I love trans Neil headcanons for a number of reasons, specifically how funny it would make how everyone reacts to him having a secret identity is

His father being like “I don’t care that my child is trans, I will respect his pronouns, I’m just going to kill him for unrelated reasons”. Also the idea of him finding out Neil is trans and being like “Oh ok. Your new name is Nathaniel, after me, obviously. Anyway, when you’re dismantling a body your instinct will be to go for the joints, however-“

Riko, and by extension Kevin and Jean, just seamlessly accepting Neil’s new gender into their fucked up codependent evil situationship without missing a beat because Neil’s gender doesn’t matter so long as he’s good at Exy. The others being like “Wait you knew Neil used to be a girl and didn’t mention it?” And Kevin just being like “What does it matter, Exy is a unisex sport, he would be allowed to play either way” and that’s just as far as his brain got

Andrew hooking up with Neil and getting his hands in Neil’s pants and internally going “Well that’s unexpected but honestly still probably only the third most unexpected thing about him” and then just carrying on

And most of all that it would be in character for Neil to not mention it as a narrator because if it doesn’t pertain to Exy, the mafia, or Andrew and Kevin then he’s probably just not even going to consider it relevant

Hey guys, FYI the artist for this one is @ garnyarn on Instagram.

It's currently doing the rounds without any credits for the artist.

vvv link to artist on Insta vvv

in 2026 DO NOT ask yourself whether your art is GOOD

instead ask:

and don't forget to stay silly

Minyard-Josten Rivalry where Neils the one provoking the rivalry claims in the media and Andrews dead staring at the interviewer saying theres no rivalry.

The clips of them ‘arguing’ while on different teams go viral each time they play. Neil makes a goal and Andrew catches him by the grates on the helmet as he leans close to say something in Russian to him, Neils vicious smirk barely caught on cameras as he opens his mouth to respond before Andrews pushing him away from the goal and telling him to get back to his side of the court.

The next shot Neil takes on the goal Andrew smacks back with enough force that it scores from the other end of the field.

Neil rips off his helmet, uncaring that its mid game to turn to Andrew, mouth open in shock as he points to the still lit up goal. Andrew taps two fingers to his helmet and salutes him.

After the game the interviewer asks Neil about it, voicing curiousity on why they always seem to turn a team game into a one on one match when they play against one another.

Neil smiling as he responds, “Andrews been giving me a tough time on the court since I started at Palmetto, it wouldve been dumb to think itd end after graduation”

The news headlines light up with the prospect of a rivalry, every news site suddenly having their own opinions on what mustve happened during those years at Palmetto together to cause this.

Andrews asked for a response the next week when his team wins, giving the interviewer a tired look as he leans into the mic, “I respect Josten too much to not give him a fair game. Theres no rivalry, just a brat who hasnt learned how to shut up being given an outlet”

They make headlines again, twitter blowing up as people dig up tapes of old games, watching the way theyve played in the past and comparing it to their current plays. The final match against the Ravens gets brought up a lot, Andrew coming to Neils defense broadcasted live on the big screen. Doubt circulating about if its a real rivalry or not.

Neil tweets from a new account, his other one held hostage by the media team after an incident last year, a picture of him flipping off the camera captioned “not a damned brat. Big words coming from the guy whose team wasnt united enough to win a game till i came along”

Aaron posts a picture of him and Andrew after one of Andrews games, Aaron wearing a Josten jersey despite Neils team not even playing that week, captioned a simple “always side with whoevers winning the argument”

Andrew comments with a screenshot of an email showing the payment he made for Aarons med school tuition. Aaron replies with a photo of him wearing a Minyard jersey and the Josten one in a fire pit.

Aarons med school announces a generous new scholarship donated by one Neil Josten a week later, his name on a plaque outside the neurology building and the only scholarship application requirement is that you have to write an essay analyzing Aaron Minyard’s college exy plays before and after Neil joined the Foxes to see how much his playing improved with a unified team.

Hey can you guys reblog Cheeseburger so he can take a sunbeam nap on lots of blogs. No other reason I just want you guys to see him.

That's how it went right?

I can’t believe Jean’s been through all these horrors, but his sleep paralysis demon was still Barkbark von Barkenstein the cardboard dog

why hasn't no one posted the kringlefucker yet. you guys used to love the kringlefucker.

fixing this injustice by slapping it on your post

Andrew who thought Neil was handsome on first sight… Andrew who heard Neil say that he didn’t swing… Andrew who would never cross another person’s boundaries like that so he just assumed he could let his attraction to Neil go… And then Neil started to understand him and when he opened his smart mouth his words made Andrew feel something… But feeling things was bad because Andrew had learned he couldn’t trust people on that deep a level again… But Neil kept pushing without meaning to, kept prying back Andrew’s bars of defense until all that was left was a road to rehab and the striking realization that his attraction had turned to something more… Just Andrew in the first two books looking at Neil from afar, quietly yearning for something he had convinced himself he could not have… But guess what… :)

Neil Josten the original Kandrew shipper.

