#like things that are PRIMARILY raw egg

[bioethicists]

rb and tag with the worst decision you make on a regular basis

[systlin]

People that are absolutely convinced anyone can be vegan/vegetarian baffle me. I eat meat fairly regularly and I am already courting a B12 deficiency (for anyone who doesn't know the easiest source of B12 that the human body likes to absorb is red meat, you can get it from other sources primarily leafy greens I believe but your not getting as much because it's not as easy for your body to absorb) my levels aren't low enough to be considered clinically deficient but it's a near thing so my doctor has told me to take 2 B12 vitamins every day. I'm hoping this fixes my levels because if it doesn't that's a sign of a much more serious problem where my digestive system is biologically struggling to absorb B12

Gods, I feel you

When I got my Chron's diagnosis, the gastroenterologist and I talked about diet. High fiber is my enemy. I'm mostly OK now thanks to maintenance medication, but even now I can't have more than a single handful of nuts or popcorn without Suffering after. Raw vegetables are iffy; I can eat a couple of radishes or carrot sticks, but celery sets it off and raw broccoli or cauliflower is misery. I can have ONE small bowl of salad a day, which sucks because I LOVE salad. I have to be careful to limit servings of raw fruit, which also sucks because I adore cherries and pears and peaches.

Cooked vegetables are mostly fine, though I still have to keep the broccoli and brussels sprouts servings small. Cooked fruit is fine too. Beans are iffy. I can have some, but not a lot, which sucks because I love beans. Tofu is OK, but during my flare it gave me worse gas.

During a flare, my safe foods were cheese, meat, eggs, milk, fruit juice, vegetable juice, white bread, and cream of wheat. It was a fucking nightmare to try and get all the nutrients into me that I need. You will note that most of these are in fact animal products. I was under literal medical orders to keep the hell away from non-juiced fruits and vegetables.

Of course, a bunch of people came out of the woodwork to tell me that I could heal myself by cutting out all dairy and wheat and going vegan/raw vegan. People still do this regularly. I've deleted ten out of my inbox since yesterday.

If I tried to go vegan, it would be very, very rough on my traitor-ass large intestine and would probably send me into a flare. If I tried to go RAW vegan, it would probably mean surgery and might kill me.

[redfoxwritesstuff]

Sunflower: Book 1, Chapter 3

Tom Hiddleston x OFC Series rated: M Chapter warnings: drinking AN: Can you believe it? We're at chapter three! Three consistent weeks of Sunflower! That's like a posting record for the last three years! Look friends, I know a lot of us, me included, are in some pretty crazy weather right now. It's either super cold or super snowy or if you're really unlucky- both. Stay safe, stay warm

Masterlist Chapter 2 Chapter 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3

They sat in a corner booth of a small private restaurant. It was peaceful and empty. Places like this were frequented by locals primarily while the visitors would sleep in and wait for the brunch buffets, fast food joints and reservations for celebrity chiefs. Even on The Strip, locals had their places. 

They were in the weird in between time where Las Vegas was either still sleeping off the night before or had already gone to work, contributing even more to the isolated feeling that hung in the air. 

It was places like this that the resident celebrities could slip in and get some eggs and toast without any fuss. Places like this, Elton John or Celine Dion were just another local hiding from the flashing lights. Places like this embodied the vibe of the locals. The walls screamed, ‘Look, we all just live here’.

“Thank you again,” she picked at the airy sleeve around her wrist, “for the clothes.”

“It’s the least I can do for asking you to hear me out.”

“I- I know who you are.” She blurted out and his whole body stiffened. “I called Ashley- My sister- to cancel breakfast and she looked you up.”

“And?” He was cautious now, so different than the carefree charm that seemed to drip from his pores and that worried her. It was like the warmth had been sucked from the air around him in a instant. 

“You’re an actor. I- I’ve not seen anything you’ve done. I don’t really see much movies. Why me? Why just a normal girl? Don’t you have an actress girlfriend or something. Won’t insisting on trying to be married ruin your career or life or something?” Her insecurities were all the more raw knowing that not only did she drunk marry a hot man but a famous one at that. 

“Maybe that’s why.” The waiter refilled their coffees, interrupting the conversation though Tom was quick to thank him for the refill. “Maybe I need something normal. I’ve done the actress partner thing and it just- it’s too much attention. My ex, my last serious relationship- she got married this weekend.”

“So you drown your loneliness and marry a stranger?” She scoffed at him. “That’s not how anyone should solve their problems.” It was the Vegas way though. 

“Perhaps. But perhaps it’ll work out.” 

“What about your career?”

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure.” She wasn’t as sure as he was but really, what did she know?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His phone rang though he was quick to dismiss the call. “You have every reason to be worried but I can promise you, I’m not going to force you to do anything. One year- give us one year to see if this was a mistake or not.”

“Tom,”

“I know it’s probably not going to work out, most marriages don’t and we don’t even know each other. Let’s take the time to get to know each other though. Let’s see what happens. Let’s take our time. If it doesn't work out and we still don’t want to be together in a year, we split no fault, no questions.”

“So we play pretend?” 

“It won’t be pretend. We stay loyal to each other. We put in a honest effort. And if I ever make you feel unsafe or we fight too much, we pull the plug. I know I’m asking a lot-” The ringing of his phone interrupted him again. 

“Do you need to take it?” 

“No…” His answer was reluctant as the phone lit up once again with another call. 

“You sure?” 

He sighed. “I Should. Here,” He handed her a few twenties from his wallet. “That should be enough for the bill and tip. If you wouldn’t mind? I’ll try to be quick but…”

“It’s fine.” She wove him away. Was this her first act as his wife? It felt surreal. “Tom?” 

He turned to her, phone halfway to his ear. “Yeah?” 

“I think this is a dumb idea but, okay.” 

His face lit up in a smile. “Okay.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is Tom.” 

“Do not ‘This is Tom’ me.” Luke was angry.

“What’s got your feathers ruffled?” Playing dumb was always a good move with Luke. It’s far better to admit nothing until he knows exactly why Luke is mad at him this time. Tom had learned the hard way that if he started talking first, he was likely to admit to flirting with a interviewer when Luke was mad about a too high room service bill.

“Have you lost your bloody mind?” That wasn’t a good sign. 

“Is the correct answer ‘Yes’?”

“Damn right it is. You have ten seconds to explain to me why there are pictures of you kissing a brunette in a bar the same night Sophia got married. Go.”

“I’m human and allowed to kiss women, Luke.” Tom leaned against the side of the building, standing in the shade. 

It was quickly getting hot outside with the sun beating down. He wanted his sunglasses but they were back on the table.

“True. I’d rather you did it discreetly but that’s true. How about why there’s pictures of you with the same woman wearing a wedding gown. Tell me you crashed a wedding.”

“I crashed a wedding.” 

“You didn’t get married?”

“I got married.” 

“Oh thank god.” There were three heartbeats exactly, Tom had counted, between Luke’s reflexive answer and the realization hitting. “The fuck you did! You’re going to get it annulled, right?” 

“No, we’re not.”

“Have you lost your mind?” 

“That seems to be the question of the day.”

“Do you have any idea what this will do to your career? Your reputation?” Luke sighed. “I feel sick.” 

“It’ll be fine, I have faith in you. You can clean nearly anything up.” The door opened and Tom glanced over. She was beautiful even the morning after, with her hair in a lightly contained mess.

“This is a mistake.” Luke said as Tom watched her look around before catching sight of him. 

“Hopefully it’s the best mistake I’ve ever made,” Tom smiled as he disconnected Luke’s squawking as he pushed himself up off the wall.

“Here,” She held out the excess cash. He’d given her too much for the bill, even factoring a generous tip. Though he took it from her, he didn’t stop to count it before putting it in his pocket. “What now?”

“Well, if we’re going to give this a chance we should get to know each other. We can walk around, get to know each other? Do you want to stop by your room to get a change of shoes?” The started walking together back toward the hotel. It wasn’t far but her feet would quickly start hurting. 

“I don’t have a room. I’m a local.”

“Oh,” the silence was awkward. 

Two strangers stood in the bright sun of a waking city. They hardly knew anything about each other and yet they were husband and wife. The biggest adventure -or mistake- of their lives stretched out in the twelve months before them. 

For better or worse, they had taken their first steps down this path together, as partners. Their lives would forever be changed and shaped by the decision made this morning. With the path that took them to this point as unknown as the future, let us walk along side them as the Las Vegas sun beats down around us. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, why were you drinking by yourself?” Tom stood close to her. It was dark yet the Vegas heat radiated up off at the pavement. The shared a smoothie in a large cup. The alcohol was strong but she was having the time of her life.

“I work here. Why are you drinking alone in Las Vegas?” She danced in place to the music playing from the speakers as water spouts shot in the air, lit up in a rainbow of colors to the tune of the music.

