Stepping Stones

Venti:

"Sorry,you got the wrong guy" Venti chuckles drunkily,cheeks flushed,but with alcohol more than embarassment.he's a god,the idea of fatherhood or 'daddies' in general is foreign to him.he has no attachment or excitement to the word."what a weirdo~" he mocks drunkily

Kaeya:

"Oh?you want me to be your 'daddy' huh~?"Kaeya has that signature sly yet innocent smile on his face,staring down at you amused"alright then,babygirl/boy~.....go fetch this for me."totally uses this to manipulate you into doing things he's too lazy to do.But he's actually extremely entertained and aroused at the name.if you're suggestive enough and less casual with it,you might even get a blush out of the cryo captain.

Diluc:

"What.did you call me?"Diluc freezes and nearly chokes on his saliva when you call him this.grabs your wrist and leads you in a more private area,scolding you and probably slapping you."don't call me that ever again."Diluc's father was...well,he doesn't like the word 'daddy' to begin with.he has probably the biggest kink towards it,but he also can't hear it whitout thinking of his father and it just neglects everything else.will only react accordingly if he's already got his mind on something else(drunk,busy with work,already fucking you,etc)

Razor:

"Hm?what??"Razor turns to look at you with blood splattered over his cheek.However,his big,innocent ruby eyes misplace any idea that he had killed the rabbit on the ground out of mercilessness.stuffing his face messily with meat."daddy...dad.....father?i'm not....oh!boar!"he dashes straight away from you,occupied.Needless to say,he'l never understand what a daddy kink is...however,Razor has a massive breeding kink.So he might unconsciously have one,but you saying it will never click with it.He has a hard time with associating words to things,so he can't associate 'daddy' with the actual 'daddy' kink he has.

Zhongli:

"?" Zhongli stares at you for a moment,clearly confused"are you insinuating you wish to have children with me?i wouldn't mind."way too blunt!you have to explain it to him you meant it in a kinky way,and he still doesn't understand it.Why would it be interpreted sexually?still,he discovers later he's pretty into it.

Xingqiu:

"That's pretty blunt." He closes his book with a light amused smile to give you his full attention"well,then should i call you 'babygirl/boy?' " has a passive smile,watching you blush when he has no reaction.he's not all that into it,frankly.but it amuses him greatly,and he's curious about it from what he's read.so he'l indulge you if you ask.

Childe:

"Woah-at least take me out to dinner first~" Childe sweats nervously and takes a step back,cheeks flushed red,a nervous chuckle escaping him."that's...okay...i...i'm gonna need a moment..."was ready for everything BUT this.won't look at you in the eye for hours whitout blushing like a schoolboy.Childe would rather be the one calling you daddy/mommy,but being called that doesn't bother him too much frankly..actually..will you say that again for him??

Chongyun:

"Me?"he stared at you with those big icy eyes,blinking passively before making a concerned face"is that a weird fetish or something?"he pauses,listening to you explain it,embarassed"...no.it doesn't bother me."he shrugs.He's honest,it does nothing.if you want to call him that,go ahead.but he won't respond

Xiao:

Summary:

“Have you heard of the story behind the Qixi festival?” Childe said mysteriously, waddling a finger at their little traveller friends. “It’s about a pair of star-crossed lovers who can only meet once a year. It’s a very old Liyue folktale, but I’ve heard rumours that this story was actually based on an adeptus and his lover. They are an Alpha and Omega pair that could only meet once a year.”

“An Alpha and Omega meeting only once a year?!” Paimon was horrified by the news. “Is that even possible?!”

“Adeptus…” Aether thought back to all the adepti he and Paimon had met so far. The face of one particular adeptus flashed across his mind. The Guardian Yaksha, Xiao. Like his element, he was the only adeptus that travelled around Liyue without a territory or home to call his own. “Do you know who?”

"Well now…” Childe’s eyes flicked to the raven-haired man sitting beside him. “Who knows? It’s just a rumour, after all.”

Genre: Fluff, Omegaverse, light angst, hurt/comfort, separation, yaoi

Rating: M

Pairing: Cyno/Xiao, Childe/Zhongli

[Cyno is the Egyptian character in Act 3 from the Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview.]

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

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Available on AO3!!

