#so i want to do some research into that but it i have to pay for it uhHHH thats a no

[salamanderinspace]

I volunteer, and I find it enjoyable, but I feel like the anarchist response to this election being "well we just have to volunteer harder and build community ourselves" is misplaced. At some point the federal government takes trillions of dollars and gives almost nothing of value. Telling people to do these assholes jobs for them, unpaid, is not the best advice.

So here is my advice. You have to pay attention. You have to read actual newsources, like AP and Reuters and NPR and your local paper. You have to be informed. Today NHPR posted an article contemplating whether Trump is going to revert to the Schedule F changes for civil servants. Do you know exactly what that means? Do you know which employees in which offices would be affected, and how? Do you know if you even support or oppose that actual policy change? What about context - what's the median salary for workers in that field, and how has it changed under Biden?

Nobody can know everything about everything, so pick a couple of issues you care about and get REALLY, really informed. Research deep dive. Triple check sources. It's not enough to disagree with Trump's general brand. If you're able to go into the next election with concrete policy changes Trump made that you disagree with, it's going to be less emotional to confront Trump supporters and gauge how misinformed they really are. I know it's boring and stressful, and the absolute worst part of it is that you're going to find there are an awful lot of policy points where this asshole doesn't diverge from what the Democrats did / wanted to do at all. The DOT was equally underfunded under Trump and Biden, for example. If you care about bridges and highways and trains and airplanes, maybe make that one of the issues you get informed about. Or make a friend you trust who is covering that, and get updates from them. Do not depend on mainstream news outlets.

Find out the names of all the mutual aid and advocacy groups in your region. Are there a whole lot? What have they accomplished? Don't jump right into volunteering until you know what their work fully entails. Who are they helping? Who do you want to help the most? And if the answer to that question is not "people who have the least" but rather "people who are like me," think hard on that.

Your time is precious. Use it to become an expert, and then share that expertise freely. We are fighting wars on the fronts of attention and information.

[tlbodine]

So, Things Are Terrible and You Want to DO SOMETHING

The election is over and, ah...did not go well. While a lot of folks are doing a post mortem of the campaigns and trying to understand what happened with the vote and fighting over who shoulders the blame, we've gotta turn an eye toward the future and figure out, okay fam, where the fuck do we go from here.

I don't have all the answers on this, and I'm not an authority by any means, I'm just a horror author with a blog. But I've been thinking a lot about it and I wanted to share my thought process with others who might want to DO SOMETHING but feel they're spinning their wheels.

Buckle in. This will be a long one.

Step One: Understand the actual risks and stakes.

I think it is very easy to start panicking now about the worst possible case scenario -- jackbooted military busting into the door to disappear everyone who ever said something mean about Trump or bought a banned book or something -- and let fear turn into inaction.

I'm not saying things can't get that bad, and I'm not saying that it won't be absolutely terrifying right out the gate for some particularly at-risk groups -- but the distance between "now" and "V for Vendetta" is long and filled with a lot of intermediary steps. There will be so many opportunities to prevent the worst case scenario.

I say this because, if your mental image of "Bad Things Happening" is The Purge, it will be easy to wake up on inauguration day, look outside to see that the world is not on fire, think, hey, maybe things will be okay after all, and then completely disengage. Alternatively, you might feel so frozen with terror at the possibility of persecution that you do nothing. This is why people are saying: don't obey in advance.

It is essential for those of us with more privilege to use it to take care of those who are more vulnerable.

So. Who is most vulnerable? What does that vulnerability actually mean? What are the most likely risks of Trump's presidency? Here's a Guardian article that I think does a good job of summarizing some of the main issues. Go read that, then come back here.

Step Two: Take steps to protect yourself

You've gotta put your oxygen mask on first, right? So before you start getting involved in other causes, figure out what risks YOU are at, immediately, and do as much as you can to secure yourself. Some potential action steps depending on your circumstance may include:

Renewing your passport (helpful for leaving the country, but also for gender/name change purposes)

Getting vaccines / boosters

Securing birth control

Ensuring your necessary papers (birth certificates etc.) are where you have access to them.

Drawing up legal paperwork for spouses/partners (always a good idea, a helpful safety measure in case you lose marriage rights)

Bolstering your data privacy and online security. Here's a step-by-step guide I found that could help with that.

The specific steps you need to take here depend on what risks you, personally, face. You'll want to do some more research into this for your particular scenario.

No matter who you are, though, it's probably a good idea to start saving money and being a little more conservative with your spending and/or pay down debts to free up some cash. You don't know what kind of emergency may befall you, and having spare money for an emergency is never a bad idea.

There is a possibility that the cost of many things you rely on might go up, if Trump goes through with his tariffs plan. You will want to plan for that.

Food costs may also rise due to tariffs (we import a lot of food from Mexico and Latin America for example) as well as a loss of immigrant labor. There is also a possibility that food safety standards could fall due to overturning regulations. Now would be a good time to look into local food resources like farm share/CSA, community farms, etc., and to stock up on a few key staples like rice and beans.

Okay. Now that YOU are reasonably safe...what can you do to protect your community?

Step Three: Get Involved

Here is your mission: You need to stay engaged enough to know what's going on, without burning yourself out or exhausting yourself, and to take actual decisive actions instead of wasting your energy arguing on the internet.

Got that? Okay. Good. Here are some action steps:

Support independent journalism. Subscribe to local papers, donate to and watch public broadcast programming. I signed up for news from ProPublica, for example, as well as the news-roundup service What The Fuck Just Happened Today. The goal is to stay informed without falling down an endless rabbit hole of upsetting information.

Share news and resources with others in your circle. This can be a good use of social media. It's what I am doing right now!

