#and texas isn't even one of my states lol.

[gothamcityneedsme]

ok work is getting a bit dire lol. the thing is. i don't have a backlog, im on top of my shit. and i've had so much time to do other people's work that THEIR backlogs are also shrinking, lol

[velvetures]

omg hey just here to shoot a request, idk if you do gaz as well but only soap is ok too. maybe something like soap x reader where the reader is a transfer from the american sector and she's just this super energetic, "AMERICA SCRAAAWWW" kind of person but is also super in learning about cultures and stuff. then the boys take her to this texas themed pub that she just criticizes the shit ton as she's from texas. i think it'll be funny to see a scot x texan lol thxx

God Bless Texas... and Scotland

A/N: I believe my goal here is to make something a little more on the joking/humorous side here... I'm not trying to get into politics or country pride on a deep level. This is just for fun. Nevertheless, thank you for requesting, I hope you enjoy the direction I went with this. This is sooo damn cheesy... Summary: On shore leave, you and Soap get into a conversation about what it was like in your home countries. A couple funny stereotypes and light-hearted argument later, the 141 decide that experiencing both sides of the coin are necessary to settle the score. T/W's: stereotypes ofc, cursing, friendly banter/teasing, and as always not proofread.

It all started when you came out of your private quarters into the shared living room with an old t-shirt on with the admittedly cliche statement 'God Bless Texas' printed boldly over the front inside of a state-boundary shape. Out of all of the members of the 141, you were undoubtedly the most... shall we say... patriotic. At least in terms of your state pride and your unwavering happiness of having family still living there who were so in support of you and your work. Having family in the first place was something different compared to the rest of the squad, and it made the whole pride of where you came from a lot more difficult to understand.

You'd spent years at this point being around the 141 and learning all kinds of very unique and traditional habits that they carried with them despite oftentimes not having a family to share them with. Most of those, they shared with each other, and after getting comfortable with you was extended as a way to bond with you outside of the missions and other job requirements that you did together. From Soap's requirement of the "First Footing" tradition on New Year's, Captian Price never missing a Soccer World Cup no matter where he is, and Gaz's refusal to have a Christmas dinner without Christmas pudding, there isn't a time when someone isn't explaining their desire to incorporate some country, cultural, or family tradition in one way or another.

So, naturally, Soap was ecstatic when he found out about some little niche place that had opened up an 'American, Texas-Themed' restaurant. He knew it would be totally overdone, as did everyone else, so they all thought it would be something of a light-hearted way to poke fun at your loyalties by taking you there as a "resident expert" that could point them in the right direction and away from everything else. Truly the idea of having at least on full hour of teaisng you with everything they could just sounded like a damn good way to spend an afternoon.

The place was a little hole-in-the-wall pub with a little bit of seating that wasn’t directly at the bar. Dim lighting made it feel pretty inviting, but the obvious country music choices including Texas natives: George Strait, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson made it feel a little cheap. Especially with the taxidermy Longhorn head above the bar and the “cowboy” style of practically everything hanging on the walls. Although it wasn’t quite the most miserable place you’d even been, it certainly felt like a little more than just a healthy appreciation.

“Home away from home, right lass?” Soap’s devilish grin only made the wound sting your pride that much more.

"Ya know... actually, not one bit." You answer a bit awestruck and looking around the place with bated breath and the hope that it wouldn't get much worse than it already was.

To your irritation, it got worse. Much worse.

After getting seated by an -obviously- British woman forced to fake a deep and southern drawl, you were all handed menus that named off the most "popular" foods in the Southern United States that not only made you chuckle out loud with disbelief but actually voice the total inaccuracies of certain dishes that the men sitting around you actually thought were legitimate staple items.

"You actually eat rattlesnakes often?" Gaz thought it was a bit far off since he spent quite a bit of time in his service in South Carolina, but thought he'd clarify with you anyway.

"For Christ's sake, Garrick. No!" You roll your eyes, taking a drink of the iced sweet tea you were actually shocked to see was listed as a drink option.

That in itself was the largest contention point with Ghost who stared at you with an iron-clad will of hatred seeing you pleasantly drinking iced sweet tea like you were enjoying the abomination. To his horror, you were quick to compliment that they'd actually gotten it pretty close to how you made it yourself or people at home did.

"What is a pecan pie?" Captain Price was quick to question the dessert menu before a waitress had even come back around to take main course orders.

His question sounded somewhat confused and downright scandalized at the same time. And to be honest, you really didn't know how to explain that it was simply a pie with corn syrup and brown sugar-based sweet filling, covered with pecans that were baked in a regular pie shell. You attempted to describe the basic ingredients and how it was made to the table of interested men, only to have them all stare in guarded horror... Save for Gaz. He'd actually tried it while in the States and said he'd enjoyed it. Luckily he was on your side for that particular topic.

The men as a whole hilariously didn't order anything that you -or they- considered uniquely "Texan" or "American". Soap insisted that you pick a meal that sounded the most authentic to you and that they would try some of the food off of your plate. Of course, the idea sounded good to them, but you weren't sure you wanted to share a plate of food that could possibly be decently "American" when it would still be months before you could go back home.

You folded quickly and picked a meal that you believed would be safe enough to keep them from being outwardly horrified with you but would still be interesting to compare to the meals you grew up with at home. The most simple and safe option was what they called the 'Home Run Special', most certainly a knock-off of the American chain breakfast restaurant. It came with pancakes, fried eggs, bacon, biscuits, sausage gravy, grits, and hashbrowns.

When the platter came out, you were pleasantly surprised at the look of everything, seeing as it visually had promise and even smelled just about right as well. With one glance around the table, you saw every single man staring at the three-plate meal sitting in front of you and couldn't believe that all of that food was supposedly for one person. That comment alone did make you laugh. It was one thing that you weren't afraid to admit. You could eat a whole lot. And it was a family thing that you never could be shy to not own up to. Eating all of that breakfast to them might've seemed totally unacceptable, yet for you, it looked very accomplishable, given the food tasted good. They each wanted you to give your own personal opinions before they tried anything and watched you intently for any sign of your acceptance or lack thereof.

By the end of the meal, the men had all tried everything and had mixed opinions of what they thought was actually good or not. You believed the biscuits and gravy were totally garbage and vowed that you could make them better, and wouldn't even allow them to taste them for fear of cementing an even more concrete belief that biscuits weren't meant to be savory. They were half-and-half on the bacon, some saying it was really good while others complained it wasn't enough meat for so much grease. You... were quite pleased. Eggs were fine, they all didn't really pay them much mind, while the grits were such a contested topic that you weren't sure if they lost respect for you since you finished the entire serving.

"Although I've enjoyed the majority of the food and I was surprised with it... this isn't anything legitimate." You mutter with a full stomach, looking around the place and beginning to feel a little more homesick than you thought such a tacky pub could produce.

Soap, who was finishing off your pancakes nudged your shoulder a little and smiled. "You'll have to take me home with ya. Then I ken' really find out why ye' think Texas is so damn special."

"You have to take me home with you too Johnny," You take the fork out of his hand and eat one more bite of pancakes. "So I can see if God blessed Scotland, too."

Reblogs & Comments are Appreciated

[qqueenofhades]

I hate to rain on today’s much needed joy parade, but do you think the USA is headed for civil war in the near future? It’s increasingly feeling like 2024 is going to be a make or break year and with division at an all time high it feels like there’s going to be complete chaos in the streets even if we avoid crisis at the polls. Like, even though I’m in a “safe state” (for now) I’m seriously considering strategies of fleeing the country, just in case. Don’t know what I’m asking for, help? Reassurance maybe? Advice?

