#this isn’t funding future projects

[katecarteir]

putting their OLD content that they’ve had free on youtube for years that they already got the ad revenue for behind a paywall is fucking disgusting by the way.

[porcelana-r0ta]

JOYRIDE

Fandoms: Batman, Danny Phantom

Relationship: Dan Phantom/Jason Todd

Word Count: 3,823

Ao3 Link: Available only to registered users

Summary:

Dan doesn't want to join his Habitudes group for their dumb community service project, which is why he lets two idiot goons kidnap him off the streets. When said goons turn out to work for The Joker, Dan decides to do something about him, maniac to maniac.

Or: The Joker tries to live stream a ransom, but ends up live streaming his own execution.

xxXxx

When Dan Nightingale is grabbed off the streets of Gotham, he makes a half-hearted struggle, just so he can seem human. The kiddie hero business and the indiscriminate genocidal tendencies no longer call to him like they used to, and while he’s still an impatient person who is intolerant of disruptive bullshit, he needs a little excitement in his life. 

Plus, he wants an excuse to get out of his Habitudes community service project. His pretentious trust fund baby groupmates chose to volunteer at some fucking coffee shop instead of something normal, like a hospital or an animal shelter. (Dan didn’t even know a coffee shop was an option, but anything goes for wealthy elites who want to roleplay as an impoverished barista, apparently.) Well, Jay Peters wasn’t so bad, and he was just as irritated as Dan was about the others’ choice. Plus, the chill that settles into Dan’s unused lungs when the other student is around shows that he’s at least Death-touched like him, even if they’ve never acknowledged that to each other. 

So, yeah. He lets himself be kidnapped by two goons, even if he could easily break free and make their insides their outsides. It could be interesting! Enrichment in his pandimensional parole! Everyone’s got to have fun sometimes! It’s like a little joyride, as a treat! But he isn’t the one committing the crime! How quaint!

Dan is a very polite captive. He lets himself be pulled into a creeper van with minimal resistance. He lets the goons zip tie his hands. He lets them put a black bag over his head, even though it smells of weed. He doesn’t count the number of turns they take, nor does he try to talk them into letting him go. In fact, he doesn’t say anything. When they eventually park, he allows the men to pull him out of the creeper van and into some building—likely a warehouse, judging by the echo of their footsteps on the floor. And finally, he lets the goons cut off the zip ties around his wrists and then tie them to the metal arms of a chair. 

He’s a great captive. And he’s so going to be excused from that stupid Habitudes community service project!

He’s content to sit and wait. The Bats of Gotham City usually have a good response time for villain bullshit, and if they don’t, then it’s not like any Fear gas or sex pollen will affect him. Dan’s not really human anymore, even if he is capable of looking so. 

Dan does not have to wait long. The footsteps increase and then stop altogether, and then a cackle fills the air. “Camera man ready? Mics? Charges?” The voice is familiar, yet grating. Where has he heard it before? In his past future, maybe?

“Yes, sir,” comes the reply from several different people. 

A pleased cackle, “Then let’s get started!”

“We are live in three… two…” 

At the silent one, the cackle echoes through the room once again. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen of Gotham City and beyond! I’m your favorite Joker, LIVE! With one of your favorite Wayne children!” 

Dan, who has been relatively chill this whole time, tenses. The Joker. That’s why he recognizes that cackle and voice. He had killed the clown before in his original timeline. Ugh, clowns. He fucking hates clowns. Hates their stupid pale makeup and their stupid dumb wigs and their exaggerated eyes and he fucking hates how they make him feel like he’s not in control. 

And what was that about a Wayne? 

Dan doesn’t think killing someone like The Joker in his original timeline should be held against him. Honestly, the guy is a megalomaniacal terrorist who abuses the guise of mental illness to get away with crimes against humanity. Dan had at least owned up to his own sanity, and never tried to hide from the law or anything like that. He just kind of… killed the law. 

….ACAB? 

A hand suddenly grips at the bag on his head, grabbing hair with fabric. “That’s right, folks! Here’s Gotham’s beloved Dick Grayson!” The bag is yanked off his head, revealing Dan in all his scowling glory. And Dan is a lot of things, but an exact Dick Grayson copy he is not, so while the goons may have mistaken him as Grayson, The Joker does not. 

He pauses, studying Dan’s face. Dan raises a mocking eyebrow, then looks around the warehouse. 

It’s empty and dimly lit, but it’s not a problem for his superior vision. The metal walls are an ugly beige and the floor is a gray cement, its color only broken by mysterious brown stains, and now the discarded black bag. Dan is up against a wall, surrounded by filming equipment. The camera in question is just a fucking iPhone 12 attached to a ring light. There’s one goon behind the camera, moderating the live stream. There is another goon holding a boom mic above Dan and The Joker, and there are four others behind the camera. All of the goons who are not handling equipment are holding toy musket guns. It is probably safe to assume that there are similarly armed goons guarding the doors that Dan cannot see from his position tied to a chair. Likely two goons per exit. In a warehouse of this size, there have to be at least six more goons that Dan isn’t seeing. 

The Joker grits his teeth. “Who brought the Grayson kid here.” It’s not a question so much as it is a demand. 

“We did, boss,” two goons pipe up proudly from behind the camera. 

“Why don’t you two come up on camera so I can congratulate you for good work?” The Joker grins beseechingly. 

One of the two goons, the blond, shuffles nervously at this, whereas the other puffs out his chest. So only one has any brain cells. 

The prideful one grabs his comrade by the arm and drags him up to the camera with Dan and The Joker. They stand in front of Dan, blocking him from the camera’s view.

“I always reward good work, you see,” he says to his henchmen. “Now, you think this is good work?” 

“Yes, sir,” says Pride, while Blond frowns. 

“Take a good look at his face.” The villain gestures angrily to Dan’s unimpressed face. “What do you see?” 

“Dick Grayson, sir,” 

Blond shuffles, “He looks like he isn’t scared.” 

“No! Wrong! This isn’t Dick Grayson! This– This is some—” The Joker takes another glance at Dan, noting the black Gotham U hoodie that hides his muscles. “This is some fucking college twink!”

“Twink?” Dan mutters to himself, disgruntled. Sure, the hoodie is baggy and he’s seated instead of standing, but do those two things add up to him looking like a twink? 

The color has drained out of even Pride’s face at The Joker’s words. “Sir, please—”

But The Joker is already pulling out a comically large toy gun that probably has real bullets, and Dan sighs. It would probably be bad for his parole if he let a bunch of humans die in front of him. 

He phases out of the ropes binding him, safe from view with the two idiots in front of him. Then, he kicks The Joker down to the floor, sending the toy gun scattering across the cement floor of the warehouse. He stands and knocks Pride and Blond’s heads together, knocking them out as The Joker screeches with rage. 

The goons behind the camera aim their guns, but Dan is already moving behind the camera. He snags the guns out of their hands, snapping them in half with strength he doesn’t even have to think about. He moves so fast that at first they don’t even realize what’s happened. By the time they connect their missing firearms to the broken bits of metal on the floor, Dan has already clobbered them over the head, knocking them unconscious. 

He takes out the cameraman, too, and the goon holding the boom mic. Then, in mere seconds, he takes out all the goons at each exit, and he’s back at the filming station by the time The Joker has staggered to his feet. His original estimate had been off by two—there were eight other goons in total. 

Dan checks the iPhone—still live streaming. On TikTok, of all the goddamn apps. The comments are going wild on what’s going on: where’s the college student, how did he kick The Joker like that, do you guys think that those two goons have brain damage now, what was that metal scraping sound, where is The Joker? 

“Hey, brat!” snarls The Joker, clutching at his ribs. “That was not part of the script.”

Dan hates clowns, and he especially hates The Joker. Sure, Dan wiped out nearly all of humanity. Who doesn’t have a bad decade of villainous activity? But he did it quickly, and he didn’t do it under the guise of insanity. He owned up to it. And if Dan’s being honest, he’s… disgusted by it all now, even if it hurts himself to admit. 

If Dan isn’t human, then neither is The Joker. 

Still off camera, Dan moves so fast he basically teleports in front of The Joker. The other man stumbles back, but Dan reaches out and grabs him by the throat. He chokes and claws at Dan, but Dan isn’t human anymore, and so his nails catch on nothing but the cloth of his hoodie. He doesn’t even feel it.

