#i try to use what information i have from the source material and let it grow

[huntedspy2]

hello and welcome to my "why I love autistic Spy headcanon and why it makes sense to me" post. A lot of this is going off of fanon representations but I try to go off of canon as much as possible :)

I know people don't think of him as autistic because he's a spy! He has to be good at social situations and reading body language and etc etc. But I don't think this should disprove him as being autistic because these are the same reasons heavily masking autistic people are dismissed as well. There's many testimonies of autistic people who say that they knew there was something different about them in terms of the way they could communicate with others, so they would practice and learn how to communicate with scripts or by copying other people. I think this can be applied to Spy and it makes a lot of sense especially because of his career.

I think it's much more interesting to think of him as someone that's intensively studied how to communicate with others because of being autistic, and perhaps from the pressure of others in his childhood and teen years (parents, teachers, peers). He knows exactly how to say the right thing and when because of endless practicing, not because it comes naturally to him. Perhaps social behavior, communication, and psychology became special interests to him because of this.

Because of heavily masking however, I feel like he also has identity issues with some dissociation mixed in there. Where does his masked self begin and where does it end? I feel like he truly never feels like himself, always playing a role for other people. Always switching the scripts in his mind depending on who he's talking to. He has given himself over to being a spy and becoming so good at what he does that he never has a moment to be himself. He never has a moment to figure out who he even is, and man is it exhausting.

I would imagine that he never talks to people about himself either. Perhaps this was something else he learned from when he was younger, to not bother others about his interests or thoughts. Or maybe he feels vulnerable from it. Maybe even both. Sure he could talk about wine with others, but he would never share the fact he's really into a novel series a little too much.

However, I feel like working with the mercs is something that helps him start to unmask. Working with 8 others who are all crazy in some way (and also neurodivergent in my opinion)? That's gotta chip away at his mask. He quickly realizes that a lot of the skills he's learned along the way to fit in aren't quite working with his coworkers. He starts stimming again (for example, flipping his butterfly knife repeatedly). He's less exhausted in social situations because now he doesn't have to carefully choose what to say all the time. He can remove himself from social situations easily now without having to explain or say farewells (imagine how much of a gift his watch is now that he can simply Disappear and get away from people!). Those domination lines in game where he mocks people? He can finally let loose and be mean and silly because he no longer has to worry about if someone likes him or not!

Spy is always depicted as a private person who likes to keep to himself. He has his own private and dedicated smoking room?? Hello???? I could say so much more but it's so hard to put all my thoughts into words.

I also wanna highlight some specific examples from the comics that I thought were noteworthy :)

Spy infodumping! I know this can be interpreted as him being frustrated and "of course he knows the specific details of his suit, he's rich and rich people are just like that!" but. In my heart I know it's More Than That.

Also these panels stuck out to me because of Spy's bluntness here. This isn't him trying to be cruel or anything, he literally just doesn't realize him being matter-of-fact is gonna upset Ms. Pauling. I also think it's interesting how he handles her crying as it shows that he's not good at being vulnerable or emotional with others, and keep in mind that he's friends with Ms. Pauling too. This is supported by the fact that in order to express his pride to a dying Scout, he has to disguise himself as Tom Jones. Even in an important moment Spy has to use a disguise as a buffer between his feelings and his true self. Or maybe he's unable to identify his true feelings unless he's in the headspace of another person.

ok that's it for now, I feel like I lost a lot of my thoughts about this in the process and I know for sure that I haven't shared all my thoughts because I feel like this is too headcanon-y as it is or didn't know where to fit things, but yeah Spy is autistic too :)

[justwinginglife]

No One But You

Food for the @pixelcafe-network

Sylus lay in a pool of his own blood, clutching the gunshot wound you had carved into his heart, muttering about betrayal and deceit in his final moments.

You rolled your eyes.

“Yesterday’s death was a hell of a lot more creative, Sylus.”

He sat up straight, scoffing. “Can’t help if the source material is unoriginal to start with. The best you could do was a gunshot wound today? Really?”

“That’s because I wasn’t trying to kill you, stupid.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And what do you call plowing a bullet through my chest?”

You crossed your arms. “I call that trying to shut you up. Although, I suppose that didn’t work so well either, because then you prattled on about what a traitor I was and how you never saw this coming. Which, in my humble opinion, was laying it on too thick. You always see everything coming, don’t act like a victim.”

He chuckled and with a snap of his fingers, any trace of his blood or his wound had vanished. “What can I say, I like theatrics.”

“And I like my bosses to be less dramatic and less alive.” 

He stood to meet your gaze, tsking at you as he tucked a finger under your chin. “Now, now, kitten. We’ve been having such a grand time together the last few months.”

You waved his hand away but he caught your wrist. You knew once he had you in his grasp, you weren’t getting out until he chose to let you go so you stopped resisting. He smirked, pleased at your submission.  

Sighing, you grumbled, “Sy- you’ve got a 1 o clock meeting and I’ve yet to thoroughly vet them, so eventually you’ll have to let me go.”

He yanked you closer to him. “I highly doubt my favorite assassin would forget to vet anybody. I’m sure you already had him in your sights long before I made the meeting, am I correct?”

You met his brazen gaze with a fierce look of your own. “I suppose now that you know all my secrets, I really will have to kill you.”

He chuckled and kissed your knuckles. “Looking forward to it.”

Asshole.

He knew that you knew you couldn’t kill him if you tried, because you’d already tried. Many, many times. 

You’d met him months back when you’d attempted to snipe him from a rooftop. You were the best in the assassination business, but something about this cheeky bastard who had the nerve to grin into your oculars right as you pulled the trigger had you feeling like an amateur again. And when he materialized beside you right after you’d supposedly shot him, offering employment rather than retaliation, you knew he wasn’t taking you seriously at all. How could the head of Onychinus allow an assassin to walk right into his headquarters, to eat and drink beside him, to sleep in the room next door, knowing he had a hefty bounty on his head that she intended to collect, and not bat an eye? He was some other beast entirely and you weren’t sure how to react.

Of course it made you feel valued to know that he only entrusted his most important missions to you -he’d say something along the lines of “there’s no one else who can do the job but you” and you’d roll your eyes but oblige him- but he must’ve still thought you were somewhat incompetent if he willingly allowed you to take a shot at trying to kill him everyday. And then there was the matter of his obvious flirting. 

The way he always had your favorite wine laid out for you after a mission -you weren’t sure who he’d tortured for this information- or the way he always made sure to take you on missions with him that involved dressing up so he could admire your figure -not like he wasn’t already admiring it on a daily basis in your usual getup- or even the way he purred his little pet names in your ear, pet names that he didn’t seem to give to anyone else but you. 

Some small part of you even wondered if maybe he loved you. But the rest of you knew that he probably didn’t even know what love was. The rest of you knew that he was probably toying with you. But what was he waiting for? For you to no longer be useful? For you to fall for him? For you to give up on killing him? What did he want? 

The man had the most beautiful eyes you’d ever seen but you would never know what was going on behind them. 

And it killed you to admit that he was beautiful. Rule number one of assassination was to not get attached to your target, but here you were, toasting him over dinner every night, admiring the curve of his lips, admiring the broadness of his shoulders, admiring the way his fingers held a wine glass, like you hadn’t spent decades training to be the monster you were known to be, like you were just some school girl hanging onto some jock’s every word. 

He probably knew it too.

He liked to tease you; it was like his own personal form of entertainment. 

He liked to intertwine his fingers in between yours like you hadn’t just used those very same fingers to try and strangle him only moments before. He liked to tuck your hair behind your ear, pinch your sides, pin down your wrists, tilt up your chin, anything so he could touch you. He liked to murmur your name, your real name, the name you hadn’t been called in years, the name you weren’t sure how he’d uncovered, over and over like a prayer, until you had to excuse yourself from dinner because you weren’t used to the gentleness in his voice. And then he liked to repeat the cycle over and over again, until you weren’t sure how you felt anymore, until you weren’t sure who you were anymore. 

“Bastard.” You muttered under your breath.

“Trying to hurt my feelings?” Sylus snaked his arms around your waist. 

“It was never my intention to hurt you, dear Sylus, only kill you.” You responded innocently.

He chuckled, running his fingers through your hair. “That’s my girl.”

God, he couldn’t keep saying this shit to you.

“Not your girl, Sy.” You retorted, shaking him off of you.

“And why not? You could be.” His eyes gleamed mischievously.

In an instant you had a knife pinned to his throat. “Because of this. Because you’re nothing more to me than a target and I’m nothing more to you than a toy.”

He leaned in closer to you, allowing the metal to pierce his skin, drawing blood. “Well if it makes you feel better, there’s no one I’d rather have kill me  but you.”

You laughed at that, withdrawing your knife. “Should I feel honored? And how does one even respond to that- there’s no one I’d rather have toy with me but you? God, work on your lines Sylus, you’re so cliche. You have a 2 o clock meeting, so get to it.” You shoved him off of you.

Grinning, he sauntered off to his next meeting with you guarding his back like you always did. And when his 2 o clock tried to kill him, he kept that same stupid grin on his face as he watched you pin the man underneath you in a matter of seconds, cuffing his hands together so tightly they bruised. 

“Is it appropriate to say I’m feeling jealous right now, kitten?” He chuckled.

You scoffed. “No, Sylus, it is not.”

“And what if I said there’s no one I’d rather have pin me down than you?”

“Still not appropriate.”

The man underneath you groaned. “If you two are going to keep flirting or bickering or whatever this is, could you kill me already?”

You smacked his head with the butt of your gun. “Shut up, we’re trying to talk here.” 

“Feisty. I love it when you talk like that, kitten.” Sylus ran his hand through your hair, the way he always did, admiring the way the strands felt in between his fingers. 

“Funny, I love when you stop talking, Sy.”

The man squirmed beneath you again. “I’m serious, please just kill me already.”

“I said shut up, my god.” You tightened his cuffs. 

But this time the man was annoyed. “He’s toying with you, you’re toying with him, we get it already. A man like Sylus is never gonna truly love you so can you please quit flirting an ki-” 

You shot him in the head. “Did I not say to shut up?”

You had intended to keep him alive for information, but you had to admit his comment hit a little too close to home. You already knew Sylus was never going to love you, but was it that obvious to a random bystander? The thought pissed you off.

Sylus sighed. “And now I’m going to have to get the carpet cleaners in here.”

“You really should keep the company of quieter people.”

“And you should know when a man is baiting you.”

You scoffed, standing to leave. “And what’s that supposed to mean? I know when I’m being played, you do it all the time.”

“You’re so gullible sometimes, kitten. You’d really believe what a random hitman says?” He wrapped one arm around your waist, pulling you closer, and tucked one hand underneath your chin, drawing your gaze to him. 

“I don’t believe what anyone says.”

“Yet you’d kill him for saying I could never love you? Interesting way of showing you don’t believe him.”

You glared at him, anger flaring in your gut. You attempted to wrench yourself away from him but he only pulled you tighter against him. “Sylus, let go already. Enough of this. I’m tired.” You snapped.

“Haven’t I already told you? There’s no one else for me but you.”

“Sylus, quit saying shit like that.” 

“Right, you don’t like when I talk. Well then, how about this?” In a matter of seconds, his lips had found their way to yours, molding his passion and persistence into you. 

You bit his lip in annoyance but it only fueled him more.

He chuckled against your mouth and claimed your tongue with his. His hands rested on the small of your back, possessively holding you in place against him. After properly swallowing down your moans and devouring all your desire, he finally pulled away to allow you some breath.

“Fine.” You whispered, still dizzy from his kiss. 

He smirked, nuzzling up against your ear, as he murmured, “Fine what?”

“Fine. There’s no one else for me but you. Happy?”

“Immensely.” 

He kissed you again and didn’t stop kissing you all night.

Taglist: @tbaluver

[styxwanderer]

Fateful Encounter |

〖Twisted wonderland〗

[you are an exiled knight of king Hendrik, thrown away by your master as you had disagreed with his method of draining the mines out of magestones belonging to the fae]

TW: torture, implied sexual harrasment [by the human scums of course]

•❅──✧❅✦❅✧───❅•𓆩⟡𓆪•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

"OUCHHH that fucking hurts!"

you had no recollection of what had happened, but you suspect it was king Hendrik dirty play that had you beaten you unconciouss to wake up in a grass covered path surrounded by trees in the dead night. The Dawn knight had warned you about this. the last word you could hear was" if you are so adamant to defend those bandits then you should just go live with them." after years serving as the left hand for that ungrateful tyrannical king this is your payment?

" That jerk! Urgh...Where am i?"

you were in distress, a lady in distress, though that is broken as you decide that it is better if you had looked around and search for help than wailing in self-pity.

Not long you had seen a source of light from a distance. you decided to get closer, Afterall, it is better to die by the sword rather than starvation.

As you went closer and closer you begun to notice a hissing between the trees. You grown aware of your surroundings as you search around.

