#they're here for a good time not a long time

[copperbadge]

I think maybe I got married to a museum this morning. Boy is this a long weird story.

I was standing in line to get into the Museum of Natural History this morning when an older woman near me in line gestured for me to take out my headphones. She was clearly a little agitated, and she asked me if I was American, if I spoke English, in a pretty pronounced English accent. I said I'm from Chicago, and she looked relieved and said, "Can you help me find out if I can pay for my ticket with my credit card inside? It wouldn't register when I tried to buy a ticket on the internet this morning."

I said I didn't know how we'd find out, but I opened up the website on my phone to check. While I poked around the site she didn't stop talking once, telling me that she's in New York to look after her daughter who just had major surgery and she's very stressed and her daughter asked her to go out and distract herself for a while which....having spent some time in this woman's company, she's very sweet but I can see why her kid needed a break.

Anyway, I think this might actually be a lie on the website, but it says there that you HAVE to buy tickets online and you have to have an email address to get them delivered. She couldn't do the former and didn't have a smartphone she could use to access the latter.

So I said, why don't I buy your ticket on my phone while we're here in line? I can send it to my email, and you can come in with me. She fretted about fraud but I said nah, I'll just tell them your ticket's on my phone because I helped you buy it, they won't care.

Now, this sounds like she was running some kind of wild scam, but who the hell scams their way into the Museum of Natural History? Like lady if you love natural history that much and haven't got $24 to your name, let me buy you a ticket, you've earned it.

Anyway, I bought the ticket in about 30 seconds, and we had about ten minutes to wait, which she filled with a nonstop monologue about her daughter's medical problems, her husband's job, her attempts to get into a gym to swim, the crowdedness of New York, it was just...so much talking. And I had dire visions of possibly having to take her around the museum with me simply because I was so friendly and helped her get in. I wished to silently contemplate the taxidermy, thanks.

Inside, I took her to the customer service desk because she wanted a printed copy of her ticket, and while they were printing it she counted out the cash to pay me back. Then I ruthlessly unloaded her on one of the customer services agents, saying, "He'll explain what you can do with your ticket and give you a map -- you have a good time now and I'll be thinking of your daughter," and did my best to disappear. I rounded a corner, dashed into an elevator, and fled to the fourth floor where I was headed anyway.

That's enough of a misadventure just trying to get into the museum, but I put it from my mind and enjoyed the dinosaurs and dioramas...until I slipped on something black, on the black floor of the dimly lit Hall Of Mammals, and almost fell.

There, under my boot, in front of the stuffed rhinos, was a black-and-gold silicone ring.

If it had been any other kind of ring I'd have turned it in to lost and found, but I wear silicone rings myself -- they're very cheap and meant to be worn in place of a real ring while you're doing tool work (they tear away under pressure unlike metal rings that'll take your finger with) or if you're afraid you'll lose the real thing. I have several thin ones I wear on top of my normal rings to keep them from falling off when my fingers change size in the cold. It's not the kind of thing one would even go to Lost and Found for; you can replace it for $5.

I think the museum gave me a wedding band.

It's a little big but the spirit is there.

So yeah, much like how the Rijksmuseum and I are sworn enemies, the American Museum of Natural History is now my bride. Well, she saw that I know how to look after my elders. As spouses that are actually large cultural institutions in the middle of New York City go, could be worse.

[ID: The middle and index finger of my left hand, showing several rings -- the middle finger has a silver ring with a kokopelli motif (a gift from my maternal grandmother), a gold ring with a knotwork motif (the wedding ring I inherited from my stepfather's parents), and a thin silicone band to hold them in place. My index finger has the new ring, gold with a border of black, looking slightly loose.]

[ms-demeanor]

thoughts on using library computers to disguise your digital footprint? because if the machine gets wiped when you log out, and the library doesn't keep detailed records of what machine you were using when, then all someone else would have is IP data unconnected to a person and also mixed in with whatever else folks were doing on the library computers

The machine absolutely does not get wiped when you log out and there's very little chance that a library computer will let you fire up Tor. You're better off using a traffic anonymizer than you are trying to use public computers to cover your tracks. The IP address IS the big risk here.

Libraries are generally really good about protecting their patrons' privacy and I respect the hell out of them for that but computers log everything that you do and can be subpoenaed as evidence even if the library wants to protect user privacy.

Also, I love libraries but you should treat every public computer you come across like it has a keylogger installed on it because it might. Your city could have an overzealous city council that has more control than it should over the library board and has taken it upon themselves to add covenanteyes to the library computers. Your library crew could be fantastic but less tech-savvy than is ideal and may not realize it if malware is installed on one of the machines. The library may clear browser history twice a day but the ISP still has a record of where you went and what time you went there. Somebody could have literally plugged a keylogger into a USB port on the back of the machine.

The point of a traffic anonymizer is it hides where the traffic originated; each node knows where the previous hop came from and where the next hop went, but not what came BEFORE the previous hop or what happened after, or how long the chain was, so there is no way to tell if a message originated in the US or Brazil or Vietnam or Sweden. Sending traffic from a library does the opposite of this, and very clearly says "the person who sent this message did so from this geographic area; they sent messages from these five libraries so we know they're probably within X distance of these libraries" which is a hell of a lot easier to look for than "I can't even say what continent these messages originated from."

Let us say that you go to a library to log in to your protonmail account and email a journalist a link to a file that you've saved in cryptpad. You have the link written down so you don't have to go to a secondary site and you just go sit down directly at the computer and log in to protonmail and fire off your email to the journalist. The email is encrypted, so you know the contents of the email are safe. Let's say the browser history gets automatically wiped every time you close it, and you close it as soon as you stand up and walk away. Here's the incriminating information that generated:

IP address where you accessed your protonmail account

Your protonmail email address, the journalist's address, the time you sent the email, the subject line of the email

And here are the people who can be subpoenaed to share some or all of that information with the government:

The Library's ISP

The Library, who may not carefully track users but who do have event logs on the computers and traffic logs on the firewall

Protonmail

IF you only ever logged in to your protonmail account from that ISP one time, and if you've never logged in to your protonmail account anywhere that is close to your house or your job, you may be fine. But if you logged in to your protonmail on your personal cellphone at work so that you could send photos of documents to yourself, there's some data tying that account to a local IP address. If you set up the protonmail account on a whim at a coffee shop, there's some data tying that account to a local IP address. If you get an email back from the journalist and go to another local library to open it, there's some data tying that account to another local IP address.

And that gets narrowed down very quickly. "Who has access to these sensitive and leak-worthy documents through working at this entity who also lives within a 100 mile radius of these three login locations? Is it 50 people? Is it 5 people? Of the 15 people who have access to these sensitive and leak-worthy documents who work at this entity and live within 100 miles of the three login locations, who is likely to be doing the leaking? Do we fire them all? Do we interview them? Do we compare IP addresses that they've used to log in to work remotely and find that two of them have logged in at the coffee shop? Of those two, one has facebook selfies in a maga hat and the other has a less visible online presence. Let's check their traffic history. Did they check tumblr on a lunch break? Maybe once or twice? Maybe a few times? Sure seems like they are pretty dead-set against the administration. Let's double-check the access logs for this information. Let's review security footage. Let's install the monitoring on their workstation."

The thing is, they're not going to catch you leaking and then track down all the data you left behind to confirm it; they're going to see a leak and get a bunch of digital footprints and use that to narrow down suspect pools. They already know that access to the data is limited and will be reviewing prior access and carefully monitoring future access. You are already in their suspect pool by already being one of the people with known access to the data. Adding an IP address that is geographically close to you, even if it isn't your home IP address, to that is not going to make it *harder* to find you, it can only make it easier.

So just use Tor. You're safer using an anonymizer, which you likely can't do on a library computer. Create the leak email address when you're in a Tor browser, and only EVER access that email account from Tor.

Also I don't mean to jump on you about this, but between the post I've got about why you shouldn't use your work computer to torrent and the safer leaking practices post it's clear that people really don't understand what information they're leaving behind when they use computers and the internet, or how it can be a risk to them.

Accessing burner accounts from a clear IP address means that they're not burner accounts anymore, they're burned.

[tousey-mousey]

When I was about 12, we went on a school trip to Yarriabini for several days. I had an absolutely unrivalled opportunity at the time to talk to several elders from the nation and learn from them about some of the useful plants and food plants in the area, about how to avoid some of the dangerous things and how to use some of them as useful tools. I learnt a lot.

They also, gratefully, explained why they weren't teaching us some things: how we were not members of their nation and some of these practices and knowledge were considered secret to them. How we were not Aboriginal people and some of this information was not for colonisers (which, as a recent immigrant at that time, made me think about why my family had felt so free to come to Australia in the first place). How some of it wouldn't make sense to us because we weren't coming at it from the right place of knowledge. Etc.

One of the things it taught me was how welcoming some of that land really is. There's so much food out there, there's so many useful plants, there's so much to use and to make. There are plants that no other culture has access to, plants that can produce oils for treating wood tools without needing to boil anything, plants that can produce some of the strongest cordage in the world without needing to rope-make, plants that will cure your fever and plants that will feed your family.

It is a VERY, VERY easy place to live in if you don't come at it from the Eurasian and American model of "find a berry and chew the berry". If you're someone who grew up in Australia, living off of what can be gratefully received from the land and water, then dropping you in North America would find you in a land you'd feel was both barren of food and filled with dangerous life.

Australia has many venomous snakes, but there are trees in Australia that produce leaves that snakes will not crawl across because they're too sharp. Spreading these leaves around your living-space will keep it free of snakes, even when you're asleep.

You do not have those trees in North America. They do not exist. If you grew up as used to looking for snake-proofing leaves to make your house safe, then you'd find America's snakes much more dangerous simply because you can't defend against them.

Australia has many safe prey-animals, small things that can be caught easily and larger things that will feed you a long time but aren't very dangerous to catch. North America has none of them: it has many, much larger predators that are very dangerous and you would not be familiar with, and its smaller prey-animals are hard to catch and not as good eating. There's just not much good food on a badger compared to a wombat, and an American badger is much harder to catch too.

Australia is not a very dangerous country. It's dangerous if you DON'T KNOW IT. That's true FOR ALL COUNTRIES.

We are very safe, very fecund, and very easy to live in if you know how and you've been taught by someone who knows how. That's true of literally everywhere.

