#you just gotta be in a specific line of work for it to be legal

[why-rock-look-tasty-if-no-eat]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 5 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers <3

11: Silent nights with a window open

12: Lady Grey with Acacia flavored honey

13: Strawberry Milk Tea

14: Sourdough Bread

15: Turkey delis

[prontaentrega]

how to post songs as mp3 files and avoid copyright

a bunch of people were asking how to post music on tumblr so here's some kind of tutorial n_n there's probably a thousand better ways to do it out there but this is what i do and it works for me

Step 1: Acquiring music

Before you post any music you gotta have it as an mp3 file. Bunch of people mentioned mp3 converters but my favorite way has always been to just download discographies from blogs. You google "(band) complete discography free download" or something like that and something's bound to show up. If you've doing this for a while you'll skip this first part and go straight to the places you know will have it- here's some of my favorite blogspots for it - but they're all very specific to the stuff i listen to (mainly punk and latin american rock).

These type of sites tend to be genre-specific so if you're looking for, say, a prog rock band, maybe you'll have more luck searching for prog rock downloads websites. The older or more obscure the band, the easier it will be to find. And you'll find that a lot of these sites are not in english- you have to get comfortable visiting and downloading from sites in spanish, portuguese, russian or what have you and your life will get easier.

Don't limit yourself to blogs or music download-specific sites. Some people post album dl links on youtube. When i was in high school i downloaded The Black Parade from DeviantArt. The internet is far and wide and you can find stuff anywhere

But what if i can't find an album like this?

Alternative 1: Legally

Go find a record store and buy the album you want. You can also check the artist's bandcamp or any other website where you can buy their music and get it as a file on your pc (no streaming shit). Some albums are out there for free, legally! If you know an artist who uploads their music to tumblr you can just right click on their mp3 upload and download it directly :^)

Alternative 2: The classic

you can pretty much google youtube mp3 converter and click any link and it'll do the work. Here's a link from a safe piracy subreddit. You paste a youtube vid's link and hit convert/download etc.

I've also heard some people say Lucida is good (lets you download songs and albums by pasting the spotify/bandcamp/wtv link) but i can't say it has worked for me- always gives me a network error. But maybe it works for someone else.

Step 2: I got the music- now what?

Now you post it! Some songs (obscure or copyright-free enough) will just let you post them like that. Most songs won't. For a lot of them you'll have to add some silence or edit the metadata.

Adding silence to a song:

Option 1: Get audacity for free. Go to File > Open on the top bar and open the song you wanna add the silence to. Make sure you're at the start of the track (it says 00h00m00s at the bottom). Go to Generate > Silence... on the top bar also. Choose how long you want the silence to be, click "generate". You'll see a straight line appear at the start of the track- that means it worked. Go to File > Export > Export as MP3 to save it. You'll see a pop up where you can edit the metadata (things like artist, year, genre, etc.) i like having my audio files with metadata but for the purpose of tumblr posts you'll want to leave all that empty- if it's got that info erase it. Click "Ok". Done!

Option 2: Do it online on audiomass. Go to File > Load from Computer, open the song. Click on the white square with the S (insert silence button). Choose how long you want it to be, click "insert silence". You'll see a straight line appear at the start of the track- that means it worked. Go to File > Export/Download. Make sure it's mp3 format, i always save it as 256kbps but it's not neccessary. Click export. Done!

Some songs let you get away with only 5 or 8 seconds of silence. I try to have it be as short as possible, but most songs will need 10 seconds of silence. Sometimes even a little more, if even with the 10 seconds it doesn't let you post it try adding 0.25s more and checking.

I always play the file i just exported, to make sure everything's right.

Editing the metadata:

I'm gonna be honest i don't know how necessary this is but the audio post format works in mysterious ways so it's always better to be one step ahead. If you got it from youtube to mp3 or already added the silence then your file won't have any metadata, unless you didn't clear it when exporting from audacity. if you got it legally or pirated from any blogspot type site and didn't edit it at all it will probably have metadata. To edit it you have to right click the file > Properties, go to the "details" tab, and there you'll see things like title, author, year, genre, etc. You can just click on any section and change or erase it, then click "Ok".

As a last thing, it's generally better if the file is not saved as the song's name. Just name it anything else.

Compressing the file:

I almost forgot but there's also a size limit. I don't remember it at the moment because i've only had a problem with it once, but if you do just google "compress mp3 file" and go on any website to do it LOL

Step 3: Posting it

Now just go make a new audio post. Upload the file from your pc. If there's an error sometimes it'll tell you what it is (you don't own this song/the file is too heavy/etc) but sometimes it will just delete the audio post format and not tell you anything. If there's any error make sure you did everything (the silence, the metadata, the size, the file name). Maybe go back and add 0.5 or 1 more second of silence at the start. Sometimes tumblr just won't want you to post a song even with every step done right- nothing to do about that :( Sometimes you can try back after a while and it will let you post the song- sometimes it won't. There's no real logic to it tbh.

But if everything goes right it will upload correctly. Now you can add the song's title, artist and album info, and album art or whatever image you want n_n Hit post and done!

[five-rivers]

Pretty in Pink (and Other Colors)

For @jadenoryuu!

.

A ghost watched Amity Park.  Specifically, he watched a group of five teenagers walk down a street.  He watched not from up close, not from down the street, or from one of the buildings lining it, but from far, far away, through a ghost-powered device that could see through both space and time, and which could even allow a properly-prepared traveler to pass through it to the place and time it showed.  

In his right hand, the ghost carried a staff.  In his left, he held a wrinkled and creased hundred dollar bill.  He drummed his fingers on the haft of his staff, but was otherwise still.  Watching.  Waiting.  

Then, when the teenagers had reached a position remarkable only to the ghost, he reached out and dropped the bill.  It fell through the time screen and drifted gently to the ground in front of the teenagers.  

The tallest teen, a blonde, noticed it and stooped to pick it up, grinning at his companions all the while.  In the ghost’s lair, other time screens turned to static, flickered, and then turned back on, showing very different scenes.  

The ghost smiled.  “Perhaps this is not the way it was meant to be,” he said, tilting his head to look at the other screens, “but it will be amusing, nonetheless.”

.

“... was bright pink.  And that's why my allowance was cut off, so I can't bring my usual to the party,” explained Dash.  His usual was beer, obtained through an acquaintance who didn’t care much about the legalities involved.  And who, admittedly, thought Dash was two years older than he actually was.  

“Lame,” said Valerie. 

“Extremely lame,” agreed Star.

“Next level is actively pathetic, Dash, and you don’t want to go there,” said Paulina.  “Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.” 

“Well, I should have been able to deliver, it’s not my fault.”  He kicked at the sidewalk, then paused, spotting something on the ground.  “Oh, nice!”  He picked a bill up off the ground and waved it over his head.  “The party is back on!”

“The party was never off,” said Valerie, rolling her eyes.  “Just the drinking part, which I can’t do, anyway.”

“Aw,” said Paulina, jostling Valerie playfully.  “Why not?  Did you become Mormon or something?  Ultra-orthodox super-protestant Christian something or other?”

“Ew, no,” said Valerie.  “But my dad wants me home at a ‘reasonable time,’ he will be sitting up waiting for me, and he has a breathalyzer.”

“Why does he even have one of those?” asked Kwan.  “I mean, I know the school has one for prom and stuff.”

“He used it for work, back when he was just building up the company.  There was an incident where some of his guys showed up drunk for work.  That just makes it grosser, though.  It’s used.”

“Bleh,” said Star and Paulina simultaneously, before breaking out into giggles.

“Bet it’s still, like, full of spit.  Old guy spit,” said Paulina.  

“Ewww,” said Star.  “That’s so gross.”

“Laugh all you want, but I’ll be the only one who can ride my bike in a straight line by the end of the night.”

“Hey, I can just walk home,” said Dash.  

“Sleepover time,” sang Paulina, throwing an arm around Star’s shoulders.  

“Yeah!  We can have a guys sleepover, too, right, Kwan?”

“Uhhh,” said Kwan.  “I’ve actually gotta go home, too.”

“What,” said Dash, “now?”

“No, like, I mean, I have to go home early.  Mom wants me to take school seriously now that I’m in high school, which means, uh, sleep schedules.  You know.”

“Oh, bummer,” said Dash.  “Hope she lightens up.  It’s not like we’re seniors.”

“Yeah, man, me too.”

They continued down the street for a while longer, until Dash and Kwan split off to meet up with Dash’s ‘buddy’ and the girls went shopping for somewhat less illegal things, like makeup.  

They met up again at Paulina’s house.  Of course, they weren’t the only ones coming to the party.  All the cool kids were.  But, even as freshmen, Paulina, Dash, Valerie, Star, and Kwan were the coolest of the cool.  

And, as such, they were there the longest, long after other guests had left, and got the best perks.  Like Dash’s haul.  And the no-holds-barred truth or dare game.  

Dash climbed out of the pool and clambered over to where his friends were lounging. “See?  I told you wusses that I could make it in from the roof.”  He sat back down and spun the bottle sitting on its side between them.  

The bottle spun and spun, and eventually stopped pointing at Paulina.  “Ooh,” said Paulina.  “My turn, my turn.  So, Valerie, truth or dare?”

“Mhm,” said Valerie, looking at her watch.  “Make it dare and make it quick.  I’ve got to go, soon.”

“Okay, so.”  Paulina squared her shoulders and leaned towards Valerie.  “I dare you to… take a shot.”

“Uh, no,” said Valerie.  She stood up.  And with that, it’s time for me to go.”

“Nooo, Val, that’s so lame!” said Star.  “So super lame.”

“Very lame, Val.  You can’t break the sacred bond of truth and dare.” 

“The sacred bond was broken as soon as you asked me to do something that would get me grounded literally forever.  So.  Hey, Kwan.  Kwan.”  She nudged Kwan with her foot.

“Let a guy sleep,” said Dash.  

“He said he wanted to go early.”

“If he tried to bike home now, he’d crash,” said Star.  “Like, look at him.  Dead to the world.  Totally out of it.”

“He can stay, my dad isn’t back until the day after tomorrow.  What he doesn’t know, he won’t care about.  Probably safer that way.”

“Guess you can explain that to Kean when he gets grounded forever,” said Valerie.  “Later guys.  Call me if you need help with clean-up.  I know the name of a service that works fast.”  She took one last look around the back yard, and walked out.  