" HUMAN! state your purpose! How dare you try to sneak into our camp in the dead of the Night!! WAIT! IT"S YOU!! the left hand of that Bastard King! I shall have you dead!"

You raised both your arms up. " Bastard king, I kinda agree with that a tyrant too, well i don't mind, but first let me have some food first, won't you be so kind to give me a last meal?"

" HOW DARE YOU DEMAND FOR A MEAL! YOU---"

" hold on a second, Baur. Look at her clothes. and she is injured"

You had now became aware, you had been stripped out of your armour left with the thin materials used inside of the armour, it too had been ripped from the branches. The logo of king Hendrik kingdom too had been forcefully ripped out of your body cloth leaving a hole on your left arm. You body blotched with black and purple spots you dont doubt you lips were splited and a smear of blood is apparent below your nose. with a topping of a left black eye of course.

" Oh aren't you the general of the right?"

"ugh.. enough with the name, you are king Hendrik famous dog aren't you, state your business.. on second look... heh.. the owner had gotten tired of his dog? what happened did you bark at your master? or did you bite your master?" the general with red stripped hair taunt you.

" Haah.. I wished I had mauled him to the death, then at least he can stop his grabby hand to take whatever he wanted like a spoiled baby."

" hmm.. no that would be a real inconvenient. afterall, we fae had a fair share of grudge toward your stupid king, Human or should i say Dog."

" Okay deal.. so when can i have my meal?"

" HOW DARE YOU ASK LILIA VANROUGE FOR A MEAL?! YOU INSOLENT FOOL!"

" a meal?!?"

" Aa.. well, I rather die with food rather than dying without a last meal, so before you kill me the previous left hand dog of king Hendrik would you be so kind to give me one last meal?"

"YOU!!! ---"

" hahahaha.. you are an intresting one. alright I will grant you, your wish, afterall, I have just finished making the food come come."

"But Lilia, they are a human..."

"don't worry, its their last meal afterall. khufufufu."

"eurgh! HUMAN, WHERE IS YOUR GRATITUTE, GENERAL LILIA HAD GRACEFULLY PREPARE A MEAL FOR YOU!"

" I give thee my deepest gratitude for your never-ending kindness." you performed a half bow with your right hand towards your chest.

You are guided toward the camp as Baur the green-haired guy kept an eye on you, feeling very suspicious of your presence. Meanwhile, Lilia was leading the group.

once you are inside of his camp several soldiers are to rise and hiss at you only to be informed than you are Lilia's esteemed guest making them shocked as they continue to stare at you and your tattered uniform.

you are seated in a big log as Baur sat neck to you armed cross, frowning. You have to say that this guy is quite attractive even when he frowned. You look around the camp to find that the camp is previously owned by the silver fox.

Your attention is diverted as Lilia placed a strange green? brown? goop into a wooden plate and handed towards you.

"Here you go! eat up before I can slice you up!"

" ..... What is this?"

" HOW DARE YOU QUESTIONED SUCH THING! THIS IS LILIA SPECIALITY SOLDIER SOUP!"

" it is filled with nutrition if you must asked. its a tradition for a fae." Lilia smirked

you took a sniff at your bowl reeking of whatever foul thing on the planet, you then take a bite deciding not to be rude to the host and also it is you whom had demanded for food, you need to eat it despite it's appearance, it might be good regarding of its look just like a few dish that you had tried before.

Your mind turned blank as you froze. Once the food had enter your mouth you could feel your gag reflex acting up. Not wanting to spit it out you hold your mouth shut. You could feel your skin turning into a shade of green. your check. you forced yourself to swallow like a good girl you are.

" What is in there?!"

" hmm.. well we have lizard tail and foot, a cow's liver.."

" BLerghhhhhhhh....urp.." you try not to let the spoonful of the goop rise up your throat.

" DO YOU DARE TO OFFEND GENERAL LILIA'S COOKING??!"

You stare at this green haired guy dead in the eye, you had lost your fear for your live. " Is this seriously your traditional food? did you eat this everyday?"

" Quite human! this is very healthy! it is too very convenient!"

" That is true you know, I don't have time to do whatever gourme chef do, this is just enough to feed my troops."

" As beautifulas you faes are you are quite horrible with foods, ah how terrible, I feel so bad for your troops."

" HOW DARE YOU OFFEND GENERAL LILIA!! RAISE YOUR SWORD HUMAN!"

" If you rather die in hunger then be my guess." the general spoke.

" Haaa..." You placed the bowl on top of the log as you look around for wa mound judging by the state of the camp, the previous troop had rushed off in a hurry, there is bound to have unlooted item or burried goods around, afterall most of hendrik's troops are insufferably and idioticly selfish like their master.

"AH there it is.." You walked towards the mould as you started to dig.

" WHAT ARE YOU DOING HUMAN!!"

" Baur Let them be.."

you pulled out a big chunk of pork meat from the ground.

" ....Lilia... i didn't know meat can grow from the ground like that.. Did you human invent whatever this is?!"

" I had no recollection in history of whatever this is. it must be a new invention?"

" HAH! i wished it is, some greasy soldier just decided that they want a whole meat for themselves and hid it here. nothing special at all."

" HAH! AS EXPECTED OF YOU HUMANS! ALWAYS SO GREEDY! EVEN TO YOUR KIND, HAVE THEY NO SHAME?!"

General lilia just sighed. You walked to plants you found around as you picked few leaves and search for salt and pepper around the pouch, since there is bound to be. You started to prepare a skewered pork. Baur who was planning to interfere was stopped by Lilia as he let you do whatever you want.

" All done.." the smell of roasted meat filled the whole camp making the troop's mouth watered.

" Nutricious, convenient, and delicious! Won't you have a try." you picked a stick for yourself and one you handed in the direction of both Baur and Lilia.

" WHO WOULD WANT YOUR FOOD?! for all I know you might've put poison in it."

" Bruh.. I literally cooked right in front of you."

" Hmmm.. Then don't mind if I do.. if I found you to have put strange things into this meal I will have you chopped. we fae have sensitive tongue especially"

" geez you saw me eating this grilled meat too.. I didn't put anything alright! it would be a crime for the food itslef to have been used as a killing method. also do you really have?"

" huh?! what is that supposed to mean?"

" ah no it's just that you have been eating that good for the longest time, so i assumed your tastebuds are dead.... or something."

" Huh?! how brazen of you! it is not that bad." Lilia took the stick form your hand as he tried it.

His tongue instantly boomed with flavour, he stayed quit not wanting to admit that your food had exceeded his food and his expectation.

" not bad.."

" Is it really?"

" I had enough for your whole troops, I don't eat that much, so please have it. That greedy bastard had actually managed to hide that big chunk of meat.. i even have left over" you offered.

" Whoa.. how kind of you." Lilia said as he called on his troop who had been staring at the group for quite some time now, mouth watering.

" Baur you too have some, we will have quite a long journey after all."

" ABSOLUTELY NOT! I rather die than have a food made by humans. I am not hungry at all any way!" He huffed arms still crossing around his large chest.

Suddenly a loud roar boomed. A loud roar from the belly of the green haired soldier

Silence ensue as a hue of pink started to appear on his cheek.

" PFFFTTT... "

You cannot hold your laughter any longer as you laugh out loud. Lilia follows.

" you are hungry right?, have some come one."

" No way!"

You then have a good idea, " Fine! then i can have your portion!!! thank you for the extra food!"

" YOU.. YOU GREEDY LITTLE DOG! fine i will have it! MOVE!"

You laugh as you shoved the skewered pork to his mouth rendering him speechless and you laughing,

" Whose the dog now" you mischievously taunt.

The meat is ripped forcefully from his mouth as he chewed aggressively, " Just watch your back human! I will tear you to death!" he screamed still mouthful as you just chuckled.

" You are quite an interesting human, it's been so long since I had this much fun, rather than have you die, why don't you become our personal cook from no on? he chuckled.

" HUH me?"

" ABSOLUTELY NOT! Lilia!! but she is a human! What if she is sent as a spy for our troops?"

" Then I assign you to keep a close eye on her, simple."

" BUt --- eugh.. Yes, General Lilia."

and from then on your life from a left hand dog of the king had shift and roll and become the personal chef of General Lilia troop, the bane of King Hendrik troops. you had quite enjoyed your new role to be honest, the days are spent with teasing the stiff green haired guy. You had gotten quite close to him as he grew less weary of you overtime. even when he speak so harshly you had realized that Baur had actually cared for you and his troop. especially after that incident.

"OUCHH!" you had managed to trip yourself over a poking branch spraining your ankle.

" Y/N! What happened?!"

" ah it's just i didn't see that branch peeking out.."

" HUMAN! how pathetic a previous knight could go?! tripping over a measly branch?! "

" Hey its covered with leaves I cannot see them."

" HA.. What am I to do with you come!." He crouched down in front of you positioning himself. you are frozen shocked of course.

" HUMAN DONT MAKE ME WAIT!"

" o.. alright..." you are being carried by Baur in piggyback as he lead you back to camp earning a snicker from Lillia of course.

ever since then you had tried your best to show your gratitude towards him by giving him more meat or more food on his portion, when he commented that you are wasting the troops food on him you pushed through convincing him that he needed to have more food fae to reasons that is never disclose of course, a pride of a woman wont ever reveals her secrets Afterall.

You are unaware of the shade of pink that decorated the crocodile man's face. At the end of the day, He too got his own secrets to keep.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

On a normal evening you had found Lilia struggling to apply the wound on his back from the previous clash with the iron clad. You decided to step in.

" Lilia I am coming in." you said as you enter the camp.

"H-hey, What is the meaning of this? i never agreed for you to enter. have you been stalking me?" his top is still on the side and he struggles with the bandage.

" Hahaha what if I am? anyway, please let me address those wounds."

" Haah? as if I need help from a ---"

"Hey I told you I don't need help!" the head strong stubborn fae huffed.

But of course, you hadn't listened taking the bandage out of his hand you grabbed an ointment, smearing it onto his back before wrapping the wound with the bandage.

"All down." he then turned towards you as he pushed you back towards the wooden cart, your escape route blocked. both hands placed on the both side of your face in a kabedon manner. is this how you die? well at least you died in an honorable way.

" How brazen of you? do you know what i can do to you? a man without his shirt to a defenseless little girl."

" huh.. beat me? either way you need to address that wound properly or it will get horribly infected Also i am not a defenseless little girl i got teeth to bite don't i?" you Feigh ignorance.

"Haa.. sometimes I wonder how you managed to reach this age, you got 0 survival skills."

" Hahaha luck I guess?" you shrugged.

Lilia chuckled as he let you go. He was a bat fae, he was always the babysitter, the one taking care of, so it surprised him so when you had taken care of him in return. He then turned around to leave you.

" From now on, I will come to you if I had any other wound, so you better be ready at all time, human." he looked back at you smirking before he left the camp. a tint of red are shading his tipped ears.

" Yes sireee."

You had become Lilia's personal medic, though to his annoyance sometimes you had also assisted other fae in his troop and Baur. making him all annoyed, " her hands should only touch my bare body." Unaware of his feelings.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

The winter is coming, the lake had started to froze. Your tattered fabric uniform had little help to keep you from the cold, but of course, you do not dare to tell a single soul. what would be of you if you had complained you were too cold. All the soldier's clothes are too big on you anyway and you do not want to burden your companion with your unnecessary complains, they got pesky people to remove from harvesting the mountain dry afterall. So you push trough.

Until in the dead end of winter you had woken up shivering as your body shake and teeth clatter. The fire was flickering from the wind and do little to keep you warm, You decided to just take a run to warm yourself up. Before you can properly stand up a large hand had gripped your arm.

" Where do you think you are going y/n" his deep morning voice rang through, thankfully not as loud as his normal voice is.

" Oh me,,, I am going for a run.."

" Hoo... so you are running away?"

" NO.. I was just... warming myself up."

" Is that so.." Baur sit up and pull you back to the ground making you sit still, he pulled and extra uniform as he throws it at you.

" wear that before i changed my mind."

" OHH really?! Thank you so much!" you quickly wear the large piece of garments.

" then I will be going back to sleep." you got back to lay down.

" alright." he scoot over next to your horizontal body.

" uhm..."

" i figured a close body contact would make the hat to circulate around, it would make the both of us warmer, Dont think of futile stuff human! This is just a soldier conduct to take care of each other!."

" Yes and warm each other hohoho."

Unbeknowst to you two, Lilia who had slept in front of you both had been awakened by the shuffling as he saw the scene in front of him. Chucking to himself at the turn of event. Of course, he was going to stalk you if had went on that run and maybe force you down on the ground as he demanded your purpose on running away, but Baur had managed to caught you before he do. He felt upset but at the same time relief because you are now stuck between his fingers unable to leave him or his troop.

" ah to leave me out! such a sad guy I am. I too am very cold." he decided to break.

" Lilia you could join too.." you chuckled

"well don't mind if i do."

