#Error-Proofing

[happyceostrategies]

Empowering Small Enterprises with Lean Manufacturing: Achieving Autonomy, Innovation, and Competitiveness

Unlocking autonomy through Lean manufacturing Lean Manufacturing isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about finding the best way to do things. It’s like a secret recipe that saves money, improves quality, and makes customers really happy. That means spending less, making fewer mistakes, and winning people over. Lean Manufacturing, often linked to big industries, has something for every business.…

[nappingmoon]

more domestic nanami kento because I love and adore him, but this time you’re in an argument and try to sleep on the couch (spoiler: nuh uh)

wc: idk i’m on my phone it’s not that long

you get into an argument w nanami and think he wants space so after dinner, when he heads into the room to go to bed, you stay out under the pretense of finishing some paper work and watching the news. you pull a blanket out and splay onto your couch, which, despite being a little small, is soft and comfortable— a testament to its use and the friends you've had over to break it in. the thought of those good times warms your heart a smidge, though it remains heavy with the current tension between you and your fiancé. you leave the tv on, let the night shift television shows fill the space and keep you company while you sleep, an alarm set so that tomorrow you can make breakfast and talk it out.

in the bedroom, nanami lays on his back, the small clock to his left almost mocking him with the way the red numbers change minute after minute with no sign of you coming to bed. the room is cold without your presence, dark in a way that has nothing to do with lamps or moonlight. he fidgets and turns but without your familiar dip in the bed, sleep is impossible. he never sleeps well without you; the lack of your steady breaths and soft snores means he starts to spiral with thoughts about your wellbeing. he knows you’re in an argument, but you always come to bed, right?

he sits on it for a moment more, eyeing the door to see if you’ll slip in and put his worries to rest like you always do. when the numbers blip again, he gets up, feet sliding into the silly slippers you got him for christmas (you have a matching pair) and finds his way to the living room.

when he finds you there curled up with your arm hung over the edge of the sofa and a little bit of drool spilling onto the cushion, his heart twists. the lights of the television flash over your face, certainly disrupting your sleep, though he doubts your reaching anywhere near a restful slumber. he walks over to you, slowly crouching in order to avoid scaring you awake. his right hand grabbing yours, and it’s freezing— left without the protection of your measly blanket. he warms it with one hand while the other comes up to graze your face, easing you awake.

“kento?” you ask, bleary eyed. “you’re even handsome in my dreams.” you smile and pat his face before letting your arm drop and closing your eyes once more.

a small chuckle escapes him, both in surprise and adoration at his soon to be wife. unwilling to try and wake you a second time, he quickly turns the tv off, then slides an arm around your back and another under your knees before rising. he elbows the light switch to the living room off and slowly makes his way back to your shared bedroom, carefully avoiding hitting you at any point. your head is safe regardless, tucked into his chest contentedly despite not being awake. he supposes your body recognizes him asleep or awake— a testament to the years you’ve spent side by side; once as teammates and now as lovers.

he slides you into bed on your side, fixing up the covers before making his way around to his side. he slips off his slippers and gets himself under the covers, body gravitating to you. as he brings you closer to him, you finally seem to shake off your sleep. you look at him sadly, and it’s enough to resolve him against letting any future arguments happen (an impossible sentiment, he knows, but the look on your face is makes him dead set on trying).

���never try to sleep on the couch again.” he whispers, quiet but stern. “I hate sleeping without you. I worry too much.” the honesty is almost suffocating and tears build at your waterline.

“m’ sorry kento. thought you were mad at me n’ I wanted to give you some space away from me.” you reply, the words thick with sleep and emotion.

“i’ll never need space from you baby,” he insists, “I know we were in an argument but you mean everything to me. I’ll always want you by my side. I’ll always need you by my side. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you were the reason I was upset.” he finishes off with a kiss to your forehead, his hand coming up to wipe the tears that have begun to drip down your cheeks.

he kisses down the bridge of your nose before leaving a peck at your lips. it’s the last thing you feel before giving in to the exhaustion once more.

in the morning, you’ll discuss the tensions of yesterday, but before that, you’ll wake in the arms of your lover, held tight against the rhythmic thumping of his heart.

it beats for you, anyway.

[posts-from-pluto]

Humans are strange - willing hosts? (pets)

(This is just me exploring the idea of how it would go if someone requested permission to get a dog) (ft no names again bc I can't be bothered rn)

Edit: upon rereading this in the morning I've realized that the idea was floating around my head bc the post I reblogged before this so credit for inspo to them

----

Alien: Human.

Human: Yes?

Alien: Why have you requested permission to obtain a parasite?

Human: ....I haven't????

Alien: Ooh have I perhaps been mistaken? You were not the one who requested a small lifeform of the Canis lupus familiaris classification from your home planet be brought aboard?

Human: ....What's the common name for that classification?

Alien: Domestic dog

Human: Wait yeah that was me then... but they're not parasites?

Alien: There is no need to lie to me human for I have done the research.

Alien: You poor creatures have been subjected to harrasment from these lifeforms occupying your homes for far too long and I have been lead to understand that your species does not benefit from them.

Human: .... no wait we do benefit

Alien: Some of you do, having the creatures assist you with minute tasks, but the majority those who are being subjected to their exist are in parasitic relationships simply providing them with food and housing.

Human:.... Actually they do provide a essential service to all the people housing them.

Alien: And what is that???

