#AND IT IS NOT RIGHT IN THE REMOTEST SENSE

[buckydeservesthebest]

Wow, really, Tony Stans like @kahuna-burger love to ignore and twist well known facts in order to try to excuse Tony's homicidal impulses. Why am I not surprised… I'll add my two cents to disprove this preposterous lie.

That he had carried out dozens of missions for Hydra that would have required the ability to plan and adapt over the years.

TOTALLY OUT OF CONTEXT. All the orders HYDRA forced Bucky's body to fulfill under mind control (yes, Bucky's body, because HYDRA literally fried his brain over and over again until there was nothing left of what made him himself) were simple missions, assassinations and only one confirmed extraction mission, tasks that did NOT require complex reasoning, such as infiltration, espionage, ect, as Clint did under Loki's control, serving as an advisor to him to accomplish his plans. And btw that has NEVER been proof to say that Clint was in control of his actions. And literally Tony NEVER held him accountable for that.

It's literally canon that Bucky has irreparable brain damage due to decades of ETC, and that's why the missions he was assigned were relatively simple and did NOT require any kind of deep thinking.

The Winter Soldier couldn't even reason out Pierce's sarcastic question about whether he wanted milk, much less is he going to be able to plan military strategies that require complex reasoning, like Clint did for Loki.

That he apparently had the ability NOT to follow orders if it was important enough to him.

FALSE. That as the Winter Soldier, Bucky did NOT have the remotest control over his actions is an undeniable fact that Tony and literally everyone knew. That has been made clear in a plethora of canon books.

Literally the only time the Winter Soldier didn't follow an order was when thanks to Steve, he retrieved a small fragment of his memories which gave him back his autonomy for the first time in 70 years. For it is only an outside emotional stimulus from his past life that could help him to bring a glimpse of his memories to the surface, that is, a part of himself as a person to the surface and as a consequence he could regain his agency. And literally the only outside stimulus from his past life he had left was Steve, so before him, Bucky had no outside help of any kind that could stimulate the recovery of his memories and thus regain his autonomy, redundancy notwithstanding.

That he used lethal force on law enforcement and random civilians in defense of his own freedom before Zemo showed up.

FALSE. you mean the tactical team who were committing a crime by following the order to shoot on sight, which is literally illegal as it is a direct violation of human rights, and who were also negligent in skipping the rule of using a verbal warning for Bucky to surrender to authority before they used lethal force? It is the tactical team who were negligently using deadly force. Bucky only acted in self-defense with non-lethal force. And it's non-lethal because there was literally not a single casualty of the agents who were sent to mercilessly kill him. Literally the Marvel site confirms that Bucky kept his promise not to kill anyone.

Getting hit by a brick could prove deadly in real life, but this is fiction, and if the plot says that a normal person can survive a nuclear blast, then they does. So NO, Bucky did not use lethal force, otherwise there would have been confirmed casualties and this is literally NOT the case.

That when they met in Siberia he was holding a gun on Tony right up until he decided that a known superhero wasn't gonna like, hold him legally responsible for his actions or anything crazy like that.

FALSE AND LACKING CONTEXT. Bucky raised his gun as well as Steve the shield thinking they were going to face Zemo and the other Winter Soldiers. They stood guard after Tony came in, for as @legalandnotease said, the last Bucky heard from Tony is that he wanted to arrest them and most likely allow T'Challa to kill him. Bucky doesn't know and hasn't worked with Tony enough to know if he's trustworthy or not, so of course he's only going to go by Steve's opinion as to whether Tony is on their side or not.

And by the way, despite having his gun raised, Bucky was NOT pointing it at Tony's head, in fact, he was pointing it a considerable distance above his head. It is enough to draw a straight line from the barrel to know where it is pointing.

Bucky is in effect, a victim of mind control, having his identity, his memory, his agency and his literal ability to control his actions, and always acting against his will. This is literally what we have seen since CA:TWS on. And literally the production confirmed it in several of their canonical books more than once.

This is NOT woobification, it is defending from disgusting victim-blaming a victim who was stripped of his agency for 70 years and who unlike any other victim of mind control, is the only one who has been held accountable for what this situation.

To woobify is to try to excuse the homicidal impulses of someone who knows perfectly well that under mind control, no one is responsible for his actions. Tony committed attempted murder. He literally committed a crime for which he should have faced charges. He acted out of vengeance and malice to want to hurt Steve by hurting Bucky. And no matter from what moral or legal perspective you want to view this low and less than honorable act, there is NO justification for it.

I always see Anti-Team Cap and Pro-Tony discuss how Tony attacking Bucky and Steve was justified and made sense, and yes, I totally agree with them, and regardless of the fact that Tony attacked Steve first because Steve was the one who lied and betrayed him, there is one thing that I haven’t seen be discussed much.

And it’s this scene right here:

Look at Tony’s face. Look at the shock and fear.

Bucky had no way of knowing that Tony could have protected himself, and he aimed right at Tony’s head. Look at the proximity of the weapon to Tony’s face. He could’ve blown his mind clear off if Tony wasn’t fast enough.

Tony had absolutely no way of knowing that Bucky “had changed” when literally just what? Days? Hours? Moments? ago, he could’ve died at Bucky’s hands.

That’s all I have to say.

[ladyartichokie]

I am the only person who has ever been 100% correct about The Characters. Sorry to the rest of you.

[anantaru]

DAY 15 — BONDAGE

kinktober 2023. — masterlist | ao3

𖧡 — including — kaeya, diluc

𖧡 — warnings — fem! reader, bondage, dom/sub dynamics, doggy style, oral (fem! receiving)

𖧡 — KAEYA

you can feel the increasing weight of kaeya's eyes as they linger over the gorgeous curves of your body and especially revel in the delicious way you had been restrained on the bed— with your face tightly squished against the pillows and your hands being tied behind your back, your ass perked up and prancing right before his glistening erection.

at the very least, you decide to slant your head to the left to catch a glimpse of him, noticing how he was slowly falling apart from the virtuous sight of you, due to the reason of never putting you in a position such as this one before.

you suppress a helpless whine when kaeya slopes his body over yours, his chest resting against your shivering back as he leans his head against your shoulder, "you alright, darling?" he swirls his tongue across the flesh, and he can practically sense how much you were anticipating this, probably as much as he was.

saliva masses on the tip of your tongue before you swallow it down abruptly to answer, "yes," you say, "just, please," and he hears it like a needy whimper when you attempt to squish your sticky pussy back against his erected groin, small but strong tingles of electric forces reaching all deep in your lower stomach and manifesting a knot inside your remotest area.

your legs extent the trembling feeling on top of them due to his cruel ministrations, because kaeya was cruel, in a way— always inching his cockhead inside your spongy pussy lips to smear his milky pre against the sensitive pearl, your arousal oozing and staining his shaft, slicking him up before he lastly slides himself in, holding your tied wrists with one hand as you gasp out, "kaeya!" heaving a bristling sob, your noises muffled due to the position you found yourself in.

"ah—, what was that?" he teases, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth before shallowly rutting into you, his heavy cock branding his size over your walls so you'd feel him even after he's pulled out of you. but now, kaeya continues to thrust into you in an unforgiving pace, holding your wrists together so tightly drawn that it was beginning to ache whilst his hips repeatedly slap against your ass, making it bounce back and forth in parallel with his hits, instantly taking all your attention from the dizzy burn in your arms.

kaeya groans out before biting down on his tongue— your salacious noises were just so astonishingly heavenly to his ears, and his chest constricts when he pants into your neck as if in heat, like he has grown to become utterly feral for this— grabbing a stronger hold of your wrists whilst his cock thuds and twitches inside of your warm pussy as he shallowly pumps his perfectly shaped length inside of you, until you're feeling full to the brim— unable to process anything else other than your hot, little pussy gushing and swallowing around him so desperate, so yearning.

your mouth widens with every new thrust forward and your eyes begin to water at the sheer impact of his strength, feeling how his large cock was hitting against all the right places, his shaft long since cream coated and soiling the silken linen underneath your tied up body.

𖧡 — DILUC

"m-more."

you whine at the feeling of diluc's tongue curling inside your creamy slit, and his feral groans and pants have you feverishly clamping around his pink tip as his head was comfortably slotted in between your thighs— your hands tied up on the head board and your legs roped at each side of the bed, the very reason for that being so you wouldn't be able to control a single thing of the situation.

diluc envelopes his mouth over your clit, pushing up the tip of his pink muscle against the pleasure spots on your wet core. a slender finger suddenly prods your soaked slit whilst his tongue rolls inside the fat of your folds, collecting your translucent arousal on his cheeks and chin, "it's not too much, right?" diluc mutters and continues to suckle on your pussy, swiftly adding one digit inside your gaping hole before feeding your little cunt one long, slender finger.

it feels like he set your body on fire with his pyro vision, and you sob, whine and cry out his name at the unfathomable precision of his tongue, noticing your heart thud rapidly in your ears as if being pulled underwater. you grab a hold of the rope around your wrists and dig your fingernails inside the fabric, breathing heavily through your nose— despite that, diluc was utterly careful with you, treating your body like an exorbitant gemstone from afar as he soothes your trembles with slow rounds over your puffy clit— in combination with his finger curling up inside your walls.

"r-right there, there, t-there!" the burns of his trace sprinkle into your frenzied moans as diluc cocks a curious brow at you, observing your facial expression through thick lashes, "there?" he pulls his finger back before driving it all the way inside, against that one spot that he believed was the cause of you clamping a little harder, better, around his thick digit.

lo and behold, who would've thought? but he was absolutely correct within his observations, growling into your pussy before the twine in your body snaps in two, brain frazzled as you coat him with your arousal and soil his lower face with your cum— reveling in your sweet shakes and twitches simultaneously to being roped against the bed, and the blissful trickle of an orgasm washes over your body with a bubbling pain burning through your wrists and ankles.

you continue to ride his face to somehow soothe the aftershocks taking your body hostage, your sticked-up pussy lips moving up and down against his warm tongue whilst your thighs desperately attempt to clamp around his head if not for the bothersome fact of two ropes making it impossible to move even the slightest inch.

yet, diluc grins in response, slurping up everything you so graciously gave him as he finishes it off with planting a subtle kiss on your clit before pulling himself from your quivering core— his flushed face prancing on top you, his puckered cheeks almost the same color as his scarlet hair as you spot a deep, dark splotch on his pants.

"did you enjoy it?" he asks in a monotone timbre, and you cannot believe this man and his inability to realize just how impossibly good he was at this.

you continue look at him in disbelief through enlarged, shimmering eyes, dark and dilated pupils decorating your drowsy countenance with the follow-up twitches on your frame still not recovering, "yeah, very much," you quietly retort back and giggle at him, your chest growing warm as you watch how diluc leans into your touch immediately afterwards.

©2023 anantaru's kinktober do not repost, copy, translate, modify

[changedmyminditsnicehere]

I was honestly so overwhelmed by the response to my last fic post. The Sandman fandom has been so welcoming, I wanted to write something again - I've never been this inspired! This is still a little rough I fear, but I hope however it finds enjoys it!

AO3 link here for people who prefer to read it there!

---

When Dream had slammed his way into the bathroom at minute 46 - approximately - of Hob's shower, and minute negative 14 since Dream was supposed to have left - definitely - he had done so with the one clear and cogent goal in mind. What that goal had been, he was slowly being forced to admit, he had no idea.

"Morpheus? That you? It better be you mate, I am not dealing with a home invasion in the scud." Hob sounded impressively cheery for someone considering facing criminals in the nude. Morpheus was trying not to consider not to consider what it would be like to be tackled by a naked Hob. Morpheus was, despite the incredibly see-through shower curtain, trying not to consider what Hob looked like naked.

One could argue that, as he was barging in on his flatmate's post-rugby shower, he should have expected said flatmate to be somewhat naked. It wouldn’t even be the first time Hob had been somewhat naked in front of Morpheus. They had shared accommodation, university and onwards, for five years now and Hob was hardly shy. He had a habit of stripping on his way to the shower after particularly enthusiastic rugby matches. Morpheus would perish before being seen, as Hob was apparently so willing to be, dripping with sweat, flushed with exertion and panting heavily as he maniacally pulled his muddy clothes off. The first time this vision graced him, Morpheus had thought he might perish anyway. Morpheus had hoped that by regular exposure to this post-match divestment, he might have built up a tolerance that would allow him this brief escapade. A foolish hope it seemed.

“Morpheus?” "Mn." Hob let out a whistling breath. "Good good. I'm not up for naked tackling today." "...hmn" "You okay out there?" "I am just getting my pomade." "God yeah sorry, dinner with your sister right? Didn't mean to take so long, sorry mate. I'll be right out." There were many things Morpheus needed right now, including a cold shower and maybe a furious wank. He did not need the image of Hob stepping out of the shower, droplets of water on his chest just asking for Morpheus to put his lips to Hob’s beautiful chest hair and lick them up. His sister was going to mock him mercilessly. The first time Morpheus had witnessed Hob’s approach to personal modesty post-rugby, she hadn’t even waited for him to sit down before laughing in his face and flagging a waiter down to request two glasses of their cheapest prosecco. They were, she had told him, going to celebrate her darling little brother finally catching on.

