#and the same goes for benadryl

[pingo1387]

what i want to know is what kind of cold meds are you guys taking that make you have visual hallucinations

[urhoneycombwitch]

rommate thoughts

getting up early in the morning to go to the bathroom and the world slows down down down to a viscous quality when you pass your roommate's door... are they still asleep? or will you bear witness to early morning noises? and what story will tell you? the sharp clicking and clacking of hurried dressing and rushed getting ready? lazy yawns and rustling sheets as they turn around for ten more minutes? maybe soft singing to shoo some lingering nightmares away? or other... soft things?

you know? <3

foreword: oh, Somna. I needed this softness today. this one goes out to those who might need it, too <3

cw: mentions of prescription drugs and weed

wc: 1.2k

___

When the last of the summer sun slips behind the edge of the city, you and Eddie open all the windows in the apartment.

Moving with practiced fluidity, you slide the little window above the sink into place, the larger one by the breakfast nook gets the same treatment; Eddie’s tall enough to reach the hand crank for the pane overlooking the shower, then ducks into both of your rooms to undo the last two latches. 

You talk the whole time, exchanging laughter and comments even on opposite ends of the apartment. Cool night air floods the whole space, lush and floral from the hydrangea bush on the ground floor. This is the only ritual that makes sleeping in the summer months bearable. 

Some nights, Eddie rolls up and you choose the record, legs slung over each other laps, talking over the hazy smoke and crooning speakers. Others, you get takeout and watch whatever’s good on TV, Eddie’s legs making the perfect lean-to for your back. 

Some nights, you fall asleep on the couch- when this happens, come morning, there’s always a blanket tucked carefully around your form. Others, Eddie’s the first to drop- cheek smushed to your thigh, snoring lightly. You’re always gentle with him, rubbing his shoulder to get him up and in the comfort of his own bed, slinging his arm around your shoulders as you walk him down the hall.

Last night, both of you turned in early. Eddie’s got a bad case of allergies, and you were tired from work, so you took your respective medicine and leave, evening ritual shortened and performed apart with just the bedroom windows.

In the morning, the air of your room is still cool. Birds twitter with the rise of the sun. Soon, it will be time to close everything up, to keep the temperature down and the summer heat out. For now, you yawn, stretch, kick your way out of the comforter, and pad down the hall.

Eddie’s door is slightly ajar. His room is dark, but you can just make out the tangle of his curls on his pillow, sheets tucked under his chin covering the length of his body. You move on carpeted footsteps, approaching bedside with quiet intention.

Without his eyes on you, it’s easier to indulge, taking your time to drink in his sleeping face. You sink to your knees beside the head of the bed for a better look- in the muted morning light peeking through his blackout curtains, Eddie looks peaceful. 

His normal is theatrics, raised brows, sweeping expressions that draw you in and ebb like tides. In dreamland, he looks years younger, smoothed brow and lips parted slightly, breathing steady and sure. 

“Hey.” It’s barely a whisper. You pair it with a soft touch just under his bangs, skimming your fingertip across his forehead. “Eddie. Gonna wake up?”

He must have taken Benadryl last night- he’s usually first to wake, tapping on your door with breakfast options and being a hurricane of noise until you’re forced to join the party. 

You have the simple joy of watching Eddie’s face as he returns to you, to the waking world- a twitch of his lip, a couple of long, slow blinks. Consciousness crawls to the surface, leaves him rosy-cheeked and frowning, chasing your hand with his temple like a puppy.

You lay your fingers flat to his skull, thumb at the indent of his nose, and Eddie sighs, content. His eyes flutter shut again when you speak again. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mmm.” The sheets shift as he lifts a heavy arm to stretch over his head, revealing a bare torso littered with ink. “Z’you?”

“Yeah.” 

“Good. ‘M gonna… get up ‘n make breakfast…” His words are clunky, slurred and stuck to each other, lids heavy with sleep still. 

From the floor, you sink a bit lower, scratching softly at the back of his head, grinning with amusement. “I don’t think you’re allowed to operate a stove while under the influence.”

His frown deepens, but he won’t make it stick, not for any length of time around you. Faux-upset ebbs, recedes, floods into a tired smile that takes up half his face. “Uh-huh. Might burn my eyebrows off. Would you still love me?”

Pretending to give it some serious thought, your hand slides down, a familiar weight at the side of his neck. “Hmm. Maybe we should stick to cereal today.”

“Asshole,” Eddie replies, fond and trying to draw out the jokes, sliding his own hand to your wrist to keep it in place. “What the hell. Can’t a guy lose his brows in peace?”

“We’ve got Cheerios, Golden Crisp, Cocoa Puffs-” Your valiant attempt to keep on track is overturned when Eddie tugs at your wrist with a whine.

“Christ. My brain is soup, maybe you can eat that ‘nd it’ll tide you over until I can move.” More insistent now, Eddie pulls at your elbow, then your upper arm, your other hand snapping out to brace on his mattress before you tip. “Jus’... lay with me for a bit.”

Closer now, your breath fanning over his ear as he pulls and you give your last bit of resistance- “You’re wearing boxers, right?”

“Jesus. You really think I’d subject you to the Morning Wood Show?”

“Okay.” You don’t sound half as exasperated as you’d like, moving with the help of his gravity; you sidle close to the wall, lying on your side and over the covers, propping your head up with one arm. “This bed really wasn’t made for two people.”

“Sure it is.” Eddie reaches for you again, and you go easy, let him pull you to his chest. Under your ear, his heart thumps, whooshing like a seashell that’s captured the sounds of the ocean. “See? Now will you kindly shut up. I’ve got meds to sleep off.”

“Coffee would help.” It’s a baiting tease. You don’t actually want to get up- far too comfy with the curve of his bicep across the blades of your shoulders. With your nose pressed to the hollow of his throat, you can smell everything that his skin has kept overnight- faded cologne, bar soap, sweat and earthy sleep.

“Shhhhutthefuckup before I eat your brains.” He already sounds like a faded version of himself, rasp lowering into that pre-dream tone. For comedic effect, Eddie opens his jaw to press the outline of his teeth to the crown of your scalp.

It makes you tremble with giggles, burrowing further into his body to get away. He soothes a palm down your back, and you settle again. 

Under your ear, his heart beats slower, then slower still, until you can feel the rumble of a snore build. Your lashes brush against his bare skin, lulled by the stillness of the room, the shared warmth of your bodies even through the layers of fabric.

When late morning arrives, you’ll make the coffee, and Eddie will do the dishes. For now, the air stays cool and ushers in the sort of slumber that only comes from sharing space with someone precious. 

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Poison Ivy & Poison Oak

Poison ivy and poison oak - plants that cause an allergic skin reaction in most people who are exposed to them.

Poison Ivy - generally thought of as a climbing vine, can also grow as a shrub or bush.

It has leaves that are elliptical in shape and grow in groups of 3 on a stem.

Common in the US, except in the southwest, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Poison Oak - grows as a shrub

Has leaves that are shaped like oak leaves and grow in groups of 3 to a stem.

Common in the US, especially on the west coast from Mexico to Canada.

Symptoms

The symptoms for poison ivy and poison oak are the same.

Usually the first symptoms to appear are: itchiness and

swelling in the areas of contact.

The itchy rash that follows is made up of small pimple-like bumps (sometimes referred to as papules), as well as

blisters that later break open, ooze, and crust over.

In most cases, the condition goes away in 2 weeks.

Not everyone is sensitive to poison ivy and poison oak.

However, 9 out of 10 people who come in contact with either of the plants will have an allergic reaction to some degree.

All parts of the plants are poisonous and the amount of time it takes for an allergic reaction to develop varies from person to person.

The extent and severity of the reaction depends on the length of exposure, type of contact, and how sensitive the person is to the plants.

If a person is going to have an allergic reaction, it will usually occur within one or two days of exposure. However, some people have a reaction within an hour, whereas others don’t experience a reaction until 5 days after the exposure.

Causes

The substance that causes the allergic reaction is the same for both plants. It is an oily resin called urushiol.

It only takes a small amount of the resin to cause a reaction.

The resin can be transferred to the skin by directly touching the plant or indirectly by coming in contact with something that has touched the plant, such as tools, animals, or clothing. Although animals are rarely affected, they can carry the resin on their fur and transfer it to humans.

According to the experts at the University of Maryland Medical Center, the ‘‘chemical [resin] can remain active for more than a year.’’

Treatment

Anyone who comes in contact with either plant should wash the exposed area with soap and water immediately.

Taking a bath immediately after contact is not recommended, because that could spread the resin to other areas of the body.

All clothing, including shoes and shoelaces, should be removed carefully and either washed separately or discarded.

For minor cases, hydrocortisone cream and Calamine lotion can provide relief until the symptoms disappear.

Over-the-counter Benadryl capsules help with the itching.

Some people find oatmeal or baking soda baths to be soothing as well.

Oral steroids, such as prednisone, are available for more serious cases, especially those affecting the face, eyes, mouth, or genitals.

If signs of infection develop, such as pus and a fever, patients should contact their doctors.

Patients should consult their physicians before they use any ointments that contain benzocaine or zirconium, because they can cause an allergic reaction that worsens the condition.

Antihistamine ointments are not recommended for the same reason. The experts at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System caution that ‘‘some people have severe allergic reactions to these plants and can have swelling in the throat, breathing problems, weakness, dizziness, and bluish lips.’’

Emergency medical care should be sought if any serious reactions occur.

Prevention

The best prevention is know what the plants look like and to avoid them.

A common saying should be kept in mind: Leaves of three, let them be.

People who plan to be in an area where poison ivy and poison oak might be found should wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and long pants.

Eradication of the plants should be handled with care.

As stated by the experts at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, ‘‘burning can be dangerous and is not recommended for disposal or as a control measure, because the toxic oil from the plant can be carried in the smoke.’’

Instead they recommend spraying the plants with glyphosate, which is commonly known as the brands Roundup or Kleenup.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References ⚜ Allergy Poison ⚜ Fictional Poisons ⚜ Fictional Plant Worksheet

[sleptwithinthesun]

a personal (and very extremely late) fill for the🤞and 🥰 prompts on the spring prompts list, written for t/im d/rake from d/c c/omics. yes, i'm aware it's summer. however, i started this fic over two years ago and it needs to be done.

2K words, next part of the t/imber college au. hope you like it!!

"Look at me for a second?" Bernard asks, tapping the eraser end of his pencil against his notebook a couple of times, just to ensure that he has Tim's attention. It lands just to the right of his half-finished sketch of his roommate, who's typing a lab report up on his laptop on the other side of the library table. 

Tim complies, glancing up and making brief eye contact to show Bernard the slowly-emerging freckles scattered over his cheeks and the ever-present, bruise-like bags under his eyes. They've been getting worse lately, probably due to the arrival of the spring season and its various allergens, even though Tim started taking Benadryl towards the beginning of March. They're now a week into April, with allergy season in full swing.

