#and then full us wasn't until 2015

[aparticularbandit]

Unrelated to all of the FF stuff, Agatha and Cian have been giving me images of their wedding, so that's cool.

[rolandkaros]

i've been ruminating a lot on it because i think i'm bad at putting my thoughts into words but i need y'all to understand that while there are absolutely a lot of Not Good Things about the finals being held in saudi arabia for three years...the way people seem to treat is as morally black and white is shortsighted and unhelpful.

realistically the players traveling there will be protected. it may be uncomfortable, it's certainly not ideal, but they will travel there for a few weeks, play their tennis, then leave. there are a lot of women, a lot of queer people who actually live in saudi arabia who cannot just leave, who are actually subjected to laws and social climates...and to me it just seems very disrespectful to that actual lived experience, for everybody to sort of turn their noses up and get on their high horses. of course, if the players wish to opt out, that is their choice, but that is their choice to make. that's their judgement. not ours.

and then, what about a tournament like miami? florida is literally experiencing one of the worst active regressions that i've seen in the us (granted i'm young). things like critical race theory and lgbtq+ ed are being removed from curriculums, rights for trans youth, trans healthcare, etc. are going backwards. abortion rights? gun violence? and yes i know that the laws and climate in saudi arabia are different gravy, i understand that, but my point is, no one would ever DREAM of arguing against hosting a tournament in miami despite all of these issues. and we can extend this to a lot of other tournaments! i mean, all the outrage about fifa hosting a world cup in qatar, but we don't have any of these sentiments about doha? i've seen other people bring up that the finals were hosted in singapore when gay marriage was still illegal there. we've already talked about italy's fascist prime minister. and i could go on and on and on about the war crimes of countries like the us or the uk - is the us not participating actively in genocide right now? where is the standard? if you argue against hosting the finals in saudi arabia for the reason of human rights, to me it seems you have to uphold that standard for the location you do land on. and i can guarantee, you will not find a single country in the world with clean hands.

i want to be clear i am not arguing that hosting the finals in saudi arabia is a good thing, especially for three years, especially because it's definitely going there because of money, and not for any of the "good" reasons i think some people want us to believe about "improving the region" (which is very weirdly white savior-esque anyway). i don't really have an official "conclusion" to this discussion.

what i am arguing is that i think a lot of the protests against saudi arabiahosting the finals are more an example of implicit anti-arab bias and islamophobia, rather than genuine discussion. key word implicit: i don't think most people are purposefully trying to be anti-arab/islamophobic. or at least, i'd like to believe nobody is. but i also think, particularly in the west, there is already so much of this xenophobic sentiment ingrained. and this is why i think it's really really REALLY important to check ourselves when we talk about it instead of just jumping straight to the human rights conversation without a second thought.

i'll say it plainly: i don't think the finals should be held in saudi arabia. but for me, it has more to do with sportswashing, with the dangers of the way money is thrown around in sports, and because i think it's more evidence that the wta doesn't care about player welfare but rather about making a profit (what else is new). human rights are absolutely a concern of mine, but how is it fair to hold saudi arabia to a standard that we don't seem to care about for literally anybody else?

literally look at the us's ugly ugly history, past and present, and tell me why we deserve to host a tennis tournament.

[folkookie97]

❝why'd you only call me when you're high?❞ — MYG

— SUMMARY: ❝ It's Yoongi's birthday and he starts feeling guilty for breaking up with you when you most needed him. ❞

— PAIRING: rockstar!yoongi x actress!reader

— TYPE: light angst, mild dark | rockstar!au, celebrities!au

— WORD COUNT: 907

— WARNINGS/TAGS: Part of "I Bet on Losing Dogs" One-Shots Collection, toxic love, exes to lovers, second chance romance, secret relationship, non-graphic smut (not with the reader), semi-public sex, Trust Issues, Implied/Referenced Alcoholism, ambiguous/open ending, Unplanned Pregnancy, arguing, Yoongi is bad at feeling here (maybe a lil bit toxic too lol), This part is based on Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? (Arctic Monkeys), POV Second Person

— NOTES¹: This one-shot is part of the "I Bet On Losing Dogs" Collection, random scenarios of my AU where Yoongi is a toxic rockstar with trust issues and an alcohol addiction who secretly dated an actress at the beginning of her career.

— NOTES²: Happy bday Yoongi my sweetheart, I love you so much <3 (he was my ultimate bias from 2015 to 2019 guys, but I'll never get over him 😭😭)

— RELEASE DATE: March 08, 2024

— CROSSPOSTING: ao3

"So you must be the birthday guy of the party. Happy birthday, bro!"

Min Yoongi heard that last sentence a trillion times during the night, the insincerity of the congratulations already going unnoticed by his confused brain as he filled his body with an absurd amount of alcohol.

He hadn't been worried about nothing more since the last few hours. His face was no longer anything more than a mask whose faked fellow feeling had the sole intention of at least not making the situation even more uncomfortable for the guests and their random companions.

When the idea of celebrating his birthday with a party full of other celebrities came into his own mind, Yoongi didn't figured the bad scenarios that could happen at the private club. He just wanted to get rid of the feeling of loneliness that had been damaging him over the last few months. The impostor syndrome haunting him during sleepless nights with the creative block, whenever he tried writing some new songs for his new album.

The deadline until the new tour's start was short, and his patience was even shorter.

Yoongi just wanted to de-stress. Celebrate his special night with some friends from the same celebrities' world, drink a lot, eat some snacks and maybe have sex with random models. Everything he used doing before he met you.

All it took was drinking too much until he went to a far corner to make out with a Victoria's Secret's Angel who wasn't that famous, but at least made up for her lack of fame with her beauty and tongue technology.

However, maybe the weight of having a different mouth touching him after being used to feeling only someone specific for so long had been too much for his emotions heightened due alcohol.

Or maybe he felt guilty. Guilty for letting another woman touch him after sharing so many good moments with you.

Guilty for saying such cruel words to you during your latest arguments. Guilty for don't understanding your desire to see him publicly deny his dating rumors with other women. Guilty for accusing you of being paranoiac, too jealous and also accusing you of blame him for always putting his career before your relationship.

Guilty for never prioritizing you.

But mostly, guilty for leaving you when you needed him most. Guilty for accusing you of pregnancy trick for his fame and money. Guilty for always being a toxic boyfriend and already being a bad future dad.

Yoongi would always love you. He knew that. Everyone in his inner circle knew that. Even that hot model could realized that when he started crying right after cumming in her mouth.

But he didn't deserve your love. He didn't deserve your baby.

And being there, at his own pity party with his lips — and eyes — still swollen and more glasses in his hands as he continued greeting his guests only proved this cruel truth.

It was his fucking birthday. All he really wanted was being with you. Cuddling you, playing some of both of you favorite songs on his guitar, caressing your pregnant belly, talking to the baby...

Damn it! He just wanted you again. He just wanted being with you forever, being your husband. He wanted having a family with you. He needed to get you back. He needed his stupid party end up being useful, at least knocking some sense into his fucking mind.

With his vision blurred from tasting different colorful drinks, Yoongi searched for your number in his blocked contacts, letting out a long sigh with the increased guilt that hit in his chest when he realized that you didn't block him back.

So he pressed the call icon and waited.

Three rejected calls. Four missed calls. He could almost daydream, remembering you carrying your own shoes and calling him every possible curses while leaving your old apartment after one of your arguments.

Even though the clock on his cell phone showed that it was past three in the morning, he knew you were awake. Or at least you woken up with his fucking annoying stubbornness.

I'm so sorry love

It wasn't something very special, but it was as much as his high drunk state allowed him typing in your DMs without looking more stupid than his usual.

It wasn't a decent apology for everything he'd put you through lately. All the arguments, the swearing, the shade comments on the internet, his neglect about the baby...

Yoongi knew you deserved better words. You deserved all the love in the world. All the love he felt for you but never showed you in a healthy way.

But deep down, Yoongi knew you would answer him. He wasn't proud of being sure about that, but he knew it. He knew you better than you knew yourself.

Hi. Why'd you only call me when you're high?

And you unfortunately also knew him enough to know that alcohol was the cause behind his sudden motivation to contact you, after months of just ghosting your attempts to still save your relationship. Save your future family.

I'm so sorry

He practically repeated the same message before trying to click the call icon again.

This time, you answered, barely giving him time to process the situation before your trembling voice echoed through his phone. "Prove it to me without being fucking drunk as usual. Prove it to me without being at your stupid birthday party."

[aleksanderscult]

Since we have officially entered the Aries' season I thought I should honor the fact that it's the Darkling's birthday! 🎉🎊

(No, we don't know his exact birthdate but we know he's an Aries. Anyways)

To celebrate it let's remember some facts about him.

Even though he was a Shadow Summoner, he loved bright colors. Blue, red, purple but most of all the color of sunlight.

Since we mentioned that he was a Shadow Summoner, isn't it endearing and ironic how he feared the dark when he was a child?

Once he didn't sleep for two nights because his mother had left him in a tent without a lantern.

He loved sweets! Cakes, pies etc. but his two favorites were a cake with cherries and sweet cream from Kerch and candies coated in sesame from Shu.

He had trouble mastering his powers as a child. He felt embarrassed for the fact that he couldn't make the Cut at the age of 13.

He could play the violin. 🎻

He was really intelligent from a very young age. Until the age of 13 he could speak three languages fluently and could read people and their behavior like an open book.

He was awkward and felt uneasy around children his own age since Baghra always kept them on the move and insisted not to let anyone touch him or for him to get close to someone.

He never met his father although he kept asking about him to his mother and wanted to meet him. The only thing he (possibly) ever knew was that he was a Heartrender.

He loooved nature. The trees and forests. The smell of them. Especially the evergreen trees. He even decorated his room in the Little Palace with carvings of trees.

Oh and he loves animals too! In the "Demon in the Wood" he got excited in the thought that he would see white tigers for the first time and Leigh once mentioned that he's kind to animals (we even saw that in "The Tailor" when he took time out of his duties to visit his horses, pat them and whisper to them soothingly).

And he actually saw those white tigers eventually.

Apparently he has great good looks to the point that he attracts others (and especially girls) like magnet since forever.

