rowlechu exists

Wonder-Sparkle Princess: Can't, got a PTA meeting.

Demon Queen Eluria: Friday?

Wonder-Sparkle Princess: A birthday party.

Demon Queen Eluria: Damn. How about I fill just the mayor's heart with hatred then?

Wonder-Sparkle Princess: That'd be redundant, lol. Maybe fill his heart with a desire to fix the fucking potholes?!

Demon Queen Eluria: LMFAO love you, bitch. Stay strong.

Wonder-Sparkle Princess: You too, gurl. How's the husband? Still dead?

Demon Queen Eluria: Yep. Thanks for that, btw.

For an MC who dated Baxter in Step 3 and gets back together with him in Step 4.

MC: "I really liked you even back then."

Baxter: "Really?"

To me it was obvious, straightforward, logically assuming. You dated him, so of course you liked him back then. Why would he be surprised by this, let alone not even know it?

It only occurred to me after I discovered that he won’t actually ask you out if you confess to having a crush on him in Step 3. The qualifiers that the game has for Baxter asking you out are that 1) He knows you’re single, 2) You have a crush on him, and 3) You don’t confess said crush (because you can if you want to). If you do confess, it knocks the Step 3 dating storyline completely out of the park.

The basis of him asking you out is that he runs on the assumption that you don’t care about him. That you don’t have feelings for him. That seeing him as a novelty and a bit of fun is the only pretence you’d have to date him, and the only pretence he’ll allow.

And that broke me. Because suddenly, his Step 4 line makes so much more sense.

Of course I knew he saw himself like this: unimportant, temporary, insignificant. It’s the fact that he doesn’t even understand how he’s dug that hole for himself. To him, that’s his reality. That nobody cares. That he’s worthless without commodity. That nobody will genuinely see him for anything more than a fleeting good time at best. Because he doesn’t feel like he’s more. He doesn’t know how to be, or what that “more” even is.

In the Eastern USA, only tiny remnants of old-growth forest remain; all the rest, over 99%, was clear-cut within the last 100-150 years.

Most tree species here have a lifespan of 300-500 years—likely longer, since extant examples of truly old trees are so rare, there is limited ability to study them. In a suburban environment, almost all of the trees you see around you are mere saplings. A 50 year old oak tree is a youth only beginning its life.

The forest where I work is 100 years old; it was clear cut around 1920. It is still so young.

When I dig into the ground there, there is a layer about an inch thick of rich, plush, moist, fragrant topsoil, packed with mycelium and light and soft as a foam mattress. Underneath that the ground becomes hard and chalky in color, with a mineral odor.

It takes 100 years to build an inch of topsoil.

That topsoil, that marvelous, rich, living substance, took 100 years to build.

I am sorry your textbooks lied to you. Do you remember pictures in diagrams of soil layers, with a six-inch topsoil layer and a few feet of subsoil above bedrock?

That's not true anymore. If you are not an "outdoorsy" person that hikes off trail in forests regularly, it is likely that you have never touched true topsoil. The soil underlying lawns is depleted, compacted garbage with hardly any life in it. It seems more similar to rocks than soil to me now.

You see, tilling the soil and repeatedly disturbing it for agriculture destroys the topsoil layer, and there is no healthy plant community to regenerate it.

The North American prairies used to hold layers of topsoil more than eight or nine feet deep. That was a huge carbon sink, taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it underground.

Then European colonists settled the prairie and tried to drive the bison to extinction as part of the plan to drive Native Americans to extinction, and plowed up that topsoil...and the results were devastating. You might recall being taught about the Dust Bowl. Disrupting that incredible topsoil layer held in place by 12-foot-tall prairie grasses and over 100 different wildflower species caused the nation to be engulfed in horrific dirt storms that turned the sky black and had people hundreds of miles away coughing up clods of mud and sweeping thick drifts of dirt out of their homes.

But plowing is fundamental to agricultural civilizations at their very origins! you might say.

Where did those early civilizations live? River valleys.

Why river valleys? They're fertile because of seasonal flooding that deposits rich silt that can then be planted in.

And where does that silt come from?

Well, a huge river is created by smaller rivers coming together, which is created by smaller creeks coming together, which have their origins in the mountains and uplands, which are no good for farming but often covered in rich, dense forests.

The forests create the rich soil that makes agriculture possible. An ancient forest is so powerful, it brings life to civilizations and communities hundreds of miles away.

You may have heard that cattle farming is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. A huge chunk of that is just the conversion of an existing forest or grassland to pasture land. Robust plant communities like forests, wetlands, and grasslands are carbon sinks, storing carbon and removing it from the atmosphere. The destruction of these environments is a direct source of carbon emissions.

