#I want to protect these kids. from the horror of the industries they are very much into

[shmothman]

lord help me the 20 year old girls I work with are sending makeup influencer tiktoks to the work group chat

[simply-ivanka]

Why Do the Young Vote Left?

Socialist teachers lead them to think of government as a free-money tree.

It’s the gifts. The progressive vibe is that big government will take care of you. It knows what’s best for you. It will redistribute money how it pleases. You need to put a smile on your face while it takes away your laurels, guns and money. “We believe in the collective,” Ms. Harris declared, much like Hillary Clinton’s “it takes a village.” Equity in Schenectady. Handouts for all.

You want proof? Ms. Harris’s Senate voting record is leftward of socialist Bernie Sanders. Vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz fawns over China, saying “everyone is the same and everyone shares.” Viva la revolución and Che Guevara T-shirts for all.

This is antifreedom. Too many of today’s youth fall in line with progressives because they’re undereducated and overindoctrinated with someone else’s agenda. I watched in horror as local high-school biology classes spent weeks on the science of recycling centers and only a short afternoon on mitochondria and mitosis. Profit is a bad word. It’s gimme, gimme, whether it’s student loan forgiveness, free healthcare or tax credits.

Who’s to blame? Misguided capitalism-hating social-studies teachers to start, with Tim Walzian thinking: “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” Who is he, Mr. Rogers? Add like-minded college professors. Work ethic and ambition are evaporating.

Worse, Pew Research notes almost a third of currently childless 18- to 34-year-olds aren’t sure if they ever want children. Why? The Harris campaign’s “climate engagement director,” Camila Thorndike, is among the hesitant, telling the Washington Post, “I want to protect them from suffering.” Perpetually pessimistic progressive prognostications induce fear. No wonder U.S. fertility rates are at historic lows.

OK, I know I’m asking for trouble. Every time I write about youth, I get a chorus of comments and tweets telling me I’m an old man screaming, “Hey you kids, get off my lawn.” Yeah, yeah. Very clever. I’m not that old. But in the Kamala collective—as California attempted—private “ornamental” lawns are out, and drought-resistant vegetation is in. Progressives literally want you off your own lawn.

My conversations with young folks who do exhibit some actual drive show their confusion: “I want to do a startup.” Great! To do what? “A sustainable something or other. To save the planet.” OK, is it productive? “What’s that?” Does it scale? “Huh?” Will it do more with less? “Not really, it needs lots of money to keep going and save more of the world.” Sounds like a nonprofit. (That usually invokes a smile.) Actually, wealth comes from delivering ever-cheaper stuff to millions of people, not handouts. “I don’t care about money.”

OK, I say, but progress and societal wealth happen when you delight customers and postpone consumption to reinvest profits into better products. The looks on their faces are as if I’m describing Chinese arithmetic.

Our youth aren’t lazy but lost. Progressives have strong opinions about society but no viable solution beyond handing out other people’s money—taken from the few who actually are productive, drive progress and generate wealth by fulfilling customer needs. It’s a downward spiral: When progressives tax—screaming “fair share!”—they cripple the productive few who actually create the real non-burger-flipping, get-out-of-your-parent’s-basement jobs.

To aggressive progressives, government is simply a magic money tree. Vote left and dollars appear. The gross incompetence of government—think billions for eight electric vehicle chargers—destroyed healthcare (thank you, ObamaCare) and education (assisted by Randi Weingarten’s teachers union) and is close to destroying energy (net zero), even while the Biden-Harris administration works hard to destroy Big Tech—one of the few productive industries. And I’ll never forgive progressive Hollywood for turning “Star Wars” into unwatchable wokey Wookiee drivel.

What industries will be left standing? Who cares, because the dreamy types think generative artificial intelligence will kill all jobs and government will provide universal basic income so they can Zyn, TikTok and play College Football 25 videogames all day. A naive youthful triumphalism.

This is a false endgame. There is so much more to be invented: drugs, immunotherapy, fusion, self-folding clothes, humanoid robotics, flying cars. Hard brain work plus quality recharging leisure time is the goal, not a nation of welfare queens.

I feel sorry for the youth that do care, do work hard, are productive and help push the boulder of progress up that steep slope, while essentially carrying all the others on their backs. It’s you against the collective, the village, which is always about being supported, pampered, living off someone else’s hard work and then complaining that the handouts aren’t big enough. So, yeah, get off my lawn, while lawns are still allowed.

[unofficialadamtaurus]

I am chronically unable to keep fics to myself so enjoy this thing that's been on my mind since I reread an old ask

Adam knows oblivion. He didn’t used to; for twenty-three years of life, it was a concept and nothing more.

By its very nature it is unknowable until he is, at once and without warning, exhumed from it. Sensation crashes through his spinning mind: the ground under his boots, the weight and feel of his clothes, the air rushing into his lungs when he pulls in a reflexive breath.

His remaining senses wash over him in the aftershock of abrupt existence: the oily scents of industry and garbage; the clash of steel and shouted cries; and his sight. White at first, it clears to permit him a view of the fight reaching his ears.

He’s in a warehouse. Some kind of shipping hub, judging by the towering shelves full of boxes and stacked pallets. On, around, and between those shelves are swarms of people dueling in the deep shadows. Faunus. White Fang, by their clothes. Brightly dressed figures occupy the centers of the chaos.

He’s been aware and taking all of this in for a mere second before he’s moving. It’s not his own will that guides him, not really. It’s an urge. A need. He has to protect the one behind him. He has to.

And so he watches in horror as his blade carves through every White Fang member in his path. The first few don’t even move. They’re staring at him as he’s staring at them, all of them struck dumb.

What he sees of himself explains their reactions as much as his violence does: his limbs and weapons are icy white and blue, trailing frost like smoke.

He tries to stop but his body is a machine that bucks his control. Corpses fall around him. The faunus are shouting now, screaming his name, except they’re not targeting him except to slow him down. They’re trying to get to the one behind him—

They cannot do that.

He moves faster. His face is carved into a snarl but it’s the visage of a beast with its leg in a trap. He can’t escape whatever has a hold on him. He can’t let them get to her. He wants to but he can’t.

He wants to close his eyes. Apologize. Order the ones who haven't already run to get away from him, from whatever puppets him. He wants to and he can’t. There’s a wall between his will and his flesh. He’s a tool. A weapon. Nothing more.

Blood stains his blade, his hands, his face. The few Fang remaining have thrown down their weapons. Held up their hands. Fallen to their knees.

Back away, he begs himself. He steps closer.

Sheath your sword, he pleads. He raises it.

“STOP!”

He freezes. The boy he’d nearly decapitated—a teenager, no older than sixteen—looks up at him in abject fear. There’s blood on his face too, the blood of all his friends Adam had just killed.

It’s silent, or nearly so. The woman who’d cried for him to stop is gasping. She sinks to her knees with an audible thunk of flesh on concrete.

“How?” someone he can’t see whispers. His skin crawls; he knows that voice.

“Weiss?” Another voice, less familiar.

“Who is that?” A third voice, younger than the other two.

All the speakers are behind him. All he sees are the four kids trembling at his feet. Not so long ago he would’ve relished their fear as a sign of his growing power. Now, it makes his stomach churn.

Blood still drips from his sword. He tries to lower it. He tries to sheath it. He tries to tell them to run. It all, again, fails. He digs ragged mental fingers into that wall.

The gasps behind him turn to disbelieving sobs. “I didn’t—I wasn’t—not him! I-I couldn’t—“

“Breathe,” the third speaker advises. “Just breathe.”

He endures another round of unsteady sobs briefly interrupted by attempts at steady breathing. The wall between him and his body cracks under his mental assault; his fingers twitch. The faunus flinch.

“I-I don’t know what happened. They’re always difficult to c-control at first but,” she hiccuped, “this was different. It—he—wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t even trying to summon him!”

The wall shakes. He gains control of his face.

“Run,” he mouths at the faunus. They stare. Glance at each other. And then scramble to their feet and away, leaving their weapons behind in their fear.

“What—“

“Hey!”

Adam spins and levels his sword at the red-cloaked girl trying to run after them. She goes still with wide silver eyes that fix on his.

“Weiss?” she asks.

“I can’t dispel him, Ruby. I’m trying!”

Dispel. Dispel him? He tightens his grip on this ghostly version of Wilt.

“Are your summons…sentient?”

“N-no. Not really. I mean, they’ve all been Grimm until—until now.”

When Ruby next speaks, the question is directed at him: “Who are you?”

His weapon dips. Past her, he sees the blonde whose arm he severed so long ago. He sees Blake. And he finally sees the one controlling him. White hair, white skin, white clothes. Revulsion rips through him, revulsion so deep it obliterates the wall’s remains and slams barefaced into the howling need to protect the Schnee.

[somedayonbroadway]

Hi! I've been watching WandaVision, and the next episode will be the last I think, so I was wondering if you could do a WandaVision AU?

Yeeeee this is such an old ask but I am rewatching the show because I love it so much.

Sorry for such a late reply, anon.

WandaVision AU

Jack Kelly as Wanda

David Jacobs as Vision

Racetrack Higgins as Ralph/Pietro

Crutchie Morris as Monica

Albert DaSilva as Jimmy Woo

JoJo as Darcy Lewis

Mike and Ike as Billy and Tommy

Joseph Pulitzer as Agatha

I absolutely love the idea of this AU. I debated for a very long time about who I wanted to make Wanda. It was between Jack and Race, as it often is, and I was leaning towards Race for a long time but I think Jack makes more sense in the part.

Jack would’ve grown up with his baby brother, Racer. The two of them lived in Sokovia when they were young, with their parents who were later killed by a missile while the kids were trapped in the debris for over two days, able to see what remained of their parents bodies. Unknown to them at the time, Jack was born with miraculous powers of a witch and is immensely powerful. When they were kids, Jack loved watching sitcoms to escape from the horrors of the world.

Jack grows fiercely protective of his brother after their parents are taken from them. The two of them grow up protesting against the industry that killed their parents until they are basically tricked into Hydra’s experiments of the Mind Stone. These experiments are painful to Jack, amplifying his magic that he was only acutely aware of. This mind stone also gives Race the power of speed and opens a psychic connection between Jack and Race so they can communicate without speaking, making them all that much closer and more dependent on each other. Of the hundreds of people taken into this experiment, Jack and Race are the only survivors.

When the head of that experiment asks the brothers to help fight against the avengers, Jack goes immediately to get revenge on who he deems responsible for his parents’ death. His role is planting nightmarish visions into the heads of his victims to lead to their downfall, whether that means weakening them and scaring them enough to attack or forcing them to kill themselves to end the nightmare. He then helps with the creation of Ultron, who he is lead to believe will bring lasting peace, however, among looking into the machine’s mind, Jack finds that Ultron is planning the extinction of humanity and convinces Race that they need to turn against him.

After seeking help from the avengers, specifically a very skilled archer by the name of Bryan Denton, a very scared and traumatized Jack fights back against Snyder, the man who forced experimental practices on him and his brother, and Ultron.

However, as Ultron is attacking Sokovia, and Jack is guarding what could be a machine of global destruction, Race, who is also taken under Denton’s wing, shields him from being shot while the man is trying to get a young child back to his mother. Race is shot six times and saves Denton’s life by sacrificing his own.

A physical pain takes over Jack when he senses the loss of his brother, who is really the only person he’s ever had. He is unable to breathe for a full minute before he goes after Ultron personally and manages to destroy him.

David, a version of technology that had been destroyed by Ultron and recovered, saves Jack’s life despite Jack walking back into the collapsing city to sit by his brother’s body.

Jack is invited to train with the avengers after this, despite the overwhelming grief and Davey grows closer and closer to him as he is learning how to be human and Jack is relearning how to live without a psychic connection with his brother.

Before long, Jack and David fall for each other and begin to live a life together, desperate to be a happy, normal couple, but as the fate of the world is threatened, are forced to come back and fight with the avengers.

However, Jack discovers that David’s soul is made of the very same stone that created Race’s powers and their psychic link and it is a stone that the world’s attacker is after.

Jack tries to remove us peacefully without hurting David, but as they run out of time, David assures him that he must take it and destroy it, which would surely kill him. After delaying as much as he could, Jack is forced to take the stone and crush it before the alien creature can get ahold of it. However, the time stone allows the alien to rewind time, kill David in front of Jack again, forcing Jack to watch his pain as he takes the stone and wins anyway.

Jack can only scream and hold the body of his love before he falls victim to The Blip and fades away to dust.

When Jack is brought back, Denton takes him in, knowing the kid had lost everything he’d ever had and known.

Then, one day, Jack wakes up in a life he’d always dreamed of, and can’t remember anything before. He is happily married with his husband, Davey and as far as he knows, that’s how it’s always been.

Jack had unknowingly released chaos magic and has painfully forced an entire society into playing roles in a real life sitcom. He tries to allow himself to be happy despite knowing that something is wrong. However, he is aware of his and his husband’s power.

After simply talking about having kids, Jack ends up pregnant, which is a complete shock to him, but doesn’t seem to surprise anyone else, other than David, as Jack shouldn’t be able to get pregnant. Yet after only a few days, he becomes fully pregnant, he gives birth to two identical twins, Michael and Isaac with the help of a neighbor named Charlie who walks with a limp and a cane. After delivering the babies, Charlie seems dazed and confused and asks Jack about Race dying at Ultron’s hand and David being killed in front of him twice, but to protect his new life, Jack telekinetically casts Charlie out of his carefully created world which Jack can recall only for a moment is the result of his own magical enslavement of the town.