“I’m not drinking alone, I’m drinking with a beautiful brunette.” It took two tries to catch her hand, but when he did, he spun her around just to see the smile that lit up her face.

~~~~~~~~~<3

Tag List: @winterisakillerr, @alexakeyloveloki @jennyggggrrr, @dangertoozmanykids101, @tilltheendwilliwrite @tinchentitri @wizardcherryblossom, @buttercupcookies-blog, @violethaze, @kats72

[incorretlynamedcambrianexplosion]

Horrifying to be Known Pt. II

Ao3 Link

Summary: Mountain gets fucked within an inch of his life by his three favorite ghouls.

AN: Same warnings apply as the previous, to a lesser extent.

Relationships: Primarily Mountain/Rain/Swiss/Dew, Polyghouls

Tags: Knotting, Anal Sex, Slight Grinding. See Ao3 for more.

For the rest of tour, Mountain feels so exposed and yet so comfortable. Suddenly he’s entangled with the pack in a way he hasn’t been since before things changed. Since before Dew changed and half of them were banished. There’s a newfound freedom in his openness.

It’s a different story when they’re back in the Abbey. Mountain clings to the other ghouls more than usual. In mass he goes back to hunching his shoulders and craning his neck down. Swiss brings a hand over his thigh trying to comfort him.

He was doing so well, being so open, and suddenly he’s back to being frozen in fear of vulnerability.

The fear of being seen returns.

It's different with siblings of sin or Abbey students, because each time he sees them he's reminded of what he should be. Some of them ask him to join for rituals, and he declines. He's been filleted open and has to find a way to close himself back up before he go back to being used.

Mountain walks on egg shells around himself. This vulnerability is making him feel raw because he's made it only surface deep. He builds up a second wall to the one that they broke down on tour. Only now does he realize the Pandora's box that's opened before him.

He's thinking too much, Mountain shakes his head trying to focus on the horticulture book in his hands. He knows it's too much to ask his pack to break down this second wall. They did so much already in taking down the first.

"You haven't turned a page in like an hour. Do you need your glasses?" Phantom asks sitting across from him with legs curled up and his phone balanced on his knees.

Mountain shakes his head. The text is big enough for him to read without needing his reading glasses. "Just lost in thought."

Phantom hums.

It honestly bothers him that he's not good with these kinds of things. Everyone can tell when something is up with Mountain, but some of them are better at fixing it than others. Rain's a master who knows that Mountain likes certain blankets and the spots on his head to be scratched. He's able to broach subjects without making him further upset.

Phantom feels like he just doesn't know what to do. He knows that his presence has some baggage with it, Dew has voiced that to him before, but Mountain doesn't seem to mind him too much. He wants to help so much, but just doesn't know where to start.

His feet carry him without thinking. He takes a seat next to Mountain and slowly moves his hair so he can scratch around his scalp. He knows he's fucked up when Mountain just turns and looks at him.

"What're you doing?"

"Uh, thought this would help? You're so stuck in your thoughts." Phantom bites his cheek. He always does this. He's still figuring out the nuances of human social cues that the rest of the pack have started to use. "It's what Rain does, and I thought I could- I'm sorry. I just want to help. Sorry."

Mountain stares at him. He's trying. Even if it lands flat, Phantom is trying to get to that second wall he's put up. It's cruel to make his pack tear it down after all they've done already, but Phantom is trying.

He realizes that he's the only one who can do it.

He's the only one who can tear down the walls and keep them from building again. It's going to be uncomfortable, it's going to feel terrifying, but the love at the end of it is worth it. If it means getting the style of love that he so deeply needs and not just something half-assed, it might just be worth it.

Mountain tilts his head down and to the side. He moves Phantom's hand to the space right behind his large two tone horns.

It's awkward, and the two end up shuffling on the couch so that Mountain is leaning on Phantom, which surprises him that he isn't crushed. It would look silly to an outsider: Mountain's legs dangling off of the arm of the couch that he's too lanky to lay across, Phantom under his shoulders and by his head somehow not crushed by him.

Testing the waters, the other starts to scratch at his scalp slowly trying to gauge the response.

Phantom never likes silence, even if its a comfortable one.

"So, two subs try to talk about their feelings-"

Mountain actually laughs, a deep rumble from his chest and his head falls forward. It moves Phantom's hand from his head, but just as quickly he lays back down still having small chuckles. Phantom would laugh at his own joke too, if he didn't have a giant ghoul laying on his lungs.

"I got you to laugh! That's progress!" Phantom sees it as a small victory for himself, a sign that he's getting better at this whole thing.

"You know I think you're funny."

They lay like that for a while, Mountain's leg keeps twitching with his scalp being scratched. Phantom ends up running his fingers through his thick hair, some stray ends coming out onto his hand that he suspects has something to do with fall. He doesn't mention it and just tosses the strays to the side.

"You know, they're worried about you."

"Shouldn't be." Mountain mumbles.

Phantom just frowns. He doesn't get why Mountain struggles with this so much. He's always happy to babble to Aurora about his emotions, work things out, and he does the same for her when she needs space from the rest of the pack.

"How do you do it, Bug?" He asks tilting his head back so he can see his light eyes. "I try to be open. I really do, and I want to be. It feels comfortable, but it feels so terrifying too."

"I don't do anything special. It's just me. But," Phantom wraps Mountain's hair in a messy bun. "I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. We're pack."

Hm.

Phantom talks like he doesn't know that just because they're pack doesn't mean he's free of judgement. Except, Phantom does know that. He had a few spats with Dew because of messy history. He knows that pack doesn't mean they're all good with each other.

But it does mean that he has the option to be vulnerable.

“Thank you, Bug.”

Phantom just hums. He’s happy to help. He’s not the best at controlling his quintessence yet, and when people are upset, he feels it more than others. The more that he can mitigate it, the better.

Later in the day, he finds Rain in the practice room. He continues his playing as Mountain walks in and takes a seat on top of an unused amp. The volume is lowered to a slow hum in the room that only someone with ears to hear it can really pick it up. Rain looks up at him in expectation.

He doesn’t know what to say. He just knows what he needs but not how to put it. That night in the hotel is on his mind ever since his conversation with Phantom. Rain finally puts his guitar away on its stand and unplugs the cables. From the side of the room where the stands are kept, he looks up at Mountain.

“What’s going on with you?”

Whatever Mountain had planned on saying leaves as Rain approaches him. He looks up at Mountain with an expression he can’t quite place.

Mountain stammers through a mumbled set of words that aren’t quite coherent before dipping his head down and kissing Rain gently. The other smiles into it, gills flaring at his neck, before he pulls away. His hands find Mountain’s hips and sit there innocently.

“Thinking about you.” Mountain murmurs. “And how much of an asshole I’ve been. ‘M sorry. ‘T’s not fair to keep closing off to you.”

Rain just smiles back at him. He’s happy to break whatever walls he needs to in order to reach Mountain, but it’s certainly better when Mountain helps lay himself bare.

“I just get so scared so easily. I can’t take a good thing when it comes to me. And you all are the best that’s ever happened. That’s terrifying.”

He bites his cheek. He’s been blabbering on while Rain just stands there. The other searches his face, but he’s not sure what he’s looking for.

“There’s no reason to be afraid.” Rain kisses him softly, careful of his razor sharp teeth. Mountain tilts his head trying to navigate their large noses before he breaks away. His lips don’t leave Rain though, and moved further down to his neck. His gill tissue is soft and membrane like, even if there’s cartilage holding them up.

“Keep doing that, and I’m going to have to bend you over an amp.” Speaking blows cool air through his gills.

One final press is pushed to his neck before Mountain backs away.

“That a promise?” He mumbles.

“Are you interested?”

“Maybe.”

Rain laughs. Satan it’s hard to get a straight answer from him. Still, he speaks slow and can feel the need coming off of Mountain.

“The three of us, Swiss, Dew and I, were going to have some fun later. If you want to join, we could do that.” Rain says, “But we have to know what you want.”

“I want that. I want whatever you were already going to do. I want something like what we did on the road.”

“Then I’ll talk to them about it. No promises, though, Swiss is getting antsy, and he gets rough. I don’t think I’d even want him around you. You’ve still got things to work through.” Rain clarifies.

Mountain nods. No promises.

“Same rules as last time?”

Just try to not make yourself cum.

“Same rules.”

Mountain’s nervous, he always is with this new found vulnerability, but excited. For the first time in a while, he gets a little chubby at the idea of what's coming. He just has to wait. He was told to wait, and following instruction feels so good in his head.

It feels like an eternity, but he lays back on his bed and tries to pass the time. Reading does nothing, in fact he ends up staring at the space between the lines fantasying about that night in the hotel. He remembers how loose his hole felt the next day, and his abdomen twitches in anticipation. Are they going to do that again? He sure hopes so. He hasn't done anything like that since.

The door to his room opens, and he sits up instantly. It's locked behind the three as they settle in, and his heart jumps out of his chest. Swiss carries the same small bag with him, and Mountain's eyes fly to it. Does he just have a collection of these things?

Dew laughs at how Mountain stares at it.

"Look at what you've done. You've Pavlov'd the poor guy."

"What, do you want me to not use a bag? Walk around the Abbey with lube in my hand? Yeah, no thanks." Swiss play-nips at him as he sets it down.

The two gnash their teeth at each other in a playful display before Swiss smacks Dew's legs with his spaded tail.

“It’s like ten feet from your room!”

He gives a guilty but knowing look. “I left it in the library.”

“What the hell were you doing with lube in the fucking library?!”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Yes! It’s a library!”

Rain looks over the collection of items in his bag but just takes the bottle of lube in the middle of their bickering.

Oh. So this is going to be different than the hotel.

Something twists in Mountain's stomach and the nervousness is back. He doesn't know what to do, so he just leans up on his elbows watching the three. The lube is set on a shelf near his bed within easy reach as Rain's hands wander around Mountain.

"It's okay if you're nervous." He soothes as he starts to peel back the layers of clothes on Mountain. "It'll be just like last time, maybe a bit different. Same rules, okay? If it's bad, tell us. Tell us to stop, and we will."

Mountain nods and his breath hitches when a hand squeezes his exposed thigh. The other two have stripped down and have started pawing at him now that his hoodie has been tossed to the corner of the room. Swiss eyes him like a piece of raw meat. He whimpers when Dew’s rough fingers find his chest and start pulling on his buds. Swiss bites at his shoulders.

Rain slides off the bed for a moment to pull off his jeans and cotton shirt. When he climbs back up, he has to swat Dew’s hand away from Mountain’s partially swollen knot. That’s his to play with.

Mountain faintly realizes that Dew’s hard and rocking on his slender thigh.

“We’re gonna fuck you within an inch of your life. Get you nice and full of our cum.” He mutters as Swiss licks from his ribs to his chest.

Mountain bites his lip at it. Something in him needs that, craves it even. It goes beyond them being his pack or mates, down to a primal craving deep in his bones. Those words set his spine on fire. All he can do to voice it is let out a series of whimpers.

“Use your words, baby.” Rain reminds him as he rolls his hand. He manages to slip his own dick underneath it sandwiching them together.

Mountain whines and shifts his hips. “Please, I.” He bites his cheek. It’s going to sound so slutty when it comes out of his mouth. “I want-“

