#I should probably age them up at some point so we can see what they look like as adult cats

[baejax-the-great]

One Last Drink

“Well, here we are old friend.”

Varric takes one cup out of his pack, then another. He plonks each down on the creepy green stone he supposes he’ll be seeing a lot more of in the coming days and pours in some brandy from his flask.

He raises his cup aloft and says, “I always wanted to have one last drink with you.”

This is a lie. But then Varric is a liar. Hawke would forgive him for it.

He didn’t want to have one last drink with Hawke—he wanted a hundred more drinks with Hawke, a thousand. He wanted to sit around with her in their old age with creaky knees and white hair drinking mead and shouting over the table because their ears were both shot. He wanted to slide into old age listening to her sass all those heroes that have followed in her footsteps. He wanted to see her wielding a cane in a bar fight.

But this—this is what he has.

He taps the rim of his cup to Hawke's. The brandy goes down burning.

“You know, I somehow doubt drinking in the Fade will make it any better,” he says. “Seems like the place you’d probably want to be sober for.”

His ears strain. Was that a whisper somewhere? The Fade is weird. Maybe he’ll get a response. What would Hawke say, anyway?

Isn’t the end of the world a good enough occasion for you?

Something like that. Light tone of voice, half twisted smile at the end, she’d clink her cup to his and take a swig, maybe point out that if the Fade is now leaking into everywhere, then anywhere is as good a place to sit and drink with a friend.

“This new generation,” he says, “They’re something. They grew up hungry for a fight. Fearless. They saw the sky explode as kids. They’ve known something was wrong their entire lives. But then, I guess you also were forged in the crucible of apocalyptic disaster.”

Lothering wasn’t that bad.

This she’d say with an artful quirk of her eyebrow before letting her smile take over her face.

Varric fills his cup again. He’s played this game before, become the author of who Hawke would be if she was still anyone. He can hear her voice in his head so clearly, but for years he’s had that creeping doubt that her voice is actually just his. It’s been ten years after all.

He doesn’t know why he thought the Fade might do something nice for once. Solas always talked about those friendly spirits, but it looks like one can’t be assed to channel Hawke for Varric.

“These Veil Jumpers—out of their minds. You know they come here on purpose? Reminds me of you and all those damn caves you dragged us into, except the caves didn’t shift around while we weren’t paying attention. Similar number of demons, though.”

Not by the time I got done with them.

“They told me that right here, right where we are? That’s a fixed point. A landmark.”

“Creepy, isn’t it?” Bellara had said when Varric stopped in his tracks on seeing the statue. “She always seems to be pointed toward an exit, though, so we’re always on the lookout for her. We call her Macabre Martha.”

I’ve been called worse and you know it. You wrote all those names down in your book—you know them better than I do. Not to mention the atrocious name my own mother gave me.

Varric pats the foot of the statue next to him.

“Should I tell them who you are?”

That question he has not been able to answer for her. He looks up the silent statue, Hawke, caught in the moment a spider’s claw pierced her chest, her mouth open, her eyes wide in horror, both woman and spider leg petrified together.

He somehow thought in this place, in this warped reality, if he summoned her up in his mind, maybe she’d still be here. Maybe she’d speak to him. Maybe he could get her to look less scared.

This isn't how she'd want anyone to remember her.

“Never thought I’d see a statue of you worse than the one we put down by the docks.”

Varric pushes himself to his feet. He puts a hand on her arm as if to comfort her in the last frozen moment of her life. He thinks maybe this time the stone will crumble under his hands and reveal her, still fighting, still able to be saved, still ready with a joke.

This? Minor flesh wound. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve been impaled.

It’s just stone under his hand. Stone, and half his heart stuck in this awful place for the rest of time.

He picks up Hawke’s cup and drinks that, too. He places the half-full flask at her feet in case she ever gets thirsty.  

“So long, old friend.” He gives her one last squeeze on the arm, then shuffles off in the direction of her terrified expression. The next generation of adventurers awaits, and Varric isn’t so quick these days.

The susurrations of the Fade are all that answers him, but he still calls her voice to mind. So long, Varric.

[numericalbridge]

This is more of a first draft for a serious meta post i am planning to write, but since it would take me a few weeks (and the proper post will have screenshots, etc) i just wanted to address the popular fanon that Hunter had to prove himself for Darius to start to care about him/that Darius' care was conditional and he was just same as Belos.

And i feel like that notion just completely ignores the scene just after Darius collects the Emerald Entrails to his Blimp. And, yes, i will never shut up about that scene because that's my favourite Darius scene and - completely regardless of Darius and Hunter's relationship - showed that Darius had his own morals independent of the Coven expansionism and propaganda, and in this way that scene was clearly very intentional. There was no point for Darius to lie to manipulate Hunter, as some people had thought, since that wasn't what Hunter would want to hear/be asked about, so we can assume Darius was sincere.

And... Darius looked stern and strict and disappointed, not mean-spirited, not gloating about being proven right about Hunter - and if the fanon verison of Darius and Hunter's relationship was correct then in this, very intentional scene there was the perfect opportunity for that kind of reaction. And it was the first time we saw Darius as completely serious, without playing, and serious and stern in a very quite way. Same with the scene when they talk on the crow phone where Darius is complaining but, again, is not meanspirited or agressive, but since that scene is more comedic it might not have been that intentional. Back to the Blimp scene - as other people had said, if Darius truly didn't care or hated Hunter there would be no point for him to look disappointed.

And i don't mean he would care about Hunter in a very personal manner at this point, but as i see it he probably realized he had fucked up after the crow call (my headcanon-y interpretation of Darius' way of thinking in ASIAS here) and at the Blimp scene he saw that even if Hunter was a spoiled prince the kid clearly had problems. And thus Darius even nudged him in the direction of thinking for himself by just asking back whether this was something Hunter should be proud off. Yes, it might not be super gentle, but it is a far cry from what fandom usually sees in Darius' reactions. So with all this in mind, it seems like even if Hunter didn't change his mind, Darius still would have some notion of care to be disappointed and sad over this, and, imo, it would have set him towards more compassion or at least understanding towards Hunter even if Hunter didn't help his friends.

(and btw, nothing points towards Darius seeing Hunter as anything but the spoiled royality since there is a huge difference between a child soldier and a relative of the emperor assuming an important position at a young-ish age; and the Coven Heads are not even some inner court to be privy to the Emperor's life since he wouldn't allow witches to be this close. And even in their first scene while Darius was mean initially - especially with the cloak - it wasn't anything that s1 Eda wouldn't say, and we didn't even get to see how the cloak scene would've ended if Darius wasn't set off by his mentor's sigil).

And the thing is, sure there might be unfortunate implications with the way ASIAS ends, just as there are unfortunate implications with how 8 years old King was the one reaching out towards Eda with 'no more lies' while she barely had to apologize. And in the same way as King's development and choices are prioritized because the target audience is meant to relate to him and understand him more, i think the same happens with ASIAS. Yes, it is important to show that the adults shouldn't mistreat Hunter, but for a 10 years old watching it it is also important to show that, no matter how sympathetic the backstory, a 16 years old shouldn't push you to do something you don't want. So Hunter makes mistakes, learns from them and then gets rewarded by a nearest adult figure. It is a standart cartoon structure, and sure, it also shouldn't be free of criticism, but just not via demonizing and bad faith interpretations of Darius and only Darius.

And even in that scene, i feel like it is notable that Darius says 'make your predecessorS proud'. If Darius' care about Hunter was truly just conditional or if there was no intention to that scene, it would've been easy to say 'predecessor' or 'the previous golden guard' since that's who Darius cared about and in the beginning unfairly compared Hunter to, that's what the audience remembers, but Darius doesn't seem to have any connection to other golden guards, it is Hunter who cares about them and their legacy, so this, if intentional, also points towards Darius already realizing his mistakes and trying to just genuinely encourage Hunter.

And i feel like you need to look at the episode and Darius' character as a whole rather than focusing on only 2 scenes to decide whether there was the intention to paint him the way fanon sees him or not. And even if it is how the show intended us to see Darius - then maybe the fandom should examine this writing choice in the context of how the show prioritizes white and light skinned characters and their development, and how the show treats black characters, and why Darius is the one who wouldn't get a proper resolution or a way to verbalise his thoughts and opinions while Alador or Gwen or even Steve are allowed to do it.

