#and then will be queued to cross-posted over here on tuesdays

[sungstars]

slut me out | njm x fem!reader

i.e you needed to give your situationship the time of his life after seeing his instagram story.

word count: 2.8k (not proof read)

content warning: situationship, open ending, smut lol, oral (m. rec.), fingering (f. rec.), explicit sex, unprotected sex(no!), creampie, lmk if i missed anything thanks!

author's note: two fics in one day! can we believe this LOL. would you guys be surprised if i said that i have a mark one that i'm hoping to finish and it'll be queued up for tomorrow morning/afternoon. i hope you all enjoy this fic and as always, dedicated to my crazy and delusional bffs. likes & reblogs are appreciated as always. requests are open till october 5th! i'm still working on my jay fic, and hoping to have that out by tuesday!!

“you’re fucking crazy,” you said once the phone picked up after the first ring, “you can delete that story, i saw it.”

jaemin let out a hearty laugh, “hmm? but jisungie looks so cute, what if one of my followers wants me to put them on with him?”

you jeer, fingering hovering over the red button on the screen, “you definitely could’ve posted him without making sure your shirt is unbuttoned and they can see the chain that i bought you peeking through. what if they’re crazy like me?”

“don’t worry, nobody has you beat in that department.” jaemin added quickly, “you can come over if you want.”

did you want to? absolutely. you needed to rock his world so hard that it was likely to be rated a category 9.5 earthquake.

“you can come to me,” you quipped back, “and hurry up, i dont have a lot of patience. don’t change either.”

“you’re so demanding,” jaemin whined, a glint of playfulness evident in his voice, “i have to stop at my other hoe’s house first, but i’ll be there.”

“not even funny.” you hung up the phone, rolling your eyes.

focusing back on your room, you jumped up in a panic. you needed to change and also pick up the clothes you had thrown all over the place.

realistically, you didn’t know if jaemin was kidding about seeing somebody else first, but if he wasn’t, you had about twenty minutes including traffic before he got to your place.

you shoved all the loose piece of clothing into whatever drawer or laundry basket they would fit into. doing a once over your room, you were satisfied with what you were able to do.

looking at your floor length mirror, you didn’t care too much about what you had on. a big t-shirt with snoopy playing baseball on the front.

easy access for jaemin, but you should probably change your dingy halloween panties from victoria secret into something cute.

perhaps pink? that seemed on brand for tonight’s theme.

you were digging through your underwear drawer looking for that lacey pink thong you got from the mall a few weeks ago when you heard a knock on your door.

“fuck,” you said, slamming the drawer shut to no avail and rubbing your hands down your hair to smooth out any frizz, “fuck.”

the knocking got louder, causing you to practically trip on air as you ran to grab the door.

“took your sweet time letting me in,” jaemin pouted. leaning against the doorframe when you opened it, “that mad at me?”

rolling your eyes, you pulled him in by his silky pajama shirt and closing the door behind him, “guess she wasn’t that good if you got here within the same hour of calling.”

jaemin smiled, dropping down onto your couch and sliding his shoes off, “i’d say she was pretty damn good if i got done quickly and i’m not here.”

you crossed your arms, scoffing at his comment and began to walk to your bedroom.

“you’re such a dick.”

“i heard that,” he said, jumping off the couch to chase behind you, “i'm just kidding y/n, you know it's just you."

"are you sure? cause you keep making comments about other girls, are you trynna compensate? i don't care if you see other people."

jaemin laughed at you for the nth time this evening, making you want to just slam your bedroom door in his face and lock him out, but unfortunately for you, seeing jaemin in those pink pajamas and gold chain sent you into borderline ovulation.

you grabbed jaemin by the arm, leading him to sit on your bed and standing between his legs.

"it's just you," jaemin reassured, a hand coming up to rub your hip gently, "just like driving you crazy 'cause i know you're really fucking insane."

jaemin got a whiff of your secret cloud perfume as you leaned down and kissed his neck gently.

"i'm going to turn you every way but loose tonight," you whispered into his ear, teeth grazing the shell of his ear, "and i'm gonna show you how insane i am over you."

a shiver went down jaemin's back as you kissed down his neck and to his adam's apple, making sure to suck dark marks into his skin before placing your lips on his.

his arms wrapped your waist, pulling you down into his lap as he deepened the kiss. your hands found their way entangled into his brunette locks, moaning as he slipped his tongue into your mouth.

the two of you fought for dominance over the kiss, though jaemin just wanted to put up a good fight before letting you win.

you then slipped your tongue into his mouth, removing your hands from his hair and moving them down to his shoulders.

you gently pushed him back and onto the mattress, letting your fingers skillfully undo his pajama shirt, enjoying the smooth silk under your fingertips before pulling the shirt open.

jaemin pressed his hips up, hoping to get a small bit of friction on his growing erection and moaning when you rut your own hips down.

pulling away from the kiss, your chest heaved as you did a lookover his body. his plush lips swollen and glossy with spit, dark splots decorating his skin from earlier, his own defined chest moving rapidly as he tried to catch his own breath.

"you look so pretty under me, jaem," you complimented, your fingers dancing across his exposed collarbones and down his gold chain, "a sight only i should be allowed to see."

jaemin exhaled heavily through his nose, "a sight only for you. . please, don't stop. i want you. . i need you so badly, y/n."

how could you deny such a request from a pretty boy completely at your disposal? you weren't a cruel or dumb woman, so of course you'll comply.

you leaned down to attach your lips to his collarbone, biting and sucking gently as you made your way down his chest.

moving the pink fabric away, you let your tongue teasingly flick at his nipple to elicit a whiny moan from his mouth before taking his nipple between your lips.

"fuck y/n," he groaned, "that feels so good."

smirking to yourself, you pull off and stand up. the boy's eyes widened, trying to hold back another whine because why did you pull off? and why are you standing?

"c'mon," jaemin said, voice cracking slightly, "don't be a tease."

"a tease?" you titled your head as he sat up on his elbows, "if you beg, i'll consider."

a bright red hue cascaded over jaemin's face at your request, but he couldn't get any more pathetic than he already looked.

"y/n," he pleaded, "please do something. i am so undeniably hard, and if i don't feel those pretty lips or pretty hands wrapped around my dick that i know you love, i will implode and you'll be out of a bomb dick appointment and home."

a laugh escaped, jaemin really knew what to say to make you give into him. it's why you liked him honestly. he was funny and charming, and did in fact have a great dick that drove you insane. you used to be normal before he stuck his dick in you.

jaemin reached forward, grabbing your hand and placing it over his boner. that action alone could've made you cum in your panties because pathetic jaemin was probably your favorite jaemin.

you instinctively wrapped your fingers around it the best you could while it was restrained in those silky pants, slowly jerking him off and watching a bead of precum stain the fabric.

"see how hard i am?" he asked, breathily, "all for you. all because of you."

stroking your ego was one of the many things jaemin was good at, so you decided to play nicely and give him something to relief this tension you could feel growing in his body.

"take 'em off," you said, releasing his cock from your grip, moving back to give him room, "show me that pretty dick, jaem."

if you weren't standing in front of him, you were sure he would've fell face forward onto your carpet from how fast he was trying to get his pants down and off his hips.

once they were at his thighs, you leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips before sinking down to your knees.

you were face to face with jaemin's cock, the tip an angry shade of red and precum still leaking from his slit.

spit began to pool inside your mouth the longer you looked at it, and you stuck your tongue out to swipe the precum dribbling from his cock.

jaemin moaned out, hands gripping the sheets beneath him, “stop. . put it in your mouth.”

you furrowed your eyebrows and looked up, “don’t make demands.”

the brunette’s jaw ticked, one hand coming up to your hair and the other grabbing the base of his dick.

he pushed your head back roughly, tapping the head of his cock on your lips and smearing more precum across, “don’t be a fucking tease.”

your eyes widened in surprise at the switch in jaemin's demeanor, but instead of giving him a hard time, you complied by opening your mouth for him.

without hesitation, jaemin shoved his cock into your mouth until it hit the back of your throat which caused you to gag and tears well up in your eyes.

"don't get sensitive now," he mumbled, swiping the tears from your face, "now be good and suck. show me why you're my favorite."

his favorite? you should been his fuckin' only like he said you were earlier. what is up with the inconsistency? he's gonna piss you off.

you used your tongue to lick the under part of his cock, pulling off to leave just the tip in your mouth.

jaemin's grip on your hair tightened, trying his best to let you have control, but wanting nothing more than to just fuck your throat until you're sobbing.

you pulled completely off his cock, bringing your hand to jerk him off while you used your tongue to lick a stripe on his balls and gently suck.

the brunette's eyes rolled back, a string of moans and high pitched whines leaving his throat as you continued to toy with his balls.

whenever your hand reached the tip, you would squeeze every so slightly, causing him to fuck into your hand.

jaemin was close, and you could tell by the way he was whimpering and trying to chase your hand.

you looked up at him, smiling to yourself before pulling off his dick completely, basking in his borderline sob at the loss of contact.

"why did you stop?" tears welled up in his eyes, feeling like he would explode, "you're so fuckin' mean."

cooing, you wiped tears away from his eyes like he did earlier, "cause i knew you were close, jaem."

he sniffled, grabbing you and pinning you down onto the bed in one swift motion.

sometimes, you forget how strong he can be, causing you to get even more wet if that was possible. your panties were sticking almost uncomfortably to your cunt, and you were hoping he would do something to relief that soon.

too lost in your own thoughts of pleasure, you didn't even realize jaemin was pulling your t-shirt up until the cool air hit your nipples.

he used his lithe digits to roll your perked nipples around, causing you to squeal at the contact.

"love the panties," jaemin teased, using one of his hands to snap the waistband against your skin, "so cute and so soaked. god, you really get off from anything as long as it's me, huh?"

"you fuckin' wish," you tried to bite, but it came out as a whimper when he pressed his hand against your core, allowing for some friction of pleasure.

"shhh," he said, "can't even muster an ounce of niceness when i'm about to fuck you?"

jaemin flicked your nipples, smirking at your almost pained moan before moving down to take your underwear off, eyes watching how they were sticking to your sopping cunt, "so wet for me, hm?"

you nodded your head in compliance this time, "all for you."

he swiped a finger up your slit, bringing it to his mouth and licking it clean, "taste so sweet, but act so so mean towards nana, wonder why that is?"

you huffed, hooking a heel behind his thigh and pulling him close so his cock would make some contact with your cunt, a noise escaping your throat when the tip came into rough contact with your clit.

"that needy? what was it you said earlier? beg. beg for it, dumb whore."

degrading was something you and jaemin never tried, but with how effortlessly it slipped out of his mouth, you wish he would've done it sooner.

"jaem," you grinded against his cock, "please fuck me, y'know you want to. please, i need it so badly."

jaemin just looked at you unimpressed, dragging his cock up and down your cunt, looking at how you falter when his tip catches your sensitive bundle of nerves, "beg more."

you wanted to burst into tears, he knows how much you want him, he can feel how wet you are and probably at more slickness slipping out as he teased you, "nana, please put it in. i'll stop being mean, promise. i need your cock--i need you. please fuck me."

his left hand came up to smooth your hair out, smiling all his pearls at you as he slowly pushed the fat tip of his cock into you, finally.

jaemin slowly pushed himself into your cunt, moaning at how easily you took his cock, letting his hand fall from your hair and place pressure on your clit.

"it's like you were made for me, fuck" he gritted his teeth, thrusting shallowly into you, "taking me so well every time, your cunt just fuckin' sucks me in.. ha."

all you could do was moan in response, eyes rolling back when jaemin's gold chain smacked you in the nose, "fuck, too good."

jaemin rubbed your clit roughly as he picked his pace up, hips snapping against yours as your arousal ran down your thighs and his balls, creating a wet sound between the two of you.

you clenched around jaemin's cock, letting out high pitched noises of pleasure as he fucked you harshly, the knot in your stomach tightening and traveling down your pelvis.

"fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck" you cried, placing your hand on his lower abdomen and trying to push him away, but he quickly snatched it and held it above your head, "jaem, fuck, please, it's too much."

jaemin ignored your pleas, "y'know you can take it, stop trying to run from it."

when jaemin snapped his hips harshly once more, you felt that knot in your stomach break and ecstasy overtake your senses.

you couldn't even muster the feeling of embarassment from how good you felt when liquid practically sprayed your thighs and jaemin's abdomen.

the boy tapped the head of his cock on your clit, groaning loudly as you continued to squirt before roughly showing himself back into you.

"jaemin," you squealed, back arching up, "i can't! i can't."

"you can," he said, fucking you harshly, feeling himself getting closer and closer, "and you will take this dick. you wanna whine about other people havin' it so bad, take it, slut."

with jaemin fucking you so soon after an intense orgasm, all you could do was sob and mumble his name. it wasn't going to take you long to cum again, and jaemin could tell about how you were clenching on his dick.

your fingers dug into his shoulders, creating red crescents as his chain smacked you over and over again, his orgasm approaching any second.

"i'm so close, angel." he whined, his thrusts starting to stutter and slow down, "fuck, can i come inside please?"

"o-of course," you nodded your head, your own orgasm approaching once more, "please cum in me."

one more snap of jaemin's hips and he let out a loud moan, stilling himself as white hot ropes of his cum began to fill you and create a creamy ring around his cock, "fuck, you were too good."

he began to thrust slowly to ride out your orgasms, kissing your forehead and whispering sweet praises into your ear.

once you pushed his chest away to let him know he was overstimulating you, he pulled out completely and laid next to you, chest heaving rapidly.

"y/n." he turned on his side, "i really do like you."

you smiled, grabbing his hand and intertwining your fingers, "i really like you too jaemin."

he pressed a gentle kiss to your cheek and pulled you closer to him, "it's always been just you."

end!

[changingplumbob]

Little Tiny Update

Details below the cut but trigger free version I was busy today and will likely be busy the rest of the week. I've got stuff queued but eventually there might be a few days gap. Please keep sending me the asks, I will get around to them when I can. Possibly be slower responding to things just because they take brainpower. Much love

Results of the vet visit for my fluffly sister, the cat, today (Tuesday) show she has kidney disease. My IBS nausea was intense all day and taking her there and back took energy. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I'm getting up early to take her in and they're going to flush her with fluids to try get better kidney numbers. Normally it would happen over 2 days but here our Thursday is ANZAC day so public holiday so vets closed. So I'm glad she won't have to stay there overnight, don't want her thinking she's got another long cattery stay, but it does mean a whole pile of busses tomorrow, thank the lord they let us take cats in carriers on buses here now. Then Friday it'll be another trip in for repeat bloodwork and discussion of how we can change her diet to help.

Probably still in a bit of shock, the vet was saying her physical examination looked good apart from her weight loss from her reduced eating. She has to stop the arthritis pain meds which I'm hoping improves her appetite. The vet doesn't seem to think we need to think about palliative care just yet thank goodness so fingers crossed we'll still have some time with her.

Friends what would really help me is if your posts contain pet illness (realistic illness not the ones that give them glowing red noses etc) or pet death you put a trigger warning and/or put the death below a cut. Scrolling through and seeing a cat passing on is not what I need right now, even if it is a simple sims representation. Obviously I can't tell you how to do your content but it would be appreciated.

[clevercatchphrase]

You Monster Chpt. 34

(This story is also available on ao3, under the same username as here~! I am no longer linking the chapters here, or else tumblr would hide the results in their search engine. Sorry for the inconvenience!) 

It’s a couple hours before all the amalgamates are back with their rightful families.

With you, Sans, Papyrus and Undyne as her moral support, Alphys makes her way through each of the Underground’s main regions, returning Reaper Bird, Lemon Bread, Endogeny and Mrs. Drake to their respective homes.

While there were a few harsh words given to Alphys, mostly from Astigmatisms and Snowdrake Senior for not telling them what had truly happened to their loved ones, most of the monsters seemed so overjoyed at having their relatives back, they couldn’t have cared less if their appearance had changed, or if they now shared a mind with a dozen other monsters. All that mattered was that they were alive and they were home.

It’s almost midnight when you finally get back to Hotland.

“Hey pal,” Papyrus says when he catches you yawning on the couch near Alphys’ huge monitor. “While we were in Snowdin, I ran by my house and got your things.”

He hands you a plastic bag with your yarn and green sweater.

“Thanks Papyrus. You didn’t have to.” You smile. “I was gonna trade them back for your cellphone, remember?”

“Yes, I know, but…” Papyrus trails off. “I figured giving them to you now would make the inevitable goodbye a little easier… in the future.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you.”

“I also took the liberty of washing your shirt. I remember you remarking how it felt nice to change into clean clothes, and figured it was a small kindness I could do to make your day a little easier.”

