#this is not the place for some 'found the vegan' bullshit

[sam-the-pancake]

I'm not vegan. I've never been vegan. I have been vegetarian my whole life. I don't need you to tell me how I can change stuff on the menu to make it vegan. I don't need you to point out every vegan option you see, especially when you don't know what you're going to eat yet. I don't need you to ask for a vegan menu for me, I don't want one. I REALLY don't need you to point out the "Beyond" meat option on the menu, it will make me sick because it tastes like meat.

I understand that this is new and different to you but it's my every day. I know that I can ask for salad without meat on it. I know how to ask what options are available for me or request modifications to an item. I've been doing it since I could order for myself. You even watched me pull up the menu when we were still at home. I'm a full grown adult I can manage my dietary needs myself.

[box-of-chaooos]

Headcannon toime

Fern anatomy bullshit:

Fern can eat vegan food, anything plant based souly no meat no egg nothing like that just plant. So he can eat organic things like lettuce, carrots.

At the same time he can also eat dirt, grass, bone meal plant stuff. As for drinking anything that can be absorbed is drinkable. Soda, juice, water. He has plant guts that process the sugar and stuff in the drinks!

Plant guts, he has plant guts so still got a stomach and stuff. His lungs and other things that a plant don’t need eg thing that don’t process water/food are all vestigial like his lungs for example

His blood is chlorophyll, his sweat, tears and saliva are all sap.

TRANS HEADCANNON !!mention of menstruation!!

Fern gets his period but when he does he doesn’t bleed chlorophyll instead he bleeds a dark red sap like some of those trees.

General headcannons now

He like bugs he often goes out for hours on end catching them, coming back with a small jar or plastic container with worms, crickets or if he’s lucky he’ll get a butterfly.

Different types of flowers bloom in his hair uncontrollably when he feels a strong emotion. Look up list of plants with meaning to see what they mean!

Fern has his very own garden he liked to tend to out back the treehouse. He grows plants and such and than around the treehouse he planted flowers.

Once they found out fern could eat vegan food jake and he bonded over it, Jake loving to be able to make new recipes for someone and fern excited to eat jakes cooking again.

Ferns self destructive, he bad stims a lot and rips at his grass. He picks his elbows or chews his finger tips.

Pressure stim all the way cmon now. Squoze is fr.

Audhd swag

He tried to bake himself fern cakes once but he almost set the place on fire.

Stim dances when he’s excited

[sunshinexlollipops]

originally was writing in the notes but realized this just needed to be added in a long (sorry) reblog. while OP is ranting there's some shit I got to say that's important.

I have a bunch of experience w both weight loss surgery + these meds OP mentions and there's some VITAL INFORMATION in this if you are considering what's mentioned above.

firstly, let's start with the gastric sleeve surgery my sister had months ago and the shit time that I helped her through, because the place she went to seemed unethical as hell.

I want to start with that she is fine and happier now, but she doesn't remember most of this. I have to say I am legitimately surprised no major issues occurred or that, frankly, she didn't die.

not all gastric goes like this, sure, but the problem is that my sister found a place that seemed borderline to actually unethical. and my point is that, there is an industry built around weight loss options and down to even surgeries, they will exist to lure you in and take advantage.

below is a summary of the bullshit we dealt with:

she had gastric sleeve (removed part of your stomach like OP mentioned) and a severe hernia repair done in one surgery

despite informing them she had a severe EPI-pen level dairy allergy, her nurses weren't informed of this allergy until they had to feed her, and the only reason she had anything to use is that we happened to bring her protein powder prior to surgery.

we were in LA and STILL struggled to find vegan protein powders that were safe and also followed the regulations the place gave us (sugar is limited as it affects the healing process of the stomach), so at times we were racing around to find options so she wasn't going to starve.

prior to the operation, they recommended she get a PERSONAL NURSE for 2 weeks after surgery, and when my sister informed them she couldn't afford or get one, they still went forward with surgery anyway.

while visiting her, I could hear people screaming and moaning from pain in the other rooms. it was like a horror movie moment.

a patient at this place could only stay 24 hours EXACTLY. and this started at check-in PRIOR to surgery. so before my sister was even done being operated on, they told me we had to be out of the room by the same time next day so the room would be open to other incoming patients getting surgery. the catch though? you never, unless it was the day of their surgery, saw anyone occupying these rooms. they were EMPTY.

because of this rule though, they instructed her to STAY IN A HOTEL NEARBY, so if there were issues "we can be close to help" even though we were about 15 minutes away and I dunno... IN A HOTEL.

this placement was also for the first week post-op, as she was coming back to this location from the hotel to receive fluids through her PICC line (heart catheter) and it would take hours and hours. this made her sickly too, so it was a whole process to deal with.

they had my sis COLD TURKEY OFF AN SSRI and this caused major issues for my sister's mental health.

this, compounded with not sleeping, poor pain management provided by this place (keep in mind actual painkillers are being restricted because of the opioid crisis), not being able to eat properly for over a week (couldn't get her to eat anything), and not recovering well, we had to hospitalize my sister after surgery bc of how poorly she was.

before that I had gotten NO SLEEP as I was constantly up with her, keeping track of anti-clot devices on her legs, managing her medications (pain meds, antacids, blood thinner shots, etc), and also making sure we were getting up and having her walk around as I was instructed. I was worn out bc I WAS NEVER EQUIPPED TO HELP HER BY MYSELF. it legit will take a TEAM to help you post-surgery for gastric y'all. you CAN'T do this solo or with just 1 caretaker. the fact they put this on myself and her husband was beyond inappropriate and we were in no position to help her in the ways she critically needed.

while at the hospital, doctors were SHOCKED at what we told them about this location and the behavior of the people there. they wouldn't even notify us she had to be one place the next day or when, and I only found out about her POST-OP EXAM because I had asked if there was anything else we needed to know with her schedule. it was an afterthought.

I remember the doctor of the gastric wing at the hospital saying "it's sad she is going through this, because they have Wegovy now."

which........about that.

I had been briefly on that weekly shot named Wegovy!

you know, semaglutide — the current fad of weight loss drugs.

here's a photo from one of my shots that I took!

(I got those cheap Jurassic Park bandaids, lmao. rawr)

semaglutide is also in Ozempic, and that and Wegovy are produced by Novo Nordisk. Ozempic is intended for type 2 diabetics (type 1 diabetics cannot take semaglutide, it can KILL them), and Wegovy for weight loss.

other common drugs: phentermine is another weight loss option, for example, that comes as a pill and as OP stated, kills your appetite. and Eli and Lilly jumped into the weight loss shot game with Zepbound earlier this year (and Mounjaro is their version of Ozempic for type 2 diabetics).

there's also an older medication called Saxenda. when I wasn't able to obtain Wegovy, my Endo tried to place me on Saxenda. this is a DAILY SHOT y'all. meaning you would have to have 30 auto-injectors in your fridge for a one month supply. that's a lot!

overall, these weight loss drugs, especially shots with semaglutide, are a HUGE boom in the weight loss industry, so expect more drugs and more people to be on medications like these bc so much money is being made.

because I need to mention: for 4 shots of Wegovy (4 weeks of meds), you are paying over $1,200 usually for these shots.

some insurances won't cover them, and paying that much out of pocket for just a medication is insane. especially when that's only ONE MONTH of meds.

in one year, that will total to: $14,400

because of this, Bernie Sanders has actually been going after Novo Nordisk because of the price gouging Americans experience for these meds. because, of course, they are notably cheaper elsewhere in the world!

on top of this, weight loss clinics around the US are compounding THEIR OWN semaglutide. this is where this med gets SO DANGEROUS! including online purchases of this med, especially from foreign suppliers.

with a compounded version of this drug, or an online supplier, you cannot safely guarantee your dosage.

people have already DIED from overdosing, or experiencing severe complications from a high dose of semaglutide from alternative sources.

this is why it's VERY important that people don't just go after these shots from various sources, because this is a growing, worldwide problem. and the massive demand is causing more and more unsafe compounded versions to also become an even bigger, more threatening issue.

here's a video I previously watched from 60 Minutes Australia, and they interview families who have lost loved ones because of the massive public desire to use these medications.

that being said, there are some people with positives and good experiences with this medication. of course it isn't for everyone and is for some— but I believe these medications, particularly semaglutide, are being slapped way too generically.

and I know weight loss medications are being thrown at people, even when their weight isn't what is making them sick or unhappy, because that's what happened to me!

for me, Wegovy was a little different with its effects, because I have PCOS and respond more to the med like a type 2 diabetic (thanks insulin resistance).

I was sent to an endocrinologist bc my doctors were concerned I had a prolactinoma (tumor on the pituitary gland of the brain) after abnormal hormone levels came back from a blood panel, and instead of offering any other meds/treatment/an MRI to check/exploration to confirm or deny this issue, I was given a prescription for Wegovy.

Wegovy is being pushed as a panacea script, even if the medical issue you see the doctor for isn't related to weight.

while I wasn't a fan of the response, I opted to try the drug out anyway as it seemed to be my only hope at betterment.

semaglutide is intended to slow your digestion down so you have less of an appetite, and it is meant to affect how your body releases and responds to its insulin to help maintain steady blood sugar levels.

sounds great, right? but Wegovy comes with a LOT of risks y'all. some of which we are JUST discovering too. and not just light risks:

Gastroparesis (stomach paralysis, can be severe and life-threatening)

Pancreatitis (obvs involving your pancreas, has the potential to be fatal especially if severe, which semaglutide has been known to cause very rough cases of this)

Extremely aggressive thyroid cancer! (if your family has a history of this, like type 1 diabetics, you are NOT permitted to take the med. it could cause you to develop fast-forming and aggressive thyroid cancer, as it did so to animals they tested it on— this is why Wegovy has an FDA warning)

Severe acid reflux (no exaggerating this is the worst heartburn you'll ever have, and some foods will now trigger this. they become inedible for you and you WILL vomit them up)

Vomiting / Constipation (bc of slowing your digestion, you can get really backed up especially if you suffer gastroparesis bc nothing moves, but if it can't go out the back end it will come out the front)

feeling VERY unwell post-eating, especially with sugars (food will hit you harder and sugary things will make you really ill, I had trouble finding things I could tolerate after a while on the med, and gave up so many foods bc I couldn't tolerate them anymore)

recently, they also just discovered semaglutide can cause a rare form of blindness!

I was only on Wegovy for 2 months. in a way, it was life changing. my PCOS has been wreaking havoc with my hormones (prolactin esp) and it's fucked me up a lot. while Wegovy did help with that, there were a lot of downsides to the med and many foods were no longer safely edible for me due to side effects.

the shortage hit, and I was forced off the med as I couldn't fulfill my prescription. I was heartbroken at first, but as more is discovered about the med and its apparent effects, I'm realizing now in some ways it was more risky and unpleasant than it was worth.

and heads up: if you're on these shots and stop, you will gain the weight you lost back, alongside some extra, new weight.

so if you don't intend to stay on this medication long term, it will put you further away from where you started with it!

and all for what...because you have some extra poundage?

your body needs fuel (food AND fat) and foods shouldn't be viewed as evil or naughty for you. unless you have a dietary restriction (religion, allergy, condition like celiac), don't make bad associations with your food to where you'll feel shame for eating like you're supposed to.

please understand, your body isn't evil or bad for having fat. it's meant to have it!

even if you are thin, you have fat! specifically, adipose cells. it's a connective tissue that helps insulate your body. it helps a little with other functions too, and is part of the system in your body that keeps you alive!

being overweight, that can occur for a variety of reasons, be it excess calories to health conditions that cause it to accumulate, but NEVER does being fat excuse treating you as lesser/undesirable, or excuse what society will put you through to lose it.

diets, whatever kind, also don't tend to be successful as doctors have found, and tend to reinforce bad eating habits that can lead or are even created to mimic an eating disorder.

you want a diet that is built upon being rewarding and positive, not restrictive and shameful.

if you want to be happier in your body, the first step is learning to love however it comes. you deserve love regardless of what number is on that scale! because weight loss takes time, and you shouldn't feel like you're in a race to shrink into embracing yourself.

second, even when you have conditions you need to improve or mitigate healthwise, weight loss is always up to you.

it shouldn't be about earning society's fickle approval, or feeling like shedding pounds will earn you acceptance and love (especially from yourself).

this world doesn't actually care what you look like when it comes to fucking you over, and these methods have become an outlet to take advantage of the rampant fatphobia that drives many to become desperate to lose weight.

please learn to embrace and love yourself, no matter your shape and size. and only do what you need to protect your health and peace of mind.

don't let the snake oil salesman of the modern age convince you these things are the only way to address your unhappiness, insecurities, or weight.

diet culture people make me feel like i’m going crazy. you want me to take an experimental pill that destroys my appetite?? you want me to remove part of my stomach??? you want me to stop eating bread and rice, two of the staple foods most inherent to humanity????? why exactly? because my stomach is big? because you don’t like the way i look, and you think it’s reasonable to tell me to carve pieces off of myself and try random drugs and ruin my own life so i can look more visually pleasing to you? and you somehow don’t see how absurdly cruel and selfish that is to ask of somebody???? while pretending you care about their HEALTH????????????????? FUCK YOU!!!!