If it is safe for you to do so, challenge and educate your friends/family members/neighbors/coworkers. Only if it is safe for you to do so. Do not put yourself at risk doing this. And do not waste your time arguing with people who are unlikely to change. But if you have well-meaning people in your life who you think could be won over, look for opportunities to do this - the right way. I've had some success with this, I will probably write a guide about it in the future. In the meantime, here's a good article that can help.

Join local grassroots activism groups. You'll have to do some work to decide what groups to join and which causes you want to support, because you cannot do everything. But there are tons of organizations taking direct action in all kinds of causes. Search "grassroots [cause] activists in [where you live]" to start finding things. Once you get involved in one group, you might meet people who can introduce you to other groups and causes. Yes, this means you will have to go outside and meet people. I'm sorry.

Join direct action groups. Same concept as above. You'll have to search in your area but once you know people it'll be easier to find more opportunities. Some of these groups may overlap. You might find direct action opportunities by engaging politically and vice versa. GO OUTSIDE AND TALK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THINGS TO HELP.

Get involved in local politics. Here are some quick tips. A lot of things are affected at the city level - stuff like book bans and bathroom bills are often battled first at local libraries and schools, and you can be part of those conversations! Sheriffs are elected and can have a big influence on local policing. Local elections affect how tax dollars are spent, how homeless populations are treated, and lots more. Don't snooze on local elections. Get involved and stay involved.

Look up your representatives. Get in the habit of calling, emailing, and writing letters. Figure out what legislature is being passed and then call your reps and harangue them about it - both to support bills you approve of and shoot down ones you don't. Sign petitions. Join email campaigns. Here's one you can go sign right now from the ACLU. See? Not that scary.

I think a lot of people figure that getting involved in politics doesn't matter or that it's all small potatoes but...man. The president is not god, no matter what he thinks. The sitting administration is not the sole power in the universe. There is an entire machine of government we can lean upon and act upon.

Finally, some general safety notes:

Some forms of direct action are not legal. Take steps to be safe if you choose to partake. Follow the lead of more seasoned activists for what forms of communication to use and so forth.

If you're not willing or able to put yourself at legal risk to act, you can help others by donating to bail funds and legal defense funds.

We've already seen this in some areas, and it will only get uglier - some bad actors are feeling emboldened by the change in regime and will misbehave. It's a good idea to learn some self-defense skills, in whatever way is comfortable to you, and brush up on some tenets of victimology that can help you stay safe. I'll write more about that in the future.

All right. That's all for now. It's by no means comprehensive...but should hopefully help you get started taking the next step. Stay safe out there.

[catboybiologist]

Hiya! I'm CatboyBiologist.

The unfiltered, unhinged side of @hi-sierra. I'm doing a quick pinned post refresh, especially in light of the recent US elections.

I'm a transgender woman, outdoors enthusiast, and PhD student in molecular bio living on the West coast of the US. I post a lot of vain selfies and thirst traps:

I'm known for tgirl tummy tuesdays, shower coffee, weirdass rambling shitposts, my tortoise, bisexual meltdowns, being an angry tranny, making my ADHD everyone else's problem, and talking about hiking/backpacking more than I actually do it. This blog is my main one, and is an unfiltered stream of information.

But I'm slowly trying to do a little more than that. I've been trying to do SOMETHING related to science communication for a while now, and never had the time or mental spoons to do so. Now, with recent political situations, not only am I more fired up than ever to get those off the ground, but I might actually do it in a more "official" capacity related to my research. Stay tuned- but also, if you happen to know any specific people/organizations that might accept quick blurb writings about being trans in biology, lmk!

If you want to DM me, tag me, drop an ask, for whatever reason, feel free to! This includes any and all tummyposting. Do be aware, however, that I try to keep this blog SFW, and will use my discretion on what to reblog or answer. On the flip side of that, however, I often get close to the limits of SFW here, so if you're uncomfortable with that or a minor, you have been warned.

I have a ko-fi, and donations are greatly appreciated. I'm currently trying to raise some money for the $430 court fee I'll have to pay to get my name legally changed, which I'm trying to do before we have a Republican president and congress.

Tortoise tax:

Misc links under cut, including my other profiles and posts I want to highlight.

Why and how should you store a little extra HRT?

Active accounts elsewhere:

Reddit

Instagram

Bluesky

Previous pin with link to all my other previous pins

[hey-august]

Could we get more shy Buggy content pls 🙏😭 I'm love

YEAH WE CAN. We love a shy and awkward clown.

Let's have some headcanons about shy Buggy!

WC: ~500 Warnings: sfw, fluffy af, buggy x gn!reader

Buggy tries foods and drinks that you like, partly to get to know more about you, but also because he wants you to notice that you like the same thing and and start liking him because of it.

He researches your interests - looking through his books, listening in on your conversations, buying new books, stealing books, eavesdropping, finding a way to stand nearby so he can listen to you talk without you noticing - all to learn more and be knowledgeable. Whenever you bring up a particular topic, Buggy will jump right in full of confidence and showing off. You're paying attention to him, it's great! Until you ask about some specific detail and — OOPS SORRY, someone's calling him, he's gotta go byeeeee

GO DO MORE RESEARCH. Hours, maybe even days, later Buggy will swagger back up to you and act like no time has passed since that last conversation. Now he's ready to talk about it more. You see what's going on and give him a break. No hard questions this time. As adorable as it was to fluster Buggy, you also like when he's pleased with himself. If he was a dog (a dirty sea dog lol), his tail would be wagging so fast that it's a blur.