I think my answer to that is... yes but also no, and no but also yes, and yes but also no. Which I realize is not entirely helpful and not as clear as anyone would like, but let me try to explain:

The far-right has always been militant, violent, and prone to apocalyptic and fascist rhetoric. This isn't a new thing in American history, and it's come to the fore at moments of particular stress and division. Trump's presidency obviously gave much-unwanted oxygen to them, right when people were starting to claim that Obama's election meant that America was in a "post-racial era" (LOL), but they themselves are not new. We had the Civil War itself, we had the lynchings and racial terror and Jim Crow/Ku Klux Klan era, we had the Bund (the American Nazis) holding huge public gatherings in the run-up to WWII and enjoying substantial domestic support, etc etc etc. This is all scary and unsettling, and most of us don't have a personal memory of dealing with it before, because we're not old enough. But that doesn't mean it hasn't happened before, and that we haven't survived it.

Let's take yesterday, for instance. Trump spent all week promising fire and death and vengeance and playing literal videos of January 6th at his campaign rally in Waco, Texas (famed as the site of the Waco Siege of 1994; look it up). He insisted his supporters would rain vengeance on anyone who dared to arrest him and otherwise threatened mass-scale disturbances and the other tools of public violence that fascists use to enforce their will. And what happened? It's 12+ hours since the first indictment went through (30 counts of business/document fraud, which is not a piddling charge) and we've had bupkis. We've had a lot of Republican politicians tweeting their performative hypocritical outrage, yes, but we haven't suddenly had the country explode in fire and flame either. I'm sure there have been localized protests, but I haven't heard about major anything. And one set of indictments has gone through, others will be empowered to follow. In a way, I think it's a good thing that non-political crimes went first? Yes, the Republicans are screaming about a political witch hunt because that's literally the only thing they can do, but starting by nabbing Trump for relatively low-level (but still extensive) business fraud and then moving onto the treason sets a pattern and makes it easier to comprehend.

The thing is: Nazis, at heart, are cowards. They like to paint themselves as bold and valiant soldiers fighting for the Right Way of Life, but it's all fantasy, delusion, and cosplay. They were empowered to do January 6th because Trump was literally the sitting president and told them to do it, but that's no longer the case, and they're shit scared of facing anyone who might enforce real consequences on them. (Once again, if you take nothing else from following me: Nazis are punk-ass fucking pissant cowards who think they're tough and are in fact a bunch of asshole morons, the end.) The mantra of "Make Racists Afraid Again" is working, to an extent. Yes, we have hellholes like Missouri, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee where the state GOP is working as hard as they can to enforce the worst and most regressive laws imaginable, but that's still not universal. As I also say a lot, the reason Republicans attack, discredit, and outlaw voting so much is because they can never win a fair election on the merits. Their ideas suck, and on some level they know that. They just care about being cruel, fascist, and stupid, and while that's certainly a troubling and significant minority in America, it's not as big as anyone thinks.

Almost 60% of Americans think both that "woke" is a good thing and the cases against Trump should permanently disqualify him from holding any office again. Yet again: the GOP is in the minority, and that's why they use so many dirty tricks to establish and enforce their power. Also, I can guarantee you that not one of the keyboard warriors fulminating about how The Democrat Party Is Being So Mean To President Trump is ever going to actually go out and start an actual civil war. They have established interests, money, benefits from the system, and they don't want to overturn that. They want the masses angry and stupid, yes, but they want them angry and stupid in support of keeping discriminatory structures and systems in place. That can't work if there are no systems at all. Yes, we will still have white supremacists and fascists committing ongoing individual acts of violence, i.e. school shootings, and it's hard to argue that this doesn't constitute a civil war of some sort, or at least ongoing stochastic terrorism. But while you have people like Marge Two Names Greene out there blabbing about a National Divorce, I can guarantee you that if it ever came to actually DOING it, Marge and Brave Brave Sir Kevin would be nowhere to be found. Again: they want to derive power and money from the operation of an unfair system, not the end of that system. It sucks, but still.

Honestly, I want the Dominion lawsuit to keep going on, and dragging all of Fox News' hypocrisy, deception, and disinformation into the public eye. Fox is the biggest cancer on this country, as is the case with Rupert Murdoch's global disinformation empire overall (when, WHEN will HE fucking die, if we're talking death lottery wishlists?) But the lawsuit and its subsequent publicity has had an effect: a small but significant number of Fox viewers (26%) realized the network was lying to them, and 13% said that they no longer believed the 2020 election was stolen after reading about the Fox efforts to lie about it and then cover up their lies. So while the right-wing media bubble is huge and terrible, it's also not impenetrable, and taking Fox down/substantially discrediting it would have a major effect on the pay-for-play misinformation media sphere.

This is getting long, so let me try to sum up: the far-right advocating separatist fantasies of violence/war/fascist domination is not new, and has been a thing in American history for as long as there has been America. But at least in the current moment, it is not the majority, it is not widely popular, it will never be embraced by ordinary mainstream Americans and not just the insane cultists, its so-called devoted soldiers yell on Twitter and cable news and will never once be spotted actually fighting for it, and it's the cynical last gasp of a hate movement that is seeing its institutional and generational hold on America (and the world) finally on the brink of permanently shifting. So of course it's trying to make itself look as big and scary as possible, like any wounded animal, but it's on the back foot, and we have a chance to really kill it. Not permanently or forever, since that's the nature of human history, but at least for now and buy us some more time, and despite everything, I remain cautiously optimistic about our likelihood of doing so. I know it's scary, I know it's awful, I know it feels overwhelming, but it is still not winning, and it won't. As long as we do our part.

Hugs. Hang in there.

[imaginespazzi]

Bestie, I absolutely love the reactions, and the potential upset picks based on nothing but vibes (because is there any other way to pick them really?), the silly goofy vibes F4 predictions! All of it!

Ok, so I've created a few too many brackets lmao, some (read: most) with all vibes and zero logic, and a couple with slightly more logic, maybe, lol. But I guess my "primary" bracket consists of the following, and I'll start from sweet 16, to make it shorter (yk when i say shorter i really mean longer):

Sweet 16

Albany 1:

SC vs Oklahoma (I actually think Indiana could get through over Oklahoma but for humanity's sake, I'm manifesting the Sooners) Oregon St vs Notre Dame ( I wanted to give Nebraska and/or Ole Miss the upset in Rd 2, which I have in a couple of my other brackets, but ultimately, I think Oregon St and ND get through)

Albany 2:

Princeton vs Kansas St (ok so my primary bracket should really be one of my more logical ones but fuck that, it's March Madness for a reason, and I desperately want Princeton to get through and upset Iowa. I mean, just imagine being the team that sends CC and the Hawkeyes packing, and to do it in Carver? Give me a Kaitlyn Chen buzzer-beating game-winning shot for the theatrics! Oh and Colorado and Kansas St is a toss-up for me rn, but I'll go with Ayoka Lee)

LSU vs UCLA (I badly wanna see Louisville upset LSU bcos in Jeff I trust buuuut I just can't see it rn, I'm sorry Jeff)

Portland 3:

USC vs Columbia (yeah that's right, fuck it, Columbia in against Vandy then upsets Baylor and VT cos it's Abbey Hsu's last year and the universe owes her one! 😌)

UConn vs Ohio State (Does a Syracuse/Auburn/Arizona matchup scare me a little? Sure, but just a little, cos March P and MVLi will get them through. Also, what's with the committee and setting up players against their former team - HVL vs Louisville and Celeste vs Duke, lmao committee be a lil messy sometimes)

Portland 4:

Texas vs Utah (I know people are expecting Utah to stumble early, maybe even in the first round, but not me bestie, NOT ME)

Tennessee vs Stanford (you're right that there's really no in between with TN, either they upset NC State or get blown out by them but I'm going with the upset)

Elite 8

South Carolina vs Oregon State (I know, I have Oregon St with the upset over ND, but idk i think a part of me is a lil biased towards PAC 12 teams just given what they'd had to contend with even though ACC was a tough one too, so I'm giving Oregon St the slightest edge)