[victorluvsalice]

We've hit Fall Saturday in the Chill Save, and instead of more store times today, we instead have a party! Because Smiler needs to have more parties, and I wanted the specific rewards you got from this specific party. :D However, before we had party times, we had to get through a few things --

-->Firstly, Victor had to discharge again upon waking up -- wouldn't be good if he magically exploded during the party! He and Alice hung out with the cats for a little bit -- Victor getting a song from one of the kittens by the phonograph (as said kittens are very Talkative) and Alice giving Kelly some time with the laser pointer -- then I sent Victor to the mirror to make an important change. Not to his wardrobe --

But to his, and everyone else's, last names. I THOUGHT I might have to go into "Manage Worlds" to change this, but as it turns out, you can update a Sim's name right from the mirror. So everyone in the household is now surnamed "Van Liddelton," like their grocery store! :D I was very happy to be able to do that -- while I wasn't exactly UPSET with them all ending up with the last name "Always" from the web of weddings we've had in this save, I genuinely prefer being able to give them a name that reflects all of them. :)

-->With THAT sorted, it was time to get to chores! Smiler set up the party, then popped into the greenhouse to make some sadness alleviation lotion before heading back to their robotics bench to tune up Bugs and Elmer. Alice spent a little more time slathering Kelly with love (gotta make sure mama cat is content), then headed to the computer to start a new Playful book ("What's One And One And One And," a book on Wonderland mathematics -- think those Wayside School math puzzle books), and Victor bought a bunch of dyes and started making more candles to put in the store later -- before getting distracted by Shadow wanting some attention. Victor felt the love from the dog, then decided to continue "Play Dead" training. As you can see, Shadow's got it down pat! :) Good girl, Shadow!

[pallases]

guys im actually really nervous abt taking an english class next semester 😭 im so out of practice i feel like stem has rotted my brain*

[feminist-space]

Cat in the Hat:

"The German Health Minister gave an important update on the Covid situation yesterday.

I’ve written up the section of his speech from the video below for easy reading.

It’s immensely refreshing to see a government minister warning of the harms of Covid in such a transparent way."

https://x.com/_catinthehat/status/1732092683508678954

Prof. Karl Lauterbach

Health Minister, Germany

4 December 2023

"This second (long Covid) round table was very interesting, lasting three and a half hours. It serves as a unique forum for dialogue among scientists, researchers and those affected by long Covid, facilitating the exchange of ideas.

There are many new findings about long Covid. Not all of them are good news. One piece of not-so-good news concerns the fact that long Covid is actually still a problem for those who are newly infected. One estimate that has been put forward is that the risk of contracting long Covid now, even after vaccination, is around 3%. Now you may say, "that's not such a big risk" , but there are tens of thousands of people who are repeatedly affected in a short period of time. And so, the long Covid problem has not yet been solved.

We have also established that there really are many subgroups of long Covid and that we do not yet have a cure. And it was clearly pointed out that we are also dealing with problems here that will challenge society as a whole, because vascular diseases often occur after long Covid. Throughout Europe, we are currently seeing an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease in the middle-age group - from 25 to 50. This is associated with the consequences of Covid infections.

We also very often find cognitive impairment in older people. And one participant pointed out that it may well be like the Spanish flu, where 20 years after the Spanish flu there was a significant increase in Parkinson's disease and probably also dementia.

This is something we must pay attention to, as the past infection afiects how the immune system in the brain functions, as well as the brain's blood vessels, potentially increasing the long-term risk of these major neurodegenerative diseases. This is why we need to conduct very intensive research. This research has played a major role.

What is the overall assessment of the situation now?

We have to be careful. Long Covid is not curable at the moment. We also know that over 40% of those who have several manifestations of long Covid, for example, five or more, still have symptoms after 2 years, so it doesn't seem to heal spontaneously. We also know that those whose symptoms are more pronounced at the beginning are less likely to heal.

So some of what we know from the demographics of long Covid has been confirmed, and we now know more precisely which mechanisms in the brain, but also in the blood vessels and the immune system, are responsible for this. Professor Scheibenbogan will explain this briefly later.

At this point, I can only say the following - this is particularly important to me:

First of all, long Covid is a disease that stays with us and that we cannot yet cure. And we are seeing an increasing number of cases as the waves of infection continue to affect us.

Secondly, Covid is not a cold - with a cold, you don't usually see any long-term effects. You don't see any changes in the blood vessels. You don't usually see an autoimmune disease developing. You also don't usually see neurological inflammation - these are all things that we see with long Covid. Therefore, one should not assume that Covid infection is just a common cold. It can affect brain tissue and the vascular system, and we still lack an effective treatment, making these studies crucial.

Significantly, we know that the risk of long Covid decreases when you're infected but have been vaccinated. That's why it's concerning that only 3 million people have been vaccinated with the new, adapted vaccine. That is a very bad result.

Please protect yourself from severe infections.

Please protect yourself from long Covid.

Currently, the danger posed by Covid is indeed being underestimated. Nothing is worse than infecting someone at Christmas who then becomes seriously ill and may not fully recover."

Alt text is included in all images of this post.

[stubz]

Injuries and a ship invasion, no one dies

"Why do they let humans take care of our younglings? If it hadn't been for the coalition then it would've been another century till they realize our existence. Their senses have dulled to the point where its laughable that they are the dominating species of their planet. And lets not forget the fact that they're at constant war with each other over the most stupidest things, color of skin, where one lives, who they love, what they believe, etc."

"Calis stop it! Your being a xenophobe. And while some of that is true you should know by now that the humans care deeply for our children."

"I am simply being concerned parent who worries for their young's safety and well-being...we are in a dangerous area right now, the middle of a war zone, and it would make me feel safer if we had some others at the care centre till reinforcements arrive."

"Trust me my brightest, the humans will do everything they can to ensure the safety of our Dali...and knowing them they'll likely surprise you and live up to their reputation."

"...fine, fine, I apologize, you are right. The humans have surprised me so far, what's one more?"

.

..

...

....

"WHERE IS DALI?! WHERE IS MY YOUNGLING CAPTAIN!"

"Calis calm down! Your arm!"

"NO! YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN ENEMY FORCES HAVE INVADED OUR SHIP AND NONE OF US CAN FIND OUR YOUNG!!"

"Calis, your hurt and so is your partner. Think of Gala, they need you right now."

"...Gala is hurt because they were looking for Dali. They got shot because they were heading to the centre...I have to find Dali. For Gala, Captain."

"I'm sure that Kim and Max are doing everything they can to keep them safe."

"With all do respect Captain, how could 2 unarmed humans survive what our force couldn't."

"...I don't know but its probably going to be one hell of a story we'll be telling for the ages. Now go get your arm treated. That's an order."

.

..

...

....

"WE FOUND THEM!"

"CAPTAIN WE FOUND THE YOUNGLINGS!"

"WE NEED A CRANK AND SEND EVERY AVAILABLE MEDIC!"

"oh great stars please no...nonononono DALI!" the Delzah rushed forward, breaking through the search party, only to be stopped by their captain.

"Calis...you have to let them do their job. We, we just have to hope." he could not help the hitch in his breath. Hoping, praying, that his own child was okay underneath the wreckage that was once the youngling care centre.

They fight and thrash until eventually grief overtakes them. They collapse into the captain's arms wailing.

"...what hope do I have that my child is alive under all that rubble. Captain...the only hope I have is that they died quick and that they are with the stars now..."

"Oh Calis..." he sobs. He knows it. There was hardly a chance that anyone was still alive underneath there. Only the strongest younglings who were from a strong species may survive and his child was not one of those few. They were strong but his child was like him...a runt, the joke of the family. Too small, too weak, too soft. She was surely dead...why couldn't it have been him?

"MAPA!"

"PAPA!"

One by one, children emerge from an opening made in the rubble, and at the front of them was Dali and a small feline like child.

"my glorious star" flinging themself from the Captain Calis dragged themself to meet Dali who leaped into their Mapa's arms.

The captain was not too far behind, running to his daughter and cradling her close. Words were not exchanged but Calis could feel the vibrations coming from their purrs.

"See...I told you they would be waiting..."

last to emerge from the rubble was the humans, carried out on stretchers. Only one was conscious. Glass glittered from their skin, dirt and dust blended with vibrant red blood, staining their white bandages, and a rebar was poking out of the unconscious one's side.

"You...got everyone right?"

"Yes, human Max."

"Good...that's good..." and finally did they lose consciousness.

.

..

...

....

"Apparently they covered the windows and hid the kids in the storage room, putting them to the farthest corner while they formed a human wall in front of the door.

When those quiznaking bastards couldn't break down the door they rigged the centre with explosives. Lucky for us the humans personally requested that the storage room be made durable for the equivalent of their disasters on earth so it held up decently well."

"But how did they get so injured?"

"Decently well, meaning the room wasn't completely stable. Eventually the walls started to give and the humans had to improvise by becoming the new pillars. They took shifts until they both had to hold up the weight for what the kids guess to be 3 hours...imagine holding up all of that weight until you were on your hands and knees with rebars, broken glass, and debris piercing into your body."

"...Gala said that Human Max nearly flatlined and Human Kim needed 2 liters of blood."

"You seem confused."

"...Humans are impressive but how did they do all of that? They were already injured and yet managed to hold up a collapsed ceiling for hours until help arrived, I thought they were completely average and even weaker than us."

"Apparently when their loved ones, especially children, are in danger they tap into their more primal instincts. Allowing them to withstand a shot to the side, a slab of concrete to the head, and hours of keeping a ceiling from collapsing until they know everyone is safe.