Human: They make us happy

Alien:.... Is this the stockhold symdrome I have heard of?

Human: What no

Human: where did you even hear about that haha

Alien: That is unimportant. What is important is that you are safe here human, there is no need to return to a parasitic relationship.

Human: No I was being serious about them making us happy

Human: well, to explain it better they generally help us be more emotionally stable which is positive for our mental health

Alien: Oh I see, I will have to ensure that no occupants aboard the ship would be harmed by sharing the space with a 'dog' first, but I may approve your request then.

[fantauno]

Sorry for remaking info sheets instead of adding the ones I said I would it will probably happen again

[love-and-war-on-cybertron]

most people ship Starscream with a reader who is just meek and one massive fawn response to being kidnapped, can i ask instead that once on the ship reader is just a MENACE? (doesnt matter who or how theyre kidnapped, theyre there now) Reader just antagonizes /everyone/ and likes to antagonistically flirt with Star? cus thats way more fun <3 (thinking of IDW/G1 but really any version of him works)

G1 Starscream is a shit, so I thought he would be the perfect match. Two petty bitches = EVERYONE else gonna suffer.

The first few days on the ship was nothing but screaming. Starscream assured them that once you had been tamed, you would stop that....

You did not stop.

The actual kidnapping had been quiet, making starscream think he picked the perfect little hostage to hold over the autobots. You would clearly cower in what ever box they kept you in, and beg to be released. Maybe even weep a little. Megatron would praise him for a job well done, and let his guard down a bit more.

You were not, however, the perfect docile hostage. You were just in shock. Once that faded away you decided to make it very clear you were unhappy about the situation. Starscream had entered the room, followed by Megatron, boasting on the fact he had captured an autobot's pet. You were mid escape, perched on the edge of the box he stuffed you in. There was silence, starring. Then you jumped on him with a screech. Clinging against the seekers metal, kicking, pounding and biting. Eventually, soundwave peeled you off him and put something heavy over the box to avoid that again.

So you started screaming. Insults peppered within the highest pitch you could reach. Your throat went raw, but it was worth watching them flinch and cover their audials. When you were hungry, you screamed, when you were woken up by their stomping around, you screamed. When they filmed a video, threatening the autobots with your well being, you were screaming in the background.

The only one you were quiet around was Megatron. His threats just felt *sincere* in the graphic detail he would give when telling you what he would do if you did not shut your trap.

When the screaming began to hurt too much, you turned to insults. Calling Megatron Bucket-head while on that hostage call had earned a laugh from the autobots and a fusion cannon to the face. Soundwave didn't know how to respond to you calling him the Dj wanna be. Starscream hurled back insult after insult till it was tit for tat. The only positive was that he wasn't hard to look at. Being around the cons more, you found them to be particular about their looks, almost as much as Sunstreaker.

Eventually you were banished to his quarters and his sole responsibility till the autobots gave them what they wanted. He sat on his berth, polishing his plating. Nothing else to do. He fed you, he let you run around (be chased by ravage) for exercise.

"Need a hand pretty boy?"

He pauses, head shooting up and fixing you with a glare, "What was that squishy?"

You grin, leaning against the glass of your temporary home. Making a vulgar gesture you repeat yourself, "Need a hand pretty boy? Looks like you could use someone to give you a few good stokes."

Starscream throws down the cloth and stands, marching over to you again, "Mind your tongue *welp*."

"Oh I think I would rather *waggle* it."

The Decepticon doesn't know how to respond to this. Your screaming he could take until he locked you in a closet till you tired out. Your insults he would just shoot back. This? He was stumped.

"Come on pretty bird, you don't want to chat?"

"Careful *pest*." Starscream hisses, "Don't make me silence you."

"Oh? Think you got something big enough to silence me?"

The autobots aren't surprised when you are returned only a couple days after being taken. But they enjoy bringing you along on future missions when Starscream is sighted.

[roystartt]

It's been a few weeks since Tommy finally cracked and went and spoke to Evan and the pair managed to actually communicate.

And the last few weeks have been heavy, lots of talking, there's been tears and mini arguments as they both valiantly tried to finally make the other understand where they were coming from. But it's been good too, they both want to make this work, extracting promises to always talk in the future before running away or jumping five steps ahead.

But there's also been quiet times where they just soak up each others presence in a way neither of them can get enough. As if they can make up for those missing months by pure osmosis.

Tonight's one of those nights where they're trying to reconnect with each other, on this journey they're on to finally get to know eachother. They'd ordered takeout and were now tangled up together on the couch whilst some romcom played on the TV in the background. Not that they're really paying attention to the TV, preferring to switch between lazy makeouts that neither are really trying to get to lead anywhere anytime soon; and just staring into each others eyes, sometimes murmering gentle conversation.

'You know,' Evan starts, when he pulls aways from another lazy kiss, 'the 118 were surprising good at never letting me know.'

This just confuses Tommy, but by now he is more than used to being behind in the conversation as he knows that whenever Evan speaks, there's a trail of mental gymnastics happening silently inside his head before he ever speaks out loud. It impresses Tommy whenever Evan explains to him all the different jumps he makes to connect two subjects. He wishes sometimes he could climb inside Evan's mind and truly experience it.

''What do you mean, sweetheart?' He probes when it doesn't seem like Evan was going to clarify.