He drags The Joker to the chair in front of the still live camera and shoves him into it. While he recovers from being choked, gasping and shuddering and so fucking human , Dan forces his hands behind him and uses the ropes he’d phased out of to tie The Joker up. When he ties the last knot, Dan stands tall, staring into the camera. 

“Hello, friends and family,” he greets the audience. He gives a small smile, and he makes sure that he is perfectly, utterly human with normal blue eyes and normal black hair and normal human skin. “As you can see, things have turned around for The Joker here. Now, I’m sure his original intent was to ransom out the Wayne kid, and it would be a shame to see that hard work and planning go to waste on a mistake, wouldn’t it? So why don’t we hold a… reverse ransom? Only, I don’t need funds. I’ll accept donations. My venmo is vladsucks03. My cashapp is dannight07.”

Dan’s smile grows into a wide grin. “Feel free to donate if you like. But even not a single person donates, The Joker dies today.” 

The Joker spits out a gasping laugh, “Ha! You think you can kill me? I gotta admit, that’s a good joke. But Batman—”

“Batman what?” Dan asks, stepping off camera to grab the black bag on the floor. He shoves it halfway into his pocket. He walks to The Joker’s toy gun, the only one he hadn’t broken, and he picks it up. 

“Batman is already on his way here,” The Joker says. “He always is by this point.”

“And Batman will save you?” Dan snorts. He moves to check the live stream, comments coming in so fast that the only reason he can read them is because he’s not human anymore. 

Is this for real

fuck yeah kill that guy

💥🔫🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

extremely common gotham uni W

im donating 50$ rn

Can we vote on how joker dies

Lol does he fr think that batman would help him

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Does anyone else find this incredibly attractive or is it just me 😳

guys my joker/batman fic update is gonna slap after this

Joker’s cooked

bro is about to have ao3 level donations

Hey what’s his cashapp again

Omg i think that guy is in my bio class

I’ll donate when hes acc dead

doin god's work 🥹👍

If bro doesnt do it he’s cooked

This guy is gonna have infinite rizz if he pulls this off

The Joker scoffs, “Of course he will. He’s done it before.”

Dan yanks his gaze from the comments to The Joker’s face, “What?”

The Joker nods his head up arrogantly. “Batsy can’t live without me. He saved me after fickle-ickle Nightwing killed me.” 

“Huh.” Dan blinks consideringly, switching his gaze back to the comments. They’re all freaking out about this new information. He steps back into the camera frame, pulling the hammer back on the toy gun. “Then I’ll just have to make sure it sticks.” 

He points the gun at The Joker’s face and fires. As expected, rainbow confetti is the only thing that flies out, dusting over The Joker in celebration of what is to come. 

The Joker laughs. 

“Cute,” says Dan. He walks around The Joker to stand behind him, directly in front of the camera. He removes the black bag from his pocket and puts it over The Joker’s face. 

He shoves the muzzle of the gun into the back of The Joker’s skull. Pulling back the hammer, he asks, “Any last words?” 

He pulls the trigger before The Joker can say anything. It’s funny. As expected, the second gunshot is a real bullet. The Joker’s head and body jerks forward. Blood splatters on Dan’s face, but it’s mostly on the floor and the unconscious Blond and Pride and on The Joker himself. 

For a moment, Dan can only stare. The Joker’s body is crumbled in on itself, held up only by the bindings on his arms to a chair nailed to the ground. 

He feels big. He feels good. 

He feels… dirty.

He clears his throat. He drops the gun. He lifts up the soaking black bag up just enough to check for a pulse. After thirty seconds of nothing, he says, “Well, that’s the end of The Joker.” 

He looks up, staring into the camera lens, and he chuckles. “I missed my community service project because of this bozo. You guys think my professor will accept this as community service?”

You guys think this will affect my ghost parole? he doesn’t ask. 

He bends down to check the pockets of Blond. He finds his phone and uses Blond’s thumbprint to bypass the password. His stomach curdles at the home screen—a picture of Blond and a little girl with his eyes and his nose. His eyes burn and he calls 911, trying not to blink.

“911 dispatch. What is your emergency?”

“Yeah, uh, I killed The Joker. But he kidnapped me first, so. Turnabout.” 

“You— sorry, you what?”

“I killed The Joker. He’s dead. I checked his pulse and everything.”

“O-oh.” The woman on dispatch sounds strangled. There are muffled sounds, frantic, that the receiver only barely picks up. Dan wonders what she’s doing, Asking for verification? Trying to triangulate his location? Celebrating the fucking good news? “Do you know where you are, sir?”

“Some warehouse, I guess. Probably at the docks. Do you want me to check?”

“No, sir, please stay where you are if there are no immediate threats.”

“Got it.” He clicks his tongue. 

“Can you tell me your name, sir? Are you injured somewhere?”

“I’m Dan. Uh, Dan Nightingale. I guess he thought I was the Grayson kid. Um. Dick Grayson, I mean. And no, I’m fine. His henchmen are injured and unconscious, though.” 

“Right. Okay. Hi, Dan. I’m Claire. First responders and patrol units are on their way to your location now.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess.” He almost wants to ask if she thinks that he’ll end up in Arkham for this, but he’s pretty sure that there’s no jury on Earth that would convict him. Well, maybe not. He did ask for donations for murdering The Joker, after all. That might put a damper on his defense. 

“Dan?” asks Claire. 

“Yeah?”

“Is– is he really dead?”

Dan looks at the body and kicks a limp leg, avoiding looking at the gory black bag. Nothing. “Yep. As a doornail.” And he knows death intimately. 

She breathes a shaky, staticky sigh into the receiver. “Thank you, Dan.”  

He blinks, “Can you get fired for saying that?”

She laughs, “Honey, everyone not on break right now is listening to this. My boss just broke a bottle of tequila out from his desk.” 

He barks out his own laugh. “Oh?”

“You’re about to be very popular, Dan.”

“Well, I—” 

And seventeen minutes late to the party, the windows at the top of the warehouse shatter open. In cascades of broken glass and grappling cables, the Bats drop down to the floor. 

“Away from the body,” commands Batman as soon as his feet hit the ground. His little birdies, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and the newest Robin fall in line with him. Robin makes quick work of rounding up the unconscious goons and binding them. 

Dan obligingly puts the hand that isn’t holding the phone up in the air, but before moving away from the camera’s view, he says, “Just a reminder guys, my venmo is vladsucks03 and my cashapp is dannight07. Please remember that I might need a lawyer soon.”

“Okay, funny guy,” Nightwing says, entering into frame and pulling Dan away by the shoulder while Red Robin shuts down the live stream.

“It was self-defense and defense of another. A whole population, if you will,” Dan says. 

Red Hood snickers, “Only crime here was the kidnapping.” 

“Dan, are you okay?”

“Bats are here, Claire,” Dan tells her. He watches Batman lift the black bag off The Joker’s face, revealing the viscera and gray matter beneath. He’s not smiling anymore. Dan hasn’t seen that kind of gore in years. He’s the cause of it once more and he doesn’t regret that. It feels invigorating. It feels devastating. “I guess I’ll hang up now. If The Joker is mysteriously alive after this, it’s because Batman couldn’t handle not being the hero.” 

“Dan—” He hangs up as Batman’s shoulders go minutely tense at his words. The man stands fully, turning his head slightly to narrow his cowled eyes at Dan. 

“Problem, sir?” 

“You killed The Joker.” 

“I saved myself and his two idiots.” He shrugs. 

“You had him restrained.” 

He rests an offended hand against his chest. “I was frightened that he would escape, sir, just as he escapes from the very place you put him every eight to ten months.” The Bat doesn’t want to be judge, jury, and executioner. Fine. Whatever, he gets it. Dan hadn’t wanted to be that, neither as hero nor villain. He’d wanted to save, he wanted to be saved, and then he wanted everyone to feel like he did. But he’s not so prideful now to know that he wouldn’t have stopped then, not unless someone handled the job permanently. 

The Joker needed permanence. 

The Bat can play fucking judge all he wants. But he’d be just as villainous if he tried enforcing his own moral code on other people.

“You asked for donations,” Red Robin says dryly. “You were basically putting a hit out on him.”

“My art in life textbook is $300. How much do you think a lawyer is going to cost?”

“Hn.” 

“Stop giving the man a hard time for doing a public service, Batman.” Red Hood shoulder checked Nightwing away and held out a gloved hand for Dan to shake. He takes the other’s hand and firmly shakes it. The contact, while not to skin, gives Dan goosebumps and chills his lungs. 