“Yeah, I could REALLY go for a shower right now,” you say. “I think I saw one in the basement lab-”

“W-wait, I do have a bathroom on the ground floor, believe it or not,” Alphys says. “It’s the first door on the left by the front entrance.”

“Thanks, Alphys,” you yawn a second time, suddenly drained as all of the day’s excitement catches up to you. “Guess it’s too late to go to the king again, huh? But tomorrow for sure, yeah?”

“Y-yeah… Say! Let’s have a slumber party!” Alphys suggests. “I’ve still got the movies queued up, a-and we’re all already here, a-and… there might be more things I need to get of my conscience. It would be nice to have some friends nearby.”

“Hey! Yeah! A slumber party sounds like fun!” Undyne agrees.

“I second that notion!” Papyrus says. “We can tell secrets and make friendship bracelets! It’ll be great!”

“I dunno, guys,” you interject. “I should probably get some sleep if I want to see the king first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Kid, you’re within spitting distance of the stinkin’ castle now!” Undyne points out. “All the elevators are fixed, so it’ll be a straight shot up there tomorrow. I think you can afford to watch one more movie with us!”

“Y-yeah! You can’t go back to the Ruins before I can get a chance to introduce you to anime!” Alphys pleads. “Please? Will you watch just one with us?”

You shift your eyes to each of the puppy-dog faces and sigh in defeat.

“I guess just one more movie wouldn’t hurt…”

“Great! F-feel free to take a shower while I go g-get some sleeping bags!”

Thirty minutes later you’re sitting on the couch with Papyrus, freshly washed and fiddling with the new features on his phone while Alphys rewinds the deer movie you had left off on, and while Undyne makes a fresh round of snacks. Together, Papyrus and Sans introduce you to the world of texting, showing you how to make faces out of the letters and symbols while the movie more or less plays as background noise.

The deer movie ends, and the third one, the one with the lions, starts to autoplay. Alphys perks up excitedly. The royal scientist says this one technically isn’t anime, though it’s argued that it might be a rip-off of an anime with a similar name. Undyne asks why they don’t just watch that one instead, and Alphys explains with a bit of nervous apologizing that she doesn’t have that many episodes on VHS.

You shrug it off, and turn back to the screen to give the movie your full attention. Based on Alphys’ reaction, this was one of the better movies she had and you wanted the best experience, but as you watch the movie, that curious sense of familiarity begins to tickle the back of your mind. There was something about these characters and songs���

“I think… I’ve seen this movie somewhere before…” you say vacantly, staring at the screen.

“Impossible!” Papyrus interjects. “You confessed yourself you didn’t know what TV was until two days ago!”

“I… didn’t see it on tee-vee…” you trail off.

That strange déjà vu feeling was beginning to rear its ugly head yet again, and this time you weren’t going to let it get away. Sensing it coming, you mentally grab it, and focus on it until-

You see flashes of darkness and a bright screen in front of you. There are other kids around you, laughing, crying, screaming. The air smells sweet and savory, much like the popcorn you’re eating- JUST like the popcorn you’re eating. There’s an adult on each side of you, telling you to sit up, listen up, SHUT UP, you should be happy They’ve given this treat to you, you should be thankful because They’re being nice to you when you haven’t earned it, but the room is too cold and the noise is too loud and you don’t like it, so you hum nursery rhymes to yourself until it’s all over, and on the car ride home all the streetlights blend in with the stars above, and the air smells like cigars and alcohol, which you don’t like but don’t mention, because if you complain then They will give you something to REALLY cry about-!

You don’t realize you’re convulsing until strong arms are holding you in place. People are yelling at you, but their words are meaningless. It’s just noise, noise, noise, too much noise-

“Kid! Kid!” A concerned voice breaks through to you. “Deep breaths! Stay with us!”

You force yourself to inhale and blink until the halo of faces staring down at you come into focus. Everyone is staring at you in fear and confusion.

“A-are you alright?” Alphys asks.

You roll your eyes to see the legs of the couch beside you. Cold tile presses against your cheek.

“Why am I on the floor?” you croak.

“You tell us, kid,” Sans sighs, rubbing his neck. We all thought you were super into the movie the way you were just staring at the screen. The next thing we know, you’re eyes are rolling back and you’re having a seizure. What happened?”

“I… don’t know…” You admit. You touch your face to find your cheeks are wet with tears. You don’t remember crying. “I… I don’t think I want to watch this movie anymore,” you sniff.

“Th-that’s okay! All these Disney movies are kinda wearing me out too. W-would you like to skip to anime now?” Alphys asks.

You shrug, not really caring as you cradle your pounding head.

Alphys skips ahead to her last movie while you snuggle between Papyrus and Undyne on the middle cushion of the couch. You try your hardest to read the captions on the screen translating what the characters are saying, but your mind keeps drifting back to the vision you had, struggling to make sense of it. What was that place you saw? Who were those people? And why did thinking about it fill you with such dread?

You shake your head, trying to force yourself to stay focused on the screen in an effort to distract yourself, but it isn’t working all that well. Your most recent episode seems to have drained you to absolute zero with how heavy your eyelids feel. Blinking several times, you struggle to stay awake and look back to the movie. You forget what it’s called, but it’s about a goat and a wolf who become friends despite being natural enemies. The animation gets a little weird now and then, but the colors are nice, you guess. You have no idea what the story’s supposed to be about since you keep nodding off. Before long, you decide to rest your eyes and just listen to the movie, despite not being able to understand a word. It’ll only be for a little while. Just until your eyes stop stinging. And at least the music is calm and soothing… and without even realizing it, you’ve fallen asleep.

________________________________________________________

Sans is first to notice that they’re out cold. He nudges them with one slippered foot, but they don’t respond.

“Welp, looks like they’ve finally checked out for tonight,” he says. “It’s nearly three a.m. With any luck, they’ll sleep through the whole day and give us a few more hours to come up with a better plan for what to do next.”

“Phew, I’m glad they feel asleep during this,” Alphys says pausing the VHS. “The only other movies I have that don’t have humans in them are the Ice Age sequels and I wouldn’t want to force anyone watch those. That would just be cruel and unusual torture.”

“I’ll put them to bed,” Undyne offers, carefully cradling the child in her arm as not to wake them, and takes them upstairs.

“So… What do we do now?” Alphys asks. “W-we can’t just let them go to the king. He’ll exicute them as soon as he sees them.”

“Should we call ahead and let the king know?”

“And what would we tell him? ‘Hey, Asgore! We’re bringing the last human soul needed to break the barrier to your place because they need a favor of you! Could you be so kind as to let them live, pretty please? They’re a real good kid and we like ‘em, so we’d prefer you don’t kill them on sight?’ Get real.”

“We could go with the kid and meet him there?”

“Oh, and have him say, ‘thank you my loyal subjects and royal scientist and guard for personally hand delivering me this human. As a special treat you can watch me take their soul?’”

“We could always tell the kid the king got sick and he doesn’t want us to catch it!”

“Do you really think they’d fall for that?”

“We could say he’s out grocery shopping!”

“No, that won’t work either.”

They toss ideas back and forth, bringing up dozens of potential scenarios and shooting down why each one wouldn’t work. Soon their arguments become circular and repetitive, with still no solution to be found.

“The thing is, none of the ideas will work ‘cause the kid won’t believe us.” Sans says. “They’ve caught wise to us and know anything we try now would be a ploy. We can’t try to hold them back now or they’ll cut us off and go it alone, which would be a certain death sentence. We gotta find a way to make ‘em choose not to go to the king.”

“We’ve guided ourselves into a corner…” Papyrus nods glumly.

“Nothing else much we can do at the moment…”

“And if anything… we can at least say we tried.”

“Well… th-there is one last option we have…” Alphys says. Undyne, Papyrus and Sans look to her, waiting for her answer. “W-we can tell them the truth; let them know the s-situation, gently break it to them.”

“Alphys, you know we can’t do that.”

“A-and why not?” Alphys argues. “They’re g-gonna find out sooner or later! I-if not tomorrow, then for certain when they meet Asgore! What’s the worst thing that’s going to happen? If they go to the king tomorrow unaware or not, they’re going to die. I-I let a lot off my chest today. I came clean with all my secrets, but being a part of this one m-makes me afraid I’m going to relapse into a fibbing mess again! I can’t keep making exceptions like this, or I’m just going to go back to my old ways.”

“Maybe… maybe we should just go to Asgore first without the kid and explain the situation,” Undyne suggests. “I’ve trained with Asgore for years, and I know the guy. Sure, he can fight when he needs to, but he probably doesn’t want to. He’d spare an innocent child… right?”

“He didn’t the last six times,” Sans points out.

Everyone looks down solemnly at their feet.

“Say, we’re all p-pretty tired,” Alphys says. “L-let’s sleep on it a-and see if we can come up with any new ideas tomorrow before the kid wakes up. You know, it’s always easier to tackle a problem with a clear head and fresh eyes.”

The four agree, seeing no better solution in the moment, and reluctantly head upstairs to join their sleeping friend, and secretly praying tonight’s dreams wouldn’t be their last.

_______________________________________________

You sleep. You dream. You see your reflection.

And yet…. The closer you look, the less it looks like you. You know your skin is not that pale, and your hair is not that light, and your eyes are not that RED. The reflection tilts its head and you find yourself copying it, and that’s when you realize with rising panic that this is not your reflection-- you are ITS.

“You have come so far,” the doppelganger mouths, and you startle when it’s YOUR voice that comes out of YOUR mouth though you didn’t put the words there.

“I realize what you are trying to do,” the voice says against your will as the replica in the mirror speaks. They look straight at you while they force you to talk, yet you cannot help but feel as if these words are not for you, but are instead directed at someone else. “Your plan is noble, but ultimately it will not work. They have impressed upon too many.”

You want to look away, but you can’t. Your actions are left to the mercy of the onlooker, whose movements you are slave bound to. As long as they stay focused on you, you have no choice but to return the notion.

“But maybe…” the person in the glass blinks at you, as if seeing you for the first time. “Maybe… if I can take it NOW… I can make a difference.”

The reflection raises its arms and you’re forced to do the same. They bring their fingertips up to the glass, until they’re touching. Your hands stop against the cold surface, but the copycat’s don’t. You can only watch passively as your mind yells in horror as the hands phase through the glass while yours are stuck in place.

The apparition’s arms pass through yours, and then violently grab your sleeves and start pulling, pulling, pulling you forward, trying to force you to go through the mirror, trying to take your place, and with every ounce of will power you can muster you scream in your mind, desperate to move even a single muscle but to no avail.

The hands are clawing up your shoulders, grabbing at your shirt, at your chest, at your SOUL-

You jerk awake. Your eyes fly open and you almost scream. Beside you, someone grunts in annoyance, your spasm apparently disturbing their rest.

You try to sort out where you are and the memory rushes up to you like a tidal wave as it all comes flooding back. The amalgamates, the slumber party, the movie. You sigh in relief. It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real. Already it was quickly fading from your mind as if it had never happened, and you decidedly chose not to think about it to let it be forgotten even faster, but when you close your eyes you can’t help but glimpse the bright red afterimage of two eyes staring back at you on the inside of your eyelids.

Geez, you hadn’t had a night terror that bad in years. But you were admittedly close to the CORE. It wasn’t unlikely that stray magic could reach this far in high concentrations and mess with your dreams. Unfortunately you were far too awake now to go back to sleep.

You sit up carefully and look around to find your friends dogpiled around you on the bed and half hanging off the sides. You exhale with a smirk at how tightly everyone is packed on the mattress. Who thought it was a good idea for all five of you to share one bed when Alphys got sleeping bags for this very reason? You had to admit, though, with friends packed together so close, you certainly did feel safe and secure.

Gingerly you untangle yourself from the pile, trying your hardest not to disturb the other sleepers until you extract yourself from the mess. You stand up and stretch and search for your borrowed phone. It’s just past six a.m. You know you didn’t receive a lot of sleep, but you feel remarkably rested regardless. The rest of the Underground should be waking up in the next hour or two.

You look back at your friends, heart panging with melancholy. Right from the moment you met each one of them you knew you would be dreading the minute when you’d have to say goodbye, but for now they were at peace with serene faces, blissfully unaware of your fast-approaching departure. At least they weren’t looking at you with sadness or worry anymore. You decide to cherish this moment of tranquility by letting them rest a bit longer. They would wake up when they were ready.

As quietly as you can, you pad over to the escalator and make your way downstairs. Alphys has packets of instant noodles in her fridge along with a few cans of soda and a carton of ice cream in the freezer. You take a packet of noodles on the assumption it was the healthiest of the three options and try to read the cooking instructions, but it’s all written in a language you don’t understand. Out of famished curiosity, you try eating the noodles dry and discover that they aren’t half bad uncooked. You throw out the flavor packet, though. You can pick out enough context clues to decipher the nutrition label and would rather not ingest something that contains enough sodium to kill a small mammal in one little bag.

Nibbling on dry noodles, you go back to the television, turn it on and turn the volume down way low so you don’t wake the others. Inside the tape player is still the movie about the goat and the wolf. It seems Alphys and the others paused it right after you fell asleep, so you continue watching from where you left off. You still have no clue what’s going on, but thank goodness for subtitles so the TV isn’t too loud and noisy.

Wrapped up in a blanket burrito, you passively watch the movie while you wait for your friends to wake up, but apparently you were a lot closer to the end of the movie than you realized, because the next thing you know, the names of the cast are rolling. You search the couch for another movie, but all the ones available are the ones you already watched last night, and after your episode yesterday, you don’t really want to risk triggering another one by watching the same thing that caused the first. Wait, didn’t you see a room filled with video tapes down in Alphys’ true lab? You bet that’s where Alphys is keeping some more. Surely she won’t mind if you browse for another movie? She was very adamant about introducing you to anime after all.

Dragging half of the couch blanket with you, you shamble over to the elevator door and stumble sleepily inside. The doors close behind you and lower you down. Alphys’ true lab is a lot brighter now that the amalgamates are gone, especially Reaper Bird with their photosensitivity to bright light. The place practically felt hospitable.

You retrace your footsteps, even following the arrows Undyne had carved on the walls until you stumble upon the video room. There’s a television ready and waiting on a table in the middle of the room. Four tapes are scattered in front of it, with one tape already in the player. You scan the shelves for a potential movie, but nothing catches your interest. Every title is either a documentary or in a language you can’t read. You skip over them without a second thought.

When nothing the shelves have entices you, you turn to the TV and push in the tape just to see what Alphys was watching last, grab the remote, and hit play. The screen flickers from a dull grey to black, and muffled audio crackles from the speakers. Huh. Either the TV or the tape was on the fritz. You’re just about to hit ‘eject’ when suddenly the audio pops and comes through loud and clear.

“Howdy, Chara! Smile for the camera!”

You freeze, finger poised over the button, and listen closer.

“Ha, this time I got YOU! I left the cap on... ON PURPOSE! Now you're smiling for noooo reason!”

Your heart skips a beat and a strong sense of foreboding grips you. The speaker said your name. They were talking to you, but you don’t recognize the voice. You don’t remember this conversation. Heart pounding, you shift your fingers away from the pause button and hit rewind instead. The gears inside the tape player cough and chug as they scroll back the tape, and you watch the screen closely for any clues, but the video remains dark until-

There’s a flash of white, a blur of green, and suddenly two kids are on the screen, doing rapid movements in reverse. Your fingers fumble with the remote, mashing the play button repeatedly until the TV finally gets the message.

The tape stutters and chokes and then at last a grainy image comes on the screen. At first you can’t tell if the recording is out of focus or if it is just the kid; a young monster with white fur and long ears. Looking at him fills you with a sense of apprehension. Half a thought forms in the back of your mind that this is what you’d imagine your mom would have looked like when she was younger, but you’re far too focused on the other child in the background. That kid- that kid with the brown hair and pale skin. Something about that kid is making alarm bells go off in your head. You’ve SEEN them before. It’s the same kid you’ve seen in your dreams. In your nightmares.

That kid... there’s something unsettling about that other kid. You realize with horror and awe that they look just like you.

Well, maybe not exactly- their hair was lighter, their skin paler, and their eyes were unique shade of brown that bordered on being red in the right light, but you looked so similar you could have been siblings. What’s worse, they have your NAME. But why?

The furry child smiles, his face far too close to the camera. “Okay… the red light is blinking. I think that means it’s working now…” He mumbles to himself, before turning the camera around onto the other kid. The recording bounces in time with the filmmaker’s footsteps as they get close to their subject who’s reading a book.

“Hey, Chara,” the filmmaker snickers. “Look over here.”

The other child looks up, semi-annoyed at the request. When their eyes meet the camera they flinch and throw their hands up to cover their face.

