#writing for others

[theswarmsarchives]

OLIVER X RANDY X GINGI THINGY!!

Randy woke up, sweaty and sandwiched between two warm bodies. He felt a pair of arms wrapped firmly around his scrawny waist and another strewn somewhere near his upper torso. His tail was twined with the tail of whoever was behind him, carefully fitted bells hanging from the end of their beige cord. The green skin.. wait. Green skin? Fuck, he remembered where he was now. He was cuddling with Oliver and Gingi, in Oliver’s apartment, on Oliver’s bed. His screen grew hotter and, against his own control, his tail thumped onto the mattress. This set off the bells wrapped around Oliver’s tail, obviously, waking both the fezzed man and the cryptid. Compared to Oliver’s slow stretching as he awakened, Gingi practically dragged Randy with them as it sat up as quickly as.. cryptidly possible in the bed.

“WHERE AM I!? DID I OVERDOSE ON COUGH SYRUP AGAIN?? RANDAL AND OLIVE-MAN, WHY ARE YOU HERE??” Gingi screamed all of this in rapid succession, frantically looking around the room and between Randy and Oliver. It had backed away from Randy’s grasp at some point and he didn’t feel like acknowledging how upset that made him. He did not feel like unpacking that right now.

“Rotary-christ, Gingi, shut up. I invited you and Randy to hang out yesterday and we ended the night by cuddling with each other because you refused to do anything else.” Oliver chuckled through his sentence, resting a hand on Randy’s knee to calm the startled nokia.

“Oh. In that case, Mama’s goin’ back to sleep.” With that, Gingi curled back into the bed and wrapped their tail around itself.

“We should probs go back t’ sleep too. It’s, like, 2:30 in the morning. Unless ya ain’t tired?” Oliver tilted his head, questioning Randy. The nokia replied with a small shake of his head.

“N- No, I’m still tired just.. I’ve got to use the bathroom, y-y’know?” He knew damn well the fezzed man wasn’t buying it, accentuated by the hand on his knee moving up to his thigh and giving it a reassuring pat.

“If it’s ‘bout us cuddlin’ ya don’t need t’ be nervous. It’s just me n’ Ging. Wait.. here I’ll even let ya choose the position ya end up in this time.” Oliver held his arms out, seemingly waiting for something. Randy felt his screen grow brighter and hotter yet again, but he still found himself latching onto Oliver’s waist and holding him close.

“Awww, didn’t know ya were such a lil’ love bug, Rands.” Oliver saying this while he pat the nokia’s head didn’t help his entire “overheating” situation. Randy simply wagged his tail in response as Oliver carefully caressed his head, rubbing the back of it and purposely avoiding the delicate buttons resting on the front. The moment the fezzed man started humming was when Randy knew he was done for. The quiet tune quickly lulling him back to sleep, the purring from Gingi to the side of him definitely helped. Oh, and how warm he felt for once. All he knew was he would trade all of his organs if it meant he was able to stay here just a bit longer. Surrounded by his “friends” and literally wrapped in the arms of one of them.

(@anonymouslyanidiot olandgingi,.,.)

[mmuffncakes]

What was I doing all November? Not Nano. Writing. Writing a up a storm. I was part of this years Star Wars Rare Pair Exchange and the reveals of who wrote what are up, so no I can link all the ones I wrote! (Four!!! this year). This year I also BROKE two ship tags on AO3 (Cal/Reva and Boba/Luke/Fennec) and was able to get not only my main gift out (to Blaze) but also two whole treats (han and senket) and one whole pinch hit (ansclove)! So this was a lot of writing for me beyond the normal scope of things. Enjoy <3 (and hopefully those who received something from me enjoy them) Entry Log for @blazesurrender - Rated T | Cal Kestis/Rayvis the Gen'Dai | AU - Delayed Order 66 | 12.8K

Summary: “Entry Log One. This is Commander Cal Kestis of the 13th Battalion on the Albedo Brave led by Jedi General Jaro Tapal.”

There's something to be said about learning someone's life by a holovid journal they leave behind.

The button is pressed again.

Empty Husks and Hungry Halls for @nightingalesighs - Rated T | Cal Kestis/Reva Sevander (Third Sister) | AU Inquisitor Cal | 8.8K

Summary: When Third Sister returns from a three week long mission to find that someone new has shown up on Nur, she spends her precious free time to figure out who it is. Though the answer she gets is something far worse than she could have ever imagined.

Eternally Bound for @voidcat-senket - Rated T | Cal Kestis/Bode Akuna | AU Scrapper!Cal x ISB!Bode | 6.6K

Summary: Every day, Cal has to deal with the Empire, being stuck on Bracca, and more. And every night, Cal has to deal with the nightmares. Each one shares the same man within them. And finally, Cal sees the man from his nightmares face for the first time.