Swiss laughs. “Come on, spit it out.”

“It’ll be okay. Say it, baby.” Rain coos. “No one is judging you.”

The more he thinks about it, the more he clams up. He’s afraid to speak. All that comes out is a whine. He’s so empty, but he can’t expect them to just know what he needs.

He mumbles. “Please. I-I want to be fucked.”

He’s rewarded for his efforts with another bite to his shoulder and a kiss straight to his lips. Dew tastes like smoke and cinnamon and Mountain whines. When he pulls away, a string of saliva connects them. It falls over Mountain’s chin and only makes him look more fucked out.

They haven’t even started yet.

“Sounds so good when you say it.” Dew laughs leaning his head back.

Rain, sitting between his thighs, pulls back to grab the lube he had set aside earlier. He slicks his fingers and brings them down to Mountain's ass. It's a bit basic, Rain taking his time to slowly open him up just laying him on his back; Mountain propped up like the pillow princess he is. But there will be time to fuck him on a wall or shove him over a table later. Right now, Mountain needs to be taken care of.

Rain's honestly surprised at how quickly his hole opens up to his fingers. He knows Mountain can't cum like this, he has to have something stroking his dick, but that's what he's banking on for the night. He only opens him with two fingers, enough for him to still be tight for Dew, before pulling away.

Mountain whines and shakes his head. They're killing him like this. It only takes a few minutes of his dick being stroked to cum, so this feels like torture. Delectable torture that lays in his bones like honey. It takes a while for his mindset to shift, to realize that the goal isn't to cum. The goal is to just feel pleasure. He needs to put aside the need in his stomach and just learn to take it.

Rain and Dew switch places so the smaller of them is in between Mountain's thighs. He takes only a second to slick himself up before placing his head on Mountain's rim.

Suddenly Mountain’s afraid again.

"Wait. Wait, stop." Mountain says breathless, and despite his fears of them saying fuck it and taking what they want, it does pause.

At least he's not crying this time, right?

"Yeah? What's going on, baby?" Swiss asks.

He feels so silly for this. How many times has he stopped sex before? Why is he so afraid of everything that bares his emotions so plainly? Surely they must be tired of him being such a delicate fool.

Except Rain is willing to wait for him as long as he needs. He knows this is all too new, and he's been hurt before.

"I'm 'fraid of knotting." Mountain admits.

The thought scares him. What if he doesn't like it? Then they're locked together for however long. He wouldn't be able to escape if he started crying again, or needed out. The thought of being trapped with a packmate seems terrifying.

Dew leans forward, his hair falling over his shoulders as he struggles to even reach up to Mountain's head. The best he can do is just lean and give him his attention.

"Trust me, it's not the end of the world." His pride won't allow him to say that his knot is so small that if needed he honestly could just pull out.

Swiss says it for him and it makes his face go red.

Mountain's nerves are eased at least, even if Dew's suddenly embarrassed. Dew looks up at him as Rain palms his knot. He really just likes his knot, okay? Mountain's eyes are blown wide, and he has a tense look on his face before relenting.

He's never wanted anything more in his life, and he's not going to let his crying, or his fears of being seen interfere with that.

The sound that Dew makes as he pushes in makes Mountain want him to never stop. He holds onto his hips and doesn't start slow. He can't, not when Mountain is this tight around him.

"Holy shit. That's so good." Mountain murmurs.

His eyes fall closed, screwed shut as his hand starts to stroke himself. Precum leaks out of him at a steady pace.

A hand pulls his away.

"I love your knot too, but no touching. Do you want to be a good boy? Good boys don't try to cum. Good boys take what's given to them." Rain tells him as he holds his hands away.

Mountain makes an odd sound, something mixed between a whine and a full moan. Dew feels so warm inside him, joining the heat searing across his nerves. His mind turns soft, a gooey mess at the prospect of being a good boy. He follows Rain's instruction to a T. He opens his eyes to see Dew’s forced his own shut.

"How the fuck are you so big but so tight?" Dew says between his thrusts.

Suddenly something in him breaks. It slips his mind into a lower headspace, one that’s just soft and squishy. The need to cum slips his mind as he just takes the fire of every nerve in stride. It’s plain, unadulterated pleasure.

“I think your good boy just figured it out.” Swiss comments with humor in his tone. His hands have come off of Mountain to focus on himself, and the slick wet sound of him stroking crosses wiring in Mountain’s head.

He’s getting off on the sight and sounds of Mountain, but this time, it doesn’t feel like he’s just a toy.

It doesn't take long for Dew to dig his claws into Mountain's hips before he cums as deep as he can. A string a 'good boy's fall from his lips along with curses. His knot swells, but it’s not enough to stretch Mountain out. He doesn’t seem to care about his small knot, and stays still panting.

“Look at that. Does his cum feel good in you? Does my good boy like being filled with cum?”

Mountain nods gripping the pillows under him.

In only a few minutes, Dew pulls out. It’s not like his knot is really big enough to stick anyways, but he still likes to ride out the initial discomfort. Rain switches place with him and scoops the fluids pouring out of him, lube and cum, before pushing his fingers back in. Mountain squirms, and Rain laughs.

“You’re so cute fucked out like this.”

Mountain’s eyes flutter a bit with wide pupils. He wants to be called that. Cute. The idea that he looks cute while full of cum makes his dick twitch.

Rain presses himself into his entrance holding still for a moment. As he pushes in slowly, the size difference between him and Dew is apparent in the stretch, not that Mountain minds in the least. He pushes the cum deeper into Mountain, and the thought of it as he slides along his walls makes Mountain writhe.

“Fuck- you feel so big.” Mountain groans.

Swiss laughs at him. “You think he’s big? You’ve got to try me sometime.”

Initially, they had planned for that, but Swiss gets out of control way too fast. Maybe in a few weeks, Mountain will feel confident enough for some rough play, but that’s not tonight. Still, he wasn’t going to turn down a show.

Suddenly Mountain’s legs are being lifted up in the air before being placed over Rain’s broad shoulders. The new angle hits deeper inside, and Mountain lets his head fall back. Rain presses in so deep, and suddenly there’s something wide sitting at the edge of his rim.

Rain grinds his knot into his rim in between thrusts. “Feel that? That’s how much I love seeing you like this.”

Every thought is stripped from Mountain’s head under his quick rutting. His nerves are on fire. While the thought of needing to cum was originally wiped him his head when he slipped into a bit of subspace, it comes back with burning need.

“Put his legs down.” Swiss demands, and Rain does so.

“You better have a damn good reason for this.”

“Oh, I do.”

Rain keeps his pace and Mountain watches with curious eyes as Swiss leans his hips over Mountain’s. He strokes with a desperate need and hisses as Mountain whines.

“You have no idea how good you look like this. Gonna cum on you. Gonna fucking paint you.” Mountain keens at Swiss, which makes him grin with sharp teeth. “Yeah? You want me to fucking cover you in it?”

He only gives himself a few more strokes before he’s cumming on his hand. It lands in splotches over Mountain’s dick, covering his knot. He groans and fucks his hand a little bit afterwards with low rumbling moans in his ear.

His cum feels warm and sticky over Mountain’s swollen knot, and he’s stuck on the sight of it. The sight, Rain with a blue tinged flush down his neck and gills fluttering from effort, cum splattered over his hips, makes him cry out.

It’s all because of their love for him.

Rain moves his legs back up and fucks into him grinding his knot down onto his hole. Dew just hangs in the afterglow with heavy eyes watching them, Swiss does the same but his teeth find purchase across Mountain’s body. He leaves behind bite marks with sharp teeth, and the sight of the indents makes Mountain’s head light.

“Please,” Mountain finds his voice again. “I want to cum. ‘M want to cum so badly.”

He won’t dare without his permission. The nerves in his brain light up at the prospect of following his instructions so well: not touching his knot, only cumming when Rain lets him.

Rain slows and starts to grind his knot down. He hasn’t said anything, but the air is thick with the question. Mountain knows it won’t be like Dew, it’ll lock them together, and yet his heart leaps at the offer.

His filter is gone, stolen away with each moan and gasp. Instead, he cries out exactly what he needs.

“Please, knot me. Stretch me out. Please, Rainy.” He whines and shifts his hips.

Rain is happy to oblige, and he only takes a firm pressure to push it into Mountain. It’s big, nowhere near the size of Mountain’s, but once it’s in him, he wouldn’t know the difference. Rain grinds down a few times before spilling out rambles. His hands find Mountain’s knot and starts rolling it in his hand as his own knot swells locking into Mountain.

“It’s okay, Mount. Cum for me. Cum all over yourself.”

The feeling of being stretched out on Rain’s knot and hot cum inside him makes him shout. He topples over the edge unexpectedly, and the only thing holding him to the earth is Swiss’s biting. His legs tense holding Rain close to him as if he could even leave if he wanted. Rain strokes him through it over and over until his legs release.

By the time that he comes down, he finds soft hands waiting for him. Swiss has stopped his biting after Dew said it was getting excessive. Rain runs fingers over his body steering clear of the mess of cum on his stomach. Mountain looks at it himself and feels his chest swell with emotion. He can’t tell where his mess ends and Swiss’s begins. He drags a finger through the mess up the bone of his hip and Dew grimaces.

“Oh that’s disgusting.” He laughs with a kiss to his cheek.

Rain looks to Swiss with aching arms. He has to hold himself up a little to keep from pulling his knot on Mountain’s rim too much.

“Can you get us a towel? I’m not laying down in your mess.”

“Hey! Why am I always on towel duty?”

“Because you’re the sicko that likes to watch.” Dew groans.

Swiss stands and does get a towel, but the minute that the sink he’s using to wet it shuts off, he goes back to defending himself.

“And what were you doing for the latter half?” He asks Dew while wiping up his mess mixed on Mountain’s hip. “And Satan forbid, I want to watch my mates fuck. That’s just crossing a moral line, isn’t it.”

He’s not really upset, but he sure does like making a show just for the hell of it. Dew sticks his tongue out at him. He sticks his out back. Rain lays down on top of Mountain after scrambling with his legs a bit. One of Mountain’s hands find Rain’s gills and he slips his fingers between them. The other lets out a content sigh that breathes air on his hands.

“Can I ask what’s in the bag?” Mountain asks remembering the messenger bag that Swiss always brings with him to these things.

The three look at each other. Swiss speaks first as he tosses the towel to the corner of Mountain’s room. He turns his head as if he has done nothing when it ends up with Mountain’s hoodie. Oops.

“We thought that if you weren’t ready to take a knot, we’d still have some fun. There’s a plug in there. A few different options.”

Something slides into place in Mountain’s head. They know he gets uncomfortable easily, and they’re still taking it so slow with him. They recognize that he might not be up for the night’s plan, and they accommodate. They’re so kind to him.

Mountain still has some personal work to do, it’ll feel like holding himself open in vulnerability before it truly sticks. There will be times when he wants to shut in again, and he knows he has to fight that, because on the other side of it, there’s this waiting for him.

Warm bodies that care for him.

People that care for him.

It’s an odd realization for him to have when he’s littered with bite marks, smells like several people’s cum, and is currently stuck on Rain’s knot, but he’s glad he has it.

“Love you all. So, so much.”

“You’re always so sappy.” Dew says, not as a negative, but just as a comment. Swiss agrees, and Rain kisses his head.

“Love you too.” Rain murmurs.

“Can we please talk about why you had lube in the library now?” Dew lifts his head up over the two sappy bodies between them.

“Satan forbid a man has fun around here.” Swiss throws his hands up.

