#who knows what's gonna happen! :-P

[navree]

Incorrect, the fact that Biden has dropped out and a candidate with history of supporting medicare for all and being more receptive to a ceasefire in the I/P conflict has made me go from "I cannot morally support the Democratic nominee" to "I am voting for the Democratic nominee despite the fact she isn't perfect in every respect." I'm really happy this played out. The Dems for the most part abandoned the old Obama platform and it feels like its possible an actual progressive agenda could come to pass in my lifetime.

Kamala 2024!

If you weren't going to vote Democratic in this election before Biden dropped out you're a dorkass loser who does not care about any of the issues you're yammering about here and also a fundamentally bad person, and I hope you get run over by a bus.

But you got one thing right in all of this gibberish, Kamala 2024.

[volivolition]

prepping for my Bonus Days. i love tutorial agent lmao

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

"you were born evil" but you still named her agatha.

thinking about that process, because it took 18 years right. you have a baby and you call her good and she turns out to be smarter than you, more powerful than you, and it scares you, you dont know how to handle that especially in a world that hates you and her already. the things about her that scare you, will scare the outside world who understands even less than you do ten times more. you dont know how to protect her so you try to control her which is like number one bad idea human response to things that scare us.

obviously this backfires and she gets even more furious in her quest for knowledge, every door you close she finds a window, every place you warn away from she gets into, talking to people she shouldnt be talking to, trying out magic she shouldnt be trying. every step she takes is one further out of your control, further out of anyone's control, every new thing she learns makes her dangerous, puts her in danger, puts your coven in danger, shes exposing all of you along with herself. shes in danger, shes a danger, shes a teenager and she knows more than you, of course shes not gonna listen to you anymore, about anything. of course shes not gonna hear a warning, and if she did she wouldnt take it, just to spite you.

what are you gonna do? youre not the only one whos scared. of her, for her. youve got an entire coven getting panicky about the way shes exposing all of you, the risks shes taking that she may or may not be able to fully understand (maybe shes never seen one of you burned before, maybe shes her own first). and if she were on her own that would be her decision to make, but you are still responsible for your coven and you are responsible for her, for her safety and for the threat she poses. so what do you do? do you even have a choice? or is this just where the mob turns. kick a scapegoat onto a pyre and hope fortune turns for the rest of us. if she cant stick to the rules in place for the safety of all, then shes a ticking timebomb. if it's not her at the stake, sooner or later it's all of you. so what can you do? what are you expected to do?

punish agatha.

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

(ao3)

The worst thing, Bad knows, is the way that nothing changes. 

The clouds move slow across the sky, gentle giants on an eternal trek. The waters dance with fish; the brooks burble and sing. Grass grows. Sheep eat. Grass regrows. 

On, and on, and on, and on. 

Bad breathes in, slow, and holds it. 

It’s enough to go mad over. To become enraged for. To rip everything down just so that everything can match the- the keening lack in his heart. Grass grows. Grass has always grown. There is nothing that could ever stop grass from growing. 

His hands are curled into the ground at his sides. He clutches handfuls of the wretched plant and pulls, almost gently, and doesn’t snap a single blade.

He exhales, slow, and doesn’t inhale again. What point is there? He’s alone. No one will know whether or not he needs to breathe. He’s been alone before- days that Dapper doesn’t wake up, days where the other eggs are with their other parents. Days where he falls asleep in his chair and the ghosts are left to amuse themselves. He’s been alone before. 

He’s lost before. 

There is a sob in his throat. He refuses to let it out. It chokes him, and he takes another deep breath to try to settle it. 

There’s always- he misses Skeppy. Of course he misses Skeppy. He can’t lose Skeppy, but Skeppy isn’t here.

Dapper isn’t here. Pomme isn’t here. Richarlyson. Leo. Ramon. Chayanne. Tallulah. They’re-

Bad tears the grass out of the ground. He stares at his hands, dark claws curled around torn green plant. He tries to imagine the grass is white fur instead, but he can’t find the enthusiasm. That’s okay. The anger will be back later. 

He just- he can’t feel much beyond the loss, right now. The lack. The empty, quiet island where sheep eat grass and clouds keep moving and no eggs place any signs at all. That’s not okay, but he knows that, at least, will change. That’s how grief works. The world ends, and you end with it, and while you claw yourself up from the rubble the world ends again and sends you back under, and then again, and then again, but by the third go around you know what the tremors look like. You start to predict where it hurts the most. Then the world keeps ending but the ending just becomes a part of your world, and sometimes everything shakes but you shake with it and it’s not okay but it’s better. You get so used to the shaking that sometimes you forget that your world ever ended at all. 