After repairing his perfect home, Jack holds his sons and waits for David to come home. They only get to revel in the sight of their children for a short while before the children begin to rapidly age themselves up. Jack is amazed by this as Mike is revealed to have magic very similar to his own and Ike is a speedster just like Race. But as time continues and SWORD continues to try and disrupt Jack’s crafted reality, Jack exits his world to confront them, telling them that if they threaten his perfect world again, they will be sorry. Though Jack still isn’t aware of exactly how he created this world, he knows that everyone he needs is there and he won’t let anyone get in the way of that again.

He goes back home only to find David distraught as his husband has accidentally freed someone from Jack’s control and found that Jac is causing them immense pain. Jack starts explaining that he feels that same pain everyday and this is the only cure for that. Still David insists he stop, though he does tell Jack he loves him and he knows it will be hard.

Almost considering letting go, Jack is interrupted by a knock at the door, opening it to find none other than his baby brother waiting for him outside the door, looking happy and healthy and safe and Jack knows he can’t let that go.

Jack confides in Race, telling him he has no idea what he’s done. He can’t remember anything other than being alone, hurting and angry and all of the sudden, he was here where everyone he ever loved was.

Race comforts him, telling him that maybe it was a second chance.

But Jack can feel that something is wrong as David escapes the town to try and get help for the people, only resulting in starting to die. So Jack, feeling this, expands the boundaries of the town, retrapping Charlie and also getting Albert and JoJo.

Jack starts to lose control of the reality he created and Charlie tries to talk him down but Pulitzer, Jack’s next door neighbor who’d been his friend since beginning, takes him to his house where he reveals that he’s taken Mike and Ike and forces Jack to relive the moment where he took control of the town. The pain of reliving coming back and having no one brings Jack to his knees and he’s unable to lash out as Pulitzer reveals that Jack is the legendary Scarlet Witch, a reincarnation of a Witch that has been around since the beginning of time.

But as Pulitzer tells Jack he’s going to get rid of the kids because they’re not real, Jack fights back, feeling deep down that in some universe, those were his children.

While fighting, Pulitzer frees the town from Jack's hold, revealing to him that he’d accidentally trapped them inside their own grief and nightmares that they relived over and over again while playing their parts in his perfect world. Jack is horrified by this and loses control of his power again, nearly choking all the residents to death. He manages to stop himself and restore the town, letting the people go, but Davey and Race and Mike and Ike begin to disappear before his eyes. So he puts his hex back up in a desperate attempt to save his family.

As SWORD is able to rush into the town, Jack is able to take down Pulitzer by trapping him in his persona that he took in Jack’s dream. Charlie is able to talk Jack down and Jack is forced to say goodbye to his husband, brother and sons and promises Charlie to understand his powers.

Jack is distraught and seeks out the Darkhold that he begins to study.

However he begins to hear the screams of his two boys, Race and David and knows he can’t live without them…

Please please let me know if you wanna see anything written out from this AU!

For more mood boards and AUs, click here!

[vegaseatsass]

Home School ep7 spoilers/thoughts

So this year when I was looking for paraeducator jobs, I got discouraged pretty quickly, because every public school opening in my area was a special ed position that employs traumatizing compliance therapy (ABA), and I would not be in an opportunity to question it or intervene. (I ended up finding work outside the public school system to avoid this, but yeah it's fucking bleak.) So Home School really hits as this story where, okay, some of the time the lessons seem like they have merit, the students seem like they're getting some deep true learning out of it - I get a little scared that maybe the narrative is going to tell us this kidnapper troubled teen industry boarding school prison in the woods is Good Actually - and then it reminds us what happens to non-compliant students. Run has been locked up for SIX YEARS; he is a full adult at this point. That's NUTS. The medieval behaviorist approach is taken to its extreme here, and sometimes the teachers induce the apparent behaviors they want out of the kids, but far more often the entire class is just suffering a shared experience of pure psychological horror. I think it's interesting that they included an autistic character in Pennhung, and his time being locked up was actually supposed to be protection from weird eat-your-babies mind games, NOT punishment, and it was still so obviously traumatizing to him. But these teachers don't care, and are sure they know best and what these kids need (along with the parents who signed them into this against their will!!!), even/especially in the face of the students directly telling them they're wrong. Anyway was just really struck by this ep7 scene of Amin yelling at Run that he's going to keep him until he gets the old, compliant, favorite-student Run back. In the same episode that gave us least compliant students Jingjai and Hugo with no recourse to defend their completely reasonable perspective, or to protect their burgeoning relationship, which the narrative is making clear is sincerely good and healing for them. It's just all very interesting to me!!

I am bringing my own American context to this series, with ABA and the troubled teen industry, whereas I'm sure the show is saying a lot about specifically Thai issues and school culture (and society; thinking of The Eclipse where the school is a metaphor for Thailand/the Thai government). I really want/need to learn more about all of that! But even as a cultural outsider, I love what it's doing with behaviorism and compliance and abusive adults, and those dissonant moments where it feels like we should be rooting for the students' compliance because they're about to learn a Very Important Lesson, but actually /Run voice: HOME SCHOOL IS HELL. Dearly hope they will all band together and make themselves ungovernable. This place has nothing true to teach them.

[jechristine]

Tom’s dad annoys me a lot and he does love to name drop his son in everything but one thing I agreed with is he said he decided not to manage Tom’s Career because he wanted to be his Dad first who could tell him no to things rather than an employee of sorts. If you look at all the dads who managed their kids Careers there is a reckoning later in life. Beyonce , Lewis Hamilton and Z all had to part ways business wise with their parents probably because the dynamics were very skewed. On the other hand I understand why parents choose to manage their children which is to protect them from the horrors of the industry so it’s a double edged sword. In terms of bots I don’t know why people quote nasty tweets to argue just report and keep it moving that engagement is what amplifies and widens their reach.

Yes mixing business with family and friends is generally a bad idea. I don’t quite understand why a parent would have to be a manager in order to fully protect their child, though? Anyhow it is what it is, and it seems like Zendaya’s parents did the best they could. Hopefully.

I don’t think enough people truly know about/understand the bots and the toxicity that they introduce.

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary320

8/4-5/24

sunday - monday

didn't do a lot today...

just made oatmeal, earlier today i was craving a grilled cheese instead of stir fry so i made that to eat. it was really good... i like eating it with chips... i want more of that but it's okay. i guess i've been depressed lately but i dunno why, it's hard to figure out why or what would make me so sad feeling, could it really be the necklace? idk. i just sort of feel pointless lately, as in like my existence is stupid and i'm useless and a parasite and things. it's hard to do a lot about that, or maybe it's not, but i just feel that way and it makes doing things difficult, although i guess in terms of keeping the place clean and stuff, today was good. i can't forget, we're gonna have people over on wednesday, so i should scrub the floors and stuff again.

i read a short story today, by benjamin weissman, from his book dead dead person, called museum boy.

you can read it here.

or maybe you'll have to flip back a few pages on the link or something, it's also a book you need to rent from the i.e. for the whole one hour rental thing. which i can't complain about beyond finding it ridiculous that this is the limit placed on the i.e. by greedy idiots who scramble in a way that only destroys the industry they're trying to protect, limiting what people can read/potential to read stuff online will only make people less interested in reading books!!

the story though, is very good, in a way that crept up on me, at first i didn't really care for it, not like a dislike of any sort, just finding it, idk, not immediately exciting, and maybe a little clumsy i'm not sure. but as it went on the more clear it felt that all of that was in some way intentional, and that it was doing that to get somewhere, where this kid is so self aware, he says things like he doesn't like new things, and then he's beside himself when he is liking new things, overwhelmed, you get a sense of why he's apprehensive about the new, and then at the same time, why you need to give yourself over to these experiences and visions. it's a little puerile in places but i don't know, even this works, it gets at the kind of hideous matter beneath the regular, i think, sacrifical/ritual underpinnings of the everyday, where that nightmare is outlined but never really engaged with. the stuff about the mother looking back on her past, all the dates saved up, the reminiscing about all things, and then this awareness in the story about needing to move on, there's this tight-rope act here, between the regular, the past/history, and how that propels us forward, there's this beautiful part where the boy talks about not wanting to be put back in the baby carriage, that he already did his time, that he doesn't want to hold hands with his parents, that he wants to move towards adulthood and at the same time, if he is going to be treated in such a way, imprisoned in some sense, it's only to be under the condition that he might have killed someone, to be given the chance to do something awful, as he says, to smash a face off. he ruminates earlier, maybe i am an angry boy. he is full of the horror of life, it propels him, he enjoys it. his parents are too, the reflections are so strange and distant too, not weird because of the content, as in, when he says: when my parents argue it seems like it's all over, or somesuch thing, this is a normal and real feeling, it's that he's so articulate, this is one of the things that always worked for me in the story though, i think the clarity of that, and then the poetic leaps elsewhere, it encapsulates the feeling of being young and in those moments of reflection, where it's so clear, but it can't leave the inside of your head, everything out of your mouth, it's cat nails on a door, it's all like begging, it's all what returns you to the point of being infantilized, back into the shape/pre-echo of the prison. how odd, i didn't make this connection but there is something of foucault in the ubiquity of the prison in the story.

another beautiful thing about the way the story is written, along the lines of what i just said about the boy's reflection, here's a line:

those cherries are soaked in the same stuff doctors inject into dead people. i could eat them all day.

it's the flatness of the words, it's so flat, it's so present, it lets itself be. i suppose i could learn a lot from that, sometimes i am not content with that. but there's such a great balance of the subtle everyday horror of how we all love strange and terrible foods, our affections up against our awarenesses, i guess there's something lovely here about how the story mobilizes these ways of thinking into the ways people develop. i can't explain it, now though, i am beset by thoughts of blanchot, perhaps in the anonymized way he wrote his narration, the distance between the people, their non-person-ness, in one sense, and that their lack of i dunno, strength of character in a way, rather than making them universal or mythic, made them more particular, but as response to circumstance, life and time, they were icons of particularity, maybe not icon, they're operations perhaps, locomotion of thought and desire, the pulsions of life on display, open-heart-surgery, maybe. that's what that sequence in thomas the obscure, where thomas is reading and the words circle around him as he descends into the particulars of language, of the world the, of all words, their relation, the way that dissolves and reconstitutes itself at once, words are angels around his head, a kind of vision of vascular tissue and little pulses of odd mostly unseen muscles, a magnification of void-like whispers in existing, i guess, where we sink, that echos the beginning of the book, where he floats in the sea, there is a fog, he is nowhere, or as he buries himself, the blind cat, not loss of self, but abandonment of anchor and location, yes. i recall the howl of the cat now. so i suppose this story has had a greater effect than i really felt before. it is good to discuss it here, it is making me feel better.

another thing about the voice in the story, this is i suppose a little general but it really avoids so much ugly sentimentalism, it would be so easy for it to be sentimental, a story about why art means anything to people, how that can change you as a kid, it's not really about that, honestly, or it's only a little about that right, or it's enmeshed with all these other meanings and that's the special thing, the interlinking of all this, anyhow, it would be easy to make this corny, or on paper it would be, but it is not, it jumps over that and it grasps that abjection, horror, all these things we put out later in life, the boy notes this by some measure early on, about tastes changing as you grow older, the child more free to engage with these portions of life, and free to see them touched on in art, or engage with the stranger portions, this is what grabs some of us at least, i think many of us, it feels nourishing to see that, i suppose.

i really do need to get something solid down for the short film soon. guh. it's just hard. i don't know why. or i do know why. them asking me to do an imitation of a style is just rough for me, not in an ego way just that i don't even know how to work with some of those sounds perfectly.

it should be okay though. i work via iteration a lot, i'll figure it out, i just have to start where you start, w/ any kind of effort.

today's just been like the others, very lowkey, maybe i need to do more, but also maybe i get really lethargic on days where i am not working out, but i need at least 2 rest days out of the week, i hope it's not the intermittent fasting making me more unstable or something. i don't think so though. but i do feel a little more crazy lately, i just think it's like, feeling interrupted in the day to day by some things, like going out, but then the alternative almost feels like a neet almost trapped feeling maybe. idk. it's also the sleep schedule.

i've gotta sleep now though, it's too late but at least the sun is not out right now.

so

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[because-of-a-friend]

Demon!Jun

MASTERLIST

Word Count: 1K

Warnings: Supernatural creature/themes, mentions eating, let me know if I missed any!

Genre: Fluff, humor

Thank you @blizzardfluffykpop​ for your incredibly cute Halloween requests!!! Here’s the first one! After this one, I only have about three (?) more spooky season requests. Since the month is almost halfway over, if anyone wants a spooky request, you should send it in now!!! Hope y’all are having a fun spooky season this year!

Also sorry but the format got messed up again since I transferred over from word. 

And remember, GIFs aren’t mine, link to OP is right there, so if you like the GIF go give its creator some love!!!

·        Jun claims he wants to go trick-or-treating with you to protect you

·        You’re well aware he just wants candy lol

·        Imagine little demon Jun, going out with his horns and red eyes showing

·        He’s like overly excited about it

·        “Don’t you think it’s a little obvious that you’re not actually in costume?”

