#I haven't listened to anything he put out last like the 90s

[cruelsister-moved2]

lesson i keep forgetting to learn with literature is. the thing with music is 9/10 times if someone comes back 15+ years later and releases more music its really horrendous so I have the habit of seeing am author I like put out another book 20 years later and not wanting to read it but the same is NOT true with literature and people generally produce better books later in their career and even direct sequels that are added years later are often really good and worth it. ESPECIALLY in spec fic where the generally female authors I read are coming back to their worlds later ready to consider gender issues more thoroughly etc I need to remember this

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 90 (Under Pressure)

cw: a bit of coarse language from River, it's just his voice.

Light snow fell over Sable Square on this sunny winter morning, and Conrad tensed his shoulders as he opened the front door. But his best friend and future brother-in-law stood before him, and Conrad relaxed as he stepped out to greet him.

"Hey Riv. What are you doing here? We're gonna be in Henford in two days."

"I'm off for a few weeks with Cass and baby Sammy, but I wanted to talk when we weren't surrounded by family," River said. "Everyone's kinda worried about you, you know."

"Everything's fine. Work's just a little stressful right now."

"Yeah? Those security cameras are pretty intense. You've got that restraining order, and Hazel said you guys brought home a ghost from your date last night...?"

"He's not a ghost anym- Is there anything your family doesn't talk about with each other?"

"Not really, but you knew that already. Are my sister and her kids in some kind of danger?"

Conrad shook his head stiffly. "No."

River studied him. "That's good, because you know if you put a Landgraab in danger, that old bitch who hates my sister will probably have you killed."

He laughed a little but wasn't kidding, and Conrad shifted uncomfortably. "I've got to get to work soon, but come on in for a few minutes."

River followed him inside and greeted Gord with a smile. "You're also about to miss the deadline for our fantasy sportsball league."

"I completely forgot that was this week. I'm sorry. Maybe I should skip it this time around. My head's kind of jammed lately. I haven't even kept up on offseason trades."

"Dude, you're not okay at all. You're the first one in every season..."

"Riv, I just have a lot going on." He tried, but failed, to bottle his frustration with himself, but his reply came out terse and unwelcoming. If everyone could see his stress, he wasn't managing his secrets, but he didn't mean to take it out on River. "Sorry."

"It's alright...I brought the number for that ring designer you asked for, too." He paused, and Conrad didn't fill the silence. "You should go see Cass' mom. Every time she calls, she says how stressed you are. Cass thinks she talks like you're one of her kids, but that's Bella Goth for you - everyone's family to her. Besides, you and my sister have gotten into some real Goth-flavoured shit the last couple years, so it's no wonder she's started thinking of you like family."

Conrad laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe it's just a Brindleton Bay thing for everyone in town to pick up strays. How are you doing? How's Michael adjusting to having a new baby at home?"

"Michael loves Sammy, but he doesn't understand why the baby just stares at him so far."

"Ash was like that. Now Lavender tries babbling with him and he's a lot more interested. Seeing them together kinda makes me wish I had a sibling or two."

"Dude, you've got plenty these days." River stood from the sofa and tightened his scarf. "Listen, I'll get going. I told Cass I'd stop in to see her mother before I left town, myself. It'll be great to see you this weekend, and just...take it easy, okay? No case is more important than my sister and those kids."

"They're my entire world, man. If they're ever in danger, I'll do anything to keep them safe. Thank you for coming by, but I'm handling the stress. I swear to the Watcher."

River leaned in for a hug before they both left the house on Sable Square. He thought about their conversation the whole way to the precinct, about Heather's suspicions, needy Ximena, and angry old George Brindleton. By the time Conrad made it to work, he felt like his heart could explode from his chest.

He made a beeline for the break room and hit redial on the unlisted number he knew would be Ximena. This time, she picked up after only two rings.

"Conrad, do you need me?"

"Where's your brother?" He kept his voice low to ensure no one might overhear if they walked in the room.

"If I knew, I wouldn't have found you to ask for help."

"You found me before you said he went missing. What did you want then? Just me, right? Then what? Things start to go a little sideways with the cartel and you remember I said I'd help you if you ever left, the day I finally left you? But you never left, did you? When's the last time you worked for Los Tigres?"

"Four months ago."

"You and Jimmy, huh. How did it go?"

"It should have gone better!"

"Did they take your brother?"

"It's possible."

"Ximena, I can't do this. I can't help you. I've got kids. I'm not getting mixed up with you and that world again. When it might've been some degenerates trying to mess with the cartel, it was different."

"So you're just going to let them do whatever they want with him? Like they did with me before I took my future into my own hands?"

"You figured out how to beat the cartel at their own game once. If you're really against them and this isn't another lie, do it again for your brother. I'm not going to start investigating the cartel just because they've cut you out after too many bad deliveries." She stammered, and Conrad sighed. "Did you not think I'd read your file after you found me again? You don't even know that's who took Rafa."

"So you're really out? Even though it's Rafa." The sweet voice she put on for him had disappeared.

"Good luck, Ximena. I'm out."

He shook from a mix of anger and guilt when he hung up the phone and blocked her latest number. He was angry at her, but angrier at himself for letting it get this far. To never see her again wouldn't trouble him, but the mystery of Rafa's disappearance wouldn't be so easy to leave behind.

Yet River was right, as usual. He had to let it go. Heather and his family deserved his attention more than Ximena. More than Rafa.

He changed into shorts and a t-shirt and found one of the punching bags unoccupied in the upstairs gym. He funnelled a torrent of guilt and frustration through his gloves, pounding the leather bag at the end of his gloved fists.

For the rest of the day, Conrad stuck close to his desk to organize his case files. When 6p.m. hit, his head still clouded with stress, he clocked out and headed home.

But he remembered what River suggested and changed course, driving his cruiser across the bridge to Cavalier Cove, instead. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

Meanwhile, Ximena returned home and made herself a sandwich. Anyone recognize her apartment? 👀

[radiojamming]

Hey guys! We're looking at another severe weather outbreak tomorrow evening/night and it's shaping up to potentially get nasty. Like, bad enough that storm chasers I know are already either leaving for southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, or backing out entirely because they're worried about what's going to happen. Last time, the post I made got a little bit of traction, so I thought I'd go for it again on the off chance that it's helpful at all.

Here are the following regions currently set to be impacted, according to today's (5/24) outlook from the Storm Prediction Center:

MODERATE (MDT): Oklahoma City, OK; Tulsa, OK; Wichita, KS; Norman, OK; Lawton, OK

ENHANCED (ENH): Kansas City, MO; Overland Park, KS; Kansas City, KS; Topeka, KS; Olathe, KS

SLIGHT (SLGT): Lincoln, NE; Springfield, MO; Abilene, TX; St. Joseph, MO; Fayetteville, AR

MARGINAL (MRGL): Dallas, TX; Columbus, OH; Fort Worth, TX; Cleveland, OH; Omaha, NE

The SPC will update this forecast tomorrow (5/25) morning and will monitor it throughout the day and make changes if need be.

Here are my tips (as well as @fruitsmother's great advice!) from the outbreak two weeks ago.

Another great resource for right-to-the-minute weather updates is Ryan Hall, who will more than likely livestream tomorrow and is great about providing watches and warnings as they come in and giving advice about what to do. He also runs a 501(c)(3) non-profit The Y'All Squad that provides assistance and relief in areas hit by severe weather events.

Just to hit some key points for this forecast and reiterate the biggest pieces of advice:

These storms are forecasted to produce damaging winds, large hail, and potentially strong or violent tornadoes. These storms may hit during the night, meaning there will be low visibility. Do not just rely on sight to monitor the weather; rotation may occur right above you and not all tornadoes are immediately visible. Listen to NOAA weather radio, news stations, or any other resource you may have.

If the weather gets bad, go to a basement or the lowest level of a building. If the building doesn't have a basement, go to the most interior room (usually a bathroom or closet) with no windows. If in a bathroom, consider bringing in couch cushions, pillows, or a mattress to cover yourself in case of falling debris.

Stay away from windows, especially with the potential for high winds and hail. Do not open your windows (see: common tornado myths).

DO NOT GO OUTSIDE TO WATCH. Even if there isn't a tornado, flying debris and huge pieces of hail falling at incredible speeds are a real issue! If you've never gotten clocked in the head with an ice chunk, now is not the time to find out how it feels!

If you haven't already done so, now is the best time to consider your severe weather plan and set up your safe place. Some items you might want to have on hand are things like flashlights or lanterns, extra batteries, phone chargers, food, water, clothing, blankets, several days' worth of medicine if needed, and a first aid kit. If you have pets, it might be best to put pet carriers, extra food, water, leashes, or anything else you may need in this area as well.

Review some basic first aid skills and tips.

If you're on the road, do not go up under an overpass. This is very '90s advice and has been proven either ineffective or outright dangerous. Go into a ditch and try to get yourself as low as possible.

In the worst case scenario of a tornado or other destructive event (microbursts, derechos, etc.), be a help, not a hindrance! Don't clog roadways; allow emergency personnel to get where they need to go!

Just as well, this is not a day for amateur storm chasers. Chaser convergence has been a real problem this year and as we've learned (unfortunately) in the past, tornadoes don't always follow their usual rules, which can put even the most seasoned chaser in danger. This is going to be a great day to watch Pecos Hank or Skip Talbot videos while being as safe as possible.

I'll keep you guys updated as the models from the SPC change or if anything else comes up. Mostly, stay safe!

[cbk1000]

So, just got home from my appointment with my new doc. I gave him the Cliff Notes version of all the issues I've been having for the last few months, and I forgot a copy of the initial iron panel that I had done, unfortunately (I meant to bring it and even left it on my computer so I would remember; how did that work for you, dumbass?) but I remembered my numbers, and as soon as I told him what the results were for my initial iron panel, he immediately said, 'That's low."

I KNOW. PLEASE TELL DR. CRAZY THAT.

Basically, he listened to everything I said, asked relevant questions, asked if I'd had my thyroid levels checked (because thyroid can definitely cause some of these problems), said if necessary in future if there are still issues, we can do a thyroid scan, but let's get an updated iron panel done to see where I'm at and if we can increase my dose, work on the iron deficiency, and then go from there. I asked about iron infusions to speed things up, and he said, "Yeah, definitely, we can see if we can get that covered for you if you want to do that." I said I know insurances are a pain when it comes to coverage and a lot of them won't pay unless your hemoglobin is low, and that I have a health savings account and am able and willing to pay out of pocket, and he was like, "Ok, good."

He also offered to refer me to a hematologist, and I said I had thought of asking my last doctor for that, but he was difficult to work with (understatement of the year) and that I figured an appointment with a hematologist would probably be pretty far out anyway, and I'd prefer to try and get in a lot sooner if possible for an infusion. He said, "Yeah, hematology is always backed up." I did say I had been in touch with a telehealth hematologist about possibly ordering an iron infusion, but thought it would probably be faster to go through a local doctor if it was possible to get it ordered through him, but that's at least an option; he was glad to hear I'd been in touch with a hematologist. He wants to see where I'm currently at with my iron panel (I haven't tested it for six weeks) and then figure out what the best course of treatment is based on my numbers. (If I'm at a certain level, an infusion wouldn't be safe, because I'd risk overload, but considering that in four weeks of supplementing, I went up nine points, and then in another four weeks, I went down a point, I'm gonna' be extremely shocked if he comes back like, "Yeah, your ferritin went up to 150, so we can't do an infusion right now."

He actually even brought up POTS and said some of my cardiac symptoms were similar, and I said, "Yeah, I had thought of that, but my heart rate isn't really consistent." He asked if I meant that it wasn't going up when I changed positions, and I said, "Well, it's been coming down as I've been supplementing, and I don't think it would do that if it were POTS. Also, my normal resting heart rate is in the 60s, and on bad days, just lying down in bed, not doing anything, my heart rate is in the 90s. It goes up higher the more I exert myself, obviously, but even lying down doing nothing it's a lot higher than my normal resting heart rate."

