#we're equally huge as we are tiny

[vampire-eros]

it's 5 in the morning for me rn and this makes me feel so safe. out of all the places in the universe to be right now we're on a nice little ball where the temperature can be juuuust right or at least considerably survivable compared to everywhere else.

our universe is incomprehensibly big and incomprehensibly cold with huge unthinkably far between dots of unthinkably hot blazing fire

and we are fortunate enough to wake up in a particularly cozy spot of it. furthermore, where the most big and insane and dangerous celestial events show up as dancing lights

and will never affect our persons on our little (huge) comfortable hunk of wet aerated rock.

everyone knows that space is very very cold, and the sun is very very hot. so i assume there's a bit of space kind of near the sun which is just right. balmy space

[trainsinanime]

I sometimes reblog posts about US Americans being weird here, but honestly I don't love how angry or smug most of these posts are. It's just that angry and smug posts tend to get more traction, and so they get reblogged more, and so I tend to see them and reblog them myself. Hm, maybe there's a lesson for all of social media and for me in particular here.

Anyway, what I want out of these posts is not for any US Americans here to feel bad; it's just "funny" and perhaps, perhaps a tiny bit of consideration for how being US American means you experience the internet on easy mode.

This is not your personal fault. Nor is it ethically wrong. It's just a thing that exists, and it may be worth thinking about it.

Examples of that easy mode include:

It's your language. The vast majority of people on the internet need to know a second language to at least participate passively, let alone actively post. It's not just the internet; for e.g. my job, all documentation for all the tools is only in English, and I was required to listen to English lectures and write both my bachelor's and master's thesis in English, my second language, to pass. That's why e.g. posts about bilingualism tend to cause a bit of a discussion, because knowing a second language isn't a special skill but a necessary survival tool.

It is your world-wide culture. The list of most popular video games, TV shows, movies and songs tend to be fairly similar across the world (in particular the part of it we call it the western world, another discussion that I'll get into below), and they're dominated by the output of US media. There is no equivalent to e.g. Disney anywhere outside of the US.

It's your debates and discussions. Because of the huge importance the US has economically and culturally (not to mention militarily), we tend to discuss US topics a lot, and we tend to discuss them from an American point of view.

This introduces American oddities into a lot of the world. For example, I'm a STEM guy, I have a STEM education, a STEM job and my primary hobbies are also STEM based, so what I notice are imperial measurements like feet and inches. Those are not "one of two equally valid choices", they're the unique hobby of the English-speaking countries, and within them, increasingly only the US. But we still tend to see them here as if they were a normal usual thing, and often europeans (including me) feel compelled to provide translations into these units.

But it's not limited to that, court room dramas are another example where courts in the English-speaking world tend to work very differently from those in the rest of the world. E.g. there's no pleading guilty or innocent in most of the world. There are boundless more examples of that, and these things can be grating every once in a while.

As I said before, I don't think there's any moral value here either way. You're not wrong for being an American (but you're also not better because of it). As I hinted at before, I'm still in a very privileged position myself, being from a wealthy European country, and my culture even without Disney is still far closer to that of the US than it is to most of the rest of the world. I'm sitting in the very same glass house, just maybe a different corner (TODO fix this metaphor before posting).

For example, I'm talking about court rooms and inches versus meters, but if we're thinking about history and ethics, there's deep issues in both of them. When it comes to measurements, it's ultimately the question of whether you use the measurements of London or those of Paris. For most of the world it's a colonial imposition either way. You can make arguments for why one is better for technology than the other (and as you can probably guess, I have strong opinions here), but in the grand scheme of things, neither of them is more "ethical" or more "universal", not really anyway. Same with the way legal systems work, where again, countries either adopted (and more often than not were forced to adopt) either the English system or the French system (with quite a few countries choosing to adopt the German version of the French system as well).

I know that's a boring digression but it's something that's usually missing from these posts, especially ones written by europeans, including some I've written myself. I don't really have a conclusion to any of this either, except perhaps that this is something that's worth being aware of.

[youmakethelight]

It feels like a slap in the face.

TBOC premiere got released in the UK today and it's feeling like at every corner, there's something new to remind me why women will never be equal to men.

First, the episode description is a bleak reminder of the fact that Carol is going through hell to get to Daryl, while explicity mentioning his name. Meanwhile, Daryl "settles" with his new family and fails to ever say her name.

Second, there's the fact that reducing Carol to a teeny tiny subtitle wasn't enough to make me feel like shit. When I type in "The Book Of Carol" to the search bar, it says no results, and instead I have to type in "Daryl Dixon".

This spinoff is actually stupid. A huge portion of the core audience for these characters is women. And we're being insulted and treated as if we don't matter every fucking step of the way. This show should be empowering for us but it makes me feel so defeated and inferior.

I'm fucking sad.

[kotemf]

can I request some happy fluffy Foxiyo for your Christmas fic event! I'd just love the two of them going Christmas shopping or sitting by the tree or anything Christmassy!

YES YOU CAN! I actually wanted to write some Foxiyo fic for Christmas and I think you gave me just the push I needed to write something so thanks for that. I hope you like it!

You can read this on Ao3 too.

Your gift is below the cut!

Fox didn't really understand Life Day. It wasn't that he didn't understand the traditions. People gave each other gifts, they baked cookies, decorated their houses and bought a tree. Fox just didn't understand why they did it. But everyone seemed excited so he just went along with it.

Riyo seemed to love everything around Life Day. Their apartment was full of decorations and Fox often caught her baking something in her free time. She was also going crazy shopping for gifts for her family back on Pantora and probably for Fox too but it's not like she would tell him.

Fox only had one gift for Riyo, if it could even count as a gift, but he still had time to get her something nice. It was going to have to wait, though, because at the moment Riyo seemed set on going shopping together.

This time, they were looking for a tree. Out of all the Life Day traditions, this was the one that made the less sense to Fox. Because why in the galaxy would someone buy a tree to bring to their house? Why would anyone want a tree in their house. Fox sure didn't want a tree in the middle of their living room. Had Riyo not insisted, he would gladly ignore the tradition.

"So... See any nice trees?"

Fox looked around the shop. The place was huge with rows of trees of different shapes and sizes. So many nat-borns seemed obsessed with saving the nature yet they cut off milions of trees just to decorate them and then throw them out... Well, nat-born behavior wasn't really Fox's problem at the moment. He was supposed to pick a tree out of all those trees all of which he equally hated to imagine in the middle of their living room. "I think it'll be better if you pick."

"Come on, Fox. Picking out trees is fun!"

"So..." Fox grabbed a random tree. "What about this one?"

"It's not even nice! Half of the branches are bare!" Riyo didn't seem to like Fox's 'chosen' tree at all.

"And what kind of tree do you want?"

"A nice and green one. And definitely a small one."

Fox looked around for a tree that fit Riyo's description. He noticed one that might be it so he grabbed that one. "Is this one good?"

"This tree is like three centimeters taller than me."