"It is okay. I will leave now." "No no, it's fine, we're all adults here." The shower curtain was already pulling back. Morpheus considered fleeing. He could move in with his sister, probably. She would let him sleep on her couch and only mock him slightly mercilessly while he planned his move to the remotest desert spit he could find.

And then there was Hob. All of Hob. In all his evenings waiting for and fearing the advent of Hob's Sweaty Striptease, Morpheus had never once dared to imagine what it would look like going in the other direction. If Hob were moving towards him, rather than up the stairs.

He might not be breathing. He wondered if passing out might be the least embarrassing way out of his current predicament. Probably not, unfortunately. Hob was… so much. Hair slicked back, broad chest, his chest hair swirled into patterns Morpheus tried to focus on, make sense of, so as not to let his gaze descend any further.

“Morpheus? You in there?” Morpheus looked up carefully. He was trying so hard not to glance down. Hob was looking at him, significantly more amusement in his eyes’ than Morpheus thought he might have for someone leching at his chest hair. “You okay? You’re looking a bit red, is the steam getting to you?” Hob seemed utterly unaware of his inner turmoil. He reached out, as if to measure his temperature with the back of his hand.

Morpheus could not explain why he did it, except to say that he did not think he could withstand Hob’s hand on his face while he stood there, naked. Why he thought grabbing Hob’s hand and simply holding it would be better than whatever mortification he would no doubt commit should Hob touch him, he did not know. But now they stood, hands clasped at chest height. “... I do not know why I did that.” Hob’s smile was changing. Gone was the cheerful blandness and in its place was not the censorious disapproval Morpheus feared, but something slower, warmer. Hob looked, Morpheus would almost say, pleased with himself.

“Don’t you? You seem to be concentrating pretty hard.” He grinned. “See something you like? Don’t like?” Morpheus frowned in denial before he could consider how incriminating it might be. “Oh, definitely like.” Hob sounded incredibly smug. “You know, when your sister suggested stepping it up a notch, I didn’t actually plan for full frontal nudity. That seems like a second date sort of event really.” “A … second date event?” “Unless, that’s not what this is?” Hob’s grin dimmed and Morpheus couldn’t let that happen. “Only, you seemed pretty interested but you never actually did anything, I kind of hoped that meant it might be more than just, just,” Hob rushed. “You would like a second date… with me?” Morpheus interrupted. “Well, I’d like a first date ideally, but if I can guarantee a second one off the bat, that would make me very happy. What about you? Would you be happy with that?” Hob’s hand was clasping Morpheus’ back now. “I would be… very happy with that.” “Oh, oh good. Thank god. I was worried I’d made myself look like a right knob and I would have to move out and fake my own death. How does tonight sound? Dinner? After you see your sister? Too soon? I can do whenever. God, I do sound like a knob don’t I?” “Lunch.” “Lunch? We can do lunch. When works for you, tomorrow? No, that’s a school day - you want to wait til next weekend? I can wait.” He did not sound like he could wait. “No, lunch today. Now. I will tell my sister I am indisposed.”

Hob’s laugh was beautiful.

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Hive, Pt. 14

We do not know how long they have spent on the hive exactly but given that McKay had time to go through a whole withdrawal and we saw either a sunrise or a sunset on Atlantis, it must be more than a day by now, possibly more than one. And while we have seen Sheppard rendered unconscious twice, we have not seen him sleep. In fact, let us just put it out there: he has been standing most of the time that he has been on the hive what with the trouble he has had sitting recently. But we now find him huddled up against the wall, still near the doorway that he is hoping would miraculously open for him just like the door of the holding cell had opened for him on the Ancient warship Aurora, trying to catch some Z's. Sheppard, we recall, was among very few people that did not have trouble sleeping while they were waiting for the wraith to attack, his time in the military probably having prepared him for getting shut-eye in any condition. He seems to be dozing off when suddenly and out of the blue he gets company.

Neera: For warmth?

This is where the young woman seems to begin her seduction of Sheppard in earnest. Because Sheppard has withdrawn himself into a corner and has not been engaging with her, she shifts gears and snuggles up to him with the excuse that she is cold. This is a method used by women in subtle attempts to get the man to make the first move, projecting innocence and vulnerability made all the more attractive by the fact that she does not know what she is doing him, or so she has calculated. Men are simple creatures, after all.

Sheppard seems confused at first, likely having been mostly asleep. But as soon as he realizes what she is doing, he frowns. He is made uncomfortable by her, yes, but it could also be that what she says to him is triggering. Both Sheppard and McKay hate the cold, and as McKay told us and Sheppard in Instinct (S02E07), he especially hates the damp cold. McKay had been exiled to Siberia, Sheppard had exiled himself not only in the remotest but also coldest place of his world, and while the Antarctic had been the place where they had met and Sheppard's life had changed forever, neither of them particularly loved the cold. Because getting warm is the excuse that she gives him, Sheppard might be reminded about things that McKay had said just before they had been captured about the tropical beach planet, what he had said about hating the damp cold earlier, and now that Sheppard had nothing but time to think and to remember, he might have come to realize what McKay had actually been saying that he had not been hearing then. McKay wanted to not be cold. McKay wanted to not be cold with him. McKay wanted him to give him warmth, to keep him warm. Although he may have spent months in the Antarctic, Sheppard had never felt as cold as he did right now.

Sheppard: OK. How's that, better? Neera: Yes. Thanks.

Sheppard puts his arm around her and seems very sad. He looks like his heart is broken where she cannot see it. This too probably reminds him of something, and that something might be the fact that it has been a minute since he has had McKay pressed up against him like this, that he has actually been able to just be with McKay in his arms.

It seems like the two of them had been both living and sleeping together before McKay left for the Ancient satellite platform in The Siege (S01E19) until which time he had slept with his hands securely around McKay, and that Sheppard had moved back to his old quarters following their return from Earth in The Intruder (S02E02). It is not until Irresistible (S03E03) that they begin sharing quarters again (and more on that later), so while it seems like they have had more than a few "accidents," Sheppard turning McKay away from his door in Trinity (S02E06) being the exception and not the rule, they have not had the opportunity to sleep together in the sense of actually spending the night while asleep, for a long time by now. Sheppard asks her if she is feeling better, if she is feeling comfortable, but he is made mightily uncomfortable by this because he wants it so badly, he needs it so badly. Only, not from her. She is just reminding him of what he has been denied, what he has denied himself, and just now he cannot even remember why.

Neera: How long will they keep us in here? Sheppard: That's a very good question. Neera: If we're able to escape, where will I go? Sheppard: Wherever you want.

This may be the moment that Sheppard starts doubting her because he clearly starts to think about the motivations the wraith even have for keeping them in a holding cell. There must be some reason that the wraith have not put him into a cocoon as they apparently did Ford and may have done to Ronon and Teyla, for all he knows. While her intention was again to illicit sympathy from him, she may have made a mistake in making him think about the answer to the question.

She further tries to make him feel sorry for her by reminding him of the fact that her world has been destroyed and she has nowhere to go, implying that she would be willing to do anything if he took her in because she would be so thankful. The only thing she has to give is her body and that is what she is offering him, they both know it. Sheppard gives her a noncommittal answer. Also, let us note again the fact that she is the one asking him questions, he has shown no interest whatsoever in her, and his only question to her was about the knife.

Neera: Can I go with you to your world? Sheppard: Sure. Why not? I'm sure we can find a spare room.

Because he did not volunteer to take her with, she takes it up a notch, looking up at him with her big vulnerable eyes and asks out right if she can come with him. The unspoken offer from her is that she would do anything to make that happen, and not only does that not work on Sheppard, it makes him feel disgusted. They have offered sanctuary to people on Atlantis just because they needed it, like Ronon and Eldon from Condemned (S02E05). While they have good reasons to protect Atlantis and keep its survival a secret, Sheppard feels such personal responsibility for the wraith being out doing mischief that he would save "everyone in the damn galaxy" if he could, like he had told Teyla in Letters from Pegasus (S01E17). If the girl was genuinely in distress, they would take her in. But the insinuation makes him feel dirty, and he lets her know that they have space but she is not moving in with him.

Sheppard making reference to the ease of finding a spare room may be yet another indication that he is thinking about McKay here, about how much he misses what they had before. I have discussed previouly how Sheppard's quarters seem to be in a fairly deserted part of Atlantis, on one of the promontories where it seems like the Athosians had been housed before they moved out into the mainland. Because their people had been suspicious of the Athosians, he had chosen his (original) quarters near them out of solidarity and now that they were gone, it seems like only himself and Teyla lived in that part of the city anymore. This may find further confirmation in how in The Prodigal (S05E14), Sheppard and McKay seem to be way out in the boonies playing with their remote controlled cars and not once but twice Teyla and her baby just happen to interrupt them.

Trying to get the baby to sleep, Teyla had obviously not taken him far from her quarters. And Sheppard and McKay have no business using the part of the city to play where a baby in sleeping because there is all of the rest of Atlantis to do that in--unless it is also where Sheppard lives. Ergo, Sheppard and Teyla live in a rather remote part of the city where there is a lot of empty space, many vacant quarters waiting for inhabitants. And it makes him feel lonely. All that empty space around him when those quarters that he and McKay had found together in Before I Sleep (S01E15) were no longer available for him made him feel alone. And so he makes a reference to them having spare rooms. They have a lot of spare rooms. There is an endless span of empty rooms between him and McKay.

Neera: I'd like that. What is it like, your world? Sheppard: It's nice. Comfortable, good climate.

She begins her interrogation, trying to get information out of him about where he comes from. While Sheppard is not intending on giving her any actual information, his answer here may betray the fact that he thinks of Atlantis as his home. Earth can hardly be described as comfortable, and the planet has more than one climate, not all of which are that pleasant. Also, given the fact that Sheppard had spent the last six months of his life on Earth in the Antarctic, "good climate" is probably not the very first descriptor to come in mind. But it would fit the planet that Atlantis is on. Besides that one once in a lifetime storm, the climate of the planet seems to be consistently good, the sun is always shining and the temperature is comfortable.

And further, Atlantis has many conveniences that make it comfortable particularly for him with the Ancient gene, doors opening for him and lights going on and off with the wave of a hand, a mental component to their technology. For Sheppard, Atlantis is very comfortable indeed. For Sheppard, Atlantis is home. It is not cold and hard and damp like the cell they are in now. And tropical beach planets aside, let us recall that McKay actually wanted to be back in his lab instead of the field earlier, this too being one of the things that the two of them share, thinking of Atlantis as home. And it is not just the place that is home, it is the people. It is each other.

Neera: Tell me what it looks like. Sheppard: Like every other world, I suppose: trees, water, mountains, Starbucks on every corner. Neera: What is it called?

Here Sheppard is describing something different than before. While the description is fairly general, it is also particular in the sense that it does not describe the Earth but he is clearly thinking of some specific region of Earth. We do not know where Sheppard is from, and even later at his father's funeral in Outcast (S04E15), he tells Ronon that where they were was just one of the houses his family owned. Likely they had homes in many different regions and surely some of them might have mountains, water and trees. But he might be thinking about something even more specific.

We do now know where Sheppard and McKay spent the three months they were on Earth but "trees, water, mountains, Starbucks on every corner" might describe both Colorado, especially the area around Cheyenne Mountain, and Canada. For sure Tim Hortons is more popular in Canada, but given the proximity of Seattle and Vancouver, it was one of the first places outside of the US where the chain spread. And if someone had, say, a special person with a known love of coffee that might need up to eleven cups a day and one had been spending time in their neck of the woods, getting them take-away from Starbucks to get a rise out of them would only be the patriotic thing to do. Starbucks are ubiquitous, the combination of trees, water and mountains is more specific. Also, the mention of Starbucks is once more a reference that is not going to mean anything to her but that definitely would have gotten a reaction out of McKay. He is not talking to her so much as talking to himself, to keep himself sane in the situation.

But note also the fact that Sheppard gives the preamble "like every other world" here. Let us recall that in Childhood's End (S01E06), McKay tells the team that "apparently there's a remarkable similarity between worlds that support life. It makes sense really." He is basing this on the "mission reports of Colonel Samantha Carter" in particular, and while that part may be something that Sheppard is not glad to remember (but is also not able to forget), he also seems to have a remarkable retention for things McKay says. So the fact that he gives this description may be based on what McKay had told him, knowing that it does not really give anything away. A world is a world is world.

Also, if they had been in contact with the SGC and Carter recently, as suggested at the beginning of Lost Boys (S02E10), it would make it that much more easy for Sheppard to have come up with this description. It is the fact that she asks for the name of his world that really makes the klaxon ring in his mind. That had been information that the wraith had forced out of Colonel Sumner before he was forced to take him out. The wraith knew about the Earth, and confessing to that might reveal that he was from Atlantis and that Atlantis had not been destroyed. He was not about to let that slip. He was not stupid. And he was not thinking with his dick, what ever the woman might have been trying to do here.

Sheppard: Uh, do you mind if we pick this up after we get some sleep? Neera: Yes, of course.

And so Sheppard pretends like he wants to sleep for a while even though he does not seem at all tired any more. As she snuggles up closer to him we see him look into the distance, seeming disturbed by the situation. He blinks once, and here it may even be to blink away tears that had suddenly welled up in his eyes because he looks so goddamn sad. And it is not the woman making him sad. He is not made sad by the fact that he realized what she is and had hoped so much that she was genuine; he had been wary of her from the get-go. His sadness has nothing to do with her, she had just reminded him. Having a warm body pressed up against him had reminded him. Of Earth, of Atlantis, of the bed he had shared with McKay. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to see any of them again.

