#how is that true to how humans have worked dogs for a majority of humanity? its not

[hello-nichya-here]

Did Sia insult topic of autism somehow?

Oh honey, it's sooooooooo much worse than that.

Sia wanted to make a movie about an autistic girl that manages to connect to people/feel safe and confident through music. So far, nothing outrageous, just a simple concept that would obviously put Sia's music front and center while doing something nice and educating people on autism.

There was controversy about her not casting an autistic actress as it would have been nice representation, but she could have totally gotten away with that since, come on, hollywood hasn't even figured out Rain Man isn't exactly true to life, they're not ready to have an autistic person playing an autistic character. Baby steps.

The real problem started when Sia started promoting the "charity/support group" that was helping "educate" her on the topic to make the movie. The "charity" in question was Autism Speaks - which is absolutely HATED by the autistic community for things like:

1 - Spreading the myth that autism is a mental illness that one can develop/catch like the freaking flue and potentially be cured of, instead of a neurotype, aka something starts in the woomb and cannot be "cured" because to do that you'd need to replace someone's entire nervous system, which is impossible.

2 - Using that myth to get outrageous amounts of money from people so they "search for a cure" - that doesn't exist and will never exist because curing autism is biologically impossible, AND despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of autistic people don't even want to be "cured" (plus, since said "cure" would essentially mean giving the person a new brain, it leads to the question of "Would I even be the same person, or would that just kill and replace me?")

3 - Using the myth of "We don't know what causes autism" (we do, it's genetic) to, of course, get MORE money from people so they can "do research to find the missing puzzle piece" (if you ever see autistic people complaining about a puzzle piece being used to represent the condition, that's why, it was started by Autism Speak's massive disinformation campains).

4 - Falsely "confirming" things like soy milk cause autism with one of the world's most ridiculous "research", losing only to "vaccines totally make kids autistic, buy MY vaccine instead, guys, I am totally not an unbelievably biased person, it's ALL the other doctors/scientists lying to you. GIVE ME MONEY!"

5 - Pushing the narrative of "autism is inherently a tragedy" to distract from the fact that all the money they waste on stupid shit could be used to help autistic people and their families. Instead, they focus on creating more and more panic, making parents in particular despair even more - to the point that one of their "awareness videos" includes a mother talking about how she wants to murder her autistic daughter and then kill herself... while sitting right next to said daughter.

6 - Promoting ABA "therapy" - which was created by the same guy responsible for the attrocity that is gay conversion "therapy." Both have led to unbelievably high rates of confirmed PTSD and suicidal ideation in patients (victims), and ABA in particular has been compared to literal dog training. Very fitting since it was created by a guy who famously did not believe autistic people truly counted as thinking, feeling human beings, and said as much several times. Despite that, it is still praised by some utter bastards because "it makes the patients act less autistic when they're not crying in the corner or trying to jump out a window"

So yeah, working with these guys is a genuinely horrible thing to do since they're basically a scam/hate group pretending to be a charity - and people were STILL willing to give Sia the benefit of the doubt, since Autism Speak uses all their resources to make sure they're the first thing people see when looking up how to help autistic people.

Lots of Sia's fans, both autistic and allistic, warned her repeatedly, politely, that she needed to supporting them IMMEDIATELY as their goal was the exact opposite of the one she claimed to have - aka raise awareness through an accurate portrail of autism. People were even kind enough to name organizations like ASAN as replacements to help her fix any damage done to the project.

And instead of being a decent human being, Sia decided to cry on twitter about how the mean retar-I mean, autistics were bullying her even when she was so kindly using them for her vanity project.

Because yes, that's how the movie turned out. An unwatcheable piece of garbage, with the autistic "character" being so fucking bad even the people who actively use "autistic" as insulted being offended on our behalf - and of course, she was used just a prop to show how awesome Sia's character was.

Seriously, it was so bad the actress playing the autistic girl was sobbing in between scenes because she knew how it was horrible and she didn't want to insult anyone, but Sia is literally her godmother and helped her career by putting her in nearly all her music videos so she felt obligated to go along with it.

So yeah, fuck Sia and fuck Autism Speaks.

[rockatanskette]

Semi-related to my post on how human conservation practices, but I have a cold today, and it's got me thinking about biological altruism—the biological imperative to put other creatures ahead of yourself, to benefit the group.

When talking about possible interactions with other species, we talk a lot about humans being crazy and thrill-seeking and impossible to kill. Never use a warning shot as an incentive to keep humans out of a fight; it'll just make them angry. And that's true. But a valid criticism I've seen in the "Earth is a death world" community is that according to our understanding of evolution, every planet must be some form of death world. Competition fosters evolution—the wolf with sharper claws survives when its litter mates die. You can't reach space travel without some casualties along the way.

But the dog survives because it makes friends with the strange ape carrying a sharp stick. And the strange ape survives because it befriends the wolf. Underneath the death world is an inextricable and undeniable layer of the bond world; the love world; the world, together.

I imagine some worlds are not death worlds. They're peaceful and tranquil. I suspect there are worlds far more deadly than Earth, where the skies rain diamonds, harder than any substance we know with the species to match. And I imagine that they are united in their confusion at the duality of humankind.

Today is a great example: I have a cold, and I want someone to take care of me, but the people who would are immunocompromised, also sick, or live 8 hours away, respectfully. I also want no one within the walls of my apartment or I will eat them. I feel gross, I feel tired, and I don't want a single human being anywhere near me, even if they did bring soup.

In my constant scrolling through my phone today, I decided to look up why the hell I feel so bad—why everyone feels so bad when they're ill. And the answer surprised me. I always thought it was because your immune system is active, so it's using a lot of your energy. That is part of it. Another part is that your brain and body are communicating across the blood-brain barrier to fight the infection, which is rare and energetically expensive.

But that doesn't explain everything, and according to more current research, it could also be what's called the Eyam Hypothesis: that we feel so gross, so we instinctively isolate from other people. We're too tired to deal with others, and so we don't infect them. Misanthropy for the good of the species. Of course, it can also backfire: one of the criticisms of the Eyam Hypothesis is that humans also instinctively care for each other. If my brother has a headache, I drive to the store for Advil.

Personally, I think it's a little bit of both: biological altruism. Either way, the majority live on. The first thought I had this morning when I woke up wasn't "I feel gross" it was "there's no way I'm going to work today." And while that might not be everyone's first thought, you don't even have to be a particularly altruistic person to not want to leave your home or your bed when you're sick. It's inborn.

And so when the human named Ismail comes down with a case of the interstellar common cold, his alien friend Dyos grows very concerned. Ismail is usually intensely social, almost off-puttingly so. Some crew members joke about how his quarters are for sleeping and prayer only; if he's home alone? You should be worried. But when Dyos demands an answer to the severity of Ismail's malady, the other humans just nod knowingly.

"Nah, he's okay, the medics already cleared him. It's not a severe infection."

"But there are so many...fluids. And his body has changed color."

There is a moment of confusion there until they remember that Dyos's species can see in the infrared color spectrum.

"Nah, that's just a low-grade fever. It should break in the next couple days."

"But he doesn’t want to play chess today," Dyos insists.

"Ohhhh," says human Claudia, finally understanding. "No, that's normal. Humans don't like being around other people when they're sick, it's supposed to be one of the major evolutionary advantages. Protect your community from your illness and the genes live on."

"So we're just going to leave him alone?" Dyos is troubled by this. He can go for weeks without speaking to another life form, but he has seen Ismail grow despondent when unable to participate in social gathering.

"Oh, no," human Claudia says, laughing. "We're going to employ one of the other most longstanding human evolutionary advantages."

There are many to choose from and Dyos settles on, "middle age?"

"Sort of," human Claudia opens up a small shipping container and holds up a brown paper bag tied with a colorful ribbon. It glows brightly in Dyos's vision, almost as brightly as human Claudia's smile. "His nanni's hot soup, express delivery."

[spearxwind]

could we get an infodump abt the new broken horizon lore? how i found you was through extinction, so glad to see them back!!!

Absolutely!

The world of Broken Horizon is a planet (that I've yet to name) which has two major sentient species on it: humans and dragons (or khevirs in their own language). Both species coexisted side by side in relative peace (as much peace as two equally matched apex predators would have).

At some point in their history, Cercerion, a dragon with enough power to become a God, goes haywire and starts creating and becoming storms that span almost the entirety of the planet. These storms are devastating electrical hurricane cells that are charged enough to create their own magnetic fields, the incessant lightning rain is enough to literally rip chunks of earth, even mountains, out of the ground and earth and keep them in the air because of these magnetic fields. This is obviously DEVASTATING to the planet.

Eventually, a joint mutual effort from both humans and dragons is able to take Cer down, striking him down hard enough to bury him deep in the earth to sleep for ages, but the impact is so sudden that he cannot dispel the storms he created and loses control of them, leaving them to eternally roam the planet sowing destruction in their paths. There are six in total. (They are much less dangerous than when he IS in control though and the lightning rain is reduced significantly. But they are still MASSIVE hurricanes)

After this event, humans freak the fuckkkk out and in true human fashion decide that dragons are dangerous and must be exterminated. A massive war breaks out between both species where they try to obliterate each other (this is known as the Great Dragonslaying Era). Both sides develop technology to stay on par with each other (humans develop insane machinery, and dragons develop energy manipulation).

The war rages on for years, but true to their nature they an never truly best each other, and the war ends MANY years later in a shaky stalemate from both sides. This would be the present day.