Baur huffed as he lay next to you, arm wrapped around your smaller body as you curled into his embrace, with Lilia on your other side spooning you, you are thanking God because not only could you sleep warmly at night you too got to be in the embrace of the hot crocodile man and the bat fae.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

It was a normal day, as you enjoyed your taunts and conversation with your fellow troops, you had been accepted by the troops as their personal chefs, sometimes they even made a request of course not within the ears of Baur since he will give them an earful for being fussy and troubling you though he would never admit. You too had exchange your skill to Lilia and Baur, exchanging tactics with Lilia as you teach them the human way and them the Fae way.

The both of them had found out why you had been exiled to the wilderness, they felt enrage as to what they had done to their dog whomst had just choose to speak their opinion, even in Briar Valley, their princess is not as henious as to not let her subordinate speak their different opinion.

Both are enraged of the previous living conditions. You had been born by a prostitute and were taken to be raised as a soldier, you had managed to rise up to the king's left hand with your own strength and determination and hence your treatment is worse than that of a dog especially with the king himself treating you like his dog. You had told them that sometimes you were summoned to his chambers at night despite having a wife, though you had managed to escape or gain assistance with the kind golden haired man as he covered for you.

That story had enraged the faes, how dare those people had regarded you so lowly despite your achievements, it is simply digusting. How dare those people who are far than worthy of your presence with and a power far lesser than yours decide to grope you and mistreat you. You are a knight, always second to the Knight of dawn, Although you explained that the Knight and his father had been the only person to show kindness towards you no matter the origin of your birth. You had thought of leaving, but they had given you comfortable place to sleep and food, there is fate much worse you thought. The whole conversation had made you wonder of how the knight of dawn is doing with his duty, you hoped your brother well.

Both, Lilia and Baur, had shared a deepen felling towards you, a determined brave girl. You had managed to snuggle yourself comfortable in their hearts. So you have to worry no longer for mistreatment, The fae had deemed themselves your new owner and will treat you accordingly, such a good dog is meant to be showered in praise and gold, not thrown with a rock. Such a rare find you are, an interesting human girl, a gem. The king had let his most precious gem slipped out of his pocket and faes are quite attracted to shiny objects, the king wouldn't mind you them stealing this one will he? Afterall, he had stolen many of their magestones.

Baur surprised you with his patching skill as he sews the holes of your uniform and made them more presentable, he had done that once he found you removing the extra clothe the given you in the morning. When he enquired why you had told him that the clothe are too big and it would hinder your movement. He agreed with your point, but he would not let you dress in tattered uniform for the rest of the journey, so he had you hand over your uniform and changed into his oversized one while he patch your onesie uniformed up. He insisted you keep the cloth of course in case you had felt cold.

Lilia had sometimes assisted you with cooking as well, although it had ended with you pushing him away from the pot so as to not let him put any wierd ingredients into the pot. though you had enjoyed your time cooking as he told you tales of his adventure and his childhood. In return you told him of your past, and goals in life, you had list of stuff you wanted to try such as walking in a garden full of flowers and not those who are filled made from metal. You had shared your distaste with Lilia over their destructive inventions.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

"IRON CLADS!!"

You had gone through your chores and food prep before you heard a shrill of high-pitched hiss. A fae soldier had shouted warning the camp over an incoming siege. you hurriedly abandoned your station picking up a spear given to you to defend yourself. you looked around to see Lilia and Baur now already on their mask as they ordered the troops around as they fought Hendrik's man. In a distance you could see one of the ironclads sneaking up on the crocodile masked guy, preparing to take a blow straight toward the unsuspecting crocodile.

" BAUR! LOOK OUT!" you had shoved Baur's body with yours, pushing him out of the path of danger. only for the danger to be directed to you.

"URGH!" you hurl as you your torso had taken a strong blow, knocking you down as you writhe on the ground.

"Y/N! HOW DARE YOU!" he quickly went after the perpetrator as they ran away, having failed their mission.

"Y/N!" Lilia wanted to check on you but he was preoccupied with his own fights.

More and more iron clads keeps coming by. they are throwing nets to unsuspecting fae or injured ones, You could hear Lilia telling the troop to retreat, Baur trying to get to you but unabled to as you feel a net had wrapped around you as well dragging you closer to the iron clad.

" Y/N!!!" both are trying to get to you defeating the ironclads in his way, but it is for naught as you were pulled towards the troop, they were outnumbered. They watch in desperation as they saw your injured and immobilized body being dragged, helpless to your own fate. and unable to help you, even when you had helped them.

"Hey isn't this the previous left hand knight?! The dog knight?"

" i had thought they died when she ran away from the castle?!"

'Run away? whatt ??' you thought unable to speak.

" she must've sold her body to those fae that must be why she is still alive."

" What a true bitch... must be nice to be able to use her body Hahahaha. We should take this traitorous bitch back of course, we might get a huge sum."

' no...' your consciousness fades as you no matter how you tried to wake up.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

The room was dark and cold, you could feel your hand chained to your back. both your feet and been chained down at the ankle, both with a medium lenght chain connecting to the ground, enabling you to do just a few motion but on the ground nonetheless. You had been put in the castle's dungeon.

" click" the door had opened as you saw both the king and knight of dawn entered. Seeing your frail battered body the knight could only clenched as the king sneered in amusement.

" HO.. so the unfaithful dog had come back to it's owner." He sneered.

Both you and the knight had known that his words are full of bull, you are the one that had been exiled. though you are unable to speak, to tired to even lift a finger.

"ANSWER WHEN YOU ARE SPOKEN TOO!" the king throw a fit as he begun to kick you, stomping on you over and over again, pressing the purple wound on your body.

"Sire.. please, you do need to waste an energy for this one" the knight's eye widened as he tried to find a way to save you from your faith. Ah he is stil as you remembered him to be kind. how kind of you.. brother.

" I would have had away with your body, but unfortunately ofr you, those fae might have left some disease on you, such a shame. Your fair skin are no more, How is it being a toy for those bandits?" he went to grab you by the jaw forcing you to look at him, you are wincing as his grip is crushing your bone.

" But thanks to that, she might have a few information of the fae and their strategy, we should take it out from their mouth, you stil have some use afterall, GUARDS! if i am unable to use your body, then i might as well see it flogged, HAhahahha."

you had been set to be flogged until you had given them any information about the fae. But one thing the king is mistaken about; is that you are a true loyal dog. You would've rather die than to give any information to the king. Their kind had shown you the most kindness and respect towards you than your own. You could see the knight tried to reason with the king to no avail, the stubborn fool is too full of himself afterall.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

It was shameful, to have your uniform thorn at the hands of the knight of dawn in command of the inspecting king. Your scarred back, a memories to your past, were shown to both of them as they begun to carve one after the other,

' Just like old times, you tried to remind yourself. You had been an orphan and a homeless, flogged daily to feed those who share the same fate as you and for yourself. Your skill had been recognized by the father of the knight of dawn, whom had trained you along with his son, Your bond is thicker than those of aristocrat siblings, having been adopted by his father you are technically his sister and he your brother. He was always concerned about you and disapproved the discrimination against you for your origins. He tried his best to dispel these acts but what can one person do? He cannot change other people mind as long as the king himself had treated you as if you are a prostitute, He was furious on his own incompetent, what kind of brother is he, unable to save you from such fate.

He was heartbroken when the new of your disappearance spread, leading to him found out about what the king had done. It sickens him that he had to serve a dirty king such as he, but it hurts his heart more to see you trying to hold in your wailings as you slowly break.

Your eyes had grown to those of a lifeless corpse as you bite your tongue bloody as to not give the satisfaction to the Idiot king.

"Hurry and tell me what they are planning their strategies!" The king who had grown impatient stomp over to your side pulling you by your hair.

You spit a mix of your blood and saliva on to his face, eyebrows furrowed. You would rather die than to sell out your friends like that.

" You bitch ! have it your way! guard bring in the iron rod!"

Your torture was far from over, the night is going to be long for you and your brother who are forced to watch as he watches your face contorted, screeching in pain from the hot iron burning your flesh.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

"Urkk!."

" please my dear y/n, please drink this, it is a healing remedies."

You had lost consciousness as the third iron pressed against your skin burrning your flesh away. you felt a liquid vial being pressed towards your mouth. You frail awake as you tried to get away from the perpetrator like a scared dog.

" Shhh.. Shhh.. it's me.. your brother... please.. i will never harm you."

He went to hug your bruised body, careful with your injuries. Your body laxed as you limped into his hug. you could feel his body trembling as drips of tear fall unto your bare shoulder.

" I am sorry... I am so sorry, dear sister..." he cried. you wished you could pat him on his back but your hands are chained and you are too tired.

" brother.. Please,.... it is not your fault..." you tried to croak out words after word, as to deliver your message.

" I am unable to protect you, it is a duty as your brother, and i have failed... i am sorry.."

He had brought you warm food and the vial of healing potion and had placed your head into his lap as he smeared an ointment to your bruised. Patting your head in reassurance. The two of you conversed just like old time, catching up, afterall it had been months since you last seen your brother. it was nice

" it is time for me to go, dear sister, i was requested to accompany Lady rose this afternoon." he gently lift your head and placed them down on the ground.

With one last look , his heart clenched once more seeing your worn out and battered body. " I will see you tommorow same time. please stay strong sister."

and you are once more alone in the cell.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

Days turns to week, and week turned to two, as everything had been a blur to you since you had fade in and out of your consciousness, King Hendrik is relentless, no matter how much your brother had begged, he would come to see you with your brother of the torture he had command his guards to do to you. but no matter how many time he flogged you, how many minutes you are under the water, no matter the beatings that came after and how many hot metal rod being pressed onto your flesh, you had refused to relay any information to the Spoiled king.

Your brother had begged you at, some points,to just let him know whatever he wants to know, but you ignored him, much to his concern and headaches.

You had grown to wish for your death as you refused the vial your brother gives you, begging for him to just let you be, he would have none of your nonsensical blabber of course forcing the vial down your throat. But over time he too had started to think if what he is doing is for himself or yours, beating himself for not being able to help you at all.

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

"My king!"

In the dead evening during one of your torture time, a soldier came barging in and whispered something to the king.

" WHAT?!! Knight you come with me! And you continue to pry information out of her, if she still had refused by dawn, cut of her tongue and present her severed head to me, a dog's head might work as a decoration." much to your brother's distressed as he stares as you with concern filling his eyes as to communicate with you before leaving, begrudgingly to follow the king.

You tried to listen to your surrounding to figured out what is happening, but all for naught as all is drowned by your screaming voice. The guards had continued to mercilessly torture your body with the metal iron, sometimes deciding to beat your body with the hot piping iron instead of just pressing it onto your exposed skin.

Is this how you will die? you haven't finished your goal yet, you haven't told Lilia how you love his kindness and that you are grateful of the day he had allowed you to join his camp, You haven't told Baur on how much you loved his passion for justice and reciprocate his kindness towards you, As bad as it sounds both of the fae had found a place in your heart as well, but it is bound to never make its way to the light of day as you were about to die. The thought had riddled your thought throughout your torture, tear stinging your eyes both from the pain and your thoughts. You could see the dusk revel into dawn, as the sun slowly raised up from its hiding place.

you had surrendered yourself to death and had chosen to die in an honorable way. If they are going to kill me then i would rather go down with my pride rather than begged for my life.

"Heh, would you look at the time, such as sad time for you, it's time to get that fiesty tongue of yours chopped of hahaha." he taunts as he grabbed a tonsil to pry your tongue from the cave of your mouth, it hurts.

he raised his knife up high as to chop your tongue.

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts..

You brace for the impact as you clenched your eyes shut..

But it never came..

"Y/N!!"

you saw a flash of green as you felt the knife dropped as the head of the guards too roll on the ground letting you tongue go from the tonsil. Confussing you, eyes wideded, you tried to move your head but you are unable to as you are too tired so you fall immobilized to the ground.

You felt a hand reach under your head gently lifting you up and turning you around to face him. His normally stern eyes grew teary as he cradles you in him arm placing his head to your shoulder.

"Lilia..?"

" They will pay for what they did. I will make sure of it. They will pay a hundredth times over!" His hand now cupped your face gently, snapped his watery eyes turn deadly as he furrowed his eyebrows. his expression riddled with anger as he turned to slashed the chains bounding your hands and feet using his magearm before he princess carry your bruised and weak body in his arms, resting your had to his shoulder. The smell of a burning fleash assulting his nostrils

" STOP RIGHT THER--" the poor guards were chopped into pieces by the merciless fae and his last bit of patience towards humanity has left his own soul.

The fate was shared to many other soldier standing on his way until you had felt the breeze of the dawn, finally out of your confinement after many days. You took a deep breath.

Baur upon seeing the two of you rushed towards Lilia and upon closer inspection he saw the extent of your injuries. the boisterous man had left speechless and in shock as he too become riddled with rage.

"How.. dare them.. HOw dare theyyy!!! this kingdom is out to be blown to dust! this is Unforgivable!"