The narrative that we're this alien landscape that hates humans is just a bullshit myth spread by people who never respected the people of this land enough to learn HOW they live here, and instead just tried to use the Eurasian method of colonisation to beat the land into submission. Well, it won't. It won't submit, and you can't make it.

okay I’ll say it nicer:

australia was colonised according to the myth of terra nullius (or empty land). ever since the very early days of colonialism, the land has been framed as something untameable and unliveable. this has justified acts of violence against the first peoples here, in that they are seen as non-people. it has justified the destruction of sacred land in the goal of making australia look more european. (an example: our capital city contains a man-made lake that is now nothing better than a fetid carp pond. it’s disgusting and unnatural). basically, the idea of “taming australia’ has justified endless harm

“everything in australia is weird and dangerous” is not just some silly meme phrase, it is something that arcs back to the very beginning of white settlers laying claim to ‘australia’. and personally I am very sick of seeing it thrown around like it means nothing

[theliving-radio]

Sorry If this one is too confusing 😭 

So basically NRC (maybe Ortho too but platonic love) with a s/o that got turned into a cat by a potion mix-up, not naming names Grim and Adeuce 👀 (also, maybe reader could be like a maine coon? Idk but I love the idea of reader was a cat they would be bigger than grim but any cat is cute 😖) but the twist is that s/o is not a normal cat, but actually a flerken (If you don't know what that is, it's basically a space cat from marvel) So when Idia is petting them too aggressive or Floyd is squeezing them too tightly or if anyone is annoying them, they just open their mouth and swallow them up like a fckin snack, and maybe spit them back out when they're in a good mood leaving them so fckin traumatized. And the people witnessing it are like 🧍

I know about the Flerken! I used to be such a huge ass Marvel fan so many years ago! I fell off the band wagon right after Avengers: End Game. I even have an old fanfic posted on Wattpad for Marvel… I… haven’t worked on it in such a long time…

Please don’t attack me lol

Anyway, instead of just every character at once, I did every dorms reaction. Just to add some spice and fun to the mix!

And for the funnies

Warning: human consumption (but not gory or bloody. Just pocket dimension stuff), not part of the Big Brother Malleus writing, can be romantic or platonic (Ortho is clearly platonic)

And I do apologize for taking so long on writing this! Get distracted really easily.

Like REALLY easily. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!

“… Oops?”

Grim had no idea how it happened. He didn’t! You couldn’t possibly blame him for accidentally mixing up your drink with the potion assignment he was supposed to turn in!

But here you guys were, back in Ramshackle. Him looking up at your now fluffy fur body.

Cat.

You were now a cat.

“Listen, I can fix this!”

“Mrep…”

“Don’t doubt me hench… cat?”

Your cat self rolled its eyes and stood up on all fours. Before Grim was able to say anything, you picked him up by the scruff of his neck with your mouth and trotted out of Ramshackle.

The scene looked like a mother cat dragging away her baby kitten.

“MRAH! Let me go! I command it!”

You ignored him and went straight to the mirror chamber, hoping that one of your friends in the dorms will help you.

Heartslabyul

Ace and Deuce started losing their shit as soon as they saw Grim being dragged by a larger cat in the Heartslabyul garden.

“Grim, Who’s the fluffy one?” Deuce covers his mouth to hide his smile.

“Did you finally find your parent figure?” Ace teased.

“CAN IT, ACE!” You plop Grim down and trot over to Deuce who bent down to give you scratches.

Grim dusts himself off, grumbling under his breath. “I could have walked just fine! You didn’t have to drag me all the way here!”

You ignored Grim as you happily laid down in the grass and rolled over. Deuce’s eyes practically sparkled when you presented your belly to him, and he carefully rubbed it, making you purr happily.

“Mrah! Henchmen! Stop being difficult!” Grim shouted, his words causing Deuce to stop giving you pets and Ace to let out a strangled wheeze.

“P-prefect!?”

“Oh Sevens! What did you do this time!?” Ace crouches a bit as he begins laughing once again.

Grim crosses his arms and looks away. “I didn’t do anything! It was… it was them! They shouldn’t leave their stuff around in the first place!”

Offended! Scandalized! Wrong!

You picked yourself up from the grass and walked over to Grim…

Then swatted him.

“MRAH!?” Grim lets out a startled sound as he rubs his head. Before he was able to ask why you did that, you swatted him again. And again. And again.

Ace was on the grass floor laughing his ass off. It was like watching a cat hitting their child if they misbehaved.

“I would assume you’re finished painting the roses.” Ace stops his laughing and looks over to see Riddle, Cater, and Trey walking over. Riddle squints his eyes at the roses, seeing some of them still white and untouched by the crimson red paint.

“D-dorm Leader Riddle! We uh- we actually have a good reason why we aren’t finished!” Deuce tries to explain as he picks you up and shows you to the three upper class-men.

Cater gasps as he takes his phone out, quickly snapping photos of your fluffy figure. You only blinked at him and tilted your head, causing the ginger to squeal. “Oh my Sevens! They are totes adorbs!”

“A cat?! Why is there a cat here?” Riddle asks, his face showing confusion before he lets out a gasp. “The Hedgehogs! Are the hedgehog’s safe?! Did this cat do something!?”

“I’ll go check on them right now-!”

“There is no need to do that!” Deuce cuts Trey off. “This is the Prefect!”

There was a long pause between all the Heartslabyul students. The Three upper class-men processing what the first year just said. Riddle stares at Deuce and Ace before opening his mouth. “… what did you two do?”

Deuce sputters and Ace quickly looked offended. “We didn’t do anything! Grim was the one that did this!”

“Mew.” You let out a small meow and Cater broke out from his shock and started rapidly taking pictures once again.

Riddle groans as he takes a deep breath. Inhale, exhale… he didn’t want to blow his head off in front of the Prefect after all. “Grim, explain to me… what you gave the Prefect.”

“How am I supposed to know?! It’s their fault their water bottle and the potion bottle looked the same!”

“What was the potion you made?” Grim went quiet when Riddle asked the question. The dire-beast mumbles something under his breath and Riddle’s eye twitches. “Repeat that again.”

“It was supposed to be a Sleepy time potion! To help the drinker sleep better!”

“HOW DID YOU FULLY MESS THAT UP?!” Riddle full on shouts at Grim, causing the poor, small feline cat to flinch. “A Sleep potion? You messed up a SLEEP potion???”

“Riddle-,” Trey tries to calm Riddle down, but Riddle fully ignores him.

“In what universe could you possibly mix up a Sleep potion for a transfiguration potion?! And you didn’t even bother to check what you brought first before handing it to the Prefect?!”

Riddle continues going off on Grim, scolding him nonstop.

It was too noisy.

Your maw opens, an eldritch presence unnoticed by the others in the room, solely focused on Riddle. A single pink, flesh like tendril lulls out.

Targeting Riddle.

Nobody was able to progress what happened, it went by so fast. One second Riddle was standing right between Cater and Trey, the next he was gone. All they were able to see was a flash of… something… coming from you.

Deuce was the first one to snap out of it and let out a scream, dropping you in the process. Thank Sevens for cat-like reflexes! You landed perfectly on all hours and grabbed ahold of Grim once again, and bolted out of the Heartslabyul dorm.

Trey blinks at where Riddle was once standing, then the universe snaps him out of it. “W-wait! Hold on!”

“Suddenly… Prefect isn’t as cute as a cat anymore.” Cater spoke up as he watched Trey sprint towards the direction where you left.

“Would they even be considered a cat after what we just saw?! What the hell are they?!”

“I was giving them belly rubs this whole time… they could have eaten me too…” Deuce looks at his own hands in horror. Meanwhile Ace was cursing at the sky, and Cater was swiping through his photos he took of you.

Savanaclaw

Leona let out a loud snort when he saw Grim squirming around and getting dragged by a larger, fluffier cat then him. He had to cover his mouth to hide his smirk that threatened to break across his face.

You decided to try your luck in Savanclaw in hopes maybe Leona would help you out. He was in his third year after all!… even though he’s been held back a few times already due to being lazy and not giving a damn. Either way, you hope the lion beat-man can help.

“Prefect! Stop dragging me! You are the henchman, and I am the great mage! I should not have to be treated like this! And what was that from earlier! Why did you eat him?!”

Leona was on his way out to the botanical gardens to nap and get away from his noisy dorm. Now, he is more interested in what the hell is going on.

“Oui, Grim… who’s your new friend? Did you finally get a parent figure to treat your spoiled hind?” Leona couldn’t help tease the dire-beast as he strode over to the two of you.

When you spotted Leona making his way over to you, you casually dropped Grim off. When he was released, Grim immediately ran and hid behind Leona.

“Oui, what do you think you're doing? Get off.”

“No way! I ain’t getting close to the Prefect, after they turned into that… that thing!”

Leona looks over at your new fluffy body…

You were currently grooming one of your paws and rubbing it against one of your kitty ears.

“You turned the Prefect into a harmless house cat?”

“They ain’t a normal house cat! Nor are they harmless!”

As you were cleaning yourself, you felt a hand grab you from the nape of your neck and pulled you up. Leona held you in front of him and sniffed you… just by your scent alone he was able to confirm it was indeed you. But there was also something off with your scent, something unnatural…

“Housewarden Leona!” Leona pulls you away from him and glances over to where the voice came from, noticing Jack and Ruggie making their way over to him. Ruggie was currently eating a donut that Jack offered him just a while ago. He was even going to offer some to Leona.

“Ah, what’s with the fuzz ball?” Ruggie glances over at you and then see’s Grim hiding behind Leona’s leg, taking a bite from his guilty treat. “And what’s got you so spooked?”

“Leona, is that the prefect?” Jack speaks up.

“You smell them too, right? Yeah it’s them. Putting two and two together, I’m guessing Grim messed up some sort of potion.”

“I didn’t mess anything up!” Grim tries to protest as he looks up at Leona.

Ruggie snickers as he goes to take another bite from his donut… he never got the chance.

You lick your chops, eyes focused on the pastry in Ruggie’s possession. He noticed your intent a second too late, unable to protect his treat as you collect it like picking up a mug before swallowing it whole via tentacle.

Everyone went quiet.

You let out a small burp.

“MY DONUT!”

“THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT?!”Jack yells at the Hyena beast-men. “Did you not see what shot out of the Prefect's mouth?!”

“See? See?! I told you!” Grim points his paw at you while looking up at Leona. Meanwhile the Dorm Leader wasn’t sure on what to do in this situation.

Sensing how Leona was unsure what to do, you decided it was time to go.

When you began to approach Grim, he took a step back. “Mrah! You stay away, Henchmen!” Ah, so he was gonna be difficult…

Before Grim was going to protest once more, a single tentacle shoots out of your mouth and grabs him. All three of the Savanaclaw students just watched in horror as you gobbled up Grim.

And went on your merry way.

“… I think I’m just gonna go take a nap in my room.”

“I’m suddenly not hungry anymore…”

“… shouldn’t we go after them?!”

Both Ruggie and Leona walk away from Jack. Not that concerned about what happened, or want to be part of it.

Octavinelle

“Jade?”

“Yes, Azul?”

“Can you explain to me why there is a cat sitting on the lounge bar?”

You sat upon the bar, lounging without a care in the world. When you left Savanaclaw, you hoped that maybe Azul would help out. Unfortunately Jade found you and decided to give you chin scritches.

You really enjoyed those.

Right beside you was a bowl of water and a small plate of cooked mushrooms that Jade really wanted you to try out. He wanted to see if cats could really eat mushrooms. Since you weren’t fully a cat, they should be fine… right?

“I found them in the dorm, they looked so hungry and lost… and I couldn’t just let them be.”

“… so you decided to feed them mushrooms…”

Jade smiles as he watches you sniff your plate before digging in. He’s been watching you eat the Turkey Tail Mushroom for 20 minutes now. This was actually your second plate, and Jade was more than pleased when he saw you scarf down the first.

“These mushrooms better not be harmful! I don’t want a dead animal to scare off our customers.”

“Don’t worry, these types of mushrooms are nonlethal to both dogs and cats.” Jade assures Azul as he gently pets your head, causing you to lean into his touch and purr. Azul only squints his eyes at you, placing his hand on his chin as he comes up with an idea.

“Why don’t we use them to lure in some customers? They seem well behaved.”

Just when you heard Azul say that, you sat up and jerked your body a bit. Azul panics, thinking the worst. “Jade, you said those were nonlethal!” The dorm leader looks at Jade, who looked just as confused as they watched you make coughing sounds and your body jerking.

Then you spit out a large hairball.

A hairball that shouldn’t come out of a cat.

Jade and Azul step back as they just stare in shock as Grim was laying on the lounge's bar face down, covered in saliva.

You went back to eating.

Grim lets out a gasp like he’s been holding his breath the whole time he was inside your dimensional body. He was able to breathe just fine, he didn’t have to be so dramatic.

Drama queen.

“Grim?! What in Sevens?!”

“FIX THEM!”

Grim scrabbles to Azul, only for the Octo-mer to back away from the slimy dire-beast.

“I don’t care if I have to sign a contract! Just fix the Prefect!”

“Oya~? Is that the prefect?” Jade looks in amusement as he watches you finish another plate of mushrooms. Maybe he should have given you something… better to eat.

Azul pushes his glasses up as he glances over to you. Grim didn’t turn you into some type of house cat… no, this was more weird than that.

“Eeh~ What’s with the kitty cat?” Before Azul was able to come up with a good idea to turn you back… and to scam Grim… Floyd walked into the lounge.

You looked over at the eel twin and saw his smile widen as he began to approach you.

Red alert!

Danger!

Activate distraction!

Your body starts jerking again and you cough off something much larger. Something more human like…

Floyd stops in his tracks as he watches you cough up a slime covered Riddle. The poor redhead was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes filled with horror and disbelief.

At least he’s more calm now.

Floyd bursts out laughing as he sees Riddle, the laughter causing him to snap out of it and to finally take in his surroundings. Jade was intrigued by events that were unfolding. Azul stared in horror at the slime that was getting all over the lounge floor, wondering if it would stain at all.

Distraction successful!

You take this as your cue to leave, this time not even bringing Grim with you.

“H-hey! Prefect! Get back here!” Azul chases you as soon as you see an opportunity to escape the Ocavinelle dorm.

As you run, all you hear behind you is Floyd laughing at Riddle's misfortune, and Riddle trying to inform Jade on what’s happening with you.

Scarabia

“Jamil! Jamil, look!”

Jamil was currently finishing up the dishes when he heard Kalim come running into the dorm's kitchen. He lets out a sigh, mentally preparing what Kalim was going to show him. When he turned around to face the dorm leader, it wasn’t as bad as he was expecting it to be.

Kalim was holding you out to Jamil, showing you off to his best friend. You slow-blink at Jamil who only stared at you with indifference. When he looks up at Kalim, he just expresses how unimpressed he was.

“I found this cat trying to get into the dorm!”

“… and you just let them in?”

“They might be hungry and are trying to look for food!” Kalim smiles as he changes his position on holding you, now cradling you in his arms.

You weren’t hungry after your mushroom meal, but you were thirsty. Thankfully, Jamil was able to pick up on that and began to prepare of bowl of water for you. Right as he laid it out for you, Kamil was more than happy to put you down right in front of the bowl.

“Can we keep them?”

“Kalim, you don’t need a pet cat. And it would be a terrible idea to keep them in the dorm. Look how thick their fur is, they would overheat, I wouldn't be too surprised if you hadn’t found them, they would have blacked out.”

Jamil's words caused Kalim to deflate just a bit, but he was able to bounce back up. “What if we find them a new home? That way they would be taken care of and be comfortable!”

Jamil already felt a headache starting to form.

In the corner vision, you see something scitter across the kitchen counter. You lick your lips as you pick your head up the water bowl and zeroed in on the small bug…

It was a harmless beetle.

But you knew for a fact that Jamil wouldn’t think so.

When the vice house warden saw your attention drawn away from the water, he looked at what you were staring at… only to tense up when he saw the beetle.

“Kalim…”

“I see it! Don’t worry, I got it!” Kalim was more than happy to help. The sweet sunshine child went to grab a napkin and a glass cup. When Kalim retrieved his items, he turned towards the beetle and slowly began to approach the counter.

But this wasn’t just any type of beetle.

This bitch had wings.

As soon as Kalim made his first step, the thing spread its wings out and started to take off. The house warden let out a startled yelp, and Jamil was ready to scream bloody murder as he grabbed his magic pen.

As much as you would have loved to enjoy this little chaotic show, you didn’t want to be in the crossfire between Jamil and his magic.

Before any spells were casted, you opened your mouth and a large tendril slipped out and grabbed hold of the beetle, and just as quickly… you drew it back in and swallowed the thing.

Like a frog.

Both Kalim and Jamil stared down at you; the silence in the room felt loud.

“Oh! Thank you very much!” Kalim put down his items and picked you up, raising you above his head and spun around. “You wanted to help, didn’t you? That’s so sweet!”

“Kalim! That’s not an ordinary cat! Did you not see what just happen?!”

“I’m gonna name you Froggy!”

You only let out a small burp as Kalim gave you your new name, swaying you side to side.

Jamil was starting to feel that headache. Just when he was about to protest about Kalim keeping the ‘cat’ again, a familiar voice made its way into the Scarabia kitchen.

“Ah, te voilà, trickster!” Rook walks in the kitchen with ease as he strode over to Kalim who was still holding you. Kalim beams as he sees the Pomefiore Vice house warden. “Rook! What a surprise!”

Jamil took you from Kalim and presented you to Rook. “I’m guessing you're here for… this… please take them away from here.”

“Oh, why thank you! Word has spread that the Prefect has turned into an alien-like cat, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to take them to Roi du Poison.”

“THAT’S THE PREFECT?!” Jamil yells as his headache comes in at full force.

“Oui! I must go now! So thank you!” Rook doesn’t explain anything else as he whisks you away from Scarabia.

Kalim and Jamil just stand there in the kitchen, processing the quick retreat the vice Housewarden of Pomefiore made.

Jamil rubs his temples “ … I’m going to my room and taking a nap.”

“Ah, I’ll get the washcloth.”

Pomefiore

“CUT!”

Vil’s sharp voice echoes throughout the courtyard, making everyone in the Film Club stop what they were doing.

The Film Club was currently doing a short sci-fi horror scene. Vil wanted to give himself and his club members a challenge since sci-fi and horror isn’t their usual go to genre for filming. Thankfully, Ortho and Epel are helpful for stirring them in the correct direction.

“We’ve filmed this scene over and over… yet I feel like something is lacking in this… alien…”

Everyone looks over at one of the actors who was dressed up like a snake-mix-octopus-mix-crocodile.

The actor only gave Vil a little wiggle with his costume.

“Your acting is good, but the costume… I feel like I’m looking at a child's drawing come to life. Where did we get this costume again?”

“This was actually hand made…”

“So it is a child’s drawing come to life… truly a nightmare,” Vil lets out a sigh as he walks over to Ortho to go over the footage they captured. Epel was sitting off to the side to watch how everything was going.

“Roi du Poison!” Members of the Film Club looked over to see Rook. He was practically skipping over to Vil while holding a super fluffy cat. “I have found you an alien!”

Vil blanks as Rook presented you to him. You couldn’t help but slowly blink at Vil and meow at him. He didn’t look all that impressed by seeing you.

“This is a cat, Rook.”

“Oui!”

“Why, in the sevens, would this be an alien? It just looks like an ordinary cat you would find off the street.”

You were more than just a street cat!

Rook was already sensing you wanted to show off that you weren’t just some simple cat, so he took an apple out from under his hat.

Vil was ready to question him before Rook tossed it in the air.

You zeroed in on the fruit and opened your mouth, allowing the tentacle to zip out and take a hold on the apple, and bring it back to you. Students in the Film Club let out a scream as they witnessed the slimy appendage come out of your mouth. Vil didn’t really respond, but he begins to think on how to put you in the movie now.

“House Warden Vil! You have to let them in the short film!” Epel shouts enthusiastically.

“Are they trained?”

“Even better! It's actually the Prefect!” Rook smiles as he announces it was really you.

You nod to confirm it was, and that you understood what was going on.

Vil smiles as he claps his hands together, pleased with the new addition to his short film.

And that’s how you got to be the alien in Vils New Short Film. At first the Club members were a bit weary, but upon learning that you were the Ramshackle Prefect, they fully accepted you instead of just some weird cat Rook found.