I told my previous doctor all of this, and he just ignored all of it and continued to blather on about how the shot had given me POTS.

Do you know what this doctor did? He said, "Oh, yeah, probably not POTS then. Also, if cardiology already checked you out and they didn't even mention it as a possibility, it's probably not."

He also asked if I had a history of iron deficiency anemia, and I said I hadn't had labwork done at the time so I didn't know what my iron levels were or if my hemoglobin was abnormal, but many years ago after a blood donation I started feeling really sick, had the high heart rate and shortness of breath and could barely get off the couch, and I was still living at home at the time, and my mom was a nurse and just put me on iron supplements and that resolved my symptoms, and that those cardiac problems seem to just be how my body responds to low iron.

And he just. Took that at face value. Like, ok, you have a history of this, then, let's work on getting it sorted out and then look at other possibilities if it doesn't all clear up with iron treatment.

So I'm getting my iron panel done Friday, and then we'll go from there with treatment options.

[lunammoon]

Does Marion have a favorite Doctor or companion?

Probably best to put this under a read more. I know that Tumblr auto-shortens these, but, you know, to be safe.

Favorite Doctor

However, in her own head, she DOES have an ever-fluctuating list of "which Doctors would I most like and most NOT like to see right now" and a Doctor's spot on the list dependent on her current headspace.

Short answer: If anyone asks, she loves all incarnations of the Doctor equally. She does not want to encourage the Doctor's almost pathological self-loathing by saying anything that would cause them to think

1. Marion sees me as a stop gap towards the man she actually likes.

2. My current form is the most liked by Marion I will ever be, it is all downhill from there

3. Marion liked who I used to be more than I am now, but there's no going back to them.

Sometimes One and Two are her favorites because "As far as they know, she's never truly failed them" (One died of old age).

Sometimes One and Two are her least favorites because "As far as THEY know, she's never truly failed them". (If I ever get to War Games there's going to be a bit where the Doctor goes "Marion, I know that this might be spoilers. But can you please, please, give me a hint on what I need to do to get out of it." And the Doctor learns a new facial expression of Marion's.)

If she just finished an adventure where the Doctor “died“, sometimes she’d be happy if the next Doctor she saw was Three (actually knows self-defense) instead of very early One (i haven't gotten to write him but he ignores her out of spite), Four (King of Hearing Marion's Warnings, Going "I Have A Better Ideal" Running Into Danger And Being Knocked Unconcious) or Six (Sixth Doctor? More like Six Feet of Hubris aka King of Talking Shit and Getting Hit).

But sometimes, she sees Three and he's the last person she'd want to be around. Not JUST because he was the first Doctor she saw die, but because seeing him makes her think of Two (and War Games and, how she Failed Him and that's why he's On Earth)

And sometimes she sees Four and he's her favorite because, especially when they're in the TARDIS and not traveling, he's the easiest to like, listen to ramble. He's just kind of chill, or at the very least, good at acting chill.

But sometimes, outside of the TARDIS him constantly getting into danger and his sort of laissez-faire "well, if it was GOING to kill me and you didn't have that expression on your face that means I'm doomed you'd surely get to me in time so I can afford to Take A Risk" is stressful.

Five is a BIT more careful, which is nice and gives him points, but also Five (especially older Five) gets really freaked out when she gets hurt and that makes her anxious because on the one hand, she doesn't want to upset the Doctor but on the other hand, what's she supposed to do. NOT do everything in her power to keep him safe? Hell no.

Sometimes Six is her favorite because of the banter. And because even though he acts grumpy about it, he WILL hug her (sometimes without her needing to ask)

Sometimes Six is her least favorite Doctor because she is NOT in the mood to mediate between him and Peri and she's TRYING especially since she doesn't want to be mean, but right now the sound of them arguing is like sandpaper on her brain and there's like 90% whatever argument is going on was started by Six so it's HIS fault.

Sometimes Seven is her favorite Doctor because of the way he's able to "trick" her into talking about how she's feeling and at the end of the talk she feels better.

Sometimes she'll be in a mood and see Seven and go "dammit, that's the LAST guy I wanted to see right now". I do NOT want to talk about this shit right now.

Ten is always moving always being clever. The two of them have great chemistry.

But sometimes Ten is being too Time Lord Victorious and it's frustrating to deal with.

Eleven is energetic. He's fun. He keeps Marion on her toes, which sometimes means she doesn't have to think as hard. They can bounce off each other. Most of the time he's Honest with her (except when he's not)

All the Doctors have this problem, but sometimes Eleven is so transparently hiding the way that he feels about something that it makes Marion feel exhausted and frustrated because Why Won't He Talk To Her [this is def a pot meet kettle situation]

Sometimes her favorite Doctor is Thirteen because even though she can CLEARLY see Marion is in a mood, she doesn't directly ask Marion about it, and simply ask if Marion wants a distraction to see her work on something.

Twelve is a very young old man if that makes sense. He plays off Marion well.

But like, with it happens more and more with the older Doctor's Marion gets this sense that it's not that the Doctor doesn't like her, but that he looks at her and wishes he was talking to a version of her that's a couple hundred years older than she is. And he doesn't say anything, and Marion doesn't say anything that she notices, but it's like, an elephant.

Sometimes Thirteen is her least favorite Doctor because what she needs more than anything is a strong hug so tight she can FEEL the Doctor's hearts beating against her head, and she knows that the Doctor doesn't really like physical contact and Marion is too Marion to ask if she could have a strong hug anyway so she makes due with watching the Doctor's chest rise and fall as she breaths.

I think she likes Fourteen being more empathetic, but also the way he panics makes Marion feel guilty if she had just been better at keeping him safe and whole and happy and calm he wouldn't be as panicked as he is now. did she even do anything? help at all

Sometimes her favorite Doctors to be around are younger Doctors (Can't interpret every little micro expression of hers and expertly determine her mood when she's trying to avoid talking about it.)

Sometimes her favorite Doctors to be around are older Doctors (she can talk to them more without worrying of slipping up and spoiling.)

{I haven't written anything with Fifteen yet, mostly bc I don't feel like we know enough about him and his personality yet for me to fully jot down examples of headspaces where he'd be Marion's favorite and one's where he'd be her least favorite.}

Favorite Companion

Marion tries very hard to not have a favorite companion but she's not as successful at is as she is with Doctor since, you know, companions aren't all permutations of the same person.

She would never SAY who her favorite companion(s) are, but in no particular order Jamie, Bill, and Jo.

Bonus Question you didn't ask but I choose to answer free of charge: What About Companions? Do Any Companions Have Favorites Between Marion and the Doctor (even if it's not an EXTREME favorite to the point they dislike the other just like a preference if we're splitting up and Marion and the Doctor are for some reason investigating different things)? [This is not an exhaustive List just a small handful of names.]

Marion:

>Mickey

>Tegan

>Adric [Fifth Doctor]

>Martha

>Barbara

>Rory

>Mel

>Peri [Sixth Doctor]

The Doctor:

>Vicki

>Sarah [Fourth Doctor]

>Jamie

>Rose

>Amy

>Clara

>Peri [Fifth Doctor]

>Ruby

About Equal:

>Adric [Fourth Doctor]

>Romana [1&2 (although it goes from these two are both idiots /neg to these two are both idiots /aff)]

>Ace

>Donna

>Sarah [Third Doctor]

>Jo

>The TARDIS

>Steven

[duckielover151]

The One Piece Diaries

Episode Count: 450

Holy shit, guys... I'm back. I took another several months-long hiatus from One Piece... Mostly unintentionally... (I've been bouncing between a lot of other fandoms these past few months but have been brought back by the live action.) Where to start...

We've been in Impel Down for most of the last 40 or so episodes since my last update post. And not to go off on a tangent, but you know... I've noticed One Piece lumped in as one of the shows that's swamped with filler. And that really hasn't been my experience so far.

What I have noticed is that, around this point, the pacing gets pretty atrocious. There's a lot that happens in the journey to try and break Ace out of Impel Down... But is there 40 episodes worth of stuff? I have to argue no. It gets to the point where the first third of the episode is all recap, and barely anything is actually getting accomplished each episode. So that is a little off-putting.

But! There is a lot of good to be found in this arc too!

Okay, admittedly... Buggy was never my favorite... (outside of some brilliantly written fanfiction by stereden on AO3) And I would have been content to never see Mr. 3 again... But it is really cool to meet back up with so many of the old villains who only met their downfall and ended up here because of Luffy and to have them be on our side now. Really puts into perspective the morality of it all. Luffy's always fighting for the right things... but in the eyes of the government and greater world, he's a villain as well.

I've finally met Jimbei... (Jinbe? Jinbei? I've seen all 3, but Crunchyroll's subtitles use the 'm' spelling, so that's what I'm going with.) I haven't seen a lot of him yet, but I like him so far. He's tough, clearly, but also almost goofily polite, in a way that really complements Luffy's general blunt insensitiveness. I think it's still a while before he joins up as the last member of the crew, but I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

This arc makes it really clear how Bon Clay came to be as beloved in the fandom as he is. And there's a lot that could be said about Ivankov... A lot that would very quickly derail this update and which I'm not totally, personally qualified to weigh in on...

Listen, One Piece's portrayal of queerness isn't perfect. But it's a hell of a lot better than the way so many other shows handle it, especially given the time this aired. (The Impel Down arc was originally adapted throughout late 2009-early 2010. Frankly, the 90s often included more and better handled LGBT+ characters than the 2000s era anime did, up until pretty recently.) Just the fact alone that this group is so out and proud about it and undeniably allied with and wholeheartedly accepted by the main protagonist is a fucking statement all on its own. It's beautiful. I can't underplay that by nitpicking the places the representation fell short by today's standards in a storyline that's 15 years old now. (I know there's a lot of shit in the future that goes down with Sanji in particular... So I may have less generous things to say later, but that's where we stand right now.)

And as for the arc's villains... Magellan's okay. This last episode particularly, the venom demon attack was pretty badass. (That image of the mushrooming skulls as it formed it was so good.)

And Hannyabal... Okay, there were some early moments that made me laugh. The gag about how he's clearly lusting for the warden's job and not great about hiding it could be pretty funny. But by the time he's defeated... and the anime starts in on a dramatic backstory for this asshole, trying to make him sympathetic... All I could say was, 'You've gotta be fucking kidding me...' I know it's kind of One Piece's thing to try and redeem everyone, but I was so bogged down by the pacing at that point... I did not have the patience for it. Good riddance to that dude in particular.

Episode 450 ends with our ragtag group officially making it out... And man, it's cool to see some of these older characters again, but I already miss our crew so much... Especially knowing what's coming...

I'm sure I've already mentioned that I know the bigger Marineford spoilers... But I'm still not sure I'm ready to see it firsthand.

Wish me luck.