He gently went over you as to inspect, Lilia handing you towards Baur. grunting as your tattered back is moved around.

" It's time for us to go home now." Lilia who had caress your cheek once more turned to grab his large magearm and readied himself to plunge to bawttle once more, making way for hima dn his troop to go as he had claimed back his prize, his gem.

The king having heard of the news forced more guards to secure around the castle to prevent you from escaping. Your brother wished you a safe journey as he thanked the fae silently in hid breathe, feeling tears of relief starting to water his eyes behind this mask.

Baur tried as gently as he could not to cause further harm as he cradled you, tears were threatening to spill from his teary eyes. But he shall do that later once you are safe and secured, now he needs to focus on bringing you to a safe place and maintainning you alive.

The blood lost had made you drowsy as you surrender yourself to the Crocodile fae's embrace.

" c'mon y/n Hold on a bit longer, we are near.."

" Pleasee.. don't sleep now. DONT YOU DARE FALL ASLEEP HUMAN!!"

His tears are flowing freely as he fastened his pace towards the camp before your weak body had grown still. He is now filled with rage and concern so does lilia as they make haste towards the camp to give you emergency medic care, They had given you emergency first aid, but they could only work as much as they could.

Your eyes are growing heavy and heavier.

" Lilia! we must make haste!!" he raced through the forest faster than he had ever ran, The Other fae had also catch up.

"Y/N STAY AWAKW! AS YOUR COMMANDER I COMMAND YOU TO STAY AWAKE!"

" y/n.."

"Y/NN!!!"

•❅───✧❅✦❅✧───❅•

The birds are chirping loudly as the drip of the waterfall is loud and clear.

A ray of light assaulting your eyes as you pried them open. On your right you had seen the tired bat fae sleeping soundfully beside you, and to your right the green-haired crocodile man fusing and sorting out ingredients, You had seen the blood-soaked towel in the watter filled bowl beside you. You saw your body had been covered by bandages as you are wearing an unfamiliar clothes. you shuffled around.

The green-haired man was alerted as he rushed to your side abandoning his previous job.

"Y/N!!! Lilia!! Y/n had woken up!!."

"y/n.. Y/N!." Lilia was startled awake.

you tried to sit down but their hands had swiftly prop you back down. Baur handing a glass of water to Lilia as he feed you gently.

feeling no longer parched you spoke.

"How long have i been asleep?"

" around a week."

" A week?! no wonder i was so thirsty you licked your lips."

Lilia sigh " Do you know how worried i am? must you come tattered everytime i meet you? and whats with your nonchalant attitude?"

" DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH LILIA AND I ARE CONCERNED ABOUT YOU! WE LOOK AFTER YOU DAY AND NIGHT AND YET... and yet you wouldn't wake up..." The green haired guy seems to abandoned his strict personality as his eyes watered, Cradling you into his embrace once more.

" We thought we had lost you..." he cried.

" im sorry." you placed your hands as you rubbed his back, Lilia too joined the hug, He might seem calm and uncaring but with how much grip he had on you, you thought otherwise.

" Geez how troublesome this pet is, i should get you a collar so you don't jump into danger on the first sight of it."

" MIGHT BE FOR THE BEST."

"ahahaha.. i'm sorry." you to had felt tears falling from your eyes as you clung to them. Of course you do not know how serious Lilia is with his previous comment. You had missed this. You thank whatever diety is there that had allow your fate to rekindle with your friend, Enabing you to experience this once more.

" I am home."

" welcome home"

"Welcome home.."

[6885 words]

<< The End >>

[ i made this because bruv the hotness and handsomeness of Sebek's grandpapa and lilia younger days are freaking blinding me and playing with my heaed!! EVEN TO MY FUCKING DREAMSS HAA?! also this is also for those who had the same resentment towards their shitty boss or those who had mistreated you, Let General lilia and Baur zigvolt nurse you back and be the cure towards that rage and depression. hope you enjoy this one, darlings!]

( :̲̅:̲̅:[̲̅:𓆩♡𓆪:]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅)

[ Here a bandage just for you]

[anipgarden]

Adding To or Starting a Garden

AKA, the beginning of the Plants-Related section of this series.

This is my third post in a series I’ll be making on how to increase biodiversity on a budget! I’m not an expert--just an enthusiast--but I hope something you find here helps! 

Got an area of lawn you’d like to convert to a wildlife haven? An area you can stick some hanging baskets in? Want to know how your garden of tomatoes and zucchinis is already putting in a lot of work? This is the section for you!

It would be dumb of me to not acknowledge that the act of gardening can come with a lot of costs. Buying seeds, buying plants, buying soil, raised bed materials, mulch, etc. … it can all get a bit daunting, let’s be honest! But there’s quite a few ways to get seeds and plants for free or extremely cheap, which I’ll be addressing in this section! The next section will be all about addressing the other Costs in gardening and how to mitigate or eliminate them entirely.

Also, do keep in mind; there’s no need to try and convert a whole area from lawn to garden or unused to garden at once. In fact, it could actually be extremely beneficial to do it a little at a time--maybe four or five square feet to start out.

Front Lawn (or Managing Principles)

If you live in a place where you’re required to have a grass turf lawn (HOA’s come to mind…), try replacing it with native grasses instead! You could even possibly use a low-growing ground cover plant like clover to a similar effect! Reseeding/replacing an entire lawn can be a big upfront cost, but even just letting the lawn be a little messy and tall helps. If the lawn gets patchy, leave the bare spots for a little while and something different will likely pop up! Pioneer species will fill the gaps and provide benefits to other plants around them, support animals, and more! If you want to take the guesswork out of it, you could always research what the pioneer species are in your area and plant the ones you like most. 

Obtaining Seeds for Cheap or Free

The cheapest way to start a garden is by far via seeds. However, seeds can be a bit complicated to grow, and some sources make them… way overpriced. Fortunately there are ways to get seeds for little to no cost! 

Some places sell seeds for as low as a dollar, 50 cents, or 25 cents! The packets may not have a lot of seeds, but it’s definitely a good start for a low budget! I’ve personally bought cheap seed packets at Walmart--the Ferry-Morse and Burpee brands are not what we’re looking for here. Typically the cheaper ones I’ve found are American Seed (which is owned by Green Garden Products, which also owns Ferry-Morse, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed, and Seeds of Change. Do with that information what you will), but they’re rarely stocked near the Ferry-Morse ones in the Formal Gardening Section. I’ve most often found them on end caps near the gardening section, so you may have to weave through a few aisles to find them, but once you do there’s an array of flower and vegetable seeds to select from! Alternatively, I’ve found seeds at Dollar Tree sold 2 or 4 for a dollar in Spring as part of their seasonal product; however, when they’re out of stock, they’re typically out of stock for the year. Try to check them out early in the year!

Otherwise, other seed companies like Urban Farmer or Botanical Interests will often have semi-frequent sales in spring and fall, when people are stocking up on seeds--joining their email lists can help you be the first to know when a good sale is going on!

Some foods from grocery stores will provide seeds that you can use in the garden as well. I’ve had the most luck with store-bought bagged beans, peppers, and tomatoes. Some people have had luck with watermelons, apples, citrus, squash, and more. Do keep in mind that you likely won’t get the same variety of fruit/vegetable as the one you bought--the resulting plant may look different and taste different.

Give it a shot! Pick some beans you like--if they don't grow well, at least you can eat the rest!

If you live in the US, food-producing live plants, bare roots, and seeds can often be purchased with SNAP benefits. But what does growing fruits, veggies, and herbs have to do with boosting biodiversity? While food crops aren’t typically native, they still provide valuable shelter for native insects. Some plants even have intricate relationships with native fauna--like the squash bee, a solitary bee which exclusively pollinates cucurbits like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. And we get to benefit more directly as well! If you’re planting a diverse range of foods in your garden (as opposed to the swaths of single-plant farms that typically produce what’s sent to grocery stores), you’re supporting high levels of biodiversity by providing a variety of plants for creatures to live and hunt around.

Most of the time, when we think of boosting biodiversity with a garden, we think of a colorful flower garden teeming with pollinator species. However, if we’re striving to use native species, it can be a bit difficult to find some species in stores. I can say from experience that trying to find any wildflower seeds other than butterfly weed, purple coneflowers, and black-eyed-susans is… challenging, if you limit yourself to stores like Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s. You might occasionally get lucky with an ACE Hardware or a local nursery, but even then sometimes it can be hard to track down who in your area is selling what--let alone if you live in an area where no one really is selling native plants or their seeds. Not to mention, even once you find a local or online store selling the seeds you want, they can sometimes cost a pretty penny. So what do you do?

If you have the option to, consider gathering native seeds yourself! Get good at identifying the native flora and fauna--or at least, a few target plants and their lookalikes--and get ready to go! Learn where they tend to grow, when they’ll be seeding, etc. Try to identify the plant before it goes to seed (for most plants, it's easiest to identify when flowering), then check back regularly to gather seeds. Typically, if I want to learn how to collect seed from a specific plant, I just search it on Google or YouTube--oftentimes, I'm lead to the GrowItBuildIt Youtube page, so it may be a helpful resource for you as well! Of course, make sure to leave plenty of seed behind so the wild population can repopulate, and seed can feed other creatures in the area. A good rule of thumb is to take no more than 1/3rd of what's available.

Buying seed in bulk is an option if you can afford the upfront cost. Try teaming up with a few friends to buy some bulk seeds and split them amongst yourselves--you’ll get tons of seed! Prairie Moon is a popular site that'll sell seeds by the pound if you can afford the price--though they're in the US, and I believe they focus on Midwest and East Coast natives.

If you want to cheat the system, don’t buy bulk sunflower seeds--buy bags of sunflower seeds being sold as birdseed. They’re typically all black oil sunflower seeds, but they’ll sprout, and they’re fairly cheap for the amount you get!

However, beware generic wildflower seed mixes! Many brands like to sell wildflower seed mixes in big box stores like Home Depot, Target, or even Dollar Tree, but they’ll often include flowers that aren’t native or possibly even invasive in your region! Before you make any purchases, double check to make sure the contained seeds won’t do more harm than good! A quality source of native seeds will provide English and Latin names for all seeds included, and will be native to the region or at least non-invasive. 

See this? I don't trust this.

There’s a good handful of programs online that’ll send you free seeds if you’re planning to start a native habitat project! Poke around online and see what you can find; you might get lucky! The best time to start looking for these is fall and winter, I find--by early spring, many of them are either done or beginning to wind down... though some also start up in spring. Ultimately--just check regularly! You never know what you can find!

Other Ways to Get Plants

Don’t want to start from seed? That’s fair! You can try cuttings! Just be sure not to take too much of the plant while you do so. Make sure you’ve gotten a few leaf nodes on your cutting, and cut any flowers you may have gotten. Make sure to leave some blooms and foliage on the original plant for the creatures in the current habitat--you don’t want to destroy one habitat to make another in your garden. There’s tons of methods of rooting cuttings, many of which have different efficacy rates for different plants, but that’s a topic for another post.

If you find seedlings growing in a place where they won’t be able to sustain themselves long-term, or are in danger of being destroyed, consider relocating them! You may be able to gently dig up and transplant the seedling to your garden. Don’t do this if they’re in a place where they can easily survive--ideally, you’ll be taking plants from sidewalk cracks, heavily maintained public gardens, roadsides, etc. Do be careful while doing this--ensure your safety first!  

You’re totally allowed to join gardening communities like clubs, facebook groups, and more before you’ve even put a trowel to the dirt. These are great places to learn information and advice! Many gardeners are more than happy to help out a new gardener, and will eagerly provide seeds, cuttings, or even baby plants! Talk to some people about your gardening journey and what you’re hoping to do, and you just might find some kindred spirits--or at least get more people interested in the topic! 

Seed and plant giveaways and trades happen all the time in gardening clubs, as well as online! Just poke around and see what you can find! Some are explicitly trades, meaning you’re expected to send something in return, but once you get your feet on the ground with some plant knowledge you’ll be stellar! You may be able to explain you’re just starting out, and someone may send you seeds without expecting a trade, but I’d suggest trying giveaways first. 

Poke around online and see if there’s a local chapter of your state’s native plant society. From there, you’ll likely be able to find a calendar of events--many of them will host plant sales in the spring, with a bunch of native plant seedlings ripe for the pickings if you can make it out and have some money to spare! Fair warning, though, you’ll want to get there early if you can. If they say they’re starting at 10, try to get there by 9:45. Year after year, there’s always record turnout, and they sell out of plants faster than ever. Just trust me on this. I’ve been let down; hopefully you won’t have to be.

Some libraries are beginning to host seed libraries! Check around and see if your library has one! Ideally, the system works best if you also have seeds to contribute in return, but if you’re just starting out I’m sure they won’t mind you taking some seeds! Just consider saving some seeds to contribute in the future and pay it forward. If your library doesn’t have a seed library? Consider asking if they’d be willing to start one! Community interest is a great way to get the ball rolling on projects like these, but they’ll only know the community is interested if the community tells them they’re interested!