[luminenwalker]

[8-12-2023]

My boyfie straight vanished after becoming a suborb flight attendant—went up in the sky and never came down. All those air-brothel trafficking stories got me spooked. They got cops up there? Anybody to stop those fucks from playing God in their stratosphere playpens? //TruthWave

Listen up, heads. That brown haze on the horizon isn't there because of those mushrooms you just ate; that's a dust storm headed this way. Get prepped or get inside, cuz if you hear the sirens blow it's already too fuckin' late. Next up, how's about some Rolling Stones while we shelter in place? //Bordertown FM

Boutique weapons manufacturer Organix comes under fire as the teeth in their BoneMeld knuckledusters—advertised as ethically-sourced, cruelty-free, vegan clone biologics—are found in truth to have unknown provenance. "Whose fucking teeth are these?" a customer asks. //TruthWave

Okay, folks, pot is up to five. thousand. Ohio. Dollars. for the Sunday Shootout at the firing range. Organizers say slots are limited, so sign up now, but they also say they're serious about the 'no explosive ammo' thing after last week's fire. Not that anyone needs reminding. Paul. //Bordertown FM

Bought one of them new Egyptian charms at Gamble for my pregnant wife—some hippo birth god. Damn thing vanished overnight and now she's got phantom pains. Doctor says she's been dosed with unknown nanites. Trojan horse bullshit. What the hell's gonna happen to my kid? //TruthWave

[jtsfavslut]

hiii im sorry idk if ur taking requests but i feel like this would b so cute. so y/n is gray’s girlfriend n she’s latina. when juanpa starts hanging w the twins again, she meets him and rly ~vibes~ w him cuz they both speak spanish, like- they’d prank them or talk shit (or pretend to talk shit) abt them etc and gray would get kinda jealous and would try to learn more spanish? no se si tiene sentido sjdjsdjsj btw soy argentina <33 pd: sería re divertido si y/n fuera argentina solo porque nunca vi un fic con una argentina jajja pero como vos quieras <3 (i LOVE ur writing)

Hola Amor!!! That’s actually really cute, omg, like he would get so jealous, but not even of Juanpa, just of your relationship with him, and the fact that Juanpa speaks Spanish and he doesn’t!!! But Yo amo cuando la gente tiene acento de Argentina, porque me quedo media boba, cuz it 's like so satisfying omg!!!! Also, I love you!!!!

“Juanpa, he’s the Mexican guy right?” you asked and Grayson nodded his head. He was telling you how an old friend of theirs, who also speaks Spanish was coming over, and you were honestly excited. 

“Yeah, he’s really funny too. Juanpa is built differently,” he replied, making you chuckle as you shook your head. 

But when you finally met him, Grayson was right. Juanpa was built differently. And it was hard to tell whether he was joking about something or not.

“Hey, y/n,” he whispered when he noticed neither of the twins were paying attention. You were currently in the backyard, the twins eating something vegan that Grayson cooked, while you and Juanpa made something that you made.

“Dime,” you replied, turning to look at him, he had a weird look on his face, like he was planning something, but you didn’t really know why.

“Vamos, a hacerle una broma,” he whispered and you shook your head, widening your eyes. 

“Vos esta loco, oh que? La ultima ves que yo y E, le hicimos una broma, no me hablo por todo el dia,” you replied, and turned to look towards Grayson who was already looking at you. 

‘Y/N, no es nada malo, solamente pretendemos que estamos hablando de él. Como ahora,” he shrugged, you sighed but agreed after a couple of seconds. 

“Que quieres que yo haga?” 

“Solo sigue mirándolo y conversado conmigo,” he replied and you nodded your head, carrying on with Juanpa’s simple but funny plan. 

After a couple of minutes of wondering what was so interesting about you and Juanpa’s conversation, Grayson got up from his seat, walking towards you as you tried to hold in your giggles. 

“What are we talking about?” he casually asked, even if deep down he was about to combust. 

“Nothing. You wouldn’t understand anyways,” Juanpa sighed and you had to turn the other way in order to not laugh. 

“Oh,” Grayson let out, making you feel bad. 

“It was nothing Amor, just some tea he was spilling,” you said as he sat down next to you, placing a quick kiss on your forehead. 

He was jealous. Grayson got extremely touchy when he was jealous. He was normally touchy, but when he felt ‘threatened’ he would touch you more, hug you more, kiss you more, and not leave your side until he felt that his message got across. 

That was just the first time, the second time Grayson felt jealous was when you and Juanpa were vibing to spanish music. Horribly singing along to the music, while Grayson had no clue on what was even going on. 

“I’m so done with this,” he scoffed towards Ethan and he scrunched his face up in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean them, just look at them. When they talk, it’s always in Spanish and it looks suspicious, they have inside jokes, when he’s around she barely talks to me, they’re singing songs to each other which I don’t even know the meaning of. I mean it’s clear she likes him more than me,” he sighed, feeling a mixture of hurt and anger while Ethan shook his head.

“Grayson, how many of our friends speak Spanish?” 

“Just him, and Mando, plus her,” Grayson sighed.

“How many of her friends speak Spanish?” Ethan asked and Grayson shrugged. 

“I don’t know, just Mando and now him,”

“See, it’s not that she likes him  more, she just found someone that she can talk to in her own language. And Grayson, Juanpa’s here like twice a week, it’s not that deep,” Ethan replied, making Grayson let out a loud sigh, that you heard, making you turn to look at him. You quickly excused yourself before walking over to him. 

“Amor, what’s wrong?” you asked, a slight pout on your concern filled face.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” he sighed and you shook your head knowing he was lying. 

“Bullshit. I’m not going to push you, but if you wanna talk, please talk to me,” you softly spoke and he nodded his head. 

Over the course of a week, Grayson spent all his free time attempting to learn Spanish, just so that he could feel closer to you. He barely learned anything. Maybe just a few phrases and words. He couldn't expect more, after it all it was just one week and a shitty youtube video.

“Amor, pasarme mi botella,” he randomly said as you were both sitting on the couch, taking in the peacefulness of having the house to yourselves. 

“I- umm sure,” you replied, not wanting to question his random and incorrect use of the Spanish language, so you leaned down to pick up his water bottle and handing it to him.

“Was that good? Or like was it bad?” He asked and you looked at him with confusion, “My Spanish, was it good?” 

“It was okay, you used the wrong verb but it’s okay,” you smiled and he nodded his head. 

“Well, what’s the correct verb?” 

“Well, if you wanna get it over with you can just say ‘pasamé la botella’ or if you wanna be polite you can say ‘me puedes pasar la botella?’ you can use both, it doesn’t matter,” you replied and he nodded his head, whispering the sentences a few times so that he could remember them. 

The second time, he said something so random and incorrect that you don’t even remember what it was, but you were starting to notice that he was acting weird, and decided to finally question him. 

“Alright, what’s going on?” you asked sitting up straight and he shook his head. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean you. You’re acting weird. Suddenly wanting to speak Spanish, not leaving my side when another male is around. Did I do something?” You asked and he shook his head letting out a sigh. 

“No, it’s just that you and Juanpa. You understand each other so well, and I don’t. When you speak Spanish, and I have no idea of what you’re saying, I feel like you’re planning something against me. And your inside jokes, I don’t know. I just feel like he understands you more than I do, so I tried to learn Spanish, but that clearly didn’t work out,” he replied making you pout. 

“Amor, you know none of that is true. Yes, me and Juanpa are good friends, but that doesn’t mean he understands me more, I mean in Spanish he does, but he doesn’t understand me as a person, only you do. And I only like him as a friend. I like and love you as a boyfriend. And the inside jokes, don’t even make sense. But Gray, you should’ve told me this, because we purposely made it seem like we were talking about you,” you replied making him chuckle. 

“I love you,” he sighed, pulling you over so that you were straddling him. 

“I love you more,” you placed a quick kiss on his nose before he pulled you down, connecting his lips with yours. 

“Do you think you can teach me Spanish?” 

[shadedempsey]

"Sounds good." Shade said finishing up the one in a line of dishes he had set up for them. Having set up a table just outside the kitchen, which was already viewable from the restaurant. One of the draws of the place. He set it to the preferences he was given from Seth by Rhys to make his bullshit amends that he was attempting to make sincere since there was the promise of sex and Shade would do just about anything for sex, obviously. Red was the theme for food and vegetarian. Shade wasn't great at many things, but when it came to food, that was something he was natural at. It went hand in hand with his favorite pastime. Smoking pot. Pot made him hungry and yes he could order things, but found waiting and the whole frozen meals thing didn't cut it. So he found recipes when he was high and started fucking about in the kitchen. Self taught like he was with most things, Shade was a man that was good at failing. He'd just try again and again. Now, half the time he didn't even use recipes, just had ideas or Seth would say something or give him a flavor he wanted. Savory, salty, sweet and Shade would make something with what they had. Granted this wasn't the place he'd expected to open a restaurant or be and yet he still was for reasons he wasn't ready to admit. One stupid one lingering in the doorway.

"You wanna grab that sharkcoochie board?" Shade said butchering the word as he nodded to the red themed vegan charcuterie board that was a starter to the meal he had prepared for them. Wiping his hand on a towel he set to the side he finished plating some balsamic roasted cherry and goat cheese crostini garnished with fresh thyme bringing them to the table after Seth, also part of the starter.

Shade figured casual wasn't going to cut it and he couldn't get away with his normal chef wear so went with black fitted clothing. A long sleeve button up, slacks, and a nice pair of dark brown leather shoes. It wasn't anything too showy. He was sure it wasn't going to be enough to impress the two coming, but the food was going to do that, not him.

Already on the table was an expensive bloodwine for Rhys fuckboy or nonfuckboy whatever it was. Shade made a quick stop to the bar having an idea for a cocktail for Seth mostly but figured he'd make one for himself and Rhys as well. It didn't take him too long to make the drink, it was a bit different from the theme, more fitting for Seth as he put on the garnish and brought it to the younger witch with a grin.

"It's called a black cauldron." He was already chuckling. "Yeah it has tequila in it too." But it was top shelf so Shade didn't really think anything of it as he finished off the remainder of the mix and brought the other two glasses over setting one up for Rhys, while drinking half of the other. "Probably shouldn't tell your bitch tits boss. I mean, less you want me to drink it or you want to drink it." He offered having a feeling tequila or fun in general wasn't Rhys' thing.

@rhysdasior

Double Date From Hell

"They should be here in about a minute," Seth announced, tucking his phone away after checking the latest texted status update from Rhys on their location between Krovs Castle and Cannabites. This was a good idea, or so he tried to continue convincing himself. What could honestly go wrong using promised sex afterwards getting Shade to apologize to Rhys with Roland the narc present? Everything would be fine, he continued to convince himself as he nursed a half-empty vodka soda that was probably more vodka than soda. He leaned against the doorframe between the kitchen and the restaurant, watching Shade work his magic in the kitchen. This was another bad idea in itself that would make his part of their little deal much easier later in the evening. Shade cooking always got Seth's mouth watering and knees weak, dude seemed to know that too. Really made it fucking hard to stay away from the physical aspect Shade wanted after their relationship –– or whatever the cambion apparently decided they were or weren't –– when Seth couldn't move on from the emotional side. "Sure I can't help you with anything?" he asked.

@shadedempsey

[serifsans]

2019

"Paulie, my love, it is not vegan. You realize that, yeah?”

Jean-Paul, intent on feasting, doesn’t look up from his bowl of soup.

“I’m vegetarian, not vegan. I know I should take the plunge but I just haven’t found a vegan whipped cream I like yet and I’m not not eating whipped cream,” he replies. “Anyway, I’m not drinking the broth, darling. I’m just eating the matzo balls out of it. It’s fine, that still counts as vegetarian. Would you like the broth? Because I am going to eat all of these.”

Vladimir would like to argue that it’s a dick move to eat just the good bits out of things and leave the rest but the fact of the matter is that yeah, he actually does like the broth more than anything else, so he’ll take it.

“Yes, fine, but Paulie, I am sorry that I must tell you this, but the place you get it from, they make it with schmaltz. And anyway, the broth is still on it. It isn’t vegetarian. Paulie, look at you, you are eating a piece of chicken.“

"No, I’m not,” he says primly as he proceeds to nibble on a morsel of exactly that. “I’m a vegetarian.”

His boyfriend (Partner? Vlad hates the word because they’re not cowboys or lawyers but boyfriend sounds so casual.) can insist he’s a vegetarian all he wants and sure, he never orders meat of his own volition these days but if it just so happens to be around, he will eat it. This does not count, apparently.

“Okay, Jeanie. Okay, sure.”

Thanksgiving is just more American bullshit he doesn’t care about (he might have gotten his citizenship but that doesn’t mean he likes it; of course, he’s fairly certain he wouldn’t like anywhere.) but Vera always felt like the odd duck out growing up, so he’d throw together something for her so she had something to talk about on the inevitable kindergarten “what did you do for Thanksgiving” report. She usually invites him over or he invites her but half his house is in boxes at the moment and she’s exhausted taking care of a tiny human and wants to be alone this year. Vladimir just thinks that he could give her a break because new babies drain the life out of you (and also Aleksander is so squishy and cute and how can he possible be that tiny?) but he respects her wishes.

However, with that being said, it’s a day off work and, more importantly, an excuse to eat, so they got takeout from half a dozen places.

“Where’d you get this pie from?” Vlad asks. “It’s good.”

Normally JP’s the one going to town on sweets and Vlad isn’t because he’s watching his blood sugar, but if you put a cherry pie in front of him, he’s going to eat it.

“Oh, some of the church ladies felt sorry for me because I’m a nice young man who surely can’t cook for himself and I’m going to spend Thanksgiving alone, so they gave me a pie and tried to set me up with someone’s daughter. I took the pie but the daughter....”

JP shrugs.

“A nice young lady, really, but as we all know, I’m incorrigible and, more importantly, it’s so awkward when someone’s grandma tries to hook you up. I had to decline.”

“Thought you stopped going.”

“I did but as we all know, I grew up extremely Baptist, which is really an enormous accomplishment given that I never actually grew up,” he replies. “I know I’m not going to find whatever I’m looking for there, darling, but what, do you want me to stay away from potlucks? The grandmas make excellent deviled eggs.”

“You can’t eat those if you go vegan. You know that, yeah?”

“Ugh! Fun ruiner! Don’t remind me of these things! Awful, awful, awful.”

Jean-Paul always masks his deeper feelings with fun and flippancy, pretends he doesn’t care about anything in the world at all except only the most surface-level things, but the volph has a messy, complicated history with religion, something he’s also loathe to admit. When he’s low, he occasionally throws himself into the church with a grim, passionate fervor before abruptly dropping it a few weeks later and pretending it never happened. Jean-Paul doesn’t often like to speak in any detail about their first decade on Earth but it ended in an aeons old alien from a distant star having a deep-seated fear of going to hell, so it was hardly good.

Of course, Vladimir intimately understands running back to the things that have hurt you before. He will never judge. As much as he wants to break free from his family and all of their fucking bullshit, whenever Yura says jump, he always asks how high. He had the backbone to say no and run away from it all when he was little more than a kid but sometimes over the years, just giving in was easier. You showed up for your mother’s birthday party, you smiled, you tried not to think of the bodyguards, you try not to think about what your brother did for a living, you went home and you didn’t have to think about it again until your brother called you in the middle of the night.”