Bernard's gaze sweeps over Tim's face, and then he squints down at his drawing. After a moment of deliberation, he goes back over Tim's lash line and carefully shades a touch lower and darker than he was previously. "Thanks." 

"No problem," Tim replies, coughing quietly into a fist a second later. It sounds chesty, same as it has been for the past few weeks, and Tim just keeps going, like someone's scratching at his lungs. Which, to be fair, is probably how he feels about the whole thing. He's been getting worse at night recently, waking both himself and Bernard up at early hours in the morning with coughing fits. 

There's not much either of them can do about it, though, and Bernard's not been sleeping well, anyway. Not to any fault of Tim; he's just been… wondering. About some things. Regarding Tim, sure, but not because of him. Nevertheless, he's been staying up with him until his roommate manages to fall back asleep congested snores emanating from his side of the dorm. 

Not for the first time since they'd arrived at the library, Tim suddenly drops his chin towards his chest, eyes pinching shut tightly before his shoulders give a minuscule jerk forwards. He barely manages a shallow inhale before the motion repeats twice more, and then blinks a few times, sniffling quietly into his sweatshirt sleeve. Also not for the first time, Bernard murmurs, "Bless you."

"Ugh, sorry, I don't think I'm dohh—" He cuts himself off with another silent double, and then a third pair for good measure. "Oh, fuck me," Tim mutters, a bit breathless. 

"Christ, bless you times... how many even was that, seven total? They're so quiet; it's hard to tell." Tim nods to confirm the number, his eyes bleary from sneezing as he rubs a knuckle against the side of his nose to quell the remaining itch instead of responding verbally. "Bless you times seven. Why do you sneeze like that, anyway?" 

Tim blinks at him, clearly confused. "Like what?"

"Like… you're completely stifling to the point where they're silent." Bernard fumbles to explain, trying to find the right words without sounding insane. "I don't know anyone who can do that without using their hands or something. It's kind of... uh, impressive, to be honest, but can I ask, why do you sneeze that way? Is there a reason, or is it just...?"

"I don't know," Tim says, then shrugs. "I never really thought about it. It's polite, I guess, to make them quieter. Doesn't bother anyone else."

And Bernard-of-several-months-ago would have simply been content to have even gotten an answer out of Tim in the first place, would have accepted his word without a second thought. But Bernard-of-now can see the little flicker in Tim's eye, the one that means he's lying to him, which makes no sense, because what does Tim have to lie about?

It's a sneeze. There's no backstory to it, as far as Bernard is aware of. It's simple, it's thoughtless, it's inherent. Sure, he knows that people can hold back their sneezes if needed, but at it's base, it's a reaction, and one that's hard to control. The level to which Tim can manipulate his own, though, speaks to something far more complicated than Bernard can even begin to form connotations to.

For now, he has to let it go. Everything about Tim is a mystery, and the code to deciphering him is written between the lines of Dick's offering of his and Jason's phone numbers. So, unless Bernard texts one of them to ask why Tim sneezes weirdly, which is quite possibly the most bizarre question he could even raise, he's on his own.

Don't let it be said that Bernard Dowd doesn't love a challenge.

-

Over the remainder of the week, Bernard keeps an eye on Tim as if he's a sentry assigned to stand guard over him. He does feel weird about it—almost stalkerish, which, honestly and a bit embarrassingly, isn't exactly new to him—but it's not like Bernard's trying to learn anything he didn't already know about Tim's personal life. He lives in the same room as Tim, for crying out loud. Objectively, he's not doing anything wrong. At least, that's how Bernard justifies it to himself.

He's aware that he's being all Bernard about it, looking too deeply into it when, in reality, it's probably nothing more than Tim preferring not to draw attention to himself. At the same time, Bernard can't help but feel as if there's something more to it. After all, Tim decided to hide the fact that he was missing a whole-ass organ for a semester; he truly wouldn't put it past Tim to somehow have a buried trauma about sneezing. It would only make sense for him.

To be perfectly honest, though, Tim is boring.

Bernard didn't notice it in their fall semester, when Tim was being avoidant for the most part and didn't trust Bernard enough to reveal anything about his personal life. Apparently, he wasn't missing out. Tim studies more than anything, and even when he's not studying, he's doing homework or reading or something equally uninteresting. It makes his observation of his roommate very dry.

Until the moment where he invites Tim to sit outside.

They're moving through the quad together, Tim having just attended his linguistics class and heading into a free period while Bernard's done with classes for the day. The April weather is gorgeous, with a nice breeze cutting through the heat of the day. It's so nice, in fact, that Bernard asks—

"Want to stay outside for a bit?"

Tim's steps pause for a moment, hesitating. "Why?"

Bernard can barely stop himself from staring in shock at him. Sure, he grew up in the city, but he spent every moment that he could in the park. "it's... nice?" he ventures. "Plus, you could use more sun."

"First, rude. Second, if you insist." Tim sighs, glancing around for a place to sit. "As long as we're not directly in the sunlight."

Bernard rolls his eyes. "Sure, whatever. Vampire."

Tim scoffs at him, following Bernard as they move to take a seat in the shade underneath a tree. He only seems vaguely annoyed, meaning that he does actually care, at least a little bit. They're not at the point yet where Tim's comfortable being jokingly annoyed or mad with Bernard, since Bernard did it to Tim once and ended up sending Tim into a spiral for the next day over whether he was actually upset.

So. His annoyance here is at least vaguely interesting.

"hn'x! ngt! hnk'tt!"

"Bless you," Bernard murmurs. Tim shakes his head and immediately goes to sneeze again, sitting up with his head tipped back slightly, eyes half-shut, mouth partly open as his breath hitches quietly.

"hh...hi'h? hHhh—" He's trying to hold it back and is failing miserably. "—hk't! hxxt! hn'gt! h'hHn'gt-sh!"

"Bless you."

"Why'd you want to be out here?" Tim asks, voice nasal. His head immediately bobs down toward his chest again, nose pressed into the crook between his thumb and pointer finger to at least give himself a semblance of modesty. This set is even more numerous than the first, each sneeze coming in rapid succession.

Bernard sits up straighter in alarm. "Uh... exactly how allergic are you to pollen?"

Tim's response is another rapid set of sneezes.

"You need to get better at putting your foot down," exclaims Bernard, grabbing Tim by his free wrist and hauling him upward as Tim sneezes again and again, each perfectly stifled and barely making any sound. The only reason, Bernard reflects, that he can hear them is because Tim's sneezing too much to fully have control.

"You're—gxt'sh!—telling me," Tim gasps out. Mockingly, he attempts to add, "You could use more su'h'nxt! hxt'ch!"

"Okay, Sneezy, let's get back to the very climate-controlled indoors," says Bernard, hastily dragging him toward the building.

-

Tim's lying down on his bed when Bernard walks into their dorm, three days after the incident, absently staring up at the ceiling. There's nothing taped up there—Bernard checked.

"You okay?"

"Fine," replies Tim. "Just... thinking."

Bernard sets his backpack down next to his bed, placing the binder in his hands down on top of his comforter to ensure he doesn't forget about the homework in it. "Anything in particular?"

Tim shrugs, which is his way of saying Yes, but I don't want to talk about it. Bernard had given up on trying to interpret all of Tim's nonverbal signals on his own and reached out to Dick the day after Tim's allergy attack; Dick had informed him that reading Tim was like learning a new language. He wasn't very communicative at best, even with members of his own family, and it took Dick years to figure everything out. Jason is still struggling, apparently, which Dick attributes to Jason being in college while Tim was adjusting to living with the Waynes. He's gradually been passing tips onto Bernard, trying to make his living experience a tad easier.

Uncertainly, he walks over to Tim's side of the room, stopping just short of sitting on the bed with his roommate. Looming over him feels like an equally terrible option, and Bernard just stands there for an awkward moment.

"This is a little creepy."

"You're one to talk," Bernard says before having the chance to properly filter himself. He's trying to get Tim to open up, here.

Tim huffs out a laugh, then sniffles quietly. "Just sit down."

Bernard does. Neither of them say anything for a long minute, with the silence frequently broken by Tim's soft sniffles as he continues fighting off the pollen in the air.

"You know you can sneeze, right?" he blurts out. Tim doesn't blink. "Like, around me. I don't mind, I promise."

When Tim doesn't respond, Bernard keeps rambling. "It's just that, every single time I've seen you sneeze you're stifling. No matter what. Even if you're alone in the room, you don't make any noise, and, like, it's worrying me. It's not, um, normal. Not that you're not normal, obviously, but—"

"Bernard."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Bernard rolls his head to look at Tim. His roommate is still looking at the ceiling instead of at him, but he's talking.

"I was..." He pauses, starts over. "My parents very much believed in the adage of children being seen and not heard. To them, my silence wasn't an expectation, it was a strict necessity for me."

"Tim..."

"For whatever reason, they included normal bodily functions in that." Tim scoffs, but it's devoid of any feeling, as if he's making the noise only because he's expected to show disapproval toward his parents. "Coughing, sneezing, anything like that was taboo. So, I learned to keep quiet."

"You know that's not okay, right?"

"I've heard that nearly a thousand times from Dick and Jason." Now, he turns to face Bernard. "I'm aware."

Bernard sighs. "Do you believe it?"

A moment of silence. Three different emotions pass over Tim's face, too quickly for Bernard to parse through them all, but something sad is certainly there. "I'm working on that," he says eventually.

"That's good," replies Bernard, and they fall back into silence before Tim sneezes adorably, much like a baby kitten.

"hk'sh'iew!"

"Oh my God."

"Shut up!"

[t4tozier]

starbreaker :-) 🎶👗💔😶

music hc:

jace listens to classical music when he's trying to focus/grade papers/etc. he canonically listens to the complicated women podcast so i think he's a podcast listener when he goes to sleep. he will play it out loud and porter lays there in bed wide awake staring up at the ceiling

porter either listens to metal/rock or silence. there's no in between and no way to judge what mood he's in when he listens to one or the other. he picks jace up and the car is just completely silent and jace is like...are u mad at me

clothes hc:

they are literally overdressed gf/underdressed bf. jace does not know what casual means he pulls up dressed to the nines no matter where they're going. he actually gets fancier when he's not at work because he doesn't want to get any sorcery student effects on his nice clothes. meanwhile porter wears the same two pairs of pants and just switches out his various v-necks and gym shirts. jace isn't a wild magic sorcerer, but he had a wild magic surge the first time he saw porter in a button-down shirt.

also tiny shorts and cutoff tee porter. i know it to be true in my heart.

angsty hc:

jace has a lot of trust issues because he's been used in the past by friends and exes. it takes him months to accept that porter wants him for more than his body and won't take advantage of him. porter sacrifices him the next week.

porter catches himself almost telling jace he loves him a few months into...whatever their situationship is. he sacrifices him the next day, because he's terrified that jace will reject him if he's given the choice. jace comes back, choosing life, choosing porter, but the damage has been done.

random hc:

jace is severely allergic to cats. he loves cats, which results in him taking a lot of fantasy benadryl so he can pet them without breaking into hives.

porter is scared of horses. yes he's taller than most of them. he just doesn't like when they shake their heads at him.