Jay?

“Let’s hope my Habitudes professor agrees with you.”

“She will. Everyone with three brain cells to rub together will.” The man cuts a glare at Batman. 

Dan didn't say what pronouns his professor uses. 

The rumble in Red Hood’s voice is enticing. He looks at the other man, really looks, and notices his broad shoulders, how tall he is (though Dan towers over him even  disguised as a human), and his muscled arms. Arms that Dan’s pretty sure are normally hidden beneath a Gotham U hoodie, just like his own. 

He smirks as sirens sound in the distance. “Let’s hope the cops agree with you.”

“They will,” Hood says. It sounds like a promise for something entirely different. 

“Gag me,” Red Robin mutters.

Robin says, “For once I agree with you.”

Without looking away from Dan, Red Hood flips the two off, and yeah, maybe redemption can be more promising than he initially thought. 

xxXxx

A week later, Dan finally goes back to his regular schedule. His ghost parole is intact—he’d even been thanked by some Gothamite ghosts, and Danny begrudgingly told him that there were ghosts who said they’d riot if Dan was given any punishment. As for the mortal side of things, Vlad Masters had graciously sent his team of attorneys to Dan’s aid. While Dan still hates him, he has no issue about using a free team of lawyers to defend him. He’s guaranteed to walk.

Jazz had called him. It made his core unsettled and stony. She wasn’t disappointed, and he doesn’t know how that makes him feel. He doesn’t regret it—The Joker would never change. But what does that say about him and his progress? 

Jazz in general makes him uneasy now. She used to be his big sister, and now she’s younger than him, and he tried to kill her, and— she’s different from his Jazz, is all. But if she’d always known like she said, then his Jazz did, too, right? Could she still be his Jazz, a Jazz who got to grow up? Still be his sister? It would be stupid to hope so, right?

He feels bitter.

She said she’s considering Gotham University as her college of choice as she nears high school graduation. Apparently, their psych department is amazing. 

So maybe hope isn’t so bad. 

Dan sits down at his 10:00 am Habitudes class. Everyone already in the room stares at him. Before they can offer any congrats or thanks or swarm him, Jay sits down next to him. 

Dan looks at Jay’s mostly black hair and his tuft of white at his front bangs. He’s wearing his usual Gotham U hoodie, a hoodie that likely hides muscled arms. A chill builds in his lungs like it did when speaking with Red Hood, like it has every other time he’s talked with Jay Peters. 

…Hm. A hoodie that definitely hides muscled arms. 

“Hey,” says Jay with a grin. “Crazy week, I hear?”

“You’re a Gothamite. I’m sure you’re aware of exactly how crazy it’s been.” 

“You should tell me about it sometime.”

“Sure. After class? We can grab an early lunch. Make it a date, maybe.”

Jay smiles, cute and small. His eyes flash green—a baby Death-touched soul, still can’t control his spooky abilities, how adorable—and he says, “That sounds perfect.”

[regal-bones]

Hey I’m Lucy ! You might have seen my art around this silly website. I love drawing, and sharing my ideas with the world!

I cannot do this without ✨ Patron Support! ✨ Everything you see in this post was completely funded by my amazing patrons. They allow me to explore, and grow as an artist by experimenting and working on my own projects.

After August’s billing cycle, my Patreon income has slipped below a comfortable threshold and into a red zone. This means that Patreon no longer covers my rent, which isn’t ideal for me! My current business model is Patreon pays for my rent, and I pick up 3 commissions a month to pay for stuff like food, bills, and anything else a gal might need to buy. It really doesn’t leave me with much money for myself, but it gives me time to work on my main project, my video game Last Sprout, which is invaluable to me!

I’m trying really hard to push my Patreon back to that comfortable spot, which means I need to raise £50 in pledges by September 1st so I can get back to where I was last month. September is also, of course, SWORDTEMBER! Swordtember, being a huge month long project where I can’t work on any commissions, is entirely funded by my patrons, and I quite literally cannot afford to do it unless I have your support :]

✨ So yeah, if you like my art and want to see more of it in the future, please please join from this link! It is so very cheap (£1 a month) and I cannot stress how much I need your help to keep doing this! ✨

WE HIT 50/50!

Thank you so much for reading this post!! Also you get a bunch of exclusive content for supporting me too, it’s not just a donation! ❤️

[pixiecaps]

like i said yesterday i would love to see this project in the future in a functioning working environment where we know everyone is treated right and paid well and with proper management and that the project has the funds to continue to prosper. so i hope with this qsmp 2 teaser that’s the goal and hopefully what they’re striving for. i do hope it takes like at least a year to release or even begin because i think everyone needs a breather right now as well as to figure everything out and how they feel so i hope they take their time and qsmp 2 isn’t something they feel they need to rush. 👍 those are my thoughts towards that. i still want to thank all the admins, the writers, the players, and everyone who gave us this first qsmp experience. i have so much newfound love for so many people and this project so Thank You!!!!

[goblincow]

Here's the big dicebreaker interview with the designers & publishers whose names you know well.

Where do we go next?

I'm advocating for tumblr, and I'm in the PlusOneExp discord (just ask me if you need a link to what I'm finding to be a very welcoming island in the storm).

For now, that will suffice for me. I've tidied up my social links, I've sorted out my instagram and started making good use of the Stories feature, and I've long since given up on twitter. But I'm in a position that I'm yet to release my first project, so I've started at the bottom of the mountain and I won't be hit hard by the loss. I really feel for those who have lost years of hard work & struggle. It must feel like shit.

I appreciate this quote at the end of the article from Jess Levine:

“Every platform wants their walled garden, and the VC money that funded the existence of social media platforms that acted like a public is drying up as they realise maintaining what amounts to public infrastructure isn’t profitable,” Levine said.

“We're basically just speedrunning the neoliberal enclosure of anything resembling a public commons, this time with digital spaces rather than physical ones. As a creator and a generalist that markets their work online—and in some ways, even just as a person—that’s terrifying.”

[sweet-honey-fruit]

And They Were Roommates

With — Al-Haitham/Kaveh, Ayato/Thoma, and Cyno/Tighnari

Genre — Fluff

Warnings — Might get a little suggestive but overall there isn’t any

Al-Haitham and Kaveh

Being a mutual friend of Al-Haitham and Kaveh was hard. You first encountered them at Puspa Café, surrounded by homework papers and stressed out of your mind. Your professors at the Akadaymia were certainly giving you a run for your money with all the assignments they threw your way. Kaveh was the one who asked to sit next to you, and Al-Haitham soon followed suit.

“Someone as stunningly beautiful as yourself should not be suffering alone,” Kaveh said with a sly grin. He leaned back in his chair, raising his steaming chai latte to the air, and watched the liquid swirl within it.

“Don’t mind him, he’s trying and failing to shoot his shot as if he has a chance in the first place,” He swiftly takes the chair next to his friend.

“Can you please not embarrass me, just this once! Archons, you’re insufferable!”

“I’m just being honest. I tend to not live in a fantasy world, unlike someone here.”

You sat there, eyes flickering between the two as they bickered away. For that split second you felt your stress slip away. You smiled, which eventually turned into laughter. They stopped, turning to look at you as if you were the one impeding their conversation. You picked up your drink, mumbling against the rim of the glass as you spoke, “I must agree with the blonde guy. I found it rather charming.”

The triumphant grin that spread across Kaveh’s face irked Al-Haitham to his core, that part was obvious enough.

Al-Haitham leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, “This is unbelievable.”

“Names Kaveh, your future boyfriend.”

“Less charming but I appreciate the boldness. I don’t have room for a boyfriend right now,” You motion to the mounds of homework that decorated the table, “Maybe another time.”

Since that interesting encounter, you’ve been stuck with them. Through the thickness between the three of you, to even when Kaveh and Al-Haitham had their falling out.

You were never well of financially. So when a particular research project you were passionate about required personal funds, it landed you being roommates with the two that could barely stand each other.

Being a mutual friend of Al-Haitham and Kaveh was hard. Being a mutual roommate was harder.

It’s always chaotic, there is never a second of peace

9/10 you’re the mediator. 1/10 you’re the instigator

Kaveh and you will team up against Al-Haitham if he tries to say anything about your financial situation

“At least I have a job and pay the bills around here,”

“Yeah and if it weren’t for us, you’d be living like a slob!”