“Stop it, Asriel! I don’t want to be filmed!”

Asriel… You’ve heard that name before, but where? Didn’t… didn’t Kid say something about a monster named Asriel once?

A cold, nervous sensation starts to grow in your gut and spread up your spine.

You pause the video and take several deep breaths. Something ominous lingers on the edge of your awareness. Something warns you not to turn your head to see it clearly, because once you see it- once that connection is made it can’t be undone.

Curiosity and caution war within you as your trembling fingers hover over the play button. Who was this monster who looked like you and had your name? You… you want to know, you have to find out- and yet, something deep within you warns you you’ll regret it if you do. You hesitate, thinking and thinking… and against your better judgement your curiosity wins out. You hit ‘play’.

“C’mon, Chara! You promised me you’d make one video with me after I got the camera fixed!” The child wielding the camera whines.

“Oh, alright, put it on the table and I will be in your silly vlog. Let us get this over with.”

The camera is set on the table and faces a blank wall.

Wait, you’ve changed your mind. You don’t want to watch this anymore. Shaking, you grip the remote and hit the stop button, but the TV doesn’t respond.

The goat kid jumps in frame from the right. “Howdy! I’m Asriel! Prince of the Underground!”

“Greetings, I am Chara,” says the other kid stepping in from the left.

You desperately hit stop again and again, but the TV’s sensor is old and unresponsive. You don’t want to see what happens next, intuition tells you that you already know. Something bad was going to happen if you kept watching, if you kept pushing. You had to stop it, stop it, stop it now!

“And together we are the future!”

“-Of humans,”

“-And monsters!”

The children clasp their hands together and raise it triumphantly over their heads before dissolving into laughter over how silly it looks.

The remote control falls from your hands and hits the floor with a hollow clack. The tape finally stops and jams on the frame of them together.

“No…”

Humans... and monsters. Humans and monsters. Prince Asriel. You remember now, the story Kid had told you in Waterfall, how he had befriended a human who fell here years ago.

“No.”

A human child that had gotten sick and died which in turn led to the death of the prince. A human child named Chara that looked like you, because-

“No, no, NO! IT’S NOT TRUE!”

The room around you begins to spin and you’re stumbling backwards as you lose your sense of balance, but dare not take your eyes off the TV, all the while shaking your head in denial. Your knees give out at the same moment your back hits the wall, and you slump to the ground, grabbing your head as the world falls apart around you.

_______________________________________________

On the ground floor, the credits finish rolling on the VHS left unattended, and the screen fades to black before flickering to a soothing blue. Despite the TV’s volume being turned down to nearly zero, when the tape hits its last inch of film, the blue cuts to static that thunders like a thousand avalanches crashing at once.

Upstairs, the four monsters jolt awake, and tumble off the bed in a tangled heap of bones and scales.

“Whaszat!? Where’s the fire?!” Undyne demands in a drunken daze.

“Did someone turn the TV on?” Alphys says.

“Hey, where’s the kid?” Sans asks.

Everyone scrabbles to their feet to check if one of them accidentally flattened the kid in their sleep. All eyes turn to the bed only to find it vacant. A wave of dread washes over them.

“Q-quick! Downstairs!” Alphys says. Papyrus and Alphys dive for the escalator while Undyne vaults over the loft’s railing and Sans winks himself down. The couch in front of the TV is empty.

“Look!” Papyrus points to the blanket trailing off the couch. It’s pointing to the elevator.

“They went back down to the lab?” Undyne asks. “Why?”

Beside her, Alphys gasps. “I have more tapes down there.” She says. “B-but If they’re not careful, they could end up seeing something they shouldn’t!”

“Well then what are we standing around here for?” Sans says. “Let’s go stop ‘em!”

The four monsters pile into the elevator and travel down. Alphys takes the lead when the doors open, dashing off straight to the tape room. The four monsters sprint through the halls, skidding around corners until they all close in on the open door.

No one speaks when they get there. The TV is on, a tape frozen on a scene Alphys has re-watched more times than she could count.

The sound of erratic breathing draws their attention to the side. There. Huddled against the wall is the kid, curled into a tight ball. They’re staring at their trembling hands, their tiny body hyperventilating so hard it makes it looks like they double to twice their size with each breath. Their eyes are wide and wild. They turn to the monsters in the doorway.

“I… I… I’m… I am…” They try to speak between exhales, but either they can’t find the words or they don’t want to say them. They swallow hard and try again. “I’m… human?” The choke out at last. They stare at them, silently begging one of them to say it wasn’t true, that the film was wrong, but no one says a word. No one looks them in the eye. Instead they look to one another, lost for words, and then off to the sides or at their feet.

The kid watches them unblinking, a horrible realization clicking in their mind when no one replies. Their eyes go narrow, and then alarmingly wide as all pieces begins to fall in place.

“You… you knew…” They accuse. “ALL of you? And you didn’t say anything? Why-” They cut themselves off from finishing the question. They already know why.

“Pal, it’s not what you think,” Papyrus says.

“Not what I think?” The kid spits back, their voice laced with venom and hurt. Slowly, they unfold themselves and stand. “No… No, I get it now. I GET it. You all lied to me!”

“We were doing it to protect you-”

“Protect ME?” The kid shouts, their face sneering in disgust. “Are you sure it wasn’t to protect anyone else? Because as we all know, humans are malicious! Humans are violent! Humans do nothing but destroy!” They look at each of the other monsters in turn.

“Is this why YOU wanted to study me?” They glare at Alphys, who cowers in shame. “So THAT’S why YOU cut the bridge.” They snarl at Undyne, who flinches like she’s been slapped. “And that’s why YOU attacked me in the kitchen,” they spit at Sans, who eyes go dark as he tries to shrink into his hoodie. “Because I’m human and that means I’m inherently dangerous! Is that why you don’t want me to go to the king as well? Because you all think I’ll hurt him?”

“No! That’s not why at all!” Undyne interjects. “Well, i-it was at first, but not anymore-”

“All this time… All this time I thought you were trying to help me when you really only wanted to stop me. I TRUSTED you, but you NEVER trusted ME! Better not tell them or it could make them unpredictable! Just like I‘m feeling right now!”

“Kid, we were trying to help-”

“I can’t believe you,” they cry as hot, angry tears rolls down their face. “I…I...! I hate all of you!”

The human surges forward. For a split second, it’s everyone’s worst nightmare coming to life; the kid knows the truth and now they’re turning on them, but no one can find it in themselves to fight back. Everyone is frozen to the spot they stand, unable or unwilling to put up a defense. They brace themselves for an attack, but a blow never comes. Instead the human roughly shoves them aside as they make a break for it.

“Kid, come back!” someone shouts, but they don’t heed their words and vanish from sight.

“Shit! Catch them!” Undyne commands. Nobody needs to be told twice. All four monsters leap for the doorway at once and successfully end up bottlenecking themselves.

“Sans, you’re stepping on my tail!” “Undyne, you’re kneeing me in the spine!” “Papyrus, get your elbow out of my eye!” “Alphys, will you stop clawing my ribs?”

Precious seconds are wasted as the four untangle themselves painstakingly slowly until they at last squeeze out the door and race back to the elevator, only to arrive too late. The elevator has closed and was on its way to the ground floor.

“Quick! The emergency exits!” Alphys says, pointing to a door for a nearby stairwell. They burst into the hall and climb the steps two at a time.

Everyone is breathless by the time they get back to the ground floor, but Alphys’ upper lab is empty. Together, the monsters race out onto the streets of Hotland, only to find them vacant.

“Where’d they go?” Papyrus frets.

“Sans, can’t you just do your weird space jumping powers to find them?” Undyne demands.

“It doesn’t work like that, Undyne!” Sans complains. “It’s not a homing device! If I don’t know where they are, I can’t magically find them!”

“M-my access card is missing!” Alphys gasps, catching up a minute later. “Th-they could be heading back to the CORE!”

“Or they could have used it to ride the ferry back to Snowdin!” Papyrus suggests.

“I think I saw something running towards Waterfall!” Undyne says.

“We need to split up,” Sans says turning to the group. “Alphys, you search Hotland. Put the entire region on lockdown if you have to. Undyne, you know every inch of Waterfall. Rally the other royal guards. Papyrus, you and I will take Snowdin.”

“W-what if we can’t find them?” Alphys questions.

“We will find them,” Sans assures, refusing to let doubt enter his soul. “We have to, before they end up hurting themselves.”

“And if they end up hurting someone else?” asks Undyne.

Sans pauses, his eyes going dim for just a second. It was a possibility they had all considered, but didn’t want to acknowledge. “We can’t let that be an option. I hate to say this, but the kid was right. Their entire world view has just been shattered, and right now they’re unpredictable. Do whatever you can to stop them, but proceed with caution. We may have a volatile human on the loose.”

[sunriserose1023]

Like Bogie and Bacall

SUMMARY: You and Bucky, once inseparable, have drifted apart, and you’ve got one last chance to see if you can get back what you had or give it up for good. PROMPT: “Key Largo” by Bertie Higgins. Give it a listen HERE. WORD COUNT: 3298 WARNINGS: Angst, canon-adjacent, talk of divorce, implied sexual content

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Quarantine got me with this one, had me thinking today was the 26th instead of the 27th, but the ever-so-gracious Mimi (aka @captain-rogers-beard​) let me post it for her One Hit Wonder Challenge anyway. “Key Largo” is one of my mom’s favorite songs, so I’ve listened to it for years. I was super pumped to see it on Mimi’s list for this challenge, and this fic is both based off of the song and has some of the lyrics interspersed into the story. Hope you enjoy!

*THEN*

“Babe?” “In here!”

Bucky smiled as he shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, hanging it on the back of one of the chairs in the little kitchen. He locked the door behind him, toeing his shoes off, pushing a hand through his hair as he walked in his socks towards the den. His smile grew when he saw the pile of blankets and pillows, and your head popped up, grinning at him. He shook his head, a soft laugh leaving his lips. 

“What is all this?” “Unlimited comfort items. I’ve got a cooler over here with your favorite beer and my seltzer things, I’ve got snacks, and I’ve got a movie queued up and waiting for you.”

Bucky nodded.

“Which movie?”

Your grin never faltered. 

“Key Largo.” “What’s it about?”

You motioned with your head and he moved closer, laughing as he caught the sweatpants you tossed at him. He started unbuckling his belt and you turned towards the television, cheeks warming as you spoke. 

“It’s Bogie and Bacall’s last movie together. We’ve seen all the other ones.” “To Have and Have Not was our favorite, right?”

You glanced over your shoulder, smiling and nodding at him. He walked over and leaned down, kissing your lips. 

“Hi there.”

You giggled. 

“Hey. Come sit with me.”

He nodded, now wearing the sweatpants and a white T-shirt. He groaned as he sat beside you, lifting an arm to let you snuggle up to his side, kissing your temple. You fixed a blanket over the two of you and powered up the television, which had gone to sleep while you were waiting for him. Bucky kept his face near yours, his breath tickling your forehead when he murmured to you. 

“Popcorn?” “You can’t watch a movie without popcorn.” “Did you get some—“ “M&Ms are already in the bowl, melted just slightly.” “God, you’re the woman of my dreams.”

You giggled. 

“And don’t you forget it. Now hush.”

Bucky smiled as the film began and you snuggled closer. He shook his head, giving a sigh. 

“Man, there’s just something about Lauren Bacall.” “Did you like her back in the day?”

Bucky shook his head, lifting his metal hand to scratch at his chin. 

“Nah, she wasn’t around back then. I mean, she was, but not where I’d know her yet.” “Yeah, I think her big break was To Have and Have Not, and I think that premiered in ‘45, maybe?”

Bucky smiled a sad half-smile. 

“Just missed her.”

You wrapped your arms around him, putting your face in his chest. Bucky rubbed your shoulder, kissing the top of your head. 

“I’m here now.”

You nodded, lifting your head and staring into his blue eyes. He moved his metal hand to let the backs of his cool fingers brush over your cheek and you leaned into the touch. He turned his hand over to cup your cheek and brought his mouth to yours, giving you a slow, deep kiss. You moved with him, laying down on the pillows and blankets you had around, laying your hands on his hips as he moved over you. You watched him as he leaned down, kissing your lips once before he began kissing down your cheek to your neck. You shook your head, eyes drifting closed at the soft press of his lips to your skin. 

“We … we’re going to miss the movie.” “We can restart it later.”

You sucked in a breath as his metal fingers slid under the shirt you were wearing, one of his that you’d stolen. You nodded as the shirt began raising higher, revealing more skin for his lips to explore and your voice went breathy. 

“Much later.”

You had a smile on your face and your eyes closed as you rested your head on Bucky’s chest. He was eating cold popcorn by the handful, listening to the music swell as the movie ended. 

“That wasn’t too bad.” “Not as good as The Big Sleep.”

Bucky shook his head. 

“Nothing’s as good as The Big Sleep.” 

You smiled, snuggling closer to him and sighing. Bucky’s flesh hand moved to card his fingers through your hair and you yawned. He smiled, metal hand moving to gently rub your back. 

“Sleepy?” “You wore me out.”

Bucky gave a soft laugh, kissing the top of your head. You shivered and he grabbed another blanket, draping it over you. You moved closer to him and he smiled. 

“Want to go to bed?” “I’m good.” “You’re shivering.” “Just my back. You’re like a space heater.” “Is that why you keep snuggling closer?”

You nodded and he gave a soft laugh, letting it trail into a sigh. 

“It has been damn cold lately.”

You nodded again, feeling yourself start to drift to sleep. 

“Buck?” “I’ve got you, babe. Go to sleep.” “I don’t want you to have to carry me.” “Sweetheart. It’s fine. I’ve got you.”

You nodded, feeling your body relax as you drifted off. Bucky looped his arms around you, taking in a deep breath and exhaling as he let himself drift, too.

*NOW*

You stepped into the room, lifting the sunglasses from your eyes. You looked at the two queen beds and sighed, setting your purse on the small table and tossing your sunglasses into your bag. You walked to the window and crossed your arms over your chest, staring out at the beach. 

You felt a tickle on the back of your neck a second before you heard the footsteps, and you stayed looking out the window as Bucky carried your bags inside. 

“Wow. This is nice.”

You nodded, not turning away from the window. You heard the soft plops as he put the bags on one of the beds, heard his soft groan as he twisted and his back popped, heard the mattress creak as he sat down. 

Silence filled the space between you, making you feel uncomfortable. You shifted your position, turning your back more fully to him, and Bucky spoke softly. 

“Thank you for coming with me.”

You nodded, your voice just as soft. 

“I needed a change of scenery.” “Talk about a change, New York to Key Largo.”

He chuckled softly and you swallowed. 

“Not to mention, it’ll be good for us to hash everything out before we meet with the lawyers next week.”

You ignored the stuttering of your heart, sneaking a glance over your shoulder to see Bucky’s face pale and drawn. He nodded as he looked down at his hands, staring at the left one for just a moment, clenching his fingers into a fist. You still weren’t used to seeing his left arm “normal,” flesh instead of metal or vibranium, but Shuri had worked overtime to perfect the veil he now wore. 

You lifted your eyes from his hands to meet his, the blue now a stormy gray. He nodded and stood up, walking out the door neither one of you had closed. You closed your eyes, giving a shaky exhale, turning back to the window and blinking back tears. 

You were sitting on the steps of the beach house when Bucky walked up behind you. He sat on the step under yours, handing you a beer. You nodded your thanks, taking a sip as he twisted the top off his own beer, taking a long drink and sighing. 

“It’s pretty here.”

You nodded, looking out over the sand, watching the waves crash into the beach. 

“It’s peaceful.” “Nothing like the city.”

You shook your head, taking another drink from your beer. You swallowed, staring at the bottle in your hands before you spoke. 

“What made you want to come to Key Largo?”

Bucky was quiet, and you lifted your eyes to find him looking at you. He lifted a shoulder, speaking softly. 

“Sentimental reasons.” “Have you ever been here before?”

One side of his lips quirked up in a sad smile. 

“Not in person.”

You raised an eyebrow and he shrugged again. 

“Only seen it in the movies.”

You nodded, going still when recognition hit. The movie you two had watched so long ago, Bogie and Bacall’s last hit together, Key Largo. You’d always said you wanted to visit the Keys, always joked with Bucky about how he was your Bogie, and he’d always answer that you were so much prettier than Lauren Bacall. You swallowed, looking down at your hands, feeling your cheeks burn. Bucky was quiet, staring out at the waves along the shore until he softly spoke again. 

“What happened with us?”

You sighed, lifting your eyes to stare at the waves again, setting the bottle on the step beside you, wiping your hands on your knees. 