[r3dblccd]

TAG PEOPLE YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER!

tagged by: @irrwicht

tagging: @formorethananame, @luneblush, @temporalobjects, @weedzkiller, @r4bidog, @hishedonism, @mxldito, @ovilis, @vienrose, @unavernales, @dozenrozez, @frxgmcnts, @finalsurvivorgrp, @caelcstis, @dcrkfcngs

favorite color(s): Red, purple, but I like all colors

favorite flavor(s): I have a huge sweet tooth, so I'd say chocolate and also fruity flavors like bananas and strawberries.

favorite music: Honestly, I think I can say that I listen mostly everything. I've come to the conclusion that I don't really care about the genre, if I like a song, I like it and that's about it. And that's why my playlist is a mess, especially when I put it on shuffle lmao

favorite movie(s): It's so hard to pick, there are so many good ones! But I recently watched Tokyo Godfathers, that one automatically jumped in my top favourites. I also really liked Grave of Fireflies (even though it's quite a heavy movie), Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, The Handmaiden (let's go lesbians, let's go), Perfect Blue, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Jigsaw franchise (and honestly, I think the 10th movie might be my favourite), The Fear Street Trilogy, Coraline, What We Do In The Shadows, Train To Busan

Honorable mentions: I think Gremlins is starting to grow on me, especially the second movie because I love that the production team didn't take it all too seriously, I do like when some movies are self-aware how silly they actually are. Also shoutout to The Sadness. Am I ever going to watch that movie ever again? Probably not, it was a very disturbing movie. But this is not your usual zombie movie, if I can even call it a zombie movie, which surprised me? Like, it definitely does have those elements of the apocalyptic zombie genre but turned it completely over its head by making the infected actually aware of the things they're doing but not being able to stop it. Again, it is a disturbing movie, it's not for everybody. I personally don't see myself watching it twice. Plus, finding out that the director has said something like that he wanted to focus more on the "fun and the gore" other than anything else in a Q&A did sound quite sussy to me given the heavy topics and the ways the movie could be interpreted. Idk, as philology and literature major it just keeps getting confirmed to me that most, if not all works of art, no matter in what form, have something to say and they deeply reflect the time in which they were created, and there's always the subjectivity of the viewer who interprets it in their own way (like hell, even the superheroes in movies these days most likely take a whole lot of inspiration from Greek mythology, if you really think about it). Some people have mentioned that the director might have answered the way that he did as to not stir up controversy since it was at a festival, but I can't say for sure, I wasn't there to see the interview myself and this is already getting really long so I will stop now, you can make your own conclusions.

favorite series: Courage the cowardly dog, The Scooby-Doo franchise, Are You Afraid Of The Dark (I'm talking about the 90's series, I haven't watched the 2019 revival). Do I remember anything from them? Kind of, it's been a very long time since I've watched them. I kind of want to rewatch them because of it. But they sparked my interest in all things spooky when I was a kid so I feel like they deserve a place here. Some of my other favourites include: The Untamed, Serial Experiments Lain, Steins;Gate, Semantic Error, Another, My Roommate is a Detective, Wellington Paranormal, What We Do In The Shadows, Hellbound and Sweet Home (I do recommend reading the webtoons of those two, though), Death Parade, The Silent Sea, Color Rush, Squid Game, My Beautiful Man, Good Omens, Our Flag Means Death, Alice on Borderland, My Name, Yellowjackets, Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai

last song: Ruler Of My Heart by BL8M & Rubyeye & Unknown (Till The End) by AKUGETSU (Alien Stage OSTs) (tw for blood and a bit of gory imagery in the MVs for anyone who wants to check them out). Also can I also just talk about the 1st Anniversary Remixes of those two songs too!!! (here and here, audio only). Just *cheff's kiss*, I love those songs so much, I want to eat them. The story all these animations is quite interesting, the animations themselves are very well done too. How can I describe it. The story kind of takes that deadly game trope (like, let's say in the Hunger Games and Alice in Borderland), but make it about people being forced to be in a singing competition against each other to survive and they are being judged by aliens. From what I know, I could be wrong, the main way of storytelling is through the MVs on the VIVINOS YT channel so it does require a bit to analyze (there is a bit of a additional info on the official website and on the wiki, I'm sure), so if any of that sound interest you, I would recommend checking it out

last series: Choco Milk Shake

last movie: The Cat Returns

currently reading: So Long, And Thank for All The Fish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. I'm so happy of how much progress I've done on reading those books compiled in one huge book, I'm halfway through the series now. And honestly I want to read it for as long as I can because I really enjoy it, it's so fun, I love the absurd situation the main characters fall into while the big question of the meaning of life, the Universe and everything looms over them. This would definitely go in one of my top books I've read I'm sure.

And I also have to mention the webtoons that I'm reading because I love them very much too: Hand Jumper, The Blind Prince, Lore Olympus, Zombie X Slasher (I don't know in what kind of direction this one would go, but so far so good!), Everything is Fine, Flawed Almighty, Homesick (I love love LOVE this one! The art style and everything is great), Never Ending Darling (I know that it's gonna end in like 2 days officially once the last episode is available to read for free, but damn, what a ride this was. The concept of this webtoon is terrifying), Omniscient Reader, My S-Class Hunters, ZOMGAN (also quite an interesting and honestly refreshing way of making a story about zombies), Nocturne and The Guy Upstairs

And special highlight to: There Are No Demons. This webtoon? An absolute nightmare fuel. I find it very interesting that the artist Nemo Nullus makes 3D models first and then draws over them. I wasn't so sure how to feel like it when I first saw it, this was the first time I've seen anything like it on webtoon, but I quickly grew to like this art style, the kind of weird realism and uncanny valley really add to the stories. And the stories themselves are very scary because these are things that could actually happen, and have most likely happened in real life too, especially that first story with the stalker. This webtoon has made me feel things no other horror/thriller webtoon has made me feel, I feel like I want to crawl out of my own body when I'm reading it, really.

currently watching: Nothing in particular, just random YT videos. I do have some shows to catch up on that I already mentioned here.

currently working on: Mostly focusing on studying a bit more for my exam on monday. But once I'm done I'll be back to doing more stuff here, hopefully ❤️

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

Good morning

I haven't gotten the chalice of the gods yet and it's so upsetting

I didn't bother preordering and now I regret all decisions

Anyway, I'm sick of talking

I'm just inviting you to vent or talk about a hyperfixation or something today. No question required.

Have a lovely day

hello

I’m gonna ask for it for my birthday

You can’t go back in time, so might as well go and get it

I would’ve answered this earlier but I don’t know time management and had to speed through my routine to get to work & I didn’t have a free hand to type and then work things happening and now I want to quit

okay so last year I made mum watch stranger things and watching season 4 she was like “hey Eddie is like Damian Echols” and then made me read his autobiography and I got really hyper fixated on his case (The West Memphis Three) and had no one except my mother to talk about it to so you’ve just opened a can of worms you would’ve wished you didn’t.

okay so the basics of the case are this; in the 80’s and 90’s in America specifically, there was the “Satanic Panic” Where basically they were all convinced that there were devil worshippers and anyone different or weird (alternative, quiet, ect) worshipped Satan.

in 1993 three boys (8 years of age) go missing. Not even a full 24 hours later they’re found in a drain, naked and hog tied by their own shoe laces. One of the boys (Christopher Byers) has even been partially castrated. It’s believed they were killed for a sacrifice to Satan

At the time, they were missing a lot of evidence and lacked suspects. Enter stage right, Damian Echols. He’s the town weirdo. Listens to heavy metal, wearing alternative clothing, has two friends.

Damian had been in trouble with the chief of police before (who didn’t like him cause he was different in a very religious town) and was in a grippy socks holiday a couple months before the murders took place.

basically the police pegged it on him, his friend and a guy with a really low IQ they knew they could manipulate. To try and intimidate them into confessions, they held each boy (17,17 and 18) in an interrogation room for hours on end with no food water or toilet breaks. (Illegal)

finally, they managed to manipulate the low IQ (Jessie Misskelly if I remember correctly) into confessing ON TAPE and selling out the other two boys. Damian and Charles (Damian’s friend) continued to deny it, but both were poor and could afford lawyers so their provided lawyers were shit (also illegal)

despite having no evidence against any of them, except a confused confession, the three boys were put into prison

Fast forward to the 2000’s, more and more people are starting to believe Damian’s story, and are trying to help get the three out of jail. The only way unfortunately was for them all to SIGN CONFESSIONS admitting to a crime none of them took part in.

they were let out on parole.

in 2007, the guys lawyers found out about evidence pointing to the actual killer that had been hidden by the police department in an effort to frame them. Because of the time, they didn’t have the technology to actually do anything about it anyway

2019 (I think) the police department managed to destroy a lot of the evidence that would’ve freed the guys permanently.

it’s 2023 and Damian is still trying to fight to have his record wiped of the murders

The lesson here; America’s law system is fucked and so is the country in general

(I missed some details to try and make it shorter)

[nocompromise-noregrets]

I get this, and related stuff, a lot at the pub - every Friday night I go and get my mandatory socialisation time in, and I go and sit at the bar and chat to whoever's there. This means I end up talking to a lot of middle-aged men, and boy oh boy do they not have any idea how to talk to a woman they're not hitting on. For context, I am a fairly middle-aged woman who doesn't look like what they think a middle-aged woman looks like - I have purple hair, shaved sides and wear band shirts, black jeans and big boots as I have done for the past 30 years, and they all know I'm married to a woman (and the ones that don't know get the picture pretty quickly because I can't get through a conversation without mentioning the missus at least once); tbqh even if they were hitting on me I probably wouldn't notice - I'm there to have conversations with people, and have no interest in anything else.

I've been told that I and my entire profession are doing our job wrong and should be doing a whole different thing by someone who was ten years old when I started doing this job.

I've been told, by the same young man (I am 14 years older than he is), that the way I like to drink a gin and tonic is 'wrong' and I should do it differently - I put all the tonic in at once and then enjoy my nice G&T, he thinks you should put a bit of tonic in and savour the gin. I tried his way, to humour him, and didn't like it, so I dumped the whole bottle of tonic in, in front of him, and enjoyed my nice G&T.

I've been talked over in conversations about current events by men who think Musk and Trump are doing a pretty good job actually and haven't even begun to consider that if you're not a middle-aged white man then maybe they're not doing that good a job, especially at making people feel safe.

I've been quizzed on things that would have made a perfectly good normal conversation - a guy the same age as me, who spent the 90s listening to techno where I spent them listening to rock and metal, decided he was going to find all his favourite songs and play them to me to test whether I recognised them or not; I pointed out that I wasn't paying attention to that scene so why would I recognise them, and he just kept going. I recognised many of them anyway as they weren't actually that obscure and many of them had been on the radio or played in the clubs I went to, as well. The second time, however, he decided to quiz me on English monarchs - who was king after James I, who was king after Charles I etc. When I said, to that second one, Oliver Cromwell and the Interregnum, he told me I was wrong (a reflex action, I think) and then had to correct himself when I insisted and he looked it up. So then I rattled them all off in order from William the Conqueror right on down to Charles III (although I can't quite remember the Horrible Histories song), and he looked at me, absolutely stunned. "How do you know that?" he wanted to know. "I'm a fucking historian, Dave," I said, and he hasn't tried it again with me since; I hope I've taught him that people (women) he doesn't know very well aren't necessarily blank slates who don't know anything and need him to teach them. I've half a mind to make up a playlist of 90s rock songs and test him on them, though.

"Reading a book again?" said one of them to me last week, as I sat, on my own, at the bar reading my Open University textbook; the last time I saw him, which was the first time we'd actually talked, I'd been reading The Two Towers when he'd come to sit next to me and talked at me non-stop about his life, his opinions, Musk and Trump, the environment, etc etc etc, and eventually I'd had to just put the book to one side and listen and nod, because he sure as hell wasn't letting me a) get a word in edgeways, or b) concentrate on my book. Earlier that evening I'd been standing at the bar when he'd insisted on buying a neat Amaretto for a random woman who'd come in and ordered an Amaretto and Coke, because apparently liking one's Amaretto with a mixer is some terrible mistake. "Reading a book again?" How patronising. Some people do in fact enjoy reading books in the pub. So..."Yes, I'm studying," I said, and went back to the book.

There are a few exceptions to this, genuinely nice men who are pleasant to talk to and have an actual conversation with, who are interesting to listen to and interested in what I have to say, who I would certainly call friends. I'm always pleased to see them when they're in. The others, though...my heart sinks every time.

@W_Asherah

[idoquizzesx]

50. Have you ever saved someone's life or had your life saved?

Technically the doctors and nurses saved my life when I had both my daughters as with first I had preeclampsia and with the second I had a haemorrhage. As far as others I haven’t directly but I have stopped a few suixides.

51. Make up a definition for the following silly words...

No too much hassle lol:

52. What was the last thing you made with your own hands?

Paper airplane.

53. What was your favorite toy as a child?

Barbie’s maybe? Varied in age.

54. How many TV’s are in your house?

3.

55. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Go for a walk.

56. How do you feel when you see a rainbow?

Hopeful and in awe.

57. Have you ever dreamt a dream that came true?

Kinda certain parts did.

58. Have you ever been to a psychic/tarot reader?

No, but I’ve done them as have a natural ability myself.

59. What is your idea of paradise?

Just pure contentment.