Evan shifts a bit to lean his back against Tommy's chest and reaches for one of his hands to fiddle with his fingers. 'You know, when we were broken up, they would never let on when they had seen you. Your name went from being one of the most popular topics of conversation to basically taboo.' He elaborates with a laugh.

But his new position meant he could feel more than see Tommy freeze and tense up at his words. Evan turned his head back so he could see his boyfriend's face and frowned at the look upon it. 'What is it?'

'Evan...' Tommy started, hesitantly. 'What makes you think any of the 118 saw me when we were broken up?'

This caused Evan to fully shift back around so they were facing eachother again, he out a hand on Tommy's chest, half for balance and half to ground himself in the other man. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, I'm pretty sure I was their public enemy number one,' Tommy explained softly, bringing a hand up to stroke one of Evan's curls, 'Not that I blame them of course.'

This only caused the frown lines on Eva 's face to deepen. 'B-but you were friends with all of them before we even got together the first time. Chimney never shut up about how glad he was to properly reconnect with you past a phonecall every few years. And I basically had to share custody of you with Eddie!'

Tommy smiled softly, leaning up to press a comforting kiss against Evan's birthmark. 'That's true, but then I went and broke their brother's heart.'

'You were just trying to protect your own heart!.' Evan defended him fiercely, causing Tommy to chuckle. He loved how far they'd come in understanding and forgiving each other.

'Yes, but they didn't know that sweetheart.'

Evan deflated, sinking all of his weight onto Tommy. 'They really stopped doing things with you?'

'I would cut ties with anyone that hurt you like that too, Evan. I'm just eternally grateful that you gave me a second chance.' He leaned in to give him a proper kiss, hoping to distract Evan from the topic of conversation.

It only worked for a few seconds before Evan was shooting up, indignant all over again. 'Please say they at least texted you to check in on how you were coping?'

'Evan, I-' Tommy sighed, struggling to find the words to calm Evan down, not wanting to further incriminate their friends, but also not wanting to lie.

Evan could read what Tommy wasn't saying and before he could stop him Evan was off the couch and storming towards the door. 'Babe! Wait, where are you going?'

'I am going to give them a piece of my mind. They spent weeks eating my baked goods and telling me not to call you, and they couldn't even pick up the phone to check on you!?' Evan was practically seething at this point.

Moving quickly, Tommy met Evan at the door, stopping him from where he was angrily trying to shove on a jacket. 'Sweetheart, it's 11pm at night, I don't think waking them up from sleep to shout at them for being on your side is going to do much good. They were just trying to look out for you the best way they knew how.'

'Yeah, well who was on your side Tommy? You deserved to have someone looking out for you too.' Evan exploded, heated.

Tommy grabbed Evan by the hips and pulled him in close, hugging him until he could feel Evan start to calm. 'Well, luckily, I have you to look out for me. And I'm not going to be foolish enough to give that up ever again.'

His words were enough to finally have Evan fully relax into Tommy's arms. 'Well good, because I'm never letting you give it up again, either.' He sighed, before quietly continuing; 'I'm just disappointed that they didn't also look out for you. I thought they were better than that.'

'They're your family, Evan. They acted out of love for you, they didn't owe me anything.'

'Bullshit, you are their family now too, and they best never forget that again.' Evan grumbled, his face pressed into Tommy's neck.

Evan smiled coyly, before waggling his eyebrows, 'I did defend you pretty hard. It's going to take a lot to show me how really grateful you are.'

'How about you hold off on their lectures for now, and let me take you to bed.' Tommy proposed, tilting his head back so Evan could see his face. 'You could let me show you how grateful I am to have you as my biggest defender.'

'Hmmm, let me try,' was Tommy's reply before he took Evan's lips in his own, this kiss considerably more passionate than the ones they had been exchanging on the couch earlier on. If Tommy had his way, he'd never stop trying his best to show Evan just how eternally grateful he is to have him by his side.

[jherbo10]

I love how official the club is 😆

This is your reminder Justin can do a 150lb(68kg) dumbbell press 💪

📸:chargers

[moeblob]

Ohiwe

After Oh is split into two, their power is halved/divided. But! Other traits are not necessarily divided evenly. So she holds all the romantic love (unrequited) for Ymber. She also has the rhythm/ability to dance while the other half cannot keep a beat for the life of him.

[itissadbutitsmy-artblog]

pup gang crime list:

threw a basketball at jakes head once because he is old

htrew a strawbebby on the ground and was kicking it. it wasnt alive

pup gang punishment:

the princess speaks very nastily to them. publically.

they are not allowed to show their faces around her

also they offered to give up their rights as candy citizens and go live with lemongrab and it was not fun. its not really a punishment but everyone around them was treating it as one and they offered to take it so long as pb paid their mothers. i want to mention it.

marshmallow kid crime list:

set themselves on fire regularly to run at their enemies and then leave their melty skin on the ground

swindle over 500 dollars every day

fight the other kids off their street corners

scrape food off the ground and bring it to the charity orphanage sale

marshmallow kid punishment

camping with finn

encouragement to go to school which they accept delightedly

[serensama]

Picker Wheel Fic

Grab an OC, any OC, then spin the picker wheel three times. Now write a paragraph or three about how the OC is using those things to either kill someone or seduce them.

Warning: Keanu Reeves is on the wheel, but you’re not allowed to seduce or kill him.