“Everything. Nothing. Neither one of us has been the same since we got snapped.” “Is it my fault?”

You closed your eyes. 

“I think we can share the blame.” “But it’s more on me.”

You gave an exasperated sigh, snatching up your beer and drinking from it. 

“Quit being such a martyr.” “A martyr?”

You shook your head, pushing your hands through your hair. 

“People grow apart. Not everything is your fault. Quit trying to take the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Bucky nodded slowly, and you sighed, crossing your arms over your chest as you spoke softly. 

“Maybe this was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.”

Bucky slowly nodded, picking up his beer and draining it. 

“Maybe not.”

He pushed himself up, leaving the empty bottle on the steps as he walked towards the beach. You exhaled sharply, shaking your head and muttering under your breath as you grabbed his bottle and brought it inside with you, stomping all the way to the kitchen. 

Bucky chewed the bite he’d taken, glancing across the table at you. You had a glass of wine in your hand, just holding it as you stared out the window at the waves. Bucky licked his lips, being the one to finally break the silence. 

“So the meeting’s on Tuesday?”

You slowly nodded, setting the glass on the table. 

“One-thirty, at the office downtown.” “What’s it about?”

You shook your head. 

“I don’t know. Getting the ball rolling, I guess.”

Bucky pushed the food around his plate as he spoke, suddenly losing his appetite. 

“So … you’re going to be the one to file? Or am I supposed to do that?” “Whichever. I think we may can do it together.”

Bucky snorted. 

“One last thing we can do together, huh? File for divorce.”

He shook his head, pushing his chair back from the table. You huffed out a breath and he stopped, turning his head to look at you. 

“What?” “You’re constantly doing that.” “What?” “Walking away. Every time we talk and get the slightest bit uncomfortable, you walk away.”

He nodded, laying his hands on the table. 

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it.” “Well, we have to.” “Why?” “Because I can’t keep being the second thing on your mind.”

Bucky’s eyes widened. 

“You’re not the—“ “You’re telling me if Sam or Sharon called right now, you wouldn’t drop everything to go to them?” “That’s different.” “It’s really not.”

The two of you just stared at each other until Bucky set his jaw and nodded. 

“Well, let’s hash it out, then. You want the apartment?” “Where will you go?”

He shrugged. 

“Sam’s got a couch.”

You swallowed, looking back to your wine glass. 

“There’s the … the stuff in the apartment.” “Take it.”

You looked back across the table and Bucky shook his head. 

“You can have it.” “Buck—“ “Sorry to disappoint you yet again, but I can’t do this.”

He turned and left the kitchen, and you jumped when the door to the beach slammed shut. You put your elbows on the table, face in your hands, finally letting the tears flow. 

Your eyes shot open a little after three in the morning, feeling disoriented as you looked around the unfamiliar room. You sat up and rubbed your eyes, glancing over to find the bed beside yours empty. You swallowed and made a face, pushing the covers back and going in search of something to soothe your parched throat. 

You tiptoed down the hall, coming to a hard stop in the kitchen doorway. You could see through to the den, where the glow of the television broke through the darkness. You could hear a rough voice even with the low volume, blinking when you recognized Humphrey Bogart on the screen. The next shot was of Lauren Bacall, and you lifted a hand to your chest. 

You hadn’t watched those old movies in years. You and Bucky used to watch them all the time, because they held an air of familiarity for him, taking him back to a time he missed terribly. 

And now here he was, watching them, trying to find that little slip of comfort that you couldn’t give him anymore. 

You blinked back tears as you walked to the fridge, silently pulling it open and finding a bottle of water. You twisted the top and drank greedily, giving a shaky exhale once you’d swallowed. You decided to carry the bottle back with you to the bedroom, and you closed the refrigerator, going back towards your bed. 

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

You shook your head, speaking as softly as Bucky had. 

“No, I … I was thirsty.” “It won’t bother you if I keep watching, will it?”

You shook your head, voice thick when you spoke again. 

“No, it’s okay.”

The movie stopped, and Bucky turned from his spot on the couch. 

“Are you okay?”

You nodded, staring down at your hands. You did your best to swallow back the tears, speaking softly. 

“What are you watching?” “Oh, this is To Have and Have Not. I already watched The Big Sleep.”

You nodded, feeling a tear slip down your cheek. 

“Babe, are you—“ “You’re watching out of order.”

A soft smile came to his lips. 

“I know. I just love The Big Sleep.”

You nodded, still staring at your hands as he spoke again. 

“You can come sit with me and watch them. I’ll start over.”

You let out a sob, covering your mouth with a hand and shaking your head. Bucky leapt over the back of the couch, moving to stand in front of you, catching the water bottle you dropped. You grabbed hold of his arms, the metal cool under your palm, since he didn’t bother with the veil when it was just the two of you. 

“Easy, honey. Just breathe.”

You shook your head, moving your hands to his chest as he closed the distance between the two of you. You sobbed again, and Bucky closed his eyes, resting his forehead against yours as he spoke softly.

“Do you remember when we watched these movies together? It was right after you moved in, right before I proposed. Remember how fucking cold it was, and how we tried so hard to stay warm? We stayed wrapped up together.”

You slowly shook your head, but of course you remembered. That first cold winter together was the best of your life. 

“Remember that night you dressed up for me? God, you were my very own Lauren Bacall, with your hair and that dress and that lipstick.”

He gave a quiet laugh. 

“You told me I was your hero, and you were my leading lady. Remember that? Just like Bogie and Bacall.”

You moved your hands to the back of his arms, clutching him closer, his hands gently rubbing your back as he held you close, his voice barely a whisper. 

“I know we missed a step somewhere, but god … we can find it again. Please. Please don’t give up on me. I need you.”

You cried as you moved the slightest bit, resting your forehead against his chest. You felt the shaky exhale, heard him swallow before his voice rasped out the words. 

“I love you. Baby, this can't be the end.”

Your hands moved to his cheeks, pulling him down until your lips met his. Bucky pushed you as close as he could, one hand at your hip, the other holding the back of your head. You let your hands slide into his hair, and he lifted you until you wrapped your legs around his waist. 

You stared out the bedroom window, watching the waves gently lap against the shore in the early morning sunlight. You smiled at the snore coming from beside you, laughing to yourself when Bucky grunted and shifted, the arm around your stomach pulling you closer to his warm chest. 

“Buck?” “Shh. I’m sleeping.”

You giggled, rolling onto your side and gently stroking your fingers through his hair. He grunted again, then moaned softly, burrowing closer to you. You sighed when he pressed his lips to your collarbone, speaking low. 

“You know this doesn’t fix anything.” “I know.”

He lifted his head, shifting where the two of you were laying side-by-side. He let his fingers drift through your hair as he spoke. 

“Whatever you need, just tell me. If we need to go to therapy or buy a house away from the city or whatever, I’ll do it.” “This isn’t just about me, Buck.” “It is for me.”

You shook your head and he leaned forward, kissing your lips and your forehead. 

“I know we need to talk and hash everything out, but we can do it without lawyers. Without going forward with this divorce.” “Do you really think we can get it back? What … what we had?”

He nodded. 

“I do. Just like Bogie and Bacall.”

You snorted softly. 

“Starring in our own late show?” “Late, late show. No one in their right mind would watch us anytime before midnight.”

You giggled and snuggled closer to him, and he wrapped his arms around you. You closed your eyes, letting out a long, deep breath. 

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”

You snorted again. 

“Wrong movie.” “It’s Bogie, though. Still counts.” “Well, in that case, ‘Play it again, Sam.’” “You know he never actually—“

Bucky laughed when you cut him off by surging forward and kissing him, holding you close as the two of you sank into the bed. 

*NINE MONTHS LATER*

“Well, would you look at this?”

You smiled from your place in the bed, achy and sore and incredibly happy. Bucky lifted his head to meet your eyes, smiling widely. He shook his head, walking to you, sitting on the edge of your bed. He met your eyes again, shaking his head before he looked back at the sleeping bundle in his arms. 

“I can barely believe this.” “Oh, believe it. I’ve got the stretch marks to prove it.” “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

You raised an eyebrow and Bucky winced. 

“Okay, maybe second most. This little angel definitely takes top billing.”

You laughed, moaning softly at your sore muscles. 

“Don’t make me laugh.” “I’m sorry.”

The baby squirmed and whimpered, and Bucky gently bounced her. 

“Everything’s okay, Lauren. Daddy’s got you.”

You lifted a hand to rest against the pink blanket. 

“I’m just thankful she turned out to be a girl.” “My sweet little Lauren.” “I just couldn’t see us naming a boy Humphrey or Bogart, no matter how much you insisted.”

Bucky smiled, moving the baby to his shoulder. 

“Maybe the next one.”

You gave a laugh. 

“Well, when you can have it, we’ll do ‘the next one.’ I’m tapped out.”

Bucky laughed, leaning over and kissing your lips. You held a hand against his cheek and he spoke softly. 

“I told you we’d get it back.” “All thanks to Key Largo.”

Bucky grinned at you, the two of you looking to your daughter sleeping in his arms. Bucky shook his head, murmuring softly. 

“Just like Bogie and Bacall.”

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Biden’s Infrastructure Push Spurs a Flurry of Lobbying in Congress (NYT) Members of Congress have begun a frenzy of lobbying to ensure that their pet projects and policy priorities are included in President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan, eager to shape what could be one of the most substantial public works investments in a generation. Officials across the country are dusting off lists of construction projects and social programs, hoping to secure their piece of a plan aimed at addressing what the administration estimates is at least $1 trillion worth of backlogged infrastructure improvements, as well as economic and racial inequities that have existed for decades. “My phone is blowing up,” Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, said in an interview. Nearly every lawmaker “can point to a road or a bridge or an airport” in his or her district that is in dire need of repair.

Truck seized over ‘munitions of war,’ 5 forgotten bullets (AP) Gerardo Serrano ticked off the border crossing agents by taking some photos on his phone. So they took his pickup truck and held onto it for more than two years. Only after Serrano filed a federal lawsuit did he get back his Ford F-250. Now he wants the Supreme Court to step in and require a prompt court hearing as a matter of constitutional fairness whenever federal officials take someone’s property under civil forfeiture law. The justices could consider his case when they meet privately on Friday. It’s a corner of the larger forfeiture issue, when federal, state or local officials take someone’s property, without ever having to prove that it has been used for illicit purposes. Since 2000, governments have acquired at least $68.8 billion in forfeited property, according to the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm that represents Serrano and tracks seizures. The group says the number “drastically underestimates forfeiture’s true scope” because not all states provide data. Serrano’s troubles stemmed from some pictures he took along the way of a long trip from his home in Tyner, Kentucky, to visit relatives, including a dying aunt, in Zaragosa, Mexico. The photo-taking attracted the attention of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Eagle Pass, Texas. When Serrano refused to hand over the password to his phone, the agents went through the 2014 silver pickup truck in great detail. They justified its seizure by saying they found “munitions of war” inside—five forgotten bullets, though no gun. Told to park the truck, he said, he complained a bit before one agent reached into the pickup, opened the door, unfastened Serrano’s seat belt and yanked him out of the vehicle. “I got rights, I got constitutional rights and he snaps back at me, ‘You don’t have no rights here. I’m sick and tired of hearing about your rights.’ That took me aback,” Serrano said.

Should the U.S. boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China? (Washington Post) As if there aren’t enough sources of Sino-U.S. friction already, an emerging new irritant may soon outpace the rest: the growing calls for a boycott of Beijing’s 2022 Winter Olympics. The games are still 10 months away. But it’s not too early for the event to turn into a flash point. Critics of China’s ruling Communist Party—including a coalition of more than 180 human rights organizations—argue that the regime’s record of human rights abuses and geopolitical malfeasance ought to deprive it of the right to burnish its image with a spectacle like the Olympics. “Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics in 2015, the same year it cracked down on lawyers and activists across China,” Chinese human rights lawyer Teng Biao wrote earlier this year. “Since then, it has detained journalists; harassed and attacked activists and dissidents even outside China’s borders; shut down nongovernmental organizations; demolished Christian churches, Tibetan temples and Muslim mosques; persecuted, sometimes to death, believers in Falun Gong; and sharply increased its control of media, the Internet, universities and publishers.” An Olympic boycott has become a popular cause among Republicans. Major sporting events—and especially international spectacles like the Olympics—always bear a political dimension.

‘Huge’ explosion rocks St. Vincent as volcano keeps erupting (AP) La Soufriere volcano fired an enormous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the biggest explosive eruption yet since volcanic activity began on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week, with officials worried about the lives of those who have refused to evacuate. Experts called it a “huge explosion” that generated pyroclastic flows down the volcano’s south and southwest flanks. “It’s destroying everything in its path,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press. “Anybody who would have not heeded the evacuation, they need to get out immediately.” The ongoing volcanic activity has threatened water and food supplies, with the government forced to drill for fresh water and distribute it via trucks. “We cannot put tarpaulin over a river,” said Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewer authority, referring to the impossibility of trying to protect current water sources from ongoing falling ash.

Colombia’s cartels target Europe (The Guardian) At 5 am on a chilly Tuesday morning last month, 1,600 police officers and balaclava-wearing special forces, bristling with arms and battering rams, were ordered into action around the Belgian port city of Antwerp. More than 200 addresses were raided in what was the largest police operation ever conducted in the country and potentially one of the most significant moves yet against the increasingly powerful narco-gangs of western Europe. An incredible 27 tonnes of cocaine have been seized on Antwerp’s quays, in container ships and safe houses, with an estimated value of €1.4bn (£1.2bn), and many arrests have been made. It has been hailed as a mighty blow against what Belgian federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw calls “a world where morality has totally disappeared”, but Operation Sky has also highlighted a chilling development. Europe has eclipsed the US as the Colombian cartels’ favoured market, because of higher prices and much lower risks posed by European governments in terms of interdiction, extradition and seizure of assets. Jeremy McDermott, a former British army officer who is now executive director of the thinktank InSight Crime, said a kilogram of cocaine in the US is worth up to $28,000 wholesale but that rises to $40,000 on average in Europe, and nearly $80,000 in some parts of Europe. “It is more money for less risk. I see a deliberate decision by some of the top-level Colombian traffickers, based on sources who sat in a series of meetings in 2005-6, where the business decisions were made,” McDermott said. “It is a business no-brainer.”

Conservative Ex-Banker Headed to Victory in Presidential Election in Ecuador (NYT) Guillermo Lasso, a 66-year-old conservative former banker, was set to win Ecuador’s presidential election and beat out Andrés Arauz, a 36-year-old leftist handpicked by former President Rafael Correa. With more than 94 percent of the votes counted after 10 p.m., Mr. Lasso had 52 percent compared with Mr. Arauz’s 47.32 percent, according to the Electoral Council official counting system in Ecuador. Mr. Arauz conceded defeat. The vote signaled a desire, at least among some, to shift right following years in which Mr. Correa has held sway over the country.

England reopens with pints pulled, shopping sprees and hair cuts (Reuters) People queued up outside retailers across England on Monday to release their pent-up shopping fever and some grabbed a midnight pint or even an early haircut as England’s shops, pubs, gyms and hairdressers reopened after three months of lockdown. After imposing the most onerous restrictions in Britain’s peacetime history, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the reopening was a “major step” towards freedom but urged people to behave responsibly as the coronavirus was still a threat. Getting people spending again is crucial for Britain’s recovery after official data showed that 2020 was the worst year for its economy in more than three centuries with a 9.8% decline in gross domestic product.

Tropical Cyclone Seroja flattens Australian town (Washington Post) A tropical cyclone battered Australia’s west coast Sunday night and into Monday, destroying homes and leaving thousands without electricity. Severe wind gusts of up to 105 miles per hour tore houses apart and sent debris flying all over Kalbarri, a coastal tourist town of 1,350 people in Western Australia. Authorities estimated some 70 percent of the town’s buildings were damaged. Drone footage from the scene showed dozens of homes with their roofs ripped off. Power lines were down and roads were littered with shards of metal and other debris. Cyclone Seroja made landfall as a category three storm at about 8 p.m. local time on Sunday between the towns of Kalbarri and Gregory. Cyclones of such intensity rarely travel this far south in Australia, and towns outside the cyclone belt are not usually built to withstand the devastating conditions.

Muslims navigate restrictions in the second pandemic Ramadan (AP) For Ramadan this year, Magdy Hafez has been longing to reclaim a cherished ritual: performing the nighttime group prayers called taraweeh at the mosque once again. Last year, the coronavirus upended the 68-year-old Egyptian’s routine of going to the mosque to perform those prayers, traditional during Islam’s holiest month. The pandemic had disrupted Islamic worship the world over, including in Egypt where mosques were closed to worshippers last Ramadan. Ramadan, which begins this week, comes as much of the world has been hit by an intense new coronavirus wave. For many Muslims navigating restrictions, that means hopes of a better Ramadan than last year have been dashed with the surge in infection rates though regulations vary in different countries. A time for fasting, worship and charity, Ramadan is also when people typically congregate for prayers, gather around festive meals to break their daylong fast, throng cafes and exchange visits. Once again, some countries are imposing new restrictions.

