#you can't prove this DIDN'T happen

[swan2swan]

Non-canon (unless you want it to be) short from Mattel and Jurassic World!

While exploring an abandoned barn, Yaz finds that it might not be as abandoned as she presumed...

[softquietsteadylove]

Love your stories. Was wondering about a story where Thena and Gil get a pet.

"No."

"But-"

"We have enough at home," Gil sighed, pulling Thena's hand into his in an attempt to lure her away from the lizard display. "Why did we even come here if you were only going to look at the lizards? We could've just walked into the garden at home."

"But this one is different," Thena countered, pointing over her shoulder to the bearded dragon who seemed just as distraught to be separated from her.

"I have enough lizard peelings to sweep up already, thank you," Gil chuckled, smiling as Thena at least matched his pace to walk beside him. "Isn't there anything else you'd consider?"

Thena stayed quiet, looking around at the various displays.

"What about a dog?" Gil suggested, pointing to the Australian Shepherds garnering by far the most attention. "You could take it hunting with you."

"An animal will only slow me down," Thena countered easily, and of course, she did have a point. She was faster and stronger than any mortal animal, and a mid size dog was probably not meant to be out hunting ostriches with the Goddess of War.

"We could get a bird," Gil tried again, pointing out the conures perched prettily in their cage. "They live a really long time."

"Gil," Thena sighed, but gave up her next argument at the look on his face.

He had suggested getting them a pet because he worried about having to leave her alone when he went to the market, and especially since he'd started going out further to other trading posts. They'd been in Australia long enough now that people were starting to recognise and get suspicious of Gil's completely unchanged appearance (handsomeness).

Thena could concede that perhaps some company wouldn't be the worst thing for her when he was travelling to other towns. Gil was mostly worried about her being lonely.

"You are only ever gone a day, Gilgamesh," she would chide him and his sensitivity.

"I still miss you," he would pout his lips at her cutely. "Don't you miss me when I'm gone?"

Like she could rip open her chest and hand him her heart to take with him. But she wasn't going to let that stop him.

"What about a guinea pig?--they come in two's!" Gil beamed at the squeaking little monsters. He pointed out specifically two cuddling together, one with a black coat of fur and the other so lightly blonde it was almost sheer white. "They're like us!"

"No."

"Thena," he chuckled, moving his hand from hers so he could pull her closer by the waist. He nestled his lips next to her ear, "I'm not leaving here empty handed, so find something, Sweetheart."

Thena nodded with a sigh. This was more for Gilgamesh than for her--if she thought about it that way it would be easier. She ran through the animals she would consider, although admittedly even if they weren't lizards they were still mostly reptilian. "Gil?"

"Gilgamesh?"

He was slowing to a stop, craning his neck to look at the kittens in their little enclosure.

"Stars above, help me," Thena sighed as she followed him over to the display of feline abominations. She glared down at the little mongrels. "Why are you so enchanted by these quadrupeds?"

"Oh, come on," he dismissed her grouching easily, looking down at the little cuties. "They're sweet."

Thena disagreed. She thought they were far too smart a creature to be as domesticated as they let humans believe. And they demanded the same attention as canines did, if not more so, only without the obedience to be sent away.

Gil had ooey-gooey eyes.

Thena sighed again, leaning over his shoulder as he held his hand out. The tiniest of all the kittens scrambled up into his palm, pressing low as Gil lifted it up. "You really want a feline?"

Gil said nothing, holding the kitten up for Thena to examine for herself. The kitten was white, fluffy, had massive ears ears it would have to grow into and big green eyes.

Thena had to admit, it was not as unpleasant as some cats she had encountered. She looked past those eyes at Gilgamesh, "this one?"

Gil's big, ooey-gooey eyes glittered at her. "He looks like you!"

Thena tried not to be insulted by that. She looked at the cat again, who took a cautious step towards her. She leaned in closer, hearing the soft purring it began emanating from its body. "Fine."

Gil lit up. "Really?"

Thena blushed, unable to look directly at him as if the sun were in her eyes. "Yes, but I will not tolerate having to compete with this thing for run of my own home."

Gil just chuckled. Thena didn't like that cats weren't afraid of her. He held out his hand, "you should hold him on the way home."

"Gil-" Thena blinked as he deposited the cat into her - very dangerous - hands without a second thought. The kitten attempted to balance itself in its newer and smaller platform of dwelling. She turned her hands to look at it. "Hello."

"Mew!"

Gil held back his laughter at the sight of the Goddess of War with ooey-gooey eyes.