60. Do you believe in god and if so what is he/she/it like?

No I don’t - but I respect others right and won’t question their beliefs.

61. Do you believe in Hell?

No

62. What one thing have you done that most people haven't?

Norhing stands out to me.

63. What is the kindest thing you have ever done?

I don’t really know. Just being there for strangers I guess as many people wouldn’t do that.

64. Are you a patient person?

Can be very variable.

65. What holiday should exist but doesn't?

Celebrate life day

66. What holiday shouldn't exist but does?

Valentines

67. What's the best joke you ever heard?

No clue

68. Where is the most fun place you have EVER been?

I don’t know actually most my holidays have been mega fun.

69. Is your hair natural or dyed?

Natural now as was so long ago last dyed it - need to re dye it.

70. Do you have any deep dark secrets or are you pretty much up front?

Immostly pretty open. Some things I keep to myself as I don’t want to be judged or I just don’t think they are anyone else’s business.

71. What is under your bed right now?

Likely socks lol

72. If you were in the Land of Oz would you want to live there or go home?

Go home.

73. If you drive do you frequently speed?

I don’t drive.

74. What is the world's best song to dance to?

Dunno any of the cheesy ones :D

75. What song was on the last time you danced with someone?

Not sure

76. Do you prefer Disney or Warner Brothers?

I mean I love them both <3

77. What is the first animal you would run to see if you went to the zoo?

Tigers I like big cats.

78. Would you consider yourself to be romantic?

No, not romantical at all really. I like a certain level of sentimentality but more in the line of family and just being grateful for each other than romance. I’m pretty put off relationships though as mine often turn out toxic as hell.

79. If the earth stopped rotating would we all fly off?

And worse.

80. What is the one thing that you love to do so much that you would make sacrifices to be able to do it?

Listen to music.

81. If you (and everyone) had to lose one right or freedom, but you could pick which one everyone had to lose, what would you pick?

Right to bear arms. I’m not from the US so wouldn’t effect me :-) I

82. If you had to choose would you live on the equator or at the North Pole?

Equator I guess but neither would be great lolz.

83. Would you rather give up listening to music or watching television?

TV.8’ never giving up music.

84. What do you think makes someone a hero?

Sacrificing their own safety for another without expecting a reward. In a more minor hero, doing the ohhh thing no matter the consequences.

85. What cartoon would you like to be a character in?

Flintstones.

86. Name one thing that turns your stomach:

As in makes me feel nauseous? Pus. As in upsets me? Cruelty of any kind.

87. What was the last thing you paid for? Groceries.

88. Are you a coupon clipper?

No

89. Get anything good in the mail recently?

Nope - I Willian.

90. Which would you rather take as a gym class...dancing, sailing, karate, or bowling?

Id enjoy them all!

91. In Star Trek people 'beam' back and forth between different places. What this means is they stand in a little tube and their molecules are deconstructed and sent to another tube somewhere else where they are reassembled. Only problem is when the molecules are deconstructed the person is dead. When they are put back together it is only a clone that has all the dead person's memories. So...

Is the person who gets beamed the same person on both ends?

No, because they’ve been cloned and the nwueons wouldn’t be exactly the same.

92. What insects are you afraid of?

None really unless they are poisonous. I find moths and daddylonglegs ugly though.

93. If you could print any phrase on a T-shirt, what would it say?

Oooh what you saaaay?

94. What's the most eccentric thing you have ever worn?

Im not sure

95. If you could pick one food that you could eat all you wanted but it would have no effect on how much you weigh, what food would it be?

Pasta

96. What are your parents interested in?

Music, football, movies

97. Have you ever caught an insect and kept it as a pet?

No, I just put them outside.

Have you ever caught and tamed a wild animal?

No, if injured I’d try to phone a vet or wildlife charity and if not just take it somewhere it can go free. Have fed quite a few stray cats though.

98. What is more helpful to you, wishes or plans?

Neither as wishes go nowhere and I never carry through with its plans.

99. When do you feel your life energy the strongest?

In the evening or at night. I like when it’s dark, I get more ideas and just feel myself. 7-12 is my time.

Thanks for joining me for part 2. Of I’ve worked this out correctly and with my woeful math skills it’s highly probable I have got it wrong then it should be 100 parts. This will be great fun.

[the-firebird69]

There it is mid engine fully assembled folding and with some changes it will be a moped and legalized right now there's tons of people buying tires and they're buying the v tire and the sandstorm and it is really intense and these things go very fast there's a few models like this and a few manufacturers they go on the chain most of them are 500 watts these days they used to be 350 and they still go very fast when you put the tires on about 45 to 50 miles an hour there's a lot of that going on yeah but with 750 watts you can go 100 miles if you weigh 200 lb and that's what people want so if I am the new motor too and converting to 750 or $1,000 and it is going like hotcakes and I'll tell you there's a new battery out with bigger batteries it lasts longer is and delivers more power and these things are going to go fast 80 90 mph it is huge numbers of kids out for existing eBay like our son has and he might find one eventually for the rear tire in the mid drive he says probably the out in a couple months where he can see it and it's true too you can see the other one pretty quick and there's so many bikes that's why there's trillions and trillions for each area they outnumber cars like 10 to 1 no but it's really close and there is useless right now some people are putting these tires on and they're fill it up with the green slime or they're putting the anti-puncture in and they're making it for these fat tires is they do put in a three and a half but it's not so good for a wife I'm very fat tire bike rim it's not good but I lot them or not fat tire. It is a huge business and they have tons of these tires because people were buying the mountain bikes and converting them and then they stopped about a year ago and they have them all in stock and they're selling all of it and it's about 300 trillion kits so far nothing on Earth has ever sold as much I looked at these figures are the highest ever in history. Listen you bunch of stories about these bikes and about how fast they go and people are were figuring it out and we're not telling anyone and assuming by people and they assumes by our son the other way is going 40 and it's the same stuff ours are much faster, he says i designed it that way, they look and said oh it's a Stark yeah you're an iron Man and Spike and I'm iron Man for my people and they said no s***. So they can deal with you you guys change your tires to you and Enduro and rated and I want you to try and get to see Tony Stark when he's iron Man to get his autograph and I think you're in the movie so they're saying this I want to go to the show and see that s*** she says they get attacked so that's why. So they're looking around and they see that he has factories and he's making the exo suit and start getting involved and said we don't we do not do s*** we are not doing s*** and people are starting to do things and he's a mach BGA and he said you don't do anything Brian anymore. So used to be into this Mec and robot video game. And then you said I guess he doesn't want to do the real thing maybe he is look stupid. Is that VGA said this I'm going to do stuff and he took off and started making them and he has Jager and he needs them and he's going to do something with them someday and they look pretty cool and he's going I haven't figured the ball went out yet so they're moving out and buying these tons of people

Thor Freya

Lectric midrive that's what they're buying and the help come up with the title and it's really hard to name stuff he said and Bee gees said yeah it sure is

[w0nderland]

hiii!! i keep meaning to send you an ask then get interrupted halfway through typing it ^'^

how have you been?? i saw that you went to one of taylor's shows: how was it?? did you have a special outfit/makeup for the occasion? what were the surprise songs? pls tell me everything!!

also i have no idea if you listen to hozier but he's put out a new EP and it's!!! so good!!! (i literally cried listening to 'through me (the flood)')

last time you told me about having to make big decisions for what to do after graduation, i hope it hasn't been too stressful & that you've had help and support from your loved ones❤ i'm sending tons of relaxing vibes and hugs your way and i hope that your dreams come true <3

i'm sorry that i don't have precise advice for u, i chose very long studies so i have several years before i have to worry about this ^'^ i'd advise you to consider every option, and above all never let anyone (including yourself) tell you that you can't do something; it's better to send an application or a resume & have a negative answer than to stick to the 'safe' choice and always wonder what would have happened, you know?

also, i love jane austen too!! i haven't yet read northanger abbey though! i loved emma & i re-read pride and prejudice at least once a year (usually in november, no idea why ^^)

as for book recs, i'm currently reading "l'amica geniale" by elena ferrante; it's soo good i love it! all the characters are fascinating and very complex & it's such a page-turner, i literally can't put it down (i went back to reading while climbing up and down the stairs, anything to read a few more lines xD!)

another book i picked up at my local library was 'east of eden' by steinbeck. i'd never read anything by him so i didn't know what to expect, but i loved it!! it focuses on the life of two families in California & i love that the plot is really character-driven, every character is so interesting ... i kept thinking about that book for weeks after having finished it! so yeah pls read it so i can gush about it with someone xD!

i've also started reading war and peace on a whim, and i feel like a lot of people are intimidated by the size (i believe there are other a thousand pages? my edition published it in two parts for it to fit lol) but i found it very readable! it's like, 90% of dialogue and it's soo well-written!! and i was so engrossed in all the family drama xD it was like reading a jane austen book, only with a lot more characters

anyway i hope i haven't bored you with this looong ask! i'm sending tons of warm hugs your way❤❤❤

hi sky!! omg there is a lot going on at the moment. first of all taylor's show was AMAZING it's the first time i've seen her perform so I was very emotional the whole time :,) the surprise songs were cowboy like me and white horse, both songs I love so much!! although I'd be excited to hear any surprise songs.

Also yes I've been listening to the Hozier EP!! Is he releasing an album? I really love the three songs especially all things end.

Thank you for the good vibes, I'm starting to get excited about post-graduation plans :) hoping all goes well and this is really the best decision for me. thank you for the advice, it's so true that if I didn't at least try working toward my goals I'd regret it. so I will try!

Thanks for the book recs! I haven't read east of eden but I have read another steinbeck book (of mice and men). I'm reading the will to change by bell hooks but I definitely want to read another fiction book after I finish this, so maybe I'll pick up war and peace! I feel a little intimidated by super long books but I bet the library here has a few copies...

I love all of your asks and I love reading about everything you're up to!! I hope you've been enjoying your studies and basking in the beginning of spring. sending good vibes your way always <3

[majorshatterandhare]

Okay, so, for @cultralcryptid and @shortassdood, who asked for general recs… uh, I’m gonna list them out, then do a “read more” and put my notes for each there. I think the majority of these musicians/bands are pretty popular so, IDK that you'll see much you haven't heard of but, I was asked so I am providing. Also this has taken so long because I was trying not to make it ridiculously long! This doesn't focus on concept albums, although I have made notes where artists mentioned have made concept albums. I personally struggle to consume new-to-me media so I haven't necessarily listened to the concept albums but figured that may well be what y'all are interested in so I included that.

-Spose -.Jxck -The Mallett Brothers Band -Jonathan Coulton -No More Kings -Phish -the Grateful Dead -Pink Floyd -Cake -Say Anything -Kimya Dawson -Jeffrey Lewis -AJJ -Dorian Electra -Those Poor Bastards -Ska (specifically Streetlight Manifesto) -WtNV weathers

I'm gonna preface this by saying five things: 1) I don't listen to a lot of *new* music, honestly the Mechs are some of the newest music I listen to, even of the artists I listed who have newer music, I am often not familiar with recent stuff. Which leads me into 2) I am not familiar with the entire discographies of any artist listed here, let alone the entirety of the (third wave) ska genre or every single Night Vale weather. 3) Related to point two, I am not familiar with the reputation of every artist mentioned, sorry if anyone is a shitty person. I know there are a few who have, for example said certain words in certain songs that I am not fond of, but all things considered I like their music enough as a whole to ignore things like that, especially because many of these were recorded anywhere from 20 to 50 years ago. 4) Some of this music might make you uncomfortable because of the topics, you can figure that out yourself. I'm giving a *lot* of suggestions here so there will be plenty that doesn't and I have some specific warnings for some of the music, but uhhhh, if you're seeing this you listen to the Mechs, so I'm sure you can at least handle enough to figure out what you don't want to listen to. 5) Related to points 1 and 3, my music taste tends to lean pre-approximately-2010. I grew up listening to classic rock and 90s alternative and grunge because that's what my parents listen/ed to.