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“The Qixi Festival?” Paimon asked, floating next to Aether and staring at the Fatui Harbringer—or former Fatui now—sitting across the table. “What is that?”

“It’s a festival dedicated to a famous folktale in Liyue called The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl,” Childe explained. “It’s a story about two star-crossed lovers. They even got poems for it but I’m not good with poems so I can’t tell you much about that.”

“Through the varying shapes of the delicate clouds, the sad message of the shooting stars, a silent journey across the Milky Way.

One meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver amidst the golden autumn wind and jade-glistening dew, eclipses the countless meetings in the mundane world.

The feelings soft as water, the ecstatic moment unreal as a dream, how can one have the heart to go back on the bridge made of magpies?

If the two hearts are united forever, why do the two persons need to stay together—day after day, night after night?”

Zhongli recited the poem before bringing a cup to his lips and enjoyed the aroma of the finely brewed tea.

“The story is about a young cowherd by the name of Niulang. He is but an ordinary human who fell in love with a goddess name Zhinu.” Zhongli glanced over to the two outlanders. “They’ve met and fallen in love within the mortal world, but their love was forbidden by the goddess of Heaven and forced to part. Separated by the Milky Way, they can only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month—"

“Which is August, by the way,” Childe prompted helpfully.

“—through a bridge made of magpies to spend one night together.”

“That’s…that’s so sad!” Paimon sniffled. “Why celebrate something so sad?”

“Half a glass of water can be seen as half empty, yet it could also be seen as half full. It is but a matter of perspective,” the raven-haired man chuckled. “If you look at it from another way, today is a joyous day for the two lovers to finally meet, thus should be celebrated.”

“But you know, there have been rumours going around that The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was based on a true story~” Childe said mysteriously, waddling a finger at their traveller friends. “They say that this is a story of an adeptus and his lover. They are an Alpha and Omega pair that could only meet once a year.”

“An Alpha and Omega meeting only once a year?!” Paimon was horrified by the news. “Is that even possible?!”

“Adeptus…” Aether thought back to all the adepti he and Paimon had met so far. The face of one particular adeptus flashed across his mind, but he shook it away. “Do you know who?”

“Who knows? It’s just a rumour.” Childe shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Sure you’re not gonna stay for the festival? There’s plenty of good food at this time.”

“Weeeell—” Before Paimon could scream ‘yes’, Aether held out a hand over her and shook his head apologetically.

“Thank you, but we really can’t,” the blond politely declined. “We need to head to Inazuma as soon as possible.”

“Guess it can’t be helped then.” Childe wasn’t surprised by the blond’s rejection. He knew how desperate the boy was in searching for his sister. He rested his head against his palm and grinned at the two. “I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

Aether nodded before looking at the Snezhnayan worriedly. “Will you be alright?”

“Of course,” Childe laughed, finding it funny that the blond would worry for his well-being of all people. However, when he spoke the next words, his icy blue eyes darkened despite the smile never faltering on his lips. “They already got the Geo Archon’s Gnosis. They wouldn’t risk coming to Liyue again just for the head of a little traitor.”

“Aether, Paimon,” Zhongli spoke up, drawing the two travellers’ attention to him. “I ask for both of you to not mention what has transpired, as well as my identity, to anyone—especially the adepti.”

“Why? Wouldn’t they be happy to know you’re alive?” Paimon couldn’t understand the archon’s decision of keeping silent on the matter.

Zhongli didn’t speak for a long time. He stared at the tea swirling in his cup before looking back up to meet their gazes.

“Please,” was all he said. 

“Ok…we won’t tell anyone,” Aether promised.

Paimon looked like she had many things to say, but in the end, she kept her mouth shut and nodded as well. 

Zhongli smiled and brought his hands up, making a gesture that the two outlanders were now overly familiar with, for the people of Liyue always did this gesture whenever they showed their thanks.

“It will get a bit boring without you two around,” Childe lamented. 

“Oh, we’ll come back!” Paimon chirped confidently.

“Be careful in Inazuma. The Archon of Electro does not take kindly to outlanders,” Zhongli cautioned.

“We will. Thank you for everything, Zhongli, Childe.”

Aether waved before he and Paimon left the Liuli Pavilion.

The two men watched them go. It was only after they couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore did Zhongli turned to his companion.