[roostercrowned]

what blooms on Aslevjal My Winterfest gift for aravendown on AO3! The request was anything with these two, with Winterfest fluff and hurt/comfort as potential jumping-off points. This may not be set in actual winter, but they're bundled up and it's cold, right? The flowers are tufted saxifrage, and yes I did research to pick something that could plausibly be found on a glacial island. I was so relieved when I double-checked the text to confirm that they did indeed do the Aslevjal quest in summer. Sometimes I forget everything but how much I freaking cried through this book. spiritually I am holding hands with everyone else who hoped that Fitz would ever make up for the bit with the flowers. Happy Winterfest (.:

[xxx-theartofsuicide-xxx]

Wouldn't having them be happily and unambiguously together be more of an effective "fuck you"?

I very strongly suspect that someone from up on high told Tim they weren't allowed to get married and Tim said Bet

[fisheito]

my princess nonsense is being encouraged watch ouyt imabout to be eneaabled

OK WHATF ATHAT'S SO CUTE I HAD TO MAKE IT i know realistically there's little to no chance that rei DOESN'T know how to work heels 🤣 BUT IMAGINE.....ING.... YAKUMO GENTLY GUIDING REI IN HEELS, WEEKS BEFORE THE BIG GALA AND HAVING NONE OF HIS NORMAL FEAR OF PHYSICAL TOUCH BC HIS [TEACHER MODE] IS OVERRIDING HIS INSECURITY

[wesavegotham]

Look, I agree that Tim is being mishandled by DC, they clearly don't know what to do with him and what they do isn't working/selling.

But that is not the same as being hated by DC. DC doesn't hate Tim. If you listen to some interviews you realize pretty fast he's most current writers favorite Robin because they grew up with him.

I don't think any of the writers who tried to do something with Tim these past few years hated Tim and wanted to ruin him. Their direction for Tim just simply didn't connect with Tim's (comic buying) fanbase.

That's not the same as DC shooting Dick in the head and letting him run around as Ric for...was it two years? It's not the same as Jason being treated as a mistake who is constantly unfairly blamed for his own death. It's not the same as Cass being turned into a dragon lady so Tim would have a villain to fight. It's not the same as DC character assassinating Damian because they wanted to kick him out of the Robin mantle and use as the big bad of 5G.

Tim hasn't been selling for years yet they keep trying to make him work. They aren't succeeding, but that doesn't mean they hate him. I think it means they love him.

Because at the end of the day DC is a business and yet they keep trying to make Tim work even if he doesn't sell while they have no problem sabotaging a character like Damian even though he's selling more comics than Tim.

Trying to make Tim work is not a rational financial decision, it's a decision born out of love and nostalgia.

[lilypadpanda]

Rescue Mission

[11-eyed-rook]

Accessible doesn't mean "for lazy people".

I can't express how frustrating it is that, so many times on so many platforms I've seen various posts, especially videos, which showcase an item that makes a random task easier (or possible at all) to do (such as onion/garlic dicers of all sorts, or items that can be used with one hand, or even the tools that make it easier to put socks on), and every time the comments section is filled with angry boomers (mostly boomers), who don't see past the concept of "if only people stopped being lazy" or "this is useless, we already have [less accessible tool/item], who needs this?!".

Just because something isn't needed/useful to you, doesn't mean somebody else doesn't benefit from the accessibility (or even just the convenience itself).

To give a few examples of what I mean:

The sock tools can help a lot of people with mobility limitations, and that can also include anybody going through pregnancy as well, to put on socks AT ALL. You don't even "need to be disabled" to benefit from stuff like this, ffs.

Onion/garlic dicers make it possible to quickly cut up food items that otherwise may be difficult (or even impossible) for people with certain disabilities or other difficulties (I've always found it a bit hard to dice/cut certain food items (ESPECIALLY smaller ones), so tools like this are very helpful and achieve a consistent result).

Noise-cancelling headphones help me, by blocking out the noise of traffic, which is very overwhelming to me, not just because I experience sensory overloads, but because I have tinnitus and extremely loud noises are very overwhelming to me. Regular headphones don't accomplish the same thing for me, not to the level my noise-cancelling ones do anyway, and I can still listen to music along the way (my headphones also have a mode that allow for me to still hear peoples' voices relatively well, whilst muffling traffic, engine noises, etc.).

I wear a backpack instead of using a pretty shoulder bag for carrying heavier items, because one of my shoulders is slightly deformed since birth, and because both my shoulders get some of the worst of my joint pain (whenever it does happen, which is often enough), whereas the backpack I have, is nicely padded and easy to organize too. I've seen people online mock adults using backpacks, I still don't understand why though??? I didn't even know people made fun of adults who use backpacks. I still want to hope those weren't meant to be real takes...