And his life was full of sex so he was experienced with it (Alina, your opportunity to fuck around and find out was literally right there).

The author confirmed (in 2014-2015, years before even the show came out) that he indeed harbored strong feelings for Alina and believed that they were destined for a future together (my man was ready to buy IKEA furnitures for their future house😭😭).

He had many, many half-siblings (one of them was a mermaid) and throughout the centuries he sought them out, out of a need for kinship, companionship and a desire to not be alone (🥲🔫)

This one is especially sad. He wasn't conceived out of love.

On another note though, his smell has been described as the smell of winter, forests and of the night.

In a solar eclipse his powers wouldn't be affected.

He's the Grisha with the most aliases in the Grishaverse (that's what living in a persecuted environment as a child does to you).

It's confirmed by the author that he was created after fantastical villains that she used to love, so please let that rumor that he was inspired after her abusive ex finally rest for good.

He had indeed fallen in love many times in the past but he kept witnessing the people he loved die from their mortality. At some point he just gave up on love and became more and more closed off. (Let's talk about the break he never had💀)

We might not know which person was the first he ever fell in love with, but we know which was the last one: Alina.

Do you remember those countless letters Alina was sending to Mal in "Shadow and Bone"? Well, the Darkling not only kept them secretly but read ALL off them.

He has a throat-neck fetish. And it's probably canon. The way he kissed Alina's throat every chance he got, the way he once nipped it, the collar and how he was always touching it.

According to Leigh, he didn't start wanting to be King. But this ambition came eventually after deeming it the only way to change things.

Kaz has been described as more selfish than Aleksander.

Well most of them turned out to be sad and tragic but that's because he had a tragic life and he himself was a tragic character.

Happy birthday to one of the best and most iconic book characters ever created. 🎉🎊

[dead-lights]

trai-lore!

because ya know. trailers. with lore.

i'll see myself out

but! before i go - I went and compiled all of the Vampires trailers I could find! I wasn't familiar with all of the shorts and I'm not 100% sure I found them all. There are a lot of contradictions, but aside from the gameplay trailer they can mostly be stitched together.

Also, I recognize I'm trying to wring blood from a stone, reading into things that EA never intended, but ya know. That's the point of exploring lore!

this is mostly validated by werewolves - Lily's dialogue confirms that Caleb was turned by Miss Hell, and the 7 years unlucky mirror confirms that Vlad ambushed her while she was brushing her teeth.

It looks like the bar Miss Hell attacks Caleb in is supposed to be in Forgotten Hollow. There are plenty of reasons he could've been there, but to me that implies that Lilith turned first, and he was there because that's where she hangs out now.

It looks like you're supposed to be able to see the normie parts of Forgotten Hollow from that cliff with the bench, rather than just more of the mountain. There's definitely supposed to be more than just those 5 lots.

I'm not sure if the person behind Miss Hell in the bar is anyone specific? they feel slightly familiar but I might be thinking of Leila Illes from island living, which came out afterwards.

It's unclear how Caleb ended up in the bathroom or whether he asked to turn - the animation is the same either way. In game, I've had a lot of success with both bat-form bathroom ambushes and the good ol' "ask for woohoo and then cancel the order as soon as you're alone together" maneuver so either is plausible. To me, it looks like she's reenacting her transformation, with her as Vlad, so she would've wanted unwilling prey. I've generally thought that Caleb followed her into the bathroom thinking he was going to get laid, but with that in mind it does make sense that she would've just ambushed him when he got up to pee (poor humans and their bladders can't handle their nectar). @charsimsalot has a lot of interesting things to say about how being forcibly turned would have affected Miss Hell in this excellent post about the apartment they built for the rebellious vampires!

That bathroom door is on backwards. I checked - that door only has a sign on one side. Maybe they really wanted to hammer home the point that this is a bathroom? the sink and toilet do a pretty good job of that...

Caleb is not a daywalker in this trailer - since this seems to show him in his earlier days, that 100% checks out. It takes 15 skill points to become a daywalker, which... yikes.

note: I know the sims is very gay these days but do keep in mind that vampires was released January 2017. Gay marriage wasn't fully legalized in the US until June 2015. It was a big deal that Caleb suave kissed a guy in the trailer!

fun fact: the song used for this, deadly flo, seems to be either very cheap or free to license. It is used in a few episodes of the Baking Championship franchise. Y'all, that franchise got me back into baking and directly inspired GOBC. I lost my absolute shit when I heard it playing! There are also parts of Holiday Baking Championship that sound suspiciously like the sims 2 theme... I kinda wonder if there's a simmer in their sound department.

Not really that interesting - earlier versions of their outfits/vlad's dark form. Lilith cannot actually turn into a bat in-game.

vlad bloodvein can use "deprive needs" (must be a master vampire at minimum)

brandy can turn into a bat (should be a minor vampire at minimum)

based on the view outside Brandy's bedroom window, it looks like the virtuous vampires might live in an apartment in San Myshuno?

vlad uses supernatural speed to collect figurines

Not very interesting - just Brandy and Elle eating.

↓↓↓ WARNING - jumpscare below ↓↓↓

lmao what

this one doesn't even seem real, but as far as I can tell it was in fact released as a teaser for the full trailer.

This is the official trailer - it lines up reasonably well with other lore. Also the song is so fun.

Most notably: this trailer shows that Caleb is the one who turned Inna. No context is given. Other promotional material & the in-game paintings show that she was a thrall, potentially for hundreds of years before Caleb turned her.

The exterior of the house where Caleb turns Inna looks exactly like Wolfsbane Manor. However, Inna's bedroom doesn't match any room in the manor. It looks like there is a nearly identical house where Widowshild Townhouse currently is, so either Inna was in that house, or Wolfsbane Manor has since been remodeled. It would be kinda interesting if Caleb and Lilith decided to buy Inna's old house when they moved...

When Caleb turns into a bat, he's in the graveyard to the left of Vlad's house. Maybe he and Lilith lived with Vlad for a time? It kinda looks like Vlad had a lot of vampires filtering in and out of his place.

Elle real horny. I wonder what happened to that guy - he isn't a gallery vampire but he shows up in a lot of the paintings. As far as I'm aware Elle doesn't show up in any paintings.

This trailer is an absolute mess. It contradicts enough existing lore that it shouldn't be taken as any sort of canon, but it's a decent source of inspiration to fill in the gaps, and I pulled heavily from it when I was choosing powers for the gallery vampires.

Elle uses her mist form (I checked the animations) - she must be a grand master. She can use Command.

Markus Crow has supernatural speed - must be master+

Lilith is using a computer at the beginning of this, which feels weird because this is supposed to be at least 50 years ago. That said, technology doesn't advance in the sims, so, sure.

This makes it look like Vlad just broke into her house and turned her like he did with Miss Hell, but to me Lily makes it sound like Lilith was a more active participant: "I remember when my cousin, Lilith, first told me she'd met a fascinating man named Vlad. After that, she started spending a lot of time "training" with him. I thought she meant they were workout buddies. It wasn't until later that I found out she'd been lured to the dark arts."

Lilith's bed is a reward from the painter career - not sure if the implication is that she earned it herself?

I can't really see outside Lilith's windows, but it does kinda look like Forgotten Hollow? Which doesn't make a lot of sense to me - why would she and Caleb have to move to Forgotten Hollow if they already lived there? That said, that isn't Lilith. And that isn't Caleb. This was from when their names were Gina and Raylan.

Note that "Raylan" doesn't have the good vampire aspiration, and his traits are completely different. The others aren't quite the same as the gallery sims, but at least they still have the same names.

Looking out the window, it looks like the Virtuous Vampires are in Forgotten Hollow with everyone else. In one of the shorts, it looks like they live in a big city. I'm not sure which I like better!

Lilith is used as the example for supernatural strength. While she doesn't actually have that in-game, this is part of why I like to make her fitness 10 brute with vampiric might.

Elle continues to be real horny. Who is that guy? I like the implication that they had to go get it on as bats because Vlad was taking a nap and they couldn't fuck in his coffin :(

Bonus! While this isn't a trailer, exactly, it's a promotional blog post from Vlad's point of view and it is the best. Every last part of this makes me happy, from Caleb and Lilith ganging up on Vlad to Vlad referring to sparring matches as "epic duels" (or, in this particular case, what seems like a pretty good training sesh for Caleb).

Nothing about Lilith makes it seem like she doesn't feed on people except a) her household description and b) this post. That said, those two things about as primary as canon can get.

Vlad claims to own 100 gray coats

Vlad only fought Caleb. There could be so many reasons for that - was Caleb the one who made the challenge? Does Vlad not want to fight his offspring?

Vlad claims that the Encyclopedia Vampirica is mostly based on him. Make of that what you will.

Second bonus: Did you know that Vlad has a normie cousin??? There was a bit of promotional content for seasons involving the Climate family. This is that time they invited Vlad over for Harvestfest.

Please let me know if I missed anything! There's a lot of material out there, much of it no longer available on EA's site, so it's definitely possible there are things I didn't find.