Iran blames Israel for sabotage at Natanz nuclear site (AP) Iran on Monday blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium there, warning that it would take revenge for the assault. The comments by Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh represent the first official accusation leveled against Israel for the incident Sunday that cut power across the facility. Israel has not directly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion fell immediately on it as Israeli media widely reported that a devastating cyberattack orchestrated by Israel caused the blackout. If Israel was responsible, it would further heighten tensions between the two nations, already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Sunday with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has vowed to do everything in his power to stop the nuclear deal. According to US intelligence officials, it could take more than nine months to resume enrichment in the nuclear facility.

Abductions and Torture Rattle Uganda (NYT) Armed men in white minivans without license plates picked up people off the streets or from their homes. Those snatched were taken to prisons, police stations and military barracks where they say they were hooded, drugged and beaten—some left to stand in cellars filled with water up to their chests. The fear is still so palpable in the capital, Kampala, that many others have gone into hiding or left the country. Three months after Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, won a sixth five-year term in office in the most fiercely contested election in years, his government appears to be intent on breaking the back of the political opposition. His principal challenger, Bobi Wine, a magnetic musician-turned-lawmaker who galvanized youthful crowds of supporters, is now largely confined to his house in Kampala. Mr. Wine’s party said on Friday that 623 members, supporters and elected officials have been seized from the streets and arrested in recent weeks, many of them tortured.

Prince Philip’s mourners in the South Pacific (Foreign Policy) The death of Prince Philip, the husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, triggered mourning rituals across the country over the weekend. The mourning is not only reserved for the United Kingdom—on one of Vanuatu’s islands, Tanna, hundreds of members of a local tribe have long venerated Prince Philip as akin to a god, and are preparing to mourn his passing. Although it’s unclear how the Prince Philip Movement began, it is believed to have taken root in the 1970s—given life by the royal couple’s visit in 1974. Key to the movement is the belief that Prince Philip is one with the tribe, and fulfilled a prophecy of a tribesman who had found a powerful wife overseas and “would return some day, either in person or in spiritual form,” Kirk Huffman, an anthropologist, told the BBC.

[cristobalrios]

//Threads queued!

EDIT: Everything got shifted up one because I am a mess and know nothing about queuing. Also, this is based on Pacific Daylight Time because I’m from California, so if it is posted on a different day to you than what it says on here, it’s probably because it was that day to me. Since I know I have people from all over the world, which is really cool but time zones are a pain

Plain = Queued Italics = Posted Crossed Out = My Turn/Drafted

Tuesday

Night Shift - Emil & Enoch - @ncthingstars

Intimacy - Rios/Ellie - @bakcr

Shoot to Kill - Rios & Steve - @captainstevertrevor*

Sleepless Nights - Rios/Agnes - @agnespjurati

Wednesday

Stubborn Patient - Emil & Rios - @slightlybrcken*

Injured - Rios & Lore - @soongtypefrankenstein*

Scars (Agnes) - Rios/Agnes - @agnespjurati

Thursday

Two Holograms, Both Alike in Dignity - Steward & Rimmer - @ncthingstars

Conspiracies Unraveled - Rios & Zack - @ncthingstars

Hole in the Head - Rios & Lore - @soongtypefrankenstein

Friday

New Cargo - Rios/Ellie - @bakcr

Engineering and Cybernetics - Ian & Agnes - @agnespjurati

Ghost - Rios & Lore - @soongtypefrankenstein

Saturday

Reckless Organics - Emil & Sylar - @plaktow-ed

Stranded - Rios/Agnes - @agnespjurati

Section 31 - Steward & Maverick - @stcrryknights*

Sunday

Bienvenido a la Familia - Rios & Hugh - @ncthingstars

Threads I’m responding to directly instead of queuing

The Incident (Sylar) - Rios/Sylar - @plaktow-ed

Insomnia and Philosophy - Rios/Sylar - @plaktow-ed

Through a Glass Darkly - Mirror!Rios/Mirror!Sylar - @plaktow-ed

Plotting In Progress

Rios & Reg - @ltbroccoli

Rios & T’Lura - @empathyvslogic

Holo Squad & Rios? - @empathyvslogic

Rios & Cheryl - @cheryl1967

Rios & Elle - @fontcroire

Interest Checker

Rios - @cosmoshearted, @ltbroccoli, @plaktow-ed, @empathyvslogic, @fromgallowsandgraves

Emil - @cosmoshearted​, @ltbroccoli​, @plaktow-ed​, @empathyvslogic​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Steward - @cosmoshearted​, @ltbroccoli​, @plaktow-ed​, @empathyvslogic​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Emmet - @cosmoshearted​, @ltbroccoli​, @plaktow-ed​, @empathyvslogic​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Ian - @cosmoshearted​, @ltbroccoli​, @empathyvslogic​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Enoch - @cosmoshearted​, @empathyvslogic​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Mirror!Rios - @cosmoshearted​, @ltbroccoli​, @plaktow-ed, @fromgallowsandgraves

Mirror!Holo Squad - @cosmoshearted​, @plaktow-ed​, @fromgallowsandgraves

Drafted:

Sleepless Nights - Rios/Agnes - @agnespjurati

Stubborn Patient - Emil & Rios - @slightlybrcken

Scars (Agnes) - Rios/Agnes - @agnespjurati

* = I haven’t talked to you in a while and if you want to drop this thread I totally get it. Tell me if you want to drop them and I’ll delete them from the queue. If you don’t, I’ll let them post and you can respond or not. Sorry for taking so long to reply to things and thank you for your patience!

If I have missed any replies that I owe you, please send me the link if you can! If not, just remind me and I will try to find it! Also, if we’ve been plotting and I forgot to tag you, sorry!! Please tell me!

I will be working on Elnor ( @boundswordasqalankhkai ) soon!

Thank you anyone for you patience! If you want to revive old threads, plot something, write me a starter, send me a meme, feel free to do so and talk to me, if you want! I love you all so much(:

[abyssmal-writings]

The Thing Near the Tracks

I work a part time job for the city of Houston as a porter. My work schedule starts in the evening and ends in the early hours of the morning. I'm picked up by my boss and crew from home. In the truck it's usually four of us going out to work, sometimes three if someone calls out or quits. We drive through out Houston and clean up centers owned by the individual or company that has hired us for our services. The job consists of picking up litter, sweeping stair cases, and using a leaf blower to blow, well, leaves and pine needles into piles to pick up. The job's pay is shit and the work is unbearably boring. But what can you do when you have no vehicle to help you have that better paying job? I'm not here to complain about my situation though. You see, last week something very strange happened. I'm still coming to grips with the whole thing. It feels like, a really bad dream except there's no waking up from it. No matter how badly I want to I can not deny what I saw. I'm hoping that doing this, posting what I've experienced will help me cope with the insanity that is slowly taking over my mind. Alright, here goes nothing.

It was a Tuesday night, and we arrived at our third center in Greenspoint area off 45. I believe the company was Tellepsen, or perhaps it was near their facility. Without getting into the boring details, we did our job. Picked the place clean of litter and checked the parameter for anything else to toss away or clean. On the opposite side of the building there was an abandon train track. All that was left of the tracks were the rails, it's tiles removed or some cracked from age. One thing I forgot to mention, I'm the only male on my crew, so for anyone who is aware of greenspoint area and what it is like, you'd understand when I say that I was usually the one to go off into the darker areas to clean or check to make sure we didn't miss anything. So I was the one to cross those tracks to the back of the building to go clean and make sure nothing else was amiss. Now, I'm not exactly a brave individual but I do this to help speed up the process for us to quickly leave the center so we can move on to the next one and hopefully end the nights shift early. I don't let the area I work in bother me at all and I tend to be ignorant of the danger I put myself in by being alone while I work. Stupid, I know. As I was strolling down the tracks pointing my flash light this way and that way to be sure all was done, I noticed what seemed to be a fresh puddle next to a big container. Seeing this both confused me and intrigued my curiosity because it did not rain the previous day or the day before either. I looked behind me and saw my co-workers at a distance finishing up their little area of the center, just to be sure I was in their sight in case anything happened. I approached the puddle and turned off my flash light as I got closer since there was a source of light on a building adjacent to the container. As I got closer I saw that it was no puddle of water but what looked like a fresh spill of black paint or tar in a perfect circle. I don't know why I was drawn to it, but as I looked closer the black spill shimmered in the light that was available. I pulled out my pocket knife and used it like a shovel to scoop up some of it up. Surprisingly, the black substance didn't slowly drip or slide off the blade. Its touch as well felt sort of gooey, it reminded me of blood when it clots up from an open cut. I heard the work trucks engine come to life in the distance, queuing me that we're heading out to our next center. As I'm getting up I immidiately smell something so fucking putrid it made me gag. I have a weak stomach to bad smells, so it took me a moment to regain my composure.

"H-help me. It hurts.. It huurts." Said a voice behind me. I quickly turned and saw an aged man dressed in ragged clothes. His face was twisted in a state of agonizing pain, the same black substance that was on the ground was stained below his lips and on his chin. He was gripping at his stomach and using his other hand that was covered with blood and more of that black shit to reach out to me.

"Help, help me! I'm in so much pain. My insides, they're t-tearing apart!", the man cried out.

Now at this point, I was frozen in place. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was chilled to the bone by the man before me. So many red flags were popping up in my vision. A voice in my head shouted "Run you idiot!" But instead I stood there dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. My boss pulled up behind me in the truck, its headlights putting us in a spotlight. I noticed the man's eyes were bloodshot red and tears were streaming down his face.

"Martha!" I called out to my boss. "Call 911, get a paramedic!" I meant to say this with courage in my tone, but it came out more hesitant and cracked like a young school child. I was frightened. Something didn't feel right and there were plenty of signs showing that none of what was happening was in anyway normal.

"Holy shit.. Quick, Jessica is on the other side of the building. Go and get her now as I help this man." Martha said. Martha's an older woman, but she doesn't let that stop her from defending herself from anything or anyone and is capable to flee if need be. I trusted she'd be alright, so I ran off to go and get my co-worker. I didn't have to go far. As soon as I crossed the tracks she was already coming around the corner of the building to us.

"Woah hey, what's the rush? Is everything okay?" She asked me. I just shook my head and motioned for her to come to the truck. When I turned back around I saw that the man and Martha were no longer in sight. Before I could even think of anything else, I heard her let out a blood curdling scream that made my heart stop. Jessica and I ran in the direction of the scream that was just on the other side of the truck. We went around the front end of it and saw Martha and the man. Martha was on the ground, hands keeping herself up and widespread panic on her face. The man was between her and us, his back facing me. He was groaning in pain, but.. His voice.. The sound of it seemed as if there were two voices in one. I can't explain it, but it wasn't his normal voice. He must have sensed our presence behind him, cause he began to slowly turn around and face us.

Fuck man.. His stomach was torn open and these.. These appendages were wriggling out of him. Instead of blood it was the same black shit I saw on the ground earlier that oozed out of his stomach. I saw his face.. My god his face. Twisted in pain, terror, confusion. As if to say with his expression "Why is this happening?" He let out one last groan. And I say this not because he then died, but more appendages came out of his mouth. Opening it beyond human possibility. All the while, the man moaned and groaned, still alive through it all. His eyes now widened to the monstrosity he has become.

"Get away from it! Run!" Martha screamed. The man, the.. The thing turned to her and slowly began to make its way towards her. His movements like that of someone carrying something heavy or.. In excruciating pain. One foot lifting, the other dragging behind with each step. Jessica took this moment and ran to the truck, jumping into the driver seat and putting it in reverse. She backed it up close enough for Martha to get up and jump in the passenger seat. She then cut the wheel to the left and reversed, turning the truck around towards me. All the while my gaze was upon the thing that just a few minutes ago was a poor homeless man. During the daring escape and saving our necks, the thing turned its attention to me and just looked at me. I could hear it breathing, no, wheezing. Though I'm not certain how given that the appendages were wriggling out of it's mouth. Before anything else could happen Jessica backed the truck up between us and without hesitation I jumped into the bed of it and she hauled ass put of the center. I looked back as we drove away and saw the thing look at us as we escaped. An ungodly scream came from it. Sound of both monster and what once was a man. I kept looking at it as we drove further away until we turned a corner and the thing was no longer in site. I still didn't feel safe. My heart was racing, eyes wide in fear. At that moment and even now I could not believe what just took place. That eerie scream still haunts me. We never went back to that center. Martha checks it off on our list as if we did it each time a day comes for our scheduled route towards greenspoint. I haven't gone back to work in three days. I still feel its presence, as if it knows where I am. Martha called me yesterday to check on me. I could tell she was still shocked by the event. She told me she's taking a vacation. Her and her husband are going out of town. I hope that helps her. I wish I could do the same, escape from my home and never look back. You see, the thing is that yesterday I walked the dog in my apartment complex. As we passed up a dumpster he began to whimper and growl at something on the other side of it. As I said, I'm not brave, but I do the things I do cause they must be done. That, and curiosity always gets the better of me. I went to the other side of the dumpster to see what bothered my dog. My heart sank as I saw it and dread filled my mind. On the concrete next to the dumpster, was a puddle of that black substance. Now.. Now I don't feel safe at my own home.

[creativeashproductions]

Status // Ethan Dolan

Summary: Maybe keeping such a huge thing from the fans what’s the best decision and the repercussions are the worst. Especially when it’s not the girl the fans shipped with Ethan for years, the one it seemed everyone was okay with him being with.

Characters: Ethan Dolan x Reader, Grayson Dolan, James Charles, and Emma Chamberlain

Words: 2.1k

Disclaimer: I honestly don’t care if Emma and Ethan are together in real life nor do I care if Grayson and James are together either. As long as the boys are in a healthy relationship, we shouldn’t care who they are with. Shipping is all fun and games but not when you start labelling people with genders and orientations without consent (I called them boys because they’ve stated they are boys, men, guys and dudes many times in the years I’ve been here).

Do not post our work on other sites without our explicit consent.

Warnings: Swearing, angst, and lots of fluff

A/N: I’m sorry it’s been so long since we’ve posted. I’m struggling and recently actually made the decision to seriously consider taking an official hiatus but would appreciate some feedback.

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One of the things you knew about the fandom was that they were both protective and very well versed in being dating detectives. With the knowledge, you had managed to keep your relationship with Ethan extremely quiet to the point that you had managed to even quietly get engaged after three years of dating. It helped a lot you had James, Emma and Grayson to help combat any rumours and keep the fandom in the belief you were only friends.

However, now that you had recently gotten married back in early September you both had begun the discussion of introducing the relationship to the fandom. It would be necessary when you finally would go on your postponed honeymoon, planning the wedding had taken up a lot of time from the creative abilities for the guys. There was literally no time in the world to go on a honeymoon so soon after marrying.

“Hey, guys!” You caught the tail-end of the intro, one you knew would be fought in as usual, as you walked by the studio. The next few sentences of the boys fighting over how the intro should go.

Instead of silently watching them you continued on doing the chores you had finally decided to tackle. The laundry had piled up from Ethan and you whereas Gray had left a few shirts in the dryer this morning. You took the next few hours to wash the laundry and make a list of groceries you needed. The fridge was started to become empty once again.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Ethan spoke stepping up behind you to kiss the top of your head, “How are you?”



“Tired.” You chuckled, “Jenna’s has this massive portfolio we’re doing for a new client.”

“That’s why you’re doing Gray’s chores?”

“Yeah.” You mumbled leaning back against his chest, “I can’t wait until things die down to finally go to Europe.”

“Me too.” Ethan sighed wrapping his arms around your waist tighter, “We also need to figure out a way to tell the fans about us. I’m honestly shocked they hadn’t truly discovered us.”

“The pros of dating a YouTuber with connections.” You teased pushing his back, “I’m going to head to the store for things for supper.”

“Want me to come?”



“Maybe later.” You breathed with a quick, probably awkward looking, wink leaving Ethan in a daze. Everything you did took his breath away, and the slightest hint of desire made him squirm in anticipation.

Leaving the house, you trailed over to the older model car you drove since you had bought it with your own money years ago. The drive to the store was smooth sailing with a few young adults pointing over in excitement, they often thought you had the boys with you regularly.

You were only halfway through the list when your phone quickly sent out a full tune of Ethan’s ringtone. You were tempted to ignore it to finish getting everything, but when another two followed consequently, you had a feeling it was important.