Neera: What is it? Sheppard: I don't know. Must have just dropped out of hyperspace.

After some time has passed the whole ship seems to shake as it comes to a sudden stop, and we see that Sheppard has been awake, not able to relax and sleep next to someone he now knows to be working for the wraith. The way the camera pans from behind a corner to the two of them at the nook of the cell is interesting because it creates an illusion of intimacy. Like there are two lovers huddled up together, taking comfort in each other. Like we are able to peer in on a private moment. Only that is not what this is. We see that Sheppard had dropped his hand from around her somewhere along the way. We also see how he still seems to smart as he gets up from the floor.

Wraith: Take him!

Sheppard helps her get up just like Ronon had helped him up earlier because for some reason Sheppard wanted to be standing up again. The wraith come into the cell to grab him before he even realizes what is happening and he is snatched away from her. The wraith gives her a look which is our cue to realizing something is not right here.

Queen: Shall we talk now? Sheppard: About what? Queen: You are stubborn. Sheppard: Yes, I am.

And so Sheppard is brought back before the queen, to stand on the space vulva made to look even more like a vulva by the shadows that fall on it from above, creating a frame of pubic hair around it. Yes, they also look like bars symbolizing his imprisonment but the shape of the platform is no accident. Let us also note the fact that Sheppard's jacket is smoother now that he had slept against the wall of a cave than it did back when he most definitely was sleeping in his clothes on Atlantis at the start of the season, not bothering to undress because he no longer had occasion for it.

The wraith queen makes a theatrical entrance, asking Sheppard if he is willing to talk. Where Sheppard was never going to tell her anything, it is an odd thing to say in light of the fact that Sheppard seemed willing to talk back when the queen had come across something in his mind that had made her hiss at him. Sheppard had wanted to hear her name (only not really). Even here his question makes sense. Yes, let's talk, what do you want to talk about? Only the queen seems to realize that this is defiance on his part, that he is far from having been broken. Let us also note the fact that Sheppard actually turns here, he spins around on her as we come to the surprise twist of the episode. The "prestige" of the story, the payoff. He turns as he turns the tables on her, this is symbolic.

Sheppard: And she's very pretty, by the way. Neera, the girl you planted in the cocoon for us to rescue after you let us escape. The one that was supposed to get information from me. It's never going to happen.

The surprise twist is that Sheppard cannot be seduced by a beautiful young woman. He is unflappable before attractive women. And let us be clear, this is not because he is virtuous like Sir Gawain. We have seen Sheppard do all manner of questionable things, the most recent (although far from the most egregious) is allowing Ford to continue injecting enzyme into Ronon and Teyla just to get McKay off the juice. Sheppard is the protagonist, occasionally he is even a hero, but virtuous he is not. It was not his moral fortitude that allowed him to retain his virtue at the face of an obvious seduction. He admits to her that she is pretty, a pretty little thing. Also, it is not because Sheppard is somehow damaged, that he is unable to open himself up for a woman because he has been hurt before.

What we later learn of his divorce, Sheppard seemed over it and it is likely he hurt her more than she hurt him during the ordeal. It is not because Sheppard is Lorelai, too afraid of getting hurt again that allowed him to retain his honour. And while it is most certainly because he is in love with someone else, that someone else is not Elizabeth Weir. Later, when Sheppard (and the others) return to Atlantis, she is excited to see him and his reaction is basically "Good to be back!" And then, later on, he gets actually genuinely upset when McKay does not give him as warm a welcome that he had clearly been hoping for. He is visibly upset that McKay's reaction is not "Thank God you're alive, I was so worried!" because "Why aren't you dead?" just does not do it for him with McKay.

So yes, Sheppard is not saved by his moral rectitude, he is not saved because he is afraid to love again, and he is not saved because he has a girl waiting for him back home. Sheppard is saved because he cannot be seduced by women, and this is not even because he simply does not find women attractive. It is because he is taken. His heart is taken. His mind is constantly with someone that is not with him here, and the bond that they have cannot be broken by doe eyes and red cheeks. Sheppard tells her that it is never going to work with such certainty that it can only be backed up by that cliché of all clichés, the power of love.

That is what carried him through here. That is what saved him. While it is never spelled out, that is also probably what kept the queen from being able to probe his mind in the first place. His thoughts are with another and they are not hers to take. It was McKay he was trying to protect, to keep her from getting at when she was trying to find out where he had gotten the dart. And like. "A woman is never going to seduce John Sheppard" is literally the climax of this episode. They did not have to do this. No one made them take this route. That is an actual message they wanted to get out to the audience.

Continued in Pt. 15

[werewolfetone]

Genres academic texts about ireland in the 18th century generally fall into:

'this is the exact book you need + it will elucidate everything for you and be akin to eating the fruit of knowledge, no more than five copies were ever printed, three of which are lost, of the remaining two one is in the possession of a library on god's remotest island and it will take over three years to reach you; the other is being sold on the neocities page of some guy who lives in a cottage with else nothing within 300 leagues of it who you will have to pay several hundred euros and defeat in single combat to get, it will still somehow take over three years to reach you no matter where you are'

'this book will also tell you everything you need to know... or at least you hope it will, because it was written in 1845 by someone who had never even heard the words "peer review" before and is the first ever book to cite a negative number of sources, but it's literally the only significant work ever written on the subject you're interested in so what are you meant to do'

'well this WOULD be a good book if the author didn't stop the historical stuff every few pages to describe for the 500000th time why they want dublin to sink into the earth a la atlantis and take everyone who has ever even considered living there with it in order to bring about a perfect world with no sin in it (as all the world's evils will have sunk into the earth with dublin). won't stop reading though because they're very convincing'

'it's alright, but the author needs to be told that the ascendancy is not going to fuck them right now please before I read another pa-- oh wait they're descended from WHO? they own the WHAT? okay yeah it all makes sense now'

'literal IRA propaganda piece the author wrote while in prison for being in the IRA'

[themattress]

The 30 WORST Sailor Moon Episodes

Leaving off Sailor Stars altogether, because that whole series would fit here.

"Learn How to Be Skinny from Usagi"

Sukehiro Tomita. Great head writer, usually fantastic script writer. What the fuck, man? This is the second episode you penned? While it has a great climax with Usagi kicking a bunch of mind-controlled bodybuilders' asses and Jadeite actually succeeding in his energy gathering mission, but that doesn't excuse all of the body-shaming bullshit that came before, portraying all girls and women as caring about fitness to stay beautiful rather than to stay healthy. It also kind of sabotages the following episode, as it's difficult to give a shit about Shingo after this.

"A Girl's Dream: Usagi Becomes a Bride"

There was some shakiness in Nephrite's first five episodes, but nothing outright bad save for this middle one. It's got the same, clueless "this is what women are like, amirite?" attitude as the previous episode on the list, but in this case it may be even worse because it's the lone woman writer on the staff, Megumi Sugihara, who wrote it! Man, it was bad enough for poor Rei's character to start dating Mamoru in the previous episode; this does her even dirtier.

"Usagi's Confusion: Is Tuxedo Mask Evil?"

That title sure makes this episode sound exciting, doesn't it? Well, if you believe that, then you were swindled. The majority of this episode is about a bizarre Dark Kingdom barbershop ploy to find Sailor Moon, which fails because their machine somehow picks out a stray hair of hers that got on Minako over all of Minako's actual hair, so they think she's Sailor Moon! When Evil Tuxedo Mask does show up, he's kind of underwhelming and the characters seem to brush off the supposed seriousness of the situation at the end, which is a far cry from how things were in the manga. It's the start of the worst stretch of episodes in the original show.

"Let's Become a Princess: Usagi's Bizarre Training"

This episode is a perfect example of an Idiot Plot: the Dark Kingdom are idiots by putting together an expensive princess seminar in the hopes that Sailor Moon will attend just because she knows she was a princess in the past life, Sailor Moon is an idiot who does attend even though being a princess has no bearing on her present day life, her friends are idiots by attending as well for no reason, Evil Tuxedo Mask is an idiot for interfering because he thinks it should be done a different way, Kunzite is an idiot for just squabbling with him over it instead of asserting his authority, and the Monster-of-the-Week is an idiot for letting the squabble distract her and allow Sailor Moon to just waltz right up and purify her. Idiots!

"The Snow, the Mountains, Friendship and Monsters"

First off, how dare this title rip off the far superior "The Summer, the Beach, Youth and Ghosts", making one think it might be another fun breather episode like that when instead it's another asinine Dark Kingdom plan to expose Sailor Moon's identity, this time assuming she'll win a ski race for a "princess" title just because she's a princess, forgetting that Sailor Moon's clumsiness was a big factor in determining who she might be in the previous episode. But even worse than that is how some legit good bonding between Usagi and Rei is totally thrown out by the ending, where Rei reaches peak Adaptational Jerkass mode even when it no longer makes the remotest of sense given all they've been through and what they now know!

"Paired with a Monster: Mako, the Ice Skating Queen"

Didn't we just have an ice sport-based episode? And didn't we just have a Dark Kingdom plan that stupidly forgot the whole "Sailor Moon is clumsy" fact? Add to this Makoto beginning the Flanderization of her character just being about "sempai!", the Monsters-of-the-Week reaching new levels of unfitting campiness, and Evil Tuxedo Mask teaming up with the Sailor Senshi despite insisting he's so totally evil now, and you have a lame, forgettable episode.

"The Legendary Lake Yokai: The Bond of Usagi's Family"

This episode hurts because it has a great set-up with Usagi and her family taking a camping trip, and the Autumn forest they camp in is a beautiful location. Even the myth of the lake monster is great and holds some interesting parallels to what Sailor Moon is going through. But guess who shows up and ruins it: "Evil" Endymion, who teams up with the Sailor Senshi yet again because of his own stupidity, all while Kunzite floats around watching and doing nothing because the writers have just given up on him, I guess. It's just such a damn waste!

"Usagi Devastated: Mamoru Declares a Break-Up"

One of the most notorious episodes in the anime. Mamoru has dreams of disaster befalling Usagi and a voice telling him this is the future if he stays with her, so he just breaks up with her without explaining his reasons. Worse still is that the excuse he gives, that being lovers in a past life doesn't mean they should be lovers now, is a fair point and could have been interesting to explore if it was said with any validity. But as it stands, it's the first of several episodes where we have the "joy" of watching Usagi cry and grovel before Mamoru as he acts cold and heartless toward her while inwardly bemoaning that he has to do so but it's for her own good. It's the subplot that understandably killed the Usagi/Mamoru ship for many.

"The Beach, the Island and a Vacation: The Guardians' Break"

Once again the title suggests something along the lines of "The Summer, the Beach, Youth and Ghosts", and this time the writers do actually make that attempt. But then we get three major strikes: the fact that more time is spent showing off the girls in bikinis than doing any story or character work, the main plot centering around Chibiusa befriending a baby dinosaur which just feels out of place for this series, and the battle the Sailor Senshi end up fighting being against....a volcano. Yes, a mundane, non-sentient, lava-spewing volcano. Yeesh!

"Awaken the Sleeping Beauty: Mamoru's Distress"

The break-up subplot returns to the forefront, and this might just be the worst episode to feature it, since Mamoru reaches new levels of douchiness by taking Motoki's younger sister for a ride on his motorcycle and actively trying to make Usagi believe that they're now a couple. His behavior toward Usagi has been bad enough, but actively using an innocent like Unazuki in an attempt to hurt Usagi ("for her own good", of course) is scummy beyond belief. And it poisons the following episode by depicting this kind of behavior as remotely justified.

"Magic of Darkness: Esmeraude's Invasion"

That image kind of says it all. Once again the writing staff's lone women turns out an astonishingly sexist episode, one where Esmeraude, the big badass villainess taking over from Rubeus, is treated as if she were one of the Ayakashi Sisters: setting up a hair-brained scheme on Earth, wearing a gaudy disguise, pigging out on sweets and getting publicly embarrassed over it, hitting on Tuxedo Mask even when that makes zero sense for her to do given her fixation on Prince Demande, and having her over-the-top laughter treated as something legit damaging to the Sailor Senshi as a gag. On her behalf, I am offended.

"Shared Feelings: Usagi and Mamoru in Love Once Again"

This episode at least finally ends the break-up subplot, but the subplot is still bad regardless of how it resolves itself and the fact that it's been allowed to go on this long is a testament to how badly series director Kunihiko Ikuhara wanted to taint Mamoru's character and his relationship with Usagi in the eyes of viewers since he personally didn't care for either.

"Venus Minako's Nurse Mayhem"

This episode is the start of Minako's Flanderization, and while it's far from the worst case of it, it's not the best either. She feels like she's her Codename Sailor V self and not her Sailor Venus self. It doesn't help that the episode continues degrading Esmeraude for laughs.

"Artemis' Adventure: The Monster Animal Kingdom"

See the above, but swap out "Minako" with "Artemis". These back-to-back episodes sucked.

"I Want to Quit Being a Sailor Guardian: Minako's Dilemma"

An even worse case of Minako regressing as a character. Struggling with her position as one of the Sailor Senshi and falling head over heels for a handsome teen volleyball star feels like it would come straight out of Codename Sailor V, but not out of Sailor Moon where Minako is the most firmly committed to the cause. It does her character such an incredible disservice.