Thank you @thedissonantverses for the tag lovely <3

I have the wonderful task of now creating something that contains a broken flower pot, a tampon and a broken underwire bra. Here we go then O_O (It was meant to be a blurb but then became this because I have issues, clearly. Someone send help. A brevity coach… if they exist.) ((It was meant to be about Lucanis x Rook (Lilya de Riva) but blame me for not completing my Illario smut, which actually starts similarly now I think about it hahah oops))

Rating: M-ish? (slightly nsfw?) Word count: 2.7k (sorry... let's pretend it's 3 paragraphs long).

Tagging: @rookamell @jenn2d2 @nyx-de-riva @introvertedfangrl @woundedsoul12 @pixiedurango @apothe-cary @azdesertwillow @hightowerqueen Open tag to anyone who sees this, please tag me back so I can read your work <3

---

Rook threw the door open, happy to be home after what was probably the worst day of her life. 

She had been living out of her suitcase for the last three weeks as she had been in Rivain for work, but thankfully she was going to be on a plane home in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, she realised that the last clean bra she had was her least favourite. It pinched everywhere, and the wire always tried to stab her- why the hell did she even pack it? Why did she even still have it?! Rook grumbled as she surveyed her final clean outfit and cursed her lack of planning. Her stockings had a run in them, and the garter belt she brought along was fraying- probably seen the last of its good days. Her shirt was the one that gaped at her chest, offering anyone beside her a free show if she buttoned up or left it undone. At least the evil bra looked cute; that was the one upside. 

When she went to turn her phone to airplane mode before take off, she realised she had missed a call and quickly listened to the message, it could have been from her stepfather’s doctor with news about their recent bout of tests. But no. It was her boss. Firing her via voicemail, even though she managed to secure the deal between the Nevarran Watchers and the Rivani Lords. She threw her phone back into her bag and scoffed at their “deep regrets”- yeah, they were so regretful they packed her belongings and told her that they could “be claimed from the security desk”. She groaned and readjusted her bra and shirt, when the thin bit of fabric holding back her left underwire snapped, allowing the metal to finally stab at her skin. Fantastic. 

Rook fought the urge to order every tiny bottle of alcohol the plane had.

… and to top off her run of good luck, of course, her luggage was the last one to come out on the carousel… with two missing wheels! 

Fan-fucking-tastic! 

Her right garter was unclipped, and her stocking had started to roll down her thigh; her tits were squished, and the band was starting to dig into her sides, the underwire moving and stabbing her as she held and balanced her suitcase uncomfortably throughout the terminal, otherwise, she risked scratching the floor. The one mercy she had was her ability to call the head of security, her bestie’s long-time partner- Taash, who spent 10 minutes (as the taxi fare kept running!) telling Rook how they were already looking for a new gig elsewhere after finding out what they did to her. ‘No one messed with their family like that.�� 

Rook was unsurprised to see that her office drawers had been unceremoniously thrown into a box with her favourite orchid, a bottle of aspirin sticking out from the soil, and a few of its leaves torn off by the items surrounding it. Perfect. Her mother had gifted it to celebrate her promotion the last time they were up, even though she was so disappointed that her daughter refused to join them in the family business. Her stepbrother was already running it; there was no need to worry… besides, she couldn’t imagine working with Viago. She had tried it once during university, and they almost came to physical blows. She had a company mug in her hand, ready to bash him over the head with it, and he had some window cleaner he threatened to pour down her throat. As if they weren’t already in their twenties when it happened.

She kicked her suitcase through the doorway and watched it skitter across the floor before following it and closing the door with her foot. Her handbag slid off her shoulder and fell to the floor, her shoes kicked off haphazardly as she walked through her wonderful but now outrageously-overpriced-now-she-was-unemployed apartment. She balanced the box on her hip as she opened her bedroom window to the fire escape to let in some fresh air. Rook shoved the box on the windowsill and started to remove her clothes, wanting nothing more than to slip into her oldest, most comfortable sleep shirt and curl up on her sofa to watch some trashy reality TV. Maybe order some pizza. And Chinese food. And some ice cream. 

Off came the jacket and the pencil skirt, but she took her time to unbutton her shirt, one by one as if she were in a trance. She had never been fired before… she didn’t even get the chance to fight or discuss why it was happening… that stupid company wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without her connections to begin with- 

A loud crash broke her out of her reverie, startling Rook, who jumped on the spot. She looked up and saw that her very carefully placed box of stuff had fallen into the fire escape. With a long, exasperated sigh, she shimmied out onto the landing, careful not to step on anything that may have fallen out of the box. She crouched down and let out a pathetic whine at the sight of the loose soil and broken parts of her flower pot that had covered almost everything she owned in dirt, laughing to herself when she found one loose tampon in the mix that looked entirely clean… if it were not lying on the filthy fire escape. 

“Is that you, Paloma?” 

Oh good god, no.

From below her, she could see her neighbour pop his head out of his window and try to get a better look at her. Illario Dellamorte. An infamous playboy from a rival company, but a close family friend. They had known each other since they were children, and the man still wouldn’t give up his stupid nickname for her, after seeing her at their first communion all dressed in white. It didn’t help that, in between all their years of pointless bickering, there was an undeniable attraction between them and that every time they got closer to crossing that line, something got in the way. Business. Friends. Her dating his cousin. Him dating her old university roommate. Then his cousin and her roommate got together, and for a second, they were on the same side… but it was just never… right. So they continued on with their stupid squabbles and harmless ribbing. It was tradition, it was comfort. 