"You said you wanted a small one." Fox shrugged. He realized his mistake when Riyo gave him an offended look. Why was it so easy to kriff up? Also how was he supposed to know what small meant for Life Day trees? It wasn't like he had experience! "Sorry."

"It's fine, I know I'm tiny. But we need an even smaller tree."

"Why don't you pick one?"

"Okay..." Fox observed Riyo as she looked around the shop and carefully inspected a few trees. He found the way she focused on something as useless as Life Day trees rather adorable. "What about this one?"

Fox looked at the tree Riyo just found. It looked just as awful as the other ones, they were trees for kriff's sake. "Nice choice! I love this one."

"So we're taking it?" Riyo smiled up at Fox. Fox didn't regret his lie, Riyo's smile was worth it.

"Of course." Fox collected their new tree and they headed to the register together. "Are we going somewhere else or just home?"

"We could get some hoth chocolate?" Riyo suggested. And that wasn't something Fox could refuse. So they left the tree in their speeder and headed straight to a nearby coffee shop.

The place was cozy and smelled like caff, just as one would expect from a coffee shop. Fox would normally get a latte or maybe a cappuccino but Riyo was constantly trying to convince him that the amount of caff he consumed was unhealthy so he got a hoth chocolate, just like his girlfriend. He liked the drink, it wasn't quite as good as coffee but it was sweet and always made him feel warm inside.

"It's good." Riyo took a sip.

Fox nodded. "Let's take a seat?" he suggested and led Riyo to a small table in the corner. It was freezing outside and Fox didn't see a reason why they shouldn't enjoy their drinks in the heated space of the coffee shop rather than take it outside.

"There is a mistletoe above our table," Riyo noticed. Fives followed her gaze and really, the plant was hanging on the ceiling right above them. "Come on, we have to kiss."

"What?"

"You've never heard of the tradition?"

"What tradition?"

"When two people stand under a mistletoe, they have to kiss. Not doing it means bad luck."

Well, Fox certainly wasn't opposed to kissing her. "We can't risk that, can we?"

"We definitely shouldn't." Riyo grinned at him before leaning forward a bit. Fox close the distance to gently press his lips against hers. He could taste the sweetness of her hoth chocolate. It was perfect, just like all their kisses.

Fox eventually had to pull away as he was running out of breath. "Was that enough to satisfy the tradition?"

"I don't know, maybe we should do it again, just to be sure."

Fox didn't wait a second before he kissed her again. And again and again, hoth chocolate suddenly forgotten.

"You know, the tradition also says that couples that kiss under the mistletoe get married within a year," Riyo told him after a while.

"Really?"

"I mean, it's just an old tradition but... yeah."

Fox's mind wandered to the ring hidden in the top drawer of his desk, carefully wrapped in Life Day themed wrapping paper waiting for the right moment. He could only hope that the old tradition was right.

[cosmicdream222]

I’ve adapted this post from an incredibly wise shifter named Love/Vanilla, an amino user who seems to have permashifted out of this reality by now. I have found her explanations of shifting and the quantum multiverse to be incredibly enlightening, and want to share them with others. I have edited for grammar and spelling, but full credit goes to this lovely soul. The original post.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Shifting is a law - so treat it like one

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・。.。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Shifting = manifestation

Definition: customizing the 3D by changing the 4D.

It's not just a law tbh. It's not just something everyone does all the time. No, it's the very foundation of the multiverse, the reason it exists.

The multiverse is a vast collection of infinite realities. It's not just realities like "Harry Potter," "Twilight," or "Miraculous." Instead, it's more like tiny everyday things, such as "someone blinks while breathing" or "your surroundings change while you're thinking."

We all shift every single moment of our lives. It happens when you blink, breathe, feel, think, or move. It also occurs when someone around you does any of these things, which is pretty often. This means we're constantly shifting, and everyone does it.

It's a fundamental concept of the multiverse. Whether you blink and shift or consciously change something in the 4D and shift, the exact same process happens, and it's equally easy.

Remember, shifting is a law – it's THE law of the multiverse, and there's nothing you can do to change it. This is the one exception on the physical plane that cannot be altered. You don't need to enter the void, you don't have to use telepathy, or any other method.

As long as you're in the 3D world, you have no other choice but to shift. There's no need to make such a huge deal about it. Your entire existence as awareness is about enjoying the physical world around you. If you don't like it, change it. It's that simple. You have the power to decide everything, and nothing can affect that.

[gracev0609]

Love to Keep Me Warm

Josh X Danny X Reader

This is a direct continuation of Giving & Receiving, please read that first! All fics can be found on my pinned post.

This is my first fluff only fic! I love my little throuple, so here's a Christmas edition ❤️🎄❤️

Word Count: 2k+

A huge shout out to @lipstickitty for helping me with all my little ramblings and ideas for them🫶

Danny's hand was resting on your thigh as he navigated your family through the streets of Frankenmuth, on the way back to the Kiszka household for the second time this holiday season. Josh poked his head through the seats as he sat in the back,” You sure you're okay baby? You feel okay?”

You reached your hand to cup his face and your thumb stroked his cheek softly as he nuzzled into your touch.

“I'm fine Josh, a little tired from traveling, but we're okay.”

Your manicured fingers settled on your stomach cradling the tiny pea sized baby inside of you.

Danny's fingers tightened on your thigh,” Promise you'll tell us if you're not okay. We're here for you baby. We're telling our families tonight when they're all together and I know they'd do anything for you.”

“You guys are fretting for nothing. But I promise. I'm excited to tell everyone,” a laugh escaped your lips,” Jake has been texting me for days that ‘we need to tell them soon because I can't keep it a secret much longer ‘“

Danny pulled the rental truck, similar to the one you rented last time, into the driveway. Their home looked the same except for a few extra Christmas decorations on the porch. Numerous other vehicles were parked in the driveway.

Danny shifted the vehicle in park,” My parents are already here.”

You all exited the truck and started to pull your luggage out. A black BMW pulled into the driveway behind them and Jake hopped out of the driver's seat. He popped the trunk and grabbed a few bags of groceries. He quickly joined your group and sat the bags down at his feet, his arms wrapping you up in a hug,” I don't care what you say, you're not allowed to carry anything.”

“But the doctor-”

“I don't care who said it's okay, Uncle Jake says you can't.”

He releases you from his hold and greets his brother and Danny with a hug.

“Merry Christmas boys, are you excited? I'm so excited.”

Josh beams and starts loading your bags onto his shoulder,” I think our parents are going to flip. First grandbaby? That we know of at least, Sam's a little loosey goosey.”

Danny snorts and starts walking up the snow cleared pathway. The three of you follow him up the wooden stairs, ice melt crackling underneath your feet. You take one more deep breath before entering the warm household, one that you're sure you'll visit for the rest of time.

“Mom, I'm back, and I found Y/N and some knuckleheads!” Jake called out into the foyer.