[just-a-girl-who-wrytes]

hi, idk if requests are open but if so..

can you please write deacon x reader when during a case his wife saves a man’s life. the next day, the guy goes to the station with flowers to thank her and asks her out and deacon gets jealous!

Yes! I love getting them!

Enjoy! ❤️

Deacon’s station had been temporarily relocated next to yours while their headquarters were being remodeled. A firehouse, EMS station, and police headquarters all on the same block? It kept the banter between your first responder branches alive. You all spent your free time hanging out, training together, and cooking good meals to be eaten in between calls. You and your partner had just sat down with 20-David and the fire crew on for the shift when you were dispatched to a difficulty breathing call.

“Love you, Babe.” Deacon said as he chewed his mouth full of food.

“Love you too.” You responded. You had to be mindful not to kiss him or have any public displays of affection while you were on shift together. That was a BIG no no and would undoubtedly result in one of you two being moved stations. Despite being restricted on affection for 24 hours, you enjoyed sharing a station with your husband.

The rest of the house told you and your partner to be safe as you left to run the call.

You arrived on scene to find a 40 year old male having an anaphylactic reaction to some peanuts he unknowingly ingested while having a severe peanut allergy. He had given himself his epi per a friend on scene, but with no relief.

You immediately administered a second dose of epi, followed by 25 mg of benadryl, as well as a nebulizer breathing treatment. You and your partner were able to get him onto the stretcher and loaded into your ambulance where you got an IV and continued treating him on your way to the hospital. You had to admit, he was a stubborn one - as you would say. You threw the entire anaphylactic protocol at him down to intravenous epi and there still wasn’t a ton of improvement. Regardless, he wasn’t any worse by the time you dropped him off at the hospital.

You returned to service once you made it back to the station to restock. You told Deacon and Luca about the call. You were always excited to get to run good calls where you were able to use your full skill set as a paramedic. Deacon adored listening to you talk about good calls. He loved watching the spark in your eye when you talked about getting to help people and use the skills you trained hard to develop.

Deacon stood at the back doors of your ambulance while you put your supplies away.

“You are so beautiful, you know that, right?”

You looked up from your medication bag and smiled at him.

“You’re not half bad yourself, Kay.”

Your husband chuckled.

“I love getting to see you work and I love hearing you talk about getting to do your job.”

“Well, baby, you know I love what I do.”

A week later, you both were on shift together again. You were checking off your ambulance that morning while the firemen checked off their trucks and SWAT checked their gear.

You and your partner were lost in conversation together about a recent call you ran when you overheard someone asking a fireman for Paramedic Kay - you. The engineer walked the man over to you and you immediately recognized him as the anaphylactic patient you had cared for earlier in the week.

A man walking into the bays carrying an impressive bouquet of flowers caught Deacon’s eye - even more so when he heard the man ask for his wife.

“Who the hell is that?” Luca asked his teammate.

“We’re about to find out.” Deacon said, making a bee-line for your ambulance.

“These are beautiful. Thank you.” You thanked the man, taking the flowers from him as you smiled.

Your husband caught your eye as he approached the side door of your ambulance and stepped inside.

“As a thank you for saving my life, I would love to take you out to dinner one night, that is, if you would please go out with me?” The man asked.

Deacon was standing next to you as you sat in the captain’s seat in the back of the truck. You heard a low growl escape his throat.

“I thank you for your kindness and consideration, but I was simply doing my job. I love what I do, so I’m pretty good at it. However, I am married to a wonderful man.”

Deacon smirked to himself, “And even if I wasn’t married, there is a strict no-no on dating patients.”

Deacon looked at the man and noted he was visibly disappointed.

“There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?” The man asked.

As professional as you were trying to remain, your kindness was quickly wearing thin when the man asked you again after you had revealed to him you were married, but Deacon didn’t leave you time to respond.

“Brother, I believe she told you that she was married.”

Your patient became obviously disgruntled.

“Marriages don’t mean much now-a-days.”

You could tell that struck a nerve with your husband. His posture became more upright and he held his hand out towards the man, expecting a handshake. You kept silent to watch the scene unfold. You noticed Luca had approached the back doors of the ambulance as well.

“My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself to you,” Deacon began, “I’m SWAT Sergeant David Kay. Paramedic Kay is my wife.”

The man stuttered and turned around to leave without responding or shaking your husband’s hand.

“Don’t forget. Keep your epi pen somewhere that’s room temperature and replace them when they expire!” Your partner reminded the man as he walked off.

Once the man was out of earshot, you could no longer contain your laugher.

“Really?” You said, laughing at your partner.

Your partner shrugged.

“Fucker.” You heard Deacon mumble.

When you arrived home the next morning with your husband, you were undressing from your uniforms.

“David Kay,” you said sternly with a slight sensual tone in your voice.

“Yes ma’am?” He turned around after taking his shirt off.

You felt butterflies in your stomach. You always secretly loved when Deacon said ma’am to you, or called you mama, or his ole lady.

“Was that jealousy that I saw in you yesterday?”

You smirked and made your way over to your husband. You wrapped your arms around his neck.

“And if it was?” His voice was low and sensual.

“I’ve never seen that side of you like that before.” You rubbed the back of his neck with your finger tips.

“That’s because no man has openly disrespected you like that in front of me before. You are my wife. That should be respected.”

“You know I have eyes for you…” you traced his pecs and abs down to his belt with your fingers, “and only you.”

You stood up on your tip toes to kiss your husband.

He wrapped his arms around you, groping your ass with his hands, and moaned into the kiss.

You spent the day showing your husband that he was the only one you would ever want.

[whumpdoyoumean]

Hi! I would like to introduce you to a whump concept I’ve never seen in whump communities before: a condition called Devil’s Itch. It happened to my sister, and it was not fun for anyone involved.

Basically, it’s a weird reaction you can have to sunburns, especially if you’re re-exposing a burn to the sun. Even if the original burn or the new burn is minor. It’s more common in people with sensitive skin (sister’s a ginger)

According to her, it started when the burned area (her back) became really itchy, almost unbearably so. She aggressively scratched it (bad idea) and twenty minutes later, began feeling sporadic, deeply painful pricks of pain all over her back. She likened it to fire ant bites, but only lasting a few seconds, disappearing, and then popping up again in a different spot. She could go whole minutes in between the pricks, and sometimes two would happen at the same time. Apparently, that was particularly excruciating.

Let me paint this picture for you. We’re on a road trip, relatively crowded car, we stop for literally just twenty minutes. It wasn’t even that sunny. Her previously sunburnt back starts itching at that rest stop. Twenty minutes later, we’re back on the road, well on our way, when she starts spasming in pain. I kid you not. She’s a really tough person but she was falling apart, crying, low key freaking out because this is terrifying what is it we don’t even know. my mom is frantically researching, I’m freaking out, my dad’s trying to find a place to pull over and get Benadryl because we can’t think of anything else to do.

Eventually the internet provides the answer: a colloidal oatmeal bath. Obviously we don’t have the capability for that, but we drive for like a half an hour more to get to a Walmart and get the stuff. My sister lays down and we basically soak paper towels in the stuff and put it on her back. Eventually it works, and the pain goes away.

My sister recently was going over this again with me, just reminiscing, and said she “lives in fear of that happening again” because it was so painful. Every time she gets a sunburn (which is often, the ginger curse) she is petrified the entire time.

So. Go forth and whump.

Oooh yikes, that sounds awful!!! I've had some pretty bad sunburns in my day, but nothing like that! Tell your sister to wear so much sunscreen ��

[thoroughlysaucedsparrow]

Limbus Headcanons but it’s mostly just me Projecting onto characters

-Everyone thinks that Sinclair wears gloves to look cool/be more tidy but no my boy just has Primary Raynaud’s and fucking dies without them. Same goes for Faust and her sweater, do not separate them.

-Rodya’s that one friend that somehow has everything you need at that moment on hand. Pain meds? Got that choose which brand you want. Safety pins? She has a whole box of them. Hand sanitizer? Lemon or French Vanilla take your pick. That woman’s pockets could rival Mary Popins’ bag.

-Both Saude and Effie have a cat allergy to some degree but they love them so much that they have three at home and just live on Benadryl.

-Effie sews as a hobby so everyone who knows him pretty much uses him as a free tailor for their uniforms. Meanwhile Saude is pretty into crocheting and knitting so it’s not uncommon for them to sit together after work working on their respective projects.

-The ratio of sleeping space to plushies on Charon’s bed is insane she just sleeps on a pile of them and is the snuggest bug to ever be in a rug. The most notable plush is one of those 3ft long cat plushies that she spoons/uses as a pillow everynight.

-Don used to have super long hair like waist-length hair but she chopped it off one day and never went back after realizing how much easier it was to manage. -On the topic of Don she hasn’t grown an inch since she was 12 and she’s PISSED about it

[donnerpartyofone]

horrorphones...

Like many of the cretinous shut-ins who follow this blog, I hate phone calls. If you call me on the phone without an approved appointment I will assume that you are experiencing a deadly emergency. You will scare the shit out of me and I may not even be relieved if there is no deadly emergency. For me to talk on the phone, I practically always have to write a little script, even if we are very close personal friends. I must have a physical list of talking points in case my mind goes totally blank from the enormous pressure and I forget my entire life. I usually have to have at least one drink for calls lasting longer than a minute or two. I would probably be most comfortable conducting all social business from behind a Late Show desk on which I could reassuringly tap my stack of helpful cue cards. I will write you very long personal letters. I will text and DM with you at all hours of the night. I just cannot talk to you on the phone. The phone fries my brain. Actually, I feel extremely nervous even after a phone call, even if everything went well, even if it was super fun. I kind of have to sleep it off.

Unfortunately, not all people communicate in non-phone ways. I have one best friend (I'm an adult, I don't put the top people in a hierarchy as if they all serve exactly the same purpose and some are better than others; I have a couple of verified "best friends") who is just too much of a free spirit to be really into the internet, or to be brooding over long written documents. I gotta talk to her on the phone or she won't feel loved, she'll feel detached and isolated. I love to talk to her, but I still need to get in the like phone zone in order to not act like the total fucking outer space alien that I actually am. Being me is very taxing.

But now I have this old friend, see. An old friend and also a friend who is old. Actually I have no idea how old he is, he was old when I met him. He gave me my first post-college job (my first "real job" ever, I was and remain an unemployable mess) at his comic book store, where I stayed for many years. The whole crew there was very tight. He is a cool, smart, funny, cultured, frustrating, infuriating, offensive, secretly caring and wonderful sort of person. We went through a lot together, including several years of a random customer stalking and harassing me. We dealt with the police together. We served the dregs of society together. Sometimes we hated each other. But he is a major reason that I survived my 20s.