·        “C’mon, the makeup industry is so impressive these days, I’ll just tell people I know a very impressive makeup artist! Humans are stupid enough to believe everything their told!”

·        He pinches your nose as he makes that comment

·        He loves riling you up by insulting humans

·        But it’s always followed by him pinching your cheeks and insisting that you’re better than all the rest of them

·        Speaking of his horns tho

·        When he starts walking down a street that you don’t want to go down while trick-or-treating

·        You simply grab one of his horns and direct him the way you want to go lol

·        He looks so offended every time

·        But Jun honestly gets overly excited about trick-or-treating

·        “You humans create the strangest traditions”

·        But he loves it

·        He thinks it’s so fascinating

·        He loves that you can just go up to anyone’s house and get free candy

·        Sometimes he magics himself to look younger so people will give him more candy lol

·        Also 100% pickpockets candy out of little kid’s baskets

·        “Hey! Wen Junhui, cut that out! They’re just little kids! Give them their candy back!”

·        “Ummm, babe? I’m the embodiment of evil, let me live”

·        “Yeah, say that to your own self when you’re doing aegyo so I give you kisses”

·        “ShUT UP”

·        He always thrives at night

·        Like he truly feels more alive

·        So, he’s skipping all over the place

·        He tries to convince you to go down darker streets and alleys so he can freak you out and get you scared

·        (That’s just so he can use it as an excuse to hold you close later on tho)

·        He’s pulling you all over the place left and right

·        Would love to give you piggy back rides as he zooms all over the place

·        He loves Halloween in general so it’s not even just about trick-or-treating

·        He likes looking at all the lawn decorations that people put up and judging them on how good he thinks they are

·        He loves fall festivals

·        The entire aesthetic of fall and Halloween

·        Popcorn and hay

·        Pony rides and corn mazes

·        Booths and costumes

·        “This is one of the only times you humans aren’t totally annoying”

·        *Cue you smacking Jun right on the back of the head*

·        He loves setting up a story-telling booth at festivals and scaring all of the kids with horror stories

·        (Most of them are actually just stories about himself)

·        He also is really bad at hiding his true identity bc if anyone tells a story about any supernatural being in the wrong way, he will 100% be unable to stop himself from correcting them

·        And then everyone’s sitting there like “Why did you say that like you absolutely know that about that supernatural being for a fact????”

·        And he’s like “Oh… I just, uh… Really love folklore”

·        He also loves pumpkin carving

·        But he uses magic to make his perfect so they always turn out better than yours

·        You always pout for the rest of the day

·        He pinches your cheeks once again, “It’s ok, baby, your pumpkin looked great too”

·        Your house is always magically decorated as soon as the clock hits midnight, marking the date October 1st

·        One of the many benefits of having a magical live-in demon

·        Good luck getting him to take those decorations down when it’s time for other holidays tho

·        He also likes that there’s one night a year he can show his true form out in public without having people judge him or be scared of him

·        He says he doesn’t care about humans or their opinions

·        But when he’s walking around on Halloween and little kids ask if they can feel his horns while they tell him they like his costume

·        You can tell he absolutely adores them for it, and loves the nice attention he gets from them

·        He’ll crouch down to their height so they can run their little hands over the protrusions from his head

·        His red eyes will be wide with adoration as they ask him how he got his costume to look so real

·        As the night winds down and more and more people start going home

·        Jun likes to just take a long walk with you around the suburbs

·        He holds your hand tightly in his as he basks in the feeling of nighttime

·        “Human looking Jun will be back tomorrow” he pouts at you

·        “Why are you so dramatic, you’re always in demon form in the house”

·        He sighs extra loud

·        You stop him in the middle of the street and face him towards you so you can look at his true form in the moonlight

·        You take your own turn letting your hands explore the horns coming from the top of his head

·        Then you grasp them firmly and pull them so your lips can meet his

·        Homeboy is like “oh????”

·        When you pull back you grin at him and go, “Race you to the house!!!”

·        He agrees readily

·        Uses his magic to cheat and beat you there

·        Once you get back you pour all of the candy out of your baskets and onto the coffee table in the living room

·        You spend the rest of the night sorting it out and trying to divide the best candy equally as possible while watching cheesy Halloween movies

·        Jun tries to insist that you watch actual scary movies but you remind him about his tendency to spend the whole movie correcting the mistakes they made when writing supernatural creatures

·        At some point, you leave to go make ramen so that you have more than just candy in your stomachs

·        Once you return to the living room, Jun is sitting there with a big, leather spell-book

·        “You know, there is a spell for time loops… It could be Halloween forever if I cast it”

·        You look over his shoulder to see the page he’s reading

·        “That looks like some really dark, forbidden magic right there”

·        “Yeah, babe, your demon boyfriend isn’t exactly above doing dark magic”

·        “You would really trap the whole world in a time loop just so it could be Halloween every day?”

·        “Why not?”

·        You roll your eyes and walk away, making a mental note to hide the spell book later                                                                                                                                            

[narutogwriting]

Before You Go

Pairing: Sasuke Uchiha x Reader

CW: angst

Length: 3.6k+

Summary: You play it through your head. Every moment, every interaction you ever had with Sasuke before he left. Was there something you could have done? Could you have made him stay?

Inspired by: Before You Go by Lewis Capaldi

Looking at Sasuke hurt. That’s all you could think about for the longest time. To look at Sasuke was to be punched in the stomach, all the air leaving your lungs. It was like someone’s fist tearing through your chest, grabbing your heart and crushing it in their fingers. Looking at Sasuke left your entire existence battered and bruised.

You remember hearing the whispers. Adults whispered a lot, always telling each other secrets. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” That’s what they always said when you asked them what they were talking about. So much of their conversations were too hard to follow along with. You made a mental registry of all the questions you would ask when you reached this elusive “older” age.

You were nosey, of course; always wanted to hear the ins and outs of things. But the first time you remembered the whispers really catching your interest was when you were seven years old.

“It’s horrible, what happened to the Uchihas.” “I can’t believe he could do that to his own family. “Just tragic.”

Uchiha. A boy in your class had the last name Uchiha. Sasuke. He was really popular, by far the strongest kid in the academy. You never talked to him, but you always noticed how happy he would get when his big brother would come pick him up at the end of the day.

“Did something happen to Sasuke?” You asked, crawling out from underneath the table, earning a startled gasp from you aunt.

“What have I told you about eavesdropping!?” Your mother snapped at you, but she didn’t look angry like usual. She looked worried almost. With a sigh, she pat your head. “Don’t worry too much, okay. It’s nothing. Sasuke is just fine.”

It was natural for a parent to want to protect their child’s innocence. Even at your parent’s age, the Uchiha Massacre was a horrific occurrence; it was too hard for them to process; it would be even harder to try to explain it to you. Ignorantly, your parents thought that if they hid it from you, you would never have to deal with it, but of course that wasn’t true. People talked and word got around. It only took one or two kids in the academy finding out some details for the story to grow and spread.

Sasuske wasn’t at the academy for a month after you heard your parents and aunt whispering about his family, but the next day at school, word was already beginning to get around. Sasuke’s older brother, the one he’d adored so dearly, that he’d smiled so happily at every day, had murdered his whole family, leaving only Sasuke alive.

It would have been better to hear it from your parents, the toned down, soft version of the appalling act as they tried to explain to you for the first time that the world could be a cruel place. But instead, you had to listen in horror while your classmates gossiped, lied, and exaggerated the whole thing, discussing the most traumatizing moment of Sasuke’s life as if it was a new movie playing in the cinema. You’d gone home crying almost every day that week.

When Sasuke finally did come back, he talked to no one, and no one talked to him. He kept to himself, arms crossed and a blank, cold stare on his face that would soon become his signature. You couldn’t believe that such a beautiful smile had ever crossed those icy features.

“Stay away from Sasuke.” Your mom whispered as she walked you home from the academy. When you questioned why, she’d simply shushed you. “Do what I say.”

Parents always know best. That’s all you know when you’re seven years old. They always do and say the right thing, and you always listen because you never have a reason not to. Your mom told you not to talk to Sasuke, so of course you wouldn’t because there must be a good reason not to.

You never told your mother that it was this very command that later shattered your innocence; the first moment when you realized that your mom was not always right.

It wasn’t immediate. You never really talked to Sasuke in the first place, so it was nothing new to ignore him now. But now that you’d been told not too, of course everything in you wanted to go say hello to him.

There is a theory of development that categorizes the age of seven as industry vs inferiority. It’s the first time you’re independently integrating into society and trying to figure out your place. The major question of children this age is “How can I be good or bad?”

And you were no different. This appeared in a lot of ways. When you struggled to hit the target with a kunai, you felt like a failure. When you were corrected by your parents, it felt like criticism and hit you to your core.

But you were moving further than your peers. You didn’t just wonder if you were good or bad based on your skills; you wondered if it made you bad to ignore a person that everyone else seemed to be purposefully isolating as well.

Can I be a good person if I let another person feel miserable?

Sasuke had lost everything, was living on his own in the place his family had been murdered in front of his eyes. Even you could understand that that must be traumatizing. Of course he was angry and cold and closed off. How could anyone fault him for that?

It started slow. “Hi, Sasuke.” You would greet him every day when you got to class. It took him off guard the first couple of times. Once he got used to it, he just “hn’d” in response, but that was okay with you.

Then you started asking him if he wanted to sit with you at lunch, offered him an extra dessert that you would sneak into your pack just for him.

He always told you no, so you would leave him alone and just offer again the next day. Not to be annoying; just to let him know that you were there.

Things changed a few weeks after Sasuke had come back to the academy. You were still saying hi and being ignored, and a few kids had begun to slowly start trying to interact with Sasuke in response. You never really saw him outside of the academy except for this one day you were out with your mom running errands.

You’d never considered how he got food or supplies he needed. You didn’t know where he got the money, but there Sasuke was at the market just like you were. You watched from your mom’s side as he walked up to a fruit stand where there was a group of people examining the different produce. Sasuke reached past someone, grabbing an amaou to put in his bag.

The person next to Sasuke glanced down absentmindedly, but you saw the way their eyes widened as they settled on him, realizing who he was.

“Oh shit,” the guy muttered, dropping his fruit and hurrying away from the stand. One by one, every other person around did the same, looking at Sasuke with an expression of shock or discomfort before speeding off.

You couldn’t see Sasuke’s face from where you were, only his back, but you could see the way his shoulder tightened. He froze completely before his body began to tremble just slightly. Sasuke’s fingers tightened and the fruit was crushed beneath his fingers. He dropped the pulp and the bag with all the other fruit he’d been planning on getting and in a moment, he was gone.

It was the first time you could remember hearing a heart shatter. You just weren’t sure if it was his or yours.

Your mom’s attention was elsewhere, so you took the opportunity to sneak over to the fruit stand, grabbing the bag Sasuke had dropped, examining the produce inside. When back at your mother’s side, you grabbed her hand. “Mom, can I get some fruit?”

Later, you snuck the fruit bag from your kitchen, slinging it over your arm as you walked around the village. You finally found Sasuke sitting under a tree on the outskirts of town. He had his back to the trunk, arms crossed as he stared off. He didn’t look at you, didn’t acknowledge your presence as you approached, but he didn’t tell you to leave, either.

So you slipped down next to him, leaning against the trunk and placing the bag of fruit silently between the two of you as you crossed your legs. With nothing else to do, you began to pick the flowers in the grass, weaving their stems together until you had a small bracelet formed.

What came over you, you weren’t sure. But confidently, you turned to Sasuke where he still sat, staring off with his arms crossed. You reached out, gently taking his arm and untangling it from the other. To your surprise, he didn’t fight you, so you took his hand, sliding the flower bracelet around his wrist.

When you looked up at him, you found that he was already staring at you. He wasn’t smiling, but for the first time in weeks, he wasn’t frowning either.

~

You hated him. You hated Sasuke Uchiha! After everything, the past five years that you had spent together… Had it all meant nothing!?

It was a blow straight to your heart hearing the words when you had come home. “Sasuke has defected from the village.” Sasuke had left to train with Orochimaru, all for his revenge. He hadn’t been kidnapped or forced to go; he left willingly. Just like that. One day he was there, and the next he was gone.

You hadn’t even had the change to go on the retrieval mission. You just had to have gone out of town that day. He’d already been gone for days by the time that you were home. Naruto was the last person that got to see Sasuke before he disappeared; maybe forever.

Even thinking the words had you in hysterics. You sobbed violently into your pillow, the sounds being ripped from your throat. You sobbed so hard your body shook. Your cries were so vicious that you began to vomit, not even able to make it to the trashcan.

That’s where your mother found you hours after you heard. “I told you to stay away from him…” Your mom tsk’d softly.

You would never forgive him.

~

Was there something you could have said or done? You thought you’d been a good friend to Sasuke. You’d always tried to be there, listen in those rare moments that he wanted to talk to you. Ever since you’d given him the bracelet…

That moment was so pivotal in your friendship. Not just that you’d given the gift, but that Sasuke had accepted it. It was the moment that your one sided pursuit of Sasuke had become mutual; the two of you were now friends.

And it wasn’t a normal type of friendship really like your other relationships were. This one was quieter, built around so much that was unsaid, only felt. In Sasuke’s loneliness, you were there standing by and sitting next to him through it all.

You couldn’t take away Sasuke’s pain or hurt, but you could walk with him through it.