“I am sorry you will not marry a good Christian housewife but I have a better idea for you and one I think you will like. A little something fun before we move,” Vlad says. “The little something fun is named Jeffery, he likes sushi restaurants, and-”

“Oh god, no, darling, I simply can’t go out with someone named Jeffery,” Jean-Paul says, laughing. “It’d make me feel like Ina Garten. Though I suppose there are far worse people you could feel like. Who’s this Jeffery, anyway? Is he that ballet dancer?”

“No, that was Carlo, I do not see him anymore; he moved to San Francisco. You know Gianluca, the painter? Jeffery is his ex. You know Gian, he ran off with that museum curator last year, very messy. He plays saxophone.”

“Oh, woodwinds. You know what they say about them,” says JP with a salacious eyebrow wiggle. “Goodness gracious, I think you’ve worked your way through the entire symphony, you utter hussy.”

“What can I say? I am a patron of the arts.”

Paulie snickers at that and nibbles on another piece of chicken, which is still not vegetarian no matter how much he claims otherwise but whatever, hes not going to police JP’s diet.

“Actually, that is a very kind offer, my darling, but I think I’m going to take a pause on dating for a bit, minus you, of course. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about things lately and it’s just...”

He trails off and gestures vaguely with one hand.

“Things are just complicated. I’ve been thinking about myself and some business that I should sort out first. About things.”

He doesn’t elaborate, eyebrows furrowed together in embarrassment or frustration or maybe both. Vladimir sets his pie down so he can brush his fingers over his.

“What is bothering you, Paulie?”

“It’s not that it’s bothering me, darling, but...well, I suppose I have been a bit worried about it. It’s just that we’ve been together for so long, I value our relationship, and I don’t want to sound like I’m changing everything on you or anything, I recognize and respect your preferences, it’s just-”

Oh, Vlad knows where this is going. Was he really so worried about it? Yeah, sure, he’s gone a little wild over the years now that he’s finally gotten over a lot of his old hangups and his daughter’s out of the house, but if JP wants, he can reel that in with no problem. It’s just something to pass the time since they’re apart so often but he could also just pick up crosswords or something instead of men.

"Yeah, okay, I’ll do it. It is just a side hobby,” he says and then pecks him on the cheek. “You are the main attraction.”

Jean-Paul blinks.

“Vova, baby, darling, that’s very sweet but what the fuck are you talking about?”

Huh. Okay. Okay, he might have misjudged the situation. It’s almost like he shouldn’t interrupt people while they’re still talking. Who knew?

“...You were not talking about monogamy?”

Jean-Paul blinks again.

“No, dear, I'm talking about gender but hold on, you’d give up your boyfriends for me?”

He shrugs.

“If you want, yeah, sure.”

“That is so sweet, my darling, but no, I really do enjoy hearing about all the interesting relationship drama you get yourself into, you messy, messy man,” Jean-Paul says with a laugh before becoming serious again.

“No, it’s just that I’ve been thinking about gender again. Manhood. Things like that. I’ve recently come to the conclusion that my gender identity is just more complex than masculinity alone and I suppose I’m trying to figure out what to do with that.”

Jean-Paul stares into his soup like it holds the answers to the great mysteries of life and pokes at a piece of non-vegetarian chicken with his spoon.

“I do realize that it’s so silly to stress this much about such a minor thing, especially since at the end of the day, let’s face it, I’m only pretending to be person, so it’s not like-”

Vlad distracts the volph by spooning a bit of the ice cream melting on top of his pie into his mouth.

“None of this ‘I am not a real person’ shit, okay? You are,” Vladimir says. “And if you are a man or if you are not a man, I think that has nothing to do with being a volph, only your heart. You don’t have to be born it to be it, Paulie. You want me to change anything I call you? She? They? Something else?”

Jean-Paul spits out the spoon and growls but it’s a play-growl.

"I want you to stop shoving food in my mouth every time you don’t like what I’m saying because now my mouth tastes like sweets and soup. Please shove more food in my mouth at once so it tastes more like sweets. I’ve eaten most of the good bits out of this anyway.”

Vlad obliges and smudges a dollop of ice cream on his nose for good measure. JP snickers and tries to lick it off before conceding and wiping it away with the back of his hand, then falls against his shoulder, sighing.

“I don’t know what I want,” the volph admits. “Let’s stay with he for now. It’s not like that part really matters to me. Everything’s just...complicated. You know, I tried very hard at the girl thing when I first came to Earth, I did, but I was terrible at all. It wasn’t fun at all. Then I tried my hand at the male thing and all in all, I think that I’ve been fantastic at all, abso-fucking-lutely superb, I am definitely better at it than almost anyone I know, I’m winning at masculinity, I really do like being a man, but lately I’ve just been thinking...well, it’s just that part of me still thinks of myself as that girl and it’s just such a shame that she never had the chance to be a woman, if that makes sense. Except I am definitely still a man. And a volph too, I guess. Mostly a man though, let’s make that clear. I put entirely too much work getting that label changed to M on my legal paperwork to say goodbye to that. I came to this planet and decided to steal your genders for myself right away. Is this silly? I think this is terribly silly. I don’t even know why I care so much about this. I mean, it hasn’t even got anything to do with what I look like, I can take whatever shape I want, darling, it’s not like I haven’t got tits half the time as is and I don’t think one way or another about it, I’m still me regardless of aesthetics. It’s purely just a self-identity thing. I think the fact is that when you boil down to it, I want to win at being a woman too, and isn’t that a terrible motivation for having a gender? It’s not some silly little volph game. Life is more serious than that.”

Vladimir pulls JP closer against himself, plays with a lock of silky auburn hair as he contemplates an answer. He loves running his hands through his hair, short or long. It’s softer than anything else he’s ever felt.

“Why not? I think that this gender business, maybe it doesn’t have to be a big, serious thing, you know? I thought when I was young it was about suffering but now I think that it is about happiness. If it is a game to you, then I know that it is one you will play very well. I hope you have fun.”

He lets go of his hair. Vladimir’s hands are rough and clumsy sometimes. It wouldn’t do to tangle or break it on accident.

“Besides,” he adds, “if you’re worried what I think about it, Paulie, you think I don’t already know for a long time?“

“What, how?”

"Paulie, my love, you steal my phone every time you want to look up anything on the Internet even if yours is sitting up right there. I go to look up a restaurant and I see in the search history, ‘how many genders are you allowed to have legally,’ ‘what are the rules to being nonbinary preferably in list form,’ ‘can you be called she but in a gay sort of way,’ so on and on. A lot of Cosmos articles there too. Maybe, uh, maybe do not get your ideas about anything from there. I’ve read a few articles. I know too much.”

He shudders.

“Well, then why didn’t you say something, darling? For fuck’s sake, you glorious asshole, I’ve been stressed for ages,” Jean-Paul says with no malice. “Also, more ice cream? Ice cream for me, please? Thank you, darling~”

Vlad obliges.

“I’m sorry. I just know that you do not like to talk about things until you are ready to talk about them.”

“Fair,” JP says. “So...you’re fine with this? I mean, like I said, I am still a man, it’s just...well, you’re gay and I don’t want you to feel like...oh, I don’t know.”

"Eh, you know, you’re a tiny immortal hound made of smoke from another dimension and I am fine with that. I think we have bigger fish to fry than a little extra gender.”

“Well, I, for one, am not frying any fish. I’m a vegetarian,” Jean-Paul says. “Well. Okay then. What the hell do I do now? I thought this was going to be a lot more dramatic.”

"We could listen to Bowie and make out.”

Jean-Paul’s ears perk up.

"You’ve got yourself a deal.”

[yamithediaperdork]

My Cousin is CRAZY! (Ben10 alien force)

My cousin is crazy

It was Saturday morning in Bellwood and 15 year old Ben Tennyson was slowly waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs. It was strange because his parents were on a vegan kick at the moment but he decided to roll with it and opened his eyes as he went to sit up. And then groaned out loud as he took in stock of his attire and what he was sleeping in. Not for the first time since Gwen had started working out hardcore last year the girlish Ben had found his cousin perv'ing on him and deciding he should be her sissy baby wife. Despite making his lack of interest in such plans clear MORE then once, It hadn't of stopped Gwen from snagging him up at random times and dressing him up. Case and point, he was currently in what he estimated as 5 princess reaz's diapers (he'd sadly become familiar with the different brands because of Gwen) and a dark pink top with lighter pink puffed out shoulders and a semi skirt that didn't even cover half of the diapers. The top also had a red heart on the front with white writing in cursive declaring 'i wove my mommy' going along with the top and diapers his hands were in locking mittens meaning any attempt to use the omnitrix was doomed to fail and his feet covered in booties with slick bottoms so Ben would end up having to crawl unless he wanted to fall on his ass every 12 steps. 'At least she didn't put the paci in my mouth this time.' Ben thought with a sulky though a pat on his head told him she had put the silly over sized bow in his hair again, the damn thing pink with white poka dots. As for what he was in, again this wasn't a shock to him as it wasn't the first time but he was still less then pleased to have gone to sleep in his own bed in a pair of boxers and wake up in the hot pink crib Gwen had built just for him during her wood shop class. And of course since she wasn't shy of telling people who it was for Ben had been forced to endure even more teasing at school though ironically just verbal, no bullies had darned to lay a finger on him and have to deal with Gwen's almost super human power and bulk. The last bully who had tried had been found hanging from a flag pole by a pair of Barbie pants. Struggling to get to his feet on the purple sheet covered queen sized mattress and ignoring the fuzzy white and pink blanket and pillows in the crib with him (not to mention a dolly or too) Ben took in a deep breath and then hollered at the opened door frame of Gwen's room. "GWEN YOU SICK BITCH! YOU'VE BEEN TOLD TO STOP KIDNAPPING ME AND DRESSING ME IN DRAG AND HUGGIES! COME IN HERE AND LET ME OUT OF THIS OUTFIT BEFORE I GET YOU IN SHIT WITH YOURS AND MINE PARENTS AND GRANDPA MAX TOO!" It was the only threat that normally worked as while they're parents thought it was mostly cute, they all agreed that Gwen kidnapping Ben crossed a line. other then that though it was fair game if he was out of the house. Grandpa Max was nicer about it in Ben's view as he made the rust bucket a official safe zone that even Gwen respected and so Ben found himself hanging out less with Gwen and Kevin and more with Gramps. Kevin for his part was all too happy to stay out of it, treating the whole thing as a bullet dodged when him and Gwen had never hit it off and a better Ben then him. Ben didn't have to wait long as he swore he could almost feel the food steps of Gwen as she made her way towards the room.

Between the insane amount of weights she worked and the reps she put into and a unexpected growth spurt Gwen looked like she could of been a WWE at her 6'10 height and 320 pounds of mostly muscle. She kept her Orange hair short and was wearing a pair of grey jogging pants and white under shirt that showed off her girl abs. "Awww is my darling widdle wife to be awake?" She coo'ed, cupping her hands together and flashing Ben a big smile. "Gwen, for the LAST time, I'm not going to marry you. I'm not going to be your sissy baby, now PLEASE let me go. I'm not joking, I'll call Grandpa Max over and get you in SO much trouble." Ben huffed, trying to look intimidating but his outfit made that all but impossible. "Awww such a silly widdle gurl! Did widdle Benny forget that this is our parents couples retreat weekend? And gramp's is off on Plumber work! That means I got widdle Benny to myself allll weekend." Gwen gushed and came over, lifting him out of the crib with ease and holding him up so she could give his padded rump a sniff. "Ah crap baskets..That was THIS weekend?" Ben whined, not even bothering to point out he would of said something if he had used the diapers. He'd tried to make plans to hang out with cooper for that weekend but had clearly gotten his dates wrong and was capital S screwed for the next 48 hours. "Hmm Doesn't smell like Benny has made me a present yet..but I know you will soon enough. you just love to make presents for your hubby don't you?" Gwen coo'ed and moved him down enough she could give him a Eskimo kiss. "Oh yeah. highlight of my weekend, fudging a diaper." Ben said sarcastically. "Now now, I know you're just grumpy because you didn't get to play with me last night, but I had to take care of a few things. But we have allll weekend sweetie. And if you promise to be a good little gurl for me I'll be nice and spoil you with all the junk food you want. After all you need to put on some baby fat." Gwen chuckled and kissed his cheek. Ben groaned, Gwen was always trying to chub him up, but given the fact he'd been subjected to the 'wonder's' of a baby food and formula weekend before, and the fact he was trapped regardless he just hung his head. "Fine, I'll play along. but for the record, you need help." Ben huffed. "Oh please, I can handle my widdle wife for a weekend!" Gwen chuckled and carried Ben off towards the kitchen.

Strapped into a wooden but painted light pink high chair, Ben played along with his crazy cousin and held up his arms so she could remove his top and replace it with a hello kitty bib. "Now Benny, if I remove your mitten's and let you feed yourself, you're not gonna do something stupid and try and use your silly little watch now are you?" Gwen asked. Considering between her bulk and her magic Gwen out classed most of Ben's aliens anyways and she always made sure he was sorry for trying to go alien on her after he timed out, Ben decided that having the freedom to feed himself was worth playing along. "Yeah I'll be good.." Ben said and held up his hands. She studied his face for a second, as if deciding whether or not to trust him then smiled. "I believe you. I really hope we can have a nice weekend together and I don't end up having to spank you. it hurts me then it does you when I have to." Gwen said then moved to free up Ben's hands. 'Bullshit on that one!' Ben thought but wisely kept his thoughts to himself and just flexed his fingers, and looked at the watch. "I'm not going alien, I'm just checking to make sure no alien got primed to go while the mitten on so I don't accidentally go alien and get my cheeks tanned." He said, and then after getting a smirk and a nod from Gwen checked the watch. Thankfully nothing was primed and he made sure to show the psycho and then wiggled in the high chair as he waited on her to plate up some num nums for him. Everything else aside, Gwen really was a excellent cook and she didn't hold back as she put the piled high plate of scrambled eggs and Bacon and some pancakes down in front of Ben and handed him a baby fork and knife. She had also poured on the maple syrup and set down a one liter baby bottle full of chocolate milk for him and kissed his cheek. "Eat up little lady.Oh, did you want me to put a show or something on for you while you eat up? I think Sumo slammers is having a marathon on channel 6 today." Gwen asked, nodding to the Kitchen TV her mom had had put in back during the 90's. "..That would be agreeable yes." Ben said, trying not to break out into a silly grin before he started to dig into the food, watching as Gwen was proven right. 'you know.. the huggies and drag aside, I could get used to being spoiled like this.' Ben thought.