But god, how she wished he wasn’t so damn handsome. 

“Yeah, Illario. It’s me.” “What was that crash? I was about to come up and check you weren’t getting robbed- thought you were getting back tomorrow?” she heard him say, his voice strained, probably from making his way out of his window and up to her. “Oh, it’s nothing,” she called back, rushing to put back all her stuff into the slightly warped box, promising herself she’d be back later to sweep up the soil after she had had some dinner. “Just a flower pot; you don’t have to come up-” 

A pair of shiny black shoes came into her view. Rook looked up his long legs to see the man with his hands in his trouser pockets looking down at her with the same smirk she always saw on his face. Damn him. White dress shirt unbuttoned to his chest and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, it was as if Lucanis or Neve had personally told him her weaknesses just to torture her. “Let me help, Paloma,” he said without his characteristic snark, before squatting down and helping to clean up the mess. “But you hate getting dirty. Even when we were in the sandbox, you complained about the sand getting on you and your clothes getting gross,” she replied, dumbfounded, watching the man pick up her dirty pens and lip balm without complaint. 

“I’ve grown up a lot since playing in the sandbox with you, Paloma,” Illario smiled at her (actually smiled. Not smirked. Or Leered. Smiled!). He wiped his hands on his expensive pants and picked up the box, nodding his head toward the window to usher her back inside. He followed her easily, Rook cursing him for looking like the perfect gentleman cat burglar as he climbed through her window. After he placed the box safely on the ground, she picked up the broken flower pot and plucked the orchid from it, tutting sadly as she brushed away the extra dirt from its roots. 

“Do you mind if I wash my hands?” “Oh, no! Just head into the bathroom- second door to the left.” Rook headed to her ensuite and plucked a vase out from under her sink, filled it with water and hoped the orchids would take to their new home… or at least survive long enough until she got her ass out to the hardware store to pick up some soil for it. She washed her hands and caught a glimpse of herself, and gasped. She was still in her unbuttoned shirt, her pretty but sadistic bra and torn-up stockings… Ilario, the bastard, had seen her like that and said nothing! Pretended everything was fine! She desperately searched for a towel or robe in the bathroom and swore at herself for doing the laundry before she left and having nothing to cover herself with. And even worse, even if she did, Illario would know that she was embarrassed by the whole thing and would tease her relentlessly about it for months to come. 

Booze. She was going to order a shit ton of booze too. 

Rook mentally slapped herself for probably flashing half of the street when she went onto her fire escape. She took in a deep breath and tried her best to soothe her anxiety with the knowledge that he had seen her in a bikini before. For all intents and purposes, he had seen her naked when their parents put her and Illario in a bath together when they were babies. The stupid photo of them proudly displayed on her mother’s dressing table- both of them with matching bubble bath “hats” grinning up at the camera. 

Then, as if she hated herself, his damned words replayed in her head- I’ve grown up a lot since playing in the sandbox with you, Paloma. By the way his muscles rippled under his fine shirt, and his suit pants stretched over the breadth of his thigh as he bent down to help her… she had to admit those days were truly long behind them. 

Illario walked back to her room and knocked on the open door, keeping up the pretence of being polite. “All done. I was about to head out the front door, but realised I didn’t have my keys with me and would have to go back out through the window. You all good here?” She nodded and thanked him and followed him to the window to close it behind him. Before she could lock it, he pushed the pane back up and leaned on the windowsill, a look of absolute incredulity painted across his face.  “Are you serious right now, Paloma?” he asked, staring into her eyes. Were his eyes always that blue? 

Focus, Rook. God damn it.

“What?” she took a step back, not wanting to be so close to him that she could feel his breath on her skin. And there was so much exposed skin for her to feel it on. 

“You’re going to let me go, looking like that, looking at me like that- without a damn word? Nothing?” She swallowed and watched as his eyes traced the lines of her throat. “What did you want me to say? I already said thank you. You want me to say it again? Thank you, Illario. Goodnight.” He huffed out with a bitter laugh and shook his head, his immaculate bun still perfectly in place. How come her hair never did that? Ah, shit focus, Rook!

“How can you let me go, when you are so obviously trying to seduce me?” Rook snorted and laughed. Seduce? Seduce him?! The arrogant, self-centered asshole. 

She leaned forward, their fingers touching on the windowsill and their noses barely an inch apart. Her dark eyes narrowed at him as she reminded herself that she shouldn’t head butt him to teach him a lesson on humility. Last thing she needed was to be carted to the ER over his shoulder, dressed as she was. “Oh yes, of course! I am trying to desperately trying to seduce Illario Dellamorte. Yes, standing here in a pile of dirt, and a box of such sexy things like gum and my loose tampons, in my worst pair of stockings and broken garter belt, in a mismatched underwear with a bra that is trying to literally stab me in the heart as we speak… yes, you’re right. Take me now, Illario. My loins are all a fucking flutter for you.” 

“About time you admitted it, Lilya.” 

He closed the distance between them and kissed her, pushing further into her room so he wasn’t crouching at her window. Her mind was racing, telling her it was a bad idea, that whatever was between them should have stayed unexplored and they were going to regret it when they ultimately broke and couldn’t look at each other again- ending over 30 years of friendship, or whatever it was they had. 