Kansas St vs UCLA (I wanna take Princeton all the way to an Elite 8, I do, but I didn't 😭 And maybe I'm too high on UCLA but like you said, they're just more consistent and I trust them more than LSU and most other teams)

USC vs Ohio State (I'M SORRY Y'ALL! Ok, look, as I might have said before, I'm a massive Jacy and Cotie fan and because it's Jacy's final year, I kinda have a slight bias towards OSU right now. But what about Aaliyah and Nika, you ask?? What about "bleed blue always"? I know, I'm such a traitor, but in my defence? my main attachment to UConn is Azzi, even though I do love the rest of the team - and since Azzi isn't playing, my attachment to a few other players (read: Jacy and AP) have been a little stronger this season. PLS FORGIVE ME)

Utah vs Stanford (read previous statement and my said attachment to certain players - I'm wishing on any and every shooting star that AP goes on a generational run and takes Utah this far 🙏 I also have TN upsetting Stanford in some brackets, but not this one)

Final 4

South Carolina vs Stanford (Given I'd been letting my heart dictate most of these picks, I really should have just gone with Utah to make it here, but this is the one time my brain actually took over)

UCLA vs Ohio State (like you, USC still doesn't move me as much as other teams, although I do think they're actually a solid team even outside of Juju, but hey if I picked Ohio State over UConn then I should really stand by that now huh)

National Championship

South Carolina vs Ohio State

Champion

Ohio State (I will say, I think after the second sweet-16 reveal, I picked OSU to win then and so I thought well I might as well stand ten toes down and stay consistent 😅)

Again, I'm sorry for betraying UConn like this, I know pookie would be disappointed in me 😔 but fear not y'all, I swear I made another bracket where I have UConn win it all soooo, call it even?

Anyway, this is all from an unqualified, amateur, and unserious wcbb fan who used simply nothing but vibes and a quarter of a brain cell to make these picks!

I'm sorry you had to read through all that, bestie. I know you're probably like, i didn't ask for this!! But I hope it was entertaining, if anything 😂

Biggest love to you always, Nivi. 💗

-🙋���♀️

Hi bestie <3

BABES NOT YOU PICKING AGAINST MY HUSKIES 😭😭😭

Now that, that's out of the way (I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed 🥲) I actually see the vision with your bracket but I'm ngl babes we are on very different wavelengths for the first time lol because "main" bracket is not this at all (well kinda).

I have SC vs Indiana (still rooting for Fairfield) because I have Oklahoma losing to FGCU and I picked the Nebraska upset so I have them vs ND but I have SC coming out of that region as well.

Also babes I'm with because I have Princeton making the sweet 16 as well like it's what we deserve but I'm picking the Louisville upset because fuck Kim Mulkely lmao but I do ultimately have UCLA coming out of that region.

Our Portland 3 region is so insanely difference because I'm so sorry bestie I have OSU getting upset by Duke in the 2nd round. And this is gonna backfire but I have USC getting upset in the 2nd round by Kansas and then obviously I have UConn coming out of the whole things.

But we see each other with Portland 4 because I have Texas vs Utah and Stanford vs Tennessee as well but then listen APHive, I'm so sorry, and I have Utah going further in my fun brackets, but in the main, I had to put Texas above. I have Stanford coming out of that one though.

Anyways all of this to say that I have Stanford vs UConn in the national championship with UConn winning it all. I genuinely tried to make *1* bracket where UConn didn't win and I just couldn't so basically in every world in my brain UConn wins.

I love your thoughts always babes (even when you're betting against my huskies) and I love that they're always long. <3

[fantasticcloudcreation]

Update from the cracker barrel parking lot, I made it just past halfway and stopped here to sleep but it's too hot in here even with the fan on so I can't actually sleep, plus the RV next to me has their generator going which is very noisy.... 8 hours left for tomorrow, I'll probably start driving early and just get toasted by the sun the entire morning...

Drank a lot of water and a body armor electrolyte drink (I haven't checked the cal/sugar content on those but tbh I don't think I want to know), ate a granola bar and some potato chips...

I'm mad bc apparently I was supposed to be at work today and nobody fucking told me the dates changed lmfao like they're not mad at me but I'm mad at them like I'm driving all the way down here for a week of work when it could've been 9 days instead of 7 days lmfao like it's just silly, these people need to get their shit together 😂 it's ok I was in a weird mood anyway the past couple days and now I feel refreshed and ready to start, probably would've had a meltdown today if I tried to go into work so its probably for the best. But I still would've liked to know that the dates were changed ? Like who's in charge here lol.

I'm tired and grumpy and I wish I could open my doors and get some more airflow in here, I should've booked a state park site but I didn't know how far I'd get today, it's fine just relax and breathe and think about ice cubes :) once I get to the hotel in Miami I can take an icy shower and eat a good meal and relax :) still thinking about my first trip in the van, going out to California through Oklahoma/Texas with 100+ temps and 30+mph winds, those were some shitty days of driving haha and then on the way back, it was like 115+ in Arizona and that one night it was still 98 at midnight?? And then the starter died the next day?? Yeah this ain't so bad lol I made it through all that on my very first trip. Oh and a tornado warning on the very first night lmfao wow I actually went through a lot on that journey. Maybe I need to go out west again, shake things up again. Maybe in February I'll reach out to those guys out there and see if I can work with them again. (Maybe I should upgrade my van situation before I do that so the weather isn't such a stressor on my journeys haha.) Idk it's midnight whatever I'm halfway there it's already cooling down a lil bit I'm gonna sleep til the sun comes up and then drive all day and it'll be hot but I'll survive and then life goes on etc :) stop thinking so much and go to sleep lol

[pftones3482]

I would love to hear all about Cass and Bailey

Hello welcome to my OCs who I never talk about, prepare to be info dumped on.

Okay so to tell you about Cass and Bailey I have to tell you briefly about Press Play in Case of Zombies, which is the story I've been off and on working at for the last couple years.

My basic thought process was, "I want a zombie story that isn't blood and guts and sex and constant fighting - I want a boring zombie story. A bunch of college kids, just existing during the literal apocalypse. And also every chapter is titled after a song that I think would sound cool if it played during a zombie fight scene." So that's what that turned into (the playlist was fun to put together lol)

It's set at a college in the mid-west United States (I truly am going for as boring a setting as possible here), a few months after the start of a "zombie virus." (lmao at me starting this before Covid) The main cast of characters decides to remain on their campus for safety, and they end up commandeering one of the dorms and turning it into a safe haven for any other students at the school. And by the end, they accidentally end up figuring out the cure to the zombie virus, but the story isn't about that lol. It's about literally just vibing during the end of the world in the middle of nowhere

Bailey and Cassidy (she really only goes by Cass in very soft or intense moments) are two of the main characters. The whole cast are juniors/seniors in college, around 21-22 years old, and Cassidy and Baily have been dating for the last two years of school. Cassidy is bisexual, and Bailey is the friend group's token straight (though they all tease him that eventually they'll get him on their side)

Cassidy double majors in theater and English. She is a black trans woman with very supportive parents and an even more supportive little sister. She actually figured out she was trans after a middle school theater teacher had to cast her in a female role due to a lack of participating students, and she realized that she much preferred being a woman. Her parents got her on puberty blockers as soon as they could, and they've been wonderful ever since. She's a very outspoken and vibrant person (you have to be, to be in theater), and is a very logical individual. She's super forgiving of mistakes, but she's also very untrustworthy of strangers at times, which gets even worse after the apocalypse fully crashes down around them. She is SEVERELY arachnophobic, which she hates because she knows that logically there is nothing to fear, but every other animal in the world is fair game for her to pick up and coo over. She has a concerning amount of lipstick, and even after the apocalypse starts she continues to wear it, because she figures that if the world is going to end, she might as well look fun when it does. Her favorite colors are reds, golds, and oranges.