Gwen smirked as she watched Ben chow down and kick his legs ideally in the high chair. while she would of preferred he watch something a little less violent she had changed up her usual plan for weekend sessions with her soon to be sissy bride. Trying to enforce the baby food and sissy programs only made him fight it more so she was gonna meet him halfway and try to ease him more into baby gurlhood. One added bonus though she noticed with a big grin while she had her normal bowl of high protein gruel was that Ben was even more of a messy eater then normal as he watched his show, getting syrup all over his face and bib and eggs and bits of bacon were all over the place. 'He's such a big baby! I love it!' She mentally squealed. It only got better as halfway though his plate, he reached for his his ba-ba and held it with BOTH hands like a good baby gurl and she was fighting the urge to squeal out loud. Anytime she tended to praise him for his babyish behavior he always tried to cut it out. Finishing her gruel she washed it down with a protein drink and noted that Ben was squirming around lots in his high chair, with most of his food gone and the little sissy had packed away HALF of his milk already. "Doing alright over there baby gurl?" She asked. Ben seemed to snap out of his show induced trance and blushed. "I uh..I gonna potty..and I think I got a gas bubble stuck." He said, poking two fingers together. '..Is he asking me to burp him?' Gwen wondered but was ALL grin's "Well that's no good! here, let me help you out. whats a little gas between husband and wife?" She said. Coming over she grabbed a dish towel and a wet dish rag, putting the towel over one shoulder and then moved Ben's num num's and ba-ba over onto the kitchen table and removed his bib. washing the big baby's face and chest down she removed the tray and lifted him up, swooning as his legs wrapped around her and he helped her get his head over the towel. Rubbing his back she gave it all of three firm but gentle pats before Ben let out a massive belch over her shoulder and spit up a little bit of milk. "Uh...T-Thanks Gwen." A sheepish Ben half coo'ed and then switched shoulders and nuzzled into her. "Do you want me to set you down so you can go and hide while you make potty?" She offered, clearly trying to meet him half way was working wonders. "I..I Uh..no." Ben Mewed into her shoulder, which of course muffled his voice but she got the jest of it. "You wanna use your diapers while your bride to be holds you tight and praises you for being a good girl?" Gwen asked, grinning ear to ear and holding Ben close and rubbing his lower back. "I..I dunno..Maybe..I mean..If I can't use the potty..I guess it's.." Ben Mumbled into her shoulder, She could tell he'd of rather used the bathroom, which was a touch disappointing to her but still, with him willing to go in his pampers while she held him being his second choice that meant she was making headwind. "Do you wanna keep your face in my big strong shoulder or be turned around facing away from my?" She asked, then leaned down and kissed his neck, knowing from Julie (who had dumped Ben mostly because she shipped the pair) just how much he loved having his neck kissed and nibbled on. Case and point Ben didn't even really reply, just snuggled into her harder. Taking that as a answer Gwen made her way over to a kitchen chair and took a seat, Ben's legs on either side of her lap and his arms hugging her, while one of her strong hands rubbed and patted his pampered bottom. Her other hand was rubbing and pressing on certain spots on Ben's back and it didn't take loud before her efforts were rewarded as a muffled poot came out his backside, then anther and anther and she could feel him starting to push and grunt. "That's it baby gurl, let it all out. make me a nice big present." Gwen coo'ed sweetly in his ear and follow up with giving him a gentle start of a hickey on his neck as he began to fill his pretty pink diapers. "G-Gwen! Dun! N-Not while I'm pooping!" Ben meekly whimpered, though he tilted his head in such a fashion that he was offering her a even better shot at his neck. "Heh, Somebodies gonna be a tsundere diaper sissy for me huh? That's ok. I think it's adorable." Gwen chuckled, feeling the lumps of Ben's 'present' to her fill up the back of his diapers and mentally giving thanks to whatever mage had made the spell that allowed her to only smell strawberries in cream as Ben loaded his huggies. 'Maybe if he's a good gurl at our wedding, on our honeymoon I'll cast it on him too.' Gwen thought. Food for thought later, She had a good little gurl dumping his guts in his pampers for her and whimpering for his reward and as such, she leaned down and started to gently nibble and suck away on Ben's neck, smirking as the little sissy let out a soft "I love you.." as she did so.

The end

[inkyblxts]

do you guys have dreams that are so weird that your brain cant forget it due to how undecipherable it is

like 3 days I had a dream where I had a dream I worked at mcdonalds that looked like my grandma’s house and it was like only the first floor looked like a mcdonalds the rest of the floors were like the same and it was fun my friends and family went there but there was a brawl about tissue papers and some dude left the establishment without his right leg and in the middle of it I went on a vacation where I went to a sea  park that wasn’t even one because the only creatures there were drowning dolphins and and a powder where if you pour into a moist trash can it can make a snail and to enter the place you have to go through what seemed to be the my backyard where there is a watch tower and you have to climb it and ride a black isuzu M-ux to an alleyway where regice the pokemon has to check if your underwear if green and can turn pink if dabbed with hot boiling water then you have to solve the riddle of a monkey with a golden fox mask and a gun the question was

‘if I could jump over saturn and cut off my dick to swallow the red crayola marker to turn my left foot cyan, am I a vegan”

and apparently the answer  is 

“no, because you needed 6-8 plates of fish sticks and waffles to over heat lucifer (from obey me) and claim sir Johni’s crown and rule arthagnisia

and like the riddle didn’t make sense enough who’s Johni ??? Athagnisia???? anyways after I answer that answer correctly in one try he gave me a stick that can enlarge it self if you screamed engorgio in a british accents and shrink if yelled reducio in a spanish accent I use it to defeat the skeleton king who looked like overblot Leona from twisted wonderland WHAT and got the ticket too the park after vacation I got back to my mcdonalds job then I asked my manager what time do I go home and he responded with 

“10:30 pm”

this is where act three of my dream occurs so apparantly my mom (and im apparent a boy now) is a mythological goddess who looked like lady dimitrescu I pissed of by being late and going home at one am I die then there was a retelling of her again??? like her mythological ass has three children I’m the youngest apparently and my dad is frickin Daichi sawamura and we came home late from school and mom was fucking piss and may I mention the paint work of the house was garbage the walls where neon yellow and the floor was like a ugly shace of blue and the furniture was modern but it wasn’t fitting with the enviorment anyways my scared ass hid under a bed in the attic for 3 days and I was found by my two older sibbling (fuckin snitch-) who shoved me infront of my mom who was like 

“oh honey there you are :D” 

and lead me away to and ancient realm or smthhin

and I still remember every detail and this bullshit was three days ago

[spidergvven]

Hi! im rly sorry if this is a dumb question feel free to ignore it if it is! i saw ur food sovereignty post and i thought it was rly cool bc i had nvr heard of the term yet i agreed w it vry much! that being said im a little confused with part of the post! specifically the line that says “The phrase "culturally appropriate" signifies that the food that is available and accessible for the population should fit with the cultural background of the people consuming it." What exactly does that mean?

its not a dumb question at all! i had to read a lot of different real life examples of what this meant before i understood it. keeping in mind that im not an expert, just someone who has tried to educate myself on this topic, but my understanding is that it means people should be able to eat their own cultures food without laws/stigma against it and we need to deal with problems like food deserts that make getting any food impossible. so people from south asia should be able to eat south asian food, people from poland should be able to eat polish food, indigenous people should be able to eat whatever their particular nation or tribes traditional diet is etc etc.

when i first heard of food sovereignty, i thought well no duh different ethnic and cultural groups can eat their own foods why is that an issue? but the reason this is specifically singled out is because their are a lot structures in place currently that prevent this from being possible. the most prominent example i can think of is that there are many laws that prevent indigenous americans, especially first nations people in northern canada, from hunting/fishing/farming in the way their people traditionally have for centuries. some of these laws are the result of stolen land being occupied which obviously prevents people from doing anything on that land and others are specifically restrictions on indigenous peoples hunting.

a lot of hunting laws that limit first nations peoples right to hunt are partially the result of animal rights activists who knew that big corporations have too much power over the government and would not allow their activities to be limited and so instead choose to go after the easier target of indigenous hunting practices so they could get some sort of “win”. obviously their are limitations forced on indigenous people that predate the modern animal rights movement, indigenous americans have faced restriction after restriction in all aspects of life since europeans first landed on this continent. there is a long history of oppression at play here but it also cant be ignored that for years there was an active attempt by animal rights groups to smear indigenous american hunting practices as particularly barbaric and cruel. luckily there’s been a lot of work done by both animal welfare activists and indigenous activists to refocus the movement on big corporations instead of attacking people in isolated northern areas where it is not only traditional to hunt but also there is no other source of food (i apparently have to mention not all v*gans and not all animal rights activists otherwise im not allowed to talk about the very real problem of various groups and individuals that call themselves vegans and/or animal rights activists attacking indigenous hunting)

heres a semi recent example of these kinds of stigmatizing attacks:

another example of culturally appropriate food being available (or not available as the case may be) is the way many immigrant populations tend to be poorer and live in food deserts which means they cant get access to good grocery stores where they could buy the ingredients needed to make their cultural food. unfortunately i cant find the particular study i read since it was two years ago that i found it 😔😔 but the gist of it is that when immigrant populations can get the ingredients to make their own traditional foods they have better health. this is a huge breakthrough when it comes to the so called “obesity epidemic” because the data shows that its not just a matter of eating one type of Healthy™ food. when people can regularly eat their own cultures’ traditional diets they have better heart health, less chance of diabetes, and tend to have more stable weight (i personally believe that weight does not equal health but there’s no denying that people in poverty in the us and canada tend to weigh more and its because of the limited availability of nutritious, regular meals combined with the stress of poverty). basically there’s a huge number of immigrants who are not able to cook their cultures’ traditional diets because of poverty and poverty itself perpetuates a lot of health problems related to diet.

last example is that a lot of foreign food aid provides generic staples that are cheap but not necessarily nutritious and they have no concern for what people in that part of the world actually eat. it creates a negative feedback loop where people are dependent on that aid but also unhealthy because of it. there’s also a lot of corporate bullshit where big companies will provide “aid” but really its just an opportunity for them to contractually lock farmers in the global south into growing their brand of say rice or whatever. those farmers will then be obligated to grow only that grain or produce and a lot of times they will end up indebted to the company and then have little to no money to buy food and no land available to grow their own food because it’s all being used for whatever crop the big company wants. that of course leads to starvation which causes a whole host of health issues.

i feel like maybe this is too long an explanation 😰 but i hope this helps 


[shhh-no-ones-home]

green looks good on you  vinny mauro x reader

+++++++++

Request from @gardenjungle : "If you are taking requests, I would LOVE if you could do an imagine where the reader has a ton in common with Chris (likes hockey and Harry Potter, is a vegan, etc...) so they’re super close, and Vinny is super upset about it because he likes her sooo much and “Chris gets all the girls” ??? Vinny gets no love and you’re one of the only people who writes about him often. I’d also love if you could get a little sexy action in there"

Ngl this is like 1600+ words and i wrote it in like twenty minutes and loved every minute of it. i really hope you like it! i didnt end up adding anything ‘sexy’ but its pretty gratifying to say the least lol.

Song: gold by sleeping with sirens

tag list: @musicsexandpizza69 @svintsandghosts @alilpunkrock @cynic-spirit @theoneandonlykymberlee @ryansitkowskiswifey @joeybarber @thisplace-ishaunted

+++++++++

i rocked back into the couch, laughing at what chris had said. he was sat next to me, very comfortably, as we chatted amongst ourselves. we had been very close friends for a very long time and i was over the moon that he'd invited me to travel with them for this tour as the videographer. not only did i get to expand my portfolio but i also got to connect with my best friend and his band.

"okay but do you remember that one fall at the orchard when you tripped on that apple and ended up face first in the dirt?"

he laughed out and i sent him a shocked expression.

"i thought we agreed to never bring that up!"

i protested, the other guys around us sort of laughing along, them only half paying attention as they played a new video game. their focus was above our heads.

"but it was hilarious. i looked up for a split second and BAM! there you went."

he said loudly, being a little more expressive at the 'bam.' i shook my head at him.

"okay then, if we are ratting each other out about stupid shit weve done,what about that one time you got your hand stuck in the Christmas tree ties on your dads car?"

i said matter-of-factly. his eyes got wide.

"hey! that was an accident and you know it. we couldve taken my whole arm off!"

he said in his defense.

"i thought it was hilarious."

i said sternly back, smiling widely at him. he stuck his tongue out at me, a notion i gladly mirrored. then he grabbed me around the shoulders, pulling me to him. i screamed at the sudden motion, looking to vinny and rick who were sitting across from us for some guidance but they were to into the game.

"you two are too much."

ricky laughed out, looking at ryan for a second as he walked by. chris pulled me closer before licking a stripe up my face.

"ew!"

i said pulling away from him and wiping his saliva off of my face.

"asshole!"

i said, grabbing his face and blowing raspberries into his cheek. he laughed incredulously, pushing me away from him.

"youre nasty."

he said mimicking my notion and wiping his face. i punched his arm lightly before swinging my legs into his lap, him holding them there and looking down at me endearingly.

"so are you."

i said back, shaking my head at him, nose scrunched.

"you know you love me."

he said, bringing his face closer to mine.

"well yeah."

i said back, squinting at him.

"i think im done for tonight."

vinny said suddenly, pausing the game. ricky sent him a look like 'wtf?' and watched him stand.

"im gonna go get some air."

he said and we all watched him walk off the bus.

"that was weird right?"

i asked and they all nodded. i had a good few chances to talk to vinny since tour had started and he seemed like a really cool guy. someone id be lucky to call a close friend by the time tour was over if not something more. part of me felt bad, like chris and i really where too much for him to handle in that moment. but this was how we always were. we practically survived our teens years together, losing touch for a bit but inevitably going back to the way things where when we found each other back.