“Shall we dine then?“ He waved a hand at the untouched feast laid before them. 

"Only if you get me some forks. These chopsticks are seriously hard to use.” Childe laughed, trying to pick up his chopsticks only for one to drop onto his plate. “How are you feeling?” His question was seemingly nonchalant as he continued to play with the chopsticks, but Zhongli could hear the bitterness lingering in his tone. 

“I’m fine,” he assured the Alpha. “The loss of Gnosis only means I cannot use my power. It does not affect me otherwise." 

"Hm…” Childe tried using the chopsticks again but this time both clattered back onto the table. “Aaah, I give up!” He threw his arms into the air dramatically before flopping towards the Geo Archon and rested his forehead against that stiff shoulder.

“You should have run when I told you to,” he mumbled quietly. “Now you’re stuck with me." 

Zhongli reached one hand up and combed his fingers through the soft copper coloured hair. "Do you not want to stay with me?" 

Childe snorted and looked up to meet those golden eyes clear without any other intentions. Seriously, how this archon remained so pure and oblivious despite being so old was beyond him. 

"Nah, I’ll stick around. Someone needs to keep an eye on you when you go out." 

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Aether walked through the crowded street of Liyue harbour. He glanced around at the people setting up stalls and stands, preparing for the Qixi festival. Everywhere was rowdy with joy and happiness, so much that it almost made Aether wanted to stay. Almost.

“Let’s go, Paimon!” Aether grabbed Paimon who was drooling over some dumplings and dragged her away. After finally making it out of the packed city, he finally asked Paimon the question he didn’t dare to ask in front of Childe and Zhongli.

“Hey Paimon, is it bad for Alpha and Omega to be apart?”

“Of course!” Paimon shouted before remembering that this worldly outlander was clueless about the dynamics here since that didn’t exist in his original world.

“I told you how Alphas and Omegas are different than Betas, right?”

“Yeah…something about Omega could give birth regardless of gender?” Aether was still a little weirded out by that one. He wasn’t disgusted or anything, he just didn’t understand how that was possible.

“Yes, but when it comes to Alpha and Omega, once they found a partner, they’re bonded for life. They got this thing call a mating bite where they leave scars on each other’s necks—right over their scent glands!” Paimon pointed at her own neck. “I don’t know how it works, but I heard that it lets them connect on a…spiritual level? Basically, their partner means everything to them. Separating them is the same as taking a part of them away.”

“Is that so…?” Aether thought of his sister. He could relate to how it felt to have someone important ripped away from his side.

“Hey, Aether, look!”

“Hm?” Seeing Paimon pointing at the sky, he looked up and found that it wasn’t the sky she was pointing at, but Mt. Tianheng.

He put a hand over his eyes, protecting them from the bright sunlight and was able to make out the silhouette of a person standing at the very top.

“Is that…Xiao?”

As though hearing the call of his name, the adeptus above moved. In a few quick steps, the famed Guardian Yaksha ran down the mountain like a graceful mountain goat and landed before the two of them. Aether was certain that even if he jumped down without a glider, he still couldn’t beat the speed the adeptus displayed just now.

“I hear that you are departing Liyue,” Xiao said, his face unreadable as usual.

“Yes, we’re heading to Inazuma.” Aether nodded.

“The Archon of Electro does not welcome outlanders. Best to be on your guard.”

“You said the same thing as Zhongli,” Paimon giggled while Aether fought the urge to facepalm. 

"Paimon!” He hissed.

“Zhongli?” Although Xiao’s expression didn’t change, they could hear the question in his voice. Paimon froze when she realized she had just mentioned the archon right in front of the adeptus—one of the people Zhongli specifically told them not to tell.

“I-it’s nothing! Just a…a friend!“ Paimon stammered. She was starting to sweat bullets with Aether glancing nervously at Xiao. 

Fortunately for them, the adeptus was never the noisy type nor did he have any interest in other people’s affairs—mortals especially.

"S-so!” Paimon shouted, trying to erase the previous conversation by raising her voice up ten notches. “What are you doing here?" 

“You have aided Liyue many times and helped uphold our traditions,” Xiao replied neutrally. “It is only courteous for me to see you off. I will escort you to the outskirt of the city. Come.”