Heard a story of a human who died only after he saw his kids was safe from a fire."

"Looks like Gala was right. Humans have surprised me once again."

[numberonetrashwitch]

Some observations about Baldurs Gate 3 that hit too close to home.

After another few runs i will probably just make an in-Depth Character Analysis for every character simply because they are good reflections of actual trauma-manifestations and how abuse can manifest in people. They are also so well written that it serves a narrative purpose to explore all the material that is out there about them. I am also personally cursed with actual medically-relevant levels of Empathy and Hyperfixation; so writing this helps me put a pin in it and move on.

But so far here are my highlights

(SPOILERS and obviously content warning bc these are deep)

before you ask; i have almost 300h in this game.

You have to convince Shadowheart to eat the Noblestalk. She actually stells you she rather get her memories back from Shar but when you hit the persuasion or intimidation (what the fuck) check to get her to eat it she'll tell you about her childhood friend. Not her name, not her parents but her best firend. Possibly because she has had a closer bond to that person after being abducted and indoctrinated. With her believing herself to be an orphan, she would've looked elsewhere for comfort and sought out her own family, this is why she falls hard and heavy for Shar and builds the backbone of her indoctrination. She is literally ripped out of her home & given a new identity to server her from all she has known. Religious indoctrination, Gaslighting, Abduction, being forced to let go of your personality are her main themes.

There is a scene out there floating around in which you see Astarions pespective of the night when he bites Tav for the first time, in his meditations he is confronted with the rules Cazador put on him, including that he can't eat intelligent creatures, can't be away from Cazador unless allowed to, has to obey every command and that they are should know that they are property. Which in turn means that Astarion literally didn't just have any autonomy, he was objectified (and not just through seductive/sexual measures) and that is really the crux to understanding why he doesn't believe in kindness, but rather shows self-serving behavior in most cases. Since we know that Astarion was extremely young for an elf before he died and became immortal (literally stopping the aging /maturing process) it is also very telling that Cazador constantly calls him brat, boy or other very juvanile names, refering to them as a family... well it is also the story of a very controlling parent. Themes of (Bodily) autonomy, infantilization ( & puer aeternus, forever-child), slavery, depersonalisation, corruption of life and torture to break someone.

Gale isn't just a guy hung up on his Ex, but also a victim of abuse. In this case a power imbalance none of us can fathom; She is described as being a jealous goddess and rules over the domain of mysteries and magic. So with Gale being a Wizard, she is literally his boss. He admits that he was foolish enough to aspire to be an equal to her, but she is so jealous that she tells him he can't really be worthy as long as he takes breath. She could just take his powers away and be done with it, that would be more than enough punishment for a guy who literally made Mystra and her domain his life's purpose, but she rather makes him do it himself. Add to that, that she literally only tells him this after years of self-isolation (after he put down so many wards that he could've blown up a whole army as he says if you click the right dialogue) to really fuck him up well. He also talks about death pretty much constantly, not surprising giving your situation, but he will tell you that he will kill himself at several points in the game, for instance after he comes clear about his nethrese orb. Themes of romantic abuse, power-imbalance, toxic work enviorment, self-isolating behavior, suicidal ideation

Wyll ... well from the looks of it he is the most well adjusted of all the companions (my opinion) but he has something that i'd describe as the "eldest daughter"-syndrome, more commonly known as parentification. This pattern usually occurs within single-household parents and is commonly described as a parent looking to their child for emotional or practical support, rather than providing it to their kid. We meet Ulder and see that he talks over Wyll a lot, not listening but expecting him to follow the standard he sets for him. That is also why Wyll repeats his fathers words like gospel (because this is what, in his mind, fullfills the expectations bestowed upon him) and why he loves fairytales / bard tales so much (because they are an ecapist view of the job he set out to do) Ulder literally exiled his teenage son because Wyll did the only thing he could to save an entire city, by sacrificing himself. Thats a lot to expect from a 17 year old - even more so, he doesn't stop with the heroics. He expects himself, as a human who hasn't even reached the age of 30 to hold up to mystical creatures such as Astarion or Karlach, or even Gale who is a accomplished Wizard. Themes of parentification, escapism, self-harming through putting himself in danger, chronic-self-sacrifice

In plain words; Gortash, Karlach's Idol sold her to a Devil. But add to that that she must have been pretty young when she was sold (late teens to early twenties possibly) and being that if you play as a Tiefling, you face a lot of predjudice she was likely forced into that position as well. Starstruck she was, with a juvenile naitivy that Gortash used. Appropriately, as he is the chosen of Bane the god of "tyrannical oppression, terror, and hate, known across Faerûn as the face of pure evil through malevolent despotism" (Source: Forgotten-Realms Wiki / Bane) So she pretty much was raised in a toxic enviorment, which forced her to become a killing-machine, first figuretively, then with the extraction of her heart, literally. Themes of slavery, oppression, misuse of trust, being taken advantage by a more powerful/older(?) person, being drafted.

Jaheira - to be honest, you need to know the lore of the previous baldurs gate games or just listen to her dialouge, ask her all the questions. She is a war-veteran against Bhaal, the good of ritual murder, and has a long history of fighting to achieve some sort of balance of power. She lost her husband and several close people all to this, or any other war, but due to her wisdom and strength people look to her for guidance. Themes of: Survivors Guilt.

Halsin - he is really closed off at first but then just casually hits you with "i was captured in the underdark and spent 3 years chained to a bedroom wall by a pair of drows who used me as they pleased". He is reprimanded by some of his druids for leaving the grove as soon as opportunity struck, just to get back and leave the next day, and if you talk to him about his position in the grove he is actually very forthcomming. He actively holds himself back; indulging in simple hobbies because he knows what lies within his heart. He is afraid of himself and his potential (canonnically he can't control his wildshape, which is very weird for an ARCH-druid) Themes of: impostor syndrome, avoidant-based self-harm, sexual opression, loss of control, emotional regulation.

Lae'zel is a very tragic case, and one that closely resembles the stories of Shadowheart and Karlach. Her entire existence is based upon a matriachial war society allowing her to live if she proves she can be of use and that in a culture which only values brutality, dominance & service. All of that culimating in her finding out that her oh-so-beloved Queen is actually just an imposter, and that everything she has lived for up to that point is merely political propaganda created to make her, and the rest of her entire species, willing pawns in a war that has no longer bearing on their survival alone, but is fought to justify Vlaakith's (the reigning monarchs) personal ambitions. Not only is she forced to reconcile that she is turned into the thing that controlled her kind for hundreds of years, that the only cure she knows of would kill her and then on top of that, that her hopes and dreams were lies and that she is now the Nr 1 enemy of the person she has served with all her being. themes of: oppression, propaganda, casual violence, objectification, child-warfare, eternal warfare

Minthara in short, her story is about being shamed for growing up in the same scenario that Lae'zel grew up in. Lolth, the god of the Lolth-sworn drows is a crazy queen who values scheming & backstabbing so much and is so volatile that you can't know what to expect of your deeds (and i mean it; there were people who were appraised by her for scheming against her, but also those who were killed. It's almost random.) She considers Lolth to be cruel and abandoned her for the Absolute, only to then be used and abused the same way Lae'zel has. Not with promises, but erasing her memory and exposing her perceived weakness. Themes of: casual violence, violent culture, her own ambition colliding with her desire to be safe, being a pawn in a larger game.

[arcticzuko]

Spy x Family Ch 96 spoilers

Seeing people complain about Anya telling Damian that she can read minds before Loid/Yor is so mind boggling to me. Because even if we ignore the fact that Anya is scared of being abandoned by Loid and Yor if she tells them the truth, or the fact that Damian is someone her age/a peer, and it's common for kids to feel like it's easier to tell things to their peers then to their parents... even if we ignore all that, it was ALWAYS going to Damian. I feel like Endo has been hinting that for a long time. It's a recurring theme/gag that Damian questions if Anya can read minds... and I feel like Endo has also been building up the fact that Anya and Damian actually are in pretty similar situations... they both want to impress their father/make their father proud.

LIKE THIS PANEL... Anya isn't mind reading here. There are no sparkles around her head. She didnt need to mind read! She KNOWS that Damian loves his father!

And there have been many moments in which she seems to show some reflection/thought after hearing Damians thoughts about his father (like during the dodge ball game, or her apologizing when they were making their paper animals)

ALSO THIS SCENE...

Here Anya literally says she doesn't even know if Loid likes her, because he's so hard to understand. But she loves him, and believes in him. Isn't that EXACTLY what Damian is going through right now?

Perhaps people didn't completely register all these small moments bc of the gag/jokey vibe Damian and Anya moments have, but I feel like it's ALWAYS been there that Anya maybe relates to Damian in this way, which is why she has her moments where she tries to be kind to him.

Also I want to point out that, in a LOT of pivotal moments, Endo DOESNT tell us what Anya is thinking. Instead we have to guess or theorize... and we know that when Anya is doing a sobered up/serious expression, we should definitely pay attention. (Some random panels below to show u what I mean).