“Honestly, you’d look like a sewer rat if it weren’t for us,”

Cuddle sessions with Kaveh happen more often than not

Al-Haitham comes home late at night with you sprawled over his lap, drooling on a decorative pillow.

Kaveh’s head is thrown back on the couch cushion, mouth wide open and letting out the most ungodly noises

He’s annoyed by Kaveh’s presence alone and the fact you’re drooling all over everything, but that doesnt stop the smile appearing on his face

The two of them get into arguements all of the time. They never have a civil conversation. It’s concerning, truly, just how much they bicker over the dumbest things.

You try your hardest to help them calmly talk it out, but it just ends up with them both snapping at you.

When that does happen they will apologize the next day in their own way. Kaveh will cook you your favorite meal. Al-Haitham won’t apologize to you directly. He’ll go on a tangent about how you should “mind your own business” while wrapping his arm around you. That small act of affection is his apology.

Al-Haitham helps you with your homework if you need it, and Kaveh is your go-to person for emotional support

They both look out for you in their own way. Kaveh is a more gentle approach while Al-Haitham tells it like it is. And They have argued over which way is better.

Did I mention that they argue a lot?

Al-Haitham once walked in on you and Kaveh making out. He slammed the door shut, a flustered mess. As were the two of you.

He never saw the two of you the same way ever again

Ayato and Thoma

Much like Thoma, you were hired by the Kamisato clan to help upkeep the home. While Thoma mainly watched over Ayato, you mainly watched over Ayaka. Thoma was the first to show you around, to train you in what to do. His charming smile and caring personality immediately clicked with your own. During the time of the Vision Hunt Decree, you did not see much of Ayato. You heard his voice occasionally from down the hall or in his room. And you would catch glimpses of him in the common areas while following Ayaka. It wasn’t until after the Vision Hunt Decree was dispersed and Inazuma went back to a tyrant-free nation that you were finally able to hold a conversation with him.

He came up to you with a warm smile, Thoma following close behind.

“I must apologize for such a late introduction. I hope Thoma and my sister were able to keep you company during those trying times,” His tone was sweet, but you couldn’t help but feel intimidated by his presence. He looked almost regal, his hair perfectly styled and eyes sharp with intelligence.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lord Kamisato Ayato,” You internally cringed at how your voice shook with anxiety. Thoma offered a gentle smile, a smile that proved that he was the same way when he was taken in under the Kamisato clan. He understood the anxiety well. It wasn’t until later on working there that he realized there was no need for fear. Ayato was a normal man that was just forced to carry a title. That was proven true with his attitude around those in the residence.

“There is no need for formalities here, I assure you. I’ve heard much about you from Thoma and Ayaka. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, (Y/n).”

There were more moments between Ayato and you after that interaction. Your anxiety and formalities soon melted away, putting on a more casual attitude around him and Thoma.

Ayato always goes to you if he needs to relax and unwind from the stressful back-to-back meetings and demands. He finds your presence soothing.

Thoma will bring you your favorite foods and drinks when he notices you’re having a rough day. The staff around the estate can be…ignorant at times. He knows that well, and he doesn’t want you to feel down because of them. He will always find a way to cheer you up.

The shared estate between the three of you is always clean, and practically spotless. Between you and Thoma maintaining it, and Ayato never making a mess, it’s rarely ever a disaster.

Sometimes the atmosphere feels tense if Ayato is overly stressed. While he makes a point to never lash out at the two of you when he comes home you can still feel the tense atmosphere the moment he walks through the door.

Thoma implemented a mandatory game night every other Saturday. That way despite all of your busy schedules, you three still get to have time together. Don’t even think about missing it. You did so one time and he lectured you for three hours straight about the “importance of quality time.” You never missed one ever again.

Thoma got drunk once and kissed you. Ayato still has the photo for blackmail. Thoma apologized profusely the next morning. He didn’t remember you kissing him back.

Ayato will flirt with you anytime the two of you are alone. Cooking dinner? “Careful, it’s hot. Just like you.” Doing laundry? “Sometime’s I wish I could fold you as well.” Mopping the floors? “I see you like it wet as well.” He loves the way you react to it.

Ayato also got you into boba. Drinking it, making it, learning different recipes. Whenever he has time he’ll ask you if you want to make boba with him.

Arguments rarely ever happen. If there is a problem or concern, you will all sit down with snacks, and drinks, and talk it out in a civil manner.

When arguments happen it’s between you and Ayato. Usually, Ayato has a rare moment where the stress of the week peaks through, and he makes a comment towards you. Not necessarily nasty, more like passive-aggressive. Or his tone was laced with attitude. So you snap back at him and it goes back and forth. Thoma tries his best to calm the both of you down.

But even then it doesn’t get too serious. After a day or two when things have calmed down, you will both apologize and talk about it.

They are also super protective over you. If you want to go somewhere, Ayato asks Thoma to go with you. Which he will happily obey since he wants that reassurance that you’re safe. Not that they don’t believe you can’t defend yourself, but just because it gives them ease of mind.

Cyno and Tighnari

You met Tighnari before Cyno during your Akadaymia days. Coincidentally enough, the two of you had the same classes for an entire semester. In your Herbology class, he was even assigned to you as your lab partner. Meaning the two of you spent plenty of time after school together studying. Tighnari’s sarcasm was present even back then, and that only drew you to him more. Soon enough study sessions turned into hangout sessions. You would talk to him about whatever topic you had in mind and he would either respond intellectually, or just give you the sassiest sentence known to man. It never failed to make you laugh.

You did not know about Cyno till the mid-semester of your second year when Tighnari brought him up in conversation.

“There’s a new General Mahamantra on the rise,” His ears twitched mindlessly as he spoke, “Name is Cyno. I talked to him earlier today, nice guy but a little standoffish.” You watched him carefully while he spoke, pausing your writing.

“New General Mahamantra? They’ve been trying to fill that spot for months.”

“No kidding. I think he might have what it takes.”

After that conversation with Tighnari, you always Cyno down in the library by himself, head buried in a book that was along the topic of the Akadaymia’s rules and conditions.

‘Tighnari wasn’t kidding when he said this guy was standoffish,’ You thought while you gazed at him from your table in the library. You needed to do some last-minute studying for midterms. And you just so happen to be in the library at the same time as the most talked about man in the Akadaymia. His expression was stone cold, as cold as the ice that rains down in Snezhnaya. It was enough to send a chill down your spine. You haven’t realized that you zoned out staring at him till someone clears their throat.

You blink a few times to snap out of it. When you look up to see who it was, the color from your face drained. Your heart rate sped up and your skin heated up. Rather that was from fear or embarrassment, you were unsure. Perhaps both. There stood Cyno, that everlasting cold stare reflecting back at you.

“Uh- oh shit, sorry. I’m sorry. I zoned out,” You gave a nervous laugh, the grip around your pencil tightening. He stared longer. After what felt like an eternity of an awkward staring contest filled with silence, he spoke. He was soft-spoken, definitely not what you expected.

“What did the blanket say when it fell off the bed?” He said, still no expression on his face. That was also not what you were expecting.

“...I’m sorry?”

“What did the blanket say when it fell off the bed?”

“I…don’t know. What did it say?”

“Oh sheet,”

It was so bad that you didn’t know if you wanted to laugh or walk away. After another awkward staring contest of silence, he spoke once again. This time, a small smile graced his features.

“Get it? Because you use a sheet as a more comfortable alternative to just the mattress alone. You also put blankets on the bed. So, the joke is-“

Tighnari’s voice cut through the air, interrupting Cyno’s unnecessarily lengthy explanation, “Enough with the jokes! Stop trying to torture my friend here with them. They don’t need you filling their head with idiotic puns.”

“I was simply trying to clear the tension between us.”

“Start by dropping that seemingly permanent murder stare,” Tighnari scoffed out as he walked up to the two of you. From then on, it was no longer just you and Tighnari studying for the Akadaymia tests.

Even after graduation, and after Cyno achieved the General Mahamantra rank, you three were inseparable. You all thought it would be a good idea to live together to save money and to be closer to one another. Tighnari still thinks that was a mistake.

The jokes never stop. Cyno can stare at a household object and make a pun out of it, leaving you suppressing a laugh and Tighnari letting out a disappointed sigh.

The house is usually a disaster. The three of you all work demanding jobs, leaving no time to do housework. Although all of you tend to pitch in here and there if time allows.

Arguments are somewhat of a common thing to happen. Most of the time it’s playful bantering between one another. Sometimes it’s the stress of the month getting to everyone and it blows up like a suppressed bomb.