“In the fucking library?”

Mountain always falls asleep easily after sex, and he's put down faster with the weight of Rain on top of him. In the calm of Swiss and Dew arguing over trivial things, Mountain finds that he's battling that fear. The fear that he likes this lifestyle tries to trickle in, but Mountain fights against it. He has to put a bit of effort into learning this, but it's well worth it.

Falling asleep to the sound of play-nipping teeth gnashing is oddly easy in this headspace.

[ruthlesslistener]

please...can I have hornet headcanons...lack of silkson has me starving

fuck yeah hornet hcs lets gooo

-Has normal carapace all over, with the exception of a plume of spider fluff at the back of her neck and at her wrists/ankles, like a chinese crested dog. I have no functional reason for this, I just think its cute. She usually keeps the fur by her hands trimmed short, though

-Has piebald splotches across her back due to PK's genes meddling with Herrah's

-Her needle is named Sting, in honour of the Hive that trained her. Nobody but her knows this, however.

-Queen of Intense Stares. Most of the time, this is accidental, but she's employed it to her advantage a couple of times as well.

-She's intersex as a result of PK's hermaphrodite genes mixing awkwardly with Herrah's bisex genes. While Deepnest naturally doesn't gender their young, and wyrms have no gender system to begin with, she was mistaken as male by Midwife at first, who logs the sexes of spiderlings so that she can moniter their growth rates. This health standard was rejected on the basis of Hornet being a hybrid, as wyrms do not display sexual dimorphism, but it did lead to Hornet feeling a lil funky about her gender/sexuality

-Speaking of sexuality, she's a lesbian. Gorls only for her.

-Is allergic to several types of fruit, but unaware of it. She just thought that most fruit was supposed to be uncomfortably tingly and kind of spicy, which is why she's not really a fan of eating anything incapable of bleeding

-Has no cooking skills whatsoever. She can technically clean and roast a prey item, but she usually just eats things raw. It's less of a hassle for her

-Excellent at crafting things out of necessity, but also just because she enjoys making things. Would be an excellent engineer if her patience allowed her and Hallownest didn't fall to shit. This bitch would be killer at calculus

-She inherited her social skills from her father, which is a polite way to say that they're absolute shit. She grew up in a tense political atmosphere between two previously-rival kingdoms with an apocalypse looming overhead and gods meddling with everything, so she grew up learning how to speak in archaic, riddling half-truths among enemies, but had no experience speaking among friends. I also just think that she's really awkward outside of a combat situation, bc that means she has to be friendly and play polite and say the right words at the right places instead of just hitting it with her needle

-Got her blunt nature and no-bullshit attitude from her mom, however. Her temper skews towards more of a cold anger, like her dad, but it's just as fierce as Herrah's, and she isn't afraid to use it.

-Because Herrah miscarried several times before her egg was laid and had to be magically induced back into a fertile state for it, she hatched in the dead of winter far outside of the normal breeding period for spiders, which means that she hatched in an odd in-between period where she was too young for all the other spiderlings to play with and too old to be friends with the next clutch when they hatched. Throw in the fact that she's half-spider and half-wyrm, and there's an even greater distance between her and everyone else, one that she has always been acutely aware of

-Actually just really isolated period, which helped her a bit when everyone died but took a blow to her mental state overall

-Her venom is primarily neurotoxic with a good dose of cytotoxins thrown in. You'd be paralyzed and feeling your flesh melt under your carapace long before it stopped your heart

-Loved her mother fiercely, but lost her when she was young, so now she's haunted by the doubts of whether or not Herrah would ever be proud of her or not. She has a very complex relationship with her father, in which she thinks that he views her as a liability and loathes him for it, but some part of her still craved his affection despite it

-This only got even more complicated after he sent Herrah to sleep, spiraled into a depression after the Sealing, and then summoned her to tell her about the vessel plan part b and king's brand before vanishing from the mortal plane altogether. He never told her anything to indicate care or pride before he abandoned her, but entrusting her with the future of his kingdom- one she was never meant to inherit- showed some form of trust and belief in her capability as Hallownest's protector. Factor in the whole bit about her being called 'Daughter of Hallownest' despite her being born for Deepnest, and well...it's complicated.

-She's pretty neutral about WL though. WL tried to be a good stepmom to her, and was genuinely fond of her, but the problem of her being an immortal, non-bug being made itself far more apparent with her than with the Pale King. She tried her best and was supportive, but she was always somewhat distant and vague or would offer advice that would be more confusing than helpful. I don't think that Hornet despises her, but she's not likely to want to visit her, either

-Also she was really fond of Hollow bc they too were an outcast just like her, and PK and WL damned them to death and recruited her to kill the rest of her siblings, so. That kinda fucks the whole situation doesn't it

-Oh yeah, PK's regrets and void-meddling also ended up being a strong enough taint on him by the time of her conception that she hatched void-touched. She's not a being of void, but she's got trace amounts of it in her blood, and that's given her both an uncannily dark carapace as well as a propensity for being able to guess at what the vessels are communicating. She can't feel the currents of their thoughts like others of the Sea, but she's got a very strong intuition for what they're trying to impress on her and a knack for translating it to commonspeech

-Loves violence, as one might expect from the child of two apex predators. She gets a rush out of fighting and loves to hunt, so playing rough is always a delight for her. She was an absolute hellion as a child, racing around play-hunting the palace retainers and biting everyone she caught. WL thought it was cute, PK turned a blind eye as long as she was only biting people who irritated him, and Herrah actively encouraged it

-She also was hellbent on killing and eating Lurien, a fact she announced everytime she saw him, but luckily outgrew that desire quite quickly

-Prefers to sleep in high places rather than in burrows. If she can find a neat little nook in a cliffside to wriggle into, she'll go for it, or she'll string up a hammock to sleep. Anything that's out of harm's way and lets her get a drop on her victims is a good spot to rest

-She's not heartless, but her speech about how she'd feel no sadness at a weakling's demise is true. Both Herrah and the Pale King had very little mercy, which got passed down onto her. Killing the vessels still hurt her, but it was a numb sort of pain, and one caused more by the circumstances that lead her to such an action rather than ending their lives. She lacks empathy, and compassion was beaten out of her, but that doesn't mean she's cruel. She'll just do what needs to be done, no matter what her own emotions on the subject might be. She's all analytical brain and very little emotion, mostly because she can't afford to be anything otherwise

-Despite this, she's got a very strong sense of duty instilled in her by her mother, and a protective instinct passed down from her Higher Being side of the family. If the quest mechanic where she writes down all her tasks makes the cut in Silksong, that's why. She'll hear about a problem that needs to be done and very seriously tack it onto her roster to be completed, bc she's capable of it so that makes it Her Problem

-Doesn't go out of her way to do it, but she has eaten some intelligent bugs before. Most of it was carrion when she was desperate or fresh meat from when she was small, but she's fully in the right as a spiderwyrm, and survival is survival. Doesn't matter how much Hollow huffs at her or gives her dissapointed stares, she won't feel any shame for it

-Also is stubborn and proud despite trying very hard not to be. Pretty much nobody can make her feel bad about it other than Hollow and maybe her mom (the two people who can make her feel like a child), but even then she'll still be stubborn as hell and refuse to yield

-Her cloak is heavy, warm, and packed full of various pockets for items, which makes it quite heavy and comforting to wear. She takes excellent care of it and often curls up under it when sleeping in a lil ball of murder spider (which are usually perfect circles, or circles with her back legs stretched out)

-Fucking LOVES honey. One of her very few good memories of PK involved her catching him raiding the kitchen for honey in the early morning (when she was participating in her own honey raid), and him letting her have half his share instead of scolding her about it. It's like, the one fatherly memory she has of him, as he stopped acting parental pretty much as soon as she became old enough to remember things (which he did to prevent her further heartbreak down the line, but lead to her thinking that he barely tolerated her)

-Had a crush on Songstress Marissa when she was younger, which she now absolutely refuses to talk about. Her type in women is still made up of two categories, which is 'pretty lady' and 'can beat my ass'

-Purrs. Does not know she can purr until much, much later in her life, as it is a courtship response. Is extremely embarressed by said purring

-Despite her aloof nature, she is touch-starved to hell and back. Drag this girl into a snuggle pile, and she will protest, but eventually melt, and maybe start to cry the first time it happens. She just needs the affection and ability to put her guard down that badly

-Terrible with kids. She has no maternal or sisterly instincts whatsoever. She is deeply protective of Ghost and Hollow, but she's also just as likely to kick Ghost down a flight of stairs if they piss her off. Hand her a child and she will freeze, hold it out awkwardly, or just straight-up drop it

-I have no idea if this will be a thing in Silksong, but I headcanon that she is capable of making a kingdom fall if she needs to, and is more than willing to tear it down if she spots its rotting underbelly. Hallownest's defense was all about putting her old home to rest so that it could decay peacefully and grow into something new, but I get the feeling that Pharloom is on its last legs, and that Hornet's gonna tear its throat out as soon as she gets the chance to pounce upon its weakness, perhaps with the help of mortals that she assisted along the way

[sable-dream]

Do you have any advice for a newly awakened Sable therian?

Hi! Congrats on finding your identity! :3

As for advice (a lot of this is general/not sable specific advice):

Try literally anything you want. Eat like a sable, wear clothes in sable colors, try on gear, do quadrobics if you feel like it, etc etc etc. If it sounds fun and seems like it'll help you connect with your identity more then there's no harm in (safely) trying it! (Obviously avoid doing dangerous things like eating raw chicken or trying to jump 3 feet in the air on your first try doing quads.)

Related to the last point, don't force yourself to do anything you don't want to or don't enjoy doing or causes you pain. If quadrobics is hurting your arms or a tail is giving you a rash then stop doing it. That's completely fine and your health, safety, and comfort come first.

Remember that therian social media is extremely skewed in favor of therianthropy, and that all therians have hobbies and interests outside of just being a therian! I made the mistake of trying to make therianthropy my entire identity when I first awakened and I ended up completely miserable because of it - so I try to help newly awakened therians avoid that pitfall lol

Relating to the first point - just... do stuff you want to. Make that stimboard, design that mask, wear a tail, whatever you want. This is a community based around identity and there are essentially no rules (other than the obvious 'don't be a bigot or a creep' lol).

If you're looking for specific gear recommendations, you can find cat mask bases here, (I personally realized recently I don't really like wearing masks but I know other people like them lol) and I'm not too sure on places to ethically source real tails from as all of mine were second hand, so you're probably better off asking someone else. (Thrift stores are a good option if you're looking for fur in general.) You can also find custom animal ears all over etsy, but I can't really vouch for that in terms of quality because I've never bought any.

