#which is probably what i thought of when drawing him

[nattule29]

unfinished Yasammy family drawing (AUGH I wanted to finish this so badly but I couldn’t bring myself to do it)

Not official info but what I got so far info on this au below

Okay, in this Au yasammy has 3 kids

Their older daughter named Coraline that I’m open to change (Aka if anyone has name suggestions im open) she has a lot of phobias but she’s probably the bravest person you’ll know. She’s the only not into a sport athletic person in the house hold and is always left to babysit her many many cousins (Sammys side) and her two twin siblings, which in her opinion is a sport alone. Other wise she’s an indoor person. She’s really social which is something she easily picked up from Sammy and her likes to sit down and simply draw or read from Yaz.

Erm but what’s a character without a little angst. (not on purpose) she tends to be left out on family time because her interest are so different from everyone else. She doesn’t mean to be the lone wolf but she can’t help but hate snuggling up or learning how to lasso, running, cooking, ect. Being the oldest ofc she has more responsibilities and tends to take that a little too seriously and unintentionally putting herself under a lot of stress. She always feels bad when she sees her mom’s sad faces when they see her by herself not wanting to participate in what the rest of them do so she forces herself to do them which just drains her and on some occasions gets her hurt.

The twins are inspired off angel and rebel and I want their names to be a twist of the name meaning like how an oc of mine is named Atharva which means Knowledgable or Knowledge of God. I haven’t found a name like that for the two yet so for now I’ll call them angle and rebel (calling them this might stick if I can’t find them a different meaning name) Rebel is the only boy in the family and is something kinda sweet that Dahlia (dahlia is a benrius kid if you didn’t know) and him can bond over. THEY ARE BFFS FOR LIFEEeEeEe- it’s kinda funny how Sammy and Ben had originally tried to pair angel and Dahlia together, both being girls that were around a the same age, but they did not hit off or exactly get along especially with their opposite like personality’s (Ben and Sammy were crossing their fingers for a opposite attract sort of friendship) ofc angel and dahlia were both friends but somehow rebel and dahlia would always be closer which is fine by angel.

btw the kicker in the photo is angel. Even with the name meaning angel and a name meaning rebel they don’t live up to it. Angel is most definitely the rebel and rebel is most definitely the angel.

Somthing I have thought about a lot though is rebels relationship and how they would be that duo. They both got each other’s back in a “they asked for no pickles” way but it applies to both of them

I don’t expect anyone to read all this but if you did you’re a real one and angel is going to gift you a hand full of moss each day <3

[numptypylon]

For the time skip ask:

To eachother: "what's the weirdest food you've eaten?"

This vaguely follows the last drabble in the series, but it's not at all required reading. And this is MUCH fluffier <3

“We… need a less depressing question next.” Rayla wiped her eyes, and it stuck this time. She didn’t draw away though, just settled to get more comfortable in his lap, carefully adjusting to rest her head under his chin without her horns stabbing him in the neck. “So… what was the weirdest food you ate, since I saw you last? You said you went to Evenere for a diplomatic visit, and to Duren and all sorts of places?”

“Yeah, I did,” Callum said. “But the food there wasn’t that weird except for the snails.”

“Snails?! Yeah, that’s super weird. I didn’t even eat snails, and I ate lichen at some point, it was not for lack of desperation.” She paused. “I guess I answered the question too and it’s more sad than weird, it was lichen, for me. One out of five stars; do not recommend, will not elaborate. Anyway, going back to you… who eats snails?”

“The Evenerian nobility. Apparently. Even they don’t eat them for breakfast though, that was just me.”

“Callum, why…”

“I didn’t do it on purpose! You’ve seen the situations I accidentally get myself into, we know this about me!”

Her laughter vibrated against his chest.

“I’d been to Duren already, by then,” he continued. He had some explanation, after all. “And in Duren they have a kind of whirly bun with cinnamon that they call a snail, but of course it’s not really a snail, it’s just dough that’s shaped like a snail, and those were really good, so I ordered them when I saw snails on the menu during a diplomatic outing in Evenere… a casual meeting of minds with select Evenerian courtiers before an all-day political gathering.” He dreaded to think what they had thought of his mind after that. Probably that he was out of it. “And you know, I just met these people and I didn’t want to offend their country’s food by insinuating it was weird even though it was.”

“So you just sat there and ate snails for breakfast out of sheer awkwardness?” she giggled. “That… sounds like you.”

“I did. I ate the snails in garlic butter. At 7am. With hot chocolate as my drink accompaniment of choice.”

“That’s kinda a power move, if you pulled it off with confidence.”

“I did not.”

“Hey, maybe you looked cooler than you think?”

“I catapulted a buttery snail onto the window of the establishment with my fork, trying to get it out of its shell.”

“And maybe you looked good doing it? You have a way with breakfast foods, you know? I hold firm that those hairy butt fruits you love are also super weird, and back at the inn, you made eating those look just… so good. I’m sure those diplomats were also barely containing their desire for you.”