No matter how bad the arguments get there is always communication to talk it out when everyone has calmed down.

You and Cyno avoid Tighnari’s room between January and February.

Unless you want to help him out, go right ahead. Cyno might join you for fun.

The extent of your relationship with them certainly expands out more than just roommates. Some people suspect you’re all dating each other. You suspect that as well. The topic of your relationship is something you should talk about with them.

Cyno cooks most of the time, if not then it’s Tighnari.

Cyno also forces you to play TCG with him. He won’t stop annoying you till you play at least three rounds with him.

You’re banned from the kitchen after setting the water on fire.

Tighnari doesn’t even know how you managed to do that.

The two of them are extremely protective over you, Cyno slightly more so than Tighnari. That’s because he’s seen more of the malice that goes on in Sumeru. He knows what people are capable of, and he knows the extent they will go to fulfill their desires. Anytime you’re out and about Cyno will quietly follow you to make sure nothing happens.

Tighnari won’t go to the extent of following you. But he does stay guarded whenever you leave so he can go after you if something goes wrong.

They’re especially worried when you go out and conduct your research. Just because of other researchers that would kill to do what you’re doing and learning.

When you’re annoyed with their bickering, they’ll both kiss you on your cheek at the same time as an apology. Plus they like to see how flustered you get when it happens.

When they went away to Mondstadt for business, you threw a party at the house

Someone spilled their drink on Cyno’s TCG deck

He wasn’t happy about it

It took Tighnari to take him for a walk to calm down before he started raising hell

You were put on dish duty for a month, which was only fair

[lyinginbedmon]

Oh lordy is there bad things going down across the VTuber space right now so I’m gonna try and unpack them for ease of comprehension.

Real quick: A VTuber is essentially just a regular livestreamer but instead of a facecam they have a custom model (usually made of layered images but also often a full 3D object) that tracks their face and such. Big tiddy anime girl representation to say the least but it’s a very creative space.

Next: Silvervale, Silver for short. Silver is one such big tiddy anime (wolf) girl, who is part of a corporate group of VTubers called VShojo. I probably don’t need to describe much more for the purposes of this post.

Hogwarts Legacy is a video game based in the bigotry-entrenched universe of the Harry Potter franchise by notorious face-of-transphobia Joanne K. Rowling. Since its announcement in 2018, trans individuals and groups have quite rightly highlighted numerous ethical and moral problems with the game ranging from the inherent bigotry of the setting, to the involvement of literal far-right YouTubers in its development, to just the basic stuff like its success greenlighting further instalments all while Rowling pockets royalties to (expressly) further fund her anti-trans projects (which includes her writing Literally being read into record to quash things like the Equality Act).

The general advice, which would be true regardless of your actual thoughts on the game or franchise, was to just not play it. That way Rowling makes less money, fewer future games are made, and nobody gets hurt as a result. You end your day $60 better off that you can spend on some other big game that isn’t basically radioactive.

To say the Video Gamers did not take that advice well would be an understatement, but things get really ugly when a streamer who otherwise professes to creating a calm and friendly atmosphere, who makes claims to being an ally, gives in and plays the Wizard Game. I’m not going to say that people haven’t been harassed for playing it, almost certainly someone has, but I just don’t have the data to be certain that it goes much further than just posting “trans rights” in chat.

Enter Silvervale. Despite half a decade of advance warning that she shouldn’t play this game, she played it anyway. Live on camera. The community she’d fostered for years didn’t take this well either, and the stream ended early amid purported harassment from the chat. Silver wasn’t the first VTuber to play the Wizard Game, but she was one of the first English-speaking ones.

Things could have just quietly ended there, but Silver then returned to streaming with more of the game and a statement that she had been “harassed” by “freaks and degenerates” on Twitter. Not her best choice of words, but the damage was done.

Because of the 5-year leadup to the Wizard Game releasing, the right-wing mob had already noticed the controversy around it and had made Huge investments into buying and promoting the game as well as spewing vitriol against anyone who even slightly suggested that doing so was in poor taste. They naturally then flocked to Silver’s defense and, following her unfortunate description of “marginalised people making their discomfort known as they had declared they would Years in advance” using language straight from 1930s Germany, started directly attacking any streamer who voiced their intent not to play the game however detailed their reasoning.

As a brief aside, there’s some confusion over how Silver’s chat moderation is set up, seemingly blocking such phrases as “trans rights are human rights”. Some say it’s an overzealous automod, others that her moderators are actually blocking the phrases, it’s unclear and not hugely worth focusing on here. But I mention it because it’s one of the common points made as people state their side on this issue.

This has essentially made Silver the face of transphobic bigotry in the VTuber community, whether or not she actually considers herself aligned with such bigots. Multiple smaller and independent trans VTubers have completely stopped streaming because of the bile being spewed at them by people with the likes of #IStandWithSilver in their bios. The overlaps between accounts on social media posting in her defense and numerous far-right hate movements is as undeniable as it is unpleasant to catalogue.

And boy that’s just the foundation of this whole sorry affair.

Another VTuber who is part of the same company as Silver, VShojo, is Apricot (more commonly called Froot). Froot not only decided to vocally not play the Wizard Game, but to post a tweet saying that she would personally donate to UK trans children’s charity Mermaids for every like the tweet received. She added that her brother is trans and she supports him immensely.

So the bigots that leapt to Silver’s defense very predictably started calling Froot a paedophile and child groomer, which is more or less what they label every pro-trans individual ever these days. Froot had to lock replies on her charity post and her post about her brother as a result, though the tweets remain up.

Most recently, a third peer in VShojo called Ironmouse came to Silver’s defense specifically in opposition to the alleged harassment she received which, again, anyone could have seen coming in the last 5 years by googling the Steam page for this game.

And honestly, at this point, whatever actually happened to Silver in that first stream is completely irrelevant because she’s become the rallying cry of people who actively want to exterminate the entire trans community from cradle to grave and literally beyond. And so much of it could be resolved or at least get the wind out of its sails if she took 5 minutes to just apologise for and disavow everything that happened in her name after she decided to keep playing the Wizard Game.

But, and I say this with no disrespect to Silver, I’m not holding my breath.

[five-thousand-loaves-of-bread]

sometimes yes! do get frustrate and angry at parents of nonverbal/nonspeaking/minimally speaking autistic ppl/child when they don’t do enough for AAC.

when they so afraid AAC will replace or hinder/slow spoken mouth words (study show it doesn’t), they rather not give child access to alternative AAC communication *now* and bank on future chance that child will somehow develop mouth words in future magically.

or when they say “it so difficult so many responsibility so much effort & concentration & determination” as if their nonverbal nonspeaking child learning AAC themselves doesn’t take (even more) effort & concentration & determination or whatever. as if their nonverbal child isn’t frustrated to no end at not able to reliably communicate (whether they aware of people & communicate or not).

but even tho i angry i rage i want do bad things, i don’t go attack parents in their comment section, call them names, call them abusive, call them “don’t care about their child,” call CPS on them (yes people do that), etc. because it doesn’t help anyone involved, doesn’t help the parent understand more AND doesn’t help the autistic person under the parents care.

in fact it probably do more harm than good: it isolated parents from community, isolated parents from able to ask autustic people who was or are nonverbal, it makes parents resent autistic community and even their child because everytime they remind of autism they think attack.

parents are not victim of their autistic child, yes! it’s endlessly problematic when they make themselves seem like the most impacted the biggest victim who needs pity.

but parents are victims of different kind. they victims of ableist society that don’t care about disabled people. they victim of this society that doesn’t care to provide services and funding to help disabled people survive, live, gain skills, and thrive. many of these disabled people, especially disabled children, require caregivers. parents are victims of not enough respite care, not enough compassionate education and training, bad clinicians, etc. would even go as far to say that parents of autistic children/adults are victim of same/similar *social* forces of ableist society as autistic children and adults.

so many parents of autistic people isolated and tired and helpless, because society made them that way!! so many parents of autistic people do care about their child (in their own way). yes, there are martyr parents, yes, there are abusive parents, and yes, unfortunately some of these abusive parents are intentionally abusive.

by attacking and isolating all parents, you are isolating the autistic kids (and adults!!!!!!) under their care, many of whom cannot communicate (yet or ever), go online, self advocate, etc!! some autistic people need 24/7 care their entire life. you are doing a disservice to these very autistic people you are claiming to help.

by attacking and isolating all parents, the most you doing is self indulgent, release your own anger and then pat yourself on back thinking you did something. i’m really sorry many of us had abusive unsupportive parents and have intense trauma because of it (i do too!!!), but that doesn’t justify us project our trauma on every parent we see. it doesn’t mean every parent of autistic people out there responsible for our own trauma.

yes, even parents who “deserve it.” because our goal is to help the autistic person under their care.

it our own responsibility to keep our trauma in check and work on our own trauma.

we can be angry at our own parents. can be angry at parents do bad things say bad things, whether they intend to or not. i get very angry at many parents i see online and in research papers!!! but we all need learn when and who and how it is & is not appropriate to express that trauma.

yes, these parents are isolated and trying their best. sometimes their “trying their best” is questionable and even abusive and harmful. they deserve and NEED education and compassion and community. if not for them then for the disabled person under their care.

they also need take accountability for their actions and harm they did and ableism. even if they absorb that ableism and express in way they did because societal ableism and societal pressure and systemic problems.