As for food, Sables are primarily carnivores so you're going to want to lean towards meat-y things if you want a more sable-like diet. I really like rabbit the few times I've had it, and if you want to feel a bit more connected or whatever you can always eat meat off the bone in the form of drumsticks or wings.

My favorite non-meat options are: Mushrooms, berries (including preserves and jams!), nuts like pine nuts (sunflower seeds make a good substitute), eggs, leafy greens such as lettuce, and anything with a crunch to it makes a pretty good insect replacement (or you could get dried insects but. pricey lol). Also I've mentioned this before but I LOVE pasta and noodles because they remind me of worms which is kinda gross but whatever XD

In terms of clothing: THICK stuff helps emulate fur, as does... actually wearing fur (faux or real) (love sweatshirts for this reason). Go for browns and tans to near-black coloration if you're looking for specific colors - really just look up sable pictures and match your clothing to that.

I haven't done quadrobics in months so you might have to ask someone else for advice on that one, however: Go SLOW with it, take your time, don't do anything unsafe, etc. Your wrists are FRAGILE and need to be protected.

That's all I can think of rn - I hope this helped, and good luck on figuring everything out, anon! :3

[hekateinhell]

Tell me abt preggers armand please. I have a fic im working on and need 2 hear other peoples opinions on this topic 😈

🥹🥹🥹

okay so first of all i'm so upset i didn't see this ask until i checked my askbox on my phone which i almost NEVER do anymore since i'm getting old and prefer to just answer things via laptop where i can keyboard smash at full capacity raw and unfiltered but like MY DMS ARE OPEN I'M NOT ALWAYS THE FASTEST RESPONDER BECAUSE I'M IN GRAD SCHOOL AND LIFE AND WHATEVER BUT I DON'T TRUST TUMBLR ANYMORE BECAUSE I DIDN'T SEE THIS UNTIL YESTERDAY ON DESKTOP TUMBLR PLS DON'T DEPRIVE ME OF MY PEOPLE

now that that's out of the way:

it depends! you have to be more specific, like are we talking vampires? human AU? BECAUSE I'VE GOT SOMETHING FOR EACH

canon verse/vampire:

don't ask me to explain the science or whatever lol i don't care, i just skip to the pregnancy part!

i think armand would be SO FUCKING FERAL and defensive, like he's lost so much and been so traumatized in so many ways, the idea of anything happening to his baby would have him in full gremlin mode. imagine a feral cat hissing and spitting and clawing and biting (not for food but for violence)!

on the other hand, he'd be obsessively bonded to his baby daddy (daddies, if there's multiple babies). he is not letting them out of his sight (i default to lestat here LMAO listen i want them to knock each other up so bad--separate universes obviously)

HE WOULD NEST SO FUCKING HARD!!! i was going to say i apologize for my brain but then i realized that i don't actually but i want him to nest on a pile of lestat's clothes and give birth right there like a fucking cat 🥹

ALTERNATIVELY THOUGH: i also had this idea that's like louis impregnates lestat and armand at the same time and they get to go through their pregnancies together and it's every bit as horny, hellish, and sweet as you'd imagine 🫶🏻 i've said it before and i'll say it again--lestat would be the WORST pregnant person ever dead or alive!!

now for human AUs:

i guess my thoughts here primarily but not exclusively exist within the same universe as I Feel You (sorry idk if you read that fic but tl;dr- IT'S PWP OF TRANS!ARMAND 2/3RDS OF THE WAY INTO GETTING A TRAIN RUN ON HIM BY HIS BOYFRIENDS LESTAT, LOUIS, AND DANIEL AND HE'S YOUNG DUMB AND FULL OF CUM SO YOU KNOW IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE HE'S GOTTA PEE ON A STICK RIP BOYS)

i think each of his boyfriends would handle the whole thing differently! lestat would be so over the moon because he's careless (clearly) but also so damaged from his own childhood he would just see it as a chance for a do-over, reality and responsibility be damned. lestat's on sex and backrub duty, and he's good at it (the backrubs i mean, sex is a 50/50 but you know what, at least he's enthusiastic and good at manhandling armand so that's 70% of it right now and the 30% is absolutely ridiculous horny pregnancy hormones)

louis panics internally as he immediately starts creating a spreadsheet of their finances. outwardly though, he's very calm and supportive and he's the one who's most able to comfort armand the most and settle him down during his crazy mood swings. armand basically lives in louis's baggy sweaters during the last trimester

daniel panics outwardly (listen LOL the whole premise of Our House is that human!daniel molloy is not ready for children and i find it hard to budge from that mindset, but he could ease into the Cool Uncle role quite nicely). he handles distractions and food cravings, and he might not be down to be a dad yet but he does buy very thoughtful and sentimental baby gifts every now and then that make armand tear up

i was gonna add mermaid AU thoughts but then i remembered armand's laying eggs instead (he's feral during that whole process too so i guess it's similar to the vampire version. i just love him so much okay!!!)

OH ONE LAST VERY IMPORTANT THING

pregnant!armand fics on ao3 I'M CRAZY ABOUT AND HAVE REREAD AT LEAST 10 TIMES:

shelter by @rainbowcarousels

it must be the clouds in my eyes and everything in that series by @its-ness-ness

[memento-morri-writes]

Hey!!! Since you said you have a lot figured out for your WIPs I'm interested in your answers!!

what natural resources does each nation have that the others don't? do they export/trade it at all? (For any WIP you wanna answer for!)

@bloodlessheirbyjacques 👀❤️‍🔥

JACQUES, I LOVE YOU!!!!!! I'll try to keep this at least somewhat brief, but be warned, you have NO idea what floodgates you have just opened. (I actually intended to make a post like this literally over a year ago, so thank you for helping me make it!!)

Get ready for:

Econ 101 - A Crash-Course in Continental Trade Policy

Before we get started, here's some things you might find helpful:

a map of the continent (see below)

an explanation of why Anvia and Oryn don't get along

under the cut because hoo boy, this is a LOT.

Anvia, the kingdom where ATQH takes place (and which Fallon rules) is primarily an agricultural society. The country's position in the middle of the continent, plus the river running through the kingdom providing fertile land, gives makes it the best-suited area for agriculture on the continent. (Side Note: It gets colder as you got west-northwest on this continent. Oryn is cold, with long winters and short summers, while Oraine is extremely hot and the land dries up quickly.)

They grow crops and raise animals not only for their own survival, but for export to the neighboring nations. Anvia also has a decent number of craftspeople living in its larger cities, who use crop byproducts (or non-food crops) and animal products to make other products, such as textiles, leather products, etc.

Thus, Anvia's main products/exports are food crops (apples, wheat, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, lettuce, cabbages, carrots, peas, hops, among other things), created food products (wine, ale, baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves) as well as animal products (largely wool, but things like eggs, cheese, and milk may also be exported), and craftsproduts (textiles and leather products, for example).

Due to the fact that most of Anvia is farmland, be it crop fields or livestock pastures, there is very little opportunity for logging. Even the areas that haven't been developed for farming are largely prairie-like areas. Also, Anvia lacks substantial access to mountains or mineral deposits for mining. So they are lacking in construction materials such as timber, stone, and metals.

Oryn, on the other hand, is ripe with construction goods. They have massive mines scattered throughout the kingdom, especially along the mountain range that borders with Anvia. (Ironkeep, the fortress to the Northeast of Westcliff, is a major stronghold built to protect Oryn's most profitable mines.) Additionally, a massive portion of the kingdom is covered in forests, so logging is another major industry.

(Side Note: Kristopher's father and the current king of Oryn, Pierre, has increased both of these industries massively. The working conditions in both tend to be hazardous, with many people being injured or killed. (Fun Fact: If you want to know how Pierre runs his kingdom, listen to Eat Your Young by Hozier.) Kristopher believes that his father is ruining Oryn, not only by ruining much of its natural land, but also by working the people so hard.)

Notably, Oryn is also home to significant number of craftspeople, specializing in blacksmithing, metalworking, and jeweling. Orynian weapons and armor are said to be stronger and more durable than any others, and jewelry made by Orynian jewelers with Orynian stones is highly prized across the continent and beyond.

Oryn's main exports are lumber, stone, metal (raw, processed, and crafted into items), and jewels (raw, processed, and made into jewelry).

However, what Oryn severely lacks is fertile farmland. Not only is most of the land covered in trees, but the soil is quite rocky -- far from ideal for large-scale farming. (The hilly, mountainous terrain doesn't help.)

So, you can probably see why Oryn and Anvia need each other. They are forced to trade with one another to ensure the survival of both kingdoms. However, as I've explained in the past, the two kingdoms have a long history of tension between them -- which actually was the result of conflict over resources to begin with. However, despite this obvious codependency, neither one has been willing to suck up their pride and open direct negotiations between the two nations. (Fallon has tried several times during her rule, but has never once received a response from Pierre.)

So, this is where Oraine steps in. Oraine has a very hot environment, and aside from a few choice crops, not much of trade value grows there. (Their main exports, aside from a few "exotic delicacies", are fancy goods, such as fine clothes, art, and fancy furniture.) However, what Oraine does have is massive amounts of accessible coastline. Because of this, they have a long history of ship-building and maritime trade. Fortuitously for Oraine, Anvia and Oryn's border is mostly treacherous mountains, which makes overland travel difficult.

So, at some point in the past few centuries, some clever Orainian had an idea, and Orain graciously stepped in, offering to conduct trade between the two kingdoms -- for a fee, of course. Eager to continue their mutual cold-shoulder treatment, Anvia and Oryn were quick to accept the proposal. It was agreed upon that both Anvia and Oryn would be able to use Orainian ships to send their goods to each other, to Oraine, and beyond.

There are multiple companies (each owned by wealthy merchant families) that offer these services, both within the continent and beyond, and each is free to set their own price and negotiate their own service contracts with individuals, companies, or the nations themselves. However, they are charge a hefty tax that goes directly to the pockets of the ruler (currently Empress Adrienne) of Oraine.

Not only that, but Orainian merchants are well aware of how necessary their services are to both Anvia and Oryn. As such, their fees are often ridiculously overpriced. And Anvia and Oryn pay them, because they don't have any other choice. (Well, they could choose to talk to each other and begin their own trading initiatives instead of settling for Oraine's horrid prices, but why would they ever do that?)

To tie all this back to the messy international politics of the continent, the Empress of Oraine has her own fleet of trading ships that carry out trades on her behalf. It is these ships that the rulers of Anvia and Oryn are required to use when they wish to send something more between them for political purposes. Orainian leaders have long claimed this is to "supervise" and "prevent increased hostility", but in reality it's just another way to line the ruler's pockets.

The rulers of both kingdoms have signed contracts with the Empire, including a rate of charge for the service. The Empress continually pushes to raise said rate, with the monarchs attempt to negotiate a lower price -- or at least keep the same one they had before. But it's a precarious slope, because if they push too hard, the Empress could retract her offer altogether, which would be disastrous (at least in the short term) for the two kingdoms, until they were able to communicate in a civil manner and establish their own trade barriers. (Of course, the Empress has no intention of actually rescinding her offer -- it's far too profitable -- but the monarchs don't know that...)

