#they were like this one's expired so we can't sell it to you

[dalishthunder]

Committed a social faux pas today and I hate it

[coimbrabertone]

Cautiously Optimistic - Liberty Media Buying MotoGP

So, Liberty Media, owners of Formula One, are officially trying to buy MotoGP. This has been rumored for the last few months, with Dorna Sports - the parent company of MotoGP and World Superbike - had spent the last few years making the kind of moves you'd make before a big sale. The launch of sprint races in MotoGP, appointing a new CCO in the form of Dan Rossomondo, and expanding the calendar with new races in new markets.

Nevertheless, there were always question marks over whether Liberty Media could own both MotoGP and Formula One, because precedent suggested they could not. As Simon Patterson reported for the Race, in 2006, CVC Capital Partners acquired Formula One and thus European regulators ordered them to sell off MotoGP. Thus, MotoGP was sold to another private equity firm, Bridgepoint. Bridgepoint would then acquire World Superbike in 2013, and evidently owning the two premier global motorcycle racing series didn't seem to bother any regulators at that point.

I can't help but combine that with a quote from Dan Rossomondo made at some point while being the Chief Commercial Officer of MotoGP. Rossomondo said, essentially, that MotoGP doesn't just compete with other racing series, it competes with going out for a walk, listening to music, and all the other things you could do on a Sunday instead of sitting down and watching a motorcycle race.

Was that more than just an innocuous quote? Maybe it's a hint of how Dorna and Liberty will make their case to various regulatory bodies to justify this merger.

Whether or not that's true, Liberty Media seems confident that they're going to pass regulatory approval. How exactly that'll happen remains to be seen - some have suggested that World Superbike will be sold off as a sort of sacrificial lamb to allow this to happen - but it now seems like MotoGP and F1 will very likely end up under the same ownership.

So...what does that mean for MotoGP?

Well, it means that the company that turned F1 into this trendy giant of a series is going to give some of that marketing love to MotoGP. That can only be a good thing - MotoGP is fantastic racing and it deserves more attention.

Will MotoGP see a move from historic venues to chase new markets? I would argue that it already has. Dorna has already been chasing emerging markets and a simple look at the calendar will show that - Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, etc, etc. Not only that, but that's arguably a necessary decision for MotoGP because, quite frankly, those are the countries that are buying motorcycles these days. 1000cc sport bikes? Not necessarily, but quite frankly, KTM doesn't even make a 1000cc sport bike, so MotoGP has become more of a showcase of the motorcycle industry rather than a marketing tool for a particular type of motorcycle.

Will this result in MotoGP chasing street circuits like F1 did? Well, Liberty Media has already said no, and as much as the word of giant corporations is worthless in 2024, simple safety concerns make it unfeasible. MotoGP needs a ton of space and big gravel traps to stop the bikes - and more importantly, the riders - in the kind of dramatic crashes that can happen in this sport.

What do I think will happen? Well, in the short term, not much, but come 2026, 2027 when circuit contracts start expiring, I suspect we'll lose a few existing venues - having four races in Spain presents an obvious opportunity for some trimming - and probably gain another race in the US (likely that Flatrock track in Tennessee) and if I had to guess, another one in East Asia, most likely China.

Maybe India will pave the way towards MotoGP reviving old, disused F1 tracks, and we could see the likes of South Korea and Istanbul Park added to the MotoGP calendar. If not MotoGP, then WSBK with a Turkish star in the form of Toprak Razgatlioglu really ought to consider it.

Anyway, the way I see it, the legitimate criticisms that F1 fans have with Liberty Media - being greedy, chasing new venues at the expense of historic ones, pushing the teams hard by constantly expanding the schedule - is all stuff that Dorna has already been doing. Even the complaints about the Drive to Survive drama, Dorna has tried two different DTS clones and neither one moved the needle. If you're going to be doing these things anyway, you might as well do them with the company that has at least been successful with it.

For now though, I have MotoGP coverage through Max and TruTV in the US, commercial free, and that's a dramatic improvement over how I had to watch the series last year. Dan Rossomondo's team has made MotoGP far more accessible and pleasant to watch already, and if that can continue under Liberty Media's ownership, then I hope this series that I've fallen in love with over the last year and a half can grow.

Thus, the overall verdict is...I'm cautiously optimistic.

[slotumn]

Some additional thoughts on a post I made before, on how to make Deer and Leicester eviler™:

On top of profitting off of selling weapons and supplies during the war, Leicester can absolutely use that position to sabotage the other two factions even more. Like, in addition to "make them fight each other to death (and make money off of it)" As in, they can purposefully sell shittier quality weapons and supplies to the other two, while keeping all the better ones for themselves. Adrestia and Faerghus may be able to act finnicky at first because they can produce their own... but what happens as the war goes on for longer and they both keep bleeding money and people and production capabilities? Leicester can literally go "yeah we're gonna sell you shitty weapons and expired food and you're gonna buy it because there are no other options."

Even scummier if at first Leicester does do quality control if only to make sure their products are competitive with the domestically produced Adrestian and Faerghan products, then over the years the quality lowers while the prices get higher. The popular resentment for Leicester in other regions would be through the roof even (especially) if they win lmao

And speaking of resentment, following from the above it would be great if Byleth has to rein in and beat the Leicester nobles' ass to maintain the unity as much as they have to crush anyone trying to revolt under Adrestian/Faerghan banner. There's absolutely no way the greedy Leicester nobles who profiteered off war wouldn't try to divide up and exploit the rest of the continent as their colony once they win, and Byleth would have to fight for their life to stop that from happening, even if (or especially because) Leicester was their ally in the war.

I just generally like the idea of postwar rebuilding in Fódlan being even more difficult and a headache than just winning battles in the war, no matter who wins; everything's not magically better, people are bitter and hateful and that doesn't automatically go away, as a matter of fact the repercussions will probably hang around for the next few generations, and nobody is fully satisfied with anything, but they still have to do it because the other option is eternal kill-or-be-killed animal kingdom shit. Byleth, who grew up a mercenary in those exact conditions even before the war, would definitely be committed to rebuilding.

...Also all this really makes Claude sound like even more of an asshole for just taking off to Almyra right after the war ends huh (he's my fave)

But honestly, Almyra, a neighboring nation that's presumably stronger than the newly united Fódlan militarily and economically, not deciding to invade and take over right after is already a ridiculously nice scenario compared to what tends to happen in real life lol. And if Almyra gives Fódlan economic support and good trade terms to help with the rebuilding, without severe internal meddling in exchange even, Fódlan will have to be Almyra's staunch ally for the next few centuries at least! Plus aside from the direct threat by Almyra being gone, having a bigger stronger country as your ally is a good deterrence for places like Sreng or Brigid invading in a "hit 'em while they're down (so they can't attack us again)" way.

(However I'd fully support a non-recruited Petra attacking Fódlan post-VW to warn them they shouldn't try anything funny to Brigid again lmao. Also I think Petra should try to annex Albinea post-war just to have more shores to launch attacks/counterattacks from + be able to exert more economic pressure on Fódlan as needed since Dominic trades with Albinea. Morality of it aside, it could be a decent political strategy)

That aside, I don't actually see Fódlan-Almyra normalization going something like

Almyra: Sorry about invading and shit

Fódlan: I forgive you it's cool let's start over

or even

Fódlan: Sorry we were extremely uncommunicative and called you guys savages without trying to get to know you, we were prejudiced.

Almyra: Honestly we called you guys savages too and kept invading, we're sorry too. There now it's even, we can start over as friends now!

It probably goes more like

Fódlan: thank you sooooo much for the money and help big bwother almywa :333 we will never try to act like hot shit in front of you or call you bad names again :33333

Almyra: Haha no prob. You're gonna send us lots of troops and money if we ever get in a war too, right?

Fódlan: yes yes anything you say big bwo almywa :3333

Like regardless of how personally friendly and on equal terms the monarchs are, or whether Fódlan manages to get strong enough in the future that it doesn't need to do that towards Almyra anymore, this is probably the angle they'd have to go for when it comes to the politics of it lmao.

First one would probably be seen as humiliating to Almyra (why the fuck are they apologizing when they haven't lost/what makes Fódlan think they're in the high position to be "granting forgiveness"), second one would probably make Almyrans and Fódlanis mad (again, "why are we apologizing, we haven't done anything wrong!"), third one is... like yeah it's probably embarrassing for the Fódlanis but that's diplomacy and international politics when you're a weak country just getting up from the shambles of war.

Tl;dr once again Golden Deer and Leicester deserve to be eviller, postwar rebuilding should bust Byleth's balls (metaphorical or literal), and Petra should get to threaten and intimidate Fódlan juuuust a little.

[solarishashernoseinabook]

Could you expand on what you said in a post about libraries about the big 5 publishers screwing over libraries in terms of digital lending rights?? I’ve not heard of that at *all* and im generally pretty caught up on publisher news, so I think theres a pretty big library-shaped hole in my sources lol

All righty, a couple disclaimers here. One, this is from a Canadian library perspective, so idk how well it applies to the US. Two, I don't work in the collections department at my library, so I'm basing this off what I remember from class years ago

(also clarifying that I'll be referring to ebooks and audiobooks collectively as digital books just to make it easier)

But in short, the Big Five publishers only very reluctantly put up with libraries having physical books, and one of the reasons they do that is because only one person can have a physical book at a time. Digital books, though? Why, if a library has a copy of one of those, hundreds of people could read it at a time! That's profits they're losing! How terrible!

But, well, selling to libraries is still a sale, so the companies sell to them but restrict it as much as possible. One, libraries pay much more for digital books than your average consumer. I don't have the exact number, but it's significantly higher. Two, unlike a physical book, which a library can have rebound if it's popular but hard to find, and which could conceivably last years if it's hardcover or paperback binding, digital books have severe limits on them. Maybe the library can only buy one "copy" of a digital book - i.e., only one patron can use it at a time. That digital copy artificially expires after 20 loans or 2 years, whichever comes first. Got a waitlist of 50 people waiting to read the latest Alexander McCall Smith book? Too bad! 30 of them are gonna have to go without! Do you have a moderately popular book by Danielle Steel, which gets borrowed every couple of months? Sorry! You've had it for two years, so it's gone now! Better buy a new copy!

Now, this is the case on digital platforms like Libby/Overdrive. Each digital book acts the same as a physical book, except that most of them go away after a certain amount of time. Certain public domain books might be a one-time buy for libraries, but for the most part, every loan, every week that goes by is chipping away at a digital book's life. Certain digital platforms - Hoopla, for example - have what's called "simultaneous use" policies - maybe you only have one ebook copy of a book by Agatha Christie, but every library patron can read it at once. The trade-off for this is that my library has to pay a certain amount for every person currently reading or listening to a book on Hoopla. We have a daily budget that can't be exceeded. Every week we field calls from people who, one afternoon, wanted to open up Hoopla, but were told they couldn't take out any books - because too many of my library's 40 000 active patrons had also decided to enjoy a book that day. And not every publisher even allows simultaneous use licenses, or they don't allow it on all of their titles

A final reminder to this very long post: please do not boycott Libby or Hoopla over this, I beg of you. Your libraries are pouring a lot of money into them because they're being used. Instead, put pressure on the big five publishers to make their digital books accessible, and vote in your municipal elections to get libraries more funding so we have more budget to put into those items. An easy way to increase your library's funding is just to spend a bit of time a week in there. Hang out with your friend for a few hours, just walk in and look at the shelves, or sit there and use their free wifi to play games on your phone. Digital books are here to stay, and libraries are important for getting those books into people's hands

[dungeonegg]

Kust wanted to give you all a quick little update about how things have been going. This is gonna be a bit long so I'll do the cut thing here.

A couple weeks ago, my mom asks me if we can afford car payments to go up because she wants to trade in the leased car for a new car. I tell her if it's really what she wants, we'll figure it out. So the dealership orders in a new car for her. Then three days ago, she shows me the back of her phone because she noticed an issue with it.