"you guys mind if i go out there too?"

i asked and they all sort of shrugged at me, chris letting my legs go so i could stand. as i did i leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

"dont miss me while im gone."

i joked and he rolled his eyes at me.

"of course not."

i laughed a little bit as i descended down the stairs, pushing the door open and seeing vinny leaning against the bus.

"you okay?"

i asked softly, walking to him and rubbing my hands together. i had sort of forgotten how cold it had got. it was late fall after all but the bus was so warm and inviting i didnt even think about grabbing a jacket before leaving. i half shivered as i walked closer, his face being illuminated by the street lights outside the venue.

"uh yeah, everything's great."

he said a little condescendingly, kicking his foot into the gravel under him.

"im sorry if we were too much, i guess when we get together we have a tendency to overshare and its not for everyone. but i suppose thats what you get when youre comfortable with someone the way we are."

i tried to defend to him and he let out a short sigh-laugh.

"its no big deal, you guys really like each other. its cool."

i smiled.

"yeah, hes my best friend."

vinny nodded once.

"how long have you guys been together? i dont recall him ever talking about you before."

i drew my brows.

"together?"

i asked and he seemed just as confused as i was.

"look i get it, chris gets all the girls, being the front man and all."

he seemed a little jealous.

"but i dont think he ever mentioned you before tour started and then one day he told us about some girl coming on to film us. but clearly you guys are close so do you have like a, i dont know, like a open relationship type thing?"

i laughed a little bit.

"you think chris and i are dating?"

he half shrugged.

"well yeah, its kinda obvious."

i shook my head and took his hand in mine.

"vinny i can assure you that chris and i are just friends. if anything hes like the brother i never asked for nor wanted but got anyways. but life just does that sometimes."

he looked down at our connected hands and let go of me promptly.

"i guess it just doesnt seem like that."

he said a little hurt. i sighed and leaned against the bus next to him.

"it would be kind of weird to bring it up to him but i like someone else in this band, if you wanted to know."

i said, looking at him a little hopeful he was picking up what i was putting down.

"oh."

he said sadly. i sighed, i guess not.

"yeah, hes super cool, and nice, and ive really enjoyed connecting with him."

i shivered as the wind blew and he finally looked over at me.

"are you cold?"

he asked, ignoring what i had just said. i nodded a little bit, crossing my arms over my chest.

"just a little bit but i ll be fine."

he shook his head at me.

"no way, here."

he said taking his jacket off. at least he had long sleeves on. he placed his jacket over my shoulders, pulling it together in the front.

"thanks vin."

i said as we both returned to our positions against the bus.

"would your new dream guy do that?"

he half joked, i could still hear the venom in his voice. he was absolutely jealous. i thought it was funny because now he was jealous of himself.

"actually yeah."

he scoffed, hiking his foot up on the side of the bus.

"great."

he said looking away from me. i stepped closer and nudged him.

"he would because he just did."

he looked at me and drew his brows together.

"wait you mean?"

he asked, his face turning to that of shock. i nodded.

"god, yes. vin ive had a crush on you since i got here."

i laughed out.

"i didnt think you would like me back and then i realized just now that that was utter bullshit."

he half smiled.

"and whys that?"

he asked a little cocky.

"you were jealous of chris and that has only happened to me a handful of times in my life. once in highschool when my boyfriend said he would break up with me if i didnt stop hanging out with him. once when i graduated college and my then boyfriend accused me of sleeping with him. and right now."

he looked down a little ashamed.

"yeah i guess that wasnt fair of me to do. i just figured since you guys hit it off so fast that you were into him."

i laughed a little bit.

"dont get me wrong i love him with my whole being, but seeing someone go through puberty just does something to your vision of them ya know?"

i asked and he laughed back, nodding.

"okay, well if you really are into me, would it be stepping to far to ask you out?"

he said hopefully and i grinned widely at him.

"i would love that vin."

he sent me a tired smile in the dim street lights.

"may i also be so bold as to ask if i could kiss you?"

i let out a nervous laugh. i was really gonna let that happen huh? i nodded.

"id like that a lot vin."

he stepped closer to me slowly, placing his hand gently against my cheek, running his thumb over it. his hands were rough and calloused from playing the drums so long but i didnt mind. it kind of felt nice. he looked deep into my eyes before leaning down and capturing my lips in his. all of a sudden it felt like home, like this was it, the thing id wanted for so long and never found. his other hand made its way to my waist as he deepend the kiss. i sighed into him, practically melting against his mouth like chocolate left outside in the sun on a hot day. when he pulled away he rested his forehead against mine and smiled like an idiot, one i gladly returned.

"fucking finally."

i heard from behind me, the bus door clicking closed. both of us turned to look, seeing ricky and chris standing there grinning from ear to ear. i had a mad blush splayed across my face now and was thankful that the light was behind me so it would be harder to see.

"how long have you been standing there?"

i demanded, walking to chris and punching his arm. he laughed in pain as he rubbed his arm.

"long enough to see the sparks fly."

he teased, pushing me back. i rolled my eyes at him.

"get your ass back in the bus."

i said opening the door and escorting him back inside. he made kissy noises at me as rick followed him up the stairs. i shook my head and turned around, jumping a little bit at vinnys presence behind me.

"rick had kind of been waiting for that for a while."

he said, looking up at the now closed door. i raised a a brow.

"oh?"

i asked and he sent me a bashful smile, scratching the back of his neck lightly.

"ive been crushing over you for a while too. and being jealous of chris just as long, rick's been pushing me to say something. i guess it just took one last little push."

he shamefully laughed out.

"at least now we're on the same page."

i said before standing on my tip toes and bringing him down to kiss me again, both of his hands going to my waist.

"now come on, im still cold and the bus is much warmer."

i joked and he nodded along.

"agreed."

[supremeuppityone]

Chapter 117: A Precious Vintage

Author’s note: This was written for Klaroline Bingo @klaroline-events. Prompt: Best friend’s brother. 

You can read Part 2 here.

Bill Forbes died and the family fortune was lost. Now Caroline is desperate to keep her father’s charity afloat — without revealing her misfortune to Klaus, her childhood nemesis.

Warning: Some angst.

“I often think how unfairly life's good fortune is sometimes distributed.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

           The crystal goblet was cool to the touch, holding the perfectly chilled Dom Pérignon rosé. And yet it scalded Caroline’s fingers the longer she held it. Her family once owned goblets like these. Until a month ago, they used to own a lot of things. Her smile was little more than a thin blade as she politely nodded at Carol Lockwood who gleefully detailed the latest rumors about the contentious Gilbert divorce. With that vicious old gossip, she knew better than to appear as anything less than perfectly content in front of her. The last thing she needed was to have a breakdown about her father’s death in front of Mystic Falls’ elite. Or the cruel aftermath.

           She murmured a few well-placed noises at Carol’s mindless recount of Miranda getting caught with Matt Donovan, a decades-younger bartender, and then allowed her gaze to sweep the grand ballroom once more. The charity auction’s glittering gold banners were crooked and if Rebekah was here, she’d scream bloody murder that polyester fabric had crossed the threshold of her ancestral manor. She loved her best friend, but her snobby side was almost as ugly as that dolphin tattoo she got on her ass cheek during that drunken weekend in Antigua.

           Carol suddenly squeezed her hand, cooing insincerely, “Please accept my condolences for your father’s passing. To lose him so unexpectedly must have been just dreadful.”

           Yes, dreadful. Especially the part where she and her mother learned that he’d fallen victim to a string of bad investments and now the Forbes’ fortune was almost gone. Caroline struggled to keep her face impassive, thinking back to how she’d had to comfort her mother just that morning when she broke down in hysterical sobs as they scoured meager apartments two towns over. They both knew eventually the truth would come out, and ferocious harpies like Carol would relish the news, but her mother insisted they keep up the pretense a bit longer. Especially since they were scrambling to keep Bill’s charity afloat and preserve his legacy.

           “Almost as dreadful as the sight of a grown man drunkenly chatting up a dimwitted bird younger than his granddaughter,” an accented voice dryly interjected, causing Carol’s forehead to crease angrily, or at least as much as the Botox would allow. Muttering a terse goodbye, she excused herself, which normally would’ve made Caroline sigh with relief, but now she was stuck with her childhood nemesis.

           She’d grown up with Klaus; affluent families like the Mikaelsons and Forbes tended to travel in the same social circles — especially in small towns like Mystic Falls. But while she and Rebekah instantly bonded to form a lasting friendship, her best friend’s brother was another matter. Blessed with a chiseled jawline and piercing intellect, add in the prestigious Mikaelson name and enviable fortune, and Klaus was one of the town’s most eligible bachelors. And a gigantic asshat.

           “I hope you aren’t expecting a thank you,” she coolly told him, “The day I can’t handle Botoxed bitches like Carol Lockwood is the day I skinny dip in mashed potatoes.”

           Gray eyes twinkling, he leaned in close as he hummed, “Now that I would pay to see, sweetheart. While I don’t share your odd affinity for mashed potatoes, I certainly can see the appeal now.”

           “I used to love them until you dunked my head in the serving bowl at Thanksgiving.”

           Klaus let out a long-suffering sigh as they settled into one of their well-worn arguments. “We were children.”

           “You chipped my tooth,” Caroline hissed, snagging another champagne flute from a waiter.

           He impishly clinked their crystal rims as he toasted her. “But what an enchanting smile you have now — as I’ve told you on countless occasions.”

           “Usually when you have several desperate groupies hanging off your arm,” she scoffed, hating how she secretly craved their bickering. Even though he’d always been a cocky asshole, arguing with him somehow felt like home. With all of the painful drama going on in her life, it was nice to indulge in something familiar.

           She rolled her eyes as she overheard Tyler Lockwood get rejected by one of the servers when he told her his yacht had a ‘bitchin’ view of the sunset’. For fuck’s sake, he’d been using that same bullshit line since they were in high school. She felt an instant connection with the girl and decided maybe that much black eyeliner could be attractive in its own way.

           “Yes, well, surely you noticed I’m unaccompanied tonight,” he ventured, eyes darting anywhere but at her as though he’d suddenly grown shy. “I thought Rebekah would’ve mentioned it...” he trailed off awkwardly.

           “She flew out last night. Alexander surprised her with a trip to Romania to hunt wild boar.”

           He raised an eyebrow. “My sister is a vegan.”

           “She thinks she’s in love,” Caroline retorted, hating her bittersweet tone.

           Flashing a dimpled smirk, he mocked, “Rebekah falls in love every other week. It’s the only time she’s punctual.” He cocked his head, studying her carefully. She wasn’t sure what he saw, but his expression turned serious as he added, “Not like you, though. You’re cautious. Meticulous. Examining every possible outcome from each angle before you take a step.”

           For once, she was struck speechless. Normally, interactions with her best friend’s brother were a bizarre mix of boisterous banter with thinly veiled hostility. This was new. She bought herself some time to process by taking a sip of the overpriced champagne; however, the familiar Dom tasted like ash. They used to serve it at every family celebration.

           “Let’s get out of here,” Klaus said unexpectedly, gray eyes blazing with a ferocity that Caroline found intensely appealing. She blamed the champagne. “I’m thinking San Sebastián. Remember that little place overlooking the Bay? Akelaŕe, I think?”

           A little half-smile touched her lips as she recalled how Rebekah’s brothers had tracked them down at the exclusive boutique hotel and convinced them to extend their stay another two weeks. In between the spectacular beaches and non-stop shopping in the local markets, they gorged themselves on Iberico carpaccio, delicate herbed soufflés and gallons of fruity txakoli and hearty crianza wines.

           She also recalled the way Klaus’ curls had darkened when he emerged from swimming in the sparkling bay, water droplets trailing down his firm chest. It was a memory she reluctantly carried with her, unsure if the spark she felt when they teased each other could be something more.

           He must’ve taken her silence as a rejection, because he quickly amended his offer with, “It doesn’t have to be a date; it could just be a friendly jaunt and you could plan our next adventure, sweetheart.” Right. She couldn’t afford to keep up with Klaus. Not now that they were from two different worlds. Caroline didn’t know what the future held for her, but she didn’t belong here anymore. And she couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the pity in his eyes once he learned the truth. “I can’t,” she softly told him, unable to mask her pained smile as she made her way toward the Mikaelsons’ lavish south garden where the charity auction was set to begin.

           She chose a seat near the back, giving Elena and the Salvatores a wide berth when she caught part of a tiresome conversation about racing and how in an idiotic fit of one-upmanship, the brothers had purchased a pair of McLaren F1s to try out on the track that weekend. She also begrudgingly admired Elena’s bravery in showing her face tonight, knowing everyone would be gossiping about her parents’ ugly divorce. Of course, the Salvatores formed a protective cocoon around her all night, so it’s not as though Elena was truly alone.

           No one would ever protect Caroline like that. Straightening her spine, she refused to give into self-pity, and instead let her gaze slide appreciatively over the impressive collections to be auctioned. Several charities had been selected by the Founders’ committee to benefit from the proceeds, and it was shaping up to be one of the most successful auctions in the town’s history. There was a Miró, several Richters, plus a giant Jackson Pollock the Mikaelsons were donating from their extensive collection. Sparkling Steuben Glassware, and even antique Baccarat with diamond stoppers rounded out the offerings, but it was the vintage Bordeaux that kept her attention.

           It had been her father’s favorite bottle, purchased from the exclusive Travelers Vineyard the year she was born. It had held a place of honor in their wine cellar, and she’d burst into tears at least twice when she’d dusted it off for the auction. But she and her mother had agreed that Bill would’ve wanted them to keep the boys’ home going as long as possible. It was a cause that he was passionate about because his grandfather spent much of his youth in one, claiming it had saved his life.

           The auctioneer held up the bottle, announcing to the crowd, “A precious vintage priced at just under $30,000. All proceeds will benefit Safe House, a residential boarding facility for at-risk youth. We’ll start the bidding at $35,000.”

           Multiple paddles were raised, and she anxiously leaned forward, taken aback when Klaus bid an aggressive $40,000. He was sitting several rows off to the side, and gazed at her with an unreadable expression.

           A few more bids were called, and Caroline bit her lip, excited that the money could fund the facility even longer than she and her mother had planned. “$100,000,” Klaus confidently shouted, flashing a dimpled smirk at the flurry of gasps around him.

