#or if you want:

[victoriantreecat]

The wind made fuzzy patterns in the ever falling rain. The gentle shower tossed about before it came down to settle on the crop fields. The wooden parapets and walkways atop the cobbled-together walls were soaked through, water dripping down in dismal rivulets.

Martyn let out a heaving sigh. It was not bad weather, per se, just a little, well, cold and damp. And their little hut with its lattice roof was already full of water pooling in the enchanting well, as he could so clearly see from his perch by the door- the only really dry part in all of Dogwarts today.

The rain started getting a little heavier.

He sighed again, ran his thumb over the engraved blade of his axe, worried at the smeared dried blood that seemed to be sunk into the iridescent blue crystal even days after the test, glanced up at the rain trickling in through the roof, considered going down to the basement, dismissed that idea (the floor must be flooded down there, and the villagers complain like nobody's business when their feet get wet). Better he stayed up here , the drizzle wouldnt stop enemies, much as he would have loved it to. Yes, keep watch up here, protect his home. So he stretched his back and surveyed the misty air of the fort.

A gentle splash sounded beside him, the pattering of paws through a puddle, and he glanced through the latticed wall to see Ren coming up from the basement. Ren was glancing around, seeming to search for something within the rain-soaked walls. A brief smile of affection allowed itself onto Martyn's lips before he schooled himself and called out, accented,

"My liege, where are ye going?"

Ren's ear flicked up, and his shroud swirled around his shoulders as he turned towards the hut's entrance.

"Me hand!" He replied in the same lofty brogue. "I was comin' to find ye, me friend. May I come in?"

Something in his cadence was hesitating, Martyn thought, easily leaning over to lift the door latch.

Ren came around the corner, chill drops of rain starting to dust his crown- the water and the blood starting to flow mingled down. And as they came face to face across the threshold, Martyn felt a dread that he would see his king pierced by an arrow from an archer he had missed in the deepening shadow of this rain. But the king now passed bloodlessly through the doors Martyn held open, to stand cramped in the entry, between the gentle flood on either side. His boots were damp, the basement had indeed been flooded- Ren remarked as such, dropping the accent to a hardly audible burr. Still, that slight awkwardness peeked through.

"Well, me lord, what were you looking for me for then?" He gazed up, waited patiently, silently probed his king's countenance.

"Well uh, so I, I've been setting this up for about a week now, and, um, well I thought that today would be the best day to, well, show it to you…" He trailed off, all traces of his thick accent gone now. This was him honest, then, unreserved and unhidden. And he reached into his belt pocket and brought forth a few tiny pinkish crystals, each with an iridescent blue core.

Martyn stared down at them, poised and curious, as Ren stuttered on.

"They're uh, they're my first time making, like, rock candy." The sticky crystals glinted in the dull rainy light as Ren continued. "With a sugar kinda syrup and some roses I found. Err, yeah."

"Milord, thats genius!" Martyn chuckled, eyebrows raised.

"Er, would you like to try one?" Ren's tail was wagging just slightly. "I uhm, I used little chips of diamond to start them, so dont break your teeth!" His lopsided grin showed a little peek of his canines. Martyn reached out to take one of the tiny grains, marvelling at their ephemeral beauty as he plucked one from Ren's calloused palm.

"They just came out of the syrup, my dude, so they're still a bit, er, sticky." Ren looked a bit sheepish, and at this distance, Martyn could see the pinkish residue pooling on his hands. His own fingers had the stuff on them too.

"Yeah, they sure are," he agreed, before popping the little sweet into his mouth.

It was a starburst of sweetness, rosy and round. It bloomed on his tongue, tasting of spring and sunsets, a gentle reprieve from the cold. It was bliss.

Martyn opened his eyes, let the corners of his mouth relax to a contented smile. He met Ren's eyes through his sunglasses.

"Thank you," he said, quiet as the rain that seemed to soften, falling on the fields. "Thank you, Ren."

[bugsinthebayou]

cunty sukuna

[hualianisms]

verified ways to donate to gaza directly

[this post is outdated. up-to-date version here.]

Donate to a Palestinian family directly:

gazafunds.com - Donate directly to a Palestinian family in urgent need of evacuation, medical treatment, daily necessities or more. Site run by Palestinians, all GFMs verified (full list here). Spotlights 1 stagnant GFM at a time. (*If you can't decide who/where to donate, just go to gazafunds.com & donate to the 1 GFM they show you!)

masterlist of 200+ verified Palestinian families' GFMs: Operation Olive Branch

Help provide tents:

The Sameer Project: Currently providing tents & transport for families in Rafah who urgently need to evacuate to Deir Al Balah. Has a team on the ground in Gaza who have supplied tents to 1% of the displaced population in Rafah. Run by Palestinians. (paypal) (gfm)

@helpgazachildren: Currently helping Palestinians in a refugee camp in Rafah flee the Rafah invasion to Khan Younis. Funds go directly to Hussam, a Palestinian in Rafah who hosts a refugee camp. Funds will cover the cost of tents & transport fuel. Managed by a Palestinian @.fairuzfan. (gfm)

Food:

Care for Gaza: Palestinian charity on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash, medicine & other essentials to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their Twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

We Feed Gaza: Team of Palestinian volunteers in the heart of Gaza distributing food & water to 344+ families. More details & proof in their gfm. Vetted & promoted by LetsTalkPalestine on IG. (gfm)

Direct Aid for Gaza: A Palestinian activist on the ground in Gaza distributing food, cash & other essential supplies to displaced families. Proof of their work found on their twitter. (paypal) (gfm)

Water (*urgent and crucial!)