Since the war has only recently ended, there are very few laws that regulate dragons and their rights in human territories, and viceversa. Using dragons as fighting dogs in gladiator arenas and treating them as animals is 'illegal', but extremely common in human cities. That would be the situation where our Extinction crew find themselves in.

Despite all the animosity towards each other, there are a great many people who want to uphold the peace and want to peacefully coexist and even work together (this is the basis for dragon piloting); but there are also extremists on both sides who still believe the others should be exterminated: humans who consider dragons a threat and a pest and no more than animals, and dragons who are unhappy with being 'tamed' and who clamor for a return to being ruthless deadly beasts.

----

Honestly, the setting of Extinction itself isnt that much changed! It's mostly been tweaked to be a lot more cohesive with the worldbuilding and the world's history. I have added a bunch more in the aspect of dragonflight and races and planes because I think its cool as hell. The gladiator side of it is only one fraction of the world.

[nitrowyverine]

Finally played the TOUCHSTARVED Demo! Still thinking about it over a week later.

(Above: Steam banner image for TOUCHSTARVED from Red Spring Studios)

I love it SO MUCH. and i have QUESTIONS. my extended thoughts below the cut [Demo spoilers included]

General thoughts:

this game is SO up my alley that it's insane. local goth gaming nerd is kicking their feet and giggling

the music? and sound design? It's honestly incredible, even beyond the infamous Every Time We Touch cover (Which is how I found this game). We all have to be giving more props to the music/sound work, it absolutely punches the experience up so many notches. When a soundtrack is released I'm immediately keeping it on hand for all my tabletop needs

absolutely enamored with the backstory mechanic. It adds so much individual depth to the character. you can feel attached to your MC without them being a complete blank slate. I absolutely love that different MC backstories have you pick up different details about the characters. (My favorite is The Hound immediately picking out who the leaders are amongst the group, in contrast to the other MC backgrounds)

I wanna eat the backgrounds. I wanna eat them whole. They're so detailed and colorful and have a great sense of depth. 100000/10

Specific character thoughts/theories:

(Images courtesy of the Touchstarved character Lore posts from the Red Spring Studio socials. I'll be linking them in each of the character's names)

Ais:

Thank you, Red Spring studios, for blessing the players with the ability to bite him if you're an ass to him the entire demo. You truly know what we want

Lore seems to indicate that Ais came over from the demon realm for some unknown reason, and was possibly some kind of demon king or leader? Fascinated to learn what happens there

Ngl the Seaspring looks like it would taste good. My favorite raspberry/rhubarb tea looks just like the Seaspring water. Gimme the group juice.

Question: If Ais gets infected with MC's madness....does that mean. the WHOLE groupmind gets infected? Humans and soulless alike? That's a city-destroying disaster waiting to happen

CONCLUSION: Most likely to adopt 6 dogs instead of picking up the groceries. Least likely to let you have the car aux cable.

Kuras:

I do believe Kuras is the actual best shot at a cure/treatment of all candidates. Assuming the curse is some level of demonic, an angel's touch is probably the best bet.

Let me be clear here though, I do think he might just go "Well you can just like. not have arms" and take them. That is a possibility

Most of the other characters I can get a rough idea of what they want and why. Kuras? I have NO idea what his goal is, which is very frightening.

Twitter bio image does say "Repentant Angel", and that his fatal flaw is "his sins can only be repaid through suffering". Possible linkage to Lovent's fall? Or another major disaster?

its okay sweaty we all get The Guilt (tm)

If Kuras somehow gets MC's maddness (I have a feeling it may not effect him? but if it did) that would just. end the world right there.

CONCLUSION: Most likely to be the one guy you might be able to bring home to your parents. Least likely to put on oven mitts to take a frozen pizza out of the oven.

Vere:

I love Vere for being the character I thought I could trust the least, turning into a character I actually trust allot. I trust him to be extremely dangerous. He probably wasn't lying when he said his heart is on his sleeve.

Also, big props for having him just kill you in one of the demo endings. What a guy, I love him, no notes

Wait what he's over 100 according to his birthday post. thats, allot? older? than I thought?. okay yeah the lore posts mention he's a possible deity figure. not comforting

Vere is very fae-logic coded. Like, the words he says can be true and false at the same time. Don't tell him your name, he will cannibalize you for fun, etc etc ya know fae stuff.

i will protect him always

CONCLUSION: Most likely to fuck your dad. Least likely to be your new stepdad.

Mihn:

Mihn is much dodgier than the rest, but I think that makes them more trustworthy. They're not as interested as playing games.

I nominate Mihn as a secondary protagonist, since Leander, Ais, and Kuras seem to be interested in them quite a bit. Even Vere has a rivalmance kinda thing going for Mihn. If MC didn't show up, that would be the dating sim right there

I'm excited by the lore post and the implications that Mihn is from Lovent (or has traveled there? and survived?) and potentially getting greater lore expansion about the world surrounding Eridia

I think it's interesting that their strength stat is relatively low compared to the others, yet they're one of the characters that actually uses their strength in the demo.

Also, I think we see the least of their "monstrous form" of everyone in the demo (minus their ability to dodge in and out of shadows). I'm thrilled to see what their monstrous form actually entails.

Mihn would survive bloodborne. That's it thats the entire thought

CONCLUSION: Most likely to do all the work in a group project. Least likely to be chill during Mario Party.

Leander:

OKAY ALL OF MY QUESTIONS ARE HERE. I AM DEEPLY AFRAID. Something is absolutely wrong but we have no current ability to pinpoint what it is.

I've seen theories Leander is dead. However, in Vere's route, he mentions that Leander smells like aftershave. While this could be part of an extra-elaborate ruse, hair doesn't grow after death (Minus the appearance of it happening due to natural decay processes) so he wouldn't need to shave. However, I am betting on him being involved in some sort of un-death cycle.

actually I can guarantee his story is all about cycles. Has anyone else mentioned how his belt is the triple goddess symbol.

you know. the symbol of maiden/mother/crone. birth/life/death. beginning/middle/end. like

Moving on, the vast majority of his smiles are forced (Mouth is smiling, but there's no eye movement/crinkle that would indicate it's genuine). That is enough of a red flag but honey I am so much more worried about my next point:

WHERE DOES HE GET HIS MONEY. He's constantly buying rounds of drinks for a packed bar. It's briefly mentioned his clothes are nice. He pays for anything MC needs. However, says Bloodhound rates are "Free". Where does he GET HIS MONEY for all of this. Twitter posts from Red Spring point out he doesn't accept bribes (at least overtly).

WAIT I'M REREADING THIS POST WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE SILENT CRYPTS.

Looking again at Leander's stat post. The Ouroboros in the background is. Not comforting. Also, "Forbidden Magic"? yeah I have a feeling we know why he's not in the Senobium

Theory, potentially Leander is currently being paid by the Senobium to maintain lowtown/Silent Crypts order? I think there's still a connection between them. Like the Senobuim can remain detached while having ties to whatever horrible things Leander is doing.

Okay, in the twitter relationship charts it says that Kuras has looked out for Leander "Since he was young". Kuras probably knows. SO much we don't.

When Mihn scolds Leander for not telling MC to be off the streets past dark. I think Leander intentionally "Forgot" to mention that. I think he wanted the MC to see how dangerous Eridia was so MC would stay closer to Leander for safety. I think it was a very intentional manipulation tactic.

(Furthermore, did he actually cast a spell of luck on MC when he gave them the lilies from his introduction magic trick? Then bet on the MC living through the day?)

I do think Leander's surprise at MC going out to the Seaspring was genuine, since his spit-take clashes so starkly with his cool-guy demeanor.

I also have a feeling that Leander has been past the veil/shroud. he's doing something fucky and the veil is prime fuckery territory.

(Are we...going to get a timeloop story????)

CONCLUSION: Most likely to dramatically use himself as a human bridge over a small puddle (as an excuse to get walked on). Least likely to remember to go to bed after playing Stardew Valley for 13 hours straight.

Touchstarved game things I'm concerned about:

(I feel like I wouldn't be doing my game designer duties if I didn't point out my concerns as well. To be fair, there aren't many.)

I hope the bad endings get fucked up, story-wise. Since it's a horror game, I know it might turn some people off to have things go super wrong, but I really hope they do. I want to see some endless pain vortexes, some real Juniji Ito-style suffering. But I would also understand if the devs want to softball some of the worst outcomes for the sake of widespread appeal.

We all have countless examples of kickstarter games looking strong out the gate, but then falling flat upon release. While I have high hopes for Touchstarved, I do know the reality and intense difficulty of kickstarter games. I'm really hoping the demo isn't the best the studio will have to offer.

OVERALL: I am rooting for the Touchstarved team/Red Spring Studio all the way! I'm thrilled to see where this game goes. I am poised on this purchase button and ready to buy when it releases.

[locuas642]

One Piece 1125

Me and some friends like to jokingly call manga "that very apolitical thing from Apolitical Japan" mostly in regards of poking fun to dudebros who are convinced their lack of understanding of Japan as a country while consuming their media is the same as that media having no commentary or the creators of the work having no opinion or politics of their own.

That is to say that, while an old tired thing to say, the manga One Piece has always had been political to a degree. that is to say, Eiichiro Oda, as a person living in Japan, has and always had opinions and politics like all other human beings. which sometimes he intentionally puts into the page, or which show by how he decides to portray certain things (despite writing about Pirates, he likely doesnt support the illegal download of Movies, for example, but it's likely he believes a good ruler is one who sees themselves as equal to the common people, with how often that type of leader comes again and again as the "right" kind of leader).