And in this panel, I feel like Endo is doing something similar... I mean look at Anya's expression!

So I feel like in this moment, where Damian is being honest, and kind, and true to himself-- it makes Anya want to be truthful too. And I don't think it came out of nowhere. I mean I was surprised LOL but I never thought it didn't make sense for this to happen.

I think people forget that Anya is probably the character we know the least about, and that a lot of her more "serious" thoughts are usually kept from us, but that doesn't mean she's not... thinking serious things lol!!

Anyway this was a long rant and idek if it made sense but if you got this far thanks for reading lol

[scientia-rex]

Saw a patient today who had been through a series of medical visits that epitomizes what I hate about multiple different kinds of care providers. Their VA dermatologist took a scoop out of them to remove a basal cell cancer. Fine. I’m not a dermatologist, maybe it needed those wide margins. (If it didn’t, going that deep should mean it was an excisional biopsy and they put in sutures to close it.) They gave the patient and his wife confusing instructions about wound care. They didn’t provide guidance around keeping it covered or moist. It got infected. His wife took him to Urgent Care. The UC doc took a swab of the wound and started antibiotics. They came to see me for a visit we scheduled ages ago for something else.

Here’s the thing. Wounds need to be kept at what I call the Goldilocks moisture level: not too dry and not too wet. If it’s pruny/white/mushy like it’s been in a bathtub, it’s too wet. If it’s cracking, it’s too dry. This is why you can’t say “cover it for X days and then leave it out.” That would be like telling someone with heart failure and lower extremity edema “take the diuretic for a week and then stop” without any instructions around dry weight, dizziness, etc. It’s more complicated than that.

This wound was too dry. No one had talked to them about keeping it moist. No one had even mentioned Vaseline.

No, they got a wound swab. Want to guess how good a wound swab is for an open wound exposed to the world? Pretty terrible. You can improve it a little bit by making sure you’ve removed some kind of layer and then expressing fluid directly from the wound with the swab, but it’s still bad. The only time I give a shit about what grows from a wound swab is when it was a) collected in the OR (as when the podiatrist gets a sample of osteomyelitic bone in a sterile environment) or b) when it grows pseudomonas. Everything else? I can figure out by looking at it. If it’s skin it’s probably either staph or strep. If it’s staph, it’s either MRSA or MSSA. If it’s MRSA, it’s making a lot of pus, it’s red, it’s hot, it’s painful. This wasn’t. So it was either MSSA or strep. So what are we going to do for systemic antibiotics? Probably the same thing we would have done anyway—Keflex.

And what’s the utility of systemic antibiotics in a skin wound? Not a lot, most of the time. This wasn’t cellulitis proper. It wasn’t red or hot or angry enough. A red border around the wound does not a systemic infection make. And if you don’t care properly for the wound itself, there’s no point in antibiotics, because it still can’t heal. Antibiotics can get where blood goes. Blood does not go into the slough that is the bacterial biofilm covering a wound.

So I sat there with gauze and saline and gently debrided the 100% slough off the wound. It’s yucky and it takes time and attention. It doesn’t get compensated. That’s why no one else had done it yet. The derm had blown it off as “it’s healing, it’s fine.” It wasn’t healing. It was developing rolled edges, where the wound edges couldn’t heal across the slough and so they started to curl back under themselves. If taking off the slough (and keeping it gone by MAINTAINING PROPER CONDITIONS) doesn’t let it heal, I’ll need to get him back in and rough up the edges with a Buck’s curette until it can heal.

Multiple professionals who should have known better tried to make my patient just go away, rather than heal him.

I’m pissed. I’m tired. I think I have a cold. I shouldn’t be doing the work the dermatologist or the UC provider should have done. And because of everything they’d told her, his wife was pissed at me for doing what was correct. “We’ve heard a lot of different things!” Yes, and I’m right. You’ll find out when the wound actually starts healing when we care for it properly.

The value of a model is in what it can predict. Wounds are great about making it clear when your model sucks.

[justagirlwholikesadam]

The American: Welcome Back!

Remus Lupin x American! Reader

Summary: Sirius slips out a name that Harry has never heard of before. He wants to get to the bottom of it and wants to know who is this so called, Yankee.

A/n: Not sure of doing more on this. It's up to the readers. I had this idea brewing in my head. Enjoy! -L

Warning: SFW, fuff, angst, tonks doesn't get the hint, Harry finds out he has a aunt, we are with remus because why not, saying the lord's name in vain.

Word Count: 4.1K

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The day was long and Harry was utterly exhausted. There were some days where he didn't even want to get up from bed. He was tired. Tired of everything that had recently happened. Voldemort was coming back and he had an army. He wanted to join The Order of Phoenix, Sirius had backed him up during dinner at Grimmauld Place. The place that once held the Black Family is now used for The Order to have their meeting.

Roaming around Grimmauld Place after dinner, Harry found himself in the room that held the family tree of the Black Family. That’s what Sirius told him when he found him inside looking at the walls.

“My mother did that after I ran away. She was a charming woman.” Sirius told him as he pointed at a burn mark above his name on the wall. Harry can see the sadness and anger in his eyes. Sirius hated his family for their wicked ways and their outdated ideas.

“I was always welcomed at the Potters.” Sirius answered Harry when the boy asked him where he went after he left home at the age of sixteen.

“We all were.” Sirius said as his eyes drifted to the end of the room, there was a faint smile on his face. “Your grandparents were so kind to everyone. Even to me and to Yankee.”

“Yankee?” Harry asked Sirius. His Godfather’s blue eyes widened when he realized he said it outloud.

“Another friend of the group. Remus hasn't mentioned it to you?” Harry shook his head.

“Another secret added to the list of secrets everyone keeps from me. How grand.” Harry said with a huff as he turned away from Sirius. He understood his godson. He didn't want Harry to feel that way. Before Sirius can speak out the front door opens and he can hear people walking inside.

“It's probably the Order. We should greet them. We will speak about this.” Sirius said, placing a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

Sirius walked, Harry was behind him as they made their way down the hall to the kitchen where they saw Tonks and Remus. By the look on Remus’ face, Sirius knew Remus was annoyed. He chuckled when he saw Tonks being a little bit too touchy to his best mates liking. Harry watched as he sat down on the kitchen table as Remus dogged a touch from Tonks and made his way to sit across from Harry.

“Harry.” Remus greets him as he sits down by the far end of the table where Harry sat. Sirius quickly makes his way to the only seat next to Remus.

“Tonks, I believe Molly wanted to speak with you about something.” Sirius said over his shoulder at her, who just then realized she was too late to sit next to Remus. She rolled her eyes but nodded before walking away from the kitchen. Harry kept his mouth shut as he looked at Sirius and Remus who were having a silent conversation with their eyes.

“This wouldn't be happening if you just told everyone the truth, Moony.” Sirius finally said putting his elbows on the table.

Remus took a drink of his tea and glanced over at Harry.

“Tonks is a lovely lass but she doesn't understand the word NO.” Harry knew too well about Tonks' crush on Remus. He had seen the girl fawn over his ex werewolf teacher before. Remus always lets her down gently, telling her he was too old for her and he doesnt think it's a good idea because he's a werewolf.

“Well her and Molly are in the same boat.” Sirius commented, making Remus agree with him since Molly was the first to add the idea into Tonks' mind.

“Maybe Yankee can help.” Harry mumbled as he looked down at the table not noticing how Remus' face changed.

“What?” Remus asked in a deep voice causing Harry to look up. Looking over Sirius who had a grimace look, his heart fell to his stomach.

“Where did you hear that name?” Harry cursed at himself, calling himself an idiot for throwing that name out. He wasn’t expecting Remus’ reaction. Remus' eyes darken for a second.

He did it because he had got annoyed by the fact that no one wanted to tell him anything. He knew it was true because of the look on Sirius’ face when he told them at dinner about what Voldemort wants. Molly had interrupted Sirius, telling him that Harry is just a boy and that he doesn’t need to know any of this.

“My fault, Moony. It came out when I told Harry about his grandparents.” Sirius said, looking over at Remus.

“Didn't we say-” “I know.” Sirius cuts him off.

Before Remus could speak again, Sirius waved his hand at Remus. “Do remember, I have kept it a secret for 12 years. That counts for something and Harry should know about his cool badass aunt.”

‘Aunt? Cool? Badass?’ Harry repeats to himself. Remus takes another sip and looks at Harry over the rim of the teacup. Looking over at Sirius, who is staring at him with pleading eyes to not be mad. Remus lets out a sigh.

“My wife is indeed a cool badass, isn't she?” Remus asked while giving Sirius a smirk. His pal smiled and bumps his shoulders with him before looking over at Harry.

“Wife?” Harry asked, looking between Remus and Sirius. “But you don't have-” Remus brings a hand to his neck and pulls on a golden chain under his sweater and shows it to Harry. There was a golden wedding band at the end of the chain.

