#the most rated ones or something

[outerspacedunce]

start looking into tos books and oh noooo there's so many

[youledmehere]

“The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is the most successful series in the history of AMC+, even including the original series”

-Mike Pears, Executive Vice President of Distribution and Content Sales for AMC Network

[poisonousquinzel]

"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]

okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.

The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?

Yeah, fucking absolutely.

But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.

You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.

Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]

There are options.

There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.

[drdemonprince]

your post about only communicating the minimum needed reminded me of the gricean maxims (concept in linguistics describing how people communicate)! your advice was very similar to the maxim of quantity :)

From the UPenn School of Arts & Sciences site:

Grice's Maxims

The maxim of quantity, where one tries to be as informative as one possibly can, and gives as much information as is needed, and no more.

The maxim of quality, where one tries to be truthful, and does not give information that is false or that is not supported by evidence.

The maxim of relation, where one tries to be relevant, and says things that are pertinent to the discussion.

The maxim of manner, when one tries to be as clear, as brief, and as orderly as one can in what one says, and where one avoids obscurity and ambiguity.

[alyona11]

The duality of man is when you love Hadestown so much that you hate Hadestown

[coquelicoq]

i actually love apologizing to people in a professional context when they inconvenience me. it can be such a power move. it's really context-dependent, though. the apology has to be sincere. it doesn't work if i'm actually just 100% fuming and have no sympathy for whatever their situation is, but if i can easily say to myself, "this must really be inconveniencing them also," then i love to be like, "thank you so much for your patience! i'm so sorry this has been such an ordeal. i really appreciate your perseverance. let me know if i can do anything to help!" because i do fully mean all those things at the same time that i'm like, so irritated because it's been like pulling teeth to get anything out of this person. and they know that they should have done the thing weeks ago, and then they feel bad that i'm apologizing, and it guilts them into doing whatever i need them to do. i am not interested in interrogating what this says about me as a person but again i must reiterate the apology is sincere. i'm sorry for both of us! i wish things were easier. i wish the load was lighter. take my hand. let's walk into that world together.

[mayasaura]

Not done thinking about John and his nana. I wonder if he remembers what she looked like. What she sounded like. If he ever sees anything of her in Kiriona. If he looks for it, hoping once he sees it he'll remember what to be looking for

[appropriatelystupid]

Do you have a list of book recs by any chance? 👀 I trust your book vibes so I’d read anything you thought was good

okay as is usual with an ask like this i’ve forgotten everything i felt about everything but here are some that i enjoyed so far this year per my gr ratings:

you, with a view by jessica joyce (bonus point for my hometown getting a mention)

raiders of the lost heart by jo segura

the good part by sophie cousens

don’t want you like a best friend by emma r. alban

kilt trip by alexandra kiley

the bodyguard by katherine center

fish out of water by katie ruggle

till there was you by lindsay hameroff

the falling in love montage by ciara smyth

fly with me by andie burke

[wheelie-butch]

I could write a summary or try explain the plot and concepts and why I'm doing this but actually I think my wolfpack x player character fic can essentially be characterised by the line above tbh.

[redrawthecolorlessworld]

*poke poke* hey thesia? Can u do a self-ship request for me? (I need to forgot the uncomfortable bs I witnessed earlier) soo

milgram!Ali and Fuuta (milgram prisoner 3-)

uhhh

idk maybe just him sleeping on her shoulder or something ;-;

take your timez :3

zzzzzzzzzz snoreeeee mimimimimi honk shooo honk shooooo

[zestyderg]

AH SHIT IT'S PART 2! What ever happened to our little group of unfortunate mers?

WARNINGS for: Joe flavored violence, brief moment of someone pondering how awful of a death would come from being eaten alive, and most importantly, warning for zz's... insides (eugh, sorry anon it's just as you feared)

Dina didn't expect to wake up ever again. She figured that once she and her friends disappeared past those enormous jaws that they were all done for.

And yet, here she was, groggily stretching herself out, eyes still sealed shut but she knew at the very least that somehow, she was alive.

It must have been just a dream, then. She and her friends were still in the nursery, safe and sound. Nothing bad actually happened. Dino was fine. Just a nightmare. She could go back to sleep and-

"DINA, GET UP!" The unmistakable shouting of Pauleen assaulted her ears. Ugh, too LOUD.