“Also, huh?”

“Mmmhmm. Also.” She shifted just so. “Then. Now. Always-”

“Rayla?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m done with questions.”

They're not really done with questions, they just need a makeout break XD Cinnamon rolls are called snails in Denmark, which inspired this I'll be back with more of these drabbles, hopefully in a few days.

If you want backstory for the inn breakfast referenced in this, that is Downtime’s Up inn chapter (all chapters of this fic are oneshots)

[bangtansfavwriter]

🎨 art supplies store owner! taehyung 🎨

- You were once again out of white paint and realised that you had also lost several brushes in the limbo of your room.Every single out supply you had found its way on the floor as you were rummaging through your stuff to find that one brush that seemed to be the key for your painting to be perfect. So you were standing there in the middle of the room, ready to let your inner Monet out, easel and canvas right in front of you..... and proceeded to throw the rubbish brushes across the room. The good ones were simply nowhere to find. You sighed deeply and went to pick up the brushes since your rage quit faded away as quickly as it happened in the first place. Weirdly enough, even this moment couldn’t curb your enthusiasm to paint again after a time which felt like ages, so you picked up the phone and looked up where to find art supply stores nearby.

- And there were NONE, at least not one that seemed to fit your needs, as you knew about that one store nearby that barely had any art supplies but a whole lot of stationary stuff.

- So you decided to just do sketches instead and went on with your day, despite the lingering disappointment of unfulfilled motivation

- A few days later, as you were wandering through town in search of a bakery that had almond croissants everybody you knew seemed to obsess over.

- You walked past a place that drew your attention and you immediately walked back to take a closer look

- You were standing there, in absolute awe of the minimalist yet gorgeous showcase of beautiful paintings that were put up between fine decorations of dried flowers, old brushes and used palettes, right next to an old record player and vintage vinyls, mostly of jazz artists.

- What surprised you most about it that it all seemed so personal – like an artist who was showcasing a part of their atelier, which drew you in so much that you found yourself studying every little detail

- Mentally you were drawing a picture of that person whose paintings and belongings you were looking at. It felt like a fresh breath of air to you, yet you felt a sense of familiarity that usually grabs one when you suddenly recognise a scent that wanders through air, like a loved one’s perfume, or the scent of fresh pastries that remind you of the now closed bakery that used to frequent in your childhood days. Something about this took you right back and you found yourself lost in thought, while listening to an old street musician was playing an accordion nearby.

- “I wish I could meet you”, you thought to yourself and mentally lamented over the fact that you probably cannot ever tell this stranger what their work did to you at that very moment.

- You took a few more steps to now see the next window that was decorated similar to the one that drew you in so intensely.

- You were taken by surprise when you noticed a guy with dark brown hair and roundish glasses who was watching you through the window the entire time.

- You started laughing at yourself when you realised how you must have looked, startled, tired, fascinated and in dire need of the almond croissants.

- The stranger in the shop smiled back at you with a gorgeous, boxy smile that instantly made a warm feeling erupt through your body.

- He hinted at the door, a silently plea for you to enter and join him in the shop

 - The little bells at the door rang through the shop as you finally entered the cozy store

- You instantly realised how tough it was going to be to keep your cool around him because this man was ridiculously handsome and looked at you with his big brown and sweet-as-honey eyes... and wtf were you supposed to do but to crush on a complete stranger? Your heart could only take this much, right?

- “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” he said as he shyly scratched his head and smiled. “No worries. I suppose I was to immersed in this showcase at the front that I didn’t take notice of you over there.”

-  You both went quiet and neither seemed to be able to stop staring at the other one.

- “Uhm,” you started fidgeting with your bag, “do you... perhaps know where i can buy some high quality oil paint and ... I think they’re called filbert brushes?” He stared at you with a blank face, which suddenly made you feel confused, until he snorted and hinted at his surroundings with both hands.

- You looked around and felt pure embarrassment creeping throughout your body, as you were, in fact, standing in the middle of an art supplies store and happened to be right in front of a wall display of a whole colour palette of paint tubes.

- The stranger giggled when you mumbled “Oh my god...” and hid your face behind your hands.

- “Please don’t be like that!” he exclaimed, as he feared he made you feel self-conscious all of a sudden. “I can help you after all. Please...”. He looked at your pleadingly, waiting for your response. He huffed out in relief when you smiled at him, touched by his attempt to lift your spirits which worked instantly. You, once again, found yourself bewitched by his dazzling, boxy smile. 

- “Filbert brushes, let’s see ...” he said and started walking through the shop. Meanwhile, you let your gaze wander across the utensils that were displayed between old wooden tables and shelves that had vintage and probably hand-made carvings on them, too. You looked at the posters of Miles Davis, Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald and noticed the many vinyls at the opposite side of the wall. “I’m guessing the vinyls at the front are a part of this collection?” you asked loudly, unsure about where he was among the shelves. “Yup, they are my babies.” he replied, and you could swear he was smiling as he said that.