Volunteer to Garden for/with Someone Else

Maybe someone in your area wants to garden, but is struggling to find the time/energy. Many elderly people who used to garden simply can’t anymore but still would like a garden. Other people may love to have a helping hand in their garden. You might even find a few people in your area interested in renting and sharing a community garden plot with others, so they don't have to handle it all on their own! They may be interested in increasing biodiversity right now, or may be willing to if it’s brought up to them. You might be just the kind of person someone needs! Since it won't be your garden, you’ll likely need a bit of permission and collaboration to get anything in particular going, but it’s worth a shot and a way to maybe even make friends! 

Again, your mileage may vary with some of these. You may not know where there's a bunch of wildflowers growing in your area, or maybe your local library doesn't have a free seed library. That's okay! Do what you're able to, find what you can find, get what you can get! And there's never any shame with starting small--in fact, starting small can make the project easier to manage and expand when you're able!

That's the end of this post! My next post is gonna be about ways to start growing plants cheaply--low cost seed starting set ups, essentially. There's a lot of good options, many of which I've used myself even! Until then, I hope this advice is helpful! Feel free to reply with any questions, success stories, or anything you think I may have forgotten to add in!

[karereiko]

Hello, everyone from Yuumori fandom.

Guess what, because of Concert that will be held in July all parts of Moriarty the Patriot Musical (op1-op5) are available to rent and watch online. With my Morimu fanarts or other talks about it I often get asked where you can watch it, often my answer is that you have to buy DVD or Bluray to watch this wonderful adaptation of Moriarty the Patriot manga. I know it's a big cost and hard to get for some so Streaming like this is a great opportunity to watch Morimu.

Official twitter posted few days ago about this possibility and here is the post with all information about it:

1600 yen is great amount to check if you will like it and wach it because I think it's worth any money, director who made morimu clearly loves manga, he treats source material with care and even makes it batter at some times, there is also a lot less cuts than in anime, like a lot. May be little spoiler or not, but Baskerville arc is there and Durham date too, as well as many Sherlock and John stuff that was cut in anime, some things from Moran arc etc. this is already big selling factor, right?

Actors are amazing and they love and care for characters they play. I wasn't into any actor adaptations before Morimu, I was ok with musicals but not caring too much about them and Morimu sold me since first part and it only got better and better each part even if you think that's not possible. Songs are there to make emotions and moments deeper or to have real fun with plot they show, they are not there just for song to be there. So yes high recommendation for you all to check Morimu if you didn't saw it yet. The most amazing thing is that you don't need VPN to buy those streams.

I was going to write about this few days ago and was busy, good I didn't because I talked with friends in Yuumori fandom who knows morimu and we were troubled to recommend this stream to people who doesn't understand Japanese. Morimu is faithful adaptation so almost like 70% lines comes from manga and you should understand what's going on if you read manga. Still, with subs it's a lot easier.

Kana did amazing job in creating English translation for Morimu Op1-Op4 at this point, all who bought DVD/Bluray versions of Morimu are using those subs and if you decide to buy own copy after seeing stream then those subs works great with DVD/Bluray versions.

So we talked over the stream matter and from what we checked with this plugin to Chrome it's possible to play subs with Morimu stream after you rent it (It works only with Chrome but if you know other program like this you can try it on different browsers, we only checked Chrome and this plugin) :

The only matter is that Kana saved subtitles in .ass file format, but you can easily format them to .srt file format that this plugin plays with this site:

You just open subtitle file and save it as srt, and open it with plugin to your Morimu stream. If you will have any more problems with subs them write me a message and I will try to help as soon as work let's me.

I think this is the easiest option that creators gave us now to watch Morimu, it was never so easy to buy or rent it until now, you had to use crazy VPN programs and other stuff to just check on it. So this is best option since for sure it won't last forever. Such promotional streamings are only around when new part is coming up, currently Concert I mentioned.

So for other things I wanna to say. If you get your copy of Morimu then please don't share it, don't post it to any social sites. Company that makes Morimu is quite strict with that matter and they do search who uploads those musicals and strikes them down/ deletes files even on places like google drive. Even without it, it's a matter of love for Moriarty the patriot. As much as fandom wants more people to watch those musicals, any piracy might destroy our chances to get Op6, possibilities for future streams and other stuff. Currently with Op5 we reached end of Final Problem arc and there is hope that maybe one day New York arc will be done in op6. Any piracy, sharing and messy stuff might destroy such chance, so please if you hold dear MTP then respect those rules. Watching streams with your friends in closed groups after you buy it isn't bad but please hold from any public sharing (they would be taken down anyway, but it would still put us fans in very bad light).

I know end of this post was not nice but it had to be told. I hope this possibility will help you see Morimu and fall in love with it like I did. I would recommend at least seeing OP1 and OP2, it should hook you and OP3 is where everything hits even more than op1-2, more hits from songs, more hits from sherliam stuff.

Hope to see you in Morimu cult :D... ehem... fandom. May you have "wind" (for some Great Detective) in your heart like William....

[caffeinec0rpse]

20 day challenge for beginners to witchcraft

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

***this challenge may be valuable to experienced witches who wish to brush up on their basics

there are a few things to understand before we begin:

⛥you will need a journal to record your findings each day. this can be physical or online. i recommend physical because you remember things better when you are writing them down, but either is fine.

⛥it is of utmost importance that you understand the difference between good sources and bad sources, and are able to locate the original source where your information is coming from

⛥ this challenge involves lots of self-guided research as well as applied practice so be prepared to put the work in

⛥this challenge will not teach you everything there is to know as a beginner, but i think it will be a good jumping off point.

⛥don't worry about it if you miss a day or take multiple days to complete one of the prompts. you can take this challenge at your own pace, or do it for 20 days straight. however, i do not recommend that you attempt multiple days activities in a single day. take it slow so you can dedicate the time to fully learning, and aren't overwhelmed.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

okay! let's begin :D

**remember to write everything down in your journal!!!! dont worry about "getting things right" just try your best!!!

Day 1: Find 3 different spells (online, in a book, anywhere). Try to figure out why the creator decided to use the materials they chose. Why are certain colors, tools, or herbs being used in the spell, and what do they represent/mean? What symbolism is being used in the method/steps of the spell to represent attaining the desired effect?

Day 2: Research meditation. What cultures practice forms of meditation? What are some different types, techniques, and purposes of meditation? Why do witches use meditation in their practice? Attempt a basic meditation technique based on your findings. Meditate daily if you can for the strongest benefits.

Day 3: Find a plant or crystal. Try to feel for its energy. Write down what you sense. Research methods if you’re having trouble sensing energy. Once you feel you have everything you’re going to be able to sense from it written down, try to research current spiritual uses + historical folklore/mythology surrounding the plant/crystal. Does it match up to what you sensed? Are historical connotations important to you or do you feel your personal intuitive sense of it/personal experiences are more important to you? Or do you value them equally?

Day 4: Research grounding and centering. How are they performed? What purpose are they used for? Why do people find them important for spellwork? Attempt one or both.

Day 5: Research closed practices, cultural appropriation, and spiritual bypassing. What harm can they cause? Why is it important to avoid these things?

Day 6: Research self-love spells. What are they for? What are some ways people do them? Attempt to perform a self love spell.

Day 7: Research shielding and warding. What do they do? Why are they important? Attempt one or both.

Day 8: Research shadow work. What is it? Why do people find it important for practicing witchcraft? Does it seem like something you would benefit from? Why or why not? Find a shadow work journaling prompt that calls to you and journal freely about it.

Day 9: Research the moon phases. What intentions does each phase assist with? What does each phase represent? Think about the symbolism of waxing and waning. attracting and repelling.

Day 10: Journal freely about the following questions: Why do you feel drawn to practice witchcraft? Have you always felt connection to nature or to the spirit world? What do you think your practice will do for you or help you with?

Day 11: Research item enchantment. What that is, why someone would want to enchant an object and methods of doing so. Attempt to enchant an object.

Day 12: Choose an herb and research its current spiritual uses and historical folklore surrounding it. Look into whether it has any scientifically verified medicinal properties. Be wary of pseudoscience. Find any other information about it that interests you. Try to draw it if you feel inclined to do so.

Day 13: Try a meditation technique or guided meditation you have never attempted before. Write about your experience and how you felt before, during, and after.

Day 14: Research altars. What are they? What are they used for? Do you think you want to use one? If so, what would you put on it? Why? If you have the means to, create an altar inside or outside your house. Be mindful that if your altar is outside, what you place on it may affect the environment. Be responsible.

Day 15: Journal freely about the following questions: Do you believe in human spirits? Do you believe in non-human spirits? Do you believe deities exist? Do you believe in house spirits, land spirits, spirits of bodies of water, and/or elemental spirits? Do you believe in demons? What experiences do you have that you feel impact your answers to any of the above questions?

Day 16: Research divination. What is it for? What are 5 different methods people use to divine? What are the origins of those methods?

Day 17: Choose your own path for today! Choose any topic relating to witchcraft that you're interested in and write down as much as you can about it! Dive as deep as you desire

Day 18: Research folklore about the seasons in your region. What do the seasons represent to you? What sort of symbolism do you attach to them?

Day 19: Choose an intention and perform a spell purely based on your intuition. Don't plan anything. Just do what feels right. Feel the vibe and act.

Day 20: You did it ! Reflect on what you learned, and what you wish to learn next. Which days were challenging for you? Which days were easy? Which day did you enjoy the most? Did your findings meet your expectations?

[sha-n-dowbannedlol]

Alhaitham — Nothing ever goes according to plan

It is no secret that Alhaitham is a man of many talents and extreme knowledge—however, one thing that he is willing to admit that he knows little to nothing about is the Art of Romance. Which is why when he caught wind of the budding feelings that he had for you, and when he realized that he actually wants to do something about said feelings, he turned to the one thing he knew he could trust; books.

(No matter how much Kaveh claims to be an expert on the topic, Alhaitham would much rather eat his own shoe than to approach his roommate for advice.)

Which lead to his situation now. The book in his hand was surprisingly quite heavy, a few inches thick with red leather as covering. He almost lets out a scowl as his gaze traces the gold lettering spelling out the title of the book.

Introduction to the Psychology of Love and Attraction.

"Give them a bouquet of flowers"

"Which flowers would be optimal for a confession?" The forest ranger's ears twitch, looking at Alhaitham with a raised brow, quoting the gray-haired man's words, "What's gotten into you, Alhaitham?"

The Scribe inwardly cringes, he knew he should've just went into the House of Daena and researched himself, but when he managed to catch the sight of a certain former botanical scholar turned forest ranger, he couldn't stop himself from approaching him and asking the question. Tighnari furrows his brows to think, before turning his back to Alhaitham and tending to one of the many flowers planted in Pardis Dhyai.

"Red tulips declare love, begging the recipient to believe in your confession. Gerbera Daisies shows desire for a relationship. Sunflowers can be used to tell someone their presence brightened up your life. Garden Cosmos may mean to cherish the one you love. Geranium can send the message that they make you happy, and daffodils can represent self-love or a plea; 'please respond to my love'. Or you can just go with the usual red roses." Tighnari responds without a moment's pause, his voice leveled and neutral, just stating facts and information for Alhaitham to absorb, "Though, these messages may vary depending on the source material you've read, but these are the first ones that came to mind."

"Thank you," The gray-haired man no longer sees any reason to prolong this conversation, "I would appreciate it if no one hears of this conversation,"

"Don't worry," The forest ranger didn't turn to face the scribe, but he did wave Alhaitham goodbye, "I don't think anyone will care enough to ask."

Alhaitham didn't waste any more time and headed to the nearest florist, and with the florist's expertise, it didn't take long before they created the optimal bouquet that he could give you to wordlessly clue you in to his feelings. Sure enough, the florist was quick to notice the language that the bouquet was trying to send and teased Alhaitham about it which he pointedly ignore, giving them the payment for the arrangement and acquiring it from their hands before he headed off.

Much to his dismay, however, he couldn't find you anywhere. As it turns out, you left town earlier in the day for your research, the scholar that informed Alhaitham didn't comment on the obvious disappointment on the Scribe's face as he was informed of your whereabouts. But he eventually shrugged it off, you'll be back soon enough. He can just place these flowers in a vase at home (Kaveh would be sure to have one of those laying around) and give them to you when you come back.

Unfortunately, at the day of your return, Alhaitham was greeted with the horrifying sight of a blank vase.

"Kaveh, have you seen the flowers in this vase?"

"Oh?" Kaveh glances up from his plates he's working on, taking quick look at the vase before looking back down at his work, "I threw them away."

Alhaitham almost exploded.

".....What?"

"They already wilted, what, was I supposed to keep it?"

The architect looks up again, mouth still open and was about to give another jab at his roommate but said roommate has already rushed his ay to the door, and the only thing Kaveh caught sight of was the door closing.

"Weird."