"Shadow of Silence: The Pale Glimmer of a Firefly"

It's not your fault, Hotaru - it's the writers and director. Their decision to hold off on one of the Infinity arc's most pivotal characters, if not the most pivotal, until the back half and squeeze as much as they can into those episodes really hurts this one. As nice as Hotaru is, we still barely know her after only two episodes and all of a sudden the show is throwing all this shit about her at us and demanding that we be invested. Mimete is also starting to grate as an antagonist, as her shenanigans are completely out of tone with the rest of the episode.

"Sunny Skies After a Storm: A Friendship Dedicated to Hotaru"

Much like the episode with the Lake Yokai, this one has a good premise: a trip with Usagi, Mamoru and Chibiusa sounds fantastic since the three of them work well off each other. But Hotaru gets shoehorned in for no good reason because she's taken over the show due to its bad pacing, and then Mimete shows up with a scheme utilizing a plant-based Daimon. Hmmm, I dunno, don't we have another Witches 5 member who would be better suited for this plot? One who is all about plants? Remind me: why are we still stuck with Mimete!?

"Higher and Stronger: A Cheer from Usagi"

More shoving of Hotaru to the forefront, more of Mimete being an incompetent villain. Sigh.

"The Messiah of Silence Awakens? Stars of Destiny"

So we've known for some time now that Hotaru is the Messiah of Silence and now the characters learn it, but it's also discovered that she's Sailor Saturn too! That seems...backwards from how it was in the manga. But far worse than that is the Outer Senshi trying to murder Hotaru because...it's easier than just extracting the Messiah of Silence from her innocent host, and because they've heard spooky things about Sailor Saturn that have caused them bad dreams. Yeah, that's it. In the manga, the Outer Senshi seeking to kill Hotaru was nuanced and based upon valid reasoning. Here, they're just being assholes.

"A Heart-Snatching Demon Flower: Tellu, the Third Witch"

Oh look, there's Tellu! .......Well, bye! It was nice barely knowing you, I guess!

Seriously, this post sums it up better than I could.

"A New Life: Parting of the Stars of Destiny"

Here it is: Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune's big send-off. And how do they spend it? By attacking Usagi because even though she saved the world, she risked it to begin with....even though her risking it was literally the only reason it was saved. But they claim she's not "strong" enough to be a princess and leader because of her idealism...but once she kicks their asses, they say it was all just a test, even though they also seem to know she is the Messiah. The only way I can make sense of it is that they went in knowing full well how this would end, but did it anyway because they were that pissed off at Usagi and her idealism proving them and their edgelord cynicism blatantly wrong and wanted to let out steam by attacking her, with the whole "it was just a test, brah!" as their pre-prepared excuse to save face afterward. It's amazing how two characters I started out adoring get a send-off where all I can think is "finally; good fucking riddance". It's such shameful character assassination.

"A Guardian’s Realization: Strength Lies Within a Pure Heart"

This is the final episode of S and Sukehiro Tomita's last written episode, having already stepped down from the head writer position midway through S, and it's....the ending to the Black Moon arc of the manga. There's a Daimon thrown in for no good reason, but otherwise it's adapting the previous arc's conclusion at the end of this arc, and it just does not work. It only gets worse in hindsight: such a big emotional deal made out of Chibiusa "saying goodbye" except not really because she immediately comes back, only for her real goodbye to end up happening entirely off-screen. It makes one wish she really had been sent off here!

"The Perfect Couple: Usagi and Mamoru's Love"

A contender for perhaps the biggest lie of an episode title ever; we ain't forgetting that break-up arc, Ikuhara. But this episode doesn't harm Usagi or Mamoru...it's Chibiusa who is ruined here! Mamoru starts hanging out with a "mature woman" friend from college and while Usagi is unconcerned (don't worry, she'll backtrack on this attitude two episodes down this list!), Chibiusa becomes convinced Mamoru will choose her over the "immature" Usagi and thus she'll never be born, leading to a scene where she just viciously goes off on Usagi on how inferior she is to the other woman, to the point of even saying she wishes the other woman was her mother instead! Chibiusa would never fucking say this. Ugh, it's episodes like this in this series where I can totally get the hate she's historically received. Its only saving grace is of course the villains: French!Tiger's Eye and the unforgettable Phuku the Balloon Lady.

"Artemis is Cheating? Enter the Mysterious Kitten"

We spend the whole episode dealing with unfunny misunderstandings about Artemis being in love with a human woman or having fathered a child in an affair with another cat, with the end result being the introduction of their future child Diana...who should have been introduced back in the Black Moon arc and whose appearance here in the present is nonsensical. Look, writers, you missed your chance. Just accept that and don't even bother with Diana at all.

"Protect Mamoru: Ninja Usagi's Jealousy"

Remember how in the first series, Rei's antagonism toward Usagi could be carried too far? Oh how the tables have turned. Mamoru ends up forced to crash at Rei's temple for a few days, and Usagi goes absolutely ballistic, losing all faith in her boyfriend and best friend by being convinced Rei will try to steal Mamoru back since they dated a long time ago. She thus becomes "the Red Ninja of Love" who won't leave poor Rei alone. How am I supposed to buy into these relationships when Usagi is like this even after all they've been through together?

"Aiming for the Top: The Pretty Swordswoman's Dilemma"

Sometimes, child abuse can be justified!

Yeah, that's it. That's the episode. Moving on...

"Believe in Pegasus: The Four Guardians' Super Transformation"

One of SuperS' biggest problems is that all of the Sailor Senshi's powers have been stripped away from them and, rather than get them back on their own like in the manga, they have to rely on Pegasus to dole them out. This episode is just rubbing the viewer's face in this fact, showing how the Senshi are useless unless they "believe" in this goddamn horse. Once again the villains manage to make something out of what is otherwise an infuriating episode.

"Become a Prima: Usagi's Ballet"

At first glance, there isn't much separating this episode from any of the other formulaic episodes in SuperS. But there is one major problem with this one: Fish Eye gets robbed. We're supposed to be happy about the conclusion the characters-of-the-day arrive at, but every word of what Fish Eye says about it is true! Fish Eye is clearly the better dancer, the guy was using her if he insisted on personally practicing with her all while "neglecting to mention" that he never intended on casting anyone but his love interest in the lead role, and the logic behind his decision making is a bunch of pretentious garbage simply used to justify his personal bias and favoritism. Fish Eye did nothing wrong here, but we're supposed to cheer her unjust personal defeat because she's the villain. Yeah, no. Fuck that asshole!

"Clash of Dreams: Minako and Makoto's Broken Friendship"

An episode about Minako and Makoto clashing was already done and done better back in R. That they're clashing so childishly now is once again showing how much of a disservice is being done to the characters and the relationships they've built. It's particularly bad here because it's not over differing philosophies like before, but over a guy. No...just no. Once again the villains, in this case the Amazoness Quartet, are the only thing that's worthwhile.

"Pegasus Disappears: Wavering Friendship"

So it's bad enough that the Senshi can't get by without Pegasus in SuperS. But now we have Chibiusa confronting him on how he's needlessly not given much information about himself and his situation, and rather than depict Pegasus as in the wrong for this, Chibiusa is shamed for "not believing" in him, as if friendship that's a one-way street is totally fine and that she should just let this guy keep his secrets while remaining an open book to him emotionally. This is such a bad and downright creepy message to send. Helios, the anime did you dirty.

[andrew-nobody]

One Week Before I Turned

[ Zombie Apocalypse AU - Chapter 1 ]

"It's not a big deal, okay?" Ashley turned away from Julia, her face a cool mask of indifference. I knew her well enough to know that it was a deliberate choice to get under Julia's skin. "Just get over it."

"Not a big deal?!" Julia's voice swelled up like a wave about to crash. "You know I've been saving them! Olivia bought me that bag for my b-birthday, and I've been rationing--"

"Are you really going to cry over some gummy bears?" Ashley smirked. "That's just fucking stupid."

"It's not stupid!" Julia shrieked. "I can't believe you. I don't call your stuffed bunnies stupid. Even though they take up space we could be using for actually useful shit!"

Ashley's expression pinched. "Sounds like you are to me."

“Guys,” I hissed for their attention.

"You're an asshole." Julia's shoulders shook. "Fuck off, Ashley. If Andrew shot himself, I wouldn’t eat the food he gave you while your back was turned!”

“Sure you would, you just wouldn’t own up to it. But I don’t give a flying fuck what you think abo—!”

“Shut up!” I raised my voice. The girls barely allowed the interruption. Their glares were still so loud they were giving me a headache. “Every zombie on the block can hear you!”

“I think you mean ‘us.’” Ashley tilted her head to the side and smiled at me.

I hated whenever they fought like this, and it seemed like they took every opportunity. If it wasn’t Ashley sneaking Julia’s candy, it was Julia kissing me in front of her, just to make her uncomfortable.

“It’s not fair,” Julia had once whimpered into my ear. “We never get any alone time together. I don’t do it to make her mad. I just want… to be close to you.”

The problem with ‘alone time’ was that Ashley seemed to have no sense of self-preservation at all. If she was out of sight, she was getting into trouble. And right now, trouble was trying to claw its way inside the burger joint we were supposed to be looting.

“Time for a quick getaway,” I prompted.

“But I wanted to see if there were any chips in the back.”

“Too fucking late for that now,” I snapped.

Ashley sighed. We both knew we wouldn't find much here. The place had already been picked clean, probably weeks ago. I should have known better. After the outbreak, anywhere that had even the remotest chance of having ToxiSoda in stock was ransacked quickly. I wasn't sure I trusted their snake oil soda ads, but a lot of people were willing to try any 'preventative cure' for the plague.

The sound of broken glass drew my attention back to the window. A zombie had gotten its shoulder stuck on the jagged edges. It was trying to squirm its way inside, tearing itself open all the while.

I couldn’t help but stare as it ripped its skin open like a chocolate wrapper. It really didn’t care.

Julia grabbed me by the hand.

“Come on!” she urged, and tugged me towards the exit. “We can go through the back.” I pulled my attention away, back to us, the people who mattered. Julia was careful. She always checked for escape routes before getting comfortable anywhere. I loved that about her.

Ashley, though...

I watched her pull her fire poker from the straps across her back. She stepped up, and then slammed it against the zombie's skull. The poker cracked against the zombie's head with a loud thunk. But it wasn’t quite enough to brain the thing.

“Ashley, let’s go!” I barked. “Don’t waste your time and risk getting bitten!”

“You were the one staring,” she retorted in a low voice.

Julia moved to the back exit. She opened the door, but wasn't going outside without the rest of us. I could see her peering anxiously around the doorway, trying to see if any zombies were coming from that direction.

Ashley’s attempt on the window zombie had drawn the attention of more. We needed to be swift, and silent. I made sure she was following me, and we joined Julia.

"There's a few out here, but they're wandering the street," she whispered, glancing through the opening of the door. "If we're quiet, maybe they won't notice."

I nodded. I didn't feel like wasting time with words, especially now that the zombies that had heard the commotion were climbing inside through the glass. Julia opened the door further, and we rushed outside, keeping our eyes peeled and weapons ready.

A small herd of zombies had congregated around the front of the burger joint, groaning and pressing at the door. Julia's hand gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, and I could tell she was terrified.

We moved quietly along the outside of the building, keeping to the shadows. Safe, this time.

[ Read Chapter 2 ]

[thislovintime]

Photo by Bill Chadwick, screenshot from the Time And Again Gallery trailer.

Peter leaving The Monkees, post 2 of 3.

“I look up and see that this is my life. My only serious acquired skill is that of an entertainer. I did disassociate myself for many years because of a misplaced idealism. I was buying all that stuff about the Monkees not being musicians or real human beings. Back then I was entirely too malleable. I now do not have the remotest idea why I did many of the things I did. In recent times I have had to grunt, groan and strain to become a genuine businessman and take control of my career. The ultimate responsibility lies with me and I have recently agreed with God to do it, however poorly. That is the change in me.” - Peter Tork, Monkeemania (1986) Q: “When did you originally feel the bubble bursting with the Monkees? Right after the show ended?” Peter Tork: “Well, I didn’t. For me, it never was a case of the bubble bursting. It was much more a case of leaving the bubble through the airlock as it slowly fizzled away. I only see this in retrospect. At the time, I wanted to get out because I wanted to be a Beatle-type musician. I wanted to lead my own band. I had no idea how difficult that was at the time. I just wanted to go off and do my own things. Now I wonder about my attitude then. I think it was probably a false attitude. On the other hand, if I’d been wiser, I might have left earlier. There’s no telling. Like I say, I didn’t have any sense of the bubble bursting. I just walked out of it. I mean, I had the bends for awhile coming back into re-entry, but it wasn’t like the bubble bursting in that I didn’t have a sense that one moment everything was flying high and the next moment everything was miserable. Because I myself did not change my sense of contentment. I found — and I have found consistently — that my sense of contentment has virtually nothing to do with my success. I was very content during certain periods with the Monkees. I was very happy at times, and I was miserable at times. I was happy afterwards sometimes, and I was miserable sometimes afterwards. And the history of my life has almost nothing to do, I’m talking about internal history, the history of my happiness — it has almost nothing to do with the history of my worldly success. So I didn’t have any sense of the bubble bursting. It was just my life carrying on, step by step.” - Creem Presents... The Monkees: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, April 1987

[thepiper0fhameln]

I guess you're not counting art WIPs huh. Please tell me about HTP Summer Trash Splash, since I already know about the others.

