#just because I think they're neat

[uglygreenjacket]

[blackkatdraws2]

There are more things in the Parable than Stanley knows about. [Blank Scripts AU]

[jicklet]

Nina and Crowley Mr. Six Shots Of Espresso In A Big Cup

[hedgehog-moss]

Top 10 Best Trees in my local forest

10. I know I know this is a stump hence why it’s #10, but I love that it looks like the outline of a person’s body. A person that was drawn and quartered apparently. I should do a Top 10 Stumps one day, I’ve seen some cool ones!

9. Another stump, but I initially wanted to include this one in my top 10 as a tree, and then it was felled recently :( It was one of my favourite local trees because it had such big roots (larger than most nearby trunks!) that emerged from the ground here and there like undulating sea serpents. I was sad when it was cut but on the other hand it had the sweetest-smelling resin in the world. It was a very windy day so the smell travelled everywhere, and this tree’s fresh resin made the entire forest smell like candy floss.

8. I just like that this one looks like a busy giant centipede crossing the stream on its way somewhere. I’ve always wanted to use it as a bridge but so far I’ve not dared.

7. This one looks like it belongs in a jungle with these thick vines all over its trunk. I had the Playmobil jungle set when I was a kid and it was one of my favourite toys and I would have absolutely loved to find a jungle tree near my home.

6. This tree already looks cool during the day, but at night by torchlight these scaly-looking roots look exactly like a T-rex’s paw clawing at the ground. It’s a mandatory stop every time I go on a nighttime walk in the forest with my cats.

5. This one is unremarkable most of the year but then there’s 1 week every autumn when it just catches fire and it’s a happily-anticipated yearly event (for me).

4. Yes I’ve already made a post about the remarkable tree but I actually went to check it out since then, and it’s the most ridiculous story. 

See, there used to be a genuinely remarkable tree there and it was known as the King of the Forest. Then this tree was felled like 70 years ago but the road sign was already there, so they decided it would now refer to a nearby, nearly-as-cool-tree, which became known as the Queen of the Forest. Then the queen was also cut down. There were no other remarkable trees nearby but people still refused to remove the sign so a normal boring tree became the new remarkable tree. There’s a little sign next to it (otherwise you wouldn’t remark the new remarkable tree) explaining that this is the Viceroy of the Forest (yes, really!) and sort of summing up how this ordinary fellow came to be promoted. I didn’t take a picture of it, that’s how unremarkable it is, but I love the story behind its Viceroy title, it’s exactly this:

3. Now, this one is in the top 3 because it’s my cats’ favourite tree:

Its trunk has completely split in two and one half of it fell over but remained attached and now forms a very long arching “tongue” that touches the ground. My cats LOVE walking on it, it seems to make them feel very important, like a red carpet for cats. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos featuring cats doing their catwalk because they only accompany me at night... But look at this strange tree arch (it’s like six metres long!) and picture three important-looking cats walking on it:

2. This one is shaped like a harp!! A very beloved landmark in my woods, it makes me smile every time I walk past it.

1. This one is just excellent, green-tipped like a Caran d’Ache pastel pencil and with roots that look like they harbour a whole city of little wood sprites. (ft. a Pandolf for scale):

1. (it’s a tie) This tree might not be as cool or fun-looking as the others (although in winter it looks dashing!) but it’s the tree that marks the beginning of my land so it feels like a welcoming friend. For sentimental reasons it will be ranked first.

[sam-loves-seb]

steddie christmas party au

the thing is--there's an office holiday party coming up.

steve, who works as a guidance counselor at hawkins middle, knows that every year the staff throws a holiday party. he wasn't here for the one last year, off visiting nancy and robin in boston for the holidays, but everyone says it's always a good time and the teachers have all been hounding him to go.

the thing is--he wouldn't even mind going alone. he actually likes some of his co-workers, and he has enough natural charm to survive one night of bad food and christmas music and punch that's just a little too strong to have more than two glasses without getting wasted. he knows that he could go alone and everything would be fine.

but he doesn't really want to.