Or at least, that’s what you had thought. It’d been stupid. You actually believed that you could help Sasuke, make him feel better when he’d experienced the most appalling sort of loss. Maybe that belief had only made Sasuke feel even more lonely.

Did you ever understand at all? No, you hadn’t, and you knew it. You’d tried your best, done everything you could, but you were just a kid too, and you’d never experienced anything like Sasuke had. How could you have known what to say to make it better?

Despite this, the guilt that you felt was consuming, taking up every part of you. You felt as if you’d drown in it, felt the way it filled your lungs until you couldn’t breathe.

You’d been in denial when you heard the news, felt the anger when the retrieval squad had failed. In the weeks that followed Sasuke’s defect, you’d switched between the two stages almost constantly.

Now, finally, you’d moved onto bargaining.

If Sasuke just comes back… If he just came home, you would be better! Whatever he needed, whatever he wanted, you’d give it to him! Somehow you’d have the right words this time. You would tell him exactly what hear to make it all stop hurting. Whatever it took…

And you bargained hard. You bargained and bartered and you petitioned and you pleaded. You begged whatever god that was listening, tried to sell your soul to the devil, if only, if only it would bring Sasuke back!

But if god existed, he wasn’t listening and the devil had no use for a spirit like yours. You were alone, screaming to the sky.

~

“Sasuke! You’re awake! I was just gonna stop by to see you.”

Sasuke could see that you were in a rush even if you didn’t say it. You were dressed, running your fingers through your hair to throw it up into a bun. There was a dumpling hanging delicately from between your teeth, signaling your quick breakfast you were trying to take on the go.

At this point, Sasuke knew you well.

It wasn’t often Sasuke came to you when he was struggling, at least not outright. There were plenty of times he’d sought your presence to simply suffer in silence, but at least he wasn’t suffering by himself.

This time, he didn’t want to suffer silently. Not right now at least. He’d been thinking hard, struggling all week since Itachi had put him under the Tsukuyomi. Tsunade had been able to bring him back from his comatose state, but hadn’t been able to mend what Itachi had broken and bent in his mind for the second time.

You wouldn’t find out til later, but Sasuke had come straight from the hospital not after waking up, but after challenging Naruto to a fight. Kakashi had broken the two up just before they’d about blown their arms off.

Naruto was surpassing him. That much was so clear, so obvious to him now, but no one wanted to admit it. If even Naruto, the worst of the worst in the academy was getting better than him, at this rate, how would he ever be strong enough to kill Itachi?

Kakashi had lectured him heavily about losing the friends he had left in his mourning of the family that was long gone. It was what Sasuke had wanted to talk to you about. Somehow, he knew Kakashi was right, but when he’d spent the last five years thinking of getting revenge on Itachi, he didn’t know how to reconcile what Kakashi was telling him.

“Stop by? Are you going somewhere?” Sasuke asked the obvious as you finally fixed your hair. You grabbed the dumpling, taking a bite as you nodded.

“To see my aunt,” You said through a mouth full of food. “In the village of the hidden rain.” You tilted your head, peering at him curiously. “Everything okay?”

Sasuke considered the question. You were going out of town, would be gone for a few days at least no doubt. Now probably wasn’t the best time to bring this up, but he wasn’t sure if it could wait until you got back.

As he began to respond, your attention was taken by your dad yelling from inside the house. “Finish packing your bag so we can go!”

You glanced behind you back into the house, rolling your eyes with a sigh. “Hold up!” You snapped before turning your gaze back to Sasuke. “Sorry about that. We’re running behind now, not that it’s my fault.” You gave a small laugh.

Sasuke knew he could have pushed it, and you would have dropped everything to listen to him. Your parents be damned. It’d just been a moment you were distracted from him because of your dad yelling. But now, suddenly, the words left Sasuke. He had nothing to say.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to stop by since they discharged me.” He lied easily, the words slipping off his tongue without dilemma. Even so, you usually would have picked up on it. You would have known that something was off, and you needed to pry.

It was just one time, one moment where you didn’t push him. You were in a rush, afterall, and you’d be back in a couple of days.

It was only hours after you left that the Sound Four had appeared to Sasuke, and minutes after, he was gone.

That moment would replay in your mind constantly in your mind, on repeat until it drove you insane.

You should have noticed. You should have noticed. You should have noticed.

You should have stayed.

~

Time heals nothing, but it gives you more things to worry about. You never thought it’d be possible, but Sasuke was no longer on the forefront of your mind at every moment. Every day, sure, but you were able to function in society, get stronger and attend to your duties.

You were no longer drowning in the sorrow of missing Sasuke, though that was where you’d been for so long you never thought you’d escaped. But finally, you’d hit the last stage of grief.

Acceptance. Sasuke was gone and there was nothing you could do.

You could have lived out the rest of your life in that acceptance, pushed the dull, ever present pain aside and pretend it wasn’t there, but you couldn’t do that. Naruto Uzumaki wouldn’t let you.

Hope was alive and well in Naruto’s heart and thus he stirred it in yours. “I’m gonna bring Sasuke back. Just you watch.” He’d grin at you.

You didn’t know where in the stages grief you were now, but you believed Naruto. He’d get Sasuke home even if you couldn’t.

You wished he never gave you that hope.

Kiba had picked up Sasuke’s scent. You were almost there. Almost to Sasuke…

That was when the orange masked Akatsuki member intercepted your team, keeping you from reaching Sasuke. You were desperate, feral almost as you attacked the man. To move him, killl him, it didn’t matter to you. You just needed to get past him, to get to Sasuke!

Another Akatsuki member appeared then, taking the attention from the masked man. You were about to make a break for it, but that’s when you heard him.

“Itachi is dead.”

The words settled on you, blood rushing to you ears and drowning out everything else. That was what Sasuke had always wanted; he’d finally done it. He’d killed Itachi, gotten his revenge. This should be a good thing.

You couldn’t explain it, but something was settling in your gut, a horrible, nauseating feeling that this was wrong. This wasn’t how things should have ended. Despite everything you knew and believed, you suddenly had the certainty that Itachi wasn’t the heartless monster everyone had believed he was.

Was it intuition, coincidence, or some unexplained connection you had to Sasuke? Glancing at Naruto, you could see he felt it too.

None of you noticed the masked man had disappeared. You followed Kiba as quick as your feet could carry you to where he tracked Sasuke’s scent, but by the time you got there, it was too late. He was gone.

“This is as far as I can smell him… We lost him.” Kiba told the team reluctantly.

You dropped to your knees, hand clutching desperately at your chest. You couldn’t breathe. It hurt; it hurt so fucking much you were sure you would die. The pain in your heart seized every part of you, knocking the air from your lungs and causing you to convulse.

Dropping to the floor, you began to sob. Those heart broken, anguished cries you thought you ran out of years ago.

“Sasuke…”

How you knew, you couldn’t be sure. But it wasn’t your own pain you were feeling. It was Sasuke’s tears that flowed down your cheeks and his aching regret that filled your heart. Where was he? You wanted nothing more than to be there with him now, to wrap him up in your arms and never let him go.

The team winced as you weeped so brokenly, the sound shattering their hearts.

You’d never understood, not really. As much as you wanted to, despite your best attempts, you never could grasp the layers of Sasuke’s pain. If only you’d been able to. If only you knew the storm that was building inside of him, leaving him restless and agitated, desperate for the carnage to end. You wish you knew that he couldn’t stand it, the way that every beat of his heart left him in pure agony.

Was there a way you could have made his heart beat better?

Every night, you saw Sasuke in your dreams, his back to you as he left. You lived it over and over and over again.

”Sasuke,” You called for the first time, watching him pause, but not turning to look at you. “Before you go… Was there something I could have said or done? To make it all stop hurting?” You waited for an answer that never came. Sasuke stood there for a few more moments before he walked away, disappearing into darkness.

You guessed you would never know.

[oliviayamaoka]

The Roseville Murders

Danny “Jed Olsen” Johnson x Female Reader 

After getting yourself into a rather tragic incident, you are reassigned to work elsewhere to protect your young career as a detective.

Your life would sure but slowly change when you meet a bright journalist named Jed Olsen, always looking to get inside information from you regarding the murders in Roseville. Seeking Jed Olsen’s help in finding the Ghostface, a spark ignited between the two of you.

Chapter One: Roseville

Y/N rubbed her eyes, tired from the long car ride you just endured. It was a long car ride from your old home but at least the day was nice. It wouldn’t be long until dusk came. In a way, you were glad. You often thrived in the nighttime and took it as an opportunity to wind down and finally rest. It was a large rental truck that you had taken on your journey to your new home, Roseville. You didn’t necessarily choose the location; you were assigned to go there. After the incident, you were assigned to help in the investigation regarding some gnarly murders. This piqued your interest since you had an interest in crime and journalism, more so crime.

It was quite the strange time, being a junior detective, or that’s what they called you anyways. Your time in the police academy was short-lived, it didn’t take long to become a detective in the nineties. Even so, you managed to impress some detectives and officers. You also had an eye for stuff that would normally slip other people’s mind, the small details were more or less important to you. Admittedly, your interest in detective work stemmed from the fact you loved horror movies and shows. Even books. It would be a silly idea in the eyes of others but you figured you could do some good. You were also extremely annoyed at how incompetent other officers could be, not writing reports in detail or straight up refusing to do a full investigation. It was ridiculous and you figured you’d try and change this.

Johnathan Stevens was the name of your supervisor, an older gentleman. He formerly investigated murders and unsolved crimes in the fifties and sixties, his prime. Some would even consider his work to dabble in the supernatural. You weren’t sure if you believed such things, not that you were a skeptic since there were small things you couldn’t explain growing up. His work was great nonetheless and he saw the potential in you. You admired him and he gave a good word to others on your behalf. He was the reason you got a job in helping the investigation in Roseville. Ah yes, Roseville.

You were excited in a way. Johnathan was able to get you a role in the investigation of the Roseville Murders. The prime suspect was a man in a costume who went by the name Ghost Face. They ultimately branded the series of murders as the Ghost Face Murders. Y/N read the files and you began to think of your own theories on who this mysterious murderer could be. The murders were premeditated and were always executed in a similar fashion. Y/N saw some photos left behind by the Ghost Face, he enjoyed posing and took pride in his work. Your train of thought suddenly ended when you saw the town’s sign.

“Welcome to Roseville.” You subconsciously mumbled. There was a slight feeling of regret and worry that itched at you from the inside but you brushed it off. No going back now, you wanted to be a good detective and help those in need.

Your hands brushed towards your turn signals. The apartment you rented wasn’t too far and you didn’t have too many things you brought with you. Roseville seemed like a quiet little city, very peaceful and tidy. A part of you had trouble even imagining that such grizzly murders could take place in what people would consider a perfect town or city. This seemed like a place where somebody would want to raise a family or live a quiet life, it pretty much had everything you needed. You didn’t blame them, the big city life was horrendous, as were the crimes there committed. Y/N sighed deeply as you pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building. It was red and looked somewhat old. Not that it mattered, you were happy with anything at this point. You rubbed your eyes again before resting your forehead on your steering wheel, putting your car into park.

It was about 6:00 PM, you didn’t have to be at the station until 7:30 PM. Much to your dismay, it was enough time to talk to your landlord. You had met prior on a phone call and you got the apartment rather easily. You saw pictures and were instantly keen on getting a lease for it. You checked your mirror to quickly fix your hair up and refresh yourself. After a moment or two, you got out and walked towards the door. Y/N pushed it open and caught a glimpse of the lobby. It was well-furnished and tidy. It was a lot better than your old apartment building in the city. Your mood lightened up, looking forward to a somewhat quieter life. You figured you had your share of the city bars and nightclubs, other shenanigans you encountered when you were slightly younger. You took a few steps in and walked towards the main office. Your shyer tendencies made you hesitate but you knocked lightly on the door, pushing it open.

“Hello?” You called out as you made eye-contact with a blonde woman.

“How can I help you?” The woman asked you, putting away some papers into a filing cabinet.

Her hair was actually kind of long and seemed natural. Her skin was fair and her eyes were a darker shade of blue. The woman’s dark eyebrows helped in bringing out her beautiful features. She was a thin but tall woman. Her attire consisted of a white turtleneck with a cardigan, dress, and black dress shoes with long, white stockings. It was a healthy mix of coziness and business. Y/N smiled kindly and extended her hand out.

“I’m Y/N L/N. I assume that you’re Deborah?” You asked as she quickly returned the smile, a more charming one. She shook your hand, her touch felt welcoming, something that was needed in Roseville.

“Yes, I am. Lovely to finally meet you! How was the trip?” She asked as you shrugged slightly.

“A bit boring but I made it.” You replied as she giggled a bit.

“Take it from me, Roseville is happy you decided to come. The rumors and murders have driven a few people away. We’re happy to have another officer to help.” Deborah said to you.

“Yeah, well, if anybody ever gives you trouble then you’ll know where to find me.” You said as she perked up. Deborah quickly walked towards her desk and grabbed a set of old, somewhat rusty keys. With a sweet smile, the woman planted the metal in your palm.

“Thank you, Y/N. I appreciate you choosing here to live. If you need help unloading your stuff, my brothers are one call away.” She said. With that voice and attitude, the woman would have made an excellent commercial woman.

“I should be fine.” You assured the woman before exiting the office space.