Several years ago he was in a freak accident where he was pinned under a heavy piece of furniture in his apartment for days. It could have killed him. He already had a well-developed case of Parkinson's, I don't know if that's related. Through a series of different events, he wound up moving into an assisted living place on the other side of the country, near one of his brothers. I'm sure he hates it. Every year on Halloween, which is a little bit before his birthday, I send him a hand-drawn card featuring classic comics characters doing all sorts of demented things, along with a little update letter. One year I got a letter back asking me to call him. OH NO, I thought. I didn't call.

Yesterday was a big, very challenging, in some ways very rewarding day. When I was finally all out of tasks I decided to turn my brain fully off and become spectacularly stoned. I was well zooted when my fucking phone rang. I quickly Googled the number, and I'm pretty sure it was the assisted living facility where my friend is. I didn't pick up. They called back once, but left no message. I felt pretty bad, though I also knew that in my current state it would have been a huge disaster if I answered. What if he died? I thought, knowing that he has a lot of siblings and I wouldn't have been that phone call, and also if it were important they would have left a message or kept trying. I forced myself not to worry about it by popping a couple of Benadryl and making it an early night.

I think I have to call back though. I might regret it if I don't. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I have all sorts of worries. What if he's incoherent now? What if we can't understand each other? What if I have nothing to say? What if he IS coherent but he wants to say terrible things about politics (a life-long constant for him, I don't know if he even cares as much about politics as he does about trolling people)? But also what if he like dies and I have to sit around thinking about how selfish I am for never calling him for all eternity? I'm sure I'm the only person making him original personalized art for his birthday every year, but does that really get me out of everything else?

So the point of this post is to somehow force myself to call him. I have way too much shit to do and I am preparing for a lot of stressful social things with strangers and I need to stop being unemployed and I am cramping up a storm. But I think I also have to make the phone call. Maybe I will do such a bad job that I never have to do it again! Pray for me, pray for the sweet saving grace of personal failure.

[lifblogs]

Another free-write poem. (Guess this is how I’m coping.)

How many near-death experiences can you have

Before you’re the girl who cried wolf?

How many times can you die

Before they get sick of all the symptoms that they think are lies?

“Why don’t you go see a doctor?”

Trust me, they’re trying their best (or a few rare few… so few)

“Just don’t eat what tries to kill you.”

Guess I’ll starve myself to death

18-year old me would be so proud,

So maybe I should entertain her

Maybe that sick girl was right

She should’ve killed me at 20

Why did she let me live this life?

“Just take benadryl, you’ll be all right”

Then why am I chugging down the bottles,

More crucial than oxygen,

And still my body tries to kill me like it’s never heard of sin?

And my balance is getting wobbly

My head is spinning ‘round

I’m living life in a haze

Around pink pills

The world is going up and down

Yet I can’t breathe, and I can’t breathe

When was the last time I swallowed down my savior:

Three hours or four?

Maybe more like one or two

Sometimes not even half an hour goes by

Before my body tries to say I’m through

And each day just brings more pink

They’re going faster than I can count

I’ll have five coughing fits a day where I really think I’m no longer here to stay

Please, throat, I need you to survive

And at least lie

We’ll be dramatic, and we’ll cry

But you fucking traitor, you don’t want me alive

What was my crime?

Was it always trying to die?

So you thought you’d fix the problem

That you’re the answer to my maddened pleas

Well, throat, you’re fired until you can learn to be nice to me

And, lungs, you too

Same goes for you, and you, and you, and you

(My stomach, my skin, my face, my brain)

And you

(My bones)

Sometimes it all just feels the same

It’s an itch I cannot scratch

It’s a cough I cannot stop

It’s a breath I cannot catch

And then comes the moment I realize

That I’m not me, I’m just a doomed body

Just killing time, or killing me over chocolate

Or maybe some cinnamon, or lemon too, have you tried pepper, here, only try a few

It’s not supposed to hurt when all I want to do is eat dessert, or eat at all, or live without this desperate call

(From the other side, or so it seems)

I haven’t tasted what I love in way too long

Come on, body, I know you crave it

But you’ll just kill me over an injection, a vitamin

All with an evil grin, not caring for the straits you put me in

I haven’t told my dad

Because it hurts to make him sad

And I’m sure he’d like to know

But he’s lost nearly everyone he’s ever loved

So what happens if I say I’ll soon be up above?

Or wherever, or wherever, I don’t know what comes next

I hope I reincarnate into a person blessed with life every single day

I’ll even take a house cat who is adored like family

But maybe all I’ll be is a bug, a little bug to be crushed under somebody else’s feet

Or maybe I’m a wolf!

Sure, I am the girl who cried wolf

I’ll make my dad cry

And that’s when I’ll really die

That’s when I’ll turn and bite

Because I’m not a girl

I’m just a damaged wolf

Wishing she was a girl

So I could wrap my arms around my dad

And try and play it cool

But, Auntie Paula, I’ll see you soon

I swear I tried, I swear I tried

But who’d believe me if I died

Courtney, will you lead me into the light

Or wherever you are

So I can tell you about all my scars

“What are those scars from? There’s a dent in your right wrist!”

They’re not from me, but they sure could be

Because all I see is an array of sharp teeth

Snapping down on all my life

I got chewed but not yet spit out

Is this a lonely wolf’s life?

It’s all alone, and it’s sad to go

The wolf sure can fight, it does more than bite

It hunts me across all of my life, and all these darkening days

But maybe with just one more bite, it’d take my life

And finally, the girl can rest, the wolf can rest

If only I was that girl, alive and well

But I’m just the wolf, the wolf they never believed!

So if I die—when I die—please lay my wolf to rest, and let me be a girl again

[awholelottayeehaw]

Everyone's Feelings are Valid Regarding Mando Season 3

As a neurodivergent teacher whose students are on spring break, I finally have the time to weigh in on the Mando Season 3 debate after seeing how divided the fandom is. This mini essay is meant to be a logical and safe middle ground for everyone, to remind everyone that your feelings are valid regardless of what they are, and that even if your opinions/feelings are valid that doesn't meant they're fact or justifiable to police how others think and feel.

This contains spoilers for Mando S3, Rebels, and Clone Wars and is written while I'm high on benadryl so approach at your own risk! I may go back and edit this and edit out/rewrite points to make them more succinct or add points others may have that should be included and don't want anyone to feel gaslit if they see any changes they don't recall seeing before.

1. More Than Two Ways to Feel

From what I gather, the two main opinions on this season are either it's a great season and anyone who disagrees is what's wrong with Star Wars, or that this season is a disappointing let down after waiting so long for Din to return. Both are valid, but since Star Wars fans tend to see outcomes in extremes, I want to point out that those aren't the only two options available, you can also:

be disappointed with this season while continuing to be a huge fan of the show

and

enjoy this season while recognizing the writing and quality isn't up to the standards the show had set in previous seasons or even the promises it made with this one.

The Mandalorian was the first piece of live action media since the Clone Wars that sparked the interest of even non Star Wars fans because it offered something new and exciting to a world and lore we're all familiar with that doesn't demand you to know 50 years of Star Wars history nor does it jeopardize characters and storylines long time fans are protective of.

Because of this, it's easy to forget that Star Wars fans are now sharing The Mandalorian with casual Star Wars fans or even exclusive fans to the show without having any interest in exploring the SW universe further through other forms of media.

I'd argue the first instance of this being taken away from casual fans was in The Book of Boba Fett by requiring them to view it to stay i in the know for Season 3 along with the return of Cad Bane who, for fans of the cartoons, flipped out seeing his live action form. But for those who only watched BOBF as fans of Mando, a lot of viewers were like:

Bo Katan, Ahsoka, Luke, and Boba Fett's resurrection in Mando were written in smoothly that excited long time SW fans familiar with them while allowing casual fans to enjoy the story because said characters stood on their own as supporting roles without taking away from their their origins. But throwing in characters like Cad Bane and even other Rebels/Clone Wars characters into Season 3 of Mando, it doesn't give casual fans a reason to stay or feel satisfied if they're not in the know with these beloved niche of characters.

And because of this, it's easy to unintentionally police said fans with how strongly you may feel as someone with deep rooted knowledge of the franchise.

Casual fans of the show shouldn't have to be spoiled or talked down to for not sharing the same enthusiasm as other fans because they don't know who a character is/their importance to the SW universe or for having differing opinions and feelings over a show that wasn't originally built on any previous Star Wars lore. And older fans who love all SW lore who are disappointed are allowed to feel let down after 3 years for this season to not be how it was advertised just as fans who are loving this season shouldn't be mocked for enjoying the ride regardless of where it goes. We're all valid here.

2. Mando Has Always Had Side Quests, but Not Without Plot

If I had a dollar for every

"Mando has always been about side quests! Why are people complaining about this format NOW?"

comment I read, I'd have enough to maybe... have a nice meal somewhere.

Has the Mandalorian been told through side quests? Yes and no. It's been 3 years since the last season aired and I think a lot of people will look back at the previous 2 seasons with vague memories of Din and Grogu traversing through time and space as father and son while helping wayward future friends and getting their asses handed to them by alien animal species when it wasn't quite like that.

The first season starts with Din being hired after a particularly easy job to hunt down a difficult quarry. Din requires the help of a moister farmer to get to the kid since he can't land the ship close enough to the mark without setting off security, and discovers said quarry is a child. He spends the rest of the season getting the kid back to the Imps, saving him from the Imps, blacklisting himself from his job, unintentionally setting up his covert for a massacre, trying to lay low and find a safe place for the kid to grow up so he can go back to his old life only to realize he can't as long as the kid is wanted, and proceeds to take on a few jobs to feed them and avoid the Empire until he's called back to deal with Karga's ambush and getting sucked into a trap intended for Grogu and the season ends with Grogu now being Din's foundling and his new mission is to bring Grogu home.

The second season focuses on Din trying to hunt down fellow Mandalorians to help him reunite Grogu to the Jedi, the first episode while on a job reveals that his quarry had seen a Mandalorian on Mos Pelgo which led him to meet Cobb Vanth. The only reason Din stayed is to take back the armor and agreed to earning it back by killing the Krayt Dragon for them and the Raiders. The second episode has Din playing Taxi in return for information about Mandalorians seen on Trask (where Frog Lady was heading). Din agrees to help Bo and her clan to raid an Imperial ship and her information leads him to Ahsoka two episodes later. Because the Mon Calamari's repairs were inadequate, Din goes to help Karga destroy an old Imperial base in return for repairs. He finally finds Ahsoka and helps her confront Elsbeth in exchange of training Grogu (again, I'll circle back to this as a Season 3 plot point that fell through). She decides she won't train him due to Grogu's attachment and anger in his heart for what he went through and points Din to a temple where Grogu can contact other Jedi for training and from there, he's capture, Din loses his ship, he finds Grogu's location with the help of his newfound friends, and saves Grogu only to give him over to Luke while now being the proud owner of a weapon and defunct planet.