Not sure if the photo will post but if not, the glass over her camera on the back if somehow perfectly shattered over one of the lenses and a bit in a few other spots too. Major safety issue. She did end up getting glass feom it in her finger at one point. So on top of a new car, new phone needed. So off to the provider we go the next day to get a new phone. During that process, mom decides we're updating mine as well since neither of us have updated in like five years or so. Because it was late when we got there, they couldn't activate or transfer things same day so we get an appointment to come back the next day to do that.

So yesterday was the appointment. I let my coworkers know that hey, need to leave pretty much right when we close to go to this appointment as it's like a 30 minute drive to get there. Around 230 or so my one coworker comes back from lunch with a thing of canned air to clean his station which is right next to mine. He then decides to experiment with it by holding it upside down and spraying coins. Not a big deal. Next thing j know, he's frozen his pen.

Apparently the combined smell of chemically frozen ink and way too much canned air in a sort of small space was too much for me. So I start coughing. Trying to help someone cash their check and I keep having to stop to cough. But get that done and go to the other room to put away cash. Bear in mind, at this stage I've already told coworker he's never allowed canned air again and he's apologized several times. Can't stop coughing. Go to break room to sit for a moment and get something to drink, help with the cough. One of my other coworkers is there and just kinda staring at me like "dude, wtf" so I tell him what happened. He immediately gets worried and tells me to sit and do I want him to kick first coworker, because he will. Give mom a call to let her know what happened. During the call, start trying to clear my throat. By this point, I'm coughing, hacking, and gagging. Apparently I can give the exorcist a run for their money, according to my coworker and it sounds like I'm possessed by the devil. Nearly throw up. Mom tells me to stop outside so I can get some fresh air, which helped a bit so I go back inside to sort money and sell to vault.

Continue coughing. So I go make some tea and send possibly the most British texts (my mother is 1/2 British, 1/2 Irish) I have ever sent in my life: 'making tea. Coworker is never allowed canned air again'. Normally when I make tea, there's milk and sugar in it but since the only milk there is expired by three months, I threw out the milk and just added a TON of honey with the sugar. Not my favorite taste but not bad and it seriously helped so much. My poor coworker who'd brought the canned air kept apologizing. Later, I was telling my boss what happened only to wind up explaining that you're not supposed to shake canned air, which apparently she has done every time she uses it.

Anyway, get out of work, go to phone appointment, that takes about an hour, then off to dealership so we can get the new car. We were there for a couple hours to get paperwork and everything finished up. Luckily there wasn't too much because mom had been earlier and done a bunch of it but car wasn't ready then which is why we had to go back. Have been sporadically coughing the entire time.

Did manage to get a bit of progress on a little drabble thing for Dungeon Egg that I'm using as a way to get a better grasp of some of the characters. Honestly it deals with a bit of a spoiler for one of them so probably won't be releasing it for a while still but I will release it eventually.

I promise, I'm still working on the demo! Not entirely sure when I'll have it up hut hoping to do so within the next couple weeks or so. No promises other than you guys will know as soon as it's available!

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls: Season 1, Episode 17 ("The Breakup Part II")

What happens in this episode: In the previous ep, Dean dumped Rory because he is a barrel of smelly expired coleslaw. Rory eats two giantic beach pails of ice cream over it. Lorelai continues to dole out questionable relationship advice to her daughter. Rory goes with Lane (?!) to a massive Chilton party. Rory takes a can of Parmasean cheese into her bedroom and Lorelai doesn't blink. Rory throws Dean's pointless shit in a box and Lorelai has been throwing pointless Max shit into a box as well. Rory and Diet Logan share an unnecessary kiss. Everyone is boinking everyone except our eternal virgin girl scouts Rory, Lane, and Paris. It's a boinkfest with sprinkle cheese on top. Strap in. 9 episodes to go until a breath of fresh air arrives in Stars Hollow and everything goes to hell in a different way. (talking about Jess).

OK THIS IS NOT CUTE OR HEALTHY LORELAI. ESPECIALLY NOT FOR A TEENAGER. LG: "Have you seen the cover of his notebook? It's one step away from stalker material." NOT CUTE! Lorelai is so stunted when it comes to dating that she is passing this unhealthy shit down to her daughter. Why is Lorelai only tolerable when she's not getting involved in Rory's love life? The scene: Rory throws everything Dean ever looked at or touched including The Quarter on A String bracelet into a box. RG: Dean gave me this sweater. He saw me in it and he liked it. LG: Well, he's got good taste. RG: He said it bought out the blue in my eyes. LG: Then he's gay. Early 2000's tv writing, everyone! LG: In the future you might regret that you don't have those things anymore. They're 16 fucking years old. It's not like they were getting married. Half of what she threw in there were some old books Dean pretended to read. I think she'll live. I need to come up with a headcanon about what Rory put in her Jess Box. Ideas, people. I need ideas. Rory asks Lorelai to burn the box, throw it in a dumpster, get the box out of the house, etc etc. Lorelai agrees but just hides it in a closet under some blankets. If that were Rory's Jess Box, Lorelai would definitely have burned it.

Some guy out there selling nuts on the street at like 7am. I respect the hustle. Thought it was going to be another festival. Guess Taylor ran out of funds to embezzle. For now. Rory doesn't want to go to Luke's because Dean might be working next door at Doose's. Luke is unbothered by their frequent boycotts because the Gilmore Girls never pay him for their food anyway.

Now we can't go past the high school either because if he happens to be off from work he'll be playing football. Are these the same "Friends" Jess "played football with"? I need to see these guys, okay? I don't believe they actually exist. I guess Dean is a jock again. Lorelai is panicking because Rory won't go near Lukes. Just dump her off at the Nut Cart and go there yourself. Cut the cord, Mamma. You'll both live. Does Luke put crack in his Folgers? Is he dealing Lorelai drugs out of the stock room? Mamma is SWEATING. They take a detour through a back alley that I don't remember seeing again and enter Luke's through a back door #ThatsWhatSheSaid

I have to share this amazing accidental screen shot.

Let's place our bets on whether or not Rory is too naive to realize why Rachel is wearing Luke's shirt.

Heh heh. They had sex. Rachel is working at the Diner because why not. Luke hires literally everyone in town at some point except for Rory. Who never held a single job throughout all of high school & college except for swiping meal cards at Yale for one day (she slept through it). The only thing Rory contributed to society was picking up trash during her community service. Anyway where was I...

The boinking was good huh? Tomatos Sign spotting!

Luke has got a real post-boinking smirk going. Luke: I knew that kid Dean was trouble. Does he think he can do better than Rory? Well, Lindsay seemed pretty nice, other than having questionable taste. #JusticeForLindsay

Luke spots Dean trying to come in and he runs outside to kick his fucking ass! LD: "Do you see a smile on this face?" DF:"No, but what's so different about that, you're not exactly the town crackup."

KICK HIS ASS LUKE! KICK IT!

Babette: "I can tell Rory about how you have to go through a lot of bad relationships to get to the good one." Ah yes. The Jack Pearson burnt pancake theory. "I can tell Rory about all the horrible men I've known in my day, really, truly awful men. I was pushed out of a moving car once." #ILoveHer

A paper invitation. How quaint. #Giraffes?

Rory pulls out a can of Kraft Parmesan cheese and retreats to her bedroom with it. Lorelai does not question it. As if this is a regular occurence. I know Rory is going through a breakup but this may be a cry for help. I need answers. You know what else I need answers to? How Lane was allowed to go out to a Chilton party with Rory and leave the house in a spicy red low cut blouse AND she has a midnight curfew?

Oh stick a fork in my eye. What is this? It's either A Max Box or a Christopher Box? That she keeps in the same closet as the Dean Box? That closet needs an exorcism. (it is never directly said, but it is likely a Max Box). Overwhelmed with emotion over her Box Of Max Shit, Lorelai first stops at Sookie's house where Sookie is interfering with Jackson's cooking a romantic meal. Lorelai then makes her way to Max's doorstep without any prior notice and the first words out of her mouth are "Rory and Dean broke up." And then she starts one of her rambles. Max looks reasonably befuddled and then invites her inside. Figured he'd shoot his shot with an emotionally vulnerable Lorelai just like Christopher did a few episodes back. Just like with Christopher, it worked. This is a first and probably a last: Lorelai actually admits she's a hypocrite. She uses the words "I'm a hypocrite." That's refreshing. She is the BIGGEST hypocrite. You know what it means when Lorelai starts rambling to a man? They're gonna have sex. They had sex. Still no answers on how Lane was allowed to go to this Chilton party. Besides being in awe of the size of the house she seems comforable and unfazed at this massive party that should be wayyy out of her element (same for Rory), but maybe that's just my own social anxiety talking.

Here's a Dork Hall of Fame worthy quote from Rory to Paris: "Can you show us the way to the soda?" Such a good little girl scout. Lane, not to be outdone: "All this soda is French!" I never drank in high school or even much after that, so there's nothing wrong with drinking soda whatsoever, but they still sound like absolute fucking dorks and it's kinda cute. Although there are people walking around with red Solo cups, there is curiously no alcohol mentioned or visible at this massive unsupervised teenage rager run by a pair of Bad Girls (the show had no issue with depicting an underage keg party in season 3 but I guess they needed time to build up to that or in season 1 there were censors up the writers' asses or something) In this episode Rachel and Luke boinked, Sookie and Jackson presumably boinked, Lorelai and Max boinked, Madeline and Louise presumably had an orgy with their 30 year old looking hookups with frosted hair, and Tristan has an argument with a girl named Summer who boinked some guy named Austin in a bathroom. Rory, Lane and Paris remained unfucked soda-sippers who bring books to parties. I want to see Rory and Jess tucked away at a table reading together in the strip club.

#StepCousinSoulmates Lane and Henry dancing at the party is one of the cutest moments of the show. Lane has got some moves too. Later, Lane explains to Rory how Henry has all of the qualities her parent (s)?? would love but she doesn't want to date someone her parent(s)?? would actually approve of. I thought this is where we'd hear Lane's panic set in when she realize she'd have to find a lie to tell Mrs Kim. How would she explain to her Mom that she met this perfect boy at an unsupervised high school party at a mansion with a pool table and soda in plastic cups? But no. Still no answers about Lane's presence/escape. Lorelai and Max are making out awkwardly. Max pulls away. MM: We have to get a grip here. LG: I thought that's what we were doing. Lorelai you dirty bird! Diet Logan (Tristan) is attending this party and he's being mopey and annoying. Rory, being the ever sweet and thoughtful soda-sipping girl scout that she (currently) is, decides to talk to him and see what's bugging him.

Tristan (aka Diet Logan): "Think you'll get back together with Dean?" Rory: He was pretty set in his decision. Narrator: Neither Rory nor Dean were "pretty set in their decision". Diet Logan pretends to empathize when Rory tells DL that Dean dumped her and "apologizes" for bullying her. Whatever. Then just like Max did to Lorelai in this episode, DL takes advantage of Rory's vulnerable emotional state to kiss her. DL says "did I bite your lip?" after he kisses her and Rory looks like she's about to cry. All I can think about is the time Rory told Logan he bit her lip after he kissed her. I want to jump in my time machine and tell her to be patient because someone who actually knows how to kiss without mangling her mouth (Jess) is going to arrive soon. The dynamic between Rory and Tristan (and also Paris and Tristan) continues to be utterly confusing. I still don't know what purpose Tristan was meant to serve.

I have never seen such a huge plastic beach pail of Ben and Jerry's like that before in my life. Plus there are two of them and one already appears to be empty. Slow down, kid. Don't waste the good ice cream on Dean. ESPECIALLY not Cherry Garcia. The best flavor. Can we get another shot of this pail? Holy moly. That must be a Costco-sized tub that's meant to feed an entire birthday party.