“Jake what the fuck?!” Josh jested.

Jake keeps walking into the house, forgoing taking his boots off, to his mother's dismay.

The three of you unzip your winter boots and leave them at the door. Danny leans down and kisses Josh's hair,” Come on knucklehead, let's go say hi.”

Josh quickly turns around to face Danny, scoffing.

You lead your boys into the house, following the voices of Danny and Josh's moms.

“Y/N! Honey, how do you look more beautiful this visit than the last? We missed you sweetie.” Karen stands from the table and envelopes you in a hug.

“Our boys have been treating you well, correct?” Lori inquires, taking you into her grasp and giving you an equally tight hug.

Muffled into her shoulder you respond,” They've been treating me very well, don't worry.”

Karen went to the threshold of the living and scolded her husband and Danny's father for not immediately getting up and greeting your group's arrival. Moments later the men arrived in the kitchen, first hugging you and then their sons.

After pleasantries were exchanged with parents and siblings Danny, Josh and Jake took your luggage down to the basement, back to where you slept before on the pull out couch.

The boys were setting up the bedding when you overheard Danny muttering about needing more pillows for you.

“We can grab the extras off of my old bed,” Josh said, spreading out the comforter flat.

“Let me go get them.” Jake stated, turning on his heel about to retrieve the extra pillows.

You held your hand out to stop him,” Hold up guys. I know this is coming from a place of love , but you can't be treating me like fine China! I'm pregnant, I'm not broken! Please.. just please take a chill pill.”

Jake takes his palm and rubs the back of his neck,” I'm sorry Y/N, I did come on kinda strong.”

“It's alright. I just need you all to understand that I can do things for myself. At least right now, maybe when it's like I have a watermelon strapped to my body I'll want to be doted on.”

A small chuckle leaves your lips,” But for the record, I would very much enjoy extra pillows, my back felt like shit sleeping on that mattress last time.”

A smile lit up on Jake's face as he gave you a silly military salute, before heading up the staircase,” On it, boss!”

A few minutes later Jake comes back with a stack of pillows, he hands them to Josh and Danny so they can put them on the bed.

“Jake… I feel like that's more than what was just on Josh's bed.” You pointed out with a smile.

He shot you a wink before heading back up the stairs, calling out, ”Just a few!”

Turning your attention back to your loves you ask,” Who do you think is going to cry when we tell them?”

Danny points a finger at Josh,” Your mom, one hundred percent, she cries at everything. His highschool musical performances, she cried. Our first arena show, she cried.”

Josh holds his hands up in surrender, “You're right! She did cry, at every one.” He looks at you, “ I kind of want to tell them now. I'm so excited and jittery, I think it would be good to tell them sooner than later.”

You mulled it over in your head, what was the harm in telling them before dinner versus after like you planned. You looked at your beautiful partners with beaming smiles on their faces, anxiously awaiting your answer.

“Yeah… let's do it. You guys can't keep a secret anyway!”

You stand up and head towards the landing of the stairs, Josh following behind you.

“Hey, come here for a second.” Danny calls the both of you back over to him.

He pulls you and Josh into his chest into a tight embrace and presses his lips to each of yours, “ I love you. I love our family. I'm so ecstatic to go on this journey of life with the both of you, I've found my home. I can't wait to watch you be a mom, and I can't wait to watch you be a dad alongside me. We have so much love surrounding us.”

You press your body into his, resting your head on his taut chest, “I love you Danny.”

Josh breaks the embrace, wiping his eyes with the heels of his palms, “Fuck! Yeah, let's go do this.”

The three of you worked your way into the living room where everyone was gathered. The Christmas tree was in the corner, tucked under the stairs. White lights glowing, ornaments from years gone by hung on each branch. Some beautiful and antique, some made by children's hands. Presents were neatly tucked underneath, glimmering in red and gold wrapping paper. There was a soft lit pine garland strung on the tv stand, and vintage lit ceramic Christmas trees on the end tables. The room was warm and comforting, mirroring the family's auras.

You sat yourself down on the couch in between Sam and Jake as Josh and Danny caught up and made small talk with everyone else.

Josh grabbed everyone's attention, waving his hands around,”Okay! Okay! I want to say that I love you all dearly. We love you all dearly. And I know that it's early, but you all know I can't keep my mouth shut for shit. But, we wanted to announce to you all that our lovely Y/N is pregnant.”

He grabs your hands and hoists you off the couch, into his arms and places a fat kiss on your lips.

Karen grips Lori's hands in her own,” We're going to be grandmas? This is such a happy day!”

Excited chatter and congratulations are thrown across the room.

You look around the room, their mom's are excitedly planning the future, their dad clink their whiskey glasses and take a sip. Beaming smiles on their sisters faces, mirroring Jake's. Sam rushes off the couch and envelopes the three of you in his long arms. With tears streaming down his face he exclaims “ I'm gonna be Uncle Sam, I'm so happy for you! My favorite people! I love you all!”

Jake stands and joins your circle, giving each of you a hug, “Truly, I'm so excited for you.”

After a pause Sam speaks, waving his pointer finger between Josh and Danny, “ So, how do you know which one of you…. Ya know…”

Jake smacks the back of Sam's head, “ You don't fucker. I can't believe you asked them that.” He squeezes the bridge of his nose.

Sam pushes back, “ Well, we were all thinking it okay? Sheesh, sorry.”

Danny laughs awkwardly and goes to lead Sam away with a promise of cocktails.

Danny's mom comes over to you, gushing about how she could tell that you had a certain glow about you, “ How far along are you honey?”

“ Josh wasn't kidding about it being early, I had my first doctor's visit a few days ago and the doctor said I was looking about 8 weeks, give or take, but we'll know for sure once the baby gets a bit bigger.”

Her face softens immediately,” Awe! Still a teeny tiny thing!”

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Dinner went by quickly, plenty of food, drinks and laughter shared. A few more questions were asked from the women who had been in your place before.

Josh's mom grabbed your hand and spoke lovingly,” I want you to know sweetie that you can ask us anything, day or night you can call us okay. It takes a village to raise a child.”

The night progressed and drinks were flowing, they had so much to celebrate. You were getting sleepy and wrapped yourself in the blankets on the loveseat when a drunken Sam and Jake bustled over to you.

Jake slid in next to you with his phone unlocked, waving it around, “ Hey hot stuff, look what we ordered on Amazon.” Sam leaned over the back of the couch overtop of you, grabbing Jake's phone from his hand to show you, “ Look at all the baby stuffs being sent to your house!”

Your eyes welled with tears of joy as you looked at the confirmation order, onesies, bottles, diapers, and stuffed animals all being sent to your house.

“ You guys! You're too sweet, you're going to be the best uncles. We're so lucky to be a part of your family.”

Josh sauntered up to your group,” Hey, you're crying?” He looked to his brothers,” What did you fuckers do to make her cry?!”

You placed your hand firmly on his stomach in front of you,” Joshy, they're happy tears I promise! They're being sweet, they ordered a bunch of baby things for us.”