“Later, girl!” called Paulina.  “So, Star, truth or dare?”

“Hey, wait, you already went,” said Dash.  

“And the one I picked bailed.  I deserve another shot.”

“Let’s just spin the bottle again,” said Star.  “It’ll probably just land on you again anyway, right?  There’s three of us, so that’s, like, three halves.  Two thirds?  Ugh, geez, I can’t do math while I’m duck.  Drunk.  God.  Just spin it, Pauli.”

“Whatever,” said Paulina.  Pouting, she spun the bottle.  It went around and around and around… And landed on her again.  “Okay, so, Star.  Truth or dare?”

“Ughh,” said Star.  “Truth, I guess.”

“You’ve done truth every time,” complained Dash.  “Pick something new.  Pick dare.”

“No,” said Star.

“Dare, dare, dare, dare, dare,” chanted Paulina.

“You’re awful.  I don’t know why I’m friend of you.  With you.  Whatever.  God.  Fine.  Dare.”

“Okay, so… I dare you to… lick Kwan.”

“Oh, gross.  Oh my God.  You’re disgusting.”

“Do it!”

“It’s not like your tongue’s never been on him.”

“Ewwww.  Don’t say that.  You’re such a weirdo.”  Still, she got up on her knees and crawled over to Kwan.  “Such a weirdo.  Weirdest weirdo.  How do you even think of this?”  She leaned down and just barely touched her tongue to his forehead.  “Ew, ew, ew, totally gross.  He’s all sweaty.  Stop laughing, you weirdos.”

“Hey, hey,” said Dash.  “I obj- obje– I don’t like that.  Don’t say we’re the weirdest weirdos.  There’s like.  So many weirdos out there.”

“Yeah, name one,” said Star.  “Just one weirder weirdo than you, weirdo.  Weirdo.  That’s such a weird word.”

“Fine.  Fenderbender.”

“Who?” asked Star, squinting.

“Fenderbender.  Fentanyl.  Fentonail.  Fentina.  Fentodor.  Fentertainment.”

“Wait, Fenton?  Way to go for the low hanging fruit.”

“You calli-calling me a fruit?”

“You did say just one, Starlight,” said Paulina.  “He is weird.  His whole family is weird.  And he looks at me funny.”

“He looks at you like he has a crush on you, Pauli.  Like, every boy looks at you like that.”

“Yeah, but he’s super creepy about it.  He’s all scrawny and greasy, and he’s always got, like, green slime on him, and his shouty parents and his annoying sister.  What’s their deal anyway?”

“Ghosts,” said Dash.  “They’re like, freaking ghosts.  Ghost hunters.”

“Well, yeah, but beyond that, even.  Ghosts could be cool.  Those programs make cash, y’know?  But they’re, like, super crazy, and they have a super weird basement or whatever.  Spin already, Star.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got it, Pauli.”  She spun the bottle around.  “Ooh, Dash, you go.”

“Okay, okay.  So, weirdos.  Pauli.  Whatcha gonna pick?”

Paulina took another swig of beer.  “Dare,” she said.  

“Dare.  I’ve got a great one.  I dare you.  Paulina Sanchez.  To break into the Fenton’s house.”

“Oh my God, Dash.  For real.  You can’t ask Pauli to do something illegal.”

“Well, you could always wimp out like freaking– Like Val.  You gonna wimp, Pauli?”

Paulina glared at him.  “Who do you think I am?  I’m not going to fall for some peer– peer pressure, like, you know, the after school special.  You think I’m going to fall for that?”

“So, you’re gonna wimp?”

Star giggled.  “I gotta say, I’m curious.”

“Stop saying that.  You’re such losers.”  She took another drink.  “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

Dash cheered raucously.

“I’ll do it,” said Paulina.  “But you’ve– you’ve got to come with me.  Like, to witness.”

“But we’ve– we’ve gotta get there first,” said Star.  “It’s, like, hours away.”

“It’s thirty minutes tops,” said Paulina.  “And we can get a cab.”

“Not if we’re breaking in.  That’s like, criminal one-oh-one, Pauli.  No witnesses.”

Fine,” said Paulina.  “We walk.  Whatever.  The freaking- The things I do for you.  Wow.  Incredible.”  She got to her feet.  “Okay.  Onward!  To the weird ghost hunter basement raid.”

The three teens made their stumbling way out of the house and down the street.  

“Are you sure this is the way?” asked Star, squinting at one of the signs. 

“Absolutely,” said Dash.  “Followed Fenfreak enough.”

“This is way more than half an hour,” said Star.  “This is boring.”

“But it’ll be so exciting at the end,” said Paulina.  “Like, we’ll be spies.”

“This street,” said Dash.  “Totally.  This street.”

“Oh, wow,” said Paulina, after they turned the corner.  “Don’t know how we missed that.  Jesus.”

“Is that a freaking spaceship?” asked Star.  “Or, no.  Hell.  It’s a- a–  What do you call it?  Broadcast tower.  Freaking hell.”

“Yeah, wow,” said Paulina.  

“Hey, who wants to be the whack jobs don’t lock their front door?” asked Dash.  He ran up to the door, yanked on the handle, and… it opened.  

“Wild,” said Star, slinking closer.  “I’d’ve thought there was, like, a trap or something.”

Paulina stayed on the sidewalk.  Now that they were here, it all seemed…  Bigger.  Scarier.  They were breaking into someone’s house.  They could get into serious trouble for this.  

But Dash was already going in.  Paulina steeled herself and followed.  Star clung to her side.  

The Fentons’ house felt… small.  Dark.  Dirty.  And there were weird sounds everywhere.  Like, snoring and boards squeaking, and was that awful drone their fridge?  She halfway felt as if every move she made would set off something.  

“Hey,” whispered Dash, loudly.  “I think I found the basement!”

He had.  There was a creepy metal door in the kitchen, and when they opened it, it led to stairs, going down to a faintly green darkness.

“Do we really need to go down there?” asked Star.  

“Well, yeah, duh,” said Dash.  “Duh.”

“You didn’t need to say it twice, Dash.  That’s lame.”  Paulina stalked downstairs with as much dignity as she could muster.  She was maybe a bit tipsy.  Then almost had a heart attack when Dash turned on the light.  “What the hell, Dash?”

“They’re not down here, they’re not going to see.”

“Whatever,” said Paulina, flipping her hair.  She looked around.  “Wow, they went super mad scientist down here.”  There were steel lab tables and bubbling vials.  There were computers and wires.  There were hot plates and bits of disassembled household appliances.  There were things Paulina couldn’t even begin to identify. 

And it was all incredibly gross.  And messy.  There was goo.  

“Y’know,” said Star, “some of this stuff is actually, like, high-end.  Like, serious money.  Do you think Fenton’s actually rich?”

“Not a chance,” said Paulina.  “Even if he were, it wouldn’t matter.  He’d still suck.  Him and his catty little nerd friends.”

“Hey, where d’you think this tunnel goes?” asked Dash.  “Like, are these freaks holding– Not holding.  Drilling?  Drilling to China?  Freaks.”  He laughed to himself.  “Freaking freaks.”

“Wow, you are plastered if you think that’s funny,” said Star.  

“Whatever, shut up.  Hey, Pauli!  Dare you to go down here’n’ see what’s on the other end!”

Paulina walked over to look down the dark and foreboding tunnel.  It was full of electrical wire and metal hoops.  “Maybe they’re skimming off the grid or something,” she said.  “Or trading drugs.  That’d be a break in the cliches.  A Mexican finding the nice, eccentric white nuclear family is dealing drugs.”  She looked over at Dash.  “After this, we go.  Quietly.”

“Yeah, yeah, just go on in, for this win.  You’ve got to do more than us, yeah?  You’re the one who got the dare.”

“Whatever, Dash.”  She walked up to the threshold and looked around in distaste.  “God, they’re so freaking weird.”  She stepped over and started walking back, picking her way through the tangled wires.  

She shouldn’t have worn heels, but she’d wanted to look cute.  Maybe that shouldn’t have been her first priority when sneaking into someone’s house, but, like, what else was she supposed to do?  She was just naturally cute.  Like, for real.

Whatever.

She slipped.  

And the world came apart. 

[wonton4rang]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

pairing: bnd x reader.

warnings: none?

summary: bnd as charlie puth songs. broken heart/ broke up ver.

note: i might do a "in love" and "sex" (just the legal line ofc) version for this because i really vibe w charlie's songs and they really fit bnd's vibe for me !! pd. I just changed my phone and idk how to use it properly yet (literally changed it today) so im apologizing in advance if this looks odd 😔

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

sungho; i don't think that i like her

i can physically hear his voice through the whole song, it's not a want is a need that i have to get a full cover by him. i just feel like the whole "i loved you and gave you all of me just to be let down, used and discarded because i'm not 'your type', but i still try cause i wanna love someone" vibe fits him way too much. he's so soft and loving, i feel like his heart might be broken often because he wants something serious and girlies just wanna fuck him :'(

riwoo; hero / dangerously

i feel like he would be so into you, looking for your true self, which you apparently only were when you were alone with him. the whole "don't pressure yourself so much, i'm here for you" and getting a "i don't need a hero, i don't want to be saved" situation fits him so much. you can tell he is kinda mad at you because of that but he forgets when you kiss him to sleep that same night. also, dangerously could fit him because i feel like he would give himself up to just focus on you instead and then end up broken because of it.

jaehyun; that's not how this works

regrettably i see jaehyun as a huge simp, this means that even though you guys are not dating or together anymore, he would let you come back over and over, enjoying your company but feeling so empty the next day when you say "i hate you so much, i gotta go", and what's funny is that you would hit him up and he'll be like "you know that's not how this works, y/n, please make up your mind" just to let you come over again.

taesan; smells like me / loser

okay hear me out i feel like taesan would be so cocky about a break up, hoping you never forget him because you broke his heart, but i also feel like he would be so sad about losing you and would put the blame on himself for letting you go. so "i hope your jacket smells like me" and "how'd i let her go?" would be the lines i find very likely to come out of his mouth or just him thinking like that.

leehan; that's hilarious

he would be so offended if you ever left him for someone else or cheated on him or just did some shit and then tried to comeback omg. he would literally go "are you being fr??" because there was no way you were trying to get things fixed after fucking him up like that. he would laugh at your face and call you a 'joke', asking you if your brain is working properly because ain't no way you think he would still want you after the things you put him through.

woonhak; cheating on you

he is definitely the type to fall in love once and for all to me. maybe is because he's young but he has this picky vibe that makes me feel like he would have a crush on someone specific, date you because he would never give you up, and honestly? it’s woonhak, who would say no? and when you two broke up he felt so empty and alone that his mind couldn't process it. he would obviously try to fill the blank only to notice that when he is with some other girl, he feels like he's cheating on you because for him it was always you, and only you.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

hi Blair :) I read your post on house elves and i wanted to infodump about my thoughts/headcanons on elves. It’s one of the most interesting parts of the wizarding world to me.