OMG. We STILL haven't gotten to one of the worst advice speeches Lorelai ever gives Rory (besides the one she just gave about how stalking is so cute). It's already two or three episodes further into the show than I remember it being and still hasn't happened. If you don't know which one I'm talking about you hopefully will soon and this misery can end. The Good: Actually not a lot of Dean in this episode. Luke kicking Dean's ass. Henry and Lane are adorable. Rory and Lane being dorky. Lorelai admits she's a big fucking hypcorite. New Headcanon: The content and fate of the Jess Box. The Bad: Lorelai's usual sketchy advice. Men taking advantage of vulnerable women. The Confusing: No answers are given on how Lane ended up at a Chilton party either without her mother noticing or without revealing what lie she told Mrs. Kim to be allowed to go. Just like Jess, Dean claims to have friends he plays football with when we know he has no friends. A man is selling nuts at 7am. Rory eats two buckets of ice cream by herself and lives to tell the tale. WHAT DID RORY DO WITH THAT PARMESAN CHEESE?

[myfckingnameisnuwanda]

CH.2 Money Doesn’t Fall From the Trees

November 21, day 15.

Hey, mom.

I’m sorry to say we are no closer to finding out how to go back than in my first letter.

It’s been two weeks now, and Sam is getting out of his dissociative state. He now interacts more with Other Mia. I think he wants to make her his girlfriend after her and Sammy’s terrible break up. I know he doesn’t want to hear it, but Jake, Felix and I know it’s not going to work. He also avoids his Other Family like the plague.

Not that I fault him. I don’t think interacting with our Other Families is doing any good to the rest of us. Seeing them makes me miss you all even more. And Felix seems almost obsessed with Oscar. Jake is starting to avoid his Other Parents, too. I think he fears his Other Mother may put a restraining order on him.

I think I also should get away from my Other Family.

I’m trying to be objective here.

They are not my family.

They don’t owe me anything. And they have done plenty enough to help already. We are not their responsibility, and we can’t expect them to take care of all of us much longer.

To be honest, I may never have put myself in their shoes in the first place if it wasn’t because I found Other Nai Nai’s account book yesterday. They are losing a lot of money on us. Feeding us and clothing us. Not even helping them out in the restaurant will help, since they have the regular workers too.

We also can’t keep eating exclusively chinese food every day, I’m going to get sick. I’m grateful, but, also, I very much can't keep eating it anymore. I want mac and cheese so bad.

And that’s without mentioning dumpster food. The last donut Jake ate left him stuck in our bathroom for ours. Or at least I suspect it was the donut. It may have been the carbonara sauce (it was just the sauce, mom. A packet of 250mg of expired carbonara sauce) but Sam also ate that and he was fine. Though, Sam’s stomach could be an object of research for scientists.

What I'm trying to get at is; we should start looking for jobs.

I talked to the boys about this last night. They agreed with me after I explained my reasoning behind it.

Jake says he will look for a job at the convenience store, since he can probably get away with taking all the recently expired food to the cabin. He is out right now, talking with the manager. He should get it, after all, they always have that big job advertisement in the window besides the door.

Felix said he would look in the records store, or the library, but he seemed unconfident about getting the job, for some reason. Maybe he fears he won’t get a job because of his appearance?

I just got to the cabin after visiting Other Nai Nai with the news that we were looking for jobs, and she offered me one, as a waiter or a delivery guy. I rejected her offer, but asked her if she would accept Felix or Sam for the job. She looked at me like she knew exactly why I rejected her, and accepted.

But it can’t be on delivery, because we don’t have any form of transport or licence to use one, and Sam’s stolen skate isn’t something Other Nai Nai accepts to deliver food. Too unsafe, she said.

But, anyways, these days, when I’m not in town or with the boys, I walk down the stream of the river besides the cabin more often than not. And in the past week, I have been meeting this old man that spends his afternoons fishing. He talks about fishes, and rows, and bait, and I listen and nod.

It’s interesting, and I’ve never felt this close to nature. I’m sure you would be against it, but I’m going to ask the man for a job.

He sells bait and fishing rows, and rents boats out to other fishermen. He also owns a dock in the widest part of the river, where he keeps his rentable boats.

He doesn’t sell fish, though. He says that’s for him and his family.

He gave me a fish three days ago, but I have no idea what to do with a fish that’s not even descaled at the very least. I asked the guys if they knew how to prepare it, but it was futile. We had to let the fish go in the river.

I will ask him to teach me, when I ask him for a job tomorrow.

We will be okay, I believe.

I miss you so so much. I love you, mom.

Tired of chinese food,

Andy.

<- Ch.1-Ch.2 In Betweens, Ch.2-Ch.3 In Betweens ->

Summary

[rogue-driv3r]

It's been a while since my last rant about automotive industry, but here we go again.

As a premise, i must say that this will probably be more valid for EU than for the rest of the world. Also expect a LONG post. So.

Hybrids and EVs are surely more efficient and "clean" than the average ICE car. But, as a car enthusiast, i'm very aware that technology end efficiency are expensive, definitely not for everyone. Here where i live we get bonuses for changing old cars with brand new "eco-friendly" ones, but only if they are old enough. Bonuses that, anyway, even in best cases will cover less than a quarter of the price of a new vehicle.

Most importantly, and that's something i learned the hard way, no institution will give you a single cent for the running costs - and they're high running costs. And about (stupidly heavy) EVs, electricity now is so expensive that the cost-per-km is the same of regular gasoline, so no real advantage. I remember when the seller told us that the simplicity of the powertrain meant less service costs, it was quite the opposite. Moreover, we were forced to service the car at their shop, at their prices, because they were the only ones who knew how to work on those components. Oh, and it was the only way to keep the warranty valid on expensive parts, too.

I had a (second hand) hybrid, like my parents. But i went from precarious worker to student and i'm unable to find a proper job while i'm studying due to some issues with my mental health, so my income suddenly dropped to zero. Keeping the car is expensive and in three years, when the warranty expires, the value will decrease drastically (a new battery could cost until 8k euros, nobody would buy a car with that risk). So i planned ahead and sold the hybrid car to get a cheaper one with decent quality and safety, reasonable running costs, free from the blackmail of our official dealer and easily fixable by any mechanic.

The problem: the most reliable and most fuel-saving version of that model on the second-hand car market (and well, basically the only one i found nearby) was a Diesel one. And Diesels are EU's scapegoat for the increasing air pollution, so Countries are forced to make laws to stay within certain limits - that's not bad itself. The problem is that private cars, depending on the sources, are only between 10% and 20% of the total greenhouse gas emissions.

But it's easier to wage war against citizens than corporations who are truly responsible for that 80-90%. And i'm not talking about those wealthy citizens who already got their fancy Tesla, but those who literally can't afford a new car (for any reason). This is a class problem.

There are "old" Diesel cars which still require less fuel than modern, high-end Diesels that satisfy the new requirements for mass production. A 10 years old 1.4 Diesel will always require less fuel and pollute less than a 2-tonne mild-hybrid "environmentally friendly" 3.0 Diesel BMW or Audi. Oh wait, it gets better: ironically an Euro 5 Diesel could be stopped from traffic while a brand new 1500 hp quad-turbo W16 Bugatti Chiron can roam around in the city centre on the very same day. But hey, the Chiron is not an evil Diesel. Once again, this. Is. A. Class. Problem.

Forcing people to go hybrid/electric with restrictions is repression against low-income classes. There could be so much more that can be done if private transport really is the root of all evil. Like a bonus that covers 100% the price of a new car (oh btw, an Euro 5 Diesel is old enough to get stopped on certain conditions, but not old enough to receive a bonus). Or investing in bio/synthetic fuels so people can run their older cars with carbon neutral emissions - but that'd make the poor automakers angry as they couldn't sell their new hypertechnological cars. Or provide new catalysts for free to install on older cars - but also that would make automakers quite angry. Or governments could also consider doing something about intensive farming (y'know, that thing that sends methane into atmosphere which is 84 times worse for global warming than CO2), or better public transport, or heavy industry, or invest in nuclear so we can stop burning fossil fuels for energy (i know this is gonna cause a shitstorm lmao, i believe safely stocking radioactive material under layers of rocks in sterile zones is better than keeping on produce greenhouse gases), or anything that doesn't involve the private life of people already struggling with ever-increasing prices of goods.

"B-but there are exceptions to traffic restrictions" sure, but it's hard to satisfy all of the requirements. One of them is quite easy to get anyway: it's a certificate that you're on the route from home to work or viceversa - you can pollute if you produce. Using an old car for free-time? Nope. Getting groceries? Nope. Sounds dystopic as hell, innit?

Don't get me wrong, technology and research are good, hybrids and EVs are fascinating and surely relatively more efficient. But not affordable by everyone, nor a permanent solution for environmental problems: not only for batteries, but also for the energy required to charge them, and the fossil fuels still needed for hybrids. A lot of research is still needed but, while we wait, we should stop pointing the finger at who can't afford to buy and sustain a new car.

Now, i know what you're thinking: "but you could've got another non-Diesel model and save even more money" maybe you're right, but for me the choice of the car is very personal and important, there are many criteria i have, picking any cheap shitbox is not an option for me if i have a decent budget. Laws can change, safety and reliability don't. There are good cars out there which only problem is bad laws made against them. Cars that can perfectly run and could end up in a junkyard only because of these laws, that's the opposite of sustainability, that's forced consumerism. Plus, it's not only about me, but also and most importantly about the millions of people that get screwed everyday and have no fucking choice.

[valeriele3]

Everything I've compiled into my brain so far (Not properly arranged & I might have missed a lot)

All the other au's are connected and there is a space where you can see the different aus with little decorations/knick knacks that matches the world

CH au has a loop

CB's world is basically a self-aware au gone wrong

Noir flowers bloom from noir hearts of hundreds of faes and is a very potent poison to light faes

Purified noir flowers can grant you a wish and the wish doesn't expire a.k.a if you can't think of a wish at the moment you can use it in the future

Normal people/fae cannot enter the forest. The only exceptions are if you have a pure heart or part of both dark and light fae

If you enter a noir will crystalize and the forest will eat you alive and turn you into fertilizer for the flowers

MC and Wataru are very long longgg distanced cousins

MC only exists rn because of the wish of the old faes and it is said that the core fae is the solution to surviving the "catastrophe"

MC's parents didn't want their child to be used as a tool and want to save MC, MC is then put to sleep in a forest(The forest full of noir flowers) made to protect them until the time comes for MC to wake up. (Aira is the one who woke MC up)

When Aira woke MC up MDD Aira was in control/possessed CH Aira

Even though asleep, MC can somewhat interact with the world. MC is the invisible audience that leaves daises or letters for Wataru a.k.a Wataru's first fan is MC

When MC/the invisible audience suddenly disappeared Wataru decided to search for them and found Aira coming out of the forbidden forest with MC

It was here that Wataru decided to "adopt" MC and made MC his cousin

1st and 2nd core fae had a ability of time and space. MC the third core fae has both

Before Kohaku and MC even met, he had a dream of saving someone from falling. We see this happening when MC got sent to the human world and Kohaku catches MC

Wayyy before MC was sent to the human world to collect crystal hearts MC made a ton of candies/sweets for Aira which caused Aira to ask his online friends if they want it. There was so much in fact that his friends started thinking he was selling drugs from how often he asked

Aira then delivered most the candies to Kohaku since Kohaku likes/loves sweets. Over time Kohaku started falling for this mysterious friend(MC) his friend(Aira) had.

Since this is getting too long and all imma cut it off after a few more numbers

The oracles the old fae got is from a dream

In Distorted Party, we see two guys arrive in certain location, admiring an old city, an ancient place. The two guys are Aira and Kohaku and I'm guessing the old city is where the old fae used to live/stay

We see a line "We still have to enter some old fools dreamy-dream". Old fools = Old fae. And the enter some old fools dreamy dream..Could that mean that they'll enter the old faes dream quite literally? Or they could mean the "oracle" since the old faes got the oracle from a dream

If we were to go back near the start (I think chapter 6?) we'll see a static/glitched out post. There are 3 in total and the one talking is most likely Aira

Aira has different nicknames. Ai-Ai for normal Aira and Air-pyon for MDD Aira since MDD Aira would sometimes astral dream(?) into CH au

In Distorted Party Picture/banner there's an alt text. I'm guessing the "Self destruction Left nothing but pain Wish upon a flower Nothing is gain" Is referring to MC trying/wanting to self destruct to save everyone. "Left nothing but pain" might be referring to MC wanting to self destruct again orrr the result of CB's destruction. CB left nothing but pain in his wake. "Wish upon a flower" is referring to when MC made Aira a flower crown made out of purified noir flowers which allows you to make a wish. "nothing is gain" im not that sure about this one

"Shall we form this distorted party and change what is written" Does that mean that they want to rewrite fate? To change the future that has been set for them?