So is Mando ALL random side quests with no point? No. Each episode interwove into the next effortlessly while being a self contained episode that never failed to remind you the importance of each mission, side quest, and character that Din interacted with. And it's hard to miss the overall theme of honor, identity, and religious guilt that Din faces and questions each episode up until the end when he chooses to show Grogu his face as an ultimate act of love.

But with Season 3, I can't tell you how any of the episodes connect or what they hint at to the overall season plot and we're six (seven, if you're reading this after the episode drops) episodes into an 8 episode season. Even if by the final episode things all tie together, it didn't have the same smooth transitions as the previous seasons had nor did they remind you of what we might've forgotten information wise in these three years and that's why a lot of these episodes feel pointless compared to the urgency that Din and Grogu faced leading up to his departure with Luke. Which brings me to...

3. Season 3's Plot Failed in Season 2 and BOBF

Yet two other comments I've seen that could buy me a second fancy meal somewhere or just a fancy ass desert for a family of 4 by myself is:

Season 3 has no plot! It's pointless! It's boring!

and

Season 3 has a plot! Just because it's not about Din anymore doesn't mean there lacks plot!

And to this, yet again, I say... yes and no to both. Season 3, as I mentioned in my previous point, hasn't woven in an overarching plot like its previous two seasons and so the urgency is not only not there, but it doesn't remind you of why you need to care or stick around for Din's redemption arc (whichever that may be) or whatever is going on with Bo and the Armorer and the Empire. But I don't fault Season 3 for having bad writing necessarily, but rather throwing out their best plot point for Book of Boba Fett and (as I mentioned before) not recapping what was mentioned in Season 2.

No one can convince me that The Book of Boba Fett wasn't a ploy for Disney+ to keep Mando fans happy and excited while they figured out Season 3. I will die on this hill. It's been 3 years and I already heard fans losing hope and grumbling about it before I even joined Tumblr. No matter how loyal a fanbase is, you still lose them to other media when what they crave isn't available in a certain amount of time and BOBF was the balm to that ache for many of us despite us also simultaneously being disappointed in how they handled BOBF. Boba and BIPOC characters deserve better. But that's for another essay.

Season 3 failed the moment Din and Grogu were reunited in BOBF along with Din's new ship. This broke what made Mando so unique and special as stated in my first point where fans could casually get into Mando without needing decades of SW lore to enjoy it, and now those fans are left behind because they didn't realize they had to invest in The Book of Boba Fett to be included in the Members Only Season of The Mandalorian and that's being reflected in its ratings.

I genuinely believe if they had opened Mando Season 3 with his entrance in BOBF and led the first two episodes with Din tracking down his tribe after delivering his bounty for said information, was made an apostate, and rejected to see Grogu all in one episode... that would have given the season far more possibilities for plot than what this season has offered us in the last 6 episodes. And especially so if they recapped the important plot details that Season 2 set up but expected fans to remember after 3 years and tied those plot points in in a way that upped the urgency Season 3 has lacked so far.

In Chapter 11: The Heiress when Din is saved by Bo and her clan, he only agrees to help them with their raid in exchange for where he can find a Jedi teacher for Grogu. But what did they need that raid for? To steal weapons in order to take down the Imperial remnants that still plunder Mandalore that will help them retake their planet. Aside from Bo's castle getting blown up by TIE fighters, we're not reminded of this fact at all during this season. Din and Bo were able to get to Mandalore with ease and stroll around like it was nothing. There were no ships hovering around the planet, no secret bases, no symbols, not even recently defunct battle droids. Mandalore was painted as a planet that was free real-estate that they could've moved in to that day the moment they realized the planet had breathable air and just some old robots and troll species to worry about. There was no reminder of this being a potentially dangerous planet as an Imperial wasteland.

But Bo's castle got blown up by TIE fighters! Where do you think they came from? The threat was obvious!

...Except it wasn't. Bo was moping around that castle in broad day light, not attempting to hide. Why didn't they blow her castle up sooner if she was a threat? And even if it came out later that Bo was part of the siege to free Gideon, they should have made it less obvious because yeah where DID they come from? Sure as shit not Mandalore, and why when she's united with Din the second time in this episode? And if this threat is linked to Thrawn, as we see his return in the trailer for Ahsoka, they should have recapped Chapter 13: The Jedi where Ahsoka shook down Elsbeth for information regarding where Thrawn's location is (which leads to Ahsoka's spin off series).

So yes the plot IS there, just not written in a way that reminds fans of what was at stake leading up to Season 3 and expanded upon those threats even within just opening scenes. The Mandalorian had brilliantly made whatever the opening scene was as foreshadowing the rest of the episode's plot. Season 3 could have used those recaps, flashbacks, or even a bonus scene to something we already saw in the previous season as that reminder audiences need after 3 years to remember what the stakes are and why it still impacts Din and Grogu regardless if Bo is now going on either a redemption journey herself or is secretly the season's antagonist.

And even if Bo is meant to be a central character, Mando has glossed over the fact that she was responsible for Mandalor's downfall TWICE and was considered a traitor, a terrorist, and the reason why her sister was murdered. It's possible they didn't reveal that for specific reasons, but it feels lazy not to hint at it in some ways that let the audience wonder if Bo is meant to be an antagonist or hero this time around, especially as an established selfish, morally gray character. And it's unfair that her redemption is this easy when her laundry list of sins she committed never properly held her accountable, and even with genuine remorse and empathy, Bo still is willing to make choices that benefit her in the long wrong over the benefit of others.

Which leads me to...

4. The Mandalorian Has Always Been About Din and Grogu

"The show is called The Mandalorian, not The Din Djarin and Grogu Show. Anyone can be The Mandalorian, and besides, it's plural!"

First off, The Mandalorian isn't plural. I just want to make that clear. The Mandalorian is a singular person and, although yes it can be anyone, it's explicitly about Din he is THE Mandalorian who walked the surface to bring back money, food, and goods to his tribe while everyone else stayed underground, hiding. Din made a name for himself as the best Bounty Hunter in the Parsec in a world where everyone believed Mandalore was a dead, unlivable planet and that

The Mandalorians, much like the Jedi, were extinct. This was reiterated in dialogue throughout the show by multiple characters, and is why Din was so special. Because when they heard about a Mandalorian it's always Din. Even gaining that land for his people, everyone will still turn to Din because he's THE Mandalorian to them. He's the one who has united people, saved towns, been the diplomat, and the reason why many characters and even Nevaro exist. He's the Mando people will recognize and hold esteem for, not anyone else even if Bo does try to take the mantle and that's because she's The Heiress, even to the likes of the Armorer, and The Armorer is the Armorer. Din will never shake that title even if he wanted to, because he's the one who's left a mark on the galaxy he lives in along with his green son, and Bo nor anyone else will be able to take that from him because they'll have their own titles in that universe to live up to whether they like it or not.

"But Din doesn't even want to be the main character in his own show! His story is over, let him and Grogu be at peace!"

That's the other problem, their stories are far from over. We already know that Thrawn is alive, Dr. Pershing doesn't understand how his science is genocidal, and Gideon is walking around with potentially his own Mandalorian bodyguards or is setting Din up. As long as these men exist and the Empire is a problem, they will hunt down Grogu for their cruel science projects and kill Din in order to achieve that. But this season hasn't reminded us of that at all and has given people a false idea that Din and Grogu's stories are over when they absolutely are not. And even if Bo is intended to take the torch from Din, that doesn't wrap up his story or Grogu's it just makes it second fiddle for Bo to either redeem herself or make everything worse again. Time will tell I guess, but do not for a moment think that Din and Grogu are safe. They absolutely are not. Lastly,

5. Strong Stories Have Reluctant Protagonists

"Who wants to watch a show about someone who's a reluctant leader? Mandalor the Reluctant? I don't think so!"

Um... you do. That's literally the hero's journey. Bilbo Baggins never wanted an adventure. He wasn't confident in his abilities and he wasn't interested in helping the dwarves succeed. He was tricked by Gandalf by a false sense of duty. Luke Skywalker was content with his life on Tatooine until his childhood home an aunt and uncle perished and he physically couldn't go back even if he wanted to. Joel was a reluctant father figure to Ellie after his own losses despite his journey starting on greed. There's so many beloved characters that don't even want to star in their own stories but that's what makes them strong characters. They're forced to go on journeys they don't want to help them come to terms with their own inner termoil or even achieve the greatest version of themselves that they wouldn't have risen to if not for their inability to go back to their normal lives before the call of the journey. So even if we're all okay with more Din and Grogu adventure stories or even okay with Bo taking over, it feels unsatisfactory for Din to just hand the darksaber over to Bo after years of trying to get ride of it and handing his son, whom he spent at least a year apart from, to whoever is available to go on unrelated missions with Bo. There's a reason why people feel unsatisfied and disappointed with this season, and it's valid regardless of what you're okay with. Mando was built on strong writing and they've forgone simple solutions to cut corners in order to spit out a mediocre season when it had the potential to be not just fun but an incredible return of Din, Grogu, and introduction of Bo if she's meant to take the mantle down the line.

One more thing!

6. Bo Isn't a Worthy Leader (added 4/12/2023)

I know this may ruffle some peoples' feathers, but hear me out. I want to remind everyone once again I genuinely like Bo and have nothing against her, and my beef is with how the writers treated her this season and have mislead non Clone Wars and Rebels fans.

Bo deserves the title! The darksaber chose her! She wields it so well, and after all that she's gone through she deserves her redemption!!

A lot of fans of the show who haven't watched Rebels don't realize that Bo at one point couldn't wield the saber, either. It was Satine who taught her how. As far as I'm aware, the darksaber requires the wielder's thoughts and actions to flow into the Darksaber to fuel its energy, which then affects the weight and has nothing to do with being the chosen one like Excalibur. Anyone can learn to wield it if Bo was willing to teach them, hell even Gideon seemed to have a good grasp on it. Din even said in episode 7 that the saber doesn't dictate who is a worthy leader, it's based on principles and honor (which Bo conveniently chose not to inform Din on how she doesn't fit that bill).

Bo, this whole season, has shown time and time again she's not a worthy leader. At least, not yet. Bo has MANY sins to make up for. As I said earlier: Bo was a terrorist, she led to Mandalore's downfall... twice (now potentially thrice), led an incursion that got her sister killed, was openly racist towards Boba Fett and others, sexually assaulted Ahsoka, and burned down villages just because she could. None of these were ever brought up in Mando and it not only made Bo an innocent woman who lost everything and just needs her people and planet back, but also erases her history without ever fully holding her accountable.

Bo has fantastic military leadership (as shown this season alone), but when it comes to diplomatic, she falls short. All of her choices have led her to losing the darksaber, losing Mandalore, getting many people killed, and her prejudices have gotten in the way of true diplomacy where Din had to step in when she was ready to give up or use force to get what she wanted. She didn't even bother to try to win her people back or make a plan to take back Mandalore, she was content staying at home and crying on her throne until Din and Grogu forced her to finally do something productive.