How long will it take for him to forget them? 

Bad leans forwards, slowly, until he slumps into a miserable little puddle of limbs. He presses his cheek into the cool grass and when the sob rises up again he bites it back with teeth. The sun is blocked by a sombrero, now fallen awkwardly over his face, that Foolish had cheerfully placed on his head hours before. Bad doesn’t know why Foolish had put it there- except he does, and he’d seen it in the in the slightest tremor of Foolish’s smile, and so he’d kept it on. 

He can’t see them, but he can hear them laughing. Mouse, Jaiden, and Foolish, just around the corner. There have been so many people ‘just around the corner’ today. They’re so loud. They’re not the right type of loud. He feels guilty for the way that they’re comforting him, that he’s taking up their time, and then he feels angry that he feels guilty because he remembers the cage, and he knows what he really means to them, and-

They’re still here. The eggs are gone, and they’re still here. 

Forever isn’t here. 

Forever hasn’t given him a gift basket yet. 

…

…It doesn’t work. It’s a close thing, though- there’s a flicker of irritation at the thought of Forever’s awful, handsome face. Not anger, not nearly enough emotion to fill the void that is Bad’s heart, but maybe it could be. He’ll try again tomorrow. Isn’t that fun? Isn’t that something? There’s so much emotion he can’t feel any of it at all. 

Maybe it’s a bad dream. There were no remains. There was just Dapper’s top hat, and Pomme’s beret. No shell, no dead eggs. No eggs. It’s driving him mad, the maybe-yes maybe-no nature of his children’s fate.

He thinks, maybe, that tomorrow he will build a drill. 

Today, the world is dark beneath the sombrero, and the grass is scratchy and full of small twigs. Foolish laughs once, too loud. Automatically, Bad pushes himself up, because he knows Foolish, and knows how long he’s been away from the group, and he feels sick. He fumbles for his warpstone and- Foolish’s head pops around the corner- Bad freezes. Too late. 

Foolish looks at him, grin bright and neverending. Bad looks back. He can’t bring himself to say anything- he drops the sombrero at their feet. 

Foolish’s smile fades. Bad activates his warpstone again and, though the particles, he sees Foolish give him a sharp, left-handed salute. Bad can’t bite back his little laugh; Foolish knows him, too.

And then Foolish is gone. The world is purple. Then the world ends, once again, in Bad’s home. All of Dapper’s machines have stopped. Echoing noise to almost-echoing silence. Ah. Right. None of the island’s machines are working correctly. Bad will have to make a smaller drill. But he will build his drill, and he will dig, and he will find his son. 

“Dapper?” he calls, his voice cracking. The sound echoes. Only the animals answer back- they’re the only thing that stops the base from being completely silent. Grass grows. Sheep eat. Grass regrows. There’s so many animals here. What good company. It occurs to Bad, suddenly, that they’re good company. Dapper is gone, and his animals are still here, and Bad- 

He won’t kill Dapper’s pets. He is suddenly holding his scythe and he won’t hurt his son’s pets because he can’t trade them for his son and there’s a special sort of heartache to the fact that his son left behind instructions to machines that don’t work and so many animals that can’t keep Bad company the way Dapper kept him company and Bad- 

He’s holding his scythe. He’s holding the Sunshine Protector. He tries to take a breath but it comes out stuttery and he bites his tongue and. Dapper was-is always so sweet. He made Bonnie to keep Bad company, and Bad is always haunted by little ghosts but now most of all he is haunted by the love of his son. 

“Where are you?” His voice cracks on the third word. He stumbles to Dapper’s room and doesn’t think about the fact that they never got to build one for Pomme.  

The hole in his heart could swallow an island. 

Please don’t take- 

The scythe gets left outside. Bad can’t bear to look at it. Protector. There is a secure door in front of him that keeps nothing secure because now there is nothing to protect and Bad- 

-my sunshine away. 

He falls to his knees next to the empty bed. He chokes out, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Dapper.”

When the sob rises again, he lets it.

[dollarstoreartsupplies]

jealousy fucking sucks becuase like... theres nothing to do about it?? like every jealousy help guide is either just like 'acknowlege why ur jealous and take a deep breath uwu' which like YEAH I KNOW WHY IM JEALOUS?? THAT CHANGES??? NOTHING ABOUT MY SITUATION?? or or OR they're shit about how to deal with people who are jealous of YOU that just make you feel like an asshole for being jealous because they're like 'anyone whose jealous of you is a stupid talentless miserable ugly idiot who you should laugh at because they're pathetic' like??? it sucks SO bad???