[nochiquinn]

Hey! I added this to the pinned post already, but the company we buy needles through, Pip, is doing gift cards now! These are what we were getting through Amazon before they stopped letting us ship to our address*, and both Kiddo and David say they prefer them over the Relion needles we usually get otherwise. (They also tend to have the correct gauge in stock, which the pharmacy doesn't always.) Pip also sells stuff like alcohol swabs and lancets, and it'd just be really handy to be able to have stuff delivered again instead of having to rely on being able to get to the pharmacy - not always a given since we're all some level of disabled or can't drive.

If this is something you'd like to do to help us out (and it'd be a big help), the gift cards are sold here. At checkout, for "contact email" use nquinngift AT gmail DOT com, and it'll send the gift card automatically. I already accidentally bought one trying to make sure I knew how it worked, so I can confirm it is basically instantaneous, and they don't expire! As always, thank you for any help you give, it all takes just a little bit of weight off our shoulders. 💙

(* it's just needles, it's all needles, I don't know why, I literally ordered a box of needles one day and when I looked the next day there was a "cannot ship to your address" in the info box. I'd had a regular delivery set up for months at that point. I've even called amazon CS and sat there while we went through every. single. brand. and made sure there wasn't a single one I could have delivered. there's no black mark on my account or a new shipping law in my state or anything, it just. broke. highly frustrating.)

[matsunjun]

Things my manager did that just irked me

Customer looking for emerald cut engagement rings, so I show her some of the ones on our cases. Customer said the size of the diamond is too little, so I said I'll go check if we have any in the back. So I go to the safe, and she comes barging in with eyes wide open and worry in her face, asking "what are we doing?? what's going on??" I look at her and say "...I'm just checking if we have an emerald cut... I wasn't going to take anything out without seeing her ID" I didn't ask for an ID for a reason? There's no point asking her for one if it turned out we didn't have that in the safe. Like man, I've been working in this company longer than you, I know we're not supposed to show safe items without an ID.

I was off and they did a repair with a pending transaction. I didn't know about it bc it wasn't written anywhere on the work order. When I called the customer to pick up the repair, she asked how much it was for the repair--and that was the only way I knew it had a charge on it. So I opened up the transaction and it said $15, so I told the customer it was $15. Next day, the customer comes to pick up and when I was getting the repair, the manager goes up to me and says that the repair wasn't $15. And while I was in the middle of my explanation--that I didn't know, and I only looked it up in the system, she cuts me off with a "Honey, please." And basically shushed me! She then charged the lady $65! The customer was obviously annoyed by the high price for one screwback, so manager asked how much the jeweler charged. I looked at the jeweler's price, and it said $15. So she then said it was $35. Like...dang, she doesn't even know what's going on with the price either, so why was she mad at me for doing my best finding out the price when I was off and with no notes anywhere?

She got annoyed with me for suggesting we give a good customer the carriage that was FREE with the purchase of a Fairytale ring.

She was looking for an expiration date on a "Bday postcard" because she was being stingy about giving away a free gift? A cubic zirconia earring...

She was being difficult with a no strings attached gift card.

I was counting BUY GOLD envelope one morning when we just opened, and she lectured me for leaving the safe open and said it was security purposes to keep it closed. (We just opened, no one was in the store, and it takes me less than a min to count the BUY GOLD) Later on in the day, she leaves the safe wide open as well, and ALSO the little safe open with the chains out in the big safe. (Selling to a customer shouldn't be an excuse she had it open for so long) So hypocritical.

I had a day off on a Tuesday, and I come back on a Wednesday and opened. Then Andreas showed up, so I got confused if Hammy was coming. So I guess she changed her schedule and moved her day off to Wednesday. I informed Andreas that I can't do the package since she's not here. He admitted that he forgot about the Wednesday's package when he suggested Hammy to take her day off on Wednesday instead. That's fine--I emailed home office to inform them that there'd be a delay on the package. She comes back on Thursday saying that "I" should have reminded her about it. And she said "I know you were off, but you should have reminded me about it." NO. That's not right because I was off, and I didn't know she would be off on Wednesday, because the schedule I had she was working--so why did I need to remind her? Additionally, she is the manager, and she has been for many months now--so she should know the routine by now because it is pretty standard. ASIDE form that, she had 2 people working with her that KNEW about it as well. Her beloved Natalie, who she loves just bc she keeps saying she's Mr. Mike's right hand, and Andreas, a future DM. And they were working with her on that Tuesday. How is it all of a sudden that I am the one to blame? It makes no damn sense.

I was doing the supply orders, and she told me to just look around the store to see what we needed. And so I did, and ordered the supplies. The stuff started coming in, and she was pretty pleased about all the things I have ordered for the store--that is, until she saw that I had ordered toilet seat covers. Now, I have ordered seat covers before--when I worked at Santa Ana, and being a germaphobe, and working with a bunch of dudes, I felt we should have one. She asked me why I ordered it, and it was just a "waste" of money. I feel like that's objective, because I think it's something we can all use. Plus, why does it matter to her, when it's not coming out of her pocket. She said Natalie had already thrown out the previous one. Well, then that's their problem, I can definitely use that.

A customer had called in the morning saying that she plans on financing for a pre-owned Rolex for her husband's birthday. So I wrote it on a post-it note, with an attention to the salesperson and the manager. I wrote down the name, and what she's buying and for whom. I even informed the manager about it. So the customer finally came, so me and the salesperson went to show her the Rolex book, just to show her what we have. At this point, the manager had busied herself with rearranging the window (again)--she rearranges things so frequently--but it's fine because we didn't need her at the moment. We were just introducing the book, and she was definitely going to finance. So she wanted to see the sizes of the face, so I had asked for an ID. That was all. Then manager inserted herself, and told me to do the app, and told the salesperson that she will take care of it from here. Later on, when that customer had left, she approached me and the salesperson and said we are not to show any Rolex without her, or any big deals without her involved. And if she's not around, we just don't show any Rolex. We haven't even showed a thing so I don't know what she was griping about. She said she felt like we were pushing her aside?? I told her that was untrue, bc I informed her about this customer, and even the post-it had her name on it. She said that was beside the point. I told her she was busy with her merchandise, and she said I was making excuses. I'm sorry, but how does this all benefit me? How would shunning you from a Rolex sale benefit me at all? Later on, the salesperson also told me that moment made him really angry that he was clenching his jaw.

Today, a Thursday, I had asked her if I can leave early this coming Sunday. At first she said ok, but then she went to the schedules and calls me. She said, "I'm already having you leave early this Fri and Sat (she's pointing at a shift that says 11am - 8 pm WHICH IS NOT LEAVING EARLY BTW AS THAT IS A FULL 8HR SHIFT), then I told her, you're looking at the wrong person's schedule. Then she exclaims an "OH!" and sees that my schedule for that Fri was 10:30am-9pm and 11am-9pm on Sat. I then told her that I was just planning on leaving early on Sunday AFTER gates close. And that I was planning on going to Cerritos because that's my brother's bday celebration and they wanted to go to a dinner that closes at 9pm. She then gave me the OK.

[long-hot-stories]

The Peddler & the Fairy: Part 3

The trio's idle hours are interrupted by an unexpected guest.In 10 parts, by Scholarly Mori. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.

During the trek back to camp, Reina lagged behind. She felt a little awkward with her new family, but she was also giddy.

'I can't believe I finally found a herd-mate!' she thought. 'He's not what I imagined he'd be; he's not even the same species, but he didn't mind my oddities or disfigurement, and he; he actually kissed them!' She put her hands to her face, blushing at the memory.

'Speaking of kisses, Azalea kissed me, as well, and on the lips no less. What did that mean? Did it mean anything? Is that normal? What is considered normal for humans and fairies? I guess I can only try to play it by ear and see how things develop.'

Arriving at Devin's camp, she assessed her new home. "Your camp looks clean and well organized. I would expect no less from my herd-mate."

"Thanks! I try to keep it that way. Food scraps tend to attract wild animals, and I like knowing where everything is."

Reina looked toward the wagons. The largest barrels had round stone plates on top and bottom, lashed together with rope. Ice clung to the sides and rim of the barrels.

"You mentioned you were a merchant. What do you sell?" Reina asked.

"Before I answer that, how much do you two know about human society?"

"I have not had many interactions with humans. When I was very young, my parents took me with them to the human capital, but all I remember is a lot of people and tall buildings." She shrugged.

"The Northern kingdom is an alliance of demi-human tribes and the old kingdom of Lindone. There are three major human cities: Thawdenn, Iceford, and Merport, with a smattering of smaller towns and homesteads across the region. Because of the poor growing environment, milk is an important staple, especially during the winter months. Because there are very few holstaurs this far north, compared to the Middle Kingdom, sheep-girl and satyr milk have become the primary alternative -- mainly because they endure cold better, and sheep girls have the added benefit of producing wool," Devin explained as he started to break camp.

"So you're a milk merchant?" inquired Reina.

"Mostly. I buy milk wholesale from Thawdenn and resell it in Iceford or one of the smaller settlements, charging a slightly higher price, plus a delivery and handling fee. I sometimes also barter for other demi-human commodities: lamia venom, sheep-girl wool, spools of arachne silk, pollen from alraune, the occasional order of milt, and caviar from Merport, plus a few other things."

"That sounds like a lucrative enterprise."

"It's a modest living. Everyone needs something to be moved from one place to another, so I figured the prospects with that as a profession would be stable."

"Are these stone plates responsible for this?" Reina asked while tapping the ice on one of the barrels.

"Yes. Those specific ones are called chill runes. Think of them as a pre-cast spell. Runes are flexible and convenient for non-affinity users. They can be applied to many different materials for a variety of effects, but they have many limitations, too, mainly duration and availability. I'm not sure exactly how they are made, but I think they take blood as a fuel source."

"Impressive you have multiples of these."

"Enough for each milk barrel, but they'll expire soon, so I hope you don't mind the hasty departure, but it's almost noon, and we have quite a bit of distance to cover. We'll be heading out as soon as we are packed," Devin announced.

When the wagon was fully loaded, and Devin was hitching up the bay, Reina put a hand on his arm. "May I be allowed to pull the wagon?"

"You can, but why?" he challenged with a stunned expression.

Reina patted the old bay. "I can't, in good conscience, let this elderly horse do all the work alone. I would like to assist her."

"That's fine with me, but I don't have a spare harness. I'll have to rig something, and it probably won't be comfortable."

"I am not concerned about a little discomfort." A warm smile broke out on her face.

Reina positioned herself next to the bay as Devin tied some spare rope into an assortment of loops. Then he placed them around Reina's lower torso and behind her front legs.

"How is it? Not too tight?" Devin checked.

"It's a little rough, but it will suffice."

Devin climbed into the driver's seat, and Azalea took up her favorite perch on his shoulder. He gave the reins a test pull. "Can you feel that?"

Reina felt a little tug on her left side, then the other. "Yes."

"Let me know if you become too tired," he offered.

With a flick of the reins, the wagon jerked forward. Reina watched the bay, timing their movements together. Progress was slow at first, but Reina soon settled into a complementary gait.

As they neared the treeline, Devin pulled the wagon to a halt. "How are you feeling, Reina?"

"This is quite invigorating," she panted, "although this area is getting a bit sore." She rubbed where the rope was chafing her skin.

Devin thought for a moment, then rummaged around the wagon bed.