All of this circles back to my point on why Din being a reluctant character is important to the overall story. For someone who doesn't want to lead, he's shown the most leadership skills all season by putting others before him and communicating on everyone else's level instead of expecting them to rise to his which is a stark contrast to Bo's actions this season. He's multi-lingual, finds ways to speak to other species to make them feel seen and heard, and consistently gives up his own food and resources to those in need even if it's with a grumble at first (Frog Lady comes to mind). Everything Bo lacks or doesn't attempt, Din jumps head first in. Which is why I think there's such a divide on Bo's character this season and it's easier to say she stole the show from Din when, in reality, her desire to lead but having no leadership skills is what has drawn out the frustrating aspects of Season 3's storyline that's hard to put your finger on but might've given you anxiety regardless. Her role as Mandalore doesn't feel earned and her character feels cheated, again regardless of how you personally feel about her as a character and if you want what's best for her.

I think I had more to say but I'm running a blank now. I'm tagging @yourcoolauntie cause I know I promised to talk to you about all of this and I still plan on messaging you but figured this confined space would get everything out in one go rather than getting lost in the sauce in a tiny little chat box on here. Everyone is welcome to DM me over this, comment, challenge me, whatever you need to feel better regardless of what your stance is over the show. This isn't meant to dismiss anyone or make anyone feel invalidated as I said, just a safe space with facts that you can do what you please with to either validate how you feel or recognize where that discomfort or frustration is coming from regardless if you're enjoying this season or not. You're seen, you're heard, and I'll see you on the other side after this upcoming episode tonight.

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

As many of my followers may be aware of at this point, I have ADHD. It's severe, and I began meds in December at the age of 40. Fucking life changing.

The medication, however, doesn't treat my "impressive" insomnia. Mine is bad enough that I stayed awake for seven days when I was a uni student. I don't remember anything after day three. My flatmates drugged me on day seven, then hauled my ass with benadryl (itthe active ingredient in OTC sleep meds btw) to the ER because sleep deprivation results in my seizures getting really fucking bad.

I have tried different prescription sleep aids. Thry each resulted in hallucinations, sleep paralysis, and exhaustion, and no actual sleep. One med caused me to basically roofie myself; the last thing I remember from that night was my husband glowing in the dark. He's rather saddened by this because apparently we had some seriously outstanding sex. Next night, seventh night on the med, I had what I thought was a dream. A fairy queen invited me to her kingdom if I could find a way through the bathroom mirror. I tried climbing through, but she kept blocking the way. When I woke and went into the bathroom, there were footprints all the way to the ceiling, and everything on the sink counter space was all over the floor. I could've fallen and broken my neck! Decided then and there I'm never using prescription sleep aids again.

Melatonin? I spoke to my neurologist and regular doctor about it. They both highly recommend never using that stuff. Your brain will stop making it naturally and demand higher and higher doses. It will get to the point of being completely ineffective, and you will have to stop using it in order to force your brain to make it naturally. Seeing as my brain is already plenty fucked up (epilepsy, brain damage from seizures and now black listed seizure meds, 10 years of klonipin because my previous doctors decided that was fine), I'm not touching the stuff.

For the last four or so years, I've been using a hemp-based edible made by Moonwlkr. It's 25mg CBD and 5mg THC in each dosage. No high for me because I'm asleep within about 10 minutes of it kicking in, followed by six wonderful hours of sleep. This stuff has been life changing! I wake up with less pain, not even remotely sleepy, and it's amazing!

Unfortunately, I have three doses left. It costs $40 for a month's worth of this. Not bad, really, unless you're broke. This stuff is vastly different from weed-based edibles. I don't quite know how to explain it other than weed-based makes me silly, my heart rate goes up, occasional paranoia, munchies, hard time physically relaxing enough to sleep, hard time waking up because I don't feel like I slept, dry af mouth and eyes. With my hemp-based sleep edible, I basically melt into slumber, no hunger or munchies, and wake up with mild dry mouth and dry eyes.

I'll have to use weed-based until I can afford my regular stuff, which has me very unhappy. Do not suggest using the OTC meds found at any pharmacy. The active ingredient is the same as benadryl, and it doesn't play well with two of my meds.

If you would like to help me get my medicine, I have my shop here. Prices start at $0 for digital downloads, and everything comes with the option to pay more. There are a few quilts there as well, and the lowest cost is just $85 for a miniquilt/mug rug. There are also several original paintings I'm selling.

Any funding beyond my medicine will be applied to bills and my ko-fi goal.

Before anyone suggests I try this or that to help me sleep, save your energy. I cannot do yoga due to being entirely unable to put weight on my hands, my knees dislocate, thighs dislocate, and I have a back injury that makes most poses extremely painful. Meditation has triggered some of my worst seizures, and three neurologists I've had all said thr same thing: my epilepsy doesn't play well with meditation. There's a reason people who provide guided meditation warn people who have epilepsy that meditation can result in seizures. Many herbal teas made for sleeping fuck with my meds, my brain, and my allergies. Chamomile is in the same family as ragweed, and if you're allergic to ragweed you should avoid chamomile due to a very real possibility of a bad and even deadly allergic reaction. Valerian root can be dangerous for those on seizure, mental illness, and antipsychotic meds as well. I've had insomnia for 41 years and have tried everything. This medication works for me, but I cannot afford right now.

I'm not making this rebloggable simply because last time this happened, I received a deluge of bullshit asks. It's exhausting, and I have better things I can be doing with my time.

[urhoneycombwitch]

https://www.tumblr.com/corrodedbisexual/707155168375062528/im-guessing-its-been-done-before-but-i-had-fun?source=share

I saw someone mention the mold/water spot on the ceiling a while ago and thought of it again today but couldn't find the post but this one covers it too lol

as someone dust and mold sensitive (which sucks when you live in an old house in a rainy place like the pnw where mold is literally the foundation holding up your walls) I can't imagine actually being able to spend long amounts of time cooped up in his room

like don't get me wrong LOVE HIM but let's be honest... that boy doesn't remember to dust. it's nothing against him, but he's a boy... and he's go so many other things on his mind and when he does notice he goes "oh, I should clean that" and then gets distracted doing something else (ADHD sweetheart, same)

I would try to power through. Honest. but I'd also be trying to smash and it's not very hot and sexy to have a sneezing fit and cough and get sick :/ I'm sorry bby we have to hang out outside my lungs said so

god the PNW mold so real. every single house I’ve ever lived in has had SOME sorta moisture-related mold issue lmao

he’s the type of boy I’d take a Benadryl for 🫶

[bunnygirl678]

Medical ramblings under the cut,

So I was talking to my doctor that treats my adhd and deals with the dosage of my adderall and whatnot, and last month I said I felt like it wasn’t working as well and she asked if I wanted to try a higher dosage and I said I wanted to wait another month to see if it was just a blip due to work or whatever

Well I was chatting with her during our recent appointment and I was like no I think my dose is fine, I ended up starting my period a few days later. I laughed and then she started asking questions about my pms symptoms

I’m like yeah I get really anxious over everything, really tired, bad leg cramps and Charlie horses, cravings, mood swings, lots of near crying or sobbing or whatever, and I do this thing where I think everyone hates me, I can’t handle any sort of criticism without feeling terrible, you know the normal stuff and it goes away when my period is done (the tiredness lasts a bit longer but that’s probably due to my blood thinners and having a period)

And she goes, this is one of those things much like your adhd in the past where you think something is normal and ignore it when it is certainly not the normal experience.

So long story short apparently I have something called pmdd or premenstrual dysmorphic disorder, and there’s a high comorbidity with adhd

She prescribed a low dose of Prozac (she had a different one she wanted to prescribe but apparently it doesn’t mix well with blood thinners) to take the week to 10 days before my period as well as the heavier flow days

Now the only problem is I’m super irregular and sometimes I get the pms (or I guess pmdd) symptoms and then they go away with no period. So we’re going to track as best we can, she said there’s a possibility that my body is doing the same hormonal phase as normal but then skipping the period part and moving to the next phase but she isn’t a gyno lol

Anyway she said birth control pills could help or even copper iud but can’t take bc pills due to the hormones and the iud while I technically could have it without being at risk for a blood clot, my hematologist said it was a bad idea in case it ruptured because of internal bleeding woooo

All of this to say I took my adderall this morning and mid afternoon like I normally do, and decided to try the Prozac after work because it said possible drowsiness and let me just say yep, I’m barely awake feels like I took a Benadryl, so it is a night time only pill for sure.

My kid just fell asleep so now I can crash.

Ngl being a girl sucks ass sometimes lol, if we could just skip the shitty hormone drops and raises that would be nice

[callmeblake]

In conversation with Frank Iero of L.S. Dunes

BY EM MOORE INTERVIEWS 9 HOURS AGO

June 30th, 2023

In 2022 L.S. Dunes, made up of Frank Iero, Travis Stever, Anthony Green, Tim Payne, and Tucker Rule, introduced themselves to the world on their outstanding debut album Past Lives. Recently, the band headed into the desert to record a couple of new tracks at the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, California. Filmmakers Nick and Pat Demarais joined them in the studio to document the recording process and their documentary Limitless Sky will be released in several parts on YouTube in the coming weeks. The first song from this session, “Benadryl Subreddit” was released last week along with a music video that answers the question, “What if Anthony Green was an ice cream man?”. L.S. Dunes will be putting out their 7-inch featuring "Benadryl Subreddit" and "Old Wounds" on September 1 via Fantasy Records and will be touring North America starting in July, including dates on the Sad Summer touring festival.

Punknews editor Em Moore caught up with guitarist Frank Iero over Zoom to talk about recording new songs, getting out of your comfort zone, the importance of creativity, the magic of monster movies, and so much more. Read the interview below!

You recorded two new L.S. Dunes songs - “Benadryl Subreddit” and “Old Wounds” - at Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California. How did you decide where to record?

I think that the first thing that came into frame for us was where we wanted to record. It had been something that Tucker and I had talked about a lot for a long time. It was always a studio that held such mystique. We loved some of the albums and projects that came out of there and we'd seen the documentaries online. I think our paths had maybe crossed here and there with Dave, who owns it, but never in a working environment. We were able to give him a call and be like, “Hey, this is the time frame when we’re gonna be free. Do you happen to have an opening?” It just so happened that Rancho was free and were like, “Oh my god, that’s amazing!” Someone at our label had mentioned that Alex Newport was also building a studio out in Joshua Tree and if we wanted this could be a one-stop shop for us if we also wanted to work with Alex. Alex has been on my radar for a while too, he’s someone I had wanted to work with for years. So we gave him a call and he happened to be free the same weekend. It felt like lightning was striking at that moment. [laughs] Sometimes the Universe tells you, “This is what you should be doing” and sometimes the Universe tells you, “That’s not happening”. This was one of those instances where I felt like the stars were aligning and it happened to work out. Then we started to write. For me, it was like, “What do I imagine this setting sounding like? What do I wanna play in this setting?” That’s how “Benadryl Subreddit” came about.