You felt all the tension relax under your palm,” Oh. Shit, thank you.” He let out a boyish giggle.

They left you to relax on the couch and you started to reflect on the day. You were so thankful that everyone was so receptive to your relationship. They loved you and your partners unconditionally, they would love your baby just the same. You couldn't wait until next Christmas when your baby would be here basking in the love your family provided.

You saw a flash come from the corner of the room and saw Sam taking pictures on a Polaroid camera.

Sam waved you over, “ Y/N! Come here babe! I need a picture of you, Danny and Josh together in front of the Christmas tree!”

You stood in between your loves smiling at Sam's camera.

“ Okay one more!” Sam said, waving the fresh Polaroid around.

This time Danny dropped to one knee beside you and gently lifted up your sweater to expose your stomach. He pressed his lips to your warm skin on your tummy as Josh stood on your other side and pressed his lips to your cheek. You could help the giggle that bursted out of you as Sam snapped the picture.

“ That's the one! That one is going on everyone's fridge!”

Fin.

Next Story

[tooxmanyxships]

some more dando rot

"there - you can cry. it's okay. i would never judge you for that."

“If you’re not going to take care of yourself, at least let me do it for you!”

Domestic violence verse here we go again.

I swear I'm gonna make a full fic out of these some day.

It took a long time, but eventually Lando let Daniel come a little closer.

Both physically and emotionally.

He still doesn't talk about the marks on his body. Or how he flinches every time someone as much as raises their hand unexpectedly.

But at least he's letting Daniel in. A teeny tiny bit.

Enough for him to let Daniel stand close to him, shielding him from everyone else around, as he leans against a wall, eyes downcast, shoulders slumped.

"I'm such a failure."

"No you're not."

"I can't win. I will never win."

Something told Daniel that Lando wasn't only talking about the race.

"Don't give up, Lan. And don't be so hard on yourself."

"But I deserve it. I'm a loser. I will never gain anything in my life."

"Lando, stop."

"She tells me every time. How I disappoint her."

There we go.

"You're not disappointing anyone."

"I am! I'm a huge disappointment!"

Oh how Daniel yearns to touch the Brit. To give him some physical touch that doesn't hurt him.

But he can't. He knows how scared Lando will get when he feels his hands on him.

He always thinks touch is equal to pain.

Daniel hates that bitch for it.

"I don't want to hear you say that anymore. It's not true. We're all so proud of you, Lan."

"I---- I don't deserve - - - -"

He can't finish the sentence. His head seems to drop even lower and his shoulders start to tremble just a little bit.

Shit.

Daniel just wants to wrap his arms around him and hold him close. He can't.

He doesn't want Lando to flinch away from his touch like he does when he sees Carlos or Max hug the younger boy.

So he does the next best thing he can think of at that moment and produces some paper tissues from his jacket pocket and holds them out for Lando to take.

"There--" trailing off as Lando smacks the tissues out of his hands. He reaches down to pick them up. "You can cry. It's okay. I would never judge you for that." He wouldn't judge him for anything.

Lando huffs. Daniel can hear his breath hitching.

He wishes, not for the first time, he could take away all of the boy's suffering.

Instead, he holds out the tissues again.

"No one else will see. Just let it out."

That seems to do the trick.

Lando's shoulders rise once, then slump again and now they start to shake for real.

He sees Lando bury his face in his hands before he slides down to the ground.

Daniel presses his nails into the palms of his hands, hard, as he forces himself not to reach out and touch.

Instead he crouches down in front of the broken boy.

"This needs to stop, Lando. I'm here to help." There's a sob and Daniel is honestly close to tears himself. "Let me help you."

There's nothing but silence after that.

Daniel lets his hands rest on his own knees, but he's sitting so close to Lando that his fingers brush against the other's knees just lightly.

He doesn't flinch. Daniel definitely takes that as some kind of win.

He takes in the form of his ex teammate, one of his best friends, in once again. He looks small and fragile and thin. He looks broken.

But not beyond repair.

The sobs quiet down into sniffles. Eventually those die down too.

Daniel lifts himself up into standing position, wipes his hands off on his pants for no reason at all, then holds one of them out to Lando to help him get up.

Lando finally lifts his head up enough to stare at the offered hand.

"Come on," Daniel wiggles his fingers. "Let's go grab a bite to eat." Sad, hopeful eyes, staring up at him. “If you’re not going to take care of yourself, at least let me do it for you!”

Lando takes his hand.

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

oh oh oh for the selfship ask game may I ask for all your self-ships:

🔥, 💋, 🎂, 🩰

thank you and have a lovely day!

hiiii angsti! thank you for indulging me and my cringe, i hope you're having a great day uwu

🔥 — who gets jealous easier?

Typically my f/os because I'm pretty chill; I already have them bagged so unless it's a moment of insecurity I don't feel the need to get jealous or step in unless someone is being egregiously too flirty with them even after they've stated they are taken. In the case of Tamarack though, her jealousy phase is mostly during the step 2 era and her jealousy levels decrease after we become a couple (also in the step 2 era and she's worked on her confidence)

💋 — if you two were a romance trope, what would it be?

Sparkling Leaves (Tamarack Baumann), Soft Armor (Mikasa Ackerman), Flaming Pearls (Portgas D. Ace): Childhood Friends to Lovers

Blues (Gojou Satoru): Friends to Lovers

Sunflowers & Tomatoes (Umemiya Hajime): My Temporary Annoyance to Friends to Lovers

🎂 — how do you two celebrate each other's birthday?

Blues: since Satoru was born on the 7th of december and me on the 9th, we celebrate our birthdays together on the 8th. I have a personal hc that since there are so few students that go attend jujutsu tech that the staff celebrates the birthdays of said students so we kinda do it just like ye olden days of being students. We share a cake (we both like vanilla sponge cake with strawberry and whipped cream) and we pick somewhere to go for the day but instead of it being a cheap version of something Yaga didn't want to pay for, we go to the real thing

Sparkling Leaves: There's no confirmed birthday for Tamarack right now but I imagine she was born in the fall like myself albeit different months. We might occasionally do a small party with friends but for the most part we like spending those days with each other

On my birthday she busts out the cello with a cover of a song I really like and I love to give people gifts so for her birthday I try to do get gifts I know she'll enjoy using frequently. A new bow for her cello or tickets to a classical concert she's been wanting to see and once the concert is over we go to a restaurant for dinner

Soft Armor: On both ends probably dinner dates are our go-to, a nice walk under the stars. We both like to keep our respective days more on the lowkey end and we see it as an excuse to have an extra date night

Her birthday is in winter and mine is in fall, so it is usually chilly so we will snuggle up if it's a picnic style birthday date and enjoy a thermos full of hot tea or cider if we wanna be adventurous

Flaming Pearls: Because we're usually on a pirate ship, unless we happened to be docked somewhere we usually have our birthdays being celebrated by the crew. Ace is pretty good at getting a party going (another way he and Luffy are similar) and pirates never need an excuse to have a good time, so shanties will be sung, toasts will be made and the party will be going until everyone's tired and knocked out and snoring on the deck

But if we are docked somewhere during a time one of our birthdays falls, it's a date for the entire day and we're left to our devices. Usually going to different restaurants and looking at the local sights

Sunflowers & Tomatoes: Hajime definitely goes the extra mile on my birthdays. He knows I'm not a huge fan of surprises but we do compromise with TINY ones, his tiny surprises usually include doing a mini scavenger hunt in the house where I have to find a bunch of sticky notes to eventually get to the present itself. But because Hajime is a fan of surprises, I try to plan one for him at least every other birthday

Usually a birthday party with a different theme or it's a 'Help Hajime Garden' birthday bash

🩰 — who is the better dancer?