"Five more minutes... please?" Dina whined, pinning her long ears back and curling in on herself. She tried to bury her face into the sand but was greeted with a surface that was definitely NOT sand. She hadn't noticed it before, but the surface she was laying on...

It was smooth, warm, soft, and... squishy???

Dina's eyes shot open. It was dark, but Dina could make out Pauleen gazing back at her, her body illuminated by a soft blue glow. The lionfish mer's striped fins were on full display. Poor Pauleen looked quite alarmed.

"No, Dina, this is serious, get up!" Pauleen took Dina's claws into hers and hoisted her upright.

"Alright FINE I'm up. What's wrong?" Dina lazily looked around. This was definitely not the nursery. Their only source of light seemed to be glowing blue dots littered all over, kind of like stars. Oddly pretty, and there was seemingly enough space for her to comfortably swim around in, but then there was this sound, a loud, all-encompassing thumping that she now found herself to be aware of. She could feel the sound in her very bones. What was that? She did her best to ignore it.

Just behind Pauleen she noticed Todd and Rupert. Rupert was trying to pry something off of Todd, but clearly was struggling. She swam over to them but froze when she saw just what Rupert was trying to pull off: those bones from her dream last night, bound to Todd's smashers, exactly as she remembered.

Oh. Oh no.

"Dina?" Pauleen lightly placed a clawed hand on the little leviathan's shoulder. Dina was stiff as a board, golden eyes wide with horror.

"Pauleen, are we? Did we...?" Dina was really taking in her surroundings, now. "If we are where I think we are, I am going to lose it," her voice wavered.

"I give up, those are NOT coming off," Rupert sighed in defeat. "I am not sure how they are able to stay like that, but they are staying like that. We have no means of escape, and I can only imagine how uncomfortable that is," he watched as Todd slouched.

They both turned to face Dina as she suddenly belted out a slew of insults, speeding around in a full-on rage, ramming herself into every surface she could. It was admittedly kind of funny that she bounced harmlessly off of everything, but it also was a grim reminder that they were in fact trapped and unable to harm their captor in any meaningful way.

"PAULEEN!" Dina zoomed over and gripped Pauleen tightly by the shoulders. "YOU HAVE VENOM, RIGHT? USE YOUR SPINES, PRICK THE BASTARD!"

"RIGHT! I could try that," Pauleen gently dislodged her friend's claws from her shoulders and promptly rushed into the nearest wall, slamming her spiny fins into it as hard as she could. But after a moment, she too ended up bouncing off the slick flesh and was left floating upside down. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"Any other bright ideas?" Todd grumbled, glancing over to Dina. After watching Pauleen seemingly fail to harm Zongazonga, she sighed. Dejected, she let herself sink to the floor. The moving, living, floor.

Couldn't even stay unconscious, huh? They were eaten alive and now they were going to be awake to experience a very slow and agonizing death. Maybe they'd suffocate first. That would be preferable to being literally melted.

"Guys...?" A small voice called out. Everyone perked their ears. Was that who they thought it was?

Dina raised her head. "Dino? Is that you?" She asked tentatively.

"I'm over here," Dino answered. Dina saw a familiar hand shoot up in the water, and she rushed over immediately. Dino was alive!

Dino was lying on his back, staring up at the "ceiling". Dina tackled him, wrapping her arms tightly around her twin.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OK!" Dina was practically weeping, and Dino could only return the embrace. "I'm fine, just tired," he said hoarsely. Dina pulled away, allowing Dino to go back to lying down in his spot, and eyed him quizzically. "Are you sure you're ok? Your voice..."

Dino simply pointed upward. "Yelled at him," he rasped. "A lot. He's rude."

"Uhm, he's MORE than rude!" Pauleen exclaimed.

"He ATE us!" Todd added.

"We're all going to DIE," Rupert informed.

Dino rolled his eyes. "Right, you guys don't know yet," he mumbled.

Everyone looked at him like he had grown a second head.

Dino looked between all of his friends.

"We're not dying," he stated.