- He walked towards you, indeed with this handsome smile of his that made your knees feel weak. “You know, that’s probably my most prized possession. I have a thing for jazz, I suppose. And art, obviously. But jazz, especially on vinyl... that’s just pure class, in my humble opinion.” – “I agree. Though I think it’s a shame I can’t see Billy Holiday anywhere. Don’t you have her poster here?”

-  He was standing in front of you, his arm leaning against the wall next to you. He was observing your every feature, taking in how your lips were slightly parted and how flushed your cheeks became under his gaze. He, too, felt a blush creep upon his face, as he wondered how someone’s eyes could be so piercingly beautiful.

- “Filbert brushes! Let’s go get those brushes...” he mumbled and walked away from you instantly, but to a halt a few metres away from you. You followed him and noticed the set of four filbert brushes which he shyly handed you over.

- “You’re a life saver. Thank you so much!” you beamed. The stranger felt blood rushing to his head once again and hoped you wouldn’t notice his now deep crimson ears and the blush that made its way over his entire face. You were way too concerned with your own, though, to notice that he was as affected as you were. He nodded at you and went back to the counter, hoping to gain some composure again. He felt like he lost every ounce of it as soon as he noticed you looking at his paintings outside the shop. Seeing someone so immersed in the little display of his mind that he tried to represent over there was a huge boost to his ego but at the same time he found himself unable to look away from you. When you had noticed him, he was actually afraid you’d think of him as a creep. Hearing the bells toll inside the shop, made any worry fade, though, and replaced it with a sense of familiarity that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Yet he knew that you were not to stay a stranger for him and tried to calm his heartbeat that rose with every inch of the red string of fate that led you to him. “Stay.” was the only thought resonating inside his mind.

- You followed suit and walked to the counter where you put down the brushes and pulled your wallet out. “No, absolutely not” he said with a stern look on his face, surprising you with his sudden change of demeanour. “Why?” you asked “Just let me pay.” You almost started laughing at the bewildered look on his face. “I’m actually serious. I’ll take it as a personal offense if you don’t accept my gift.”

- “Oh my god, ok!”. He watched you put the brushes in your bag and now smiled rather sadly. He was suddenly hoping for a rain storm, ideally with lightning strikes and such. What if you were afraid of thunder though? Would he be able to soothe you? Would you stay with him and listen to him sing My Funny Valentine to you? Oh, how he wanted to be Chet Baker for you.

- “Is everything ok?” you asked him, noticing his sudden and obviously intense train of thought. He nodded. The door suddenly seemed far to near for both of you.

- “I’ll get going now...” you said under your breath and took heavy steps towards the door. How you wished you could hear him talk about his favourite artists more. How great it would be to listen to him explaining how he came across every record of his vinyl collection. Why couldn’t you be more upfront with him and show him how utterly fascinated you were by him, how ridiculously attracted you were to him...

- “Take care...?” you said in a questioning voice, hoping to now have a name to this handsome face. “It’s Taehyung” he replied. “Please, grant me your name, too, before you leave.”

- You were sure your heart was about to jump out of your chest at his plea.

- “My name is Y/N...”

- “Y/N” he repeated slowly, with his deep, honey-like voice that made your name sound like the shortest poem you ever heard. “Oh, this is on” you thought. “There’s no way I won’t go after this connection or whatever the hell this is.”

- “Will I see you again, Y/N?” he asked.

- “You will. Pretty soon actually.”

- He looked at you in surprise, yet pleased.

- “You see, I forgot to buy white paint... A shame, really. It seems I must come here again. How about tomorrow? We could get those almond croissants from that bakery across the street. Maybe have dinner, too, I don’t know.”

- You walked towards the door, rushing every word on your way out, as you were shocked at your own sudden boldness. He grinned from ear to ear as he listened to you blurt out your ideas, which sounded absolutely heavenly to him.

- He stopped you in your tracks and grabbed your hand. “You know, you could probably lure me anywhere with these croissants. And dinner sounds lovely. I could tell you about some painting workshops I offer, what about that? Rest assured that I will drag it out as long as I can.” You two laughed. You two knew.

        “I’m counting on it, Taehyung.”

         “I’ll see you tomorrow then, lovely.”

[usuallyrated2stars]

EP 18 SPOILERS (art, then I start discussing full episode thoughts)

I'm sicker than Tissues right now but I HAD to draw SOMETHING. I hope to draw more when I'm feeling better

Anyways, I cannot be the only one who was like "istg if they name that damn hotel PAYJAY". Fan's not even surprised they got together, he's shocked they said the thing...the thing!!

With my delusions out of the way, I have Many Thoughts™. I got my average yearly (and final, probably) dose of a Tissues and Trophy line, which is great. I thought it was a little underwhelming when Cobs pulled out some random sword knife lookin thing, but his voice actor was absolutely GODLIKE.