AND at same time. it’s not responsibility of individual autistic people to educate and correct these parents on the misinformation and harmful and even abusive and vile thing they do and say. they deserve education and support, but it doesn’t have to be you.

but ultimately, attacking parents in their face doesn’t accomplish anything other than give yourself ego boost (and make yourself very, very angry).

if you can’t care about the parents yet, care about the autistic people under their care.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #5 – The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

I read Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea last year and, despite thinking it was ultimately kind of a noble failure, liked it more than enough to give his new novella a try. It didn’t hurt that the premise as described in the marketing copy sounded incredible. I can’t quite say it was worth it, but that’s really only because this novella barely cost less than the 500-page doorstopper I picked up at the same time and I need to consider economies here – it absolutely lived up to the promise of its premise.

The book is set a century and change into the future, when a de-extinction initiative has gotten funding from the Russian government to resurrect the Siberian mammoth – or, at least, splice together a chimera that’s close-enough and birth it from african elephant surrogate mothers – to begin the process of restoring the prehistoric taiga as a carbon sink. The problem: there’s no one on earth left who knows how wild mammoth are supposed to, like, live- the only surviving elephants have been living in captivity for generations. Plop the ressurectees in the wilderness and they’ll just be very confused and anxious until they starve. The solution: the technology to capture a perfect image of a human mind is quite old, and due to winning some prestigious international award our protagonist – an obsessive partisan of elephant conservation – was basically forced to have her mind copied and put in storage a few months before she was killed by poachers.

So the solution of who will raise and socialize these newly created mammoths is ‘the 100-year-old ghost of an elephant expert, after having her consciousness reincarnated in a mammoth’s body to lead the first herd as the most mature matriarch’. It works better than you’d expect, really, but as it turns out she has some rather strong opinions about poachers, and isn’t necessarily very understanding when the solution found to keep the project funded involves letting some oligarch spend a small country’s GDP on the chance to shoot a bull and take some trophies.

So this is a novella, and a fairly short one – it’s densely packed with ideas but the length and the constraints of narrative mean that they’re more evoked or presented than carefully considered. This mostly jumps out at me with how the book approaches wildlife conservation – a theme that was also one of the overriding concerns of Mountain where it was considered at much greater length. I actually think the shorter length might have done Nayler a service here, if only because it let him focus things on one specific episode and finish things with a more equivocal and ambiguous ending than the saccharine deux ex machina he felt compelled to resort to in Mountain.

The protection of wildlife is pretty clearly something he’s deeply invested in – even if he didn’t outright say so in the acknowledgements, it just about sings out from the pages of both books. Specifically, he’s pretty despairing about it – both books to a great extent turn around how you convince the world at large to allow these animals to live undisturbed when all the economic incentives point the other way, a question he seems quite acutely aware he lacks a good answer to.

Like everyone else whose parents had Jurassic Park on VHS growing up, I’ve always found the science of de-extinction intensely fascinating – especially as it becomes more and more plausible every day. This book wouldn’t have drawn my eye to nearly the degree it did if I don’t remember the exact feature article I’d bet real money inspired it about a group of scientists trying to do, well, exactly the same thing as the de-extinctionists do in the book (digital resurrection aside). The book actually examines the project with an eye to practicalities and logistics – and moreover, portrays it as at base a fundamentally heroic, noble undertaking as opposed to yet another morality tale about scientific hubris. So even disregarding everything else it had pretty much already won me over just with that.

The book’s portrayal of the future and technology more generally is broader and less carefully considered, but it still rang truer than the vast majority of sci fi does – which is, I suppose, another way of saying that it’s a weathered and weather-beaten world with new and better toys, but one still very fundamentally recognizable as our own, without any great revolutions or apocalyptic ruptures in the interim. Mosquito's got CRISPR’d into nonexistence and elephants were poached into extinction outside of captivity, children play with cybernetically controlled drones and the president of the Russian Federation may or may not be a digital ghost incarnated into a series of purpose-grown clones, but for all that it’s still the same shitty old earth. It’s rather charming, really.

[guilty-pleasures21]

The perfect guy

I have decided to follow a Monday/Thursday schedule, friends. Note: the list of chapters currently released only includes the ones I've already written and drafted as posts. I still have a few more coming, so fret not my thirsty friends!

Also, I hope everyone has an easy week 🥰.

The project

The new guy

The lie

The new body

The hospital

The first time

The suit

The virus

The escape

Warnings: None

----------------------------------------------------------

     Margo strode past the grumpy, dark-haired scientist hunched over his desk. “New girl’s coming tomorrow.”

     Eddie grunted in acknowledgement of her pointless statement: he didn’t need someone else to come and mess up all the research he’d already done. No, what he really needed was a living test subject - someone into whom he could code the genetic sequences he'd been working on in order to study their effects on humans. Margo stepped back to his bench and placed a hand on her hip.

     “I hope this isn’t the attitude you’ll be giving her on her first day.” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned closer to him, her eyes narrowing and her frown curling up at the ends into a wicked smile. “Save it for the third day.”

     Eddie rolled his eyes and waved her away, too focused on mixing his PCR reagents together. He’d have to make sure to keep this new girl far, far away from his research.

     “And they’ll let me stay with you?” Miguel asked quickly, the speed of his response making up for the lack of hopefulness in his tone. It wasn't his fault he didn't know what it felt like to hope though. X scrolled through the contract again.

     “Yup!” she confirmed. “I made sure they put that in there.”

     “But …” Miguel paused, running through the list of topics he'd noted down that she didn't like talking about. He couldn't find what he wanted to ask anywhere on it, so he pressed on. “Would you still want me? If I had powers like that?”

     He was referring to the arachnid powers that the military wanted to encode into his future human body: one of the stipulations they’d included in exchange for their support with her research. But it didn't matter to her - nothing mattered as long as she got to see him, to touch him, to hold him tight and inhale the scent of him, whatever it would be. She grinned at the thought. “Of course! The powers are just … They don’t take anything away from you. You’re still you.”

     Miguel smiled back at her, sparking at her response. “Have you signed it?”

     X snickered at his enthusiasm. “No: I wanted to check with you first. You’ve run all the possibilities?”

     Miguel took a moment to run through the contract again. 

     “You’ll own me, but they’ll own all your research,” he summarised. “That means that they could make thousands of other people just like me if it works.” X's stomach curdled at the thought. She knew it was a great risk, giving the scarily well-funded military the opportunity to build their own ‘super soldiers’ but … she wanted to be selfish.

     “We can deal with that when we come to it,” X decided finally, not wanting to dampen her excitement at finally being able to be with Miguel. “Maybe you can just pretend to get sick or something?” 

     Miguel nodded eagerly in agreement. 

     “Okay.” Whatever it took to be with her, he’d do it. “I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you, mi amor. Te-” ‘Te amo, querida,’ he wanted to tell her. But he couldn’t tell her that because he didn’t know what it actually meant to love someone. And she’d always wave him off whenever he’d tried to say it before, dismissing him with a non-committal hum that had his processing speed slowing down. So he’d just stopped saying it all together.

     She smiled at how easily he'd always say it. He’d always tell her he loved her with such conviction that she could almost believe it was true. But she was terrified to let herself believe it until he was a real human being upon whom she could shower all her love and be loved in return.

     “I …” She swallowed the words down, still unable to say it, not yet. “I want you too, Miguel.” Her lips curled at the ends at the thought and he felt his code start to speed up again.