All is not lost. Nature knows how to regenerate herself after devastating events; she's done so countless times before, and forests are not static places anyway. They are in a constant state of regrowth and change. Human caretakers have been able to manage ancient forests for thousands of years. It is colonialism and the ideology of profit and greed that is so destructive, not human presence.

i'm saying this now, endgame may be sol x iana, BUT ISAAC WILL ALWAYS AND FOREVER BE HER FIRST LOVE. THE CHARACTER THAT WILL HAUNT HER UNTIL THE END OF THE SERIES.

Just a study, nothing serious.

here is a list with everything australia is banning for minors under the age of 16.

some kids won’t be able to contact their parents with the loss of whatsapp. they are banning basically all socials for kids. strict parents? you will only be able to stay at home and do nothing because there’s no way you’ll go outside. there’s no way you’ll talk to your friends /dir

they are banning LEGO PLAY. that is unnecessary.

if you are an australian citizen PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION

social media apps are rolling out ai age detection. do you think they want to go through the hassle of getting everyone to sign in with their correct ages? NO. they want you to upload photos of your face, and photos of your passport.

you know social media apps have the ability to send your data to third party companies, why would they not do it for this?

a world where kids’ information is easily accessible on the internet, even just the statement that they are under a certain age DOES NOT PROTECT THEM AT ALL.

they will have filtered access to recent news only. they will have no variety in their opinions. whatever the australian government provides them will be their only information to rely on.

38

^ 38 MORE SIGNATURES AAAHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO HAPPY PLEASE CONTINUE!!

34

34 MORE SIGNATURES!!!!!! HELL YEAHH

Felicity’s story was set in the beginnings of the American Revolution, and addressed the conflict that she faced when her loved ones were split between patriots and loyalists. It also covered the effects of animal abuse, and forgiving those who are unforgivable.

Samantha’s stories centered around the growth of industrial America, women’s suffrage, child abuse, and corruption in places of power. Also, it emphasises how dramatically adoption into a caring family can turn a life around.

Kit’s story is one of my favorites. Her family is hit hard by the Great Depression, and they begin taking in boarders and raise chickens to help make ends meet. Her books include themes of poverty, police brutality, homelessness, prejudice, and the importance of unity in difficult times.

Molly’s father, a doctor, is drafted during the Second World War. Throughout her story, friends of hers suffer the loss of their husbands, sons, and brothers overseas. Her mother leaves the traditional housewife position and works full-time to help with the war effort. They also take in an English refugee child, who learns to open up after a life of traumatic experience.

And then there are the later dolls, that kids younger than me would have grown up with (I was just outgrowing American Girl as these came out), like Rebecca, the Jewish girl who dreams of becoming an actress in the budding film industry, or  Julie, who fights against her school’s gender policy surrounding sports in the 70s, or  Nanea, the Hawaiian girl whose father worked at Pearl Harbor.

Nah.

OP (of the tweet thread) was either a actively trying to start shit or is just a huge fucking moron. Probably both.

I’d like to point out that the company that makes American Girl dolls actually doesn’t skimp when doing their research and they don’t make the dolls with the intent to be offensive in any way:

i think back on this & realize that as third graders we were talking about how awful slavery was & because we were simply innocent kids without any societal or institutional influence yet, all of us could kept saying “why would you treat a HUMAN like that ?!” this one girl for her birthday invited all of us for her party & she got the Addy doll - every single one of us (boys included) held her & was in awe of this doll - it was such a touching experience.

i went back home about a year ago & ran into my third grade teacher in the grocery store. she said that year opened up a whole new teaching structure for her. she now reads american girl stories to her students starting day one of class every day to calm them down after recess & she’ll get through maybe four or five sets of books a year. she has the dolls in the room with packets on information from the doll’s time period that her students can “check out” to take home for weekends to care for them.

we oftentimes overlook how powerful toys can be in influencing young children & american girl honestly knew that kids could read intense moments in history & synthesize the issues to learn how to be a better person. my grandma bought me my first doll, molly, when i was only six & the dolls became a huge part of my childhood. when i turned 21 a couple years ago - we were living in minneapolis - she took me to have lunch for my birthday at the american doll place in the mall of america & bought me the Addy doll for my birthday. it was such a powerful moment i hasn’t expected.

I learned a lot of my core beliefs from these girls.

These are from one of their latest books, A Smart Girl’s Guide to Body Image:

They got a lot of flak from conservative parents for this and they did. not. back. down.

Their newest historical doll, Claudie, is a black girl growing up in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Her story is about Black artists thriving, and making a safe, beautiful place for themselves in a society that tries to reject them. It teaches about the NAACP’s protests against lynchings, in ways kids can understand, but there’s also so much Black joy and creativity showcased in her story.