Bailey is a graphic design major, with a music education minor. He grew up in rural Texas and has a rocky relationship with his family, save his grandmother and brother (the majority of his family is not great about the fact that he's dating a woman of color, and Bailey and Cassidy both agreed when they started dating that there is no need for his family to know she's trans. His grandmother and brother are the only ones aware, and they're both supportive). He's very extroverted and cheerful, and it takes a lot to get him truly pissed off. He has a prosthetic leg - he lost his as a kid in a nasty car accident. He's had it for so long that he barely notices it anymore, it's just a part of his normal life, but the apocalypse forces him to be more cautious with it, since he can't just replace parts or pieces anymore if something happens. Because he's spent so long missing part of his leg, however, he has a great sense of balance, so in the safety of the refurbished dorm, he tends to keep the prosthetic away so that it stays in as good a condition for as long as possible. He speaks French as a second language and is trying to get Akio and Alex (two other MCs) to teach him Japanese and Spanish. He absolutely SUCKS at percussion instruments, but put him in front of a piano and he can play for hours. His favorite colors are pinks and dark blues (like, navy dark)

I kind of imagine their relationship dynamic to be similar to that of Frank and Hazel from the Heroes of Olympus series. They're both very gentle and kind people, but they will absolutely ruin anyone who threatens their loved ones. They're both also, because of their interests and majors, two of the best people in the group for morale building exercises.

I don't draw, but I do create all my characters in the Sims so that I can figure out what I want them to look like, so:

Bailey's leg is CC, so it's not a perfect representation of what I'd want it to look like (still waiting on the Sims to include prosthetics I stg), but overall I'm pleased with how they came out!

And here's a snippet from one of my chapters that focuses specifically on them for you:

~~

“Go through the woods, I said,” Bailey grumbled, back pressed firm against Cassidy’s and hands so tight around his baseball bat that he couldn’t feel them. “It’ll be quicker, I said. I’m such a fucking idiot.”

Behind him, Cassidy grunted. Her hair was tied down hastily under an old scarf, and the ends tickled Bailey’s neck. “I’m the one who listened,” she retorted. She recoiled as the gun in her hands went off, unintentionally shoving Bailey about two steps forwards towards the zombie hoards. “And I’m the one who said we should check this place out. So it’s both our faults.”

Bailey huffed, risking a glance back at the gas station they had stopped at on the off chance they might find gas, supplies, or weapons. They had been successful on the gas, amazingly, able to completely fill up the motorcycle for the first time in weeks, and the stock room had yielded several untampered boxes of granola bars, tampons, and fruit snacks, which had been unceremoniously dumped into the backpack that was now sitting at the base of the motorcycle.

Of course, just as Cassidy had finished filling the tank, they’d been ambushed by about two dozen zombies that must have heard them from within the woods.

“I’m out.”

Bailey swung again, the metal bat sinking into the zombie in front of him with a crunch that kind of reminded him of the cheese flavored grasshopper he’d eaten as a dare last Halloween. “What?”

Cassidy groaned and, from his peripheral, Bailey saw her shove the gun in her homemade side holster. “I’m out. Knife is on the bike. Plus you know-”

“You’re no good with it, I know,” Bailey muttered, swinging the bat again and taking out another zombie, this one much smaller than the first. It was too deteriorated to see who it had been. He was glad for it. “Here.”

He swung the bat around, taking down the last zombie in front of him, and pressed it into Cassidy’s hands. She yelped, immediately using it to swing into the two zombies on her right – thank god those suckers were slow – and Bailey looked to the bike.

Twenty feet.

He could do that.

“On my mark, go,” he said, turning so that he and Cassidy were side by side. The zombies on his side were gone, reduced to piles of ashes, and all that remained were the seven in front of them.

“Excuse me? Are you pulling some bullshit damsel in distress shit right now?”

Bailey glanced at the zombies, back at the bike, which was slowly being approached by more zombies, and leaned down just enough to give Cassidy a fast kiss. “Bitch, I can’t drive a motorcycle.”

Cassidy pursed her lips, the purple lipstick on them now smudged. “Good point. Cover me.”

~~

Anyway. That got long. Thank you for asking! Been wanting to pop back into that universe and play with my blorbos a bit, so this was a fun push to do so.

[morningstar-chronicles]

@hiya-itsamber you convinced me to start the inheritence games series- i'm on chapter 14 of book 1. here are my thoughts:

i'm making an inheritence games DR for sure. avery just got bequeathed a wholeass mansion where she now lives with four rich, hot dudes. like obviously i want that.

speaking of, i went into this book knowing i was going to pick a guy. no two ways about it. so my thoughts on each boy thus far:

grayson is annoying so far. also one of my DR brothers is called grayson, so i think i'd feel weird about liking grayson. also, he's not very bright, i feel. he acts like he is, but he's also not viewing avery in the logical sense, despite literally priding himself on being the most business-y, factual brother.

nash is okay? i haven't seen much of him yet. he kinda reminds me of a guy i don't like, so i'm not super fond, but that's not really his fault. irl boy just spoiled cowboys/texas for me forever 😐

xander is cool but i have an ex named alex so idk... but so far i like his personality. he reminds me of leo, whom i obviously adore.

jameson... good lord, i'm in danger. witty, puppy-dog, and just a touch self-destructive? save me now. plus his name is james(on) which automatically places me in danger of falling in love. besides the riddles? the games?? good lord that boy is mine.

libby is a saint, and drake should die. avery's a stronger soul than me, because i woulda knocked a bastard out.

(timeskip here from me reading up to ch 14 to like ch 48-ish)

rahhhh okay. soft spot for grayson. soft spot for xander. jameson may have lost my favour, after saying everything with avery was a game. girl i'd be PISSED if some rich white mfer said that to me. but he did also literally shield avery with his body when they were being shot at, so... idk maybe he's a little bit forgiven. also, i'm not fond of this emily chick, but i will tell you i think she has something to do with why avery inherited the estate.

avery's mom died because she didn't get a transplant. emily had some kind of congenital heart condition. those two things are related, i just don't know how yet. maybe emily got the transplant that avery's mother was supposed to get, hence the apology? but emily died due to her heart condition (supposedly) so maybe not.

super proud of myself for knowing the middle names were meant to be places and not surnames right off the bat. also, definitely knew emily was two-timing grayson and jameson (although ngl... avery's kinda doing that too, but i think maybe for her it's not as intentional). also also? the parents' blatant favouritism of emily over rebecca?? sucks balls. i love rebecca so far. she's gonna be the traitor. if amber didn't love him so much, it would be between rebecca and nash, honestly. they both seem like kind, caring people, but the focus isn't on them so they slip under the radar.

i know i'm not supposed to like thea but like. she's awesome. i do like her. which is hilarious, because i'm not supposed to like her, but especially hilarious because she dated xander and i adore xander. even though you don't see much of him, you can tell he's got just as much as the other hawthorne boys going on under the surface, and i've always tripped and fallen in love for a good enigma of a boy.

i know something's happening with max, but i'm ignoring that in favour of the plot for now, but mostly because max is in another state. if she was in texas, i would be looking at her more closely. unrelated- toby is definitely alive, right?

sorry to everyone else who follows me who definitely thinks i'm insane lol

[strafethesesinners]

For the oc codex can I have number 9 with Cooper please 🥰💜 (the historian one in case I got my numbers mixed up)

thank you so much beloved!

a future historian’s account of your OC’s actions

So this ended up being kind of like a Wikipedia article haha I didn't cover his entire life, just a few key snippets lol Also spoiler alert for my yet to be written fic. But this ending isn't 100% just what I'm pretty sure will happen.