Local Music I figure if I'm going to be recommending music I might as well recommend some from my state. This is the music you are least likely to have heard.

Spose -From southern Maine -Rap, alternative hip hop, underground hip hop -I'm only aware of because my college roommate from California likes his stuff -Most popular song is I'm Awesome which is fun, but is one of those songs that gets a little annoying when you've heard his other stuff. Got national radio play IIRC though. -I would recommend the songs We All Got Lost and Alien -I've seen him live twice (summer 2022) and talked to him after and he's a really nice guy! -His name is Ryan and his most recent album is called Get Rich or Die Ryan and its two CDs. -If you wanna just hear a bunch of Maine shit, Loon Song

.Jxck -pronounced like the name Jack [for screenreaders: spelled *period* J-X-C-K] -Also from southern Maine -Similar music style to Spose, although less comedy I think, although he has some jazzier stuff that's *really* good that he said he was gonna be releasing a new album of last time I saw him perform (summer 2022), which has not been released yet. -Both times I saw Spose play .Jxck opened for and played with him. -Have spoken with him and he is also very nice! -Most recent album is called Beautiful Day

The Mallett Brothers Band -I know even less about this band than the other musicians in this section, but they are "an independent rock and roll / Americana / country band" -Two of them are the sons of David Mallett who is also a musician from Maine. He does folk.

Nerd Music Do you like Weird Al or Hank Green or They Might Be Giants or the Barenaked Ladies?

Jonathan Coulton -Wrote Still Alive and Want You Gone from Portal and Portal 2, respectively. -Has a song called Artificial Heart about a guy getting his heart replaced -Has a song called I'm Your Moon, which is from Charon to Pluto -Also: Re: Your Brains; Future Soon; Shop Vac; Mandelbrot Set; I Crush Everything; and more -Huge discography

No More Kings -Named after a School House Rock song -Have three distinct songs about zombies (Zombie Me, The Living Dead, and They're Coming to Get You Barbara) -Have at least two songs about DnD (Enter the Dragon and Critical Hit) -Reference pop culture a lot: Sweep the Leg (the Karate Kid), Leaving Lilliput (Gulliver's Travels), Robots Don't Cry (Short Circuit), and more. -Only three albums

Drugs Music (affectionate) IDK how to describe this. Bands that have a particular reputation for having fans who enjoy getting high. You don't have to be high or enjoy getting high to like this music though. Seems to lean towards long-ish songs. (Looked it up, what I mean is probably "psychedelic rock" but I'm gonna stick with "drugs music")

Phish -Huge discography -Not that we all have wildly different tastes, but at least four of the five people of my immediate family (myself included), like Phish, and I wouldn't be surprised if the fifth does too. -"Jam" style music, so there's some repetitive parts but there's a lot of layering and slowly shifting of each part into something new. -My two favorites by them right now are Bouncing Around the Room (about being high I guess?) and Bathtub Gin (about... making bathtub gin, which is homemade alcohol, and just, they say some insane shit and there's a "Joker"). Both are from the album Lawn Boy. -Just, the music is cool??? Listen to Bathtub Gin, the music is cool the lyrics are cool. (Someone sneezes multiple times, as part of the music I'm sure but... sneeze.) -The lead singers voice is really nice -The other Phish songs I have downloaded to my phone are Guelah Papyrus (about a spider), Farmhouse (about... a farmhouse, and being able to see the stars, and how much cluster flies suck ass), Sample in a Jar (about... being a sample? I think, definitely from the pov of being high), and Wolfman's Brother (what it says on the tin?). -Rolling Stone named them the most important band of the 90s in 1998, if that means anything to you -They were very inspired by the Grateful Dead. As such they allow people to record and disperse the audio of their concerts (if I understand correctly). -The band is from Vermont! -Rift is a concept album

The Grateful Dead -I know less about the Grateful Dead but I don't think I can really recommend Phish without recommending the Grateful Dead as well. -I *highly* recommending going to see a Grateful Dead tribute/cover band perform live. It's a great experience. The music is great, the environment is great, and you will almost certainly see some older folks dancing to the music they did when they were in their 20s and hippies and whatever. It's just really good. -Don't have a lot of specific song recs since most of my experience with them is in the form of the tribute/cover band live performance. -They are the ones with the colorful bears.

Pink Floyd -Feel like this section is me just recommending bands that everyone already knows, but like, how much do you actually know of Pink Floyd's stuff? Or maybe this will just be a reminder to go listen to it again! And its hard for me to judge what is typical for other people to be familiar with because I am *very* aware that my childhood media consumption was atypical. -They have SIX [all caps reads: six] concept albums! Six! I think the Wall is the one everyone knows is a concept album, since there was a movie made of it and its the album that Another Brick in the Wall and Comfortably Numb are both from. However the Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Final Cut, and The Division Bell are all *also* concept albums, if that's your thing -If concept albums aren't your thing, they have nine other albums! -Re: Wish You Were Here. It is very much about former member Syd Barrett and the album is mostly Shine On You Crazy Diamond parts 1-9, which are split 1-5 and 6-9, but if you total their length it's 26 minutes long. In between the two parts is three other songs, including the titular Wish You Were Here, which I do adore. -Also just. Us and Them

Other rock genres I guess?

Cake -I feel like Cake and the Barenaked Ladies go together but maybe that's just me. They're also... funny? I guess? in they're music. But Cake is still like... more... normal...??? IDK how to describe it. -Everyone knows Short Skirt/Long Jacket. I feel like maybe their second most known song is The Distance, but I don't know that for a fact. -My favorite Cake song, atm, is Comissioning a Symphony in C from the album Comfort Eagle. Short Skirt/Long Jacket is also on this album. -Fashion Nugget is also quite a good album, The Distance is on this album -They did a cover of I Will Survive and I was 15 years old the first time I heard the original. I don't remember hearing the Cake version for the first time. I remember being in gym class and for some reason we were suggesting music for the teacher to play through the speakers and I said Cake and he liked Cake a lot so he put Cake on and I Will Survive played and this girl in the class got surprisingly mad about this cover! They say fuck in it though so.... -Their album art is really cool and most if not all of them are in basically the same art style and I like that. -Lead singer also has a particularly nice voice.

Say Anything -Honestly, most of what I know by say anything is ...Is a Real Boy, and even from that it's mostly Alive With the Glory of Love, but the song is really fucking good! It is based on the story of Max Bemis' grandparents meeting during WWII though... and they were Jewish... so uh, its got some themes! Its a banger though. -The second song I really like by Say Anything is Wow I Can Get Sexual Too, which, as you might imagine, is quite sexual, so, you've been warned. It's very funny though. -Their album In Defense of the Genre is a concept album. I don't know much about it, but there you go, concept album.

Folk/Anti-Folk

Kimya Dawson -I think Kimya Dawson is really popular? It's hard for me to tell these kinds of things -Their music was pretty heavily featured in the movie Juno, because Elliot page was asked what music he thought Juno would listen to and he said Kimya Dawson. -The album I listen to most is Remember That I Love You. I know all of the words to the majority of the songs and the majority of the words to the rest. One thing I do when I can't sleep it try to remember all the lyrics to music and that album is a pretty common one for me to use. -I really really feel My Mom. And Caving In. And I Miss You. And Loose Lips. And The Competition. -And I can't *not* mention Thunder Thighs! --If you need to cry and can't, I recommend Walk Like Thunder. --The Mare and the Bear is a children's song! With children on the track! --Quite possibly my favorite Kimya Dawson quote is "Try to walk like thunder leaving footprints that are light" which is from the song Driving Driving Driving -I was attracted to their music because while they sing very well for sure! their voice isn't perfect and I really like that. You don't get to hear that often from their type of voice. -They were also part of the duo The Moldy Peaches, which I'm not super familiar with, but is the same genre.

Jeffrey Lewis -large discography -songs tend to be... morbid? -I recommend Whistle Past the Graveyard (I accidentally have developed a collection of zombie songs....) and East River and Back When I Was Four -Also the pair Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane (about his shit experience with LSD) and LSD Tonight (about how people took the last song to mean that they should offer him and pressure him to do LSD when that was the opposite of what the song meant!) -Kimya Dawson and Jeffrey Lewis also did some music together. AJJ -Again I feel like if you listen to anti-folk (or whatever) you're probably aware of AJJ??? -Their name wasn't always AJJ but they changed it sometime a few years ago. -Decent to large discography (depending on what exactly you do and don't count) -The majority of their music that I listen to is from the album People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World. -Their song Children of God was a WtNV weather and I think Mechs fans might like that one in particular. It's kind of just a lot of words. Like so many words that give you vibes but are a bit more difficult to take meaning from, but like; "the sky was full of teeth;" cannibals mentioned; "in a puddle of body parts / inside a bowl of angel hearts / that the children were eating;" vampires mentioned; "and out the corner of my eye / coming out from the teeth filled sky / with eyes as red as a dog's asshole when you see it shitting / I saw the children of god / as they walked on slovenly by / the USB ports in their arms were bleeding." I don't know what more to say than that. I have no fucking clue what that song is about but I like it. It's got a lot of words, a lot of visuals. -I have been told that many AJJ fans don't like Christmas Island (the album Children of God is from) because it is quite different from their previous stuff, but that doesn't mean you and I can't like both.

Other other

Dorian Electra -not folk or alternative or rock or anything like that, they're hyperpop! -not overarching stories either (this is a lie, you'll see further down; didn't know until I was reading up on it for this) -but so god-fucking-damn queer and very campy. It's ridiculous. Legitimately. The genre is so different but I don't think there's anyway anyone seeing this won't find at least one Dorian Electra song they like. -Again, I feel like they are pretty popular, but what do I know? -Now we have warnings... -I would recommend starting with the album Flamboyant. Their music videos for Flamboyant are gorgeous and they are pretty safe. Some have some, like, BDSM wear aesthetics, but I think its fine (I must emphasize that I have *no fucking clue* what is "appropriate") --Do you believe god made you queer and perfect just as you are? Adam and Steve. (lit. "they want to destroy me / they will all enjoy it / say I'm an abomination / but I'm god's creation") --Do you want to see two guys (gender neutral) (not actually) beat each other up and then kiss about it? Man to Man --Do you believe in the inherent homo-eroticism of being a workaholic? Career Boy --Do you just like fucked up eyeliner on a "guy"? Guyliner --Do you just want to see how camp Dorian claims to be? Flamboyant --Do you wish you had a sugar daddy? Daddy Like --I am a bit less familiar with other songs on the album -Okay... so... My Agenda *is* a concept album, "from the perspective of a conspiracy theorist who is watching their country being taken over by a gay dictator (Carolyn Droke, Uproxx, 16 Oct. 2020)." It's like, satire, I guess. --I cannot get into each of the songs on this album here. It is a very good album in my opinion; however it does have much more explicit themes of BDSM and sex, which can be overwhelming, depending on the song, the person, and their mood at the time. It is very much making fun of the incel type in many of the songs. I'm willing to bet that most sensible parents would not consider this teen appropriate, so I'm not recommending this to anyone under 18. And it's kind hard to recommend to adults either because of the themes. --Sorry Bro (I Love You) is pretty fucking safe though so you can listen to that. I think the song My Agenda is also safe. It's about the "gay agenda" and "turning the frogs gay," very funny. Also the Village People feature on My Agenda. -I have not listened to Dorian's newest album. I don't even know what it's called.

Those Poor Bastards -I feel like y'all must have heard Those Poor Bastards. -Some of the theme music for Old Gods of Appalachia is by them. -They are "gothic country doom" -Themes of "I'm a sinner and I feel so fucking awful about it but I literally cannot change my ways and I will suffer in hell." But like, it doesn't make *you* the listener feel bad. -Probably cathartic if you grew up with guilt re: christianity? -Decent discography volume? -I am really primarily am familiar with the album Satan is Watching. -I recommend listening to the first song followed by the last song (This World is Evil and No One, respectively) if you want a quick idea of if you'll be interested. -You may want to skip the song I Will Bring You Dead Flowers. It's from the perspective of a guy telling his ex that he'll do better now if she just comes back to him, he'll bring her dead flowers and carry her bible, and then not even half way through he's trying to convince her to have sex with him and saying he "needs" it. So... it's gross. But also its short. -Very christian themed. Not pushing christianity, in fact its a lot of talking about how the narrator is trapped by it. -I made a post comparing the song No One to DBB so, IDK if that's some kind of incentive for you.