Ortho kept staring at you in pure awe when the actors went to the scene to reveal the part of the alien. You let out a hiss and revealed the bunches of tentacles and tendrils, just a cluster of horrors.

Every moment when filming was over, Ortho kept doing scans over your new body. The results he kept getting back were quite curious.

You didn’t turn into an ordinary cat. And Ortho was intrigued by this, even going as far as to send his brother the scans and data he was collecting.

One of the scenes that the club needed to capture was when one of the characters gets taken away from the alien. And you happily delivered it.

By gobbling up your fellow Night Raven Classmate.

Members from the club screamed in horror from behind the scenes as they watched the poor victim be taken away in one gulp. Vil had absolutely no words to say as he watched you target the next sad victim.

“Rook, you mentioned to me offhand that they’ll be ok, right?”

“Oui! The Prefect has taken both Roi de Roses and Monsieur Fuzzball and spit them out in safe conditions!”

Vil raised an eyebrow as he stared at his vice Housewarden, “Define, in your words… ‘Safe conditions’.”

Just when Rook was going to answer Vil, you came padding along.

Then you coughed up the club members.

Both actors just laid there on the ground, looking absolutely wrecked. Meanwhile you just started cleaning yourself.

The Pomefiore Housewarden looked at his own club members with absolute disgust seeing them covered in questionable slime and saliva. “Both of you, shower… Now!” That seemed to have snapped the two members out of their small daze as they scrambled to get up and head to their dorms to freshen up.

“Vil Schoenheit,” Both Vil and Rook turn to see Ortho hovering towards them. “If it’s ok with you, after doing today's scenes, can I take the Prefect? I’ve been doing scans and collecting data on them. I got a message from Idia and he wants to check on them.”

“Well, Idia is more then welcome to have them. We are done for today anyway.” Vil glances over to you.

You were innocently laying on your back waiting for your next victim to pet your tum tum.

“The shots we’ve collected are better than I expected them to be. Prefect,” you pick your head up and look at Vil. “You did fantastic today.”

You slowly blink at him and begin to purr.

Ortho giggles as he moves over to you and gently picks you up. “Come on, Prefect, I’m going to take you to big brother. He’s quite curious about what you turned into… and he wants to play with you.”

You let out a small mew as you let Ortho float away with you. Vil waved Ortho goodbye as he looked over the footage, pleased with the results they got.

Ignihyde

“Wehehehe~ Prefect you have such soft toe beans~” Idia happily let you sit in his lap as he played with your tiny cat paws, he was even taking photos of you from all angles. You didn’t mind, you just sat there peacefully with your eyes closed and your tongue sticking out just a bit.

Ortho giggles as he secretly records his brother playing with you. It was too cute! Plus, their mom has been asking how Idia has been doing, and Idia has been dodging her questioning and all that. Now, Ortho can have something to send to her.

“The Prefect seems to be enjoying themselves, brother! It’s said that cats stick their tongue out when they want to be playful or are relaxed.” Ortho casually mentions the fact as he does another scan over your body. He floats over to Idia and shows him the x-ray scan of your body.

“There’s… no bones.”

“And I don’t seen a stomach anywhere, though I am detecting lots of tunnels reaching to different places.”

“Pocket dimensions,” Idia picks you up, holding you from under your front arms. “Wehehe~ you're an ultra find, Prefect. Like an SSR+ find!” Idia gets off his bed and places you in his gamer chair.

You blink at him with your tongue still out as you relax fully into the soft leather. You watch as Idia taps a few times on his hologram keyboard, pulling up photos from your acting scenes and the x-ray scans Ortho took.

“You can still understand what I’m saying, right? You didn’t turn into just a kitty cat with a smooth brain, right?”

You huff at that and fully sit up, meowing at Idia and flicking your paw at him as if saying “get on with whatever you're gonna say”.

“Perfect. Now, I’m gonna show you what you are… because you look like a cute kitty cat, but that’s your character armor. What you really are-,” Idia motions to his monitor, showing the x-rays. “-is a fleshy alien thing that looks like a large parasite crammed into your cat-like body.”

You stare at the X-ray certain of yourself. It should be concerning really, because how the hell did you turn into that thing? Just a few hours ago you were human, and now you're some type of… alien? Parasite?

Either way you look sick as fuck.

“You don’t seem to be that freaked out,” Ortho floats over to you.

To show you weren’t that troubled by it, you opened your mouth and let out a collage of tentacles. One shoots out to grab Idia’s opened bag of chips, causing the older Shroud to yelp. You bring it back to your mouth and fully consume it, spitting the plastic bag out when you were done with it.

“… make yourself at home I guess.”

“Ah! So you do have a stomach! I can see you digesting the chips!” Ortho exclaimed excitedly.

Ortho sends the X-ray video of you digesting the chips to Idia, making it pop up on one of the monitors. You watched with curiosity. Some would find it disgusting but for you- you just thought it was interesting seeing how your new body functioned.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind if we can do some tests on you, Prefect.” Idia begins putting on his lab gear, carefully watching your reaction.

Ok. Sure. Running some tests wasn't that big of a deal. You weren’t in a rush at the moment, and you were curious about what you are.

That all changed when you saw something that looked like a needle.

Before you had time to back away, Ortho picked you up. And you started yowling, trying to get out of his hold.

“Ah! Prefect, what’s wrong?” Idia turns to see his younger brother struggling to hold you, clearly confused on what got you all fussy.

“Ortho! What happened?!”

“I don't know! They just started acting up!”

Using the wonderful power of cat physics, you're able to escape from the younger Shroud’s hold. Your first instinct was to head towards the door… unfortunately it was closed and you didn’t know how to open doors with your toe beans.

Idia slowly approaches you from behind as you try to find another escape route. Idia then takes the chance to dive down to get you, but you dodge him and begin to scurry around the room. You run from one side to the other, hopping on Idia’s bed and then to his shelf with his Action figures.

“Prefect! You're gonna get hurt!”

“MREOW!” You run across the shelf, knocking down the figurines and making Idia freak out.

“NO! Those are limited edition!” You didn’t listen to Idia’s screams as you practically knocked off every single one of his figurines. You look around trying to find a way out of his room, and that’s when you saw it-

The vent!

A tentacle shoots out from your mouth as you rip the grate off the ceiling. You cast the grate in the general direction of Idia, hearing the sound of what remains of the merchandise fall to the floor. And Idia loud pitch shriek.

You hop onto another shelf and use another tentacle to give you leverage as you swing yourself into the vent. You left Idia and Ortho alone in the room.

Take that! No needles today!

Idia just looks at the mess on his floor, not really sure where to start. Ortho just floats over and pats him on the shoulder, knowing that his older brother was mourning the loss of several of his collectibles.

Diasomnia

When you were able to escape from Idia’s clutches, you immediately went to Diasomnia.

This should have been your first pick! Horton would be happy to help you!

When you entered through the mirror you went straight to the dorm lounge room, ignoring students in the process as they stopped to stare at the fluffy cat walking the halls. Some even tried to pet you or greet you, but you were on a mission!

Being this alien cat was all fun but now, it’s best to go back to living life like a normal human.

“Strange, what’s a cat doing here?” You were ready to ignore the student like you did the others, but this one was quick enough to pick you up.

You were ready to swat at them but stopped when you recognized them. Sebek held you from under your arms as he scrutinized you. “How did you get into Diasomnia?” He asks, and all you do is meow at him.

“No matter! I heard earlier that Master Lilia and Waka-sama were looking for a fluffy cat. Perhaps they were referring to you.”

“Mrew.” Yes! Take me to Horton!

Sebek positions you into a better way where he cradles you into his arms. You start purring immediately, which causes Sebek to stutter. “C-cease your purring! I’m just taking you to Waka-sama and then I'm putting you down!”

No complaints there!

Sebek begins to walk you over to the dorm's lounge room. And you couldn’t help yourself so you started batting at his tie. A few times Sebek scolds you, but doesn't have the heart to stop you.

Oh he would lose his head if he learned it was you, the prefect.

“Ah! Sebek, my boy! You're back, and it seems like you brought a friend!” You perk up hearing Lilia’s voice.

You see Lilia and Malleus sitting on the couch in the lounge, Silver pouring them tea and himself a cup as well. Lilia’s eye practically sparkled when he saw you, vibrating on the spot with excitement.

Oh no.

He knows.

“So you found the Prefect, good work Sebek.” Malleus praises Sebek as he takes a sip of his tea.

Sebek though stopped in his tracks. He was happy to be praised by his young master! But learning that it was you that he was cradling this whole time…

He drops you without thinking.

Silver was ready to take his pen out and have you land safely on the ground, but you landed perfectly fine on all fours.

Thanks to your cat-like reflexes.

“P-prefect?! Why didn’t you say anything?!” Sebek yelled at you. You only give him a glare and start batting at his foot, basically telling him you weren’t happy for the fact he dropped you!

Lilia starts cackling watching the exchange between the two of you. When you were done with fighting Sebek’s shoe, you began your walk over to the couch where everyone seemed to be resting and hop on the coffee table.

You don’t stay there for long until Lilia scoops you in his arms, twirling you around like Kalim did. “Ah! You're just so cute now, Prefect!”

Is he saying you weren’t before?

In response to that, you place your paw on his nose, causing Lilia to laugh more. Malleus hums as he watches, Silver on the other hand was starting to doze off after he took one sip from his tea.

“How long has it been since you transformed, child of man?” Malleus asked as he placed his own teacup and saucer on the coffee table.

You try thinking about how long it’s been. It had to be no more than several hours, right? Then again, you did notice how it was getting darker in the Diasomnia dorm. Didn’t you drink that potion this morning???

“Based on your silence, it’s been a whole day.” Lilia nods to his own conclusion as you try wiggling out of his hold.

A whole day?! Nope! You gotta change NOW!

“Fear not my dear friend,” Malleus gets up from his place from the couch and makes it way over to you and Lilia. Lilia smiles as he holds you out to Malleus.

“Meow?”

“As cute as you are in this form, I would prefer to have my best friend back to normal.” And with that said Malleus places his hand on your head, letting a bright green light come from his hand.

In a blink of an eye, you turn back to normal…

With Lilia still holding you up by under your arms.