When you compliment Buggy on something, he is riding the high for the rest of the day. Playing it on repeat in his head, strutting around with his chest puffed out, he's practically glowing. (Wait, does his nose look a little extra lumiescent? Don't say anything, it's cute.) He keeps boasting about it too - "You're not fashionable like me. Maybe you should get a flashy scarf like this." "Only someone like me could have a belt like this!" "Oh, I wash my hair once a month, that's why it's so silky." (It's greasy, Buggy. You got the compliment because you showered yesterday.)

He also tries to get you to compliment him again. Wearing the same combination of clothes, putting his hair up the same way, whatever it was, he's doing it. But Buggy would say anything about it. It's like a weird trick, he'll flounce around and try to get your attention so that you compliment him again. Swaying and tossing his hair back. Standing in front of you, hand in a pocket so you can see his belt, or his hands resting on the jolly roger belt buckle. Fidgeting with his scarf.

Here's the problem, though. He can't handle it. He can't handle the way that your eyes flick down to his belt (his crotch). Or how your eyes are over his face, staring right through him, watching him lick his lips, looking at his neck, at his hands…

Even if you don't compliment him, Buggy takes it as a win. And he's definitely the kind of guy to fist pump behind your back.

Silly guy, he doesn't realize that you can see his shadow.

[thekindlygrammarfairy]

The only thing that seems like it'd work is fixing public education. I remember when I was maybe 12, my class was taken into the library and taught basic internet searching skills, how to spot unreliable websites, and so on. None of it was new to me, but having it presented in an official capacity made me think about it more often and harder from then on.

I had assignments that revolved around research, which taught me a bunch of stuff about how to find good information.

Hell, even the ability to type at a reasonable pace is something I picked up from school.

So, what schools are like these days is going to be speculation, I don't know what's up, and it's going to vary wildly from place to place. But here's my best guess:

Schools, at least in the US, have been slowly bleeding talent, money, and respect since the start of the pandemic. Essentially, kids are left to self-educate. I like teaching myself stuff via online tutorials and stuff, but that only works because I have the necessary self-discipline and underlying skills. It seems like in most schools, everyone is in survival mode, and a lot of stuf that would have been taught because it's "The Right Thing To Do" is hitting the cutting room floor. Nevada's elections are having an issue with young people not being able to sign their names, for example, because we cut cursive teaching. I don't think of cursive as particularly useful, but some things are written in it - and being able to sign your name is of obvious importance.

Services like Instagram and Tiktok are appealing because of their ease of use, and the network effect, and their ability to direct you into a hyperspecific niche. But the time and energy spent in these apps and services (having tried both, they can be incredibly overwhelming) is not spent socializing in a real, tangible community. On Tiktok specifically, it seems like it's actively harder to do something as basic as learn a creator's name. For example, Amaury Guichon's name is on every one of his tiktoks, but everyone calls him Chocolate Guy. This is not true of any other creator I'm aware of. The experiences are smaller and less lasting than any other media, but are the most readily accessible.

The "I don't want to pay money for internet anything" culture is strong, with my generation and younger. Even if quality stuff is out there, we don't want it, because it's behind a 99 cent paywall. Part of this is the soft age-wall for getting a credit card, but part of this is just stubbornness. New York Times and Washington Post, both respected and reasonably-truthful newspapers, are paywalled, but Conservative """Newspaper""" du jour are free. When I see a paywall on a newspaper, my first instinct is to get around it, not pay up. A few outlets, like the Guardian, have started working with, rather than against, this behavior, but they're in the minority. The impact of this attitude on creators on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is a whole other discussion, there's some good and some bad. But "old media" (books, movies, TV, etc.) is suffering - and people who should be experiencing that stuff are suffering too.

Third spaces for young people basically don't exist. Why exactly this is is a long conversation, but the result is that everyone's on their dang phones, even if they'd get along really well with someone who lives half a block away.

Because of all of the above, patience is not a virtue most of us have. On the internet, anything you don't like can be out of your face in seconds, and there's always an infinite void of content to gorge yourself on. In meatspace, not so much. I don't think the "zoomer attention span" is real, I think it's more along the lines of Gen Z have not been taught to tolerate mild discomfort very well. The effects of this on social organizing patterns is... bad.

The result of all of this is that young people (and I'm part of this) don't have solid social ground to stand on. Everything is online platforms and services that are fickle, fragile, and can't be negotiated with. Finding friends is difficult, and everyone's social skills are atrophied to some extent.

How do we fix this? Fund schools, make spaces for young people to hang out in, and find tunnels out of doomscrolls. I've seen a promising trend in YouTube shorts of people linking longer related videos to pull people out of that infinite scroll.

And tumblr is a good example of this. We have a mix of shallow and deep content, and a culture that's not flexible, malleable, and disposable in the same way that TikTok's is.

I am concerned for gen z. Like I don't think they're doing okay. I think algorithms and a systematic denial of easy access to facts because of Internet enshittification has made them unbelievably miserable with very little sense of how warped their online experience is. Idk how to fix it.

[ottpopfic]

Four almost dads take a little girl to a pumpkin patch and nothing bad happens

-

“Will!” Leo shouts through a rainbow, scaring the shit out of the blond as he preps dinner

“Jesus fuuuu-freaking Christ man what do you want ?” Will saves just in time, still getting used to having impressionable ears around 24/7

“Pumpkin patch!”

“Pumpkin patch?”

“We need to go to a pumpkin patch”

“Aren't you supposed to be wedding prepping?”

“No shut up, I just learned Jason’s never gone”

There is a muffled call of “I've been to a patch of pumpkins before” from somewhere on the other side of the rainbow. 