House elves do not actually like being enslaved. So many people jump to the conclusion that “oh house elves love being slaves, and Dobby and Hermione are supposed to be the weird ones.” I don’t think that’s true, for multiple reasons.

-You touched on this in your post but first reason is that house elves are brainwashed. One of the unforgivables gives a wizard the power to control someone. According to the wiki, it’s only illegal to use an unforgivable curse on humans. There’s also other ways of controlling someone in the wizarding world, such as amortentia (keep in mind that there’s a half elf in the fantastic beast series). Even if they aren’t magically brainwashed, house elves have been a part of the wizarding world for ages, and would be raised with the expectation that they would serve wizards.

Second reason is the wars. Dobby mentions that the first war was a dark time for house elves. Goblet of fire takes place before the second war begins. I know elves have magic but it doesn’t seem like they have any defensive magic. They’re small creatures that are easily harmed/forced to harm themselves. We’ve seen how death eaters such as Lucius Malfoy of the Blacks treat their own elves. How would they have fared underneath Voldemort’s regime? 

My belief is that elves tolerate captivity in exchange for safety and protection from wizards. Sure, wizards do abuse elves and the Black family specifically beheaded their elves when they got too old. However, without an employer, the elves risk being killed by random wizards or other creatures. This is why I brought up the wars because most death eaters would not hesitate to harm an elf.

This next one is more specific to the kitchen elves. I think they were mad at Hermione because she was condescending and because Hogwarts is the best job they could get. They’re surrounded by fellow elves. They’re not abused. Dobby at least gets paid, and it’s possible some of the other elves are too. Their refusal to touch the socks that Hermione leaves could also be because they don’t want to risk losing this job. I don’t think they would be kicked out for handling clothes, but the risk of homeless is not worth it.

After the second war, more protections were put in place for elves. The biggest is that their owners would face legal repercussions if they abused their elves. More job opportunities opened for elves besides domestic work. Hermione took a more subtle approach this time and worked on deprogramming the younger elves.

Infodumps are the best kind of dumps!

Yes, yes! They are brainwashed! Anytime a story features a group of slaves who are "just so happy" to be enslaved...like, that's not the story saying it's a good thing. You gotta read between the lines. Doctor Who did the same thing with The Ood, and just line with the House Elves, there was more to that story than initially presented. Anytime a slave is happy about their situation, one can assume it's because they are conditioned to feel that way. Especially if they say that they have "no right to feel unhappy when there's jobs to be done and masters to be served." Like, that line has stuck with me since my childhood, it is so fucking chilling. How do Ron and Harry hear something like that and not become immediately radicalized?

I have no idea what sort of magic binds the House Elves into slavery but it must be quite powerful because House Elf magic is otherwise depicted as stronger than human magic. They can bypass things like Anti-Disapparation Charms and everything. I never considered The Imperius Curse but I can't imagine it's that simple either, because the Elves are often "inherited" and seem to retain the conditioning even when they're between Masters. Dobby was free for a couple of years, and made much more progress in his deprogramming, but he still couldn't speak a word against the Malfoys. Fast forward three years later, he had overcome the trauma enough to return to the belly of the beast and confront his old masters, even fight them, for the sake of his friends. So I think the conditioning can be broken, just like in real life, but it would take time. It would take a healthy environment. It would take an elf who actually wants to be free, and with the world House Elves are raised in, most of them aren't going to want that.

I...completely forgot there was a Half-Elf in the Potterverse. I know who you mean, too. The sweet little woman who took care of Credence. (Or maybe it was Corvus? I'm still a little fuzzy on the details.) But either way, that....that is horrifying. That sends chills down my spine, to consider the implications of just how that happened. Because there's no fucking way that was a consenting relationship. House Elves do appear to have human level intelligence so it's theoretically possible...in the distant future when House Elf slavery has been abolished for generations. But, in the nineteenth century? It would never happen. That just gives me the creepy crawlies and I wonder how many monsters out there exploited their Elf's absolute obedience to do the unspeakable.

It seems like a House Elf can do almost anything but their highest law is their master's bidding. Kreacher was ordered to return home from the cave, so he did. It was that simple. On the other hand, he was also ordered to destroy The Horcrux, and he couldn't do that. But Horcruxes are a cut above "usual" magic, so that may just be a special case. All I know is, House Elves would have been miserable under Voldemort's rule. He framed Hokey for murder. He tortured Kreacher and left him to be ripped apart by Inferi. I know it's a general rule of thumb that everything would be worse with Voldemort in charge, but especially for minorities and the House Elves are a minority.

The idea that House Elves tolerate enslavement because it provides protection from being killed in the wild is an intriguing one. I don't think it would be the case anymore, by the time Harry was growing up. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was how they did it. If this was how Wizards successfully subjugated the Elf race. By creating a world where it was sport to hunt them and then offering them a "way out." This would have been centuries ago, most likely. Yet even now, Wizards fear the Elves, even if they would never say so. There's a reason why it's literally illegal for any non-human to carry or use a wand.

I think you're absolutely right about the Hogwarts' Elves. They are likely a reflection of the mindset of Elven culture in general, especially when we look at Winky, but it's also a fact that working at Hogwarts is the greatest job they could hope to have. I know I give Dumbledore a lot of shit, but he did good here. Keeping slaves is never okay, but most of the time, the slaves in question would choose freedom if that was an option for them. These slaves won't do that, so the best you can do for them is give them a job where they're treated well and get to be among their own kind. If the other Elves asked for their freedom, to be paid fair wages, I'm sure Dumbledore would do that. And I don't usually praise the man but he'd have no reason not to.

But the fact is, they'll never do that. Not without real change, the kind of change Hermione wants to bring. Yes, Dobby is paid, but even he turned down fair wages and terms because, as he put it, he liked being free but he also liked working. The other House Elves seem to be embarrassed, even ashamed, at the ways Dobby doesn't conform to the expected status quo. It's also probably at least in part because he was freed. I'm sure a number of these Elves were, but Dobby and Winky are the only confirmed elves at Hogwarts who were freed, and they're equally ashamed of Winky, as she is ashamed of herself.

As for handling clothes...honestly, this gets into woolly territory because the books never answer the question of laundry. Can House Elves handle laundry? I have to assume they can. With that in mind, being freed is probably a more ceremonial thing, where the Master explicitly presents the Elf with a piece of clothing. (On the other hand, we see that this can be done accidentally, so who the hell knows.) I just don't think picking up clothes without even realizing it would count. Also, not for nothing, but....Hermione cannot free the Hogwarts Elves. She is not their Master, she doesn't have that power. She also cannot free Kreacher, despite Ron warning her not to give him clothes. I'm not sure why all of the characters act as if this is something she can do, including Hermione herself, but it just muddies the waters even further, in terms of figuring out how this rule works.

I do like to imagine that Hermione took a more subtle approach to dealing with Elf Slavery as her original strategy clearly wasn't working. But I don't know. This is the same girl who lit Snape on fire. Who kidnapped Rita Skeeter. Who scarred Marietta Edgecombe. When Hermione gets passionate about something, she doesn't do things by halves. Still, we know she eventually became Minister of Magic (one of the only things from Cursed Child canon I will accept) so it's safe to say she set the wizarding world on the right path, even if she didn't manage to completely abolish House Elf enslavement in her lifetime.

[qweerhet]

the thing about project 2025 and associated fear tactics on social media right now is that... project 2025 itself does not need trump to work.

like, it's very obviously built around a coalition base that supports trump, and the ideology that has arisen from that coalition--but like, 1) the heritage foundation literally cannot legally promote any presidential candidates, which means that 2) the plan they have outline & the structures they are building to support said plan can work with, well, literally any candidate who wants to participate in them.

this isn't a one-and-done "this election is the most important one of our lives, gotta vote blue and then we can move on!" thing, project 2025 is a massively funded endeavor that involves building infrastructure and will be relevant again, every presidential election the republicans are involved in, until either they carry it out, they get bored and try a different tack, or some secret third option where it gets derailed through whatever new batshit political upheaval of the year comes up. like, trump can get convicted of federal crimes and removed from every ballot in the country, and project 2025 would still be of concern.

personally i think it'd be ridiculous to say we have to actively support any democratic candidate, no matter who they are, no matter how conservative they are, no matter what horrific regressive policies they platform, because of project 2025. but like, that's essentially what you're saying if you argue that the voter base has to platform biden and actively support his run this election cycle on the basis of preventing 2025; it's not going to just go away after the year 2025. the nonprofits will still exist, the funding will still exist, the people will still exist, and the infrastructure will still exist.

(i will not be responding to derailments along the lines of "what are the other options, it would be worse if trump won," etc--i am not laying out a plan to simultaneously abolish project 2025 and end the palestinian genocide in this post. i am pointing out that this proposed plan does not work; project 2025 is not dependent on trump specifically, and it will not improve matters domestically nor overseas to write a blank "votes" check for the democrats in perpetuity so long as the ideology behind project 2025 persists and is materially relevant. you are free to posit other ways to address the issue, but "aggressively support any and all democratic candidates, regardless of what their policies actually are" is not a good solution. it will not address the problem.)

[thekuraning]

Fic ask

4, 13, 20!

HELLO MY FAVORITE PROFESSOR ELM STAN THANK U FOR THE MEMES!!! hey actually these are all ones i havent thought about so made me put on my THINKIN CAP. and hey actually actually this got really long really fast so im PUTTING IT UNDER A READ MORE!!!