This is to say that when I say this latest arc of One Piece was very political, it's to say this might be the most clear Oda has been in making a statement with his art.

through a transmission across the world, the characters just had a massive reveal for the series in the way of an allegory for Climate Change: the world is going to sink. and this is not a natural phenomenon, but it's going to be a Man Made disaster carried out by the people who are in charge of this world. As a result, we see those same people in charge reacting to the fact most of the world has learned the truth.

One Vice Admiral, a rank that the series has given an animal motif of being Dogs (government dogs, get it?) asks one of the elders wether or not it's true.

And they are immediatly punished.

That same elder, who failed to stop that transmission, is killed and replaced by the leader of the world. Meanwhile, the Celestial Dragons, who represent the super 1%, have their concern be not with the state of the world, but with the minor inconvinience of not getting to eat as much food as they want. Because the plan was always for them in specific to be safe.

this is as we learn that the effects of these news will be what happens when a major crisis leads to desperation among the common people to survive: War is coming.

if that is not using your work to say something about the world i dont know what is

[shesmyboot]

Baby Severide - Chapter 1: Growing an Entire Human

*Gif belongs to its rightful owner, it is not mine*

Pairing: Kelly Severide x Reader Summary: When Kelly accompanies you to an OB appointment, the doctor brings some unexpected news.

Words: 1,569

Warnings: Doctors appointments, not great writing

Read on Ao3 here

Notes: The first chapter of a few. The entire fic isn’t quite done yet. Honestly, I wrote this for me, so if you like it, great, let me know. If not, great too, just don’t tell me. Medical info and such may not be right, sorry :) tagging some friends and mutuals as to celebrate my return to writing

Next Chapters: Chapter 2

Tags: @morganupstead @district447 @mustprotectmattcaseyatallcosts

——

“Hey babe, you home?” Kelly called for you as he opened the apartment door.

“Hey I’m here,” you sighed as you chuckled softly.

“How are my two favourite girls doing?” He asked, setting his duffel bag on the floor before coming to snuggle up with you on the couch. 

“We’re ok, feeling like a beached whale though, baby.” 

“We are in the home stretch. Take it easy these last few weeks.”

“Oh we’re taking it easy all right. I sat on this couch all day and did nothing, but watch The Bachelor,” you laughed, “how was shift?”

“A car wreck, nothing major. Then I came home early for you,” he leaned over and gave you a peck on the lips before getting up from the couch.

“Where are you going?” You gave Kelly your best puppy dog eyes.

“Well I thought I was going to shower,” he chuckled.

“Can you get me some water and a snack?” 

“What about water and some breakfast?”

“Oh, the baby could really use some of your bacon and french toast.”

“You sit here, I’ll make us some french toast.”

“Don’t forget the bacon,” you teased as he went to the kitchen to start preparing your feast.

—

“Breakfast on the couch or the table?” Kelly called, plates clanging in the background.

“How about from our bed?” You laughed back, “I’ve had a long day.”

“You’re growing an entire human, that’s a long enough day as it is without you having to work from home too,” he brought the plates to your night stands and came back for you. 

You got up from the couch with his help and started to waddle over to the bed. 

“Hopefully only another few hours of working from home,” you sighed, getting under the quilt your mom made you as a wedding gift. 

“Heard from the doctor yet?” He asked, sliding into the bed with a coffee in his hand. 

“Called this morning. She got a cancellation for this afternoon at 3 to do another ultrasound and checkup so I don’t have go by myself,” you replied, digging into your stack of french toast. 

“Our daughter is the luckiest,” he leaned down to kiss your belly. 

“With your as her daddy, I have no doubt,” you moved your plate to your night stand and rested your head on his shoulder. 

“As of now, I’ll only be away for one more shift before she’s born.”

“How long is Boden giving you for paternity leave?”

“I’m only going to take six weeks. Then I’m gonna use up some furlough, so I’ll be off with you for about eight weeks.”

“I thought you had more time saved up.”

“I get 12 weeks every two years. If we have more kids, I want to have the time to be off both times, baby.”

“I don’t know if I want them that close together though,” you laughed. 

“Never know. We didn’t expect this one.”

“That’s true I guess. Hey, what time is it?”

“1:28, why?”

“I have a call at 1:30.”

“What do you need for it?”

“Just my laptop and AirPods.”

“I’ll grab them for you quick.”

He walked across the bedroom to the desk and brought you your things to start your call. He wondered out of the room so you could present in peace. 

Kelly walked back into your bedroom near the end of your call. You were just saying goodbye to some coworkers since your maternity leave officially started as soon as your call was finished. You closed your laptop and put it to the side.

“Ready to go?” He asked.

“One thing first,” you smiled.

“Which is…?”

“Can you tie my shoes please?” You laughed.

“Of course, but let’s get going. I haven’t seen the baby in a couple months.”

“I know, I know, my shoes are on the floor by the door.”

“Let’s get you up then, we’ve got to go.”

—

As you pulled up to the doctor’s office, a flutter of excitement filled your heart. Walking into the office, you always dreaded that the OB’s office was on the second floor. You had a seat and waited your turn. Kelly always made sure you were there early after all. 

“Mrs Severide?” A nurse called.

You stood up and Kelly held your hand into the exam room. 

“There’s a gown on the bed with a blanket. Please put the gown on, the doctor will be in soon,” 

“Thank you,” Kelly smiled.

The nurse left the room and you stood by the bed. Kelly sitting in the chair by your side. You started to change and your husband tied the sides of your gown together for you. He helped you onto the bed, draping the blanket over your legs and belly.

There was a knock on the door, “Hi, it’s Dr Calhoun.”

“Come in,” you answered.

Dr. Calhoun closed the door behind her as she came into the exam room. 

“How are the parents-to-be feeling today?” She asked.

“A little wobbly, but happy to finally be on maternity leave,” you laughed.

“And how are you feeling, Kelly?” 

“A little nervous, but excited,” he replied.

“Any concerns with the pregnancy since we last saw you? From either of you?” Dr Calhoun asked, pulling up your chart on the computer.

“Nothing that I’ve noticed. Just really tired,” you replied.

“That is to be expected, you’re in the home stretch.”

“Kelly said the same thing,” you laughed, “it does help my case of getting him to cook for me when he’s not on shift though.”

“Sounds like you’re doing well then,” she laughed, “let’s take a look at this baby girl.”

She pulled the ultrasound wand and gel out. Kelly held your hand.

“It’s gonna be a little cold, I’m sorry,” she announced. 

She squirted the gel onto your belly and flicked the machine on. Swirling the wand around your belly, she turned the screen so you could see the image.

“She’s bigger than the last time I’ve seen her,” Kelly laughed, kissing your hand. 

“She has grown a lot in the last month or two,” you smiled, “how’s she looking?”

“Active and growing well. Do you mind if I ask you guys something?” Dr Calhoun asked.

“Sure, is something wrong?” Kelly asked.

“Not at all. How big were you both when you were born?” She replied.

“I believe I was just under seven pounds, and I think Kelly’s mom said he was over 9 pounds. Why?” You replied.

“Your daughter is measuring larger than what we had originally thought. Almost nine and a half pounds. I’m worried about the risk of shoulder dystocia, and I’m thinking it may be easier on you and your baby if you opted for a c-section in the next week or two. A c-section isn’t an easier way out though and the recovery may be difficult.”

“But I’m only 36 weeks, shouldn’t we let her mature a little more?”

“Given her size already, she should be okay to deliver even tomorrow.”

“Kelly still has another shift left before he’s on leave. I don’t think I’m-“ you were starting to shift around on the bed.

“Babe, I’ll take some more furlough. It’ll be okay. Let’s just focus on you and the baby right now,” Kelly stroked your hair, “we’ll be okay.”

“Your baby has grown very well. I am not as worried about her progression as I am about your ability to recover and your baby’s risk of complications. I’ll give you a minute,” Dr Calhoun replied, walking towards the door, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She closed the door behind her and tears filled your eyes. 

“What do you think we should do?” Kelly asked.

“If the doctor thinks this is what’s best, I think we should do it,” you wiped the tears from your eyes. 

“I’m sorry I make such big babies,” he laughed, rubbing your belly.

“Just means we get to meet her sooner. I think we should do this.” 

“When do you want to schedule it?”

“After your next shift. Make sure you don’t have to take any more time off.”

“I would happily take more time off for you and our little girl.”

“Thank you,” your eyes started to swell with tears of joy. 

“Knock knock,” Dr Calhoun said, entering the exam room, “have you made a decision or would you like more time?”

“I think we’ve made a decision,” you smiled, “let’s do this as soon as possible.”

“Okay, I’ll leave some paperwork with the nurse at the desk. She’ll get you booked in and give you some instructions. See you both soon. Rest up. Oh and, as always, give us a call if something happens or if you have questions.”

“Thank you Doctor Calhoun.”

Dr Calhoun left the exam room and Kelly helped you change. You made your way to the front desk and booked your c-section. Saturday at 11:30am. Two days away.

Leaving the office, you felt excited. As Kelly started to drive you home, you noticed he seemed excited, but nervous.

“Hey, do you want to stop by 51 on our way home?” You asked, “to tell them the news?”

“Do you mind?” 

“Not at all. Then it gives you a chance to talk to Boden.”

Kelly made a u-turn back in the direction of the firehouse. You were only a few minutes away. He smiled from ear to ear as you pulled up. 

[centrally-unplanned]

To counter a bit my own housing libertarianism on main, it is of course quite theoretically possible for housing developers to cheap out on quality to make a buck. In the historical times when housing was that very free market, you saw that all the time! Like medicine, the ability for consumers to evaluate the "quality" of a build is quite low, you can sneak shitty pipes by them, so you saw/see that kind of stuff frequently in the right context.