“Babe a garden doesn't count!” Leo yells back before returning to Will “Also it would be fun to take Katie she needs a pumpkin”

The eight-year-old perks up at the sound of her name, having been too busy in her own world of coloring to pay attention to grown-ups. Today the drawing is of Festus, a welcome break from her usual repertoire of what they're pretty sure is her bio dad being brutally ripped apart and eaten by Cyclops.

Nico is sitting right next to their foundling at the table, a research text in one hand and his sketchbook in the other as he picks his way through the spellwork of his current case. But Will can tell his husband is listening by how he’s no longer taking detailed notes. 

“ Anyways ,” Leo continues on, his gestures getting bigger in his excitement “I found this place that-“

Leo’s arm goes right through the rainbow, disconnecting the call. Will takes the opportunity to go sit at the dining table with his family before Leo calls back so they can all be in the frame.

“We can go in the middle of the week,” Leo says without greeting as the rainbow reconnects “It's not like Katie is in school or anything right now”

It's true, she's not. She legally barely exists at the moment, just enough for Will and his husband to be her foster parents, making it so the truancy office is none the wiser. Right now they are focused on her mental and physical health, getting her into doctors and helping with her episodes. She obviously has some PTSD from her time in the swamp, and she's still underweight as well. They only just got an order in for braces for her weird backward knees, but it's still a week out until they are ready.

Therapy on the other hand they were able to find through The Program. Dr. Block isn't a demigod nor does he have the sight, but his sister is a child of Dionysus making him in the loop on the magical world. They have more mortals with halfling families joining these days, their family members living to adulthood opening doors on both sides.

It's probably the best that she's not in school at the moment, she's only been officially theirs for a little over a month since they brought her home from camp. The kid is still a little unsure about getting left again, and still very unsure of the outside world in general. The only places she truly relaxes are the di Solace apartment and the Way Station.

“Also there will be fewer people then” Leo presses on “easier on Chiquita and spotting monsters”

“Neeks?” Will checks

“I don’t have anything time-sensitive,” Nico says with a shrug before turning to the eight-year-old “You wanna go on an adventure Mostriciattola?”

Katie looks taken aback by being asked her opinion on the planning, so it takes a second for her to pause before thinking it over and then nodding with a smile. 

“Perfect!” Leo exclaims “You have some days off next week right -”

So next Wednesday the five of them pile into Will’s little four door and drive out of town to the pumpkin patch. 

They were able to find Katie a pair of green heavy-duty rain boots in her size from the Way Station’s collection, and she has her new favorite pair of embroidered overalls stuffed into them. It had been fun getting ready this morning, their little apartment bustling with the addition of Leo and Jason. Leo helps Nico get the kid ready by putting her hair in a pair of french-braids, and Jason helping Will pack the cooler. They have gone on double-date outings like this before, but the addition of Katie is making it extra joyful.

Leo drives because Will is sleep-deprived and Jason shouldn't and Nico hates it and if Leo doesn't he gets car sick. Something about being able to feel the machine working while the world moves around him, but when he drives he can just be the machine and it's fine. Whatever, Will passes out fifteen minutes in anyway. 

Katie wakes him when they get there, climbing over Will in her rush to get out. Then she's doing that excited stim she does, a little stomping dance from foot to foot, before giving a spin so she can shake Will's arm.

“I'm up I'm up” he laughs, Katie gives him a huge grin and then speeds off to see what Nico and Leo doing in the trunk.

“Okay,” Jason admits as he steps out of the shotgun passenger door  “This is not a patch of pumpkins”

It is very much not a single patch of pumpkins. The place was at one point a family farm, most of the original buildings have been repurposed into things like gift shops and cafes. There is a large corn maze off in the distance, hand-painted wooden signs showing the way to the pick-your-own orchards and caramel apples. There is a playground made of hay bales and a paddock of animals to pet and feed. 

With the leaves just changing color and the air slightly crisp the whole place feels cozy and autumnal. Both Katie and Jason are looking around in amazement, Will wonders if their kid has ever been to something like this before 

Fortunately, the place isn't crowded. There are what looks like a handful of families and one group of preschoolers on a field trip. This is good, because they all figured out fast that Katie struggles with large crowds, becoming quickly overwhelmed. They haven't figured out if it's her PTSD or obvious neurodivergence yet, but Will suspects it's a combination of the two.

When they start off towards the buildings Katie quickly falls behind, even with everyone walking slowly. It is hard for people over six feet to compensate for a little girl with a disability, so Jason gleefully crouched down to ask if he can carry her. Then the big softy has the kid perched on the crook of his arm bent close to his body. Katie's smile is blinding, one arm holding onto Jason's shoulder the other free to stim on the floral embroidery of her overalls or to point when she spots something interesting. 

“Fuck that's cute” Leo murmurs to himself before catching up with his fiancee and taking his free hand in his own 

Katie directs the group with her gestures, for a kid who still won't really talk she communicates very clearly. The four of them are perfectly happy to go where she wants, a lot of it is peering at plants and decorations until they find the menagerie of animals behind a wire paddock. They scrounge some quarters between them to get pellets from the coin-operated machine, totally worth it for the little giggle the cows get out of Katie when they eat from her hand. 

Nico is audibly surprised so many of the barn animals aren't running screaming from him, that is until they figure out that the cows are obsessed with Jason.

“I hate this” Jason gripes, but he's not moving away because Katie is half leaning out of his arms to pet the cows and get all slobbered on. The ones not getting loved on by the kid are inching closer staring at Jason like he has something they want, a few of them attempting to mouth at what they can reach of his sweater sleeves. 

“I think they have peacocks in the next pen” Nico points with a shit-eating grin.

True to his word, the next paddock is full of birds, and the two peacocks and single peahen are staring down the son of Jupiter like they want to eat him. Jason lets out a little puppy whine of distress.