[baddingtonbitch]

so the. the brpther and sister. wake up as husband and wife. and their parents wake up. as siblings. and the baby is trapped in the dog? blink 182. guys idk about this one.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Masquerade

historical fiction set in 15th century West Africa

follows a young woman from Timbuktu, recently conquered by the the warrior king of Yorùbáland

her guild of blacksmiths were already shunned as witches, and their conditions worsen under Yorùbá rule - so when she’s kidnapped by the king to be his wife, she decides to accept that it’ll be a better life for her, as long as she can get her mother’s blessing

but as months go by without her mother being found, and political tensions rise, she must decide what she wants

[arionawrites]

1. it’s my 24th birthday today, so my goal of being published by the time i’m 25 is now a one year looming monster, but i never specified what kind of published and am currently looking in various literary magazines that are recommended for writers who have yet to be published, so i’m surprisingly confident that i can make it work? and tbh even if whatever i write isn’t officially published before my 25th birthday, if i have someone in the process of being published then i’ll be happy!! no matter what though, i’m gonna try to be proud of myself for at least giving it my best shot!!

2. i honestly love that my birthday is on the ides of march because the ides of march meme shitposting is only a thing on tumblr but it also being my birthday makes it easier to like. be excited about the ides of march outside of tumblr. like even in person i can be like “it’s my birthday! i’m an ides of march babe (:” and if someone is like oh what’s that? or if they say something along the lines of oh like julius caesar? i can be like yep!! and even if it’s a small thing outside of tumblr it brings me immense enjoyment and amusement being able to bring it up off of tumblr

3. transportation situation has been very rough since june 2023 when i totalled my car, my gap insurance are being assholes and i ended up putting my foot down on the phone with them yesterday which i’m pretty proud of because i am NOT a confrontational person (something i’ve been working on this past year, so seeing some improvement with my ability to hold my ground and not be a pushover yesterday was very cool!!) i was told i’d get a response from them by friday next week no matter what, and if i don’t then friday of next week i will continue to wreak havoc upon them. but my moms car which i’ve been using since my accident broke down yesterday, hopefully it’s fixable but my parents were saying it might be done for, so trying to think of how i’m gonna get to work next week is kind of stressing me out lmao, but for now i’m just gonna focus on enjoying my birthday the best i can because i don’t want to start off being 24 with an overwhelming anxiety for something that won’t be a potential issue until monday. plus i already messaged my boss today to let her know that i’m going to do everything i can to make it work out but just so she’s in the loop and knows of the potential of me not being able to make my morning shifts (one of my coworkers said she’s more than happy to give me a ride for our afternoon shifts which does help relieve some of the stress!) and i told her i’d let her know for sure sunday so that if necessary she can have time to figure out someone to fill in for me in the mornings!

overall: life is weird and i ended being 23 yesterday with a shitty situation but a positive outlook and i am going to enjoy my first day of being 24 no matter what because honestly i fucking earned it. happy friday everyone, i hope it’s a good day for you and me both!

[victorluvsalice]

Welcome back to the Chill Valicer Save, where we have reached Summer Sunday! And while today was, unfortunately, one of those days where it was rather hard to get my Sims to do what I wanted them to do (and the save file once again started showing its age), I did in fact get their new snack stand off the ground, among other things –

-->Started with Victor snoozing away in bed, Alice sitting at her computer, and Smiler working on a mechanism in the middle of the night, as they do. I was going to have Alice resume the mystery book she was working on previously (“Who Stole The Tarts?”), but then noticed a specter bopping around in the hallway just outside her and Victor’s bedroom door and decided to see if she could appease it. She thus went out and offered it some aubergine (aka eggplant) conserve – which was accepted, happily! :D The specter left her some wraith wax, and I prepared to have her go get a little bit more sleep (after soothing Shock nearby, who hadn’t liked the appearance of the specter) while Smiler came up to their room to do some upgrades on their streaming drone (namely make it hardier with better parts) –

Aaaand immediately the house started making spooky noises. Waking Victor and Alice up and distracting Smiler from their upgrades. I thus was like “okay, maybe it’s time to do a ceremony and see if we can calm things down a bit around here” and tried to set up one with Victor –

-->Only for him to lose the plot when Temperance basically spawned INSIDE him next to the bed. *sigh* I canceled out the interaction for Smiler and Alice, then reset it up with all of them once I’d taken out Victor’s personal bizarre idol and put it on the side table under the window to scare her away. Yet again. *huffs* Temperance, you’re getting to be ALMOST as annoying as Guidry here. Almost.