“Illario-” “Whether in the finest evening gown or my old shirt that I know you stole and still wear, you are always seducing me. Whether you mean to or not. No matter how hard I fight it, it’s always been you and me in the end. And yes… even next to a box of tampons and dirt and old, delinquent underwear- you are every bit a vision and the woman I have always lov-”

“Ow- fuck!” Illario paused, his eyebrows raised at Rook’s exclamation. She wedged her hand into her cleavage and wriggled it around before pulling out a long, curved piece of metal, sighing contentedly as she dropped the offending underwire to the ground. 

“S-sorry,” she said, offering him a sheepish smile. “I wasn’t lying when I said it was trying to stab me.” She pulled down the centre of her bra to show the angry red marks on her chest to show him. The youngest Dellamorte clucked his tongue as his eyes scanned her chest with something akin to concern, chased by a flash of hunger. “My poor Lilya,” he whispered, his eyes flicking back up to hers and holding her gaze to watch her reaction, to check for any hesitation from her at all. Finding none, Illario pressed his mouth to the sensitive flesh, dragging his lips along the line of red marks that started from just under her right breast, his thumb tugging at the cup slightly to allow him better access. Rook sighed and drew him closer to her, a new and very different type of embrace than those they had shared in the past. 

Bad idea. The worst. But Rook was really tired of pretending that she didn’t feel anything for him, lying to herself that only friendship or friendly rivalry existed between them. Weary of faking that she didn’t know that Illario had bought the apartment from the original tenant for an exorbitant price just to be able to live there when he had heard she moved out of the loft she and Neve once shared. She was over ignoring how she would go out whenever she knew he brought a new partner home, or act like she never heard him swear at her whenever she’d bring someone to stay the night. She was done trying to believe the days they would randomly meet out on the fire escape to watch the skyline, to share bits of their dinner or drinks or gossip meant nothing- the way she’d fall asleep on his shoulder and he would stay there until she woke up as he didn’t want to enter her house without her permission- until she wanted him to… 

Rook brought her left leg up onto the windowsill, Illario catching on to her silent invitation. With deft fingers, he pulled down the errant stocking, bending down to kiss the top of her thigh when he pulled her leg free from her hosiery. She pinched at the back of her bra to unclasp it, holding the damned thing up against her as her last means of cover.  

“I was just about to order dinner, Illario… would you care to join me?” 

He chuckled and grinned widely, baring his perfect white teeth like he wanted to eat her. 

… Maybe he did. 

“I thought you would never ask.” 

[mystii-gur0]

the fact that Sans Undertale is my fucking muse will never not be funny to me.

I've been into Undertale for just over four years now (which isn't a long time compared to some people but STILL) and even though I occasionally like other things (Genshin, Ninjago, TMNT, BNHA, etc.) I always end up going back to Undertale and obsessively drawing Sans.

Idk what it is about a middle aged funny bone man with clinical depression as a result of his existential dread that makes my brain go brrrrrrrr but it does.

I love him ok.

[postcrashcurly]

I don't know much about 'skin things' but I do have a little bit of information on it for those who are interested! (I hope you don't mind me using your comment). I'll be supplementing my knowledge with some research under the read more.

Skin grafting is a dermatological procedure utilized to facilitate wound closure.

We'll talk about some commonly used techniques:

1. Split-Thickness Skin Grafts (STSG) are composed of the epidermic and a superficial part of the dermis. These grafts are commonly used to cover large wounds, burns, and areas of skin loss. They are thinner than full-thickness grafts, which allows them to cover larger areas.

2. Full-Thickness Skin Grafts (FTSG) contain both the full epidermis and the dermis. These grafts are typically used for smaller wounds in areas where aesthetics and durability are essential, such as the face, hands, or neck. Since FTSGs retain the full dermal layer, they offer better cosmetic outcomes, including improved texture, pigmentation, and reduced scarring compared to split-thickness grafts. They also tend to resist contracture better, making them ideal for regions requiring flexibility. - FTSGs are more complex because they require a well-vascularized wound bed to survive and heal. - FTSGs are the most commonly used graft.

3. Composite Skin Grafts are usually small and include a combination of skin and underlying tissues, such as fat, cartilage, or muscle. These grafts are used to reconstruct areas where multiple tissue types are needed to restore both form and function, such as the nose, ears, or fingertips. - Composite skin grafts which combine allogeneic dermis and an expanded autologous epidermis can effect rapid wound closure.

It is further broken down by the following:

Permanent Skin Grafts

1. Autografts (autologous graft): skin collected from the patient 2. Isograft (syngeneic graft): skin collected from a genetically identical donor (twin)

Temporary Skin Grafts

1. Allocrafts (heterologous graft): skin from a cadaver (living donors are possible) 2. Xenograft (heterograft): skin from another species

Can be Temporary OR Permanent

1. Synthetic skin substitutes: use of manufactured skin - The only technique that is permanent is cultured epithelial autograft (CEA), which is essentially a skin graft grown from a patient's own skin cells.

NO NON-SELF TISSUE IS GUARANTEED TO COMPLETELY AVOID DEATH OR REJECTION.

Transplant Rejection: a patients immune system identifies the graft as a foreign body, which triggers an immune response to get "rid" of the tissue.

Skin implant compatibility is based on three highly polymorphic MHC genes (HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C) that encode proteins and are a part of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) system. This system identifies foreign bodies.

Knowing this, the use of modified donor animals, such as pigs, to provide transplantable organs, is gaining some renewed research. It involves excising the genes in the pig that are most responsible for the rejection reaction after transplantation. However, finding these genes and effectively removing them is a challenge.