           She felt her heart thud in her chest as the auctioneer closed out the bidding. Klaus paid more than three times what that bottle was worth. Did he know it was her father’s? Mild panic flitted through her mind as Caroline questioned whether Klaus somehow knew about her family’s financial troubles. Was he secretly trying to help her? Or, maybe he just understood the importance of supporting charities?

           It didn’t matter, she decided. Selfless generosity should be acknowledged and she was tired of fighting her growing feelings. She was ready to take that step. In a swish of black silk, her stride was decisive as she moved into his path. Her breath caught as she admired the perfect hang of his Tom Ford tuxedo. Her smile was hesitant even as she struggled to keep her tone nonchalant. “That was quite the display.” She watched his fingers toy with the old-fashioned waxed cork of the bottle, and she wondered if he’d like to hear how her father had taught her to make wax seals when she was little. Maybe on the flight to San Sebastián?  

           “It seems my plan to gain your attention worked,” Klaus told her with a seductive grin, flashing his dimples as her cheeks warmed. “You seemed quite fixated on this bottle, and I decided to raise the stakes just to see that lovely flush when you’re especially vexed with me.”

           She nervously tucked a stray curl behind her ear, pleased that he’d been so attuned to her to notice the wine’s importance. He was someone she could confide in. Finally.

           Klaus lightly wiggled the bottle in his grip, sighing dramatically as he said, “Elijah will have my head when he finds out I’ve purchased something so tawdry for our collection. These charity events are quite clever to wait until attendees are properly smashed so they’re more inclined to open their pocketbooks.”  

           Caroline felt her heart sink at his words. “What? I don’t...”

           “No matter,” Klaus smoothly continued, “I’ll just toss the bottle in some dusty corner of the wine cellar and my dullard brother will be none the wiser.”

           It was a punch to the gut, but she was proud of the way her venomous smile didn’t falter. This wasn’t her world anymore. And she’d never been more grateful to be reminded of that. “That bottle belonged to my father. He lost our fortune and we needed the money to keep his charity from going under. So, thank you for your selfless donation.”

           Caroline was certain his chagrined expression would become one of her favorite memories. As she stormed off, she hissed over her shoulder, “And I hope you choke on your tawdry vintage!”

[jenna-jayde-the-renagade]

So my life has gone to shit.. I dont trust anybody anymore, and honest to god I cant help but keep thinking of ways to end it. My mom keeps telling me how to feel about this whole thing, that I should be grateful that i got in finally to see a specialist. Reality is I dont even trust those subhuman animals anymore, and frankly they're gonna have to earn my trust. After 4 fucking years, my life, my future being ruined. My mental health going downhill, all for the second time now. Add on to that, I dont get any meds for the pain so this has pushed me into addiction now for a second time. I've been dehumanized and humiliated, treated with nothing but the utmost disrespect while being stigmatized for being mentally ill, transgender and a recovering addict for most of it. They ignored me for 4 years, my body is damaged, and frankly help just might have came too little too late. I wont just suffer through the next one, the next time this happens I'm gonna end my life, my suffering on my own god damn terms. Atleast I still have control over that..

Fuck the canadian healthcare system. Some days I honestly just want to start selling drugs, and fly to a country where I can just pay to play and get the best care in the god damn world. Cause 4 years now I've been telling them to refer me to a specialist, I've been telling them that it's probably crohns or some other GI issue. They need to do a colonoscopy and a scope to find it, so that's what I would ask for. I would never get it, so i more or less gave up on the healthcare system. They would leave me on the floor thrashing in pain for hours. Treating me like a drug addict in withdrawal when I didnt even have any opioids in my system. I would be lucky if I got an IV for fluids, and even more lucky if they pumped me full of a bunch of over the counter drugs and others that didnt work like gravol, tauridol, buscopan, zofran, and haliperidol. I would tell them each time, that this was the hundredth time they tried gravol, and it doesnt help people when they're screaming in pain. They treat the nausea. Its bullshit because I am in so much pain that its making me nauseous and until they get rid of the pain, the vomiting is just gonna continue. They always treat me like I'm full of shit, and when I turn out to be right and continue puking, thrashing and screaming in pain, they just get angry at the fact they were wrong. Our doctors and nurses are a bunch of sociopathic, apathetic adult children who in my experience take pleasure in watching you suffer. The worse I get the more they smile. They are so stupid, blind almost because if their stupid fucking machine says I'm ok then I guess it's all in my head. They only think that theres nothing wrong with me because theyve only ever done a blood test or an xray. Never ever once have they done a single test that would have found the issue, crohns cant be found just on a blood test. The emergency room doctors think it can be, my family doctor and everybody else I've talked to says otherwise.

On January 1st I was having another flare up, and they shoved me in the psych observation room because they genuinely didnt want to deal with me. They ignore me, and I keep going in because I want help. I dont want to end up relapsing again cause I cant take the god damn pain! But nope, I get treated like a crazy person now.. they did it against my will. And they even tried to take my phone and my keys. I was puking constantly, I needed water to keep hydrated and they left me for 4 hours, locked in, no meds, no help or nothing. So I just cracked.. I had nothing to barf in, to wipe my nose with, or to wipe the cold sweat off me. So I puked in every corner of that room, I puked beside the bed especially because a mop wouldnt fit in there. I pissed in the corner, I would hack up some phlegm and spit it all over the floors and walls, I blew snot rockets on every surface too! After a while some nurse came in and gave me a barf bag. I threw it on the floor and just continued to puke over every hard surface in the place. I was puking every 5 seconds I swear, and the doctor finally came in at 3 hours and 15 minutes. At 3.5 hrs they give me two pills. I straight up tell them there is no point in even taking them. I couldnt even keep water down and these people are stupid enough to make me take pills? Come on. You need to hold it in for atleast an hour to see even the most minimal affects. I was puking every 5 seconds, to the point that I puked before I took the pills, and I puked them out the moment after I swallowed. They had given me a fucking gravol tab, and some Ativan, the latter of which I couldnt even hold under my tongue long enough. I barfed it onto the floor when it was half dissolved. They come back with this clear liquid shit in a shot glass. I swallowed it right after I puked. The liquid burned my insides, and i puked that shit out even quicker. I asked them to give me IV medications for that exact reason, I always ask for IV medications cause its literally a waste of your time and mine to just pump me full of pills when I can't keep them down and they hurt my tummy as they dissolve. They tell me to just "breathe deeply and relax" and to "just try jayden, you gotta try", so then I try, and when they end up being wrong, and I can't take shit. They end up saying that I'm manipulating, that I'm drug seeking or I'm not trying hard enough to make it work. Absolute bullshit, over the course of 4 years I have quite literally told them what to do. I have multiple family members with this disease, and my grandmother was ignored like this too. She told me to ask them for a colonoscopy and a scope, and to ask them to treat the pain, not the nausea cause the pain literally causes the nausea. The sooner the pain is gone the sooner I can be normal and tell them what's going on. Instead I'm left to suffer in the worst pain a human being can feel. I get treated like shit and told it's all in my head. I gave up on getting a diagnosis in year two. I just want to shoot dope whenever the pain comes. Dope atleast takes it away, after all they would be giving me some of the strongest shit they have at the hospital if I was some boomer with a sprained ankle. It would take the pain away. Thats for sure. Being a mentally ill, drug using, autistic tranny they just see that. I get nothing. No help, no answers, not even some relief when my screaming can be heard far and wide.

I want to die right now, and I keep trying to think of a painless way to do it.. buying $400 worth of street fentanyl and slipping into a nice, peaceful opioid coma seems like a wonderful idea right now.. that would end the fucking suffering atleast..

I wont be wearing a colostomy bag. Colostomy bags arent sexy, they are fucking disgusting and you cant just be body positive when you have a fucking bag full of your own shit hanging off you, and your only way of having penetrative sex sewed up permanently and taken away from me. Not like I could even be a decent fuck for anybody at this point anyways. Its painful to shit, let alone anything else. I dont want to give up food either. I love food, food is literally my life and the only way I have to bond with certain people! Like my family for example. Nothing makes me just want to slip.into that coma more then the worry of the future.

Will I be sitting at a family gathering eating bland gluten free, dairy free, all organic 100% vegan fair trade horse shit on a plate while my family actually gets to enjoy the food I used to be able to eat? Moms spaghetti, grandmas meat pies, the baked goods, fresh tomatoes out of my garden and others. A good fucking steak even? Cause honestly a birthday isnt a birthday if I dont have my birthday meal.

I know for a fact my body is damaged from 4 years of suffering. I used to bounce back, now it takes the wind out of my sails for a month.

Needless to say, I just want to fucking die more then anything else. Positivity and anything I love is gone, and all that I have left is knowing that Alberta health services, coast mountain health services, providence health services, and interior health services have all fucked me in the biggest way humanely possible. So thankful for free fucking healthcare!!

You get what you bloody well pay for!!

[hockeytrashgoblin]

Ice Cold ~Part 5

A/N: A double update for yall tonight! I hope you guys are enjoying. It’ll really pick up after this chapter! 

William’s POV (just trying it. One more chapter is planned to have his POV but let me know if you like it and want more!)

"William you're dumb."

"Shut up Auston, you don't know anything!"

"I know enough that you're going to fuck this all up for us."

"I'm not fucking up anything." 

We were all out in the woods hunting. Animal blood was shitty but at least we got the thrill of the chase before we could get blood bags to satisfy the real thirst to be around humans. We were having fun until Auston decided to stop me.

"You're being selfish." He roared at me, his eyes turning black and veined. "We finally have a good life and you're willing to risk it all for some dumb fucking girl."

"Auston calm down." Morgan said earning a look of hatred from the other boy. "Now."

"This is such bullshit!"

"Auston. This isn't up for discussion. You know what I saw."

"She's not that bad dude." Kasperi said coming out of nowhere with Mitch.

"I don't give a fuck about any of this. She's a threat."

"She's my soulmate." I snarled pushing him to the ground. "You're just upset because you haven't found yours yet."

"Shut the fuck up! I don't care. I care about a weak little human who will react who knows what way to us b-"

"Morgan knows you idiot! He saw it. She's not going to react badly."

"Why are we even giving her a chance to react at all?" 

"Auston that's enough." Morgan yelled, silencing everyone. "You're behaving like a child. You have been the whole time and it's getting old, fast. As if William isn't having a hard enough time without you making it harder."

"Oh and by the way Aus, you should really stop following us around. She's noticed."

"There's no way she noticed."

"Listen you cocky little shit. She's talked to me about it. She's uncomfortable."

"Auston you promised us you wouldn't do that!" Mitch said hurt that his friend lied. Mitch always was the most sensitive person, especially towards Auston.

"I'm sorry Mitchy, but what if-"

"No Aus. You're supposed to trust Willy. You're supposed to trust Morgan, all of us actually. If you don't trust us what do we have? Nothing. And trying to keep him from his soulmate? That's so fucking low."

"Mitch I do trust you guys. I don't trust her."

"She's got a name." I mumbled.

"I don't care."

"I'm going to tell her Auston. I don't care if you give me the okay at this point. It's been 3 months and I'm sick of the secrets. If you can't get behind me finding true love and happiness, then you can just keep it to yourself."

"That's beyond stupid. He's created a new kind of stupid."

"Shut the fuck up you salty bitch!" Mitch practically screamed.

"I'm sick of this arguing. We're going home now." Morgan said starting to leave. "And if I find out that either of you killed each other to not deal with the other, I will kill both of you."

We all dispersed after that. I was beyond angry and took off. Just running, no particular destination, just going. I would never understand why Auston was acting like this. He's never been so broody and grumpy in the past few years I've known him. I hope Mitch could calm him down or talk some sense into him or something.

After a while I decided to head back home. I made sure that there was no blood on my face or anything and headed out. 

I didn't notice I was walking past (y/n)'s work until I smelled her. My senses were so intune with everything about her, if I concentrated I could hear her laughing with Amy inside. It made me smile hearing her get closer. I decided to wait for them and say hi. My still heart felt like it soared when she finally walked out. It only took a second for her to see me and come running up. She gave me a kiss and a hug that warmed me up completely.

"Hi." She said with a sweet smile.

"Hi baby." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "Hi Amy."

"Hey Will, we were just about to meet up with Mitchell for dinner if you want to join us?"

"Yeah sure I'd like that!"

We walked only a short way before we got to a little vegan restaurant. It was a really beautiful place. It was crawling with hipsters and elegant looking snobs. I didn't see the big deal about eating meat personally but I can't really complain since I don't eat a lot of human food.

We were seated quickly and the service was lovely. The food was also good. But I enjoyed watching (y/n) giggling and having fun with her friends. It was incredibly cute. She kept looking at me with these big happy eyes that made me feel like I was flying.

"What are you looking at?" She asked with a blush coating her cheeks.

"You. I'm just wondering what I did to get you to look at me with such beautiful eyes. I was just thinking I'm lucky."

"Stop doing the voice!" She accused blushing harder hitting my shoulder. I laughed at her.

"I don't even know I'm doing it until you say something." 

"I feel like that's a lie."

"Why?"

"You've got mischief in those eyes Willy."

"You guys are so cute." Mitchell said interrupting us. I almost forgot they were sitting there.

"Thank you." She replied quietly blushing.

"Don't get all shy, you are! You guys have such a sweet relationship." Amy said smiling at me.

"I just want to make her happy."

"Stooop!" (Y/n) said hiding her face against my shoulder. She looked up and smiled. "I wanna make you happy."

"You do." I kissed her forehead before looking back at the menu. "Does anyone want dessert?"

"No we're okay. We were about to get our check and head out."

"Don't worry about the bill, I'll cover it."

"Oh William you don't have to do that! We didn't invite you out so that you'd pay.."

"I know you didn't. It's no problem, honest. I just want to do something nice for you guys."

"Are you sure?" Mitchell said still looking very unsure.

"Absolutely positive. You guys go ahead."

"Alright I guess. It was nice meeting you William, nice seeing you again (y/n)."

"You too! I'll see you Saturday! Amy I'll see you tomorrow. We're meeting at the arena right?"

"Yep! I'll see you then!"

With that they left us there alone. I couldn't help but stare at her while she looked at deserts. I was in a trance until the waitress interrupted.