"HUH? What do you mean we're not dying? Have you LOST IT? What part of 'Zongazonga literally ATE US' do you NOT UNDERSTAND?!" screamed Dina.

Dino merely looked at her, eyes half-lidded. " I MEAN..." He began, "that we are NOT DYING. He didn't eat us."

Ok well that made even less sense. He definitely did eat them, right? That's like, basic biology. Then again, Dina didn't even know if merfolk were like other creatures, anatomy wise. Still, it made zero sense for anything else to have happened. Just before Dina was about to argue though, a loud, very familiar voice rumbled around them, drowning out that thumping that Dina realized had been a heartbeat.

"He's right, you know. I did not eat you, and you are not going to die, child. You all can quit your crying now, even if listening to you all squabble like seabirds is quite entertaining."

Zongazonga. Dina curled her lip.

"YOU HAVE SOME MAJOR EXPLAINING TO DO THEN!" Despite Zongazonga not being able to see her, Dina pointed an accusatory claw up at where she heard his voice anyway.

"Oh, very well. You whelps are in what is called a 'brood pouch'. Have you ever seen a fish hold fry or eggs in their mouths before? It's ...sort of like that, except you are tucked safely away in my chest instead. It's meant to hold troublesome little mers like yourselves. It is also quite sensitive, and I can feel everything you do. You are all still too small and insignificant to hurt me, though. You are lucky the great Zongazonga has decided to be merciful, and that I have given you such a well-fortified place to stay in!"

That was a lot of information to take in. So kraken mer anatomy IS different, huh? Dina turned to see what her friends thought. They looked just as confused as she was, but Dino still sat there, with the same bored expression as before.

"He already gave me this explanation earlier, after I yelled at him," Dino commented. "He's a total JERK for letting any of us think he was going to kill us."

Everyone murmured in agreement. Pauleen punched the wall beside her.

"That did not hurt," Zongazonga said. Pauleen growled in annoyance.

"So uh, why did you even do this in the first place?" Todd asked.

"Ah, that was just to mess with you. I am deriving infinite amusement from your reaction to things," Zongazonga chuckled. His raspy, unpleasant laugh lightly shook the whole space, along with the tiny mers.

"Mean," mumbled Rupert.

"Perhaps I'll let you all go later. For now, I think I deserve a nap, for being such a gracious host to my little guests."

Dina hurled more insults at their captor, but Zongazonga fell silent. They were now stuck with the unnerving ambience of his body and a new, strange, rumbling sound, only familiar to Dino and Dina.

Purring. Zongazonga was purring, like an overgrown cat. That ASSHOLE.

The kids floated there (except for Dino, who had not moved from his spot). Well, at least they weren't in any danger. But they were stuck here until Zongazonga felt like letting them go, and they didn't have much to entertain themselves with in the meantime.

They didn't have to wait long for something interesting to happen, however.

"ZONGAZONGA!!!" A voice roared, not muffled by the kraken's body in the slightest. The kids perked up. They knew that voice! It was Joe! Finally, rescue had arrived!

--------

Zongazonga's eyes snapped open. The leviathan was here. Why was he here?! He was trying to sleep. How dare Joe try to interrupt his sleep?!

He lifted his head to glare irritably at Joe but found himself to not be prepared for the sheer ferocity in his rival's eyes, or the way he loomed over him. He had fought Joe many times, but even when his tentacles were being ripped off, Joe did not look as murderous as he did now. The kraken mer pushed himself off of the cold sand with his arms, angling his underside away from the enraged leviathan mer in front of him. For once, he did NOT want to fight.

"THE KIDS, WHERE ARE THEY?!" A clawed hand slammed into Zongazonga's throat and roughly shoved him onto his back. He tried to pry it off, but Joe's grip was tight, and the kraken found himself pinned under Joe. The whelps had been tossed around as well, he could feel it.

"I DONT SEE 'EM ANYWHERE! WHAT DID YA DO WITH THEM?" Zongazonga couldn't look him in the eyes. For the first time in a long time, he felt fear.

"I-I..." The kraken tried to choke out a response.

"ANSWER ME!" Joe bellowed, lifting Zongazonga by the throat and smashing his head into the sand.

Zongazonga tried to blink the blurriness out of his vision, with barely any success.