Cooper Alexander McCoy was born August 18, 1985 in Melbourne, Australia. He was a deputy with the Hope County Sheriff's Department in Hope County, Montana from December 2017-September 2018. He is credited with bringing down Joseph Seed and the cult the Project at Eden's Gate, ultimately saving Hope County from becoming a separatist religious state. He often maintained that the credit belonged to all the members of the county who resisted Eden's Gate. He was a member of the group of law enforcement officers who landed at the Eden's Gate compound in September 2018 in order to serve Joseph Seed with a warrant for his arrest. The members of Project (colloquially known as "Peggies") attacked the group of officers and prevented the arrest of their leader, who they referred to as "the Father." Cooper McCoy was the lone officer to escape the attack and was rescued by Dutch Roosevelt. With help from Roosevelt, McCoy began his efforts to bring down the Project.

(insert details on the Conflict of Hope County here)

EARLY LIFE (details here)

CONTROVERSY:

-criminal charges -relationship with John Seed

After successfully apprehending each member of the Seed family, and effectively saving Hope County, several details about Cooper McCoy's life came to light casting him in a much less heroic light. Prior to becoming a sheriff's deputy, McCoy had an extensive criminal career as a drug smuggler. According to McCoy, he had a falling out with the leader of his "gang" and fled to Montana, disguising himself as a deputy sheriff, attempting to "hide in plain sight." It is thought that this became known to the sheriff of Hope County, Earl Whitehorse, at some point during the war, but because of the circumstances, no charges were brought against McCoy at that time. After the fall of Eden's Gate, McCoy was pardoned by both the governor of Montana (name) and the governor of Texas (name) for the crimes of evading the law and impersonating an officer of the law, due to his actions during the conflict.

The more serious charges against him included drug smuggling, international drug smuggling, aggravated assault, and even murder but were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence or credible witnesses.

Cooper McCoy's arrests of the Seed family were declared invalid due to him not being a real law enforcement officer, and they had to be rearrested by official law enforcement.

There are rumors that were never substantiated, that Cooper McCoy engaged in a relationship with the youngest of the Seed family Project leaders, John Seed, prior to the failed arrest attempt of Joseph Seed and the conflict of Hope County. He is even rumored to have continued the relationship after John Seed was ejected from the Project, but none of these rumors have been proven and both McCoy remained silent on them until his death. John Seed was the only casualty of the Seed family and was killed by members of the Project of Eden's Gate. Eyewitnesses claim he died in defense of Cooper McCoy.

Later life (details here)

Cooper McCoy died of old age at his home in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 98, survived by his spouse, younger siblings, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. (names)

[fishmech]

amazing to post something like this and think it's an argument for not enacting programs to help people fucked over by living in rural areas leave lol. like yeah one aspect of creating and maintaining public housing in cities and suburbs is to permit space for people who need to move in there from rural areas, like so many of their relatives did before then.

we usually like to talk about the suburbs as existing from people leaving the cities in the mid century white flight stuff - but it misses some key aspects of the ongoing rural to urban area funnel - a very large proportion of those people in cities from roughly the 30s to 50s had only recently moved there for work from the rural areas, escaping the crushing poverty that already existed as the wealthy landowners of the rural areas prospered. The cities and their old inner suburbs were the only places to go for basic aid and soon war related industry. Both things that relocated to the suburbs in small part after wwii and in larger scale after the Korean War.

And the rural people continued to move in this whole time into suburban areas in particular, not least because it was generally cheaper than the cities but to match up with where all that white flight was headed. And a lot of people left behind in rural areas then and now (because the proportion of people not in rural areas has only continued to climb) were the ones too fucked over by the rural economy to be able to afford to get out.

It's funny too. Here in the east there's a lot of rural areas where whole towns collapsed and the population has declined to the minimum it's ever going to be. And it's fine. These areas are nature preserves now largely, or privately owned but under government sponsorship to not redevelop them because they're unneeded and they're better for everyone the way they are now.

The descendents of people who used to live in those once far flung towns live better lives in generally denser surroundings or with modern scaled down agriculture and resource extraction where it still makes sense to operate at all. The Great Empty Middle of the country can get to that too - hell it's kinda already been enforced by the way many a town out there which was born the same time those eastern towns died is finally at their death rattles. With empty or barely used fields that haven't been viable agricultural output in decades anyway. With elderly people finally being moved from those homes into places like county seats and regional cities for end of life care and general retirement homes, in the places that honestly still thrive or at least get by decently.

There's a lot of talk that tries to pretend like all the agriculture being done is useful and needed and well it isn't. We've long overgrown crops to quite serious extents in this country and we often do it via really fucking up local resources. It's time to let some fucking aquifers rest by letting so much of that surplus land lay fallow for a good long while. By letting it return to more of its precolonial state and management. By not wasting so goddamn much land on grains we're only going to turn to bad fuel, or worse will go flatly unused.

It ain't like people can't stay out in those areas in general, but consolidation of where they live and what they do is going to help ensure they do end up with better life, better services, better everything.

Joining together old obsolete counties that once supported 10k people but now support only 2k? That can do a lot to benefit regional services. Maybe even have the state provide them in those outlying areas to best keep things arranged. And situations like that are very common out in the Plains and Northern Midwest and down into West Texas, vast notional redundancies but none of those government entities can provide acceptable service to their population.

All the rural towns my own ancestors lived in when they moved to this country in the late 19th century are either gone now, nearly so, or in a few rare cases won that special form of lottery where they became a boring suburban town, by sheer luck of the draw for how the cities near them grew.

The dead towns are barely scars in a Pennsylvania hillside now. The barely there ones are not much more than that but aren't too badly off for the few people still there, but they're unlikely to be lively again unless the local city really booms more than is likely. And that one lucky town is nearly coterminous with the nearest city for its county.

We used to go out there and to one certain barely there town where our last relative in that area was (she was I believe a great great aunt) , with an unsightly skin condition as a result of how badly polluted that coal miner and valley farmer's market town was in its heyday. We stopped going after her funeral in a parking lot with most plates being out of state & most in state plates on cars from the Scranton or Philly areas where that branch of the family had largely moved, while the branch that led to me had moved to a somewhat safer life in the Paterson Mills and surrounds.

She always seemed supremely lonely, but she had said she didn't feel she could leave that town where she grew up, even as it crumbled around her. I always wished one of the relatives could get her to move somewhere with more family and better care around, but she didn't want to and honestly I miss her so deeply for that.

[pikku-peruna]

Oooo oh nooo a white person talks about their Raceee

But yeah. Hello. I'm Pikku. I'm White (Russian/Italian- Born in the USA to two immigrant parents that were very americanized)

I'm not proud of my race or heritage. I genuinely have issues with liking myself because of my skin-color and where my family is from. (I'm getting better but I still have issues with myself)

I really love PoC's skin color (even though that sounds VERY weird). I personally am covered in scars and stretchmarks and while I can't imagine myself without them I still wish I wasn't the weird pale(?) pinkish tan color I am. I would prefer to be paler or another race entirely because I just don't think anyone would find me attractive. I find people of color attractive! ...But there's still a weird stigma in Texas about interracial relationships and especially in the area I live in so I'm scared of the rejection for being White or that hypothetical relationship ruining my friendships and/or other relationships. I KNOW it's a stupid fear to have but it's real all the same. Plus most women I've met that I've liked enough to want to ask out have boyfriends or don't ever date anyone outside their own race. (Minus White people and "Paler" Asian people- Idk why but that's what I've seen; It's probably different elsewhere.) I think they are pretty. And i want to be Pretty too. I can see the beauty in myself now, but my self-image isn't perfectly fixed and I still feel jealous of how beautiful the women I like are sometimes. (Now being one of those times- Hence the rant post lol)

I got some stories of issues I've faced of people being mean/hostile to me for my Being Russian but ofc it's nowhere as bad as what PoCs face.