You swiftly walked out towards the parking lot. It was a rather nice evening so far. The sky was a mixture of pink and red with a nice breeze. You held your forehead for a second, having small flashbacks of a man grunting and swearing. You shut your eyes tightly for a moment before sighing stubbornly. Y/N didn’t want to waste anymore time remembering what happened, it was pointless. A part of you felt gross and weird. Your eyes narrowed in an annoyed manner, looking at the stuff you had to bring in. 

Maybe you didn’t want to bring in that stuff anymore. You looked around, there was a bakery and a coffee shop nearby on the beautifully constructed sidewalks. Each shop had a small garden or some sort of plant in the front. Roseville was old in an industrial sort of way but the shops, houses, and plant life made it have a rather beautiful aesthetic. Not only that but you enjoyed the weather. You sighed softly, deciding that you should just walk to the police station. Ignoring the lazy and depressing feeling you had, you decided to just walk to clear your head of the memories. And so, you locked the doors to the rental truck and began your little adventure.

“You realize what you’ve done, right?” Jonathan questioned you, his nostrils flaring slightly. In his eyes were a deep stare of concentration. You felt numb but remorseless, you kept your head down. 

“He was going to hurt me, Jon.” You mumbled to him, your eyebrows tightly knitted as you looked for any sort of agreement within his eyes. The man sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. Jonathan seemed tired.

“I know he was, kid... but you shot a man. You took a mans life. I understand you did it to defend yourself but the court might not see it that way.” He said.

“Well, I’m glad I did. He would’ve hurt more women. Innocent women.” You replied with bitterness in your voice. He sighed before sitting down, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. His eyes met yours as you looked away.

You thought about the incident a lot. You replayed your own screams in your head before the distinct sound of a gun fired in your ears. Before you even realized it, you were staring dead ahead, reliving it with intense focus. It’s not like you wanted to, it was automatic and you still didn’t process most of it. In fact, it felt like a dream. Y/N shut her eyes, exhaling sharply before looking at the man in front of her. Your eyelids rested, the numbness overcoming the raw feeling of the flashback you had just endured.

“There’s... a case in a city. A smaller city. If I talked to the others and reassigned you somewhere far, would you do it? We’ve known you for years and we care. I know that man could’ve hurt my wife, my daughter, my sister... we understand. Not many people know about this. We could help you.” He said.

“What do you mean? Won’t I be charged for it?” You asked him.

“Np, not if we... sweep this under the rug. But, if we do this then you have to do something in return. Do you want this?” He asked you. Your eyebrows lifted in surprise as you pondered his offer for a moment, you looked around the room.

“I-I do, but... will they actually do this? For me?” Y/N asked as he nodded. He seemed a bit gruff, just tired from the paperwork.

“We’ve discussed it but listen to me. You can’t tell anybody about this. We’re doing you a big favor, a huge one. The director said that more officers and detectives are needed in Roseville, he said they’d be glad to accept you. This will be a lot better than telling the court what happened.” He said.

“I, yeah, yeah.” You said, nodding in slight anticipation. Nonetheless, you were very grateful for this opportunity. 

“Whenever you’re ready then but it might have to be in the next week or two.” Jonathan said to you as he looked around, somewhat nervously.

“Thank you...” You replied a bit awkwardly, not sure how to display your gratitude for him. He only nodded with a small smile, patting your head. 

“Go home, kid. I’ll handle the guy.” He said as you nodded.

You sighed as you looked upwards, the sky was a mixture of purple and blue. This was your favorite type of weather. It brought peace and calmness. A small smile curled onto your lips when you thought of the old times, when you first experienced freedom and happiness. Your hands slid into your pockets as you continued to walk down the sidewalk, your gaze averting to the large building ahead. The Roseville Police Department, your future workplace. 

The building looked rather strange for a police department. It had gates and vines around it, it almost looked like a school. Then again, school was indeed prison. You didn’t think about school much, in fact, you hated it. You never could relate to the other teens. Aside from writing and art, you really enjoyed watching horror movies. Anything horror intrigued you, books and movies alike. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you were a horror fanatic. Strangely, it sort of inspired you to pursue this career. You were always pretty tough, blood and gore never bothered you. Even when you went to a morgue, it brought a small feeling of peace knowing the deceased were at rest.

You got closer and closer to the station, quickly since you were so lost within your own thoughts. The doors to the station were wooden yet grey, very large. Y/N looked around, there were very few police cars. Maybe being understaffed wasn’t the problem, it’s the fact that they seemed to be very poorly funded. You pushed the large door open, looking around the inside of the station. It was very eerie and quiet but seemed very cozy. A perfect image of the nineties. With your arms crossed, you walked up to the front desk. There was a cup of coffee, you assumed it was cold and took another look around. There were medical beds and tons of chairs stacked together. Not only that but there were statues and paintings. The paintings seemed old but the faces were creepy. Upon staring at them, you soon found inspiration in their haunting gazes.

This was going to be an interesting job, you thought.

Jed Olsen sighed deeply as he looked through different piles of papers that were piled together. It was rather stressful to have to proof-read his coworker’s work. Some of the work he looked over was really badly written. No wonder somebody of his talents got that job really easily. Ever since he arrived at Roseville, he thought he made a good impact on the city. Roseville lived in fear and that’s how he liked it. 

As the young man’s thoughts turned towards his other line of profession, he smiled widely and rested his eyebrows. His name wasn’t actually Jed, it was Danny Johnson. Jed Olsen was the alter ego that Danny created when he came to this place. Aside from killing, writing was one of his professions. Danny was good at it and he even got to write about his own murders. It was exhilarating, to say the least. It brought excitement to this city, it brought excitement into his own life. The journalist façade was a great gig, he needed a job anyways. It was very convenient nobody questioned him or invited him to the bar. Then again, he was a bit younger so his coworkers didn’t bother to hang out with him much.

Danny looked around cautiously before pulling his bag towards him. He only carried around his camera. In his office, there weren’t any cameras and his door actually had a lock. There wasn’t anybody around since it was the evening and he decided to stay late to proof-read papers. His camera was black yet worn out and scratched up. Still, he chose to ignore it since that thing was his prized possession. Danny pretty much checked on it everyday to make sure it wasn’t broken and to just simply admire his work he did on it. 

“Hmm...” He hummed to himself as he clicked through the photos on it. He smirked looking through his work. 

His next murder was going to be perfect. Danny planned on getting more photos of Ghostface doing his heinous crimes. Jed Olsen managed to get photos of the serial killer taking pictures of his murders in rather cocky ways. And of course, the police had no idea that it was him who did it. The police here were amateurs that didn’t do their job right. It was incredibly easy getting away with the murders and surprisingly, the FBI didn’t get involved.  Oh well, the law enforcement probably had other things to deal with right now.

As he clicked through the photos, thinking about his next murders, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the familiar chime of the front door open. Maybe it was his boss? Danny quickly put his camera away in his desk drawer and rushed to unlock his door. The Roseville Gazette was usually a quiet place. He looked up as he noticed a young woman at the front desk of the gazette. 

“Hey, how can I help you?” He asked, immediately switching to his Jed persona. 

“Hi, I’m Y/N. I was wondering if there was a Jed Olsen around here? I didn’t realize it was quiet here.” She said with a smile.

For a moment, Danny focused on her smile. It was a beautiful and genuine smile. Strange but not everybody was as shallow as his victims or the people he met. His gaze averted to her eyes and then her face. She was indeed a very beautiful person. A pleasant surprise, not that Danny ever indulged in romance. 

“You’re speaking to him.” He replied with a playful shrug.

Y/N stared at him for a second before raising her eyebrows in surprise. 

“Oh. well nice to meet you, Mr. Olsen.” You said as you extended your hand.

“The pleasure is mine.” Danny replied as he shook your hand.

The touch of your hand was rather soft. He didn’t know it yet but he felt slightly flustered. Danny never really met anybody that he considered attractive. Maybe he did but he never paid attention to that sort of thing. 

“Do you have time right now? Or wanna schedule a date to quickly go over your work?” You asked him.

“A date?” He asked blankly. Danny didn’t know what you meant but his brain took it in a romantic way since he thought you were pretty. Your eyebrows furrowed awkwardly in confusion as you nodded slightly with a small smile.

“Um, yeah... I can come back sometime or we can meet at a coffee shop. I’m a detective so... yeah.” You say, automatically getting awkward around people your age. Danny nearly facepalmed himself but his mind quickly went to darker places.

A new detective? A detective who wanted to talk to him one-on-one? None of the detectives decided they wanted to question him. Did this woman find something? Did she suspect him? She looked like she could be a psychologist or something so maybe she wanted to see how he’d react when explaining the Ghostface articles he wrote? He’d have to get her last name and see where she lived. Y/N looked like she’d be easy to kill.

“Jed?” She asked in concern.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely... I have time right now. Sorry, I just get zoned out when I think of the murders and the sick photos he took.” He apologized.

“Don’t be sorry, that type of stuff is something nobody can get used to.” You reassured him. Jed was actually quite handsome.

“Yeah, you’re right. Come into my office.” He said, signaling with his head where his office was. You followed him in.

The office was old. It seemed rather boring at first but that’s what office jobs are for, anyways. His desk was quite clean. Jed seemed to be a very organized person. It would make sense considering his work on the Ghostface murders. You took a seat across from his desk and smiled a bit as he sat down. You were a pretty diligent worker so got straight to the point.

“So, Jed... as you know, there’s an ongoing investigation on the Ghostface Murders that I was assigned to.” You began. Danny nodded, leaning back in his office chair comfortably. He stared at you intently, watching your expression as he worried.

“I took on the liberty of reading your work on the murders. You write about him in a very peculiar way... admirably, almost.” You said to him. Danny tried to hide his worry but he was trying to figure out a way to kill you quickly. Maybe you were FBI? You were already sharper compared to the other officers/

“Anyways, I really love your work, Jed. I’ve taken a personal interest in the Ghostface. And as a detective, I’d like to get to try and get to know him as best I can.” You said with a hint of excitement in your eyes.

“Get to know him…?” He replied, slowly reaching for the knife taped under his desk.

“With your work and your input, I could put together a psychological report on him. If we want to catch him, we should figure out what type of person he is first.” Y/N said.

Danny’s fingers stopped right above the knife. His hand slowly backed away from the bottom of the desk. So, she didn’t suspect him? Danny almost laughed out of relief and at her. He was stupid for thinking she could’ve found out he was Ghostface. Y/N only seemed to be interested in his work.

“Oh, I see… yeah, that would make sense.” He said to you as you crossed one leg.

“I’m glad you agree. I’m determined to catch him and maybe even see his motivation.” You replied to him. Danny’s eyes sparked for a moment as he stared at you.

“His motivation?” He asked as you thought for a moment.

“Probably sounds strange, I know but… he must have a reason, right? And I find it so interesting how he goes about his murders. I actually have a theory about him.” You explained.

You seemed to trust Jed Olsen. The other officers and detectives said he liked to bug and probe them all the time for more information regarding the murders and what their progress was like. And truth be told? There was very little they could go off of. Ghostface was too methodical and careful, left absolutely no trace of himself besides the pictures Jed retrieved. He was a hard-working journalist and you had a good feeling about him, anywyas.

He was also pretty cute.

“I don’t think it’s strange, at all. I’ve never seen any of the detectives so passionate about the case. They always brush me off… so, what’s this theory?” Danny asked you, watching your expressions.

“Well, I only just saw your work today but I thought about it when I walked here. Ghostface seems to be rather cocky, a common trait in younger men. But, since we never caught him or anything, I know he’s really careful with what he does. The murders are also premeditated. They’re too… clean and carefully executed even if it is a bloodbath.” You sort of rambled on.

A weird feeling tingled inside of Danny as you continued to explain your theory.

“He’s really cunning and methodical. And based on my other observations, I think he uses the murders as a way of expressing himself. I’ve read about other serial killers caught… they usually leave marks, take trophies, and know the victim in some ways. Or they’re just cold-blooded but not in his case. I think he sees the murders as a form of art or something along those lines.” You said to him.

His eyebrows raised in surprise. Who the hell was she? Danny thought for a moment. She was right, he did see his murders as art and something beautiful. Did she see it that way too? This woman was strange, indeed. As as young detective, he admired her naive nature.

“That would actually make sense… he does seem to make an unnecessarily big mess when killing and yet, the police can’t find anything on him? It makes total sense.” Jed replied.

“Right? Anyways, I was going to ask if you can type of a report or something along those lines. Give me every single detail you know about him and your analogy. Your input could be vital to solving this case.” You said, standing up.

“If you don’t mind me asking, detective, why are you so interested in him? You’re really passionate about this.” He said to you.

“I wanna understand him and see more of his artwork… it’s pretty fascinating. Also, you can just call me Y/N. Have that report ready in a week?” She asked him.

“Yeah, definitely.” Danny replied to you.

“See you then, Jed.” Y/N said as she nodded with a confident smile.

Y/N was indeed young and naive. Although, she didn’t share anything confidential, she placed a lot of trust into the journalist. Then again, why should she be untrusting of him? The young woman was so passionate, intelligent, and seemed to have a very strong sense of independence. Danny assumed she came here without any authority, taking matters into her own hands. A by-the-book cop? Maybe, maybe not. Danny found that strangely attractive. However, she might even hinder his efforts and catch him. He couldn’t let that happen, yet…

There was something so intoxicating about her. Danny never met anybody that was so compassionate and understanding to his cause. Maybe, he saw her motivation in his own twisted way. This woman wanted to understand him, to see things as he does. Nobody has ever went to that length for him. Not only that but, she had no problem talking about such grimey things in a way that she didn’t get disgusted. The man had a bit of a crazed stare in his eyes as he began to recall her features.