“Is she-ddd-dead?” Harry asked in a stutter. Sirius shakes his head at Harry and he doesn't know why he felt relief. “I spoke to her two days ago. She made it safely to California after being stationed in New York for two years.” Remus said.

“In America? New York City, the states?” Harry asked, surprised. The two men infront of Harry nodded, smiling at the young boy's shocked face.

“Why would she leave? She's your wife.”

“She left because she is an American and they needed people. Hence the nickname, Yankee.” Harry still looked confused.

Sirius leans forward. “We aren't the only Order, Harry. Voldemort has gone as far as letting other Death Eaters go to the States to recruit more. Yankee is a member of our Order as well as the American’s Order. She is fighting as we are speaking."

“Wow.” Harry said after a few seconds.

“Does she know about me?” Sirius lets out a chuckle as Remus just smiles at Harry.

“Knows you?! She wiped your behind when you were just a babe. Remus here too.” Sirius smacks Remus’ back then turns serious to Harry.

“As the godfather, I had much more important things to do with you then wiping your behind.” Remus rolls his eyes at Sirius.

“Like buying him a broom when he was just a couple of days old.” Remus said with a laugh.

“Sirius would watch us change you as he stood by the door of your room. Harry, Sirius is willing to do anything for you but he just couldn't change your diaper even if it was with magic. The moment he saw we were done. Sirius would grab you and announce there were official and important things to do with you.” Harry just smiled bright as he listened to Remus' story.

“Yeah! They were important.” Sirius shouts playfully.

“Watching the telly with Harry isn't that important.”

“I would show him quidditch matches, like I said, an important matter.” Their laughter quicked down after a few minutes.

“She loves you so much. We both do.” Remus said softly, dropping his gaze from Harry after Harry caught it.

Years thinking he was alone and the only family he had hated him had taken a toll on Harry. There was so much abuse he had put up with and even when the world around him was crumbling down with everything that was going on. He felt happy that there were people who loved him. People he can consider his family. Harry thought it was only Sirius but he just gained an uncle and an aunt. His little family was growing.

“Why keep it a secret, then?” Harry asked. “It will help to get rid of Tonks” The young boy nodded.

“She’s wanted.” Sirius answered him, making Harry frown. Remus leans over the table. “Yankee is a powerful witch and dont think I'm just saying this because she's my wife but she might even be in Dumbledore’s level of magic. She had gone up with him once and almost won.”

“Who wants her so bad that it must be kept in secret?"

“The Dark Lord himself, at first it was the Death Eaters because she was in their house.”

“She was Slytherin?” Harry asked in a shout as he rose up from his chair. Sirius and Remus glance over at each other knowing all too well of this reaction when people found out what house you were in while you were at school.

“She wasn't like them. Different from everyone. She was the only American in Hogwarts in our time.” Sirius said.

“I don't believe it.” Harry said. Remus stood up and grabbed his empty tea cup.

“She was different from them. That we must say. We say that because she had so many reasons to turn bad. School and her home life back in the States weren’t a happy place for her. If she had gone bad, I wouldn't be angry at her.” Harry let Remus’ words sink in.

“You said she went up with Dumbledore once, they fought didn't they? She almost won.” Both men smiled at Harry.

“That fight was…” Sirius trails off then looks at Remus. “How old are you again?” Remus asked.

“Fifteen.” Harry answered. Remus nods at him. “You were a year old when your parents died. That was 14 years ago.” Harry rose a brow and pointed at himself.

“Fight was about me?” Remus nods.

“Dumbledore wanted to give you to the Dursley since they were your real family. I couldn't do it, I was broken and was sent to Azkaban. Remus and Yankee fought hard for you.” Sirius said looking over at Remus who held his gaze at the ground with the cup in his hands.

“They wanted to adopt you. Dumbledore refused and Yankee lost it saying that they were your real family.”

“She whipped her wand out and pointed it at him. Minerva almost fainted. Had to hold her as they dueled.” Remus said reminiscing the way he held the woman as he watched his wife duel with the most powerful wizard.

“Dumbledore, of course, won. He had more experience with magic and dueling. He was sweating though at the end and had mentioned to her that he hasn't done that for years.” Remus told them as he placed the teacup in the sink and walked back to the kitchen table.

“Wow.” Harry said once more as he smiled at them.

"What's wow?” Tonks asked as she walked into the room with Molly and a few other members behind them.

“Nothing, love. Lets have some tea, everyone.” Sirius said as the members walked inside while Remus put the kettle on with more water.

Harry found himself in Sirius' old room the next day. Sirius allowed him too, telling him to take any clothes he sees fit. Sirius had told Harry after the war they will be able to be a family again. Sirius was going to renovate the house, make it new and make it a real house to be filled with a loving family. Harry found some jumpers to his liking and folded them on the bed as he continued with his search. He looks over at the bookcases and glances over the covers. As he watches the books, he sees a paper sticking out between the hardcover books. The edge of the paper was out and carefully Harry started to pull it with his thumb and index finger, it was a black and white photo. He looks at the back to see black cursive writing on it.

Yankee and Moony’s Honeymoon - NYC 1978

Flipping it over, he saw Remus holding a girl in his arms. Remus looked so young and had less scars on his face. His hair was shaggy and he had a mustache.

Harry had to admit, you look beautiful in Remus’ arms. You were smiling and as the picture moved, you looked up at Remus who then gave you a kiss. Both of you looked ahead and the picture repeated itself. Hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, Harry quickly hides the picture in between the folded jumpers. He was sure Sirius wouldn't mind, if he took a picture of his uncle and aunt. Harry only had his parents’ picture. He would like to add this next to them.

After his charges were dropped for using magic out of school, Harry found himself thinking about Moony and Yaknee as he made his way back to Hogwarts for another year. He wanted to know so he found himself in the library, looking at old yearbooks and even wandering in the hallway of famous wizards and students. He was about to walk away when he noticed a case at the far end. Looking up he noticed it was a case of The Triwizard Tournament, 1976.

Harry thought they shut it down in 1971 due to the death toll being high. Perhaps, this was kept secret. He looked at the items on the glass case and stopped when he saw a familiar faze. It was you, looking at the bottom he read your name out loud. His eyes widened as he saw the picture moving. You were selected to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. He can see the green Slytherin uniform you wore and on the bottom, he reads the rest of the names of the competitors.

Looking at the rest of the photos framed in the case, he froze when he saw the trophy and right next to it there's a picture of you holding the trophy. You look like you've been through hell and Harry could see your clothes were dirty and ripped. Your face was dirty and he could see the dried blood on your forehead. He started to laugh when he saw you doing a rock and roll hand gesture while sticking your tongue out at the camera. It seems you had a happier ending then him. He feels himself down at the thought of Cedric's death.

Flying to London on Thestrals was the last thing Harry thought would happen but it worked. He and his friends, Dumbledore's army, made their way to the Ministry of Magic in an attempt to rescue Sirius Black since he had a vision of it. He had to save his Godfather.

Walking inside Harry recovers the object that Voldemort is after, a bottled prophecy with his name on it. Death Eaters and Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix, ambush them. Harry felt like crying when Lucius revealed that Harry's vision of Sirius being tortured was a ruse to lure him there, this was a trap and now all of them were being held captive.

“Give it to me.” Lucius snapped at Harry. He tried his best to ignore the taunting Bellatrix gave to Neville as she held her wand to his head.

‘DON’T!” Neville yelled as she grabbed a fist full of his hair pulling his head back exposing his neck.

Harry can hear Luna let out a sob as a Death Eater grabbed her by the neck. Harry didn't want to get his friends hurt because of him. So many people have gotten hurt because of him. Giving Lucius the prophecy, they heard a whoosh sound. Harry's eyes widen when he looks over Lucius’ shoulder.

“Get away from my godson.” Sirius said to Lucius before punching him straight in the face. Harry took a step back as one by one the members of the Order came to rescue them. They fought with the Death Eaters. Remus ran with Ginny and Ron, he lets out a shout as he disarmed the Death Eater in front of him.

“Good one, James!” Remus froze as Sirius yelled as he fought with Lucius. Time seemed to slow down as Lucius was shot back and Remus saw Bellatrix appearing out of nowhere casting an Avada Kedavra at Sirius. Remus can see the spell coming out of her wand as a light casted behind Harry. His mouth dropped when he saw you behind Harry with your own wand in hand.

Sirius was pushed by the spell you caused, Bellatrix’s spell passed him hitting the wall behind them. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and was pushed back. He looked up to see you in the flesh. You let out a shout and pointed at Bellatrix hitting her square in the chest with a Stupefy.

“LET’S GO!” He hears you scream out loud as Sirius grabs him by the arm. Remus joins them with Ginny and Ron as the rest bring the children to the center while you hit the other Death Eaters covering for them.

Harry felt Remus grab his shoulder as the rest huddled together. You raised your hands up with your wand and shouted, “Traicere!”