"plus one?" the school secretary says with raised brows as he hands in his rsvp card. "i didn't know you were seeing anybody."

steve just shrugs as he turns to head back to his office. it's not like people haven't tried to pry into his love life before--some of the female teachers make their availability blaringly obvious to him every time he answers the question "do you have a girlfriend" with "no"--they just haven't gone about it in the right way.

it's not like he's hiding his relationship, people just assume, and they assume incorrectly. that's not his fault.

"the staff christmas party?" eddie asks that night as they're getting ready for bed. "you seriously want to go to that?"

"you don't have to come," steve tells him around a mouthful of toothpaste, then spits. "i just thought it might be nice for you to meet some of my co-workers, and for some of them to meet you. but if you don't want to come with me, that's okay, really."

"babe, if you want me there, i'm there," eddie tells him as he ditches his jeans for flannel pajamas. "just don't be surprised when i get tipsy off the punch and make a fool out of you on the dance floor."

and so, they went to the party with steve dressed in his usual khakis with this favorite ugly christmas sweater worn over a casual dress shirt, and eddie in his usual black on black, though he switched the band t-shirt for a button-up. he added a red tie last minute to try and be more festive for the party, even though steve kept telling him he could wear whatever he wanted.

they walk into the gym hand in hand, and more than a few people stop talking to turn and stare.

but eddie's not paying attention because he's looking at the tinsel hung up on the walls and wondering how they got it that high up, and steve ignores all the surprised faces looking at him until he spots his group of friends tucked together in the corner, some with their spouses, some without.

he drags eddie over to them and introduces him as his boyfriend--saying it loud enough for every goddamn eavesdropper to hear it clearly--and eddie shakes hands and smiles as steve's friends greet him without missing a beat.

they eat and they drink and they dance, and most of the party gets over their initial shock pretty quickly after seeing how happy steve is with eddie around. the rest of the night goes by quickly, and someone even snaps a picture of steve kissing eddie under the mistletoe hanging over the gym door.

by the time the students come back from break in the new year the rumors about mr. harrington sexuality are basically non-existent--thank you short attention spans--and most of the teachers have stopped asking him if he has a girlfriend. steve feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders, one he didn't even realize he was carrying. it's freeing, having everyone--everyone who matters--know about about eddie.

and when the staff christmas party rolls around again next year, steve has twice as much fun dragging eddie under the mistletoe with a ring on his finger and a date picked out for the spring.

[bonefall]

I’m rereading Po3 and despite its flaws I really enjoyed the introduction to the three. Jaykit isn’t mentioned to be blind in the first few chapters and instead they chose to show how much MORE capable he is compared to his littermates; until at the end of chapter 3, he brings up his blindness on his own. It makes forcing him to be a medicine cat SO much more frustrating because it really feels like they’re setting him up to be a warrior and choose his own fate (note i haven’t finished the reread this is just my first impression)

I like how you seem to take that path in BB regardless! It makes his arc so much more enjoyable

His arc in canon is super frustrating because he's such an independent character who clearly wants to make his own decisions in life, but then he just gets shoved into the medcat den. I LIKE that he ultimately goes there and that he enjoys it; but it was still really fucked up that they stripped away his autonomy in the process.

Re: they are not real, they are writing choices. Taking away the choices a disabled character can make over their own life, forcing them into a celibate nun role, and then going "awwwww dont worry see? he likes it! This was the best thing for him :)" was fucked up.

And imo it didn't have to be that way! You wouldn't have to go the FULL route I did with big changes, he could just be more involved in the descision to stop being a warrior apprentice and it would be fine. Minor change that would make a world of difference.

I do also have to interject to say though... blindness should really not be an extremely severe impairment for a ThunderClan cat.

I'm dead serious.

Whiskers are built-in sensors that tell you the exact position of everything within several inches of your head, ears swerve to pick up sound, and the jacobson's organ provides a sense of smell so keen that I have an entire Clanmew expansion draft because I needed to make WORDS describing the power of this sense that humans do not have. I cannot stress enough how delicate their other senses are, felines do not rely on their sight like primates do

ThunderClan lives in a mixed-oak woodland, where sight is already often obscured by foliage, objects are close together (for whiskers to feel), and nearly every movement makes noise against the leaf litter. RiverClan and (moor-running) WindClan cats would have a harder time with this disability than Thunder or Shadow.