"Would you like any dessert?" She asked putting her hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off but she put it back. I rolled my eyes at her disrespect.

"I don't but she would."

"What would she like?"

"Maybe you should ask her." I said losing the smile. She did the same and rolled her eyes towards (y/n).

"What do you want?"

"Willy I-" she looked really uncomfortable and it made me upset.

"Well? What do you want?"

"I um-"

"Spit it out."

"We'll take the bill please. We're not going to sit here and be treated this way." I said speaking up for my sweet girl.

"Oh um alright." She gave me the bill and left quickly. I put some money down and stood up with her coat to slip over her shoulders.

"Let's go baby, we can stop somewhere for dessert if you want something." I took her hand and led her out. She was still quiet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure? You seem upset."

"It's dumb, just forget about it."

"Hey, don't say that. It's not dumb if it's bothering you." I pulled her over to a bench when I sat down and pulled her to sit on my lap. "Tell me what's bothering you."

"It was just that girl."

"I'm sorry she was so rude to you."

"It's not even that. I didn't like her flirting with you. I'm sorry I told you it's dumb."

"Is that what she was doing? I thought she was just being annoying."

"Will." She whined.

"I'm sorry darling but I really don't care. She could've been standing there naked and she couldn't have stolen my attention from you." She looked at me quietly for a minute and I was worried about what she was thinking before she broke into a big smile.

"I love you. I know that it's crazy early and you absolutely don't have to say it back, I just needed to say it. But please say something because my anxiety is threw the fucking roof right now." She said with a nervous laugh. I could hear how fast her heart was beating and it made me worried for a second before I realized it was just her normal heart racing. Funny that my lovely little human had a normal racing heartbeat.

"Do you honestly think for a second that I haven't completely fallen for you?"

"I don't know."

"Stop with your insecurities. I love you. As cliche as it sounds this was a love at first sight kind of thing for me."

"Me too." She said smiling super big.

"Let's walk." I said lifting us both off the bench making her squeal.

"Willy put me down!"

"Never."

"William!"

"Fine, fine." I gave her a long kiss before setting her down just for her to stumble. "Watch out bambi."

"Shut the fuck up. You can't kiss me like that and expect me to not be affected." She grumbled, taking my hand.

What happened next happened in slow motion for me, which was really saying something because everything usually moves really fast. A car slipping on slush, (y/n) turning in fear to see the car coming towards us, me pulling her to the other side of me, covering her body as the car crushed into mine. All slow motion. I was so terrified of losing her that I completely threw caution to the wind to save her. I looked around but we were on a pretty empty street. The driver was alive but unconscious. I looked down to (y/n) and she was just staring at me. I stared back not knowing what to say at all.

"Did you just pull an Edward Cullen on me?"

"No don't be ridiculous. Do you need to go to a doctor?"

"No I'm okay."

"We should check your head."

"No."

"Stubborn." I muttered, calling Morgan. She fell asleep. "Morgan I need you to come here right now. I fucked up."

[dragoneyesstuff]

My ideas of a modern avatar au.

( I've seen others headcanons of the gaang in more modern times so I wanted to share mine!)

(Some small notes on the gaang)

Aang:

Lived in an orphanage for a long time until meeting katara and sokka

Likes aesthetics ranging from cottagecore to frog core.

Loves puppets (in the style of the muppets of course) and made one that resembles Momo.

Absolutely LOVES Nintendo games, with pokemon and animal crossing being his favorites.

Vegan, but doesn't force it on others, he just reminds his friends that he is a vegan when going out to eat or when they have the occasional sleepover.

Goofball. Katara constantly has to watch him and sokka so they dont get into trouble, since together they share one braincell and katara has it.

Katara

Because of her caring nature, I could see her wanting to be some kind of doctor.

Makes sure that no one gets into trouble.

If she didnt wasnt apart of an argument, either her or aang will stop arguments.

Acts like a mom, despite her age. (And has probably done the classic "mom arm" at some point.

Sokka

The best way to describe his intelligence: Has been a straight A student throughout his entire life, but has also has done things like microwaving raw eggs because he thought it would hard boil them. (He found out it didn't)

Laughs at stupid memes and probably has either the best or worst sense of humor.

Plays soccer and is a part time coach.

Eats a lot and will eat random things at random times (zuko once caught him eating a bowl of cereal at 3 am and was like "wtf, dude?")

Like aang, he likes to play video games, but plays games like doom or super smash brothers.

Used to be sexist and kinda tight minded, but now he regularly chugs his "respect women and men juice"every day.

Will pull either really good or childish pranks on everyone. Ranging from that time attacked katara with a nerf gun, to that time he wrapped everything in zuko's room with Christmas wrapping paper (beware of him on April fools day)

Toph

Doesnt really spend money on herself, rather, she spends it on her friends. Most of the time its things that her friends cant really afford but they want, things like a Nintendo switch for aang, or tickets to a baseball game so sokka could take himself, suki, and zuko. But shes also used her wealth to personally help her friends, like helping them pay off tuition and student loans while in college, to personal things like buying an absolutely beautiful headstone for katara's mother, or personally paying for zuko's therapy sessions after he ran away from his abusive home life.

Even in the modern world, toph can still kick your ass with very little effort.

Wears baggy clothes often.

Wants to be a professional wrestler.

Appa was originally her seeing eye dog, but he wasnt really good at it, and she could already used her seismic sense to see, so she ended up giving him to aang

Zuko

Came from a really abusive and toxic home and still has trauma about his scar, but he never told anyone how he got it, except for his therapist.

Has major depression and anxiety. Sometimes he has an endless amount of energy, and sometimes feels like doing nothing all day and lies in bed. Iroh has tried his best to help his nephew, and is proud that zuko eventually realized he needs help.

Did some pretty bad things as a teenager. Ended up serving a stint in juvenile hall.

Had some really unhealthy coping mechanisms. Ranging from shoplifting to setting things on fire.

He started opening up more after befriending the gaang and even discovered more things about himself that he never really focused on.

He is a huge dork/nerd. Dont let that glare fool you.

Loves theater and will talk to suki for hours about their favorite musicals.

Is actually a really good cook. Aang, katara and sokka opened him up to showing this talent that nobody thought he would have.

Lived with his uncle iroh for a while until he had enough money to live in an apartment.

Goth boy. Absolutely loves going to concerts (especially grunge or metal)

Secretly craves the sweet release of death.

Has a thing for idiots.

Suki

Football player

Once absolutely destroyed sokka in a wrestling match and katara couldn't stop being smug about it for weeks

Was the catalyst for sokka realizing that sexism is worthless.

Yue

Sokka's ex.

Died from a terminal illness in her teens

Sokka occasionally visits her grave and leaves flowers on it.

Azula

Power hungry and really insecure.

Capable of really terrible things

Eventually gets admitted to a psych ward.

Ty lee

Bubbly cheerleader

Loves drama and people-watching

Kind of an airhead at times.

Loves to show off.

Mai

Goth girl.

Loves cryptids and witchcraft. Has a lot of merchandise relating to both

Deadpan in just about every kind of social interaction.

Very blunt. Is not afraid to call people out.

Will detect bullshit.

Works with zuko.

Ran away from her family in her teens, but is still financially supported by her parents.

(Now for the adults)

Hakoda

Hard working single dad.

Loves and supports his kids equally.

Basically a father figure to both aang and zuko.

Loves taking everyone on trips.

Will tell sokka to stop messing with his sister.

Police chief.

A good dad.

Ozai:

Owns a very valuable business company worth billions of dollars.

Secretly a cult leader.

Wins the worst father/husband of the year award.

Iroh

One of the few people who ran away from ozais cult and lived to tell the tale.

Hopes his nephew will get his life on track.

War veteran.

Has a great inheritance that he got from his father, but he uses it for three things. 1. To expand or pay off debts for the jasmine dragon. 2. Donating it to non for profit charities. 3. Helping his nephew get through life.

Some general stuff about places and events)

The jasmine dragon isnt just a teashop, its also a bistro/bakery. It's just more famous for its tea.

Ozai's cult is the reason why katara and sokka's mother is dead. Her murder has remained unsolved for years and hakoda has dedicated a good portion of his life to solving his wife's murder.

[laylacooke]

New Moon Rising || Ariana, Alcher, & Layla

timing: Friday, 9/20 parties: @letsbenditlikebennett, @zahneundklauen, & @laylacooke summary: Ariana, Alcher, and Layla bond over dinner. warnings: death mention tw by all three characters

Nothing felt right. It’d been nearly a week since she read that news article about Winn and Ariana still felt numb. At least she had since seen Ace, but how weary she was didn’t seem to fade. No amount of woodworking projects, new recipes, or distractions seemed to do the trick. Diving into solving who killed him with Blanche helped to an extent, but they’d yet to find Winn’s ghost. Since she’d stopped by Kaden’s, she had seen Celeste a few more times. She seemed like herself and somehow, it had her reeling even more so. It couldn’t really be Celeste, but this figure sounded like her, acted like her and even smelled like her. Right now, it was the only thing pushing her forward. She idly fidgeted with the little wooden bat she’d been carving. Both vegan and regular chili were already on the stove. She’d made two macaroni and cheeses as well. The potatoes and veggies would work for both of them. The table and chairs she’d made looked nice in her dining area and she wanted to be excited she was having guests over. She had been so before, especially since Alcher and Layla would get to meet, but she couldn’t muster it anymore. Her energy seemed to be getting lower and lower though she tried to perk up and turn it on when she heard a knock at the door. 

Layla had been free from cat life for a little while, but the news she had come back to had sent her mood plummeting. The news of Winn’s death had been unexpected, and so badly she had contemplated going back to Cordy and seeing if the witch would turn her back into an animal. She hadn’t even had a chance to go apartment hunting with Winn, and now, she was lost on what to do. Thankfully, Ariana had given her an escape and offered up dinner. The trailer had been lonely without her, and while Ulf had given her the option to move into the house, it hadn’t felt right with Ari not being there. At least she had still had Indy with her. The one thing in her life that hadn’t moved on or away. With the small dog in tow, Layla found herself standing outside Ariana’s new place trying to decide if she had wanted to go in or not. Everything had felt off, since she had returned to werewolf life and laying low had just seemed to come naturally to her, “Should we go in, Indy? Or just grab some food from the grocery store and head back to the trailer?” She looked to the small dog in her arms hoping for an answer.

The first time Alcher had woken up in a place she didn’t recognize hadn’t been too much cause for alarm. The second and third times, however, were. She had always been extremely careful to make sure she did not lose track of time or herself, that she did not lose herself completely to the beast. Was this the work of the beast? Or was it coincidence that the full moon had just passed? She could not be sure, but she did know that she was going to try and get to the bottom of what was happening-- after this dinner with Ariana. It was important to gain her full trust, and the fact that she was bringing another wolf for her to meet. Layla was her name, and by the sounds of it, she, too, was a young wolf. This meeting tonight would be important. It would make or break Alcher’s ability to take these two into her fold. If she wanted to help them, she needed them to trust her and accept her first, and Alcher was nothing if not patient. 

When she arrived at the address Ariana gave her, she smelled the other wolf before she even saw her. She stood up ahead, on the sidewalk, looking up to the apartment. There was a dog beside her. Her father had always warned her of the danger of keeping a dog as a wolf-- they would end up dead, eventually, and the bond between the two would be broken. Still, these poor children were so lonely, weren’t they? Without a true pack, they sought companionship in domesticized cousins. She came up beside the red head. “I think,” she spoke softly, “we shouldn’t leave our friend waiting.” 

With the full moon having just passed, Ariana could hear the other wolves before they knocked on her door though it took them longer than she would have expected. She knew Layla walked up first when she smelled her and Indy arriving. Part of her reached for the door, but she’d give Layla a minute. It was hard to determine just what was holding her back though she did frown and gave both pots of chili another stir. A quick peek out her window told her the area was still foggy and the sky still darker than normal. Everything just seemed wrong which mirrored how she’d been feeling lately. People kept dying or getting hurt and it was hard to focus on what good could come of that when she felt like she was clawing away with nothing to hold on to. She shook the darker thoughts away, afraid of what they might bring. She hadn’t seen Celeste again since she’d left Kaden’s, but that was not a scene she could stomach happening in front of her again. When the knock finally did come, she threw on her most convincing smile and opened the door. “Come in,” she greeted warmly and gestured toward the living area, “I’ve got classic chili and mac and cheese going for me and Alcher. Got some vegan versions for you, Layla. Then some cast iron roasted vegetables for everyone because vitamins or something.” She gave them a quick little tour of the apartment and directed them to the barstools. “Did anyone want a drink? I’ve got water, White Claws, orange juice, milk, La Croix, and Sprite.” 

Layla could smell the other wolf before she had even gotten close, so the words hadn’t come as a surprise. Looking over, the redhead nodded softly. It wasn’t long before she was being escorted inside with Indy in tow. Ariana’s new place was nice. And it was something she had hoped to find with Winn’s help, but all the cat bullshit had gotten in the way, and before she could go apartment hunting, or even just see her friend one last time, he was gone. Thankfully it was an evening being spent with her best friend and apparently a new friend. One whose name had sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place at the moment, “I know it’s a pain in the ass cooking two meals, but thanks, Ari. I’m more so just grateful for the company and not constantly hearing myself meow.” She laughed softly, “I’ll go with water.” Turning her attention back to the other person, she stuck out her hand, “I’m Layla, and this is Indy.” She showed Alcher the small dog, before sitting him down on the floor to go play with Luna. 

Alcher’s smile was warm and soft when Ariana opened the door to greet them. Despite the ache in her shoulder from the silver knife, and the strangeness of waking in places she did not remember going to, the smile was genuine. She was happy to see Ariana, smiling and sweet, after everything she had told her over the past few weeks. Someone hunting wolves, full moons being taken from them, and now the passing of a wolf whom Ariana had known-- Alcher wished she could take Ariana’s pain and carry it with her, but in all her years, that was the one thing she’d never figured out how to do. So, instead, she would be here to support her. And now she was finally meeting the other young wolf, Layla. They’d talked once on the internet, and now Alcher’s suspicions were confirmed. Though her brow did furrow at the mention of vegan food. They would have to deal with that discrepancy later. She first needed to bond with the girl. “We’ve met, actually,” she said to Layla, taking the offered hand, “online. I may have told you a different name, however. I go by Ada in public.” A grin. “But for my friends and for those I can trust, it is Alcher.” She turned back to Ariana, enjoying the smell of the food wafting around them. “It all looks wonderful, Ariana,” she said, heading towards the kitchen. “Water will do for now,” she answered. “So, tell me-- how did you two meet? Have you both lived her long?”