The problem is that the argument is being presented around developed countries today in comparison to like 30 years ago. The US housing market isn't a free market in any way, shape, or form! We have not deregulated safety standards, or loosened building codes, or repealed fire safety mandates. We have gotten more restrictive, not less, over that time period. Developers in 1980 or 1950 were trying to cut just as many corners as they used to, the profit motive hasn't changed there. But in places like the US doing much of that is illegal, and gets caught by the mandatory home inspections, and law and order in the housing market has not collapsed in the past 30 years. No one is saying the occasional criminal doesn't slip through, but that was equally true in the past. Many of these codes are quite good - they work! They are regulations that make people better off.

If you really want to make an argument about specific shifting building standards you totally can, but it has to be much more sophisticated than this sort of blanket ~neoliberalism~. Matt Yglesias has been reading my mind recently, very annoying, and he wrote a take I wanted to write about "neoliberalism" as the dog that didn't bark. The idea that the modern era is an era of mass deregulation and growth-at-all-costs, that we live in a more capitalist and laissez faire era than our ancestors did, is probably not true! It varies by sector, yeah trade barriers went down for example. But housing most certainly didn't; neither did healthcare, or education, and that is the majority of how all humans spend their money. We never got growth-at-all-costs; much to my chagrin when it comes to housing. These takes lack a causal mechanism as for what changed.

[creatingblackcharacters]

Bleden Mark from the video game Tyranny

the basic concept of the setting is "after the evil overlord has already won" and there are a lot of themes about power and perception. (and legal loopholes.)

the evil overlord is Kyros and Bleden Mark is one of her Archons, specifically the Archon of Shadow. each archon has their own portfolio of unique and extremely powerful magic. everyone else can only do magic by studying archons and using sigils to call on their power.

an archon's power is based on two parts. first of all, you have to be born with some kind of potential. no one knows how it works, but some people can become archons and most people just can't. but it's also based on other people's belief in them.

the more powerful an archon becomes, the more people know about them and have thoughts about them and what they can do, which reflects back on the archon and changes their powers. then people see and hear about those powers, and that reinforces their belief. the more powerful an archon becomes, the more vulnerable they become to belief, and it changes not only their powers but their personalities, their appearances, it molds them into becoming whatever idol that people make of them.

that's how things actually work, but it's not common knowledge. instead, the story is that Kyros (who is really just a particularly powerful archon who got in the business of making everyone believe she's all-powerful and thus is pretty close) is simply a living god, and the archons have their power because Kyros made them archons. this works because she quickly recruits every archon that pops up. or, she has Bleden Mark assassinate them.

Bleden Mark is one of the oldest Archons still around (so centuries old, they can live indefinitely it seems like). he was a soldier who tried to assassinate Kyros, failed, and then began working for her as assassin and executioner.

he's never presented this way in the game, but you are told that for a long time even all of the other archons saw him as a bloodthirsty mad dog who had to be held tightly in check by Tunon, the Archon of Justice, who Kyros placed in charge of him. he was thought of like he barely had a mind and didn't care about anything but the chance to kill as many people as he could, for whatever reasons were available.

in the "present time" of the game, Bleden Mark is still officially part of Tunon's Court and works under him, but is largely independent. he and Tunon seem to have a lot of respect for each other. Tunon (despite his compromised moral position as part of an evil overlord's empire) genuinely cares about law and justice, and he ended up being fair to Bleden Mark (against what I think were Kyros' wishes), saw that he was a person and treated him that way.

the player is also a member of Tunon's court. Bleden Mark taught you a survival course as part of your training, and has a mentor sort of relationship with you.

Because Of Plot, he unfortunately ends up trying to kill you in the majority of cases. but he gives you friendly warnings, doesn't seem particularly sadistic or bloodthirsty about it. he has a sense of humor, approves when you call him an old man, and is one of the more human and normal seeming of the archons. he's much more personable than Tunon (the other archon who has been around a long time, in comparison to the other archons you meet).

And it is so interesting to me that that is true, considering A, how much belief shapes archons (as shown dramatically with other characters in the game), and B, how extreme people's fear of and beliefs about Bleden Mark is / have been in the past.

You get a different view as a member of the Court, but to most people he's just death in the shadows for anyone with disloyalty to Kyros. there's so much fear of him. and it really seems like Kyros deliberately set up this narrative, made even the other archons believe it at first, in order to shape him into a weapon that she could just point at people, by using belief to turn him into a mindless killer.

But it didn't work.

the only path where you don't have to fight Bleden Mark, is the one where you burn your bridges with both of the factions under Kyros that you're supposed to choose between. then Bleden Mark (who Because Of Plot and reading between the lines, i'm pretty sure has orders at this point that you're not supposed to survive) shows up and goes hey, kid. that was wildly unpolitical of you. anyway let's kill everybody else and rebel against Kyros.

Hot Chocolate: I personally have never heard of this game, and I feel ashamed in saying that, because I'm the videogame boy 😅. That being said, your description and detail of the events in the game made me super interested in this game! I've consumed a few stories where God-like beings and their relationship with regular people are symbiotic- My favorites being: Noragami and You Give Me Heart episode of 'Kizazi Moto'. So this sounds right up my alley, so to find out this game Tyranny is an RPG?? I might just have to try it out. Thank you for the recommendation/submission 💪🏾

[floweypilled]

*takes a deep breath* okay what about Flowey straight up after becoming Asriel and turning back had MAJOR emotional ups and downs. Like he would be feeling so much after gaining the ability to feel back and having it snatched away again. Plus being alone wouldn't help (cough cough True Pacifist cough cough)

Like I know he's "bad" but cmonnnnnn. I can't help but feel for the little guy! I mean how would you feel if you were told or thought you weren't feeling emotions "correctly"? (Also hi if you see this I love your work <3)

First of all. thank you that means a lot to me ^_^

Second of all. YEAH! this guy’s emotions are just getting thrown around and chewed up like a dog toy. i do think, though, that he Prefers not having a soul at that point, monsters have a lot of Feelings and it’s just Noisy. if that makes sense.

he’d be very grateful to have the weight of The Future Of Humans And Monsters off his shoulders again. As Asriel, he’s a screw holding it all together. As Flowey, he’s a fly on the wall just there to observe.

i think he’s able to come to terms with his non-asrielness because of that. Being a prince is hard!

[darkwood-sleddog]

I know this is a very long ask with a lot of questions, but do you think an inuit qimmiq could ever be ethically kept by a pet home below the treeline? A lot of sources suggest they're a hardcore working dog that needs an actual job like a belgian malinois, but in a home that regularly engages in casual/hobby bikejoring, weight pull, hiking & packing etc, would it be possible to have one as a companion animal? Also do you think it may be culturally insensitive/ignorant to own one of these dogs as a non-indigenous (no inuit ancestry or any connection to inuit culture)? I don't actually have any plans to acquire one of these dogs anytime soon but I'm really fascinated by them and if I ever own one (if its acceptable) it'll be after I have enough experience with other dog breeds (mostly asian spitz, probably, im fascinated by how very similar yet very, very different inuit qimmiq are to these dogs). Also, I read that inuit qimmiq puppies need to be raised with at least one other inuit qimmiq puppy to have proper, well-rounded social skills with humans and dogs as an adult, do you know if this is true? Again sorry for bothering you and if you aren't equipped enough to answer my questions it's fine.

When it comes to questions like "do i think *insert dog breed/type here* can be ethically kept in a situation" I will alway default to the fact that dogs can be kept ethically in many situations and there's a lot more nuance to ethicality than defining a home as "working" or "pet" or "above tree line" or "below tree line". My main question will aways hinge on: is the dog being fulfilled?

There is a fundamental difference between working dogs like qimmiq other indigenous bred working dogs and working dogs like malinois. The malinois, especially the working malinois has been fundamentally changed from its traditional role to better suit people's working needs. From a working perspective it is much more common for the work malinois do to not be herding or herding adjacent, but rather protection, police, military and bite sport related. The malinois is changed from what it was, the qimmiq is not. It is very much unchanged from its traditional role and way of being. To understand why this difference is meaningful first one must understand what traditional work often means for dogs. A good working dog outside of the modern context is a dog that can settle, a dog that does not need constant upkeep physically, a dog that can weather the elements, a dog that is temperamentally sound within its basic breed specific behaviors, a dog that is not quivering with unsprung energy and with qimmiq they are not worked in the summer. In this aspect, qimmiq are very much the opposite of modern working & sport malinois, but it does not mean they are content to be couch potatoes and they are very much dogs that need outside space. I know several in pet type homes, but they are pet homes like mine where the dogs work consistently several times a week and often live outside. (however a majority of canadian qimmiq i know of are in working homes in some regard). The difference between qimmiq and my working bred malamutes is that my dogs have been bred for work AND for in home companionship. Usually, the qimmiq is bred to pull sleds, not to live inside your house (because again they are very unchanged).

You must ask yourself, as you should do with any breed/type of dog: what can I provide for this dog? Why do I want this dog? Will I commit to changing my lifestyle for this dog?