Third Wave Ska -People like to make fun of ska, but I think most people (or at least most USAmericans who listen to 90s music?) have probably heard and enjoyed ska music. -The history of ska is pretty interesting, IMO. (Also, First Wave was 50s, Second Wave was 70s, Third Wave was 90s, so we're over due for a Fourth Wave of ska....) -Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, and Save Ferris all have ska music. Save Ferris is actually quite interesting because they are one of very very few ska bands with a lead singer who's a lady. -Goldfinger has a cover of 99 Luftballoons (called 99 Red Balloons) that is very good and retains some lyrics in German. -Okay, so, I listen to a lot of Streetlight Manifesto. They have quite a bit of music, it's quite fast. The guy who wrote a lot of the music for Catch 22 started Streetlight Manifesto, so they do a lot of the same songs, but noticeably faster. -My high school had a fixation on Keasbey Nights by Catch 22, for reasons unknown to me. It played second to last at every school dance. No idea when or why that started, or if it's still played at every dance, but everyone liked it. While I had been listening to some ska before that, I know what ska *is* because of that. -I really really like Better Place, Better Time by Streetlight Manifesto. The narrator is telling another person not to kill themself and its just. Not sad. Like it is if you think about it too much. But the music is ska so its still wicked upbeat! It's kinda funny to me. -The version of Come On Eileen is the one by Save Ferris which has caused arguments because for a long time I didn't know that it was a cover as, as far as I know, it was the only version I had heard. Also it's sung by a lady! It's gay! -Look, I play many instruments, however, I played saxophone in band in school for 6 years plus 2-ish years of community band, of course I like ska.

Welcome to Night Vale Weathers -Okay, look at me. You do not need to listen to Night Vale to listen to the Weathers. The Weathers are music that, by and large, has been submitted months ahead of time by bands from all over. The vast majority of it has nothing to do with the story, and those that do, have very minimal to do with the story and can be listened to and enjoyed without the story. -As the music is submitted by people from all over, there is a huge opportunity to find new musicians/bands that you like. You like one song, check out their others. I personally tend to just listen to that one song because, as previously stated, I am not good at consuming new-to-me media; however, I did discover AJJ because of their song Children of God being a WtNV Weather, and I have purchased several other Weathers because I liked them very much! -There are over 200 episodes of WtNV, so what you do is you search "wtnv weathers" on youtube or spotify or whatever and you find a playlist with a fuck tonne of songs on it and you listen to that. You want new music, there you go. That's my best suggestion. (For set songs. I used Pandora a lot when developing my own music taste in middle/high school). -IIRC, The Mountain Goats had more than one song as a Weather. I think they do tend to lean folk-y. -Some Weathers I really like include i Know This by Rachel Kann, Bremen by PigPen Theatre Co., Despite What You've Been Told by Two Gallants, Ghost Story by Charming Disaster, True Trans Soul Rebel by Against Me! (which you should all listen to), Table Song by Katie Kuffel, My Postcard by Toys and Tiny Instruments, I Love You Oddly by Rebecca Angel, Second Song by Joseph Fink, The Lethal Temptress by The Mendoza Line, The Ends and the Means by Robby Hecht, and This Too Shall Pass by Danny Schmidt. --I went on to listen to some other Danny Schmidt music, recommend him, and made a playlist with Table Song, The Ends and the Means, This Too Shall Pass, and three other songs, two of which are also by Danny Schmidt, which I listen to pretty frequently. So.

If you made it this far, sorry it's so long, but I hope you found something new to listen to. I have a headache so I will be taking an NSAID now. Also I figured I don't need to tell you to listen to the Mechs members solo music.

It is very obvious to me that I like music that tells stories. (ALL music tells storie. Every song tells a story.) I like concept albums, I like musicals.

Therefore I find it very funny both that my favorite Mech’s album is one of the two that don’t have an overarching story *and* that my favorite My Chem album is the one that doesn’t have an overarching story.

[madaboutmunson]

Number Of The Beast (Part 13 of 17 of Fire)

You manage to get the boat moored correctly, grab your things and head back to the van.

"Fuck!" You hear Eddie exclaim as he gets to the side door, "Urgh, idiot!"

"What's wrong?" You say concerned.

"I left the van open." He whines and starts searching through everything. You assist where you can, he'll call out something random, and you try to find it until you exhaust his mental list.

"Weird…they didn't take anything" he stays still rustling around, "ah wait, he picks up your last Tupperware box and holds it up. It's empty and busted open, "Maybe just some impatient stoners after my stash?"

"Well, I know it's like a violation of your stuff, but at least it's all still here," you say, stepping to the back of the van.

Squelch. Is the last thing you hear before you are rocketed onto your back, staring at the van ceiling, "Ewww gross, what the fuck?" Your skin crawls, only imagining what you just fell into. You get up and open the back doors jumping outside, trying to wipe most of whatever it was from your clothes.

"Eddie, can you help me, please. I'm covered in something." You say, flicking the goo from your arms and hands onto the floor. Disgusted didn't really cover the sensation you were feeling. Repugnant, maybe, but no words seem to cover the feeling of wanting to peel your whole outer layers touching this stuff away and sitting in the shower for a week.

Eddie goes to follow you out the way you came. You throw your hands up, sending some goo into the sky that lands on your head, "No, Eddie, STOP! Go the other way" your command does the trick and saves him from a fate similar to yours.

"Fucking gross", you mumble to yourself, still trying to wipe your arms and legs down.

"Oh! Oh no!" Eddie puts a hand to his face, "What the fuck?" He trots over to help you but is highly amused at the same time, "Oh honey, I think maybe this prank was meant for me."

"Eddie, what the fuck even is this stuff. Honestly, I'm thinking the worst and feeling really, REALLY, grossed out right now."

"I think we can rule the worst things out." He says, wiping some from your back, "probably just a ton of lube or something."

"Lube??!! Oh, come on, seriously. Why would someone do that?"

"Because it's kind of funny", Eddie says, struggling not to laugh.

"All right, sure, laugh it up, why don't ya," you say, putting your hands on your hips, and immediately pulling them away, causing the grossest noise you ever heard. Then, you close your eyes and pray for the ground to swallow you up.

"Hey, listen, listen. I can't help you with the whole situation, but I do have a bunch of hellfire t-shirts in the back, all different sizes. Maybe we could make something out of that?" He says, stifling his laughter in an attempt to comfort you.

"Can you just bring them out here, so I don't take all this back in the van with me?" you say, starting to shed your layers, "maybe something to put my gross clothes in, please?"

He nods, hurries back to the van, and brings out some boxes and a bucket.

"I'll pay you back for the tees, Eddie. Sorry about this."

You tie up your hair, dump all your clothes as quickly as possible, save for underwear into the bucket, and quickly dive into the t-shirts.

You find one to fit your top half and grab a second that you rip the collar of and climb into like a skirt, tying the sleeves like a belt. It looks bizarre, but at least you are at least 90% less goo now.

You glance at Eddie, who is looking you over, nodding his head. "You know what? Yeah, great job, looks great," he says, picking up the bucket and boxes and transporting them back to the van.

You breathe a sigh of relief and just start laughing to yourself quietly. It was much easier to see the funny side of things once you felt less like swamp thing.

You hear a rustling in the long grass to the side of you, "Haven't I suffered enough for one night, Eddie? Stop messing around, dingus!"

"Wow!! Sorry for helping you in your sticky situation. I'll be right out!!" You hear him yell from inside the van.

Your eyes dart around in the dark. It's entirely still now, whatever it was, "Say, Eddie? You think maybe you wanna start the van up?" You say back to him nervously.

"Of course, dear, just let me add it to the list of things I AM DOING RIGHT NOW", he yells in annoyance but then immediately pops his head around the door.

"Eddie, angel cakes, please start up the van." You say with a tremor in your voice, staring into the dark and backing up to the van.

"Oh shit! Shit! SHIT! SHIT!" you hear the back doors slam, and you get hoisted into the van. Just as something pounces out of the night at you, only for it to be met with the side door that slides in between you.

Eddie vaults into the front seat and starts up the van. You scramble for the black lunch pail, clutching it tightly and jump into the passenger seat.

A thud to your window as what looks like a many-toothed starfish tries to latch onto it. You both scream at it, and Eddie puts his foot down.

"Did you see that? That's like what you said. Its face was opened. Oh, fuck." You say, gasping for breath.

"JESUS H CHRIST, I FUCKING KNEW IT!!" he yells, hitting the steering wheel.

"Except that one…" You say with your voice trembling, "Was not rat-sized."

Eddie gulps, "What do you mean?" He says worriedly.

"I mean, it pounced out of the grass, at me, like rottweiler sized. Fuck, it was gonna eat me! Jesus Christ!" You say, putting your head in your hands.

Your mind is abuzz with what-ifs until something hits you like that creature hit the glass. Your eyes well up, "You saved my life, Eddie. Like properly saved me. I could be in snack-sized pieces." You move over as close to him as you possibly can and squeeze him tightly, planting a thousand tiny kisses on his cheek.

"Hey, calm, please. I am still trying to drive here." He says with a small laugh.

"That was very…heroic of you." You say and gently squeeze his shoulder.

He looks a little sheepish, "I'm usually not much of a hero outside of D&D", he half smiles.

"Well, you're definitely mine now…my hero, I mean", you add quickly.

"I could be both," he says, drumming on the steering wheel, looking over to you quickly, then back at the road.

Before you even get a chance to enjoy that statement, you hear a scraping and creak above you, "Eddie, I don't think it gave up. I think it's on the fucking roof!!!" you recoil and scream.

Eddie grabs for his seat belt, "Buckle up, now!!" He shouts, speeding up.

2 clicks later, and the breaks slam on. Something is catapulted to the ground in front of you, but at the same time, several thuds come from the back of the van.

"Fuck!" Eddie says, eyes wide with fear at you.

The creature in the headlight lumbers towards the van, its head opens up and screams at you, but the scream is coming from all around.

Eddie puts his foot down again, and the van screams down the road. Once enough ground is covered, and the mirrors are free of those things, Eddie slams on the breaks again, a few times. Nothing flies off. No scraping or thuds.

The van engages top speed again, careering through Hawkins until you leave the other side of it. It's only when you get to the next town over and are at a gas station that you actually stop. You both leave the van tentatively. Then, as Eddie fills the van up, you stand immediately beside him, looking around for anything hurtling towards him.

He puts his hands on your upper arms, "Hey, we're ok. I just need to grab some things, and I'll be right back. You'll be able to see me just fine from inside the van, alright?"

You nod, trying to shake off your own feelings of terror and also wanting to make sure Eddie remained unhurt.

Eddie goes in and emerges safely from the gas station store, his arms full of bags. As he drops them into the van, there is an audible thud, and through the window, you see him filling up a large gas canister with fuel. He waves over at the cashier, who give him a salute, and jumps back in the driver's seat, throwing you some candy and sodas, "These should help with the sugar crash", he says, starting up the van again.

You look behind you into the bags. Sharp bits of metal and chains, bullets, some sort of knives.

"Holy shit, what is all that?" You say, moving away into your seat.

"So I just noticed that the guy behind the counter had a few warzone-type things on display that might help with the bobcat problem I told him that we have. He was eager to discuss all of these items at length and how useful they are. Especially after he saw you sitting in the van alone. I mean, obviously deep concern about this guy, but I did get a discount, so you know, it was worth it. I'll be prepared next time."

"Next time?" You say with alarm.

"Yeah…Seeing those things…I mean, that alone was fucking horrific…but I can't let them…sure, this town is a cursed shitshow, but it's my cursed shitshow…and one of those sons of bitches tried to fucking eat you, man." His face and voice are strained.