Sweet Gratitude for @ancslove (hopefully that tags you right!)- Rated E | Boba Fett/Luke Skywalker/Fennec Shand | Threesome | 2.3K

Summary: After Luke partially aids in helping two bounty hunters find their mark, he's taken aboard their ship and shown their appreciation.

[heartbreakincident]

nothing but respect for our troops (smut writers) but listen. i dont want to be the person to tell you this, but not every character is going to be a dom or a sub. some people. and i know this is hard to hear. but some people do have vanilla sex. and some of those people might even be The Character.

[sentientsky]

characters going “we were lovers once”: eh, it’s okay i guess. it’s nice enough

characters going “we were friends once”: absolutely devastating. one hit knockout i’m gone

[charbroiledchicken]

if it's good enough for you, then it deserves to be made. don't let anyone else decide if your story is worth it or not.

[kawareo]

screaming, crying, throwing up, as I force myself to write a story i'm very passionate about and love writing and have no obligation to write except that i want to

[elljayvee]

Genuinely don't know what it's called but there's a particular way of violating reality that doesn't work. For example, I am willing to accept an omegaverse university AU of nearly any fandom you care to name (except, for some reason, Sherlock, because I have an inexplicable hatred for unilock). However, a lot of Star Wars university AUs specifically fail on this aspect: they make Anakin an engineering PhD student and Obi-Wan something like literature or classics, and then they make Anakin his TA or GA.

You can't do that. Absolutely not. Anakin is unqualified for that and a university would not do it in any case. A university would literally hire a junior or senior undergraduate workstudy student to do as much of that work as possible first. They would do NOTHING other than do that and make the prof do all his own grading.

Is there a name for "I will accept [wild fantasy premise] but not [ordinary wrong thing]?" Please tell me there's a name for this. Probably someone who studies lit will know? I'm a systems person I don't know from lit theory just like Anakin

[lapdogchase]

i hate writing smut.

[theswarmsarchives]

KAREN (DIALTOWN) DRABBLE!!

Karen loved when she was able to paint near Norm’s shack. There were plenty of different subjects to choose from; the multitude of greenery, the lakes scattered throughout the forest, even a few animals on occasion. Even a few wild horses popped up from time to time. She kept her distance from them, of course, but she couldn’t help the excitement that popped into her mind when she saw them. Today, she was in the spot where she was fairly certain the horses showed up from. She saw a few tracks left behind, faint but obviously the animal she was looking for. Well, more like the animal she was hoping showed up.

She set up her easel, took out a few paints and grabbed a set of paint brushes out of her bag. Birds chirped in the distance, setting her focus into different directions but she knew the moment she started painting it would fade into the background. Just some noise that blended in with the others, much like her art’s colors did in the end. A gentle sigh left her, she picked up a paintbrush and carefully dipped it’s end into a delightful shade of green. She loved and hated how when she worked with green the thought of Gingi soon followed. She had grown quite fond of the cryptid at some point. She set off painting. Brush, back into paint, brush some more, rinse off in water, choose a different color, repeat.

She was finally done by the time the sun was setting, mixing the sky into a beautiful gradient of yellows, oranges, reds and pinks. The snapping of a twig behind her caused her to turn around, a quiet gasp falling out of her before she could think to stay quiet. There, in the path where she had been painting, stood a horse. It’s silvery, gray coat looked as though someone had splattered ink onto it but that paired well with the whirring engine it has for a head. It looked at her for a moment before galloping off into the distance, the humming from it’s head lingering for a moment before fading away as it grew more distant. Karen’s mind raced in joy, her hands were moving before she could tell them too. Fists waved around in wild, frantic movements as she tried to shake off the energy from her excitement. Rotary-christ, she loved it out here.

(oh and this was requested by @vincentbeloved!!! hope i did your idea justice little bro :3)

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

Some spins on the "mostly male team with a token woman" trope:

The woman is trans and stayed in her old circle of bros even after transition

The woman is the only one in her circle of "girls" who didn't turn out to be a trans man

[ren-is-real]

You know when

[bamsara]

I love blocking people I've never interacted with based off their replies on some random popular post. Wow random user on a post with 50k notes with the worst take ever, I hope I never meet you and will make sure we never do

[monsoon-of-art]

[asgardian--angels]

Planet's Fucked: What Can You Do To Help? (Long Post)

Since nobody is talking about the existential threat to the climate and the environment a second Trump term/Republican government control will cause, which to me supersedes literally every other issue, I wanted to just say my two cents, and some things you can do to help. I am a conservation biologist, whose field was hit substantially by the first Trump presidency. I study wild bees, birds, and plants.