The desert vibes.

Yeah! The desert at night I feel like is fast-moving and semi-dangerous and colder than you would think it would be. [laughs]

And full of scorpions.

[laughs] Of course, yes. That goes without saying.

You are also releasing a documentary about your time recording at the studio called Limitless Sky. How did that come about?

Since it was a place we wanted to record at and be a part of for so long it was one of those things where we were like, “We need to capture this memory in case it never happens again”. We were introduced to Pat and Nick Demarais who are amazing artists and filmmakers. They’re super, super talented. We saw some of their reels and stuff like that and ended up hitting it off perfectly when they got there. So much so that we ended up doing the video for “Benadryl” with them as well. [laughs] I feel like that kind of thing is you either love the documentarians and film crew who are with you or you hate them and never want to do it again. This was one of those times where we were like, “Oh man, we really like having them around”. They were seen when they needed to be seen and not seen when they don’t need to be seen and they capture great stuff. I feel like they did such a wonderful job encapsulating the experience.

Part one of the documentary is actually out now and I’m so excited for people to see it because it’s just so beautiful. I feel like somehow they made us seem interesting, which is weird. [laughs] I feel like if you love music and you love the process then it’s a great documentary for you. If you don’t really give a shit about that and you just want to see something beautiful and be a fly on the wall for something and hear a bit of a story, it works in that way too. It came out way better than I ever thought it was going to be honest because I’m a little trepidatious about that kind of stuff like, “Do people really want to see behind that curtain?” People will say yes but sometimes they don’t. Like, “I thought this was fun but it’s really boring”. [laughs] You have to make it interesting without manufacturing drama or anything like that and I think they did a really great job.

It’s so good when it is what it is and you’re not trying to make stuff happen.

I feel like we’re in this world right now where everybody is trying to manufacture content and that can be a bit daunting and make you feel really weird. But when it happens naturally and you capture this lightning in a bottle, that’s the best-case scenario. It just so happens that everyone in this band really likes hanging out with each other so there’s a lot of that on camera. We have a group Zoom call every week with Brigitte, our manager, to go over what’s happening or things that we need to do, and half the call is her going like, “Alright, alright! Can you stop laughing and joking around for a minute? I have to get to this one thing”. We can’t, it’s really fun. I like being in this band a lot.

You’ve mentioned how L.S. Dunes has an energy to it that’s different from anything you’ve ever worked on or bands you’ve been in. How would you describe this energy?

I guess the best way to describe it is creative energy. I’m not trying to discount other bands that I’ve been in but this is by far the most creative band. With other projects and with other bands you’ll tend to run into this thing like, “Alright, that’s cool but let’s table that and we’ll come back to it. We’ll see. I don’t know if that’s the right vibe or if that’s the song we want to work on right now”. Sometimes that works for other bands. For our band, everything gets chased and everything gets worked on. It’s one of those things where everybody loves playing so much. I love the craft of coming in and writing a song with people and seeing where it goes. You can’t be great all the time but you can make something. Sometimes that’ll lead you to something great and sometimes that leads you to a lesson. I just love playing and everybody in this band loves playing. I think the life force that runs through this band is creativity and we’re always making something new, whether that’s recording a demo or writing a new riff or going over old stuff or reimagining old stuff. It doesn’t stop. I love doing that so much and sometimes I feel like I tire out other bands that I’ve been in by doing that but this band doesn’t ever get tired. It’s like the Puppy Bowl! [laughs] It’s kinda like that but with a lot less shit on the floor.

I’m glad there’s less shit on the floor. I’d be concerned if there was more. [laughs]

Me too. [laughs]

For the first album, Past Lives, you recorded remotely but you recorded these two songs in person. What was it like to go from recording separately to recording in person?

It was great! There are some studios you go into and it’s almost like a hospital. It’s very sterile and everything has a place. Rancho is like if you took a studio and kinda exploded it in a house. The control is here, there’s amps and guitars everywhere, Dave’s cooking for you and you’re tracking, someone’s coming out of the house, and Chunk the dog is jumping up on your lap. It’s very much a family vibe and you feel like you’re a part of that family. I think it’s one of those situations where you go in and you fucking love it or you fucking hate it. It’s like sensory overload. So with that, it was perfect for us because we don’t give a fuck. [laughs] We’re just there to have fun and make something cool. I think if you’re in that vibe without the outside stressors of, “It’s gotta be perfect! It’s gotta be great” it works really well. It’s never going to be perfect but it can be great if you relax a little bit and have fun and that’s really what it was for us. It was awesome. It was really nice to all be in the same room. It was hard for us to focus and not just be fucking around 27/4. It was like, “We actually have work we have to do!” [laughs] Not just to play with the dog and touch every guitar in the room. If I had to describe my heaven, that would probably be it. [laughs]

Bring Chunk on tour.

I don’t know if Dave would be cool with that. I have quite a few of my own that if they wanted to come, that would be sick. He’s just the perfect size, he fits into a bunk nicely. [laughs]

That’s how you decide what dog to adopt.

Yes! I did bring a chihuahua on tour once and she had a good time. She’s still alive. She’s almost 15, it’s crazy. I think that’s because of tour. I think the longevity gets in there. [laughs]

Do you have a preference between recording remotely or recording in person?

I was with Will Yip the other day and I told him that Past Lives is probably my favourite sounding record that I’ve ever done in any band as far as sonics are concerned. I didn’t just say this to make him feel good because I really, truly mean this. Listening all the way through I think he did a fantastic job. It’s my favourite sounding record and that was a remote record. I didn’t know going in if I was going to have such a good time doing that because it felt weird. Getting to record with this band with everybody in the same room was great. That’s what I’m used to so I enjoy that as well. I gotta say there was a lot less stress doing it remotely though. Each have their benefits and it just depends. There’s so many factors that go into making a record or any kind of recording. It depends on who’s in the room at the time, what amp you’re using, if it’s on the fritz, what about the power - is it clean? There’s so many factors involved. We could do another remote record and it could sound like shit, I have no idea.

I think that they both have their place and I think especially in a band like this where everybody has such crazy schedules. Everybody is so busy doing things and I love that! When you’re in such a creative band like this and you’re out doing other creative things, you’re bringing that creativity back and forth. It’s like a conduit, it just keeps going and going and going. It makes me inspired. I wouldn’t change it even though it can get frustrating.

How would you describe your songwriting process?

Varied. [laughs] It’s funny, I feel like you’ll get asked that question a lot because people wanna know what the formula is when you write a song and there is none, really. There’s a demo that we just finished where Tucker recorded a drumbeat and I ended up getting inspired by that and I wrote a song to that. There’s no wrong way and there’s no right way. It could start with one person sending a riff through. “Benadryl” started with a guitar riff that I sent through and that verse-chorus thing, that big chunk. The b-section came a little bit later. But once you get inspired, you send that over. If Tucker is home he can put something together really quick and send it your way. We still write pretty much all remotely. I’m at rehearsal right now. So today when we have breaks, I’m sure we’re going to jam on stuff and something will come out. That’s happened before but that’s more rare because we’re never around each other, unfortunately.

You’ve mentioned that doing things that scare you and that get you out of your comfort zone is very important to you musically and otherwise. What helps you get out of your comfort zone?

That’s easy, I’m always uncomfortable. [laughs] Sometimes a song will come through and it’s like, “Alright, I know I can do this. This works. It’s something I’ve done before”. Sometimes a song will tell you where you wanna go. I think the hard part is trying to forget about that like, “This is the easy way. Throw that out and see where you can go if you had to do something different”. There’s different exercises that I like to use where you try to take an instrument like a guitar and be like, “How would I play this if I never played it before? What if I wanted to play it as if it were a percussion instrument? What if I wanted to try to make a new song out of it?” That helps sometimes.

Sometimes if I have writer’s block and I want to write a song I’ll be like, “I have to write a song but it has to have two chords for a verse and it has to have six chords for a chorus. How do I solve that puzzle?” If I put myself in a box and I start to figure out ways to problem solve, that can help me crack through. It’s like trying to stand on one foot, it leaves you uneasy and you don’t know how to solve that problem just yet but it gets your brain working. I love doing shit like that. There’s a recording process I want to try where you get three or four friends and you go into a room and record in a very specific way for a weekend. That kind of stuff to me is scary and uncomfortable but at the same time is so inspiring. You can’t get mad at what comes out of it because you’re putting these constraints around it like fighting a kangaroo with one arm tied behind your back. That’s crazy! Why would you do that? But at the same time why the fuck not!? Just do that.

There’s a way!

There’s always a way! I never want to hear the word ‘no’ when it comes to creativity, it pisses me off. If I have an idea don’t tell me ‘no’ right off the bat without trying it or figuring it out first. Let’s try to figure it out! At the end it of it, it might be impossible but at least we’ve exhausted every possibility. Then you’ve already been creative and you’ve figured something else out so there might be something new to jump to.

What would you say to somebody who’s having trouble getting out of their comfort zone?

You’re not trying hard enough! [laughs] I think in a creative mind, it’s not that hard to get out of that zone. I’ve been on this earth for quite a while and I’ve done a lot of things but there’s still so many things that I haven’t done or tried or exhausted. When you feel like you’ve done it all or you know everything, that’s probably when the learning process should really start. There’s so much out there! So much to learn and so much to try. You don’t know everything no matter what.

My friend Ray Toro was in town and he came to my house the other day and we were hanging out and talking about different picking techniques. Normally I’ll hold it this way where’s there very little of the pick still sticking out but if you’re trying to get your picking quicker if you turn it on its side and only use this part of your knuckle. It forces your wrist into this really unnatural, very strange position. He’s learning “Cliffs of Dover”. That’s something that he’s always wanted to try and he’s been working on it for months to really try to play it properly like the way a jazz musician would play it. No hammer-ons, no slides, just picking every note and trying to up the BPMs at which you can pick. He’s one of the greatest players that I’ve ever met and that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with. He’s an incredible, incredible player and he was like, “I think I want to take some lessons soon” and I was like, “That’s so cool!” There’s such a wealth of knowledge out there. If you want to become enlightened in your craft and you really love your craft there’s so much more you can do. There’s so much out there, man.

Sometimes people get lost and overlook all the possibilities.

Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies with that kind of stuff. We really say, “It has to be this way because this is what I do” and it’s like, “No, man, no. You gotta open your mind a little bit”.

The poppies from the cover of Past Lives play critical roles in your videos for “Benadryl Subreddit” and “Grey Veins”. How would you describe the power of the poppies?

As a power source, an energy source. It can be used in good ways and in bad ways, a lot like anything. If you think of something as positive as love, that concept and that feeling can be really good if done and if used in a good way but it can also be negative if used in a bad way. That line between love and hate is so fine. The poppies are representative of the members of the band. They’re representative of the creativity and the energy and power behind our creativity and our minds.