"I know, but maybe I dunno, we just don't go out at night, or something? I've never seen them in the day."

"…and what if they make more of themselves, now there is a group of them? Then what? We'll be overrun. All of us. Everybody. Even if we ran, they'd find us. They keep finding us."

"Eddie, we can't fight those things. We need to tell someone about it."

"Ok, firstly, there is no we about this. Secondly, you don't think I tried. After the wedding, I called a whole bunch of places, pest control, animal control, and the police. I mean, I couldn't really say exactly what I saw. So I had to twist the truth a little."

"No, we about this? What, you're going to fight them alone?! Have you lost your mind completely? No way, no fucking way."

"I JUST ALMOST FUCKING LOST YOU ALRIGHT!!!" he yells, hitting the dashboard. You move away in your seat. His brow furrowed with anguish, he cracks his neck, "I'm sorry, sorry for shouting, don't move away" his hand reaches out for you, "Just if I had been a second later. You wouldn't be here, gone, eaten by that thing, and I'd be…well…I don't know what I'd be…fucking alone…half of myself…broken…a shell of a person. I won't let that happen. I won't let them take you from me! No fucking way!"

You grab his outstretched hand and notice a tear spill down his cheek, "Fuck!" He says through his teeth, trying to hold in his frustration.

"But you expect me to let you go up against those things alone. What if you don't make it? What if you go out trying to save this place, and no one ever knows, Eddie? For what? I would burn this town to the ground a thousand times before I let you throw yourself into harm's way for it. How could I ever live with myself knowing that you sacrificed yourself to defend me? You expect me to just carry on like it was a favour, like, "aw, that's nice of Eddie to kill himself for me. I'll just run along to school now". This isn't D&D. We don't get to come back. It's very, very final. And It's not happening."

"You have no idea how it feels to be around you. The amazing impact you have on your people. What will they all do without you? You can't leave us to play hero, Eddie. You are already a hero, not for grand gestures like tonight, but for what you do every day for the people you care about and all the outsiders, misfits and loners looking for shelter in a storm? We'd all be very lost without you, or you know, become an arch-villain-led cult and start researching necromancy."

"We found these things together. So let's end them together. Me and you, back to back, against the world. If I fall, then at least know I got to go out on my own terms. Outside of my circle, I don't care much for this town. But if it's what you want to do. I want to be right there with you. I do not want to sit helplessly on the sidelines."

Eddie pulls over, "Come here, you idiot", he says, opening his arms at you, which you dive into, squeezing him tightly.

"Not just any idiot," you say, muffled in his hair.

"No…my idiot." He says, smiling and cradling the back of your head.

Full fanfic list

[www-artforoddballs]

Alright, so notice. Most of you probably know this, since you're following me for the Autistic Levi stuff (thank you, we're closing in on 100 followers!!!!), but people with autism can have "tantrums". I've kinda touched on this in a previous post (it's a full meltdown, but you can see that post here https://www-artforoddballs.tumblr.com/post/644803780958879744/autistic-levi-angstkinda-i-guess-this-is-him). For those of you who DON'T know, an autistic tantrum is not the same thing as what you'd think of in regards to a toddler or kid, it's just the word used for it. This is a mistake my mother and I made when getting the paperwork done while I was going through testing that later got cleared up lol

I had a tantrum yesterday, and so I figured that I could post about Leviathan having a tantrum, since it's still ready on my mind. I don't care if anyone else is proud of me for coping with it as well as I did, since it's a major improvement from last time I had one, but I am proud of myself!...with that in mind, here we go!!

There will be some angst in this post, like the last post in relation to this one, but like the last post, it turns out fine.

However.

Trigger warning for things such as self harm, both physical and verbal. If you or a loved one is self harming, either reach out to someone for help or reach out to that person to help, yeah?

OK on with the post.

-------------

First of all, Levi's autism is part of why his brothers always agree to help when there's a raffle for tickets or something like that on the DDD messages, because he can get overwhelmed if they don't at least help, even if he doesn't win in the end.

They figured out that his autism was the culprit for this shortly after his diagnosis.

Now when I'm writing for Levi, I like to think that his diagnosis was around the early 1990s since, while autism was a separate diagnosis in 1980, it didn't really start becoming fairly accepted and expanded upon until 1987. Hence why everyone is mostly used to it by now, but are still sometimes off put by his odd behavior; for them, as beings that have been around since...the beginning of the universe, pretty much as far as we know, but for at LEAST since humans were around (so at VERY least 2.5 million years now, but potentially up to around 7 million years (if they haven't been around since the beginning of creation)), this would be like...I dunno, give me a second.

Waiting

Waiting...

Okay, so from 1990(earliest year I have in mind) to 2019 (the year it was released) is 29 years. That's a minimum of 1/86,206.89th of their lifespan, and a maximum of 1/475,862,068.96th of their total lifetime.

So this is a VERY recent development for them on the grand scheme of things, but I digress.

So they're still figuring everything out, especially as the human race continues to learn about the condition itself.

So the first time Levi threw a tantrum and they recognized it for what it was...it was certainly interesting.

What had happened was exactly the situation described; Levi had wanted to go to a concert in the human world and they were raffling off free tickets. Except, unlike now, his brothers hadn't offered their support. They hadn't in the past, why would this time be any different?

Except now they viewed it through a different light. Leviathan had an image in his head that he desired so badly and had asked his brothers to support him, hopeful, only to be rejected at every turn. That he was used to, but it was still upsetting.

He put that to the side, though. He really wanted to see this band, and these were VIP tickets where you got to hang out with the band for a few hours after the concert! They'd cost a LOT of human money, and while they COULD afford it, he knew Lucifer would be bringing hell down upon him if he used that amount of family funds on a concert. And his anxiety was already somewhat raised, so he decided to enter the raffle on his own.

He sat there for hours, waiting for the results to come in. He'd hyped this up in his brain the entire time; He'd win, go to an amazing concert, have dinner with the band, maybe even make some friends....!...and then the results came back. He hadn't won.

As per usual, our snek boi went into one of his rants about how unfair it was, but instead of going on a rampage or something like that, locked himself up in his room and cried, hating himself for getting so excited over nothing.

As I mentioned before, I've made another post about a tantrum/getting too overwhelmed slipping into something even more dire, as that's almost always what happens to me. This would be in the 90s, so this would be their first real incident with one of these moments where they had the proper diagnosis, so bear with me, there will be some angst here, but like the other post, it'll be fine.

So Mammon ends up feeling bad for rejecting his little brother, and, not knowing it was too late, decided to go to his room and offer his support. It was almost Leviathan's birthday anyways, and Mammon knew how rejection felt and how much it sucked. So, he knocked on Leviathan's door.

No response. He knocked again...still no response, but a quiet sob.

Right away, Mammon switched from semi-carefree to worried. "Levi...?"

Again, no response. He decided to just go in and check on his brother...

The door was locked. And he smelled blood.

"Leviathan, I need you to open the door," Mammon said with a half hearted chuckle, his voice now becoming slightly strained. "Because if ya don't, I'm gonna have t' break the door down."

"Just go away!" Leviathan cried from inside his room. "Just leave me alone, you jerk!"

"I ain't goin' anywhere. Either open the door or I'm gonna break it down. Those are your two choices."

A moment of silence, before Mammon sighs, stretching, as he transforms into his demon form.

"Alright, option two it is."

He rammed into the door repeatedly, before the wood finally splintered and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Mammon quickly looked around, eyes widening as he saw Leviathan digging his own sharpened nails into his arms, multiple raked wounds, made by the same culprit, carved into his skin.

"Levi...look at ya..." Mammon said, voice faltering, tears welling up in his eyes. "I...how long has..."

"Just shut up! Don't act like you care about me, I'm the freak of our family, remember?! I'm the one whose brain isn't right, I'm just a shut-in, good for nothing, re-!"

He was quickly cut off by Mammon going to him and hugging him.

"I don't care who you are. You talk about my brother like that again and I'll kill you. Alright? You're a little off, but you ain't a freak, and your brain works just fine as is. You're perfect just the way you are, and if anybody else says any different, I'm gonna beat them the fuck up. Including you. Got that? So what if you've got that fancy lable on ya now...? Labels like that matter, but it didn't change ya. You're still my cringe, annoying as hell little weirdo of a brother...and I wouldn't have ya any other way."

Leviathan fully listened to Mammon talk, before clinging to him, breaking down sobbing again, and trying to explain what happened through his tears, the older demon gently rubbing his back and allowing him to cry it out, making sure no more harm was done.

A while later, once Levi had calmed down, Mammon ruffled his hair.

"Let's get you cleaned up, yeah? Lucifer is already gonna kill me for breaking your door, but he'd be even more pissed if I just left you here with those wounds."

So they did. And Mammon, after telling a VERY angry Lucifer what had happened hours later, had surprisingly NOT gotten chewed out by the eldest brother. Instead, that day, the entire family had a long discussion, and they all agreed that if it was something as small as entering a raffle, or even if it was bigger but not an inconvenience to anyone in the slightest, they'd all help out from then on. It's not like it was hard, and it would save Levi from hours of stress and negativity toward himself and others around him.

They also made a plan for if a tantrum were to happen while someone was around, or if he became too overwhelmed and started to spiral...because, as annoying as he could be, Leviathan was still family. And they loved him, oddities and all.

---------------

Alright, so...that was the post! I hope it was okay. I know I've written about this type of thing before a little, but different situations can end up with the same negative outcome, like being in an overwhelming situation, or not being able to change your thinking and not easily being able to get over your expectations. I've personally suffered with both, and it's a regular thing for me, so I like writing about it, because maybe, just maybe, it'll help someone out, or help someone that isn't autistic understand a friend or relative or classmate or employee better. And I love these characters, I really do. The only ironic thing is that I see so much of myself in Leviathan, but I adore him and despise myself. Go figure 😂

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed, and if there's anything you guys have questions about (in regards to me and my experience), or any specific writing requests, asks are fully open!

Thanks so much for being here to support me, you have no idea how much it means to a little oddball such as myself.

[dclsbaby]

tolerate it - Dominic Calvert Lewin 🦋

Summary: despite being in love, you and dom drift apart during a career hiccup and it breaks your heart into tiny little pieces

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings: angst? pain?

A/N: hi everyone! I took the looongest hiatus known to mankind and I just want to thank everyone who has still stuck by this blog! I haven't written in a while and this isn't by best work but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway! ily!

masterlist

I wake and watch you breathing with your eyes closed

I wake and watch you breathing with your eyes closed

I sit and watch

I notice everything you do or don’t do

Every little thing he does leaves you in awe. The man can’t do no wrong in your eyes. You notice the way he breathes, his little gestures, his subtle movements. Others can envision an entire story just by observing the way he looks at you. As you lay in bed with his body next to yours, his chest rising with every breath taken, you discover a newfound appreciation to add to the list of things you love about him. You have never felt a feeling so intense, so visceral. Love is terrifying, isn’t it? Love often leads to infatuation, and this was no different to you. You wear your heart on your sleeves, feel every emotion, from the exhilarating highs, to the excruciating lows. To be dependent on another human for happiness is a dangerous game. You fear love. And with fear comes paranoia.

It started when your conversations became shorter and shorter by the day. Then, it’s him arriving late from training, to no longer waking you up before he leaves for early morning training. No more forehead kisses when you’re still asleep, no more post-it notes on refrigerator doors telling you he’s made you breakfast, no nothing. Bodies that were once intertwined each night now rest apart with unwanted distance in between. Distance you so wanted to close.

As the weather turned cold, so did he.

I wait by the door like I’m just a kid

Use my best colours for your portrait

Lay the table with fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

Without fail, you would always wait for him to come home, run to the door when you hear his car pull over on your driveway and leap into his arms the second he steps in your shared home. He would hold you up as your legs wrap around his waist, and whisper “I’ve been waiting to come home to you all day,” in your ear. A memory you long to relive.