In case anyone forgot what he did last time, he gagged scientists' ability to talk about climate change, he tried zeroing budgets for agencies like the NOAA, he attempted to gut protections in the Endangered Species Act (mainly by redefining 'take' in a way that would allow corporations to destroy habitat of imperiled species with no ramifications), he tried to do the same for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the law that offers official protection for native non-game birds), he sought to expand oil and coal extraction from federal protected lands, he shrunk the size of multiple national preserves, HE PULLED US OUT OF THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT, and more.

We are at a crucial tipping point in being able to slow the pace of climate change, where we decide what emissions scenario we will operate at, with existential consequences for both the environment and people. We are also in the middle of the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the rate of species extinctions far surpassing background rates due completely to human actions. What we do now will determine the fate of the environment for hundreds or thousands of years - from our ability to grow key food crops (goodbye corn belt! I hated you anyway but), to the pressure on coastal communities that will face the brunt of sea level rise and intensifying extreme weather events, to desertification, ocean acidification, wildfires, melting permafrost (yay, outbreaks of deadly frozen viruses!), and a breaking down of ecosystems and ecosystem services due to continued habitat loss and species declines, especially insect declines. The fact that the environment is clearly a low priority issue despite the very real existential threat to so many people, is beyond my ability to understand. I do partly blame the public education system for offering no mandatory environmental science curriculum or any at all in most places. What it means is that it will take the support of everyone who does care to make any amount of difference in this steeply uphill battle.

There are not enough environmental scientists to solve these issues, not if public support is not on our side and the majority of the general public is either uninformed or actively hostile towards climate science (or any conservation science).

So what can you, my fellow Americans, do to help mitigate and minimize the inevitable damage that lay ahead?

I'm not going to tell you to recycle more or take shorter showers. I'll be honest, that stuff is a drop in the bucket. What does matter on the individual level is restoring and protecting habitat, reducing threats to at-risk species, reducing pesticide use, improving agricultural practices, and pushing for policy changes. Restoring CONNECTIVITY to our landscape - corridors of contiguous habitat - will make all the difference for wildlife to be able to survive a changing climate and continued human population expansion.

**Caveat that I work in the northeast with pollinators and birds so I cannot provide specific organizations for some topics, including climate change focused NGOs. Scientists on tumblr who specialize in other fields, please add your own recommended resources. **

We need two things: FUNDING and MANPOWER.

You may surprised to find that an insane amount of conservation work is carried out by volunteers. We don't ever have the funds to pay most of the people who want to help. If you really really care, consider going into a conservation-related field as a career. It's rewarding, passionate work.

At the national level, please support:

The Nature Conservancy

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Cornell Lab of Ornithology (including eBird)

National Audubon Society

Federal Duck Stamps (you don't need to be a hunter to buy one!)

These first four work to acquire and restore critical habitat, change environmental policy, and educate the public. There is almost certainly a Nature Conservancy-owned property within driving distance of you. Xerces plays a very large role in pollinator conservation, including sustainable agriculture, native bee monitoring programs, and the Bee City/Bee Campus USA programs. The Lab of O is one of the world's leaders in bird research and conservation. Audubon focuses on bird conservation. You can get annual memberships to these organizations and receive cool swag and/or a subscription to their publications which are well worth it. You can also volunteer your time; we need thousands of volunteers to do everything from conducting wildlife surveys, invasive species removal, providing outreach programming, managing habitat/clearing trails, planting trees, you name it. Federal Duck Stamps are the major revenue for wetland conservation; hunters need to buy them to hunt waterfowl but anyone can get them to collect!

THERE ARE DEFINITELY MORE, but these are a start.

Additionally, any federal or local organizations that seek to provide support and relief to those affected by hurricanes, sea level rise, any form of coastal climate change...

At the regional level:

These are a list of topics that affect major regions of the United States. Since I do not work in most of these areas I don't feel confident recommending specific organizations, but please seek resources relating to these as they are likely major conservation issues near you.

PRAIRIE CONSERVATION & PRAIRIE POTHOLE WETLANDS

DRYING OF THE COLORADO RIVER (good overview video linked)

PROTECTION OF ESTUARIES AND SALTMARSH, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELAWARE BAY AND LONG ISLAND (and mangroves further south, everglades etc; this includes restoring LIVING SHORELINES instead of concrete storm walls; also check out the likely-soon extinction of saltmarsh sparrows)

UNDAMMING MAJOR RIVERS (not just the Colorado; restoring salmon runs, restoring historic floodplains)

NATIVE POLLINATOR DECLINES (NOT honeybees. for fuck's sake. honeybees are non-native domesticated animals. don't you DARE get honeybee hives to 'save the bees')

WILDLIFE ALONG THE SOUTHERN BORDER (support the Mission Butterfly Center!)