“I like to be put down now…”

“Aw, but I’m still having fun!” You let out a shriek as Lilia spins you once again. Malleus couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he watched the two of you.

Silver was fully asleep now, and Sebek only stared at his hands in horror.

“I was cradling them the whole time in their cat form…”

“Were they ever truly a cat though?” Sebek whipped his head to look at Silver who spoke in his sleep.

Nobody truly understood what you were. What you turned into it.

All they hope is that it never happens again…

“Oh gods, my stomach…” you were back in Ramshackle, laying in your bed and holding your stomach. You were feeling such immense pain after leaving Diasomnia. You did eat a lot of things today in that other form, and spitting stuff out as well.

Grim was currently pouring you a glass of Bubble Soda, and set down some crackers by your nightstand… not without swiping some first. “Mrah, Silver told me this would help you with your tummy ache. How you should still eat something along with the medication he gave.” Grim hands you the packet he got from second year.

God bless Silver. Lilia did cook horrible meals, so it made sense Silver would have these on hand.

You thanked Grim as you popped a pill into your mouth and slowly drank the soda Grim messily poured.

He tried.

“I’m really sorry about today… it’s my fault you turned into some weird cat thing…” Grim apologized awkwardly as he sat at the edge of your bed.

You let out a huff and grab the dire beast by the scruff of his neck, making him yelp in surprise as you wrap your arms around him.

“I forgive you, Grim. Don’t sweat it that much, ok? You didn’t know, and you made a mistake, it happens! So don’t beat yourself over it.”

Grim whines from your hug but lets you awayway, wrapping his paws around your neck to hug you back. You also promised yourself that night that you were going to double check everything before you consume it.

Can’t have you turning into an alien cat thing again…

Unless to torture Crowley, then you would be down to do that.

[tarotlexa]

PICK A PILE READING- why are they so obsessed with you?

welcome back! <3 this is for those who keep being watched by quiet stalkers, ex friends, ex partners and so on. pick a pile and find out why they can't stop obsessing over your energy <3

this is a collective reading so take what resonates and leave what does not! much much luv <3

⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　.

.　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　　　　　　　　*

　　　　　⠀　　　　⠀　　,

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　 ���　⠀　　　⠀.　

　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.

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　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀　

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　　　˚　　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　.

　.⠀　　⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀,

　　　*　　⠀.

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　˚　　　　　　　　　　　　　　*

.⠀ 　　　　　　　　　　.　　　　　　　　.

　　　　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　    　　　　　　　　.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀✦ ⠀ ⠀　　　　　　　　　　　　　　⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀* ⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀✦⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　　　　　　　　　.　　　ﾟ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　✦ 　　　　　,　　　　　　　.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　.

.　　　　　　　　　　　　　. 　　✦⠀　   　　　,　　　　　　　　　*

　　　　　⠀　　　　⠀　　,

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀.　　　　　 　　⠀　　　⠀.　

　　˚　　　⠀　⠀  　　,　　　　　　.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　.

　　　　　　*⠀　　⠀  　　　　　⠀✦⠀　

　　　　　　*　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　.

　　　　.　　　　.　　　

　　　　　　　　　　　.

　　　˚　　　　　　　　ﾟ　　　　　.

　.⠀　⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀‍⠀,

　　　　　✦⠀　   　　　,

pile 1: they say your name like a curse but stalk you like a prayer. you literally live in their head rent free, this is someone who wanted to play power games with you. instead, you chose peace and that's what infuriates them in the first place. they're stuck in the way they secretly crave your presence, they keep dreaming about you and the more that happens, the more they want to stalk. they probably use multiple accounts too lmao they mimic your words, study your photos, watch you win with clenched jaws and wide eyes. they're obsessed with you because you escaped them. they like feeling in control but you didn't give them any and that surprised them because they thought you'd submit to them too. they thought you'd shrink yourself to keep the peace but you disengaged. you refused to play. with the ace of cups being here, your self love is now overflowing and they want back in. they're never going to admit that tho <3

pile 2: this one stings, this is someone from your past who truly had access to your soul and your secrets, like a very close friend or a partner. but they fumbled you. now they're obsessed with the memory of you like 'i had it so good and i didn't even know back then', it's a mix of regret, guilt and longing. the six of cups relates to the innocence of what you once shared, they truly felt loved by you. you fed their ego. the five of cups shows how badly they mourn you, every new version of you reminds them of what they're missing out on, they feel stuck in the old version of themself. with the lovers, the obsession is rooted in choice because you finally chose yourself over them, you cut your cord with them. you broke the spell they placed on you. you were home to them and now they feel homeless. lmao

pile 3: you turned betrayal into something better and now they can't compete. you had a MAJOR glow up, this person or group tried to destroy your confidence multiple times in sneaky ways. they fed lies to your environment, gossiped behind your back and twisted the truth. they made you doubt yourself. something inside you didn't die, it went hiding but when it came back, it came back like a rising phoenix. powerful energy. the moon shows that they're still drowning in projection, confusion and guilt. they don't understand you anymore and that scares them because how else are they supposed to have an advantage over you? they tried to finish you with the 10 of swords being here but you came back better, prettier and scarier. you stepped into a version of yourself that knows exactly what they're worth, this person or people feel small in your shadow. they thought they won but now that they realized that they lost they don't know how to deal with it. keep walking with your head high queen. let them watch and spiral.

thank you for reading and supporting <3

[beifong-brainrot]

I need a gun because how is Katara not winning by a landslide

Katara helped Raise Korra, train her in her first element, incorporating not only combat techniques, but also valuable skills and aspects of their culture like healing. She went on to oversee Korra's training even after she graduated to the other elements, and when she saw that Korra was losing steam, she intuited that Korra needed to leave. She encouraged her to do so, and I know that meant a lot to Korra. Especially as everyone else insisted on handling Korra and trying to control her (even with good intentions), Katara was the one who encouraged Korra to take her destiny into her own hands.

Katara : Aang's time has passed. My brother and many of my friends are gone. It's time for you and your generation to take over the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world. And I think you're going to be a great Avatar. Korra : [Hugs Katara.] Thank you. Katara: [Close-up of Katara's face, still smiling with her eyes closed.] Goodbye, Korra.

Katara was there from day fucking one, and her and Korra's bond is a treat to observe. Its also so visible in how Korra carries herself, her values and opinions, that Katara had a huge part in shaping the person Korra is. They're both confident, strong women with a firm belief in their ideals, and a burning desire to help others.

Korra: But I couldn't just sit by and do nothing. It's my duty to help people.

And this is all not even getting into the fact that Katara helped Korra walk again, healing her physically and starting her on her mental health journey. Without Katara, Korra wouldn't have even been able to make it to Toph!

And this still remains one of the most powerful scenes in the entire Avatar franchise to me. It is such a wonderful crowning of Katara's core character traits- hope and resilience. That stubborn, unyielding faith in the good in the world and belief that things will get better because you will make it so- this scene reminded me why Katara is my favourite character in atla, and how important she is to both shows.

This scene is also so wonderful about Korra's character, and I know so many people struggling with mental issues resonated with her here. And I know that Katara's words meant a lot to them, as they did to me and to Korra.

Also, I just adore that Katara's necklace seems to have Raava's pattern on it, it's just such a cool detail and it really makes sense for these two to be symbollicaly intertwined in Korra's story.

And not to discredit Toph, because there is some merit to be found in her time with Korra, and it is ultimately what helped Korra heal. But also beating up a 20 year old for a few weeks, not too long after said 20 year old was paraplegic seems like a steep price for a few nuggets of wisdom.I also have personal gripes with how this part of the show was handled but thats neither here nor there.

[dazedantics]

Pt 2: One Sided Rivalry Mark Grayson x Reader

Pt 1 here

You watched Mark for a long time after your realization.

He was still an idiot, still happy for no reason, still clingy, still the Markus you've always known.

You started to tune in to his babbling as you walked together. It was nothing important, as it rarely is. You started to walk him home after school. He shifted around nervously, like he always does. You started looking at him, really looking at him.

He still acted like a dork, dressed like one. Still shifted on his heels, still rubbed his arm or his neck subconciously when he stood in place, still gestured passionately as he brought up his favorite topics. Still talked even if you didn't jump into the conversation.

"... Yeah! And like, I still don't understand the direction they're going with the plot. I mean, Seance Dog is supposed to be loveable, not all gritty. But, I mean, I hear they've held back on releasing the next volume cause the feedback they've been getting, so hopefully that means there'll just be a full rewrite. Cause like-!"

Yeah, and you still had no idea what he was going on about.

You just leaned against the locker, arms crossed, eyes scanning him up and down.

Hair fluffed and slicked back, shirt not quite tucked but still layered modestly and stain-free, cologne not overbearing but still leaving a pleasant waft. He cleaned up pretty nice, better than most boys in high school anyway.

You looked down at your own apparel. Did you look like you were trying as hard as he was?

When you looked up again, one of the jocks with too much pride and too little to show for it was headed your way.

Mark, busy going on about whatever he was, didn't notice as the guy came from behind.

"Hey, Grayson!"

Mark sighed, giving you a look like 'here we go again,' before turning 'round. "Hey, Jake. Don't you have a game to loose or something? Or was there a different reason coach has been benching you lately? C'mon, Y/N, we should go."

Mark barely took a step away before being yanked back.

"Don't turn your back on me." He took Mark by his collar and shoved him against the metal lockers. "You're actin' pretty brave. I take it that means Y/N hasn't beat your ass today? That's okay, I'll do it for them."

Mark scrunched his nose, eyes shut as he braced for the punch.

It took the pained grunt from Mark as Jake's fist breached his gut, arm winding up for a second blow, for you to move.

Your brows narrowed, knuckles locking with his jaw before you could blink.

"Don't fucking touch him." Your voice held a type of conviction you'd never felt before.

Jake stumbled back, hand cradling his face as his gaze turned to you. He was shocked.

Everyone was. Mark against the locker, students lingering in the hall. You.

"The hell was that for?"

"Get out of here Jake, before you end up with more than a bruise."

His expression hardened, cheeks red as his eyes flitted to your audience. "What? You think cause you beat up this dweeb all the time, you can handle me? Babe, I'm twice your size, I'd snap you in half before you got a chance to try that again." Then he smirked. "Or maybe you'd like that?"