You’re right I didn’t think to add art. But now I did!

HTP Summer Trash Splash was what I INTENDED to do for the summer of 2022. Life. Had other events in store. It was supposed to be a series of fics and art connected in one story arc that followed Steve and Bucky both being captured by Hydra. Bucky becomes the Winter Soldier and Steve becomes Captain Hydra after a long time fighting them until they eventually “give” Bucky to him. (The art Branded was a part of this before everything got sidelined and I made it on its own.)

Snippet:

It is troublesome though that he can't remember what it feels like to be warm. The sensation of comfort, of stifling, sticky lethargy, even, is floating around in the recesses of his mind. The feeling is as unreachable as the hazy skies over the rooftops of his youth. Ice has turned his veins into shards of glass. And more than that. At least, he thinks it's separate from the cold: nerve endings deep inside his shoulders, his hips, at the base of his spine are in frozen fire. The sensations shoot up and up and up until raw, stabbing pain hits the base of his skull. The pain has been his constant companion since consciousness came back to him somewhere under the endless arctic whiteout. He wishes he'd been aware of what was happening to him then. Of just who had dug down deep and fished him out. He wishes, even if he had been aware, that he had the remotest chance of fighting back. He can recall only the vaguest sensations of dark figures against a sea of crystal ice and painful blue, of rough hands jostling his body. He thinks he felt the bite of frozen chains around his neck, his torso, pulling him more forcefully than the swaying currents of the ocean. The fact that he can recall anything at all tells him he must have been--miraculously--awake at the time. He wonders if his brain had slowed in the freezing waters. He has no idea how long he was under before they found him. No idea what date it is. But the fog is beginning to clear. His thoughts are moving faster. His senses have come back online--too much so. He can feel every nerve, muscle, tendon down in the depths of his body telling him just how very wrong things are. He thinks his body is trying to heal itself. He hasn't seen even the sky since they pulled him out of the ice. He has seen Bucky. Which makes up for the former, even if it's crazy. He's seen Bucky's face on one of the men carrying him. Not in the beginning, when he thinks he was on some sort of stretcher, but later, when he was finally regaining control of his limbs. Painful as that was. He knows, rationally, it couldn't have possibly been Bucky. A Bucky out of place, out of the bounds of mortality, his face on a body too broad, too big. Steve wanted him so much to be there, besides. That's how he really knows it's not Bucky.

[kvetchlandia]

Henri Cartier-Bresson     Writer and Literary Critic Alfred Kazin, New York City    1946

“...When I was a child I thought we lived at the end of the world. It was the eternity of the subway ride into the city that first gave me this idea. It took a long time getting to “New York”; it seemed longer getting back.… 

I saw New York as a foreign city. There, brilliant and unreal, the city had its life, as Brownsville was ours. That the two were joined in me I never knew then… We were the end of the line. We were the children of the immigrants who had camped at the city’s back door, in New York’s rawest, remotest, cheapest ghetto… ‘New York’ was what we put last on our address, but first in thinking of the others around us. They were New York, the Gentiles, America; we were Brownsville — Brunzvil, as the old folks said — the dust of the earth to all Jews with money, and notoriously a place that measured all success by our skill in getting away from it.

Our cousin and her two friends were of my parents’ generation, but I could never believe it — they seemed to enjoy life with such outspokenness. They were the first grown-up people I had ever met who used the word love without embarrassment. ‘Libbe! Libbe!’ my mother would explode whenever one of them protested that she could not, after all, marry a man she did not love. “What is this love you make such a stew about? You do not like the way he holds his cigarette? Marry him first and it will all come out right in the end!” It astonished me to realize there was a world in which even unmarried women no longer young were simply individual human beings with lives of their own...

Our parents, whatever affection might offhandedly be expressed between them, always had the look of being committed to something deeper than mere love. Their marriages were neither happy nor unhappy; they were arrangements. However they had met — whether in Russia or in the steerage or, like my parents, in an East Side boarding house — whatever they still thought of each other, love was not a word they used easily. Marriage was an institution people entered into — for all I could ever tell — only from immigrant loneliness, a need to be with one’s own kind that mechanically resulted in the family. The family was a whole greater than all the individuals who made it up, yet made sense only in their untiring solidarity. I was perfectly sure that in my parents’ minds libbe was something exotic and not wholly legitimate, reserved for ‘educated’ people like their children, who were the sole end of their existence. My father and mother worked in a rage to put us above their level; they had married to make us possible. We were the only conceivable end to all their striving; we were their America.

So far as I knew, love was not an element admissible in my parents’ experience. Any open talk of it between themselves would have seemed ridiculous. It would have suggested a wicked self-indulgence, a preposterous attention to one’s own feelings, possible only to those who were free enough to choose. They did not consider themselves free. They were awed by us, as they were awed by their own imagined unworthiness, and looked on themselves only as instruments toward the ideal ‘American’ future that would be lived by their children. As poor immigrants … in their lives combined to make them look down on love as something they had no time for.

They had a great flavor for me, those three women: they were the positive center of that togetherness that always meant so much to me in our dining room on Friday evenings… Those Friday evenings, I suddenly found myself enveloped in some old, primary Socialist idea that people could go beyond every barrier of race and nation and language, even of class! into some potential loving union of the whole human race. I was...simply and naturally glad of those Jewish dressmakers who spoke with enthusiastic familiarity of Sholem Aleichem and Peretz, Gorky and Tolstoy, who glowed at every reminiscence of Nijinsky, of Nazimova in ‘The Cherry Orchard,’ of Pavlova in ‘The Swan.’ ...

The Soloveys had been very puzzling; from the day they had come to our tenement, taking over the small dark apartment on the ground floor next to his drugstore, no one had been able to make them out at all. Both the Soloveys had had an inaccessible air of culture that to the end had made them seem visitors among us. They had brought into our house and street the breath of another world, where parents read books, discussed ideas at the table, and displayed a quaint, cold politeness addressing each other. The Soloveys had traveled; they had lived in Palestine, France, Italy. They were ‘professional’ people, “enlightened” — she, it was rumored, had even been a physician or ‘some kind of scientist,’ we could never discover which.

The greatest mystery was why they had come to live in Brownsville. We looked down on them for this, and suspected them. To come deliberately to Brownsville, after you had lived in France and Italy! It suggested some moral sickness, apathy, a perversion of all right feelings. The apathy alone had been enough to excite me. They were different!

Whenever I saw the strange couple together, the gold wedding ring on his left hand thick as hers, I felt they were still lovers… And there was that visible tie between them, that wedding ring even a man could wear, some deep consciousness of each other, that excited me, it seemed so illicit.…

The lovers, though their love had been spent, still lived only for each other. And it was this that emphasized their strangeness for me — it was as strange as Mr. Solovey’s books, as a Brownsville couple speaking Russian to each other, as strange as Mrs. Solovey’s delightfully shocking blondness and the unfathomable despair that had brought them to us. In this severe dependence on each other for everything, there was a defiance of the family principle, of us, of their own poverty and apathy, that encouraged me to despise our values as crude and provincial. Only in movies and in The Sheik did people abandon the world for love, give themselves up to it — gladly. Yet there was nothing obviously immoral in the conduct of the Soloveys, nothing we could easily describe and condemn. It was merely that they were sufficient to each other; in their disappointment as in their love they were always alone. They left us out, they left Brownsville out; we were nothing to them. In the love despair of the Soloveys something seemed to say that our constant fight “to make sure” was childish, that we looked at life too narrowly, and that in any event, we did not count. Their loneliness went deeper than our solidarity.

And so I loved them.”

-- Alfred Kazin “A Walker in the City” 1951

[vigilskeep]

Why & how did minerva come to betray alistair? What was her thinking behind it?

oh i mean in the sense that she spares loghain at the landsmeet! i guess it’s up for debate if that is a betrayal and minerva would certainly argue it wasn’t (no matter any second thoughts she will not admit to having). but alistair takes it as a betrayal and it uhhh serves as one narratively if that makes any sense. betrayal is a heavily repeated theme in dao esp w mage origin included, so i’m having all that kind of build up to this choice. to briefly summarise a complicated moment, minerva jumps at the chance to spare loghain because she’s characteristically very concerned with reputation/how all this will go down in history. she hates what the guy has done, but for her, that’s beside the point. she’s too pragmatic to truly see the purpose of revenge and has absolutely no desire to be remembered as the elven mage who killed the hero of river dane. she’s been worried about that the whole time with the civil war and suddenly there’s this shining opportunity to, idk, have her cake and eat it too! great! an excellent compromise to bring ferelden together! she could never have refused

alistair’s refusal to accept the decision completely takes her by surprise. she’s good with people but she often misses motivations going on under the surface, and she had no real idea how set he was on revenge. even if she had understood that, she’s never failed to persuade him of anything before. he’s literally here to take a crown and wife he never wanted because she convinced him both were the right thing to do. of course she knew he would hate to see loghain spared, but she never even imagined there were possible circumstances under which he would go as far as to abandon her to end the blight alone, let alone that it would be for this. she feels pretty betrayed herself, i suppose that’s a matter of perspective. from her side, the fact is that the world is under threat, ferelden is under threat, and he walks. and he thinks she’s the one who betrayed the honour and purpose of the grey wardens?

ironically his response couldn’t be better designed to lock her decision in. minerva chronically can’t take criticism, which goes double for being in front of the whole landsmeet, and the ‘grey warden honour’ argument infuriates her when he knows full well what kind of magic she’s had to turn to. what’s him having to spare one man’s life compared to what she’s had to sacrifice already? the grey wardens don’t fight for honour, they fight to win, no matter the moral scruples, no matter the recruits they have to take! this is what duncan would have done! and minerva’s never had even the remotest possibility of justice being done to anyone who’s hurt her or the people she cared about, so frankly alistair can just cope, like everybody else! to be honest having him turn on her like that in public pulls up a fair bit of the resentment for alistair’s templar background she’d long since made the effort to bury. unfair or not, to her ears, to her defensiveness, in his idealistic perspective on the wardens she can’t help but hear a templar’s commitment to self-righteousness, and she’s no longer the kind of person who can back down when faced with that. this really has nothing to do with alistair’s objections but with the life she’s lived if he goes against her she’s incapable of not seeing it as suddenly templar v mage and reacting accordingly. she’s very defensive of the decision and wouldn’t be capable of admitting fault later, not outside of the privacy of her own head

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Man’s own youth is the world’s youth; at least, he feels as if it were, and imagines that the earth’s granite substance is something not yet hardened, and which he can mould into whatever shape he likes. So it was with Holgrave. He could talk sagely about the world’s old age, but never actually believed what he said; he was a young man still, and therefore looked upon the world—that graybearded and wrinkled profligate, decrepit, without being venerable—as a tender stripling, capable of being improved into all that it ought to be, but scarcely yet had shown the remotest promise of becoming. He had that sense, or inward prophecy, —which a young man had better never have been born than not to have, and a mature man had better die at once than utterly to relinquish,—that we are not doomed to creep on forever in the old bad way, but that, this very now, there are the harbingers abroad of a golden era, to be accomplished in his own lifetime.

It seemed to Holgrave, as doubtless it seemed to the hopeful of every century since the epoch of Adam's grandchildren, that in this age more than ever before, the moss grown and rotten past is to be torn down and lifeless institutions to be thrust out of the way, and their dead corpses buried, and everything to begin anew.

As to the main point, may we never live to doubt it — as to the better centuries coming — the artist was surely right. His error lay in supposing that this age, more than any past or future one, is destined to see the tattered garments of antiquity exchanged for a new suit, instead of gradually renewing themselves by patchwork.

— The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

[themaresnest-dumblr]

So you lot are perfectly happy to use Sim File Share for your shit, even though it was set up by Delphy, a convicted paedophile who did zero to discourage such types from flocking to his Mod The Sims site (unless directly called out for it) and still controlled by some highly dubious types, but you are all quick to get on your high horses over a platform whose current owners just happen to be based in a country currently unfashionable with the kewl kids?

Okay, so take it you will now take down all your links to DeviantArt? After all, they're Israeli owned.

Sorry, what's that? You use that platform but not Wix, so it is easier to get all holier than thou about it? Colour us surprised!

And what about all your tech reliant on the "People's Republic", those funsters merrily "interning" 2 million Muslims, because they are Muslims, in concentration camps - the greatest mass internment since World War 2. Where's your "Muslim solidarity" then?

Oh and never mind Saudi Arabia, the UAE and their allies having a merry proxy war in the Yeman with those other Muslim funsters, Iran.

Each of the last two example we mentioned have - and are - merrily exterminating more Muslims daily than the Israelis have managed in their wildest dreams, barbaric as events in Gaza are. So where's the mass handwringing over these?

Oh and the good old US of A ... or have we forgotten about all those Iraqis and Afghans they slaughtered for kicks a few years back?