"This might help." He placed some burlap fabric between her skin and the rope. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

Devin stood on the wagon and poked his head above the trees, checking the highway for signs of people. Seeing none, he climbed back into his seat, and the trio made their way down to the road.

"What a magnificent example of human ingenuity," Reina commented.

"Half right. The king's highway is the cooperation between humans and demi-humans."

"I remember my mother mentioning it when I asked her about human culture once," reminisced Azalea.

"It was the answer to the problem of particularly harsh winters that would strand many tribes and stymy trade. Though, I think it's mostly taken for granted now," Devin mused.

When she was guided to the edge of the road, Reina had to maneuver a bit to clear the lip of the embankment. Its construction was mostly crushed rock overlaid with packed earth, slightly higher than the surrounding environment. She stopped a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "It has been quite a while since I've exerted myself this much. I don't know how this poor creature managed it for so long." She patted the bay's head. "So we are headed to Iceford, herd-mate?"

"Yes, but we'll make a detour to my friend's homestead," Devin answered.

"I have never been to this part of the region. Excuse me for a moment." She pulled up the blanket covering her backside, squatted, and urinated.

Devin cocked an eyebrow. "Do you have a pee fetish or something?"

Reina hid a smile behind her hand, "For many demi-humans, urine contains a great deal of information about an individual, but to answer your question, no, I do not. The fact you've seen me urinate so much is purely coincidental. In this specific instance, though, there is a custom among Whitehorns called poronkusema. When we start a new migration into a region we are unfamiliar with, we measure the distance based on how often we need to empty our bladder."

"That's one way to do it, I guess."

"Maybe I should have done the same thing when I flew here from my village," Azalea quipped.

--

The sun was slowly warming the crisp morning air as the trio set off west. Usually, Devin passed the dull kilometers daydreaming of a more exciting life, but now that he had it, he was glad for the long hours. He needed time to plan and think about certain changes he'd have to make in the future.

"Reina."

Looking over her shoulder, "Yes, herd-mate?"

"Is this something you want to do full time, or until I find a new horse?"

"If your cargo doesn't get much heavier, I am confident I can fulfill this role."

"I don't usually fill it beyond this amount. I'm assuming you are equally confident in snow?"

"Yes, more so, even."

'That would lessen my concerns quite a bit. Horses are expensive, and Gylan might not even have a spare to let me borrow or sell.' He thought.

For his bay's sake, he never did much winter trading when the snows became deep. This might be an opportunity if Reina was offering and proficient at winter travel. He had to consult with a wainwright about getting a proper harness for her.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Reina would stop roughly every seven kilometers and urinate. Azalea passed the time humming or sketching the landscape, but she eventually grew bored and pulled out a separate sketch pad bound with a thick cord.

"Hey, Reina!"

Reina's ear swiveled backward at the sound of her name.

"Can I sketch your ass?" Azalea requested matter-of-factly.

"You want to sketch my what, ?!"

"Your ass! It's very cute, and I want to preserve it for, posterior-ty!" Azalea grinned at Devin.

"Haven't you seen enough of her ass?" Devin solicited.

"Can you ever have too much of something that's nice to look at?" challenged Azalea.

"It beats staring at trees the whole time," Devin relented. "If it makes Azalea stop making bad puns, then please say yes, Reina."

'Why am I so embarrassed whenever I interact with Azalea,' Reina thought. Aside from the threesome they had this morning, when her embarrassment was superseded by her horniess, she always felt a bit flustered around her.

Blushing, Reina pulled the blanket up, giving the two an eyeful of her shapely rump. They didn't say anything, but she could feel their eyes wandering over her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Azalea start to sketch.

"You have a graceful walk, Reina," Devin extended.

"Th, thank you, herd-mate."

Each footfall was firm and sure as her legs and haunch muscles tensed and rippled with the strain of each step. She shook her head just as a breath of wind caused the filigree in her antlers to catch the light, scattering the sun across the silky hair fluttering behind her. It definitely enhanced her assumed queenly persona.

"I'm done!" Azalea announced two hours later.

She handed Devin her sketch pad. He held it up, comparing it to the real thing. Azalea's giftedness was quite evident. Devin was impressed by the way Azalea used shadow to imply the location of her muscles and provide depth to the finer details of her more intimate bits, especially the grooved lines of her anus and slight creases of her labia. The attention she applied to Reina's fur stood out the most, creating the illusion of movement and softness and making the image seem more real than it should.

"Subject matter aside, you're an amazing artist," he commended.

"One of the few things I'm great at," She said smugly. "That sketchbook contains a collection of all my most memorable and favorite drawings. Flip to the beginning and see!"

Devin turned to the first page, and it made more sense why Azalea chose Reina as her theme.

"Azalea, your collection is extensively detailed drawings of demi-human genitalia?" he asked, incredulous.

"Uh-huh! Well, not all of them, but they are all people I've met, or care about. Aren't they amazing?! Look at all the different shapes and sizes! Isn't this one cute? Can you believe how big that one is? Isn't the shape of this one fascinating?!"

Devin shook his head. The sketches weren't sexual in nature. They were so academic that they just needed labels for it to be some kind of indecent demi-human field guide. "Not sure I want to ask if you peeped on all these people naked so you could draw them."

"Of course not! That would be rude and creepy. I casually go up to them and ask. It's not my fault if they think I'm a Leannin Sidhe."

"A what?"

"They are cousins to us fairies, but eccentric and obsessed with art, drawing, composing music, singing, stuff like that."

"So you don't clarify that you're a fairy."

"Well; not exactly, but it's fine. They were all happy to pose for me."

Halfway through the sketches, the theme changed. Devin had to ask, "Is this your village?"

"Yes. It's very boring, but quaint enough to live in, I suppose."

Very much in tune with the natural surroundings, her village did look cozy. There were tiny doors and windows in trees, fallen logs, and the sides of hills. Its fairy inhabitants looked similar to Azalea, with a wide array of brightly-colored clothing. The scenes looked like what you'd find at any human town: fairies perusing market stalls, some singing to small audiences, all of them going about their daily lives.

The last two pages were a panorama.

"Oh, that's my classmates after we graduated. They wanted to relax after all our studying, so they went to the communal baths to unwind."

"They didn't invite you?" Devin inquired.

"No, but I went anyway. It's normally used by the whole village, but it was early enough in the day so we were the only ones there."

Azalea pointed to a spot in the upper left corner. "The bath is fed by a large creek diverted into two channels. The first feeds five waterfalls where we wash before going into the main area."

Azalea pondered over the picture a moment. "This is Lilac under the first falls, she has a well-rounded knowledge of many topics, especially anatomy. Unlike me, she has no problem remembering all those unnecessarily long names. Next to her is Magnolia, she's soft-spoken and very clumsy, in a cute way".

"Any examples?"

Azalea put her hand to her chin. "We once went foraging in the forest. She tripped over a root. Luckily, I was behind her, so I had a front-row seat, and it was my first time seeing under her dress. She has a beauty mark on her left cheek. Also, I'm sure she has the biggest clit out of all the girls."

"You would notice things like that," Devin commented and laughed.

She circled her fingers and looked through them at him. "As an artist, I have a quick and discerning eye for detail, life-mate."

"Indeed," Devin said amused.

"Where was I? Oh yes, this lovey-dovey couple is Camellia and Reed. They've been together for years. They go everywhere and do everything together. She says her long, golden hair is high maintenance, so she has Reed help wash it, but I think it's just an excuse to feel his penis between her thighs."

"I can relate! I appreciate a certain fairy's thighs wrapped around mine."

"You did?! I'm glad, life-mate!" She pounced on him, hugging his neck. They shared a kiss before going back to the picture.

"The second channel feeds the main bath. I think it can fit twenty-five fairies comfortably, maybe a few more if they sit on these mossy rocks surrounding the edge.

"Life-mate, here's a fun little secret. This moss feels really good on a bare cunt. Imagine soft, bunny-girl fur between your legs. This one especially makes it easy for a little stealth masturbation." She leered at an unassuming rock protuberance.

"Easy to hide wet spots in the bath," Devin speculated.

"That was my exact thinking, too! Too bad it's not a hot bath, or else it'd be easier to hide a flushed face as well." She giggled.

"Let's see, who else? Oh, this is Chrysanthemum. She's quite athletic. It's fun to watch her boobs bounce around when she exercises. She doesn't talk much, though. When she's bathing, she just eats the fruits hanging from these vines and people-watches. Unlike these two," Azalea said and tapped the page, "Myrtle and Hazel, they love to gossip, mostly about Hyacinth. They don't do it maliciously, though.

"Speaking of which, this is Hyacinth." Devin followed her finger to a fairy with tied-up blonde hair and a pair of alluring emerald eyes. "She's the class tease, always flirting with the boys. She's giving poor Sorrell a handjob while he watches Lily grope Marigold. I say poor because she has a bit of a mean streak. She never brings them to climax, always leaving them with blue balls. I overheard some of the boys say her hands feel amazing, so maybe it's worth the discomfort. Now that I think about it, they do get them more often in the bath. Maybe it takes more work to get them hard in cold water?"

"And this is Lily and Marigold?" Devin asked.

"Yep, Lily has the flattest chest in the class. She enjoyed groping all the big girls, especially Marigold, who's the largest aside from me."

"She never groped you?"

"She did. Got my nipples hard on quite a few occasions, but when my little nymphomania secret got out, she stopped."

"So, let me get this straight. You went to the baths with your classmates even though they essentially ostracized you for having a high sex drive?"

Azalea twiddled her thumbs. "Even if I can't get close to people and they don't talk to me, I still like to be around them."

Devin scooped up Azalea and cuddled with her for a moment. "I hope our time together makes up that."

Azalea nuzzled him back. "It already has, life-mate! I've been happier than I've been in a long time! It hasn't even been two days, and already I've had so much fun with you. and now that Reina's here, it's been double the fun!"

Reina smiled. "I too am looking forward to our future together, Azalea."

Devin set Azalea down. "So, fairies aren't normally as horny as you?"

"Faires, no; pretty conservative, the bath thing was just them goofing around. Our Leannin Sídhe cousins, on the other hand, are much more so. They express their sexuality through art, so they can get away with the 'its art' excuse. Pixies, though, the little addicts, sex to them is basically saying hello. The one time I went to one of their villages looking for a life-mate, four of them were going at it in the town square while casually discussing what to eat later. No one batted an eye. They'll do anything whenever, wherever."

"And that didn't appeal to you?"

"It was tempting, but Pixies just love the pleasure. For me, sex is fascinating to study and learn about; the pleasure is just a bonus. Also, they never leave their villages, that sounds boring to me."

Devin nodded his understanding and flipped to the next page.

"Oh, that one is my mom and her husband when they moved to the orc village!"

A fairy with a face resembling Azalea, except a bit older with a smaller bust and short wavy hair, was standing on the open palm of a large, well-dressed orc.

"You keep saying husband. Is he not your father?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, he isn't."

"Oh. I thought it odd you didn't call him dad. Wait, didn't you say fairies can only have offspring with other species?"

"Huh? I don't think so? Maybe I didn't explain it well enough. Fairies can mate with other fairies, demi-humans, or humans, but offspring will always be fairies. Anyway, mom remarried and that picture was when she made her public announcement of marriage."

The way Azalea hurried away from the topic of her biological father, Devin surmised she didn't want to talk about him.

"The adjacent picture is the day after their marriage."

Azalea's mom was in the bath, sitting on her husband's erect penis. "He's a bit of a shy sort when it comes to nudity around anyone but mom, but she managed to persuade him, saying she wanted to make sure they were both clean before drawing the lovecrest.

"This was the first time we had all bathed together. I was sitting across from them. Mom was scrubbing his penis a little too vigorously and ended up making him cum all over me. He was mortified, but mom and I had a good laugh while reassuring him it was alright."

'I see where her lewd side came from.' Devin thought.

"So, your mom has a lovecrest too?"