That gets the girl's attention, turning back to the blond with a concerned face and papping at his cheek with a bovine-slobber-covered hand.

“It's okay,  I'm okay” Jason tries to reassure her, but Will can tell the expression doesn't reach his eyes by the way she frowns. 

They have found that Katie does this thing, where she will study your face for a long moment until she finds what she is looking for. It's a little unnerving, big dark round eyes boring into your own with such intensity many people become taken aback. Will finds it reminds him of Nico as he tries to parse some dead something out of your aura, or when an Aphrodite kid is looking into your love lines. Taking a peek into parts of you that only someone touched by the divine can do

They have no clue what she can see in people when she does that, but it feels like she's looking deep into your heart and separating out your true intentions. 

Also, the longer Jason has worked on his own mental health the shittier his poker face has become, so for Katie he's not a hard egg to crack. She wipes cow spit off on his sweater and points to the hand sanitizer dispenser. 

“Ready to clean up” he asks, trying his best to keep the relief out of his voice, Katie nods yes and points again.

Katie directs them to pumpkins next. It's a small hay ride to the patch, lame compared to the ones back in Texas though Jason looks a little spooked by the rattling of the cart, past an apple orchard heavy with dark fruit. The kid has no interest in the trees, she's off following the hand-painted signage to the pumpkin patch before they are all of the tractor bed. Nico is quick to follow her, and they are in the waist-high grass before anyone can stop them, though Leo hangs back for a moment to squint at the tractor. 

Will immediately starts to fret watching his husband and kid toddle about into the tall grass “What if there's ticks”

“Can't you like, psychically remove ticks?” Leo asks.

“I can check for lyme disease and stop spirochetes, it's not the same”

“I think it's too cold for ticks now” Leo tries to reassure.

“I can zap the ticks off” Jason supplies plainly like it will help anything.

Leo gives his fiancee one of his patented ‘babe that's ferial wolf shit’ looks “You are not zapping ticks off the kiddo” he tells him.

“It's always been fine before, I just get staticy and they fall right off”

“Anyways” Leo breaks in, “I think it will be fine”

Will's worry spiral is interrupted by Katie’s little ‘whoop’ of success, holding a pumpkin bigger than her torso above her head. The three of them clap and cheer as Nico tries to help steady her on the uneven muddy ground, but she is not deterred. She's carrying the gourd through the dead cattails and goldenrod back to the group and looking very pleased with herself.

Katie plants her big orange prize at Will’s feet and is then dragging Jason into the grass and vines by the hand, determined to get him a pumpkin too. Leo and Nico switch places as the small child guardian, Will’s husband with his own much smaller pumpkin on his hip.

“There are no ticks,” Nico tells him, sliding his free hand into one of Will’s back jean pockets, knowing his worries as always “I can tell they sprayed”

“Okay,” he relents a little, leaning into his husband's shoulder.

“Do you want to go get a pumpkin?”

Will pulls his lips thin, watching Leo struggling to keep Katie from eating a frankly ginormous grasshopper as Jason snacks on a rogue pumpkin flower.

“I promise there's no ticks”

“Promise?”

“Promise” Nico squeezes his butt with the hand in his pocket “Also I don't think Leo can keep both of them from eating bugs at the same time”

“Fair enough” Will relents with a snort of laughter, and wades into the grass to join the commotion. 

After paying they drop the pumpkins off at the car, no use hulling them around. It also gives them a chance to get drinks from the cooler and remove the bits of dead plants off Katie. She doesn't look to mind all of the fussing over her, everyone picking bits of foliage and seeds out of her hair and clothes as they spot them, she's perfectly happy to sit on the ledge of the trunk with the gourds, drink her juice-box, and kick her boots against the bumper.

“Not sure where we should go next,” Nico asks as he studies the map Will nabbed when they got there “What else is there to do now that we have pumpkins?”

Jason tilts his head to the side like a confused dog “I thought you said you have been to one of these places before”

“Yeah but that was for like, a zombie outbreak” Nico confesses with a shrug “This is the first time I've gotten to explore without the undead”

“I mean, you could add the undead” Leo teases, Katie perks up excited at the idea.

“No” Jason and Will monotone together, both Leo and Katie huff and complain good naturally and then grin at each other like the little goblins they are.

“We can just wander around” Will supplies, peering at the paper over his husband's shoulder “There's like food stalls and stuff”

“Sound like a plan?” Nico asks Katie, she smiles around the last of her juice box and nods.

They pick their way back across the gravel parking lot to the main buildings. Leo is squinting at the pick-your-own tractor that is currently loading the preschool group as they pass “There's something off with the tractor”

“Leave the tractor alone,” Jason tells him.

“But-”

“Leave the tractor alone,” Nico and Jason say together, Leo sighs deeply and dramatically. 

They get caramel apples at the cute little stand, mostly because Jason has never heard of them and the way Katie’s eyes get big and excited at the colorful display of toppings. Will insists on making sure they are cut (because choking hazards and the feral idiots chewing on the sticks), but that doesn't stop his kid from forgoing her fork to excitedly scarf down her treat and becoming incredibly sticky, it's very cute.

“Do not lick her” Leo warns his fiancee with a threatening plastic fork, clocking something in Jason’s posture and clueing Will in that it's time to clean her up. 

“ But ” Jason starts, looking conflicted “but puppy -”

“Don't lick my kid” Nico reinforces, Jason gives a huff sigh of defeat and pitifully watches Will clean Katie off with a wet-wipe. 

Katie acts like he's trying to waterboard her, squirming and trying to suck the excess charmel off her fingers. The wet-wipes quickly get abandoned so Will can take her over to the hand washing station situated by the port-a-potties. The eight-year-old is fine washing her hands on her own, so Will gets one of the bandannas out of his bag to sneakily wet under the spigot. 

