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Would you be interested in learning about fire shrimp?
"Absolutely" — Fire shrimp, genus Lysmata, are peaceful omnivores from the Indo-Pacific region. — Our office's 200-gallon saltwater tank hosts two pairs of fire shrimp. — They are easy to spot from their deep red coloration and bright white appendages. — "Do you help take care of the tank?" — There was a maintenance guy who would come in when I first started here, but after admin realized I'd do it for free, he stopped showing up. — "Is it a lot of work?" — Once the tank is stable, it's not too bad. Feeding, cleaning the glass, emptying the skimmer cup... — Testing levels, changing out the water, checking the filter and lights, buying coral and rocks... — "..." — Fire shrimp are opportunistic scavengers. They'll eat pellets, brine, algae, vegetables. — I can even hand feed them a little bit of my lunch if I bust out the stepladder. — They are hermaphroditic. They act as males or females depending on where they are in the molting cycle. — We are fortunate to have such a large tank, and more fortunate still to have pairs who get along. — "What about the other critters? The snails and the fish?" — Hm? Oh, they're all right. — Originally, there were bigger fish, but they would attack the shrimp, so I disposed of them. — "Oh." — Admin insisted the tank "needed variety" and "couldn't be just shrimp," so I let a few fish and turbo snails stay. — Fire shrimp are quite shy by nature. — They love to hide. — But you can tell they are happy if they are eating and active. — "They're really cute." — That too. — "Do you keep a tank at your place too?" — No. I spend more of my waking hours here than at home, so. — "Yeah. I haven't felt like I should keep a pet for the same reason." — "It's nice these ones can live here with you." — Is that not pet hair on your jacket? — "Ha. God, it's everywhere, huh? it's from my roommates' cats. — "They love me, but i don't get, y'know, kitty custody if we split ways."
i wrote that by hand
and. i loge lee. hes iust. i dont relate to his backstory. or anything Obviously except lowk i do bro like :( i was always like that. i fucking loved being grounded becauseit could only go up from there and . i couldnt do worse . i can only be forgiven from here on out. and the way he can be SO fucking normal and only! seems delusional!!!!!! LIKE SOMETIMES... the way he tapks about covering up the murder is the same way he talkd Always, which is like work-casual ,,, and thats cuz hes just Like. that dude. and no matter consequence its just, like... its just :( making choices. informed decisions. and no matter the circumstances theres no other way to make deciisions. even if the basis is insane, like deciding to kill someone for another, its using that basis that decisions are made. if that is to be done, what is the best way to like.. do stuff.
i just . man i fucking love him so much . he is discussing shrimp with angel knowing theres a dead guy in his basement. because WHY would he change his behaviour!!!! I GET HIM!!!!!!!!!! and every time i get inntrouble with my mom she points that shit out! she goes “i fant believe eyou were joking with me. knowing this.” but when everything you do is a decision you would make based on your feelings in the moment, which are everchanging, it's very hard to act regretful for many things youve done.
god. i cant. sorry. he has never felt that way before. he has never had this much hope for living ever. but he still interacts with angel like the most normal person with friends in the whole world. if he just. lied about having friends. it’d make sense. but dude i fucking :( i just :( i understand. i get that. so hard. it doesnt matter how life changing events are dude i just try to act the most Me i can and like stay as true and likable as i can. FUCK DUDE!!!!!
theres soemone very close to me that i met at a time in my life where i had no one close to me, at all. he, however, did not know this. and he couldn't tell. for a period of time, he got all of my attention, because that is how life is when you have only oneperson clos eto you. (re: Lee and Angel). except i am not an adult who can move in with my One Person. however i do understand that, like Lee, whether someone accepts you for who you are or not is a simple conclusion. i, being a child whom is not that passively suicidal, can handle that fairly well. but Lee? with no one else? he took the ansewr just the same, but the consequence was clear to him either way. i suppose i hope to one day live like him. i want to be able to have my person and not need many others. when i get too many people in my life, it feels the same as having no one, frankly, because no one person can get all of my attention. its hard splitting that between many people. anyway, the point is that no matter what situation i'm in, i share what i know. i talk about what i like. i go through the motions. very alike to a certain Lee Smith.