I may not look like I "need one", but I do sometimes use a cane to help myself move up/down stairs especially, since I have issues with joint pain, and especially since my foot injury from earlier this year (the pain of which still pops up now and then, and it's not great). People look at me weird when I randomly take out my foldable cane and then put it away after a while. My joint pain comes and goes, and when I don't need my cane, I don't use it. My own father keeps commenting on how I'm "too young to be using a cane". I'm 28, I've been using it for a handful of years now, disability doesn't know age.

Let me repeat myself. DISABILITY DOES NOT KNOW AGE.

Just because you might not use a wheelchair-accessible ramp, doesn't mean it's not needed/useful for anybody without a wheelchair. Even people with bicycles/scooters/baby strollers etc. can benefit from them, and for me, it's easier to walk up the ramps rather than using stairs, as using stairs tends to put additional stress on my already-injured foot, whereas a ramp doesn't require me to put that stress on my foot, so walking is easier for me, even if it is just those 'few handfuls of steps" or whatever.

In a separate post, I touched upon the kind of ableism I've witnessed in certain crafting communities, and how gatekeeping can very quickly become synonymous with ableism, and how that can affect something like a hobby. Everything I said there, applies to this post, too. If you're interested, feel free to read. If not - it's much of what I said here, but specifically regarding crafting communities and how ignorant/ableist people can be at times, and how that can affect people.

So many tools exist to help with certain tasks, to make some stuff doable at all, to add accessibility to an otherwise difficult task for any particular person, and so much of it is just seen as "useless" or "for the lazy people", or there's some aspect of aggressive gatekeeping fueled with "if you don't do it THIS way only, then you're not doing it at all/it's not valid enough" attitudes. If anything, people with disabilities often have to put in EXTRA effort to do what able-bodied people can do effortlessly, even WITH the extra accessibility whenever it IS available (and by available I also mean affordable, because not everything IS, and not all options are available for everybody; price/cost accessibility is something many people don't even consider in some cases!!!). Not all of it is because of difficulty, necessarily, but it's a fact of reality.

Accessibility isn't laziness. For the able-bodied, it can be convenience. For the disabled, it's a matter of getting that extra helpful boost, or the ability to do a task at all, without having to find somebody to do it for you (if that's even an option to begin with).

I know I really can't speak for most groups directly, nor can I relay the experience of every kind of disability besides my own experiences over the years, but I'm genuinely troubled by the "trend" of people STILL (even increasingly) dismissing accessibility tools, disabled people themselves, and anything that makes it easier to do something, to function, especially since there's absolutely nothing that could ever excuse such awful behavior towards people who deal with enough shit as is.

I don't just think of myself when I bring up accessibility and its benefits.

Because the fact of the matter is - even those who have no disabilities could benefit from the accessibility options for those that do, even if it is simply a convenience for most. It takes effort to make something inaccessible, and it would take so little to make a big difference even for some.

And on that note.

It's not laziness. It never was.

[crystalkitty1220]

Man I wonder where the leader of the fear realm could've gone, it's alMOST LIKE NEVIN HAS AN

[shadowmaat]

Beware the Archivist's Wrath

*sigh* Yes, I got bit by my own plot bunny, so here's a fuller background for almost-Archivist Obi-Wan.

-

Obi-Wan Kenobi was a bright young student of the Jedi Order. A number of Masters had their eye on him as he grew closer to the age of apprenticeship. Those eyes, however, turned firmly elsewhere when it became apparent that Jocasta Nu had taken an interest in Young Kenobi.

He was a frequent visitor to the Archives, even beyond the supervised outings of the creches. He was quiet (at least within the Archive itself), polite, and above all, curious. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge and if there was one thing the Master Archivist of the Order appreciated, it was a keen mind with a willingness to learn.

She took him under her wing, cultivating his curiosity and nudging him toward the materials that would ease his way on the path to becoming an archivist himself. He'd be a worthy successor to her.

Or he would have been.

Qui-Gon Jinn had always had a rebellious streak, but while it was occasionally amusing to see him butt heads with the Council, it stopped being funny when he ignored all the warnings- subtle and not- and asked Obi-Wan to be his padawan.

If Jocasta had been there, she would have stopped it, but the wily bastard had cornered poor young Obi-Wan well away from the safe environs of the Archives. By the time she learned of it, from Obi-Wan himself, it was too late.

The long-haired terror of the Order had turned the boy's head with ridiculous tales of derring-do; saving worlds, ending conflicts, and helping the innocent. All noble tasks, of course, but also things that could be accomplished with a good archive.

