konradleijon

[boycritter]

dont drag him down with you eddie. dont drag him down with you eddie. dont drag him down with you eddie.

[loyalshipper]

May I introduce the Tumblr DC community to one of my two favorite Batfam AUs I have created. Bruce Wayne owns a hotel/museum near an ocean cliff and still has a chronic adoption problem but doesn’t fight crime. (If anyone writes this you can make it to where heroes still exist, the Batfam are the inly no capes)

WE still exists but it isn’t run by Bruce it is run by Lucius because back in the 60s Thomas and Martha bought the hotel and wanted that to be their legacy. They still die the same way but Bruce puts all his efforts into running and blossoming the hotel which was his parent’s dream project.

I’ll get back into the hotel in a minute I’m taking about the kids now

Dick is gotten a similar way, he visits the Cape with Haly’s Circus, his parents die because of faulty wiring sold to the circus by Zucco and Dick becomes an orphan. Bruce just so happened to use his one night off in a while to go see the circus. He keeps thinking about Dick and ends up adopting him. He helps Dick and the Circus bring Zucco to justice and sues the hell out of him and shuts down his business. (Adopted at 8))

Jason was found living in one of the shut down rooms of the hotel. Because his dad left and was in prison and his mom od. So Bruce treats him like a wild animal and starts to leave food out on a regular schedule until Jason gets comfortable with him and he adopts Jason. (five years younger than Dick)

Tim was the son of two wealthy archaeologists who were gone 11 out of the 12 months. Bruce met Tim because he liked to come into the museum and take pictures of the museum exhibits and hotel architecture and shoreline which he would develop and give copies to Bruce. So he opens his house to this little boy with a penchant for photography. Until one day Tim’e parents call Tim telling him that they are staying in Egypt permanently because the archeological dig is producing wonderous results and they’ll be hiring him an around the clock sitter. Only for Tim to wait three weeks and no one shows up. They went so far as to fire Ms. Mac but never hired a sitter for their son. So he goes to Bruce in tears and explains everything, because this is it-his parents finally did abandon him, and Bruce sues them for custody of Tim. (Three years younger than Jason, adopted at 7)

Damian was the result of a relationship Bruce had in college while studying hotel management and hospitality. Talia is the daughter of a hotel conglomerate owner who is currently trying to buy Bruce’s hotel so it can be torn down and Ra’s can built a new hyper expensive hotel in its place. Damian was sent to live with Bruce to try and get Bruce to have Damian inherit the hotel so Ra’s can get it and destroy it, but that backfired because instead Damian falls in love with the hotel and his new family (reluctantly) and wants to see the hotel and museum flourish, not tear down this historical piece of architecture to replace it with a soulless hotel only available to the wealthy elite. But something available to everyone that families vacation to because there is so much history and beauty in a thing that has stood for centuries. So Damian turns against Ra’s. Due not that while Damian and Tim do have a sibling rivalry it is not as vicious and cutting as it is in canon. They love each other they just don’t mesh well while in the same room. And yes, Damian still has his variety of pets (7 years younger than Tim)

Cass came to the hotel with her “father,” David Cain, who went to the Cape for business, and just ended up leaving and forgetting Cass at the hotel. He was still abusive and Cass had trouble speaking but he wasn’t “turn Cass into the world’s greatest assassin” abusive. After Bruce finds Cass, he sues Cain for parental custody and then ruins his life unrepentantly. (Couple of months older than Jason)

After Martha and Thomas died, Alfred took over managing the hotel while Bruce was still growing up and while he was getting his degrees, now he is the grandfather to Bruce’s many kids and helps to keep them running and cared for while they run and care for the hotel. He’s also the one that helps the new kids transfer into the life of running a hotel.

Barbara is the daughter of the Police Comissioner still who became friends with Dick and works, first part time at the museum/hotel and then full time. Same with Steph and Tim (1 year older than Dick)

Cullen and Harper work at the museum, Helena works at the hotel. Carrie does both. Duke is the newest acquisition. Only, his parents disappeared and no one has been able to find them yet. So Bruce currently had temporary custody of Duke who lives at the hotel with everyone. (Harper is a year older than Tim, Cullen is a year younger than Tim, Carrie is the same age as Jason, Duke is a few months younger than Tim)

Each person has different jobs. (Dick is concierge/check-in, Jason does guided history tours of the hotel/museum/grounds, Tim works in financials because he deals with the least amount of people, Helena, Carrie and Steph are both maids, Carrie also does janitorial stuff with Cullen, Barbara works hotel check-in with Dick, Barbara and Harper work cashier at the gift shop, Duke doesn’t have a job yet because he is still dealing with the disappearance of his parents, Damian does every job to see where he fits in best.

JARRO IS THE FAMILY PET STARFISH THAT TIM ADOPTED WHEN HE FIRST JOINED THE FAMILY AND RESCUED FROM BEING EATEN OFF THE BEACH

The hotel is still fully staffed with not-batkids, like grounds keepers and other hotel cleaners and janitors.

Location time!

I’m turning Gotham nicer and changing the geography of the city.

The hotel Museum rests about 200 yds from a cliff that overlooks a beach. There is a well maintained stair case put into the cliff for people to walk down, as well as a longer gravel path that follows the cliff edge down to the shoreline. It is frequented by seals, sea lions, and in the distance, dolphins and whales. The hotel it’s self has about 100 or so acres of land and a long drive but it is technically within walking distance to the city. And it’s a normal coastal town with a port and touristic areas. Kinda eerie at night when the fog rolls in but that’s part of the charm of the NorthEast.

Selina is just Bruce’s friend in this. She is Helena’s mother and Bruce was a surrogate for her. She decided she wanted a baby and Bruce offered to be a donor. So Selina had Helena and Bruce is part of her life but not as her dad, which was the agreement. Selina takes care of the stray animals on the grounds and favors the cats.

Clark is a reporter that was tasked to right an article on the hotel and it’s history, became good friends with Bruce and brings his family (Lois, Jon, Bizarro, Kon, Kara, Lena, Chris, Ma, Pa, and Lex) on vacation to it every year. Lex and Clark are divorced husbands that left on good terms and are friendly enough to coparent their son, Connor, who was made the same way as canon but less hush hush and illegally, Kara is Clark’s cousin and Lena is her fiancée, Lois is his wife, Jon and Bizarro are their two biological sons (Bizarro has autism), Chris is their foster son. Bizarro latches onto Jason in a way that he hasn’t before and always loves coming to the hotel, Jon and Chris are best friends with Damian, Connor and Tim are long distance dating.

Collin, Maya, and Maps are Damian’s best friends from school (Damian has a crush on Collin) and he’s trying to convince them to join the hotel staff like his siblings’ friends but they are a) too young and b) not interested.

Roy has all of his problems as in canon and gets help for it, so as a way to try and bring the family closer, Oliver and Dinah arrange a vacation to the hotel for them Roy and Lian. As a stepping stone kind of thing. Get away from daily stress. Roy is resistant at first until he and Jason hit it off and start talking and Jason talks sense into him and they strike up a friendship turned romance.

The Flashfam visit the museum diring a countrywide roadtrip and mad the stop because Bart is a history buff and wouldn’t stop talking about it the entire trip. He becomes fast friends with Tim and is the only person to ever get a Tim Wayne history tour. No matter what Kon tells you he is super salty about it. Wally and Dick were internet friends and used the roadtrip as a way to be able to meet up.

Thad is the obligatory complainer who doesn’t want to stay in a musty old hotel.

Ivy is the main grounds keeper and is in charge of the native wildlife sanctuary most of the land is used for, as well as taking care of the native plantlife and lives in town with her girlfriend, Harley. Harley helps the kids prank Bruce.

Harley is a children’s psychiatrist hired by Bruce to help the kids deal with their various traumas. Her coming to the hotel for sessions is how she and Ivy met.

They started dating between Dick and Jason and Dick talks up each of them to the other, but each individual kid that comes in think they’d be cute together (since they are both professional while working there isn’t immediate proof that they are dating. But they will flirt with each other if they see each other) and it’s basically a right if passage to try and convince their siblings to help them get together and then try and set them up on their own and find out the hard way that they’re already together. They love seeing all the different way the kids try and set them up. They tend to go along with it until either the kids realise or they take pity on them.

Their favorite was Damian’s where he set up an entire romantic dinner at the hotel restaurant and Dick managed to slyly convince him to set it on a certain day that turned out to be Harley and Ivy’s anniversary.

Alfred is the head chef for the hotel, making room service meals and the breakfast buffet line up. Jason will help him out if he isn’t busy with other things.

Victor Fries and his wife hold an ice cream social ever summer at the hotel with all the ice cream flavors they came up with over the last year.

Edward Nygma, famous escape room designer, is hired to make an escape room themed on the hotel and museum that is built on the grounds near the main building.

Another ritual that starts, begins with Tim, where the older siblings convince the newest one that the hotel is haunted and Jason takes them on a “haunted ghost tour” of the abandoned part of the hotel (the part that is too dilapidated and run down to remodel safely) while the others are stationed at different parts of the hotel and grounds to run whatever scenario to scare the new kid. The only one that hasn’t been done to is Cass because even after several years she still jumps a little too hard at loud noises. But one time Jason accident closed a door a little too harshly while Cass and Tim were doing something and it caused her to jump so hard she knocked over Tim and started crying. They were contemplating whether she was strong enough to do it or not and that cemented that she wasn’t.

Tim and Cass are nearly inseparable and are commonly referred to as the Wayne Twins. For Halloween they decided to go as each other.

[childrenofthenightt]

That’s The Way (Chapter 2)

Pairing: Jimmy Page x Reader

Word count: 3.3k

Warning(s): mentions of cheating, cursing

Author’s notes: Hey y’all, welcome to Chapter 2! Thank you so much for all your positive feedback and responses. A little heads up: Jimmy is not in this chapter...since this is a slow burn, he’ll be introduced in Chapter 4, but it won’t be long, I promise. Just sit tight! As usual, please enjoy, happy reading, and send us messages if you have theories, comments, music recommendations for the playlist, or if you want to be added to the tag list :)

Chapter 1

---------

Evening of 4 May 1965

Walking into the kitchen, Y/N slid into a seat between her brothers, Tommy and Charlie, just as her mum was placing platters of that night’s dinner on the table. A sinking feeling in her stomach plagued her all day, as she knew that she would be interrogated  intensely by her family about the previous night. More importantly, she knew that if they felt that any of the musicians had viewed her as a possible love interest, she’d be in big, big trouble.

“Dad, can you pass me the vegetables, please?” Y/N asked her father, sitting a few seats down from her. If the girl hadn’t been glancing down at her plate to avoid eye contact, fighting the gut feeling that the inevitable would soon occur, she would have seen him glance at her from over the frames of his glasses.

“Sure, dear,” he replied, briefly looking up from the newspaper he was reading as he gave Y/N the dish. The clanking of utensils on plates was all that could be heard until Charlie broke the seal by asking the dreaded question.

“So Y/N, how was the concert last night?” he asked, raising the glass of water in his hand to his lips.  Y/N couldn’t blame Charlie for asking, because he had no idea what had happened, but she knew that this conversation could go south fast. Tommy’s hums of laughter quietly escaped his lips, and Y/N nudged his arm from under the table, giving him a glaring look that sent daggers from her eyes. It screamed, “Shut up!”, and another bout of giggles was the only response.

Tommy knew the outcome of last night because of what Carolyn had babbled to him on the car ride home, and was doing everything in his power to tease his sister.

“Why are you laughing, Tommy?” Y/N’s mum asked, finally taking a seat between Charlie and Lillian.  Silence settled over the table as all eyes locked on to the oldest daughter, and Tommy evilly smiled at Y/N, who only glared at him again. “No reason. Actually, I think Y/N should tell you instead.”

Y/N huffed as she put the dish of roasted chicken, generously seasoned and herbed, back in the middle of the table. She painted on a smile before answering, “It went pretty well. Brilliant show.”

“That’s it?” her dad asked, folding up the newspaper, knowing his daughter was downplaying it.

“Yeah, Y/N, that’s it?” Tommy added. Y/N knew he was taunting her, but the rest of the table did not pick up on it. From under the table, Y/N’s leg begins to bob up and down, and she bites her lip, debating whether or not to tell the whole story. It’s obvious they’re not going to be happy…

“My God, Tommy,” With an exasperated sigh, Y/N, very annoyed at her brother’s pushing, throws her hands up in unwilling acceptance. “Fine, Carolyn and I were invited backstage, and we met the band.”

The table audibly gasped, the loudest of course being Lillian, who looked disappointed, almost devastated at the revelation. Her lips turn down in a sulk, and she rests her cheek, almost permanently flushed with youth, on a fist. “You promised me you wouldn’t let any boys mess with you, Y/N!”

Y/N reached her hand across the table to hold her sister’s in an attempt to coax her. “They didn’t, Lil. We just talked for a while. I just made some new friends last night, that’s all.”

Lillian’s frown turned upside down, content that her sister was safe, a naïve smile that Y/N felt a little guilty about. She, along with Charlie and their parents, didn’t know that most members of the band had shamelessly flirted with her and invited her back to see them again. Tommy was the only one aware, and Y/N made him promise to keep the whole rendezvous a secret. Carolyn had brought the flirting to Y/N’s attention on the car ride home, because in the moment, she didn’t think much of it.

“If they’re mean to you, I’ll be mean to them, just for you!” Lillian exclaims through a mouthful of mush, and the table burst into laughter, shaking their heads in amusement.

“How did it go?” Y/N’s mum asked, cutting into her chicken with a knife and fork. For the first time over the course of the whole dinner, Y/N broke into an unadulterated smile at the memory. “It was really nice, genuinely. They  were all so sweet to us, and we just bonded over music and stuff.”

Y/N’s mother quirked her brow. “No ‘you know what’?”

“No Mum, nothing explicit. It was good, clean fun. Seriously.”

“Alright, I hope you’re telling the truth… I’m happy you had a great time.”

“She is telling the truth, Mum,” Tommy quipped through bites of roasted potatoes, “I can attest to that.”

Y/N’s mum smiled, but her dad piped up with some two-cents of his own. “Musicians are a tough crowd, Y/N. Very fickle blokes, their attractions change all the time. You can’t get too attached to them, dear,  you’re just a small fish in a very big sea.”

“I know, Dad,” Y/N replied, trying to sound understanding. She couldn’t lie to herself, though. The Yardbirds made her feel very special last night, and disappointment was lurching in her stomach at the comment. As much as her father’s words stung, she harbored a small feeling of hope that they truly enjoyed her company and meant what they said.

After everyone finished dinner, and Charlie and Lillian left the table to go play in another room, Tommy, wallet in hand, walked over to his mum, who was washing the dishes with the help of her husband.

“Hey Mum, I’m gonna take Y/N for ice cream,” he whispered, glancing at Y/N who was sitting in a chair in the living room, almost unconsciously playing with her fingers and staring out the window with a pensive countenance.

“Okay, love. Just bring something home for Charlie and Lillian,” she replied. Tommy walked over to Y/N, tapping her shoulder. The girl looked up at him, confused.

“I’m taking you for ice cream. Let’s go,” he said, already walking towards the door. Y/N grinned, then chased after her brother to the car.

~~~~~~~~

27 June 1965

Y/N and Carolyn weren’t able to attend as many Yardbirds gigs as they would’ve liked in the end of May and beginning of June, as they had exams at school. Now that they were over, Y/N could be fully immersed in the travelling British rock and roll circus for the greater part of the summer.

The girls agreed to make a venue change tonight: instead of going to the Marquee, as they usually did, they decided to go to the Crawdaddy Club. Y/N hoped Jeff, Chris, Paul, Jim, and Keith would remember them by their faces instead of just their clothes, because there was no need to wear school uniforms anymore.

Carolyn decided to drive to this particular gig, probably because she was expecting the two of them to go backstage again, as having her own car would grant them more time with the band then that first night at the Marquee.

The Crawdaddy Club was architecturally and aesthetically different from the Marquee; there were no chairs or booths, so standing was the only option, and the boundary between the stage and the audience was virtually nonexistent. The ceilings were low and beamed, and the stage backdrop had a painting of a measure of music. Y/N thought that particular touch was a bit cheesy.

Carolyn and Y/N walked in together, squeezing past the army of fans already hoarding the front of the stage. They managed to find a spot by Jeff’s side of the stage, his amps towering a few feet from where they stood. Thankfully, they were able to see most of the stage, including Jim’s drum riser in the back. The conversations among all the audience members were deafening, but Y/N heard a loud whisper within her periphery that she could just make out.

“Pssst! Y/N!” a familiar voice whisper-shouted, which was followed by a wave.

It was Jeff, widely smiling with his guitar slung over his shoulder. He was walking out the backstage door, meticulously making sure the door wouldn’t harm his guitar in any way. He then waited near the stage steps to go on, which the girls discerned could be any minute now.

“Oh my God, Jeff!” Y/N replied excitedly as she walked over to the steps. She made her way through the crowd, a lot more ungracefully than she would’ve hoped.

“It’s so cool to see you at some place other than the Marquee,” Jeff said. He looked genuinely happy that she was there. Maybe Y/N’s dad was wrong about these “fickle musicians”.

“We’re happy to be here! I’m so sorry I couldn’t make any more since the last time… exams and school and all.”

“Oh, that’s where you were! I hope you got good marks,” Jeff playfully grinned, “because you ought to mind your studies, Miss Y/N. Sam was starting to think he scared you off and that you didn’t want to come back.”

Y/N scrunched her nose in a confused way, as if to say “who?”, which resulted in a soft chuckle from Jeff.

“‘Sam’ is Paul’s nickname.”

Y/N nodded in understanding with an endearing smile. “Oh, okay. That’s definitely not it, then. I was just stuck with exams and graduation, that's all. Be sure to tell him that.” A wink punctuates the end of her sentence, and, gearing up to respond, Jeff is interrupted by a sharp noise next to him. Mere seconds later, another familiar face entered the scene, walking out of the door. Chris Dreja, also with his guitar slung over his shoulder, warmly smiled at Y/N as he closed the door behind him.

“Hello, Y/N. It’s so lovely to see you again,” he greeted. She noticed that he had a substantially deeper voice than the other four, something she hadn’t the last time they met since he was talking with Carolyn and Keith.

“Hi Chris! Same to you,” Y/N grinned.

“No uniforms this time I see,” he teased, discreetly scanning how stunning he thought she looked.

Y/N laughed. “Yeah, I’m off from school for the summer so there’s no need anymore, thank God. Now I can attend your shows more frequently, and wear a decent outfit too!”

“That’s great to hear. We do love your company.” Y/N beamed at his comment, unconsciously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Chris’ eyes track the movement, and he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. He thought Y/N was beautiful, but he had a wife and a child on the way. He also felt a little jealous that Paul and Jim had their eyes on her, but there was not much he could do about it. If he was cunning and quick enough to steal Y/N before they had the chance, though, and if his wife never found out…

Quickly regaining his wits, he remembered why he was sent out. “Jeff, Keith needs you backstage again.”

Jeff groaned. “What? I thought we were starting, like right now!”

“I know, I know. We were supposed to, but he wants everyone backstage again for some reason.”

“Ugh, this is why he can’t fucking be in charge,” Jeff replied, clearly annoyed. Then, as Chris was heading backstage once again, Jeff pulled something out of his pocket, a knowing smile on his face.

“Here, love, have this. You’ll be needing it after the show,” he said, placing a card with a lanyard attached to it into Y/N’s hands. Y/N smiled giddily.

“Thank you. Good luck with that meeting, and good luck in the show, even though you don’t really need it,” Y/N replied playfully.

“Oh, I think I need it more than you think I do,” Jeff smirked, disappearing behind the door.