Detective Y/N, just who were you?

And so, the obsession begins.

[ghcstvalleychief]

I’m sorry but kids shouldn’t be around as*holes that say horrible things about women. I sorta am happy that women are not included in this whole mess… the horrors that we would hear if they were to actually be included.. I would only be ok if that one individual gets kicked out from the company, then we can welcome all the beautiful women. I wouldn’t wish a bad experience on any woman let alone kids…, what are they trying to do ???

The industry is horrible to children and women as it is know to have kids act and coexist with individuals that have horrible mindsets it’s just 🤢 makes me sick to my stomach…

Exactly! There's a silver lining to the company only wanting men. I'm not saying the men deserve this fate but I am saying it's a good thing there aren't any women involved in any of this crap.

Minors/children aren't protected in this industry and I think it's a bad idea all around to include them in something like this. Unless there's going to be some protective measures put in place to shield these minors, then there shouldn't be any minors at all. With the way this industry refuses to cut ties with misogynists, homophobes, and predators, BOC is just like the rest of this industry. They're only looking to make a quick buck. They don't have a shred of integrity. It's all about their greed.

It's never getting better because the fans are okay with these types of things. By and large, the fandom responds to these types of individuals with a warm welcome. These actors are given a lot of support and adulation, which is troubling but not surprising. However, there's an advantage to greed. These companies won't willingly attach themselves to and form business relationships with actors who have that kind of dirt on them. Actors who have bad scandals attached to their names aren't going to be booked like crazy because the companies don't want to lose money. Bad press is bad press.

It's why there's a very specific subset of fandom complaining about the lack of schedule for a certain someone right now as we speak. I hate to defend BOC for any reason but they can't post a schedule of events for events that don't exist. There are no events for him outside of this tour. It's not a matter of him trying to choose the best brand deal for himself. It's a matter of him simply not being marketable at all. It's why his acting partner has been scheduled for all of these solo events and it's also why his acting partner is suddenly being attached to a completely different actor entirely by the fans, but this is all conjecture of course. 😏😏😏😏

So, what the fans want matters somewhat but your fave is ultimately responsible for the cultivation and subsequent outcome of these campaigns.

[carriagelamp]

April l was apparently the month for me to revisit some children’s authors who are steeped in controversy at the moment. So here’s my hot (well, lukewarm) takes on issues that absolutely do not need a single other person talking about them. Also some actual good books that I read this month!

Badger in the Basement

The Animal Ark books are a childhood classic — though I recently found out that apparently there’s a difference between American and British publications, and the American versions didn’t include a lot of actual COOL animals which is… bizarre. As a Canadian stuck in the middle of this, this nonsense drives me nuts. This one was about the main character, the daughter of pair of vets, trying to protect a local badger sett from men wanting to participate in badger digging and baiting. These books are always feel-good, and it was a nice single-day-read while I waited for a library book to come in.

Chi’s Sweet Home

The cutest manga series about the misadventures of a little kitten, Chi, who has been adopted by a loving family. I’ve never bothered to read them in order, but apparently this time I stumbled across the last in the series -- whoops! Still, stood on it’s own pretty easily, and it was a fun read! Things get tense when the family realize that they may have found Chi’s original home… and may have to give up Chi forever.

Earth Before Us: Dinosaur Empire!

This was an odd graphic novel, I feel like I’m not sure who the target audience was exactly. It was a nonfiction comic done in a Magic School Bus style, with the purpose of teaching current, up-to-date facts about the animals that lived in the Mesozoic Era. If you’re into dinosaurs, you’ll probably enjoy this! The art is absolutely adorable, I love the dinosaur illustrations, and I learnt some really neat facts. That being said, the pages are really dense, and there’s a lot of info crammed in… some of it will probably go way over a child’s head without specific additional teaching or a very strong personal interest. But that being said, a dinosaur obsessed kid is still probably going to really dig this… as would a dinosaur obsessed adult. It wasn’t my cup of tea exactly but I’m sure it is someone’s.

assorted Dr Seuss Books

I love these types of controversies because it means getting to listen to every moron who has never had an opinion on Dr Seuss ever start generating a mile of them out of the aether. So many people are so mad about the six books that are getting retired and I bet most of them haven’t even read them. These are not the friggin Cat In The Hat or The Lorax or even the likes of Yertle The Turtle. I was raised by a grade one teacher, was a voracious reader who loved Dr Seuss, and wrote my university thesis on children’s literature, and I still only knew two of the six books on that list. So by all means, if you want to write an essay explaining why those specific books are worth clinging to, feel free, but if you haven’t even heard of them maybe it’s not a big deal. *grumble*

Anyway, my grousing aside, it gave me the urge to reread a bunch of Seuss books, including the two retiring books I personally knew: McElligot’s Pool and To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. I do still enjoy both, especially McElligot’s Pool which always sparked my imagination, but it’s obvious why they’re being retired and I personally think it’s the right choice. There’s so much good kidlit out there, we can survive without these.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden

A f/f romance manga, fairly standard fair though cute if you’re looking for some historical angst, pretty dresses, and mutual pining. A young Japanese woman moves to England in the hopes of meeting a writer (Mr Frank) who she has long admired. Along the way she is employed by an enigmatic woman with plenty of money, rumours, and melancholy following her. I’ll be honest, uncut romance isn’t really my genre, but I’ll probably still try to the second book to see if the story picks up.

From The Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary

It’s no secret that I’ve been on a Hogan’s Heroes kick. This is the autobiography of Roberty Clary, who plays my favourite character in the show, Louis Lebeau. And holy shit what a life this man has had. He was a Jew growing up in France before the start of the war, and who was one of many children taken away from his family and sent off to the concentration camps in Germany. This was an amazing, intense, inspiring, and heartbreaking read… it has Clary’s voice all over it, and it tells everything from the charming childhood he had, to the horrors of the concentration camps, the brutality of survival, and then about his exciting journey into the entertainment industry afterwards. It’s an experience, would recommend if you’re a fan of the show.

The Ickabog

The second controversial author I read this month. Originally I was going to give Rowling’s new book a miss, given everything that’s been going on over the past few years, but in the end my curiosity got the better of me. Politics aside, it was a fun read! Not groundbreaking, but enjoyable enough and written in an interesting style. It didn’t read the same as a lot of modern kidlit, it felt more like a cross between a classic fairytale and a Dahl book. Perhaps a bit like Despereaux. It tells the tale of how an idyllic country gradually falls into ruin through the ignorance, inaction, and greed, and how a supposedly fictional monster hides the very real, human monsters at the heart of the country. It was cute and pleasant and I’m glad I decided to get it from the library, though for anyone who is choosing not to engage for political reasons: you aren’t missing anything major.

Franklin In The Dark

A Canadian classic. I don’t think there’s a single person my age who hasn’t read or been read a pile of these books, and the nostalgia is so comforting. I found this on Youtube and listened to someone read it to me, and honestly 10/10 would recommend for a calm evening.

The big reason I decided to seek this one out though, was because I finally got to the M*A*S*H episode that inspired this entire series! In the episode C*A*V*E, in which Hawkeye is freaking out over his claustrophia while the camp is forced to take shelter in a nearby cave during some intense shelling, he mentions that if he had been born a turtle he would have been afraid of his own shell, and that the other turtles would make fun of him cause he’d be forced to walk around in his underwear. And so this first story about a young turtle who’s afraid to sleep in his own shell and drags it around behind him. So if you were ever curious, Franklin the Turtle is in fact named after Dr Benjamin Franklin Pierce. (this is also why the French version is named Benjamin!)

Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf

I loved the Guardians of Ga’Hoole books as a kid but I never read the Wolves of the Beyond series. This first book was an interesting read, Lasky does a great job creating worlds and societies for the animals that inhabit them. Lone Wolf is about a deformed wolf cub who was abandoned in the wilderness to die. And he would have, if a desperate mother bear, who had recently had her only cub killed, hadn’t stumbled across him and saved him, vowing to raise him as her own...

Petals

A “silent” graphic novel. It has beautiful artwork and is told entirely through pictures, no text at all. It’s loves and heart-wrenching, though it left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied… I felt like there should have been more. Still, a neat story.

The Southern Book Club‘s Guide To Slaying Vampires

What a banger of a novel!! I can’t recommend this one enough. It’s about a group of suburban mothers in the ‘80s who form a book club out of a shared need for community and a love of grisly true crime novels. But when a strange drifter appears in town and starts setting down roots… and when children begin disappearing… these women need to band together to confront the horrors that have invaded their neighbourhood, and face down not only a terrifying monster among them but the patriarchal system that allows it to flourish. To quote the preface:

“Because vampires are the original serial killers, stripped of everything that makes us human — they have no friends, no family, no roots, no children. All they have is hunger. They eat and eat but they’re never full. With this book, I wanted to pit a man freed from all responsibilities but his appetites against women whose lives are shaped by their endless responsibilities. I wanted to pit Dracula against my mom.    As you’ll see, it’s not a fair fight.“

The Weirn Books: Be Wary of the Silent Woods

I love Chmakova’s graphic novels, though I’ve only ever read her slice-of-life middle grade series before. This one is pure fantasy and very fun. It’s about two cousin “weirns” — witches with demon familiars — who attend the local night school. Things get strange though when an ominous figure appears outside the old, abandoned school house deep in the Silent Woods, and begins tempting children down its path…

I’m very much looking forward to word of a second book and was honestly kind of surprised that I haven’t heard more about this book given how popular her other series is. This has all the same charm and quirks but for those of us who prefer stories based in fantasy rather than reality.

And A Bonus...

For some masochistic reason I got a Garfield book out of the library. Jeez, if I didn’t love these as a kid, I found them absolutely laugh out loud hilarious, and now I just don’t see it anymore. But here I will share the one strip in the book that actually made me laugh

[ifartsparkswithkaty]

Cows are not sexually abused, and if you knew anything about working around large animals you would know that. A cow in heat doesn't care whether it is artificially inseminated, which is really obvious if you've ever seen it done (or met a cat in heat, they're the same way - hornier than you or I could possibly imagine.) Bulls are extremely violent and will often injure cows by mating with them aggressively and repeatedly, even if they don't want it or try to get away, which is why farmers use artificial insemination - it is actually significantly more expensive than using bulls, but much safer and gentler for the animals. Calves are also only taken away from their mothers for safety reasons with some breeds - a friend of mine working on a dairy had a cow calve in the middle of the night and they didn't notice right away, by the time they found it she had trampled the baby and it was so injured it had to be euthanized. It's not the only story I've heard like that either. Beef breeds are good moms and their babies stay with them after birth. Cattle of both sexes and all breeds are slaughtered at one year at the earliest, unless they have some kind of incurable health problem that's a welfare issue, and in beef slaughterhouses the animals can't see each other when they are killed, so they have no idea it's coming and don't have time to panic. The slaughtering method used in modern slaughterhouses is amazingly fast, it's like a light switch getting flipped off, not at all like the awful videos from years past that you see. It's hard to imagine it being more fast or humane. I don't have personal experience with pigs because my family all warned me never to work on pig farms because they are so horrific. I know from family who have worked in chicken houses that chickens are kept in very poor conditions. As someone who really cares about animals it bothers me to see misinformation spread, because it leads to a place where people assume that because there is so much misinformation about cattle, then the horror stories about chicken houses and pig farms must also be fake. I would really like for pigs and chickens to get the same consideration and care that cows do, and I think we should work toward that - my family raised our own pigs and chickens when I was a kid, and we always treated them as well as our cats and dogs, despite them being raised for meat, so I know it's possible. Hopefully in the future laws can be passed protecting these animals from abuse.

Yes, I also hope that laws continue being passed to protect animals from abuse. I’m glad you said that you really care about animals. Having said that, I’m a little worried about everything else you mentioned. Your family treated your pigs and chickens as well as they treated your cats and dogs? Did you also kill your cats and dogs for meat later? If not, why not? You treated them the same and cared for them the same except for the part where you killed the pigs for food but kept the dogs around for cuddles? In some parts of Asia dogs are killed for food - how do you feel about that? Do you feel dogs and pigs should be treated exactly the same except for the part where you kill one for food but not the other? Why?

Let’s address the point of the misinformation about cattle next. You started off by saying that cows aren’t sexual abused but then went on to say that well when they’re horny they don’t care what happens to then. Yeah, fuck off. Every sentient being should have the right to their own body and should have the right to consent to what happens to them. Even if you disagree with that (shame on you for thinking of other sentient beings who can feel pain and trauma can/should be impregnated without their consent), here is an article reporting violence and non-impregnation relation sexual assault on cows in factory farms. It also has video footage if you’d prefer. These are animals capable of feeling psychological trauma, so don’t fucking dare tell me that being impregnated without their consent isn’t going to be traumatic. And don’t try to bullshit me with the ‘its safer and gentler for animals thats why we do it’ because honestly an industry which kills male calves as soon as their born or tortures them after birth so they can be sold off as veal doesn’t give a shit about being ‘safe and gentle’ with their animals. Sure, you might have wanted your own small number of cows to be as healthy as they can be before you murder them - but don’t expect factory farmed animals to be treated like anthing other than an object.