Harry felt like he was flying for a second before he was dropped down on the ground like a sack of potatoes. He found himself flat on his face on the concert ground. Looking up, some members of The Order were standing while others were laying on the ground like his friends were.

“Blimey!” Ron shouted as he got on his knees and wiped his face. Everyone turned when they heard Sirius let out a laugh. Harry looks over to see you hugging Sirius as Remus walks behind you.

“Y/n!” Remus said as you let go of Sirius and hugged Remus. “The fuck?!” Harry hears Tonks' curse behind him as they watch you kiss Remus on the lips. Remus held your face in his hands as he kissed you deeply.

“They haven't changed.” Sirius said, walking to Harry and helping him up. Remus held you in his arms, laying his forehead against you.

“I thought you were gone.” Harry said, looking over at Sirius.

“I'm not. Thanks to Yankee.” Sirius said, wrapping an arm around his godson's shoulder.

“Yankee! I want you to meet someone.” Sirius shouted, making Remus pull away as he glared at Sirius for disrupting. Harry watched you cover your face and leaned against Remus’ chest. After a few seconds later and quick kisses. Remus smiled and grabbed a hold of your hand, walking with you towards Harry and Sirius.

“There is someone you should meet.” Remus said as he walked you to Harry.

Harry held his breath as he got introduced to his aunt. “Love, meet Harry Potter.”

Harry saw you smile when you looked at him. It reminded him of the smile you had when taking the picture of your honeymoon. Ron and Hermione watched happily as Harry hugged the you back. He had told them about his cool aunt who used to be in House Slytherin.

Remus quickly wiped the tears rolling his face when he saw you lean down to look at Harry. You cried as you ran your finger through his dark hair before hugging him again. Remus walked to you as you reached your hand out for him. Harry felt Remus hand on his shoulder as he hugged you and him.

Harry saw Sirius walking to them as well.

“We are a family again.” Harry hears you say and it brings a smile on his face as they give him a group hug.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix sat in the kitchen of the Grimmauld Place. That’s where you had taken them. Harry and Sirius sat across from you and Remus as you spoke to them while waiting for Dumbledore.

‘He called me saying Harry was having dreams. We both went to the Ministry of Magic, I help you lot escaped while he dealing with Voldemort.”

“How is it over there in the States?” Arthur asked you, he was sitting at the far end of the table.

“It was bad for a while. Voldemort numbers decreased here but in the States it rose and muggles were being killed left and right. Lost some good friends because of it.” Remus placed a comforting hand on your shoulder and you kissed it as you raised your hand to hold his.

“The last thing we found out were some Death Eaters, we captured in California. They said that their Dark Lord had spoken about mind controlling. He is going to use it on the muggles to think he is some sort of God, to worship and to do his bidding.”

“Jesus Christ, not to mention the dark creatures as well but now hearing about these dreams. I fear he wants something or..” Harry watched as you sighed while looking defeated.

‘Someone.” You finished looking at Harry.

“There was a reason why Barty put your name in the Goblet. They did it to me but unlike you to be killed. For me it was to show them my power. Powers I didn't know I had to begin with.”

“I saw it. You won it.” Harry said with a proud smile.

“Not many people were happy with a muggleborn being the champion.” You said and Harry knew why you had stuck your tongue at the camera when your photo was taken.

“Christ, I would do anything to look at their faces again.” Remus smiled at you. Harry liked the accent you had as you spoke. It was different and the way you pronounce the words was all new to him. He wondered back to Remus' words about having a hard time in school. He wondered if you were being bullied for being different like him.

“Who’s Christ? And what's Jesus?” Harry turns to look at Luna who was sitting with Neville. She looked at you curiously. Remus and you snorted a chuckle before looking over at Sirius who was lost for words.

Harry bites a smile as Sirius quickly answers who this man is and his name. “Muggle God, dear.”

“I remember the look on your father’s face when I taught him about muggle’s religions.”

Harry listened as you spoke when Dumbledore. Voldemort has escaped but the Ministry now knows the truth, Voldemort is back. Harry and his friends were going to go back to Hogwarts when Harry decided to say goodbye to Remus and you. He followed the direction that Kreacher gave him after saying how ridiculous is was to serve a werewolf and a mudblood. Harry just ignored it.

“You're staying, correct?’ He hears Remus ask you as he walks down the hallways to the bedroom were Kreacher said Remus was staying at.

“Yes, I am. I'm not leaving any time soon. I did my duty in America. I want to come back to be with you. With Sirius and Harry. “

“I can't lose you again, Y/n.” Harry hears Remus’ voice crack.

“Oh, baby.” Harry hears you answers and stands by the door. He looks at the opening and sees you hugging Remus, arms around his torso as Remus wraps his arms around your shoulders.

Harry looks away when Remus leans down for a kiss. He’s about to walk away when he hears a soft moan. His cheeks get flustered and he’s about to leave when he hears Sirius calling out for him. His eyes widened when he saw Sirius walking down the hallway.

“Harry!” He looks over at the sound of your voice.

“What’s up? Come to say bye?” Harry nods as Remus comes behind you.

“I was hoping we all get dinner before you leave for school. I’m sure you have questions and I’m willing to answer them for you.” Harry was glad you didn’t treated him like a child.

“I would love that.” Harry smiles as you wrap your arm around his shoulders. “Will you tell me about your time in Hogwarts?” You raised a brow at Harry before looking over at Remus. “It’s not all sunshine and roses, Harry. You sure you wanna know?” Harry nods at you.

“Alright! Fuck it! Let’s go somewhere where they serve beer.” You patted Harry on his back.

“Padfoot! Babe! We are out.” You shout over your shoulder as you walk side by side with Harry.

Both men stood behind, watching as Harry and you walked down the hall. Remus had a smile on his face with his hands in the pockets of sweater as Sirius had his arms crossed over his chest.

“This is going to be an interesting dinner, Moony.” Remus nods at him.

“Yeah but he should know about our Yankee.” Sirius agrees with him on that.

Chapter 2 ->

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

i'm fully willing to accept that sokka's weird "play hard to get" advice in "the fortuneteller" was just the writers (rightfully) making fun of that type of dating advice however there's a part of me that's still like. HOW did sokka come up with that. there were no girls his age in his village besides his sister so presumably he's only had 1 single romantic encounter (suki) by that point and that very much did not involve him being aloof and uninterested. yes he's lying to aang about being romantically experienced and probably pulling it out of his ass but why is that what he comes up with.

after pondering, i think there's a few possibilities:

hakoda. now, i don't think it's romantic advice hakoda would give. he's a friendly guy and presumably pulled kya just by being, y'know, sweet and funny and hot. however i CAN see him saying it as a joke. like he says something goofy and kya rolls her eyes fondly like "why did i marry you" and he's like "definitely my cool unattainable mysterious appeal" and they both crack up because he was actually adorably down bad. only thing is, baby sokka does not know that and takes the joke at face value. that's how dad said he got mom! but dad was joking. dad actually tripped over himself and fell face first into the snow when she smiled at him

some older kid in the tribe. there are no girls sokka's age in his village but i have to imagine there are other villages in the tribe, we just don't see them bc after the raid the villages got more isolated and more mobile (tents over igloos) to avoid detection by the fire nation. so baby sokka had a baby crush on a girl from another village and an slightly older boy (someone who would later be just old enough to go to war with the men and leave sokka as the oldest boy in the village) tried to give him Sage Advice. but sokka was 10 and the kid was 14 so it was Bad Advice

bato. this is the funniest option to me bc "play hard to get" is such childish advice for a grown adult to give. but it kinda fits with the whole bakoda storyline of bato quietly pining for hakoda for years. worked so hard at maintaining Maximum Aloofness that the guy he liked didn't realize it for decades

katara. okay actually maybe THIS is the funniest. she found out sokka had a crush on the girl from the other village and thinking her brother is gross and icky and no girl should have to deal with that she said hey. you know what girls like? when you pretend you're not interested :) baby katara is so cute and so full of mischief <3

[zukosdualdao]

i know some people take the moment of azula speaking up in the flashback to the war meeting in sozin's comet as azula trying to "protect zuko" after he starts (while carefully choosing his words) disagreeing with ozai, but i really can't see it that way.

even aside from the fact that i don't think we should ever argue that her advocating for genocide here was a good thing, based on everything else about their relationship, i can't see this moment as anything but her once again trying to establish dominance and superiority over zuko. it actually reminds me of a different scene, all the way back from the flashbacks in zuko alone.

in both situations, ozai is testing his children in a way, and when zuko can't or won't give the "right answer", azula interjects and is able to say exactly what he wants to hear.

in zuko alone, of course, ozai is asking them questions that seem to be related to whatever (heavily inundated with propaganda, clearly) schooling they get. something that i find really interesting is that zuko doesn't seem to only struggle with firebending, but with his schooling as well. which isn't exactly surprising: abused kids often have trouble in school, and that seems particularly likely when ozai is already treating zuko like he is weak, incompetent, and unworthy in other areas. it's a self-fulling prophecy, on ozai's part: he demeans zuko for not being good at firebending (and perhaps for not being good in school), and, because kids are very naturally going to clam up and not get better at something when they're treated as worthless for any perceived flaw, it affects his ability to build his skills or performance in school.