He didn't get a chance to say more before you flipped him over your shoulder and started punching, blow after blow, knuckles growing red and sore.

The hall was loud, students shouting, Jake cursing, ears ringing.

You would've kept going if the teachers hadn't come to pull you off of him.

He was red and embarrassed, nose an ugly purple with blood seeping into his gummy teeth. You didn't get a chance to respond to his curses as you were led away to the principal's office.

Just like old times.

You hadn't expected Mark to be waiting just outside the door when you got out.

"Hey! What'd he say? Were you suspended or something?"

He looked normal for the most part. Didn't hunch like stomach hurt or anything. That was good.

"The bell rang a while ago. Get to class."

Mark handed you your bag, shifting his own over his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Teacher doesn't care where I am anyway, but I said I had to see the nurse. Are you okay? You didn't need to do any of that."

You started down the hall, the emptiness unusual but welcome. Your raised your hand. Red and seeming to swell. Hurt, of course, but nothing major. You'd be fine.

"I'll be fine."

Mark winced, taking your hand gently in his. "Ouch. Maybe we should get you some ice."

His hands were soft, careful. Nails trimmed, a few paper cuts along his fingers. Warm. He brushed a thumb along your knuckles. So light, you barely felt it.

"I said I'd be fine. I wasn't the one who got punched."

He chuckled breathily. "Yeah ... Jake's been teary since you left. Think you broke his nose."

"Good."

Mark looked up at you again, not seeming to have any plans to let you go soon.

He licked his lips, sweet brown eyes worrying over you.

"... did you do it for me?"

"What?"

What..?

"You said 'don't touch him?' Him, me. Dont touch me. Is that ...? It's just, you never ... you never stopped people when they pushed me around before. And you were usually there when it happened so ...."

You felt strange the longer you listened to him. "It's happened before?"

"Y-yeah?" Mark looked confused. "You're kinda the reason it started, remember?"

You felt struck. A sharp, uncomfortable pain in your chest as you remembered how readily you used to beat him up like that. How often you did it.

It's been a while since the last time, sure. And you had never saw anyone else do it to him in front of you, at least that you remember. But you did remember vaguely how he'd tell you about something hurting him. How sometimes he'd show up late to your meet up points.

Then, you had just been greatful he was missing. Now you just wonder how bad things had got for him.

Did he tell you before that he was getting beat? Is that why he never did anything when you'd hit him?

Your stomach churned. You felt ill.

"I gotta go."

"Y/N! Wait!"

You never walked faster, the tight ache beneath your ribs growing painful. Your skin was clammy, gut bubbling like a storm decided to brew in your innards. It felt hard to look at the boy you'd try hard to avoid before. Except, it wasn't cause of annoyance of disgust like then. You weren't quite sure what it was.

Your hands felt numb.

Numb and yet you could still feel the soft ghost of Mark's hold around them.

[sunderious]

Really bad 😥

48% of my station's budget comes from federal funding. There are stations more rural than ours who depend on the government even more.

This isn't just a luxury- in some areas, PBS and NPR are among the only broadcast channels that people even get. They're a vital source of news, educational content, and entertainment for rural populations. More importantly, they are essential parts of the Emergency Alert System, which is one of the few ways to warn people about dangerous weather or other local disasters.

They're important in cities, too. PBS KIDS programming has high standards that other networks lack. In fact, the majority of kids shows on our channel nowadays actually have a child psychologist on staff to advise how to handle certain topics. Numerous studies indicate that PBS KIDS programming can significantly improve a child's reading, math, and phonics skills. PBS stations also have considerable public outreach programs (mine gives away free school supplies and free haircuts to as many kids as possible every year, among other free events), and PBS stations are by and large the creators and curators of documentaries and content about local areas whose history might not otherwise be preserved.

Conservatives have had public media in their crosshairs for a long time, and we have all been gearing up for a fight in Congress since the election. They're not only targeting future funding here, but trying to revoke funds that have already been approved.

This executive order certainly isn't legal, but we all know that won't stop him. This will be fought through the courts. In the meantime, please sign the Protect My Public Media petition, call your representatives and urge them to support public broadcasting, and if you can spare the money, consider donating to your local PBS station.

Passport, the PBS streaming service, is only $5 a month (which goes directly towards your local station) and provides you with our entire library of really high quality educational television (that's still entertaining!) AS WELL AS all of our kids programming. That is MUCH cheaper than other streaming services and you know the money is going towards a good cause.

If you live in a big city or a left-leaning area, consider donating to a rural station or somewhere smaller, as they will likely be hit harder by this. But really, any donation to any station is helpful.

Support public media! Don't let the far right silence journalists just because they don't like what we report!

…Not good. (And not legal, if I read the situation correctly.) 😡

[keirareidss]

a little blurb with spencer based on this photo (tell me spencer wouldn't read to his partner while they're in the bath)

wc: 0.5k

You laid in the bathtub after a long day, a few candles strewn around the room for ambiance. You were just thinking about how you wished Spencer was here when you heard the front door open. An instinctual smile spread across your face, your eyes still closed. A few minutes go by before you hear a soft knock on the door and Spencer calls your name.

"Come in." You say, opening your eyes as the door creaks open.

"Hey, am I interrupting?" Spencer asks with a small grin.

"Not at all."

"You look comfortable." He says.

"Mm, I am. I almost fell asleep."

"Don't do that. You might drown."

"Well that's why I have my pretty boyfriend to watch over me."

"Oh yeah?" He smiles and you nod. He hums, crouching down next to the bathtub.

"How was work?" You asked.

"It was fine." He shrugs as he reaches forward, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, the rest of it tied up in a bun on the back of your head, and he finds himself with an urge to kiss you silly. "How was your day?"

"Good. Better now." You smiled at him.

"How long do you think you're gonna be in here?" He asks, stroking the side of your face, finding any excuse to touch you.

"Why, did you want to shower?"

"No, I wanna cuddle." He says, his cheeks turning pink.

"Well you could always join me." You suggest with a grin. He chuckles, unable to resist anymore, leaning in to kiss your lips.

"Tempting." He says and you know his is politely declining your offer.

"Well if you're not getting in, could you read to me?" You asked, giving him those puppy dog eyes that he could never say no to.

"Alright. Do you have a preference?" He asks, standing from his crouch.

"I liked the one we were reading last night."

"Okay. I'll be right back." He bends down, pressing a kiss to your forehead. You smile, closing your eyes again and resting you head on the lips of the tub while you waited. Spencer came back a minute later, holding a book in his hand. He sat in the chair at the foot of the bath, opening the book. You turn onto your stomach in the bathtub, resting your arms on the edge and putting your chin on them to look at him. Spencer pauses, looking up from the book. "Are you going to stare at me the whole time?" He asks, getting flustered just thinking about it.

"Mhm. You're too handsome not to." He chuckles, shaking his head. He finds his place in the book where you left off last night and starts reading. Your eyes eventually flutter closed, a sense of comfort washing over you as your boyfriend's voice lulled you into a peaceful sleep.

[danieyells]

Upcoming Cards!

Woah, two cards this time?? I wonder if they're both coming out today or if one is for Monday. . .it'd be nice if we had more of a warning this time. . . .

The City cards return with Kaito! And we get a glimpse into Jiro's bedroom in his Room card!! Based on the encyclopedia order I think Jiro's comes out first assuming they both don't come out today?

I don't have a lot of commentary today lol i feel like i normally yap more lately. . . . .if you're wondering what made this take so long there's a fucking mosquito in my room that keeps buzzing in my ears and distracting me lol

Who allowed him to be so cute. Baby. Also in the character card he looks like he's not as close to the wall as he thinks and he's going to fall backwards into it while trying to make himself look cool leaning hehehe

Character Card: Sweet Snowball(「氷菓が恋で溶ける前に」  "Before The Ice Cream Melts With Love") Skill: Idle Days(「他愛ない日常」  "Trifling Daily Life") Fully Awakened Skill: Trending Sweets(「流行りのスイーツ」  "Trending Sweets") Warding Card: Chaos Combo Pair Shot(「騒音ツーショット」  "Noisy Two-Shot" apparently "twoshot" is usually used for photos of couples alone together lolol)

FEET FOR FREE!! His hair being lighter in his character card makes him look a bit like Romeo lmaoooo he doesn't look relaxed at all! Why is he planking! He's beautiful af tho tbh he looks so soft in the warding card. . . .

Character Card: Blurred Vision(「ぼやける視線の先には」  "Beyond The Blurred Vision") Skill: Morning Dizzyness(「朝のめまい」  "Morning Dizziness") Fully Awakened Skill: Nap After An All-Nighter(「徹夜明けの快眠」  "Sleeping Well After Staying Up All Night") Warding Card: Reading Light(「窓から差し込む読書灯」  "Reading Light Streaming Through The Window")

New cosmic bonds! As usual I don't know what cards are in these, although they often involve the cards coming out.

Someone To Lean On (「頼れる背中」  "Reliable Backs")

Complete Cast (「役者は揃い」  "The Actors Are All Assembled") is this going to be. . .one of every single ghoul. . .please say it's the R cards. . . . .

Sinostra Savegery (「暴虐のシノストラ」  "The Atrocities Of Sinostra" could also be read "Tyranny of Sinostra". And yes the official english 'savagery' is misspellt lmao)

That's everything today! I'm gonna hopefully sleep without getting bit by this mosquito and maybe I will see you all Monday! Happy May to those who observe the Gregorian Calendar!

Remember that gacha is gambling and gambling is a serious addiction! All cards rerun eventually, so please moderate your spending and keep to reasonable limits if you choose to spend! If you find yourself struggling with gacha or gambling addiction(or any other addiction!) please know that help is out there. Reach out!

My reading comprehension is better than my listening comprehension in Japanese but I'm still heavily reliant on my dictionary so please take my translations with a grain of salt!

Eat well, sleep well, and try and live as carefree as you can, no matter the situation you find yourself in. It's harder and harder, I know. But try and find some time for silliness and good rest.

Here are the stats to send us off!

[knight-of-flowerss]

Nerd!Cregan brothers best friend type situation like Jace’s twin sister and obviously even in the au she’s the princess-esque type, rich family, cregan and jace she thinks are losers but like her and cregan actually make such a sweet couple like ugh him rambling about a game and she’s like babe i really dont give a fuck or understand but i love you so im listening (but really she’s just drooling over his bicep as he waves it around explaining some anime shit)

NERDS HAVE THE BIGGEST DICKS OKAY???