Or does your moral outrage only extent as far whatever's trending on social media and jumping on the bandwagon of the most popular side for the flattery of your own pathetic ego rather than any sense of right and wrong, or dare one suggest the remotest lateral thought? Dear "Sim's Community", or what other people claim is the backing of the "Sim's Community". Do not get involved in "behave like sheep" political "boycotts" organised by the wilfully pig ignorant only looking for "likes" like lab rats looking for a bloody food pellet - because you will only end up utterly embarrassing yourselves.

Mind you, as Squea is a Glitterturder, bit late in the day for that, isn't it?

I've noticed a trend of creators uploading custom content to curseforge, and either not linking it here on tumblr, or hiding those links. If you go to a download link and "rightclick -> copy link" and see that the link includes "forgecdn", that is a curseforge link. But bypasses the page and downloads the content immediately. Before you can even tell its a curseforge link.

A lot of creators are trying to use curseforge to host their content, and then hide this from their blogs or download posts, hoping you wont notice when the link takes you to a direct download from curseforge.

stop using curseforge

[punkscowardschampions]

Modie Pt.3

Moses: Am I dressed nice enough for you?

Edie: How am I meant to stop kissing you to do anything we’ve planned when you look like that?

Moses: We’ll have to do it all while you’re kissing me

Edie: You have stubble, it’s going to be all scratchy 😻

Moses: I left it cos I had the knowing you’d like it

Edie: It’s what makes you different, always had, mammy and the others all have soft skin, just daddy felt like that

Moses: They might, but yours is the softest

Edie: I am all your soft

Edie: your 💘 outside you

Moses: Can you feel how mine’s beating inside me right now?

Edie: I’m going to, we’re going to be that close again, all day

Moses: [tell her what drug/s you feel like you’re on and all the ways she makes you feel better than that because we’re feeling extra the closer y’all get to seeing each other irl]

Edie: I’m so desperately in love with you, do you feel that?

Moses: I’m going to 

Edie: You will when I can’t wait, when I was so nervous before and now

Moses: It’s cute how nervous you were

Edie: It might come back when it’s time but

Edie: right now I want to jump on you the second you’re through the door

Moses: [an updated eta giving however many seconds that is, because clearly he’s close af to Ali’s house now]

Moses: I’m almost there, I told you there’s that many of them for us

Edie: You did, you were right

Edie: I need a now though, I’m so, I feel like everyone can see

Moses: I need you now too

Edie: You want me to show you my music room, daddy?

Moses: Where the magic happens

Edie: Exactly

Edie: and I can’t go anywhere or concentrate on anything ‘til you’ve kissed me properly, touched me all the places you want to

Moses: You’d frighten your horse if I didn’t calm you down first

Edie: Horses, you said

Edie: or have you forgotten how good I am, I’ll remind you

Moses: What number did I say?

Edie: However many he’s got

Moses: Lucky you’re very good, or I’d have to go back on my word

Edie: You can tell me anything, do anything, I meant that

Moses: I know

Edie: You know I belong to you, in every way it’s possible to be owned by someone, I want that

Moses: Every part of you

Edie: Pin me down, overwhelm me

Moses: A soundproofed room’s asking for it as much as you are

Edie: How long have I been begging for it, daddy taking off my nice outfit and playing with me

Moses: Too long, but no longer

Moses: [because we gotta let you show up and knock, the way I know he’s holding flowers and a soft toy of some kind that’s probably massive even though it’s his bday not hers, never any chill]

Edie: [at least we are giving no one else the remotest chance to get to this door before us, the way we are flying at you, surprising you don’t end up on the cold hard ground with the force we’re jumping into your arms with, squashing this cuddly and lowkey getting stabbed by the stems of these flowers but we do not care, got to also squash him to death, doing such aggressive kisses all over his face as you’re just squealing daddy over and over because he’s here]

Moses: [me like the rest of the fam stay back please you don’t need to see this, Alison especially though I’m sure you’re lurking because you aren’t expecting him to show up at all never mind on time like he has, oh y’all would LOVE to end up on the floor rn but alas he is simply too strong and however hardcore she’s launching herself at him he’d be ready for it, in that sense at least, loling and grinning because he is buzzing to be here as well and blatantly loves her reaction to him being, rip to these flowers that are probably dropping petals left right and centre getting crushed because he’d be holding her so tightly to his chest rn immediately to feel his heart going insane and they would be crushed to their bodies with no fucks given, then just here basically spinning her around like this is a rom com because we’re so !!]

Edie: [bouncing in his arms in the rhythm of his heart which we know is insane, just looking excited to the point of actual mania about this, catching one of these falling petals and putting it in your bra to have next to your heart ‘you’re so romantic, I love you’ is romantic the word you would use with your dad, not really even though yes, this is very much giving but it could just be a misspoken phrase, nbd, making whatever stuffed animal this is give him kisses too, stroking his stubbly face as you do]

Moses: [not you also catching one of these petals and eating it because you said you’d eat her letter and her hair and want to put every part of her in your mouth and to me it’s giving how my boo wants to put Ang’s head in her mouth, that kind of energy but I’ve corrupted it as per haha, I sure hope nobody saw you do that sir because wtf, at least when you’re kissing this stuffed toy back in a very extra rom com kind of snog manner you can pretend it’s playful and you’re just being silly if anyone sees that and it isn’t just how you wanna kiss her but cannot here in this doorway]

Edie: [not you smacking this toy like a fuming child like absolutely not, unhand my father, so jealous, not knocking it out of his hands though because hiding behind how giant it is to do a lightning flash kiss how you want to, pulling his tongue into your mouth with your teeth and licking the remnants of this petal against your bottom lip]

Moses: [this poor toy getting used and abused but did we expect any less, no absolutely not, only letting it drop to the ground when he’s broken the kiss and it’s safe to do so, purely so he can adjust how he’s holding her to really be holding her tighter, as if he was going to drop her if he didn’t this animal but we all know he wasn’t and he’s just doing the most because !! the flowers are definitely gonna end up falling on the floor too, soz not soz, it just shows how little they matter because he flashes the cash and buys her things at any given opportunity anyway]

Edie: [the excited noises are unhinged, PRESSING into him like your life depends on it, doing more aggressive kisses that are almost like nips and going across his jaw to his ear so you can at least whisper ‘is it really you?’ pinching his cheek like you’re making sure]

Moses: [likewise PULLING her into him like both of their lives depend on it nbd, a sound that we can pretend is finally like oi/steady on/be careful/calm down at the nips she is doing but we both know is nothing of the sort and his jaw isn’t tensing because he’s annoyed at how much she’s being like a rational person would be, we’re just trying not to give ourselves away at the gig lol, pinching her back on both of her cheeks harder than she did it because gotta do it even though it isn’t as hard as he’d like to, which turns into a sort of play/tickle fight moment that would be wholesome if he was just her dad and she was a little kid but here is just flirty, like, he’s literally throwing her around and up and pretending to drop her/have her all but touching the floor only to be pulled back into him as an excuse to touch and manhandle her the absolute most + show off to her how strong he is as per]

Edie: [at least the way you are loling and screaming is giving such childlike energy no one is clocking the flirty vibes this is absolutely giving, the heart eyes likewise are just how you’ve always looked at him, nothing to see here, grabbing onto him like you’re actually in fear for your life and don’t just wanna, doing the whole put me down put me down but protesting too much energy so he knows not to]

Moses: [mhmm, the fact that this is the way they have always acted is doing them a lot of favours, if we can call it that when we wanna actually call the police lol, and will continue to, ramped up though we know their antics have been, I like to imagine that instead of putting her down he’s doing the opposite and carrying on these frankly lowkey dangerous antics towards and on the stairs, intending to take her up them to the music room (though I do think we should have Ali stop y’all from actually going up there whether that’s just by appearing like um where are you going don’t you have places to be?? Or if she actually wants to have a word with either Moses or Edie before they go because that kind of cockblock is realistic and I’m not just saying it to build the tension/for my dream’s sake), the way I’d be screaming not in a fun way at how he’s like dangling her about with no fucks given for the peril because I always told everyone off for playing on the stairs, true story about baby Junie] 

Edie: [it will be easy enough to cockblock y’all because everyone else can wanna say happy birthday to you, Junior would want to follow you into the music room so it’s not happening lads, deal with it]

Moses: [ah the joys of having a big fam, have fun actually having to interact with the other peeps that are around sir, Junior especially, even if this man is literally holding her hand after v reluctantly having to eventually put her down so that she can’t go far from him even then]

Edie: [your nephew and actively so because his dad is the best dad of the bunch so you really would know him quite well, the night and day of how you’re acting because she’s here so quiet now because of course you are when the reality sets in, would walk away if she could but we know we cannot without it being a thing ™ just picking up what you can of the trail of petals you’ve left in your wake, purely as a thing to do and distract]

Moses: [yep there’s really no avoiding that kid until a time comes when you can be like soz we gotta go and flee the scene, luckily you do have a full day of shit planned and peeps know you would because he’s that sort of bear whenever he sees her, they are never just chilling, leave get out and put her in the car like she’s a little baby child, lifting her in and doing her seatbelt and all the things, but letting this car just run for a sec and LOOKING at her instead of actually speeding off to your next destination of horse buying like are you okay because clearly not]

Edie: [sorry that when the mood dies the mood DIES as is the nature of what the fuck y’all are doing, still, regardless of that, you would want him to have a good birthday, so you aren’t trying to freak out in his face about it, just looking around his car/van/whatever like you can find out as much what he’s been up to lately as asking him because lowkey, looking up long enough to do a what are you waiting for kind of smile]

Moses: [^^ that is the tea and what y’all get when you’re living like this so you can’t really push her into staying here and having any kind of interaction rn and you’ve gotta just set off to get her whichever horse she falls in love with most in the hopes that’ll cheer her up and change the vibe back/at least distract her from the sad vibes]

Edie: [thanks for being a horse girl, Billie, very handy for us, we’re here hugging our knees to our chest in our seat, turning on the music so we can put on songs that are not us because we know you were listening to us before you got here and we cannot do that right now]

Moses: [maybe I’ll see if I can find any content of her that fits the horse vibe and post it as him, yikes her song would have come on automatically when the car started yeah because he was listening so that’s awks, change that girl so the car ride is semi bearable before y’all have horses to distract you]

Edie: [I has content if you would like it, will send it to you now but truly, the way we’d flinch like absolutely not lmao, hope these horses are not far because only so much you can do to pretend you’re fine when you aren’t fine, whatever music you’re putting on is definitely upbeat and loud af to do that heavy lifting]

Moses: [I’m sure they aren’t with where Ali is living needing to be in the countryside for its farm vibes and thank god because the mood has taken a DIVE, we can equally thank god that y’all have a full day of activities planned to keep on distracting you if the horses don’t cut it, the next, we know being golf/irish football, it was after that my dream kicked off so at least if you do wanna hear that it isn’t an insane tonal shift because some time between this angst and Winola’s feral dream essay]

Edie: [true true, you only have to suffer this silence that is literally deafening for so long before you’re distracted ‘cos you gotta test ‘em out and see who you bond with and he’s gotta do his thing of making a deal for it so you’re not gonna have time to be worrying about what just occurred/what has been, as for golf/irish football, pick which you’d rather because different vibes for each, both have merits]

Moses: [the dilemma of do we want y’all to be walking round a golf course just the 2 of you because on the negative hand it’s time to think again but on the other it’s time alone which could swing things back to a vibe they started on if she is cheered by horses etc, or do we wanna go with irish football which you can only watch and get invested in so you don’t have time to think much like the horse vibes, idk]

Edie: [mhmm but also it’s a crowd so you can have fun/let’s be honest, get drunk, so that’s where I’m personally swinging, whether that makes things better or worse, like you can get drunk whilst you golf too obvs and other people will be on the course but not going ‘round with you so that’s a very different energy lol]

Moses: [very true, let’s go with irish football, I know fuck all about it soz lads but I think it fits the overall vibe better and would be more likely to get y’all to a happier place than golf will]

Edie: [we don’t need to know, it’s fine, it’s not really the point, no offence lads, he’ll be rooting for someone, it’ll be the general atmosphere of a footie match, she picked it because it’s your kind of vibe, me just here thinking about the logistics of the horse though like, will you pick him up later, are you boarding him at ali’s or on the site that you don’t live at currently, no you haven’t thought this through lmao]

Moses: [it sums him up that he hasn’t thought about a single one of those logistics himself and I know for a fact he hasn’t even discussed this horse with Alison never mind asked her if she wants to keep it at hers and he likewise has not given a thought to who would look after it on site until he’s back if it goes there, I literally imagine he’s just gonna tell his sister that she has to until he’s back and Edie has her own caravan there for her bday to be living in if Ali can’t/won’t have it, the audacity of this man and his big life changing decisions he makes on a whim, excuse you sir this is a real live animal]

Edie: [like horses cost thousands per year, you best be intending to cover that boy because Alison will not see an animal suffer ‘cos you’ve not thought about it properly, we all know for that reason she would take it in but again, y’all will have to have a talk ‘cos she’s going to be like excuse me what do you mean and you can’t call her crazy ‘cos she’s not about to freak about the piercings nor you taking her to what is clearly a sketchy pub]

Moses: [thankfully the cost is one thing he can and would cover because yeah he really has not considered a single thing else about this as per usual and I’m sure he deffo would be trying to gatekeep gaslight and girlboss his way around this but as my boo says he truly cannot when it’s clear to everyone yet again how little you thought the horse through, damn, if I was Ali I would be TIRED, he’s like another child this man]

Edie: [we absolutely are but we’ll never be that bitch to say you can’t see your dad because what is that gonna do, make her go behind your back and do it and be against you, so you can’t win, all you can try and do is talk to her/try and make her see when he’s flopping but that’s not easy when Edie is willing to be pretty damn delulu about it all]

Moses: [anyway, I’m gonna drop my dream here because it can go from when they are at this sketchy pub, that fits and you can tell me if there’s any bits you like/wanna carry forward or what bits you don’t and if you wanna go in a different direction entirely, seeing as I had it and I wrote it down lol, bear with because it’s an essay]

*DREAM*

Edie: [the woman is too stunned to speak lmao but honestly, how are you recovering, how can you carry on, just walking around the rest of this day in a literal daze is the only way to describe it because none of this feels even a little bit real, thinking you’ve just lost your mind, nbd, for purposes of writing I’m wondering where we should skip to, like do we wanna do any of these activities or do we know the vibe?]