All of the water-related incidents with Box absolutely kill me now. Jesus.

MePhone4's final scene really feels like a good wrap to him. I was discussing with a friend about how we wanted his story to go, with her thinking it was best for him to let everyone die and for him to move on, and me thinking it was best for him to continue his interest in showbusiness, but what actually happened makes the most sense. He's just gotta go on and do something for himself, just like all of his former contestants are.

Speaking of which, the possibilities of the fates of the contestants have so much potential! I don't really want some spin off from Animation Epic. I want fanfics and comics and headcanons from the community! I have the perfect opportunity to indulge in OC x Canon now, and I can't wait to see what people do with the characters now as they rebuild!! UGHHH I love object shows and their communities!! (Just stay off of Twitter.)

I might make more art stuffs later! (Jam-packed with thoughts, probably, too) Thanks for reading or not!! :D

Edit: OH YEAH BYVTHE F**KING WAY WTH WAS THAT COBS DEATH SCENE??!?!?!? WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WENT "yeah I'm cooking" brother QHAT

[mariacallous]

History grounds us.

History can help us find our footing. This is not because we can ever know what will happen next. It is rather because history can make familiar some consistent patterns of human life.

Such prompts for further thought are not analogies. When we think in terms of analogies, we get stuck on the differences, and those sticking points then becomes an excuse not to think historically at all. Of course what comes next in the 2020s won't be exactly like the 1790s or the 1860s or the 1930s or the 1990s — the reference points I am choosing here.

But in recalling these epochs (or others) we can start to see certain resemblances, certain patterns, and get ourselves thinking again.

In this spirit, I offer these four scenarios for Trumpomuskovia, the musko-trumpified America that is already upon us.

The 1790s. Rescuing Russia

One possible Trumpomuskovia rescues Russia: actively, passively, or just by collapsing. This scenario draws from the eighteenth century, the time of the partitions of Poland.

Empress Catherine’s Russian Empire, founded just decades before, was in trouble. It had no clear means of succession, and Catherine herself was the German wife of a murdered tsar (her husband). It saved itself by warfare in Ukraine, bringing under its control its fertile territories. Fortunately for Catherine the Great, its western neighbor, Poland, suffered from tremendous inequality of wealth, and was rent by struggles between clans of magnates -- or, as we would say today, oligarchs. One of her former lovers was made king. He did not always do what she wanted, but his Poland was not going to effectively resist. In this situation, Russia was able to intervene in Poland, brings about its partition, and claim Ukraine (beginning the relatively short historical period when Ukraine was ruled from Russia).

Today the Russian Federation, founded a few decades ago, is also in trouble. It has no clear means of succession, as its ruler has done away with democracy and established a personal dictatorship. He has a fantasy of Russian unity with Ukraine, based in some considerable measure on the exploits of the eighteenth-century empress, Catherine. Like Catherine, Putin counts on divisions within (and among) western powers. His campaign for Ukraine has been extremely bloody, and has brought the Russian economy to the point of collapse.

But like Catherine, Putin has favorites that are close to power: Musk and Trump. They will not always do exactly what he wants, but they probably generally will, and their will certainly bring a fractious oligarchy. Putin is counting on the Musk-Trump regime to rescue him by turning American power away from its allies and towards Russia. Quite a few of Trump's proposed appointments, and much of Musk's rhetoric, suggest that rescuing Russia will be the priority.

The 1860s. Secession

When Poland was partitioned at the end of the end of the eighteenth century, it was a shock. Could a major country simply disappear from the map? A second scenario is suggested by the 1860s, when the United States nearly did.

Some of Poland's rebels, such as Tadeusz Kościuszko and Kazimierz Pułaski, crossed the Atlantic to help America's fledgling republic, which they hoped would avoid the mistakes of their own. Kościuszko saw slavery as a curse that could weaken the United States, much as serfdom had weakened Poland. Unlike Poland, the young American republic faced no great neighbor, at least after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 withdrawal of the British after the War of 1812. But the issue of slavery was almost enough to break the American republic anyway. In the aftermath of the Civil War, whites in southern states were able to exert disproportionate political power, by preventing African Americans from voting, and by dominating first the Democratic and then the Republican Party.

The United States in 2025 will be, in some sense, the victory of the old south. But is it a sustainable one? When people think of themselves as rebels they sometimes push too far when they actually have power. The social and cultural policies proposed by Trumpomuskovia are mainstream in much of the country, but not for most of the population. And the implementation of some of them, especially mass deportation, can reveal fault lines inside the federal government, between the federal government and the states, and among the states. An attempt to deport millions of people in 2025 could lead to clashes within and contests for control over the armed forces. Over the longer run, repressive social and cultural policies could lead to shifts of population, making the differences among the states still greater than they are. Trump has already been telling his people that the differences between them and the "enemy within" are greater than those between America and China or America and Russia.