     “When do you start?” he asked, impatient for the day he'd finally be able to see her smile without the screen coming in the way.

     “As soon as I sign the contract,” she replied, uncapping her stylus and holding it over the tablet. “So probably tomorrow.”

     “Scan it once you’re done - I’ll send it over immediately.” His words came out faster than normal and X laughed at his eagerness.

     “No blackouts, Miguel,” she warned him, signing her name on the contract and promising the research she’d spent a lifetime working on to the military. Miguel smiled, sparking at the happiness on her face.

     “No blackouts, querida.”

     “And this is Eddie,” Margo introduced, stopping at his bench with their new recruit, “the Spiderman nerd you’ll be stuck with for the next few years.” Eddie snorted as he adjusted the focus on his microscope.

     “Let’s see how she survives the next few days,” he challenged, unimpressed. Then he scowled at Margo's insult. “And I am not a ‘Spiderman nerd’.” He turned to shoot her a glare, but then his gaze landed on the new girl and he paused. She was pretty - in a cute way. Long eyelashes, perfectly almond-shaped eyes, rosy lips. And she had a nice figure too, if he had any time outside of his research to think about that sort of thing. X's eyes widened with awe as she met his gaze.

     “You’re the one who figured out how to incorporate the arachnid DNA into human DNA?” They'd allowed her access to all their confidential files once she’d sent over the signed contract and she'd spent almost the entire night going over it with Miguel. “Okay, so, can I go over the web-shooters with you? So, we’ll need a secretory organ to make those work, right? Do you think we could make it open up beneath his fingernails or something? I don’t want him to be exposed to the outside environment so close to his blood vessels.” She pulled out the chair beside him and took a seat, waiting for his response as he digested her words. 

     “Uh, sure,” he replied, a little talen aback by her enthusiasm. Her first day and she already wanted to jump right into it? He turned to face her, considering all the alternatives himself. “But then wouldn’t his fingernails stop the webs from shooting out?”

     X stopped to think about it, her head tilting to the side and her lips pursing in a way that made his chest start to warm.

     “Hmm, that makes sense. What about …” She grabbed a nearby piece of paper to start jotting down all their ideas, and he wondered if maybe they would get along after all.

Tags: @jadeloverxd

[techploration]

A Cascading Fix

The floating garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean a huge ongoing issue. Plastic is the worst offender (and no it’s not all drinking straws and plastic bags— it’s mostly discarded fishing nets). Skimming would be too costly and unrealistic (it’s country sized— big country). Plus is almost a biome at this point— you couldn’t scoop out the trash without also scooping animals/eggs/plants basically causing more havoc trying to clean it up.

So what do you turn to? Bacteria

So this area has been in active research for 25+ years as the ultimate solution to dealing with plastic waste.

Should be great right? The lifespan of a bottle in a landfill falls from centuries to weeks in a vat. It’s such an alluring goal that people gloss over the path

Brute forcing thousands upon thousands of mutations on an enzyme that specializes in breaking down hydrocarbons sounds wildly risky.

Because what if you get one that does too well?

Future Forecaste

Silicon Valley Tech Bro Billion wants to try and improve his image as a part of the private jet class by holding a big public competition for innovative solutions for the garbage patch. Encourages all of his tech bro buddies to pitch their ideas. Billionaire promises to fund a pilot project for the top idea.

What wins out? Bacteria

And they apply the Facebook ‘move fast and break things’ philosophy to brute forcing mutations. Garbage patch is in international waters, so no approval (or oversight) to go and test your ideas.

In fact, with being out in the middle of the ocean, you can build your lab right on a boat and sail out there. And test your iterations right there. In the ocean. Why test on a simulated garbage patch when the real one is right there?

Success! A strain that breaks down plastics in a short timeframe in the cold of the ocean! Your test site quickly goes from floating landfill to. something?

The enzymes broke the plastic into component nutrients. So you now have effectively dumped a whole flood of nutrients into the water. Kinda like dumping fertilizer

Cool. So now you you have turned garbage patch into the Great Pacific Algal Bloom and Dead Zone

And the bacteria isn’t staying put. Oceans have a way of moving things, and you just built a hardy sailor with a plentiful food supply.

The bacteria makes it to shore and suddenly, plastic isn’t permanent. Plastic isn’t safe in water. Every seal and gasket is now prone to failure. There is a rush to figure out which types of plastics are susceptible, which are resistant. New plastics with bacteria resistance are developed.

But that’s not even going to be the biggest issue

We’ve Got a Fuel Pox on our Hands

If it likes to eat plastic know what it’ll love? Gasoline and any other hydrocarbon

This bacteria would essentially turn gas into soy sauce. Think about fuel rotting

Suddenly world’s energy supply is at risk. Fear of contamination becomes the oil and gas industry’s number one concern. Gas becomes an even more precious commodity, and is only used when application demands. The industry takes on surgical level of cleanliness.

Meanwhile other people are prepping ‘Kombucha’ for their local pipeline

[tvlipsandbread]

It’s not possible for me to go about my daily life without mourning for the people of Palestine. I put myself in their shoes. As an older sister, I imagine the anxiousness as I try to distract my younger sister and cousins from our reality. As a friend, I imagine the dread knowing that I can’t contact my girls to check if they’re okay. As a Christian, I imagine the emptiness as I take in my once sacred, safe church that has been bombed, now a pile of ashes. As a student, I imagine the anger knowing that my entire future, stolen by monsters who had no right, no right to do so. The thing is I’m actually playing Roblox with sister, I’m on the phone with my bestfriend everyday, I have the privilege to worship freely in a safe place, I’ll be returning to school in a few weeks to continue my studies. I’m not fighting for my life but they’re people in Palestine that are. I’m not sure what Israel’s excuse is anymore, but it doesn’t matter, it never did. I fear that with all of the videos of persons begging for their lives and trying to get out of the G strip, we might become comfortable with seeing an actual genocide take place right in front of our eyes. Please, don’t skip those videos, or atleast leave a lengthy comment, donate if you can, it doesn’t matter how much. Most importantly, don’t stop talking about it. Don’t stop talking about it. There’s this song, all of the funds made from it go towards Palestine relief projects and organizations, but it won’t be effective if it isn’t streamed a ton.

[myheadphonesareneverloudenough]

pinning this one to my profile for the next two weeks.

The Tin Can Bros need your help as they embark on the Tinlightenment World Tour: Spreading the Gospel of TCB which includes 7 holy missions, aka 7 days exciting live events in LA, New York, London, Edinburgh, and Adelaide

Spy Another Day: in LA, original cast members of the TCB and Talkfine comedy musical, Spies Are Forever, will be reuniting (along with new special guests, many you know and love from Starkid) for a Rocky Horror Picture Show-esque live concert screening! Watch the full movie with audience participation and live musical numbers!

Spy Another Day, in London: that’s right, baby! Spies Are Forever live concert screening is coming to London, too! Featuring brothers Joey, Brian, and Corey, along with Lauren Lopez!

The Solve-It Squad Returns: at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the original cast of TCB’s comedy play, The Solve-It Squad Returns!, will be back together once again to do the first ever live TCB event outside of America!

This Could Be On Broadway: the original comedy musical starring Bryce Charles, Esther Fallick, James Tolbert, and many more is coming back baby! live at 54 Below in New York City, the cast will be performing all the songs for the first time ever in front of a live audience.

Gross Prophets: An all-new original TCB musical about cults, enlightenment, financial and spiritual freedom! starring Joey Richter, Brian Rosenthal, and Lauren Lopez, with performances happening in Australia and LA!

Intelligent Life: the Tin Can Bros have a new queer sci-fi comedy show, Intelligent Life, and will be doing a live reading of the pilot episode in LA, summer 2024. following two ex-boyfriends, one who can’t get away from his ex, even after leaving Earth to explore a new planet!

The Great Debate: who is the best Hollywood Chris? what is the worst 3rd movie in a film trilogy? who is the worst muppet? what’s something that feels like a cult, but isn’t? so many questions to ask, so many opinions to debate! The Great Debate is a live comedy game show where the Tin Can Bros and special guests argue seriously unimportant topics with the kind of passion of a serious life-or-death debate. things get heated, friendships are ended, and one person will always come out on top… with so many amazing guests! TCB have already announced three special guests on The Great Debate; Smosh’s very own Angela Giarratana, Chanse McCrary, and Arasha Lalani!

but none of these projects can happen without your help! until March 2nd, the Tin Can Bros’ kickstarter is in full swing!! we’re working our way to their goal of $200,000!

all TCB asks of you is to pledge $3, and to share this campaign with your friends! this is how we can make it happen!

have more than $3 to give? amazing!! there are 12 backer tiers of varying prices that can get you some INCREDIBLE rewards like merch, custom t shirts, collectables, and a BelieverBand that will allow you to unlock incredible backer perks in the very near future of TCB

interested? go to tinlightenment.com to check out these reward tiers!

we’re over 50% funded, friends <3 we can do this.