And let’s talk about the murdering part, shall we? You said: “Cattle of both sexes and all breeds are slaughtered at one year at the earliest”. Do you know what the natural lifespan of a cow is? Well take a look at this:

Don’t you fucking dare come here and tell me that ^this is ethical in any way. The analogous age for a human (who would otherwise live for 80 years) to be slaughtered would be 6 years. Killing a cow at 18 months for meat is analogous to killing a 6 year old human child in terms of how much they’ve lived and experienced of life.

The next thing you say is that “in beef slaughterhouses the animals can't see each other when they are killed, so they have no idea it's coming and don't have time to panic”. Let me counter that by showing you some real life examples. A warning for anyone clicking these links - it has videos from the inside of slaughterhouses where animals are panicking because they know they’re about to die. The animals are risking their lives to try and escape.

By the way, if you don’t believe me or don’t bother watching the videos - you can read this confession of a former slaughterhouse worked posted on the BBC. Not only does it confirm what’s shown in the videos that animals do see others being killed and they do panic and that it’s all very barbaric, it also talks about why slaughterhouses are horrible for the humans who works there. It’s literally awful for everyone involved.

The next thing you say is “The slaughtering method used in modern slaughterhouses is amazingly fast, it's like a light switch getting flipped off, not at all like the awful videos from years past that you see. It's hard to imagine it being more fast or humane.” Did you ever have to euthanise your cats or dogs? Did you take them to a slaughterhouse or did you take them to a vet? Why wouldn’t you want your cat or your dog to be euthanised in a slaughterhouse? After al, you did literally say “It's hard to imagine it being more fast or humane” and wouldn’t you want the most humane possible way of saying goodbye to your beloved pet? Literally no one would even think about taking their pet to the slaughterhouse to be euthanised because everyone knows it’s not fucking humane.

As for the modern methods for slaughterhouses? Let’s take a look at these modern method. Here’s an excerpt: “The simplest mechanism consists of electrodes or probes built in the form of tongs with insulated handles and applied between the ear and eye of the animal for 1–4 secs.” You can read more about that here. How fucking dare you call having metal tongs inserted in your brain and being electrocuted ‘humane’? Just because it’s “fast” doesn’t mean it’s not painless. If you want to have your dog euthanised and you see the vet inserting metal tongs in between your dog’s eyes and ears you’d fucking start screaming animal abuse and just ask another vet for an injection. So don’t you fucking dare come over here and say ‘oh modern methods are very fast and efficient so theyre very humane’ when theyre just fucking barbaric.

Now, if you do really care about animals then put your money where your mouth is and join the movement to end animal abuse. This means not killing them. This means not gassing them or electrocuting them. This means not stealing their babies and killing them because it’s cheaper than rearing them. If you care about animals then protest against their exploitation. They’re sentient creatures capable of feeling pain and trauma, so protest against the industries who keep them in traumatic conditions and inflict pain upon them. If you care about someone then you don’t kill them when they clearly don’t want to be killed. There’s no ethical way to kill someone who doesn’t want to die.

If after reading all this you still disagree with me, then kindly fuck off. I don’t want you here in my inbox trying to defend animal cruelty. And I don’t appreciate you sending me an ask that forces me to go look up instances of animals cruelty so I can back up the points I’m trying to make. You’ve successfully ruined my day, and I don’t want any more asks that defend the instituitionalised torture of helpless animals.

[imagine-turtles]

Hello I saw you were doing matchups and wanted to join in if that was alright with you!! 💕💕

I’m a 6’9 queer non-binary person who is French, English, Irish and German! I grew up in Texas and I’ll always consider it my home, especially my grandmother’s house because she’s one of my favorite people in the world! I am the oldest of my siblings and I was diagnosed with ALL leukemia when I was eight, been in remission since I was twelve. I’m actually the one that sent the question considering the child cancer, thank you so very much for your kind and understanding response, even if you can’t answer requests about it, it means so much that you took the time to thoughtfully answer it and I such a nice way 💖💖💖 I recently gave myself a buzz cut and I have tons of freckles on my arms, and a lot sprinkled over my face and legs. I have green eyes and I have nipple piercings, a lip ring, a right nostril stud along with two left nose rings, a septum, a right eyebrow piercing, and tons of piercings in both of my ears including an industrial in my left! I’m going to get a bridge piercing soon as well as a tongue piercing, though the bridge may get in the way of my glasses. I also got my top surgery two years ago and got my nipple piercings a year later to celebrate the anniversary of it!! I love my scars, they symbolize my journey. I also have several tattoos covering my hands, arms, a large complex one on my back that connects to the ones on my shoulders leading down to my chest and neck, and I have several ones littered over my legs and thighs. I wear a lot of rings on my hands!

I have four cats and live with my two partners, I am a proud plant parent and my room is littered in them. I am very messy so my books and papers are scattered everywhere, I also have a tendency to buy notebooks and journals I never use. I am a writer and am actually in the middle of using my scholarships from cancer support charities to push my way through college tuition! I didn’t want to go to college for the longest time but now I’m pursuing degrees in things I’m passionate such as psychology, therapy and humanity studies in order to become a therapist! I work as a sex worker and cam with my partners and I was a stripper for a few years before switching over to individual work. I volunteer at my local theater in my town as both a director and scriptwriter, and I sometimes act and shoot film as well! I adore film and photography, I model my girlfriend’s designs that she creates along with her close friends to put on our instagram. She loves to sew and create designs, and she’s a veterinarian. I model along with my other partner but they’re more absent then I am because they have an amazing job as a tattoo artist and they stream on weekends for fun 💕💕💕

I am an early bird and can never sleep in past eight, I also ADORE sweets and have the biggest sweet tooth ever! I have a big soft spot for kids and sometimes when I have free time I’ll volunteer at our children’s hospital to help organize things or provide activities for the kids. I love puns, something my partners pretend to dislike but they actually love, and I really love D&D as well as fighting games and games with in-depth and well built storylines. I LOVE musicals, seriously, I was in a few during my time at high school and I still love musical theatre to this day. Horror is my jam, I love writing gore and creepy things, and I write poetry occasionally and like to read it to my partners. I recently managed to get a therapist to help with childhood trauma and one of my personal projects is writing a biography for those like me to find comfort in when there’s only stories for teenagers dying in a snarky romance.

I am fluent in French and I like to consider myself someone that is a good friend although I still need to work on my listening skills as well as putting myself before others and learning to come to terms with loving myself and my body. But it’s getting easier with a supportive family and having finally found the important friends and people in my life! I am very very social and loud, I have ADHD and anxiety as well as partial hearing loss. My favorite movies are actually “Coraline” and “9” because of the creepy animation and storylines <333 I’m a big biology fan and my girlfriend got me into astrology, so I’m a Sun Aquarius, Moon Libra and Rising Leo. I actually hate mystery! I don’t know why but it’s never been my favorite genre and I can never write it well. I have abandonment and attachment issues due to forced isolation during my childhood but I’m working on it through therapy. I like to write my friends and partners notes to lift them up throughout the day and I’m known for my long good night texts lmao.

I hope this wasn’t too much, and you can always deny if you like!! Have a lovely day, and I hope that you and your wife have some very happy events since I heard about how busy you’ve been ☺️☺️

Good morning!! Thanks for your understanding regarding your previous ask; there are some topics I feel need a broader understanding than what I currently have, and I’d hate to make such a serious topic sound gimmicky or trope-y.

We're pretty busy, but it's mostly good busy I swear!! Lots to do before next spring!!

I’m pairing you with Bayverse Donnie:

It sounds like your home has a little of everything--maybe you’re looking to add a code jockey to the mix? Donnie loves to dabble in new hobbies, and it sounds like you’ve got enough to keep him occupied for a long time.

Body mods have always piqued Donnie’s interest, and just being around you might be enough influence to finally push him over the edge. Sure, he doesn’t need a tongue piercing, but it’s not like it’ll get ripped out in a fight. Nice and safe, as long as he keeps his mouth closed.

(His brothers waste no time in pointing out that, historically, he’s not exactly known for keeping his mouth closed OR his tongue inside it. We've all seen the bleps.)

Tattoos are also a point of interest, but as he had such a large role in his family’s tattoos, he’s already pretty familiar. He doesn’t have nearly as much skin inked as his brothers, and most of his tattoos are placed in strategically protected areas of his body. This is mostly for convenience, as they tend to take a decent amount of damage, and he doesn’t want to work around tattoos when patching up the latest slice n’ dice. Nothing pisses him off quite like his brothers telling him to be careful stitching around their ink; as if he’s not already being careful, or y’know, like he’s not the one that inked them in the first place.

Sweet tooth enablers, both of you. Don’s just godawful about eating your snacks. Doesn’t feel bad about it, either, since he figures it hardly makes a difference if he orders replacements.

[leejungchans]

facts about juliet.

trigger warning: mentions of depression, anxiety and disordered eating

(a/n: please let me make it very clear that i do not support the glorification or romanticisation of mental illnesses. the reason why i write characters who deal with mental illnesses/disordered eating is because i struggle with them too, i know how real and scary they are to live with, and writing these characters helps me cope as well as to express some aspects of my real life. more importantly, if you are going through something, please talk to someone you trust, or send in an ask to vent if you want to. i promise you that help is out there, and things will get better. please stay safe, take care, and i love you.)

#INTERESTS AND HABITS;

She likes jogging, jumping rope and doing Pilates.

She enjoys horror movies but still gets scared.

She has a lot of interest in fashion and makeup, and likes to dress stylishly.

Juliet also likes Harry Potter.

She likes her food very spicy, but she tries not to have really spicy food during comebacks and promotions to avoid affecting her voice.

One of Juliet’s hobbies is photography. She also likes to take photos with her film camera as she loves the aesthetic of it.

She likes memes a lot, and enjoys seeing those of herself, her members and her friends in the industry. She also has a secret account on Twitter, so she is quite up-to-date on jokes within the fandom.

#MISC.;

She was born on June 6, 2001 at 23:28 in Sydney, making her big three Gemini (sun sign), Sagittarius (moon sign), and Pisces (rising sign).

When she is embarrassed, her ears turn red very quickly.

According to the others, Juliet can be clumsy sometimes, but she is also viewed as one of the smartest and wittiest members, and is known as the “language expert” in ATEEZ.

Like the boys, Juliet is very competitive.

Part of ATEEZ’s “demon line” 😼

Juliet falls asleep easily and is a heavy sleeper; she can sleep through loud noises and fall asleep anywhere.

She tears up and cries very easily.

She is quite introverted but also likes to make new friends. Like Yeosang, her MBTI is ISFJ.

Juliet is said to be extremely scary when angry, though she very rarely loses her temper and has a lot of patience.

When she’s frustrated, she usually subconsciously pokes the inside of her cheek with her tongue (ATINYs find this habit very attractive)

Though she tries not to show it, Juliet gets frightened easily. She jumps whenever fireworks or confetti cannons at shows go off, so she has to cover her ears before they happen.

She has a fear of butterflies (lepidopterophobia).

She has been suffering from depression, anxiety and disordered eating since her trainee days at SM. Aside from her family, only the boys and KQ know.

She is ambidextrous. She writes with her right hand but usually holds utensils with her left.

According to the members and fans, Juliet eats like a hamster/chipmunk and stores food in her cheeks as she eats. The boys sometimes call her “chipmunk” as a result. Her other nickname, “koala”, comes from the boys claiming she looks like one when she sleeps.

When Juliet doesn’t have schedules, she prefers wearing her glasses instead of contacts.

To support the Polished Man campaign, she asks the nail artists to paint one of her nails a different colour from the rest, and tries to coordinate nail polish colours with Hongjoong.

Her voice is deeper when she speaks in English, French and Spanish, and quieter and higher-pitched in Korean.

Like Wooyoung, Juliet attended Hanlim Multi Art School. She was in the department of Applied Music with Somi, the two are thus very close.

The other members baby her a lot and are very protective of her.

If she didn’t become an idol, she would’ve studied to become a veterinarian.

She helps with the lyrics and choreographies in some of ATEEZ’s songs. She wants to learn to compose and produce songs.

She gets emotional every time she sings “THANK U”.

Her custom mic is hot pink.

In the dorm, she has her own room.

She cooks a lot in the dorm.

When ATEEZ is on breaks, she spends her time exercising, learn other groups’ choreographies, watching YouTube videos, dramas or Netflix, drawing and painting, reading, and playing on her Switch.

On ATEEZ’s official YouTube channel, her series is called “JULIET’S ARCHIVE”, where she makes crafts, cooks and does song or dance covers.

She is part of K-pop’s “Aussie line”.

She is still close with Yeri from Red Velvet and many members of NCT as she trained with them when she was a trainee at SM. She is also close to Somi, the members from ITZY and Stray Kids.

She is a fan of artists such as TWICE, Stray Kids, SEVENTEEN, EXO, The Boyz, TXT, ITZY, NCT, BTS, Red Velvet, MAMAMOO, BLACKPINK, LOONA, Eric Nam, IU, HyunA, Chungha and Sunmi. awjkshwis the multi life 😔

Her role models are Rosé and Lisa from BLACKPINK, Seulgi from Red Velvet, Taeyeon, Hani from EXID, Sunmi and Chungha.