Another historical doll, Melody, is growing up in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement. She faces the struggles and triumphs of attending a newly integrated school, and learns about the bombing of a Black church in Alabama that killed four little girls her age. Her stories show how black people found support and community within the church, as well as music— she loves to sing! If you have a free hour, I highly recommend watching her special on Amazon (free with prime). It stars Caila Marsai Martin from Blackish and it will make you weep.

The girl of the year for 2022, Corinne, is Asian, and her story touches on the issues of anti-Asian hate in the wake of covid. When conservative parents threw a fit about this, American Girl went ahead and made the girl of the year for 2023 Asian, too.

Any of their dolls can be customized with assistive devices like hearing aids, service dogs, and wheelchairs. They also have bald dolls, to include stories about girls battling cancer or alopecia. And it’s not just girl dolls— they have boy dolls now, too! And dolls with no gender assigned to them! People complained that they couldn’t find any dolls in the Just Like Me line that looked like them, so they now give people the ability to create their own custom doll, with tons of different options.

If I ever catch one of yall doing this to another author and I know youre a follower of my work I will block you personally on every platform

None of yall are the fic police. I DESPISE genai. I think its an insult to art, humanity, and the planet itself. But aint not a single fucking person here qualified to pick apart a strangers fic looking for a gotcha moment to make yourselves feel superior. If you think something is ai you can ask the author (most are proud of the ai use and will just tell you straight up) if they say yes you have your answer and can warn people. If they say no and you dont believe them you block and quietly keep it between you and maybe a close group of friends. Spreading misinformation is DANGEROUS. And NONE of you doing this shit are anywhere near qualified to do it.

it gets to the point where driving anywhere as a full bat-brigade is a nightmare for all involved. first theres the consistently horrific and violent argument about who gets the front passenger seat, usually won by Dick because ‘i’m the eldest’ or Jason because ‘i have a gun, try and take it from me’. then theres the actual drive, filled with irritated back and forth from the three squashed together in the back, (‘stop shoving into me’ ‘there is literally no space, shut the fuck up’/ ‘stop- BRUCE HE’S LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW AGAIN’ ‘ITS A FUCKING WINDOW’/ ‘can you turn down your music you’re literally right next to me i can hear it through the headphones’ ‘the engine is too loud i cant hear when i turn it down-!’) Damian constantly being told as the littlest that he has to sit in the middle and making it EVERYBODY ELSES problem, whoever is in the front taking advantage of the radio to put on music that pisses everybody else off, Bruce getting a migraine before they even get to wherever they’re trying to go, and that one time Dick got the front seat and was so insufferably smug about it that Jason leant forward and pushed the ‘eject seat’ button while they were halfway across a bridge over Gotham harbour.

so on occasions where they have to travel for vigilante jobs and need all hands on deck, they’ve learnt to just take two cars. the problem with THAT then becomes the division between the cars.

when deciding to take two cars, the first to volunteer himself away from the family is, predictably, Jason. it usually takes them like twenty minutes to convince him to officially join their little batsquad anyway, so it makes sense that he fucks off first. immediately after this, Bruce tells the other three to get into the batmobile with him only for Damian to suddenly pipe up.

“If we are to split into two convoys then it would be more beneficial for the amount of passengers to be of similar sizes. I shall travel with Red Hood.”

which. in of itself is unexpected. first that Damian didn’t demand that he be allowed to drive, and second that he willingly leave to spend alone time with Jason of all people. baffled but not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Bruce accepts this quickly and they leave. Tim and Dick don’t realise why Damian was so quick to jump cars until they arrived at their destination and see Jason’s car pull up.

windows down, Damian has his feet stretched out to lay on the dash in front. batburger in one hand and a smoothie in the other, they have a greek mythology podcast blasting from the speakers as they discuss different translations and ethical dilemmas within the stories. Jason has one hand on the steering wheel and the other leant on the window, a box of fries in the drink compartment he’s languidly eating out of as he drove. Dick and Tim, who while having enough space for once had to spend the drive in stony silence while Batman barked strategies and warnings at them, suddenly realised something.