~~~~~~~~

Just minutes later, The Yardbirds came out and played their set, which lasted a couple hours, and didn't fail to stun the crowd. Y/N and Carolyn received a lot more smiles of recognition than the last time at the Marquee, since the boys knew who they were now. The only similarity to last time was the electrified fans who were completely immersed in the music.

Jim McCarty, in particular, looked at Y/N a lot more often throughout the show than he did last time. She caught him a couple times, which was really embarrassing on his part, but not the entire time, much to his pleasure. He didn’t think it was possible, but it seemed that she had grown even more beautiful than last time.

Was it absence that made his heart grow fonder? Possibly. Was he in love? Yet another possibility. Did he know for certain? Perhaps, but he wasn’t exactly sure yet.

Besides focusing on the music, Paul’s mind was elsewhere. He was planning on asking Y/N out on a date with him sometime this coming week. He hoped she’d accept, since she did an awful lot of blushing and giggling around him when they met in May, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Paul was concocting the perfect formulation of words so that she couldn’t refuse the offer. She looked like the type of girl who would enjoy a nice dinner date, and he would do anything to make that a reality for her.

Chris’s mind was the opposite of Paul’s: he didn’t want to think about Y/N because in the event he did, he knew he would mess up a chord or two on the guitar.

God, he thought, she was perfect. Purely enchanting.

Jeff was just happy, almost giddy, that he’d found a new friend in Y/N. He knew she was special, and he hoped she trusted him, because some people in this business could be very sleazy. She was different from all the girls a lonely musician would find on the road. Y/N was the type of girl that Jeff wanted to see after a thousand and one nights touring, catching up and sharing stories over a pint. Sure, he had a steady girlfriend, but something about Y/N was comforting, friendly, and trustworthy. Just what he needed in a friend.

The set was similar to the one at the Marquee, but with little variations here and there, still holding the audience under a trance. After the performance’s conclusion, Y/N rummaged through her pocket and showed Carolyn the backstage pass given to her by Jeff, to which Carolyn squealed with delight. Y/N took Carolyn’s hand and walked with her to the door, showing the security man her prized relic. At once, they were granted access, and they skipped and trotted and leapt down the hall in excitement.

When the pair got to the correct door, Y/N took a deep breath and knocked a couple times; momentarily, they were greeted by a smiling, but sweaty, Jeff Beck.

Y/N didn’t care. “Brilliant show, my friend,” she gushed, giving Jeff a congratulatory hug.

“Thank you,” he replied gratefully, reciprocating it with a beaming smile, “security didn’t give you trouble I hope?”

“No, we were fine, thankfully.”

“Good to hear, good to hear. Well, come on in!” Jeff exclaimed, getting out of the way of the doorframe, “do you fancy yourselves a drink?”

Y/N and Carolyn walked into the room, starstruck once again by all five of The Yardbirds being in one place. This time, some members of the road crew, management, and lighting company were there as well, chatting and planning among themselves. They all greeted the girls amicably, and grabbed some chairs and arranged them in a similar formation to the Marquee.

“Um, yeah, sure, if you don’t mind,” Y/N accepted as she sat down, throwing a kind “thank you” over her shoulder at the roadie that had brought her chair over, voice a little lost in amazement at the current happening.

“Here, I’ll get it,” Jim said with a smile, “you stay put.”

“Thank you, that’s so sweet,” Y/N grinned appreciatively. She could feel herself warming up to these guys, as she didn’t feel as nervous as the last time. But a little twinge of it was still there, rippling through her stomach.

Jim was turned away from Y/N getting the drinks, so she wasn’t able to see him blush. He found it unbelievable, the effect she had on him.

The whole group was sharing conversation and laughs over drinks for almost three hours, but it was almost as if time did not pass. They talked about music, books they liked, restaurants they recommended, places they’ve travelled to, philosophy, history, the environment, conspiracy theories...you name it.

Y/N and Carolyn stood up from their seats, as a cue to the party that they had to leave soon. Paul, who again was sitting next to Y/N, tapped her shoulder. Turning to face him, Y/N could see the flush on his cheeks, and the way he was almost curled into himself.

“Hey Y/N, can I ask you a question really quick?” he asked, much more nervous than he sounded a few seconds ago.

“Yeah, sure,” she smiled. Y/N, taking his outstretched hand, found herself being whisked away by Paul to a corner of the room, near a row of vanities attached to the wall. She hoped that the others were all too distracted talking, so that no one would notice her and Paul’s absence.

Looking at each other, face to face, the two smiled happily, as though there wasn't a care in the world.

Paul then took a deep breath, his expression turning more anxious. “Okay…” he exhaled, “here goes.”

“You don’t have to be nervous,” Y/N chuckled, “it’s just me.”

Paul’s face softened a little, gazing down at her. “But you see, that’s the whole point. It’s you. I have every reason to be nervous.”

Y/N’s face cascaded into a red flush, her lip quivering in the hopes of concealing a foolish grin. Paul reached down and grabbed Y/N’s hands, holding them in his own as Y/N’s heart started racing at what felt like two thousand miles a minute.

“I just wanted to preface this by saying that I, uh… I have been absolutely bewitched by you, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the night at the Marquee,” he began. Y/N melted with every word, but at the same time, she felt as if she had been electrically shocked. When she looked into the twinkling depths of his eyes, she couldn't help but swoon.

“So,” he continued, “I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me sometime. If you’ll let me, of course.”

Y/N was at a loss for words, composure, and any sort of rationality. She never thought, in her wildest dreams, that a musician in a world-renowned band would fancy her. Just able to restrain an awestruck grin, she finally gave in.

“Yes,” she replied, happily breathless and dazed, “I would love to go out with you.”