Hey the US government is proposing to get rid of the Endangered Species Act. Please go comment.

(yes this entirely for corporate profit)

Cut and paste the docket number to put in your response if you remember. You can comment anonymously if you want.

The Oregon Zoo has some sample arguments you can make.

We have until December 22nd!

I don't usually add on to stuff like this, but this is really really important to me.

Since OP didn't explain what's actually changing (lots of things) here's a simple explanation of one of the Big Ones.

Also, @why-animals-do-the-thing / @animalphotorefs this seems like something that your reach might help with, and that's relevant to your blog(s).

If you run into issues, try turning off your VPN if you have one, in case it's getting annoyed that you're not "in the U.S.".

If you need a template, I'm putting one I got sent at work under the cut. (But check out the Oregon Zoo link, too! Or better yet, write your own! Unique and individual comments catch more attention than copy-pasted ones!)

Thanks for the tag, I definitely want to jump in here because the most helpful thing any individual can do is write your own comment.

I’m going to give you a little bit of information about the process that’s happening here, why it’s happening, and how you can best contribute to protecting the Endangered Species Act. You can skip it by scrolling to the red text, but you’ll be best set up to comment and help if you know some things about what’s happening first, so please stick with me. I promise to be as simple and jargon free as possible.

First, and to catch people's attention as they scroll, here's two red wolf sisters: a species the ESA actively preserving. This is who we're doing this for.

To clarify one thing: they’re not trying to totally repeal the ESA, the entire law, they’re looking to roll back regulations implementing it/enforcing it to what was being used in 2019. This is still bad! Very bad! But a thing that’s important when dealing with legislation/regulation is precision in the language we use.

Okay, so here’s what you need to know. This is part of what is known as the “notice-and-comment” rule making process, which is federally mandated. This happens with the implementation of regulations to enact new laws, or changes to the interpretation of laws. Laws like the ESA, once passed, are delegated to various federal agencies and departments to enact and make happen, and they do that by deciding what regulations need to exist to fulfill the text and intent of the law. This change to the ESA is happening because one of the earliest executive orders from this administration “directed all departments and agencies to immediately review agency actions to identify those actions that potentially impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources, and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider suspending, revising, or rescinding agency actions identified as unduly burdensome that conflict with this national objective.” So, as @sweetfirebird said, literally go figure out what laws and regs and protections they can interpret differently, put on hold, or trash for the energy sector. Fucking gross.

This “notice-and-comment” process is the process with which all these federal agencies go about exploring changing regulations. It’s a formal process that is specifically designed to allow stakeholders to have input on what happens. Good news: in the ESA, the public is literally a stakeholder! It’s written into the law that any “person” (basically an individual or a group of individuals) can sue the government for a violation of the law. This is actually historically the prime enforcement mechanism of the ESA. Which means you, as an American on tumblr reading this, have absolutely valid standing to go tell the feds to knock this shit off. And with the way the “notice-and-comment” process works, they actually have to take your argument into account. (Yes, even though we know this admin is a piece of shit and dgaf). Here’s why.

A “notice and comment” process has four major steps.

Okay, so why did I jump to a direct quote from federal documents in the third bullet point? Because that’s the really important shit. When federal agencies move forward with rulemaking after a public comment period, they are required to consider and response to all significant issues raised. And that is why you should write your own comment if you can.

It’s really common for organizations encouraging people to leave public comment to ask people to send in form letters. It’s easy, it takes no time or real work, it shows a lot of general public support on the issue, and they can quote the comment numbers when they’re lobbying.

But! What I’ve been told by serious professional people who work with regulatory agencies is that all those form letters only have the functional weight of a single comment during the “notice-and-comment” process. If 100 people only bring up the same significant set of issues, that requires far less time and work for the agency to respond to than even 20 people writing in with their individual concerns. I’ve seen follow-ups on comment periods where they actually count how many people raised issues on a single topic or concern - but the form letters only counted as one “comment” because they were the exact same thing.

And while the political agency head probably wants to fast-track this process of changing the regs to let the feds tear up whatever the fuck they want, a “notice-and-comment period” is a really good way to gum up those gears. There are still people in lower-level positions who do this daily work and I expect that they’re opposed to this and will go through the whole process like they’re been trained to. Under normal administrations, an overwhelming number of concerns raised during comment periods have stalled the creation/change of specific regulations for a decade. This is a process that works best when as many people as possible participate, and it’s detrimental to our interests as invested members of the public that that isn’t more widely known or the process understood.

So! What does that mean you should do here?

Write your own comment if you have the time/spoons.

Literally, write it in your own words, rather than using the form letters provided. If you make it a “different comment” it has to be considered separately and your concerns on the topic will be given more weight. Even if you just stick to the topics the Oregon Zoo offered: to be clear, they’re really good ones.

But, you’ll have even more impact if you can tie it to specific concerns for you. It takes a little more work so I don’t expect everyone to do this, but if you have some specialized or local knowledge that can be relevant, this is a great time to drop that in. Tie the concern to endangered or threatened species in your specific community, or an ecosystem that you know companies might want to pillage.