HEHEHEH YESSSS I LOVE NERDS OH MY GOD 😭🙏

Sorry but she's deffo his childhood bully💀 "dad, how did you meet mom?" "Oh, she would cut my hair and chase me and your uncle around with a knife when we were little.. hm.. good days.." and kids are like wtf- 😀🧍‍♀️

This is lowkey a brain dump of Nerd/Geek!Cregan, would love to write a more story like one but I just HAD to do a brain dump lmao

Also I have three different geeky things mentioned in here, 1 is Demon Slayer, 2 is Star Wars and 3 is a poem and if y'all can tell me what poem, I'll give you a lollipop or something or like a fic idk girl

MDNI 18+!!!

MASTERLIST

"So- Tanjiro and Nezuko are siblings, yeah? Their whole family gets killed by a demon and Nezuko gets turned into one! And there's these people- they're called demon slayers - they kill these demons and like protect everyone and-" At this point, you had zoned out. He was just sat there rambling on about Demon killer or Slayer demon or whatever the fuck it is.

Your loud smacks are heard through his yapping, the chewing gum becoming a weird, warm, melted texture in your mouth since it'd been there for so long.

Cregan was hot. So fucking hot. But goddamn, sometimes you had to tune him out.

Like, even during sex you have to shut him up.

You're actually surprised he isn't more quiet during sex. He's fucking his best friends little sister and all he can do is whine and moan. I mean, I think he got it from you though.

The first time you fucked him, it was his finals week. Non-stop revision for the overwhelmed nerd. Physics or chemistry or whatever confusing science shit he did - it had a specific name - fell on deaf ears.

You had asked him about it, to put his mind off of cumming too fast. Virgin. So he rambled on and on about endless science-y things, even getting so engrossed to the point that he had kind of forgotten that he had one of the hottest chicks in school bouncing on his cock like her life depended on it.

But his whines and moans were the best, literally music to your fucking ears. This was never supposed to happen. Never. He was this whiney little bitch boy that she's known since all three of them were in nappies.

You were there when he wet himself at Jenny D'Minco's sixth birthday party and everyone laughed at him, you included. You were there when he cried over the fact that you crumpled his favourite Pokémon card when he was eight. You were there when he busted his nose trying to impress a girl at the roller rink when she was sixteen and he was barely twelve.

You were even there the first time he came in his pants. 15 years old, surrounded by hot, older girls in bikinis at a pool party and one rubbed up on him? Yeah, he was a gonner before he even registered it.

Watching him grow up, seeing all the awkward shit that made him a 'nerd' and a 'geek', etc, should've given you the ick, it really should've. Especially since he was three years younger that you, but you're a nasty bitch deep down inside.

You lied to yourself. Telling yourself you didn't like him. That he was weird and an incel. But god, you'd be lying if you said that watching him jerk off in the bathroom sink when he thinks he's all alone in the house didn't turn you on to the fucking max.

But he had joined University. Left everyone behind. And so did your younger brother. He left a scrawny, whiney bitch that you wanted to jump the bones of but held yourself back, and came back a fucking man that could probably do curls with your full weight and not even break a sweat.

Safe to say, your panties didn't survive that one.

He had grown more confident over those few years too, truly finding himself at Uni. As if he wasn't himself already. But he just felt more comfortable in his own skin.

And back to where we began. Anime. Fucking anime. This man rambles about anime when he should be choking you out with his bicep as he fucks you from behind. But noooo, you're fuck buddies with the bloody BFG who refuses to hurt you.

After what seems like hours to you - it was really just three hours, I mean, how inconsiderate y'all, it ain't even that long 🙄 - he finally paid attention to you.

"And Anakin gets sent to protect Padmè in Naboo, which is obviously where they finally admit they love each other, until Padmè like- rejects him! To keep each other safe, but still!-" Your spit drools down his arm as his fingers delve into your warmth. It doesn't even seem to phase him, the fact that he's finger fucking you blind.

He has some YouTube video on in the background, showing the timeline of Anakin and Padmè and their love story, a Jedi and a former Queen turned Senator- God! You're actually learning some of this bullshit!

A high pitched moan escapes you before you can help it as his fingers find that one spot that makes your legs turn into jelly and your eyes roll back into your head.

And this fucker doesn't bat an eye.

"I think the way they had Padmè's funeral is so interesting- I mean, they literally posed her to still look pregnant, no one knew Luke and Leia were even born! They literally protected them from Anakin- Vader, since birth!" He gushes, grinning at the fact. He didn't find the fact that she was dead enjoyable or anything, he just appreciated the time and effort put into the fifth and sixth episode, the extra details making it so much better.

Cregan's gaze finally flicks down to you and his smile goes from wide and endearing to soft and affectionate. "Gods.. you look so beautiful right now sweet'eart.." Yep. That did it. Him looking into your eyes as he calls you "sweetheart" in that thick accent of his? Oh, you were a gonner before you even realised it.

With a loud whine, your thighs clamp around his arm, trembling slightly as you utter a soft "fuck.." under your breath. And then the part you love the most, his fucking whimpering.

No matter what you do together, no matter how loud or quiet you are, Cregan always has a reaction when you cum. Always. Whimpering and whining as his lip catches between his front teeth and his eyebrows furrow.

Also, don't get me STARTED on when you haven't seen him in a while and you're finally alone. Literally bones = jumped.

He weeps softly, tearing streaming down his face as his hips buck up, whimpers slipping from his lips involuntarily as you suck him off. Well, he always cried when you do. Probably one of the hottest things he does.

You're evil too, you don't even let him cum. Just leaving him high and dry until he finally musters up the courage to treat you how you oh so desire.

I mean, dominant Cregan groaning and moaning in your ear as he pounds into your cunt is fucking amazing and all but, riding him is just so much better.

His thick girth filled you up perfectly, each ridge catching on your gummy walls. "A-and.. the Duke kills the Duchess- well.. fuck- ah!.. He gets jealous and- shit!"

He gets so loud that you have to clamp your hand over his mouth, gripping his cheeks firmly as you ground your hips, teasing him just enough.

You love your geeky fuck buddy- I mean like! You like him.. but he's hotter when he can't shut up, drunk on your pussy.

Tags: @thethreeeyed-raven @lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom @cryinonthefloor553 @visenyablackwood @velaryyon

[masoncantthinkofaname]

Hi!! I hope you haven't answered this but how do you feel about time ratios? Like 1 CR hour is 1 week in ur DR that stuff; I feel like there's no good balance because if I want to spend a while in my dr will I come back in the middle of the day while I'm doing something important?

Also, I've seen a lot of tiktoks about people saying that they can't remember anything from their CR after they come back or that it's super draining. This bothers me because if I shift on a weekend before an exam or test will I forget everything I've learned? This sounds so stupid but please bear with me 😭

Time ratios don't exist! They're made up. Not because you can't script a time to come back to, but because time itself doesn't exist, there's no ''I spent 1 week in my dr so an hour passed in my cr.'' There's just the intention that, when you spent a certain amount of time in your dr, you want a corresponding amount of time to have passed in your cr. Which can really be anything!

Personally I basically always shift (back) to the exact moment I left. You can shift back to the past, future. No need to worry yourself about time ratios, you will come back to the exact moment you want to come back to.

You won't forget anything when you come back, nor will you be drained unless you believe you will be. Shifting isn't a mental or physical action, it doesn't take any energy. The only thing is that, especially if you shift for a long time, you might be a little overwhelmed with all the memories when coming back. For me personally it often takes a couple of minutes or hours to completely adjust again. But that's also because I often shift for years at a time.

You can always intend you won't have any issues, and you won't! It's your experience, it's completely customisable. You will remember everything from your cr once you're back here, I can guarantee you that.

[lemotmo]

I do get this. It was an incredibly frustrating episode for sure but I can see this.

Q. I guess I don't know what I was expecting because I have no idea what I just watched. It didn't feel like an actual episode, if that makes sense. Everyone felt slightly off and I just don't know what the reason for doing it that way was.

A. No this makes sense, anon. I said to a couple of people last night that the episode felt like the coma dream episode in terms of the way the scenes were shot and staged. It did feel slightly not reality based, which I do think was intentional. Before I go further I am going to say that for the most part I think I get what they were trying to do. I just think, as usual with Tim, he's not the virtuoso genius filmmaker he fancies himself as being, and so the execution of his grand ideas get lost in translation. Which is insanely frustrating as a viewer. The other thing I will say is making Tim and Kristen the writers for this episode specifically was the wrong choice. They each do certain things well, and other things incredibly poorly. I hoped writing together would benefit the script because what each of them struggle with the other one usually does pretty well. That was not the case here. The show is trying to pull off a long con for lack of a better way to say it. Lab Rats was the setup to the con, Bobby's death. The Last Alarm was the hidden in plain sight reveal of what the con is, Bobby's casket being empty and him being held somewhere else without the family's knowledge. Using the arson case of the dead child was a clever way to reveal the con but the success of pulling something like that off requires nuance and structure within the writing, and unfortunately that is the writing struggle Tim and Kristen have in common. Neither one of them can write nuance or stick to a proper writing structure. They can slam you over the head with foreshadowing, and they very much did in this episode, but foreshadowing cannot be the only writing tool and in this case they used it for everything. That doesn't work with an episode like this. Spending more than half the episode on a case, that on face value ended up serving as only a distraction for Athena, was an insane decision. Yes they had to establish the con in a way that wasn't obvious but a stronger writer could have done that in half the screen time, and this show has those writers on staff, but Tim and Kristen are not those writers.

Moving on, I did not hate this episode, I can see and appreciate what he's trying to do even if the execution is beyond frustrating. First I will say this is the Athena I love. She was amazing in this episode. This is how she's supposed to be written as a character. The RoboCop vigilante bullshit they usually saddle her with is not the way to go for her. The Athena of this episode is the sweet spot and Angela was unsurprisingly spectacular. Kenny was equally brilliant. I absolutely understand Chimney being the 118 character focus for this episode given what we saw in Lab Rats. Kenny is a wildly underappreciated actor and when he's given the room to shine he absolutely kills it. He's so good to watch. Letting Athena and Chimney take center stage was understandable, just not for the episode that was supposedly Bobby's farewell, again though I think that was intentional.