"She does, she is the one who taught me, but her's, has some unique additions." Azalea trailed off. "Anyway, she was able to take him first try, no problem. That's why I thought maybe you'd fit in me."

"Well, your mom is, well, a mom. She had you, so that was bound to stretch her out a bit."

Azalea sighed. "I hope so."

The second-to-last page had a full-page image of a penis.

'This one looks oddly familiar,' he thought.

"Azalea."

"Yes, life-mate?"

"Is this my penis?"

"Isn't it lovely! I loved snuggling up to it this morning."

"Is that going to happen every morning?

"Of course. Who doesn't like breakfast in bed?" she snickered.

Devin handed her sketchbook back.

"So, what'd you think of my collection?" she buzzed.

"It's, um, a very unique way to express your interests."

"I can't wait to fill up more pages during our adventures!" she beamed. "I'm gonna go show Reina."

She had just landed on Reina's shoulder when a large shadow passed overhead, drawing everyone's attention. Devin instinctively pulled the wagon to a stop.

Azalea and Reina both looked back, eyes wide, as two large and glossy black wings enveloped Devin.

"Hello, little brother," said a tenderly sensuous voice, "I have returned for my bi-weekly sibling bonding time!"

"You know you don't have to, Mavis," Devin replied, nonplussed.

"Don't be so cold. Is that any way to treat your big sister who hasn't seen you in such a long time?!" She hugged him tighter, resting her chest on top of his head.

"It's only been two days."

"Two days is an eternity when I spend all my time alone, flying across the broad swath of empty wilderness." She sniffled melodramatically.

Devin brushed some of the feathers aside and looked up into the smiling ruby eyes of a slim woman in her mid-thirties.

"Won't you give your lonely sister a kiss?"

Devin lightly kissed one of her feathers.

"Now, now! That won't do! Give your big sister a proper kiss."

As Devin sighed, she shook a few strands of black hair from her face and bent down, pressing her soft lips into his in a not-quite-sensual, but definitely more than familial, kiss. She probed his lips questioningly with her tongue, but he kept them firmly closed.

Mavis looked disappointed. "You normally love our little make-out sessions."

"M'not today," he muttered.

"Is it because you're embarrassed to show how close we are to your friends? Oh well, I guess I can settle for this to stave off my loneliness for a while, but next time it will be full tongue!" she cooed.

Azalea, getting over her initial surprise, fluttered up to the harpy calling herself Devin's sister.

"Oh, hello, are you a friend of my brother's? Would you like a kiss too?" she proposed alluringly.

"He's my life-mate, and I have a hard time believing you're his sister, given the obvious differences."

"You don't believe me? Can't you see the family resemblance?" She rested her head on Devin's shoulder so Azalea could compare.

"See? Perfect family resemblance!" she chuckled.

Azalea folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

"She's technically right, Azalea," assured Devin, "though it's more accurate to say I'm her adopted brother. We were childhood friends growing up. I was eighteen when my parents passed away, so Mavis' family took me in."

Mavis mussed his hair. "And that's why he has my family's last name. We are just as close as any biological siblings."

Azalea mulled over this explanation a moment. "If you're life-mate's sister, then; then that makes you my sister too?!"

"I'm not sure that's how it wor―" Devin tried to say.

Azalea exploded in excitement. "I've never had a sibling! What do sisters normally do together?! Try on each other's clothes?! Bake sweets?! Pick flowers?! I could make you a pretty―!"

Devin plucked her out of the air, muffling her in his hand.

"You found a sweet girl, Devin! I like her -- very spunky. She's just what you need to experience the more exciting parts of life," Mavis said.

"Actually, she found me."

"Is that so?" Mavis stole Azalea out of Devin's hand and pulled her close. "You want to hear some interesting stories about him?"

"Most definitely!" She nodded enthusiastically.

"He peeked at me several times in the bath."

"She complained she couldn't wash her back properly," Devin interjected. "That was the first night I moved in and before I became aware of your hobby of teasing me. I got in trouble with your father for that."

"You say trouble. I call it life experience."

"He was such a naughty brother, Azalea -- always trying to glance under my tail feathers."

"You mean you enjoyed giving me a hard time by wearing next to nothing when lounging around the house," he clarified.

"I think you mean hard-on," she teased. "Clothes are such a bother, anyway, when you don't leave the house."

Turning her attention back to Azalea, "That wasn't the most daring thing he did, Azalea. He was even brazen enough to sneak into my bed once and spoon me."

"She snuck into MY bed, in MY room, and rubbed her ass against me."

"You liked it, and I could tell you wanted to cum."

"Did not."

"Well, technically, yes, I couldn't tell since you had a lot of pre-cum and a very wet dream."

Azalea patted them both on the head between laughs. "You two are so cute together, and he does produce a lot of pre-cum. I'll have to try giving him a wet dream sometime, too." Azalea giggled.

"Oh, so you know! He was so mean to me that night, Azalea. Imagine it: it's late at night, and you get those tingles, that deep itch that can only be scratched by someone with fingers, but he's fast asleep! So what am I to do but try to scratch it myself with the nearest long, hard object, but the angles are all wrong to get it inside, so all I end up doing is making him get my tail feathers all sticky. Then, when he wakes up, instead of helping me, he leaves the room embarrassed!" she mock-cried.

Azalea put her hands on her hips. "Life-mate, shame on you, it's written in the younger brother handbook that he has the responsibility to take care of the sexual needs of his older sister."

"First, I wasn't expecting her to be in my bed rubbing up against my morning wood. Second, I wasn't ready to fertilize her eggs, and third, I'm positive and glad no such book exists," he claimed with exasperation.

"He can be quite the stick-in-the-mud, can't he, Azalea? I tried many times to wash his penis, to search out his favorite spots, but he always found an excuse to avoid me."

"You want me to tell you where they are?" Azalea whispered conspiratorially.

"I can hear you when you're right next to me, you know. If you two are quite done teasing me, I would like to know if you have any messages."

Reina sighed. "Always business first. Yes, I do, but first, look!" She spread her wings and did a little spin in the back of the wagon. "Brand new uniforms! Doesn't this purple and yellow beret look professional?" She adjusted it smartly. "It even has our emblem of a talon clutching a scroll embroidered on it, and isn't this black leather jerkin with alternating purple and yellow trim fashionable? I still need help to put it on and take off, but it's a lot quicker now since they moved the brass buckles to the sides.

"The only thing I dislike are these tight, form-fitting breeches. The short belted skirt over it is cute, but how am I supposed to show off my trim ass if it's being covered?"

"I'm sure your ass wasn't even a consideration for your boss."

"Sadly, you're right, even though I'm his fastest harpy at Wing and Claw Delivery. Speaking of asses, I thought I eyed you covering yours just before I landed, Miss Quiet Whitehorn."

Reina had been silently listening and not in any particular hurry to enter the conversation. "A lady would never do such a thing in public," She deflected.

"Is that so? I have a pretty good eye, especially for asses, and I'm positive I saw yours for a brief moment."

"I asked to se―" Devin muffled Azalea with his hand again.

"How about I introduce you two," Devin cut in. "Mavis, this is Reina D Virtsa. She's traveling with Azalea and I. Reina, as you've already heard, this is my older sister, Mavis Ebonplume."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ebonplume."

"Likewise, Miss Virtsa."

"Returning to business matters, I have a client who has a big commission they want you, specifically, to fulfill; if you're up to it," Mavis announced.

"Oh? Who, and what's the commodity?" Devin queried.

"For now, they would like to remain anonymous but will have the written request completed in a few days. If you could stop by the office, I'll be able to give it to you then."

"Alright, I'll be making a detour at Gylan's farm, so it'll be about two or three days."

"That's fine. It's not an urgent or time-sensitive request. Anyway, I've used up all my break time and need to be off to deliver the rest of these." She shook the large satchels hanging under her wings. "Love you! I'll see you in a few days!"

Mavis spread her wings, did a test flap, and then took flight heading east.

"Your sister is fun to be around, life-mate! I can't wait to see her again!"

"I'm glad you two got along, even if it was at my expense."

--

Managing a few more kilometers before sunset, the trio found a decent place to camp for the night. Devin served up a meal of baked potatoes and wild chives that Reina found. Azalea was the first to finish eating, falling asleep soon after leaving Reina and Devin alone with the fire.

"Are you feeling sore, Reina?" Devin broke the silence.

"It was a bit more exertion than I anticipated, but I will grow accustomed to it."

Again, the two sat in silence for some time around the crackling fire, listening to the crickets' nightly song.

"Your sister really cares for you, herd-mate."

"She does. She's always been highly independent and proactive at doing whatever she puts her mind to, but she was never too busy to check up on me. She keeps trying to get me to quit being a merchant and come live with her, but I don't know how she could afford me not working. She can't make that much at her job. She keeps telling me she has an alternative income but never elaborates where from."

"Even still, you never considered her offer?"

"I like being a merchant and love traveling. Besides, if I had, I never would've met you or Azalea."

Reina tried to hide a smile. "That's true."

Devin got up and joined Reina on her side of the fire.

"Wha; what are you doing, herd-mate?"

"Just wanting to hold your hand."

"Of course, but I've just never done it in an intimate way before, is this part of human courtship? I don't know anything about how humans bond. It hasn't even been a day since we met and things have all happened so fast. I'm sorry if ―."

Devin suddenly kissed her lips. She stiffened in surprise, then felt her worry melt away as their lips lingered together. Settling back he squeezed her hand. "There isn't really any 'right way', go at our own pace," he assured her.

"How do Whitehorns conduct their courtship?"

Reina pondered a moment. "When Whitehorns come of age, both females and males leave their family to join other herds. Most males join together in 'bachelor bands.' During mating season, they will sparr with one another to demonstrate their physical and charismatic prowess to claim the right to be the first to ask potential females. Candidates are chosen based on pedigree, personality, looks, fertility, etc. The female can then either decline or accept to create their own separate herd as a pair or a group.

"The male will choose a primary female. Together, they will co-manage duties between themselves: when and where to migrate, who to trade with, and diplomatic-related duties with other herds or other demi-human tribes. The male will eventually mate with all the females of the herd, but the primary female chooses when and sometimes with who. She does that to maintain the resources balance within the herd. Offspring are raised communally, allowing females without offspring to work with mothers to gain experience and allow other mothers a chance to rest."

Devin leaned his head on Reina's side. "Do you miss your family?"

"I am unsure of my feelings about them right now. My family was never very openly affectionate, and my father was rather stern most of the time. Being the oldest child, they probably had expectations of me, but they never verbalized them or hinted at their wishes. They were probably disappointed that I'm thirty and never found a herd-mate."

"Till now."

She smiled. "Yes, until now, but I am uncertain how they would view our; unique relationship. I've never heard of another of my kind in a similar situation."

"Relationships like ours seem to be rare. In my travels, I've seen only a handful of similar partners. When we first met, you said you were on your way to catch up with your herd?"

"I did. This time of year is our bi-annual migration to our winter home. I had many things dwelling on my mind, so I decided to travel alone for a while so I could think about things," Reina mused.

"And, " he prodded.

"And?"

"How did the bramble come into play?" he asked.

Reina looked down. "It was a rash decision, and my stress was quite high; and I needed some relief."

"Will they miss you when you don't turn up?" Devin pushed further.

"I don't know. I've been left to my own devices for many years now. I doubt they would miss me."

"I'd like to think, on some level, most parents want to at least know if their children are safe," Devin stated with sympathy. "If you want, you can write a letter and have Mavis deliver it. Might give you some closure."

"I'll think about it."

Reina started to feel warm near the fires, so she removed her coat. She still felt a little vulnerable removing her outerwear. Out of habit, she moved to cover her scars but saw Devin watching her and folded her hands instead.

"Do they really not bother you?" she asked quietly.

Reina tensed as Devin made a move to touch them, but with a mischievous smile, he started tickling her. Surprised, she attempted to fend off his attacks but ended up laughing more than defending. He continued his onslaught for a few minutes and managed to roll Reina onto her side before stopping.

"Feel more relaxed?" He grinned.