“Really?!” Paimon shouted in delight before shaking Aether by his arm. “With an adeptus opening a way for us, we’ll be out in no time!”

Aether nodded and hurried after Xiao.

The United States of America has the highest prison population in the world

Black Americans and Latin people make up the majority of this population (many of whom are non-violent offenders)

Federal Prisons in America require that their state keeps their prisons at a maximum occupancy at all times.

If county-A has a population of 50 voters but no prisons, and county-B has a population of 50 voters and 50 prisoners, the county with the prisoners gets more government funding and more political represention. This is sometimes called “prison gerrymandering” and it is used in redistrictring.

It’s something feminists have been talking about for years it’s called toxic masculinity and it’s one of the common threads among the topic of ‘Patriarchy hurts men too’. If fact the first time I read about toxic masculinity was on a feminist blog.

Title: Light 

Rating: T 

Genre: Fluff - Boruto x Harry Potter AU 

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I finally got to finish part 1, and just in time for BoruSaraWeek19 - Day 3: Crossover AU 

Art by @benteja

“Light is to darkness what love is to fear; in the presence of one, the other disappears.” -Marianne Williamson

First Year 

Boruto sat on the chair and eagerly anticipated to feel the weight of the worn sorting hat on his head. His eyes burned with light and excitement as he gazed on all the other first years. There were a few that he knew, others he had never met, some who intrigued him more than others. It all happened so fast. As soon as he got his letter, his mother wasted no time in proceeding with their shopping. He was accepted into the same wizarding school his parents had been admitted to. All the years of the wonderful stories he heard from his uncles and aunties were going to become his reality. From buying his wand, and trying on his robes, he knew deep inside this was where he was meant to be. But what house would he be in? 

a cop was at the intersection so he pulled me over and when he came up to my window he was wheezing cause he was laughing so hard and he said

“ok so i know you ran a red light and that’s really bad and you should never do it again but i’m not gonna give you a ticket cause that was the funniest thing i’ve ever seen and my partner can’t get out of the car cause he’s laughing so hard he’s about to pee himself”

i forgot that i’d had my window open when i ran the red light and the cop told me that all he heard from my car was this really high-pitched “screeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

so! disney+ is a thing but you don’t want to give the mouse your money? i completely sympathise. here’s a list of things not to do, because that would be illegal :o

1) get a torrent client. i’d recommend deluge – it’s free, it’s lightweight, and it doesn’t make you watch ads.

2) there are tons of sites to torrent stuff from, but by far the most famous is the pirate bay. the url changes fairly often, but it’s easily googleable. here is a link that works as of my typing this post up. it should look like this:

3) type something in and search! for example:

as you can see, there are tons of results. what you’re most interested in, though, is the SE column – that shows how many people are uploading the file/s. torrenting works on a peer-to-peer basis, meaning that you can’t download a file unless somebody else is uploading it. fortunately, for anything remotely mainstream, there will be seeders. ideally, you want a file with the most seeders (SE) and the fewest leechers (LE). in this case, “leechers” just means people who are downloading the torrent. the more leechers and the fewer seeders, the slower the download.

4) click on the magnet button for the file you want to download. deluge should give you a window like this:

click “add”, and the file will start to download! depending on how many seeders there are, it might take a while, but the good thing about torrents is that you can pause the download and shut your computer down without corrupting any of the files.

5) and you’re done! but obviously don’t do any of this because that’s illegal. :/

Zutara Week 2020 Continuation: Reunion Part II

In case Tumblr can’t play the video here’s the Vimeo Link

I couldn’t help myself.

Shoutout to @crayolasaurus again and their Zutara - peace AMV. It sparked this image in my head of a continuation of Zuko and Katara’s meeting in the Reunion animatic. It kept me up at night, honestly, so I had to make this! It takes place later in the day following the events of Reunion Part I. Katara is settling in at the palace as the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador and is taking some time to decompress out in a breezeway, and after he had returned to a long day of Fire Lord duties and state business, Zuko follows up with her there. Both stripped of artifice and defenses (he’s in casual wear, she’s without her water pouch)… and they are able to enjoy each other’s company finally… as old friends… and more.

Music used:

Peace by The Track Team for Avatar: The Last Airbender  

Reconciliation by The Track Team for Avatar: The Last Airbender

No reposting the video, please.

Further ramblings below the line