[tonystarkbingo]

3 Prompt Summaries Game

reunions, masks, body worship - suggested by @polizwrites

@polizwrites - Now that Rhodey was full time military, Tony hadn’t seen him  in months.  They  made plans to meet up in Key West  during Fantasy Fest  —  wearing masks (and very little else), they could finally indulge  their own fantasy of being a couple in public.

@psychiccatpanda - Rhodey took the kids trick-or-treating on his own because Tony had been called away on business again.  When they get back, Tony's home and has set the place up for a Halloween party for the kids and their friends. When the kids' friends go home and the lights go down, Rhodey takes his time welcoming his husband home.

@somesortofitalianroast - It was 5 years since Steve Rogers had last seen Bucky Barnes, when Barnes left in the middle of the night after they had sex for the first time, leaving the country the next day for a lucrative job, and Steve heartbroken. It had been several years since Steve had thought of Barnes, though he’d recognize the man anywhere, even behind a domino mask at a masquerade ball. Just seeing Barnes made his blood boil, and he wanted to charge across the ballroom, slap the man silly, and then worship every inch of the man’s body. Too bad he was at the ball with clients and there was no way he could do that without losing a very important contract.

@darthbloodorange - (ShrunkyClunks) - He waits in the shadows of an old warehouse, a mask obscuring his identity. No one could know he was here; not only would his reputation be tarnished, but that of the Avengers as their leader. But there was something about the dark assassin that drew him in. Barnes treated him like no other in this world. Treasured him, possessed him, worshipped him. Not like a hero as the world did, but as a man and lover.

Keep reading for lots more!

cookies, mermaid, dancing - suggested by @somesortofitalianroast

@somesortofitalianroast - Darcy didn’t bake for the Avengers all the time, and she never made her mermaid cookies, since they were complicated and she needed to pay attention to the details when icing them with fancy icing. So it was a big deal when she made them, the sort of thing that made you want to dance in the kitchen.

@gavilansblog - Luca AU where Tony introduces mer-people Steve and Bucky to cookies and dancing

@deehellcat - Morgan's eighth birthday party featured a mermaid theme, cookies with sparkly decorations, and dancing.

@psychiccatpanda - Bucky Barnes never dreamed he'd ever be put in charge of kids.  Who'd want the Winter Soldier for a babysitter?  But this little girl - Tony Stark's little girl - stared up at him, waiting for a reply.

He was pretty sure the last time he'd been this nervous was when he came back to the States after Wakanda.  "Yeah, we can do that.  Sounds like fun."

Which was how he found himself not-quite elbows deep in blue-green frosting for the ocean reef cookies they had baked (that he had baked) while Morgan spun around the kitchen dancing in her mermaid costume.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Tony looks at the tray of raw cookies in dismay. Whoever had designed the mermaid cookie cutter clearly had no concept of the baking skill of the average parent. 

He had managed to press out all the pictures without causing more damage than the occasional lost arm or misshapen head (and a couple of 'defective' cookies are always required for taste-testing straight out of the oven). But the process of transferring the cookies from the bench to the tray had caused the raw dough to stretch and fold and tear; leaving figures better described as some sort of vaguely-humanoid aquatic eldritch horror... 

Impatient, Morgan clambers onto her stool and gasps in delight. "Look, Daddy! The mermaids are dancing!"

@darthbloodorange - (Thundershield) - Thor set out on his boat to the middle of the lake. A smile on his face and a song on his lips. People feared the lake and the creatures that dwelled within. He didn't see why. Peering over the edge of the boat, he watched the mermaids dance. His eyes drawn to one in particular; the blond with the silvery-blue tail. He unwraps the cookies and sets them on the edge of his boat, hoping to draw the merman close again.

picnic, dragon, promises - suggested by @psychiccatpanda

@deehellcat - Steve and Bucky slip away from the village every chance they get to spend time together. Their favorite place to picnic is perilously close to a rumored dragon's lair, but they dare it for its beauty. imagine their surprise when one night as they stargaze and promise forever to each other, a dark shadow flies overhead then lands nearby. It's the legendary dragon, who greets them and offers to witness their solemn vows. (spoiler alert, the dragon is Tony, and I'm not sure what his relationship to them would end up being.)

@psychiccatpanda - Tony hated picnics.  He'd been on so many for photo shoots with his mom and Howard, then for Stark Industries, and the occasional summer charity event.  Picnics sucked.  There was either too much sun or not enough, not to mention bugs, screaming kids, or other couples making out. 

"You promised, Tony," the love of his life reminded him.  "And I got you a surprise." The surprise was a kite in the shape of a dragon. Suddenly, the day was looking better.

@somesortofitalianroast - Steve was walking to a picnic on the beach when he found a baby dragon, abandoned on the side of the road. He picked it up, intending to take it to the local fantasy animal shelter, but as soon as he touched it, he knew he would never be able to let it go. Which is why he was standing on the dunes, murmuring promises to the dragon in his arms.

@rebelmeg -  pepper sighed.  "tony, you promised you were gonna stop doing that." pointedly looking away from her, the red and gold dragon roughly the size of a large dog pointedly opened his mouth, and stuffed the donut hooked on his claw inside.  puffs of smoke emitted from his nostrils and he chuckled in a rough, growly way when a sandwich in a baggie smacked him in the back of the head. 

"we're never going on a picnic when you're shifted again, this is ridiculous."

@darthbloodorange - (Stucky, Fantasy AU) - Steve walks up to the den of the dragon; his once best friend and lover. Baskets of meat in hand, and his heart weighted heavily in his chest. He'd kept his promise for over 70 years, and he wasn't about to break it now. "Bucky, it's me. I know you remember me. You're in there somewhere, I feel it," he says in his elvish tongue. Within the den comes a mighty roar, seeming to shake the very core of the mountain. But Steve is not dissuaded.

bread, defenestration, jingle - suggested by @rebelmeg

@rebelmeg - standing at the window and very calmly eating her sandwich, natasha watched as clint climbed out of the bushes underneath and went streaking for the street, where an ice cream truck was driving past.  the second he'd heard the jingly song, the idiot had flung his own sandwich in the air and literally dove out the window.  wondering if he'd realize he didn't have any money on him, nat smirked.

@psychiccatpanda - (WinterIronHawk implied) To be fair, Clint had not thought about 'costume integrity' or the fact that the Christmas elf pajamas did not count for much in the way of bodily protection.  On the other hand, though, he'd just been planning on eating as much of the freshly baked panettone bread as Bucky let him get away with while they waited for Tony to get home.  Getting thrown through the  window of Tony's Malibu house by some Hydra experiment had not been on his radar at all. (Not Bucky - to be completely clear, he was cute and Clint didn't think mean things about people who baked him a nigh-endless quantity of sweets.)  At least he managed to keep the hat with its little bell that jingled cheerfully as Clint sailed through the air.

@darthbloodorange - Stony (probably a 5+1 fic) - Tony frowns as the familiar jingle of his phone drew him away from kneading his sourdough. He groans when he sees who it was that was calling. He nearly doesn't answer, but Barnes almost never calls, so curiosity gets the better of him. "Stark," the man greets, voice as gruff as ever. "What do you want?" he grumbles. "Arm's acting up again. Accidently threw your husband out a window. He's hanging on about the 26th floor? Thought you should know." "Damn it!" Tony cries, armour assembling around him quickly. He wishes this was the first time Barnes' arm had thrown an Avenger out the window... but it wasn't.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Tony likes bread as much as the next guy, but he is this close to swearing off the stuff entirely. He tenses as Clint moves behind him, his humming looping into yet another round of the jingle for the local bakery. He snaps. "Clint! If I hear another note I swear I will throw you out this window! And not send the suit after you." Clint grins, opens his mouth and... shuts it again. Silent.

Werewolves, Gardening, Hurt/Comfort - suggested by @darthbloodorange​

@somesortofitalianroast - (preserum!steve/werewolf!bucky) When he moved into the house, Steve was looking forward to growing a garden, with a large vegetable patch, all the herbs, and some flowers for the colors. He wasn’t expecting to get overheated. He certainly wasn’t expecting the werewolf to bound out of the woods to take care of him. He’d think he imagined the entire thing, except the werewolf stuck around. Still taking care of him.

@tehroserose - Steve and Tony had retreated into the woods. Obadiah had taken over Tony's birthright, and Hydra had encroached on Steve's home of Brooklyn. They met there, and lived off their wits. Tony did most of the smithing for the various exiles, while Steve gardened vegetables that were rare and valuable. They were content, and while they wished they could save their homelands, there was no real hope of doing so. No hope until one night, when Steve was doing one last check of the garden before going to sleep, he found a big, bleeding wolf.

@rebelmeg - "right here, honey," pepper pointed to a spot in the dirt, and tony padded over, pawing at the spot a few times before starting to dig.  "yep, that's enough." she stopped him when the hole was deep enough, then held out a hand for the flower morgan had cupped in her hands, cradling the ball of roots and dirt with care.  "see, now it's perfect!  you wanna take a ride on daddy now, morgan?  i  think he's getting bored with gardening."

"yeah!"  morgan jumped up with a shout, and scrambled up onto the werewolf's back with no problems.  "go, daddy, go!" with a woof, tony took off at a run, morgan holding tight to his fur as she giggled, and pepper smiled as she watched them.  tony hated going through a transformation during the full moon, the pain of it pretty extreme, but they'd found a lot of ways to make up for it.

@psychiccatpanda - Tony had avoided Barnes since Steve had brought him to the compound.  The werewolf had done the same.  Howard hadn't had anything good to say about weres in general, but everyone knew wolves were the worst.  It was part of the reason that part of the Avengers had been politely asked to leave Wakanda.  Opening the door to his patio, Tony caught the shine of eyes and Barnes scrambled back from what he'd been doing.  Tony scanned the patio and only saw a trowel, some loose dirt, and a flat of plants - wolfsbane. "Doesn't that stuff give you blisters or something?" Tony asked, knowing that it was probably true.  "How about you come in and wash your hands and tell me what you're up to."

@darthbloodorange - (Ults Stony) - After Steve is infected with Lycanthropy, Tony took him to one of his parents' houses out in the country. Everyone expected Steve would get over it, given time, as he did with the vampirism. But the lycanthropy sticks, appearing to have fused with the serum. While SHIELD's scientists look into a cure, Tony stays with Steve. Growing bored of the overly-manicured, emptiness that was the green fields surrounding the country house, Steve takes up gardening as his current mission. Tony watches, completely enthralled, as Steve slowly transforms the area around the house.

letter, basket, book - suggested by @rebelmeg

@jamesbuckystark - Someone left a basket on Tony's doorstep containing a book, a map, and a magnifying glass. Inside the book was a letter dated 1942. He's curious to find out what this means

@tehroserose - Morgan put down the letter. It was the last one. Her father had written her one for every birthday and potential special occasion. This one was for when she became a mother. She couldn't have them hidden away, they were on a basket on her dresser in her room, but that didn't make them any less bittersweet. He left her behind. To save the world, but he had left her. 

 She went to sit in the rocking chair next to her child's crib and began to read the children's story her mother had allowed all those years ago. "Iron Man and the End of Thanos". Any children she had would know their grandfather.

@somesortofitalianroast - When Bucky decided to become a librarian, he thought it would give him access to all the books all the time, in exchange for maybe some shelving. He didn’t realize how much work went into collections development and management, nor how much time was spent looking books up for patrons on their own system when asked if the library had a particular book. Boring and frustrating. He just had to stick it out until he paid off the worst of his student loans. Until the day the letter arrived on his desk, sitting next to a gift basket from a local fancy food store. A letter letting him know that the gift basket was from his secret admirer.

@jacarandabanyan - After waking from the ice, Steve took to reading voraciously to catch up on what he'd missed. Despite Tony's offers, he never did come around to a screen reader, though, and instead opted to keep a pile of books on his bedside table. When the pile of books got too big, he had a whicker basket to put the overflow in. 

 Tony feels like the two of them can't have a conversation outside the heat of battle without devolving into arguments and personal attacks, so he takes to slipping notes into Steve's books. Over time, the notes get longer and longer, until it would be more proper to call them letters than notes.

@rebelmeg - tiny!tony is digging through a basket of new books the jarvises got him, a mix of kids books and textbooks and novels.  as he digs, one of the books falls open, and out falls an envelope.  the letter inside seems to be written in code... but he's also pretty sure that's his mama's handwriting.  a grin spreading across his face, he sits down next to the basket and starts working out the code.

@darthbloodorange - (Stucky? Witch/Fantasy AU?) - Steve sits in his chair by the window and opens his favourite book. With careful hands, he pulls out the letter from his mother, which he'd been using as a bookmark, and carries on where he'd left off. Library, his familiar, jumps from her basket into his lap and curls up, butting her head against his hands. Despite the warmth and happiness he felt here, it wasn't complete. A part will always be missing until Bucky returns.

@psychiccatpanda - Whoever had suggested they stay at this rickety, 'quaint' seaside hotel had apparently never seen any island murder movies ever, Tony thought with disgust.  The wood floors creaked and the building made weird noises at night.  Combined with the crashing waves, it was not what Tony called relaxing.  Somebody knocked and Tony assumed it was the room service snack he'd ordered.  Instead, he found a basket with a book tucked inside.  Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

"That's not ominous," Tony muttered to himself, flipping through the pages. Then he saw the letter tucked inside.