From: Ethan    Babe, can you come home? From: Ethan    It’s kinda an emergency, and I don’t want you alone right now.

From: Ethan    Sweetheart, you’re gonna get mobbed if you don’t leave now.

You sighed quickly before quickly making your way to the cash register to pay, the straightforward tone of the messages had worried you. You barely even put the shopping cart away before you were driving off, unaware of the group that had started making their way to the store.

By the time you had gotten home the top trend on twitter was about you and Ethan. The boys were in the living room with panic curdling in the air.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” You demanded as your arms crossed over each other.

“We put the Tuesday video up,” Grayson spoke training his eyes on Ethan’s form. Ethan was sitting on the couch head hanging down with his arms on his knees remarkably silent.

“Okay?”

“Ethan forgot-“

“Watch the video Y/N.” Ethan interrupted his brother but keeping his gaze on the ground. His worst nightmare had started, the one that irritated him since Gray and he first started getting noticed. The fear of his significant other being cast into the media with fans bloodthirsty for attention and jealousy.

The video was already queued up on Ethan’s laptop, so you settled next to him to watch the beginning. At first, you didn’t understand, but with the twitter on half of the screen, you understood. Barely visible was Ethan’s wedding band. Maybe visible for a millisecond but it was enough for the fans to see. Countless tweets to the boys, even James and Emma, included vulgar words, and just plain rude tweets and confused ones as well.

“This wouldn’t have happened if he had agreed to remove the ring,” Grayson spoke shifting off of Ethan’s kick.

“I took a vow.” Ethan retorted fast standing up, “I really didn’t want everyone to find out this way.”

“I’m well aware of that Ethan.” You sighed. You knew that the top rumour would be about Emma and Ethan, the fans shipped them so hard since you had time and time again spoke out against dating Ethan.

That was, of course, a few months before you finally got together with Ethan but the fans still thought he had been with Emma. The two had never dated other than meaningless flirting before Ethan found out he had feelings for you. Maybe they would have dated if it kept going, but you were always there in the back of his mind.

“You guys would make a video.” Grayson suggested, “Post it today as raw footage.”

“Or you could ride the increase of interest in you by teasing pictures and videos of us before next Tuesday.” You suggested.

“I don’t want to use you to get more attention.”

“You aren’t using me. I offered E. It doesn’t bother me, all that matters is that we know we love each other. This marriage is between you and me, their comments don’t matter.”

*New Snapchat Story*

“Hey guys, I want you to know that who I married is someone that I’ve loved for years. We decided back when we went on our first date to keep it quiet. It wasn’t because I’m ashamed of the relationship at all-“

“Snapchat isn’t the best place to address this so prepare for a lot of posts. I got married a few months ago, we’ve been planning on how to go public with this. We’ll post a video next week addressing this more, but please be happy for us.”

You watched Ethan’s new snapchat interested in if anyone would guess it was you having Ethan’s ring. He collapsed next to you leaning his head against your shoulder in relief.

“I hope they don’t freak out.”

“I find it amusing that people still think you and Emma are together. Or how little people suspect it’s actually you and I.” You chuckled, “I’ll admit it does bother me that people still ship you but I can’t really be mad when we haven’t given them anything.”

“I can’t wait to show my hands in public again.” Ethan chuckled to himself, “Or wearing long-sleeved shirts in videos.”

“It’s a lot of videos nobody caught the ring.” You shoved your legs over his own to curl closer to him.

“I love you.” Ethan happily spoke kissing the side of your head.

The fandom was going completely insane over the upcoming sit-down video, a video that would be serious instead of the typical energy. You were nervous to watch the comments, but you had to know if people approved or not. Screw your words of their opinions not mattering.

“And it’s up,” Grayson spoke sitting down to play the video for you. Ethan had nestled into your side.

In the video….

Grayson set the camera to be centred on the little bench you were sitting on in New Jersey. You had all flown back for a few weeks to keep the fandom from ambushing you. That meant you had decided to film on a remote location at Sean and Lisa’s home.

“Hey, guys.” Grayson started off with a wave to the camera, “A lot has happened in the last week, and it’s about time we address it.”

“You all know by now that I wear a wedding ring, I’ve been wearing it since early September when I got married to the love of my life. It’s not Emma before the comments blow up. I met my wife when I was a kid in New Jersey on a complete whim, and we were friends for years before I realised I loved her. We lost touch when Gray and I moved to LA, but we reconnected a few years back. Emma and I never dated, we’ve never liked each other in the way that many of you had wanted.”

“She helped them get together actually.”

“Emma, James and Gray have been huge parts in keeping my relationship quiet, and I’m forever grateful for my best friends. I want you all to know that I haven’t changed. I won’t be shoving my relationship in your face, but I hope you can respect my family and my decision to keep my life private.”

“It means a lot you care for us so much, but we can’t stress it enough that you be kind to others. We don’t tolerate bullying.” Grayson spoke up, “You’ll love her. She’s absolutely perfect for Ethan, and I know our family thinks so as well.”

“So instead of being basic and just inviting her into the video, we thought it would be better to show you some of the adventures we’ve gone on together over the years. Here’s the montage.” Ethan winked.

The video slipped into a full black screen before pictures, and short clips appeared for five minutes only to trickle off leaving the boys sitting on the couch. You were nestled on the couch on your knees to hide your face from the video.

“This is my wife,” Ethan announced as you transitioned to sitting on the couch like them.

“People have been going insane over you guys.” James announced dropping his bag on the couch in the twins living room, “You’re trending on Twitter.”

You were snuggled against Ethan watching some generic Hallmark Christmas movie when James barged into the home. You barely sent him a questioning glance before returning against your husband’s side.

“That’s nice James.” You shrugged, “I did see the hashtag against us though.”

“It’s a shock to the fans Babe.” Ethan murmured against the side of your neck. His fringe tickled your bare neck as you settled on continuing the movie.

“They’ll get over it Y/N. Emma’s been doing damage control for hours now, I could barely drag her from her computer.” James rolled his eyes as Emma dragged her feet into the room wearing an oversized shirt and jean shorts with some rips in them.

“Emma.” You breathed shocked as the tired girl came into the room.

“I’ve been posting a lot on how Ethan and I were never together or interested in each other,” Emma spoke shifting her eyes around the room.

“It’s not your job Em. I should have gotten over my fear and told the fans.” Ethan admitted.

“How do we fix this?”

“I’d offer to fake date you for the fans, but that may cause something worse.” Grayson offered from a comfy chair in the corner with his laptop open. He had decided to watch something that interested him instead of the romantic film among you both chose.

“That would be even more terrible.” You inserted, “You’d literally start a twitter war over a love triangle.”

“What?” Emma questioned frowning in your direction. The bags under eyes catching your attention more than the ‘problem’ at hand,

“A large part of the fandom ships James and Grayson together. The prenup tweet you did Gray.” You countered turning your attention to your brother-in-law, “Just don’t speak out about it. You’ve announced our marriage and showed pictures of us. It will blow over.”

“But-“ 
“Guys there are more important things to address in the fandom then our relationship statuses.” You finished, “I honestly don’t care. We’re all healthy, happy and safe. That’s all that matters. Now can we finish this movie or not?”

This is Ethan’s Wedding Ring (Original Ring Source)

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[cheeseeatingtrashmonster]

Who Said That Every Wish Chapter 1: Before

After Felix finds out his father has been researching the Heroes of Paris, he digs a little further. He didn't expect everything to change. Curiosity didn't kill the cat, but what will it do to the turtle?

For some background, click the “keep reading” and scroll to the bottom of the post, under the dividing line.

Read on Ao3

Next >

“Who said that every wish

Would be heard and answered

When wished on the morning star?”

- “Rainbow Connection”

/*****/

“I want to quit. I don’t want to be a soldier anymore.”

Carapace looked stunned for a moment, then angry. "The city needs you. The team needs you. You can't just leave."

"I can't keep doing this anymore," Chat Noir said, shoulders hunching forward, a contrast to his usual confident, exaggerated posture. "The battles keep getting worse, the choices we make are too hard."

"That just means you're needed even more."

Chat shook his head. "It means I shouldn't be the one making the decisions."

"That's so selfish, dude," Carapace said, crossing his arms. Chat flinched as if the words stung. "I can't believe you. So what, you just quit?"

"Yeah." Chat Noir's voice was getting quieter with every word until Carapace was forced to lip read. "You guys'll be better off without me."

/*****/

The Previous Tuesday

"Nice of you to show up," Chat Noir said, dodging a cantaloupe.

"Nice to see you too, Kitty," Ladybug said. "It would be nicer if I had gotten to eat lunch before rushing out here, but looks like fruit salad might be an option."

"If you eat melons thrown by an akuma supervillain and then restore everything with Miraculous Cure, will the digesting melons disappear from your stomach?" Chat asked. He looked around them and spotted something. He made eye contact with Ladybug and grinned. She rolled her eyes as he parkour-ed up into a tree.

"’Sneaky cat in a tree’ is not a real move, Chat. And I… don't know about the melons. And now I don't want to find out." She swung herself onto the roof of a nearby house.

"Punny Chat would have eaten the melons without thinking about it. Would you have preferred that to me pointing it out?" Chat Noir said. He peeked out of the branches at the melon-throwing enemy. "I think the akuma's in his apron, but I haven’t gotten close enough to be sure."

"Don't be grumpy, Grumpy Chat," Ladybug said, yoyo spinning like a shield. "You didn't stop being my favorite just because I'm dating your twin."

"I miss the old days, back when you weren't dating my brother and the world didn't know there are two Chat Noirs."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "I take full responsibility for the dating part, but you're the one that decided that one Chat dating meant telling the world there’s two of you." She took a run at the akuma before retreating in a shower of melons. They tried a combined attack, Chat shielding Ladybug, but they still couldn't get close enough.

Chat flipped open his baton with a growl, looking at the map of Paris. "Where is-"

"Sorry, sorry!" Carapace flipped off his flying hoverboard shell and landed next to his partners. "I couldn't get away, and then-"

"I don't care," Chat said. "Use your shield, get us close enough to take this guy's apron."

"S-sorry." Carapace tried to will himself not to blush. "Hey, Grumpy."

"You don't know if I'm Grumpy Chat. I could be Punny Chat." He didn't spare Carapace a glance as he deflected more melons.

“You know I can tell you two apart, right?”

"Can we get on with the fight?" Ladybug asked, gesturing towards the akumatized man cackling and yelling about declining melon sales. "Some of us have stuff to do."

"Right." Carapace called up his power, surrounding the three of them in a shield. They ran as one towards the the akuma victim, who had the intelligence to run from them. He didn't get far. As they reached him, Carapace dropped his shield, Chat knocked the man's feet out from under him, and Ladybug yanked the apron from his chest.

"Bye bye little butterfly!" she called. They didn't even wait for the cleansed butterfly to flap off into the sky before fist bumping.

"I'm late for class," Chat Noir said. He bowed to Ladybug. "Always a pleasure, Buggy." He straightened up and nodded at Carapace. "I didn’t mean ‘I don’t care.’ That was a poor choice of words, and I’m sorry. It sounded like you were about to reveal a bit too much of your identity, and I wanted to keep you safe. Be more carefully, Shelly. We need you out there. Good work today." He turned and planted his baton, shooting himself into the air before leaning forward to land on a roof. He ran from there, disappearing into the skyline.

"Was that a good thing? A bad thing? Does he like me?" Carapace asked, staring in the direction Chat had gone.

"He's… That's just how he is. It doesn't mean anything when he acts like that," Ladybug said, using her yoyo as an actual yoyo.

"So… he nothings me?"

Ladybug winced at how far Carapace's face fell. "No! He likes having you on the team! You two work together really well."

"But I still don't have a shot with him, right?"

Ladybug clapped him on the shoulder. "Who knows? I never expected to fall for his brother."

Carapace nodded. "I guess. How's that go-" His miraculous beeped, cutting him off.

"I'll tell you later. Head to class," Ladybug said. "I'll get this guy back to his fruit stand."

Carapace hopped on his shell and flew towards school. He needed to grab lunch before returning to school. Thankfully there was a place down the block he liked. He wondered idly about the fact that Chat had been heading in this direction, but dismissed the idea that they went to school together pretty quickly. He could spot the object of his affections without a mask, right?

/*****/

Felix walked into class like he owned the concept of mathematics. The teacher rolled his eyes but didn't comment. Felix sank into the last row with Nathaniel with a sense of relief he didn't dare show.

"I can't believe you made me take this class," Felix growled, pulling his notebook from his bag.

"More math won't hurt you," Nathaniel said. "I saved you something to eat." He placed a paper bag on Felix's desk. "Now take notes so I can finish this commission."

Felix took notes on autopilot, letting his mind wander to the book in his bag. With Carapace's help, battles were on average shorter in the past year. That meant more reading time for Felix. And more ballet time. And daydreaming time. Daydreaming time was starting to bleed into note taking time when Nath leaned over.

"I notice someone's not in class. So where is he?"

Felix hadn't realized his eyes were roaming around the classroom until Nathaniel spoke.

"Who?"

"Don't play that game with me," Nath whispered back. He hunched down towards his sketchbook a little further, hair brushing the desk. "I don't ask 'who' when you make comments about my crush."

"You really should, with taste that bad," Felix said. The conversation paused while Felix raised his hand to answer the question on the board.

"Chloe's your friend," Nath hissed, almost laying his torso flat against the desk.

Felix choked on his response. Nath glanced up to see what had caused the reaction and started chuckling.

"Shut up, Tomato Boy."

Nino apologized for being late and slid into his seat between Alya and Adrien.

"I do have to say," Nath said, ignoring the nickname/insult, "no one else in class has had a crush as long as you have. Marinette moved on from Adrien, Kim got over Chloe, even Mylene and Ivan broke up for a few months a few years ago. Maybe your dedication would mean something to him. I still say you should try to-"

"Nath, I will follow through on my threat to tell Chloe about your drawings of her as all the miraculous heroes."

Nathaniel quieted down for the rest of class, but Felix knew it was only a matter of time. The longer Nathaniel had known about Felix's crush, the more Nathaniel pushed Felix to do something about it.

In the hall after class, Felix pulled Nathaniel aside.

"I know you mean well, but please just let me be with the whole…" Felix hated that he felt his face heating, "Nino thing."

Nathaniel nodded. "Okay. I think you have a shot, but okay."

Felix shook his head. "He's liked someone for a while now, according to Adrien. Just let it go."

Adrien and Nino watched Felix and Nathaniel from across the hall.

"What's up with them?" Nino asked, flipping through his phone for the perfect playlist for study hall.

"Felix won't admit to anything," Adrien said, leaning close, "but I think… maybe they're… dating?"

Nino snorted. "I doubt that." He lifted one headphone to his ear, confirming that he had the song he wanted queued up.

"Why do you say that?" Adrien asked.

Nino froze, eyes darting to Felix and back to Adrien. "Uh, no… no reason. Let's get to the library."

Adrien started in on another monologue about the wonder that was Ladybug, and Nino let himself release a small sigh of relief. Felix liked him. He had known for a couple years, and still wasn't sure what to do about it. Nino opened his texts and scrolled to "In Case of Emergency.”

Nino: this is your daily reminder that felix, for reasons unknown, is crushing on me. and i still think you should tell me wtf to do about that

In Case of Emergency: I still cannot make that decision for you. He's a good person, if prickly. Treat him well. Do whatever you know to be right.

Nino: dude you are no help

"Who are you texting?" Adrien asked. They claimed a table and pulled out their textbooks.

"A friend." He put his phone in his pocket. "Did you understand that lesson this morning?"

/*****/

Felix knocked on his father's office door that afternoon. He knew Nathalie was at her weekly book club or Krav Maga class, whichever was on Tuesdays, but he was surprised his father didn't answer, if only to tell him to go away.

"Father?" Felix opened the heavy door and stepped inside. No one was there. He walked around to see that the design program was still up and running on his father's computer. He should be back soon then, wherever he was. Felix checked the table next to his father's standing desk for his permission slip for his ballet lessons. He sifted through designs he didn't care about, budget reports he really didn't care about, but stopped when he got to a handful of blurry, dark photographs. Out of curiosity, he picked up a few and flipped through them. They were of an animal in a dark alley, a person standing on a roof, a- wait. Wait a minute. That was-

"Felix? What are you doing?"

Felix froze. He could all but feel the cat ears he currently didn't have perking to attention. He forced himself to turn slowly to face his father, holding up the pictures for him to see.

"I was looking for my permission slip. What are these?"

"I believe those are Chat Noir," Gabriel said, taking the pictures from Felix. "It looks like him, doesn't it?"