“Ah-ha!” he laughs at his kid as he wipes her down, her face scrunching against being cleaned  “Got you.” She gives him a stink face when he's done and then drys herself off on his sweater sleeve, he guesses that makes them even. 

They wander for a while after that, either letting Katie lead the way or encouraging her game of musical adults that consists of getting passed from one pair of arms to another at her insistence. There are gardens and decoration displays to look at, lots of things to climb and explore, and photo ops at every turn. It feels like someone is always taking a picture, and no one is being sneaky about it, Will even catches his husband setting his lock screen to a photo of Will holding their kid among a huge patch of mums and marigolds and smiling to himself.

Eventually, they make it to the back of the property where the corn maze is. The thing is huge and intricate, the map on the plack showing that it has shapes of stars and moons and a smiling jack-o-lantern in the design.

“Do we wanna race?” Will asks, hand in his pockets.

The normal double date plan when they do something like this is a competition, either splitting up as couples or one pair against the other to see who can get through faster. 

Jason is not a competitive person, not like Will can be, and neither tends to be Nico. At least until Leo Valdez is in the picture, whatever it is about that man brings out this sibling-like competitiveness in Will’s husband. Something about their part goblin part I-have-known-this-person- way -too-long-and-lived-through- way -too-much-of-each-others-bullshit esk relationship just makes them egg each other on in the right circumstance. 

This time they have Katie though, making the teams uneven. 

Leo has that covered “You wanna see if we can beat your dads at the maze” he asks the girl.

And that's pretty awesome, to be called Katie’s dad, Will is still getting used to it. She hasn't called them ‘dad’ yet, at least not out loud (but that's not much of a surprise, she doesn't say much) but she's acknowledged them as such in other ways. Mostly in how she reacts when others call them her dads, pointing or agreeing when they do.

Like now, with Katie nodding and confirming. She does an excited little hop before turning to Will and Nico and sticking out her tongue. 

“Rules?” Jason asks, knowing his fiancee.

“No powers, no inventions, no weapons, no explosions, no flying, no talking to the dead” Will ticks off on his fingers.

“And no talking to birds!” Leo adds.

“I can not control what the birds have to say to me” Jason defends

“To the middle or the end?” Nico breaks in before they get into another spiral of how far passive powers can go before it's cheating. 

“Uuuuuuh”

They all look at the laminated map of the maze stapled to the plack to decide, Katie points at a tower structure towards the center.

“To the tower?” Will asks

Katie smiles and nods yes.

“To the tower it is!”

“Couples or blonds vs brunets” Leo asks the child.

Katie thinks for a second, grins, and then tugs Nico over to Leo.

“Then it's settled!”

Per camp rules, the youngest gets to count down the start of the race. Katie does so with her fingers, the second she gets to zero Leo scoops her up under his arm like a sack of potatoes and sprints off down the tunnel to the right, Nico hot on his heels. Will can hear his kid’s giggle through the dried plants as she’s sped off.

“Oh we're totally losing this aren't we,” Jason asks.

“Yep” Will confirms, and they both set off to the left.

“I gotta ask” Jason starts as they wander through the half-dead corn “How are you three doing?”

“Good, I mean” They take a turn to the right past a quaint little scarecrow, Will putting his hands in his hoodie pockets against the breeze punching through the leaves “You’re probably hearing it all from Nico”

“Yeah but I wanna hear it from you”

“It’s pretty awesome,” Will can’t help but smile remembering the little patter of bare feet inbound for a hug every time he unlocks the door at the end of the day “I wish I was home more, but we knew that was going to be a thing from the beginning. I can’t deny that coming home to a full house doesn’t make my day”

Jason grins at that “She has a way of lighting up the room doesn’t she”

“She really does” Will agrees “and she’s already doing loads better. I’m really proud of how well she’s done today”

“Yeah Leo did good finding this place”

“He totally did. We just want to wait a little longer until we take the next steps, I want her a little more back on her feet before she makes a big decision”

“Hm?”

“We want to ask her if she wants to be adopted,” Will says “It's really her choice, she might still have other family out there”

“But you want to adopt her?”

“Gods yes,” Will says tipping his head back “More than anything, we should have done it from the jump”

“You should have” Jason agrees matter a fact, but he's already bitten Nico’s head off about this “But she's here now”

“She is” Will looks both ways at a fork as Jason sniffs the air, both deciding left at the same time “She always felt so right”

“What are you gonna do if she still has family out there”

“I mean we're looking” because they are, because it matters “Nico has feelers out on the dead end, but it's been no luck so far. She deserves that opportunity”

“And if you find her family?”

“Then we take it from there” Will shrugs. He doesn't want to give Katie up, but everything he's been reading about adoption says that kids do best with their family of origin, or even just keeping bio family in their life. Will and his husband are ready to do whatever they need to do for their kid.

They lose the race, getting to the tower finish line a bit after the other half of their group. Nico is holding Katie in a front carry, looking like an adorable mix of tickled pink and hating life. Leo on the other hand is laughing so hard he's bent at the waist with a hand braised on the wooden structure to keep himself upright as he wracked with mirth.

“What happened?” Will asks

“Katie called me ‘dad’-” Nico starts.

“No!” Leo interjects as he catches his breath “ Chiquita what did you call him?!”

“Papi!” the kid declares, a quiet chirp and so so proud of herself, turning to look at Will in his husband's arms with a big smile.

Nico groans but doesn't correct their kid, pointing his face to the sky in a proud ‘why me?’. Will can't help but melt at the sight.

“Aw,” he coos “is Nico your dad?”