Alhaitham looks on with horror at the sight of the closed shop of the florist, and he fell into even more despair at the sign written at the front of the shop, indicating that they will be closed for quite a while.

To rub even more salt to the wound, you actively sought him out that day because a certain scholar couldn't keep their mouths shut about him searching for you, and here you are now asking him as to why the Scribe of the Akademiya was searching for you—outside of his work hours, even.

"The record you borrowed last time," he lied, "It's already past its due date."

"Ah, of course!"

"Know more about their interests, try to indulge yourself in them"

"the main lead from that romantic novel... I love him! He's definitely my type! My ideal man!"

Alhaitham didn't mean to overhear your private conversation with someone else, but it's not like he cares. It doesn't interest him if a fictional character has managed to catch your eye, at the end of the day, that guy is just a figment of imagination anyway. Just a character made up by a bunch or words written in a page.

He truly doesn't care.

Besides, an ideal is just that. An ideal. Nothing more than a fantasy.

He made his way to the House of Daena, eyes sharp as he examines the spine of various books arranged in a neat fashion, keeping an eye out on certain book he's looking for. It took him half of the day before giving up and leaving the library, the book he's searching for still nowhere in sight. The sun is no longer as scalding hot as it was in the noon when the Scribe exits the Akademiya, making a quick trip from one store to another to search for his book but to no avail. The sun was already setting by the time he finally makes his way home, the book he looked so hard for now in his hands.

Entering his home, he basked in the silence from the absence of his roommate, crossing his legs and opening the book in his lap. He can finally read in peace.

"Which physics book are you reading now?" Alhaitham sighs at the familiar voice that rang, followed by the front door closing as the roommate finally made his appearance,

"It's called 'None of your business'."

"Oh, really?" the sarcasm heavily dripped from Kaveh's words, "What's it about?"

"It's a fictional story about the light of Kshahrewar finally minding his own business for once and not bothering his roommate."

"You-" Kaveh's words die down in his throat in shock, his crimson gaze landing on the book being held in the scribe's hand, the words written at the cover catching his attention, "Wait.. I know that book.."

Alhaitham took that as a sign to leave, snapping the book shut in his hand before getting up and turning his back towards the architect.

"Alhaitham," Kaveh's words were of disbelief, the architect glued to his spot near the doorway,

"Are you reading a romantic novel--?"

"If you're going to be hammering things tonight, do it outside."

He slams the door to his room shut with a scowl.

He can't even read in peace.

He just wanted to know what you like so much about this male lead and he can't even do that with that man around.

"Make sure to look out for them"

thump!

A bag was dropped in front of you, prompting you to look up only to be met with the face of the one and only Alhaitham. You confusion must have been showing because he was quick to answer your question without you even voicing them out.

"My roommate made too much food this morning and he asked me to drop it to you." he lied. He figured there wasn't a need for you to know that he woke up extra early today to gather the best ingredients just so he can cook something he deems to be perfect enough as a gift for you.

All of it was worth it, he concludes, as he sees the glint of pure happiness in your eyes at the sight of free food. You were quick to pull the bag towards you, opening it up to take a peek inside the bag.

"Thank you, please send my re-" you were suddenly cut off, and Alhaitham frowns in concern as the excitement in your features was washed away and replaced with disappointment instead. He blinks as you close the bag once again before pushing it towards him.

"I'm sorry, Alhaitham, but... I can't accept this."

"Why?"

"I'm.... allergic to this."

For the first time in his entire life, he suddenly felt the need to slam his head against the wall. Repeatedly.

How- how in the world did he overlook your allergies?

"I see, that is unfortunate." He didn't allow even a drop of his emotion to seep through his words, picking the bag up once again, "I'll be sure to let him know."

"And of course, go on a date."

"Ms. Nilou has a performance at the Grand Bazaar tonight, Care to join me?"

"Are you... talking to me?" The look of disbelief on your face made Alhaitham sigh exasperatedly.

"Is there anyone else within earshot around here?" He responds, a deadpan look on his face.

"I would love to!" you exclaim in response,

Once again, he is graced by the sight of your wide smile, an excited glimmer in your eyes that never failed to make his heart beat rapidly. His breath hitched in his throat as that beautiful smile was finally aimed towards him, and his thoughts has gone haywire. But of course, you were none the wiser, you never could know what he's thinking with that emotionless look on his face.

However, your smile immediately turns to a frown when you seem to have remembered something, and Alhaitham squeezes his eyes shut as he braces himself for another rejection.

"But... I have an exam coming up, I can't slack off." You sounded so disappointed that he couldn't fault you for cancelling even before plans were made,

"Nothing ever goes according to plan.." he sighs, muttering under his breath. He turns his head away from you, his gaze looking off into the far distance.

You frown at the sight. It occurs to you that you weren't the only one disappointed with not being able to go see Nilou's performance with him. You can't help the guilt that start to well up in your chest at the sad look in Alhaitham's eyes.

"Haitham.." you call out to him, and he turns to look at you with a hum. "Why don't you help me study instead?"

His eyes widen for a fraction of a second in surprise at your suggestion, and you almost blurted out that you were just joking and you couldn't possibly waste his precious time. However, his surprised look morphed into one of soft fondness, an almost unnoticeable smile etched on his lips as his usually sharp eyes now look gentle.

"I guess I can do that."

[skadren]

so. let's talk about exoticism.

for those unfamiliar with the concept, exoticism involves the mystification and stereotyping of the culture being depicted. it's closely linked to orientalism, which in academic discourse is used to describe a specific eurocentric attitude or obsession directed towards the "eastern world", or the "orient".

(for reference, referring to that region as "the orient" or "oriental" is considered in extremely poor taste these days.)

this attitude places outside cultures as the "other", the "exotic". it posits that things from these cultures are fundamentally different; they do not belong and never will.

these things are seen as fascinating, but always lesser; something to be observed and made sense of, but in a way that results in subjugation and exploitation. instead of understanding the subject in its original context, it is taken out of place and forced to conform with a preexisting western understanding of the world. it is, essentially, stolen and put on display for clueless gawkers for the displayer's own benefit.

crucially, the person doing it is often oblivious to their own biases. they believe they are being objective and apolitical. but their interpretation of things is inherently biased, informed by their own preexisting worldview-- particularly when they are trying to impose their own understanding within the bounds of said worldview, rather than being willing to venture outside of it, or even simply accept that things can exist outside of it.

fandom of east asian media has a problem with exoticism-- specifically, in othering, stereotyping, and willfully misinterpreting various east asian cultures so they can cite it as an authority for more fandom credibility points for their preferred interpretation of the source material, telling everyone that's what it actually means, source: trust me bro. unfortunately, people eat it up every time, because most of them simply don't know any better.

i think on some level, that's why these people do it; subconsciously or not, they know that it will be difficult for people to question them or prove them wrong, given both the language barrier with the source material and the current internet landscape. they want to seem smart and culturally aware, and rely on their audience's cluelessness to sell their otherwise illogical or paper-thin argument.

i see it everywhere, gone unchallenged because no one seems to notice. and when you say anything it's "why are you ruining other people's fun" and "you're just being too sensitive" and "it's not that serious, it's just fandom" and "well you KNOW what i really mean (i'm a good little internet activist and therefore i can't be racist!)"

and it's harmful; a lot of discussions in these fandoms promote racist stereotypes, including the demasculinization of east asian men and the infantilization of east asians in general. they perpetuate the idea of our cultures being inherently more pedophilic, incestuous, or predatory. they cast us as being inherently strange and foreign, mystical and incomprehensible, who think in fundamentally different ways from you, who are normal.

no one seems to think that a fandom built around purportedly liking an east asian creation can be pervasively and overwhelmingly racist towards its very culture of origin, but that brings us back to the original definition of orientalism: a fascination, an obsession-- one that inherently degrades the object of that fascination.

regardless, i have argued in the past and will still argue that it's crucially important to engage in the cultural context around a work when trying to interpret it. it's just that when trying to perform this sort of analysis, some important questions to ask first are: is this overgeneralizing or stereotyping an entire group of people (or more)? is this actually applicable in the context of the media i am trying to analyze? is this sensationalizing a certain belief or practice that i don't fully understand?

is this what it actually means, or am i imposing my own standards of what i think it should mean?

[4dkellysworld]

Tip on chatting to AI

I used ChatGPT for this so it works super well, I recommend it!

Anyway, say you've been reading particular spiritual points that resonate with you and you really want to expand on it and use those principles to apply it to whatever you want, here are the steps you could take:

Gather each text that you want to feed into ChatGPT. I don't think there's a limit but try to keep them to a similar theme (and you can repeat this whole process for the other texts later).

Feed it to ChatGPT: "I want you to create an overall combined summary of each of the following paragraphs, listing out what were recurring points/themes and which points were mentioned only once by a particular text. Text 1 _______, Text 2 ______, Text 3 ________- etc". ChatGPT will then provide an analytical summary of it which can be useful too

Tell ChatGPT "Can you create a summary paragraph of the recurring points in the writing style of conveying a teaching (but written like a person talking rather than an essay or book) rather than a summary analysis?"

Then you can start chatting to it on the material and how to apply it to whatever your intention is "Using those sources and the teachings from them, can you "channel" that wisdom and give advice on how that would apply to say, manifesting ______?" (or how to let go of ego more? These are just examples ofc, you can ask anything but the answers are going to based on the texts you just fed it so it should be relevant to those texts)

Then you can even ask questions on any "problems" or "concerns" you might have with applying "What if this happens or I can't do it? (please use the source texts and current conversation as the base of your answers)" And it will respond based on the texts and it's basically like you got your own guru :D I find the responses are pretty reliable and concise to the source texts compared to normal chats with AI because you've given it a clear foundation to base its answers from. Even having it rephrase the information from the sources and tailor it to your situation can be helpful imo. Enjoy! :)

Edit: if you find it starts straying from the sources and talks about things that are in opposition to it, then simply tell ChatGPT "please stick to the source information. I prefer responses strictly aligned with the sources provided, please avoid any contradictory or additional elements." and it will update its memory so future responses will be aligned to this

[waywardcrow]

Haircuts and coffee.

Summary: A little story about how Fairy and Bucky meet and how far Fairy could go to protect someone.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x F!Reader.

WC: About 1600 or something.

TW: Very poor science kwnoledge by me, a pair of assholes talking shit, language, references to Bucky’s past as the Winter soldier and the abuse he suffered at Hydra's, physical violence (don’t try this at home), goofiness, someone trips and falls, fluff and feels, reader it's pictured to don't be above 5'3 but I try to don't specify too much, let me know if I missed something.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language, please tell me if I make grammar mistakes.

Everybody talked about “the incident” for a while.

That’s what Tony decided to call when his favorite lab tech decided to blast a not tested powerful weapon at some jerk agents.

In your defense, he had it coming.

Agent Smith was rude, obnoxious and misogynistic, he smelled like instead of water he used his awful cologne to shower and he made the mistake to be rude to Sergeant Barnes in your presence.

Three weeks ago Sergeant Barnes was found innocent of all charges against him and Captain Rogers took him to the Avengers compound so he could start living there while he finished his recovery, you remembered how happy he was that morning, not even Tony’s teasing could get under Steve’s skin and you were so happy for both of them, obviously not everyone shared the feeling.

There were some people whispering, not very enthusiastic about having the former Winter Soldier living there, free, but you decided to don’t engage with them, Agent Hill made very clear you couldn’t keep getting into fights with your coworkers even if they never were physical.

You weren’t a violent person but also you weren’t one to stand and watch something happening when you knew it was wrong.

So you focused on your work.

A simple weapon that could be camouflaged like a normal glove but it had all the power of Tony’s blasters, it was a delicate experiment because the material wasn’t resistant enough to the power source so it ended on fire or the blast wasn’t powerful enough, firing some sparks that only will scare you and no one else.

Tony told you over and over again to don’t pressure perfection which was bullshit because the man survived on caffeine and impostor syndrome most of the days, just like you. You continued to work until you were sure it was good, that’s why you decided to try it in a safe environment and, it was then when it happened.

You heard a couple of agents talk on your way to see Tony, they were watching Sergeant Barnes from the hall without an ounce of shame while he poured some coffee for himself in the kitchen, what you heard made your stomach drop.

“I don’t know why they let him out, he’s a fucking freak” Agent Smith said with a vicious smile in his very symmetrical face.

“Yeah man, they should never left him leave prison” the other, Jameson, agreed.

“They actually should send him back to Hydra, so he gets what he deserves”

At that, you saw Sergeant Barnes flinch and you realized he could hear them even if he was a very good distance.

It broke your heart.

He was so polite when Steve introduced you, he had such a kind smile when his best friend told him he would take him to the best burgers in the city that night as celebration and you read some of the files years ago when Nat put out all of SHIELD and Hydra’s information, you knew things you wished that could get erased from your mind and specially you wished the man in front of you never would have to suffer them, ever.

So yeah, you threw Hill’s advice through the window and went to agent jerk and agent douchebag.

