing my activity graph preference. (I'm not entirely sure why activity graph settings are stored on the browser and not as part of a user's account data. That's just the way somebody decided to code it I guess.)

i generally don't see cookies popups, and i think it's broadly fine to just add "annoyances" filter to ublock (blocks the cookie consent popups) and run firefox in strict mode, which blocks and containerizes cross-site cookies.

i welcome corrections from people who know more though

[somany-fandoms-solittle-time]

Canonical Mac Facts: Friendly Flirting!

Mac, my twisted Wonderland oc, is largely based on myself so I thought it'd be fun to share some info both on their character sheet AND things we have in common~

And of course I had to start with ✨ jokingly flirting with friends (until it's not a joke anymore) ✨

Mac (and myself) are chronic flirts... Sometimes without realizing it. Xey will often make innuendos to themselves with a shit eating grin before focusing on the issue at hand. Truly, the sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy. This also appears when they start making friends (and frenemies) with the TWST cast. But since he's 19, he'll keep the 'flirting' to mostly innocent or stupidly over the top for the majority of the characters under 18.

(..... And while a number of the 2nd years are fine as fuck, they'd never cross that age boundary, even though 2 years isn't anything significant, without an explicit talk about trauma and consent.)

Their flirting tends to get more salacious or dirty the closure friends they are. It's a trust that he knows they won't be uncomfortable while he's doing a bit. However, the more intimate the flirting can get might confuse the other party(ies) involved whether or not they actually have feelings for each other or are actually dating. Spoiler: sometimes Mac doesn't know either.

*IF* Mac realizes they have feelings that go beyond platonic or aesthetic attraction, their flirting gets significantly more awkward. Stumbling on "jokes", back pedaling, stuttering, and sometimes a full factory reset lol. Xey'll try to deny it as long as possible... But it's painfully obvious for anyone that's spent more than a day around them...

Teasing and silly pickup lines are used to fluster anyone available. It's free entertainment, really. Because it's Mac's turn to cause some Chaos, Dammit!

Example: Teasing Trey for free sweets

Mac: Hey Trey, are you the eye drops at the optometrist?

Trey, taking cookies out of the oven: hm?

Mac, leaning in while Trey sets the cookies down: Because you make my eyes shine whenever you're in them~

Cater, recording: *cringes so hard he wheezes*

Trey, flustered and confused: "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or slightly offended..."

Mac, stealing a cooling chocolate chip cookie: "Either way, I gotta dinner and a show~ "

But please don't be fooled by their flirting and slightly mischievous nature! He respects everyone's autonomy and consent above all. It's just easier to lighten the load with some fun or distract people's troubles with jokes. And many of the NRC boys have learned that whether they're being sarcastic to an asshole or silly with a friend, Xey genuinely do care about all of them.