Ariana was quick to grab water for both of her friends. Somehow, playing the perfect hostess was enough to keep her mind idly occupied. At least until she remembered everything that had happened. It was hard to swallow back the lump in her throat, but she did as she handed them both glasses of ice water. “Here you go,” she said as she slid over coasters for them to use, “And I’m definitely gonna be that person with the coasters. Countertop isn’t wood, but most of the other surfaces are and I made them myself so…” As she realized the pair had chatted online, she noted, “Funny, a conversation was what inspired Alcher and I meeting. I’ve dubbed myself White Crest’s official trail guide… although that sounds like a good way to get axe murdered so maybe not though I guess I do have a one up on most.” Unless they were a hunter which apparently, she was shit at realizing ahead of time. At least the hunters she knew in town seemed to care for her. At the question of how her and Layla met, she briefly paused her stirring, “Oh uh, that’s a funny story. I’ve lived here about six months, Layla a little less? I may or may not have sniffed her out.” She’d let Layla tell the rest. It wasn’t entirely necessary to advertise the other wolf had been dumpster diving. 

That’s why this woman had seemed so familiar. Layla had talked to her already. Social media had a funny way of connecting people, “I don’t think I ever got your name actually, but it’s nice to meet you, Alcher. I’m Layla.” She turned her attention to Ariana, taking the glass of ice water, “Thanks, Ari, and coasters I can do. Everything looks amazing, by the way. I think Ulf would be proud.” She smiled before taking a sip of water and sitting her glass down on one of the recommended coasters. What the conversation had shifted to was something that Layla hadn’t let enter her mind in quite a while. She had gotten comfortable living in White Crest, and it had come to feel like home despite all the heartache it had brought, “Uh, yeah. Sniffed me out alright.” She laughed softly. Though her situation wasn’t funny, it was amusing to think how afraid of Ariana she had been, “I didn’t really have a home at the time, and Ariana found me rummaging for food behind one of the small restaurants in town. And the rest is history!” Layla wasn’t quite sure about Alcher yet, especially after the way she had been questioned by the other wolf when they had first started talking online. There were still lingering threats on her life from people in her past, and she was slowly learning that trust wasn’t just something to give out so easily anymore.

Alcher watched the two girls interact for a moment. They were familiar with each other, and they were obviously friendly, but there was just the slightest hesitation on Layla’s side, which meant Ariana was the wolf with more experience here. It made sense; Ariana had told Alcher she was born a wolf. From what she’d gathered, Layla was bitten. Which meant she could never be as much of a wolf as Ariana or Alcher. That wasn’t her fault, though, and as long as she wanted to try and be a better wolf, then she would have Alcher’s support. Smiling, she nodded between the two. “I’m glad you two met, then, and that you have each other,” she said. “I assume you’ve since found a place to live, like Ariana?” turned her gaze towards the young wolf she’d met earlier. 

Ariana was glad Layla felt comfortable enough to share exactly how they found each other. She knew it could potentially be embarrassing but it was good her friend was embracing her previous struggle and hopefully learning, too. There was no reason for any wolf to be alone in the world and she held Layla very near and dear to her heart. She put the finishing touches on the meals before she started to serve them. “Thanks,” she replied with a soft smile, “I’m sure he will be when he gets a chance to stop by. It still feels a bit weird not having you guys right there, but it’s nice being close to school. Blanche lives right across the hall, too, and I made friends with one of my neighbors, Grace… which is actually a funny story.” The part about Layla being a cat wasn’t all that funny, but as she set the plates down on the table by the kitchen, she said, “When you were still a cat, I happened to win a cat whistle in the craft fair prize. Tried to use it to lure you, but well, turns out it was a whistle for fae cat. It’s since been destroyed, but Grace happened to run into me with well… entirely too many cats around. Putai--” She cut herself off realizing it was probably best to not mention Kaden to Alcher until she knew she wouldn’t seek him out to hurt him. “They eventually left seeing as this place isn’t currently cat central.”

Ariana gestured toward the table and joined them. “I’m glad we found each other, too,” she commented with a wider smile now. “Who else would ride shotgun in my Barbie car with me?” She did miss being able to just hang out with Layla, but she supposed they were due for a sleepover one of these days. She knew Layla wanted her own place and was in the works of finding one. She’d let her explain all that to Alcher though.

“I’m glad we met, too. Ari pretty much saved my life. What about you two? How did you meet?” She looked from Ariana to Alcher back to Ariana. Noticing it was dinner time, the young wolf found her seat and sat down. Everything had smelled good, including the non-vegan food. It had been hard to contend with cat and werewolf cravings as a cat, often snacking on mice or canned fish when she could. The Pièce de résistance was the cooked salmon Deirdre had served up, even though Anya had nearly made her cat life a living hell, “It smells amazing, by the way. Like I could seriously eat it all. I mean…Sorry, cat life still has its lingering effects…” She bit at her bottom lip embarrassed, but perked up at the mention of Ariana’s neighbors and a fae cat whistle, “A cat whistle? That’s a new thing. I swear the people who judge the town contests must be spying on us, because they always seem to put the most ridiculous, but relevant things in our lives.” Layla looked to Alcher. “Did you enter the craft fair?” 

Alcher was enjoying watching the two interact. It was more than good that they were friends and seemed at ease with each other. It made her job easier. If one trusted her, the other would soon follow. Layla would be work, but Ariana was already warming up quickly. Either way, they were both worth it, and they were certainly in need of some guidance. Not eating meat, trying to turn people out of fear, turning into cats...yes, they certainly needed a guiding hand. That was what she was here for. She settled into her seat and smiled across at the two. “It’s wonderful to hear about how close you two are,” she commented, “though turning into a cat sounds...perilous. I’m glad you’re back to normal, now, and that we get to meet.” Gave a gentle smile at Layla before helping herself to the food Ariana had provided them. “I did not, and from what I’m hearing, I should thank the stars for that. Do all contests here give out strange prizes? I’ve heard other people complaining of them, as well,” she commented, glancing between the two.

There was a soft smile on her face as she took her seat and answered Layla’s question. “We actually started talking about hiking online,” Ariana explained, “And I offered to show her the trails since well, you know I know my way around the woods here. Obviously, we were pretty quick to sniff each other out.” From that point, Alcher had seemed to want to look out for her even if they didn’t necessarily see eye to eye on the Ace situation. She had almost regretted bringing it up, but she wouldn’t be swayed from protecting someone she cared for. Too much had been lost recently, she wasn’t about to lose someone else. She shook away that thought and took a few bites of her food. She laughed a bit about the cat whistle, “Yeah, apparently not a thing for real cats, but yeah, I’m glad you’re not a cat and have decided the prizes in this town are just sketchy. Plus, I’m pretty sure they ate the chair I made. Like I could have put that on my Etsy shop, so rude.” She shook her head and added, “Alcher, everything in this town is strange. Prizes included.” 

“I’m glad I’m back to normal, too. I don’t recommend cat life at all, and if it’s something that happens, I suggest staying away from Deirdre’s house. Her cat, Anya, is a nightmare and like oddly, super smart.” She shrugged off the cat and the bad memories as she reached for some of the food Ari had made for them, “You know, as long as I’ve been here, I still don’t know my way around. Maybe we could all go for a hike one day?” She looked between the two wolves. If Ariana had trusted Alcher, then getting to know the other wolf was something she wanted to invest time into. “Maybe you could show me a thing or two, Alcher?” Layla looked to the woman with a smile as she scooped veggies onto her plate. The one thing the teenager was starting to long for was a pack out of the loneliness she was beginning to feel. It seemed like just a few months back, the wolves of White Crest were onto a great thing, but a thing that never came to fruition. However, with Alcher around there was a chance that maybe the three of them could make magic happen.

“Hmm,” Alcher sighed, “you’re right, Ariana. This place is strange.” She took a moment of silence to contemplate more words before adding on, “But that’s part of the charm, isn’t it?” Smiled toothily at the two of them before continuing her meal. As she expected from the smell, the food was wonderful, though the idea of the non-meat meal still made her insides burn. A problem for another day. “I would love nothing more than to go on a hike with the two of you,” she finally said, sitting back. “I’d like to think I know my way around the woods a little better now.” She looked over to Layla, giving a short nod. A thing or two was putting it lightly-- this wolf needed work. But that’s what she was here for, right? To get them back on track. And these two had lost so much and so much of their packs already, they would perhaps need Alcher for longer than she usually stayed. “I believe I can do that,” she answered simply, putting a gentle hand on Layla’s shoulder. “In fact, I’d love to.”

The thought of all of them hiking together brought Ariana a sense of content that she hadn’t felt in entirely too long. All her life, she’d longed to be part of a pack and while she’d found other wolves in White Crest, it had always felt like a struggle to bring them all together and now so many had left. Or worse. Winn’s death was still entirely too fresh. She shook it off and took a moment before she smiled. “A hike together sounds perfect,” she responded, “There are some really amazing trails here though I tend to avoid any that go near the lake after the whole Squidward thing.” After taking another bite of her food, she added, “I’m sure you do. I was pretty quick to learn them, too. I’ve always enjoyed hiking.” No matter where she and Celeste had gone while on the run, they always found some trails to enjoy. As much was a matter of necessity come a certain time of the month, but all the memories she had with Celeste and how delighted wildflowers made her was something she’d always cherish. The wistful feeling wasn’t entirely unfamiliar though she’d rather try to keep creating new memories to cherish. “I’m sure there’s a lot we could both learn from you,” she turned to Layla and explained, “Alcher travels a lot to help other wolves, so I’m sure she has lots of tricks up her sleeve.” She smiled brightly for what felt like the first time in too long. This was nice. They were building their own little wolf family though she couldn’t help but wish Ulfric and Winn were here, too.

Scooping some of the vegan dinner options onto her plate as well, Layla was set. All the food had smelled and looked amazing. Her stomach rumbled at the sight of it, and as she listened to Ariana and Alcher speak of hiking and learning how to wolf, she dug in. Eating with a fork and at a table, rather than just shoving her face in a bowl of food was something she had definitely missed, “A hike it is then. You guys just let me know when and where.” Speaking of the woods, maybe before she met up with them, she could slip off to visit Celeste. It had been far too long since she had gone to pay her respects, and she had a lot to talk about with the woman. Though there had been so much on the forefront of her mind, not a day went by that she didn’t think of her in some way. Whether it be big or small, the hunter with a soft spot for werewolves, had been one of the biggest reasons Layla had survived, but out of fear of upsetting Ariana, she rarely brought her up. Instead, she focused back on the conversation going on in front of her, “Really? Where all have you been, Alcher? I mean if you don’t mind me asking.” She took another bite of food.  

Normalcy was relative, but as Alcher glanced around, she found that the only word she had for this moment was normal. How long had it been since she’d sat at a real table and shared a meal with other wolves? Even back in Canada, moments like these were rare. She’d taught that rather feral pack how to behave properly, but they were more wolf than human-- much like herself-- and they did not sit down at tables to eat meals. She looked fondly at the two wolves now sitting beside her. “Oh, many places,” she said, “though Maine was my first stop in the U.S. I lived in Poland most my life, it’s where I--” she paused, distinctly, allowing herself to remember these two were wolves. They were owed the truth, but trust was something Alcher held close to her heart. “It’s where I was raised after my family died.” She let the words come stiffly before moving on. “I was born in Germany. I’ve been to, let’s see now-- France, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Greece...Spain, Portugal, England and Ireland. And Scotland, in all technicalities.” She looked at the two. “Have either of you ever been out of the country?”

It was funny how realistically; this whole setup was all Ariana had longed for as she was growing up. As much as she loved Celeste, she longed for that sense of belonging with wolves, too, and it was her sister who had paid for that desire with her life. It felt wrong to enjoy this knowing what she sacrificed by refusing to leave this town. The deeper she found herself in the supernatural world, the more Ariana realized she had no clue what the hell she was doing, but she wanted this. Maybe it had been the question of the places she’d been that brought up the feeling of nostalgia. All those places she had gone had been with Celeste and she missed so many of those memories. “I’ve never been overseas, but I lived in Mexico and Canada both for a while,” she answered with a bit of wistfulness in her tone. She’d loved Canada and running through snow under the bright light of the full moon. “I did always want to go to Romania with my sister. Maybe I’ll still do that one of these days.” She realized she didn’t know if Layla had ever been out of the country and now, she was curious for the answer, so she watched her friend intently as she moved some food around on her plate with her fork.

Layla listened to the older of the two wolves explain her past. At the news of Alcher’s family, the redhead’s eyes fell, “I’m so sorry to hear about your family.” While she still had both of her parents, she had experienced death before of someone she was extremely close with; her grandmother. The one person that seemed to always be there for her growing up. Sitting silently, she took another bite of food, as she listened to Ariana talk about her travels to Canada and Mexico learning information she didn’t know, “Sounds like you both have been to some pretty cool places.” Traveling out of the country was something Layla had experienced, but it had been when she was small and could barely remember it. In her mind, it didn’t really count, “When I was like super little, I vaguely remember traveling out of the country, but I don’t really remember where we went or how long we were there.” Her parents, as hunters, had done a lot of suspicious stuff, and much of it, she struggled to remember, which had probably been for the best; especially since she didn’t quite trust Alcher to know about her hunter background yet. Instead, she would cherish this get together for what it was; new and old friends having a nice meal together.

As Alcher looked across the table at the two young wolves, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of hopefulness. They were young, malleable-- but they were also smart, and loyal. And they had already found each other. She could make this a good home for them, of that she was confident, and perhaps, along the way, she could make them good for this home. Teach them what she knew, how she lived. How to protect others, how to destroy those who might threaten them or their pack. So, it was with a small smile that Alcher lifted her glass to the two, a very human sentiment, and said a small cheers. “Here’s to hoping things only get better from here on out,” she said, “and at the very least, we can have each other.”