Joe leaned in now, close enough that Zongazonga could feel his breath.

"If ya don't tell me where they are right now, I'll rip yer guts clean outta yer pathetic body," Joe hissed in his ear.

No, he could NOT do that! Not only would that obviously kill him, but Joe would most likely accidentally kill the same children he came here to save. The thought of Joe accidentally killing the whelps did not sit right with him. He didn't know why.

"Urgh... fine, you brute. They're right here," he poked the lower part of his chest with a single claw. Before he could elaborate, Joe's grip on his throat tightened. Zongazonga thrashed to free himself, his tentacles desperately tried to pull the leviathan mer off of him.

"YOU ATE THEM?!" Screeched Joe. Zongazonga felt as though his ears would burst.

"YOU KILLED THEM!"

His head was smashed into the sand once more, much harder this time.

"YOU KILLED THEM, YOU KILLED THEM, YOU KILLED THEM! I HATE YOU!!" Joe wailed. "THEY DID NOTHIN' TO YOU! THEY WERE JUST KIDS. MY SMALL FRIES, MY BABIES, DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU, YOU FUCKIN' MONSTER!" Joe's other hand gripped one of Zongazonga's horns, and with a sickening snap, he broke it in half, earning a pained shout from the kraken writhing underneath him.

Some of Zongazonga's tentacles snagged Joe's neck and he managed to yank the grieving leviathan off of him before he used half of Zongazonga's own horn to stab him to death.

"THEY AREN'T DEAD, YOU FOOL. YOU DID NOT LET ME FINISH!" Zongazonga did his best to put distance between Joe and himself. The tiny mers were huddled in the pit of his chest. He could feel them trembling.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YA!" Joe shot towards him again with unbridled rage, but this time Zongazonga's tentacles snared his limbs and held him at bay.

"IF YOU GO THROUGH WITH KILLING ME, WITH TEARING ME APART AND GUTTING ME, YOU WILL KILL THEM AS WELL! WILL YOU REALLY TAKE SUCH A RISK? IF YOU WILL LET ME, I CAN SHOW YOU THAT I AM NOT LYING!"

He couldn't read Joe's expression, and for a moment the two sat there in near silence. Zongazonga grunted as he strained to keep Joe and his makeshift weapon away from him.

"Go ahead," Joe murmured softly, a stark contrast to the living hurricane he had been a moment ago. The fury in his eyes did not dissipate. "Show me right now, and I'll let ya live." Zongazonga hesitantly let his tentacles fall, and Joe backed off, watching intently as Zongazonga took a deep breath.

Then his body shuddered, convulsed, and he heaved.

Much to Joe's shock and relief, five little mers tumbled out of Zongazonga's jaws, disoriented but otherwise unharmed.

Zongazonga watched as the whelps got their bearings and noticed Joe. They began to make their way over to him, but Todd was stopped by a purple tentacle.

"Stay still," Zongazonga commanded, lifting his finger toward the little mantis shrimp mer. The bones binding his smashers quickly loosened and then floated down to the sand below.

Todd flexed the smashers, satisfied with having full control over them again. He hurried to join his friends, and Zongazonga sat there as Joe tenderly gathered them all in his claws, leaning down to nuzzle them with the tip of his nose. He ushered them into his bandana, and then straightened himself to meet the kraken's gaze. Slitted blue eyes narrowed, but he did not say anything to Zongazonga. He merely turned himself around and disappeared into the darkness.

...

Zongazonga lightly picked up the broken tip of his horn, inspecting it carefully.

He made a mental note to himself: never do anything that might invoke that level of wrath from Joe ever again. If he truly had done away with the whelps or had not been able to hold off Joe for long enough, he was certain that the piece of horn would be driven straight through his heart. That, and pieces of him would be scattered everywhere.

He nearly got himself killed over some pathetic children that he wanted to hold for a little while. He told them it was just to mess with them, but that wasn't the reason, not really. Sure, it was fun to get the whelps' reactions to everything but he only did it at all because some subconscious part of him made him feel like he had to.

He could have TOTALLY fought Joe off with his strength alone, but he held back for their sake.

What was wrong with him, lately?