Will Trumpomuskovia be stable? It is not a great leap for people to decide to move to California, on the logic that the state could make it alone, and already has a secession movement. Indeed, these moves are already happening.

From there it is a small step to start thinking of constellations of states that would be wealthier and more functional than the current United States. A west coast union would certainly be richer, and would have its own borders with Canada and Mexico.

It is sad to think about. But the next round of musing could easily follow: a west coast union plus Canada plus the New England, New York and Minnesota would have an economy about 2/3 the size of what was left of the United States, with a far higher GDP per capita, a better standard of living and longer life spans — just going by today’s numbers.

Such a hypothetical country would not have to worry about free trade with Canada, since it would be Canada; and it would not have to worry about free trade with Mexico, since it would have a border with Mexico. Unlike the residual United States, aka Trumpomuskovia, it would not be fighting a trade war with the European Union.

The 1930s: Electoral Fascism

This is the most familiar of the thought experiments and so probably requires the least elaboration. The resemblances are all familiar.

A politician who has attempted a coup d'état comes to power later anyway on the strength of elections, with a minority of the overall vote. He is supported by conservatives who want the Left to suffer and businesspeople who imagine that all he will do is suppress the trade unions. This politician speaks angrily of the media as "the enemy of the people" and condemns his political opponents as "the enemy within." He hopes for some kind of emergency in order to declare a state of permanent emergency -- for Hitler this was the Reichstag Fire of 1933, for Trump it could be something entirely imaginary. At that stage of fascism, an event in the real world could be made an element of a conspiracy; at the current stage, the event in the real world might not even be necessary.

Trump speaks, sensibly enough from his fascist perspective, of "Hitler's generals." What Trump has in mind is Hitler's personal control of the armed forces, which began in 1934 when soldiers and officers began to swear a personal oath to the Führer instead of an oath to the German constitution. It was indeed this event that made of Hitler the Führer, the Leader, rather than simply the chancellor or prime minister. Hitler's men opened their first concentration camp right after he came to power; if Trump's men are able to round up millions of non-citizens, they too will be in camps -- an institution, as we know, that can be turned to other purposes than its initial ones. The first major act of violence of Hitler's SS, aside from establishing those camps and running them, was a mass deportation of non-citizens.

From this scenario come the political lessons that I have tried to make familiar in other posts and in On Tyranny.

The 1990s: Reliving Russia

The fourth and final scenario is one that some of us will remember. Indeed, the 1990s in Russia might be seen not just as a point of reference, but as an origin story of Trumpomuskovia. In my book The Road to Unfreedom, I tried to argue that Russia, with its oligarchy, media monopolies, and fascism, revealed possible futures for the United States. This has never seemed a more reasonable place to begin an analysis than right now.

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, men who became known as oligarchs struggled to control the parts of the economy that could return quick profits -- the minerals, the metals, the pipelines, the hydrocarbons. All of this took place against the background, especially in the West, of either intensely naive or intensely cynical free market ideology: what ever is happening in Russia must be for the best, since without the state the magical forces of capitalism will ensure growth, freedom, and democracies. Instead, the collapse of the state led to wealth inequality, a battle for final control at the top, the perfection of alternative realities and media disinformation, and now fascism and a war of atrocity against Ukraine.

In that struggle, a doddering elected president, Boris Yeltsin, was surrounded by a cluster of oligarchs. The successor they chose, Vladimir Putin, was eventually able to tame them all, and become the oligarch king, the boss of bosses. In doing so he did not clean up the system, but simply insured that all of the dirt was his own. This situation rather strongly resembles the America of today, with an elderly president, Donald Trump, surrounded by a cluster of oligarchs. The oligarchs have chosen his successor: JD Vance.

It is very hard to tell, right now, who is actually running the show, if anyone. All of the headlines are about shocking personalities who do not identify in any sense with the larger interests of the country. Elon Musk and his tame DOGE seem set to dismantle the parts of the American government that are profitable and seize them for himself. All of this recalls late Yeltsin, and thus the transition of Putin. A difference: ketamine and fentanyl for the White House, not vodka as in the Kremlin back then.

Here’s the twist: there is actually an overlap of personnel in the two scenarios, and so now we are perhaps dealing with one history, rather than the past as an inspiration for the present. When Putin was elected president of Russia in 2000, no one would really have imagined that he would not only survive the oligarchs but become their chief and still be ruling a quarter century later. So is the Putin in this scenario… Putin?

It is tempting to imagine that Putin, who has to be regarded now as one of the oligarchs around Trump, could also unexpectedly end up on top, as America relives the Russia of the 1990s. He certainly occupies quite a lot of Trump's mental space. He is working to bully Trump, to make him feel subordinate (for example by showing naked pictures of his wife on television). Nikolai Patrushev, a central figure in the Russian intelligence and security apparatus under Putin, reminds Trump that he has debts to pay. Putin clearly has like-minded allies around Trump, Musk most importantly. Some of the people at the top of Trump's preferred national security team (Gabbard, Hegseth) mix Putinism and anti-qualifications.