Me: Flaming Pearls, Sparkling Leaves, Soft Armor, Sunflower & Tomatoes

About Equal: Blues

send a selfship ask

[thessalian]

Thess vs Being Understaffed

Welp. This is going to be a hellish week.

As sort of briefly mentioned earlier, I woke up way too early - not because I wanted to, but because my legs started doing that pain-spasm thing that I hate so much and I could not lie down anymore. Not that moving them helped all that much, but it was better than attempting to fool myself that sleep was attainable. So there I was, underslept and in an intense amount of pain, and I very much toyed with the idea of calling in, but I figured I'd look at what the work situation was like at the moment. Temp went on compassionate leave a week ago and isn't due back for another two and a half weeks, so I felt like I should at least take a look.

Well. Goblin's on annual leave. So two of our three primary typists are out this week. We do have New Girl, who's apparently starting full time as of now, but ... honestly, I see little evidence of that. She's more obvious about leaving the long and/or frustrating bits of typing for someone else to do than Temp or Goblin ever were, so I wound up with:

The one who won't switch off the recording while she's taking measurements so that more than half of her dictation is silence (indicating her messing around with a ruler or whatever) that I can't even fast-forward through because I don't know when it's going to end

The two who absolutely refuse to put together anything remotely resembling a block key

The one with the mild speech impediment on top of her accent

The guy who constantly skips between long dictation and equally long block key, obliging me to find space in his walls of text for the next few bricks every few minutes

The Breast Guy

The guy who has no idea how to mark urgent dictations as URGENT in our typing system (as well as being a pain to type for), meaning that we're doing these urgent liver and kidney biopsies far later than we should be

The one who insists on reading the lab number for each and every specimen pot we get, even though it is hugely not necessary and is just another time sink

Basically all the aggravating skin excisions

And basically anything more than a minute long

I do not know why we hired this person, but she is not enough when two people are out. Not when she'll only do the really short, really simple bits of dictation really slowly and Milady's idea of helping with the typing is also pulling the occasional short bit of dictation out of the queue. So I literally have no choice but to do the long, complicated, annoying, and / or all of the above ones because there is not much left to do unless I want to do things completely out of order.

I somehow managed to get through the day. Not sure how, honestly. My stepfather is getting the plumbing in the other flat sorted with the help of a contractor and asked if he could come through to get some water, and watching him meant that a delivery guy took it as an invitation to be caretaker for a package for the guys across the corridor. So that was disruptive. Plus the pain and exhaustion, and knowing how far behind we're going to be by the end of the week, even if I'm at my best.

Worst of all is knowing that I will not be at my best this week. But I can't really call out, either, unless I just literally can't move. We're down two main typists and we can't afford to be down a third. If nothing else, I'll just have to kill myself twice as hard to sort the backlog when I get back. Gods know that the other girls won't pick up the pace even a tiny bit.

I want to know where the extra staffer we were promised is.

But mostly I want to take a quick trip to the corner shop and then kind of collapse for the duration. Thank goodness I did a pork roast yesterday so all I have to do is throw leftovers in the microwave. I mean, my appetite is shot, but I'm going to try, at least. Maybe with some good food, a hot bath, and proper sleep, I'll be well enough to tackle at least some of the mess tomorrow. I mean, I kind of have to be, but...

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

@evee

Respectfully, I disagree completely

You're not the first person to say that, to tell me that I am, technically, a feminist because I believe in equality and equal rights. It's incorrect. I don't have to be apart of it nor take on the label. Furthermore, it really isn't that simple. Feminism is more complex than that. There are many beliefs that I don't agree with and it really wouldn't make sense to start saying that I am when I only agree with a tiny portion of it. Would you still think I am a feminist if I don't believe in the patriarchy theory? Because I don't. It's statements like that which gives a false impression of the movement. It's not as inclusive as that statement would have you think. What about a woman is who is all for equal rights but chooses to live her life as a traditional housewife while her husband works? Is she considered a feminist? Now, I'm asking that because I've seen conflicting answers. On one hand, yes because feminism is about choices. But on the other hand, no because of various reasons (like internalized misogyny).

When it comes to the toxic people--as I said in the pinned post, I know there will be some. It's not going to be perfect, especially in a huge movement like this. However, I do expect more from the feminists who do represent the movement. I've had people tell me that those are just fake feminists, that they're just a loud minority, etc. If that's the case, why are the feminists who do represent the movement not doing anything about it? I'm not trying to be rude or anything. I'm genuinely wondering.

Those people may not seem like a big deal to you or others, but those are the kinds of people who leave a negative impression. Those people (the toxic ones) are the ones that we're often seeing. If more feminists want the movement to be seen more positively, than I would think they would do something about the toxic ones. When you're (not you you, a general you) not speaking out against them, that tells us that you agree.

It just seems like something should be done instead of feminists telling us that we should, basically, ignore them (the toxic ones). Simply ignoring them isn't going to do anything

[icharchivist]

ngl draphs are really weird to me. how are these tiny women supposed to reproduce with these huge guys??? ouch??? if they were all a buff warrior race thatd be cool but as is the ladies are petite with huge boobs and thats just really anime cliched. not a big fan of that design altogether if im being honest. at least erune are equally sexualized

I'm not thinking *too* hard about the reproduction logistic but i would assume that their genitals just work in ways that it makes it bearable in general :sob:

but i'm with you on everything else, it's really just, very anime cliche with a pretty cheap reasoning to have the "big babonkers ladies race" over here

The fact the game is almost 10 years old also probably add to how it might have sounded like a good idea at the time in a pure, this is how we're going to make money, but nowadays the pandering really jump out of this decision ALKJDLKFJD. And it's not something they can retcon so we're stuck with that.

i guess on one hand we had something positive out of it with Ladiva since her agab perticularities means people can't try to deny her transness (compared to how many times i've seen people say "Cags is not trans, actually", from people who didn't bother reading her FEs), but it's genuinely the only upside and it's really just. weep.

but yeah it's kind of just the type of pandering fuckery you kinda end up bearing with, and granblue happen to have a rich universe outside of that so, we bear with! but i really wish it wasn't the case and i also really wish granblue wasn't scared of muscular women.

but well 😔

At least yeah we have Erune putting their back into it, literally. A round of applause for the little meow meows over here.