but i think there's also a way in which zuko probably struggles to keep up in school because he's receptive to the values ursa tries to instill in him from a young age. he probably doesn't realize the things they are learning are things that are morally wrong, but there's a way, at this point, in which he can't relate to them, can't understand the motives of why it would be considered a good thing to defeat an enemy in such a brutal way when it runs so counter to the values of kindness ursa is trying to instill in her children, be it by explaining that throwing bread at turtleducks is not nice or that we shouldn't wish death on other family members.

by contrast, the emphasis on azula here is that she's clearly fully bought into the propaganda, that she respects and admires the brutality of the tactics. (also, is it just me, or does she sound a little like she's reciting a textbook, albeit with a lot of glee?) and notably, at the end, when she gets the answer 'right', she side-eyes zuko with a smug smirk. just like she does in sozin's comet as she's told she's right.

just for comparison's sake:

the situation in the sozin's comet flashback is different, of course, because they're not being quizzed on their schoolwork so much as they are being asked to put what they've learned about war and tactics into practice. zuko has a lot more understanding now than he did as a much younger child of the realities of war because he's seen it up close. and because of that, not only can he not condone or suggest any of the brutal and egregious tactics that are clearly expected of him, but he actually says something in defense of the earth kingdom, albeit trying to choose his words carefully, and with ozai (quite possibly willfully?) misinterpretating them.

to suggest that azula is protecting zuko here is its own form of a willful misinterpretation. you have to ignore the entire context of their relationship, azula's established motivations, and the tone of the scene itself to come to that conclusion. she does not interrupt zuko to keep him from saying something that will get him hurt, but because she wants to prove once again that she's better, that she's right and he's wrong, that he’ll never catch up. but zuko is starting to realize that he doesn’t and shouldn’t want to.

[lees-chaotic-brain]

if the world was ending you'd come over right?

summary: you're not at home when the earthquake happens, but your ex doesn't know that and sees that your apartment building has collapsed on the news...loosely based off this song

cw: ex! osamu, mentions of blood, earthquake, angst, a little bit of comfort, not as fluffy as i promised sorry

wc: 923

note: this was a sponsored fic for @ficsforgaza's fundraiser!! check out how to send in a request here, or sponsor a wip here! i initially had a different idea for the fic, but it ended up like this. however i may write the other version i originally planned at some point in the future!!!

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You were returning to your apartment from getting your morning coffee when the earthquake hit. One second you were walking along, the next the ground was bouncing and you were thrown to the ground. You slammed your head hard against the pavement, and instinctually curled up into a ball, wrapping your arms around your head to protect it from further harm. 

After what felt like an eternity, it stopped as quickly as it had started, leaving you laying dazedly on the cracked pavement. You knew something was wrong with your head, that you were likely concussed and couldn’t fall asleep, but your body was battered and aching and you couldn’t bring yourself to stand.

Time was moving weirdly, so you didn’t know how long you laid there, but by the time you managed to stagger to your feet the blood dripping from your head had crusted in your hair and on your face. It took you a bit to find your footing, but once you were upright you began walking unsteadily towards your apartment, distantly realizing that you should go check on it.

“Maam! Hey! Are you okay? Do you need help?” A middle aged man you vaguely recognized as owning the grocery store you frequented approached you, concern evident on his face. “You don’t look too good. Where are you trying to go? I can help.”

It takes you a few tries to speak, your mouth sticky and dry from inhaling dust and a lack of use. “My apartment. It’s right around the corner. The one across the street from the park.” As you speak, the pounding in your head only increases and a wave of nausea washes over you, causing you to stagger.

Pity crosses over the man’s face as he reaches out to steady you. “Ah, well, I saw on the news that the buildings in that complex collapsed, so I don’t know if there will be much to see. It might be best if we try to get you some medical attention for your head…”

“I’m fine.” You attempt to keep walking, but he has to catch you as your legs give out. “Whoa. Take it easy. It looks like you hit your head pretty hard.”

“I need to go home.” You know it’s not logical, but you want to see the extent of the damage and try to salvage what you can despite knowing it was very unlikely anything remained.

The shop owner sighed, slinging your arm over his shoulder to support you better as he helped you limp along. “Fine. You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you. We’ll go to your building, but we’re going to find someone to look at your head after that.”

You don’t have the energy to reply, focusing on putting one foot ahead of the other, not the throbbing in your skull. After what felt like hours, but was probably only around five minutes in reality, you got back to your building, and were immediately greeted by chaos.

EMT’s raced stretchers with people covered in dust and blood on them to waiting ambulances, new helicopters whirred overhead, neighbors and other onlookers gathered to the side in shock, a man fighting tooth and nail to get into the building screaming at the men holding him back-wait.

“Hey, that’s your boyfriend, right?” The shop owner pointed at the man thrashing against his captors. “I’ve seen you two together in the store before. We should probably get you over to him, he looks worried sick.”

And sure enough, upon closer inspection it’s Osamu who’s raging against Kita and Atsumu as they each hold one of his arms to stop him from charging into the unstable building. 

“Uh, well he’s my ex. I don’t really know why he’s here. We broke up months ago.” You’re too tired to try and puzzle out what was going on, overwhelmed by everything that had happened so far. Then you heard your name.

“LET ME GO! SHE’S STILL IN THERE! GET OFF ME YOU MOTHERFU-”

“She’s over here! YN is over here!”

Somehow Osamu manages to hear the shopkeeper over all the noise, and instantly stops raging against Atsumu and Kita, whipping his head so fast in your direction you’re surprised he didn't break his neck. Seeing you, his brother and friend release him, knowing that there’s no danger of him charging in now that he knows where you are. 

He makes his way across the courtyard and is in front of you, frantically checking you for injuries in three seconds flat as the shopkeeper pats you on the arm and walks off.

“Yer here. Oh my god. The news- I thought, I thought ya were still in there. Ya can’t do that to me.” His eyes zero in on the blood caking your head. “Yer head! Yer bleeding. C’mon we need to get you to the hospital-”

He begins dragging you off towards an ambulance but you’re still unstable and your legs give out. Crumpling to the pavement you look up at him, your mind still foggy.

“Samu…? Why are you here? We broke up…” You can hear your words beginning to slur, and the last thing you see before your eyes close is his stricken face, his eyes fearful as he frantically pats your face and yells at you to stay awake.

Slipping into the soothing darkness, you think about how much you’ve missed him the past few months, and can’t help but be grateful he’s here.

Even if took an earthquake, he came. That was all that mattered.

taglist: @arlerts-angel @ponderingmoonlight @hotvinimon

please lmk if you want to be added to/removed from any of my taglists!!!

[darqx]

Hi I understand if you don't reply, but I was wondering if you have any advice to beginners who want to start making their ocs a reality? (Like in the sense of having Charecters that have been in your thoughts for a while, but it's hard to encapsulate them into physical form?) As I have some that id like to make either into a game or comic but I'm a little stuck..

Also I'm curious if there will be any other content with the best boy himself rire?? : 0

Hullo! Ah, (physically) designing characters, how fun ❤️ - there is part of a reason why I only have a handful of them lol XD; ANYWAY here are three things that help me, so hopefully they can help you as well :)

(I'll use Demon!Rire as an example as unless you are an old guard of mine, he will probably be the most recognisable of my characs.)

--------------

❓What do you know about them?

First of all since you already have your character in mind, congratulations you are most of the way there already! It's helpful to know the general vibe of them. And I don't mean the super detailed things that may arise from like..."Get to know your OC" quizzes - we are more looking for the core feeling of a character here. If you dumped this character into different AUs what things are going to stay the same/similar? Some things you should consider are:

What is their personality like? Why do they do the things they do?

Do I already have any physical traits for them in mind? Hair/eye/skin colour? Body type? Age? Name??

📝 Write a simple paragraph or some dot points about your character with these things in mind.

---EXAMPLE---

Sophisticated and charming, Rire outputs an aura of power and elegance. His pleasing physical appearance and gentlemanly demeanour usually enchants or commands people. Realistically, he is extremely manipulative and sadistic, and finds entertainment in the reactions of others.

---/EXAMPLE---

🤔 Make informed choices

Ok cool, you know something about your charac! Now build upon what you know to make them real - it is important here to try and match your design choices with the characterisation and "why"s of the character, and less with what you personally think will be cool/cute/whatever. What I mean by this is just pretend they are a person you are describing to a forensic sketch artist - you are giving "facts" as to what you think they look like not making stuff up (eg you would NOT be like "oh yeh she was totally a punk rocker however i'm going to say she wore a long flowing gown cos I think she'd look prettier in it?"*)

*Note that designing a character with opposites in mind can work out if you can at least answer the cursory "why" of it being a part of the character design. For eg maybe the punk rocker is secretly the alter ego of a socialite - flowing gowns and high fashion by day, grunge by night. Like Batman.