And that's all, folks!! To anyone who read all 1,092 words of this, I am hugging you (if you accept), and buying you your favorite meal. Hopefully this isn't too boring of a read...

[vertumnanaturalis]

A lot of people seemed to like my last one, so woe! More fic ideas be upon all ye again; compilation of au ideas I posted in LQ and haven't been edited to be easier to read edition!

(below the cut, because theres like 12 of them and its a big messy mess)

Nem?Tang fic where they wake up in some ancient convergent domain plant device with only hazy memories of how they got there but nothing solid enough to work off of, and also why is their hair so long, and where are their clothes, and where is the goddamn colony? Because oopsie daisy! it seems that somebody put them in the ancient alien magitech healing goo and forgot to take them out when they were done, and now two hundred years have passed and everybody else they know and love are long dead, and also apparently some giant ass fleet of earth guys tried to land while they were having a snooze but! oh! whoopsie! yet again! somebody sent them the wrong information about how to safely get through the wormhole and the majority of the fleet did not make it to the surface in one piece!!! and the some of the survivors may or may not have folk stories about people that may or may not be Nem and Tang’s loved ones doing either great or terrible things during those two hundred years they were sleeping through!!

mermaid au where Besk was a mermaid trapped in a research facility and Instance broke her out during her ecoterrorist days but Besk couldn’t go back to the ocean because (hand waves) so she stayed with Instance as a slightly-more-free test subject who could technically come and go as she pleases, and she did, and eventually came back from one of her outings with two whole goddamn babies, and despite their both their hopes both babies seem to be pretty much normal human babies except for the occasional weird non-human thing, like eating whole raw eggs or Tangent having an overnight sex change shortly after saying she’s a girl, and feeling like she’s the only mermaid left in the world eventually leads Besk to doing the same thing she always does, and now Instance is stuck with two ambiguously half-human grieving kindergartners, and now it’s the world’s words hybrid of Wolf Children and The Thirteenth Year (with a mild dose of human experimentation sprinkled on top)

modern day/modern-ish all humans on earth au fic where Sym is a pre-school teacher(or aid??) who just moved to a new town with his beloved edgelord of a boyfriend who never wants to talk about his past or childhood and Sym only knows bits and pieces that he’s mentioned over the past few years (but that’s fine he’s just got his secrets nothing new there), and at his new job with his new class there’s a young single parent of twins that also moved into town only a little bit after he did, and apparently they don’t have anybody in their life besides their kids, they don’t have any family and the kids dad isn’t in the picture, so he does the nice friendly thing and offers to lend a hand if they need help with anything, and one afternoon as he’s supposed to be leaving work after making sure that the kids are all picked up, he spots said single parent and said beloved edgelord talking/arguing about something, because apparently they used to know each other but haven’t seen each other in a long while, and his boyfriend doesn’t wanna hear what “actually super important and kinda immediately relevant” thing that his old friend wants to talk about, and before Sym can really stop them the two kids go running to greet their parent, and look we all know where this plot is heading fellas

(not sure if this one should follow Tang or Dys primarily but Imma go with Tang side for this) fic where there’s more people than canon but they’re still on Vertumna with little research on it & Sol has dream memories (maybe use part of the old idea about the Helio arriving as part of a mini fleet instead of a lone ship?), and Tang’s intelligence is lauded like in canon and she’s put into the best position to learn smarty smarts stuff, while Dys’ rebelliousness gets him no favors with the Man and gets himself marked as a troubled kid and moved away from his sister, with Tang being told that she can seek him out once she’s an adult if she still wants to but for now not to waste her time or energy on worrying about him and focus on her studies. She keeps hearing him being mentioned in passing as being part of some big secret alien-centric program to so she knows that he hasn’t gone awol, but she still doesn’t see him for the next 3 to 5 years even tho she still gets to see most of the other kids (bar Sol, who was also yoinked by the secret alien program). Fast forward to her being an adult enough adult who seems appropriately level headed for doing amoral sciences, so she’s invited to see the big important secret alien project, and “_so Tangent, you know how some of the xenofauna can pass information and feeling between individuals of different species through physical contact, and that there’s some functional technology leftover from the alien civilization that lived here beforehand? And that your brother spent a lot of time exploring ruins? And how sometimes science needs sacrifices? For the greater good and all that? :)?” and Tang gets to see her brother as one of the star subjects of the project’s attempt to recreate a messy version of the array (while not even understanding what it actually is)

like 3 different variants (Geranium, Flulu, and Hal+Tonin+Sol’s she group on a field trip” of “like 3 weeks after landing somebody falls into a mini wormhole and comes out 25 years into the future, except none of them went missing in the second timeline, and now they’re in the future having to deal with the way life actually turned out, and they don’t even know all of the stuff that their other selves do/did, because they may or may not be alive still in this other timeline”. (Actually what got me into working on all those future kid things because I wanted to know who’d be doing what when and with who)

au where Besk blacks out shortly before her suicide attempt and wakes up in a cave on Vertumna, having 0 idea where she is or how she got there, and stumbles around thinking she’s dead until one of the surveyors finds her, and upon getting back to the colony she finds out that she’s supposed to have been dead for the last 11 or so years, with her two five year olds now being sixteen (the same age as her when she left Earth & also how long she spent on the Strato), and she has to learn how to adapt to everything and being alive when she shouldn’t be while there are so many others who died and aren’t magically alive again, and also has to do all this while more or less locked under constant observation, because BOY nobody is going to casually leave her alone for like, so many reasons

fic that opens with Kom waking up in the medbay after the age 14 glow attack and Nem and their younger brothers and all his friends are so unbelievably glad he’s awake and ok, but he keeps learning about the not canon possible things that happened either during the attack or while he was healing (like his mom dying while helping the kids evacuate the creche or chief Rhett and Sol’s parents having died defending geoponics), and he’s just stuck with this unending feeling that he’s supposed to be dead right now, but he’s not, and I’m not sure where to go with the story past that

au where Kom wakes up five years before the Strato reaches the wormhole with the knowledge that he’s going to die ten years from now, and it more or less follows a dreamer Kom story except that he knows that his story only has one conclusion, and rather than trying to prevent his own death he spends that time trying to save and protect as many people in his life as he can (maybe prequel to above scenario?)

obligatory single “nice” modern au fic except that nice has to be in quotation marks because technically it’d be about Dys breaking into Sym’s house after committing a major felony and definitely in a big hurty thinking that it was abandoned, but like surprise! it’s not! and even tho Dys fully expects Sym to call the cops on him and wake up in jail he instead wakes up in Sym’s guest room and immediately assumes that he either died already, accidentally tripped into the fae realm, or Sym is some kinda polite hannibal ass serial killer, and it’d be just a whole bunch of Sym being genuinely kind and nice to Dys while Dys is just “y tho like literally what is wrong with you”, and it takes like 2 years and several more major felonies for them to get together. also this might’ve spawned off of the earlier pre school teacher one but it’s not 100% attached to it so that’s why it has it’s own bulletpoint

2.5 flavors of a Hunger Games AU, which are "special games where its announced that this year each district has to send two siblings/other close family members, and the twins get reaped in their district", "one of the younger boys gets reaped but Kom volunteers in their place", and "Tang watching as Dys gets reaped the first year he's applicable for it and she can't do anything about it, and then having to watch as Kom (in his last year of being applicable) volunteers in her brother's place and all of his siblings are now freaking out" which only came to me as I was sharing the first two.

also have this flawless related image

au where Sym sees videos of wild animals in urban areas being relocated to a better habitat on the data thing Sol gives him and he comes up with a fresh new idea; cut to his two favorite humans (age 13/14) waking up on a strange beach some few thousand kilometers away from the colony several weeks later with 0 idea how they got there (ark opening tune starts to play)

also whatever this is

anyways, that's definately not all of the random au ideas I've had and don't include some of the more developed ones I've actually made effort to work on/flesh out, but these were on hand and I wanted to share them too

[writernopal]

HI NOPAL IT'S MY FAVORITE DAY. i have totally not been stewing on this all week. pls give in to the urge to lore dump about Lizardfolk because i've been chewing on my lizard space pirates for like months and i need someone to jump around and be unhinged with me and i'm [happy flapping] SO much. go nuts. political climate, family dynamics, meal traditions, anything. the floor is yours. -- @outpost51

OUTPOST AHHHHHHH be normal be normal be normal

There is a lot here, so I made this as a bulleted list. Some bullet points will include links to any previous posts I’ve made on a particular subject, and others will be external links (I will note where they go and what they are, nothing NSFW, I promise!) Also, minor CW for the 'Society' section for mentions of enslavement. And I will add a cut to save people's dash's because this post is a LONG one.

General Stuff

Lizardfolk come in the form of any reptile and are bipedal. To quote Mariel from AASOAF 2: “I’d seen [Lizardfolk] that looked like chameleons, iguanas, basilisks, skinks, or even their amphibian relatives, like salamanders and newts.” This includes snakes as well! (Snake types do NOT have feet/legs, they are basically giant snakes.)

Like their smaller counterparts, they can regrow limbs.

They come in nearly any color imaginable, though certain clans favor certain shades. To quote Axtapor from AASOAF 2: "[Clan Oxlo's] were hues of blue, black, gray, and purple with the exceedingly rare orchid pink that appeared once every few generations..."

They make a variety of sounds: growls, hisses, clicks, whistles, bellows, chuffing, etc., and can even manage some bird-like sounds. These sounds find their way into their languages, making them VERY difficult for any who aren’t Lizardfolk to learn or speak. (External links! These go to short wildlife Youtube samples of these sounds!)

They mature around the age of 16/17 and, until then, grow a variety of horns, crests, spikes, fins, and even feathers upon their head and neck. These features begin to shed once they enter adulthood, leaving behind their adult traits. More on that here (bonus pic of small-fry Axtapor included lol).

They have a keen sense of smell and can generate heat from their chests to incubate their eggs. More on that here.

Habitat

Lizardfolk hail from The Holtep Empire, a vast desert continent sandwiched between the Farnian Sea (on its eastern coast) and Ofler’s Sea (on its western coast) and shares a northernmost border with Galta (territory claimed by The Pale Kings from the Holtepians in a war many hundreds of years ago and now primarily inhabited by humans).

They prefer hot and arid climates, as they need the sun to help regulate their body temperature. This means they cannot thrive in the cold, so places where it snows or rains often are not ideal for them.

Society