Paul, ecstatic with her answer, beams down at her as she launches into his arms in a sweet embrace. He asked for her phone number and address, and, spotting a nearby miniature legal pad, she wrote everything down, signing it with a cartoonish smiling face and a heart.

~~~~~~~~

After Y/N and Carolyn had said their goodbyes and left the Crawdaddy Club, the five musicians were left alone in the backstage area, to relax after such an electric show. Jeff and Keith approached Paul, who was collecting his belongings in the corner of the room.

“Did you do it?” Jeff asked, face a picture of feigned nonchalance as he took a sip of his beer.

“Yes, I did it,” Paul grinned, bending down to grab something of his that had fallen on the floor.

“I guess she accepted by the look on your face,” Keith observed, a sardonic smirk on his handsome features.

“You’d be correct,” Paul replied.

“You wanker,” Jeff shook his head disapprovingly, “why would you bloody do that? You’re gonna break her heart!”

Paul’s expression quickly turned unimpressed. “Because if nobody here tells her, she’ll never know.”

What Paul had failed to tell Y/N was that he had a wife, with whom he shared a home. He felt bored, with all the travelling and the touring and the nonsense, so he wanted a lovely, intelligent young woman like Y/N to “keep him company”.

He knew he wasn’t in love with Y/N. Sure, he fancied her immensely, thought she was ethereal, but his heart truly belonged to his wife.

“Congratulations, Sam,” Keith said sarcastically, “you just potentially ruined a friendship with a very pretty bird.” It was clear that Jeff and Keith cared very deeply about Y/N and her happiness, because she was a great girl.

Paul rolled his eyes, annoyed. “You lot have to do me this solid and don’t say anything to her. It’ll work out fine. Oh, and spread the message to Chris and Jim so they don’t spill the beans either.”

“You fuckin’ owe me, Sam,” Jeff warned, already walking backwards towards Chris and Jim, “you owe me big time.”

---------

Taglist: @blood-on-blood @reincarnated70sbaby

[myriadofunchartedworlds]

I've been rambling so much about the finale today because I have so many thoughts about the growth of the stories of the different characters and/or relationships.

BATHENA 4.13 had them talking about how communication is still an issue for them and with it came the underlying hurt of "Do you not value me enough to include me in your decision making especially when it comes to life-changing choices?". But Athena literally walking through fire for Bobby - and also essentially going against protocol and risking the job she loves - is a loud declaration of how valued Bobby is in her life and how much more important he is.

HEN So Hen's story actually mostly "wraps up" in the previous episode, where we not only see that she has earned the respect of her study group but also her mom. Her struggle to prove herself despite being a "minority" in so many ways is shown here. Hen is a woman who defies odds. She's a well-respected member of the LAFD, despite being a queer woman of color in a boy's club. Now, she's an older medical student who was able to successfully diagnose and seek help for a patient (her mom) better than a real doctor did. She demonstrated an empathy this doctor failed to have and basically assuaged any doubts her mother had of Hen making the right choice by pursuing this career path. She also grew from her struggle of entrusting Nia to someone else, of allowing another person she perceived as failing Nia to love her. While there was closure when they discovered why Nia was separated from her birth mother, this new step of allowing Nia to be a part of their lives again while knowing that it is not in a parental capacity speaks even more of her ability to love deeply. I think with her, it's less growth and more of further proof of Hen's heart and love for people.

MADDIE Her admitting to Sue that something was wrong and then telling Chimney that she needs help is a huge thing. We saw how she was trying to appear fine and put together for him in the previous episode. We also know that she began this show as a "lone wolf" thinking that she couldn't drag others down into her problems with her. (Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Buckley + Doug for being awful examples of "love"). Buck had to convince her to stay and let him be her support system. Chimney had to work to be let in. Maddie is more often seen as the one supporting instead of being supported. So Maddie realizing it's okay to ask for help and also realizing she has people she can count on is the biggest sign of growth from Season 2 Maddie.

CHIMNEY We know Chimney sees Buck as a little brother, especially since he's Maddie's brother; but he also had no say in Buck joining the academy and then the 118. With Albert though, he definitely could have stopped his plans in the tracks especially since it would have felt remarkably similar to Kevin joining the academy and becoming a fellow firefighter. That he supported Albert's firefighting journey (and likely encouraged him every step of the way - we know he and Buck probably did a lot of drills with Albert, with Hen definitely helping with the written parts) feels like a beautiful full-circle journey. Now he gets to do what he loves with a brother again. Also, not to mention how he used to be jealous of Albert but now he lets the boy "follow in his footsteps"? As someone who struggled with constantly comparing herself to her siblings, this is huge. It's damning proof that he no longer sees his brother as the golden child he has to compete with but a person he gets to share the things he is passionate about with.

BUCK + EDDIE (But not in a Buddie way, hear me out. It's worth it). The will is such a game-changer and basically the loudest statement anyone could ever make, both with regards to Buck and Eddie. With Eddie, it is the biggest proof that he has finally found someone he could trust Christopher with (aka his whole world). Eddie's core struggle is similar to Maddie (and most of the 9-1-1 characters), which is being able to let someone else help him as he juggles his different roles. Eddie came into LA feeling like he was drowning, cutting himself of from his former support system because his parents wanted to permanently take Christopher in. That definitely made him more wary of asking for and accepting help. But lawsuit fiasco notwithstanding, there was suddenly a person who provided him with help without removing his autonomy and parental rights. This person introduced him to Carla, got "bring your son to work day" all cleared, built a skateboard for his son, and poured himself out to save Christopher during the tsunami. The will is him acknowledging that after Shannon, after his parents, he can finally relax a bit and not worry about Christopher or even himself. Did you see how unworried Eddie was when he saw Buck the first time he woke up? Did you notice how, after checking that Buck wasn't hurt, he didn't have to even worry about making sure that Buck would take care of Christopher while he was healing up? The guy knew his world was in good hands. Now compare that to the Eddie who was stunned after Bobby let him bring Chris to the station, to the Eddie who hesitated before telling Buck about his son, to the Eddie who debated about letting Shannon back in to Christopher's life again. What growth. With Buck, his central struggle has always been finding people who love him enough to stay. Buck 1.0 was him avoiding commitment because he thinks this is all he can get to temporarily fill the void. Firefighting and the firefam were another set of void-fillers (hence why he fought so hard to come back to the 118). Both the arc with Red and that really damning statement in the crossover (where he actually doubted that Hen would break rules to rescue him for a second) tell us that he's not completely secure about people staying for him. He wasn't enough for his parents, for Abby and Ali, for Maddie (for a while), for his firefam. That's why he thinks he's expendable. Eddie including him in the will takes on a different light when you think about all it's trying to say. It's not even just, "You have people counting on you now." or "You have a Christopher that's going to stay a you stay for him too.". It's also Eddie saying that, "Even if I might leave you physically, I am leaving the last part of me - my life/heart/world - Christopher to you.". Which is a less cheesy, less cringy and much more concrete way of saying "I'm still here in spirit.". Buck finally has two someones who will stay. (And now I think I've just made myself cry).

[tabloidtoc]

Life & Style, May 10

You can buy a brand new copy of this issue without the mailing label for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Celeb Diet & Fitness Tips

Page 1: Photo Flash -- Tom Cruise is well known for doing his own stunts, but during a location shoot in Yorkshire, U.K. for Mission: Impossible 7, Tom's co-stars Hayley Atwell and Esai Morales proved they were no slouches either: all three actors wowed onlookers with their daredevil moves aboard a train that was in motion

Page 2: Contents

Page 4: The Top 10 Floral Looks -- follow these stars' style lead and celebrate the spring season in fresh prints -- Penelope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara, Kelsea Ballerini

Page 5: Cate Blanchett, Elle Fanning, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Newton, Mindy Kaling

Page 6: There's no limit to what Angelina Jolie wouldn't do for her kids and instead of living abroad, she purchased a home for them in L.A. because she wanted it to be close to their dad Brad Pitt and now, Angie reveals she's had to give up her dream of directing because she had a change in her family situation that's not made it possible for her to direct for a few years and she needed to just do shorter jobs and be home more, so she went back to doing a few acting jobs -- Angie filed for divorce from Brad in 2016 and while they were declared legally single in 2019, the former couple have yet to settle on a permanent custody arrangement for kids Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne while at age 19, son Maddox Jolie-Pitt is able to make his own decisions about whom he lives with and Angelina is blowing through millions of dollars on lawyers and she isn't broke, but she can't exactly afford to stop working either and amid mounting legal bills, Angie's signed on to blockbusters like Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Marvel's Eternals and while Angelina would rather work behind the scenes, it's too time-consuming and as an actress, she can make ends meet and be there for her kids

Page 8: Less than a month after giving birth to her third child, a baby girl named Mae, Hilary Duff is opening up about the pressure that comes with breastfeeding, saying all of the babies latch really great but she's just not a huge milk producer, so it's emotional for her and she has tons of anxiety, and then she's in her head, and then she doesn't feel like enough, and then the spiral continues from there -- she decided to share her postpartum struggle as a way to cope and to let other new mothers out there know that they're not alone in this

* Sarah Jessica Parker is trying to convince Hugh Grant to star in the upcoming Sex and the City reboot because it's unlikely Chris Noth will be returning as Mr. Big, so she needs a new leading man and Hugh's the perfect candidate -- Sarah Jessica finds him so charming and talented and she was blown away by Hugh's recent acting in The Undoing so she's desperate to have him on the show -- Sarah Jessica, who appeared alongside Hugh in 1996's Extreme Measures and 2009's Did You Hear About the Morgans?, absolutely loves the idea of working with Hugh again and he hasn't agreed to anything yet, but she's hoping he'll say yes

Page 12: The Week in Photos -- Bathing Beauties -- Sailor Brinkley-Cook and her rescue pup Chester, Rita Ora on the sand of Bondi Beach in an orange bikini, Kate Hudson celebrated the launch of Fabletics new active swim line by jumping in the pool

Page 13: Olivia Culpo in a green bikini, Vanessa Hudgens in a red-halter swimsuit

Page 14: James Corden dressed up as rapper Bad Bunny's arch rival Good Bunny for a sketch on The Late Late Show

Page 16: Stars Behaving Badly -- Derek Hough played makeup artist for Hayley Erbert, Total Bellas twins Nikki Bella and Brie Bella put Bachelor Nation's Jason Tartick and Matt James in headlocks at Wrestlemania, host T.J. James let his tongue do the talking on the NYC set of Good Morning America

Page 18: Say What?! Mark Wahlberg on trying to put on 30 pounds in six weeks for the movie Father Stu, Selena Gomez on her Only Murders in the Building co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short, Margaret Josephs on five decades of wearing fake eyelashes, Jamie Dornan on his devotion to The Golden Girls

Page 20: Chris Hemsworth landed in hot water with Elsa Pataky after pics of him hanging out with Australian stunner Cheyenne Tozzi hit the internet -- Chris was photographed with the model at Zambi Wildlife Retreat in Wallacia while his wife was off shooting Interceptor in Sydney and it's definitely put Elsa on high alert and she had a lot of questions for Chris when they finally spoke and Chris said he had the kids with him and it was all very innocent -- the couple has often been at odds over their careers and while Chris and Elsa try to coordinate their schedules so that their children, daughter India and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, are always with one parent, Elsa was usually the one forced to put family before fame, but now that Elsa's been working more, she's not always home like she used to be, and this little incident was a huge wake-up call because she might trust Chris, but she isn't stupid: who would want their handsome husband running around with a blond bombshell?

Page 21: Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Claudia Jordan is alleging that Kanye West made a move on her while he was still with Kim Kardashian, saying he tried years ago when she and Nikki Chu were in the club and they shut the door and she had met him before and she hung out with Kim as well and because of Girl Code, she couldn't do it

* Jennifer Lopez isn't wasting any time getting back on the dating scene after splitting from Alex Rodriguez -- J. Lo can't help feeling that she squandered a good couple of years on A-Rod and she doesn't want another ring; she just wants to have fun

Page 22: Cover Story -- Stars' Summer Body Secrets Revealed -- discover the diet and fitness tricks these celebs swear by -- Gwen Stefani's shedding for the wedding, Julianne Hough skips the gym

Page 23: Kate Hudson's flat belly formula, total transformations: Adele, Rebel Wilson

Page 24: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker engaged on her 42nd birthday -- after just four months of dating, Kourtney and Travis are ready to take the next step in their romance

Page 26: The Osbournes: Family in Crisis -- personal, professional and physical setbacks plague Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne and their daughter Kelly Osbourne -- after a heated on-air argument over Piers Morgan's treatment of Meghan Markle, Sharon was accused of racism toward co-hosts behind the scenes -- Ozzy's health is always an issue and he's had to rehab from pneumonia, neck surgery and more over the past few years but he's stubborn and acts like he's still a young rock star -- while she's back in AA, Kelly was scared to admit she'd relapsed while her mom was dealing with her own scandal

Page 28: Prince William and Duchess Kate: Stepping Up for Queen Elizabeth -- as the queen grapples with tremendous loss, Prince William and Kate Middleton provide support -- a frail-looking Queen Elizabeth sat alone due to COVID-19 restrictions at the funeral of Prince Philip, whom she called her strength and stay and the loss has been even harder than she expected -- William and Kate are lightening the queen's load and they worked on the queen birthday to give her time to mourn

Page 30: John Travolta breaks his silence on losing Kelly Preston -- for the first time since Kelly's death, John opens up about his personal journey through grief

Page 36: Who Lives Here? Rihanna

Page 38: Beauty Beat -- spring's prettiest pastel polish -- embrace warm weather with a lacquered look the complements the season -- Jennifer Lopez

Page 40: Diva or Down-to-Earth? Alison Brie shopped for her own groceries at Gelson's in L.A. -- down-to-earth, Rachel Brosnahan's hairstylist went to work in between scenes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in NYC -- diva, Kylie Jenner kicked up her heels on a private plane -- diva

Page 42: Social Stars Posts of the Week -- Kerry Washington stopped and smelled the roses, Snoop Dogg and Blake Shelton, Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman looked straight out of the '80s in a scene from the latest movie Thunder Force, Nicole Scherzinger in a bikini in Hawaii

Page 44: Horoscope -- Taurus Adele turned 33 on May 5

* They're Not Together, But They Should Be -- Sagittarius Ashley Benson and Cancer Chace Crawford

Page 48: What I'm Into -- Mayim Bialik

[nimmy22]

A Mistake: Chapter 5

"Our encounters will only end once I say so. Now, answer this. Why were you limping?" Wesker watched through his shades as she flinched when his hand came to rest on her injured leg. He found this development displeasing. Someone trespassed on his right to be the only one to hurt her, to use her, to kill her. And correction was in order.

"What's it to you?" Cara hissed, slapping his hand away.

"Wrong answer dearheart, let's try again." His hand found her leg once more, and this time he gave a not-so-gentle squeeze. He flashed his pearly whites with a smirk, watching her grimace and suck a sharp breath. "Why were you limping?"

"I fell... down some s-stairs and hurt my...leg," she cried, looking away from him.

Wanting things over quickly, she hoped he would lose interest and leave her be. Why would he even care if someone laid a hand on her? Especially when he was still wavering between hot and cold on whether to kill her or not. If someone killed her, then Wesker should consider it a time well saved. She was beyond confused by this.

"Fell? Are you sure?" Wesker frowned, removing his shades. Cara had no idea why he even wore them while presenting...indoors. They seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face, but at least he took them off in the rain. She mentally kicked herself for spending a second analyzing the fashion sense of a corrupt officer. It will certainly not prolong her life.

Wesker suddenly drifted closer to her face with scrutinizing eyes. "I suppose you also hit your head in the fall?" He said before putting pressure over the bruise on her head. The more she struggled to turn her head, the harder he applied the pressure. She cursed her cheap foundation for having melted off within so little time, likely exposing her bruise. The humid weather wasn't helping her situation either, aiding the cream to melt off her skin.

"Stop it! It hurts. Please, I answered your question. what do you want now?"

Not many dared to bluntly lie to Wesker, and those who did were now entertaining earthly maggots as a free buffet. The little girl lied to him without shame, leaving him with the urge to loosen his collar as his blood began to simmer. He had to restrain himself, not wanting to smash.... his shades.

"Do you take me for a fool? You forget you're still dealing with a cop, and I can certainly tell the difference between physical violence and injuries from a fall. I've dealt with countless domestic violence and child abuse cases. Now, answer the question before I rip off those pants to confirm." Wesker growled, punching the garbage bin centimeters from her head. She squeaked like a mouse, shielding her head with her arms, folding into a fetal position. Peeking through her fingers, Cara spotted the dent he left in the metal and audibly swallowed. He could crush her skull if he wanted to and why he has yet to do so is beyond her.

"Ok fine! It was...my...dad, h-he...hit me. Happy now? But whose parents don't bring out the belt every now and then? It's not that big of a deal." Cara slanted her body away from him and fidgeted with her sleeve. Until this point, she had never admitted to anyone what went on at home behind closed doors. Not even her closest friend knew a thing. But she was forced to disclose one of her deepest secrets to this bastard just because he asked her nicely.

"I see." Wesker stood up, pondering something for a moment before walking back towards the school doors. Pausing by the door, he spoke without looking at her. "Clean yourself up and go back to the assembly. Then after that, I want you to walk across the street to the laundromat's parking lot. You will wait there for me."

"Why?" Cara swallowed, a cold feeling creeping over her like a heavy blanket. Wesker didn't answer, as he was already gone, and she was met with the sound of doors slamming shut. With a sigh, she wiped her tear-streaked cheeks with her clammy hands.

Raising to her wobbly feet, Cara straightened out her clothes, doing her best to clear the dust. There was no way to reduce the puffy eyes. She decided to play it off as being devastated for the poor boy who ended up an overcooked steak.

She was definitely in over her head, but without a choice, she was forced to do what he wanted. He already knew pretty much everything about her, her home, school, and family issues.

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

"You sure you don't want a ride home?" Claire said, hugging her friend tightly and being a major cause for much discomfort. She somehow managed to touch all Cara's painful bruises all at once, completely unaware. The two stood in the school parking lot, finished with school for the day.

"I'm fine, Claire, really. I just had a weak moment. Don't worry about me. I just need to have a little walk with some thinking time."

"I can come with,"

"No!" Cara jerked back before realizing what she did. Claire blinked, staring at her friend with her mouth open. "Oh shit, sorry. I mean...I want to...be alone for a while. You should go annoy your brother at work. He'll appreciate that."

"Are you ok? You're acting weird, not just today but this whole week. What's going on?" Cara felt more beads of sweat forming on her forehead with each question Claire asked. She needed to get away before she said something she shouldn't have.

"I'm fine, I swear. You're just reading too much into things." Cara said, backing away from her friend.

"Cara!" Claire called out, watching Cara hurry across the street. "What the heck is going on," she wondered aloud.

Claire was about to follow her when a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, ready to snap the fingers of the fool who dared grab her in such a manner.

"Miss Redfield, great seeing you." Wesker greeted her, his grip on her shoulder unmoving. Her eyes widened as she recognized the fool being her brother's boss.

"Oh...Captain Wesker. Um...Great presentation." Claire said, trying to shrug out of his hold. He let go, but very slowly. She didn't know why he was interacting with her this long. The most she ever got from Wesker was a nod or asking where Chris went after abandoning his desk for half an hour when he should've been doing paperwork. The answer was tacos she made herself and brought to the station for Chris.

"Thank you. I'm just hoping at least a few students will hold onto my words." Wesker responded, discreetly watching through his shades as Cara disappear from view. He simply couldn't have a foolish Redfield ruining his plans. "So where are you headed off to?"

"Uh... I was just about to head home," she said, pointing her thumb over to her motorcycle.

"Drive home safely. Wouldn't want your brother distracted on the job now, would we?" They both knew Chris would get distracted regardless, but she didn't like his tone when talking about her brother.

"No, of course not," Claire gave him a sweet smile, flapping him the bird behind her back. "Have a nice day, Captain Wesker."

"You as well, Miss Redfield." Wesker walked away, heading across the parking lot to his cruiser before driving off.

With a long sigh, Claire looked back to the direction her friend had run off to, but she was already long gone. Claire groaned, promising herself that she was not about to let this go. She owed Cara to be a good friend and help her sort out whatever she was going through. The next time she saw Cara, they were going to have a very good talk.

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

Cara stood in the parking lot of the laundromat, fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket. The little piece of metal was already bent in two places from her abuse. She was alone, the place had closed down months ago, its owner was an elderly lady who passed away. She had no children to inherit it, and so the place had to shut its doors. It would make sense why Wesker would want to pick her up here. Students had no reason to crowd this property, having a plaza on the other side of the road abundant in fast-food joints and an arcade.

The temperature hadn't changed drastically since the morning. Yet, she found herself shivering in her jacket and hugging it closer to her body. Her eyes kept darting about, dreading the imminent interaction. She hated the waiting, but she didn't want to find out what he had in store for her.

Wesker drove into the parking lot, eyes zeroed in on the pitiful creature shivering alone and looking misplaced. Good thing he was here to 'help her out.' He thoroughly enjoyed how she nearly bolted upon spotting the car. He stopped next to her and waited.

Cara waited for him to emerge from the car or to roll down a window to tell her what he wanted. He did neither of those things, and so she shut her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and reaching for the door handle of the passenger seat. Still saying nothing, she slid into the seat before shutting the door as hard as she could. Between them, the air freshener swung back and forth with greater momentum charged by the thick atmosphere.

"So nice of you to find the time for me, dearheart. I am flattered."