I don't hate people of color. I'm jealous of the culture that other races and ethnicities have. My school hosts events for Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month and I love these events! But I feel weird for trying to participate in them because I'm neither Black nor Hispanic and all the other participants are.

I really wish I had a culture but I feel oddly disconnected. I really don't like the USA and "American" puts a really bad taste in my mouth because I really didn't get to grow up as 'an American' either.

I've barely celebrated Christmas bc I'm poor and it's more traumatic than joyful, Halloween has been also very traumatic but incredibly lonely and I don't get to celebrate anymore, Thanksgiving was always horrible and I was always with strange people I've never met before because my dad married into(and then got divorced to) an American family in a different state that I never was introduced to and then my dad would threaten me if I didn't want to interact with people at the event- Even though to me they are all strangers! The fourth of July is pretty much the same as Thanksgiving- but now I just don't celebrate because I hate the USA, Easter just would make my religious trauma resurface, St.Patrick's Day was my younger ex-step-brother's birthday so it was never really a thing, Valentines day has always been... lonely, Mother's day was horrible because I didn't ever have a mom (I did but she was never in the picture and never will be because she is evil) and my Ex-Step-Mom was never around due to her work as a Nurse, Father's day is... Difficult; I have a very strained relationship with my dad and I think we'd do better if we didn't live with each other anymore (which is why I'm moving out after graduation; already got a place to go), New Year's has also been just like Thanksgiving because I never knew the family my dad married into! And I never got the chance either! I've never actually celebrated Pride Month. I just, Am Queer. I've never been able to participate in a pride event because well... Texas & Toxic Family.

I have met very few Russians here in Texas, and none anywhere even close to my age either. Only immigrants from Russia (and some from Ukraine) that were older and set up stores that I used to go to for perogies and eel. And I can't even speak Russian! <:( I tried to learn it but I don't have anyone to talk with so everything I learn I just forget.

The USA is a pretty shitty country! Russia's government is driving it into the ground, and Italy is run by a homophobe! I can't even tell anyone I'm Russian without someone calling me a communist or making some shitty joke about how much Porn is Russian. When I say I'm Italian people literally just insult me with the stereotypical bad Italian accent or spaghetti meme. It's just. Shitty. It's probably just a thing in my area but people are really shitty to each other.

I've heard Oregon has a bigger Russian population, but not by much when you take all the other races and ethnicities into account. Plus, where tf am I going to find another 2nd generation immigrant from a parent that was born in the USSR to relate to? Most people I've met that are "Not American" have parents, grandparents, and great grandparents that were all born in the USA. My extended family is dead and/or dying and none of them were born in the USA- So I haven't even met most of them!

I envy bilingual people, I envy people who can still bond with others over a shared culture because I think that's beautiful and I want to have that so badly but I am ashamed of my heritage. I just want what you guys with a connection to Culture have <:( It seems nice.

Sorry if this offends anyone, this is just my thoughts put out on my tumblr blog <:)

~Pikku

[shes-a-cowboyyy-killer]

Kamala winning?

I try not to get very political on here because this is my place to escape from all political and worldly issues lol. But personally im not a Kamala fan. Whenever I see her making a speech or interview she almost always laughing at something that isn't even funny or a laughing matter. (I get maybe she’s nervous cause I laugh when im nervous, but also youre in the most highest role you can be in! Like have some class) I don’t think she personally took the role as VP seriously, so how is she gonna take being the next potential president serious? That's just my personal opinion & everyone is entitled to have one, so please respect mine.

I’m also bitter on how the Biden administration handled the withdrawal of Afghanistan, and then this year either at his rally or at the debate he stated that not one service member has lost their lives under his command. Kamala didn’t speak out and correct him about the 13 fallen soldiers that lost their lives in the Afghanistan withdrawal. I believe those 13 shouldn’t be forgotten❤️🤍💙🇺🇸

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, Calif.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tenn.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyo.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif.

Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Ind.

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Neb.

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, Calif.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Mo.

Navy Hospital Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio.

[pattywagon2go]

Followup Friday

Originally this week's Transit Talk Thursday was going to have a bit more detailed stabs at commuter rail systems, but for lack of time I had to squeeze it down to what you saw. But I did have some more stuff to say, so I figured I'd might as well release this as a followup to that post.

Again, don't take anything I say too seriously lol

Long Island Rail Road

Ah yes, the oldest railroad still surviving under it's original charter. Unfortunately, it seems like the schedules are as old as this railroad is, considering how hideously out of touch it is with what is needed in this day and age. Maybe this thing gets so much ridership simply because Long Island residents just choose to put up with it. If so, then that's sad really, since the LIRR is no stranger to axing itself because they can't figure out how to make the ridership go up. Oh well, at least we can soyface over the cool Electric Multiple Units they have...until you try to go to West Long Island and you have to transfer to a diesel train because that section isn't electrified yet. Fuck.

Metra

It takes a lot of genius to run a commuter rail, and in the case of Metra, that genius has gone to good use. Electrification? Pah, who needs that. Using Amtrak's retired GE Genesis locomotives? Screw you, it ain't EMD! Wait, what's that, you have a great deal on an old freight loco built by EMD? It will need to be re-geared and have Head-End Power added, which is going to be a pain? It won't solve the issue of our locomotives aging too quickly? TAKE MY GODDAMN MONEY ALREADY MOTHERFUC-

Excuse me. Now where was I? Oh, right...

Anyway, sorry, I got a little too carried away. Also, I have to remember to buy more of those really weird gallery cars despite ordering actual passenger cars from Alstom. Though in hindsight, the fact that it's from Alstom could explain why they haven't arrived yet. Thank you Alstom, makers of "exquisite" rolling stock.

New Jersey Transit

Ah see, here's a commuter rail that actually knows how to care for it's rail network! The Glorious Republic of New Jersey did the smart thing and seized all of it's rails across the state! Now we can run trains from heather and yonder! It's glorious!

What's that? There's this thing called "South Jersey"? There used to be tons of trains and rails down there that no longer exist and we have yet to do anything about it except for making the sorriest excuse of a commuter rail line to serve our state's version of Las Vegas? How many beers have you been drinking, South Jersey is a myth!

Ah, ain't nothing better than a commuter rail which knows how to care for its rail network.

GO Transit

Holy fucking good unholy godly fuckballs how many fucking park and rides do you need like this is ridiculous. This isn't even some elaborate bit I genuinely cannot fathom that for a majority of this commuter rail's life the entire system was basically park and rides for Toronto suburban commuters who hated driving into Toronto (not that I blame them). Like I can shit on the lack of electrification and the donkey-balls gargling schedules but like oh my god the amount of fucking parking that GO slapped their stations with is absolutely fucking ridiculous.

Metro-North Railroad

I honestly don't really know what else to say about this one that I didn't say in my original post. Yeah it shuttles people from the core of NYC to upstate NY suburbs and Connecticut, there's really nothing too special about this one, beyond the really weird electrification of both 12.5kV AC overhead wires and 750V DC Third Rail. I guess it works out since the trains that run on that line can tap into both so no transfer is necessary. Good job Metro-North.

Trinity Railway Express

Ah, it's the one I rode myself a little while back. The way I can describe this that I should have in the original post is "If the Atlantic City line on NJT was in Texas and it connected Dallas and Ft. Worth". It really wants you to think it's something better but honestly, it really isn't. It's just average. Oh and no level boarding is a massive fail in my book. Again, the bar is very low here and you're still ramming face-first into it.

And yes, I know other systems don't have level boarding, that still isn't excusable. This isn't me being a hypocrite.

MBTA Commuter Rail

This is another case of I really don't know what else to say about it since a good majority of its issues was due to MassDOT shooting it in the foot and then proceeding to ask "What made the MBTA shit?" afterwards. I will say though that the MBTA not electrifying is pretty stupid and it should be done, so the North-South Rail Link can be built at last. Seriously, Massachusetts, get on it.