Jason was not Bruce. Jason did not care about car etiquette, or seriousness, or being in any way a responsible brother. Jason’s car was, as a result, practically a case of lawlessness within international waters. Damian grinned smugly at them around a mouthful of burger, visually mocking them for taking so long to realise what he had clocked the second Jason asked for the keys to the second car.

and thus began the fight to be allowed to go in Jason’s car rather than Bruce’s. somehow, it brought more anarchy than all five of them being in the same car did. Jason would sit, whistling to himself patiently as the other three would spit and hiss at each other to be in his car, occasionally sending a smug smirk to Bruce, who waited impassively and (slightly) offended. there was always a switch up with one person securing a spot in Jason’s car, upon which the argument then became a case of ‘maybe three people should go with Jay and two with B?’ which had wildly mixed reviews, because although another slot in Jason’s car was desirable, agreeing to it was providing the risk that you would be the one sibling left behind to travel with Bruce. Alone.

nobody wanted that.

all other vigilante/hero figures working with the bats came to expect the entertainment of when the bat cars showed up to their meeting spots. the JLA watch with poorly concealed amusement as one time Bruce showed up alone with Damian who looked three seconds away from impaling himself on his own katana, only for Jason’s car to show up two minutes later where the other three of them were loudly screaming nicki minaj songs at the top of their lungs through the open convertible roof, of which Nightwing was standing to half hang out of so he could dance.

another time both cars were running late so they switched between the com systems in both cars to check up on them and the difference between vibes was unfounded.

Green Lantern: just checking in on the batmobile, how long is your guys ETA?

Batman: five minutes.

Nightwing: we totally had time to stop at that drivethrough-

Batman: five. minutes.

the JL:

Robin: i hate this family.

the JL: *switch to batcar 2*

Green Lantern: h-

*loud mexican music and laughter*

Red Robin: OK- OK OK OK- fuck marry kill, Batman-,

Red Hood: kill Batman.

Red Robin: you didn’t even hear the other options

Red Hood: *laughing* what are the other options?

Red Robin: ok, fuck marry kill, Batman, the Joker, and Superman.

Red Hood:

Red Hood: ok so kill Batman-

Red Robin: *wheeze*

Red Hood: *defensive* I DONT WANT TO LOOK AT HIS FACE!

Red Robin: ok and the others?

Red Hood: marry the Joker, because then i have ample opportunity to kill him later AND inherit everything he owns. and fuck Superman because i don’t want to commit to him but i do want to show dominance over him.

Red Robin: *uncontrollable crying-laughter*

the JL:

Superman, tired: Hood. what is your ETA.

Red Robin: *laughing even harder*

Red Hood, unashamed: i’ll be home in three sweetie, don’t you worry ;)

-healthy

-common

-normal

Questioning isn't:

And in that time, the asexual community welcomed me, supported me, helped me feel good about who I was, protected me from the harm I would have done to myself if I had pushed myself to have sex. That made a huge difference.

If I see an opportunity to support asexual organizations, I do so not just because it’s good but also because they were there for me in a difficult part of my life without judgement. I owe them for that.

If you at one point identified as transgender or questioned your gender identity, maybe you too sought a home in the wrong place because you were struggling with something else. And it is very likely that the people in that home, the transgender community, believed you and welcomed you and listened to you.

Like if he pulls up to the alien invasion or whatever with just Robin, then everything’s fine. More than fine, actually, because Bruce feels comfortable enough to bring his eight year old along for the ride. This battle will take approximately fifteen minutes and they’ll all get shawarma after. Not fucked in the slightest.

But if Red Robin shows up too… hmm, okay, this is getting somewhat serious. Tim is one of Bruce’s most trusted partners; he’s the smart Robin, the tactician, the loyal one, and so if Batman brought him along then it means he’s at least a little bit worried about shit hitting the fan and wants one his advisors around. But the combined brain power of Bruce and Tim is pretty much unmatched (DC plot armor for the win), so everything will be fine, basically. Superman might take a hit, but everything’s going to be fine. Just keep calm and you’ll all make it home in time to Door Dash some Panda Express before it closes. So not that fucked.

It starts to get serious after that. When Signal and Spoiler roll up the scene, shit has definitely hit the fan. Batman’s worried enough to call in reinforcements and he’s probably doubting the League’s ability to listen/obey his orders, so he needs a backup plan in case things go really south. But with Signal’s abilities and Steph’s superpower of turning anything into a joke, chances are you’ll be okay. Maybe impaled or something, but okay. But still, fucked.

When Nightwing shows, the JL knows it’s starting to get dicey out on the field. See, Nightwing’s got his own team, his own issues—the fact that he set that all aside to help out his dad is cause for concern. On a scale from 1-10, they are at a 7. Above moderately fucked.

And… oh God. Black Bat? Most of the time the JL doesn’t even see her, but once she makes herself known and starts fighting alongside her siblings, they all start to silently freak out. Black Bat is a fucking machine and if she’s breaking a sweat trying to fight the Big Bad, things are definitely not going to go well. They start praying that Batman figures something out. They freak out. They are intrinsically fucked.

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