Or is the Putin in this scenario Vance? Putin is now 72, and Trump is now 78. Will either of them be around in four years? Putin’s mass murderer client Assad is on the run in Syria and the ruble is well under a penny. At some point, one can at least imagine, Putin’s charisma fades. It is not hard to imagine Trump or Putin or both expelled from oligarchs' island. Putin won after the 1990s as an outsider; who is the dark horse now? Vance is the closest thing to a Putin-like figure in this scenario: odd background, less money than the people around him, rich patrons, clear ideology, smarter than he seems. But might one of his oligarch patrons actually emerge on top?

Or could Trump himself, despite looking like Yeltsin, surprise us and end up being the Putin of the scenario, first getting close to the oligarchs, then using the government to freeze them out, and finally himself getting rich, as he has always wanted?

But if our Reliving Russia scenario is the helpful one, the crucial point of resemblance is the dismantling of government and the oligarchical claim on whatever is left. Who emerges on top is, in some sense, secondary.

Combinations

History helps, because everything that has happened was something that could have happened. And those things that could have happened, usually unexpected at the time, stretch our minds about what might happen.

In the near future, in coming months and years, these four scenarios can intersect and combine. A Trumpomuskovia that seeks to rescue Russia can also be one that relives Russia. A Trumpomuskovia that looks fascist is also one that risks secession.

History warns. It would be wonderful if these scenarios helped people in positions of responsibility to make good choices.

History surprises. Strikingly, we see in most of the scenarios presence of Ukraine: for the old Russian Empire, and for the present one, and for that matter for Hitler, whose chief war aim was the control of Ukraine. Ukraine is a useful shortcut as we try to evaluate Trumpomuskovites: what do they say about Ukraine? As a rule of thumb, those that wish for its fall also want the fall of the American republic. I would expect that the first actions regarding Ukraine will be a harbinger of what is to come for America if Ukraine is sold out, expect America to be sold for parts.

History enlivens. It gets us outside the box of the daily outrages and our emotional responses. As we think outside the box, we sometimes catch a glimpse of what is inside it. In all four of these past moments, we see the problem of inequality somewhere close to the origin of political collapse. Any future rescue operation for the American republic will have to begin there.

[3-2-whump]

Mini-Comfortember Day 9

Prompt 9: Home(wards)

And so concludes @azertyrobaz's mini-comfortember! Thank you so much for having this event, I enjoyed writing/drawing/creating for it so much!

This story is inspired by this art work, which took place after this chapter.

TW/CW: medical whump, aftermath of a surgery (tonsillectomy), slave whump, intimate whumper, (temporarily) nonverbal whumpee

“Awww, my sweet boy, did you miss me?” Thomas asked.

He knew Khaled might not respond, with his throat still healing a mere twelve hours after surgery. However, the way the boy pressed up into him and buried his face into the crook of his neck communicated the exact answer he was hoping for. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he replied smugly.

He enjoyed the clinginess for another minute or so, then carefully broke the embrace to pass his slave a backpack. “It’s a spare change of clothes -some of your more comfortable ones- and a cup of applesauce,” he explained. His dear boy was still shirtless, with nothing but the red sarong on his waist and golden chains on his body. And he knew he hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. “I figured you’d probably want out of that, and to eat something besides whatever intravenous crap Lenore’s been feeding you.”

Khaled took the backpack and unzipped it to inspect its contents. A t-shirt, a pair of yoga pants, clean boxer briefs, socks, sneakers, and a cup of applesauce (sans spoon to eat it with) –it was all there. The boy smiled, then looked up to his master with gratitude written all over his expression. “Thank y-”

Thomas raised a hand. “Stop. Stop talking. Stop, you sound terrible.” Khaled shut his mouth and hung his head self-consciously, rummaging through the backpack and taking out each item one by one to lay on his hospital bed. Thomas sighed. He only said that so as not to aggravate the healing process; the sooner Khaled’s throat healed, the sooner they could resume their usual activities, but until then? “Don’t talk any more than necessary, and finish getting changed while I get you discharged,” he told him. Khaled had already slipped out of the jewelry and was tugging on the t-shirt when he left him to check out.

A desk was positioned outside of the winding corridors and near the front of the entrance they passed through late last night. Another woman, dark-skinned with limp wavy hair, sat at the desk, staring dead-eyed at the computer as she input data and intermittently slurped a liquid from a straw in a tumbler. The austere-looking collar around her throat marked her as another one of the doctor’s …assistants... Unlike the last one though, this ‘assistant’ didn’t have a scar over where her vocal chords would be.