Oh and obligatory "French company ruin American rail again" joke.

MARC Train

Good ol' MARC, ferrying people to and from the capitol of this incredibly "fine" nation and the location of the meanest sons of bitches in the state of Maryland and beyond since 1984. Also home to the incredibly mind-boggling decision of running diesels under electrified wire. I get it, the old AEM-7s are super old and the Siemens Chargers are more up-to-date, but to that I say "What was stopping them from buying some ACS-64s?" Hell even SEPTA bought some to replace their AEM-7s on their push-pull services. It's not like the ACS-64 was a lemon that everyone should avoid, yet MARC just bought some Chargers instead. What were they thinking?

SEPTA Regional Rail

Out of the entire list, I think the best commuter rail has to go to SEPTA, mainly due to its fully electrified network. But just because its the best among the ones here doesn't mean it's good. Far from it, in my opinion. SEPTA is a very flawed agency in general, and it needs to improve to serve the residents of Philadelphia better. Hell the entire joke about it in the original post was how SEPTA is basically doing fuck all to improve anything. Instead, they decide to find incredibly dumb shit like the Norristown High-Speed Line Extension to King of Prussia, the literal worst project you could have greenlit.

Caltrain

In a lot of ways Caltrain is basically Metra but for the Bay Area for California, due to the gallery cars and general frustration, except Caltrain is actively attempting to improve via electrification on most of the mainline. But unfortunately, because it's located in California, it gets knocked down a few places because of that. Extra points down because it's in the Bay Area.

Well, uh, oops, this turned more into a general critique midway through lol. Guess it's a good thing I didn't release yesterday. Regarding some future stuff, I think next week I may take off, as I kinda want to recharge my knowledge pool before I do another post, but in the meantime, I may introduce something new for next Monday. See you then!

[yesimwriting]

I'm a little late with my review, but I made it 😌 In Part 3, we see a glimpse of Wells being weird with that comment of 'What happened to all those little girl dresses?' 🤢 Also, the fact that Gloria and Y/n live with Wells? I thought Gloria and Y/n lived together, but Y/n being forced to live with Wells kind of explains more why she's uncomfortable. She lives with him; therefore, she is being forced to be around him. I'm just surprised too that Gloria moved in with this guy even though I think they've only been dating a few months? 😬 If that's the case, Gloria and him move fast and I feel like maybeee this is hinting the relationship was rushed.

It's stated that Gloria and Y/n used to live in Texas...so how did Gloria even meet this guy? Maybe online? But why would she be so willing to just pack up and force her daughter to leave everything behind? It's safe to assume they both grew up in Texas, so to date a guy for a few months and move in with him is a huge leap.... Maybe love makes you do crazy things? 🤡 It's stated in ch 1 that Y/n has only known Wells for a few months, so maybe the reason Gloria was so comfortable moving was cause her and Wells had been dating a while, but maybe Y/n never met him until a few months ago? Thats definitely a possibility.

Idk something just doesn't feel right with that relationship 🤣 I love how medically accurate chapter 3 was. I literally had to do concussion research and reread ch 3 just to catch all the symptoms since I missed them all lol the tiredness, the headache, the way Y/n was falling asleep in Billy's car, the way Y/n got moody with Stu and Billy in the car...all of those showed that something was wrong. Billy and Stu picking Y/n up was cute and all, but we all know they secretly want Y/n fully dependent on them. Cute how they both quickly knew something was wrong in the car tho 🥺

The Stu vs Y/n staredown was unexpected. Y/n shouldn't have snapped, but Stu shouldn't have been condescending. The fact that he had the audacity to be like "You couldn't even last a couple hours in the hospital" just shows his lack of empathy for what Y/n went through and he's trying to show her that she 'needs' him.... don't make me laugh bro, she doesn't need NO MAN 😭🙄 'DOn'T COME CrYinG tO ME' Nah bro, I'll go cry to my mom instead 🙃

Not me leaving 4 paragraphs long review 🤪 Idc if this chapter was a filler, I loved it ❤

anon i love u so dearly :) i saw the start of your message while i was in class and got so so excited!! thank you so much this, i was feeling so unsure about part 3 bc of how messy my life has been!!

Yes the Gloria and Wells situation is weird!! That's part of the reason Y/n is so bothered by it, but let's just say Gloria's smart! They're there for a reason and it'll get revealed soon! but yeah, Gloria's def the type to date a guy for awhile before he lets them meet Y/n.

Also thank you for noting the medical accuracy 😭 my dad is a neurologist so i've been told quite a bit about head injuries!! i also did a bit of googling to confirm everything lol

i'm glad you liked the car moment!! i wanted something a little cute and domestic, especially bc they are definitely trying to make Y/n dependent on them so that she can't leave, plus it's not like they can make a real move on her, dating Sidney and Tatum is important for their plan and they know that Y/n isn't the type to (knowingly) be a side piece...but that's going to be shown a little more clearly in the next part :)

Also I feel like both Billy and Stu are so good a perceiving people, especially the one person they consider worthy of their genuine care, that they just instantly knew something was up. They can read Y/n better than she can read herself at this point.

also yeah both Stu and Y/n were being problematic that morning! Y/n's attitude was a combination of a lot of things. She was stressed and concussions can lead to mood swings so that was the main reason, but let's just say that Billy and Stu knew what they were doing when they were being a little touchy with their girlfriends. And, even though she doesn't fully realize it, it kind of worked. She was a tiny bit jealous and she's never really felt jealous over a guy before (especially the boyfriends of her best friends) and that, paired with some subconscious guilt and her concussion led to a bit of a tantrum. She wasn't the center of Stu and Billy's attention for one minute and she immediately chose violence😭 she's so real for that lowkey.

And on Stu's side, at first the fact that she was uncomfortable was kind of good for his ego. Like aw, she's jealous, she cares🥺, but then when she saw that she was actually unwell, he felt a tiny bit bad. Not guilty, just a tiny bit worried that something was going on with her head injury. So when he finally decided to ease up, and Y/n's reaction was to not only reject him but then to straight up not listen to him?? Stu was not having it, and it bothered him so much he low key forgot to act 'normal' and exposed his lack of empathy for a second.

also you’re actually so funny 😭 humble him!! he wishes he could go cry to his mom 🙄

thank you so much for the review!! it really made my day :)

[greyeyedmonster-18]

Hi I am sorry I am not from America and I always thought the 4th was a happy thing. Why do you say it is not? I don't want to be rude just trying to understand (sorry if this is mean or bad English is not my first language)

helllllo, anon <3 (also please know this answer isn't targeted AT you, and you're....allowed to have questions and not understand; i did not interpret this as rude, you've done nothing wrong. i have answered and unfortunately, it is just a subject that makes me very passionate and blunt)

cw for below the cut: us politics! disability politics! roe v wade mention; gun violence

so personally, i have never liked the fourth because i hate fireworks! Since i was a child! I would camp out at home during the fourth, refusing to go anywhere because I hate loud noises and nothing activates a trauma response for me more that banging and booming and popping for sometimes hours (also if you have lived in a city ever, you know that the first week of July, and end of june is also often filled with fireworks, for no reason). i am very thankful that the past two years i have been in a very sleepy little part of my state and the fireworks haven't been an issue but like hell am i going anywhere

(also road closures? forget about it. crowds? nah, im way too paranoid to go anywhere with swarms of people and the News Today! Should tell you why! I stopped going to the movies years ago!). i have never celebrated, never gone to a fourth party, never done anything relating to this holiday.

and you know.

politically.

i find it very hard to celebrate "independence" and "freedom", especially these past 8 years when rights continue to be taken away; when a man endorsed by the KKK was able to be elected into office. where laws are made to protect guns and not people (lol did we hear in texas how 100 MILLION was given to increase school safety, and 50 million of that is going towards "bullet-resistant" shields for police officers? cool cool cool). where people with disabilities cannot get married or have a job without risking losing their benefits; where bodies are treated as expendable; are battlegrounds and identities are debatable. where you're a whole person in one state and can't cross a border into another without fearing for your life. where the right to love and marry whomever you want regardless of race or gender is a question, and something up for discussion.

where we are on YEAR THREE of a global pandemic with no end in sight and money is continuously prioritized over well-being of the people who live here. its amazing to me that money can "just be found" when our military needs it, but we were unable to provide checks to people during the pandemic, or housing to people who need it or hell even make fucking tampons free. where i am forced to live with the results of failed leadership on behalf of the potus (Vote! is the new thoughts and prayers and i am sick of it) and there are RAMIFICATIONS that trickle down to my place of work, and where i attend school, and where my kid attends school, and how people exist in this world. where representatives who are trying their damn best to fight for us, are labeled as lunatics. and that's not even all of everything.