he is iust he reps me so well because heeee. he knows he can lose a lot at any time with angel. so he really really cherishes every single like. moment he gets with them? in the most normal way dude :( he just listens to what they say and remmebers it. he speaks sbout things he cares about. he invites them to do tjings with him. he’s just making the absolute best of it. but even if he DIDNT lose everything, hed keep living life that way!! the way he always was, just at work and living. <- i also don't do well with having many people in my life because i cannot remember every minute detail about them and it's very depressing.
regarding understanding lee as a character, talking like Lee is some deranged insane psycho is fucking insulting. he's not some Pervert Freak. he's an ex mormon who hasn't had literally ANY experience with being close to people or having anything worth living for in his life. other than what is he is told by others. the closest people to this man are his Family, whom he left as of now. he did what he did because he had Nothing else to do it for. obviously he liked Angel before They shared what happened to them. but in no way did anything Before what he heard have any chance to hurt Angel at all. and the measure he took after he heard about what happened because he was just trying to reason what he was feeling. that's it. it's why he was so Normal during the act itself—it doesn't reflect some sort of perverted way to get Angel's attention or something. to imply he's like that is so Odd. He did it for his own mental, caring a about Angel. the only way to satisfy his care for them was to Do what needed to be done. it was not done even with Angel in mind passively: not in the sense that he was waiting for them to find it. because he DIDNT EVEN!! want them to see!! because his feelings regarding wanting to take care of them are NOT DIRECTLY INTERTQINED with feeling the need to take care of coworker. Taking coworkers life was simply what needed to be done to continue his feelings existing at all. what else would he do? why wouldn't be do that? it only makes sense that he would feel the absolute need to do it. especially considering he can for sure get away with it. and he considered if Angel DID find it as well. he is not a malicious evil stalker. hop off my man.
he's me. also. on a smaller degree i do this all the time. making decisions based on my feelings for others without directly considering the others themselves (while also inherently believing it is the best for them) is basically like 50% of my life
march 11 '25 i have been giggling for about 10 minutes lke Bad. like bad. not a casual one. like i'm pausing whatever i do to put my head and my hands and giggle. holy freak i love this artist i have never read something better in my whole life oh myh gosshh my gosh. this tweet. holy. oh my gosh. i am quite inebriated. you know how i know he'd say that. because i absolutely would say that. iw ould say that. iw ould do reserach abotu drinking (before giving up), learn the word inebriated, and then thimk about it during the event. holy oh my godh. i am QUITE inebriated. holy. oh myg osh thats me oh my goshhh thats me my god hats me thats me dude thats oh my godddhhh im giggling lee msithi i love you so much i am QUITE inebriated. i am QUITE inebriated. i am quite inebriated. oh my god. and i know how angel would react because like every time i giggle really badly at a word or at a grammatical error like my friends basically go 'thats nice' and laughw ith me because the fact im laughing at something so stupid is funny to them. angel i love you
april 19 ‘25 sometime recently, i was at my absolute lowest EVER!!! i was really lost on what exactly to do. how to go about it… becahse i had basically… no hope or aspiration in anything. i was sabotaging myself and being evil and shit. but, like, then i remembered umm.. about fish….and how i like talking about them. i enjoy learning aboutt… fish…. even if i don’t remember everything (or i forget it all instantly, rather). i just think its joyus. and recently i remembered that my friends would probably enjoy reading about fish. probably…. and, like, since i thought about that. i’ve been mostly fine and under control.i have to wonder if… being that he had no pets, being able to finally talk about something he cares about (like shrimp), was… really freeing for Lee Smith. i imagine so. he got some for home in ending 2, afterwards, so he clearly wanted some. to have someone that’d listen!!! i guess the same thing gave me hope. i’ve been learning about zebrafish recently. i hope everyone learns about fish!!!