I cannot personally speak on if owning qimmiq is culturally insensitive as a non-inuit. I know several that do and they are, or have been before their own deaths, welcomed in the community as part of cultural exchange (there are whole populations of Canadian Inuit Dogs in the UK and Italy that work their dogs in harness and often import native dogs from indigenous sources in northern Canada for example), but that does not mean that other individuals may not be. Personally, I think as long as you are looking to learn more about traditional dogsledding, to learn about the context of the dogs in the culture, the history, all from the people that originated the dogs there are not going to be problems. I have strong personal feelings that the development and standards of what these dogs should look like and be capable of should be in inuit hands, but imo that does not close the dogs off from being owned and culturally exchanged to non inuit. I think the biggest hurdles you'd run in to are that there aren't many Canadian qimmiq in general due to various factors in Canada itself (past RCMP dog culls, lack of accessible vaccination for dogs, cost of keeping a team of dogs vs cost of a single snowmobile in the arctic etc.)

Now your last big question about puppies being raised together I have some big feelings on. I do not think you need two puppies, although I know a quite a few breeders of differing sled dog breeds that swear by this method. A majority of people are not equipped to raise two puppies together in a way that avoids littermate syndrome, so raising two puppies is detrimental to the dogs themselves. But, on the other ends of things, I have personal experience with the difference of primitive dogs that are traditionally kept in family groups being raised both within that family group and without. 2/3 of my dogs (Zombie and Slash) were raised in a multi generational pack of dogs. They are incredibly adept at dog body language in a way that Sigurd is not. Sigurd was an only dog for the first year of his life, and despite him coming from that same family group, having a very nice stable, temperament, and a lot of work being done on our end to ensure he had proper socialization, he lacks the dog language skills and pure poetry of proper interaction within a larger dog social group that my other two have. I will never raise a malamute puppy into a single dog household ever again, the difference in socialization is just so obvious to me. The behaviors of dogs are both part genetic, but also part environmental. But let me be clear, I do NOT think that two baby puppies can learn this type of socialization just from each other. Adults of various genders and age groups are needed for this kind of adept dog social language to be taught and exist. Sigurd isn't necessarily bad at it, he is pretty dog neutral and very friendly with people (as all my dogs are), most people would probably think he exhibits great dog body language compared to a majority of pet dogs, but once I got Slash and had two dogs out of three that were VERY ADEPT little dog language mozarts it became so strikingly clear to me what Sigurd lacks compared to them (something that often causes conflict in my pack btw because the way he exhibits behaviors and does not understand the signals my other dogs perceive as clear is considered rude by the other dogs). Now malamutes are pretty kennel clubified compared to Qimmiq, so take what I'm saying and increase it for them. I do not think they would thrive without at least one other existing dog in the house (even if that dog was a different breed) around, but certain outlying individuals i'm sure exist.

My final thoughts are that i think freighting sled dogs and indigenous sled dogs are super cool. So i understand why you are drawn to them. I dedicate a lot of time each and every day ensuring my working pet malamutes get what they need, am considering a 4th dog in 2026 due to sled dog brain rot, and even I have my doubts that I would be able to provide a qimmiq what i needs. If i were to get one, I'd have to get a lot more intense than I already am about putting the dogs to work, not because I think the dog wouldn't be content with pet life, but because I would feel guilty as hell purchasing a dog meant for traditional work in the arctic only for it not to get what I deem as the correct and appropriate amount of work due to other constraints that often come up in my life. Hell sometimes I feel this way about Slash because he's bursting with so much potential I feel I'm incapable of properly tapping.

[vikkirosko]

Glad to have you back, Vikki. Could I request a Gravity Falls themed ask?

A tanuki (raccoon-dog) merchant who set up shop in Gravity Falls before Ford came to town, but mostly keeps to themself. They can disguise themself as human though so interacting with the townsfolk is pretty typical. Tanuki!Reader is honestly an anomaly among tanukis since they don’t exactly lie or cheat people. They say the honest and often times brutal truth. EX: If something was recently scavenged, if something will need a lot of work, their supernatural “charms” cannot handle major threats or the customer stirring up the afterlife on purpose. While they don’t get a lot of customers—they do tend to get repeat ones.

The idea for the ask is Tanuki!Reader being able to clock that Stan(ley) isn’t Stanford. They take to spying on him as a “raccoon” for the first few months. Eventually, they take Mr Mystery under their wing to teach him a few tricks of the trade. Like not say—dying to any of Gravity Falls’ supernatural beings who already had mixed feelings about him. (In reality Stanford, yet they know to avoid the subject.) Reader looks well in their thirties when they start acting as (forcibly suggested) mentor to the human.

The tanuki might not operate under their usual typical tactics, but they pretty clever when it comes to the business aspect. Even without magic. Meanwhile, to Stan, this crazy person decided to barge into his life after it got flipped on his head and actually show him how to handle the craziness of Gravity Falls. Said mentor never confirms or denies being human.

💵 Stan Pines x tanuki!Reader headcanons Mentor 🎱

You've been living in Gravity Falls for a long time. You had a small shop in the city and traded with the locals. However, none of the locals knew that you were a tanuki. You were very different from the other tanuki. Unlike them, you weren't lying, on the contrary, you were telling the truth, even if it was cruel. To the residents of the city, you were an ordinary person, because you were good at hiding your true nature. You often watched people and noticed that a new person appeared in a lonely hut. You just couldn't miss this event

You've been watching him for a long time, assuming the form of what he thought was a raccoon. You watched carefully as he studied the anomalies, which were very numerous in Gravity Falls. However, one day you noticed that it was a completely different person. It was so obvious to you that you couldn't even keep from smiling. You saw that this man was completely unaware of how dangerous the local supernatural inhabitants could be, so you decided to take him under your wing and teach him a few simple tricks that will help him not only avoid problems, but also earn money

When you appeared on the doorstep of shack, Stan did not understand what you wanted from him, but you did not leave. He was just starting his business and you, a man who already had a thriving shop, claimed that you would teach him all the intricacies of the craft. You disturbed his peace, turning his life upside down. He couldn't argue with the fact that you really knew how to run a business. You seemed strange to him, but with your appearance, his life became more intense. He was able to develop his business and you, like a talented mentor, guided him on the right path

For several years, you've been teaching him little tricks. His business was booming and you didn't seem to change. He understood that there were many people in the forest whom ordinary people could not even imagine, and Stan assumed that you were one of them, but no matter how many times he asked you about it, you did not confirm or deny it. You weren't going to reveal your secrets so easily

You didn't know how long you could keep an eye on him, but you hoped that even if you were forced to leave, he would be fine. You knew that he had a family, and maybe someday you will be able to meet his relatives. So far, all you could do was make sure Stan didn't get hurt because of the crazy things that were going on in Gravity Falls

[faline-cat444]

An image of what seems to be the main cast for Wonderful.When it comes to the little bit of details being expressed so far it's a mix of weirdness but I generally have a good feeling over the upcoming season's theme and execution.The main idea is showing us that our leading Cure is actually a dog who gains the ability to transform into a human girl and of course a Pretty Cure.I can excuse her name being Cure Wonderful thanks to that,if anything thanks to the pun it might be better off calling her Cure Wan-Derful.

For past experiences her voice actor has taken credit for that's a character I know she's supposed to be Kanna from Dragon Maid.So using that for reference this isn't her first time dealing with what I think can classify as "Shapeshifter".Her dog genetics also say she's the Papillon breed which being more of a cat person I don't really have much experience to but a page on the American Kennel Club website did provide some handy statistics that might be worked into her character.

As I said already the naming scheme for the initial Cure Status Quo feels a bit weak compared to the motifs of previous seasons but I can excuse that when your team leader is an actual dog most of the time.

Bringing us to our next most major Cure we have a bit more info on,Iroha Inukai aka Friendy.Her name in magical girl form is likely rooted to how dogs get referred to as "Man's Best Friend".

Design-Wise I'm not quite sold on her default outfit and hope the fashion she'll get later on(When the seasons change or similar) and I think the hat would look better if it covered her whole head rather than being a tiny thing on the side.Her voice apparently being who does Anya [Forger] among a few other characters makes me really want her to be worthy of my ever expanding list of favorites and shows this isn't her first time being a magical girl or dealing with a weird dog.

Similar to the season we're closing off on we don't have true details for Nyammy and Lillian but it isn't too hard to put the clues together.

"Nyammy" contains Nya which is how Japan tends to express what English would call "meow".There is a white cat named Yuki present along with her owner,Mayu Nekoshiyama.

The pink ribbon placements sort of remind me how Blake concealed her cat ears in the first volumes of RWBY.With how order is place in the quartet Yuki is going to be the one who transforms first followed by her owner.Not too sure how much of a time skip this will be in the grand scheme but the little bit of info presently given on Mayu says she recently moved into the town."Lillian" might also be an odd choice of name considering the limited knowledge at the moment for it's a name that seems rather human instead of descriptive or constructive(Then again,Laura just used her last name) and seeing the meaning of it as a girl's name it's supposed to give a sense of peace and passion but at the same time it's based on lily flowers...Which I have seen several informative sources say are HIGHLY TOXIC TO CATS and it might be very telling that a cat is possibly implied to have assisted in her owner's Cure name.

Our last duo in the visual is currently more for the hypothetical theories right now than outright stated from initial visual choices.If it's going the way they're wanting us to think they're who I am really pinning the money on.

Glasses Boy is Satoru Usayama while his bunny's name is Daifuku

The former is definitely hinting to have a lot of those marks I said I'd want for a male cure successor for Tsubasa:

Classmate to one of the main characters(So he does attend the school)

Outfit hints he's going to fill the niche of the yellow/orange/gold member to the team

Ends up needing to be a secret keeper about the girls' being Pretty Cure

If he keeps his glasses or they turn into a monocle when the time comes and everything checks out that's perfection in my book.In regards to his rabbit...

Apparently that's one brave bunny not that I can read that going by the facial expression the first impression is giving.Need to wait for the show proper to truly see the loppy lapin in action.