I flew on a plane a few weeks ago for the first time in three years and while I was in line at security, with my child, there was an "ALL STOP" called over the PA system and I was standing there, while the TSA agents listened to their radio, calculating an exit plan for my kid while I was fully prepared to go into the fire should anything happen. That is the world we are living in, the country we are living in.

that isn't something i'm going to celebrate.

life liberty and the pursuit of happiness my entire asshole, tbh. i am not celebrating jack shit.

[eisforeidolon]

Better and far more legitimate question: why are so many destiel shippers so toxic and entitled that they think not telling them their ship is totes canon is both a personal attack and a hate crime?

Jensen doesn't hate destiel. He just has no particular interest in discussing fans' non-canon shipping and he's made that clear several times. He goes to conventions to talk about his perspective on the show he actually made ... Then gets fans demanding to know why destiel isn't canon because if Dean can fanboy Dr Sexy he must want to fuck him. Then gets fans shoving straight up porn in his face. Then gets fans yelling over him trying to get him to bring up Cass. Then gets fans trying to get him to read essays about how Dean is bisexual to "educate" him about how wrong he is about his own acting and character. Then gets fans wearing T-shirts telling him he's wrong about his own show. Then gets fans stating point blank that goodbye scene was romantic and trying to get him to expound upon that interpretation. And so on.

The vast majority of the time when someone brings the ship up to him? It's belligerently leading questions, trying to talk over him, or creepy invasive sexual shit - that all turns into online slander when he says no, says ship what you want, says nobody at the helm was writing the show that way and he wasn't playing the character that way. Gosh, I can't imagine why he'd be immediately uncomfortable and defensive as soon as the topic comes up given that context! Or why he's overly concerned with the presentation of the character when fans insist Dean literally just making eye contact with another man while talking to him, being a fan of something, or not reacting angrily to another man flirting with him is proof of how "gay" he is. Sure Jensen has said some less than PC things I'd expect of a 30-40 year old dude raised in Texas over the years, but if you really want to talk about who has shitloads of issues with queerness, unfortunate stereotypes, and toxic masculinity they aren't trying to work through? Let's start with all the destiel meta that begins with "lol no straight guy would ever ..." and insisting a guy who *gasp* dares to say he didn't play his character as attracted to men must be a homophobe in denial because he obviously did. 🙄

As to that confession, present an actual source of anybody but Misha and Berens saying any such thing about its intention - I won't hold my breath. At the same convention (Denver 2021) that Jared got so much shit for saying there were all kinds of love and all interpretations were valid and Jensen agreed with him, Misha in his panel with Alex said basically the same thing Jensen reportedly said in a previous M&G about an artist not telling people what to interpret out of an artwork and how he didn't want his interpretation to be the definitive word. But somehow that gets forgotten in all the other more leading, more bait-y shit he's said elsewhere.

Which brings me to my final point. Jensen says ship and headcanon what you want, but sorry, that's not what I intended or what the writers put into the text, it's just fan fantasies - and you lot insist he's a homophobe for not telling you what you want to hear and being uncomfortable when you keep ignoring what he's said and trying to make him give you a different answer. Misha lies to you, makes sly implications, changes his story back and forth constantly, was involved in at least one of those answers agreeing with Jensen about certain dialogue and actions being questionable for the male characters they were playing, all but admits he was falsely leading you on for years when he said he was sure going into season 15 the writers would never go even as far as they did, preps merch to release through his company to capitalize on that scene, and even queerbaits so hard he has to come out as straight - and you live up his ass praising him as some kind of amazing ally.

Well gosh, I wonder if maybe just maybe it's not about understanding or giving a shit about LGBT+ issues and toxic masculinity at all, only feeling entitled to being told your personal interpretations about this one single specific ship are The Real Story of SPN! Actually that's a lie, I don't wonder.

why is jensen ackles so toxic?

i have been a supernatural fan for over ten years and i have known for a while that jensen has never been a fan of destiel, which would be completely fine if he didn't always react uncomfortable and downright disgusted every time someone mentions it and / or the possibility of dean being queer. i have seen him become very defensive and even hostile when asked questions about these things at conventions. to this day jensen (& jared) STILL vehemently call castiel's confession "platonic" and "brotherly" while the writers, showrunners and misha explicitly called it a romantic confession of love.

my problem with jensen's behaviour is that it seems to be rooted in very toxic masculinity and the fragility of it. he has called emotional writing "unmanly" and "effeminate" and "something dean would never say to another man"; he was glad that dean didn't share many scenes with castiel in season 9; he desperately wanted destiel "to go away" and something else that really irks me: so many times when destiel was talked about, he brought up wincest, as if that is in any way the same. he seems to associate queerness with unmanliness, weakness and something to be uncomfortable about.

i can understand that destiel extremists have insulted his wife, insinuated ridiculous things happened between actors etc but this is no excuse for his downright homophobic comments and behaviour. he can also imagine dean however he wants and i know he thinks he understands dean better than anyone but it's so sad to me how much he seems to limit dean in who he could be TO OTHER PEOPLE. who does it harm if a bunch of bi people see themselves in him and his behaviour? i thought jensen understood just how much dean hid from everyone. it makes me sad that he seems to want to forbid other people from interpreting dean differently than he does.

he should really take some time to reflect if dean winchester's non-canon sexuality is really worth coming across homophobic for.

[lesbeet]

ykw as much as i love my students and as much as i really don't want to go through the entire application and interview process again all summer trying to find a new job (and then have to learn a new school and everything) i'm honestly getting so fed up with my district that maybe leaving isn't the worst thing in the world

like not even getting into the fact that it's a super wealthy district (we have a number of low-income students but also like. one of my kid's parents is the vice president of a company you've all heard of lol) and yet they're increasing class sizes and cutting staff (and cutting co-taught and honors classes for some grades) despite our salaries already being lower than teachers in similar but less wealthy districts; and despite the fact that we somehow have literally one million dollars to use towards "improving" our already enormous and immaculate football stadium (that we never win on)

but like their insurance for employees fucking sucks lol. i have 5-6 prescriptions i take regularly and they cost 3x as much as they did on the SAME insurance through my previous district, and i have co-pays i didn't have before, and the ones i did have before i now have to pay twice as much just to go to the fucking doctor. so with my back issues and everything now it all costs way more for no reason

and yk it's not texas or florida or anything so the state gov isn't doing stupid shit, but the parents are doing their damndest anyway and they apparently get pissed if they don't see teachers' cars in the parking lot for the entirety of our "contracted time" (meaning that like if we have to stay until 8pm for conferences but i have my last conference at 7:30, i still have to stay until 8 so the parents don't get mad lol)

so um. yeah i don't want to have to go through the application process and i don't wanna have to learn a new school and a new system etc, but my district doesn't give a fuck about its employees (esp its teachers and other non-admin) and i'm fucking tired of it