[fanonical]

Just a quick check, as I got your blog as the "similar to a blog you follow" on a HP blog; what's your views on Harry Potter currently? I searched your blog and found posts from 2020 about the series, but also ones about how Rowling sucks, and obviously the flag in your pfp is a bit of a give-away, but I'd like to be kind of sure. Sorry to bother.

hi! when i started this blog, back in the Obama administration, i was in high school, and i was a teenage openly trans fan of harry potter. these were the days before she was an open, raving transmisogynist spending all her money on furthering the terf agenda (or at least, not publicly). obviously we knew that there were other problems with the series, and we were, as fans often are, very critical of the source material; to me and Jamie (the other co-runner of this blog) that's actually an integral part of what fandom means. we'd even by then heard the rumours that she was a terf, but ultimately we found that unsurprising; we were both trans, it was like 2015, we were under no impression that most of the creators of the things we liked were transphobic. most people are transphobic; even now, when in american liberal culture where it is "in" to say you are not transphobic, i guarantee you most people creating our favorite fandoms are transphobic (i mean, it's not like there's a wealth of transgender superheroes, anime protags, videogame characters, etc. is it?) whether they realise it or not. this didn't trouble us because she wasn't, at the time, publicly using her platform to give this value a voice, and harry potter was just a Thing Everybody Was Into -- like doctor who, or your favorite sport, or halo or whatever.

anyway, as time progressed, the blog's followership grew and eventually i was relying on money i earn from my part writing on here, so it wasn't an option to just quit immediately when she went mask full off. and again -- we were two british trans people, we were being very loud and open about our upset and dismay over her bullshit, and by this point, had a following of over 100,000, so it just felt more productive to keep that internal critical fandom perspective & help others see why they shouldn't give her any monetary support.

we changed to a more general fandom blog theme during lockdown, when i could focus on streaming more & earn a bit from that, so it wasn't as scary to suddenly have thousands of people decide they didn't want to give me money any more because i no longer was comfortable being associated with her legacy.

ultimately, i feel proud for staying as an openly critical voice in the fandom for as long as i did -- multiple people have come to me since and told me they think the only reason harry potter isn't a notable fandom on this website any more is because we spent so much time warning people away & convincing people to abandon the fandom when we eventually left for good.

i straight up spent the last couple years saying "i fucking hate us making harry potter posts but you guys show up and reblog them & that gives me spon money through humble bundle and a tranny gotta eat"

tbh, i don't even really think that "being a fan" of something was endorsement of the work or creator at all until it became so indistinguishable from being a consumerist identity (rather than a subcultural one) which i feel like is pretty recently, and honestly, Harry Potter & the YA tidal wave in its wake are probably a pretty big part in that, but that's kind of a different discussion.

[glassprism]

I wonder if you feel like with every new non-replica production, the creativity and the novelty of a "different production" get's more stale? Set's getting more and more similar/ not many new ideas etc?

I actually felt the opposite! The first two non-replicas, which were in Budapest (2003) and Warsaw (2008), felt pretty derivative of other productions: Budapest had some interesting changes but aesthetically and in terms of blocking, still felt really beholden to the replica, and the Warsaw production was just a full on stage copy of the 2004 movie. Not all that innovative to me.

The next non-replica in Prague (2014), felt even more similar to the replica than Budapest. It wasn't until the one in Tallin/Tartu (2014) that I started noticing some interesting differences, at least according to reviews, in that it shifted the timeline somewhat (the auction takes place between the World Wars and the rest of the show seems to be Edwardian in aesthetic) and added some Leroux-ish influences. We then have the Helsinki (2015) non-replica, with its heavy metal aesthetic, and while the original Bucharest (2015) non-replica felt pretty derivative of many other productions, like the restaged tours, it led to the Oslo (2019), Greek tour (2020, 2023), and Middle East / European Tour (2023-present), which I've found quite fascinating and different.

And from there I think the non-replicas have spun off into a lot of variations: we've got the Belgrade (2017) production's weirdly modernist vibe, the Sofia (2019) production basically going "We only have a budget of $2 but we will make the most of it", the Kristianstad (2020) production that also feels very independent and fresh, and then Sydney Harbour (2020), which hews a little closer to the original but was set in an outdoor theater and went absolutely bombastic with some of the spectacle. And on top of that we have the Italian tour / Madrid non-replica (2023, 2024), which swings back and forth between "we're clearly inspired by the replica and just tweaked things a little" and "okay now for something completely balls to the wall wild" and the second Bucharest non-replica (2023), which used AI for a lot of its design, so... yay, I guess.

Now, do I necessarily like all the choices made in these productions? No, I think I've made fun of quite a few of them in the past. But if you're asking me if non-replicas are growing more stale and repetitive, then I would say that no, they're not; if anything, it feels like more and more of them are willing to stretch out and do something different, rather than lingering in the (admittedly long) shadow of the replica. And I think that's kind of cool!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Justin C Key's "The World Wasn't Ready For You"

On September 22, I'm (virtually) presenting at the DIG Festival in Modena, Italy. That night, I'll be in person at LA's Book Soup for the launch of Justin C Key's "The World Wasn’t Ready for You." On September 27, I'll be at Chevalier's Books in Los Angeles with Brian Merchant for a joint launch for my new book The Internet Con and his new book, Blood in the Machine.

The World Wasn't Ready For You is Justin C Key's first book. It's a short story collection, from a major publisher. This is basically unheard of. Big publishers rarely publish collections, and when they do, it's almost always after a string of extremely successful novels:

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-world-wasnt-ready-for-you-justin-c-key?variant=41016598036514

Yes, there are exceptions. Ted Chiang. Kelly Link.

And now, Justin C Key. To be in such company is, as they say, a big fucking deal.

I can't say I'm surprised. Key was my student at the Clarion West writing workshop – a year full of standout writers among whom Key was still a standout. I was immensely impressed with his work then, and when I found out that he was also an MD and a father, a young man juggling an unimaginably intense work and family schedule and still producing this polished, scary, precise work, I knew he could have great things ahead of him.

But to be honest, I wasn't sure he would write. Key was so obviously brilliant and competent, and had such an important dayjob, that I could easily have imagined him deciding that making up stories was fun, but that it was not nearly so rewarding as his other vocations.

I was wrong – and right. In the years since Clarion, Key's work has acquired a kind of medical precision. When Key stabs you, the knife slides right between your ribs and goes straight into the big arteries of your heart, slicing you so quickly that you hardly notice until you are slain.

These are all horror stories, though some of them are science fiction too, and more to the point, they'r Black horror stories. In his afterword, Key writes about his early fascination with horror, the catharsis he felt in watching nightmares unspool on screen or off the page. And then, he writes, came the dawning recognition that the Black characters in these stories were always there as cannon-fodder, often nameless, usually picked off early.

These stories represent Key's long rumination on the conjunction of Blackness and horror. Of course, that gets back to racism, in the way that, say, Jordan Peele's work does, or in the manner of NK Jemisin's post-Lovecraft Cthuloid tales:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/09/the-old-crow-is-getting-slow/#i-love-ny

But "Black horror" isn't merely parables about racism. In the deft hands of these writers – and now, Key – the stories are horror in which Blackness is a fact, sometimes a central one, and that fact is ever a complication, limiting how the characters move through space, interact with authority, and relate to one another.

The eight stories – mostly long – in The World Wasn't Ready For You deal with parenting, health, prison, corruption, and art – and they do so through hauntings and body horror and tension wound so tight you want to scream.

This is a brilliant and auspicious beginning from a brilliant and auspicious writer.

Key's book launches at LA's Book Soup on September 22, and I'll be there with him as interlocutor. I couldn't be more honored by this, and I hope you'll come out and see us:

https://www.booksoup.com/event/justin-c-key

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/19/justin-c-key/#clarion-west-2015

[blazehedgehog]

I Love To Shoot At Trouble

During the Steam Christmas Sale I ended up buying Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012 because it was like $6 or $7 and I'm in the mood for a new racing game to chew up. EA already gave the game away for free in like 2015, but that meant installing "The EA App". I figured having it on Steam would be more convenient.

You'd think so.

It's not! As part of the first time launch, it installs "The EA App" anyway, which also means it found and uninstalled whatever version of Origin I still had (I wasn't aware I'd ever reinstalled Origin since my HDD crash). As part of this process, it also asked me for my EA password, I misread Firefox's stored password incorrectly, and went through the trouble of resetting my EA account with a new password before linking it to Steam. To my surprise, EA's been sitting on my seven year old cloud save from the few minutes I played of this on Origin in 2017, and asks if I want to import it. Sure, I guess.

So that's ten minutes down the drain before I can even boot up the game. Okay, fine, the game finally launches. Gotta wait while it boots up The EA App each time before it boots into the game, gotta wait for the title screen logo animation, gotta wait for a 10-15 second load screen because even though this game came out in 2012 it's gotta ping some always-online "Autolog" leaderboard whatever. Once it connects, it has to do a slow cinematic pan across your car, telling you what your online rivals have done since the last time you connected, and what kind of equipment you have on your car.

All told, every time you boot up Most Wanted 2012, you're looking at a 30-45 second wait before the game actually hands over control and lets you start driving.

Pull the accelerator and instantly Most Wanted SCREAMS at me:

Fair enough. I'm using a Dualshock 4, and the Playstation 4 did not release until over a full year after this game. Click to the menu it's asking of me and see that the control binding menu is awful -- it's one of those super oldschool ones, like binding keys one by one in Doom 2. I have no idea what these buttons are supposed to be in terms of Xbox equivalents, and I realize that Steam has this thing called "Steam Input" that's supposed to be handling all of this anyway. Steam Input generally makes my Dualshock 4 look like an Xbox controller to most games.

I exit out of Most Wanted, force Steam Input to "on" (I was messing with its settings recently, so I thought maybe it was disabled), and relaunch the game again. Wait for the EA App to boot up, gotta wait through the title screen logos, gotta wait 10-15 seconds on a loading screen, gotta wait another 5-10 on the cinematic pan across my car. I have now spent a minute and a half total waiting for this game to boot while I troubleshoot this.

Pull the accelerator. Instead of it complaining about my controller, straight up nothing happens. That's weird. The Start button works, the analog stick seems to work in the pause menu, but the triggers do not. The face buttons also do nothing. Upon checking the settings, that's because Most Wanted has settled on keyboard mode, even though it's clearly accepting some controller input. After poking at it, it does not seem like there's any way to get it to see my controller.

This makes Most Wanted a special game, because a lot of games I play will happily accept that Steam Input is telling it I have an Xbox controller connected even when I absolutely do not. But this is the rare 1% that seems to be incompatible. It's time to bring in the big guns.

Mayflash makes a terrific little passthrough device called the Magic NS, and the general purpose of this device is that it lets you use any controller on any other platform. An Xbox controller on a Playstation? No sweat. A Playstation controller on the Switch? It'll handle it. If you upgrade to the Magic NS2, you even get full gyro support. Every NS device also doubles as a Bluetooth dongle, so you can stay wireless if that's your thing. I love it so much I bought two, because generally they're only about $20.

A Magic NS2 for my Switch... and Magic NS1 for my PC. Strictly for scenarios like this, where a game expects an Xbox controller and Steam Input fails its camouflage.