📝 Feel free to use dress up doll games and image searches for particular types of clothes/hairstyles/etc if you need inspiration. Thumbnail a bunch of different designs and see what works.

---EXAMPLE---

In my prev example paragraph I highlighted a few things in red. Here I'll break down how they can help craft a physical appearance:

Sophisticated and charming / elegance - to me, these combined make me think of ballrooms and black tie functions and nice suits. A well tailored outfit and someone who knows how to wear them.

Gentlemanly demeanour (well to some degree lol) - since I already know he's hundreds of years old (973 to be exact) I decided that an aristocratic Victorian-esque aesthetic would suit him. Somewhere in between a modern look and something with a bit more fantasy steampunk flair. He smiles quite genially until he's doing it with all his teeth.

Aura of power - he's got to be a bit of an imposing character so he's quite tall (or at least taller than all of my other characs) and carries himself confidently. Hooray for the ability to loom. Dark colours for this character, to cut an impressive figure.

Pleasing physical appearance - kinda stereotypical type of good looks that aesthetically most people would be like "yeh he's pretty". Athletic build - muscular but not bulky, broad shoulders, tapered waist etc etc.

Extremely manipulative - first of all, he looks rather human, for a demon - his entire species is designed very particularly like that. Then there's the sunglasses. The "why" [does he wear them] is they function to hide his eyes (one of the main parts of him that give away his demon-ness), but also as a bit of a red flag to the audience that something isn't quite right with him. I mean, look past his charm and he wears them all the time. The black and yellow colour scheme also ties in as warning colours ⚠️

Put them all together and this was one of my first sketches of Demon!Rire.

*Note that I already more or less knew how he looked other than his outfit; you will probably have a lot more sketch duds as you figure out what your character looks like.

---/EXAMPLE---

🔐 Don't lock yourself in

Despite the fact I've just said "pretend your character is a person", remember you're still their creator so obviously you have final say over them. Sometimes you'll find that they grow and change from what you initially thought of them (or you just evolve in how you draw them). Don't be afraid to make the tweaks and changes that enhance these - whether they be physical or core characteristics - and you'll get closer to the true character you always had in mind.

---EXAMPLE--

I now draw Rire with a more pronounced V-shape, longer, wavier hair, and somehow he ended up with way more pronounced eyelashes than I usually draw on my male characs. Which works out quite well considering how I tend to draw his eyes. Anyway the point of this is that these things developed over time as I kept drawing him.

---/EXAMPLE---

🍀 Try it out with your own characs! Have fun and don't force yourself to try and get it "right" on the first go.

[markscherz]

A friend of mine sent me a yt video of a guy who was relocating frog eggs (prolly a vernal pool) and showed 1000s of baby frogs coming out of the water in his backyard. she asked me how I felt about it as a ecologist. I felt like it was irresponsible to do, especially to post videos on it, but probably not "ecological terrorism" like people in the comments were saying, because I see baby frogs in nature come out of water in hoards sometimes too. Kind of a mixed bag.

But I wanted to ask you, since you're a herpetologist and waaay more experienced than me: how do you feel about the yt channel "frog army YouTube"?

Many frogs and toads are classical R-strategists. Some toads can lay 20+ THOUSAND eggs in a single clutch. The whole point of that strategy is that not all of the offspring survive. In fact, it would be really rather bad if all of the offspring were to survive, because (1) they wouldn't be feeding the predators and decomposers that live off of their noble sacrifice, and (2) they will require massively more resources than they otherwise would. It can have all kinds of detrimental down-stream effects.

This is the reason we often see swarms of tadpoles darkening some small pools (especially ones where there are no fish!), and later hoards of froglets (that's the technical term) emerging from pools at once. It's an evolutionary strategy, that only few individuals survive to achieve reproductive age.

Point 1: it is *fine* if not all the tadpoles survive to adulthood. That's how the system is supposed to work. You are not doing the system favours if you are changing tadpole survivorship to 100%.

Now, humans really are fucking things up in a lot of environments. Environmental pollutants, like heavy metals, can cause major issues for wildlife, and especially frogs, which (1) are not as vagile as e.g. birds and medium- to large-sized mammals and thus cannot escape the problem zone effectively, and (2) are EXTRA sensitive to the environment because of their permeable skin.

Point 2: we do have some responsibility to do something if we notice that there is a major problem emerging, which could dramatically alter the population dynamics for one or more generations of frogs.

However, *moving* clutches of eggs that are found in polluted pools is not the right move, especially for your average person. There are many reasons that it is not the right move, but chief among them are

(1) A lot of frogs that lay eggs in vernal pools have tadpoles that cannot survive being in larger ponds, and certainly cannot survive in streams or other bodies of flowing water.

(2) A lot of frogs that lay their eggs in vernal pools are already adapted to less than ideal conditions, and have excellent strategies to overcome those conditions, such as incredibly quick metamorphosis (sometimes just a few days!)

(3) By moving clutches of eggs, you could easily be moving the pathogens or pollutants that are causing the problem in the first place.

(4) If there is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus around, you are spreading chytrid, and that is VERY bad. Chytridiomycosis has already driven several frog species to extinction, and caused massive population collapse in several others.

(5) If you do not know the species, attempts to rescue them might be aiding the advance of an invasive species.

(6) It's often illegal to intervene! Many species are protected by law, and you are not allowed to remove them from the wild. Consult your local laws.

Point 3: the responsibility to do something does not include removing the frogs and raising a frog army.

So what should we do if we find a clutch of eggs in an oily pool? Or in a nearly dried out puddle?

First assess the nature of the problem. Is the pool just about to dry out? Then leave it alone. The tadpoles will probably be fine (and if they're not, they'll provide rich nutrients to predators and decomposers). But are there signs of pollution? Then assess: is the pollution covering a larger area? Or is it localised? If you find dead frogs or other amphibians is a major warning sign, and it needs to be brought to the relevant authorities. Contact your local environmental agency/department, and notify them of the precise location of the problem, and its extent. Document everything with photos and videos.

Point 4: there are organisations and agencies specifically tasked with intervening in cases of environmental damage. It is *your* job to bring it to their attention, but unless instructed by them, you need not take any further action. It is their job to know what to do, and to take appropriate action.

TL;DR: 'Raising a frog army' is for the likes, not the frogs, and is not environmentally responsible or ethically defensible. Build a home for the frogs, and they will come.

[evenmoreofadisaster]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMD!

Hello everyone! Today @teaableu and I's EMD AU is turning 1 year old! Yay! 💖🥳

I didn't even realize I came up with the idea on Halloween until Teaa pointed it out to me, but I thought it was so funny

Anyways, we want to celebrate EMD's birthday as a way to honor how far this au has come, and, of course, to thank you to everyone who's supported and interacted with the au so far! Teaa and I have compiled some unposted art and other fun stuff that we'd like to share with you on this very special day 🖤🖤🖤

So without further ado...

This is something that I've thought about and want to share because I think it's so interesting...

At a certain age, Draxum started pulling One away for “special” training, which was basically Drax getting One to get used to taking lives, starting with small animals. At first, One had a really hard time pushing through and whenever he finally got the job done, he’d feel really guilty afterwards

He’d cry and Drax would ask him why and would say that crying about it is pointless and it won't help him.

I had this very specific idea of Draxum pulling One away from Two when they were playing + having fun then having One accomplish this task probably for the 2nd or third time and One coming back to Two covered in blood, absolutely numbed and hollow, which kind of puts a wedge between them.

By the time Draxum puts One in the nexus, One’s already sorta used to that feeling and it’s not such a big deal— but I was thinking the nexus is maybe what makes One think that killing is acceptable because when he kills he gets rewarded and maybe it’s also what makes him realize what his purpose is— and ofc Draxum’s already been feeding him that but when One is fighting in the arena, he actually gets what Draxum means ab their purpose or whatever about being warriors and stuff bc he knows he can fight and that he can kill and that he’s good at it and that’s what makes Draxum happy

and I just think this is very interesting bc this implies that, initially, One knew what he was doing was morally wrong and he could feel it but bc he was encouraged to kill and wasn’t punished for it, his viewpoint kinda got skewed

And in Two's case, he started to kill ppl maybe either after One fights in the nexus or he sees One kill one of the animals bc he sees his brother doing this and thinks “oh, yeah. I can do that” but bc he wasn’t taught the difference between what he should destroy and what he should protect, that’s kind of why he’s Like That. And it's why Draxum fears/doesn't trust him like he trusts One.

ANIMATICS/EDITS

Watch The World Burn

Blow

Deja Vu

PLAYLISTS

EMD Season 1

EMD Season 2

One + Raph

One + Mikey

Two + Mikey

Two + Raph

Raph + Mikey

MINI-COMICS...

Two's arm (coming soon)

One's heart (coming soon)

SNEAK PEEK: Smart Lair