He had been far less cruel and cold than he'd normally be. He SPARED these whelps. The powerful, tyrannical Zongazonga, being MERCIFUL? Allowing the children of his rival SHELTER within a space designated ONLY for his own brood (in which he had none)? Thinking of their safety when Joe attacked him? How pathetic!

He was growing soft, and weak.

The massive kraken mer growled to himself as he searched for a space to lie down and sleep off the splitting headache he had.

What was he going to do next (if he ever saw them again)? Catch prey for them? Be nicer to them??? DISGUSTING!

He even thought about mentoring Dino, the little kraken mer who had necromancy, like he did.

He hunkered down in a promising dip between two sand dunes, tucking his tentacles close to his body.

Zongazonga would NOT fall to such weakness. To kindness. He was above that, wasn't he?

He just needed rest, that's all.

When he woke up he'd be back to his normal, monstrous, uncaring self.

Right?

[ladsofsorrow24]

watched a yhara zayd review of saltburn and... wow that sounds like a very boring film, ngl

[llycaons]

also I kind of knew this going into kindred, but characters trapped in different timelines/dimensions, especially away from their loved ones, has always been extremely difficult for me to see in fiction. I knew they would be reunited, but usually that gives me enough anxiety that I have to stop reading

[arsenicflame]

Steddyhands for the ship ask game

thank u !!!!!

Send me a ship and I will grade it:

A: I love it

ha ive actually been having a really interesting conversation with my friend about this specific topic, in that, i dont really ship steddyhands? or thats how i feel about it anyway- i ship each couple individually at the same time, but i dont tend to imagine them doing things i consider couple things all together (i also recognise my stance on that is weird because ill still stick them in the same bed and maintain thats not couple activity) specifically the appeal of steddyhands to me is how each couple inside it plays off each other and provides fulfilment that the third person cannot!

Steddyhands, for me, is about not having to be everything for someone and that being ok :)

[universestreasures]

@tophatz Sent: A Ship That Includes At Least One Of My Muses To Rate (Accepting)

Rivalshipping ( Yugi & Kaiba ) ! Yusei & Kiryu 👀

Rivalshipping ( Yugi & Kaiba ) !

vomit / don’t ship / ok / cute / adorable / sexy / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying /i will ship them in hell

This is a ship I feel has as much romantic as it does platonic appeal, and it's one I've been thinking about due to all the fanart (which a lot of it is cute and funny) I've seen while looking for Yugi things for my queue. Kaiba and Yugi did not get to interact as much after a certain point due to Atem taking that spotlight and becoming Kaiba's rival, but from what we know about their dynamic, they both would (especially post canon / post dsod) get along pretty well.

The biggest things they both have in common is a love of games and a hardworking attitude. They both are such nerds about gaming I cannot help but see them just essentially talking in their own language no one can understand. I also think they respect each other a lot, and we know Yugi has expressed interest in wanting to play games with Kaiba and getting to be his friend. He's also shown concern for Kaiba such as during Duelist Kingdom and has been pretty quick to forget the bad stuff he did too (but that merciful / forgiving nature of Yugi is such a key part of his character).

I think they have the potential to either be an adorable short king and tall king couple (with no doubt notes of co-worker romantic stuff due to at least manga wise them collaborating like in Takahashi's art he drew for a post DSOD idea) or gaming besties with enough time and development (mainly because any dynamic with Kaiba is gonna be developed slowly cause well it's Kaiba LOL).

I'd love to explore the dynamic either way with my Yugi, honestly. Curious how my Yugi's dynamic with Ani's Kaiba ( @shacchou ) will develop.

Yusei & Kiryu 👀

vomit / don’t ship / ok / cute / adorable / sexy / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying /i will ship them in hell

I feel the same way about this pairing that I do with Yusei with Jack or Crow. My interpretation is that Yusei sees all three members of Team Satisfaction as his brothers, and those, he has a strong familial bond with all three of them. That's why I think he is willing to give himself up for Kiryu by turning himself in aside from his selfless nature.

I 100% get the appeal as to why people would and do ship this pairing, especially due to the angsty nature and childhood friends parts of their dynamic,it just is not for me!

[darksouls2yuri]

btw if you see a message in front of nashandra that says woman...? or skeleton? das me say hi das me your pal gil ^_^