4. a story idea you haven't written yet

Ok so like. I've got these two ideas kicking around in my head from time to time that I'm like. Still kind of workshopping. One is a fanfic and one is an original fic. But basically I've had in my head since forever (10 years of Big Thinking) about a big Digimon sort of odyssey that originally started as a Pokemon x Digimon crossover where I took the Rocket executives and shoved them into the digital world. I have a whole world built for it already and a central sort of issue/theme revolving around a power struggle between the Demon Lords and the Royal Knights. The Royal Knights control HUB City, which is the major settlement in the continent, the Demon Lords control the Dark Lands, and kind of like usual they all want to wipe each other out. There's eventually a viral sort of glitch that starts to deteriorate the digital world and jumps to the real world.

Part of my problem is I've wanted to make it a comic or at the very least an illustrated fic and part of the problem is I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it as a crossover or just slap some new names onto the execs bc i gotta be real, the pokemon world and other pokemon characters. do not feature. at all.

its really just an excuse for me to give petrel a digimon.

anyways they all have full evolution lines planned, i've got a few major story beats, plot points, and the major final twist decided on. i also have 5 amvs that i play in my head on a loop when i drive to and from work.

also in this fic some digimon are gay (stingmon and flamedramon makeout sessions when) and trans (crusadermon, trans queen) ive decided

i think ive posted old art before extending the au to some characters and for my perfworld mutuals if youve seen my sycamore + dukemon art before that specific dukemon is also from this au. ive also got a fic i did publish where i workshopped a little bit of HUB city & a few side characters

i am now realizing i meant to also talk about the original fic i have planned and that one is a short story about a serial killer who murders hitchhikers picking up a hitchhiking serial killer and that one is less planned out but i know they sloppy kiss in the end

13. a fandom you're thinking about writing for

so like besides pokemon and tiger & bunny & digimon there's none i actively have fic ideas for, but some fandoms I think I'd like to revisit are Sonic and Zelda. Actually I had a Zelda fic I abandoned back on FFNet that I'd like to take another crack at one day where the premise was it was a modern setting based on the OOT/TP Hyrule (mostly OOT) where magic and fairies and such are regarded as superstition sort of the same way they are now, and the wondrous races (Goron, Zora, Kokiri/Korok, etc. even the Sheika to some extent) had all died out, leaving pretty much just the human races like Hylian, Terminian, Gerudo, etc. (In this case Termina is legitimately a neighboring kingdom/country and not limbo/purgatory ok??) And the kicker was Link was like. a hardcore atheist. but i think i remember people getting mad at me bc i made his legal name "Mahas" which I MUST IMPLORE YOU. THIS IS CANONICALLY HIS NAME AS OF SKYWARD SWORD. BELIEVE IT OR NOT THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT TO BUILD A PSEUDO LANGUAGE IN SKYWARD SWORD. WE KNOW HIS NAME IS MAHAS BECAUSE IN THE BEGINNING WHEN FI IS JUST CALLING HIM LINK AND NOT MASTER LINK HER VOICE LINES ARE EVER ONLY MAHAS. ONCE SHE BEGINS CALLING HIM MASTER LINK ANY TIME IT APPEARS ON SCREEN SHE SAYS "MAARI MAHAS." SO IM RIGHT OK FUCK OFF IM RIGHT. DIE MAD FFNET. DIE. MAD.

ahem.

im normal now.

anyways yeah i'd like to write for elder scrolls again too i think but like. something more original than the supernatural/TESIV Oblivion retelling crossover i tried once.

You can find that one on my ao3 but im not linking it.

20. in what year did you publish your first fic?

In the year of our lord 2005 (pensive emoji)(raised fist emoji) I published a... fic of some kind to FFNet.

You won't find it anymore, I deleted it a long time ago! I'm not sure if it was 'Rocket Road Trip' or 'The Rebellion,' but it was one of those. I used to write a ton of OC team rocket fics, and this was back in the day when the Rocket Executives had no name so you either thought there was 1 guy exec and 1 girl exec or you thought each exec encounter in GSC was a different person, and that was me. So I gave them all names and threw them into a truck together and i think in the very first chapter they were leaving the Team Rocket HQ and they ran over and left to die the OC who would later go on to be repurposed into Proton except his name was Steve then and he was a special classification of trainer class that I called a "Random Rocket," and the thing about Random Rockets was they all had very generic names (Steve, Bob, Juan, I think there was a Nancy once but she never got to show up in a fic or rp?) but the OTHER thing about Random Rockets was no one knew what they looked like because canonically their faces were all censored with a big ass mosaic effect (this was written, not draw.)

anyways farla cussed me out on 3 or 4 different fics back when she used to cuss out literal children so I deleted all my fics from 2005 - 2008 and then I deleted more of them when I went to college.

don't be like farla.

edit: self-plugging my old FFNet account for the lulz. yes it is i, the original author of Slowpoke Tails and Koffing Fumes.

[ausetkmt]

You Gotta Tell Diddy No!!

Diddy files motion to dismiss allegations that he raped 17-year-old 

(NewsNation) —Embattled music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him and a Bad Boy Records music executive of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old in 2003.

Lawyers for Combs’ called the allegations “an entirely false and hideous claim” and that the lawsuit was a “stunt” in their motion obtained by NewsNation. Lawyers also stated that the lawsuit passed the legal time to bring such claims.

What are the allegations in the lawsuit?

The motion to dismiss comes in response to a federal civil suit filed in December by a woman under the “Jane Doe” pseudonym who alleged that Combs, Bad Boy Records executive Harvey Pierre and a third “assailant” gang raped her when she was 17 after trafficking her across state lines in 2003.

Doe said that she met Pierre as a junior in high school when he approached her at a lounge in Detroit near her home.

Pierre and Combs convinced the then-teen to take a private jet with them and a third person to Combs’ recording studio in New York City.

That’s where they drugged her and then began taking turns raping her, she alleged.

  Where is Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs?

“As the night wore on, the 17-year old Ms. Doe became more and more inebriated, eventually to the point that she could not possibly have consented to having sex with anyone, much less someone twice her age,” her lawsuit stated.

In her lawsuit, Doe stated that she “suffered significant emotional distress and feelings of shame that have plagued her life and personal relationships for 20 years” as a result of the alleged assault.

What was Diddy’s response?

Combs’ motion stated that he and his companies” categorically deny Plaintiff’s decades-old tale against them, which has already caused incalculable damage to the reputations and business standing of the Combs Defendants, even before any evidence has been presented.”

Combs’ lawyer, Jonathan Davis asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, so it cannot be brought again, “to protect the Combs Defendants from further reputational injury and before more party and judicial resources are squandered.”

In the motion, Davis stated that Doe “cannot allege what day or time of year the alleged incident occurred, yet purports to miraculously recall the most prurient details with specificity.”

The motion also stated that the claim is “time-barred” because it was filed under New York City’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which has a seven-year statute of limitations.

But lawyers for Doe say their client’s claims are valid.

“At this point, no one should take anything ‘Diddy’ or his lawyers say seriously. The motion is just a desperate attempt by Combs to avoid accountability for Ms. Doe’s allegations of gang rape and sexual assault. It won’t work,” they said in a statement, according to People.

What other allegations is he facing?

The music producer has been slapped with five civil suits in the last six months, each containing a multitude of disturbing accusations including abuse and sexual assault by multiple victims spanning over 30 years.

A number of his accusers say they were teens when they were allegedly assaulted by him. Several attest in their lawsuits he had rage-filled violent tendencies.

Many stem from the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that creates a one-year window for victims 18 or over to bring cases in the state after any statutes of limitations have expired.

Singer Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, who had been in a decadelong relationship with Combs in the early 2000s, filed a lawsuit in New York federal court last November alleging sex trafficking, human trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault and gender-motivated violence, among other causes of action.

Homeland Security Investigation agents are seen at the entrance of US producer and musician Sean “Diddy” Combs’s home at Star Island in Miami Beach on March 25, 2024. Homes belonging to Sean “Diddy” Combs were being raided by federal agents, media reported on March 25, with the US hip hop mogul at the center of sex trafficking and sex assault lawsuits 

In other lawsuits, a woman said Combs filmed his sexual assault on her and later used it as “revenge porn” when she was a student at Syracuse University.

Combs has denied all allegations.

In her filing, the attorney representing Doe said that “seeing two other women bravely speak out against Mr. Combs and Mr. Pierre, respectively, gave Ms. Doe the confidence to tell her story as well.”

Two homes belonging to Combs were raided by federal investigators in March.

While federal authorities have given sparse public comment as to what prompted the raids, NewsNation affiliate WPIX reported that it was part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673.

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn. A small press made me an offer and sent me a contract. I had someone very trustworthy and knowledgeable vet this (not a lawyer but someone highly versed and well-known in author/publisher contracts). They've raised quite a few things (more than I was expecting). There's going to be at least 2-3 big changes asked for and possibly another 3-5 smaller things (depending on how many I choose to let go). Would you recommend asking for everything or only choosing the most important ones? I'm also a bit t about approaching the publisher and not sure how to ask for the changes/who to say I had view the contract (I want to keep the name confidential), etc. Any input you would have for non-confrontational wording would be really helpful? I'm also afraid if I ask for too many changes, they might pull the contract - so any advice you could give to an author without an agent who is entering contract negotiations and is nervous about it would really be helpful. Thank you!

This is verging on feeling like legal advice or something and that makes me Very Uncomfy so just for the record: I'm not a lawyer, I'm not YOUR lawyer or your agent, I'm not giving legal advice, this Tumblr is for entertainment purposes only, !!! disclaimer disclaimer !!!

DO BE AWARE that a person who is not an agent might have different priorities than an agent would -- for example, your spouse may be a brilliant trial lawyer, but if they are not well-versed in publishing contracts specifically, they are not the best person to give notes on a publishing contract, because publishing contracts are notoriously weird; they will red-line the shit out of a publishing contract and have problems in every clause, and THAT would be insanely irritating for the contracts people.

But 2-3 big changes and 3-5 small changes? No sweat whatsoever, that's totally fine. I promise an agent would be asking for that many changes! That's very much in Normal territory. Real talk: If they were to get upset or pull the contract over your asking for a normal number of changes, that's a MASSIVE red flag, and you don't want to work with them.

First things first: I think the most important thing is that you read the contract yourself, and read your trustworthy and knowledgable friend's notes, and make sure you REALLY UNDERSTAND each point -- what the publisher was asking for, what you are asking to change, and why. This is important! Because if you are asking for changes, there's gotta be a reason, you aren't just asking them to move words around so they look better on the page, right? You need to totally understand what that reason is, so YOU can decide how important it is to you and how much you want to push -- or, indeed, if there are things you don't actually care enough to even ask about!