Cat sight SUCKS to begin with. It sucks BADDD. They don't have color vision, they're significantly nearsighted, and they can't track up-and-down movements well. WC doesn't write realistic cats (more like small fuzzy people really) and I also work with more humanesque eyesight, but the only thing Jay should really lose is an ability to rapidly track a small animal swerving fast. Blind cats are often still excellent hunters in spite of that!

So it's an extra big waste that they railroaded him into a position he didn't choose, saying he couldn't be a warrior. This is the perfect disability to write, if you want to explore how ableism can impact the characters in this society who ARE legitimately still capable of nearly full independence, but still need to find accommodations for what they can't do.

In the same arc they're doing the dumb Cinder Reincarnation Plotline, no less!! Where SHE is also feeling like she has no choice over her "destiny," and gets a conflict over a potentially disabling injury

"Oh nooo if cinderpaw breaks her leg she wont be a warrior!"

"What the f-- Im Jaypaw and im reporting live from the scene where a Category 1 Idiot Moment is taking place. Woman breaks leg, suddenly everyone believes she is a horse, more at 11."

One of these days I should really make "herb guides" just covering how various sensory disabilities impact the lives of Clan cats and some tips for writing them as warriors, especially between Clans. Stuff you wouldn't usually consider, like how much noise deaf cats tend to make, how RiverClan would get a ton of sinus infections and lose their sense of smell, being blind in Sky vs Thunder, etc.

[shootsun]

Mr Postman I've got a letter for you!!

[leupagus]

Because I think my tumblr buds are more into the Miss Marple fic than my bluesky buds:

[mrsthunderkin]

Just some sleepy (and hungover) babies

[lillybearrie]

Being Quixis suits Icarus well, they finally have a project that they can put that need for industrious activity to good use with a task that has a real tangible positive outcome on the multiverse.

They learn to take pride in their work because they really are good at what they do. They keep anomalies in check and clean up the remains of Midas's mess

And ok maybe they check up on their family every once and awhile and maybe just maybe sometimes they've left an orchid or two behind in that world while they await the day they can go back home

[dcartcorner]

what if old dragon boyfriends

[numbuh424]

Please hear me out..... Jdrama!Light and Musical!L.

[roitaminnah]

tfw for some reason you find an immense amount of comfort in simply being near someone

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Compound Fracture

YA thriller set in rural West Virginia

follows an autistic trans boy who survives being almost killed by the Sheriff’s son after a party, and accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him when he tries to get back at him

and is pulled head-first back into the 100 year old feud between his & the sheriff’s families, that began when his great-great grandfather was executed after inciting a miner’s rebellion, the grandfather whose ghost has started to haunt him

community & family & socialist revolution

aro-questioning MC

arc from netgalley, out september 3

[chonker-chan]

Marazhai & Ulfar interactions my beloved

and also these are possible ending slides you can get depending on choices:

After burying his brothers, Ulfar Everlost looked inward upon his heart and found it broken and bleeding. Loyalty to the Allfather, the pride of a Wolf, brotherly love, and the thrill of battle — he laid it all upon the pyre, until hollow anger was all that remained in his soul. From that moment on, his path is lost in darkness. But there is an eerie legend in the Expanse that speaks of a monstrous titan rejected by death — a deliverer of curses that come to be. Numbed by sorrow, he slays both the pious and the corrupt, though more often the corrupt, as he has chosen to dwell upon the worlds of the Heathen Stars, where devotion to the Emperor is rare indeed.

It is said that the xenos Marazhai travelled to these dark sectors to hunt down and exterminate the beast more than once, but each time he limped back in a sorry state. He was proud of his experience, however, and believed that one day he would succeed

[basilbots]

Ruin and Eclipse but what if they held hands