The use of autologous skin grafts is the most common approach in the treatment of chronic wounds. However, in the case of deep and/or large wounds or with extensive severe burns, the use of autografts is limited, and either allogeneic (from cadaver) or xenogeneic skin grafts are used for transplantation.

The use of allogenic/xenogenic tissue carries a high risk of graft rejection, limiting their clinical applications.

Tissue Engineering

Advanced therapies for chronic wounds involve application of bioengineered artificial skin substitutes to overcome graft rejection as well as topical delivery of mesenchymal stem cells to reduce inflammation and accelerate the healing process.

Photo shows potentially ideal artificial skin graft:

Modern treatment includes skin tissue engineering aiming to produce bioengineered biomaterial-based artificial skin grafts. Therefore, the main roles of bioengineered skin grafts is to supply oxygen (by being oxygen permeable), keep the wound from dehydration, promote healing, and prevent infections. - Depending on the type of biomaterial used for the production of artificial skin grafts, they may function as skin equivalents providing temporary wound covers or permanent skin substitutes. - When the biomaterials are pre-seeded or have cells incorporated within their matrix, they are classified as cellular artificial skin grafts, whereas biomaterials without or deprived of cells are defined as acellular artificial skin grafts.

Here are some current commercially available synthetic skin grafts I found applicable to Curly's injuries:

Definitions for Clarity: 1. Epidermal: Pertaining to the outermost layer of the skin. 2. Cellular Content: the complex structures and biomolecules that make up cells, the smallest units of life. 3. Acellular: not consisting of, divided into, or containing cells. 4. Fibroblasts: a cell in connective tissue which produces collagen and other fibers. 5. Keratinocytes: an epidermal cell which produces keratin (a fibrous protein forming the main structural constituent of hair).

Articles to Reference

Organ Transplantation and Rejection by Libretexts biology. LINK

(CW: Images) Skin Grafting by Joseph Prohaska and Christopher Cook. LINK

A Concise Review on Tissue Engineered Artificial Skin Grafts for Chronic Wound Treatment: Can We Reconstruct Functional Skin Tissue In Vitro? by Agata Przekora LINK

Composite skin graft: frozen dermal allografts support the engraftment and expansion of autologous epidermis by E L Heck, P R Bergstresser, C R Baxter LINK

[koqabear]

reading my old writing pisses me off cause why are you talking like that !!!!!

[flutterflora]

Whenever I see people say things like "Pinkie Pie should've been a pegasus" or "Fluttershy fits earth pony more" I get a little frustrated because TO ME the mane six have always been a really good example of "societal expectations" VS "societal deviance" of the three pony species within equestria.

Earth ponies are almost always expected to be providers. Like the Apple family for example or the Cake family OR even the "flower trio". They provide necessities, often food or they often provide hard labour (note how "background" jobs like construction and taxi pulling are most often done by earth ponies too). Applejack is obviously a perfect example of this! She's the head of her family, she's extremely hard working, shes incredibly physically strong, she's known and relied on by most of Ponyvill. Applejack very much lives up to the expectations that pony society has of earth ponies.

Pinkie Pie on the other hand is not one bit concerned with hard work. Her whole thing is having fun and throwing parties. In a way she is also providing something very important and necessary, socialisation and relaxation, however these are generally not deemed as valuable as strenuous labour and food production. Pinkie Pie is always written off as "childish" or not taking things seriously enough. She isn't deemed as very reliable a lot of the time and has to work very hard to prove herself, more so than someone like Applejack.

Ponyvill was founded by earth pony farmers, and is densely populated by earth ponies. Earth ponies are expected to work hard and grow food and provide for everyone, their roles are incredibly necessary and their work is highly appreciated. However, without someone like Pinkie Pie who deviates from those expectations, Ponyvill would be a miserable place (as seen in the episode Magical Mystery Cure). She may not be a farmer or a construction worker but her divergence from earth pony "standards" is what keeps everything in balance.

The same can be said for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy too. Rainbow Dash is an exceptional athlete, she flies like no other pony and she almost always has her wits about her. At the end of the day, Rainbow Dash is truly a performer at heart, she wants to be in the Wonderbolts and show off her skills to all of Equestria. Pegasi are expected to be fast, agile, eager, always cool, proud and quick witted just like the Wonderbolts, and just like Rainbow Dash. She is a peak performance pegasus.

Fluttershy is Rainbows exact opposite. She doesn't care for speed, adventure or displays of athleticism, she truly doesn't even care for flying. She is, in both a literal and metaphorical way, very "down to earth", however her role is still very important and her being a pegasus is still very integral to who she is. If it weren't for her experiences of being ostracised for being different she would never have the empathy and dedication to her animals the way she does (and on more practical note, being able to fly does aid her in her work a lot the time). Fluttershy slows down, she's quiet and she gentle which something that other pegasi (and earth ponies honestly) struggle with. It was alway right for Fluttershy to be a pegasus who could soar the skies, because if she never fell down to earth she would have never found her true calling. Without ponies like her, many important things, creatures and events would go unnoticed and unchecked.

Rarity and Twilight Sparkle is kind of a funny one because I think a lot of people may expect Twilight to be the prime example of unicorns, but that's not really true at all. Twilight, despite being our mane character, is actually the deviant one here.