Then prioritize the asks you are making, at least in your own mind -- "this is a typo, this is a nitpick, this would be great to change but if not OK, this one is a dealbreaker." So when they come back to you with their response, you'll know how hard to push back.

(IF there is truly something where you can't figure out what it is even supposed to mean, and you don't think it's a PROBLEM per se you just don't know what the heck it is and googling or asking your friend didn't work, you can ask questions, too! Like "I'm not sure I understand ____ -- can you explain it?" -- just do TRY to understand everything first, so you can keep your notes down to a dull roar)

Second: I don't see any reason you'd need to tell them who looked at the contract, or that anyone did. You are their only point of contact here, it really doesn't make a difference to them if you had a team of lawyers read it, or a real estate agent looked at it, or a guinea pig scratched at it and you interpreted the scratches.

This is how I respond to contracts: I send an email, friendly and professional and to the point. There's zero reason to be contentious whatsoever here -- asking for changes or asking questions is 100% normal, this is not a problem AT ALL, so there's no need to feel defensive or apologetic or like you are somehow being demanding or anything of that nature. Channel your inner CONFIDENT person. :-)

"Hi, hope you had a great weekend, thanks for sending this over and for your patience as I reviewed it. I do have a few questions/changes:

And then I list them, in a bullet point kind of way, citing the clause that they are in, in the order of their appearance in the contract, like so:

-- Preamble, typo, my surname is misspelled, correct spelling is Laughran.

-- 1a Deliverables: The offer had a due date of 5/1/24, this has 6/1/24, is that a mistake?

-- 9 Option: Please strike entirely, or change to limit option to only same series / same characters, with option period to begin no earlier than 30 days after acceptance of this work rather than publication.

-- 14. Competitive works: Please add bold: "will directly compete"

Thanks so much! Jenn

I try to keep it as concise as possible, but also give them the reason I'm asking if there is one -- like, "this is a typo" or "The original offer actually said XYZ, but this says QRS". If there isn't really a reason aside from just you don't like that part, that's fine too -- but if possible, I'd say, can we strike this, OR, if we can't, can we change it in this significant way so that it does work for me. (In other words, you aren't just arbitrarily demanding they take things out -- if there's a way to make the language work for you, give them the option to strike it OR fix it.)

If you have a question, ask it. If you are asking for inserts of words/ language, provide the language you are asking to be inserted and where. If you are asking for changes in language, you can copy and paste the problem language from the contract and your proposed solution, or just explain what you are asking for and they can provide language if necessary. There's no One Way to do this -- Just make sure it's straightforward and easy to understand what you are asking to take out / change / add.

They will likely respond to you with a revised draft of the contract and notes in the body of the email, like so:

-- Preamble, typo, my surname is misspelled, correct spelling is Laughran. OK, sorry about that!

-- 1a Deliverables: The offer had a due date of 5/1/24, this has 6/1/24, is that a mistake? Editor confirmed that the June date is correct, the earlier May date was an error

-- 9 Option: Please strike entirely, or change to limit option to only same series / same characters, with option period to begin no earlier than 30 days after acceptance of this work rather than publication. We can't strike, but please see revised language in 9

-- 14. Competitive works: Please add bold: "will directly compete" OK

They will likely say yes to most of the stuff, especially the small stuff. You know what your priorities are, so if the points they said no to are not really a priority for you anyway, fine, accept and move on. If there's something you feel is truly a dealbreaker (like if they said they wouldn't change XYZ, and you WILL WALK AWAY if they don't change it) -- then DO push back.

Like, choose your battles, obviously, but if whatever-it-is is truly that important to you, now is the time to say so, because you don't want to sign a contract that has something you feel is truly abominable in it! If they refuse to change it, you can walk. If they change it enough so it's acceptable to you, great.

Do make sure you check the revised version of the contract and see that they actually changed all the things they said they would - sometimes typos and things may slip through the cracks, now is the time to catch them -- and then, when it is all kosher, they will send a final signing copy. Woohoo!

Good luck. You got this!

[beigeshiba]

I love this political compass meme so much. Of all of them, it speaks deeply to my soul. Pretty much the only thing it'd need to be perfect is a grey crying centrist soyjack captioned "If we keep going the way we are now long enough, the consequences will form the apocalypse myth of the new religion of the tiny remnant of humanity which survives" See that blue one? That was me getting a fucking clue during covid. Hanging out with Indians and Turks was pretty much the main thing that kept me from losing my mind entirely and attempting a necromantic ritual to bring Temujin and Pol Pot back from the dead and unleash them upon a Melbourne that I felt sorely deserved their tender ministrations.

Because all the brown people understood that what was going on was bullshit while it felt like 90%+ of white people were all like "FOLLOWING ORDERS IS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL KEEP US ALIVE WE MUST FOLLOW ALL OF THE ORDERS ALL OF THE TIME OR ELSE WE'LL DIE! THIS IS SOMEHOW PREFERABLE TO DYING"

That was another important realisation I had during the Covid lockdowns. I figured out where the hell the line was drawn in terms of "Circumstances of living I would regard as preferable to death". And you know, it's awfully liberating understanding consciously what you would prefer to die than endure on an indefinite basis. Because if you are the sort of person who will tolerate anything just in order to stay alive then eventually you will find yourself having to tolerate just about anything, because people who can tell you feel that way, will exploit that.

Being willing to die gives you power over people, never forget that.

What this ultimately has to do with me being politically "Catholic" is that to me, the Roman Church offers the ability for both the Blue and Red quadrants to get what they want.

Catholicism is a religion that simultaneously promotes both the focus on charity, compassion and equity that Red Quadrant (at their best) is trying to achieve, while also having the focus on Family, Hierarchy and Tradition that Blue Quadrant (at their best) is trying to achieve.

And if you've ever been to different Catholic parishes, you'll notice: The more trad it is, the younger and more ethnically diverse the parishoners. If you're wanting a more traditional lifestyle, you gotta learn to love multiculturalism. If you want a more charitable and equitable society which recognises the dignity of workers, you gotta learn to love religion.

As for bottom quadrants, sorry fellas as far as I can tell, y'all are shit outta luck. Karl Popper with his "Paradox of Tolerance" already made it abundantly clear that open societies will inevitably undermine the very social foundations required for them to perpetuate because they will just keep letting in people who aren't interested in living that way.

It's actually kinda hilarious seeing Popper Gang focus with laserlike intensity on the "Nazis and Chuds" and being too busy othering and fetishising migrants they let in to understand these are mostly people who find liberalism to be decadent and alienating. What we have now is incoherent screeching about (insert minority here) "White Supremacists" and that's too little, too late. You already brought in the people that Team Blue will bring into victory, to own Team Blue. Thanks Team Green, you really gave us the what for! As for Team Yellow, yeah that's a realisation I came to after I left university, started working in private enterprise and very quickly came to the unpleasant realisation that corporations are owned by sociopaths who simultaneously fancy themselves as the absolute rulers of their own private little fiefdom, while being utterly incapable of governing themselves in anything remotely approaching a sustainable fashion. Capitalism's mostly been able to function adequately due to government regulators being able to get out the bonk stick when companies do stuff which undermines the specific economic, social and legal environment required for market based economies to function. Lately there's been way too few companies getting bonked and way too many companies doing things which deserve a good thrashing so don't get too attached to capitalism, kids, it's going away! As Marylin Manson said: Capitalism has made it this way, old fashioned fascism will take it away! He was really only wrong about the old fashioned bit. Turns out fascism doesn't need to be socially conservative at all, it's actually just as happy murdering people for corporate profit when wrapped in a pride flag as it is when doing so with a Swastika.

[suckitsurveys]

Do you own anything from Victoria’s Secret “Pink” line? Do you really think the clothes are worth the price? Nope and nope.

What does your last incoming text say, who was it from, and how do you feel about that person? It was from Ellen and it was about telling my niece we have Billie Eilish tickets. I love Ellen; she is one of my best friends. I get to see her in two weeks!

Did you have a New Year’s kiss? I did. I think we forgot to kiss at exactly midnight but we did eventually lol.

Are there any words that you cannot pronounce or that you pronounce incorrectly? I have a hard time with “peculiar” and “conscience.”

After a long day at work or of doing something physical what tends to hurt more? Your back or your feet? My back.

Do you have a smart phone? If so, what’s your favorite app? Yes. Right now I am a fan of the NTY app with all the games.

Who would you say is the overall best person you know, and why? Mark because he loves me.

If you had to choose between being a Nurse or an English teacher which would you choose and why? Both sound absolutely miserable.

Do you have a specific gas station you usually go to? Or do you stop wherever? No, I stop wherever. There are a couple I frequent though; one by my house and another by work, just because those are the most convenient. But I am not above stopping other places if I need gas.

How much older than you was the oldest person you have dated/had a relationship with? Mark is 5 years older than me.

Is anything stressing you out at the moment? Everything.

What is your opinion on dating someone who already had a child/children from a previous relationship? I wouldn’t be with someone who had a child.

Have you ever actually found a mascara that makes a huge difference for your lashes? Yeah, I have really light and short lashes, so on the rare occasion I wear mascara, it definitely makes them look darker/longer.

Would you rather have one or two great facial features that stand out, or have just an overall pretty face but have no special features? I’d rather have the special features.

Do you have any plans for Valentine’s Day? Did you do anything last Valentine’s Day? Probably just make dinner with Mark.

Do you check your horoscope daily? If so, did you relate to your horoscope at all today? I don’t check it daily but I am sucker for horoscope memes. I think I definitely have some virgo characteristics.

When you need to remember something, how do you usually go about doing so? I set a reminder on my phone.

Do you think you’re a confident person? In your opinion what makes someone “confident” anyways? I fucking hate myself right now so try again later.

How would you describe someone that is your type of guy/girl? I LOVE a sense of humor. Like, we need to laugh at stupid shit together and you gotta be a lil sarcastic or we won’t get along. I also like em tall and scrawny and brown eyes don’t hurt either hehehe.

Do you read books often? What is your all time favorite book and author? I don’t.

Have you recently accomplished anything that you are proud of yourself for? Actually going to New York.

Are you still friends with any of your exes? Do you still communicate with any of them at all? Nope and nope.

What is your opinion on people that shop at Sephora for makeup as opposed to buying makeup from the drugstore? I don’t care.