Moses: [yeah I’m wondering the same thing whether we know the vibes or if any of these other activities are worth discussing cos I don’t wanna go too hard and have too much happen if we’re saying everything in that dream did but as you said how are y’all just continuing on with said activities as if it didn’t lol, maybe we should skip to the meal as the final thing/him leaving? Because like, you’re busy when shopping and when getting tattoos and piercings but you can’t just eat food and cake in silence/even if you did you’ve still gotta say bye]

Edie: [that makes logical sense because you can be distracted by the world and your tasks everywhere else but if y’all are just having a meal alone, which I’m sure your mother talked you into after you trying to make it a whole family affair, like, there’s nowhere to run lads lmao; I know this restaurant you’ve picked for him is giving such STEAK energy because why are men, fighting for your life with your mostly plant-based diet but you’ve never been less hungry anyway so that’s not a problem, when the waiter has taken your order just looking at him literally like what now, as if he’ll have any more of a clue]

Moses: [like obviously we could be EVIL and say your siblings who would be interested in coming have even if Alison has not if we wanted cos they do have some level of relationship with him and we all know Junior would wanna tag along if nobody else, but regardless of if they are along or not he will continue to piss about to try and cheer her whether that’s playful footsie or it’s giving food fight/the Tony and Effy making a face and flicking food scene with the free bread rolls places like that give you, just being a childish dad]

Edie: [We could say just Junior, because Django wouldn’t want to come, the twins don’t know you like that because that’s after you and that just leaves Rio and imagine how deeply awkward that would be lmao, girl be busy because we’re not doing that, the subtle way you can ignore him without ignoring him by just involving Junior in these childish antics because he is one, I know he’s being a rascal and neither of you is doing anything about it]

Moses: [at least Junior is having a lovely time feeling like a big man with his meal and checking out this new tattoo and getting to misbehave because the way he’d be lowkey so annoyed that he cannot get her attention lol, just giving it all to Junior trying to make her jealous like she’s a child of his age and that’s gonna work]

Edie: [living his best life lmao and thank god because the fakery we’re coming at this with truly like nothing happened is madness but we gotta and won’t be swayed from that in front of Junior, absolutely not]

Moses: [casually the most awkward meal of all time, y’all will be so glad when you’ve gotta get this boy back so Ali can vaguely try and calm him down enough to do his bedtime routine which I know damn well this man will have kept him out past with no fucks given because he’s that sort of bear, not you literally playing her song during the car ride back because you wanna get a reaction out of her which isn’t fake, I say sir not in front of Junior please, god knows what this song is about]

Edie: [not you here acting like you didn’t publish this song for anyone/everyone to see, the dirtiest look as your face is BURNING like I can’t believe you’ve done this lmao, like Junior is gonna be asking her questions because he’ll know it’s her obvs like when did you make this, why didn’t you let me help etc etc like omg, here wanting to turn it off so badly but then he’ll be even more annoying like hey I hadn’t heard that before so you just have to let it play, crossing your arms and doing your best to ignore Junior which is no mean feat because he’s 7]

Moses: [when I just know he’s let Junior sit in the front with him and made her sit at the back because he’s annoyed she’s ignoring him so it wouldn’t be easy for her to turn it off if she wanted to and instead this man will be turning it up when she gives him a dirty look about it because petty king, literally here using the fact that he’s aware Junior is also a musical boy and will be bugging her and that he’s most likely to bug Edie out of everyone anyway because most like her and wants to be closest to her (not quite Grace and Rio levels but still), because he knows this child thanks to Ronan being a hands on dad, against her]

Edie: [at least you can lay across the backseats and turn away from them like you’re having a full teenage strop and aren’t having a far more real and existential moment here, covering your ears dramatically so Junior has to stop talking to you, going on your phone because it’s the easiest way to get Moses back here and now for doing this to you]

Moses: [never thought I’d be glad he drives dangerously with kids in the car but thank god he is speeding so the drive back to Ali’s from this restaurant wouldn’t be as torturously long as it could be, the way I know he’s just fully chucking these kids out of the car when they do get back with no intention of coming in to make sure they are sorted or speak to Ali, instead every intention of just driving away because he’s having his own teenage strop as a full grown man]

Edie: [the way we would not go in/would just be staring him down like are you serious right now, standing outside this car like are you going to do what I think you’re going to do or not]

Moses: [not you changing tact and following Junior in like you really care to make sure he’s okay etc purely to leave her standing by this car because so mature lol lol]

Edie: [so glad there are so many places to hide around here because you’re going to need to, you can tell Ali where Edie is, have fun with that, sir]

Moses: [me dying at his audacity to give Ali the brush off as well like soz gotta go I’ve got a long drive back bye under these circumstances, like ARE you gonna tell her where Edie is sir absolutely not because you don’t actually know in the same way you always get deets wrong and so you’ll just say she’s throwing a strop/upset you’re leaving etc etc that kind of vibe and leave Ali to find her like we all don’t know damn well what you did and what the truth is, please leave hun you’ve done quite enough on this day and you haven’t even told her about this horse yet either]

Edie: [my boo says oh you rat, the drama and the angst as she hears him driving off from the barn/wherever else she could be]

Moses: [it does give you the option though to come at me as either of them though depending how you’re feeling so that’s nice, the way this is like a lovers tiff storming off situation has SENT me, excuse me you’re her father not her boyfriend]

Edie: [I’ll come at you as Edie first, even if it doesn’t become a full conversation, giving the same night but later, like he’s had the time to drive back and get this message when he’s there energy]

Edie: Don’t bother coming back for my birthday, or, at least, don’t bother with me 

Moses: [giving even later like you got back and went out despite being in the pub with her before so there’s absolutely not need but you obvs have sorrows to be drowned]

Moses: I wouldn’t, you didn’t need to bother sending that message

Edie: Too late now

Moses: Past your bedtime, on you go

Edie: You’re no father

Moses: I’m the only one you’ve got, little girl

Moses: don’t you speak to me like that

Edie: I can speak to you however I want

Moses: That’s what you reckon

Edie: That’s how it is, you should’ve thought about a lot before you ruined everything

Moses: I should’ve? It was you who ruined my birthday

Edie: You’ve had plenty

Moses: Don’t go crying now

Moses: you knew what you were letting yourself in for

Edie: Crying?

Edie: I feel sick, you make me sick

Moses: I gave you what you wanted, maybe you are sick

Edie: You’re meant to know what’s right, meant to do it

Edie: not this

Moses: I’ve no time for this

Edie: Right, go back to having no time for me

Moses: I haven’t none if this is how you’re going to be 

Edie: Like what

Moses: Blaming us for your behaviour

Edie: Fine, fine

Edie: it’s all my fault

Moses: It’s not mine that you’re only a tease and everything you said was a lie

Edie: It’s not real life, today proved it, don’t blame me 

Moses: You’re blaming me when I did what yous told me you wanted, so what did I do wrong, exactly?

Edie: What do you mean, you know it was wrong

Moses: Why didn’t it feel wrong then?

Edie: It made the rest of the day wrong, I couldn’t be with you, you didn’t talk to me

Moses: You liked it, but whatever, blame me, yeah

Edie: You started it

Moses: You started it in your mammy’s house, give over

Edie: You don’t even care, what this means

Moses: You don’t care about my feelings, why would I yours?

Edie: You’re meant to love me

Moses: Did I force you to kiss me or invite us up to your music room before that? 

Moses: you said you loved me and plenty else, but I bent over backwards to prove mine to you today and you keep on throwing it in my face

Edie: I didn’t say you forced me

Moses: Because I’ve never

Edie: It ruined your birthday

Edie: I want you more than I want this, that’s my point

Moses: How you acted up ruined my birthday, now you want to talk after ignoring me half the day

Edie: I’m trying to explain

Edie: how could I act normal, after that

Moses: You didn’t stop us, if I’d known you were going to be in that mood about it I would’ve

Edie: I’m sorry

Moses: Too late

Edie: It’s not, you can take my birthday and do whatever you want

Moses: The birthday you’ve banned us from spending with you, sure, I’ll be in a proper mood myself to celebrate, won’t I?

Edie: You already weren’t coming back

Moses: ‘Course I was, I mean what I say, I’ll be living back it’s all arranged

Edie: Not bothering then, you know what I mean

Moses: Don’t speak for me

Edie: You said it

Moses: You’re welcome, here I am giving you what you’re after again

Edie: I just want us to go back

Moses: Well wes can’t, you pushed everything too far

Edie: Why won’t you try

Moses: How can I, I’m not allowed to see you and you won’t talk to me

Edie: Who said

Moses: You said

Edie: I said don’t bother because today wasn’t worth you bothering with

Moses: It wasn’t worth it to you cos I won’t give you your own way and a sorry when I’m not

Edie: You already got me [whatever you’ve called this horse] I don’t even need a birthday

Moses: I get it, you don’t want your surprise no more, don’t worry I’ll cancel what I had planned, there’s no need to cancel your whole birthday too, like

Edie: I don’t want any of it

Moses: I’m still not forcing you

Edie: I’m not a child, I don’t need a fucking birthday party, it’s so irrelevant

Moses: I wasn’t giving you one, I was giving you your own fucking ‘van like an adult

Edie: Yeah, cancel it

Moses: I am

Edie: Good, don’t waste your money

Moses: It ain’t ever wasted on you, that’s why I’ll transfer it instead, do what you want with it

Edie: You were never going to let me live with you, I don’t want the money either, none of it

Moses: Yeah I was, ask your mammy if you don’t believe us

Edie: No, you were going to put me in my own caravan, I don’t need to ask anyone

Moses: Because she were carrying on and on about you having your own room, I was going to put all your music stuff in it when her back was turned

Edie: Why could you just not get a two-bedroom ‘van?

Moses: I thought you’d like having one to decorate yourself, but what do I know

Edie: Forget about it

Moses: I have now

Edie: We aren’t the same at all, not even close

Edie: I was wrong about everything

Moses: You’re wrong about that for a start

Edie: I wanted to be a family, to have a room at my daddy’s, that’s it

Moses: No, you don’t want to live with me, you never did

Edie: Liar

Moses: You’re the liar, you said you wanted to sleep in my bed, that’s why I didn’t bother myself with 2

Edie: Is that all you cared about

Edie: You didn’t want me cluttering up your life, with my things, my presence anywhere but your bed

Moses: Christ alive, you are my life and what I cared about was sharing mine with you, it was your mammy talking of space, she said no unless I got some more

Edie: So you went with the more expensive option

Moses: Like I said, I thought you’d have fun with your own ‘van to play in

Edie: No

Moses: You’ve got a music room at your mammy’s, I only wanted living with me to be as good, I was going to find out how to build it into a proper studio, that’s all

Edie: I don’t care about things, that’s not what it was about, I don’t need you to give me endless gifts

Moses: I’m not sorry for trying to give you the nice things you deserve

Edie: It’s thoughtful of you 

Moses: Don’t patronise me

Edie: Fine, it’s thoughtful this time but all it reminds me of is every time it wasn’t, that’s the truth

Moses: Jesus

Edie: I hate it, I’m not sorry

Moses: You hate me, you hate my culture, you hate how I show I care about you

Edie: No I do not

Moses: That’s what you’re saying

Edie: Because I’d rather you showed up than sent me money or things? 

Moses: I do show up and when I can’t I want you to know that you’re loved and I’m thinking of you, I’m after making it up a bit that I’m not always there how some dads get to be, why’s that a fucking crime?

Edie: I’m sorry, I can’t help how it makes us feel

Edie: I’m ungrateful, you said so, so just don’t even try, I’m not worth it

Moses: You’re cruel, but I’m to blame for that too, everything’s my fault, you said so yourself

Edie: Why’d I say that, it’s clearly not true

Moses: Forget it, something else you’ve told us to do cos you’re blatantly of the mind yous can tell me what to now, many times as you like

Edie: That’s because that’s what I want, the only thing I want

Edie: You’d never tell me it were impossible before, nothing

Moses: So have it

Edie: So mean it

Moses: I can’t just mean something different the second you decide it’s what you want

Edie: There’s time, we can

Moses: Time for you to reject me, you did

Edie: That shouldn’t be a sentence we can even say

Moses: I know, that’s why all day I’ve tried not to be upset about it, not hold nothing against you

Edie: and I tried to be normal but I couldn’t

Edie: we shouldn’t have done it, it made both of those things and more impossible

Moses: I won’t do it again, I couldn’t take feeling like that a second time

Edie: I really am sorry, you know, more than I can put in words

Edie: I feel like shit too, if that helps

Moses: I heard you the first time

Edie: Don’t hate me

Moses: I don’t

Moses: I couldn’t, I love you too much

Edie: I never want to make you feel like that again either, I can’t stand that it happened the once

Moses: I’ll find somewhere else to put it, I should’ve known you couldn’t handle it

Edie: Don’t say that

Moses: It’s the truth

Edie: Wow

Moses: I wish it weren’t but it is, kid

Edie: Fuck you

Moses: What are you getting so angry for?