[qqueenofhades]

I think this is a very useful analysis that helpfully puts into words some of the scattered thoughts I've had, but have not been able to centralize, articulate, or otherwise had the spoons to offer post-election.

The one thing Bernie has not gotten and never gotten, even with all his Champion of the Working Class cosplay crusading (as a wealthy Vermont millionaire who has accomplished very little during his long tenure in office aside from repeatedly fracturing the Democratic party), is that a lot of the American working class see billionaires (as pointed out above) as aspirational role models, not evil parasites. Scholars can and indeed have written many long sociological, political, and analytical papers about the "What's the Matter with Kansas?" problem, wherein working class and poor people vote against their own economic interests in order to elevate grifting xenophobic populists whose policies only benefit the already-rich. For one thing, this presupposes the "rational individual" economic-maximization model of human behavior, which was popularized in the free-market 1970s and 80s, and has never been true in any meaningful sense, but as pointed out above: America is addicted to the "hard work makes you rich and billionaires have clearly worked to earn their wealth" mindset. They are equally addicted to the "temporarily dispossessed millionaire" fallacy, wherein if they too just Pull Themselves Up By The Bootstraps, that is the only thing stopping them from being equally wealthy. It's not, but we're still absolutely throttled by the "Republicans Are Better For The Economy" myth that just played a huge part in Trump's second election win. What's empirically "real" or not matters less and less.

Bernie's brand of faux-leftist populism is so toxic in America precisely because it pairs this apparent destruction of the American Dream (hey why do you want to destroy my chance of becoming a billionaire?!) with virulent anti-American tankie-lite rhetoric spouted by the online left, who see America as the source of all evil in the world despite benefiting enormously from their upbringing in America and access to American privilege. We can (and again, have!) written many, many papers about the founding and continuing social ills embedded in America: its establishment on the back of slavery, racism, genocide, and so on. But when it comes to day-to-day electoral politics, the average mid-to-low-information American voter does not give a shit about complicated historical debates and generational injustices. They just don't. They care about how much things cost at the grocery store and what the vibes "feel" like to them. After a brief upsurge of social acceptance in 2020 with BLM/George Floyd, they've also lost interest in dealing with systemic racism, and are inclined to accept Trump's easy-scapegoating rhetoric. This is not limited to white people either; witness the major gains he made with Hispanics in particular. The ones who are able to vote in presidential elections are US citizens and see themselves as safely insulated from Trump's mass-deportation policies because they're not undocumented (even if they have friends and relatives who are and who are very much NOT safe). They want to preserve their own piece of the pie and are not acting in grand pan-Latino racial solidarity. Nobody says they have to -- they can focus on their own personal interests just as much as white voters -- but they're definitely one of the communities who are in the soonest for a rude wakeup call.

Looking at the election results shows that America is, as ever, an extremely divided country. This election was not a landslide for Trump. The Republicans benefited from an extremely favorable map to pick up WV, OH, MT, PA in the Senate, but added no House seats and still have a tiny majority of about 3 (which may shrink further with special elections and/or unexpected departure). Trump got 49.9% of the vote; Harris got around 48.5%. The American electorate is not left-wing; it is also not immutably right-wing. It is primarily transactional, "what have you done for me lately," and cursed with low information literacy, sophisticated disinformation campaigns, and short-term memory that is worse than a goldfish. Abortion passed everywhere except in FL (where it needed 60% and got 57%). As ever, the public liked Democratic policies, but voted for Republicans to punish Democrats for not implementing them fast enough. That is one of the most maddening paradoxes in all of American politics and it fucked us good this time, but that's the twist of the screw. The Republicans also benefited from the post-COVID anti-incumbency that kicked Trump out in 2020. A lot of the scary things that happened in the last four years -- rising prices, ongoing threats to democracy, Dobbs, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, etc -- were not necessarily Biden's fault, but they happened on his watch and contributed to the sense of visceral fear and threat that is always a better predictor of electoral behavior than the flawed idea of Rational Economic Maximization.

As such, despite the avalanche of "What Democrats Must Do Now" postmortems, we should definitely point out that Bernie instantly threw them under the bus for not being "pro-worker," when the Biden administration was the most pro-worker, pro-labor, and anti-corporate in recent history (and due to the electoral backlash it received as a result, quite possibly for a very long time). Bernie primarily conceives of the American working class as white people, often white men, engaged in customary trade-union pursuits, which is outdated and inadequate and reeks of the rancid "the left wasn't nice enough to fragile insecure white men" takes that are latently or openly misogynist. Biden did a hell of a lot to address their economic interests, and they punished him for it, because what is at stake, in their minds, isn't actually their economic interest (even if that's what is often used to describe it) but their position of unquestioned power as white men. They will happily give up the chance of better economic policies if it means continuing to assert their authority over other marginalized people; their lot might not be great, but at least they're still white. And indeed, still men. Bernie complaining that the Democrats didn't cater enough to White Men is, objectively, bullshit.

As such, I can tell you that one way that the Democrats can get back to electoral relevancy, which is definitely likely in 2026 and 2028 if we can get that far, is not by listening to Bernie. "Destroy the billionaires" paired with toxic tankie rhetoric driven by the online left competing with each other to be more extreme and unpleasant is electoral poison and that's why Bernie's chronic campaigning got him nowhere and fatally splintered the Democratic party in 2016, allowing Trump to win in the first place. It's a dud. The end. There is nothing positive or constructive in that vision, and while riding aggrieved populism can get you decently far, it also has to be a populism that's rooted in some idea of America, however shallow and lip-service. "Make America Great Again," despite how much Trump does to destroy America in every conceivable sense, works because MAGAts wave American flags and feel like a righteous and integral part of their country. The fact that in this election cycle, Democrats actually embraced love-of-country rhetoric, American flags, and appeals to fundamental "American" values, no matter how cringy and schmaltizily-nationalistic it feels to educated liberals, is an important part of getting that ground back. It promotes the idea that you can love America (however defined) and vote Democratic, and we can't give that up. Because then yeah, everyone waving the flag will be a jingoistic MAGA fascist, and people who like and respond to that imagery (which is a decent majority of ordinary Americans) will want to associate with them by default.

Likewise: a lot of online leftist/Bernie Bro rhetoric focuses on the magical revolution fantasy that America will just disappear and/or be Gloriously Overthrown and thus, somehow, all injustice from the tyrannical government will come to an end and we will live in a perfect utopia forevermore! (Uh, ask the Bolsheviks how that worked out for them.) America is an enormously flawed historical and geopolitical entity, but one thing it is not going to do is suddenly disappear overnight because of deranged Moral Purity Posting by so-called leftist keyboard warriors. It still matters how its massive power is used, and as anyone with a brain cell was well aware beforehand, Trump is only going to abuse it ever more egregiously. He will try to stay in office (if he doesn't die beforehand); he will pack SCOTUS with more corrupt toadies; he will do his best to wreck anything and everything that stymied him last time. He will undoubtedly succeed in at least some of that, and that is very scary. However, as I have said before, his total success is neither inevitable nor even very likely. If we are going to continue to hold the line and find victories where they come, we need to do a lot of things, but chief among them is not listen to Bernie F'n Sanders. He can, indeed, take several seats.