Both of the videos also contain a lot of Easter eggs. In the “Grey Veins” video, you have the “Ghost of You” combat helmet in there. Which Easter egg are you the most proud of?

[laughs] That video was really fun to make. It took a very long time. We made the city and a very talented young lady named Kelly Harris made the costumes. Coming up with the concept and the different vignettes that we could film to make this world feel believable was quite the undertaking. We filmed it in this old VFW hall and you would never know because it’s all in miniature. We were moving the little Lego pieces with string and trying to get them to seem like they were moving on their own. My Good Eye did such an amazing job. Me and Tucker were there for fucking 36 hours straight just moving shit and building shit. It was really, really awesome. It was really, really fun to make.

As far as Easter eggs, there’s so many! There’s the keytar from “Medicine Square Garden” which is the final summoning of the rock ‘n’ roll power that comes down and destroys Blobby. There’s a couple of my son’s toys that made it into the world of the Lego people. My dog tags that my wife and I made when we first started dating are in there. The “Ghost of You” helmet is in there. It’s one of those things where it started from this crazy idea of, “I wanna make a Japanese monster movie”. I’ve always wanted to do it and I’ve pitched that idea probably 30 times. [laughs] This was the first time where I was told, “Yeah, you can make that”. So it was pretty awesome.

You’ve mentioned that monster movies were a big part of you and your dad bonding when you were younger. What did it mean to you to have your kids involved in the video?

It’s awesome! I think they’re getting to the age now where they’re more interested in that stuff. Back in the day, I made a video with them for “Best Friends Forever” which was a song my daughters wrote and they were in the video. It was more like, “Hey, listen, I’m going to make a video for the song that we did” and they were like, “Ok” and I was like, “You’re going to be in it!” and they were like, “Ok”. [laughs] I don’t know if they were conscious of what was happening. This was more like they knew. In the video for “Benadryl” my daughter Cherry and my son Miles were in it. Lily is very studious so she told me, “Dude, I can’t not go to school that day. I have a test coming up. I have two Spanish tests coming up and I can’t miss it” so I was like, “Alright, I get it”. She turned me down but Cherry and Miles were more than happy to skip school to be in the video and eat ice cream all day. [laughs] I think Lily got 108 in four of her classes, in every class she’s in she has A+s. She got her sense of humour and her stomach from me and she gets all her smarts and good looks from her mom.

What do you feel like the connection between music and monster movies is?

For me, it’s just the two things that I grew up loving so much and both of the things that I connected with my dad about. I think early on if you were to ask me, “What do you wanna be when you grow up?” the first answer was always, “I wanna be in a band”. Then people would be like, “You probably won’t succeed in that, you need a real job. What else do you wanna do?” and I would say, “I wanna make monster movies!” That’s what I was always interested in. On the weekends, I would go hang out with my dad and we would bee-line it to Palmer Video and he would let me rent whatever I wanted so we’d have a stack of monster movies. Then I would go see his band play and watch monster movies all night. That’s how we spent our weekends. If we didn’t go to rent the movies then we would go to the library and get books on the movies. I actually have one of those now. There was a series of books that told the story of Frankenstein or any of the old Universal Monsters and had stills from the actual film in it. Books about monsters, movies about monsters, and then I’d go see his band play. It was rad! That’s how I grew up. I had little to no interest or aspirations for anything else. Maybe skateboarding later on but I broke my ankles doing that and I realized that wasn’t for me. [laughs] I couldn’t play guitar if I broke my wrists so I put that to the side, I would just mall grab, I think.

You gotta have priorities.

Yeah! That’s the thing. If you’re a handsome actor then you can’t get hit in the face. If you’re a musician like I am, a clumsy musician, then you can’t skate and play.

L.S. Dunes will be playing on the Sad Summer touring festival and will be playing headlining shows in the US and Canada starting in July. What are you looking forward to the most about these shows?

Oh man, if you think about it, this is kind of our first US headline tour after Sad Summer. We’ve done limited runs on the East Coast and the West Coast but this is the first time we’re actually getting to do a full loop. I’m looking forward to playing the record and playing new songs. I’m looking forward to playing with Pinkshift and Teen Mortgage and PONY. I’m just looking forward to hanging out with my friends and making music. Honestly, that’s what it’s all about for me.

The band recently put a Pride-themed poppy T-shirt up for pre-order with all of the proceeds going towards The Trevor Project. What does this organization mean to you?

I think they’re a great organization. I think they’re helping kids and they have their priorities straight. It’s always hard when picking charities and making sure they’re vetted and are doing the right thing. The Pride shirt is something I don’t want to take full credit for because that was really a passion project from Tucker. He kept saying, “I really wanna do this for Pride” and I thought it was a great idea. The design came out fantastic and if you can make something cool and help people then it’s a win-win. I’m really happy it all came together.

What are you listening to now?

I like that Sweet Pill record that just came out a lot. There’s a grindcore band from New Jersey called Come Mierda which is basically “eat shit” in Spanish who I think are fucking great. The new Gel record is fantastic! I like that band a lot. Militarie Gun has put out a new great record. The new MSPAINT is great too. I really like Teen Mortgage and I’m digging the new stuff by Pinkshift. There’s a band from Texas called Glare that I think is really, really cool. I’m always looking for new stuff!

I think sometimes we fall into this ditch of only listening to the same shit that we listened to when we were teenagers and I know a lot of people do that. I think it’s cool. There’s a comforting thing about that. I’ll never turn off a Nirvana record or a Smashing Pumpkins record and Bouncing Souls and Black Flag will always be on. But it’s nice to hear newer bands and to see what else is coming down the pipe. I really do enjoy finding new artists. I think it’s inspiring and there’s so much cool music out there.

Gotta keep up with it.

Much to my wife’s chagrin about my record collection. It keeps growing. [laughs] There’s a lot of really cool, really interesting underground newer black metal that’s going on that’s fucking amazing. I think Vide is amazing, Spectral Wound is doing great stuff. Sun’s Journey Through The Night is fantastic. There’s so many great bands. Lamp Of Murmuur is unreal.

Are you still involved in the punk scene in New Jersey?

I don’t know if I’m involved, no one’s coming to me like I’m on the board of anything. [laughs]I was actually doing a session on Sunday otherwise I would’ve been at the Emperor show in Brooklyn. I love going to shows. It’s hard sometimes when you tour as much as I do and when you’re in the studio and stuff like that, sometimes on your night off you just want to chill. t’s funny because when you’re on tour the first things you look around for are music stores, record shops, and shows in town if you have a night off. I’m always down to see something. I think the older I get I’m more at the bigger shows as opposed to the VFW halls and things of that nature. I’ve been lucky enough to catch bands like Incendiary at festivals that we’re playing which is awesome. I feel very fortunate to be able to catch bands like that but I’m always a big proponent of if you like a band you have to see them in their natural habitat and go see the show. I wish I was able to catch Drug Church the last time they were around here but schedules are fucked. Their new single is great.

What does the future hold for L.S. Dunes?

I have no idea! [laughs] It definitely holds new recordings and new music. It’s just a matter of finding time to do it and I can’t wait because I fucking love being in this band. It’s so much fun. It’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I’ll do this until the day I die. It’s so much fun.

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[anditvanisheslikemist]

October 9 - Allergies

From this prompt list. Last year; this year; AO3 (where they will eventually end up).

In hindsight, it really wasn't surprising that everyone in their neighborhood had picked what was probably the last warm, sunny Saturday of the year to mow their lawns. And it was probably also foreseeable that enough leaves had fallen that their dust was getting kicked up through the mower just as much as the grass clippings, which were always bad enough.

Nico was watching from the window, nose twitching in sympathy as he watched Matty's head jerk down repeatedly as he pushed the mower. He'd already gotten everything set up in their bedroom: the air filter on its highest setting, Benadryl and water on the bedside table, a fresh towel on the hook next to the shower, lights set on low. What he would really like to do is be able to mow his damn lawn so that Matty didn't have to be tormented by the one thing he was seriously allergic to every week, but Nico wasn't not allergic to it, and the odds that him trying would lead to an asthma attack were just too high. He'd been trying to convince Matty for the two years they'd owned the house to just hire some neighbor kid to mow for them, but Matty had always been too stubborn to agree.

Maybe this time would finally get him to change his mind.

- - -

huh... dDTT! h'dTCH! ngxxt'chh! ddt! hhhhh... NGXT!

Matty's eyes are worryingly swollen, and he's got his hand clamped firmly over his nose, not even letting go between sneezes, which just keep coming with barely time to breathe in between.

"Okay," Nico says, closing the door after him and ushering him upstairs. "Shower. Here we go."

Jupiter trails after them with a whine of worry, and Nico gives her some extra pets before shutting the bedroom door. He'll let her in later, once Matty's settled, but right now she's likely to knock him over by trying to get in between his legs when he can barely see to walk anyway.

Matty turns on the shower and drops his grass-and-leaf covered clothes with his eyes still mostly closed. Nico tells him to wait a second before stepping into the shower spray, and brings him the Benadryl and water. Once Matty's in, stifled sneezes echoing off the shower walls, Nico picks up the clothes and takes them straight to the washer, where a load of other clothes that need heavy-duty washing is already ready to go. Jupiter tags along as soon as he comes out of the bedroom door, and looks up at him as he puts the clothes in with a forceful t'CHIEW! He delays the cycle by half an hour to so that the laundry isn't going at the same time as the shower, and goes back to the bedroom and sits on the bed until Matty emerges from the bathroom.

"Better?"

Matty shrugs, rubbing at his eyes. His breathing has a ragged edge to it.

"Okay." He gets up. "Lie down."

Matty grumbles in a way that means where are you going?, but piles up the pillows and lies down under just a sheet.

Nico comes back with a wet, cool washcloth and lays it over Matty's eyes. Matty gives a shaky exhale and reaches for his hand.

NIco laces their fingers and kisses Matty's knuckles, then runs his other hand through Matty's wet hair. He hadn't even really dried off from the shower, just dropped his wet towel on the floor. "I know mowing our lawn is a point of pride, but.."

Matty groans. "No. Yeah. We can hire somebody next year." He sniffs hard, and coughs, and Nico adjusts the washcloth on his face.

"I'll hold you to it. Do you want me to let Jupiter in?"

"You know she'll go right on the bed."

"Hey, if that's what you need, I can handle the extra dander tonight. It's only fair."

"Thank you," Matty says hoarsely. Nico squeezes his hand and gets up to let Jupiter in; sure enough, she settles right into Nico's spot and starts licking Matty's face.

"I'm gonna go get dinner figured out," Nico tells him. "I'll be back in a bit." He stands in the doorway, though, watching Matty's hand move steadily over Jupiter's head where it's lolled on his chest, stray puppy-kisses catching him on the chin, until Matty's breathing starts to even out and his hand slows. "Have a good nap."