INVASIVE PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES (this is everywhere but the specifics will differ regionally, dear lord please help Hawaii)

LOSS OF WETLANDS NATIONWIDE (some states have lost over 90% of their wetlands, I'm looking at you California, Ohio, Illinois)

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE, esp in the CORN BELT and CALIFORNIA - this is an issue much bigger than each of us, but we can work incrementally to promote sustainable practices and create habitat in farmland-dominated areas. Support small, local farms, especially those that use soil regenerative practices, no-till agriculture, no pesticides/Integrated Pest Management/no neonicotinoids/at least non-persistent pesticides. We need more farmers enrolling in NRCS programs to put farmland in temporary or permanent wetland easements, or to rent the land for a 30-year solar farm cycle. We've lost over 99% of our prairies to corn and soybeans. Let's not make it 100%.

INDIGENOUS LAND-BACK EFFORTS/INDIGENOUS LAND MANAGEMENT/TEK (adding this because there have been increasing efforts not just for reparations but to also allow indigenous communities to steward and manage lands either fully independently or alongside western science, and it would have great benefits for both people and the land; I know others on here could speak much more on this. Please platform indigenous voices)

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (get your neighbors to stop dumping fertilizers on their lawn next to lakes, reduce agricultural runoff)

OCEAN PLASTIC (it's not straws, it's mostly commercial fishing line/trawling equipment and microplastics)

A lot of these are interconnected. And of course not a complete list.

At the state and local level:

You probably have the most power to make change at the local level!

Support or volunteer at your local nature centers, local/state land conservancy non-profits (find out who owns&manages the preserves you like to hike at!), state fish & game dept/non-game program, local Audubon chapters (they do a LOT). Participate in a Christmas Bird Count!

Join local garden clubs, which install and maintain town plantings - encourage them to use NATIVE plants. Join a community garden!

Get your college campus or city/town certified in the Bee Campus USA/Bee City USA programs from the Xerces Society

Check out your state's official plant nursery, forest society, natural heritage program, anything that you could become a member of, get plants from, or volunteer at.

Volunteer to be part of your town's conservation commission, which makes decisions about land management and funding

Attend classes or volunteer with your land grant university's cooperative extension (including master gardener programs)

Literally any volunteer effort aimed at improving the local environment, whether that's picking up litter, pulling invasive plants, installing a local garden, planting trees in a city park, ANYTHING. make a positive change in your own sphere. learn the local issues affecting your nearby ecosystems. I guarantee some lake or river nearby is polluted

MAKE HABITAT IN YOUR COMMUNITY. Biggest thing you can do. Use plants native to your area in your yard or garden. Ditch your lawn. Don't use pesticides (including mosquito spraying, tick spraying, Roundup, etc). Don't use fertilizers that will run off into drinking water. Leave the leaves in your yard. Get your school/college to plant native gardens. Plant native trees (most trees planted in yards are not native). Remove invasive plants in your yard.

On this last point, HERE ARE EASY ONLINE RESOURCES TO FIND NATIVE PLANTS and LEARN ABOUT NATIVE GARDENING:

Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Resource Center

Pollinator Pathway

Audubon Native Plant Finder

Homegrown National Park (and Doug Tallamy's other books)

National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder (clunky but somewhat helpful)

Heather Holm (for prairie/midwest/northeast)

MonarchGard w/ Benjamin Vogt (for prairie/midwest)

Native Plant Trust (northeast & mid-atlantic)

Grow Native Massachusetts (northeast)

Habitat Gardening in Central New York (northeast)

There are many more - I'm not familiar with resources for western states. Print books are your biggest friend. Happy to provide a list of those.

Lastly, you can help scientists monitor species using citizen science. Contribute to iNaturalist, eBird, Bumblebee Watch, or any number of more geographically or taxonomically targeted programs (for instance, our state has a butterfly census carried out by citizen volunteers).

In short? Get curious, get educated, get involved. Notice your local nature, find out how it's threatened, and find out who's working to protect it that you can help with. The health of the planet, including our resilience to climate change, is determined by small local efforts to maintain and restore habitat. That is how we survive this. When government funding won't come, when we're beat back at every turn trying to get policy changed, it comes down to each individual person creating a safe refuge for nature.

Thanks for reading this far. Please feel free to add your own credible resources and organizations.

[happyheidi]

𝗑, 𝗑, 𝗑, 𝗑