"Of course, With whom else could I see myself spending time?" she didn't bother asking where they were headed, knowing how far questions seemed to set her back with him.

They pulled up to a simplistic two-story home, its lawn cleanly kempt but lacking any other colorful vegetation. She couldn't help but think it was the end of the road for her when the garage door sealed shut behind them.

Leaving the car, he walked into the house, depositing his keys on a bowl by the door. Cara followed close behind but far enough to dodge an attack, or so she hoped. Walking by the deposited keys, her fingers itched to grab them, make a run for it, but her brain didn't feel like making the deadly mistake so soon into the day or... week. Biting her bottom lip, she followed him into the living room.

Like the outside of the house, the inside lacked color, instead opting for white and shades grey. All in all, it looked like the kind of place that will get very messy if someone were to get murdered in it. But that didn't put her at ease. She still had no idea what he wanted.

Cara's fingers were inches from touching a plain white vase when Wesker finally spoke. "Welcome to my home."

She snatched her hand back so fast, her shoulder almost popped out of its socket. She opened her mouth several times, but nothing came out.

"You...live here?" Finally, she managed to form a few words.

"I do not like repeating myself, but yes, I live here. Stay here. I will be back." Wesker left Cara in the living room, making his way upstairs. Passing several doors, he came across one that streamed a golden light from beneath. Knocking three times, pausing, and then twice more, he waited for the response. He smiled, hearing the sound of four subsequent knocks and a scratching sound. This was their code, a living memory of his army days.

The door opened and smiling up at him was Sherry. He accepted her into his open arms before picking her up. "Your back, uncle Albert."

"Yes, and I brought you a really nice present."

"What is it! ...a puppy?"

"No, try again."

"Is it a dinosaur? A game? A dress? A book? Is it edible?" Sherry filled her bubble with guesses, eyes twinkling. She rubbed her hands together as if the friction could make the surprise appear faster. She had been alone all day and bored out of her mind.

Wesker shook his head at her simple thinking but enjoyed her expressions.

Walking into the living room, Wesker felt Sherry's gasp shake her whole body. "Cara!" the little girl squeaked before jumping out of the older man's grasp. She raced to her babysitter, unable to believe her eyes.

Cara's expression transformed from a scowl to a tender smile upon noticing Sherry, eyes brimming with tears.

The little girl snuggled against Cara, relishing the comforting scent of her friend. Truly, she thought she was in heaven. "Thank you, Uncle Albert! This the greatest surprise ever!" Sherry beamed at her uncle, half her face smushed against Cara's chest.

"And it gets even better. Cara agreed to come play with us every day right after school." Wesker burst Cara's bubble with a rusted pin, killing all hope of escape.

Cara's smile immediately fell. She shot daggers at the older man who merely took a seat on the couch, legs spread wide apart as he rested his arms over the back of the couch.

"Really? I can't believe it! I am so happy. We can do so many things, Cara, not just on Friday nights."

"Y-you can't-" Cara stuttered, struggling against herself to end the happiness of a little girl. To Cara, disappointing Sherry was a terrifying thing, especially if she the very cause of it.

"Why don't you take her to play in your room?" Sherry was already leading Cara before the dirty cop finished his sentence.

"Wait, Sherry. You go on up, and I will um...come to play in a few minutes. I just need to talk to...Uncle Albert for a sec." Cara spat his name.

"Ok!" Sherry said, bouncing on her feet, and ran upstairs. Once the little girl's giggles grew distant, she turned to Wesker who was already watching her with the eyes of a lazy predator. His shades sat in front of him on the coffee table, neatly folded.

Cara couldn't help the tingling shiver as he watched her. She gathered her courage and stood up straight, forcing her nerves down before speaking, "What if I don't want to continue the job?"

Wesker laughed at the ridiculous proposal.

"And break the poor girl's heart? She has consistently asked for you every day, more so than for her own parents. Where is Cara? Is she ok? Can I visit her?"

"Stop using her against me! I don't want to get involved more than I already have with you."

"Sherry experienced horrible things that night, all because of who her parents are. So, if she wants her delicious babysitter back, then she will have her back. Simple." Wesker knew which buttons to press to get her to do exactly what he wanted. The fear factor wasn't everything, and it wouldn't last long. He knew she loved his niece like a little sister, and he will use that to secure a tight collar over her neck.

'A delicious babysitter.' For some reason, these words stood out to Cara, and she found herself unable to formulate a coherent sentence, feeling the temperature of the room rise rapidly.

"But why does it have to be here? In your house?"

"As much as I support my dear friend William, he can be a little too preoccupied with his work and often becomes disengaged from the outside world. He forgot to call anyone to fix the damages, and so the house has yet to be repaired. Until it's ready, Sherry will stay here, that is unless she chooses to stay indefinitely, which I don't mind at all. It's always too quiet around here."

Seeing no way out of this, Cara begrudgingly walked upstairs, defeat weighing down her steps. Her mood brightened a little while playing with Sherry, but she couldn't put her whole heart into it. Her choice was taken away, and she couldn't live with that. But in the end, she had to be grateful as this was still better than being murdered and stuffed into a dumpster or buried alive.

For now, she will do her best to make Sherry happy. The little girl has been through a lot already.

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

Hours later, Cara stood in front of the sink, swirling the cool water in her glass before gulping it down. She was halfway through the water when she felt something warm, soft, and feather-like touch the back of her neck. She spun around to see Wesker walking away, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips. She barely registered the icy water spilling on her clothes as she realized what happened. Her stomach weaved knots, pulling them too tight to undo.

Wesker had kissed her neck. And then he just walked away as if nothing happened. This had to be the strangest trick her mind could play on her. Or was it? There was simply no way a man like him will ever be interested in her. Never.

It felt like a terrible joke, and yet, she found her hand touching her neck, a rosy blush making its way.

[kpopshitposter]

“Come cuddle.”

Writing Prompt Meme

YAS THANK YOU FOR REQUESTING THIS

I think this got a lil long (I love chan so much) but basically Chan comes into the coffee shop you work in (bc coffee shop AUs will never be overdone) and you fall in love with him instantly because who wouldn’t and then he makes your life better because what else would he do

Potential warning: This contains mention of a parent remarrying and getting a lil drunk at their wedding

If someone were to ask you to describe what happened in one sentence, you’d say a volcano erupted in your heart and destroyed everything in its path. That’s what it was like to fall for him. It was a violent, sudden hot mess.

You had met him by chance and were instantly smitten. He smiled so brightly and made you feel so at ease, so calm. He had this vibrant energy about him that, even when he was simply asking for coffee, you felt beautiful despite the apron wrapped around you.

You found yourself wanting desperately for him to come in. You started trying to look your best and thinking about him all day long. He’d only talk to you in short bursts, but they were always the highlight of your day. You found yourself asking for more shifts just in case he was going to come in. It was so wonderful to have some form of consistency, something to rely on. It was so wonderful to have something become familiar to you, finally, since you moved here and started university.

One morning he made a joke about you seeing each other so often that you’re basically best friends. You tried to not seem too happy about that.

He learned your name.

You learned his. Chris. You treasured this new knowledge like it was an incredibly precious secret.

He starts to ask about you - how long have you been working here? What do you do when you’re not here? It makes you feel so special, like someone cares about you, is interested in you. At first, you’re ashamed of yourself for being so taken by him, but when your world comes crashing down around you and he’s the only one there for you, your heart whispers a very gentle I told you so.

The news comes like a slap in the face. Your father is remarrying.

You’ve never even met his new partner. How could he be doing this? How could he bring a stranger into your life in such a permanent way? To make things worse, he didn’t tell you in person. Oh, no. The coward simply sent an invitation in the post. The only type of communication you’ve received from literally anyone about anything is some weird unknown number trying to call you. Since moving, not even your old friends have kept in touch with you.

When you ring him, he didn’t answer. That wouldn’t be the last time he avoids your call.

It’s barely been six months. You thought you understood him not visiting you since you moved out of the city, but the wedding is going to be near where you live, so he must have visited the venue and didn’t even think to tell you... You’ve never felt so unimportant.

Just thinking about it makes you angry, and it’s not until Chris is in front of you and looking concerned that you realise you’ve been wallowing in your thoughts. Your sniffle comes as a surprise to you. You quickly try to wipe away the tears begging to reveal themselves.

He doesn’t ask if you’re okay, because that would be a pointless question. Instead, he directs his request to your colleague. He doesn’t want to bring attention to you. You smile at him gratefully but it doesn’t reach your eyes. You find your chance to slip out the back and crumble to the floor of the car park.

You’re not sure why you’re crying. Maybe too much has changed at once. Maybe you feel betrayed. Maybe you thought out of everyone, you were a priority to your family. The last thought is the one that sticks with you. You’ve never been a priority for anyone, have you? Your father never cared about what view you might have on this, he never cared enough to introduce you two. If he doesn’t, who would?

The tears aren’t just half-there anymore. Your cries are coming out loudly. Why can’t you camouflage into this wall? Why, why, why? Why do you even bother?

The sound of your name startles you. You gasp, red eyes landing on the sweet-looking boy standing over you. You quickly try to rectify your image, fix your face, fix your hair, fix your clothes. Smile. Laugh. Be strong, for once.

He slowly kneels down in front of you. “What happened?” he looks like he really cares. You look back with distrust. “You might feel better if you talk to someone.” You continue to stare at him. “Oh-” he shifts and reaches into his pocket to bring out some tissues for you.

When you clean your face and wipe your nose with them you decide this couldn’t be more embarrassing.

“Please don’t keep it in, that will only hurt more.”

You want to ask him why he’s so nice to you, but you’re afraid you won’t like the answer.

“My dad is remarrying.” he tilts his head like he’s expecting more of an explanation than that. “I… that’s not the issue, that’s fine.” you don’t want him to think you’re selfish. You explain the full situation. How long does your rant go on for? You’re not even sure. You let it all out. You let everything out. How alone you feel.  How unimportant you must be. “I don’t even think I want to go to the wedding at this point.”

“Why not?”

“It will be so awkward and I’ll probably just end up having a mental breakdown in the middle of the ceremony.”

He’s somehow ended up sitting on the ground beside you. “Wouldn’t you regret not going? The way you feel won’t last forever.”

“Yeah, well, I might regret going, too.”

“But at least you can say you tried. You should still go. If you really can’t handle it you can leave early, but if you don’t even try you’ll always wonder. You shouldn’t assume the worst without knowing anything, maybe he cares so much about you which is why he’s scared to talk to you.”

That rings a little too true. You feel bad for jumping to conclusions and that kind of makes you want to start crying again.

“Even if it’s not awkward I’ll end up spending the entire time alone. I…” you take a deep breath and rub your face. Unless ... “Would you… go with me?”

“What?”

“I know I’ll chicken out without someone to force me.” you also might be finding an excuse to spend some time with him. “Plus, if it ends up being the worst mistake of my life it will be your fault that I went. It’s only fair you go, too.”

Chris looks like he’s thinking it over and you expect to hear don’t be weird, we barely know each other, but instead, he says “Deal. I’ll go with you, and if you end up regretting going I’ll treat you to whatever you want.”

“Yeah? Promise?” He scoops up your pinky with his own and presses his thumb to yours. You feel your whole body ignite with life.

“Yaaaay!” he cutely cheers, wiggling your hand. “It will be fun.”

So, that was that.

You exchanged numbers and smiles before you went back in to finish your shift.

That night, and every night, and every morning, and every afternoon, you spend time staring at your phone. You want to message him so much, but you had no excuses (at least, none that wouldn’t come across as totally creepy). You’d think about funny ways to continue conversations you might have had when he came into the shop, but nothing came to mind.

By the time it came to planning for the wedding you had stared at his number so much that you knew it by heart. So, when it popped up, you almost smashed your phone screen by dropped it down the stairs. It was a picture.

You hesitate before opening it and the moment you do you squeal. Oh. Wow. Is this a dream?? It has to be a dream right?!

You don’t know how to process this.

A second picture comes through shortly after - of him in a white suit.

You sit on a step and try to calm yourself down. He looks so cute it’s painful. You kind of want to cry (but you won’t, because that would be weird).

The pictures make this all feel so much more real. He’s taking you to a wedding. Shit. What are you going to wear??

Okay. It’s been 20 minutes and you haven’t replied yet.

[Text:] I love both omg!!!!!!!!!

Yeah. Way too creepy. You’re quick to delete that.

[Text:] You look good in both of them!

Uhhhh slightly too creepy. Delete!

[Text:] Whichever one you want.

Too aloof. You’re getting annoyed at yourself now.

[Text:] I like both of them, but probably the white one.

Nice. Send!

[Text from Chris:] I was worried I messaged the wrong number for a while.

He responded so quickly that you barely even had a chance to stand up.

[Text:] Sorry, was kinda busy :)

[Text from Chris:] What are you going to wear?

That sends you scrambling up the stairs and into your bedroom. Excellent question, Christopher! You start to rummage through things, finding the sexiest thing you own which fills you with the most confidence. You tidy up and sort yourself out as much as possible before sitting on the edge of the bed and positioning yourself to get a picture. You take as many as you need until you get the perfect one. You get a call from an unknown number and hang up. You don’t have time for people trying to sell you stuff or telling you that you’ve been in an accident recently.

[Text:] Maybe this? Not sure, it’s kinda old and I have a few better things…

You smile proudly at yourself. That was so smooth you can’t believe you - wait. You zoom in. You groan loudly. Underwear flung over your chair that you forgot to move! How could you not realise that?! You face plant into your pillow.

When your phone buzzes, you kind of hope it’s the grim reaper texting to tell you it’s time.

[Text from Chris:] You look amazing - you’ll be turning heads! :)

Maybe he didn’t notice or maybe he’s way too gentlemanly and sweet to comment on it. Either way, you feel yourself fall for him even harder.

After that, it’s a lot easier to message him whenever you feel like it. You send him cute dogs you say look like him. He sends you kittens he says look like you. You tell him about all the crazy customers you had and he soothes your soul with every words he sends you in response.

The day of the wedding comes and he’s waiting outside for you in the cab. You check yourself nervously 1,000 times and consider bailing 10,000 times. Your dad still hasn’t responded to any of your calls - all you’ve been getting is a bunch of random spam. Did he sell your number or something?! You don’t know whether you’re meant to be angry or hurt at this point.

Chris eventually lures you out of the house. When he sees you he smiles.

“Wow… you…” he clears his throat.

“Oh-” you play with the material by your sides, “you look really n- good!”

He seems to blush a little and covers his face slightly with his hands. You can barely even appreciate his cuteness because of how anxious you are.

He opens the car door for you and helps you slide in. You get another call from the unknown number, which leaves a voice message for the 20th time. You delete it instantly. You’re so fed up with being pestered.

The journey to the venue is filled with little glances and attempted smiles. You pat your chest to tell your heart to calm the hell down. He must be able to read your mind because he gently touches your arm.

The car stops at the venue and Chris insists on paying the driver. He even helps you out of the car. Under any other circumstances you’d probably get flustered by this, but you’re too afraid of what’s about to happen to really take it in.

You go in slowly, afraid that around any corner might be your father. You don’t see him until you enter the reception hall itself. He’s standing at the end of the aisle, wringing his hands. When his gaze finds you, he breaks out into a large smile and rushes over.

Okay. You weren’t expecting that.

He pulls you into a big hug and Chris smiles, stepping back to allow you space.

“I thought you weren’t coming!”

You’re so confused.

“I texted you that I was…” your response comes out struggled from the tight hug.

“I didn’t get anything.” your father frowns, releasing you and bringing out his phone.

“I called you a billion times, too.”

“You did? Let me see.”

You show him your call history and he blinks.

“That’s not my number anymore.”

“What?!”

“I tried calling you to let you know that I changed my number. I even left you voice messages. Didn’t you get them?”

“Oh…” you glance at Chris, “I thought it was spam so I didn’t answer any or bother with… why didn’t you text me?!”

“I couldn’t figure out how to, and since you moved out of the city it wasn’t like I could just come see you easily! When we came to see this hotel I tried to meet up with you but you kept hanging up the phone.”

You laugh at yourself, a bitter, miserable laugh. Chris was right. You shouldn’t have anticipated the worst. You shouldn’t have been so paranoid about answering the phone.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he says, and you bite your lip to distract yourself from your watering eyes.

“I am, too.” you sniffle.

“Who’s this?” he leans around you and offers his hand to Chris.

“Hi, I’m Chris. It’s nice to meet you.” Chris smiles, taking his hand in both of his and lowering his head politely.

“Nice to meet you too.” he looks between you both. His name gets called and he glances away. “I have to go, it’s about to start. Take a seat at the front-” he ushered a couple of apparently less important out of their seats to make room for the two of you.

You wonder how much Chris is holding back from gloating that he was right. He doesn’t seem like he is. He just seems happy and proud.

The music starts and you’re back to being nervous. You’re going to see her. For the first time. You’re going to see her.

You’re wrinkling your clothes by how tightly you’re squeezing the material over your thighs. Chris takes your hand and shuffles closer to you.

The further into the ceremony it gets, the more you squeeze him. Your father cries. That’s how happy he is. That’s how glad he was to say I do. To this woman. Whom you’ve never met.

Your family is now only going to be half-familiar to you.

You feel so guilty. You can’t be happy for him the way he deserves. Chris would remind you that regardless of the evil feelings festering inside of you, you’re still there. You showed up. You endure the entire ceremony, and now it’s time for the after-party.

You take your seats and a deep breath. Oh. Alcohol. Nice. You pick up a bottle and pour yourself some. When you offer it to Chris, he shakes his head. You’re not aware, but he wants to stay sober out of worry for you. He’s watching you in concern as you swallow gulp after gulp. You’re trying to drown your guilt.

The newly married couple make their grand entrance and you drink and drink. Their first dance. You take more sips.

You haven’t even said two words to your new mother-in-law… and you’re starting to think that was your own fault. Maybe you’ve just been ignoring signs. Maybe you’ve been too self-absorbed. Maybe the problem here is you, not your father. He deserves so much better.

“I think you should slow down.” Chris tries to take your cup away, “Eat someth-”

“Don’t. Don’t bother.” you might not regret reconciling with your dad, but you sure as hell regret coming and you definitely are starting to regret coming with Chris. You’ve probably misunderstood him, too. You’re probably thinking he’s your friend and he just feels sorry for you.

“There’s bread h-”

“Look, can you stop?!” it’s a good thing the music is so loud. “You got me here. You’re done with your end of the deal. You can leave now.”

He looks hurt and confused but you’re only seeing red.

“It’s great that he’s happy but I don’t know who that woman is. Now she’s part of my family and she’ll have to put up with me like everyone else. You don’t have to worry, you’re excused from pretending to like me.”

“I… haven’t been pretending.”

You grab your bag and stand up. The world sways. You stumble your way past the tables. You need to get out. You’re sure nobody in that room wants to see you. You get out of the hall and into the lobby, you’re determined to get outside while ignoring the strange looks. Even when you lose your balance and fall you still are only focused on escaping.

Hands on your arm are trying to help you to your feet.

You can hear your name.

Everything is so off-kilter. It’s all so wonky and impossible to see. You fall again as soon as you’re standing just by attempting to take one step.

Soon your feet are leaving the ground. You’re being scooped up in the arms of someone you can’t really make out. You’re mumbling to be put down, trying to scramble away from the arms which are cradling you. You’re too weak and apparently too quiet, so you start to shout louder. Put me down, put me down!

But some sort of exchange where you’re being shifted about is happening and soon you’re vaguely aware of being carried into the lift.

You’re able to focus a bit better when you’re still. You start to smile and giggle.

“Are you an angel?” you ask.

The beautiful man doesn’t reply. He just watches the floor number in the lift go up.

He shouldn’t have let you drink so much.

You end up falling asleep against the lovely warm chest you’re being held against. You drift in when your weight is being tilted this way and that so that a door can be opened. You’re laid down on a bed.

A wet towel is being put on your forehead and you’re being guided up into a sitting position and handed a cup of water. It’s then that you realise it’s Chris.

Ugh.

“Why are you here?” you snap.

He sighs. “Drink this. I’ll order some food to the room.”

“I said I don’t want it!” you swat and accidentally knock the cup back against Chris, wetting his suit.

“Stop it.” he sternly says, putting the cup down on the bedside table. “You’re acting childish. Don’t fold your arms at me like that. You already figured out that your dad was trying to call you so why are you still so upset?”

“That’s why! It’s my fault that he couldn’t tell me. He probably tried to get me to meet her a hundred times and I’m sure I found a way to avoid it! It’s my fault that all of this happened! It’s my fault that I felt that way and it’s my fault that I don’t know her. He probably doesn’t want a waste of space like me in his life anyway - I’m sure he was really happy to get rid of me. On top of that you’re still pretending to care!” Your phone is ringing. It’s the same unknown number as before, which must mean it’s your dad trying to find out where you are. That makes you feel even more guilty, which makes you feel worse about who you are. You hang up, which makes you feel worse on top of already feeling worse. It’s a swirling mess of emotions.

“I told you I’m not pretending.”

“Whatever! I get that you’re a nice guy, that’s really great. But it’s not fair! You’re making me like you and you probably don’t even realise! You made me feel special for all of five minutes but your work is done. It’s fine if you don’t want to be around me-” that goes on for a while. You rant about how you’ve fallen for him and how he doesn’t even care and how he’d be dumb to like you back anyway and you rant and rant and rant and Chris doesn’t interrupt you. He allows you to get it all out. He listens to you patiently, refilling the cup of water for you each time you drink it, taking off your shoes, making sure you’re comfortable. He finds some snacks which were already in the room.

By the time you’re done complaining he’s leaning over you. One hand on the headboard and the other on the bedside table.