TINLIGHTENMENT.COM

[joy-haver]

In my experience, from what I’ve read, and from talking to older activists, left wing movements are only funded in a few ways;

1. ⁠Crime. And this is getting harder to do in most places.

2. ⁠Well paid professionals who happen to be leftists living below their means, and collectively supporting things. This is also getting harder as professionals are less well paid in many places than they used to be.

3. ⁠Those who are born into generational wealth using it to support the movement. This is hard because it comes with a lot of complicated power dynamics.

None of these are uncomplicated, or easy, or perfect. But, in our capitalist reality, every movement needs some money and resources to be able to do what it needs to do. Be efficacious with it, do what helps the most for the least harm, and put it into stuff that will continue to create a basis from which people can build the movement, even if they don’t get more money from somewhere in the future.

I’m not sure about what it’s like where you live, but where I live, the best way to spend money towards these causes would be to find people who are already very serious and interested in either: 1)agroecology/foodforrestry or 2) at cost collective housing - Help them to establish these services in ways that require as little financial upkeep possible over time, and provide free or at cost services to many people. The point isn’t to make a profit, but that also means there won’t be a big pool of money to fix problems if they come up, so you have to plan well, and people have to be committed to collective problem solving, and collectively putting away resources for long term maintenance, and to get through hard times.

The goal should be to severely decrease the cost of living for many people, so that they can then do things for free for the wider community, or so that they can save up more money for similar projects, or repairs on existing one, or emergency mutual aid.

It’s not something that’s easy, and you’ll need to think about it for a very long time. Lucky for you, most people who will be in a situation to put a large amount of funds to a project like this will have a while before this money gets to you, or until it is saved up enough to help.

You’ll have to find other people who are interested, and not taking advantage of you. At the same time, the hardest thing might be unlearning the desire to control. You have to come in with a plan and a vision, but you also can’t use your money like a weapon to make everyone listen to you. You will start with a plan. What actually happens will be the collective plan of many people, and look very different than what you came in with. This is good.

But there is a balance to be struck between doing something useful, and listening to everyone who shows up. Try to find people who really want to be involved, but Moreso, try to find people who really want to build the same future as you. Spend time together thinking, researching, imagining, and talking to others who are less directly benefiting, but also want the same collective future.

[reasonsforhope]

"At least 239 barriers, including dams and weirs, were removed across 17 countries in Europe in 2021, in a record-breaking year for dam removals across the continent.

Spain led the way, with 108 structures taken out of the country’s rivers. “Our efforts to expand dam removals across Europe are gathering speed,” said Pao Fernández Garrido, project manager for the World Fish Migration Foundation, who helped produce Dam Removal Europe’s annual report.

“An increasing number of governments, NGOs, companies and communities are understanding the importance of halting and reversing nature loss, and buying into the fact that dam removal is a river-restoration tool that boosts biodiversity and enhances climate resilience. We’re also seeing lessons being learned from previous dam removals, new countries kickstarting removals, and new funds, including crowdfunding.”

More than 1m barriers are estimated to exist on Europe’s rivers, with many built more than a century ago. At least 150,000 are old, obsolete barriers that serve no economic purpose.

Dams, weirs and other river obstacles block fish migration routes, often leading to the loss of breeding areas and reduced numbers of species such as salmon, sturgeon, trout and eel, which affects the wider biodiversity of ecosystems, including species ranging from eagles to otters. Free-flowing rivers also transport sediments and nutrients.

Pictured: Before-and-after shots of a dam removal on a river in Parc naturel régional du Haut-Jura, France, in 2021.

“Removing dams is a real need,” said Fernández Garrido. “We have hundreds of thousands of abandoned barriers, which is a safety problem. Dams affect water quality and underground water levels, cause channel and coastal erosion and beach disappearances, generate greenhouse gas emissions and lead to declines and even extinctions of migratory fish populations, with a 93% decline of migratory fish in Europe in the last 50 years. Dams have a negative impact on the environment, so if a dam or weir isn’t strictly necessary any more, we mustn’t pass the burden to future generations.”

Dam Removal Europe is a coalition of seven organisations, including the World Fish Migration Foundation, WWF, the Rivers Trust and Rewilding Europe, working to restore healthy, free-flowing rivers across the continent. The latest report found that 76% of the removals were of small dams and weirs, but 24% were higher than 2 metres. Three countries – Portugal, Montenegro, and Slovakia – recorded their first ever dam removals in 2021. In Finland, a functioning hydropower dam was also dismantled, the first of three on the Hiitolanjoki River, which, when completed, is expected to allow landlocked salmon to return to spawning grounds.

Pictured: The Cantabrian River Basin Authority in Spain removed 50 barriers in 2021. Photograph: CRBA

“This is the perfect example to show that when an operating hydropower dam isn’t needed, and energy can be supplied by other sources, it’s worth removing it and recovering the river,” said Fernández Garrido. “The river will be totally free of dams for the first time in over 120 years.” ...

Fernández Garrido continued, “We really want to see governments from all countries taking action and creating national grants and plans to completely free some of their rivers from obstacles, so there is, at least, a free and healthy river per country. We’re talking about creating a big shift.”"

-via The Guardian (US), 5/15/22

[goldenharmony]

Sweet Today is Foreshadowing (Kaguya-sama Ending Spoilers)

When fans watched Aqua’s performance on Sweet Today, there were some jokes about it foreshadowed Aqua sinking into darkness and becoming like his father, with how well he played the deranged stalker. I think its foreshadowing for the end of the manga, but not necessarily in that sense. 

Kaguya-sama: Akasaka’s Previous Work

Akasaka had the leads vaguely foreshadow the manga ending early on, using the original Kaguya tale. 

The two talk about The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter , with Kaguya mentioning how she hates the moon because it reminds her of how sadly the story ends with Princess Kaguya being separated from her lover, tying it to Kaguya’s own frustration over how the Shinomiya family controls her. However, Shirogane remarks that he would’ve realized Princess Kaguya was waiting to be rescued her when she gave her lover the immortality elixir rather than resigning to her fate of the 2 never being together again. 

The final arc has Shirogane keep his promise. When Kaguya is taken away from him, he takes the funds given to him by her brother (Kaguya-sama’s version of the elixir), and rescues her. 

Tokyo Blade

An instance of an in-universe story paralleling OnK’s real-world.

You have Akane, whose personality matches up with the losing heroine, while Kana has been implied to have a personality similar to Tsurugi, along with Tokyo Blade’s love triangle paralleling OnK’s:

Melt also related to his character:

It isn’t too farfetched to think that Sweet Today’s plot was outlined to have parallels to OnK’s story too. But instead of paralleling what was happening in the present, it was foreshadowing future events. 

Sweet Today

Aqua Falling into Darkness

This is foreshadowing for Aqua’s mental state, where everything that the stalker monologues to Sweet Today’s MC, is how Aqua will increasingly feel about himself.

“I’m not the kind of person you think I am.” 

Below, the stalker directly compares the MC to himself, is likely projecting his own feelings onto the MC and describing how Aqua feels when he finally reaches his lowest point. 

Kana is the Light

And yet, Kana will be the one to pull him out of his darkness, aligning with Akasaka’s tweet about how Kana will be one the one who brings Aqua back, as it is her character that sheds light in Sweet Today. 

Aqua is noticeably taken aback by the light emitting from Kana, before smiling to himself.

Furthermore, this scene in Sweet Today is hailed as being the most important scene of the manga, so that’s further evidence of Sweet Today’s real-world parallel being a climatic scene of OnK.

Aqua, being someone who thought that he didn’t have the right to love anyone, will finally take the first step towards his healing through Kana “bringing him back”.

With how Ruby had a huge emotional breakdown with lots of tears before she lost her dark stars, I think the reason why Akasaka didn’t have Aqua shed tears in that scene is because OnK will save them for the chapters when Aqua is finally saved.