She nodded, catching her breath and wiping happy tears from her eyes. "I wasn't expecting that."

Devin helped her back up. "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision."

After a pause, he continued, "I'm still curious as to how you got them."

Reina took a deep breath. "I; my sister and I were kidnapped by slavers."

"Wait, you were victims during that slaver attack thirteen years ago!?"

"I was. I tried to protect my sister, or at the very least, keep her in the group I was in. They didn't like my protests that much."

"So they whipped you," he said bluntly and with a tinge of anger.

Reina nodded. They both fell silent, letting the weight of Reina's story sink in.

"I'm sorry about your sister."

"I mourned for her and had nightmares for several years."

Devin pulled Reina into a hug. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Thank you, herd-mate. I no longer have nightmares, so these scars are the only reminder of that time.

"I'll do my best, and I'm sure Azalea will as well, to make sure you enjoy life from now on."

"I am still getting used to Azalea's; unreserved nature, but I know she means well."

"I don't know if it'll help, but you might try viewing your scars not as a stigma of your failure to protect your sister but as a testament to your courage and survival. Think if you hadn't. If a few minor injuries were the price for freedom, I'd say it was a pretty cheap cost."

"I've never thought of it that way. I'll try to, herd-mate. I suppose the only other good thing that came from that event was my father hugged me for the first time when we returned home."

"See! He does care for you." Devin tried to encourage her.

Reina just looked into the fire thoughtfully. They interlocked and intertwined their fingers as silence settled over the camp, each attending to their own thoughts.

"Reina, I've been meaning to ask about our; mating earlier. I was wondering if we hadn't come along, what was your plan if you got pregnant?"

"I hadn't really thought about the repercussions," she admitted. "I'm ok with bearing your offspring if that's what you're implying?"

"My preferences aside, I really want to hear your feelings."

Reina looked into Devin's eyes. "I'm not against the idea, nor am I particularly eager to rush things. I am already more than happy to spend time traveling with you and Azalea for the time being. Not to mention, the orgasms you two gave me were quite satisfactory," she commended.

They continued watching the fire, enjoying each other's closeness.

Reina tried to stifle a yawn.

Devin leaned against her, imagining no other place he'd rather be than right here, warm and content. "I bet you're going to sleep well tonight with all the exercise you got."

"I will, but I am sure I will feel sore tomorrow."

"Maybe we can alleviate that some."

Reina watched curiously as he straddled her back. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he began a slow, deep massage. "I've found one of the best things in life is a massage right before bed and right when you wake up."

"I can see why." She hummed delightedly.

"Let me get this out of the way." She undid the clasp behind her neck, and her large breasts revealed their freedom with a slight bounce. She rolled her neck and shoulders, which tossed the fabric to the side. "Wearing clothes feels so confining at times."

"Aside from pulling human wagons, you must get sore fairly regularly being so well endowed."

Reina weighed them in her hands thoughtfully. "All the females from my family were blessed with a voluminous bust. I have become accustomed to the discomfort."

"You shouldn't have to! You can ask me for a massage any time."

"Such an attentive herd-mate. I'll be sure to take you up on your offer."

Encouraged by her little purrs of pleasure, he tried to focus on the massage but kept getting distracted by her ample cleavage. He thought of how to ask to touch them when Reina took the initiative.

"If you are going to be thorough, herd-mate, you are going to have to massage these as well." She smirked, placing her arms behind her head and thrusting her chest out.

"As my queen desires."

Thinking he was making fun of her, "M'not really royalty, you know."

"I'm aware, but I already consider you my queen." Devin leaned in and kissed the back of her ear. Heat flooded Reina's face, and she tilted her head down, blushing profusely.

"You're also incredibly adorable when you're embarrassed."

Reina took a few breaths to calm her fluttering heart. "When I was very young, two human nobles and their retinue visited our herd."

Devin scooted closer, his hands kneading the delicate muscles around the base of her breasts, ready to listen to her story.

"Father didn't inform me as to the nature of their visit. I had no interest, either -- that is, until I saw the nobleman's wife, sitting upon her carriage, regal, indifferent as if the mediocrity of everyday life was beneath her."

"What'd she look like?" he asked.

She closed her eyes to bring back the memory. "Her hair was dark as walnut, braided into a crown around her head. She wore a sapphire-embedded coronet. An emblem of blue roses embroidered the entirety of her billowy dress. She looked so striking compared to what I was used to seeing; I was enchanted by her.

"They stayed with us for a week. I wanted to talk with her, get to know her, but I rarely saw her outside her tent. For the first few days, I tried sneaking peeks at her, but I wasn't very discreet, and she shooed me away."

Reina was so engrossed in telling her story that she failed to notice Devin's massage transition from a wholesome alleviation of soreness and tension to a more lewd nature.

He experimentally cupped the oversized mounds in his hands, enjoying the luscious flesh squishing between his fingers.

"On my fourth attempt," Reina continued, "I went at night. She was humming a song while brushing her hair. This time, though, she sighed when she noticed me. She ushered me in. Then she put her brush down, demanding to know why I kept disturbing her. I told her I was infatuated by her, the way she conducted herself, her lifestyle.

"Whether she was bored or genuinely amused, I couldn't tell, but she invited me back to listen to her stories about growing up as a noble and how court life was conducted. Before she left, she gave me a book on etiquette. I ended up reading it so many times, I wore it out."

"An interesting choice for a role model." He remarked, lightly brushing her large gray-brown areola with his fingertips.

"My family and friends thought it cute, at first, but things became rather awkward between us when they realized it wasn't temporary."

Devin slid from her back, taking his place in front of her. "People seem to latch on to what they admire, and coincidentally, I'm admiring these cute, little inverted nipples!"

Reina looked down at his fingers teasing the slight indentations. "They are from my mother's side. Please be gentle. They are super sensitive."

A low moan escaped her lips as he coaxed her left nipple from its hiding place, its stiffness hinting at her arousal. The right one proved less forthcoming, so he placed his lips over the stubborn nub and alternated sucking and pinching until it popped out stiffly.

Reina pushed her chest forward, hugging his head in her arms as he suckled." That feels wonderful, herd-mate! Please don't stop."

Devin increased the pressure in his mouth as he relaxed in the tenderness of her hug. Her warmth and her smell nurtured his love for this lovely young woman. Like with Azalea, he was going to do everything he could to make her happy and strengthen this bond.

After several minutes of their intimate embrace, Reina gently pushed him away. "I'm sorry, herd-mate. That feels fantastic, but I won't be able to have an orgasm just from that. Allow me a few moments to cool down. We should probably get ready for bed. Would you please assist me?"

It didn't sit right with Devin -- getting Reina all worked up then leaving her without satisfaction. As he helped remove the filigree from her antlers, he mentally tossed around a few ideas.

"Could you attend to my fur, please?" She handed him a well-worn brush made of antlers and etched with trees and flowers. Her coarse outer fur was well adapted to protecting against snow. Her wispy, under-fur was silky and suited to resisting cold.

"Reina, until we find an adequate means of birth control, have you ever tried anal?"

"You mean mating with, that hole?" She pulled her tail in protectively. "Do people do that?!"

"Not everyone likes it," Devin admitted while stroking her flank.

She looked at him. "Wouldn't that hurt?"

"Not with the right preparations. It might feel a bit more intense than vaginal, though."

She bit her lip, wrestling with the idea.

Seeing her hesitation. "We'll go as slow as you want, and you can tell me at any point if it's uncomfortable or hurts."

With curious trepidation she let him pull her tail to the side. Right away, she shivered at the slight brush against her anus.

Unlike a centaur's, Reina's anus depressed slightly inward. Human-like in texture, it was smooth and pale-ish pink. He caressed the velvety sphincter, getting her used to the sensation.

"Should I stay in this position, herd-mate?"

"Whichever is more comfortable for you," he replied gently.

Reina remained lying down. She couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but every time his fingers made contact, little goosebumps appeared on her arms.

Knowing her nervousness wouldn't help loosen her up, he considered different approaches to help her relax and have a little fun at the same time. He wondered how much teasing she could endure.

Switching targets, he caressed her slit with the back of his knuckle. She was still mostly dry, so he helped her along by giving her a few playful licks.

She muffled a squeal at the sudden sensation. "Sorry, I've never had anyone lick me there before."

"I'm honored to be the first." Devin took another taste and an extended lick, letting his tongue slowly trail into the smooth recess of her body. He snaked his tongue up and over, staying just out of reach of her clit and vagina. His saliva mixed with her juices as her body began to leak her natural lubricant.

His purposeful avoidance of all the places she wanted his tongue the most was making her all squirmy. She kept trying to angle herself to get more of his tongue, but he kept adjusting to her movements. "Are you enjoying teasing me, herd-mate?"

"Most definitely. I think you're ready for something more direct."

"Please!" She whined.

Devin peeled her dripping lips apart. Her insides blossomed into view -- dark red, swollen, and drooling for more. Again, Devin sensuously trailed his tongue, from Reina's perspective, agonizingly slow toward the source of her need. Pausing just above her opening, he waited.

"Pleeease, herd-mate!" she begged.

With a smile, he plunged his tongue as deep as he could. She issued a guttural moan, and her cunt gushed at the sudden intrusion. He slurped and swirled his tongue, drinking as much of her as he could as he tried to get deeper. The more he lapped, the more she drenched his tongue.

Coming up for air, he licked the juices dripping from his chin and admired his handiwork. When she turned to look at him, her eyes full of lust, he challenged, "Ready for more?"

"I love what you're doing, but I thought we were; gonna do the other thing."

"We are. I just got a little carried away enjoying how you taste."

"I'll let you lick me anytime if this is the feeling I have to look forward to," she panted.

"Just a little more." He eyed her clit peeking out from the bottom of her vulva, nicely glazed with her juices. He dove back in and swirled his tongue around the engorged nub. A passionate mewl encouraged him to play with it more. Pushing up from the bottom, he popped more of it out of hiding as he took it between his lips and sucked greedily. Her wiggling became earnest enough that he had to push her hips down.

He hadn't forgotten the original purpose; he continued to feast as he transferred her lube to her anus. After a thorough coating, he slowly pushed his digit into her tight ring. Her sphincter resisted the initial push before yielding to his digit, and with a little fingering, widened enough for a second.

Devin freed his erection and then stroked his length across her slit, replacing his fingers at her entrance.

He pushed forward firmly. Her anus was unsure if it was ready and constricted. Momentarily pausing his advance, he checked with her, "Does it feel ok, Reina?"

"I feel so full. Please go slow," she pleaded.

He pulled back a bit, applying another helping of lube to himself. His next attempt was easier. With the head fully entering her, he held still, allowing her to adjust. He felt her clench a few times.

A nod from her gave him the go-ahead. Starting with small thrusts, he gradually switched to longer and deeper ones. "That feel better?"

"The pressure feels really intense," she groaned. "Could you aim downward a little? It feels really good when you push in."

He had to switch to a crouch to angle downward. He felt his glans rub the bottom of her rectum when he pushed in. "Like that?"

"Yes, I can feel it, sorta, in my vagina." Reina's purring made her comfort apparent.

He'd have liked to fist her again, but at this angle, he couldn't maneuver his arm properly, so he settled for rubbing her clit with his thumb.

"I'm going to be sore back there, but I can't believe how good this feels," she mewed.

He responded by thrusting faster and harder, his balls slapping the top of her cunt.

"Rub my clit harder! I'm gonna cum!"

He felt her orgasm surge through her. Her anus clenched, making his thrusting difficult but adding to the sensation. Her cum gushed over his hand. He waited until she finished. "Reina, try pushing me out."

She bore down, and her rectal muscles tightened around him. That is when she felt him grabbing her hips and thrusting hard and deep a few more times before erupting in her.

"Oh, I can feel your cum!" she exclaimed, continuing to squeeze her muscles until he collapsed on her back.

Following a few deep breaths, Devin pulled out of her and stood up shakily, licking her juices from his hand. Unlike Azalea's, whose was watery and thin, Reina's was syrupy and thick.