“Do you think you’ll remember this tomorrow?” he whispers.

You’re tense and confused. You still your body and look into his eyes. He doesn’t mind the smell of alcohol on your breath as you attempt to bitterly reply “I’m sure I will.” Jackass. What is that supposed to mea-

He leans in closer and parts your lips with his own. He steals your breath.

When you start to kiss him back he places fingers under your chin.

Chris gets on the bed and straddles your lap.

“What are you doing?” you whisper.

“You won’t believe my words, so I’m showing you. Is that okay?”

You’re definitely sobering up now.

“I’m thirsty.” when you say that he raises the cup to your lips. When you’re done drinking he sets it aside. “I just… I really…”

“What?” he asks when you don’t finish your sentence. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I really hate myself, you know?” you can’t believe how much Chris has seen you cry.

Chris nods. “I know.”

“What do you know? Everyone loves you.”

He shakes his head, “I’ve had really bad anxiety. I know what it’s like to feel like you don’t want to be with yourself.” he dabs the towel against your forehead. He’s still in your lap.

“Oh.” You keep managing to make yourself feel guilty today.

“Eat some of this.” he picks up the biscuits he found and opens the packet. He feeds you. Your heart is beating wildly as you take it in your mouth.

“Do we have to go back downstairs?” you ask.

“I think the wedding is over now. You can talk to your dad tomorrow if you don’t want to let him know you’re okay now. I think you should sleep this off before seeing him again.” Chris is right - your dad would kill you for getting drunk and ending up in this position.

“... You think I should sleep... here?”

“Yeah. The room has already been paid for. I’ll leave.”

“N-no.” How do you say this without sounding too desperate? “Don’t go. I don’t want to be alone.” Chris nods and brushes dried tears from your cheeks.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

You can barely believe that this is happening. You feel the butterflies in your stomach grow into shy dragons as he gets up and removes his blazer. He’s getting comfortable to spend the night with you. You nervously get under the covers, taking deep breaths with every movement.

You’re so shy at first, and so is he. He smiles at you when you’re both all bundled up. He takes your hand and moves it to his lips.

“This wasn’t how I imagined telling you how I felt but… I didn’t want you to be upset for no reason.”

“How long have you liked me for?”

“I’ve always kind of liked you, that’s why I kept coming back for the gross coffee you make.”

“Hey!” you both laugh.

You seem to fall asleep smiling, because when you wake up the next morning it’s still there.

There’s a moment of unfamiliarity until it all comes back to you.

Chris is still sleeping and he looks so perfect.

You try as silently as possible to get up and creep into the bathroom. You’re shocked by your own reflection. You look like a mess. As quickly as possible you start to try and clean yourself up, adjusting your clothes and your, uh, whole face, basically.

When you’re as satisfied as you can be you try to slide back into bed to pretend you just naturally always look like that, but the mattress shifting wakes him up.

He groans and stretches. He rubs his eyes and squints out at you. He smiles lazily and holds out his arms.

“Come cuddle.” he says tiredly.

You can’t believe you’re hearing this. You can’t believe last night wasn’t a dream. You can’t believe you’re actually lowering down onto him. You can’t believe this is your life now.

[losangelesleftygayvoters]

March 3, 2020 Primary

Hi there. We didn’t write this. But a very smart and interesting dude named Kris Rehl did. As we were about to sit down and prepare ours - we read his and thought well, we’re not going to do a lot better than this.

LOS ANGELES AREA PROGRESSIVE VOTER GUIDE

The following are recommendations for the most effective, progressive candidates in each race based on reviewing the resources listed at the bottom of this guide, news articles, and candidates’ statements. I encourage you to do your own research on each candidate as well!

CALIFORNIA STATE PROPOSITION

Prop 13: YES - This is a $15 billion bond to invest in crumbling school infrastructure, including the removal of toxic mold and asbestos from aging classrooms, to provide cleaner drinking water, and make upgrades for fire and earthquake safety. The proposition would also increase the size of bonds that school districts can place on future ballots.

CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE

21st District: Kipp Mueller - Mueller’s progressive platform focuses on homelessness, wage inequality, and the environment, calling out Big Oil in the Antelope Valley swing district.

23rd District: Abigail Medina - The daughter of immigrant parents, Medina has been in the foster care system, worked as a tomato picker, and served on the San Bernardino City Unified School board. She is the candidate with the boldest environmental platform in her district.

27th District: Henry Stern - A strong advocate for closing the Aliso Canyon gas facility and a fairly progressive candidate in a purple district. In addition to fighting big oil, he’s running on creating incentives for companies to switch to clean transportation and renewable energy infrastructure, improving the economy with small businesses and job training, supporting education by securing funding, and creating safer communities by providing funding to local governments. (Fun fact: His dad played Marv in the Home Alone movies.)

29th District: Josh Newman - Newman won his Fullerton district in 2016, focusing on 100% renewable energy by 2045, affordable education, and homelessness and mental health services. He was recalled by voters in a low turnout midterm primary, after being targeted by a Republican effort to break the Democrats’ supermajority. Despite the partisan recall over his vote to increase the state gas tax by 12 cents per gallon to fund $5.4 billion in annual road improvement and transit projects, Newman will again face the Republican he beat in 2016.

35th District: Steven Bradford - A leader on police reform and accountability, including passing AB391, a law reducing when police can use deadly force. Bradford is focused on lowering homelessness through affordable housing, enhancing access to healthcare, and increasing access to mass transit.

CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY

36th District: Eric Andrew Ohlsen - Endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Ohlsen has excellent positions on environmental issues, immigration, eliminating student debt, and criminal justice reform. Ohlsen wants to eliminate costly and unjust private prison contracts and help people already in the system with policies targeting recidivism.

38th District: Dina Cervantes - A child of immigrants, community activist, small business owner, and former preschool teacher with a strong record on education and environmental issues. (This district’s incumbent is retiring.)

39th District: Luz Maria Rivas - The incumbent, Rivas has a solid record on immigration and housing. She also founded a non-profit in Pacoima to encourage school-aged girls to pursue careers in STEM.

41st District: Chris Holden - The incumbent, Holden has fought to expand funding for disability programs, expand lead-level testing in drinking water at child care centers, and passed legislation to improve safety on electricity systems that caused the 2017 wildfires. His only opponents are Republicans, so vote for Chris! 

43rd District: Laura Friedman - Friedman is the incumbent and has a progressive voting record, including supporting the end of Section 8 discrimination and authoring several environmental and sustainability bills.

44th District: Jacqui Irwin - The incumbent, facing a Republican challenger, Irwin has focused heavily on gun violence prevention legislation and strengthened gun violence restraining orders since the 2018 Thousand Oaks shooting.

45th District: Jesse Gabriel - A progressive incumbent, Gabriel has enacted more than a dozen new gun safety measures, championed efforts to address California’s housing and homelessness crisis, and strengthened public education.

46th District: Adrin Nazarian - A strong charter school opponent, who has fought to increase public school aid by $23 billion over the past five years, with a mostly progressive record across the board.

49th District: Edwin Chau - Born in Hong Kong and raised in L.A., incumbent assemblymember Chau is facing a Republican challenger. He’s focused on legislation to prevent elder abuse and authored bills to address the affordable housing crisis as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act, enhancing protections for internet users’ personal data.

50th District: Richard Bloom - Authored some strong housing bills with a heavy focus on environmental legislation, helping establish the most stringent protections in the country against the dangers of hydraulic fracking.

53rd District: Godfrey Plata - Plata is a progressive challenger to an establishment Democratic incumbent, who has a disappointing record on housing policy. Plata is a gay Filipino immigrant, who if elected will become the first person in the California Assembly's 140-year history to be an out LGBTQIA+ immigrant. Plata’s campaign is focused on affordable housing, strengthening public schools, and universal healthcare.

54th District: Tracy B. Jones - A special education teacher, Jones is a strong advocate for increasing public school funding and improvements. He supports Medicare for All and the banning of fracking. 

57th District: Vanessa Tyson - Tyson is an advocate for increasing the accessibility and affordability of college, expanding affordable housing, and investing in permanent housing solutions to address homelessness.

58th District: Margaret Villa - A Green Party candidate, Villa supports rent control, Medicare for All, and getting money out of politics. The incumbent Democrat she’s challenging (Cristina Garcia) previously made false claims about earning a graduate degree, has several sexual harassment accusations against her from her own staff, and was investigated for her rampant use of racist and homophobic language in the workplace. Vote for Margaret Villa instead!

59th District: Reggie Jones-Sawyer - A strong progressive incumbent, Reggie comes from a family of pioneers in the civil rights movement, is the nephew of one of the Little Rock Nine, and a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus. He’s co-authored legislation to provide re-entry assistance like housing and job training for persons that have been wrongfully convicted and consequently released from state prison. He also led an effort to secure nearly $100 million for recidivism reduction grants. 

63rd District: Maria Estrada - Endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, Estrada is a community activist, challenging an incumbent establishment Democratic leader, who stopped the passage of single-payer healthcare in the California legislature. Maria is running “to end the culture of policies that are deferential to industrial polluters that continue to poison our communities.”  

64th District: Fatima Iqbal-Zubair - A high school teacher from Watts, Fatima is challenging Democratic incumbent Mike Gipson, who takes money from Chevron, Valero, Pfizer, and Juul. She is campaigning to end environmental racism in her district, fight for affordable housing and rehabilitation services for the homeless, better funding for public schools, and making college accessible to everyone.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

District Attorney: Rachel Rossi - Rossi’s experience as a public defender and aggressive platform make her the most progressive option to unseat incumbent Jackie Lacey, who Black Lives Matter and the ACLU criticized for refusing to prosecute violent cops. Rossi will pursue “data-driven crime prevention” over ineffective mass incarceration, focusing on serious, violent cases and ending the revolving door of low-level offenses that waste taxpayer dollars.

County Measure R: YES - An important step toward L.A. County jail reform that helps decriminalize mental illness and build community-based care centers where people can get the qualified help they need. Measure R also provides crucial tools for LA’s Civilian Oversight Board to check a corrupt Sheriff’s department.

L.A. County Measure FD: YES - Provides firefighters with the resources they require.

COUNTY CENTRAL COMMITTEE, 43rd Assembly District (*Vote for no more than 7)

Luke H. Klipp - A progressive, who is disenchanted with the establishment, Klipp has been a housing and HIV/AIDS policy advocate and transportation analyst. He hopes to create a more walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly LA, centering equity and climate change in all policy.

Jennifer “Jenni” Chang - A universal healthcare advocate and community activist, Jenni wants to make politics more people-centric, shun corporate influence, and hold party leaders accountable to progressive values. She supports green transportation, more public education funding, affordable housing, closing corporate loopholes, and prison reform.

Linda Perez - Linda is an immigrant and retired labor advocate, who is prioritizing immigrant protections, LGBTQ rights, education, housing, workers’ rights, and student homelessness.

Ingrid Gunnell - A teacher focused on public school funding and accountability for charter schools, Ingrid plans to fight homelessness with affordable housing, mental healthcare, and job training.

Nicholas James Billing - A Sunrise Movement member, Nicholas is fighting for renewable energy infrastructure, supports public school, prison reform, and affordable housing.

Angel Izard - A community activist, Angel supports public schools, quality healthcare for all Californians, investing in renewable energy, affordable housing, and prison reform.

Paul Neuman - An incumbent, Paul wants to empower people and make government more accessible, transparent, responsive and accountable. He has a long history of activism and volunteer work, advocating for many marginalized groups. He’s written resolutions for emergency funding for homelessness, arts education, campaign reform, and more.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT

Office No. 42: Linda Sun - Sun is an experienced prosecutor focused on corruption from professionals and businesses rather than crimes of poverty. She describes her judicial approach as embodying empathy and dignity.

Office No. 72: Myanna Dellinger - Dellinger is passionate about gender-related employment discrimination, harassment, and violence cases. She believes “people of color and lower incomes are disproportionately affected by environmental problems such as air and water pollution...The law should help remedy that.” Dellinger also advocates for gender-affirming treatment of everyone in and out of the courtroom.

Office No. 76: Emily Cole - As a judge, Cole is dedicated to helping the victims of crime but also helping the defendants that are in a system that they can’t get out of. She was also endorsed over her opponent by the LA County Bar Association.

Office No. 80: Klint James McKay - McKay is an administrative law judge with social services and has a history in the Public Defender Union. He has focused on an empathetic approach and understanding for all people, who pass through the court. His opponent David Berger is endorsed by the problematic current DA Jackie Lacey but was also chosen for the District Attorney's Office Alternative Sentencing Designee, where he’s worked within the criminal justice system to find alternatives for non-violent candidates.

Office No. 97: Sherry L. Powell - Powell has dedicated much of her legal career to serving and advocating for families, who lost loved ones to murder, and victims of violent crimes such as child molestation, rape, human trafficking, and domestic violence. She is running against Timothy Reuben, a real estate law firm founder, who ran as a conservative in 2018.

Office No. 129: Kenneth Fuller - As a District Attorney, Fuller has prosecuted environmental and sex crimes, but has also worked on the defense side as a military judge advocate.

Office No. 145: Troy Slaten - Slaten strongly supports criminal justice reform with efforts such as Collaborative Courts, designed to provide treatment instead of incarceration to the most vulnerable populations in the criminal justice system.

Office No. 150: Tom Parsekian - Parsekian is a civil litigation attorney, who is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.

Office No. 162: Caree Annette Harper - Harper is a former police officer, turned civil rights attorney, who has dedicated massive amounts of her time to pro bono work. In 2018, Caree obtained $1.5 million for the family of Reginald Thomas, who was beaten and tased to death by Pasadena Police Department.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR

2nd District: Holly Mitchell - A champion for progressive causes in the State Legislature, Mitchell has called for 20% affordable housing in every new development and a compassionate, non-criminalization approach to the homelessness crisis. Holly introduced the recently enacted CROWN Act, the first state law to ban discrimination based on natural hair or styles like locs, braids, and twists in workplaces and public schools.

4th District: Janice Hahn - Hanh has been solid on housing and labor issues. It should be noted that in 2015, she voted with 242 Republicans and 46 Democrats to pass a bill that proposed instituting a much more intensive screening for refugees from Iraq and Syria, who applied for admission to the U.S. It does not appear Hahn has any serious challengers.

5th District: Darrell Park - Park proposed an ambitious Green New Deal for LA County, signed the homes guarantee, and endorsed the Services Not Sweeps campaign to end the criminalization and ease the suffering of unhoused people. The current Supervisor for this district, Kathryn Barger, is the only Republican on the County Board of Supervisors. 

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT - BOARD OF EDUCATION

The following are the endorsements of the Los Angeles teachers union: 

District 1: George McKenna

District 3: Scott Schmerlson

District 5: Jackie Goldberg 

District 7: Patricia Castellanos

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL

***The corruption in City Hall has led to inaction, worsened the housing crisis, and wasted millions in taxpayer dollars. I urge you to vote out all incumbents.

2nd District: Ayinde Jones - Wants to expand affordable public transportation and beds in homeless shelters. (The incumbent, Paul Krekorian, did not meet the new bed goal that the city council set for itself. Krekorian did turn his own budget’s $400 million surplus into a $200 million deficit with little transparency or public oversight though.) For more info on this race, check out this community activist’s thread from the candidates’ forum.

4th District: Nithya Raman - Nithya is an MIT-trained urban planner, who founded SELAH, a local homeless service organization, and served as executive director of anti-sexual harassment group Times Up. She plans to end homelessness by providing services and housing to those in need, stop evictions, and freeze rents. She is also focused on fighting the climate crisis and improving our city’s air quality.

6th District: Bill Haller - A member of his neighborhood council and experienced with environmental advocacy, Haller is running because he is disgusted by the corruption in L.A. City Hall. Haller wants to reduce city council pay from $207,000 to $93,500 (or 85% of an elected state assemblymember’s salary) and double the number of city districts to allow for more diverse, grassroots candidates, who better understand and represent their communities.

8th District: Denise Woods - A write-in candidate who has fought against housing discrimination, Denise has plans to address public safety, prevent gang violence, and expand education and job training in South L.A.

10th District: Aura Vasquez - Aura was born and raised in Colombia. In 1996, her family came to America to escape the bloodshed and violence caused by drug cartels and the War on Drugs. As an undocumented student, Aura worked nights and weekends to put herself through college. Aura has become a dedicated community organizer, environmental advocate, and was the driving force in banning single-use plastic bags in L.A. She is focused on making city services more responsive, creating affordable housing and homeless services, ensuring police treat all residents with respect and dignity, keeping immigrant and refugee families together, and supporting local schools, teachers, and after-school programs.

12th District: Dr. Loraine Lundquist - An educator and astrophysicist, Loraine is an expert on clean energy and helped organize community opposition to the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility when it posed a massive danger to the Valley in 2015. She is refusing donations from corporate special interests and wants to challenge corruption in the LADWP to create lower utility bills for residents. Loraine also wants to use humane, data-proven solutions to end the homelessness crisis, putting an end to tax dollars being wasted on inaction.

14th District: Cyndi Otteson - Cyndi served on her neighborhood council and leads a nonprofit that helped over 320 refugee families resettle in the U.S. Cyndi rejects developer, charter school, and special interest money and wants to make housing more affordable for rent-burdened Angelenos with financial reforms and protections for renters. She proposes using the $355 million annually generated by Measure H to build on or adapt commercial property that is undeveloped or abandoned for affordable housing and homeless shelters.

GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL

Dan Brotman - Dan is an advocate for a sustainable Glendale and has been endorsed by the Sunrise Movement for fighting fossil fuel infrastructure and advocating for affordable housing.

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

8th District: Chris Bubser - Bubser has been endorsed by several labor and environmental groups, and she is the only chance to avoid two Republicans on the November general election ballot in this red district.

23rd District: Kim Mangone - Kim is a veteran, running against Kevin McCarthy, one of the most far-right Republicans in Congress and the GOP’s current House Minority Leader. Vote for Kim and get McCarthy the hell out of Washington!

26th District: Julia Brownley - The incumbent, Julia passed her Female Veterans Suicide Prevention Act in 2016, which requires the VA to collect data on women veterans to identify best practices and services to end female veteran suicide. She passed a surface transportation bill to increase funds to invest in our crumbling infrastructure. Julia has been an advocate for women and working families, fighting to close the wage gap, raise the minimum wage, and expand job training and education assistance.

27th District: Judy Chu - The incumbent, Chu is chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and has a strong record on immigration rights and reform. She has also become a strong advocate for ending military hazing since her 21-year-old nephew shot and killed himself after enduring three and a half hours of discrimination-motivated assault and torture from his fellow marines in Afghanistan.

28th District: G. “Maebe A. Girl” Puldo - Maebe (she/her) is the first drag queen elected to public office in U.S. history! She is genderfluid/trans and hosts, produces, and performs in drag shows around Los Angeles in addition to her Silver Lake Neighborhood Council duties. Maebe supports Medicare for All, has experience with homelessness advocacy, and is running on a broad, progressive platform. If your knee jerk reaction is to dismiss Maebe because she’s a drag queen, kindly check your queerphobia at the door. 

(Second Choice: Adam Schiff - Despite his impressive contribution to the president’s impeachment, incumbent Adam Schiff has shown himself to be a hawk, defined by donations made to his campaign by the defense industry. Even if you plan to vote for Schiff during the general election this November, I encourage you to vote for Maebe in the primary.)

29th District: Angélica María Dueñas - A member of her neighborhood council, Dueñas supports unions, Medicare For All, achieving 100% renewable energy by 2030, eliminating pharmaceutical subsidies, increasing taxes on the rich, and a humane path to citizenship.

30th District: CJ Berina - CJ is challenging an establishment Democratic incumbent, who has worked against many progressive causes. CJ supports the Green New Deal, Medicare For All, the cancellation of medical and student debt, abolishing ICE and the death penalty, and ending for-profit healthcare.

32nd District: Emanuel Gonzales - Growing up, Emanuel and his family became homeless twice: after his father was diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease and during the recession. Since his father died from a failed kidney transplant, Emanuel has become an advocate for expanding Medicare coverage to everyone in the U.S. and reforming the current organ transplantation system so that no organ goes to waste. Personally knowing the pain of losing a home, Emanuel will fight for affordable interest rates for first-time buyers, extending tax benefits for working families who own homes, and increasing federal grants, so people can own homes in the communities they work and serve in.

33rd District: Ted Lieu - Ted has been an outspoken critic of the current administration, bringing special attention to the treatment of migrant children in detention, separated from their families. Ted previously authored a bill banning conversion therapy and was a co-sponsor of the 2019 Medicare For All Act.

34th District: Frances Yasmeen Motiwalla - Frances supports Medicare for All, the Rent Relief Act, the Green New Deal, and urgently wants to end the war in Yemen. The incumbent Jimmy Gomez has moved to the left since facing a Green Party candidate last election cycle. If nothing else, let’s push him even more left.