Plug the NS1 in, connect my Dualshock 4, and once again boot up Most Wanted and wait the 45 seconds to get through the EA app, logos, loading, and the cinematic pan across my car. More than two full minutes now looking at this junk, and that's not counting the time spent outside of the game troubleshooting this in menus or digging out dongles or whatever.

Pull the accelerator... and my car starts to drive! I can steer! It works! Of course it works. The Magic NS never lets me down. I pull up to the first race event...

Press J and K to start the event.

Those are, uh. Those are keyboard keys. I'm using a controller. The controller is fully functional. You don't need to tell me this in keyboard controls. This isn't going to be one of those games, is it? The kind that still tells you everything in the keyboard shortcuts no matter what?

I drop into the menus again and see Most Wanted is still stuck on Keyboard mode and won't let me switch to anything else, even though I'm clearly using a fully functional controller now. This can't be right. But then I remember: Steam Input is still turned on, and when I forced Steam Input to be on, Most Wanted got stuck in this keyboard mode.

Exit out of the game, tell Steam to turn off Steam Input for this specific game only, and relaunch. Wait through all that crap again. We're up to three minutes just waiting for the game to start, and probably closing in on 20 minutes since I first decided I wanted to try Most Wanted.

Pull the accelerator, it works, drive up to the first event, and...

Pull LT and RT to start the event.

FINALLY. HOLY SHIT.

On the plus side: this game controls a lot better than I remember. It's a decent middleground between Criterion's heavier-feeling Hot Pursuit (2011) and the snappier Burnout Paradise. Though I could do with a lot less full screen flashing or the fact that Autolog alerts hide the minimap for some reason.

Not pictured, but the "always online" nature can also be frustrating if you pause, unpause, and find you have to quickly re-pause again a second time. That second pause will actually incur a loading spinner because it hasn't finished syncing with the server from the first pause, apparently. This game is going on 12 years old.

Anyway. This was a nightmare.

HOT BONUS

"The EA App" now starts up with Windows and is nagging me to enter the login credentials I already entered last night. I have to go through extra steps to get it to leave me alone and not do this

THE RIDE NEVER ENDS

[ramspatula]

IRON SPIDER | Tony Stark Daughter! Reader (Part 2)

Previous part

(Y/n) (L/n)

That's what I had to be called there. (Y/n) (L/n). Miss (L/n). I felt like a part of me was taken away.

"I can just stay home right? I don't have to go." I asked my Dad, the field trip slip in front of us both on the table.

"I don't see why not. If you don't wanna go, you don't wanna go. You've seen and have better equipment than anything there." Dad argued and I nodded, agreeing with him but Pepper shook her head.

"No, I think she should go! It's good to have some school enrichment and this is the whole reason we sent her to school! So she actually socialises with people her own age and has some normal experiences!" Pepper argued and Dad raised a finger.

"First of all- you sent her to school -I wanted her to stay home. Second, she has friends now! She goes to school, Monday-Friday, isn't that enough socialising?" Dad argued back and I stood up to put my plate into the sink.

"I'd argue that it's more than enough socialising." I said and Dad nodded.

"It says that it's part of your lessons!" Pepper added and I frowned.

"I didn't go on "the field trip" the first time round! I did this whole course about 2 years ago when I was still being homeschooled by JARVIS!" I told them both and Pepper gave me a look.

"You're going." She said and I frowned before raising a finger but my dad beat me to it.

"Hold on. You're not the one that has to forge the signature of Mr (L/n)!" One look from Pepper made him look away from both of us. "You're going."

"You're such a suck up!"

"You'll be one when I ground you for that."

"Does that mean I won't be able to go then?"

"(Y/n)..."

"Switched teams faster than-"

"Stop-  before you make me sound like my Dad. Just go tinker or something and don't forget to take this in the morning." He told me and I groaned.

★・・・・・・★

Early May, 2015

"(Y/n)! You made it!" Liz exclaimed and I smiled, letting her hug me.

"Yeah, Stepmom changed my dad's mind." I told her and she smiled.

"Well, I'm glad! It means I don't have to go on this trip without my bestfriend! Im gonna need you to explain everything to me!" She exclaimed and I smiled.

"What did you pack for lunch?" Liz asked me as soon as we got on the bus. First of all- bus. I saw Happy's car sat outside the school gates ready to follow me for the whole of today.

"Er- my lunchbox broke ages ago so I'm just- I'm just gonna buy something when I'm there." I made up. You had to bring your own lunch?!

"Did you not know you had to bring your own lunch?" Liz joked and I smiled back.

"I didn't read the letter- I didn't even know it existed until I pulled it out from the bottom of my bag last night. I think it was about to start growing mould-" she cut me off with her laughing and playfully shoved me.

"If there's no food there you can always share mine if you want." She offered and I genuinely smiled.

"Thanks." I nodded and watched as she put her head phones on with me copying her soon after.

The song I was listening to almost had me in a trance when I almost jumped out of my skin because of JARVIS randomly in my ear.

"You're approaching the sciencenter 160, please remember that I'm still accessible and security measures are still in place. You are safe, Miss Stark." I sighed in relief and didn't reply but I looked out to see Happy's car following right to the side of the bus. I decided to look away from the window and to the inside of the bus to see a boy in my class called Peter staring at me. He went wide eyed and quickly looked away. I looked back to the window with the song still on full blast in my ears.

★・・・・・・★

"I hope you don't mind bugs! Because there's a lot of them here!" I shivered at the thought and noticed I wasn't the only one so uncomfortable in my own skin right now. I felt like something was crawling on me already.

"Feel free to have your own look!" I heard the tour guide tell us and immediately we were all splitting up around the room.

"(Y/n)! We're going to look at these tarantulas, wanna come?" Liz asked.

"As exciting as that sounds- I'm gonna pass. I'm just going to have my own look for a moment- I'll meet up with you guys at lunch!" I told them and walked off to the furthest table where Happy was wearing a face mask and sunglasses to disguise himself as regular security. No one was around so I felt more comfortable.

"I've never been a big fan of bugs- actually is there something crawling on me right now because I feel infested." I told him and he chuckled.

"You're fine. It's just some bugs and they're contained."

"Don't invalidate my fears. It makes me feel like you don't care about me." I told him and he sighed.

"I'm not having this argument again. I've had it with you father, I've had it with you, I'm not having it again. This is the 5th time now, (Y/n). I wouldn't still be working for you if I didn't care." He told me and I raised my hands up in surrender.

"Wouldn't kill you to show it once in a while, happs." I told him, staring at a centipede.

"You might want these." He told me and handed me a pair of glasses that I originally thought were prototypes. I looked at him in surprise and he lifted his sunglasses up to wink and and pointed them at him and nodded.

"You're good."

"I've known you since the first day your father held you. Don't test me when it comes to knowing you Starks." He told me and I nodded putting the glasses on.

"Jarvis?" ......

"Hello Miss."

"Yay!" I cheered quietly. "Okay, talk to me. Tell me what everything is. Occupy me so I don't get too bored." I told him.

"Of course." He replied and I smiled again.

"It's like being at home!" I said quietly to myself.

★・・・・・・★

"If you go through this door, I believe you will find a more interesting exhibit." Jarvis told me and I walked in to see a bunch of old square TVs that were playing old insect documentaries and movies. Multiple facts about different bugs were being told me by multiple people and narrators.

"Even Howard Stark said spiders were-"

"Hey-" I jumped out my skin to turn around and see Peter.

"Oh my god- you scared the shit out of me. Hey." I told him and he looked at me like he'd realised he don't something horrible to me.

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" He was a little scrawny kid that was only a bit taller than me who I raised a hand to in order to get him to stop talking.

"Don't worry about it..." I told him and looked back the screen with my grandfather on who was holding a tarantula. I cringed and Peter looked at the same screen as me.

"He was an amazing mind- I mean he died before I was born but.... I don't really like bugs that much." He rambled and stumbled through his words and I genuinely laughed, softly but it did get a laugh out of me.

"It's okay, Pete. I don't really like bugs either."

"Pete?"

"Oh... do you not like being called that?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No, I'm okay with being called it- I just- I- no one's really gave me that nickname before." He told me and I raised my eyebrows.

"Do you want me to just call you Peter?" I asked and he shook his head again.

"No! You can call me whatever you want- I mean I think this is the first time I've actually spoke to you- I just- Uhm- I just thought you'd call me penis Parker or something like that." He told me and I almost frowned.

"Who calls you Penis Parker?!" I almost laughed. Penis Parker! "Who made that one up then?" I shook my head and a genuine smile came into his face.

"Flash but it's been picked up quite quickly."

"I must be out the loop then- ow!" I hissed as I felt a prick and looked down to see a big-ish spider on my hand. My eyes widened and I gasped starting to freak out. "Oh my god!" I said quickly.

"Oh!" Peter quickly gasped looking at it,

"Get it off! Get it off!" I quickly pleased shaking my hand and Peter without thinking picked it up by the leg and then tried to shake it off to which I landed on the floor and I quickly stamped on it, repeatedly before kicking it under the table.

"I'm burning these shoes!" I said, disgustedly.

"What if that spider was important!" Peter quickly gasped out and I tilted my head.

"Well it's not anymore. We should probably go- that thing bit me!" I told him and he looked at my hand quickly, I missed how he hid his hand from me and his wide eyes somehow became wider.

"It's just a spider-" he began to ramble again and I chuckled walking past him and gesturing him to follow me out to which he did.

★・・・・・・★

"Oh shit..." I said looking at the canteen and noticing the cafeteria was shut. Peter looked at me concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked and I sighed.

"Nothing I just realised I have no lunch now. It's fine, I'll just get something later." I told him and almost went to walk off.

"You can share mine if you want? I ordered the bigger one today by accident and I didn't want to tell them I was wrong so we can split it if you want." Peter told me and I smiled but shook my head.

"Don't worry Pete. I'll just pick something up when I get home." I told him and he smiled.

"If you want any, just ask." He told me. I noticed that we were some of the first few in the cafeteria so I sat down with him.

"Who are you waiting for?" I asked Peter as he brought his sandwich out his bag.

"Ned! Ned Leeds- he's kind of my best friend... only friend." Peter told me and I smiled.