When you enter a store like Target or Walmart where is the first section you go? Depends on what I am there for, but I like checking the dollar spot in Target because they usually have cute seasonal stuff.

Are you the type of person to fight for someone or walk away? Depends on the person/relationship.

Is marijuana legal for “recreational use” where you live? Also what is your opinion on the recent legalization of marijuana in certain states? It is legal here and should be everywhere.

Do you live on your own or with your parents/a roommate? Do you think you’d like to live alone? I live with my husband.

How often would you say you use Microsoft Word? Relatively often at work.

What is the last online purchase you made? I just ordered some dry shampoo but just remembered I need to order my niece’s party decor soon!!!!!

Do you usually have bad symptoms around “that time of the month”? Yes.

Is there anyone you have to see on a daily/weekly basis that you really dislike? Yup, most of my coworkers.

Is your hair thick or thin? Would you say it’s easy to manage? It’s on the thicker side and it’s pretty manageable for me.

Have you ever had to deal with any type of long distance relationship, whether it be a romantic relationship or a friendship? Yeah, my husband and I were long distance the first few years of our relationship. I also have a few friends who live out of state.

Are you procrastinating doing anything right now? Yes.

How do you feel about being called sweetie/dear/honey/etc.? I don’t mind it if it’s from someone I know.

Have you ever had a thing for/relationship with a coworker? How did it end? Nope.

What would you say is your worst habit? Picking at my face. Its why I still have acne at 30 fucking 4 years old.

Do you have a place you go to a lot that you may be considered “a regular” at? Sure.

Do you ever read the articles posted on the home page of Xanga? Has there ever been one that has really stood out to you? Woah damn this is a THROWBACK.

What is the weather currently like where you live? It’s rainy and in the low 70Fs right now. I have the window opened in the office and it’s pretty nice.

Is there anyone that you text on a regular basis that you do not have saved in your phone? If so, why don’t you have their number saved? Nope.

Do you have any plans for Mardi Gras? Nah.

[loudelossantos]

TECHNOPRENEURSHIP 003:

TECHNOPRENEURSHIP?

Ever Thought of Turning Your Tech Idea into a Business?

Have you ever heard of someone who invented a life-saving medical device or a super cool app that changed the way we do things? That's the magic of technopreneurship! It's like being your own boss, but with a tech twist. Technopreneurs use all sorts of technology to solve problems, create awesome new products and services, and build businesses that make a real difference.

Thinking Different: Like a Puzzle Master!

Our class started with a brain teaser – a logic puzzle with nine pins that you connect with only four lines. Tough, right? That's the point! It teaches us to think outside the box, just like those who come up with amazing business ideas. We gotta ditch the usual way of doing things and see problems from new angles.

From Worker Bee to Tech Boss: A Mindset Shift

Next, we explored two different mindsets: the "worker mindset" and the "technopreneur mindset." Most of us grow up thinking about getting a good-paying job after school. That's the worker mindset. But the technopreneur mindset is all about being a leader and an innovator. Technopreneurs use technology to create businesses that make a positive impact. They're the bosses, building something cool and meaningful. Pretty inspiring, right?

Ideas Are Great, But They Need a Plan!

We all get those flashes of inspiration, but true technopreneurship is about more than just a cool idea. Think about it – would people actually use your idea? Can you turn it into a real business that makes money? Don't jump in head first – having a solid plan is key!

Becoming a Technopreneur: The Recipe for Success

Just like becoming a chef, building a successful tech business requires specific ingredients:

Tech Savvy: You gotta understand technology and how it can be used to solve problems.

Planning Pro: Don't wing it! Make a business plan that outlines your idea, who your customers are, how much money you need, and how you'll reach your target market.

The Right Tools: Depending on your idea, you might need special software, hardware, or even lab equipment to make it a reality.

Funding Power: Most businesses need some cash to get started. Look for investors, grants, or other ways to finance your dream.

HELF: Your Technopreneurial Toolkit

Imagine a strong foundation for your business – that's what HELF stands for!

Human Resources: You'll need a team of talented people with different skills. Think idea generators (researchers), builders (developers), promoters (marketing), and money managers (financial experts).

Supportive Environment: Surround yourself with the right people and places! Look for incubators (business support centers), science parks, or universities that can provide resources and guidance.

Legal Stuff: Gotta play by the rules! Understand laws around intellectual property (protecting your ideas), technology licensing (making money from your creation), and business registration (making it official).

Financial Resources: Money makes the world go round! Explore options like venture capitalists (investors), government grants, or angel investors (wealthy individuals who support startups).

Collaboration is Key: We're All in This Together!

Technopreneurship isn't a solo act. Universities, government agencies, funding bodies, and business incubators all work together to create a healthy environment for tech startups to thrive.

More Than Just Tech: Building a Great Business

Technology is awesome, but it's not the only ingredient for a successful business. Here are some other things you need to consider:

Solving a Real Problem: Is there a genuine need for your idea in the market? Who are your customers, and will they actually pay for your product or service?

Planning Makes Perfect: Don't just jump in! Develop a comprehensive business plan that outlines your strategy for success.

Standing Out From the Crowd: What makes your idea unique? Don't just copy someone else – find a way to offer something different and valuable.

Ready to Be a Technopreneur?

The journey of a technopreneur is exciting, challenging, and incredibly rewarding. If you're passionate about technology and have a great idea, this path could be for you. Just remember, it takes more than just a cool idea to succeed. Prepare yourself with the knowledge, resources, and a solid plan to turn your vision into reality. Stay tuned for more adventures in the exciting world of tech startups!

𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓮𝓬𝓱𝓷𝓸𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹 𝓳𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓮𝓼 𝓸𝓷 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓰 #004. 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 𝓽𝓾𝓷𝓮𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓭𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓮𝓼! :3

[snugglyporos]

@dethqveen the problem lies are people who use AI as a final product, and it has been misused in many tone deaf situations not to mention mimicing and stealing people's art and their styles ( like peeps their wips to finish them without their consent )

As I said in my previous post, you gotta ask if you're willing to accept 50 Bad Rats to get 1 Undertale.

But the thing is, it's not stealing art. That's not how it works. And styles are not unique to any one person; if you could criminalize the mimicry of styles, you'd be throwing every doujin artist in jail. Or, every fanart artists in jail, for that matter.

Artists develop by mimicking others; that is as true now as then. that a machine does it does not change the truth of this.

If you look at a model, and draw from it, you're not stealing that model's IP. That's what models do. They look at a thing, and they try to grasp what it true about this thing.

Here's what I mean. All 'AI' are just guessing engines. They are very good at vague bullshit, and really bad at specifics. That's why you can ask it LLMs to give you lots of random bullshit, but ask it to do basic math, and it's really hard.

Or, in the art world, it's really easy for it to make lots of random vague stuff. It's really hard for it to generate the right amount of fingers. Why?

Because the way it 'learns' is akin to the 19th century saying 'seeing the elephant.' Basically, if you just described it to 50 people, you'd get 50 different looks. Similarly, the models don't know that people have 5 fingers. They don't know that we have 2 eyes and 4 limbs and that our body works just so. None of this is intrinsic. Much in the same way that getting emotions is hard, because it doesn't understand what emotions entail.

Example! Take any piece of your art. Try to assign it danbooru tags. Then figure out how much you've left out that is vague. For example, did you describe in tags how many fingers they have? The position of their limbs? The way they're looking? Their posture? If not, how can you describe this in tags?

Because models do not actually 'learn' anything. What they do is take an image, and the tags, and go 'these things are in this image.' Then they compare that to a great deal of other things, which also have tags, and they draw similarities between them.

I could also point out that this is all done via noise diffusion, which is like sifting through random noise patters to get a final product, and which really doesn't like straight lines, which is why the hardest thing for them to produce is woodcuts.

Anyway, point is, none of this is 'theft.' It's not taking a thing and chopping it up and reassembling it (though it's worth noting that even if it DID, collage is a legally protected form of artistic expression).

This is what I mean when I say that most of the arguements against it don't really grasp how it works; because it's complex and doing things with math and we just don't think this way.

and obviously, we're going to get a lot of awful stuff with the good. Again, do we accept getting 1 good thing for every 100 bad things?

[sorensunn]

My Ramblings on Artem and Rosa’s Dynamic Because Holy Shit I’m Losing It (Part 2 of ?)

okay it took me a bit to come back to this because ive been hella busy BUT LETS GET INTO IT

here is part 1 of this rambling if you have not seen it, i recommend reading that one first then coming back to this one

here’s my obligatory spoiler warning for Artem’s bday card (Two Hearts as One)!

SO TRUE!!!! but also it’s sort of inevitable (the foreshadowing)

listen i Wish i could sit here and say with total confidence that misunderstandings will never happen

but

i would be a liar LMAOO

misunderstandings happen, things happen and sometimes it gets away from you which can lead to a path of misunderstandings

and you gotta figure out the best thing for you and the best way to deal with these misunderstandings

which is why i again love this card so much

because again the foreshadowing — but it’s how Artem and Rosa deal with it later on that makes it really hit home, it’s also part of the reason why so many people like this card as much as they do

GODDAMN

OKAY I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THIS SPECIFICALLY

1. the LOOK IN ARTEM’S EYES??? NO SPARKLE OR ANYTHING THOSE EYES ARE DARK AS HELL (a brewing storm one might say)

2. it’s so funny how much Baldr wants this case to the point they’re trying to get Themis’ best lawyer AND SENIOR PARTNER TO DROP OUT TO COME TO BALDR AND BRING THE CASE WITH HIM LIKE???