The printer whirred to life behind her as it output page after page of discharge paperwork. The woman swiveled around in her desk chair and retrieved it, as well as a bottle of mystery pills she conjured up from below the desk. “Read this, sign this, pay here, and make him take these,” she recited lifelessly. She took another loud slurp of the mystery beverage.

Thomas skimmed the paperwork, signed and dated where he needed to, and only groaned a little when he slid the payment across the desk. A visit to Lenore was going to be expensive, he’d prepared for and accepted that fact, but it still hurt to fork over so much money, even if it was for a good cause.

Speaking of which, that good cause came hesitantly walking out to the front desk area, fully changed now, with the backpack slung over one shoulder. Thomas quickly forgot how much money he’d just dropped. What mattered was that Khaled would get better, and that he wouldn’t have to go another night without him. “Come on, boy,” he beckoned. The slave came to his side quickly, letting himself be led out of the clinic doors. “Let’s go home.”

Le Tag List: @kabie-whump @rainydaywhump @whumped-by-glitter @skittles-the-whumpee @generic-whumperz

@bamber344 @there-will-always-be-blood @morning-star-whump @a-la-whump @watermelons-dont-grow-on-trees

@defire @phoenixpromptsandstuff @scumashling

[tetheredbysin]

As a fan of Nico, I could easily disregard this and pretend like none of these things are true but I do believe that it's good to acknowledge the not-so-pretty parts of your favorites as well. Hiding away from it does no one any good. Nico has a history of saying things that he should've thought about more and realized that they are not good comments to make. Some of it maybe due to a language barrier but that's not an excuse.

I think primarily the most problematic things have been his comments on grid girls and what he said about women/girls in racing. A few years ago he was asked whether he thinks he will race against a woman in F1 and he said no because "there are not enough girls in racing since they prefer playing with dolls". (not a direct quote, something along these lines). Personally, as a woman, I never found it offensive but I do agree that it is not a comment anyone, much less a grown man, should be making, especially in the position he is in. I have always seen this comment as an old-fashioned, out-of-touch take from someone who probably grew up with pretty traditional gender roles in 90's Germany, surrounded by the sea of testosterone that is motorsport.

The comments he's made about women and grid girls I cannot quote, because frankly I do not remember them too well. (I think the grid girls one was something along the lines of "they should bring back grid girls because they are hot".) I think they fall into a very sad, slowly improving part of F1. These comments are the kind that were very common to hear from F1 drivers pre-media training era and social media. You can point a finger at most drivers who started racing any time before the mid 2010's and find distasteful comments from them, whether it's Kimi saying that women don't know how to drive, Alonso talking about grid girls as well or Seb taking his flirting a bit too far with reporters when he was younger. F1 has been an environment full of toxic masculinity for decades and we are only slowly beginning to claw back at it. Far too slowly, because even some of the younger drivers on the grid have acted towards or spoken of/to women in very inappropriate ways. Nico has done his part of this as well and I absolutely understand that it could make people dislike him. If it puts you off him to know he's said these things, I get it.

His comment about the pink cars I have never even thought twice about. A bad joke which you can interpret as homophobic and would be valid in doing so. Any Northern/Middle-European would have heard similar jokes a million times in their lives. This one for me is the least problematic (if even that) thing from his past. Never thought about it much, I don't like pink either.

All of this being said, I am not here to make excuses for a man in his mid 30's. I could, there are plenty of things about him that point towards him not being a hateful or harmful person towards women or queer people, but I'm not going to draw away from the point of this post. He has his past and has improved much over the past years, has apologized for his comments and clearly grown as a person the more he has matured. I will not try to convince anyone to like him, or to see past his mistakes. Whether you dislike him or not is your own decision to make. I like Nico and it doesn't put a strain on my conscience to say that. I do not think he is a bad person, merely someone who has made mistakes. If you disagree, that is your right and it's completely okay. If we want to, we can make moral arguments for and against quite literally any driver on the grid, be it Max, Lando, Lewis, Charles, Valtteri, Nando, Nico or any other driver that has stepped into an F1 car. We choose who we care for and who we don't.

And at the end of the day, it's important to remember that no person is perfect. We all say shitty stuff sometimes, stuff that will offend or hurt another person. Any person in the public will have much greater consequences from that than the rest of us. Nico, along with many of his colleagues, are dusting off decades of very toxic environments and the improvement in their behavior is what I care most about. What is important is growing as people and pushing towards a future where places like motorsport are safe for women and other minorities.

there's something to be said about nico hulkenberg, who the media loves to portray as a hyper-masculine (almost to a toxic level) man, having a pomeranian, dressing up as freddie mercury for halloween, loving george michael, wearing shoes with bi flag colors. in this essay I will-

[relic-seeker]

BAHGHAHA i am not an artist by Any Means but i decided to draw these two for the first time in ms paint w/ a mouse & why do they look like that. lemm is so small. quirrel is so goofy.