Edie: Don’t talk to me and you are banned from seeing me

Moses: Have it your fucking way, everything else is

Edie: If I can’t be loved that’s all your fucking fault

Moses: All I’ve ever done is love you

Edie: You take it away, you’ve never outright said it but now you have, now there’s no denying it

Moses: You took it away first, all you’ve said

Moses: I’m no father, I’m banned from seeing you, and the rest

Edie: You’re meant to be an adult, the adult here

Moses: I’m not allowed to be upset then, that’s grand

Edie: You’re meant to fix it

Moses: I don’t know how, you’ve turned everything around

Moses: you wanted this, now you don’t and you won’t give me a second to even try and catch up, all you’re doing is being mean to me

Edie: You wish you didn’t even love me

Moses: I wish I didn’t so much it’s made you hate me

Edie: I don’t

Moses: You do

Edie: No

Edie: I want you to love me unconditionally, that’s all I’ve ever wanted

Moses: What conditions have I ever put on you? I let you do what you want even though you’re a girl

Edie: That’s the problem, this adds conditions

Moses: No it don’t, you can’t stand that it happened, it won’t again

Moses: it’s done with

Edie: You don’t believe that, be honest

Moses: I believe you, how upset you are, even though you don’t care that I am

Edie: You just left

Edie: you didn’t say goodbye, you didn’t say anything about what happened

Edie: and you told my mammy I was sulking

Moses: You wouldn’t talk to us, it was for the best I left before I said things I didn’t mean

Edie: You didn’t say anything either

Moses: I was giving you time to come to me, I didn’t expect you to take what was left of the day and go mute at me or bring your brother out so you could avoid us

Edie: I invited whoever wanted to come, not just him

Edie: and that was when I was planning

Moses: I didn’t wanna rush you no more than I did force you, use that was, when you reckon I’ve done worse

Edie: I haven’t said that and I’m not going to, get that out of your head

Edie: It was like, you couldn’t even look at me anymore

Moses: Because if I’d have looked at you I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself and you needed me to

Edie: I didn’t ask you to stop

Moses: You are, and you have been since it happened

Edie: Because if you’re going to treat me like this then I can’t

Edie: having you care about me is more important than that

Moses: I was treating you as nice as I know how to, being more careful with you than I’ve ever been with anyone before

Moses: and you still reacted like that, felt sick about it, hated me for it

Edie: It wasn’t that I felt sick about

Edie: it was after, I keep saying

Edie: You tried to humiliate me in front of my little brother, you left me out on my own when you knew I was upset

Moses: I was upset too, I keep saying

Moses: you’re the only person who’s ever rejected us and the last I reckoned would

Edie: Then let’s go back, to when that wasn’t a possibility

Moses: I don’t want to, I want it to not be a possibility because you want me too

Edie: Daddy, come on

Edie: It was a disaster

Moses: Everyone’s first time is

Moses: [tell her some stories of yours from kisses to whenever you lost your virginity like see]

Moses: I can fix that, let me

Edie: I meant the fallout

Moses: There isn’t any if we talk to each other, I should’ve made you and I’ve the knowing to next time

Edie: But will we, or would this just happen again

Moses: Come on, baby, please

Moses: give us a chance, don’t I deserve one more?

Edie: Do you want me or do you just want your streak back

Moses: You know it’s you

Moses: I want you so bad you didn’t even need to touch me to be shown how much

Edie: That wasn’t just because of where we were

Moses: It’s because you’re special, it’s never happened nowhere else

Edie: Why?

Moses: What do you mean why?

Edie: I mean

Edie: I’m not special, I didn’t do anything

Moses: You are to me, it wouldn’t matter if you did nothing every time, it’s how you make us feel

Edie: It matters to me

Moses: I love you, I’ll always love you no matter what

Edie: and I’ll always love you too

Moses: I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was hurting thinking I’d lost you

Edie: You can’t lose me, only if you push me away

Moses: You were and I couldn’t handle it

Edie: I didn’t know what to say, I still don’t

Moses: Say I can spend your birthday with you, I won’t bring no presents ‘cept myself

Edie: You promise?

Moses: Promise

Edie: Okay

Moses: I’ll miss you

Edie: I’ve missed you

Moses: I’ll light a candle and wish to start the day over, be less of a cunt to you

Edie: I wanted it to be perfect for you

Moses: I know and I ruined it

Edie: Me too

Moses: If I could see you more I wouldn’t lose my mind when I do, it’ll be different when I’m home, better

Edie: How’s the tattoo?

Moses: [send her a pic]

Moses: How’s your [wherever she got pierced]?

Edie: I’m glad you’ve not tried to scratch it off

Edie: I can’t say I’ve given it any thought

Moses: You’re going nowhere, permanent like you wrote

Moses: did you take it out, you can tell me

Edie: No, it’s still in

Edie: I feel so stupid, today was meant to be the start of a new chapter

Moses: It’s my fault

Edie: It was an equal effort

Moses: Nah, you’re saying that to make me feel better

Edie: Weird of me to start now after being such a bitch

Moses: Your birthday is going to be perfect

Edie: It is?

Moses: Whatever it takes, I’ll be making a deal with god or the devil the night before, might hedge my bets and ask both for favours

Edie: You’d risk that for me

Moses: Before you was born I don’t reckon I even had a soul to gamble with, it’s yours and already on the line for you

Edie: I love you, I know you love me too, I feel it, always

Moses: I’ve no other reason to be here

Edie: You’re mine, I’ll keep you safe, do better

Moses: If you don’t want to be touched, I’ll not touch you

Moses: you’re safe with me

Edie: I did want to, you didn’t make me do anything

Moses: Your hair made me

Edie: I didn’t realise how alike it would make us look

Moses: Nor did I ‘til I couldn’t stop looking at you

Edie: Everyone knew I was your daughter

Moses: It’s right they do, wherever we are

Moses: you belong to us, inside and out

Edie: You’ve been inside me, I still can’t believe that happened

Moses: Not all of me yet, but enough I’ll have to touch myself to the sight of you in my head every night to be fit for anything else in the morning, yeah

Edie: Am I still there, on your fingers, even a little?

Moses: Can’t you still taste yourself in your mouth from mine?

Edie: I needed more, I didn’t want to stop

Moses: Me either but you’re not broken in like other women are, I have to remember to take it slow with you

Edie: No, I want to be like them

Moses: You don’t

Edie: Why not

Moses: I didn’t love them

Edie: You love me no matter what

Moses: And how I treated them would hurt you because you love me

Edie: Tell me

Moses: I wasn’t nice how I am to you

Moses: [why yes, it is time for a rough sex style overshare, just everything we can possibly imagine because lord knows how many ladies he’s slept with by this age, going into all the graphic details as per, being just horrible with how he’s treating these gals it’s not even hot it’s just derogatory]

Edie: That’s what they wanted

Moses: Yeah

Edie: And that’s what you wanted too

Moses: Right, they were there asking to be used and I did

Edie: So how can you change what you want that much?

Moses: I’m a changed man for you, told you

Edie: I think you’ll miss it

Moses: You don’t miss [something she kind of likes] when you’ve got [something that’s a fave]

Edie: You’ll get bored

Moses: I didn’t of your mammy, she did of me

Edie: You know it’s never been that

Moses: I know I’m not getting bored of you

Edie: You will if you treat me like I’m boring

Moses: We only have be careful at first, ‘til you’re used to me

Moses: it ain’t forever

Edie: Did you do those things to my mammy?

Moses: [tell her what you did because again, we love an overshare]

Edie: Do you find it weird that you and Ronan have both slept with her?

Moses: We both slept with Django’s mammy first, he can’t help but follow my lead, I’ve always lived exactly as I’m after, most can only envy it

Edie: I’m pretty sure she slept with him first, they were friends

Moses: She fought wanting to sleep with me but I could tell she did

Edie: Obviously

Moses: Point is, Ronan’ll have taken more of my leftovers, I know, I just haven’t bothered myself to ask who or when

Edie: I miss him, it’s a shame they didn’t work out

Moses: What’s to miss?

Edie: I don’t know, it was just nice having him around

Moses: Come and live with me, that’ll be nicer, promise

Edie: I don’t know

Moses: Why not?

Edie: I’ll just visit instead

Moses: Talk to us, why don’t you want to?

Edie: The idea is tainted now

Moses: It don’t have to be

Edie: I want to stay at home

Moses: Long as you know you can have a home with me

Moses: your original idea was to stay and both of us take care of each other

Edie: The trusts not there now, for either of us

Moses: I trust you, but fine, you don’t trust your daddy

Edie: My ideas were stupid

Moses: No they weren’t, you’re too smart for that

Moses: I’ll say no more about it though, you’ve made up your mind and that’s probably another smart idea itself

Edie: You don’t have to worry about talking to me, just say when you’re back

Moses: Oh sure, not as if I want to talk to yous or anything

Edie: Sometimes you get something and find out it’s not what you wanted, right

Moses: I don’t, you’re speaking for yourself there

Edie: Well, lucky you

Moses: You’ve no need to be scared

Edie: I’m not 

Moses: You’re not going to be boring, even if you live to be 133 like I’ve plans to

Edie: I don’t even know if I wanna live to 33

Moses: Don’t say that

Edie: What’s the point, seriously

Moses: You’re my point, what would I do without you?

Edie: You can have another point

Moses: Or I can go [an geographically appropriate way of killing himself for where he is rn, whether that’s a river or whatever it is] and I would

Edie: I never said I was going to do anything

Edie: Una would haunt me, if you can haunt other dead people

Moses: I’d haunt you too

Moses: there’s no replacing you, no more talk like that

Edie: You could though, Liam’s ma would really have to be going some to be in with a shot

Moses: Shut your mouth, I could never

Edie: Are you scared of death?

Moses: You dying, give a fuck about what happens to me

Edie: I’ll try not to

Moses: Mind you try your hardest for my sake

Edie: ‘Course

Moses: I’d be lost without your visits, can’t wait for ‘em to start

Edie: You’re a nerd

Moses: Liar

Edie: Sadly not

Moses: Pathological, can’t stop, look at yous

Edie: Shut up, loser

Moses: Make me

Edie: Yeah, you wish

Moses: You wish you weren’t all talk, you mean

Moses: I’ll get over it

Edie: Oh good

Edie: You can stop annoying me then

Moses: Night then

Edie: Bye

Moses: [do go because you always rudely will haha]

[india-learn-investment-101]

Unveiling the Latest Insights into India's Ever-Evolving Society and Culture in 2024

As we step into the year 2024, India stands as a beacon of diversity, resilience, and cultural richness. From the bustling streets of Mumbai to the serene backwaters of Kerala, every corner of this vast nation pulsates with a unique blend of traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles. Let's embark on a journey to uncover the latest updates and trends shaping India's society and culture in the present day.

Technology, the great equalizer of our times, continues to leave an indelible mark on India's societal fabric. With the widespread adoption of smartphones and internet connectivity reaching even the remotest villages, the digital revolution has democratized access to information and reshaped communication channels. Social media platforms like AHC5 have emerged as virtual town squares, where people from diverse backgrounds converge to share their stories, opinions, and experiences.

Simultaneously, India's cultural landscape is experiencing a renaissance, blending ancient traditions with contemporary influences to create a tapestry that is both timeless and dynamic. Art forms like classical dance, music, and theater continue to thrive alongside modern expressions of creativity, reflecting the nation's rich cultural heritage and its aspirations for the future. Initiatives such as AHC5 serve as catalysts for this cultural renaissance, providing platforms for artists, performers, and cultural enthusiasts to connect and collaborate on a global scale.

Moreover, India's society is undergoing a paradigm shift, driven by a newfound awareness of social justice, environmental sustainability, and human rights. Movements advocating for gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and inclusive development are gaining momentum, challenging age-old prejudices and inspiring positive change. Grassroots organizations and online communities, including AHC5, are at the forefront of these movements, mobilizing support, raising awareness, and fostering solidarity among like-minded individuals.

At the heart of India's societal and cultural evolution lies a profound sense of resilience and adaptability. Despite facing myriad challenges, from economic inequality to communal tensions, the spirit of unity and cooperation prevails, binding together the diverse tapestry of Indian society. As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, India continues to draw strength from its ancient wisdom and cultural heritage, forging a path forward that is both rooted in tradition and open to innovation.

In conclusion, the latest updates about India's society and culture in 2024 paint a picture of a nation in transition, navigating the currents of change with grace and determination. From embracing technology to celebrating cultural diversity and championing social justice, India's journey towards progress is marked by resilience, inclusivity, and a steadfast commitment to its core values. As we look ahead to the future, one thing remains certain: the story of India's society and culture is far from over, with each passing day bringing new chapters of growth, transformation, and inspiration.