I also really liked the brief bits of Hen and Karen and Hen and Athena that we got in this episode. Hen and Karen's relationship is always nice to see because they're beautiful together and Hen and Athena's friendship should have more focus than it gets because their friendship is really layered and lovely. I enjoyed those moments. The brief May and Harry moments were nice to see as well. Hopefully we get more of them next season.

Which brings me to Buck and Eddie. First of all I love that Buck, even in the context of this episode, was so excited to reveal Eddie's return to Ravi, and the audience, as a surprise kind of thing. I like that they let that moment exist even though it didn't really fit the episode, but it absolutely would be something Buck would feel like was a good ta da surprise kind of thing. I'm glad they let that moment be. And Eddie looked amazing, dear god I knew it was him from the stills but I still squealed when I saw him. I missed him tremendously. The show using Ravi as a kind of barrier to prevent the audience from seeing Buck and Eddie alone was a really interesting choice as well given what Ravi has always represented on this show. I know we all live Ravi but since his introduction Ravi has always been and used as the physical manifestation of Buck's trauma. He pops up in episodes where Buck is feeling abandoned or left behind so Ravi being present in that scene as well as being the hug the audience saw Eddie give someone was a really interesting choice. The Buck and Eddie of it all was small but there was a lot within that one scene. The colors they were wearing. Buck's one line of dialogue to Eddie being 'but you're here now', Eddie eating one of Buck baked goods even though had no idea what it actually was, but it was Buck's so he ate it. Buck's entire game right now is avoidance. He's trying to do the one thing his captain asked of him, be there for his family, so Buck is purposely pushing his own feelings about everything to the side for now. Those feelings include everything that has come up about what he might really feel for Eddie. Placing Ravi in the middle of the scene was a good way to show that neither Buck nor Eddie are ready for that conversation yet. But it is inevitably coming. And when you try to avoid something the universe has a way of screaming at you until you obey. A long standing theme for Buck and Eddie. I do think episode 17 will see Eddie and Hen focus and I expect to see something from Eddie in that episode because I do think the Buck and Eddie moment of reckoning is coming in the season finale.

I think the episode felt not real for a reason. I don't think Bobby is really dead but I think Tim is trying to push most of this to the season finale given the criticism of last season's finale. I think we will have the Bobby reveal, Maddie going into labor, and the Buddie moment in that one episode. Hence the episode title being Sesmic Shifts.

Thank you Nonny! I really needed this post in my inbox today. 🤗

I'm going to let this speak for itself. I already talked about these topics in my other posts and I've got nothing new to add here.

Just this:

I'm already looking forward to the next episode. I can't help it. 🤷‍♀️ I love this show too much. I just NEED some more Eddie, preferably in some more speaking scenes this time. 🙄😋

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[incognitopolls]

Submission day! Remember to check whether your submissions are on-topic (here's a list of some general question types we don't take).

Also a quick reminder that polls go into the queue when submitted, they're not posted the same day! If there are any submissions about today's date, they probably won't make it out. We've been consistently running about a month-long queue, so if you have any questions specific to late May or early June, now is a good time to submit those!

[ohnoproblems]

Would you be so kind as to recommend a few power metal albums by trans women? Seeing as Bandcamp Friday is coming up and it would be good to see what sorts of tracks I'm going to have to produce.

there is a hole in the cultural tapestry that the Encouraging Trans Women's Power Metal Concept Albums Metric (ETWPMCAM) seeks to address. my prior investigations haven't come up with much, unfortunately, but there is something out there. allow me to point you towards the artists Alicia Cordisco, Leona Hayward, and Melissa Moore (okay melissa doesn't strictly do power metal but she's cool). if you look at their current and prior bands you'll see a whole lot to dig into (with particular nods towards Judicator and Skelator and with the caveat that Absu is a complicated one because when moore came out as trans, the other member was a shithead about it so she left and took the bulk of musical talent with her).

moore's current band is Sonja, with one album released: Loud Arriver. i'm listening to it right now and lemme tell you: it fucking rips. bandcamp tags suggest she categorizes her stylings as more on the heavy/trad end of metal with a frisson of goth and post-punk. between this and the fact that the album's lyrics do not mention a single named princess, it is sadly exempt from counting towards a positive ETWPMCAM hit. she's still on the hook. but listen to it anyway, it fucking rips.

cordisco and hayward have collaborated quite a bit in several bands spanning several genres (i'm currently savoring the chance to dig into Wraithstorm once i finish listening to all this power metal), but most relevant to the metric are Justicar and the now-defunct Project: Roenwolfe. i'm cranking P:R's Edge of Saturn for the first time as we speak. it's pretty cool. across three albums, they included three parts (one apiece) of an overarching "Saturn Saga", totaling 16:55 of runtime.

if Project: Roenwolfe had continued that pace of inclusion, then in another 3-4 albums they would have reached the 40 minute minimum runtime bound for concept albums as necessitated by the ETWPMCAM. though maybe that strategy would only count if they had then put out some sort of Saturn Saga Compilation that combined all extant and hypothetical tracks into one continuous narrative. much to consider.

justicar's debut album promises to be an adaptational retelling of timothy zahn's trilogy of novels about grand admiral thrawn for the star wars extended universe. this is excellent news for the metric, but it's not out yet - though they do have an EP out about a different timothy zahn novel. i'm listening now. it's killer. adaptations count as concepts for the purposes of the ETWPMCAM imho as long as they're dedicating at least, again, 40 minutes of album runtime towards laying it out.

now leona hayward, she's got a band called Owlbear. i'm listening to it right now, as we speak. it's blowing my tits clean off. i'm looking at the lyrical content and i'm seeing songs about D&D (including the Dark Sun setting), i'm seeing record of lodoss war, i'm seeing fire emblem - there's a broad net here and they're casting it to fill two albums with absolutely rippin' miscellany. if they tighten the lens of focus to a single concept, then we at the ETWPMCAM tabulation office will have ourselves a HIT.

this was just from what i already knew bolstered with several hours' digging on bandcamp and metal archives. doubtless there's more trans women out there in metal - and the louder we are then the more out there in the metal scene and beyond can hear that and realize they can be loud like us!

but for the purposes of the ETWPMCAM - that is, determining if there is a power metal album out there exploring a single cohesive narrative concept for the majority of its runtime (à la Rhapsody of Fire's Emerald Sword Saga, Dragonland's Under the Grey Banner, Galloglass's Legends from Now and Nevermore, Unleash the Archers' Apex & Abyss duology, to give a few examples) which would not have existed without at least one trans woman's dedicated and direct creative input? i have got nothing. we have a long way to go.

anyway, to anyone in a power metal band with already-released concept albums reading this: it's never too late and don't die wondering. would LOVE to retroactively increase the metric.

[zuko-always-lies]

So for people interested in getting into Babylon 5, here are some things to know:

There are several made for TV films. These should generally be ignored until deep into the series. One of them, "The Gathering," was created to be the series pilot. It can be watched first, but it's far from the best of the series (and several members of the cast change between it and the main series). Just jumping into the series works as well or better, although there are a few references to the events of "The Gathering" in the series. "Thirdspace" shouldn't be watched until you are well into Season 4, "In the Beginning" shouldn't be watched until the end of Season 4, "The River of Souls" can probably be watched about anytime in Season 5, and "A Call to Arms" is end of Season 5 fare.

I know I just scared you with all the talk of films and so on, but they're not really critical to the experience at all. They tend to be good, but the series is perfectly fine without them.

Like most sci-fi series, it takes a while for Babylon 5 to find itself. It rapidly gets better. The first few episodes are not as good as it gets. A lot of people think it doesn't really get good until Seasons 2 or even 3, but in my personal opinion it's already generally excellent by the midpoint of Season 1.

Every little thing ends up meaning something. If there's some sort of setup for something (and trust me, there's more of that going on than you're going to realize if you are watching for the very first time), it's almost certainly going to mean something.

The whole is greater than its parts, but the parts tend to be pretty good too. In my opinion, even the "non-story arc episodes" tend to, on average, be better than 1990s Star Trek. Generally if the A plot of the episode is bad or boring, at least there will be a good B plot, or vice-versa. And even if there's a bad episode, they'll be something critical to the overall arc of the show in it.

That being said, the visual effects are not good. Brace yourself for that. They were operating on shoestring budget in the 90s.

A lot people say that the sets also look like they were created on a shoestring budget.

The best characters tend to be the aliens. G'Kar, Londo, Vir, Delenn, Lennier, etc. The human characters tend to be less well developed.

The actions of characters often have long-term consequences for them. There's no "weekly reset button."

JMS wrote with balls. He didn't write for melodrama or shock value, but he wrote with balls.

For those of you who don’t know, Babylon 5 is an excellent show. It is a much beloved 1990s sci-fi series that was just about the first American drama series to truly do long-form story telling, and one of the very few ever to do long-form story telling well. And in some ways, it was truly radical in a way you would absolutely not expect from a TV series from that period.

Half of the cast were officers serving in the Earth Force, the military of the Earth Federation. This was a thinly disguised pastiche of 1990s America. There’s even a presidential election in season 1, which doesn’t seem to affect the main cast much. 

Over the course of the first three seasons, the Earth Federation rapidly devolves into a xenophobic fascist regime which targets aliens, creates a SA/SS equivalent, and imposes a police state. Ironically, the rise to power of this fascist state’s leader, President Clark, is enabled by an alliance with a foreign power. By the middle of season 3, the protagonists are engaged in open warfare against their own government, and by the end of season 4, they’ve incited a civil war and created an alliance between a large portion of Earth Force and several foreign powers that allows them to overthrow their own government. Of course, the new Earth government is less than friendly with the protagonists. 

Star Trek: the Original Series had the Klingons be space authoritarians and a pastiche of the Soviet Union.

The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine used the Cardassians and their treatment of the Bajorians as an analogy for fascism and Nazism.  Both were good critiques and analogies, but the fascism and awfulness was safely located somewhere foreign, in an other and in incomprehensible foreign culture.

Babylon 5 had the fascist regime be us. It had us brutalize and murder our own citizens. It had us degenerate into authoritarianism and xenophobia.  It had us fall into bloody civil war.  It had our military declare that it “only followed orders” and “didn’t make policy” as it propped up a brutal, fascist regime.