Now for the final shreds of detail that more-or-less are "public"...

Whatever role these animals will be serving they very much seem a bit like an extended cast including recolors of the animals from Healin' Good

Lastly is our first shot at one of our monsters of the episode which this time around are starting out with the name of "Garugaru"

This might very well be best viewed as the Pretty Cure spin on some subject matters Animal Detectives Kiruminzuu dealt with and all we have to do is wait for the fourth of February to see it start to unfold

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

You know, I rarely come across popsci articles that make me angry enough to do a point by point debunking but here we fucking are.

"Fact" 1: Your cat doesn't love you.

Citations: Two studies. One that was inconclusive on whether cats care if their owners leave and come back, but the author has decided that there is "proof enough" that they don't. Marvelous investigative work. The other is that cats hear their owners but don't come when they call. Strange, because dogs do the exact same thing and have to be specifically trained to be called.

"Fact" 2: Your cat isn't really showing you affection

Citations: 1 study stating that cats rub your legs to spread their scent (we already knew that), one stating that cats who don't like being petted but tolerate it have higher stress levels than cats who just run away (yup. not all dogs like being petted either), and one study that found that cats use different purrs with humans when soliciting food and when not, which the author then flat out lies about by saying that cats only use purrs for humans when they want food. Because fuck reaching, let's just straight up lie and hope no one clicks the link to call bullshit. What the fuck.

"Fact" 3: They're an environmental disaster

This one is just straight up true. Feral cats are the one if not the most dangerous invasive species humans introduce. Stop letting your cats outside and spay and neuter any you find. What I object to is the framing of feral dogs as a "lesser" threat. They're third on the list after cats and rats and pretty much every study on them concludes with "we need a LOT more data, this is a much bigger problem than we thought". You don't become the planet's most common carnivore without squishing a few hundred (or thousand) more species on the way.

"Fact" 4: They're going to make you insane through T. gondii infection.

It's here that we get the usual flurry of studies on how people with T. gondii infections turn schizophrenic or get into more traffic accidents or become business majors (I'm not kidding about this). What it doesn't mention is a) some of those studies need to be redone and b) the biggest risk to getting T. gondii isn't having a litter box, it's eating undercooked meat. Studies have been inconclusive on whether cleaning a cat's litter tray actually increases the chances of T. gondii, and have focused primarily on pregnant European women. I'm not saying that this might not be a threat, I'm saying that hyperfocusing on a maybe infection with unclear symptoms is kind of stupid when we have plenty of well-documented zoonotic diseases from both dogs and cats.

So yeah, click the links on pop sci articles to make sure they aren't lying to you about the results of the study.

[allthecastlesonclouds]

tell me about drawtectives. what is this little show.

oooooh my god oh my god. they are my guys. so.

drawtectives itself is a youtube series created by julia lepetit on Drawfee. it's an rpg mystery show– s1 is a murder mystery, s2 is just a mystery– that doubles as an art challenges show. she draws all of the backgrounds and npcs and most of the assets (the 'cutscenes', you could call them) and then the team gets together, knowing absolutely nothing besides what julia's asked them to prepare, and does some funky improv to create a very funky storyline.

there are 3 players and one dm; the pcs are rosé, york, and grendan/grenda/grandma/gma, and the Big NPCs are Jancy True (s1/s2) and Eugene Finch (s2) and they're, in their own words, a found family, so. beloved. their backup plan if all their jobs fail is to move out east and open a bookstore. jancy and eugene have fully accepted their titles as mom/ancestral ghost and son despite meeting each other likely once before the drawtectives dragged them together. overall though if i had to summarize, it's a bunch of friends getting together, making a bunch of puns, appreciating julia's art, and laughing together. the vibes are 10/10 so loving. in writing the transcripts i've written (Karina laughs) (Nathan laughs) (All laugh) So Many Times it's just fun.

so there's three pcs. first one we meet is gyorik 'york' rogdul, who's a half-orc come to the city to learn about his mother's culture. he is the character we have by far the most lore for– if I compiled all the lore I had about the Northern Tribes and Wild Trains, I think the document would be multiple pages. he's also illiterate, which was an interesting decision for the english major of the group to make (in other words, York Will Not Be Illiterate For Season Three bc Y'all Cannot Read) and morally gray if you think about it too hard (he killed his own brother) but yknow he's hot so it's okay. they're all hot any crimes committed are okay. he's also aroace (confirmed by the player, which is!! vibes!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TELLING ME @axolotllee!)

rosé is the Human Rogue and the youngest of the party; her main trait in s1 was Millennial and she Dealt with that. she, in contrast with York, has so little lore we are scraping the barrel. she was a thief, then left everything about that life behind and changed her name to rosé when she went to work for jancy. she lied on her resumé. she knows how to sew; she's sewn Pockets of Holding on most of her clothing. she bonded with a stray cat that lived outside her last apartment. she's three credits short of graduating college. she's, in addition to being a drawtective, jancy's intern, and cried when jancy got her a cupcake. she won't tell her best friends when her birthday is or where she goes to school or what her last name is. that's all we know about her and i love her and she could probably kill someone as she has multiple knives on her person and does not use them. she's bright and funny and can be pretty dark but really does find the humor in it which is. wonderful.

so grendan highforge starts out as The Snobby Rich Boy which. already love the trope something Always Happens To Them if they're a pc. then through s1 they make an offhand comment about a character (faucon, whose name is pronounced 'falco') and how if her name was pronounced that way it'd be grenda. faucon asks how they feel about it. they are caught very off-guard by that and then ask to be called it for the next hour or so. then the next witness calls him gma, and then grandma, and then. yeah she realizes she's genderfluid. and he uses any pronouns and has a full beard and also wears a romper and loves dogs and the player is the Most Experienced TTRPG-er so through maybe using resources a bittt grandma is the most observant character of all of them. he's also a dog walker and a lightweight and does canonically have druidic magic though that was Not Touched On Much and showed up to their first day on the job slightly stoned (they did stop doing that though.) she carries around a box to make the height difference (york is 7'. grendan is 4'. rosé is 6'. you can see the formatting issue) slightly less difficult. she doesn't know how rhinos reproduce but has had a fascination with them since a police chief said one might've committed a crime. i think they could kill someone by talking too much but they don't actually have the strength or dex to do Jack Shit.

and jancy true is the head pi (a great many of the characters are puns and i love it so much) and is there to make sure things get done and clues don't get missed. she has a cochlear implant and uses a cane and solved s1 just by Reading The Paper and hearsay. she solved about half of s2 before Someone Stopped Her. she says hello children to the drawtectives and it is such a fond thing. eugene is. a guy who i love. julia started the show thinking he would be some mysterious character to join them and then made the wonderful improv decision– avoiding having to do npc-npc conversation– of saying 'yeah eugene is spinning a camera on its stand' and rosé just says so gleefully. 'guys. i think he's stupid.' and he became their son. his character is a lot of The Plot of s2 so i don't want to get into it too much but. jancy and eugene my beloved.

they're just. such a family. to quote nathan (grenda's Player) from the s2 talkback: "That's one of my favorite things about this show, is we came in with these vague ideas for characters, and just playing them with each other, they became friends and became better people as a result of knowing each other and solving mysteries. ... Like, we all kind of independently made our characters people that either were distant from their families or, you know, just had tenuous connections to other stuff, and so these are, like, the realest connections they have in their lives."

and then karina (rosé) about 10 seconds later: "Yeah, we love a found family where they bond over just being the worst."

god. them. they're chaotic and loud and feel very real to me. they have excitement and are pretty bad at social cues but they love each other and want to die together because they would hate too much to be separated. i could articulate this better but it's one in the morning and they mean a great deal to me.

[4kennels]

My Life as a Dog

dawgboy4MASTER@aol.com

Chapter #1

Synopsis: A story of innocent young college boy changes his status to be a dog for a scientific experiment.

I have a powerful recurring fantasy image of myself. In the image, I am a pet dog. I have always loved animals and treasure my memories growing up with a pet golden retriever.

I loved that golden and he loved me. He was my prized possession. Through teenage triumphs and disappointments, I always knew that I had one true and loyal friend. I often told my pet about how lucky he was to be such a loved and treasured possession. I told him how lucky he was to have none of my worldly concerns. After all, I was his entire world. All he had to do is make me happy.

I missed my pet while I was away at college. I visited home as often as I could. I felt more than a bit guilty that I rushed home not to see my family, but to see my loyal pet. I was crushed when, in the middle of my junior year, he died.

A part of me died also. I felt guilt at not being with him for the last two and one half years or even at the end.

I had to go on. I returned to school and threw myself into my studies. I had been a psych major for the last year with a minor in biology. My friends drifted away as I focused more and more of my energies on my classes. I spent so much time in classes and hanging around the labs that I soon got to know the faculty quite well.

One of the professors and I seemed to hit it off on both an academic and personal plain. He was older and handsome and very intense when it came to his work. He taught three courses and spent the rest of his time working on grant research. What really got my attention was the fact that his test subjects were all canine.

I eventually applied for and got the job as his lab assistant. The job primarily involved feeding, cleaning up and grooming the dogs that were used in the professor's experiments. That was just fine with me. I would also get a chance to help out once in a while with his experiments.

The professor, William, was researching conscience and subconscious behavior programming techniques applied to animals. A lot of what we did was very reminiscent of puppy obedience school. It was only later that I learned that his major funding was coming from the CIA.