3. THE FACT ARTEM IS GIVING ROSA THE RECOGNITION SHE DESERVES!!! imagine trying to undermine someone because of their age and ranking when they rightfully destroyed your ass

for those who needs a reminder : Howard Syter is one of the founders of Baldr and is quite well known in the legal community of Stellis

but it’s also heavily implied that his Senior Attorney Badge is counterfeit

“What do you mean? I spent a lot of money… I mean… a lot of time… on the exam to get it!”

yeah okay dude

also William Lewis is the other founder of Baldr — just had to add that real quick

this scene is super important in this card because of the fact that she’s part of the reason why the misunderstandings occur — since Baldr is hella questionable — i would look back at the Main Story part 5 specifically for a refresher — and it gives us more of an insight towards Baldr as well

IM GETTING TOO CAUGHT UP IN THE ROLE???? LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TRY TELLING ME THAT THIS IS YOU GUYS PLAYING A ROLE

Rosa you CANNOT tell me that it’s just a role when he looks at you with that gentle look on his face do not ever lie to me like that again

i know a lot of people who do theater where they act, and majority of the time they tell me how they get into character is finding ways to relate to said characters

getting the feelings down by finding situations where you felt like that and pulling them out, reminding yourself of certain memories to get yourself into the role, becoming the person you used to be in order to get into character, etc etc. my friends have told me so many ways that helps them

it also helps that the people they’re working with they’re either friends with or they become friends while they’re rehearsing which makes it easier to play scenes with one another

due to the relationship Rosa and Artem already had, it makes it easier for them to get into said roles, to be able to look at each other in the eyes and say their lines with such conviction that it feels real

because in a way, it is real

i think that’s part of the reason why i love this card so much?? as someone who has done some roles myself there is a certain reality that peaks through

a certain reality that you can’t contain and really you don’t want to fully contain that since it can give life to a role and to your character

so seeing Artem and Rosa play a role and seeing how their own personalities and feelings peek through is downright amazing

because to everyone else they may be just acting

but to them it’s real

as i was saying

AS I WAS SAYING

and this is why i LOVE writing so much and why i tend to mix fantasy with non fiction and why i absolutely love it when fanfic writers actually do the work to give accurate information during their stories like THAT IS MY SHIT

there’s also something so great about reading something and not being able to truly understand it or relate to it then when you go back on it and read it then it suddenly just clicks

and it’s a moment of

“Oh.”

then it all makes sense

I LOVE A REALIZATION MOMENT

But seriously, i understand Artem’s thoughts on this heavily — i was one of the people who didn’t get the whole butterflies in the stomach or being able to look at someone and envision a future with them

i didn’t understand seeing or feeling fireworks, didn’t understand how you could look at someone and just know — or how you look at someone and feel at peace with them, feeling that “yeah, this is it” and so much more

until finally

i did get it

which is why I absolutely love the fact that Artem got that experience, that he had that “oh shit” moment, that he finally had that realization and that understanding

that understanding can change so much — Artem and Rosa in this card is literally so fucking amazing that i Don’t even know how to describe it

seriously gotta be one of my favorite cards now

ANYHOW IM RUNNING OUT OF ROOM FOR THIS POST PART 3 COMING SOON??? i Hope this rambling makes sense but please feel free to add more and add your own thoughts to this!! i would love to hear them all

[ddarker-dreams]

im sorry but this is a bit related to your studies.. have you ever feel like quitting it? or maybe having second thoughts about your course? if so how do you fight that urge/mindset? because recently ive been having those kinds of thoughts like "why did i pick this course? i could have just pick something like culinary or pastry or anything hands on"

oh boy have i ever 😭😭 you are not alone in feeling this way at all! the amount of pressure that is put on people our age to know wtf we want to do with the rest of our lives is insane. i remember that during my freshman orientation in high school, some lady popped up and started talking to us about figuring out our college choices/what we wanted to major in. like ma'am i can't even legally drive a car yet please calm down.

something important to note is that our frontal lobes (the area that, among other things, is associated with organization and planning, especially in the long-term), doesn't even finish developing until we're about 25. you will continue to improve in decision making/planning as you age and gain more experience. so even if you feel overwhelmed now, there is definite hope for the future. that's not to say the second the clock hits midnight on your 25th birthday your third eye will open and you'll automatically know what trajectory to set your life on, but i think this is important to take into consideration. your brain is still downloading! 

okay okay. neuroscience part over. this is part is all my personal conjecture.

first and foremost: what you’re experiencing is perfectly normal. in my case, i went from wanting to be apart of the journalism field, to having my heart set on script writing, then shifting that over to general creative writing, then shifting AGAIN to psychology, then once more to criminal psychology. where i am for the moment . even now i’m like what do i do ?? correctional counseling in prison systems? counseling specifically for traumatized women? working at human trafficking safehouses or sticking to volunteering ????? idk. life is confusing. 

i wouldn’t shoo those thoughts away or try to burry them, instead, i’d try maybe reframing it? like, if you try this class out and decide that it isn’t for you, that’s okay, there is still value to be gleaned from the experience. that’s how i would challenge myself to look at it at least. for example, i was tilted when i learned i needed to take math classes in college when my goal is to help people . not use the pythagorean theorem or w/e. then my academic advisor pointed out that statistics is important for psychology, since in academic papers/journals, numerical data is often present. you gotta be able to make sense of that stuff. when i looked at it from that point of view, i was slightly less tilted. at least enough to stop huffing about it. 

tl;dr: don’t beat yourself up for feeling confused over if the path you’re set on is right/wrong. there’s value to be found in every learning experience. besides, it’s not so much a “path” that you’re carving out for yourself than a stepping stone that can change direction. you’re not softlocked into any single, designated role. i’ve had friends change majors 3-4 years down the line.  

i hope this mess of a response was able to serve as some encouragement to you HJEKTGMR i’m very passionate about this problem since i myself have suffered from it and i know many people who have too . i’m wishing you the best of luck! 

[storiesofsvu]

Peach

*not my gif* No real pairings Part of Penthouse Warnings: language, SVU situations talked about, arguments, hurt/comfort, minor PTSD, previous abuse/domestic violence, use of a safe word in a non sexual situation. (it’s not as bad as you think it is, I promise…next will be major fluff….) Takes place during/after S9ep7 “Blinded” (which should let you know what’s coming next…. 👀)

Casey glanced up at the knock on her door, letting out a sigh before her eye line truly made its way up to see who her visitor was. Her head tilted when it was you at her door, rather than Picard’s lawyer, or any of the detectives.

“Hey.” You shot her a warm smile, holding up the bag in your hand, “mind if I join you?”

“You don’t have your own case to be working on?”

“Not so much.” You sighed, “the perp turned into a vic at the Kastner Centre, Sophie and I hashed out a better deal and took down the centre for misconduct and malpractice.” You dropped down into a spare chair. “Figured you might need some lunch.” You plopped the take out bag down on her desk, having already eaten yours while you were waiting for her courtroom to break.

“M’not really hungry.”

“Case…” your voice softened, “are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She at least plucked the smoothie from the drink tray, tearing open the straw. You couldn’t lie, that had been part of your strategy today, you knew when Casey didn’t want to eat, or claimed she wasn’t hungry she would at least take whatever drink you brought her.

“Maybe because you got choked out in a full courtroom like a week ago? That was triggering enough, and you didn’t come home that night, but now this case? Does it not hit a little too close to home?”

“It’s a little too late to change counsel, if that’s what you’re going for.”

“I know.” You let out a small laugh, “I just…wanted to check in…all things considered. I’ve been pretty wrapped up in my own work recently and didn’t even really realize the technicalities of this case until I heard Liv bitching about it earlier.”

“Yeah…well she’s just pissed I’m calling Elliot this afternoon instead of just using her.”

“Protect the partner over a moral or legal right…” you rolled your eyes, “don’t know why we’d expect anything different at this point.”

Casey’s phone beeped and her eyes glanced toward it as she shut the alarm off, letting out a groan as she pushed back from her desk and started to pack her things up.

“I’ve gotta get back over there.” She scooped up the smoothie, “thanks for lunch.”

“Of course.” You followed her movements in starting to leave, pausing to kiss her cheek gently, giving her arm a squeeze, “good luck.”

“Thanks.” She shot you a warm smile, “I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Yeah. Wanna try that new Thai bistro on forty-third?”

“Yes! Please!”

**

Casey had been praying that her afternoon in court, with Elliot on the stand would go a certain way, and that wasn’t the usual way that a prosecutor would hope for. But this case stabbed at her side in a way that any other didn’t. The perp was a schizophrenic who was off his meds, believing that what he had done, what had happened to those poor girls, was actually him helping his sister. Once he’d become lucid on his meds again, he’d asked to be extradited to Louisiana, where he would face the death penalty. Casey’s own history, along with her moral compass and the input from Doctor Huang all pointed in the opposite direction, that Picard should be kept in psychiatric care, not a jail cell, and certainly not get the needle.

So she threw the case.

She specifically brought up Picard’s sister, her name, and things he had said in his interview with Dr. Huang. Doing so while questioning Elliot, causing the detective to get concerned, his partner to get angry, and Picard to have an outburst that would result in the 730 hearing that deemed him incompetent of trial and this retained to a hospital in New York rather than going to die in Louisiana.

All things considered, Olivia was clearly pissed at her, shooting her daggers as she guided her nearly legally (though temporarily) blind partner out of the courtroom. Elliot wasn’t too happy either, but Casey couldn’t really give a shit about their opinions, it was her case, and how she chose to deal with it was none of their concern. She was more than aware of Judge Petrovsky’s eyes on her during her examination, there was a reason she was avoiding the older woman’s gaze the entire time. Especially after Lena had called for the end of day and the 730. Casey simply packed her things as quickly as she could and made her way out of the courtroom. She was thankful the 730 took barely any time and she was able to finish up her paperwork in peace in her office.

It was only once she got home to the Penthouse that she remembered not only how the courtroom walls leaked, but how good of friends Lena was with Liz. Casey had hoped she had avoided any work conversation by spending an extra couple of hours at Forlini’s working on paperwork before she came home, the vibe hopefully having calmed down.

Instead she rounded the corner from the elevator, dropping her carried bag on the sofa, peeling her blazer off her as she dug out her phone, beginning to flick through a few messages. She’d already replied to a couple from you, saying she wanted to come home and shower before going out for dinner, so you weren’t her prime concern. She knew you’d caught a new case that afternoon and would probably be working later than planned, meeting her at the restaurant.

“Casey?” Mary’s hesitant voice called out. Casey pocketed her phone, crossing through the room to the kitchen, surprised to see the questioning look on the brunette’s face.

“Hey. I’ve got dinner plans with y/n. What’s up?” She addressed the older woman, her gaze slightly darting between her and Liz’s back, who was plucking ice out of the freezer.

“Are you serious?” Liz replied, turning back to her with a glare on her face, her jaw tense.

“I…what?”

“Casey…” Liz chastised, pouring more than two fingers of scotch into the glass before she stashed the bottle and took a heavy swig, “did you honestly not think that the bullshit you tried in court today wouldn’t end up leaking?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Casey stood tall, defending her innocence, and Elizabeth scoffed.

“Don’t play fucking stupid! You wanted Picard to go to the loony bin instead of jail and you used Stabler to do so! Whatis wrong with you?!”