37th District: Karen Bass - Leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, Karen has focused on issues such as criminal justice reform, a national minimum wage increase, and foster care. She supports Medicare For All, tuition-free community college, and capping the interest rate for federal student loans at 3.4 percent.

38th District: Michael Tolar - Supports Medicare for All, The Green New Deal, closing private prisons, getting money out of politics, and banning military-style weapons.

39th District: Gil Cisneros - A solid Orange County Democrat facing a tough reelection against a Republican this fall. Cisneros was a $266 million Mega Millions winner and became a philanthropist before deciding to run for Congress in 2018. Gil is a veteran and education advocate, who has stood up to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries to lower healthcare costs, protected education funding, and worked to create good-paying local jobs.

40th District: Dr. Rodolfo Cortes Barragan - Taking on a more conservative Democrat incumbent, Rodolfo is a first-generation American, who came from Mexico at a young age and earned degrees from UC Berkeley and Stanford. He is a Green Party candidate, running on a platform of Medicare for All, tuition-free public colleges, the Green New Deal, abolishing ICE, repealing the Patriot Act, and a homes guarantee with funding for universal public housing.

43rd District: Maxine Waters - Maxine has been an outspoken advocate for women, children, people of color, and the poor. She has strongly condemned the actions of the current administration and is facing a Republican challenger this fall.

44th District: Nanette Diaz Barragán - Elected in 2016, Nanette became the first Latina to represent her Congressional district. She is a strong advocate for immigration and supports Medicare for All.

45th District: Katie Porter - Katie is a survivor of domestic abuse and a former consumer protection attorney. She impressively won a swing district while still supporting Medicare for All, gun safety reform, and legislation to reduce the influence of dark money in politics. 

47th District: Peter Matthews - Peter refuses donations from corporate PACs and lobbyists,  supports tuition-free college, canceling student debt, Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, universal child care, public banks, taxing income brackets over $10 million at 70%, and believes housing is a human right.

PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

Elizabeth Warren - Elizabeth doesn’t just have some of the most comprehensive, progressive plans of any candidate, she has figured out and proposed some brilliant strategies to actually move them through the gridlock in Washington. She engages with stakeholders in every community, listens, and incorporates their feedback to be sure she is addressing the needs of all Americans. I trust Elizabeth to take on corruption and create a better, fairer country by removing monied corruption in politics, implementing a wealth tax on the ultra rich, creating free universal healthcare, reforming our criminal justice system, fighting predatory debt, expanding educational and economic opportunities, and creating new clean energy jobs to swiftly combat climate change.

(2nd Choice: Bernie Sanders - Bernie is a truly inspiring candidate, and I agree with almost all of his policies. I would be thrilled to vote and volunteer for him if he becomes the nominee, but he is my second choice because I believe Warren has more effective strategies to implement an extremely similar platform, ranging from the removal of the filibuster to finding solutions that won’t raise middle-class taxes to fund for Medicare For All.)

RESOURCES

https://lavote.net/Apps/CandidateList/Index?id=3793

https://laist.com/elections/

https://knock-la.com/the-knock-la-los-angeles-progressive-voter-guide-for-the-march-2020-primary-7f2c3efc13cc 

https://www.dsa-la.org/2020_primary_voter_guide 

https://votersedge.org/en/ca 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/2/9/1917945/-LA-Progressive-Majority-Voter-Guide-to-Judges-Candidates-for-March-2020-Los-Angeles-CA 

https://progressivevotersguide.com/california/

https://app.kpcc.civicengine.com/v/choose_party 

http://www.easyvoterguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/EVG-march2020-Eng.pdf 

[tvrrance]

*   ╰    chris  evans  ,  the  shining  and  doctor  sleep  .     ╱     welcome  to  castle  rock  ,  DANIEL TORRANCE  .  you’ve  just  blown  out  THIRTY - EIGHT  candles  on  your  most  recent  birthday  cake  ,  and  rumour  has  it  that  you  had  your  last  birthday  in  PORTSMOUTH  ,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  .  why  did  you  leave  there  again  ?  was  it  something  to  do  with  YOUR ALCOHOL  ADDICTION   ?   regardless  ,  we’re  glad  to  have  you  .  i’m  sure  you’re  aware  of  the  town  curfew  ?  i  hope  that  ADDICTIVE  ,  MERCIFUL  ,  CONTRITE  &  IMPETUOUS  behaviour  of  yours  doesn’t  cause  too  much  trouble  here   …   it’s  funny  ,  you  remind  me  of  EMPTY  BOTTLES  BROKEN  AND  SCATTERED  WITH  BLOOD  ON  THE  EDGES  OF  THE  GLASS  ,  LOCKED  BOXES  THAT  LOOK  DECADES  OLD  ,  SAD  EYES  AND  SHAKING  HANDS  ,  A  ONCE  BRIGHT  LIGHT  DIMMING  OUT   .  perhaps  i’m  going  mad  .     ╱     cismale  ,  he / him  .     +     written  by  karina  ,  18  ,  she / her  ,  pst  .

about danny !

my mans danny has,,,been through it

i’m sure many of you know the shining so i’ll make this quick

as a kid he came from what should’ve been a normal family, and they were at first. a happily married couple with their young son, his father a teacher working to be an author, what could go wrong? of course both his parents had problems of their own that they thought they could escape in their own parenting, but some things come back to haunt you literally and things took a turn for the worst.

when his father developed a serious alcohol addiction it changed all their lives for the worst. he lost his job, broke danny’s arm in a drunken rage, and almost lost his family. he worked hard to get sober again, finding a job as a caretaker for a hotel in the winter where his entire family would go to stay with him as he worked. while things seemed to be looking up, they were increasingly odd for the young danny at the time, who had an “imaginary” friend named tony that told him things no child would know.

going to the overlook hotel danny met dick hallorann who taught him about his gift of “shining” which is what tony was a personification of, that he had powers that made him able to read minds, have visions, see others health, etc and when in the haunted overlook hotel his shining was at an all time high. he was a perfect vessel for the demons of the hotel to torment and feed off of, and his father was the perfect way to get to him. 

what should’ve been a healing experience for their family, time to bond and be the happy family they once were, things took the opposite affect. wasp stings covering danny’s body, ghostly women stalking him, visions of blood and gore and all the horrible murders that had happened corrupting the young boys mind. he wasn’t the only one being corrupted, his father who had tried so hard to expel his own demons met new ones in the hotel. he was so easy to break down, to use to add more demons to the hotel. his father went on a rampage, trying to kill them like the caretaker before him, but instead it was his father who fell while danny and his mother survived. 

nothing was the same after that, of course, his mother had permanent damage from the severe beating she took and developed a nicotine addiction, and as a single parent she struggled to find work making them move around a lot in danny’s youth. they both suffered extreme trauma that seemed no one could really help, but they had each other and that was really all they needed.

he stayed very close with dick who helped him learn more about the shining, and taught him everything he knew about his gift. he was the man danny’s mother would call when she needed help. he became a father figure for the young boy, a healthy role model after his fathers demise. dick taught him one of the most important things, how to keep the demons at bay. he taught him how to create boxes in his mind, lock them up and trap them in there, never to be seen again. danny got good at it, trapping his demons, but it was the physical ones he couldn’t fight off. 

growing up danny swore to himself he’d be better than his parents, he wouldn’t drink or smoke, he’d stay clean and avoid the slippery slope that everyone in his family seemed especially susceptible to. this was easier said than done, and danny couldn’t help but give in. high school parties with his friends offering him a drink, one drink couldn’t hurt, it’s just for fun. getting drunk a few times wouldn’t do anything, he wasn’t like his father, he could handle it. he told himself that time and time again, but his mantra seemed to have no real affect on him.

getting drunk danny learned something, when he was drunk he didn’t need to worry about the shine. he no longer had to hear the thoughts of everyone around him, see visions warning him of possible outcomes, see the flies floating on peoples faces showing their impending doom. when he was drunk his powers were numbed, he was normal, and he couldn’t get enough. 

by the time he was twenty both his mother and dick were dead, leaving dan on his own. with no support system, no one to talk to that really understood what it was danny had gone through and was saying, he became lost. his only companion was the bottle in his hand and the people at the bar. his best friend the bottle in his hand, and the bus to take him to his next temporary home. 

the older he got and the more his alcoholism developed the more he became like his father, looking in the mirror and seeing his reflection as he reeked of alcohol and had a black eye from a meaningless fight he started at the bar. he was a violent drunk, just like his father, and like his grandfather before him, and he hated it. he couldn’t believe what he had become, but he couldn’t stop, he didn’t want to live with everyone’s voices in his head again. 

he struggled with his alcoholism for years, drifting from town to town once he got fired from work and banned from every bar. he would move onto the next, and the cycle repeated itself over and over again. it only changed when after a night of boozing and coke and going home with a mysterious woman that he realized just how bad he had become. stealing her money, even after seeing her poor son with bruises on his arms begging for his mother. danny didn’t care, he took the money and ran, but that was the realization of who he had become. 

he knew he needed to change, he couldn’t keep going down this path when he knew it wasn’t who he really was, it wasn’t who he wanted to be. he moved to the next town, castle rock, enrolled in a alcoholics anonymous group and has been working to getting sober. he even got a job at a hospice where he uses his powers to help those passing over go peacefully, gaining him the nickname doctor sleep. he was trying so hard to fix himself, but despite how much you run you can never run away from yourself. danny would always be there, and so would his demons.

[chrysolina]

Chris as a dad headcanons

A/N - Now I KNOW I’ve done some headcanons and fics very similar to this but since it just felt right to do so, here it is!! Our Captain and his rendition of being a parent!! Enjoy!!

Okay so let’s start of with the basic basics, the every beginning of yours and his journey - the big pregnancy reveal

At the time, Chris was unfortunately away wrapping up filming somewhere across the country and had left you, his just gone year long wife, to rest up at home back in Sudbury

It never occurred to you until you passed the fertility supplements and pregnancy tests that something inside was ‘off’

Your sudden cravings, change in moods, tender breasts, pudgy belly and vomiting - it all screamed the obvious in your face

Instead of taking time to think, you decided on taking two different tests home just to be on the safe side.

And it really was gonna happen, just an hour after you got back you had found out yours and Chris’ future like that - you were pregnant with yours and Chris baby!

And told him so the morning after when he came back, a little impromptu considering he was just about to fuck your brains out for being without you forever but it was, undeniably, cute as fuck

And so were his little quirks he’d develop as your belly ballooned and your pregnancy continued - late night belly rubs to put the baby to sleep, a part of him always touching you whenever, micro-analysing everything you did were just to make a few of the things Chris would do

And let’s not get started on the insecurity he’d have as you got bigger

“Y/N/N, are you sure she’ll like me? I don’t know if I couldn’t stand it if my own little princess hated me...”

“What happens if...”

“What happens when..”

You had to stop his ramblings on several occasions before it spiralled out of control and became a panic attack or something

And let me tell you that all those fears faded away to dust once he held your little girl in his arms, her tiny puffy Blue eyes fluttering open at the feeling of someone lurking above her

And the smile she gave you and Chris one afternoon after a good feeding

It just made your hearts MELT

And it wouldn’t be the last time your breath would catch at the sight of your little angel or Chris would do absolutely adorable 

I cannot stress how much Chris would be that dad who’d stay up all night cradling his little girl on his chest because she can’t sleep

And he would most certainly be that dad who’d always fall asleep with her on his chest, hands splayed over his little sleeping body like a protective blanket.

Scroll on a year, through the terrible teething months and sleepless nights trying to pacify a bubbly baby now toddler - Chris can officially say he’s really getting the hang of this parenting thing.

From allowing his little angel to stand on his feet as they both practised how to walk to taking her on sets and showing her around, Chris had become the oblivious epitome of a protective dad who just couldn’t stand to see his baby upset or in danger

Which, on times, made for your intervention when he was getting a bit too protective. 

It was when you were watching your little girl stumble her way around the living room that IT happened. No, not her first steps - but the first talks of maybe giving Y/D/N a little brother or sister

You two agreed on a few dates, numbers of children you’d like, work schedules etc and within the space of a year, Y/D/N was sat next to you in a hospital bed with her new baby brother in her lap, a very confused expression stuck on her little face

And so the cycle would start all over again

And again for baby number three

And once again for baby number four

But hell, does Chris care? Of course he doesn’t! HE’d even ask you to do ‘it’ once again if he could do it all again. 

But in general, Chris would always be that dad who’d be there for his kids. To help them take their first steps, calm them from their first tantrum, take them to their first soccer or ballet recital/game - you couldn’t have asked for a better father to your children even if you went to God himself to ask (:  

Chris / Steve rogers tags - @patzammit @tacohead13 @youreahandsomedevil @thisismysecrethappyplace @fanfic111

Permanent tags - @multireality @its-a-pretty-interesting-wall​ @coffeebooksandfandom​ @titty-teetee

[abrunettefangirlnerd]

With Me

Request: Reader is hanging out with her friends where they take shots at her weight and her being single.

Part: ONE so far, making sequel definitely

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Word Count: 1375

Warning: None

Part One   Part Two   Part Three   Part Four   Part Five   Part Six    Part Seven

You: I’m on my way.

Jess: Great timing! We are just getting back from Wal-Mart.

             You pull into her driveway. Jess is moving into her new place, last night was her first night there alone. She said she had a hard time sleeping so you suggested that you two have a girls’ night. You walk into the empty living room with your backpack, pillows and blankets. The only thing in the room was a tv sitting on the floor.

             Truth is, Jess doesn’t have a lot of money. Her mom will be moving into the place once her youngest graduates high school in six years. She basically owns the place and is letting Jess live there for the time being. The condo appears pretty empty with very few pieces of furniture. Her mom bought her a fridge and blinds. Her fiancé, Jacob, is going to buy her a bed with a frame, currently she’s sleeping on a blow up. And she’s getting a living room set from your grandparents in a week.

“Hey!” You shout, announcing your arrival.

“We’re in here!” Her fiancé shouts from the kitchen.

             You drop your stuff off in her room and look at all the boxes of clothes you will most likely have to unpack. Maybe you should call up Chris. Your friends love him as Captain America, plus he would be great help on assembling her desk in the spare bedroom.

             How you two met was kind of funny. You were in New York on a family vacation last summer with your family. While there you blended in really well. You dressed the part of a New Yorker and walked a few feet in front of your folks, who looked out of place, every time you all left the hotel.

             As old people, your parents passed out after getting back to the room that afternoon. Your sister, Gracie, fell shortly behind. You, however, took this opportunity to go out in the city by yourself. Barely being 18 from a small town in Missouri, this idea doesn’t seem to be very smart. In fact, it doesn’t take long for some thief to steak your bag.

You chase after the man, not willing to go back to the room waiting for your father to give you a lecture. Your parents didn’t want any of you to go anywhere in New York without being in at least groups of two.

Suddenly you realized you aren’t the only one running after him. Another man, familiar almost, runs past you in pursuit of the thief. He grabs the thief by the back collar of his shirt and pulls, making him lose his balance. The man takes your purse and whispers something into the other guy’s ear before letting him go. Now recognizing the man who saved your purse, you meet in the middle of the side walk trying not to freak-out.

 “Here you go.” Chris hands over your purse, slightly out of breath.

 “Wow,” you say accepting what’s yours. “Captain America saved my purse.” You teased.

 He lets out an uneasy laugh. Clearly he wasn’t planning on being recognized today, or any day for that matter. You assure him that you won’t go blabbing to anyone about him being in the city and offer to buy him some coffee.

 “A girl has to repay her hero somehow.” You fake a dramatic damsel with an exaggerated blinking and hair flip.

 “You always this dramatic?” He laughs, teasing you.

 You shrug in response, “I prefer the term, eccentric.”

Ever since then you two became really good friends. Two years and a few months later, your friends got to learn about him being in your life. In truth, you were the one keeping it a secret. Not Chris, he wanted to meet your friends. You on the other hand, were afraid that he would end up liking them more than you. To them you are the mom who never does anything fun, and you were scared that they’d make him see that.

“You can’t keep me a secret forever (Y/N).” Chris says through your phone monitor. “We’ve been friends for months now.”

 “You keep me a secret,” you smile. “How does this have to be a one way street?”

 “That’s different and you know it.”

              Which is true. Chris hasn’t gone around spouting to anyone about the strange girl he rescued a purse for. Any chance on a normal life you had would have been ruined in that one moment. You know he hasn’t even told his friends, they’ve never been good at keeping secrets.

“Hey Jess do you mind if I call Chris? He’ll be able to help put the desk together much faster.”

“Sure go ahead,” she rips open the box of new silverware. “But we all know it’s not just because of the desk.”

“Shut up.” You smile scrolling for his number.

             The phone rings in your ear and your heartbeat matches in pace. Your feet stride across the living room waiting for him to answer. Literally you talk all the time, phone calls, texting, skyping. Anytime he’s in town, which is usually only to see you, you and him are always inseparable. Of course, overtime you began to fall for him. Began to fall hard, like can’t stop thinking about him hard.

“Hey (Y/N), miss me already?” His cocky charming voice beams in your ear.

“What? Never,” you tease. “But if YOU miss me, you could come over to Jess’s new place and help her unpack with me.”

“I’ll always miss you,” he says with a tone of seriousness. “I’ll be right over, send me the address.”

             You hang up and do as you are told. A smile permanently plastered to your face as you re-enter the kitchen. While waiting for Chris to arrive you help them put up groceries and anything else they bought for her new living space.

“How badly is your bank account screaming right now?” You ask Jacob.

“It’s not, it’s passed out in terror.” You both laugh as Jess comes up behind him and playfully punches him in the back.

             Not long after the doorbell rings. Eager, you race toward the door, but instead of finding Chris alone, you find him standing behind Sam and her boyfriend, Josh. You and Sam have known each other for almost 15 years, your relationship on and off depending on her mood. Josh has been Jacobs best friend since grade school, that obviously being the reason for his sudden arrival. Though honestly, Sam and Josh together are oddly a perfect fit.

“You didn’t tell us Captain was joining us this evening.” Josh jokes around.

You give a small sarcastic smile. “You didn’t tell me you were joining us this evening. I guess we’re even.”

             The three enter the house. Sam and Josh are given the grand tour of Jess’s new place. You ask Chris if he wants to join them, but he says no and engulfs you a bear hug. Breathing him in, your nostrils fill with his sent and you find your heart swelling three times its size. Never wanting him to let you go, you tighten your hold on him and he does the same.

             But something seems off. Chris isn’t being his overly annoying happy self like he was on the phone. What changed on his way over? You ask yourself.

             Knowing this isn’t the time or place to ask, you direct him to the spare bedroom containing the desk placed safely in the packaged box. You both silently get to work. 

Normally, one would think two people would have to talk to assemble something, but not you two. You know what the other one needs without words. Just looks. You hand him the drill and some screws for his side, he passes it on to you for yours. Both of you grab the same pieces, perfect harmony.

             Though in this silence your mind stays preoccupied with what could be bothering Chris. Was it something you said or did? Does it have to do with work? Did the paparazzi stretch some insane story about him in the tabloids? Questions rattle in your head trying to make sense of everything. Chris, being Chris, catches on.

“Hey don’t worry.” He says. “Everything is going to be fine.”

“So you’re saying that everything isn’t fine now?” You’re right eyebrow rises.

             Before he could respond the gang comes in with pizza celebrating the closet being fully stocked. Surprisingly they were able to fit all her clothes into that tiny closet. Her shoes, on the other hand, will have to be a task for another day. But none of that matters, the only thing coursing through your veins are the possibilities of what could be wrong with Chris.

[trashyocstash]

the sanchez family in the vampire au

rick: basically acts as the family patriarch. he was born in 1547, and was a human before becoming a vampire. his childhood is like normal rick’s childhood, and he probably had a rebellious streak as a teenager, but never participated in a war like the normal young rick did. instead, when he grew older, he moved away from his parents and lived a lonely and secluded life in a quiet town in new spain. but one night, he was mysteriously murdered by getting stabbed to death, and then wasn’t buried properly because no one cared enough about him. a few days later, he rose from his grave as a vampire, and killed anyone he saw, including his murderer. after his blood lust ended, he became nomadic, wandering from place to place without permanently settling anywhere, eventually reaching the usa. for over 200 years, he lived alone, until meeting julie in 1854 and falling in love with her. he turned her into a vampire, and they began living in her mansion together, eventually going on to have their family.

vampire rick is generally pretty similar to young rick, but there are a few differences other than vampire rick being a vampire, and young rick a human. vamp rick is an alchemist, while young rick is a scientist/inventor. and vamp rick kills for survival above anything else, since he needs blood for nutrients. he's also more on the morbid side.

julie: born in 1826, like vampire rick, vampire julie was human too. she grew up upper class, but didn't enjoy it at all. she had no friends and was an outcast, and her parents attempts to find her a suitor never went over well. the only happiness she managed to find was through her interests like reading books or stargazing, or helping the less fortunate. her life only became worse after her parents died in a carriage accident, and she stayed secluded in her mansion. everything changed though when she met rick, as they fell in love and julie became a vampire afterwards. for once, julie was finally content and happy with life.

and again, vampire julie is similar to normal julie minus a few differences. the most obvious being that vamp julie is dark and morbid. she's very cheerful in her morbidness, and likes to include blood in her recipes.