Gaza Municipality: The official Municipality of Gaza is doing vital, life-saving work to rebuild the water pipes in Gaza City to restore access to clean water & waste management services for the people of Gaza.

eSIMs (*very urgent):

guide to buy & send esims to gaza

Crips for eSims for Gaza: donate any amount to this team of volunteers who pool funds to buy & maintain gaza esims regularly (see their financial accountability document).

Medical Aid:

Gaza Wound Care: Palestinian doctors in central Gaza treating injured/sick children & mothers in neglected displacement camps far from hospitals. Facing a severe shortage of medicines, equipment, and medical supplies. Currently raising funds to support their efforts to battle infectious diseases in refugee camps. (gfm) (paypal) (gogetfunding)

international charities: Palestine Red Crescent Society, Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Medical Aid for Palestinians

How to help if you can't donate:

Share & amplify Palestinian fundraisers in your irl & online circles

Organize or help to run an online/irl event to raise funds for Palestine

Boycott

Get involved with a protest/strike/direct action in your area

Contact your reps

Educate yourself & others both irl & online

Daily clicks on Arab.org

(you can even adopt 1 fundraiser campaign to regularly boost it & make materials promoting it online, or print posters/flyers about Palestinian fundraisers to encourage others to donate. (poster/graphic about gazafunds.com: here, flyers about esims: here, flyers about gazafamilyfunds: here)

(longer masterpost of all ways you can help)

(*all these links and more now in this rentry page. will no longer be updating this post, instead refer to the rentry page)

Last updated 3/6/2024 with Gaza Wound Care & We Feed Gaza. Wanted to focus on Palestinian-run grassroots initiatives that will actually reach Gazans on the ground, so all of these except eSIMs, PCRF, MAP are by Palestinians. Donating to international orgs is not ideal rn as aid is still being stopped at the border. Please focus on Palestinian-run initiatives on the ground in Gaza.

Remember, small donations really do add up. Any amount counts, even $1!

[roach-works]

speculative fiction writers i am going to give you a really urgent piece of advice: don't say numbers. don't give your readers any numbers. how heavy is the sword? lots. how old is that city? plenty. how big is the fort? massive. how fast is the spaceship? not very, it's secondhand.

the minute you say a number your readers can check your math and you cannot do math better than your most autistic critic. i guarantee. don't let your readers do any math. when did something happen? awhile ago. how many bullets can that gun fire? trick question, it shoots lasers, and it shoots em HARD.

you are lying to people for fun. if you let them do math at you the lie collapses and it's no fun anymore.

[valtsv]

stuck between "psychological horror statement" and "objectively the funniest thing you could say to your real flesh and blood dad" in the father's day card aisle

[faeriekit]

"This fic was ai generated—" Cool, so lemme block you real quick

[petrowriting]

this year while we all celebrate pride month and celebrate ourselves as well as those who came before us and paved the way for us to do so, we must also think of those in gaza, queer or not, who live every day under a brutal occupation and don’t have that same privilege. happy pride, and may we see a free palestine in this lifetime.

[girldraki]

[dredsina]

Ive said this before but swear the biggest skill to learn as an adult is how to resist high-pressure sales tactics. You do NOT have to answer questions with anything other than "Sorry I'm not interested." No matter how nice they are or no matter how many follow up questions they ask or even how agitated they get when you stand your ground. Just keep saying I'm not interested. Don't answer their questions. Don't give them an opening to try to push back on your reasons. Be a fucking brick wall of I'm not interested.

[lettuccine]

i cant stop thinking about a post by @possamble so i made this

inspired by this

based on a fanart by BugsGay on twitter

[witchhickx]

Mean Girls (2004) House MD (2009)

[sheepydraws]

The secret Dungeon Meshi sauce that's getting people to eat better is that it's so non-judgmental. Senshi and the rest of the gang never talk about what not to eat besides things that taste bad and literal poison. They don't even talk about "health" that much besides the importance of a balanced diet. It's so much easier to eat well when you think of food simply as something your body needs, and that it's often worth the extra effort to make it taste good, especially when you understand how to connect "things your body needs" with "things that taste good"

[theblob1958]

people are saying do it scared, but you also gotta do it alone. you'll miss out on so much you want to do if you wait til someone will do it with you. do it scared and do it alone.

[sanguinifex]

You gotta read and watch some old books and films that aren’t 100% modern politically correct. I’m not saying you should agree with everything in them but you need to learn where genres came from to understand what those genres are doing today and where media deconstructing old tropes is coming from.

Also, more often than you might think, they’re not actually promoting bigotry so much as “didn’t consider all the implications of something” or just used words that were polite then but considered offensive now.

Kill the censor in your head.

[kochei0]

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again