Bernie is wrong. He has always been wrong and is still wrong. The flaw in his theory is what he deems the “wealthy elite” versus what everyday Americans consider them to be. Voters don’t see all billionaires as the elites. They see college-educated liberals on the coasts, some of whom are billionaires, as elites.

Bernie-style populism didn’t land because billionaires figured out long ago they could undermine it by being socially right-wing, and the working class would forgive their wealth and privilege. That’s why this same demographic is willing to make it rain for grifters like Joel Osteen and Pat Robertson. That’s why they worship the wealthiest man on the planet like a God and consider him some real-life Tony Stark. People dismissed Donald Trump as a shameless attention-hungry New York oligarch until he called Mexicans rapists. Then he shot up to the top of the GOP primary polls. The working class didn’t think much of Elon Musk until he said “pronouns suck.” Then he became their hero. A scion of working-class Pennsylvania lost his US Senate seat last week to a hedge fund manager from Connecticut. West Virginia elected their richest man to the Senate after electing him governor – as a Democrat and later a Republican. Ohio tossed out their longtime Democratic senator, known for his strong support of labor rights, for – literally, no joke – a used-car salesman.

You can’t tell me the working class in America thinks being a billionaire alone is what makes one a “wealthy elite.” There are significant factors at play here Bernie is either oblivious to or purposely ignorant of.

In college, a professor once told me that Communism never succeeded in the United States because we are too religious and proud as a country. Religion, traditions, and culture were never widely discredited the way they were in Europe and Asia, where the clergy and nobility kept the bourgeoisie in figurative chains for centuries. The relative ease of social mobility made America unique compared to its Western counterparts. Historically, American progressivism has been focused on expanding social mobility – initially limited to only white men – to identity groups who had been denied it at the start: blacks, women, and immigrants. We have done it, with various amounts of success. While it may seem counterintuitive, Americans pride themselves in being the nation that pioneered the idea that wealth and status can be achieved through ingenuity and hard work and not just based on a lucky roll of the genetic dice, as it was in the Old World. It doesn’t mean we don’t have generational wealth in our country; we do, but since it isn’t the sole way to achieve wealth and power, we don’t care nearly as much about destroying all of it. Further, we will happily endorse it if the oligarchs and the aristocrats vow to promote and protect the social values we care about and the social hierarchy that benefits us.

It’s one of the reasons I believe Bernie could never beat Trump. If you ask working-class people what they want: an anti-immigrant, anti-intellectual billionaire or a Vermont socialist backed by kids from Harvard and UC Berkeley who hate our traditions and customs, the working class will always back the billionaire.

–Nick Rafter, "Bernie Sanders Can Take a Seat"

[grgwshngturnt]

played today for about 8 hours - my most coherent thought: WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK

im legit having so much fun my every waking thought is consumed by this game which is unfortunately as due to The Circumstances i cannot SPEND every waking moment playing this game. i am in agony but we stay silly.

(there will be spoilers for the start of the game up until post darvin recruitment below)

i love my rook - sometimes i wish they could be a bit more of a shit but im viewing it as the chaotic good au of my very chaotic neutral oc i decided to make my first rook. i think this will stand out less on a further playthrough where im playing a rook that i made for veilguard instead of an existing character who is best known for being an absolute wanker. this is also what i have stand and de riva (working title) for, as the antivan crows need to understand what a little shit they recruited. i also did tear up a little bit when they could literally say they were trans like. in as many words. that was so huge. theyre also GOREGEOUS i struggled a bit with cc at first and made what is canonically a 6'3 man tiny and had to go back after the start and totally remake them in the mirror but i actually like them better the second time lmaoooo a wins a win

game is fucking beautiful absolutely 10/10 every single environment is gorgeous and so are all the companions. feys hair is so bouncy when they run i am transfixed by it. d'meta's crossing was fucking hideous in a very good way and everything is so stunning. my pc is doing its level best and while we did crash once it seems to be running smoothly otherwise (apparently an ogre and rain physics is too much but the DRAGON runs fine. go figure)

the sound i made when dorian rocked up was not one from a rational human. that's my HUSBAND RIGHT THERE and hes GOREGEOUS. anyone saying he looks ugly is such a fucking coward thats the most fuckable late 30s man in thedas. i adore his stupid facial hair its so Him. i also gave my inquisitor a stupid mullet i like to think they are at an impasse where dorian will shave only when mahanon gets a reasonable haircut. theyre so husbands yall.

SPEAKING OF MAHANON i almost cried in the cc yall. getting to make him again and seeing him older and maybe-not-wiser and hearing the inquisition music in the bg.... wish we got a few more choice about him but ill live with it as it isnt his story anymore. im nervous for him to show up but im probably going to scream and cry about it in equal measure. anyway hes hot even with his stupid mullet. im so delighted we get to see him againta

literally in love with all the companions - fey is my planned lucanis romance bc im LITERALLY OBSESSED WITH HIM and have been since pregame and that has not changed but im SO excited to see everyone elses romances on my subsequent playthroughs - bellara is exactly what i wanted for my shadow dragon rook and she was their planned romance. also very excited for harding and the weirdo that is the mourn watches very own crypt baby cessair and for neve and her thembo boyfriend mordred the veiljumper but im also not sure if i can ever abandon treviso :((((( like i agree with lucanis there even without the romance minrathous HAS A WHOLEASS FLOATING SECURITY SYSTEM and youre telling me that did jackshit??? so we'll see how the neve romance goes lmao

ill probably post some screenshots of my rook tomorrow thats my favourite little fuck <3 im having so much fun and i dont even have all the companions yet i cannot wait to see how this all plays out and then do it over and over and over again

[sassypotatoe1]

One of my favorite things has always been calculating how much more every employee of a company would make per month if the ceo gave up 10% of their income, because the rough number of employees, ceo renumeration and other financial markers are public information. Almost always I find that most of the lower level employees are not being paid a living wage, and all of them would be paid a living wage, and the ceo will still earn millions a year, but their employees will be more efficient because they'll be better able to care for themselves. It's easy, simple math that every ceo should put their greed aside to make, because a lot of the economic problems we are facing globally would drastically improve if they did.

I'm not going to go into the mechanics of it, because a I'm not an economist just a community journalist with an interest in economics, and b other people who are more experienced and knowledgeable in the field have broken this down clearly on public forums like reddit and YouTube, and they're easy enough to find. I will however say that what you have to also take into account when doing these calculations is how much revenue the company actually made that year, how much similar sized companies with similar sized income paid their ceo and other execs that year, how many employees are earning low wages out of the total number of employees at the company, and what the ceo is actually fiscally and operationally bringing to the table.