This is illustrated for us almost immediately in the first episode, where she's invited to a party by three other unicorns but ditches it to go study instead. Magic is merely a tool for most unicorns, but for ponies like Twilight or Starlight, it is their whole existence, it's what they were quite literally born to do. Twilight does not value social status at all, she doesn't have time to and growing up so stuck in her studies I'm not even sure she aware that it's such a big deal to others, especially within Canterlot. It's also worth noting that to Twilight, Princess Celestia was always her teacher and Princess Cadence was her babysitter so their status as royals never really mattered to her and she's able to see them more are regular ponies for that reason also.

Most Unicorns are socialites, they value "social currency" and monetary gain more than they value magic. They don't care that the Princesses are very powerful magically, they care more about their political powers and their social status as royals. We see this clearly in the season 2 episode "Sweet and Elite" where Rarity gets swept up on the high society life of Canterlot, when she mentions being from Ponyvill to two random snobby unicorns they look down on her, yet once it's revealed that she's staying at the castle for her visit, things change, mostly notably: her status. Rarity is a prime example of a unicorn, she's stylish, she's ambitious, she's concerned with image, she's social, she has very fine tastes and she's a businesswoman.

As the series progresses we she both Twilight and Rarity gain some fame. Twilight is mostly inconvenienced and troubled by this whereas Rarity, like most unicorns would, relishes in any sort of limelight. Unicorns are expected to be professional, they're most often more modern or "ahead of the curve" than other ponies and tend they to be the primary business owners of Equestria. However without ponies like Twilight, magic would become just an afterthought. Without powerful wizards like Starswirl, dedicated students like Subburt or magic obsessed freaks (affectionate) like Twilight Sparkle, pony society would crumble.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity are prime examples of what is expected of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns, respectively, in Equestrian society. However without ponies like Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle there would be no balance and no progression. In fact in the episode "Hearts Warming Eve" we literally get canon lore telling us that if it wasn't for three ponies who deviated from the rules and expectations of their respective tribes, that Equestria wouldn't even exist today.

I think the mane six are a great small scale example of how pony society functions and I really appreciate this aspect of the writing <3

[trashremover]

Okay let's go through the moments of the episode:

First scene: buck gets hurt ,is taken to the hospital tommy hears about it and comes immediately after his shift which could have be a 24/72 we don't know but since it was Halloween we know it was hectic based on previous episode Halloween lore, that means this man is tired but immediately goes to the hospital because you know BOYFRIEND HURT. He goes to see BOYFRIEND and BOYFRIEND is talking about curses which is doesn't believe in and buck being buck will try to convince him of it , so the whole drive back to the apartment after getting discharged would definitely be filled with buck talking about billy boil, Halloween and curses, which would continue all through dinner ( takeout because tired and injured) and continued to him getting his hands on his laptop to research and tommy is just like hmm( because he tried at the beginning to argue with logic but it didn't work and has now given up and is just listening).

Second scene: buck is still on his research bing and tommy has tried to make him go to sleep to no avail, so has decided to make is BOYFRIEND is comfortable before just going to sleep because this man is still tired. Now this is the part that gets me HE SLEEPS ON THE COUCH, I mean this man is not small , has had a probably hectic shift but sleeps on the small couch to keep his boyfriend company with a blanket that barely covers him after which,

Scene three: he wakes early probably with a aching back to make his BOYFRIEND breakfast, which goes to hell because his BOYFRIEND has woken up with boils on his face and now buck is probably back to square one with spiraling,so tommy calls Eddie ( with buck still info dumping about curses, goes to take a shower while waiting for Eddie ( with buck still explaining probably seated on the toilet) because he has a shift to get to, oh and this proves tommy has a drawer at buck's place.

Scene four: Eddie comes they do the check up, they make Eddie -tommy brand jokes , tommy goes to work, buck remains doing more research in how to break the curse, the boils become worse, goes to work, and boom something else comes up

Scene five: and again this man has to leave his shift and go to the hospital for the second time in barely a 24 hour time frame without rest to keep his friends and BOYFRIEND company for hours because a broken leg and internal bleeding can't be fixed in a few minutes ( where he finds out he is not in the group chat 😭 but that's for another time) during which this guy is still giving buck heart eyes despite the boils on his face ,when his best friend couldn't even look at him. His BOYFRIEND then get a realization about breaking the curse which did I say he doesn't believe in and decides to hold a funeral for a 200 hundred years old mummy because this guy loves his BOYFRIEND he goes home gets his suit, presses it, wears it goes to pick said BOYFRIEND and takes him to the burial site and this is with him running on couch sleep for something he doesn't believe is real( but his BOYFRIEND believes so he does all that anyway)

Scene six: they get there and his BOYFRIEND delivers a heart touching speech that makes him love him a little more and makes everything that he had to do in a DAY AND A HALF worth it and our boy who doesn't believe in curses after his BOYFRIEND is out of hear shot half pleads and threatens ( That's how I saw that scene seemed to me😂) for the mummy to lift the curse.

Okay now tell me how is that not true love

How is that being dismissive and not affectionate

The point is it's no longer being delusional and just burying your head in the sand and refusing to see what's right in front of you.

[zooophagous]

Good thing I ordered a limited run of only 5 Hamster Mortis copies because despite proof reading it ten times at LEAST I noticed a mistake on the second to last page.

Physical copies will be a bit later to land than anticipated. However the good news is the art looks great and translated very well to print, so we're good to go on that front.