One day, he asked me if I wanted to earn a modest testing fee by helping him with one of his his projects. I eagerly agreed and reported to his lab early that Saturday. I was taken to an unused classroom and asked to fill out an extensive questionnaire. I was told that following that, I would be interviewed and then the testing would begin.

I was disappointed that the project did not involve the dogs which I had naturally grown quite close to. He told me that this phase of his work strictly involved human subjects.

The questionnaire covered a lot of personal background data including family, hobbies and interests. It even asked if I had any close friends, either a girl friend or a boy friend. Eventually the questions became more abstract and I realized that I was taking a very thorough psychological screening test.

I answered the questions as well and as honestly as I could. In fact it was a bit embarrassing when asked about my feelings toward animals and any special pets. I felt like I was betraying confidences between me and my pet.

Finally I finished the questionnaire. I realized that I had been watched because as soon as I set my pencil down, William came back into the room.

The next two hours were spent with me pouring out my soul to the professor in response to his constantly probing questions. Before I knew about it I was talking about my pet and how much I missed him and the closeness of our owner/pet relationship.

With this completed, I was told that there were two more tests to complete. The first was a brief medical examination including a blood test and extensive physical measurements. The second was a kind of word association game using a series of pictures.

The pictures ranged from the fairly abstract ink spot variety to some very strange and explicit pictures of sex and fetishes. The last picture and the one that really struck a nerve showed a man sitting in a comfortable chair reading his newspaper. Next to him on a lamp table was a drink. He was looking up from his paper and gazing thoughtfully at the image to his side. A small cocker spaniel was sitting up in a classic begging pose trying with all of its being to get his attention and to please its master. Sitting a couple of feet from the dog was a young man about my age. He was naked except for a studded dog collar padlocked tightly about his neck. He was up on his kneels with his hands drawn in front of him in exactly the same pose as the dog. He too was facing the man in the chair. But he was stealing a side ways glance at the dog.

I was asked to look at the man's face and explain as well as I could what he was thinking at that moment.

After some brief reflection, I said that he was embarrassed to be reduced to the same social status as the dog. But apparently proud to be his pet. He was obviously committed to pleasing his master. His look at the dog told me that he was feeling competitive with the dog and a bit jealous of the real canine.

The professor looked at me a little bit strangely as I interpreted the drawing. He seemed pleased by my responses.

There were more pictures, but soon the professor announced that we had done enough for the day. I was told that I had done very well and to come back tomorrow to discuss the results of the test. I was paid and dismissed.

That night I had a vivid dream about that last picture and of course I played the role of the collared man. I woke up and continued my dream in a semi waking state. Before I realized it, I had rubbed my self to a very satisfying orgasm. I couldn't get that picture and my resulting orgasm out of my mind for the rest of the morning.

That afternoon, I returned to the professor's lab. I was asked to wait in the room containing all of the dogs' cages. I didn't mind a bit and took the opportunity to scratch behind the ears of all of my little friends.

The professor then joined me and said that he wanted to follow up on yesterday's testing with one more procedure. I agreed and allowed myself to be put into a hypnotic trance. I woke up in what appeared to me to be seconds and felt very refreshed. I had no memory of what had occurred while I was in the trance.

The professor then confessed that I had not really been taking part in an experiment. He was in fact screening people for his next experiment. He had screened over a hundred people and narrowed the field down to two. Me and another guy on campus.

He later told me that his screening criteria included finding someone who would have an academic or professional interest in his behavior modification experiments, a person who liked being around and handling dogs, a person who was very open to subconscious programming such as hypnosis and someone with clear submissive tendencies. I blushed and objected to the last characterization, but knew it to be true.

We talked at length about his study and his goals to better understand the human mind. To test his understanding of the human mind, William had to demonstrate the ability to shape it and control it. Apparently the control aspect of his experiments was what kept the government's grant money coming in.

With this background, he asked me if I wanted to hear his proposal. He prepared me to be shocked. He also admitted that he had implanted several suggestions when I was under the hypnotic trance to help me understand and appreciate what he was about to tell me.

He explained that his research and animal experiments were done. They had been a great success. The dogs had helped him to demonstrate his theories and their application to the University and more importantly the Government.

The University was reluctant to take the next step with human trials. It threatening to shut him down when the Government Agent spoke up. The University was overruled and ordered to assist the professor to mount a full fledged demonstration with a human subject.

The project would demonstrate the professor's techniques to modify a human subject's behavior and to alter certain of the subject's personality traits.

The Government saw that the results would have far reaching applications ranging from criminal reform to covert government operations. The Agent wanted the toughest test that could be devised of the professor's theories.

The Agent reasoned that it wouldn't prove very much if one set of human characteristics were simply substituted for others He insisted that the personality transference should go deeper and involve an alternate personality completely alien to the subject. Looking around at the lab animals, he came up with the ultimate test of the professor's approach.

William explained that the Agent pulled him aside and privately asked how confident he was of his theories. Could William make a person take on the behavior and personality of say an animal? The answer was yes, but the process was not really designed for that.

The Agent apparently had his own agenda and would not listen to William's protests. The agent announced that the project funding would continue if and only if a human subject was conditioned to live for a full year as a dog.

William told me that both he and the University argued in vain. In the end the University was told to either support this project or lose all of their grant work. William was told that he had two choices only.

·==continue the experiment in the University setting

OR

===he would be forced to continue in an isolated government facility

Eventually both the University and William agreed to proceed with the human trials portion of the project.

I should have been stunned, but for some reason I calmly absorbed the fantastic story that William told me. I actually found myself wondering what it would be like to undergo this process and be a dog. Hell some of my closest friends had been dogs.

William said that he would not blame me if I simply got up and left. I insisted that I was OK and wanted to hear more. What I had heard so far intrigued me and I was curious about how they planned to proceed.

He assured me that all effects of the conditioning would be reversible. William said that I would be paid very well for my participation. I would receive full room and board, be granted 30 credits and have $100,000 deposited into my account for completing the trial. Jokingly, he also said that I would probably become famous. The downside was that I would have to take a year off from regular classes and probably delay my graduation by a semester or more. I would also not be able to see friends and family for the duration of the project.

As in any experiment with human volunteers, a number of legal releases and other documents would have to be executed by me and my parents.

I was concerned about what my parent's reaction would be, but William assured my that the Government would persuade them.

The release that I would have to sign sent shivers up and down my spine. William was not kidding, I would be a dog in every way for a full year. The release included:

==My statement that I have agreed to suspend for the term of one year all of my rights and privileges as a human being and citizen of the country and state.

==My agreement and revocable permission to be treated as an animal in all aspects by the professor and his assignees.

==My acknowledgement that I would enjoy the protection of the animal human statutes and all rules and regulations concerning experimentation with lab animals.

==My permission for medical tests and otHis procedures.

== My agreement that I would undergo a rigorous canine training program which would include, but not be limited to, physical correction and subconscious programming.

William explained that part of the experiment involved my canine role outside of the lab. He said that school authorities would be advised and a feature story on the experiment would be run in the school and local newspaper. This way, I would cause less of a public sensation when seen being led on my leash.

He told me that I would be dressed in a transparent spandex bodysuit during the experiment. The only other thing that I would be wearing would be a special dog collar. The collar contains electronic monitoring and control equipment. William showed me the suit and collar.

I ran my fingers over the leather and metal of the collar and felt the shiny and tight body suit.

Lingering perhaps a little too long with the articles, William suggested that I take them home tonight. William then told me to sleep on his proposal and see him at 10:00am the next morning. There would be one more test if I agreed. The Government agent would be there and would want to meet the two candidates for the experiment.

Once again I had several vivid dreams of myself immersed in the dog role. The dreams were probably stimulated by my nighttime attire. Yes, I was already wearing the body stocking and the collar. The collar seemed to fit me exactly over the body stocking and had been difficult to get clasped. I dreamt that William was holding my leash in a puppy obedience class. I also dreamt that I was being taken for a walk across campus. Oddly, everyone we encountered treated me as a dog.

When I got up, I discovered that I had apparently jammed the collar's lock on the neck of the body stocking. Thank goodness that the stocking was fitted with a open crotch area.

Feeling quite embarrassed, I put a raincoat over the collar and bodysuit. Donning a pair tennis shoes, I set out for William's office for the third morning in a row.

William took one look at me without the raincoat and said that he would guess that my answer was yes. Turning beet red, I confirmed his assumption.

Without warning, William reached for what looked like a TV remote control. Following his pressing of a switch, I felt a tingling sensation emanating from the collar. Without any conscious thought, I dropped to my knees. I also found that I could not stand and could not talk.

He briefly tested my vocal ability finding that I was reduced to barking and growls. Reaching down to me, he attached a chain leash to my collar and led me into another room.

I was being "introduced" to the government agent. Apparently he liked what he saw. I was released from the collar's control and told that I could have the job if I wanted it. It would start in one week once all of the paperwork and medical lab work was completed.

Once we were alone again, William explained the function of the collar. Apparently I had been given a number of post hypnotic suggestions that could be individually triggered by the collar. The actual experiment would include this type and other control techniques.

William then reviewed all of the legal papers and a checklist for putting my things in storage, subletting my apartment and other things. I would have to work quickly to be ready in a week.

William sent me on my way. Once again I took the collar and bodysuit. I hoped that they would stimulate more dreams of my like as a dog

END OF CHAPTER #1

Hope you are enjoying…shall i continue.

[catierambles]

Blood Moon Ch.16

Pairing: Syverson x Annalisa Caulfield (OFC)

Sy let them know that he couldn't shift back right away and would have to wait a few hours before he as able to do so. Annalisa called Pendulum and let them know he wouldn't be in for his shift, but to call if anything major happened. The picnic table around back was in pieces but Annalisa said she would replace it. The dogs had initially barked at him when they saw him, but it just took one good sniff for them to recognize him, Aika being the first to approach him. The kids and their moms had left hours ago before this whole thing started, so it was just them in the house.