Your comment doesn’t have to be super well written or perfectly edited. It can be in language about as casual as you’d use in a tumblr post (with punctuation, though). This isn’t something you’re turning in for a grade - it’s raising your hand to say hey, I object! You’re not a major advocacy group or professional org, you don’t have to be perfect, you just have to tell them how you feel. That being said. Public comments are public record. You can submit them anonymously but don’t include identifying information.

Here’s a link directly to the comment portal. While the site has a text box embedded in the page, you can also submit a document/file containing your comment.

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FWS-HQ-ES-2025-0039-0001

Comments close at 11:59 PM EST (4:59 GMT) on December 22nd. We have less than five days to get more comments in. I’m really not kidding when I say every unique, individual comment makes an impact. Let’s do this.

Images from @animalphotorefs

Found a guide from protectdemocracy.org on how to write an effective public comment (these images are edited slightly for readability; go to the actual guide for more resources):

Public comments are not a voting process and simply expressing disagreement is not effective.

I personally disagree that you should write as informally you would a tumblr post. I would not trust that the regulators reading these comments have such principles about the importance of listening to people's concerns regardless of how informal or uneducated they sound.

Honestly, I would treat this as you would a graded assignment, because they are not obligation make any decisions simply because people comment that they don't want a rule made. You need to convince them that there are significant concerns, and you should be imagining the person you are convincing is an old white cis male politician who regularly complains that kids these days don't know cursive. That is the kind of person likely deciding if your comment is relevant to the regulation and brings up significant enough concerns.

But you could write out your thoughts in informal language, and then use Grammarly or something similar to help polish it into a more formal comment. Following the suggestions in that guide should help give you a basic structure for what your comment should look like.

Unique comments are most effective; copy-pasted ones are not. This is a process which requires intellectual labor and there's no getting around that, but there's nothing wrong with getting help.

Very good additions!

I framed it as “this doesn’t have to be a graded assignment” because I didn’t want it to sound super formal and hard after going into a ton of detailed federal processes. It doesn’t have to be scary was really my point. Like, I’ve read a lot of federal comments for various zoo-related laws, and I’ve seen some of the stakeholders submit pretty casual comments. Is it ideal? Not really. But I know everyone is stressed as hell all the time these days and the idea of doing a bunch of intellectual labor on a foreign topic with real world consequences can be really intimidating.

@genderkoolaid provided some great resources on writing a good comment, and I really like the idea of using online (non-genAI) services to get help with polishing. If you have the labor to put into a really polished comment, so that. But if something more informal is all you can do, do that instead of nothing.

Nora it’s not too late to put this back in

Andreil imitating David and Abby's relationship will never not be funny to me, like from not defining it to not confirming or denying it to others..They are doing it all

THIS TWEET

We need more posts like this. Ableism is wrong and fucked up, including when done against people with stigmatized mental disabilities. Mentally disabled people aren't monsters, and it's time to stop accepting ableist narratives in society

[ID first image: a tweet that reads "My mother, diagnosed narcissist with sociopathic tendencies who doesn't quite grasp how to show affection but is in therapy for it, had asked me if liked cheese yesterday. Today she shoved a bag at me before left to get home on the train and found this in it when I got home 🥺". below the text there is a photo of 11 packets of cheese. End ID]

Something nobody told me about caffeine is that you can get withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking it

Like

I went from consuming NO caffeine, to slowly escalating to around 150-300mg of caffeine a day to keep up with sleep issues, to suddenly stopping cold turkey when I flew out to the middle of nowhere and couldn’t get more and it was straight up a solid 5-6 days of thinking I had the flu

Nausea, spins, major fatigue, and some seriously heinous headaches

It was so bad that after two weeks without I swore I’d never pick up an energy drink again and made an appointment with a doctor to fix my sleep issues

Like. Not to be all “oooooh your body is a temple” but if I knew quitting CAFFEINE had similar effects as running out of my prescription meds I might have been a bit more careful drinking it in the first place

I'm sorry. My soapbox has been activated.

Caffeine is a

And don't get me wrong, I love drugs. I think they're rad. I think there should be fewer barriers between most drugs and adults using them.

However, something that I think is fundamentally immoral is giving someone a drug without telling them:

And society treats caffeine like it's not a drug. We act like it's not a stimulant. We sell it on street corners. We sell in schools, to children.

We don't tell you what the withdrawals are like. We don't even acknowledge that there will be any, even though they can be severe.

In addition to what OP listed, other possible withdrawal symptoms include:

Caffeine is a stimulant drug that causes physical dependency quite rapidly. The withdrawal symptoms can persist for days to months.

I reiterate that I think drugs are cool. I'm drinking a caffeinated beverage as I type this. But I feel strongly that we should treat drugs like they're drugs. We should not pretend that the legality of a substance negates its status as A Drug™

All things are coolest when they're used wisely and with understanding.