"Sort of," Felix said, squinting at the picture that had triggered his realization. "Smaller though, maybe?"

"Younger," Gabriel said. He replaced the pictures and pulled Felix's permission slip from the mess of paper. "Did you know, some people think they saw Chat Noir up to a year before Stoneheart?"

More than a year, Felix thought. I started about five months before Mom went missing. "Interesting. I always assumed he and Ladybug were a pair. I certainly hadn't heard of either of them before Stoneheart."

"Yes, that seems to be the consensus," Gabriel said. He started rearranging things on his computer screen as he talked. "But if Chat Noir was here first… that does narrow down who he could be." He shook his head. "Both of them, I mean. That was quite the press conference last month. Two individuals splitting the burden of Chat Noir's mantle? I certainly never guessed."

Felix hummed in response, looking over the permission slip as if there was anything to look at other than the signature at the bottom.

"If you're going upstairs, please tell Adrien that his departure time tomorrow is earlier than we originally thought. Nathalie has the details."

It wasn't until Felix was doing homework that night that it occurred to him that normal people generally had no reason to research Chat Noir so thoroughly. There were identity theorists, sure, but that sounded nothing like Gabriel Agreste. What was his father up to?

/*****/

Carapace paced the ridge of the roof, muttering to himself. "Hey, Chat! No, that sounds too generic. Hello, Chat Noir. Too formal. Sup, Cat Man?"

"Would you like me to circle the block, let you decide on which greeting to use?"

Carapace jumped and almost fell off the roof, scrambling for a foothold.

"Dude! Don't sneak up on me like that! We should make you wear a-"

"A bell?" Chat reached under his chin to ding the accessory. "Did you know that when house cats wear bells on their collars, they become even more deadly as hunters because they're forced to learn to work around it?"

"Uh, that's kinda- I mean, you're totally a deadly hunter already! Uh, wait, no, not deadly. And you don't hunt. You do the opposite, and keep everyone safe! So, really, you're a terrible hunter."

Chat laughed. "Relax, Shelly." He stretched for a moment, eyes closed and arms extended over his head. It did nothing for Carapace’s composure. “Let’s go.”

They started running their patrol route. Carapace ran instead of flying. It was a different feeling, and an enjoyable one, but that's not why he did it.

"So, how was your… book? You like books. You told me that. I don't know what book I'm talking about because you won't tell me that, but-"

"Would you seriously chill?" Chat Noir leapt from one building to the next and did a shoulder roll. "It's a Tuesday night. Not a high-crime night for this side of town, so let's just enjoy the run."

Carapace would never admit it, but he was glad for the excuse to not talk. When he talked, he could feel every word putting more distance between them. When they ran, jumped, fought… it was nice. Running was also a good excuse to watch Chat without worrying about being accused of staring or being weird. The effortless grace Chat Noir exuded in all he did was entrancing. Carapace had always noticed this, from the first battles. He had been one of the few people in the city to suspect there were two people acting as Chat Noir. He had spent so much time watching the way Chat moved those first few months, that when Punny Chat had joined the team, he had noticed pretty quickly. Punny Chat was excellent as Chat Noir, but it wasn't the same. They moved differently. Becoming part of the team himself had confirmed it. Getting to know Grumpy Chat had been the best thing to ever happen to him.

"Do you remember those first few weeks after you joined?" Chat asked when they paused on a roof to look at the city lights.

"I was just thinking about it, actually," Carapace said, spinning the rounded side of his shield on his palm. "Why?"

"I was thinking of how mad Buggy got when you said something like, 'We'll get Hawkmoth. I'll do whatever I can to make sure of it.'"

Carapace made a snorting, giggling sound that would land in the top 20 of his list of "Embarrassing Things I've Done in Front Of Chat Noir". "She took that so wrong. Like I meant you guys hadn't been trying hard or couldn't do it without me."

Chat Noir lowered himself to sit with his legs dangling off the roof. "She told me she was worried that because you had the miraculous of the current Guardian, you would see yourself as the leader and try to boss her around."

Carapace sat with him, shaking his head. "Anyone who would want to tell Ladybug how to do her job isn't worthy of a miraculous in the first place."

Chat Noir hummed in agreement, pulling one foot up to rest on the ledge of the roof. His chin plopped on his knee and his hands circled his leg. Carapace watched him try to twist the ring on his finger, watched it pull at the glove, not rotating beyond where his skin would stretch.

"Any more news from your kwami?" Carapace asked, nodding to the ring.

"The ring is still stuck. He still doesn't know why. Still doesn't know if I'll ever be free of this stupid thing."

Carapace watched the twisting grow faster, harsher.

"You don't seem to mind being Cat Man most of the time," he said, reaching out to pull on Chat's wrist until his hands fell away from each other to grip the edge of the roof.

"Most of the time, compared to the rest of my life, it feels freeing." He tipped his head back, staring at the dark, cloudy sky. "That first year really did feel like freedom. Just me, in the shadows. Helping. Fixing. Harnessing pure destruction to make changes. Even after Hawkmoth showed up…" He glanced at Carapace out of the corner of his eye. "Did you ever hear why we split my miraculous?"

"You said you were under a lot of stress," Carapace said. He didn't know why tonight was one of the rare nights that Chat was talkative, but he would take what he could get.

"Stressed is an understatement," Chat said. "There was a lot of family stuff going on. Punny needed some support in changing things and all of a sudden our time was filled, nearly every moment. Then there was trying to sneak away from adults, teachers, and Punny all the time to fight akumas. I sometimes… When I'm stressed, I sometimes don't eat enough. It doesn't occur to me to eat, and when it does, I have no appetite. I didn't realize it was a problem until I passed out in gym class. My kwami hadn't noticed it happening. When he figured it out, he was livid. He made me quit some after school activities, and when that didn't do enough, he decided I needed to share the miraculous. He decided without me, really. He flew out of my pocket when my brother was in the room and introduced himself. After the screaming stopped, and he explained himself…” Chat looked at Carapace without really seeing him. “I love being Chat Noir, but I don’t love it like he does.”

Chat turned back to face the growing darkness of the city.

“You okay?” Carapace asked. He started and stopped a new question a few times before giving up and repeating, “You okay?”

Chat shrugged. “Something on my mind, that’s all.”

“Anything I can do?” Carapace asked. He reached up to fiddle with his goggles, inspecting Chat’s every move.

“Probably not,” Chat shrugged. “It’s probably fine.” A moment later he whispered to himself, “It’s probably not him.”

/*****/

"Who's there?" Adrien called, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he squinted at the figure in is doorway.

"Sorry to wake you," Felix whispered, crawling in the other side of Adrien's bed. “But I just couldn’t sleep.”

"How was patrol?" Adrien asked, rolling to face Felix.

"Carapace let me ramble like an idiot," Felix said, pulling the pillow on his side into his chest.

Adrien's tone turned teasing. "I think he likes you."

"Ugh," Felix replied, rolling onto his back. "Father said something about your schedule to leave for Milan changing. I was supposed to pass along the message."

"Nathalie told me, thanks." Felix tried to tell Adrien about the pictures their father had. He tried to make the words form. Instead he said, "Do you think I'll ever be able to stop being Chat Noir?"

"Plagg says something can reverse it, even if he doesn't know what," Adrien said. His words were starting to slow with sleep. "I don't know if I ever want to stop, though. If you quit, do I have to? I want to stay with Ladybug."

"Go to sleep," Felix said. Maybe Adrien should have been Chat Noir to start with. That was something to think about.

Welcome to part 1 of the Take Me Home series!

This story has been in the works since March of 2018. This is my nelix-as-a-love-square passion project. This is part 1. There will be 3 major parts (that I have planned), including this one, with some shorter pieces in between. Some brief context for this AU before we get started:

Felix and Adrien are twins. Felix got the Black Cat Miraculous before Hawkmoth appeared. Once Hawkmoth appeared, Felix's miraculous was split in two so Plagg could occupy one ring or the other at a time and split the job of Chat Noir. (See edorazzi's twin AU for the inspiration for this (but there's only one Ladybug in mine)).

This was started months ago, as I said, so some things we now know in canon don't exist in this AU. Sapotis happened, but Nino and Chloe got their miraculouses under different circumstances than the show. No one knows who any of the heroes are, except Ladybug knows who Rena Rouge and Queen Bee are (but they don't feature heavily in this part). Carapace is part of the "full-time" hero group with Ladybug and Chat Noir. And Nathalie isn't working with Hawkmoth, just because.

And that's all I can think of! If anything's unclear, let me know and I'll add on to this note or mention it on a future chapter. I hope you enjoy! A big, BIG thanks to enbyred / @little-red-alchemist-of-doom​, my sister, my friend, my beta-reader, my favorite audience. I just wrote some words. You made this beautiful.

[bettercallsabs]

Falling For Crime 3

A/N: this was supposed to post yesterday, but I appearently don’t know how to use tumblr. Instead of queuing for Wednesday, I set it for Sunday... my bad. Anywho, Steve’s back and he’s more tantalizing than ever. Wink wink. Now, I know somebody of you’re are wanting more Bucky, but you have to wait. The build up Is in full swing, and we are just getting started. So just be patient and bear 🐻, lol, with me here, it will be oh so worth it. Anywho,  Enjoy my dearies. Tag list Is Open, so never miss a post!

Steve Rogers x Reader x Bucky Barnes

Warnings: um, it’s a mob fic? Lustfullness. Gasp. 

Word count: 2.5k

It’s the roaring 20s with a modern twist, in New York City. You have just arrived on the New York scene, and  have caught the eye of notorious mob boss Steve Rogers. Little does he know, your heart his pining for his best friend and right hand man, Bucky Barnes. Do you put yours and Buckys life in danger to follow your heart, or do you let the Most powerful man in New York claim his prize?  

Part 1 / Part 2 

 Your head was pounding, as if a toy wooden hammer was being tapped again your head repeatedly. Trying to open your eyes made it worse, tenfold. Groggily, you lifted your heavy head from the soft down pillow. As you sat up, your stomach burned, bile slowly rising in your throat. Dashing to the bathroom, head hanging into the wastebin, you vowed to never drink again. after all, drinking was prohibited.

You spent the majority of your morning lounging around, feeing like death. By the afternoon, you felt a tad more human, and decided that I nice long soak would do you some good. As you ran the bath, watching it fill with steaming hot water, you washed off smudged eyeliner and the remnants of last nights night out, off your face.

You sank deep into the rose water bath, as Leadbelly played on the Victrola in the background. You hummed along, as the warmth seeped into your body. Legs crossed, your feet dangling on the edge of the tub, you hummed along with the melody.

A loud knock at the door, startled you. As you your legs slipped, your head hitting the tub before greeting the water. Water had spilled in every direction. You hurriedly made your way out of the tub, wrapping your dripping naked flesh, in a plush towel.

Another knock at the door. This time it seemed more urgent, less spaced out knocks.

“Just a moment please!” You yelled in the direction of the door, as you dashed around the room, to make yourself decent. Throwing on your favorite lavender silk slip, you tided your satin robe over top. Your wet hair, clung to the back of your neck, dampening the collar of your robe. Out of breath, and disheveled, you answered the door.

Where you expected a bellhop, A tall handsome figure stood before you. It was Steve.You felt your face flush. You were fresh out of the bath, only draped in robe, hair askew, and looking like death. Perfect. This was just prefect.

“Steve...” your eyes dropped to the floor. Just looking at him made your stomach flutter. He leaned his toned body against the door frame.

“Just checking in on you doll. You were pretty tossed last night.”

“I’m fine. Just a little sickly, and genuinely, this time!”

His hand gripped your chin, as he checked over your face. You could feel yourself beginning to blush, as your body ran hot, at his touch. A wide smile spread across his lips, flashing those miraculous perfect white teeth. Stepping away from the door, he returned with a rolling cart, topped with a silver serving cover.

“Eat doll. It will help. I’ve got to split. But eat. You’ll thank me later.” With a wink, he was closing the door behind him.

You collapsed onto the ottoman that sat in front of your bed. Pulling the try to you, you removed the lid to reveal a burger and fries, and a slice of Devils food cake. The first bite of fries made your stomach sing. He was right, it did help. A lot.

Louise finally answered your phone call, on Tuesday afternoon. She agreed to meet for lunch at the knickerbocker hotel at noon. You took your time preparing yourself for the day. As you fiddled with your hair, indecisive of how to style it, you thought back to your phone call with your sister. When she spoke, her voice was off... she seemed... nervous and a bit tense. It made you a tad nervous for your sister luncheon.

As your car rolled up to the hotel, you stepped out of the car, realizing you’d worn the wrong shoes. A thick layer of snow covered the sidewalk, crunching beneath your heels.

Once inside the hotel, you spotted your sister standing just in front of the restaurant entrance. Peeling your coat from your body, you slung it over your arm as you made your way toward her. You greeted one another with a hug.

“Shall we go in?” You nodded, as you followed your sister into the restaurant. Once you were seated at your table,  drinks ordered, you finally let yourself relax.

“Thanks you for finally talking to me again.”

“I’m sorry I freaked out like I did. I was just, really worried about you. I’m so glad to see you’re okay.” Your sister looked down, clearing her throat, before continuing. “So... how was it?”

“It was actually kind of fun. I met some new people and...” your lowered your voice into a lull of a whisper. “I even had booze!” You laughed devilishly, as you relived the nights festivities in your mind.

“Y/N! What were you thinking?”

“We’re only young once LouLou. Might well have a little fun.”

Louise shook her head as she rolled her eyes at you.

“I actually called you out today to have a serious talk y/N. After having a talk with father, we believe it’s in your best interest to find a husband that’s not a criminal.”

“Louise, you can’t be serious?”

“I am perfectly serious Y/N. You can’t keep roaming the streets of New York unwed. And our father can’t continue to support you financially here forever. It’s about time you grew up.”

Your jaw dropped. This was a whole new side to Louise. She’d always been bossy, yes, after all she was the older sister, but this... this was a whole new level for her.

“I don’t know what to say...”

“I’ve arrange for you to have dinner tonight, at the ritz, with a friend of Walt’s. His name is Robert Jefferson, and he has a good reputation around here. Walt and I have put our neck on the line for you here, so I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

The look on Louise face was pure seriousness. As much as you wanted to defy her, you didn’t want her anymore upset with you. Although, you didn’t always see eye to eye, you knew she had your best interest at heart.

“Alright. Alright. You win Louise.” Much to your dismay, you agreed to the evening dinner.

The rest of lunch with Louise was awkward and tense. You both exchanged casual conversation, she asked how you liked New York, you asked about her home life, Walt’s job, but nothing truly meaningful to either of you. You felt relived when you slid into the back seat of the car. Laying your head back against the seat, you let out a deep sigh. You just wanted a nap, and a stiff drink.

Staring at a closest full of dresses, you didn’t know what to wear. How is it, that whenever you have a place to be, you never have anything to wear? You didn’t know anything about this man. Was he conservative? A man who liked classic women roles? Was women in pants too progressive for him? Ugh. You didn’t want to made a bad first impression, your sister and Walt did go through a lot to get you this date, even if you didn’t ask for nor want it.

You decided to play it safe, and settled on a long sleeve navy blue silk jersey dress. You kept your makeup simple and tasteful.

Stepping out of the elevator, you made your way toward the doors, but not before you spotted a man in a dark suit. A hat covered his usually dark disheveled hair. You stopped in front of him, as he folded the news paper he had been reading, laying it down beside him.

“What are you doing here Bucky? Spying on me?”

“Boss heard you had a date with someone that wasn’t him. Sent me to keep an eye on the situation.”  

“How did he... nevermind. I forgot you gentlemen are perfect stalkers. Tell him that bud out of my affairs. This date is important, and I don’t need you or him messing it up, okay?”

A devilish smirk spread across his lips. It was the first time you’d ever seen him smile, and it was intoxicating.

“You really are a feisty one, aren’t you now Miss Y/L/N.”

As he rose from his seat, this tall frame looking down on you, you gulped, taking a step back.

“I... I have to go. Please don’t follow me.”

You hurried your way out of the hotel, knowing full well he was going to listen to you.

The snow that coated the city sidewalks  had been shoveled away, leaving thin patches of snow and ice. In your rushes state, you hadn’t taken into account the conditions you were entering, as your left foot slipped from under you, sending you hurling toward the snowy side walk. Where you expected hard ground, you were met with strong arms , that were wrapped tightly around you. Bucky. His face was close to yours, his lips just inches from yours, so close could feel his hot breath dancing over your lips.

The fleeting feeling of his arm, as he pulled away from you, made your heart sink. You felt safe In his arms, a feeling like you’d never felt before.

“I.. uh.. thank you. That could have been a disaster.”