He ended up sitting on the floor as he was too big for the couch, Annalisa sitting in a recliner behind him, running her fingers through the fur at the top of his head idly as they watched TV.

What, Mikey? You're starin' again.

“Does it hurt?” Mike asked, “I mean, the sounds we heard...”

Yeah. Yeah it does. A lot.

“Oh.” He said, “You said you're not yourself.”

No, I ain't. After the shift, I'm...I'm wild and dangerous. Ain't nothin' human upstairs. If you came across me like that, it wouldn't see you as family. It'd see you as prey.

“But not Annie.” Pete said.

Annie is my Mate, it sees her as it's Mate. She's the only one who'd be safe around me like that.

“We have something similar,” Annalisa said, leaning forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders, “Sy is mine.”

“What's the alternative?” Mike asked.

Pardon?

“Annie said you couldn't do the “alternative” when you grabbed the roast.” He said, “What's the alternative?”

That's uh...somethin' you don't need to know. He said and there was a moment before the epiphany crossed over his face.

“Oh.” Mike said.

“What?” Brian asked, “What's the—” Mike gave him a look and his eyes went a little wide, “Oh. Really?”

“Damn.” Jack said chuckling, “Seein' you in a whole new way, girly.”

“I'm a four hundred year old vampire, and that's what changes how you see me?”

“And here I suggested you were too young for'im.” Denise said, “Four hundred years old. You don't look a day over twenty-two.”

“Twenty, actually.” She said with a shrug. “I was twenty when I was Turned.”

“By who?” Pete asked.

“My husband.”

“You're married?” Denise asked with an arched brow.

“My late husband.”

“Oh, well, foot meet mouth.” She said, “My condolences.”

“Thank you.”

Babe, I never asked. How long were you two married before...

“Twenty-five years.” She said, “We had just celebrated our anniversary when he...when he was killed.”

“I'm sorry, Annie.” Brian said, “They catch the guy?”

“Thank you.” She said, “And no, they didn't. You have to remember, police work and medicine then was nowhere near how it is now. Yes, my husband was a Lord, but his official cause of death was listed as a hemorrhage, and therefore natural causes. They just didn't have the knowledge or technology to look into it further.”

“He was a Lord?” Pete asked and she nodded. “That'd make you a Lady, yeah?”

Lady Caulfield. Sy said, reaching up to hold her arms.

“I haven't been a true Lady for a very long time.” She said, resting her head on his.

You'll always be my Lady.

“You two are gross.” Jake said and Sy kicked, catching his chair and sending the whole thing tipping backwards with a crash, making the others laugh including their parents.

Sy shifted back a couple hours later, taking the others by surprise as they hadn't seen the initial transformation. He laid there on the floor for a bit afterwards, breathing through it with his eyes closed.

“You—” Brian started, “You good?”

“Yeah.” He panted, giving him a thumbs up before resting his hand on his chest again, “M'good.”

“That was...” Pete said, “Somethin'.”

“Yeah.” He said and gently pat one of the dogs, a Rottweiler named Peaches, as she licked his face in concern.

"Some leftover pain?" Denise asked and he nodded. "You need anythin'?"

"It'll pass." He said, "My body had to remake itself, there's gonna be some side effects."

"You know," Jack started, "We gotta coyote problem at the farm. The dogs have been keepin’em away, but I don’t want to risk them gettin’ bold and tryin’ their luck with one of the goats or the chickens.”

"Jack!" Denise snapped, "You ain't possibly takin' advantage of our sons condition!"

"It's all right, ma." Sy said, sitting up with a grunt. "I'll come over next full moon, put a scare into'em, let'em know to move on."

"I'd appreciate it. You tell me when, and I'll head to the butchers, get you something bigger than a roast to eat." Jack said, "Unless you and Annie want to go with the alternative." He winked at her and her face heated making him laugh.

“You have a farm?” Annalisa asked, eager to change the subject, and he nodded.

“Livestock mainly. Dairy cows, goats, sheep for fleece, chickens for eggs. Some crops, but just so they have quality feed I know ain’t filled with bullshit.” Jack said, “You ever been on a farm?”

“My father owned land, had a small flock of sheep he tended. He also had some crops, mainly to feed us, but he sold the excess harvest when there was some. Between that and coin I sent home from my job, my family was comfortable. Not wealthy by any means, but...comfortable. My brothers helped him when I went to work in the city.”

“What did you do?” Pete asked.

“I was a maid.” She said, “It’s how I met Markus—my late husband. I was a maid for his estate.”

“He—”

“No, Pete, he didn’t take advantage of’er.” Sy said, “Been down that road already.”

“But he—”

“You weren’t there.” Sy said, cutting him off again, “Don’t make assumptions.”

“Right, sorry, almost made an ass of myself.” Pete said and she gave him a gentle smile.

“It’s quite all right.” She said, “Sy came to the same conclusion you did, it’s what our first fight was about.” She reached out, running her fingers through the stubble covering Sy’s scalp and his eyes closed, swaying into her touch slightly.

“You went from hired help to Lady of the house?” Denise asked and she nodded. “Musta made your mama proud.”

“She was.” Annalisa said with a somewhat wistful smile, “She liked Markus and she liked that he treated me well. He got some grief from others for marrying someone of “lower birth” but he didn’t care. He loved me, and I loved him.”

“Any kids?” Brian asked.

“I’m incapable of having children.” Annalisa said, “And not because of the vampirism.”

“I forgot he was one too.” Brian said and she chuckled. “Vampires can have kids?”

“If the person was able to before being Turned, yes.”

“A blood drinkin’ baby?” Jake asked.

“No, actually, their...dietary requirements are normal as they age, but once they reach full maturity around mid-twenties, they stop aging and their needs align with their parents.” She explained, “I’ve met a few, they’re no different than any other child. You met Frost, right Sy?”

“Yeah, she’s cool.” Sy said.

“She’s Sweeney’s daughter.”

“No shit?” He asked, looking back at her over his shoulder and she nodded.

“Wait,” Mike said, “The Marilyn Monroe looking platinum blonde with the pale blue eyes?”

“We call her Frost because she looks like Emma Frost from the X-Men.” Annalisa said, “She loves the comics, so she adores that nickname. She got her hair color from her mom, but Sweeney dyes her hair black so you can’t tell.”

“I love those comics, I’ll have to ask her what her favorite run is next time I see her.” Mike said.

“She’ll talk your ear off about them.” Annalisa warned.

“Trust me,” Brian said, “Don’t get this one started on video games or comics, he won’t shut up.”

"Nothing wrong with having something to be passionate about." She said, "Bring it up with her, Mike, she doesn't often have the chance to talk about it, it'll make her night."

“Who’s the dad?” Sy asked, “Anyone at the clubs?”

“Eugene.” Annalisa said.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” He asked, looking at her again, and she nodded, “He’s two steps from bein’ your stalker and he’s got a kid with another woman?”

“Eugene?” Mike asked.

“Renaud.” Annalisa said and he snorted.

“His real name is Eugene? Try-hard.” Mike said.

“This Eugene someone we don’t like?” Denise asked.

“Can I?” Sy asked and Annalisa nodded. He didn’t go into detail, but he did let them know the circumstances, how Eugene had taken advantage of Annalisa while she was in a vulnerable state after her husband was killed.

“Shithead.” Jack said with a scowl. “Why do you keep him around?”

“He’s my second-in-command in the coven—a group of vampires—and he’s good with the public relations end when it comes to the clubs. I handle the business end and the staff, he handles the press and marketing. He hasn’t done anything to warrant banishment, so kicking him out would cause too many waves.”

“Understandable.” Jack said, clicking his tongue against his teeth. “Don’t like it, or him, but I understand it.” Denise got up from her chair telling them she would be right back, heading up the stairs to the upper floor, coming back down a short while later and handing something to Sy.

“Ma.” He said and she nodded, sitting back down. Getting up from the floor, he turned, looking down at Annalisa who was looking up at him in question. “Come on, there’s somethin’ I want to ask you in private, don’t wanna make you feel pressured by doin’ it front of my family.” Taking her hand, he pulled her into the kitchen.

“Ma?” Jake asked and they heard a happy squeak from the kitchen a moment later, Aika’s ears perking up at the sound. “Did he just—” Denise just nodded and they came back into the living room, Annalisa clinging to his arm.

“I’m gettin’ married.” Sy said, “The ring is a bit too big for her so we’ll have to get it sized, but she said yes.”

“Of course I said yes!” She said and pulled him down into a kiss, “I love you.”

“I love you, too. You don’t have to take my last name if you don’t want. You been Caulfield for a while now.”

“I don’t know, Annalisa Syverson sounds good to me.” She said and a wide smile pulled over his face, Sy sweeping her into his arms.

“Hold—hold up.” Pete said, “I’m happy for you two, really, I am, but she’s gonna live forever, Kyle. Unless what turned you furry also made you immortal, you ain’t gonna grow old together.”

“It did actually.” Annalisa said and Sy looked at her in surprise. "Babe, what makes me me and you you are...cousins? Kind of? Putting it in layman’s terms? I won’t age, and neither will you. So while yes, Pete is right, we won’t grow old together, it’s more accurate to say we won’t grow old at all.”

“We really are forever.” He said and she nodded, Sy pulling her into his chest again and holding her tight, his face buried in her neck.