Lizardfolk are organized into three Houses: The House of War, The House of Law, and The House of Dreams. Houses are made up of Major and Minor clans that establish the pecking order within their respective Houses. A little more on that here.

They adhere to a strict patriarchal caste system and historically have and continue to enslave foreign peoples (i.e., those of other races/species). These peoples are only admitted entry to The Holtep Empire if they arrive as slaves, or else they are killed on sight.

They speak dozens of different dialects; each House and social stratum has its own language.

Diet

Lizardfolk are hypercarnivores (i.e., 70+% of their diet is meat) but occasionally make room in their diets for things like starches, fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. Though if they eat too many non-meat foods, they bloat and can become very ill.

Those from more remote/rural areas have been known to eat humans and dwarves as part of their regular diet.

They can consume their food raw and eat parts of animals that are inedible to other races, including shells, carapaces, scales, nails, etc. These present nutritional value for them. See here.

Bonus Round!

Lizardfolk shed about once a year once they reach adulthood and take baths to help remove shedded skin.

Most marry and have children quite young, usually right after their ikismal (rite of passage) ceremony that takes place at the age of 15/16.

They can generate heat from their chests on command. This is an ability Lizardfolk have to take turns incubating their clutches after they've been laid. They'll put the eggs in a sort of sling across their chests and carry on with their business while they keep them warm. Some Lizardfolk who are more pale in coloring even glow a dull red while in this state due to increased blood flow to the area.

Lizardfolk have a strong sense of smell and have a sort of Jacobson's organ on their tongues that they can use to 'taste' the air. They can pick up on common things, like the scent of blood and smoke, but can also memorize the scents of people based on their sweat, pheromones and other unique scent markers. A fun consequence of this is that Lizardfolk children play hide and seek blindfolded so they can find their friends based on scent alone.

[localplaguenurse]

So uh idk how to present this

But blood is a substitute for eggs in baking so the substitution ratio is like 65g of blood for one egg (approx. 58g), or 43g of blood for one egg white (approx. 33g)

So that means if you want to make a vegan baked good, you can just stab yourself. I mean you consented to it right, so doesn’t that make it vegan?

Also this is totally my agenda for why vampires can eat normal food because I’m starting to get sick of “vampires can’t eat normal food” bs

Also doesn’t that mean that technically speaking. Wifey can just eat eggs as a blood substitute

Oh I knew that lmao. I wanted to be a horror author when I was younger, so I know a lot of weird facts.

Vampires can’t eat normal foods reminds me of when I watched Tokyo Ghoul when I was 14 and when they were like “we can only eat meat and coffee” my brain went down a rabbit hole of “what could a ghoul theoretically eat?” I’m not up to date with the series at all btw and again I was in middle school but hear me out regardless and assume my thought process applies to vampires.

So they primarily eat human meat but Touga (?) was fine eating Kaneki in a pinch (granted he was human before) so surely they can eat the flesh of other animals, like pigs and chickens and cows. They don’t even eat that often, so surely you can just save up money, buy a few high quality steaks every now and then, eat them raw, and be good for a while. Also, they drink coffee. Do they add milk to coffee? If they add milk, does it have to be cow’s milk, or could it be any animal milk? If they can drink milk, then does that mean they can eat cheese? And if we’re going down the road of milk, there’s no reason they can’t eat eggs, both because of the blood substitute thing and also if milk is safe to consume as an animal byproduct while not being flesh, SURELY eggs count too.

This is legitimately a thought process I had during my rather brief Tokyo Ghoul phase, and have continued to have because I haven’t read the manga to actually see why the ghouls can only eat humans or watched anything past season 1.

So my rough headcanon/worldbuilding is that vampires don’t really need to eat, but they can, it just won’t give them the nutrients needed for their new metabolism or satiate the bloodlust. Like if you wanna eat cake to keep your vampirism a secret, or because cake is delicious, then go for it. There are alternatives to drinking blood, namely consuming a high protein/iron diet through predominantly eating meat/animal products and perhaps taking like iron supplements. This will not deter bloodlust though. The only way to combat bloodlust is to either indulge in a feeding, or to lock yourself away and try to wait out the symptoms. The symptoms do fade after some time, but they will come back stronger next time if you don’t drink some actual blood in the meantime. If you have a willing participent, you can feed off of them a bit and then take iron supplements after a feeding so you don’t totally drain them. Human blood is preferable but animal blood also works.

Assume my thought process applies to wifey, but wifey also doesn’t have to do all that because Morax is kind of an infinite blood glitch because Archon and adeptus powers.

[zaminami]

hii what's fable's favourite food..

joke answer: alcohol.

real answer: fable is autistic as hell and very picky. they have a few foods that need to be in a dish in order to eat it and its literally like. eggs, bread/pasta/pastries, tomatoes, and certain meats. if a dish doesnt have any of those things in it fable overloads it w hot sauce/chiles so they only have to deal with bad texture and not taste (which hinders them quite a bit in trying new food).

.... but yeah fable fuckin loves eggs if i had to choose a single favorite. its reminiscent of the time that they were a yuan-ti (back when theyd eat primarily eggs and meat due to yk. being a snake person). theyre hesitant to change their diet too much, and theyre not the type to try new food, so they generally stick with eggs. they cant eat eggs whole and raw like they used to though and they kind of miss the texture lmao

theyre picky w bread and tomatoes too tho. if the bread/pastry is too sweet they wont eat it at all and the tomatoes have to be whole or sliced in half. they dont like tomatoes completely pureed or anything like ketchup or marinara or wtv. the exception is dishes like shakshuka that have chunks of the tomatoes in the "sauce". they dont know why theyre like that either.

any extra nutrients they blend ingredients into a ''shake'', hold their nose, and down in a few seconds. their ass does not want to get scurvy

[gasha40k]

The last post was supposed to be a lot longer, but it got cut off because Tumblr is made of rocks. I’ve got a bit more to share, starting with a little bit of progress on World Eaters.

Finally got my hands on this guy again. I only need two more models to finish my World Eaters character collection: Azrakh the Annihilator and Angron. I also saved the Juggernaut body from my first Invocatus so soon I’ll have a Lord on Juggernaut as well

The fluff behind Lord Invocatus is so excessively metal that I can’t help but love it. The mental image of Avocado here galloping across the sky on a bridge of smoke and flame is one of the most raw things I think I am capable of imaging. That being said, the model is, like, very disappointingly not on fire, even if it’s still a banger model. I felt that this was a horribly missed opportunity, so I went about and built a reposed Invocatus with an added 3D fire effect from Deadly Print Studios to represent the bridge of flames. I’m really happy with this! Not only does the repose make him look larger and more ferocious, but the fire makes him look like the centerpiece that he should be, and the visual of him and his Juggernaut leaping over a plume of flame is sure to strike fear into the hearts of whoever I field him against. Or he’ll be the biggest target on the board because of his posing, and he’ll get shot and killed immediately. We’ll find out!

In the time since my last post, I’ve also come into possession of a few new neat 3D printed models for some little projects of mine, courtesy of an Ork-playing friend. This guy here is Tyrant Siege Terminator from the Iron Warriors Legion, the Chaos Legion that my Thunderbearers claim their heritage from (not that they’d know this, though).

Making that objective marker from a few posts ago was really fun, so I made some more ideas for custom ones to use with my factions. While I don’t exactly have a plan of action regarding this guy here, I do know that I’m going to turn him into some kind of relic recovery marker. A supremely apocryphal Chapter artifact of the highest sanctity, for the eyes of the most elite Thunderbearers only. An echo from a forgotten past, a powerless demigod from a lost era, frozen in time and waiting for 10,000 years. This’ll eventually be painted in Thunderbearers regalia and draped with either creeping vines and wild overgrowth, or dust, cobwebs, and rubble. Despite its heraldry, however, this ancient armor is still noticeably a Terminator pattern utilized almost exclusively by the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. This implies that whichever venerable forebear originally adorned this armor would’ve either been a Battle-Brother of the Chapter’s earliest shrouded histories, or a later Astartes of such grand renown that he inherited what would’ve undoubtedly been one of the Chapter’s most valuable artifacts. Regardless, it’s a neat looking piece and not something that people will glean from first glance. It’s like a little Chapter Easter egg basically for me only, and that’s cool cuz it’s my army. <3

This beefy boy will be the subject of another objective marker. After a page describing each of the Chaos Gods, 9th Edition’s Codex: Chaos Daemons includes a two-page spread detailing anecdotes about various Daemon Worlds and how exactly they’d fallen to the Gods. The above excerpt from the Khornate incursion on a Daemon World named Tartora struck me as particularly visually poignant, so this boisterous Ork is gonna get turned into a statue of brass and bone. I’ll decorate his base with various skulls and lots and lots of blood. Maybe fire, too. I think a sort of glowing red vein effect on the base might be pretty cool. I’ll use him primarily with my World Eaters. Combined with a classic skull tower that I’m gonna make at some point, that means I’ll have two objective markers for both of my armies.

Moving on, I’ve been painting my dudes in what I believe to be their final color scheme for a good long while now. I’ve even started putting transfers on some of them as of a couple loads ago. That being said, I noticed that my most up-to-date heraldry sheet was kind of total garbage, and it didn’t represent the current look of the army whatsoever. This new heraldry sheet will be my (almost) final one; the colors are all correct, the helmets are all correct, and the Chapter icon has been edited and finalized. I may change the symbol signifying Chapter Honor Guard to be a set of tilted black stripes, sorts like hazard stripes but with the yellow replaced by Wraithbone. This could be another subtle nod to the Iron Warriors heritage as black stripes are a very common pattern, which means it could rationally be either an ambiguous heraldry of visually pleasing design, or iconography from culture that’s evolved slowly over the course of 10,000 years.

On the gameplay front, I recently played my first and likely final game of Strike Force in 9th with my brother. To send out 9th and usher in 10th, the Thunderbearers and Cobalt Lancers got together again for a good old fashioned “full-scale combat simulation.” They definitely used tracer rounds or something.

Most of my games are pretty standard but this one was great fun. We had very similar army compositions, with differences only in some key areas, like armor and HQ choice. The plan for us both was to forward deploy Infiltrator squads to hunker down on objectives, since we both took our Chapter-specific action secondaries. The mission we rolled, however, had better plans, and disabled setup rules in No Man’s Land, effectively making the Phobos forward deploy completely useless. It was a really even game, likely my favorite I’ve played so far, and I realize now after playing it that 2000pts is definitely the way that 40k is meant to be played. There were a lot of cool moments, too, and I think that was mostly facilitated by the higher point limit.

A Redemptor, an Aggressor Squad, an Eversor Assassin, and a Primaris Techmarine walk into a bar.