-->Anyway – as Temperance proceeded to have a bad time with the bizarre idol, I had Victor lead Smiler and Alice in a group ceremony to increase the spiritual serenity of the house. Everything went very well (and looked very cool with all their crystals and magical stuff in the background), and by the end, not only was the serenity of the house increased, Victor had leveled his Medium skill to level 4, and Smiler theirs to level 2! :D I was very happy with that result and promptly sent Victor and Alice back to bed, and Smiler back to their room to upgrade their drone –

Only for a specter to appear in Smiler’s bedroom RIGHT NEXT to the drone, distracting them with sprinkles. And for Surprise to start yowling outside Victor and Alice’s bedroom to wake Victor up. And then the house to make MORE creepy noises, waking Alice up too. *facepalm* So the ceremony kinda did jack shit. I had Smiler grab their drone and fly down to the crafting barn to do the upgrades AWAY from any further supernatural distraction, while Victor lectured Surprise and FINALLY got the cat to understand she shouldn’t wake up Sims before using the toilet and FINALLY going and getting a bit more sleep with Alice. *sigh* This house sometimes, I swear...

-->Anyway – I sped up time for a little bit, letting Smiler do their upgrades and Alice and Victor sleep...then noticed Shock clawing one of the living room chairs and had Alice (now full energy, at least) wake up and run downstairs to tell her not to do that. The cat wasn’t sure why she was being lectured, but at least she stopped! Seeing that Alice was burning with Fury and also hungry, I then had her transform into her werewolf form and go out for a hunt –

And briefly encountered a weird bug where my game didn’t have sound for maybe half a minute. O.o I’m not sure what caused it, unfortunately – it happened a couple more times while on the home lot this morning, but then stopped once I got the gang out and about in Brindleton Bay. Could just be random Sims weirdness, could be a sign that this save file is on its way out. Not sure which, but something to look out for in future, I guess.

[silverislander]

rereading a book i loved in high school to annotate a copy. remembering why it connected w me so much

[pepprs]

not to be a pain-crazed wild animal. i KNOW i do this every time. but p*riods are so fucking crazy. like my cr*mps are so bad my body is trying to strangle itself but im awake and i need to be at work in 2 hrs and get thru an entire 9 hr workday as if im not in excruciating pain and im gonna bring my heating pad and my p*in r*lief cr*am if you catch my drift (💀) and i’ll need to use them DURING a busy day in which i will not see any other ppl who get periods in person and using them is gonna be a whole awkward thing. like omg. this is not fucking normal lol

[deus-ex-mona]

it’s the 20th of december, so…

[quasieli]

Sooooo over the course of the day, with about 2ish total hours of work, I completed a whole ass lil animatic of one of my characters (one of my less talked about blorbos, Cham). Boy had a big night last night in game, had to draw about it lol Just goes to show you how much shit can get done when you hyperfixate

[spiceandtealeaves]

Damn! I guess the heatwave- where my family members, who can usually deal with the heat without an air conditioner or fan, who were forced to stay inside and buy one because just going outside gave them a severe headache- it was just them playing pretend! I’ll go tell them they were over reacting and that the death toll they keep quoting at me was just a lie 🥰😍🤪

it's been nice knowing you all

edit: white people shut the fuck up

[jaythelay]

Ya'll should check out Liminal Friends sometime, it's an incredibly cute webcomic about this lil dude randomly appearing in Liminal Space, makes a friend with a liminal friend shaped being, and then explore Liminal Spaces, being cute as hell.

There's really no way to stay in a bad mood hanging with these characters. Sincerely adore them both and the places they go. It somehow manages to scratch my emotions and bring peace to it soon after. I'd probably die if there was a 2 parter involving an argument, it's so care-free mellow but isn't mindless.

Alot of webcomics still do lolxdrandum stuff but here's a location and characters who easily could've fallen into the same "weekly writing" pitfalls and yet it seems adamant to be more challenging than that, intentional or natural, it's nice to see any challenge end in resolution through communication, which doesn't sound exciting, but I'm definitely all in on this sorta thing.

A Genuinely Fantastic creation I strongly reccomend leaving a tab open for and checking every week.

[wildevenusian]

i said i would go to a social engagement but. i’m tireeeeeed