Katie frowns at Will like he's stupid and shakes her head no. “Papi” she insists, quiet but firm. Then the whole world changes as she points to Will next and declares “Dad”

Will points to himself “I'm Dad?” Katie nods yes enthusiastically, he can feel the smile that's splitting his face as he chokes out “I can be Dad”

Katie smiles impossibly wider and reaches for him, and who is Will but to take his kid out of his husband's arms and hug her close.

“Are you crying” Leo bullies

“No” Will sniffles wetly, then sneezes because of the lie. Katie startles at the sneeze, looks at Will like he's gross (fair), and squirms to get put down.

“I think your adoption talk is going to go well,” Jason tells him as his kid toddles off to torment Leo, clapping him on the shoulder. 

Will grins and wipes at his eyes “I think so too”

-

Notes:

How ‘Papi’ actually happened

Nico and Leo are discussing different words that are the same in both Spanish and Italian (Katie is pointing at things to demand their names in both languages)

Leo AuADHD no filter ping pong ass brain Valdez: lol it's so funny that ‘Papi’ is a word for dad in both languages

Katie (pointing at Nico): Papi

Nico: 🥲

I have also settled on what the Katie Stare actually is. She has always been able to see and manipulate things that take the form of ‘fibers’, breaking down make-ups and patterns they hold in her mind (a legacy gift). So technically she pinging into the neuro pathways in the brain and getting what is a basic ‘vibe read’. If you asked her what she was doing she would only be able to describe it as a ‘vibe check’. It's not super strong, Will’s a better lie detector with just his allergies, and she has to focus to use it but it gets the job done. I like the idea that a lot of powers are not always understood on the scientific side because of how demigod culture is under-researched with all the dying and all, but there are technicalities to gifts if people decide to study them.

[boneyspades]

I'm not that well known that this'll be really seen but I've been thinking about this for like A WHILE-

since I'm a musician and I'm doing a music related course in uni and since the SaSi hyper fixation has me in a chokehold it got me thinking...

THE SIDES IF THEY WERE IN A BAND (or were musical artists idk)

use these for Ur band Aus or something idk

also I'm thinking of making a part 2 of like side duos and what types of songs they'd make if they collab'd so lemme know if U want that

Roman

bro would definitely would be on the vocals Ong

he'd probably know many classical instruments like violin or a flute (this is more cus of aesthetic purposes)

he'd be a PAIN to work with in the studio ngl

his way or no way, and if it's not his way he has a tanty

during sound checks or tuning other instruments he'd just riff obnoxiously (everyone would tell him to shut the fuck up)

as a solo artist he'd probably make theater like songs or just some girly pop songs

Sabrina Carpenter is his inspo (used to be Beyonce but uh..... I think we know why that isn't the case anymore)

would probably be a good person to ask for lyrics

would practice his thank you speech for Grammys even if he's not even nominated

Logan

ngl he'd be the one behind the mixing desk

if not he'd probably know piano/keys or bass since he's not the type of to be over the top (no one pays attention to the bass which SUCKS CMON GUYS-)

more fascinated on the production side of music

he's the one setting up the equipment since everyone else is "too stupid" to help (maybe besides virgil but we'll get to him soon)

by the end of a sesh he has a headache cus he has to get Roman and Remus to STOP FUCKING SCREAMING OMFG-

soloing he'd probably make lo-fi chill music to study to or something like Pink Floyd or maybe even some Radiohead songs or Billie Eilish songs

he'd research certain topics for lyrics.

WORD ASSOCIATION GAME AH RAPPING (think One Week by Barenaked Ladies)

Virgil

(ok I'm really excited to do this one since virgil and I r really similar)

bro SLAYYYYYYS the electric guitar and bass but is too nervous to really admit it or really play in front of others

has probably had many panic attacks after messing up alot (which tbh same)

helps Logan with setting up equipment (he's the only one that Logan actually trusts with it)

also knows drums??? (I'm also a drummer and he's literally me let me live my life)

DISTORTION PEDALSSSSS

virgil: "I dunno if I can do this guys like really I'm not that good I should just lea-"

patton probably: "Awh, c'mon Virgil! you got this! it's gonna be ok!

Virgil: "well i-if you say so..."

*proceeds to absolutely shred TF out of the guitar*

knows how to do vocal fry screams (metal screams) and does it alot

Remus and virgil Collab ALOT since they're kinda similar in taste

by himself he'd make emo music or any type of like emo rockish song which honestly I think is a surprise to no one

dream collaborator is Gerard way

many many stickers on his guitar

Patton

honestly doesn't really care what instrument he gets he just wants to have fun

vocals and rhythm guitar most of the time whilst virgil has lead (he's gotta let his bestie have his spotlight)

always brings snacks to the studio even tho Logan always tells him not to (he wants the studio to be nice and neat)

wants to Collab with EVERYONE (besides the obvious bad ones ofc)

if the songs they're making as a band are slow and melancholy in the slightest, the water works will start FLOWINNNG ONG

soloing he'd make kids songs or just songs that r just obnoxiously happy or marketable (or something that sounds like the Beatles)

would also write sad songs when he needs to express his feelings, thanks to virgil for giving him advice

always asking the other sides to Collab and make acoustic covers of songs (especially with Janus, virgil and Roman)

Remus

(again, excited for this one cus he my fav and also were similar)

oh god no.

hed be on drums (twinning:3) but would also know guitar

GOD HELP U IF UR EVER IN A ROOM WITH REMUS AND THERES ANY INSTRUMENT IN SAID ROOM

he is trying to make everyone annoyed by just making the LOUDEST amount of noises (He's slamming his arms on the piano rabidly, he's putting the guitar amps on full and playing all strings as hard as he can, etc)

bro hits the drums H A R D

has probably broken a kick drum a few times(it's a wheel spin on who he has pay for it between Logan, Janus and Patton)