“He didn’t deserve to DIE!”

“So are you acting as his defence attorney now?! Because that’s what it looks like Casey!”

“I’m just trying to do what’s right!”

“We are civil servants! We are here to punish the perps for the crimes they commit!” Liz’s voice was raising by the moment, she barely noticed the way Casey was every so lightly backing away from the kitchen island with every word. “If you don’t believe what we are doing is the right thing maybe it’s time to change sides.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Oh really? Because last time I checked, you didn’t purposely fuck up your cases. Do you need some time off? What the fuck is going on Casey? I know you’re normally soft with the victims but being soft the the perpetrators? That’s a whole new level for you!”

“Please..stop.” The begging was clear in her voice but Liz had no patience to put up with her bullshit right now.

“Oh for fucks sake Casey!”

Liz slammed her glass down onto the kitchen island, she hadn’t realized her force, the glass shattering against the island. She let out a hiss, pulling her hand quickly away from it in an angry huff. The entire interaction missed Casey’s small whimper, the way she took another two steps backwards, the way she wrapped her arms around herself in protection. Without noticing, Liz continued her onslaught, her voice getting firmer and louder with every word.

“Stop being a fucking baby! You have to own up to your mistakes, you realize that right!? I can’t keep babying you just because of our personal relationship! You’re a fucking adult!” She started to step closer to Casey as she spoke, the younger woman starting to cower under her presence, “you need to start acting like one!” In Liz’s frustration, her hand suddenly shot a pile of coasters off the island onto the floor.

“Liz…” Casey practically whimpered. Her vision was nearly blurred, though not with tears as she felt her heart begin to race in her chest, the ache in her ribs becoming stronger with each pulse of her heart. Her throat tightened, leaving her feeling like she could barely breathe, the crushing weight of Liz’s outburst sitting on her chest. Her eyes hyper focussed on the shattered glass on the island, worrying about how she would be punished for being responsible for the broken crystal.

“Oh stop it!” She shouted in response, “what!? You only have balls when you’re in the courtroom or something? Stop playing the fucking victim just because I called you on your bullshit!”

“Peach!” Casey cried out, her head ducking as she backed into the hallway wall, her body shaking.

“What?” Liz suddenly glanced between the redhead and Mary at the utterance of their household safe word. No one had ever used the word in all the years the house had been in place, and for someone like Casey to use it in a non sexual experience, threw her for a loop.

“Please…” She did her best to hold back the cry that was fighting its way out of her throat. Her hand clasped over her mouth long enough for her to swiftly pick up her bag and vanish down the emergency stairs.

Liz scoffed, rolling her eyes as she heard the door slam shut, missing the ping from the elevator as you arrived home.

You let out a shriek as a highball glass collided with the hallway wall right in front of you while you rounded the corner into the main room.

“What the fuck?”

Liz’s head shot around to face you, concern suddenly written across her features as she took you in, hunched away from the pile of broken glass nearly at your feet.

“Sweetheart…sorry.” She ran a hand over her face with a heavy sigh, “I wasn’t trying to hit you.”

“Were you trying to hit someone else?” You raised a brow in worried suspicion.

“No.” She huffed out, briefly thanking Mary for the fresh glass of scotch, “Casey’s just on my last nerve. She can’t keep breaking rules at work and expect not to get into any trouble. Then to go running off like some kind of baby?! She’s acting ridiculous!”

“It was a hard case for her…” Mary urged, “I mean…to use the safe word like that?”

“Hold on”— you stopped the two of them, “What’d’you mean use the safe word?”

“I was giving her a piece of my mind and she clammed up before running off, completely unlike her.” Liz replied, your eyes swept through the kitchen, noticing the shattered glass on the counter.

“How many things did you break while you were yelling?”

“Just the one.” She huffed, taking a sip of her drink.

“You probably triggered her into a fucking panic attack. She was barely holding it together when I stopped in to see her at lunch.”

“Oh please.” Liz rolled her eyes, “Casey can handle a rough case. She shouldn’t have gotten so fucking soft for that psychopath.”

“You don’t know…” your voice softened as the realization shot through you, glancing toward Mary who looked just as confused as Liz did, “she never told either of you?”

“Told us what?” The brunette asked and you let out a soft sigh.

“Our last year at Harvard Casey started dating this girl Charlie…everything was fine at first, Charlie even moved back to the city with us, they got their own place. Charlie proposed, god Casey was so head over heels, I’ve never seen her so smitten.” You let out a huff of a sigh, “and then one night Casey showed up at my apartment with a black eye.”

“Oh god…” Mary uttered quietly, and you watched the frustration vanish from Liz’s face.

“Charlie’s schizophrenic…she was on and off her meds. When she was on she was usually okay, when she went off…she’d go from belittling and berating Casey for meaningless things to hitting her. Casey put up with it because she loved her, and she didn’t know what to do…she thought she could help her. It was only after Charlie landed her in the hospital for a couple of days that she finally had the guts to leave her.”

“I would never hurt her.” Liz’s voice wavered and you gave her a little nod.

“I know that. And I’m sure Casey does too, but between the Picard case and getting yelled at…she probably went right back to all those years ago…Charlie was never that soft with her, she always had to be in control, she was usually pretty cold. It’s why Casey craves so much intimacy, why she can come off so clingy…she’s constantly terrified that the person she loves the most doesn’t give a fuck about her. And….it’s why she shied away from sex crimes, why she didn’t want it.”

“What happened to Charlie?” Mary asked.

“Not sure.” You shrugged, “after she was discharged from the hospital I helped Case move, told Charlie it was over and to not come near her again if she didn’t want to get slapped with charges. Changed Casey’s phone number, hell I even moved so Charlie couldn’t show up at my place to try and track her down. As far as I know, she never went back on her meds.” You let out a sigh, pulling your phone and keys from your bag as your fingers swiftly dialled Casey’s number, “I’m…gonna go check her apartment…”

“Let us know she’s okay?” Liz asked softly and you nodded, moving back to the elevator as your phone lulled into voicemail.

*

Casey wasn’t totally sure how she’d found herself here, and she certainly wasn’t sure why she had ended up here either. It didn’t make sense for her to find comfort or solace in a place like this, yet the sight had helped bring her back to earth. Maybe it was the quiet, the still of the night aside from a slight breeze, the feel of the dirt and grass under her fingertips as she ran her hands against the ground. She felt like she’d cried herself out, though most of her tears were silent, convincing herself that what happened before wouldn’t happen again. It couldn’t. As hurtful as Liz could be with her words, she would never do something physical, especially to those she loved, and even then her words weren’t meant to cut, they were brutally honest, constructively critiquing, upholding those around her to her high standards.

Casey heard the muffled steps coming in what seemed like her direction, but they weren’t the first ones, and she was sure they wouldn’t be the last. Yet another lonely person visiting a lost loved one. So her eyes stayed on the small cross in front of her. That was of course, until she heard your voice, the cardboard tea cup intruding into her peripheral vision.

“You are one tricky person to track down, you know that?”

Her hand reached up, gently taking the cup from you, her legs falling crossed in front of her instead of tucked under her chin, how she’d been cramped for god knows how long.

“How’d you find me?”

“There’s this fun thing I’ve got access to that tracks phones…”

“Hmph.”

“May I?” You gestured to the spot beside her and she nodded, watching out of the corner of her eye as you sat, “what is this?” You asked softly.

“Charlie…”

“What?” Your brow furrowed, your cup freezing halfway to your lips as Casey let out a sigh.

“Six months ago…I got a call from the morgue. She’d be living on the streets, hit by a cab…nothing but my business card in her pocket.”

“Case…”

“I thought I could save her…”

“I know you did baby. But you needed to save yourself.” Cautiously, you reached out, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

“I used to be so fucking scared.” She sniffled, wiping at her nose with her sleeve, “I thought for sure she’d track me down, that she’d hurt me, or whoever I had moved on with, blame them for us not working out.”

Your heart ached. You knew Casey hadn’t dated at all since Charlie, the whole arrangement with Mary and Liz was so specific, and so open that she didn’t feel the same fears as giving her whole heart to one person. Part of it was that she was still so broken, that she couldn’t really trust anyone again. She’d given her entire soul to Charlie only to have it completely destroyed and almost lost her life in the progress.

“Why here?” You asked gently.

“I started coming here when I would get scared. When I thought about all the shit she put me through…to…remind myself that she can’t hurt me anymore. I used to always tell myself that. But to see her grave, to know that she’s gone, that she won’t ever be able to get to me…I know it sounds stupid…but I haven’t had a nightmare since the first time I came here.”

“It makes perfect sense.” You squeezed at her arm again, “she’s gone. And no one is going to hurt you again, I promise you. Everyone in that house loves you Case. I know it’s hard to believe sometimes, especially when Liz gets into a mood. But she never aims to hurt, she’d never lay a hand on you….she just wants to see all of us doing our best and she’s got high expectations.”

“I know.” Casey sighed, leaning her head onto your shoulder. You wrapped your arm around her, thankful that she was accepting the embrace, pressing a kiss to her head.

“They’re worried about you.”

“Did you tell them?”

“Yes.” You kissed her head lightly again, “and I hope that’s okay. But when I came home to smashed glass I was worried something got thrown in your direction.”

“It’s fine.” She shivered as the wind picked up, letting out a weary sigh.

“Baby you’re freezing…” you nudged at her, “let’s get you home.”

“I…don’t know if I want to go back to the penthouse tonight.”

“Okay. Your place or mine?”

“Your bed’s comfier.” She mumbled, “and you’ve got the bigger bath tub.”

“Mmhmm.” You let out a small laugh, “you just want to steal one of those bath bombs you love so much.”

“You still have some?”

“Yeah. Sophie bought me a new batch for helping her take down the Kastner Centre. Think she threw in some face masks too. What’d’ya say we order in some take out? Watch some South Park from the bath?”

“Sounds great.” She turned to you, eyes still rimmed with red, and a smudge of mascara, but a small smile on her lips. Smiling back at her you helped her to her feet, letting out a quiet squeak as she pulled you into a tight hug. “Thank you.”

“I’ll always have your back. You know that.”

“I got incredibly lucky the day you decided to be my friend.”

“And I got even luckier when you decided we were best friends.” You linked your arm in hers, “now c’mon. You’ve put the idea of a bubble bath in my brain and now it’s all I can think of.”

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