beth: elizabeth "beth" sanchez is rick and julie's firstborn child. she was born in 1880, and notably as a baby/toddler, she loved to nibble on everything, including rick and julie. they taught her her vampire abilities from a young age, and she always loved using them. as a child, she would fly around the house as a bat, or zoom around with her enhanced speed. later on when she was old enough, rick taught her how to hunt, and they would go on hunts together, which she proved to be quite skilled at. when she was 23 in 1903, beth met a human at a party, where she had intended to kill a few of the guests, but ran into a human named jerry, and long story short, she became pregnant, and quickly married due to the times(jerry assumed she was a human and married her as to not tarnish her reputation due to the prejudice against single mothers at the time). summer was born soon, and later they had morty. but beth was unsatisfied with the relationship and left him. rick, julie and chris helped with looking after morty and summer all the while, and beth was happy in life again(as she’d not been happy with jerry).

this beth is more like the one from the “rick is a good dad au", just if she was a vampire and a mom. she is a very protective mother, and messing with morty or summer isn’t a good idea. she is also very strong, confident, and intelligent. beth is a skilled hunter, and has a bit of a sadistic side, but overall, she’s a good person.

chris: christopher "chris" sanchez is rick and julie's second child. born in 1883, he liked to wear a variety of colours as a child instead of dark colours like the rest of his family. rick and julie saw it as odd, but supported him and allowed him to be himself. julie would even take him to visits to the nearby village from time to time, allowing him to explore and have fun. he became well-known to the locals, who saw him as a strange, but nice boy. he would also meet his future lover, allison, in this village as well. chris also had a fondness for plants, and kept killer plants in the greenhouse connected to the mansion. he also refused to participate in hunts, and instead stayed behind with his mother, drinking blood from cups with her. and like beth, he always loved to use his vampire abilities. as he grew older, he also continued to stay more in-touch with the human world, and in the mid-twentieth century, even helped his parents get over their hatred of humans. they still like to go to halloween celebrations together. he even became more open to wearing black when he got older.

chris remains a sweet and kind guy, retaining his love for plants, though more of the murderous variety, and is known to be very open-minded about humanity. he isn’t as morbid as the rest of his family, but still has morbid aspects to him. 

summer: the firstborn daughter of beth and a human named jerry, summer is a human/vampire hybrid, and was born in 1903. from an early age, the rest of the family was very curious about what vampire abilities she had, and rick and beth were the most persistent in discovering them. the family helped her with what abilities she did have, and were a constant, supportive and loving presence in her life. summer was able to grow up confident, self-assured and knowing who she was, fully and completely. she also ended up participating in hunts with rick and beth when she was old enough, and morty too when he decided to. because of chris, she also ended up becoming interested in the human world, and would get the family to watch vampire movies together, which they all still do.

as said, half-vampire summer is confident and self-assured, she’s also pretty badass and doesn’t take people’s shit. given the opportunity, she can and will kick your ass.

morty: beth and jerry's second child, mortimer "morty" sanchez(beth never took jerry's last name) is also a human/vampire hybrid and was born in 1906. by the time he was born, the family already knew what vampire abilities he would have, and like summer, they helped him with it. he’s always been more shy and quiet, and though never really having friends his age, never felt lonely due to his family’s presence. when he turned 14, rick decided to bring him on adventures to help him become more assertive, brave and confident and essentially “took him under his wing”. their adventures are the dark fantasy type instead of sci-fi. with rick’s help, morty did grow more assertive, brave and confident, even deciding to join in on hunts. he’s also gotten involved in the human world like summer and chris, and thinks making fun of vampire movies is fun.

half-vampire morty is doing much better overall then morty in the show. he has a loving family, and rick isn’t abusive or manipulative. and so, he’s much stronger, and knows himself well.

the family dynamic is much healthier here overall, and they are doing much better than in the show. even though they’re a dark morbid family of vampires, with two half-vampires, they are also a happy, healthy and loving one.

[ravens-lil-nest]

OC MasterPost

UWanted to make a quick master post of which ocs are staying with me for your guys convenience. Also just a good list for me to keep track of who I need to update and work on. I really want to try and get back to this blog and you guys so I mean if you ever want to talk about ocs or really anything please hit me up. 

PJatO/HoO

Atsa Sandoval 

Daughter of Hecate

Relationships: 

March Porter - Broke up after a month still are very good friends

Parker Narvaes - Technically together at the moment but it isn’t end game

Future Plans : 

At the moment, she is working on getting her GED and traveling around the south west in her free time. 

I want her to have a deeper impact in the PjO universe and I like the idea of her some day creating a small safe-heaven in the middle of the Arizona desert simply known as the Spring. It will be a magically protected spring with a small farm and ranch on it that acts as a rest stop for any demigods. I will go into deeper detail on this later

March Porter

Son of Apollo

Relationships:

Atsa Sandoval - Broke up after a months but remain very good friends.

Jean Cordova - Current/probably end game

Future Plans:

At the moment, March is technically in his first year of college deciding if he wants to follow a career as an artist or go into the medical field. 

More then likely will become a doctor cause Leo and I talked about him and Jean having a big family. He’s very much a family man and wants to do everything he can to ensure that they are taken well care off. Will later on go back to being an artist however, more then likely with Jeans encouragement.

Zara Ye

Pre-pact Demigod - Daughter of Neptune*

Relationships:

Michael Valentino - Current

Future Plans:

TBA

Not a future plan but a slight story change. Zara is a roman demigod from now on, however, she still ends up at CHB because of Sammy and Michael.

Daniel Davenport

Pre-pact Demigod -Son of Nemesis

Relationships:

Totally crushing on Thomas Lee but doesn’t understand his own feelings half the time.

Future Plans:

TBA

Really, I still figuring out what he would want to do in this day and age. Like he has a passion for music and Broadway, but he also has the drive to make change. I don’t know if he should be the next Lin, or go back to school to become a political leader

HP

Jay McMillan

Hufflepuff

Relationships:

Yin Merryblood - Current/End game

Future Plans:

TBA

Vague idea: Him becoming an magical animal care taker.

Misha Bristow 

Gryffindor

Relationships:

Owen Lawton - Current/End game

Future Plans:

TBA

Nothing major planned besides him and Own making there way through life and him becoming a professional quittage player.

YIJ

Rose Nelson

Villain Alias: The Queen

Relationships:

TBA - She is an awkward turtle who doesn’t understand emotions more then half the time

Future Plans*:

I want things to get bad in Rose’s personal life for a bit, where she goes off the radar both as herself and as Queen. After the dry spell, this will probably lead to her trying to deal with the problem (her mother) on her own as the Queen. However, more then likely Batman will come in and save the day, exposing Rose’s identity, ruining her plans, but in the long run it does ruin her mother’s life as well.

Still haven’t decided if she will be sent to prison or Arkham, but more then likely YIJ will try to save her or something. Either way, this will probably be the final thing that propels Rose into her full on villain hood. 

Andres Begay

Villain Alias: The Huntsman

Relationships:

TBA

Future Plans

TBA

EA

Beatrice “Bea” Vans

Gift of Raijin

Relationships:

Willa Barlow - Current/Endgame

Backstory Changes:

Bea is gonna be from Florida instead of Boston now. I like the idea of her being a surfer as well as a jock.

Also, her powers were full awoken during a tropical storm turned hurricane. She still is mostly raised by her grandfather, who let her be who she wanted to be. However, one summer her parents came back home and said they would be staying permanently and lets just say Bea was not happy about that at all. They got into a heated argument one day when they all had to stay inside during a storm. Bea runs away and get caught outside and due to her emotions and uncontrolled anger and grip on her hidden powers, she accidentally triggered the storm to become an all out hurricane.

She wasn’t found for about a week, passed out and extremely weak. The medics thought she was actually dead at first.  

Future Plans:

Probably will go into the military for a short time because her parents have disowned her essentially at this point and its the only option that will lead to higher education.

Zarir Razdam

Gift of the Maniai 

Relationships:

Chris Williams - Its complicated

Would love to link him but for some reason I can’t really access Ann’s blog on my computer. Does anyone else have this problem?

Future Plans:

TBA

FI

Sumi

Student - Kappa

Relationships:

TBA

Future Plans:

TBA

Abioye

Student - Nandi Bear

Relationships:

TBA

Future Plans:

TBA

Ulrik Rukin

Teacher - Werewolf

Relationships

TBA

Backstory Changes:

Merida and Ulrik actually went to the same University in England. He had to keep his monster identity a secret, wishing to be the first of his family to actually go to Uni and get a degree in history. She found out one full moon but kept it a secret for him. However, at some point his identity was exposed and he was expelled.

They meet again several years later as teachers at FI.

Future Plans:

Look to Merida

Merida Robinson

Teacher - Human

Relationships:

Theodore Johansson - Current/End game

Backstory changes:

Grows up in a small village in England that is fully integrated of monsters and humans. She grew up being friends with fairies and trolls. 

Going to Uni was a shocker to say the least but between meeting Ulrik and his expulsion, it pushed Merida to leave the school and persue a career where she could make that change in monsters’ lives and bridge the game between them and humans.

Future Plans:

Both Merida and Ulrik may be moving or getting au counterparts to be agents of SBI

SBI

Shiro

Kitsune - Field Agent

Relationships:

TBA

Future Plans:

TBA

Gin and Guo

Two headed Oni - Researcher

Relationships:

TBA

Future Plans:

TBA

Other

Kindra the Angel

She will be getting her own stand alone story outside of the Boarding house universe.

It follows the backstory you guys already know where she is kicked out of Heaven for her blasphemous thoughts, but given a second chance to prove that her soul is still pure. 

It will be exploring religion, morals, and in general my view on these things. If you guys would like to read it please let me know because I would love to write it for you guys!!

[yukipri]

YOI Future!Verse ABO AU - Timeline + Basics

*second image slightly larger in full view

So for this AU, the comics are kinda all over the place in terms of timeline, and the timeline itself isn’t particularly rigid in my mind either ^ ^; There’s some complicated world-building and a lot of stuff that I don’t really mention but is just part of the overall AU in my mind. So here’s a reference for not just you but me that should help give context for the comics that are out and also give you a hint as to the kinds of scenarios you can expect within this AU in the future.

WARNINGS PLEASE HEED:

-A/B/O (yes that’s alpha/beta/omega dynamics aka omegaverse) with unnecessarily complicated world-building, mpreg, and OC children.

-Yuuri-centric poly marriage, the main ship(s) are Victor x Yuuri, Yurio x Yuuri, Phichit x Yuuri, Minami x Yuuri, all simultaneous, with additional  Chris x Yuuri and Otabek x Yuuri later in the timeline. Relationships among other members of the family are more or less platonic. (If this isn’t your thing, no need to comment, PLEASE SKIP by hitting the J key)

-The relationship is completely requited and consensual among all parties. This AU does not contain any adultery, endgame unrequited, or past and done with relationships among the main family members.

-No underage romantic/sexual relationships but some characters have crushes while they are underage that are not acted upon.

-Don’t take anything too seriously this is legit my “I don’t want to think, just lemme self-indulge and please roll with it” AU >.>;;

-all subject to change on my whims

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This INTRO POST covers some of the basics of how ABO works in this AU, and the following text assumes you’ve read it.

Here’s an even more detailed world-building post

For links to the other comics in this AU, check out the “Future!verse ABO” section of my YOI Art Masterpost HERE!

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Please keep ship bashing out of the comments/tags. Don’t like, just skip <3 Thank you.

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PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART WITHOUT MY EXPLICIT PERMISSION. More detailed rules available on my Rules & FAQ Post.

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Okay with all the warnings? LONG text post beneath cut!

Timeline [titles of works in this AU in brackets]:

-5 years pre-canon, Yuuri moves to Detroit.

-4 years pre-canon, Phichit comes to Detroit and becomes Yuuri’s roommate. He presents as alpha around half a year after they meet.

-more or less “canon” YOI

-year following canon - Yurio presents as alpha (and ends up suffering in skating as a result), Vic sweeps gold at all competitions [Yurio presenting comic #1]

-2nd year following canon - Yurio wins gold at Worlds, Yuuri wins gold at the GPF, Vic takes silver at both. (when are the Olympics? who knows!)

-2 years after canon - Yuuri and Victor officially take over coaching Yurio from Yakov, and the three of them also start formally dating.

-3 years after canon - Yuuri and Victor retire, they and Yurio get 3-way married, Yuuri’s pregnant with twins and takes a 3 year leave from full time work (tho he occasionally swaps coaching with Victor) and temporarily relocates back to Hasetsu.

-6 years after canon - kids are 2+, Yuuri returns to full time work, Minami asks Yuuri to be his coach and Yuuri decides to do that instead of returning to co-coaching Yurio with Vic [preview comic + Coach or No? comic + half a year later, Minami’s devotion comic]

-7 years after canon - kids are 3+, Yuuri’s still coaching Minami, and there’s rumors that Yuuri’s pregnant again but this time with Phichit’s kid. Yuuri marries Phichit before the end of the year. [Intro comic (latter part)]

-10 years after canon - Minami also marries Yuuri, and Yuuri gets pregnant with his fourth child.

[EDIT: Chris and Otabek also join after this, details to come]

[note: future comics will be scattered anywhere along this timeline I see fit]

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~~

Points to note about this AU:

-In this universe, many countries allow omegas (and oftentimes ONLY omegas) to have multiple spouses because omegas are more likely to give birth to alphas, which many countries want more of. There’s a lot of stigma against poly marriages but it’s legal if an omega is involved. (mentioned in intro post)

-The country our family lives in will be irrelevant/ambiguous in most of my comics, but you can assume they have several houses and occasionally move between them. During his three year hiatus Yuuri stays mostly in Hasetsu bc he wanted to raise them in a quieter, more low-profile location and wanted the support of his family (plus his family home is an onsen. Marvelous for aching). Vic + Yurio + Minami once he becomes Yuuri’s student all home rink wherever the family’s main location happens to be at the time.

-Victor is the catalyst for a lot of things in their relationship, including first proposing invoking the right of an omega to have multiple mates to get poly married. He cares the least about following traditional social expectations and has the confidence to proactively encourage the others to embrace the strange and unconventional if that’s what happens to work for them. While extremely jealous of outsiders, he is self-proclaimed “extremely greedy” and is set on creating the happiest future he can for what started as just Yuuri, but ends up being the entire growing group of people he considers his family.

-Yuuri and Phichit have been in a steady, ambiguous but definitely not purely platonic relationship since pre-canon. Yuuri helped Phichit through his presentation as alpha, and Phichit helped Yuuri through all his heats in Detroit. The Russians are fully aware of their bond and all parties consent to this relationship, though at first Vic and Yurio aren’t entirely sure what to make of it and why Phichit hasn’t pushed for more. Phichit’s not in any rush to officiate his relationship with Yuuri because he’s not planning on going anywhere. Plus, he doesn’t want to make things any more hectic than they already are after Yuuri marries the Russians. Phichit gets closer to the Russians during the 7 years post canon, at which time everyone feels that it’s time for him and Yuuri to also get married.

-Yurio had an ambiguous but growing crush on Yuuri since pre-canon but he’s in strict denial about it even though it’s becoming painfully and almost comically obvious to everyone except him and Yuuri. Things come to a head after he presents and Victor is helping him learn about his new status as an alpha and ends up outing Yurio’s feelings in the process. Yurio expects Victor to flat out crush his chances with Yuuri and is surprised when Victor is oddly encouraging, though it’s a mystery as to why. During their time at St. Petersburg, Yurio feels anxious that Victor and Yuuri’s retirement is getting closer and demands they stay with him as coaches and ends up accidentally confessing at the same time, sparking their three-way relationship which he realizes was Victor’s goal all along.

-Yuuri was worried about marrying Yurio while he was so young but Yurio wanted to get married early because he knew he’d regret it forever if his grandfather was unable to make the wedding. Yurio’s super worried about his grandfather bc Yurio’s always away, his grandfather lives alone in a pretty isolated area and his health isn’t great. After Yurio gets married, Kolya visits Hasetsu and hits it off with Yuuri’s parents, and after that it doesn’t take long to convince him to move in with them which certainly puts Yurio’s mind at ease. Kolya loves helping with the kids and is very happy to be their caretaker when their parents have to inevitably travel away from home.

-Phichit retired relatively early from professional figure skating to pursue his dream of creating his own ice show, which means learning not just the skating part but production design, acting, and everything else. His primary passion is entertaining his audience after all. During one of his theater internships he gets scouted as an actor, thinks it could be a good learning experience, and that lead to others gigs, leading to him becoming a pretty popular growing celebrity. This, combined with his super popular blog he runs about Yuuri’s kids (aided by his “employees,” the Nishigori triplets), has made him pretty high profile even outside the skating community.

-Minami is very openly and unashamedly in love with Yuuri but never pushes for a romantic relationship, being genuinely content and happy with whatever he can get (not that he doesn’t gloat around the Russians when he does get attention). Minami more or less moves into Yuuri’s house when he has kids and is absolutely besotted with them, self-appointing himself as Yuuri’s assistant and taking care of them constantly to the point where Yuuri has to scold him to focus on figure skating. He then also moves in with Yuuri when he gets a separate house from his parents with his current husbands and is sort of a permanent fixture in their family. The Russians bemoan how sometimes it seems the kids like Minami more than them. It seems natural and inevitable to everyone but Minami that he’d also eventually marry Yuuri, but Minami is so shocked when Yuuri proposes that he cries. (Minami’s is the only case where Yuuri proposes; in all previous marriages, his mates proposed to Yuuri)

-While he’s “currently” not really interested in permanently settling down with them, Chris pops by a lot and everyone’s used to him pretty much joining in on whatever he feels like; he’s very much an open lover, his casual relationship with Victor long preceding canon.

-Their other regular family member is Otabek, who isn’t nearly as sexually open but adores spending time with the kids. Yurio suspects Otabek may have a very slowly growing romantic interest in Yuuri and is wondering if he should discuss the possibility of him joining, but the timing doesn’t seem right so they’re content as is for now.

-For now none of them have changed their last names, as they aren’t sure how to hyphenate so many names. When his mates suggested they all take Katsuki, Yuuri wasn’t too thrilled because he’s very fond of their last names. They figure they can always change later if they want.

-They all wear their wedding bands on their left ring fingers. While his mates have more or less standard rings, Yuuri wears very thin bands so he can have them all on simultaneously, each a different color to match his mates’. Victor’s ring is white gold, Yurio’s yellow gold, Phichit’s black gold, and Minami’s is rose gold. Yuuri and Victor still wear their gold bands on their right hands as it symbolizes their unique bond during their time as coach and student. Shortly before his last competition, Minami gets a matching piercing with Yuuri, and in retaliation Yurio and Victor eventually get matching tiny tattoos on the inside of their fingers.

-The kids all call Victor, Yurio, and Phichit some variation of “dad” regardless of biological father and Yuuri some variation of “mom.” To the older three kids, Minami is their beloved “Ken-chan” because they knew him prior to him formally becoming Yuuri’s mate, but the youngest also calls him “dad.” Neither the kids nor fathers show any particular favoritism through blood connection and the kids get especially upset when outsiders try to single them out based on parentage.

~~

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Character presentations:

As mentioned in the Intro post, things are a bit more complicated and on a spectrum rather than cleanly divided three A/B/O categories. But the charas in this AU present as follows:

Yuuri - Omega, but leaning heavily towards the beta center of the spectrum. By U.S./international standards he’s technically classified as beta despite being able to bear children. Is not particularly sensitive to alpha pheromones and his own scent tends to be hard to notice. Usually has incredibly mild heats with main symptoms being pre-heat hunger and drowsiness. Went through most of his early life being told that he’s a very “unsexy/boring omega,” which tbh he’s been totally cool with, and he’s used to passing as a beta.

His “nonexistent omega pheromones” turns out to be a bit of a lie; he smells unbearably good to people he opens up to, but ONLY after he unintentionally lets them see who he is, so to strangers he smells beta. Yuuri is bad at opening up to people so has been under this misunderstanding for most of his life. Things change quite a bit after Victor becomes Yuuri’s coach, and Yuuri unintentionally learns how to open up his pheromones during performance and even more in his personal life.

This results in everyone who sees Yuuri perform being able to scent Yuuri’s pheromones, and for the first time in his life Yuuri gets noticed by strangers. Unused to the attention and still convinced that everything’s a misunderstanding and he has no scent, Yuuri always severely underestimates the impact of his pheromones on others which has his mates/future mates going into overdrive with protectiveness. Yuuri’s heats also become more severe based on the amount of alpha pheromones present in his vicinity.

Phichit - Alpha. Presented at sixteen while he was rooming with Yuuri. While smack dab in the center of the alpha range, he is extremely good at suppressing his pheromones due to his culture, his body’s natural biology, but most importantly extreme discipline and practice. As such he tends/chooses to pass as beta in his daily life, which allows him to remain close to Yuuri without anyone asking questions. His regular milder scent means people tend to underestimate him, but when provoked he can remove all restraints and intimidate the crap outa people with scent alone. Yuuri has always smelled amazing to him, and he didn’t know why no one else seemed to notice until Victor’s teaching revealed how Yuuri’s unique scent works.

Victor - Alpha. Very much on the far extreme end of the spectrum. Both due to his culture and how his body is, he tends to leak pheromones everywhere all the time and is very, very noticeable. Yet despite his often overwhelming presence, he is very good at keeping his emotions from coloring his pheromones and remains hard to read. He admittedly did not notice Yuuri’s scent at all until the banquet, and even then it was faint, leading to him assume that Yuuri’s a beta. During their time together he starts thinking Yuuri’s scent is getting stronger which confuses him greatly for a long time until he talks to Phichit and realizes what’s happening. While he’s glad he’s helped Yuuri access his full performance potential, he has mixed feelings about now having to beat off droves of suitors attracted by Yuuri’s scent after seeing him perform.