"I get it. Liz is like my best friend. I didn't have many friends before I came here." I told him and he nodded.

"Where are you from?" He asked, sand which stuffed in his mouth and I smiled.

"Miami." I told him and he went wide eyed.

"Miami?!" He repeated and I smiled.

"Miami.... It was a big move but we were kind of going to and from anyway." I lied and he nodded.

"Where do you live now?- Not in a creepy way!" I chuckled a bit at his franticness.

"Manhattan... I have an apartment in one of the towers." I said and he nodded.

"Like the Avengers' Tower?!" He said shocked like he had just discovered something and I laughed.

"Yes because I'm obviously (Y/n) Stark." I told him and he smiled in amusement.

"Nice try... I live in Queens. I have an apartment too." He told me and I smiled, it went silent after that.

"Want a bite?" Peter asked and I looked at him quizzically before nodding.

"Okay..." He gestured to the other half and I tried a bite. It was surprisingly good. "Oh wow... that's actually better than I was expecting." I told him and he smiled. Cheeks full of food.

"Delamar's! Best sandwiches in Queens!" He said, enthusiastically and I chuckled.

"I can see that now." I told him and saw Liz and that walking in. "My friends have just come in- I'm gonna go join them but it's been nice to talk to you, Pete." I told him and went to walk away.

"Hey!- Do you want the rest of my sandwich?! I'm not that hungry- honestly!" He offered.

"Are you sure? I'll just get myself something on my way home." I told him and he nodded.

"Take it! I mean- if you want to of course!" He told me and I smiled.

"Thanks, Pete. I'll see you after the break." I said, taking the half I had bit into and walked away.

★・・・・・・★

"Hey princess, how was the- the science place?" Dad asked and I made a face.

"Full of bugs! A spider even bit me and I had no lunch because I didn't pack one and there was nowhere to buy anything from. I'm lucky someone offered me half of their sandwich they didn't want." I ranted straight away, dumping my bag and kicking my shoes off- not literally because I always kept them in this one place. "I didn't even wanna go in the first place." I told him and I didn't look at him but I could feel his guilty expression staring at me.

"I'm sorry, honey. I never would've signed if I knew it would've been so bad for you." Dad told me and I pulled open the fridge to get a drink and a snack because all I had ate from 7am-6pm was half a sandwich.

"Yeah well, Pepper told you to do it so you obviously folded." I snapped before storming off to my room.

"Oh come on, honey, don't do this to me. Y'know you come first- Hey! Don't slam your door! You know how this goes from me being calm to you getting grounded when that happens!" He told me and I groaned before shutting my door normally and then shoving it hard when it got to the latch. Not enough to slam but enough to get my way.

★・・・・・・★

Tony sighed and closed his eyes before tilting his head up. He hadn't moved from where he was on the couch but he knew he had to soon.

"Miss Stark is quite upset. I have asked her if she'd like me to call you in and she said no but my protocols override this request." Jarvis announced to Tony who didn't open his eyes.

"Is she crying?" He asked, simply.

"Yes."

Tony stood up and and made his way to his daughter's room. Opening the door to see her laying down on her bed and facing away from the door. Tony sat down on the end of the bed near her head as she stopped her crying and refused to look at him.

"You all good?" He asked her and she nodded.

"Yeah." She said in a small voice.

"Really? Because this doesn't look all good to me." He told her and she shook her head this time letting more tears flow out. Tony just moved her closer and in turn she placed her head on the side of his lap and his hands began to run through her hair.

"It's not been your day, huh? Been there. Except mine was to do with this expo in 1998-" Tony started and (Y/n) chuckled a little. "- I mean she everywhere! I didn't know what she was saying or showing me-" He continued and (Y/n) leaned up to actually look at him. "All good?" He asked and she nodded.

"All good." She repeated and he brought her in for a hug.

"What's really bothering you?" He asked and she leaned into him. Staying quiet for a moment. "I know you're not just upset because you didn't have any food." He told her and she stayed still.

"I- I don't know. I guess I just feel out of place. I'm too young to blend in with all of you at home and I'm not used to anything at school. Y'know how embarrassing it is to not understand that you have to wait in line at a shop for the register? I do. It's very!" She vented and Tony sighed before making her move to siting up so he could actually hug her.

"I don't know what to tell you. You don't experience anything a normal kid would and you never have. You've been walking red carpets since you learned to walk and been kept at home for all your life. Y'know I'm realising that I just said I don't know what to tell you and I just told you something- anyway I'm saying it's my fault. It's my error. I should've done more to stop this from happening. I probably should've sent you to school earlier as well. Looking back there's a lot I could've done." Tony rambled a little and (Y/n) tried drying the rest of her tears with her sleeve.

"I'm scared as well." She added and he frowned.

"Of what?"

"You getting called to go be IronMan and you not coming back. I have this fear when I go to school that it will happen." She told him and he held her a bit tighter.

"That's what you said after New York too. Then it got worse after Miami where you couldn't sleep or be in a different room to me. Honey, you had to go to school in order to help with that. Can't live with this separation anxiety forever because it will eat you up and I can't be here forever so you've got to learn how to live without me too." Tony told her and she shook her head.

"I don't want to." She stubbornly said and Tony chuckled.

"I didn't want to know how to live without my parents either." He admitted before looking at her and she looked at him confused. "Listen, kid. Heres what we're gonna do. You're not going to focus on that. We're gonna go downstairs- get in the car, get food, get ice cream and then we're gonna put Lilo and Stitch on and whoever can remember the most lines gets to choose the next movie night. Deal?" He asked and held his hand out for her to shake. She shook it and nodded.

"Deal."

"Good. No more tears. I'm serious!" He 'reprimanded' jokingly and she laughed following him out her room.

[snowdropluck204]

Sweetness - Sweet Pea x Fem! Reader

Hello my lovelies! I'm not sure if this fandom is even alive anymore... at least not the Sweet Pea love, but I hope the people who find this story might like it? Just to make sure, Trigger Warning! For anyone who is triggered by the following; Death, illness, gang related activity, injury, guns or knives - Please read this book with caution, there will most likely be mentions of at least one of these in each chapter, but I will give a proper warning for any scenes that detail these events!

Thank you my lovelies (Also, I'm not sure when exactly the series takes place, so be gentle with my dates please!), and enjoy the chapter! Xxx __________________________

July 1999,

Dear diary,

I used to think that Riverdale was the safest place for me, Ricky always had my back, someone I could always trust, someone who loved me and that I adored. And now he's gone.

Ricky was a badass! He was an angel of death and was a big deal in the Serpents, he died protecting his friend! He was so young... He was in the hospital for days, I still think they could have saved him, they chose not to! They saw the snake on his shoulder and chose to give him the bare minimum help!!

Screw this town. Screw the Ghoulies. Screw the Northside. The Southside.

I can't help but feel selfish now. Thinking about myself and what I'm going to do with Peanut. Sure they were a surprise, but they were a welcome one. Ricky was so excited about you, little one. He would have spoiled you rotten.

I know that the Serpents would have taken care of us, F.P is definitely going to be named Godfather now, but they aren't Ricky. And everything in this damn town reminds me of him, of what he was. So I'm leaving. My parents are moving with us out of town, as far away as we can.

I love you so so much Peanut, and I'm hoping one day you'll be a nosy little shit like your dad and find these entries one day, it will be much less painful than telling you his story myself.

Until I meet you, Kathryn (aka mama)

________________________________

February 2000

Dear Ricky,

She's here. She's beautiful. Ten fingers and ten toes, I named her (y/n), the name you wanted, it just seemed perfect for her. I'm going to love her and protect her the way you would have. I've written to F.P, letting him know that he has a happy, healthy god-daughter. I wasn't convinced about him being her godfather, but it's a bit difficult to argue with you now, huh?

Don't think I'm going to let her forget how painful it was getting her out of me though! If this kid ever gives me sass, I'm going to tell her they nearly had to cut her out of me so she can zip it!

I wish you could see her, I was so worried when she first arrived, she didn't make a sound. She hasn't cried since. She just sort of scrunches up her face when she wants something, sort of the way you did when I refused your kisses.

I hope she winds up keeping your eye colour, the gorgeous (e/c). Most people who lose someone say they can't bear to look at others that look like their loved ones. But your eyes, were my everything. My slice of heaven. My oasis. She has my nose, I want her to have your eyes.

I love you Ricky,

Kathryn

________________________________

December 2015

Dear Diary,

It's been a while huh? Being a parent is a bit of a full time job I guess! But (y/n) is beginning to suspect that I'm hiding something from her, she sees me getting weaker, she can tell I'm going places without her. How am I supposed to tell her that I'm running off to the Oncology department a few times a week...?

I want to tell her, desperately. I hate hiding this from her, she's seen me getting weaker for years, she's been taking care of me, ditching school to make sure I'm okay for fuck's sake! She's my angel, she means everything to me.

I can't hide it from her any longer, I'm going to tell her tonight over dinner.

Wish me luck,

Kathryn

________________________________

August 2017

Dear Peanut,

I'm sorry it has to go this way, believe me, if I could have stayed longer I would have, but you wouldn't have wanted that. You need to live your life without having to worry about me, follow your dreams without me holding you back.

I love you so so much (y/n), but I think we both know its time for me. This is the hardest thing I have ever written, and I hope you can forgive me.

With this letter, I have left you a folder, it's just dumb legal bullshit really, but I think there are some things in there that you'll like. I know you found your dad's old recipe books, you and him were so alike my darling.

Hopefully, the stuff in the folder will help you, please don't mourn too long, live your life for me, for your dad.

I love you more than words can say.

Be a good girl (y/n).

Love mama

________________________________

Patient Name: Rick (l/n) Age: 24 Status: Deceased Reason for Admittance: Stab wound Cause of Injury: Gang Fight

Treatment: Patient was admitted with a stab between the second and third ribs (left) at approximately two AM. Patient was given steroids and antibiotics to avoid infection. The wound was more severe than originally believed, the left lung had been punctured. Patient was lost in surgery.

________________________________

Seeing all the memories that I spent the last month avoiding was harder than I had expected. If I thought it was difficult holding my mother's hand as she fought through the cancer and eventually as she passed away, I wasn't prepared for the feeling of resurfacing memories. Mama's lawyer had handed me a large brown folder, a solemn look on his face, struggling to think of something to say to the girl who was now an orphan.