"Did you have fun?"

"You said massages are great before bed. We can add orgasms are great, too!" They both laughed.

Devin helped clean Reina then himself before snuggling up against her.

"Azalea must be a deep sleeper if she managed to sleep through all that noise," he thought out loud.

Reina looked at their diminutive, sleeping friend. "I'm sure she would have joined us if she were awake."

"Imagining a vibrating fairy against your clit again?"

"I'd pass out again if she did that."

They smiled tiredly at each other.

"Good night, my queen."

"Good night, herd-mate."

Sleep prevailed in the camp.

To be continued in part 4, by Scholarly Mori for Literotica.

[letters-for-rei]

Just got off of work. The rain is especially cold tonight. Today feels like how I've felt for some time - I went out to be productive and only ended up making enough to pay for going out to be productive in the first place. My windshield wipers won't stay attatched for more than 10 minutes. My engine sputters when I put my foot on the pedal. My tags are several months expired. Everything is a hot fucking mess.

Wishing for you to be honest with me for so long turned out to be another double-edged sword. I wish I could just call and catch up and talk for a while, but... neither of us are ready for anything like that, and won't be for a long time. Especially me. I fear the anger, the frustration, the cross in your voice that I know I have earned and yet shrink at the thought of. I don't wish you weren't upset - I just wish I weren't so inconceivably terrified of the disappointment you feel of me.

I've realised a few more things about myself. Whenever I don't have complete confidence in something I said, I sorta mouth it back to myself when they can't see, like I'm second guessing how I said it and what I said and why I said it. It's a tic, that I know for sure, but it's one I've been quite insecure about for some time. I just didn't notice how prevalent it was until today.

Another thing I've noticed is that the itch in the bathroom incident may have traumatized me a little bit. I can hardly step into my bathroom without thinking about it. The itch spreading across my body, scratching it until my skin burned, screaming uncontrollably from the pain. Begging you for help and constantly saying I was sorry as I sobbed and yelped and itched and panicked. I don't think I'll ever get it out of my head.

I crunched some numbers on that computer last night. I actually only started the build on the 15th of March, when the case arrived. It feels like it's been a lot longer, but I guess it hasn't. In the less than a month since, I've sunk over 500$ of my own personal work/savings money into it. I think the only money of yours I used was to help with the motherboard. I was really hoping that we could both use it jointly someday. I don't think I'm going to look at it for a long while.

I hope things are going well at the apartment. Me and my mother are considering putting in hardwood floors in my room in the basement before I move back in. She was really sad when I told her that we were through. You would not believe how fond of you she was.

I finally got Mario Kart 8 on the Switch. I am still the goat that I thought I was at Mario Kart. I will beat you several times over if you want to test that theory.

I think I'm going to sell the Cutlass. I simply do not have the time or money to keep working on it right now. I night just tuck it away at my moms until I can, but... I just don't see it being a feasible thing for me right now. It hurts to think about.

I'm going to make myself a can of soup and a drink and I'm going to watch youtube for the rest of the night. Let me know if there's anything you want me to expand on or clarify or whatever. I should stop adding that at the end of every message, because you know already. Be safe, be kind, be strong. Have a good day at work tomorrow.

- Jack.

04/11/2024

[darkrubymoon]

Food Auction and Shady Maple trip

Yesterday I went with my middle sister, my father, my attendant and a sweet lady named Lucy who helps me cook to a food auction at a place called Root's Country Market & Auction in Manheim, PA not far from Lancaster.  They have a huge Amish food market, food stands, craft stands and every Tuesday a food auction.  If you have never been to a food auction before, it is quite something to see.  Generally, if the farmers grow too much of something and they can’t move it to market fast enough, they will send it to these auctions just to get whatever they can so it’s not a total loss.  Likewise, some smaller grocers that have large quantities of food that is nearing the expiration date but is still good will sell at auctions’.  Lots of small restaurants go to these, buy large quantities of fresh produce very cheap to add to their menus the next day.  Frequently it is like an entire pallet of food, but they sometimes break it down into smaller bundles.  So for example, might bid on peppers.  The auction price is by the bag.  Bids might be for a quantity of 3, so if win a bid at a dollar you pay three dollars in cash only for three bags.  Any leftover go for same price or get added to essentially a grab bag at end of auction.  Can get food crazy cheap but bidding is crazy fast and if not careful could be paying cash for a giant pallet of turnips.  It is not just vegetables that are sold but also store goods and day old pastry from the adjoining food market.  By the way…if ever go to this…you must buy 1 fresh cream filled donut from the farmer’s market.  You might be able to buy the day old donuts cheaper at the auction …but for one of those fresh donuts it is well worth the splurge. We bought so many items we could barely fit in the van…I was precariously in danger of being crushed by a couple of pallets of strawberries my sister bought at auction.

From there we went to Shady Maple Smorgasbord 129 Toddy Dr, East Earl, PA 17519 .   My eldest sister who could not go with us had given everyone a gift card to this restaurant.  The restaurant was really quite an experience.  It was expensive and where it not for the generous gift from my elder sister and her husband, we would have probably never gone as it is an all-you-can-eat restaurant and I could never eat that much food.  It was worth it however just to check out the place.  When we pulled up, I honestly thought GPS accidently took us to a church with a huge school attached.  It wasn't easy to find, not many signs, and it didn't look anything like a restaurant.  We couldn't believe how packed the huge parking lot was with it being Tuesday.  Seeing all the Mennonite and Amish with their unique clothing entering and others in their Sunday best outfits, was really worried we were entering a church on some special occasion. 

The entry area too was somewhat formal.   I can't quite express how big this place was other than to say they had a you are here map as we went in search of the restaurant portion.  They also must have a couple of banquet rooms, one of which was holding an auction.  As we walked around the outer parameter, all along the walls were these beautiful works of art shown.  It is difficult to get an idea of these 3D works of art from a flat 2D picture nor get the scale, but most were at least 4 feet wide.

The smorgasbord was humongous.  The food area was much less formal...more like a typical smorgasbord with the exception of size and quantity of food and number of people.  You sort of enter a mass migration of people like are in a busy train station and the afternoon train has just arrived and find row after row after row of food.  We went on their seafood night, so i never got past the shrimp isle...it just went on forever.  They apparently also grill steaks to order, but never made it that far. 

After becoming totally stuffed... I went with my sister and Lucy to take an elevator down to walk around the gift shop.  I have been to many gift shops before, and I wasn't quite prepared for this one.  It spanned the entire length of the restaurant...imagine if you will a gift shop packed to the brim the size of a Super Walmart.  We lost Lucy a couple of times, so we tried to stay close.  My attendant apparently came down later to get us as we disappeared for so long and immediately gave up the search upon seeing the size of the place.

Copyright © Eric Ovelgone DarkRubyMoon Be sure to check out my artwork on all sorts of fantastic items from T-shirts and prints to clocks and more at my DarkRubyMoon stores following web locations. Main Website: http://DarkRubyMoon.com * DarkRubyMoon Store CafePress: http://www.cafepress.com/darkrubymoon * DarkRubyMoon Store Zazzle: http://www.zazzle.com/darkrubymoon * DarkRubyMoon Store I DO NOT GIVE ANY COMPANY, PROGRAMMERS, OR PROGRAMS INCLUDING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENT DATA COLLECTION DEVICES THE RIGHT TO GATHER, USE, TRAIN FROM OR SOURCE ANY OF MY IMAGES, TEXT, OR USE ANY OF MY WORKS OUTSIDE OF MY EXPLICIT CONSENT. ANY USE WITHOUT MY CONSENT AND COMPENSATION IS THEFT AND WILL BE TREATED AS SUCH.

[marylandlifecoaching]

The Trade

I was talking to a friend of mine who is a little older. I will be turning 58 in June, and I asked him what he thought about tuning 70? He said, "I was more worried about the 9's, than the 0's".The 9's meant he was wrapping up an era. The 0's were starting the next chapter. Brilliant! I've never been afraid to get old. But I have been thinking about it lately. And the only words that keep coming up are, The Trade...

Yup! As we get older, there is definitely a trade. I can't speak for anyone, but I do see {in my humble opinion} many fighting the trade. Me however, so far I for the most part, am really digging it. There is a grace, to a slower pace. And even better, I have realized that I will never get everything done. And I am okay with that. That realization has freed me up to focus on what is really important to me. The sun is setting. I will spend it doing more meaningful things.

Sure there are things that smack you in the face. But I embrace it. I make it look good. I make it my bitch...as much as I can. While I still work out 7 days a week, pushing 60, I can say that it is all discipline. I rarely enjoy it. And I work out for health reasons now, not to look good naked...like when I was a younger man. Those 4:00 am work outs suck. But I plan on getting every bit out of this body before they burn it.

Another part of the trade is sex. Yeah, it became less and less important, as I've gotten older. What was once a huge part of my life, really is on the other end of the spectrum now. Connection is now based on spiritual intimacy. While physical touch is nice, crossing the veil from physical to spiritual is supernatural. And I feel blessed. Many of my older friends have not gotten there yet. And maybe that's on me. Spending my entire life meditating, I feel drawn to energy. And if it's not there, neither am I...the sun is going down, remember?

The physical will remind you of your limitations. Trust me when I say that I can pretty much out hustle many people half my age. But mother of God, that reboot time is a mother fucker. And I am well aware, that the day will come when those younger kids will be able to outwork, out hustle me. You know what? I'm cool with that too.

I am cool with that because we get older. {I know, it's a generalization.} But I've gotten smarter. If not anything else, I rarely make those mistakes I did when I was younger. But why? Because I don't have time for fear or bullshit. So I'll be the one in the corner over here, minding my business, counting my blessings. And as we get older, we do count our blessings.

Look, I am not trying to sell you on the whole getting older thing. It's a trade. But if you slow down, focus on what is really important, you can create a pretty amazing life. Stop the chase. Breathe, love a little. Realize there is no future. The future is now. Does that mean live like there is no tomorrow? The short answer...yes! Of course there will be consequences to our actions. So act accordingly.

Life has an expiration date. And age, well age is moving us ever so quickly to that date. Embrace the trade. Live fully today. Make the world a little brighter for someone, if you have that opportunity. Because you have many regrets. You just don't know it yet. In time you will. And that may just be the biggest benefit to the trade.

[fuck-customers]

A fuck-customer and a thank-customer! I've only been out on my own for 6 months, working for a year. I've had a few angry people but no one this bad.

She was an older lady, maybe in her 50s? And she was screaming about coupons. No mask, no social distancing. Two of her coupons were competitor store specific, which we can't honor, and one was for a specific brand that we don't sell, and she picked our generic brand. Her last coupon was expired by less than a month and apparently that was too much for her to handle.

She threw a fit, yelling and cussing, and when I told her there was nothing I could do and was on the verge of tears she literally threw her Clown Burger soda at me and called me a "worthless child" (I'm 19) and wanted a manager. This 30-ish tattooed woman behind her wouldn't stand for it. I don't remember all of what she said but she got in this old woman's face and I swear didn't even take a breath as she just burned her to nothing.

My favorite line was "and furthermore, you unplugged toaster, we are in the middle of a pandemic, so shut your rude face and slap a mask on it so the people around you don't have to hear your entitled bullshit."

The shitty customer went red to her ears, called her a bitch and said she'd call the cops for harassment. My hero calmly turned and motioned to the two people who had their cell phones out and were recording.

"Go ahead, they have plenty of evidence to choose from."

Karen turned color so fast and just left, without paying and without taking her groceries. My manager followed her out and got images of her car for security.

But wait, there's more!

She offered to get me a new shirt for work but I declined (had an extra in my car) and instead bought me a snickers, a soda, and told me I was fabulous.

Like I was crying and this woman bought me CANDY and gave me COMPLIMENTS and moved on like she didn't just DESTROY that old woman's existence?

Millennials really don't give a fuck anymore, do they? They just snap and go back to normal like nothing happened. I love them. ❤