One of those cool moments was a chain of events that I’ll remember for a good long while. After my Predator las-sniped an enemy Redemptor, my own Redemptor stomped up to join two Space Marine columns locked in combat. After some intense combat, the Dreadnought was felled, surprisingly setting of an explosion, dealing mortals to literally everyone in the circle. The Techmarine takes the opportunity to kill the Eversor after this, who then explodes, killing the Techmarine. Earlier in the game, an Impulsor had exploded, and if I recall correctly, Big Harold exploded, bringing the game’s total explosion count to around 4 or 5. Fun!

My brother beat me on objectives, 26-40. He played his primaries far better than I did, and I was far too focused on killing his scary shit to properly run my secondaries. While I took out his Repulsor—the centerpiece of any good Cobalt Lancers army—during the game’s first BR, which significantly lessened his firepower and freed me up to move, aggressive pushes with his Impulsor and excellent positioning of his squads kept me at bay and I lost the inevitable Astartes vs. Astartes battle of attrition.

I hope that I can play some more 2000pts games here soon. I got my hands on a copy of the new Core Rulebook, so I’ll be hopefully be dipping my toes into the future of the 42nd millennium here soon. I’ve got some friends who wanna get back into the game with 10th, so I’ll be getting a couple Combat Patrol games in as well. Maybe Calthradia will follow into 10th, but the Crusade has been on hold for months now and I’m undergoing some significant life changes at the moment, so I doubt I’ll be making much consistent progress for a while.

[airxn]

(( 🍋  ))

🍋  :    what kind of diet does my muse have?  do they eat regularly,  or the standard 2-3 meals a day?  do they have to be reminded to eat,  or are they likely to remind others?  do they cook,  or have others cook for them?  do they eat healthily,  or not so much?  

CANON 167. Airin is an omnivore, but that mostly shows itself when he's not a felicid. And because of that, even when he's human, he very much follows the eating schedule of a predator. Meaning he'll snack on small things during the day and have a very large meal every few days.

So he really doesn't eat regularly at all, nor does he remind himself to eat, and he certainly doesn't remind others to either. Because again, it's that predator mentality. He doesn't see others' eating habits as his business. Unless he has a strong bond with that person– then that's different since he's protective of them.

As for the bit about him eating healthy, that really depends. With human food? He eats whatever people give him, what he finds out of the dumpster, or slurps raw eggs from the 7/11 on the corner. As a felicid though he primarily hunts, so he's healthy in that regard WHEN he isn't… stealing from people– oops!

[calronhunt]

HI SORRY IF THIS IS TOO VAGUE BUT. would love to learn more about andy and khalil's relationship. deity of some kind x just some guy pairings make me go crazyy and i would love to learn more about their dynamic

YOU'RE FINE! Andy and Khalil are special to me bc they're Aro4Ace like me and Hershel

Their dynamic primarily centers around the fact that like, Andy doesn't know ANYTHING about humanity. Since Angels were the Sun and Moons first attempts at making a species, they're kinda OP and don't require things like sleep, food, water, or anything. Andy makes a fool of himself and Khalil has to be like "HAHA YEAH WHAT A WEIRD SILLY GUY" as Andy like, eats a raw egg whole.

There's this in the silly context of course, but also in the like, more serious context of Andy while not understanding human things, also doesn't fully get HUMANS (or angels for that matter) at all. They've kinda been able to coast through their ageless life since they're considered super important being the Second Angel Ever Made. Andy isn't purposely malicious to people, but he kinda ignores people and doesn't take their problems/feelings seriously. A part of it is due to the aromantism, but another is Kokabiel (head angel) being able to let them just get away with whatever. Being on earth and not having that kind of environment, forces Andy to like, actually care and try to understand and fix his mistakes. And he makes a lot of mistakes!

Khalil on the other hand is just a college student who is struggling with his sexuality and a secret relationship with his gay partner beckett (there's homophobia on this alt earth). He views Andy as an annoyance for the longest time, someone who keeps messing shit up for him and making his life harder. Andy makes Khalil's relationship with Beckett harder but is also the only one that Khalil can really talk to about his doubts and troubles regarding the relationship. Andy's the only one who will try to comfort him or try to cheer him up. And andy doesn't always have the best advice, or anything, but just having someone there sometimes is enough.

There's several other nuances to it that I can't really get into, but I just care. A lot about them. Khalil is like this very tired cat that andy is running circles around like a dog. Khalil was mistified by the fact that Andy was an angel for a second before he saw them shove a whole chili dog in their mouth and Khalil thought "this is what my religion is based around huh."

[kisaantrade]

The time is now for European agricultural companies to make investments in the Indian market

In light of the fact that the world's population will reach 7.9 billion this November and is expected to reach 9.8 billion by the year 2050, food security has emerged as a major issue. Action must be taken immediately in order to address the shortage of resources, access and distribution problems, and the requirement to increase agricultural outputs. To address this crisis, policymakers around the world are looking for sustainable ways to integrate agricultural practices with technology.

India's agricultural sector's economic contribution

The farming (crops and horticulture), forestry, livestock (milk, eggs, and meat), and fisheries industries make up the bulk of the Indian agricultural sector. It contributes 11.9 percent of the $3,320.4 billion in global agriculture gross value added (GVA), which is second only to China, and accounts for 12 percent of India's exports. The sector also affects the dynamics of consumption and production in non-agricultural sectors like consumer goods, retail, chemicals, and e-commerce.

The agricultural sector is crucial to India's economic output and potential for growth due to economic interconnections. It's another reason why the industry desperately needs reform.

India's agricultural economy is disorganized and fragmented

The entire value chain—from the supply of agricultural inputs to the production and transformation of agricultural products to their distribution to final consumers—is covered by the agribusiness ecosystem, which includes all business activities carried out from farm to fork. The rapid urbanization, diet diversification, shifting consumer preferences, and growth of the food markets have all contributed to the ecosystem's further expansion into segments like e-commerce and hyperlocal.

The agriculture value chain still has multiple levels of intermediaries and middlemen, so it is still largely disorganized and fragmented. In spite of the fact that 86 percent of India's small and marginal farmers continue to be its main sources of food and nutrition, they are still limited by things like having extremely small landholdings of less than two hectares.

How does agritech boost India's agricultural sector's productivity and efficiency?

Agritech is primarily used to describe an ecosystem of businesses and startup ventures that are leveraging technological advancements to offer goods or services for boosting yield, efficiency (both in terms of time and cost), and profitability for farmers across the agriculture value chain. The various agritech industry segments that support the overall value chain include:

1) Market linkage: farm inputs are linked to the market through physical infrastructure and a digital marketplace.

2) Biotech: studying the biology and genomics of plants and animals.

3) Agriculture as a service: pay-per-use rental of farm machinery.

4) Precision agriculture and farm management: using geospatial or weather data, IOT, sensors, robotics, etc. to increase productivity; farm management solutions for resource and field management, etc. are examples of precision agriculture and farm management.

5) Farm mechanization and automation: mechanization and automation in agriculture: industrial automation that uses equipment, tools, and robots for planting, handling raw materials, harvesting, etc.

6) Farm infrastructure: Farm infrastructure includes farming methods like drip irrigation, indoor-outdoor farming, greenhouse systems, and environmental controls like heating and ventilation.

7) Quality management and traceability: Production monitoring, quality control, analysis, and traceability during storage and transportation are all aspects of quality management.

8) Supply chain technology and output market linkage: Linking the market for farm output and the supply chain requires a physical infrastructure and digital platform to manage the post-harvest supply chain.

9) Financial services: Credit facilities for purchasing equipment, inputs, and other items, as well as crop insurance or reinsurance.

10) Advisory/Content: Information platforms for pricing, market, and agronomic information are available online.

Why do agricultural businesses from Europe invest in the Indian market?

1) A sizable and expanding market: India has a sizable agricultural sector and a sizable population that depends on farming for a living. There is a sizable demand for agricultural products due to the nation's expanding middle class, urbanization, and population growth. European businesses can take advantage of this enormous market opportunity and meet the changing demands of Indian consumers.

2) Governmental Reforms and Initiatives: The Indian government has carried out a number of reforms and initiatives to strengthen the agricultural industry. These consist of budget allocation increases, modernization plans for agriculture, and welcoming foreign investment policies. These government initiatives can be used by European businesses to build a strong presence and gain access to favorable regulations.

3) Technology and Innovation: When it comes to cutting-edge farming methods and technological developments, European agricultural companies frequently lead the way. The adoption of these cutting-edge technologies, such as crop management solutions, smart irrigation systems, and precision farming, can benefit India's agriculture industry. Such technologies can be introduced and put into use by European businesses to help modernize and increase the productivity of Indian agriculture.

4) Organic and Sustainable Farming: In India, there is a rising awareness of and demand for organic and sustainable farming methods. India is a willing market for European businesses with experience in organic farming, sustainable agriculture, and agroecology. More and more buyers are looking for goods that are safe for the environment, free of dangerous chemicals, and made using sustainable methods.

5) Collaborations: Partnerships between European and Indian agricultural companies can promote information sharing, technology transfer, and joint R&D projects. European businesses can collaborate with their Indian counterparts to take advantage of local knowledge, gain access to distribution networks, and modify their goods and services to meet the demands of the Indian market.

6) Opportunities for Export: Investing in the Indian agricultural market can give European businesses the chance to export their goods to India and its neighbors. India's proximity to other Asian markets gives European businesses access to a larger customer base, allowing them to increase their market share and level of global competitiveness.

7) Long-Term Potential: As the nation continues to invest in agribusiness development, irrigation systems, and agricultural infrastructure, India's agricultural sector has the potential to grow over the long term. European businesses can position themselves for long-term growth and take advantage of the changing demands of the agriculture sector by entering the Indian market.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, there are compelling reasons for European agricultural companies to invest in the Indian market. Along with government initiatives and reforms, India's sizable and expanding market offers numerous opportunities for growth and financial success. European businesses bring cutting-edge technologies, novel approaches, and sustainability knowledge that can cater to the changing needs of Indian consumers and help modernize the agricultural industry. Collaborations with Indian partners can promote market access and knowledge sharing. The possibility of exporting goods to India and its neighbors also adds to the allure of making investments in India. The Indian market presents a promising opportunity for business expansion and success for European agricultural companies thanks to its long-term growth potential and friendly business environment.