I left the folder in a draw of my dresser after I'd got home, the house felt so empty without her around. Even when she was weak, my mama lit up the room she was in. She was happy and, as cliche and now untrue as it was to say, full of life. Now the house felt cold and dead. My mama was my best friend, my closest confidante, she hasn't been gone an hour and I was already so lost. The worst part was, when I felt this lost, I spoke to my mother.

I went to my mama's room, followed by our dog. I had found him in the park when I was younger, he was just a puppy, I begged and pleaded with mama to keep him, after a pretty big temper tantrum, she finally gave in. Sonic wasn't a puppy anymore, he was nine years old and huge! Mama liked him eventually, when he began exhibiting guarding behaviour, feeling more comfortable with him as a guard dog, a big Rottweiler cross that looked like her came straight from guarding Hades.

Sitting on her bed as carefully as I could, I thought about how strange it was, that everything still was the same, the day was a beautiful, blue sky, the house still looked the same. I contemplated opening the folder now, but it was too hard to think about. Instead, I curled up in the bed sheets, humming a lullaby my mama used to sing, until I fell asleep.

But now I was reading the files. It was a lot of suppressed pain that had suddenly bubbled its way to the surface. My heart felt like someone had taken a hammer to it, there was a photo album full of pictures of me and mama, even some of her and my dad, when they were in high school. I never knew my dad, now I knew why.

Mama had told me he had died, she had just never told me how. Now I knew, someone in a gang had murdered my father. But the diary entries mama had written, my dad was in a gang as well. He died, for another gang member. F.P Jones.

I'd seen the name in the folder too, he was listed as my legal guardian, my godfather, on my birth certificate. I'm not sure just how much I was interested in hunting this guy down, yes he was the person that my parents trusted enough to be my legal guardian, but he was also the person my father took a knife for...

Anyway, I began enjoying myself, looking through all of the pictures of my parents, I even smiled a few times at the pictures of mama and I. The smile faded into confusion when a few certificates and documents were mixed into the nostalgia. Leafing through the documents, I was shocked to find deeds. Specifically to my inheritance and to the house my parents had bought, before dad died. Mama did say she wanted to move away when he'd passed.

Away from Riverdale... ________________________________

The house was bigger than I had expected, a two story suburban dream house, sure it was a bit worse for wear, the wood panelling had chipped paint, some of the windows were so filthy I couldn't see through them and the porch was most definitely a health hazard, but that just meant I had something to distract myself with.

Unfortunately for the house, it would have to wait for some TLC, I was already on my way a few streets down, Sonic trailing behind me, to a separate building, one that my parents had left me money to be able to purchase. It was small, but I knew as soon as I'd seen it, I loved it. It had been my dream since I was a little girl to run my own bakery. I loved cooking and food as much as my father had seemingly.

Mama was right in her diary, I had found dad's old recipe books when I was five, I used a lot of the recipes to learn how to cook, and even more of them because they were claimed as healthy, I was a kid, I thought that because an adult deemed it good, it would make her better. It didn't, but I remember mama's face when I eventually fessed up about snooping through dad's stuff.

Dad had a lot of baked goods in his books, I even managed to tweak a few of them, but he never got to have a place of his own, I was looking forward to this. I would be dedicating my life to something I wanted to do, but also to my parents, forming a legacy I hoped they would be proud of.

My future bakery looked a lot worse than the house did, that was putting it lightly, the windows were smashed, glass was everywhere, the door was practically falling off its hinges and the bricks looked like they had been whacked with a battering ram! Although, the most confusing part about the building, was the old woman sitting on the bench outside, staring at the 'Sold' sign in the window of the door.

I walked up to the woman, cautiously, clearing my throat to avoid startling her, "Excuse me?" I asked, seeing her turn her head to face me, a small smile on her face.

"Oh, sorry dear," She began, struggling to get to her feet, I hurried to offer her a hand, Sonic herding around her knees. "Thank you, such a lovely girl! Oh, and dog!" I smiled at her, curious as to the people my age around here, she seemed surprised I offered to help her, what were the other teenagers like here?

"What were you doing sitting in the cold, all on your own?" I asked, trying not to sound too suspicious, the old woman sighed, staring up at the dilapidated building once more.

The woman smiled, wistful, "This used to be my husband's business." She told me, "He passed on quite long ago now, but he loved this place." She placed a hand lightly against the bricks, I smiled at the woman.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I replied, seeing her nodding in response, "Actually, I own this building now, I'm about to start working on it," I told her, hoping she wouldn't be upset with me.

To my surprise, she grinned widely, clapping her hands in excitement, "Oh, that's wonderful news! I'll be delighted to see the old place back to its former glory!" She cheered. "I'm Ruthie, but such a sweet soul like you can call me Granny, if you'd like, all the other kids in town do!"

I took her hand for a shake, shocked at how strong her grip was, for an old woman, she sure had some muscles! And that was the start of a very odd relationship between the two of us.

Granny was lovely, for the first few days, she would pop by to give me lunch and some hot chocolate, saying that I needed the sugar and some 'pep in my step', but then one day, she picked up a saw, beginning to saw planks for me to use. She helped a lot with the renovation of the bakery, we even kept the name that her husband had used for it, Ray's. We did modify it slightly, now it was Rays, as in 'Ray of Sunshine', but still remembering her husband, Raymond. ________________________________

With the place up and running, I had to force Granny to take a break, in return, we had to make a deal, she could have as many free bakery goodies she wanted, and she would cover the shifts I couldn't make because of school. I was so excited for this, today was the grand opening! Unlike in movies and TV shows, I didn't make a huge deal out of it, even if I was positively buzzing! I didn't deck the place out with banners and balloons, instead, I just flipped the sign on the door and went back to baking, I was gonna let the open windows bring people in.

I was kind of worried about the area, especially considering I'd left my scary teddy bear at home, Sonic would have just gotten stressed each time the door opened. But apparently the Southside of town had a pretty bad reputation, most of the place was pretty run down compared to the preppy, expensive Northside, and was riddled with gang activity...

It had been a couple of hours and I was getting bored! I let my eyes wander around the walls of Rays, the glossy, white brick walls reflecting the florescent lights. All the industrial ovens, mixers and fridges were pretty high-grade, but they weren't the things I loved the most.

Next to the coffee machine, were two framed pictures, one of my parents, happy in their high school days, the other, a black and white photo of Granny and Ray, happy in their own. I was brought out of my reverie by the timer on the oven, pushing off of the counter to the kitchen, pulling the cupcakes out of the oven, relishing in the sweet smell of freshly baked cake.

I felt my heart swell with excitement when I heard the bell above the door ringing, we finally had customers! Quickly, but carefully, cause it was blisteringly hot, I set down the tray of cupcakes on the metal decorating tables, wiping my hands on my apron.

Walking back around to the main shop, I saw three teenagers, probably around my age, two guys and a girl. The guys were staring at the display case, their eyes practically sparkling, it was rather strange to see. One of the boys was quite tall, leaning on the display case, the other was significantly shorter, pressing his hands to the front of the glass. The girl on the other hand was gazing around the room, smiling, her most outstanding feature was her bright pink hair, all three of them were decked out in leather jackets and flannel.

A relaxed smile made its way onto my face, "Hey you guys, what can I get ya?" I asked cheerfully, a bounce in my step. The guys hardly looked up from the display case, the girl shaking her head at them disapprovingly.

"Hey, never seen this place before," The girl said, nodding at the door. I smiled and nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, we only just opened today! We've spent the last few weeks renovating this place!" I told her, offering her a hand to shake. "I'm (y/n), sort of new to town," I told her.

She took my hand, strong grip, something that most of the people here seemed to have. "Toni, congrats on opening! Sorry about those two, usually they're not this rude... Shorty is Fangs, the giant is Sweet Pea." She said, causing me to giggle.

"It's cool, I remember going to places like this when I was a kid and being starstruck by all the pretty cakes, not to mention the fact that there were way to many options!" I joked, happy when Toni laughed with me.

Seeming to wake up from the glutton induced trance they were in, Sweet Pea and Fangs looked up, only now realising there was a second party in the room.

The shorter guy, Fangs, looked at me in awe, "Did you make all these?" He asked, pointing at the goodies, I nodded in response, proud that they seemed to like the look of them, I only hoped that they liked the taste.

"Sure did! Would you guys like to try something, no charge! I need some guinea pigs!" I said, giving a cheeky smirk. The boys shared an excited look, fully prepared to say yes, when Toni interrupted them.

"You only just opened, we can't just take from your stock, at least let us pay for them!" She protested, I smiled kindly at her, it was very sweet of her to consider the business aspect, it was pretty important, but it wasn't why I started this! I wanted people to enjoy my food!

"No worries! You guys are the first people to come in today, well, ever! It would be good to have some feedback about some stuff, if it really bothers you, then feel free to come back another time and buy something? For now! I'll set up a sample plate!" I told her, not giving her time to argue.

I put together a large plate of lots of different things, cupcakes, cookies, pies, tarts, cakes, pastries and some drinks, bringing them over to one of the tables on the shop floor. I'll be honest, it was rather funny seeing these edgy teens sitting in my pastel bakery, I offered them seats before taking one myself.

Sweet Pea and Fangs were practically giddy, getting their hands smacked by Toni as they tried to grab some of the sugary treats. "Hey! If (y/n) wants feedback, you can't just shovel it into your faces! Have some manners, damn who raised you two?" She muttered.

I chuckled, "It's fine, go ahead, maybe start with the cookies? They should still be warm from the oven!" I told them, pointing at the chocolate chip cookies, a simple classic.

They each took a bit, their eyes widening as they bit into the warm, gooey chocolate. "Oh my god." Fangs muttered, his mouth full.

"These are amazing," Sweet Pea added, taking another bite.

I clapped my hands slightly, "Yay! I'm so happy you guys like them," Toni nodding along, giving me some info that was actually really useful. We let the boys keep trying the goodies as we settled into conversation.