Yurio - Alpha. Presented at sixteen, and has very similar body chemistry to Victor. Being on the extreme end of the spectrum means more extreme sensitivity to pheromones and more extreme physical changes. More than his growth spurt, the near painful new awareness of pheromones becomes a huge barrier to his skating until he gets used to it, rendering him incapable of being in crowds of people or even stepping outside at first. During this time, the only scent he can stand and actually finds immensely comforting is Yuuri’s. Yuuri assumes it’s because his mild, unoffensive, and “unsexy” scent is soothing to Yurio’s new haywire alpha instincts, since even the scents of other omegas has Yurio feeling nauseous and sprinting to the bathroom. Victor pieces together that Yurio may be scenting Yuuri the way he is because of pre-existing emotional connections and romantic interest. Unlike Victor, Yurio’s emotions tend to bleed out heavily into his pheromones, though he does get a bit better at controlling himself with time.

Minami - Gamma (gamma-alpha). As a gamma, Minami is usually more or less beta, but changes in the pheromones in his environment/his own emotions/mental state can drastically change his pheromone output, how sensitive he is to those pheromones, and even physical factors like stamina. Unlike Phichit, he can’t really control how people perceive his pheromones. His gamma secondary is both helpful and challenging for his skating, because it means he can get a major power up whenever he’s in serious performance mode but it’s near impossible to recreate in daily practice. In addition, it’s risky to depend on “going alpha” because there’s no guarantee his emotions and environment will allow him to shift secondaries at the time and there are also benefits to performing as a beta. Training with Yuuri has helped stabilize him a ton, as being constantly bathed in the pheromones of the omega he loves has kept him in better touch with his alpha side. He tends to be full alpha the whole time whenever Yuuri is in heat.

(others, briefly)

Chris - Alpha

Otabek - Alpha

Leo - Beta

Guang-Hong - Omega

Georgi - Beta

Mila - Alpha

Seung-Gil - Alpha

JJ - Delta

Emil - Beta

Mickey - Gamma (gamma-omega)

Sara - Gamma (gamma-alpha)

Yakov - Beta

Lilia - Alpha

Minako - Alpha

Yuuko - Omega

Nishigori - Beta

Mari - Alpha

Yuuri’s parents - both beta

NOTE: International/most professional sports and other gender-divided things in this AU are NOT divided into “mens” and “womens.” There are standard tests and some sport-specific tests that measure an individual’s projected natural physical potential (such as strength, stamina etc.) and pheromone level. These are used to try to group athletes into the “tier” that best matches their physical abilities, indiscriminate to gender identity, and the number of tiers depends on the sport. Juniors may or may not be separated into tiers at all, but either way are re-tested prior to competing as adults or post-presenting and may be re-categorized. For pair skating/ice dancing/other sports that are traditionally man-woman duos in our universe, a pair’s eligibility is calculated based on a combined numerical value of their physical/pheromone points, which cannot be less than or greater than a certain range.

Figure skating has two tiers and Yuuri/Victor/Yurio/most of the gang compete in “Tier 2,” which tends to be more dominated by alphas/beta men. Some changes: Mila (alpha) and Sara (gamma-alpha) also compete in Tier 2, whereas Guang-Hong (omega) and Mickey (gamma-omega) compete in Tier 1. With his more beta-like physique and impressive stamina, Yuuri was told that despite being an omega he was on the border so could choose his tier and he chose Tier 2 to be in the same group as Victor. Most of the male figure skaters in the cast are alpha/beta because they all compete in the same Tier.

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~~

OC Kids

NOTE: They all have hyphenated last names with Katsuki first so they’ll be together alphabetically. They all attend international school in wherever country they happen to be in at the time and are all raised English/Japanese/Russian/Thai multi-lingual though I’ll probably be too lazy to show it in comics ^ ^; Full Name Explanations for the kids

Am open to suggestions for names for the pets  I’ve been calling them “dog,” “dog mini,” “cat,” and “ham” in my head bc that’s admittedly what I often call my pets in rl oops

-Yasha Katsuki-Nikiforov (older fraternal twin, conceived when Yuuri is 27 and Victor is 31) - Looks near identical to his twin except for coloration and hair part differences. Looks angelic but is a master at manipulating adults. Has perfected the poker face and is hard to read. In contrast to his ever cheerful smile he can be extremely blunt and rude. Doesn’t really care to make friends outside his siblings. He doesn’t admit to being as dependent on his little brother as Shura is on him but they’re very much inseparable. Takes great joy in terrorizing Yakov.

-Shura Katsuki-Plisetsky (younger fraternal twin, conceived when Yuuri is 27 and Yurio is 19) - The other near-identical twin, he is almost always glued to Yasha’s side. It’s partly out of competitiveness, but mostly because they both just want to do everything together. Despite their similar appearances, he’s the polar opposite of his brother in many ways. He chooses not to appear friendly to outsiders, but is also completely incapable of hiding his emotions and is very much an open book. He’s openly hostile and fiercely jealous of anyone who tries to take away his siblings’ attention, but is extremely affectionate to those he loves.

-Arisa Katsuki-Chulanont (3 years younger daughter, conceived when Yuuri is 30 and Phichit is 27) - Charming, friendly, and easy to please, she seems like she’d be the easiest child to raise after her brothers. Unfortunately, she has both her adoring older brothers wrapped around her little finger and realizes very early on that she can ask them to do almost anything for her. Combined with her rather sadistic streak, this leads to quite a few extreme mischief incidents the likes of which the twins would not have been able to conceive of by themselves. She’s terrifyingly smart and has a knack for reading people both in person and on social media, which she takes to very early. Unlike her more aloof, intimidating, or just plain unapproachable older brothers, their sister is extremely sociable, likable and popular among her peers...or she would be, if said terrifying older brothers didn’t scare them off first with their possessiveness and jealousy. This has lead to her becoming somewhat of an elevated queen on a pedestal, from whom the other kids can only wish they could get a smile or a few words of praise.

-Yuuji Katsuki-Minami (3 years younger than Arisa, conceived when Yuuri is 33 and Minami is 27; not pictured in the family portrait on this post bc not born yet) - Looks JUST like Yuuri when he was younger (+ tooth). Extremely happy and energetic and outgoing, he follows his older siblings everywhere. He’s extremely trusting and gullible, but while the other siblings sometimes like to tease Shura, Yuuji is coddled and protected. Has super powerful puppy eyes and uses them unintentionally to maximum effect. Really loves food and shouting nice things about everyone.

the adults sigh very loudly and wonder how their kids turned out this way...oh wait...

-a large poodle (Makkachin passed away from old age…;_;)

-a toy poodle

-Potya - Yurio’s now very old and crotchety cat

-Phichit’s hamster that likes to taunt said cat

~~

Thanks for reading! Again, for links to the other content in this AU including comics, illustrations, and headcanon posts, check out the “Future!verse ABO” section of my YOI Art Masterpost HERE!

~~

Like this post? Interested in supporting the artist and encouraging the creation of more similar works? Please consider supporting me through Patreon or Ko-Fi!

[rickthaniel]

The Avenger Promise or: How I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 despite its squandered potential

This weekend I saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Since I’d let a few weeks pass post-release, I was surprised to find the theatre just as packed as I’d expect from opening night. The world, like me, must have all been anticipating the sequel to what, in retrospect, might be the standout success of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. The original Guardians was stylish, witty, delightfully cast and coated head to foot in retro aesthetic, which in a pre-Stanger Things world felt totally fresh.

Unfortunately, Guardians 2 doesn’t hit that same stride. Mind you, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Dave Bautista really comes into his own with a bevy of smart/dumb one-liners, Bradley Cooper continues to build a strangely compelling character in Rocket Raccoon, and the soundtrack, opening up with a full-on dance sequence to ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky,” may even surpass that of the original. But through it all, Guardians 2 feels like it’s struggling against its own ubiquitous, monolithic creator, like a passionate kid trying desperately to convince his parents that a degree in music is just as valuable as enrollment in the business school.

See, in 2008, Marvel made us all a promise. The deal was, that if we all behaved and came out to support their summer superhero flicks, they’d reward us with a big, star-studded crossover event. The Avenger Promise. We all learned to sit patiently through every end credit sequence for that inevitable glimpse at the final chapter, the little tidbit to keep us satiated. The names were huge. Who wouldn’t be excited about Thor, Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s flamboyant Tony Stark? Every chapter, with varying success, established its own distinct world, its own feel, its own draw. Each one began and ended on its own power, and when Joss Whedon brought them all together four years after Iron Man’s screen debut, everyone cheered. I remember being absolutely certain that The Avengers would flop. There was no way they could take four years of hype built up over four different movies, throw together all that star power in two and a half hours, and walk away with something that would satisfy. But they did.

Five years after that success, however, the Avenger Promise has become a weight on the back of every Marvel film. Remember when they talked about the different stages of the MCU? The PowerPoint slides numerating franchise plans years into the future? We’re living that future now, and I have no clue anymore what stage we’re at. It’s gotten so that half the trailers before any movie you care to see are MCU trailers, and we all sit through the Dolby logo at every closing credits, be it for Pixar or Tarantino, because we’ve been conditioned to expect that little nugget at the end. The oversaturation of the superhero genre and Disney’s cinematic dominance has been talked to death, so I don’t want to dwell, but the scale just keeps getting more unbalanced. And now, it’s starting to really starting to harm itself.

Guardians 2 has, if I counted correctly, four individual scenes spread throughout the credits. Some were foreshadowing, others were simply comic relief, but I realized somewhere between the third and fourth that the movie feels less complete because of it. Captain America began and ended, with enough of a wink and nod to get you excited for Steve Roger’s inevitable thawing. It was the same with Iron Man and Thor. Guardians, on the other hand, feels like a stepping stone.

The appeal of the first movie was its distinct style. It felt more like an extra-campy, 70s sitcom rendition of Star Wars than a superhero film. The action was solid, and the ties to the rest of the universe were there, but it worked on the merits of its quirky individuality, which now seems threatened by the very circumstances that gave it breath.

As much as I loved Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker in the first film, I find it a little odd that they, among other minor characters from Guardians 1 (remember Yondu’s backcountry first mate?), all become so central this time around. Everybody has an arc, a speech, and a hug-it-out moment of resolution, which is…nice…but it feels a little bizarre in a franchise that already boasts five major leads. Add Kurt Russell’s Ego to the mix and you have a cast of eight major players, more than the first Avengers even with Sam Jackson thrown in. That’s absurd, and it made me wonder why such a huge crew was necessary.

By the third act (if you can call it that, the movie has a weirdly one-act feel with everything pretty much happening in the same spot), I figured it out. Because somebody needs to be in danger. Because somebody needs to deliver the emotional gut-punch. Somebody’s arc needs to wrap up, one way or another, and it can’t possibly be any of the five protagonist. No, they’re arcs are waiting on Infinity War and Vol. 3 and whatever follows in MCU Stage 12. Every personal moment with the core cast felt weightless because their brand status is now abundantly clear. They’re protected from on high from any permanent character shifts, any major change in dynamic, any real danger at all. Instead, the movie spends half an hour speed-grinding a minor character up to the party level just so somebody can have a real moment. It comes off alright, but it doesn’t avoid feeling shoehorned in by the multi-billion dollar guardian angel that is Disney. For all the Fast and Furious family talk, the character inclusivity still seems like a scheme to keep Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and the other three headliners in narrative stasis.

Even Rocket’s arc, which to me felt subtle and interesting, loses a ton of weight by the fact that this movie is just the latest piece of a massive puzzle that I have an ever-diminishing interest in finishing. Infinity War holds none of the allure for me that the first Avengers did in 2012. Thanos has been hiding in the credits too long for me to care anymore. Will I see it? Yes, they got me. For a big dumb fight with theater surround sound, I’ll toss eight more bucks Disney’s way. The machine keeps turning, and I’m a part of the problem. It just saddens me to see a really brilliant property like Guardians kept from its true potential, its uniqueness and creativity crushed under the heel of the MCU business model.

When Ego helps Starlord unlock his god-powers, Chris Pratt grins and promises to “build some weird shit.” There’s a glint in his eye. He’s psyched. But all too soon, Ego reveals the price of those resources – life as a “battery,” fueling the assimilation of everything he’s ever known. Guardians 2 is almost too good of a self-prophecy. And while the jokes still play, the music still bumps, and a lot of the style remains, it hurts to watch something great be crippled by its obligation as a cog in an endless expanse.

[theconspiracyconstruct]

Episode 9: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Click “Keep Reading” for the transcript!

             Hey, welcome back. I’m Madi, and on this episode, the final episode, we’re going to be taking a look at everything we’ve learned so far. Let’s get into it.

             When I started this podcast there were several key questions I wanted to answer. The first is what do people in my everyday life think of conspiracy theories? To answer this, I interviewed three people that represented three different circles within my life: my parents, my teachers, and my friends. In the interview with my parents, I found out my mom believes in the theory of aliens landing in New Mexico, which I never knew before. However, I did know that my dad was involved in JFK assassination theories. In that episode, you can hear me laugh in the background when he starts talking about the JFK assassination because I knew he was going to talk about that. In fact, I wrote that interview question with him and his fascination with that theory in mind (Prentice and Prentice).

             My friend Abe’s views were similar but different in that he did believe in conspiracies but not in any “big-name” conspiracy theories, because the conspiracies that actually occur “are usually a lot less interesting than the ones that people talk about” (Weinstein). Like Abe, Dr. Coven asserted that there certainly have been conspiracies, but not to the extent that people reported them. He differed in that he showed a much greater distaste for conspiracy theories than the other interviewees. Dr. Coven stated that “belief in conspiracy theories takes away the understanding of true underlying causes. And that can’t be helpful because you’re not attacking the problem you’re attacking this fairytale version of the problem”. If people were simply “entertained”, there was no issue. It becomes an issue “the minute it becomes a substitution for actual knowledge” (Coven).

             This leads to my second question: do conspiracy theories have consequences? In terms of affecting higher decision making such as bureaucracies, what I saw was that, no, not really. Most of the time, they’re just up against big groups that just dismiss them as fringe theories. For example, NASA merely dismisses the moon landing hoax theory. There have been some impacts. For example, the conspiracy theories around the JFK assassination did prompt Lyndon B. Johnson to call for the creation of the Warren Commission. (Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy and Schechter). Then, the critique of the Warren Commission led to the House Select Committee on Assassinations publishing another report (Gillon). But, in my research, I didn’t see any of the theories create long-lasting, permanent changes in a bureaucracy or government.

             However, I agree with Dr. Coven that the real consequences arise when conspiracy theories become “a substitution for actual knowledge” (Coven). The documentary Behind the Curve also touches a bit on what Dr. Coven is talking about. In the documentary, it speaks about how a lot of believers in fringe theories cherry-pick their evidence in the way that they only choose to look at things that prove their theories. This can be seen in one of the experiments that flat earthers conducted in the documentary. They used a gyroscope, a device that can pick up the motion of the Earth, to try and disprove the fact that the Earth rotates. However, the gyroscope does, in fact, pick up the Earth’s rotation. But, they’re not willing to accept that. So, they dismiss it as it just picking up the motion of the sky. So, they put it in a chamber to prevent it from detecting the sky’s motion, but even then it picks up motion. Even though this is directly proving the rotation of the Earth, they dismiss it because it doesn’t lend evidence to their belief (Behind the Curve). Thus, as Dr. Coven said, the theory morphs into a substitution for knowledge (Coven).

             Also in the documentary, Dr. Joe Pierre, professor of psychiatry at UCLA, talks about the Dunning-Kruger effect. The Dunning-Kruger effect is when people who don’t really have any expertise about something have this false confidence and believe that they are incredibly knowledgeable about something. (Behind the Curve). This brings me into my next question, which is why do people believe in conspiracy theories? Well, different people believe in them for different reasons.

             A 2011 study conducted at the University of Kent asserts that “individuals use the social-cognitive tool of projection when making judgments”, and thus found that “individuals were more likely to endorse conspiracy theories if they thought they would be willing, personally, to participate in the alleged conspiracies”. They also found “a relationship between Machiavellianism and conspiracy beliefs” (Douglas and Sutton, 2). Machiavellianism is a term in psychology that refers to someone who will manipulate and deceive others if it serves their own interest. They’re focused on their own ambition and prioritize their own goals over relationships. These tendencies stem from a lack of morals (“What Is Machiavellianism in Psychology?”). But what does all of this mean? Well, looking at this information, we can summarize that people who have a looser grasp on their morals—such as those who exhibit Machiavellian traits do—are more willing to subscribe to conspiracy theories. This is because they use the tool of “projection”, projecting their own lack of morals onto others (Douglas and Sutton, 2). Those with loose morals may be more likely to think that other people would also have loose morals. Thus, they can more easily envision people conspiring and falling prey to corruption. This also translates into how we’re likely to believe a conspiracy theory that highlights our own morals. For example, when people dislike a political figure, they’re more likely to subscribe to a conspiracy theory that paints said figure in a poor light. Those who dislike Trump are more likely to believe that Trump conspired or conspires with Russia.

             People can also use conspiracy theories to protect themselves. For example, in the JFK assassination conspiracy, it’s scary to think that just some guy—someone like us, someone who lives among us—could commit an atrocious act like that. Instead, it’s easier to adopt a conspiracy theory that the government orchestrated it because we view the government as an other. We view it as this large, powerful group, so it’s easier for us to comprehend that a group like that could orchestrate the assassination rather than just someone like us. As Mr. Coven said, this can be dangerous because it’s not addressing the real problem, it’s “attacking this fairytale version of the problem” (Coven).  

             Another reason has to do with schizotypy. Schizotypy is a collection of traits including “relatively untrusting, ideologically eccentric and prone to having unusual perceptual experiences (i.g. sensing stimuli that are not actually present)”. Schizotypy is considered one of the strongest predictors of conspiracy belief. Why is this? Well, people with higher schizotypy levels have a stronger urge to feel unique. Thus, they take to believing in unconventional and “non-mainstream” ideas because it allows them to stand out. Joining these conspiracy theories also introduces them to a community of people that think like they do (Hart).

             This also ties back into Behind the Curve. Near the end of the documentary, there’s the assertion that it’s an identity struggle. And it is. All conspiracy theories are. In fact, all beliefs in general are. It’s human nature to want to try to find your identity. In terms of flat Earth, it’s something that flat earthers can define themselves through because it makes them feel special. It gives them a higher purpose in life. It makes them a protagonist of something (Behind the Curve). Moreover, it means they’re not alone anymore. As I spoke of before with individuals who exhibit schizotypal behavior, it gives them a community of people who think like they do and who have been through similar things they have.

             And I was speaking in the context of flat Earth there, but that’s the case with any cause. One of the things that stuck with me most from the documentary is the question “Where are you a flat earther? Where are you and your people the protagonists in some sort of fight?” (Behind the Curve). Because everyone has something that they fight for and something that they view themselves as the protagonist of. Just as it’s human nature to want to identify, to want to be around a community of like-minded people, it’s human nature to want to ascribe greater meaning to life.

             Another piece of Behind the Curve that really stuck with me is its call for empathy. Argument isn’t progressive. When you attack someone’s belief system, all that’s going to do is make them defensive. They’ll shut down. There’s no way they’re going to listen to anything you have to say after that. If there was anything that I wanted to accomplish with this podcast series, it was to encourage empathy. There may be some things that you heard over the course of this podcast that you thought was incredibly unfounded. But you need to understand that just as strongly as you believe in the causes you fight for, other people believe in fringe theories and conspiracies.

             In conclusion, some curiosity is healthy. Whether or not you like conspiracy theories, you can’t deny that we are not always told the complete truth. And that’s all for this episode, and for this podcast. Thank you so much for listening! If you’d like to contact me or ask any questions, you can do so on my blog, theconspiracyconstruct.tumblr.com. Bye!

Works Cited

Clark, Daniel J, director. Behind the Curve. Netflix, 2018.Fleming, Chris. “Flat Wrong: the Misunderstood History of Flat Earth Theories.” The Conversation, 26 Nov. 2018, theconversation.com/flat-wrong-the-misunderstood-history-of-flat-earth-theories-53808.

Coven, Robert. Interview about conspiracy theories. 18 Mar. 2019.

Douglas, Karen M., and Robbie M. Sutton. Does It Take One to Know One? Endorsement of Conspiracy Theories Is Influenced by Personal Willingness to Conspire. 2011, https://kar.kent.ac.uk/26187/1/Douglas%20&%20Sutton%202011%20BJSP.pdf.

Gillon, Steven M. “Why the Public Stopped Believing the Government about JFK's Murder.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 Oct. 2017, www.history.com/news/why-the-public-stopped-believing-the-government-about-jfks-murder.

Hart, Joshua. “Profiling a Conspiracy Theorist: Why Some People Believe.” LiveScience, Purch, 26 Sept. 2018, www.livescience.com/63658-why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories.html.

Knopple, Barbara and Danny Schechter, directors. Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy. 1992.

Prentice, Kim, and Michael Prentice. Interview about conspiracy theories. 17 Mar. 2019.

“What Is Machiavellianism in Psychology?” Harley Therapy™ Blog, 30 Dec. 2017, www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/machiavellianism-psychology.htm.

Weinstein, Abe. Interview about conspiracy theories. 18 Mar. 2019.