BANNED from using the production equipment for obvious reasons.

messes with the equipment anyways

the BEST at metal vocals (taught Virgil how to do it)

sings songs but replaces the lyrics with inappropriate words

twinning with Roman, when the others r trying to sound check or tune their instruments, he's SCREAMING IN THE MICS LIKE A LUNATIC

soloing, he's either making the type of metal where the vocals r just screaming vocals where no one knows what he's saying (maybe like death metal???), the most cuntiest sex songs like Aisha erotica or just songs that sound like "I staple tapeworms on my penis" (I kid U not this is a real song, here it is for reference↓)

virgil and Remus Collab alot (I said this before but i can't help but think they're besties)

Janus

bro would be the KING of jazz in the mindscape

he'd probably do vocals, saxophone, violin, cello and keys/piano

always comes to the session late. its all about him so everyone else doesn't matter.

if one of the other sides can't make it for some reason, Janus would take their place (tho realistically all of the sides CAN mimic eachother, I feel like Janus does it better than the others since he practices ALOT more)

also messes with the equipment but doesn't go as elaborate as Remus, he just does the simple and subtle things

fights with Roman ALOT about the stupidest of things

kinda an asshole to work with depending on who U r

Logan: "hey, Janus can you just move the mic further away from you please?"

Janus: "of course.." *proceeds to purposely move the mic closer to himself just to fuck with Logan*

soloing, he'd make songs like frank Sinatra or Peggy Lee or something, just very jazzy bluesy type things.

likes to Collab with Patton but won't ever admit it (as you can tell I loved the into the unknown vid)

will ALWAYS supply the wine mostly for him and Logan cus they fucking need it-

and C!Thomas is just the manager if Logan isn't it already

and that's it idk

[carcarrot]

having another one of my job-related crises

[mangled-by-disuse]

I want to add to this as conversations persist, and as someone who is coming at this with a bit of a remove (but has been in similar situations themself at other times)

Be practical.

This is not minimising the fear or the despair or the emotional cost. I understand that not all the problems you face may have practical solutions. But SOME of them will.

So, if you're still not sure how you can possibly go on:

1. Make a list of what you're scared of. Be SPECIFIC. be PERSONAL. what, for YOU PERSONALLY, are you afraid you can't cope with, and what are you afraid it will do? (You don't have to show this to anyone of you don't want to. You don't even have to write it down.)

2. Identify what you need, in order to deal with those potential events. Is it money? Is it community support? Is it shelter, or a place to go if the place you are in becomes unsafe? Again, be specific, and if you can, give figures. What's the least amount of money you would need to feel able to pay for food? What's the least salubrious accommodation you would need to feel like you're not unhoused? Etc.

3. What can you do to move towards getting those things? Remember, you don't have to do this on your own. Maybe (like with the person I just talked to) you can ask someone else to help you research and navigate support. Maybe you can make a call to a union or a charity to ask what they can do, or who you might ask next. Maybe you can just make a plan for the crisis that might happen - "okay, I'll keep a bag under the bed, here's my emergency contact, I'm aiming for this place in general".

4. Write it down if you need to. Research more if you need to. But remember: you cannot change everything, and you don't have to. Find what you need to survive, and find a way to get it. That's enough.

This is not going to fix how you feel, and it won't work for everybody. But for me, as someone who has been suicidal more than a few times (and never really got treatment for it), being able to direct my fear and anxiety in this kind of way, focusing on practical and achievable things, has kept me alive for 31 years of anxiety and depression, and I highly recommend it.

The main reason for despair is overwhelm. Break down your fears into smaller, digestible boxes. Maybe they'll still be terrifying. But at least you'll be doing something about them.

re: suicidality

So I have now had... a couple of people come to me personally in crisis today, and seen a lot of others speak about it publicly. And I just want to say to all of you what I've been trying to say to the people who've spoken to me directly:

You are in shock. You are grieving. You are in a heightened emotional state, and there is nothing wrong with that, but now is not the time to make decisions you can't take back.

My mother was telling me on Sunday, when I was having a much more banal crisis about regretting my move, that when she moved to the North she gave herself six months, and she wasn't allowed to give up on it until then. Not because it would definitely be okay, but because until you've got your footing, until you're no longer reeling from the immediate change, you don't know. You can't see the challenge clearly.

So, please. Give yourself six months. Decide if this is really a world you can't live in.

You haven't closed the door if it turns out that you really, truly can't live like this. You don't have to close the door. Just don't go barrelling through it yet.

[guinevereslancelot]

applied to a bunch of jobs! 😅🙏

[knifekris]

every day i struggle to make choices

[faaun]

ok let's catch up quickly

[encrucijada]

edge of the blade by journey absolutely Serving as inspiration for adam's sound holy shit

[stellewriites]

need to find somewhere illegal to watch the boys newest season once it’s all out

[jorvikzelda]

This may be a good and normal thing but I have absolutely zero regrets about having purchased the laptop last night. Like all day yesterday and even as I was buying I was going oh god should I should I not but now I’m not even having second thoughts about the huge display lmao

[stinkrascal]

Plz tell me how you got diagnosed with autism? I defiantly have symptoms but don’t want to assume ):

i could sit here and tell you to drop thousands of dollars on a formal assessment or hundreds of dollars each on therapy sessions, but i will tell you a secret instead. u are not harming anyone at all by assuming you have autism without having a formal diagnosis. i promise it isnt as big of a deal as you think it is and anyone who tells you otherwise is uneducated