"So why did you and your family move to Riverdale, we're not exactly a tourist destination," Toni joked, gazing out of the window at the run down streets of the Southside, "Your bakery is probably the nicest thing to be in this side of town for decades..."

My face soured into a sad smile, "Um, it's just me actually, my parents have both passed away, but they used to live in Riverdale before I was born, they left me a house in the Southside." I told her quietly, looking down as tears began too well in my eyes, already beginning to flood my face. I let out a choked laugh, "I'm so sorry, I never cry, this is so strange..."

I wiped my face, feeling my cheeks burn, I can't believe one of the rare times I cry and it's in public. Hearing the chairs scrape against the floor, I thought Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs were saving me the humiliation and leaving me to my tears. Instead, I felt a gentle hand cup my own and sudden large hands resting on my shoulders and knee.

Looking up confused, I saw a soft smile on Toni's lips, as well as Sweet Pea, kneeling beside my chair, his hand on my knee, leading me to believe that it was Fangs' hands on my shoulders.

Sweet Pea, though he wasn't smiling, had a soft look in his eyes, "All of us have lost someone, we get it. You don't have to be strong all the time, we got your back now." He told me, keeping his voice quiet. I looked into his deep brown eyes, wiping my cheeks and smiling at him.

"Thanks, you guys are being so kind to me, you don't even know me," I chuckled.

They laughed with me, "I mean, you gave us free sweets and you don't know us," Toni joked. We once again, fell into relaxed conversation, the guys joining in this time, whilst still snacking on pastries.

Fangs looked over at me, "So, if I can ask... Who were your parents? If they lived here, maybe someone knew them?" He asked, cautiously, probably trying not to set me off again.

"Rick and Kathryn (l/n)." I told them, playing with the straw in my drink, noting how quiet the three had gotten.

Looking up, I saw them all looking at me like they'd seen a ghost, "What?" I asked.

Sharing glances, they seemed to be mentally arguing about who was going to tell me.

"Spit it out, you guys, I thought we were friends now?" I muttered, trying to guilt them into just telling me.

Sweet Pea sighed, "We know your parents, or really, we know of them..." I looked at him confused, gesturing for him to continue.

"Your dad is a Serpent legend! He died saving F.P, he's kind of the boss now. His picture's been in pretty much every Serpent hangout since we before we all joined." He finished.

I smiled at them, clearly not the reaction they were expecting.

"Thank you, for keeping his memory alive, I'd love to meet some of the Serpents that knew him, I only found out what happened to him about a month ago, mama didn't really like talking about it."

Once again, the conversation started up, but, once again, was interrupted. This time, by Sonic, barking outside the bakery, freaking out the Serpents into standing up, "It's okay, he's my dog! Something must have happened, I left him in the house..." I told them, grabbing the keys to the bakery and rushing out to follow Sonic back to the house, Toni, Sweet Pea and Fangs following close behind.

________________________________

So I'm going to end the chapter there! I hope you guys enjoyed it! I based a few characters off of my family... My mum and dog for example... Anyway! I love you guys, see you soon, hopefully! Xxx

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Uh so this is for anyone who has seen MatPat's new FNAF theory and believes him that the FNAF Movie franchise is going to be centered around the weird human-robot-clone mainly because of this prop that was apparently on set (but only Matt could see it so ????)

When I saw this, some old memories just clicked, and I couldn't help but shake that this guy just looked so familiar.

So, where did he come from? What's this supposed to be?

Well, if I remember correctly, in late 2015- there were plenty of beta animatronic leaks for the FNAF movie (yes, it was originally announced in 2015) which gave us wonderful pictures like these to chew on

Already take note of the doll eyes and realistic teeth and gums

Not to mention that the Jim Henson company (the company in charge of the animatronics in this film) start off by making their creatures (Jim Henson Creatures-not Muppets stop saying they're Muppets) look very similar- as compared to the in-canon endoskeletons that look nothing alike.

So already we know that this guy wasn't made with the original intention to be in the movie, but that isn't the final nail in the cawthon.

Take a look at one of these leaks of the mech from 8 years ago

Do you see a familiar friend in this image? You can actually see a couple, including the eyes from before and what was assumed to be pre-Freddy or Fredbear.

Honestly I haven't seen the full clip, but either way; if this was supposed to be somewhere in the movie-it's an easter egg-if not- Matt was just walking backstage in the workshop. It's not prominent enough to really take note of, so I don't really see how our old friend here can really determine the lore.

Also I noticed something that made me make up a mini sub-theory that might be true.

So among the leaks, was this image

Which like-whatever. It's not that different from before... But if you really think about it

Same guy. It's the same guy. The Jim Henson company was likely always a part of this production. This animatronic wasn't a character- he was just a hint that the Jim Henson Creature Shop was a part of this the whole freaking time. They weren't announced to be a part of the production until a year ago- but they were likely always a part of this.

[guardian-of-fun-times]

❄️Toxic Cosplayers: Frostplay❄️

This is going to be a long-ass post, so get comfortable with your favorite drink and a snack. As for me, the tea is hot and I'm ready to spill.

If you don't already know, this is Juliette, better known as Jacoby or Frostplay online. A band enthusiast, cosplayer, influencer, public figure, suicide prevention advocate, and YouTuber hailing from Southern California.

When I first saw Juliette, I assumed they were either Genderfluid or Trans in which they never stated until they made the post: "I'm a Girl!" after an Instagram account "exposed" her for wearing a binder. The account no longer exists because it was reported and deactivated.

I met Juliette at Anime Los Angeles years ago and she was very standoffish and rude to me seeing that I was also cosplaying the same character. I saw her again at ALA as Jack Frost and she asked me what happened to my leg noticing that I was in a knee brace and carried a crutch to lean on while I had my staff in my other hand.

She wasn’t well-liked in the Jelsa community circa 2013-2015 because she used to fail to credit artists. I never really paid attention to their work because of that, and some things she did… she came across at times as if she thought she was actually Jack Frost, and therefore the authority. It was just a different vibe to others who can have fun but, end of the day you know they know they aren't Jack Frost or any other character.

Her YouTube seemed to have some blurred lines where they thought they were THE Jack Frost. There’s a difference between playing the part at a cosplay convention, or for kids, but end of the day, even the Disney face characters know they aren’t actually Cinderella or something.

Another thing that disappointed me. How can you cosplay Jack Frost and ignore children? That’s such a big part of him. He’s the one who gets the Guardians to reconnect with the kids. Jackson was entertaining the kids. Jack was there for the kids well before he was a guardian.

You might know, that Frostplay went to Disney and dressed as Jack to get those photos and videos with the Elsa face character. Disney face characters have to feign ignorance of things outside of their Disney universe, so putting her in a rough position and potentially causing issues for her at work -- all for internet clout.

So, the stuff about Juliette and the Elsa cosplayers is the tip of the iceberg. She went full Q Anon. She "came out" as cisgender and straight in an emotional video. She was pretending to be in love with them for about five years, so it's a whole fucked up thing.

For a while, it was clear that her whole thing with Jack was some sort of coping mechanism for insecurity about who she was. She threw herself into the character so much that she dated two people at the time, both were Elsa cosplayers. So, it wasn't just one. She broke hearts and pushed people away.

There was a girl named Sofie before Alison. Sofie was from Florida and flew out here a time or two. I still think Juliette will one day accept that she's gender fluid or trans. Plus I know someone who told me that she once used a pseudo penis as a vessel to urinate through, sometimes. So, that adds to it. She's from a conservative area and that definitely influenced her. As for her being rude: she seemed to start gatekeeping the character.

She got awfully jealous and upset that GuardianFrosty on Instagram had taken inspiration from her Royal Jack Frost cosplay. He was literally was driven off Instagram and deactivated his account a few years ago for months because of Frostplay and their friends/followers since they kept sending hate, and death threats if he ever showed up at any California convention.

Claiming a character is childish behavior. Cosplay who you want, when you want. If other people have issues, let that trash take itself out.

[slaveofemma]

10 Year of Slavery - Ch.25

Summer break was about to end. And I was excited than ever.

The chat we had with Nat was a big relief for me. Even when I told her that I had become Ellie's slave "officially", she didn't react like it was a big deal and listened me with curiosity. And she was supportive all along, which obviously encouraged me to devote myself to Ellie even more. I felt like Nat was also excited to witness an alternative lifestyle, and was eager to see where it will lead us. I asked her to be my emotional support, and confidante in this journey, and she gladly accepted. She was going to be my benchmark to see if I'm going to the extremes and making a mistake.

Being fully aware of that Ellie wouldn't like that, we agreed with Nat to set up a secret email address, both her and me, and keep it secure and exchange emails once in a while. We were not going to use normal communication ways at all to keep ourselves safe from being discovered, and exchange emails as we go ahead.

.....

Meanwhile, Ellie had spent most of her last week with Dylan. I was not getting much attention from her, and I wasn't disturbing them too. We were exchanging some texts throughout the day, but she didn't call me until two days before the end of summer. That's where I learned about she texted Sean to hook up with him -to "close the deal" they had during the weekend getaway, but learned that he officially started dating with Melissa. Sean asked him to not tell Melissa what happened between them. Although disappointed, Ellie told me that she did want them to be happy. Dylan also tried to set up another threesome with Megan, but they couldn't find a common time and it didn't go along. Ellie was obviously into the threesomes with Dylan, and I was also curious about if Megan's subtle submissiveness had a part in Ellie's eagerness for another round or not. But I didn't asked about anything.

As I said before, she spent most of her last week with Dylan. She was now spending lots of time in their house. I guessed that Dylan's mom must be somewhat OK with it, to see at least that her son's settling down with a girl. Hesitantly, I asked her if they announced that they're a couple to anyone, but she told me that they're not a couple and "just hanging out" until the end of the summer. It was a big relief to me.

She also told me that she started liking Hazel, Dylan's little sister. Being a total bitch at their first encounter, she opened up to Ellie slowly after a while and showed that she's not just another moody teenager. It sounded to me like Ellie did really enjoy spending time with Hazel.

Before hanging up, we talked about what we were going to do when we are back. Her flight was several hours before me, so we decided to meet at our home directly. We had several days before the classes start so we had time to settle down again, set up some ground rules and get the house going. But we decided to leave the details to when we were together.