“Take that back, assholes”

You were well aware how you looked, a small nerd with very big glasses and a very short skirt facing some six foot something idiots who could kill you in a heartbeat. Your mother always told you to stop being too impulsive but your father always smiled about it, calling you a troublemaker.

“Don’t get your nose in things that doesn’t concern you, lab rat” Smith didn’t like you, not so much after you declined his offer to go out which was predictable from someone like him, beside him Jameson let out a laugh that made you see red.

“I said: take it back and apologize”

Smith got too close to you for your liking, enjoying being able to stared down at you, like you were nothing.

“Or what? Are you going to cry? Or would you ask your new friend to kill me like he used-“ you didn’t let him finish, with a flick of your wrist, he got send backwards alongside his buddy, making both of them fly across the hall to the empty conference room to end in the garden, a floor below.

You looked at your hand, the good news was your experiment worked, the bad was Maria would not like this.

That was how you ended in disciplinary action, thankfully Tony and Steve interceded for you, watching with Friday’s help the footage of the incident, Smith and Jameson had to apologize to Sergeant Barnes and you didn’t have to do the same with them. When they presented a complain, Tony swore the footage of the incident was gone and there was no way they could prove you hurt them. Also he promised them they would have nice assignments waiting for them after their recovery… in Alaska.

Maria was not speaking to you, tired of cleaning everyone’s messes. Yelena gave you lots of high fives that made you want to hide when someone else watch you both, and Steve, he was thankful for your intervention and you didn’t regret it but his friend couldn’t look at you in the eyes anymore.

It wasn’t that obvious because as part of you punishment, you had to spend a lot of time in the training facilities with Nat, Maria was convinced that it was perfect because you hated exercise and she was right, you were in hell.

Even if Nat was one of your best friends, she was a relentless trainer, tough and disciplined, all you weren’t when it came to run in circles.

“Come on, Fairy” she yelled at you from her position, very ahead of you “I need you to run like Pedro Pascal is waiting for you!”

The sweat was blinding you, your lungs felt on fire and still you managed to scream at her like a suffocated turtle.

“Don’t you dare use Pedro’s name in vain!”

The redhead laughed, running backwards like it was easy, for her it probably was and then you saw him.

Not Pedro Pascal, of course, although you were sure he was friends with Pepper and she didn’t want to tell you.

You saw Sergeant Barnes coming towards the run track, it wasn’t strange since he and Steve used it a lot but his hair, it was different. He had cut all his long locks leaving only a very modern haircut that make his cheekbones more evident.

Before you could think about closing your mouth, your foot got caught in something and you fell.

It was so embarrassing being in the med bay for this.

Sam would never let you hear the end of it, Yelena got the footage and made a tik tok reel just for you, Morgan was the only one who took pity on you and left you a bag of Sour patch when she went to see you.

You were fine with all of that, the teasing of your friends and even your sore wrist but your literal high school celebrity crush saw you hit the dust, all because you were so busy staring at him. It was a good thing he was avoiding you.

Because life loved to make fun of you, he went to see you at the med bay.

“Hi miss, Fairy, I mean miss Fairy” he wasn’t sure he could get to call you by the pet name everybody used with you even if Steve had introduced you like that. Bucky knew your real name, of course, but you seemed to like being called Fairy and if he was honest with himself, it suited you.

“It’s everything ok, Sergeant?” your first instinct was to check on him and it didn’t went unnoticed by Bucky.

“Yeah, I am” he put a cup pf coffee in the bedside table and looked at you like he wanted to run from there “I came to see how you are, it was a very bad fall”

Your cheeks burned, why did this have to happen to you? If seventeen year old you could see you right now, she would slapped you for making this impression on Bucky Barnes, your favorite Howling commando, the reason you wanted to join SHIELD and even when you couldn’t, you still tried to do something good with your life.

“Yeah, it wasn’t- I mean, I’m fine” you smiled but it looked more like a grimaced gesture.

He wasn’t convinced, your arm had scratches and your left cheekbone was red, Bucky felt bad for waiting until this happened to talk to you.

“I brought you some coffee, Steve told me you like it like this” he lied, Bucky had observed you enough to know how you liked it, which was natural since you drank it like it was water. He fought the urge to hide his gloved hands on his pockets “I didn’t get to thank you”

“What for?” you asked before taking a sip of your cup, it was perfect.

“For standing for me, that day”

His voice sounded small even being this close to you and he hated it.

He hated you heard what they said, he hated that you felt bad for him and that he found you so beautiful when he had no chance with you.

Biting your lip, you left your drink and looked at him in the eyes.

“I didn’t want you to think they represent us, they don’t, there’s a lot of douchebags but there’s also a lot of good people here and we will support you” it sounded so cheesy but it was true, what kind of superheroes organization they would be if they don’t take care of their own people?

Bucky stared at you, not wanting to believe you were real, why were you being so kind with him? And why did he wanted more?

“Thanks, Fairy” this time, your pet name sounded sure on his tongue and it made you smile.

“No need to thank me, Sergeant”

“Please, call me Bucky”

Hello! I wanted to write this so bad and I didn't care if it was very self indulgent and silly, I needed this, I love Fairy and Bucky so much and I hope you love them too, let me know what you think.

Love, Lily.

[transmutationisms]

ok i still haven't seen the video du jour so i'm not casting aspersions on it, specifically, but i must say i am baffled by seeing responses to it on here that seem to be written under the presumption that newspaper journalism is somehow immune to the economic forces that cause digital creators to churn out endless streams of low-effort, plagiarised content. have we not all had the experience of trying to find information about an event and clicking on a few different news stories from 'respectable' outlets, only to discover they're all using the same three quotes and just paraphrasing the copy around it, and then clicking around more and determining that those three quotes all turn out to have been sourced from a local paper that broke the story last week but has a circulation of approximately ten people and was mostly ignored, and meanwhile critical details of the situation have now been distorted or omitted in a game of lazy newsprint telephone?

this is more of what i mean when i say that plagiarism is not a bug of capitalist knowledge production and circulation; it's a feature. newspapers and academic articles and youtube video essays are all products and they all exist to sell themselves. individual writers and journalists and editors may be more or less invested, personally, in what they're making, but regardless they are all subject to the same forces incentivising more content and shittier source attribution: it's good for your bottom line if you can continually present yourself as some brilliant thinker who is coming up with wholly original ideas and bestowing them upon the masses. it is much less beneficial to you, economically, to direct people openly and honestly to others' work by crediting them and presenting your own output as part of a larger collaborative social endeavour.

this sort of knowledge production is therefore prone to plagiarism as an expression of the contradiction between the idealist pretense to knowledge circulation as a beneficent activity of social enlightenment, and the material reality of knowledge circulation as a capitalist activity both productive of and dependent on structures of exploitation and inequality. it's not a problem that's unique to individual bad actors, or to any specific medium or professional credential or lack thereof. let's be serious

[gremoria411]

How to get into Gundam

Because fuck it, I was gonna do one of these sooner or later anyway.

So you want to know what this Gundam thing’s about, maybe you like the mecha design, maybe you caught part of an episode one time and want to catch up, or maybe you saw a nice piece of Chamuro fanart and want to go to the source.

But there’s so many shows and timelines that it can be quite daunting on first look, so this guide is intended to give a rough overview.

I would however like to stress two four things beforehand however:

This guide is not intended as “The One True Way” or anything. There’s no harm it coming into it a different way, and these are only my own opinions.

There’s nothing stopping you from just watching one show and leaving it there. You don’t have to watch every single show going, even I’ve only seen most of these, not all. Gundam typically has variations on similar themes - it’s very nice watching multiple shows because they complement one another, but it’s not necessarily required.

I am very much an insider looking out here, so let me know if there’s any details I’ve missed.

I’m not gonna recommend these on a “if you like X, then watch Y basis”, mostly because I don’t personally find genre recommendations helpful, so I’d recommend picking based on promotional material (vibes, if you will).

I’ll be using this chart, supplied by the excellent@l-crimson-l, to illustrate everything.

Gundam as a whole can principally be divided into three sections: Universal Century (or UC), the Alternate Universes (AU’s) and the Build Series.

The AU’s are below the light blue line, near the bottom of the Chart, the Build Series is within the bright green line at the top-right corner of the chart and UC is the big line in the middle. We’ll talk about each of them individually.

The AU’s

The Alternate Universes were conceived as a way to get away from the continuity-heavy nature of Universal Century and provide an easy jumping-on point for new fans. The AU’s are standalone and require no prior knowledge, and are thus an excellent place to start. Honestly, I’d recommend quickly searching some promotional materials (like posters) and just going with the one you find most appealing based on that. They are (in production order):

Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995)

After War Gundam X (1996)

Turn A Gundam (1999)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007)

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011)

Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (2015)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)

There’s side series and movies and other things besides, but these are the mainline shows, if you will. I have specific notes on a few of them:

Witch From Mercury - It’s of a shorter length than is usual for mainline shows, so consequently it’s a much smaller time investment than the others.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam - While undeniably rad as hell, I would recommend watching another AU first. G Gundam differs from its stablemates in a few key areas, and I find it helps to have a contrast to fully appreciate those differences.

Gundam AGE - is probably the only one I wouldn’t recommend. I didn’t like the art style and the technical explanations just got on my nerves, so I stopped watching.

Turn A and G-Reconguista are technically part of UC as well, but it’s not really crucial information so don’t feel like you have to watch UC first (I’m only including this detail for completionism).

I’ve found all the AU’s I’ve seen to be pretty good, so I’d say that which one you start with really just comes down to personal taste.

The Build Series

Is just kind of doing its own thing. The Build series is basically Buy Our Toys: the series. It’s got a far lighter tone, and I’ve had cause to compare it to pokemon prior. It’s also chock full of references and in-jokes to the other series.

Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try are the ones I’d recommend - they’ve got actual stakes and the fight scenes are really good.

Build Divers and Build Divers Re:rise I can’t recommend - I just find Build Divers aggressively boring. Build Divers Re:Rise is just okay - neither standout good or particularly bad. Its main flaw is that it’s a sequel to Build Divers.

The OVA’s are pretty much bad across the board - I’d particularly recommend avoiding Gundam Build Metaverse.

Universal Century

Universal Century is the big main timeline of Gundam, and is the timeline the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979 takes place in. There’s a tendency among certain fans to place UC as the one-above-all of Gundam, but I wouldn’t really go that far. It’s all pretty good, but I wouldnt really say one timeline is better than another (save personal preference, anyway).

Because UC is so big, it can be subdivided a couple times. The primary division is “Mainline” UC versus everything else. Basically there’s four-five shows in Universal Century from which everything else flows. As long as you know roughly what happens in these shows, then you can watch basically anything else in UC and have a good idea of what’s going on. These are (in order):

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - sometimes called Mobile Suit Gundam 0079.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)

With Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010) as a nominal fifth (honestly I feel like you could argue either way).

The rest of the shows are:

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989 Three-Episode OVA)

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991 Movie)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991 Thirteen-episode OVA)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1999 Twelve-episode OVA)

G-Saviour (2000 Live Action Movie) - nobody ever talks about or acknowledges this one, it’s just here for completionism.

Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo (2004-2009 Three OVA’s with three Episodes each)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015 Six-Episode OVA, adapted from the Manga of the same name)

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015 Eight-Episode Series, adapted from the Manga of the same name)

Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis (2017 episode, adapted from a light novel of the same name. Later rereleased as Gundam Twilight Axis Red Trace, with additional footage)

Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018 sequel movie to Gundam Unicorn)

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (2021 ongoing movie series, very much adapted from the novel Hathaway’s Flash)

Most of the other series relate to events in the aforementioned “mainline” shows in some way, but a lot of the sidestories set during the One Year War require very little introduction (Thunderbolt, 0080 and 08th MS Team). Similarly, works set in “Late UC” (F91 and Victory Gundam) carry on from the other series thematically but don’t have any plot connections, so they can all be watched without any background knowledge of the rest of the Universal Century.

Compilation Movies

Just a quick note here - many of the Gundam series have compilation movies, where either a whole series or part of one are compressed down into a movie. While each movie compares differently, they usually boil down to this: Compilation Movies usually have worse pacing, but really nice animation.

One of the great things about Gundam is that different shows offer variations on themes, so seeing how different characters react to similar situations, or how different settings change their approaches can make it incredibly rewarding.

I haven’t seen enough of SD Gundam to make any sort of recommendations there, and Manga is something I might touch on another day.

EDIT: Oh hey also: You can watch a good chunk of these on YouTube, for free, officially. The Official Gundam.Info YouTube channel rotates the series shown on its channel periodically. I think it’s got F91 and SEED on there currently? But it’s had Wing, 00 and Witch From Mercury before. Also all of the Build Fighters series are there.

So yeah, that’s a thing.

[thegreatwicked]

Writing Resources Part 2

My first list was so long I decided that I reached the character limit! So we have a part two! I'm going to try and keep them a bit more organized too! Hope these help you all in your writing endeavors and if you happen to use any of them try to give the original source some love!