My little socialist heart believes before anything else that money as a system of bartering shouldn't exist, and everyone's basic needs should be met inherently and desires can be traded with a more traditional bartering system. But I know that's much less realistic than wealth redistribution, so I believe that everyone in the company, from the cleaner to the ceo, should earn a wage actually comparable to their contribution to the company, and this wage needs to be a living wage at baseline, and any extra revenue brought in should be equitably redistributed among all employees. Madeline Pendleton on tiktok runs her own apparel business with this model and it works well, and she has a huge number of videos going into the details on how it works.

That all said, the company that owns my and over 200 other community newspapers in the country collects around 4 billion a year in revenue. The ceo comparatively earns around 1% of revenue a year, which is in the national scope of the industry a tiny percentage. Other ceos in the industry earn closer to 30% of total revenue annually. That still means that our ceo earns 4 million annually, which is roughly 333k a month, around 22 times the average cost of living in the country by memory.

If our ceo cut 10% of his salary, and redistribute it equally among all employees of the company, if memory serves we'd each get about 55 bucks a month extra, because of how many employees there are. I'm not giving the calculations because I'm too lazy to redo them but I did them a few months ago so you'll have to take my word for it.

Based on all the above numbers, the ceo would have to cut his pay significantly, I'm talking 40/50% to be able to raise the wages of us employees enough to be comfortably a living wage (enough over the average cost of living that we can save for retirement and emergencies).

That would leave them in an incredibly small percentage of ceos in the industry. Do I still think they should do it? Fuck yeah they can absolutely live off 150k a month that's still 11 times the average cost of living here, but majority of the employees can't live off what we're getting paid. It grinds my gears that the fact that the majority of a company's employees teetering on the edge of abject poverty, or straight up being in poverty, is not an economic marker for poor fiscal management that can affect stock value. We should make it a factor.

[justaloreaddict]

Changing it up again with Pen Dragon because my brain cannot shut up about my eccentric lad;

Calhoun Vornfel of House Vornfel, youngest of the brothers, and Highlord of the Dreadfort!

Context: this game is set in Game of Thrones land, and we began just before Lord Sevenstar was going to cross the Narrow Sea and attack the North. We four players are playing as four brothers of a teeny tiny Andal house.

Mors, the eldest was born out of wedlock, he is huge and unattractive to the point of being genuinely terrifying, follows The Warrior most closely, and started the game married. We have semi-seriously joked Calhoun had the most hand in arranging the wedding.

Stephas, the head of house, fairly attractive and a bit full of himself but he means well and does want the best for the family, the most well-rounded of all the brothers, and follows The Warrior closest.

Petros, Calhoun's identical twin, wears his hair longer than Calhoun does to help differentiate the two, has devoted his life to learning administration and religion, follows The Father closest.

Calhoun, the absolute youngest, a fantastic orator, really needs to polish up his court manners as he's been a bit eccentric in the paths he's tread to learn never expecting to be of any import at all, follows The Crone closest.

In all of our sessions thus far, we have:

- Accidentally ended the life of Lord Sevenstar's nephew in a duel [Petros] and only survived because Sevenstar crit his Mercy check

- Enraged the man further when Mors stole the entirety of his fleet to get the rest of the refugees with us across the Narrow Sea. The rest of us and half the people had already started the journey and had no awareness of this plan.

- Landed at Widow's Watch

- Got very confused about our plans to find a land to settle down in and went three separate ways, Mors training troops, Stephas looking for an eligible local woman, and Calhoun and Petros going to the Starks.

- Stephas got intercepted by a Deadfort hunting party and taken to the Dreadfort, Mors was approached by the youngest son of the Dreadfort to help rid the land of his dad, and Calhoun swore fealty to the Starks that should he and his take the Dreadfort, he will become Highlord. And Stephas got engaged [married?] to the eldest daughter of the Dreadfort [Why can I not remember the family name?!?] while Petros began courting the eldest daughter of house Umber.

- Calhoun and Petros set off with the armies of the North to take the Dreadfort only to find Mors had already accomplished this with a surprise attack, and meeting to catch up with Mors and a very begrudging Stephas was interrupted by noticing sails off the shore in the distance.

- We waited at the beach, our army and the Northmen, and crashed into Sevenstar's men as they scrambled to land on the beach. In the chaos Calhoun was smacked hard in the brow with a sword and knocked unconscious, but the Valerian ally of one of the leaders we'd recruited before crossing whisked him behind our lines to a surgeon who was able to get him back on his feet.

- Calhoun charged back in since we had them scattering and as the final push, the GM let us encounter Lord Sevenstar himself on his boat. The enraged man knocked Mors' blow aside with his shield, parried Petros' strike, but that left an opening Calhoun took advantage of to lay the final blow.

- After the battle was over an impromptu court was held, naming Calhoun Highlord of the Dreadfort and his brothers as lords under him.

The next session was book keeping after we'd divided all the duchies as equally as possible amongst everyone, and when we next get back to it I believe we're time-skipping a couple months forward to when Lord Stark begins formulating a counter-strike on Andalos but we shall see. I hope I have time to find at least a person to court before becoming embroiled in a war because as we have seen first hand, this system kills all easy and you want to try and play through your generations. I want to see who Calhoun's kids become.

[the-firebird69]

contd'

Others are getting ready to sell. They're moving out right now and we are getting ready for taking over more businesses on Monday they're going to be huge but this business launch is gigantic and right now the volume of business we're doing would equal one year in 2003 or 2004 one of those years is what those two companies already have on the books to do. This includes the apartments and there's thousands of apartment complexes that are like 20 to 50,000 and there's like hundreds and hundreds of apartment complexes that are like 10 million it's about 50 that are about a 2 billion those are mega complexes and their towers so this idea to make these tiny homes is one of the best ideas i've ever heard in my life they like to go up these days and he's got outrageous designs and we've seen that before because you have a house you want to view and to be more expensive you go up in like an * it's like a piece from that war games board game it goes up like a pyramid almost but the pyramid would start higher up so you have windows for probably 15 star points and the star point gets smaller and boy it's kind of a funny idea tons of people like it though and it looks very strange and there are some ships like it and they'll probably buy it 'cause the ship it is intense the feeling going around now about our company's are intense and a lot of it is they want to see us and try and grab us but a lot of it's the ideas and the concepts and the cool stuff. We're moving out and we are building in some of those entertainment centers that have some Of the stuff from the Midwest so we're going to get exposure and more shortly.

Thor Freya

Olympus

good

Hera Zeus

wow fun stuff we work now hard and tons of it need ours now we go out recruit and yes us ourselves

Nuada Arrianna

now too

Frank Castle Hardcastle

now means now all

Duke Nukem Blockbuster