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Two people do not decide that they are "courting". One person decides to "court" someone else. It's an action, not a stage in the relationship. A man decides to court a woman because he wants to encourage her to have romantic interest in him. He's trying to win her favor. It's not an exclusive relationship--a woman could be courted by multiple men at once. She'll spend time getting to know the guy who's interested in her, but they won't officially define their relationship as one where they only show romantic interest in each other. If they reach a point where they want it to be exclusive, that's when you propose.

bizarrely, America has in many ways gotten more conservative about dating since World War II.

Yes the fuck it is, stop being a baby

Yes pride is a riot and a fight and yadda yadda yadda but you are not revolutionary for sucking the joy out of queerness. Sometimes, pride is a party. It is a celebration of the fact that we are here, we're queer, and we're not going anywhere. And that is just as important as throwing bricks and fighting cops, actually.

If you live in Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, South Dakota, or Texas, we need you to take action to protect disability rights! ASAN’s plain language action alert explains what’s happening and how you can help. https://autisticadvocacy.org/2026/02/take-action-to-protect-disability-rights/

bet on it - T - 5.4k

tags: pool/billiards, genderfluid karasu, he/him lesbian rin, flirting & banter, karasu pov

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he was a girl, she was (sometimes) a girl, can i make it any more obvious? he was a punk, she hustled pool, what more can i say

Squirrels:

ID: 3 photos of Eastern grey squirrels with different patterns of melanism - one with a dark brown body and black legs/tail/face/back, one that is solid black with white paws and face, and one that is solid black with a reddish brown tail. end ID

Deer and moose:

ID: 3 photos of deer relatives with melanism - 1) a white-tailed deer that is mottled brown and black with a black head (and is sticking its tongue out), 2) a solid black sika deer with black antlers, and 3) a moose that is mostly black with some brown fur mixed in on the legs and muzzle, with beige antlers. end ID

Felids (small and big wildcats):

ID: 6 photos of felids with melanism - 1) a solid black serval, 2) a solid black bobcat, 3) a jaguar with black legs/tail/muzzle/forehead and dark brown torso with large black spots, 4) a mostly black jaguarundi flecked with brown hairs, 5) a smoky black caracal kitten with gray markings, and 6) a mottled blackish-brown jungle cat. end ID

Canids (wolves, foxes, etc.):

ID: 3 photos of canids with melanism - 1) a gray fox with ticked gray-and-black fur and solid black face, ears, legs, and tailtip; 2) an Indian jackal with smoky black fur; and 3) a coyote with ticked black-and-brown fur. end ID

Tons of other mammals:

ID: 6 photos of melanistic mammals - 1) a black Virginia opossum with pink nose, 2) two brownish black nutrias/coypus (aquatic rodents), 3) a black-with-brown-flecks slender mongoose, 4) a southern tamandua (type of anteater) with black fur and brown skin, 5) a glossy black Atlantic gray seal, and 6) a solid black African civet. end ID

Lots of birds:

ID: 6 photos of melanistic birds - 1) an iridescent dark gray tree swallow; 2) a dark-brown-with-black-spots common kestrel with black wing tips and tail tip; 3) a dark brownish gray kookaburra with an aqua colored spot on its wings; 4) an iridescent black common pheasant with a brown-and-black-striped tail, red wattles, and a white beak; 5) a black flamingo with a black-tipped yellow beak; and 6) an iridescent black domestic rooster with black beak and wattles and dark brown legs. end ID

Even reptiles, amphibians, and fish:

ID: 4 photos of various melanistic animals - 1) a dark olive green beauty rat snake with black stripes lengthwise down its back; 2) a solid black green frog; 3) a matte black alligator gar (type of fish); and 4) a black manta ray with a small white spot on one cephalic fin and another small white spot on its underside. end ID

All images were from posts by @fyanimaldiversity except for those with sources linked below:

Flamingo

Rooster

And there are so many articles and videos and discussions. Like, the scientific community is buzzing about this.

So much research will have to be redone because the data was absolutely compromised, off by orders of magnitude, by using standard lab gloves.

The world is probably not horrifically contaminated by microplastics. Sterile laboratories, however, are contaminated by latex and nitrile gloves.

If you know what you'd have to do to solve a problem, but you just don't want to do it, your main problem isn't the problem itself. Your problem is figuring out how to get yourself to do the solution.

If your problem is not eating enough vegetables, the problem you should be solving is "how do I make vegetables stop being yucky". If your problem is not getting enough exercise, the problem you should be solving is "how do I make exercise stop sucking ass". You're not supposed to just be doing things that are awful and suck all the time forever, you're supposed to figure out how to make it stop being so awful all the time.

I used to hate wearing sunscreen because it's sticky and slimy and disgusting and it feels bad and it smells bad, so I neglected to wear it even if I needed to. Then I found one that isn't like that, and doesn't smell and feel gross. Problem solved.

The story is called Mother by Philip José Farmer! First published in 1953. I found it in a collection of his stories called Strange Relations while at a big used book store sale and it has this phenomenal cover

I mean look at that thing! And the story was more like the art than I expected! I fully expected the plant to just be a sexy lady at some point.

That being said, I have also found another version of the cover that is uhhhh… more accurate to the story.