Also, apologies if I've tagged you more than once and it's annoying! If I reference your material more than twice I will just link your whole Tumblr. I really do want to make sure everyone gets their credit and spotlight!

General Information and Research:

The Fantasy Guide to Royal and Noble Marriages or anything by @inky-duchess Her blog is extensive and is a wealth of information regarding things like royalty/nobility/Period social politics and is a fantastic resource, go check her out! Ink I do appologize I might be tagging you more than once!

@type1diabetesinfandom This blog is an amazing resource if you are interested in writing about characters with any form of diabetes or similar health issues. It was ana amzing find when I was writing my character Belladonna Black from Shadows of Deception who is hypoglycemic. What an amazing source!

How to Cook in a Medieval Setting: by @alpaca-clouds Food is the best way to know a culture and this particular blog post is a trove of information for your fictional foodie set anywhere in this spectrum of time or a great find for a fictional setting! This post obviously gets a chefs kiss!

The Symbolism of Flowers by @novlr Yeah! Leopold knew what he was talkign about, every flower has a meaning and it is entirely possible to send some a bouquette that translates to 'Fuck You' btw it consists of geraniums (stupidity), foxglove (insincerity), meadowsweet (uselessness), yellow carnations (you have disappointed me), and orange lilies (hatred). it would be quite striking! and full of loathing. THE MORE YOU KNOW. This blog is also a fantastic source for writers.

Writing About Body Pain by @slayingfiction I just came across this gem of a blog and if you're one who likes to make your characters sufffer than look no further, also, how ya doing? You ok? Just checking. This blog is also a fantastic writing resource.

How to Accurately Describe Pain in Writing by @hayatheauthor kinda piggybacking off the previous source but nevertheless lets make sure we make these characters suffer realistically? I'm ok too, if you're wondering. This is another great blog that focuses on the aspect of being a writer.

How to Use Canva to Make Mood Boards by @saradika I did not know much about mood baords but I'm telling you they are a gaem changer! They bring a life to your story in a way that is just so stunning and saradika has been so lovely as to make this helpful guide! She's also a very talented writer and is quite the Star Wars Fan! GO check out her stories!

Researching as a Writer by @so-many-ocs Research is a tricky topid to delve into and sometime sit hard to know where to start, this blogger has been so kinda as to make a bit of a roadmap to help you narrow down what you need to research and how. Wonderful blog! Very helpful!

Resources for Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters by @thecaffeinebookwarrior THIS! This right here is a gem and the only reason I don't write these types fo characters is because I've never known how to do so respectfuly and realistically! Not a problem anymore! Also a wonderful artist!

How to Write and Research a Mental Illness another gem from @hayatheauthor again if you're going to wrote a character with a mental illness lets make sure we get it right!

@namesforwriters It's little but a wonderful source of unique names for your story! Including mythology and music themed names!

Nightmare Disorder vs Night Terrors by @redd956 Some great clarification from a blogger who is diagnosed! So happy I found this as I was wondering about the distinction myself for a little while!

Types of Gemstones by @blueboxbeagle and brought to my attention by @keffirinne

A General Cane Guide for Writers and Artists by @deoidesignand brought to my attention but @cripplecharacters I was so excited to find this fantastic little gem recently and I look forward to using it! I'm keeping an eye out for more material in portraying characters with disabilities and disorders maybe it'll get it's own post!

@cripplecharacters linking this amazing blogger if you are wanting to expand your characters and write them with disabilities or diaper fees, this is a wonderful source of how to do it and stay respectful!!

@writingwithcolor use that painters pallet and write diverse characters and when you’re not sure what or how to write something check this blog out! Such a wonderful source for all questions concerning ethnicity, race and diversity!

@writinglgbtq I was looking for this blog!!! Your source for all things concerning writing the LGBTQ community respectfully and believably! So happy to ah e found this!!

@macgyvermedical I have been looking for a blog like this for some time and I'm so happy to add it to my writing resources list as tehre are far too many great and helpful posts to pick just one. Check out this amazing blogger who offers medical beta reads and asks for fanficiton!

Make it Pretty! My own contribution to help make writing a bit prettier! ꧁☽✶☾✶☽꧂ Enjoy!

Adding Page Breaks & Art to Your Stories Another of my own contributions for adding in nice clean page breaks to your stories as well as how to upload art to AO3, FFN and Wattled.

More will be added to this post as I find it and if you find anything that fits the general research on broad topics or specifics please let me know so I can continue this collective writing resource! And make sure to give some of these wonderful writers and bloggers some love!

[wingsoverlagos]

Today, I’d like to share one of Mark Lewisohn’s most entertaining fucked-up citations. This citation, Tune In 13-23, contains a rare example of Lewisohn almost saying something correct/insightful about Paul McCartney before hopelessly fumbling, as well as a far-less-rare example of Lewisohn correcting Paul on a bit of trivia while simultaneously mangling the source material. Here’s the text of the endnote itself:

In pink, Lewisohn lets us know that Paul, reflecting in the ‘90s on the events of 1960, did not correctly remember the name of the host. This is fine—I don’t take issue with Lewisohn correcting things the Beatles misremembered—but it’s very funny to see him correcting a bit of minutiae in the citation for two quotes he altered or misrepresented.

In yellow, we have what seems, on the surface, to be an actual insight about Paul: “Paul sometimes says ‘we’ in interviews when he means ‘I.’” This isn’t a paradigm-bending revelation—I’m sure my mutuals are all very aware of this habit of Paul’s—but it’s an insight nonetheless.

Or it would be, if this wasn’t said in relation to a quote where Paul clearly means himself and another person. So close, Mark! From Tune In:

Teenage Paul, out of his depth at a college party, pretends to be a singing Frenchman, creating ‘Michelle’ in the process. The first quote, the one where Lewisohn asserts Paul is using “we” in the singular sense, is from the Anthology (2000, p.198):

Do y’all see the problem here? “It was very sophisticated for me and George, so we were trying to hang in there and pretend we knew what was going on.” Emphasis added by me, just in case Mr. Lewisohn is reading and needs a little help.

This is not Paul saying “we” but meaning “I.” This is Paul explicitly stating how he and George felt. And like?????? The “clarification” Lewisohn provides in the endnote is completely unnecessary to begin with. There’s no reason to say Paul means just-him in this quote, unless Lewisohn is worried John will get lumped in with Paul’s loser teenager behavior. In that case, instead of lying and saying Paul actually meant just-Paul here, why not mention that George was at the party and out of his depth as well? Why do this??????

Onto Many Years From Now (1997):

The quote itself isn’t too altered. Lewisohn fails to mark the omission after “It was” with an ellipsis, but that’s small potatoes for him. The Irritating thing here was brought to my attention be @mythserene: even though Paul mentions three specific influences on his wannabe French style (Sacha Distel, Juliette Greco, and Maurice Chevalier), Lewisohn invokes an entirely different Frenchman, Jacques Brel.

With Lewisohn’s phrasing, he’s not incorrect. If Paul said “Joey Fatone and Justin Timberlake were huge influences on my choice to get frosted tips in 2001,” it wouldn’t be wrong to describe his appearance as “Lance Bass-esque.” But if you’re writing a musician’s biography, and that musician has named specific influences on their music or presentation, why would you not invoke those influences when the opportunity arises? Isn’t it more work—and less informative—to dig up some fourth French guy to slot in here instead?

Lewisohn thinks it’s worth the readers time to know that Paul forgot who hosted a party he attended as a teenager, at the same time putting in effort to avoid mentioning Paul’s stated influences.

[noris-stoneward]

So I'm a gamer yeah?

One of the things I tend to do with games I play is... I think it's a form of metagaming? See based on information we are given in game or from other source material you can extrapolate other things that have to also be true.

So for example in the game Destiny you fight a bunch of different aliens.

Well one of those Alien species is canonically insectoid (they're called the Fallen/Eliksni)

And going off of our Insects we can learn a few things.

One: since the Eliksni are very big they probably had high concentrations of whatever gas they primarily breathe.

Seeing as they need this substance called Ether (which comes as a gas of some kind) and the more Ether an Eliksni has the bigger it gets I think we can safely say that this follows true.

2: we can see what Ether looks like. Precision hits have a chance to cause an explosive decompression of their breathing apparatus (not a fun way to go poor guys, but they are trying to kill you first) and as such we can hypothesize some of the components of Ether. It glows this pale teal color when subjected to an electrical current, and can be mined.

Guess what? We have gasses like that!

Specifically Argon fits that bill. Which means we have anywhere from 0.9% (unlikely due to the glowing effect) to 78% in their Atmosphere composition.

3: we can extrapolate different fauna from their home world based on their technology. And let me say some of their beasties sound very scary.

And so on.

So I'm going to be occasionally posting a little snippet of stuff from games I've played and what extra information we can either A uncover from what they give, or B come up with wholesale because the explanation they gave us was terrible.

Next time I'm doing Anthem which I'm shocked doesn't have more stories about it, it's almost as easy to make a crossover for it as Familiar of Zero which is saying something.

[edwardallenpoe]

Hey. Just wanted to put my two cents in, like everyone else on Tumblr dot com is. (It got pretty long so putting it under a cut)

I don't really care about what you think should happen to the fandom. Like. If you are going to continue to engage in the fandom without giving Neil any sort of gain is fine. I'm personally still on the fence on what the fuck to do now. But let's not make that the whole focus, yeah? What Neil allegedly did was fucking terrible. Like. Objectively worse than what JKR did when things first came out about her. Let's forget good omens and sandman and coraline for a minute (don't care if you still engage with those things or burn your copies and remove your tattoos, let's just put it down for a minute.) and try really hard to think. Because we all hated JKR. We burned her reputation to the ground. For good reason. But we can't even decide if we hate Neil Gaiman yet? Guys. Please. We have to believe all women. Plus he's a rich fucking white dude who has admitted to using his power for gain.

And if it turns out (which this is a 8% chance) that this is all not what it seems to be, or even all of it is fabricated, and Neil is innocent, we still gotta stop worshipping this dude. This has got to be a wakeup call that he's not some Messiah. He's a human dude in power who does the same shitty things human dudes in power do.

And I get it. You want to continue to like your stories that he helped create (key-word 'helped' bc he was a part of a team with a lot of these stories, including Sir Terry Pratchett) but me personally? I would be a massive hypocrite if I metaphorically burned my Harry Potter stories to the ground and put HP fans in my DNI because of JKR but said "separate the art from the artist" with Neil Gaiman.

And this is coming from any other Good Omens fan that became way too attached to the story. Like a lot of people have said that story helped in very. Very fucking trying times. It was my rock, some days the only thing keeping me going. The fandom has been an amazing place of creativity and community and love.

But so was Harry Potter. If you think about it. If any Good Omens fans were previous Harry Potter fans you'll know just how wide spread and open and creative and deep the hp fandom was. And this may just be me misremembering because it was a couple years ago at this point (plus everything with Neil Gaiman is still such news) but because JKR was spouting rhetoric that directly harmed us (us being majority queer and poc people) we drop-kicked hp pretty fast and focused on the artist and her shittiness.

Can we have the same attitude towards Neil? Can we separate the art from the artist long enough to fucking focus on Neil? When I say separate the art from the artist I don't mean "remove artist, continue to enjoy art" I mean "remove the art and focus on the artist, and study that motherfucker". How many video essays are their out about JKR? How many books referencing her terribleness? Without giving so much as a hint to Harry Potter?

Separate the art from the artist and focus on the artist and bringing him to justice. And believe the victims.

And yeah I can see your arguments against the source of the information and who the victims went to tell their stories, I can understand those arguments, but let's look at the data, okay? Let's look at what Scarlett and K actually said with their actual words and their actual messages and separate the source from the material. What Scarlett and K talked about is scary. Terrifying. I couldn't even read more than a little bit before I got triggered. I wasn't caring about how the source podcast was talking about it. What Scarlett and K said with their own words should be enough. Make your own judgements. If you can't look at a story without being influenced by the storyteller's hidden agenda and not have critical thinking skills????? I'm sorry but that's going to be your downfall.

Or better yet, if you can't believe victims because they have political views that differ from your own (which, they probably don't. From what I can tell nobody really fucking knows what Scarlett and K's political views are but it doesn't really matter) you need to really study and look into what you mean when you call yourself a "leftist". Because it's not very progressive or helpful to not believe or help victims because of their political views. Sorry. Is that wild for me to say? Idk

Uh anyways. I don't really care what you do in your free time when it comes to enjoying the fandoms. I don't necessarily think it makes you a terribly shitty person for still engaging in it instead of burning all your Neil Gaiman stories, and also like a lot of people have said (and since I'm on the same boat) treating fans like the scum of the earth when a lot of fans have had good omens as a way to escape and has become super dependent on good omens and are justifiably horrified by everything and trying to ignore it is shitty. But I'm personally going to continue to follow this story because I care about the victims. Not because I want to be guilt-free reading a fanfic about an angel and a demon. Because I care about real life people.