"Ellie, can I tell you something? I missed you so, so much." I told her, hesitantly. I was feeling like we were distanced from each other during the last six weeks, and was afraid of how we were going to feel once we're back together. But it didn't go as I expected:

"Me too babe. I know that we didn't have much chance to connect emotionally in this last weeks, but I really missed living with you. Believe me, not only this game between us. I missed your smell, your hug, your laugh..."

"You made me so happy babe. I miss you too. Everything about you..."

And we had a pleasant, gentle conversation about how we missed each other of a couple minutes before hanging up. It was the first sweet conversation we had after such a long time, and I was thankful, really thankful for it. We hanged up with a big smile on our faces.

....

I got off the plane in a bright Friday evening on the September 2015 to return to my city, my school, and my dear Ellie, and took a cab straight to our house. We were full of love during the last couple of days, but she was also reminding me here and there that I was still her slave. So, I wasn't entirely sure about how it was going to be like, and I doubt she knew either. We had agreed to let it flow and see how it'll unfold together. So, when I rang the door, I wasn't sure if I was going to kiss her lips, or toes.

To my relief, she greeted with a hug, and a long, nice kiss. I just hold her in my arms as long as I can, and whispered to her ear saying that I missed her so much. Soon, we ended up on our bed, hugging and kissing each other slowly. We talked about how good it feels to be back and other random things that a loving couple would talk about. After a while, she started unbuttoning my pants, and pulled them down, revealing my rock-hard penis. I was as stiff as I can be, and she started touching my shaft slowly with her soft fingertips.

"Did you keep your promise?"

"Yeah baby, it was so hard, but I did." I lied to her.

"I can see. Good job babe, I'm proud of you. Do you think you deserve a nice, long, sloppy handjob? Did you miss having sex with me?" She was touching my dick very slowly, very carefully.

"You can't imagine how much I missed that."

"But do you think you deserved it?"

I knew that it was a trick question, so I responded carefully:

"No babe, I don't deserve such a thing by following your orders. Only you can give me that, whenever you think I'm worthwile. I'm yours, with all my being." I was hoping that this would convince her.

"You are such a good boy. I'm proud of how quick you're learning. Undress me." She let herself completely flat on the bed, and let me undress her. I was kissing her naked body, her skin while removing her clothes, but she also reminded me to not to touch myself. Her tanned skin was softer than ever. And the contrast between her tanned skin and pale white boobs were making her even sexier. Once she's done, I removed my clothes as quickly as possible while she was watching me.

"Wow, you are toning up boy!" She said when I removed my shirt. I thought that comment worth all the gym sessions throughout the summer. "I liked that, keep going and you'll get much better."

I thanked her, and got back to the bed, right next to her. We were again naked, on our bed, and touching each other.

"See, we're back on our bed together. After all that time, I'm with you again. I know that you were afraid of losing me, but you trusted me and kept going. I'm really proud of what we achieved babe. We showed that a relationship is way more than just sex, and we can be a happy couple while having sex with other people." She was right next to me, under my arm. Her boobs were pressed against my chest, and she was touching my dick as slow as it can be.

"Tell me how it felt when I was talking about how I got fucked."

"It was hard, it is still hard, but I learned enjoying it. I'm not feeling jealous anymore. I'm feeling... I don't know if there is a word for it. I feel "content". I feel satisfied when I hear the satisfaction in your voice. I feel good."

"So, you don't want to fuck me anymore then?"

"Ah quite the opposite! I crave for that every moment. I can die for that. But I know that I won't be, and it doesn't annoy me anymore.I love your pussy. I don't care who's having all the fun, I'm happy worshipping it."

She stopped touching me, and pushed my head gently towards her pussy. It was a sign for me to assume position for oral sex. But when I positioned between her legs, she stopped me, and told me to just stay an inch away from her pussy while we speak. I was smelling her clean-shaved pussy, was seeing that she's getting wet, and I was pressing my rock-hard dick against the bed and hoping to not have an accident and get a premature orgasm. While I was just staying an inch away from Ellie's pussy and resisting the urge to kiss it, she kept talking.

[11cleyvaart]

Trans Quimby headcanons, 2015 please?😘😘😘😘

To start 2015 Quimby is his own thing, and the show to be goes a different direction from the 83/85/ and Gadgetinis timeline.

So the time frame would differ greatly from the 1980's version making them in their forties now leading them to be born the 1968.

So here are some of my 2015 Quimby Headcanons:

His dead name is Marcy Quimby. He knows he can't erase the years before he became Frank but he simply doesn't want to remember them

He was born into an Irish Catholic home, with some roots deep in there of Polish decent. But he is more Irish than anything.

He went to Sunday schooling and all girls school when he was growing up. But he knew he was different than the others firstly because he was labeled as an 'ugly girl' by his parents. He didn't have his mother's looks.

He has a noticeable underbite due to his jaw being broken as a child from a large fall while playing with the other boys when his mother told him to play with girls. He has no regrets.

His parents wanted him to become a nurse but he had his sights set on becoming a police officer.

His first act of defiance was cutting his long hair off knowing that he was tired of being viewed as someone he wasn't. This promptly caused his parents to kick him out as he told them he felt more comfortable being called Frank. Being of the mid 1980's time he felt more free to be himself.

He still hadn't started any HRT nor could pass as a man, he was only 5'2 with no facial hair. Yet he was adamant to be the man he was.

He did become a police officer and rose in the ranks to sergeant. This is when he met Augustin. (Which also is when the viewed perspective on Quimby changed when Augustin became Gadget. Seeing Quimby as a buff man when he's short and doesn't fit the memories of Gadget ⬇️)

He and Augustin began a relationship while Quimby was just Transgender. Augustin didn't mind as much, he just was in love with the person. (2015 Augustin differs from 1980's as well)

With Quimby having higher ranking than Augustin, he became the Chief inspector as Augustin became apart of the detective sector with Quimby as his boss.

It when here by the 1999 did Augustin marry Frank, yet they had to use Marcy for it at this time, but they got married regardless. It was Augustine's way of showing that he wasn't leaving Frank for anything. Allowing for Frank to become Penny's uncle as well.

Frank began his HRT and gained the facial hair he always wanted, focusing mainly on growing a mustache also thanks to his genes giving him more of a boost to grow a full mustache.

Frank was able to get his chest redone with the inverted T incision, he had a larger chest. He didn't get any lower work done as he felt more comfortable having his chest redone and that mustache he's always wanted.

Yet he was still able to sadly get pregnant, which he and Augustin had an accidental dealing with Quimby getting positive results. Fear of being seen by his husband as something he wasn't caused him to begin to try to hide it until he broke down. They accepted the inevitable. But it never came to be as Quimby suffered from a difficult miscarriage.

This caused severe mental anguish for Frank, both in getting pregnant and now losing it. This pushed him to begin binge eating to cope.

He was soon diagnosed with bipolar 2 after experiencing a major change in his emotions of gripping depression. His choices became skewed blinding him of what mattered. It put a strain on Augustin, but he still loved his Frank no matter.

Frank was put on medication and was able to gain his life again being himself once again.

Not soon after, roughly three years, did Augustin suffer from a traumatic accident himself that Frank started to become unwell mentally and physically once again. He would tend his husband until he passed away, seeing the man he loved and married, die and be reborn as Gadget before him changed him.

His husband was technically deceased yet he still had Gadget now, who seemed to remember him as his lover. But the relationship was strained at times as Gadget had neurological damage causing the caring nature to be lost at times. But Frank still loves and tries his best to be there.

He lives in a home away from Gadget but is still able to come over, he often has to remind Gadget of their relationship together as Gadget has amnesia at times.

With Penny, Quimby has some disdain for her once she became a teenager. He has deep rooted negative feelings towards girls and women after his years of ridicule. He tries his best to be there for Penny but he at times doesn't like it. He also has fear for Kayla, that she reminds him of those who mocked him.

On his free time, Frank likes to eat mainly but also take naps. He finds comfort in sharing a bed with Gadget in many ways. He finds that feeling the man he once knew next to him again takes his sadness away.

More than likely I missed some (and misspelt) but that's what I can think of at the moment. He's had a rough time but he's a happy little critter when he can be.

[stephensmithuk]

The Veiled Lodger

Published in 1927 (and therefore only entering the public domain in the US this year), this is our first story from The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes, the fifth and final volume of the Holmes short stories.

It is also the penultimate published tale in the canon. It is also the shortest.

"The politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant" sounds like the ending of a Kenan and Kel episode.

Brixton is under three miles from the centre of London. In 1888, it became home to the first street in the UK lit by electricity, which was called Electric Avenue. That's where the song comes from.

Brixton became a predominantly Afro-Carribean community after the war as many of the passengers from Empire Windrush were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep level shelter; the nearest Labour Exchange was in Brixton and they subsequently found accommodation in the local area.

Milkmen were delivering daily milk deliveries to houses from c.1860 as the railways allowed for it to be delivered still fresh from the countryside. Milk floats were among the first electric vehicles as they were a lot quieter for nighttime deliveries.

The use of lions in circuses is still a thing in some cases, sadly, although public opinion has progressively moved against it.

Allahabad is now the Indian city of Prayagraj, the judicial capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Sadly, I guess the poor lion was shot.

A discussion on Victorian attitudes to domestic violence can be found here. Had Eugenia Ronder been able to afford it, she would be have been able to obtain a divorce for adultery and cruelty at this time.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was found in 1824 and has successfully lobbied over the decades for changes to UK law regarding animal treatment. The RSPCA brings private prosecutions, as any citizen can, against those who engage in cruelty to animals. It also has uniformed inspectors; these do not have police powers but work closely with the police.

Attitudes towards suicide progressively changed over the Victorian era, but it was still illegal. The practice of burying those who had killed themselves at a crossroads with a stake through their heart was banned in 1823, but it was commonplace for those who had killed themselves to be denied a full Christian burial, ending up in an unmarked grave. Church of England law on the matter wasn't changed until 2015, by which point the restriction was widely being ignored anyway.

There seems to be no specific prohibition in the 1896 Post Office Guide against sending prussic acid, aka hydrogen cyanide, in the post, but it is now definitely banned.