She couldn't blame him, of course; she'd had plenty of her own wild ideas about saving the universe when she was his age. She could, however, blame Qui-Gon Jinn, a man who should have known better but who'd clearly had the sense knocked out of him at some point in his misadventures.

Obi-Wan remained an occasional visitor to the Archives, when his schedule permitted, and Jocasta welcomed him with open arms. She did her best to put her disappointment over might-have-beens aside and focus on preparing him for the life he'd chosen; goodness knew Jinn couldn't be counted on for that.

From that day forward, Qui-Gon Jinn was persona non grata in the Archives. He was unwelcome within her walls and she made sure he knew it. Any requests for materials that he put in became lost or conveniently misfiled. Books and data crystals that he wanted had a habit of being unavailable or having a long waiting list. She had an entire archive full of names and could damn well use them to suit her purposes.

Should he somehow manage to acquire Archive material, she counted down to the milisecond it was due and then hunted him down, demanding its return and levying steep fines against him. Force forbid the book have any smudges, crinkled pages, or other blemishes (even ones that had pre-existed Jinn's loan).

At one point the man actually went before the Council to complain, asking them to intervene in his "difficulties." The Council, unlike Jinn, were not fools and refused to get involved. Word did, however, get back to her, and she made sure that her displeasure over his attempted subterfuge was well known.

One unfortunate fact was that Jinn liked to publish the occasional paper or treatise and Jocasta was obligated to house copies of them. Fortunately for her, the Archives were a large and labyrinthine space within the Temple. And much like the Temple itself, parts of it were difficult to reach, had fallen into disrepair, and in the words of one young Junior Archivist, "smelled weird."

Important works were never held in such locations, of course, but for Qui-Gonn Jinn? Room could be found. Damp rooms in remote areas infested with bugs, cobwebs, and a lack of adequate lighting.

Master Dooku, who had once been a friend of hers, found her "war" with his former Padawan to be highly amusing and attempted to tweak her proverbial tail by requesting Jinn's latest papers.

After being "accidentally" locked in a room for a day with only an ancient torch and a host of curious spiders for company, he learned his lesson and even had the grace to apologize. Unlike some people she could mention.

Her justifiable grievance with Jinn was buried along with him. More or less. Obi-Wan, despite the trauma inflicted upon him by the circumstances surrounding that death, continued to blossom. Even though he'd chosen to be a field Jedi instead of an Archivist, she was proud of the man he'd become (with her help and despite Jinn's interference). He truly was the Guiding Light she'd always known he could be.

Now, if he'd just keep that damn Padawan of his out of her halls...

[delightful-69]

i just fucking hate this neighborhood

[tolerateit]

hmmm unfollowing and blocking lots of people

[thekimspoblog]

I'm just saying. Gus has killed people for...

Mentioning the existence of the superlab ("Winner")

General insubordination and to intimidate others ("Box Cutter")

One employee murdering another employee who was a child-murderer, even though Gus was probably going to murder the child-murderer anyway ("Full Measure")

I don't think it's insane to suggest that when Kim fled to Florida, Gus was planning to put a hit out on her, and Mike said "Leave her alone; she's not going to talk. She knows we'll kill her ex if she talks".

Other fans have argued that Kim didn't "know too much", but she did tho. Gus was undone by a fast food wrapper in an associate's apartment; it was worth everything to him that the DEA never suspected him, because if they started looking into him it would have all come crashing down. Having a woman who regularly works with law enforcement be out there able to finger him as connected to the Salamancas, seems like an uncharacteristically large risk for Gus to take.

Whether Jimmy feared this, and stayed in ABQ on purpose as collateral because of it, is more of a stretch. But I just don't like interpretations which assume the "She's in The Game now" line amounted to nothing of consequence for Kim.

[sketching-shark]

Journey to the West: And so Golden Cicada was condemned to suffer in this world of dust for being heedless of Buddha’s talk

Me, considering what “being heedless of Buddha’s talk” could mean: Tee hee Golden Cicada yaoguai warlord villain arc au is a go!

[iniziare]

Re-tag drop: Yelan

[vimbry]

the paranoia post reminded me of something I thought about at work over christmas. one of the managers suddenly called everyone over and started handing out pieces of brownie. somebody asked what this was about, and he said, "oh someone gave it to me, but I don't really like chocolate", then he kind of shrugged and went, "well, you know, I love to share!" and I was thinking haha.... hey imagine if he poisoned these brownies and this is like, some sort of mass murder in the workplace, and that's why he's being so vague about it.

ofc almost immediately I thought haha that's silly....... what if tho. a few moments after we went back to work, I convinced myself I had a mild stomach cramping and thought WHAT IF THO... POISIM