You knew he had been struggling, coping with a plateau in his career, playing less and less, becoming a resident of the substitution bench. It hurt you to see him hurt, but it also pained you that he did not turn to you for comfort. “Nothing is wrong,” he says, over and over. Lies, you thought. You know him better than anyone else. So you try and convince him that he could trust you, and that keeping it all in would only make it worse. I mean you would know, as you have been suppressing so much pain this whole time. But he wins this battle yet again, and with his ego intact, he shrugs it off, ignores his frustration, and pushes you away.

While you were out building other worlds, where was I?

Where’s that man who’d throw blankets over my barbed wire?

I made you my temple, my mural my sky

Now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life

As months passed by, you were no longer his live-in partner, but a stranger he has to coexist with, leaving you lonely each night as he drifted off to sleep inches away from you. Even then your love for him is still as potent, as strong. Your loyalty is a crime.

Your efforts to make him feel better never ceased, as you continue cooking him his favourite meals after training, helping him pack his bags the night before he leaves for international duty, doing household chores so he never had to bother with them after coming home from an exhausting day, making playlists of songs you think he’d like, and putting movies and tv series you know he would enjoy in his Netflix list.

You would do anything for some form of acknowledgement.

You would do anything to bring back those first two years back.

You would do anything for a simple touch, a hug, an embrace.

You would do anything for… something.

Everything you did, you did for him. Every thought that passes your mind, involves him.

It’s just a phase. It’s just a phase. You try to convince yourself. That’s a lie, another subconscious voice says.

---

It was the night before the Merseyside derby, which happens to be the final match of the season. The most anticipated match of the year. The perfect match. The match that determines if Everton is crowned Premier League champions. Half of the city at war with the other half. Two colours, two clubs with a historic rivalry battle it out on the pitch once again.

He was nervous, you could tell. You catch him playing with his food and struggle to finish his meal as he was sick to his stomach. After months of hate comments, online trolling, and being subject to pundits’ criticism, this was the perfect match to prove all the doubters that he is worthy of wearing his blue jersey. He spent several more minutes tossing pieces of food with his fork until he got up, placed his plate on the sink, and made his way up the stairs to sleep. No “see you upstairs”, or a last goodbye before he sleeps. You had to resist every temptation to start a fight and argue that you deserve more than silence. But you knew how important tomorrow’s occasion is, and decided against it.

Shortly after you make your way into your bedroom. He was curled on the edge of the bed, eyes closed, bedroom lights dimmed. You go to your shared bathroom, take what’s left of your makeup off, and get ready for bed. You stare at yourself in the mirror. Darkened under eyes, lips cracked down the middle. You were dehydrated, tired, exhausted, and looked almost ghastly. Turns out having a broken heart does have implications on your vanity. How much longer can I do this? You thought. You felt pathetic, feeling sorry for yourself. You exhale a deep sigh and make your way back into the bedroom, joining him in bed. As you settle on the bed, you turn your body away from him, and tug the duvet your way, curling into a fetal position and tuck yourself in, and drift off to sleep.

All of a sudden, you hear sounds of shifting sheets, the bed slightly moving with every turn he makes. You could tell he was awake. You knew the events of tomorrow are playing on his mind and making him lose sleep. With only a little hesitation, you extend an arm and rest your hand on his back, causing him to shudder a little. Your touch had stopped the shifting and brought him comfort he did not know he needed. Not long after, you could hear soft snores from his side of the bed.

---

You woke up to an empty bed, which was not unusual. You forgive him though, since it is a big day and he probably had to tune into the game day mentality early in the morning.

You watch the game from home and stare at the TV screen as the cameras zoom into Dom, his face serious, ready to fight it out on the pitch. Since the second the referee blew the first while, it had already gotten intense. Both teams began attacking from the get-go, a handful of chances created even though it’s barely been a quarter of an hour.

Minutes passed, and yellow cards have been handed out for several players. Every spectator in different time zones all glued to their screens, all on the edge of their seats until half-time. The camera catches a glimpse of him walking off the pitch. He looked angry and frustrated, you could tell. He was responsible for most of the chances created during the game, though he couldn’t seem to poach one in.

Ben had made a long pass that Dom couldn’t quite convert into a goal.

Lucas had delivered a stunning, almost perfect cross that landed on Dom’s head, but it went wide.

Richy had attempted a shot on his own, which pissed Dom off.

It’s all square at half-time, but football is a game of two halves, and to decide which side of the city will celebrate tonight is determined by the next 45 minutes at least.

Every player is now back on the pitch, ready to give it their all.

10 minutes in, it’s long balls and defending, the opposition giving no room to maneuver through the box. That is until Lucas passed another strikingly accurate cross.

“MISS AGAIN! How could he have missed a cross like that a second time?”

“Everton’s number 9 squashes an open goal opportunity, what a shame, that.”

“He’s going to hate himself for that,”

“He already does, Calvert-Lewin looks like he’s about to see red.”

You listen to the commentators as they describe Dom’s frustration. You watch with anxiety, occasionally scrolling through your phone to avoid the intensity.

---

Into the final minute of the game 90+3.  Still all square at the Goodison. It’s now or never.

“Free kick!”

“The free-kick will be done 20 yards off the goal post.”

“This could be the last chance of the game!”

“It’s been decided that Sigurdsson will take the free kick, Calvert-Lewin leaps into the air, ball’s on his head—GOAL!!!”

And just like that, in the final minute of the game, his team clinches the winner, and your man is hailed the hero of the night.

You watch the screen as the referee blows the final whistle of the game, Dom doing sprints around the pitch with his teammates, bodies jumping on each other, veins popping through every neck, roars of exhilaration filling the open air as Everton is calculated to win the league.

You watch him immerse himself in the exhilaration of crowning his team champions of the Premier League. The blue confetti rained over the stadium in the crisp yet comfortable afternoon air, cheering noises blasting through the speakers. You watch the screen zoom into the love of your life, or was. You see his perfectly chiseled face, those bright green eyes, brunette locks still perfectly put together even after a hard-fought game, his sweet smile warming your heart. Your eyes glued to the screen as your man is hailed a hero, and feel an overwhelming sense of pride.

Though not even the cheering and happy faces on TV could distract you from the churning feeling in your stomach. It’s a feeling you can’t quite pinpoint. Is it confusion? Anger? Happiness? You don’t even know.

You’re happy for him, truly. But you can’t seem to shake the fact that it took him being distant from you, and completely ignoring your existence to get his head back in the game. It’s like you and football were mutually exclusive, and he can’t focus on both things he loves most at the same time. You weren’t going to make him choose either.

---

He didn’t come home that night, and you saw it coming. You knew he was going to go out with his teammates, and rightfully so, they achieved a massive milestone after all. But it bothered you that he didn’t say anything, no texts, no voicemails, nothing to tell you of his whereabouts. You thought he would at least change after all that success, but still nothing. Everything is going to stay the same, isn’t it? You thought.

The next morning you wake up to an empty bed. Again. Totally expected. You reach out for your phone and see 10 missed calls from your best friend and several text messages with picture attachments. You were not prepared for what you were about to see.

Attached were pictures of him in a club with his teammates, pictured awfully close to a woman you don’t recognise. He was smiling and looked happy. You can’t remember the last time he looked like that, or even smiled at you. You haven’t even stood as close as they way that woman is in his space, for months. He hasn’t looked at you the way he’s looking at her in those pictures for months.

You felt sick. Your mind is racing. Your heart feels like it’s about to fall out of your chest. You wanted to cry and scream but nothing came out. Total silence. Pure shock. You had no tears left to cry, as you wasted it all from crying yourself to sleep just inches away from the man who broke your heart every day.

Should I have seen it coming? Has he been going out with her for months? When did it start? You try to remember every single detail over the past few months. Every single pain, every single action that you could have overlooked.

---

By the afternoon, you’ve already spent hours sitting on your bed, staring at the pictures sent to you. More links have appeared as gossip sites picked up on the story.

“Dominic Calvert-Lewin celebrates historic Merseyside win with a mystery girl who is not his missus”

“Everton Hero – Also a Cheat”

“Cursed WAGs – DCL celebrates PL win with mystery woman as his missus is MIA”

The more you read these news outlets, the number you feel. The whole of England knows your dirty laundry, you felt like a fool.

You were done.

Drawing hearts in the byline

Always taking up too much space or time

You assume I’m fine, but what would you do if I…

Break free and leave us in ruins

Took this dagger in me and removed it

Gain the weight of you, then lose it

Believe me I could do it

Shortly after you hear keys rattling downstairs, followed by the sound of doors shutting. You hear footsteps walking up the stairs, and you mentally prepare to see his face. You still don’t know how you’re going to react, not until you see him.

As he steps into the doorframe, he sees your bloodshot eyes and stops in his tracks.

“So, I presume you’ve seen what’s being said about me,” he moans.

“Yeah, yeah I’ve seen,” you shrug.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous isn’t it, shouldn’t believe everything you say,” he says.

“-is it though? Is it absolutely ridiculous that what they say could be true?” you cross your arms.

“Of course, it is! What are you even saying?” he says, offended.

“I’m saying that I have spent months slaving for you, putting you before myself without getting anything in return! I’m saying that I have been so miserable in this sad excuse of a relationship, holding onto the last memory of when you last said you loved me which was months ago! I’m saying that it would not be so unbelievable if you had been cheating on me, and that I had to find out from some tabloids!”  

“If you had been so miserable then why didn’t you say anything? You could have said something if you’ve been so unhappy!” Dom yells.

“Because I have been tiptoeing around you! Afraid of saying the wrong things to set you off, I did not want to be a burden during a time when I know you’re struggling,” you sigh.

Dom’s body nearly goes limp after hearing your confession.

“I put you before myself over and over again for the past year, and you have the nerve to assume I’m fine? Fine with what? Being ignored? Being second best? You don’t know what that does to a person,” you cry.

“Do you regret it?” he asks with tears in his eyes. “Do you regret me?” he looks at you.

“No, Dom. No, I don’t. I don’t regret you because I’ve spent the last few months giving it my all to a relationship on the brink of ruins. I never gave up on you, and I never gave up on our love, or what’s left of it,” you sigh. “Deep down, I think I knew that I deserved more than a pathetic excuse of a career hiccup, but I was prepared to stand by you through it all,” you break into cries. “My love was strong enough to ignore every warning sign, strong enough to mute fire alarm bells ringing in my head, alerting me to leave a relationship where I was no longer appreciated,” you rest your head on your hand. “Maybe we’re all allotted a certain amount of fight to give per love, and today… Today I ran out,” look up at him.

“Don’t fucking say that. Do not say that. I am not done fighting for this relationship, I know I fucked up! You don’t think I know that? I will fix everything, you don’t have to do anything, let me do everything I will fix us!” Dom begs.

“There’s no fixing us. It takes two people to fix a relationship, I learned that the hard way and I singlehandedly attempted to piece us back together only for you to break through what I’ve built and held together with my bare fucking hands,” you say as you wipe your tears away.

Dom drops to the floor as he could no longer stand the pain he feels from what you’ve just said.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I-I don’t know what to say,” he pleads

“If it took you this long, and if it took me standing here yelling at you for you to regret what you did then we are past the point of fixing,”

“You know what football means to me, I felt stuck, everything that I had dreamed of as a kid was slowly fading, I couldn’t bear it,” Dom reasons.

“I would never get in between you and football. I would never have even considered making you choose, Dom. I would have done absolutely anything for you, anything, you said. “I just needed you to tell me what the hell is going on so I could have helped you. I did not deserve to be swept under the rug, to be left feeling useless, while you were out doing god knows what with god knows who after training every. Single. Day.”

“Are you implying that I cheated on you?! That I, me – someone you’ve known for years, is cheating on you?”

If it’s all in my head, tell me now

Tell me I’ve got it wrong somehow

“Go on then! Tell me I’m making all of this up in my head. Tell me that I am not wrong to assume such insane thoughts, tell me that it is so beyond the realm of possibility that you could ever be unfaithful.”

Dom stayed silent.

You simply nodded and picked up your belongings, ready to leave.

“Nothing happened. I swear,” he pleaded.

“Your silence was enough,

Goodbye.”

I know my love should be celebrated

But you tolerate it