ALSO I DREW HIM AT FIRST WITHOUT A REFERENCE BUT IT FELT SO WEIRD. but then again he looks so cute & authentic as well, with the kris touch™️. maybe i'll draw him more like the second version but with the right horns lol

ok that's all thank you -- i found it rly enjoyable so maybe i'll do this again LMAO

[ohitslen]

Something other about his eyes

Bonus! Based on this quick thing I did this afternoon and the idea took a bit more shape and turned into that thing from above uEK

[starry-bi-sky]

yall ever think Shen Yuan went through like, internet withdrawal after being transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu? Like, he's canonically a NEET shut-in who did nothing but spend his time online, you can't tell me that for the first week or first few weeks of being SQQ he wasn't twitchy.

Like, reaching instinctively to his pockets for a phone that wasn't there, having an obsessive itch in the back of his mind that he should check and see if X or Y novel or webcomic has updated -- only to realize he can't anymore and being irritated by it. Wanting to go and see if there's new posts about this or that, but again realizing that he can't.

When he's bored or uncomfortable or just feels like wanting to escape he tries to go for his phone to distract himself, but oops! Not there anymore, and now he has to find a new and different way to distract himself from his feelings. And going through system notifications, quests, etc only does so much.

And there's that Tetris Effect too. SQQ makes a mistake while writing and instinctively goes to backspace on it except hey-ho that's not a keyboard and now he just dipped his pinkie into a bottle of ink or on a still-drying letter.

With him scrambling to fix his reputation and learn how to be a peak lord, I think his abrupt cold-turkey from all things internet would just be another straw on the camel's back that he promptly Ignores until it goes away on its own after he acclimates to his new surroundings.

[wateruamelon]

and to hit the nail on the khan parallel head:

thought we could go speculate about his past all day, at one point in his life khan doorman becomes your average family man.

humans are gone. there’s peace within the colony. all cool to settle down. everything is fine and dandy. until BAM his wife is littering their home with terrifying drawings and theories and hooplah about the planet consuming sky demons coming to screw everything up for them.

little sidebar, but even though how and why the wdf formed is up in the air, i want to believe at the time, he has SOME pull in the colony and even though he’s kinda iffy on the details they do their door thing or prep some kind of defense.

(side bar no.2: i don’t think it’s quite alluded to that he didn’t listen nori but he probably WAS skeptical about the whole thing. (which, be honest, who wouldn’t be?) but we know khan does love his wife and is very much about safety so why wouldn’t he spring to action esp when they have a family and the colony to worry about? he also says that he wasn’t what nori or uzi needed and to me that reads as he definitely tried to be at one point)

but that fails. abysmally.

his wife gets got with nanite acid and he had to be the one to do her in. though he essentially didn’t start it, khan doorman finishes it by killing his wife.

now he’s left with her very true crazed ramblings, his daughter, and (you guessed it) doors.

| side bar number threesies: there’s very little to go off in the series, but i don’t think anyone could say khan was absent.

we can, however say him and uzi have grown distant to a degree and there was some emotional barrier put up. there’s no clear timeline on when they even started to close that gap but we do know khan is often very worried about her and you don’t even have to squint to know he’s is very in-tune to her interests and behaviors.

(also. don’t get it twisted, this is NOT me saying that khan was overly involved with uzi and didn’t put up some kind of wall between them. but uzi’s whole thing is being an angsty teen and she has a flare for being dramatic. so until there’s any further expansion on their dynamic, i feel like that also has to be factored in to a degree when you talk ab their relationship!!! but that’s a post for another time) |

and in protecting the last things his wife leaves, he throws himself into his work. to the point where the wdf doesn’t even have time to develop an offensive defense. it becomes an obsession as it’s one of the last thing he has left of her.

and im doing so (i would argue) he, too, (like his wife) pushes away the last person he wants to protect most

khan building doors & nori looking for the patch are parallels to each other but you guys aren’t ready to have that conversation yet.

[noel-levine-fan]

i've seen people talk about sirius seeing noel for the first time and having a gay panic and while they are absolutely correct, have you considered the inverse

[thedevotionaltour]

i havent even read enough gl to justify the feelings and emotions i have about kyle i just have the lovers heart and also something wrong with me. and my projection. in my mind he's just like me. and he would have loved college vending machine frozen cheeseburger and heating it up in the microwave at 1 in the morning because he was bored and didn't want to work on a drawing assignment on 20" x 30" paper that was due tomorrow in his freshman year. he would have loved going to the club to push off finals work that's creating the worst stress known to man in his brain. and he would love to annoy the fuck out of his roommate when high and avoiding homework on a saturday.

[screamingay]

yet another dream about killing someone and trying to cover it up.. this is normal right

[yourknightinshiningplastic]

bro he is literally just laying there saying whatever in their head talking about anything and everything but not sleeping.

[cold-neon-ocean]

Started watching Physical 100 on Netflix bc some friends recommended it and you can imagine the marid of ideas I’m having~