“You better be more careful Miss Y/L/N. I won’t always be here to catch you.”

“ I thought you were my professional stalker?”

“You better get going, don’t want you missing that important engagement of yours.”

helping you into the car, you held onto his hand longer than you should have. Your cheeks began to blush as he cleared his throat, looking down to you hand, as your fingers were still wrapped his. Letting go quickly, you scooted further into the car, to attempt to hide your embarrassment.

“See you around Miss. Y/L/N”

“Please, call me Y/N.”

He gave a send off signal to your driver, who put the car into drive, sending you on your way to a date you weren’t looking Forward too.

Robert was casually handsome, but rather boring. He drawled on for ages about his business in the banking world.

“It’s rather fascinating really. You wouldn’t think being a banker  would be so rewarding, but it truly is.” He said between bites.

“It does sound interesting.” You replied with false enthusiasm.

“Walt has told me quite a bit about you. Now that we’ve finally met, you really are quite charming.”

“Why thank you Robert. You’re too kind.”

The dinner seemed to drawl on for ages. You were so uninterested in the whole ordeal, that you opted out of dessert, in hopes of ending it sooner. Robert walked you to your car, as snow fell on the dimly lit city.

“Thank you for dinner Robert. It was delicious.”

You held out your hand to give him a thank you handshake. He cupped your bare hand in his both his hands, giving it a tight squeeze.

“Thank you Miss Y/L/N, for joining me tonight, I had a lovely evening.” You give him your best smile, as he planted a quick kiss on your cheek, catching you off guard.  

“I should go. Thanks again Robert. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” You slid into that backseat of the car, giving a final wave as your driver took off into the night.

Yawning, you made your way into the hotel lobby, drowsy from such an uneventful date, you hadn’t even noticed the man leaning against the wall near the elevator.

“You’re just going to ignore me like that doll?” You were startled, nearly dropping your clutch.

“Jesus Steve! Scare a lady, why don’t yah.”

His chuckle was music to your ears, as he leaned closer into your personal space.

“You should be more observant doll. I’ve been waiting here awhile.”

“What? Why?”

“Just checking in you doll. How was your date?”

“Terribly uncomfortable, and boring, to be quite honest.”

“If you only went out with me doll, you wouldn’t have to suffer.”  

He was incredibly close to you know, hips brushing against your waist as his thumb stroked your cheek. He took your breath away.

“I-“

“You know I’m right doll.”

His lips brushing against yours made your head spin.

“Steve, we can’t-“

“Now doll, you know we can.”

When his lips hit yours, your entire body shivered with lust.. Each kiss was filled with a passionate heat, his soft lips tantalizing you to be his, a flick of his tongue beckoning you to open up to him. As you opened your mouth to him, You becoming completely lost in him. His mouth tasted like the sweets you always craved, and you couldn’t get enough. Every kiss becoming more ravenous, as his fingers entangled in your hair. Your arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer into you. You never wanted to let him go.

When he pulled away, your head was fuzzy. You had forgotten how to breath.

“Steve...”

“Y/N...” he was out of breath, as he whispered your name. It was the first time he’d ever used your first name, and so intimately. What was he going to you?

“You should probably go, before I lose control.”

His beautiful blue eyes were swimming with lust, desire. And you felt the same. You didn’t want to  go upstairs. Your curiosity was getting the best of you, yet again.

“I don’t want to go...”

his left arm rested above your shoulder, his body hovered over yours, as he leaned on the wall to support his weight. His lips rest fractions of an inch from yours. The heat of his breath grazing your already swollen lips. He swept his thumb over the length of your lower lip, making your breath catch in your throat.

“I’ll be a gentleman tonight doll.”

With that enthralling smirk you liked so much, he took a few steps back from you, placing his suit jacket over his arms. Flutters rose in your chest, as you watched him leave the hotel.

What the hell just happened?

Sitting in front of your vanity, you stared at the face of a woman you weren’t sure you knew. You had just shared a kiss... an extremely passionate kiss, a lustful kiss, with the most dangerous man in New York City... and you liked it.

The lipstick you had worn that night was smudged in every which direction, as you examined your freshly kissed lips. Swollen and red, they were sensitive to the touch, as you traced over them with your finger tips. You’d finally had your first kiss, and it was more than you’d ever anticipated. You we’re hungry for more.

Washing away the makeup from your face, you felt the lust from the evening beginning to fleet away, as rational thought returned to your clouded mind. Panic began to ensue, as you thought of what was at stake here. Your freedom was one step closer to being null and void. God, if your father ever caught wind that you were kissing hardened criminals in the lobby, you were done for. But behind all of that panic, all of that worry, you were beginning to realize, you loved the brush with danger, and you wanted more…

FOREVER TAGS: @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @itsanerdlife @sea040561 @dsakita

FFC:  @m4shtyx @villainsaremorerelatable @flashfanfics @palebun-16 @thiskatistoospooky

EVERYTHING STEVE ROGERS: @patzammit

[bestoftheweb2021]

How to optimise facebook ads ?

There are several articles available on Facebook ad optimization.

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Isn’t that not really helpful?

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This means you’ll have more time to focus on strategy and research, which is something we’d like to cross off our to-do list. It’s not particularly satisfying to keep churning out the same reports, especially when a computer can do it for you. However, with all of the debate about artificial intelligence in the press, it can be difficult to realize its full potential on a smaller scale.

Why Your Facebook Ads Aren’t Working ?

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[kootenaygoon]

So,

Niles was on crutches, watering his garden.

It was late Tuesday afternoon, and we’d just put the Wednesday edition of the Star to bed. Despite the fact it was mid-October, the weather was still summery, with a light wind rustling its way up the valley. The Slocan River had a magical sheen in the distance as my RAV broke out of the trees. Brutus was running laps of the yard with a dog I didn’t recognize, too busy to bark at my arrival, so I followed the driveway around to the barn unmolested and parked beside a mud-spattered, half-deconstructed Jeep. Niles had invited me over to discuss his latest manuscript submission, which was over 100,000 words long. It sat hefty and dog-eared on my passenger seat, riddled with highlighter and scribbled notes, alongside a six-pack of Blue Buck. I wasn’t looking forward to this feedback session, because I wasn’t sure if he was mature enough to hear what I had to say.

“We’ve got the house to ourselves tonight, Goon. I’ve got the second season of Fargo queued up, plus I’ve acquired some fabulous Afghani Kush that will blow your hair back,” Niles said, his crutches squelching in the mud as he clopped over to my side door.

I lifted up his manuscript, which was called The Fox and the Fawn. “Did you forget about this?”

Since my arrival in Nelson I’d been keeping a small roster of three to five students, helping them develop everything from a fictional account of the Rwandan genocide to a fantasy novel about an autistic teen adventuring through an alternate dimension. The trouble was, I was starting to feel like an imposter. My repeated attempts at finishing Whatever you’re on, I want some hadn’t resulted in the fame and glory I was imagining, and now I was wondering if I’d been kidding myself this whole time. Yeah, I had my Master’s, but so what? Could I really be a writer? And if not, was I really worthy of being a teacher? Who was I kidding?

“I figured you would’ve burned that thing the moment you realized what a gargantuan turd it is,” Niles said, his blond hair hanging limply around his dishevelled face. He wasn’t looking healthy.

I climbed out and shut the door. “I read some of it to my new roommate Mika, actually. We had a little reading in my living room.”

“You didn’t.”

“Yeah, she wanted to hear the sex scene.”

Niles roared with delight. That’s what he was always looking for, an audience to the lewd reality of his existence. As far as he was concerned, he was the best kind of criminal — the kind that never gets caught. The Fox and the Fawn was a fangirl tribute to himself, to his gangster exploits as a Slocan Valley weed king. With legalization finally here, he felt it was time to tell his story. The manuscript was Bukowski mixed with Kerouac, demented and perverse and shockingly violent. At one point he even casually admits to date rape, including a scene where his girlfriend rages at him for taking advantage of her while he was drunk.

“I didn’t know you had a new roommate,” he said. “What happened to Brendan?”

“Nothing. I just found a new place, levelled up. Teamed up with this girl Mika who works at my pot dispensary. She’s got a pet rabbit.”

“You’re still getting your shit from there? Why aren’t you coming to me?”

Niles was wearing a brown bathrobe. He opened his front door, told me not to worry about my shoes, then handed me the crutches while he hopped on one foot up the carpeted staircase. He grunted and sighed with each step, muttering swear words under his breath. I’d never seen him like this. When we reached the top I gave him his crutches and the beer, and he motioned for me to take a seat in the living room. As I passed by the familiar John Cooper paintings, I noticed that he’d hung the self-portrait I’d given him as a present a month earlier. I’d painted it with Natalya.

“You hung my painting upside down?”

He laughed, opening the fridge. “Yeah, I dunno why I did that. Just seemed to me like it looks better that way. I get a kick out of it.”

I shook my head. For the past month I’d been painting furiously, and it felt like a swirling green portal had opened up inside my brain. My writing may have stalled, but this was a way to channel my creativity into something other than journalism. I was getting sick of the Star, getting sick of taking the same pictures of the same fundraiser events, getting sick of the constraints. My relationship with Ed and Kai was strained too, as they were tired of my entitled laziness. Maybe they knew I was stoned every day, slumping into the office uninspired and half-assing my stories. I felt like the universe was wasting me, but painting had become a soothing therapy, something I did exclusively for myself. I was giving myself permission to be sloppy and flamboyant and outrageous, slathering my canvases with dribbling glitter and chaotic streaks of inspiration. This painting I’d given Niles was my first.

As he banged around in the kitchen, I walked over to the living room window and looked out at the Slocan Valley. The trees were the colour of flames, red and orange and electric yellow, and they matched the darkening sky. Lately I’d been feeling a subtle dread, like the magic was slowly draining from my surroundings. Winter is coming. I hated being single, hated being a chronic stoner, and hated how much of my life I spent stressing out about money. In university I’d become so convinced that I had life sorted out, that I was on a consistently upwards trajectory, that it was only a matter of time before I would be rewarded with creative success and lifelong fulfillment. Now I wasn’t so sure. It was easy to blame Paisley and all the drama she’d brought to my life, but she’d been gone for over a year now. At some point I would have to address my own shit without using her as a scapegoat.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this, man.”

Niles scuffed back into the living room holding our beers. “This?”

“The Kootenays. The Star. I got into a bit of a scrap with Kai and Ed today, in the newsroom,” I said. “Over our coverage of Me Too.”

He laughed, sinking into his recliner. “You’re too radical for them?”

I shook my head, crossed to the couch. “I’ve just been seeing all these posts, right? Women sharing their trauma, men self-flagellating, but the discourse isn’t actually going anywhere. It’s not actually accomplishing anything. But I wanted to do something tangible, so I interviewed the superintendent and a bunch of principals about how they’re responding to it. Just to get it official, on the record, how they plan to change things.”

He snorted. “I’m sure they loved that.”

“So I hand in this 1200-word behemoth of a story, with all these different angles and perspectives, and they told me it didn’t have any teeth. They said it’s just a bunch of talking heads. I tried to argue, you know, that it’s important to be holding these people accountable and that their words are powerful, but they weren’t hearing it. They said if I’m going to write a story about sexual assault then I need a real sexual assault.”

He frowned, shrugged. “So what’re you going to do?”

I felt myself getting worked up. For the past few days I’d been endlessly scrolling through Twitter and Facebook, feeding on the outrage and vitriol. It was bringing everything up, Trent and Galloway and my strange obsession with crucifixion. The topic of sexual violence was like an intricate bomb I was trying to defuse with nothing but a screwdriver. As far as I was concerned, the conversation had to move beyond the rage to solutions. Men had to own their complicity, with more than just empty words, and propose tangible solutions. I was determined to prove Kai and Ed wrong, to show that my journalism had real teeth.

“Well, I’ve already started writing a column about it. About my personal feelings on the subject. And I’m going to illustrate it with a picture of my face with the words ‘Part of the Problem’ scrawled across my forehead.”

Niles laughed. “That should piss off the right people.”

“Not only that, I’ve found two girls who are willing to go on record about their assaults. One who was a student at Elephant Mountain Secondary, and the other from Selkirk College. If I do this right, this could be the most powerful story I’ve written since coming to the Star. Like, I think it could be a really big deal.” 

“Well, Goon,” he said. “I think your saviour complex is alive and kicking.”

Eventually we pivoted to discussing his manuscript, and I flipped through it on the coffee table as I took him through my notes. All of his female characters came off as interchangeable, he had a tendency to summarize scenes rather than depict them, and by the end of the narrative he came off as completely unlikeable. Being self-deprecating is one thing, but it was like he was going out of his way to shock the reader with his shitty behaviour. It felt like he was daring his audience to hate him. At times it reminded me of the memoir A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden, by Stephen Reid, so I recommended he check it out for inspiration. I felt Reid struck a fine balance between owning his mistakes and aspiring to be a better human being.

“That’s the bank robber?”

“Yeah, they made a movie about him. Point Break.”

“That surfer movie with Keanu Reeves?”

“I think they fictionalized it a bit. The point is, there’s a guy who has actually grappled with his own soul. That takes balls.”

He nodded. “A Crowbar in the Buddhist Garden. I like that.”

Once we were finished with notes, Niles padded off into his bedroom and returned with an elaborate dragon-themed bong. As we smoked together I thought of the caterpillar from the animated version of Alice in Wonderland, asking in his condescending tone “Who are you?” That was the sort of question that was getting harder to answer all the time. Thinking about rape culture all day had me hating myself to the point where I felt physically sick, but at other times I was convinced of my own prophethood, my special destiny to save the world somehow. If I could tackle this Me Too story from exactly the right angle I knew it could have a legit impact. Everyone was encouraging women to speak while men listen, but I had been listening. And now I had something to say. I leaned back in the couch and examined the light fixture in the ceiling, composing my column in my head.

“Here,” Niles said. “You want another hit?”

The Kootenay Goon

[liveindiatimes]

Coronavirus update| The long walk home: Lockdown, fear of Covid-19 spark exodus from Delhi - delhi news

New Post has been published on https://www.liveindiatimes.com/coronavirus-update-the-long-walk-home-lockdown-fear-of-covid-19-spark-exodus-from-delhi-delhi-news/

Coronavirus update| The long walk home: Lockdown, fear of Covid-19 spark exodus from Delhi - delhi news

The road between Delhi’s Anand Vihar bus terminal and Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi terminal was possibly the most crowded place in Delhi on Saturday—at a time when the country is under a nationwide lockdown and observing social distancing.

The number of people gathered on the road was over a lakh, government officials on the ground said.

They stood in a queue—one that stretched as far as the eye could see—jostling for space and pushing the persons in front to be able to board a bus back home from Kaushambi terminal.

“The queue is easily over 2km-long. it stretches between two states—Delhi and Uttar Pradesh,” a health worker, who was on the ground scanning people to check for fever, said.

Left unemployed and homeless—tens of thousands of migrant workers converged at Anand Vihar on Saturday in the hope of boarding buses back home from across the border in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government had pressed around 500 buses into service to drop migrant workers back to their hometowns and villages in UP.

Carrying just a few sets of clothes in their backpacks and leftover cash; covering their mouths with handkerchiefs, they walked on roads with their families and friends to join the 2km-long queue for the bus at the Delhi-UP border.

Until last week, they lived in factories or shops where they worked. However, all of them had been shut in the wake of the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening as one of the measures to control the spread of the Sars-Cov-2 virus.

Many of their employers asked them to return home while others felt they had a better chance of surviving the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), back home.

Most of them worked at cell phone accessories factories of Karol Bagh, tailoring units in Nangloi, electrical fitting factories of Narela or jeans dyeing units of northeast Delhi, and had paid large amounts of money to drivers of auto-rickshaws, ambulances, cycle-rickshaws and even carts to reach Anand Vihar.

They walked hurriedly, refusing to stop for even for water, fearing that they would be left behind. When they did reach Anand Vihar, most of them didn’t know which queue to join and when their efforts would yield a bus ride.

Among the sea of people in the crowd was Nabeela Begum, a homemaker, from Bihar’s Gopalganj. She said, “I have no idea how long it is going to take to get a bus. I don’t know where the buses are headed. But once I am somewhere in the middle of Uttar Pradesh, I will feel better about being closer to home.”

“I need to arrange drinking water, but I am afraid I’ll lose my spot in the queue,” Rajesh Kumar, a daily wage labourer, said.

The people queued under the hot Delhi sun on Saturday, some of them with luggage on their heads and women with children in their arms. When some of them broke away from the queues, they were pushed back by the civil defence volunteers.

“It is madness here. No one has any idea how many may have been infected today. But we still have a job, unlike these helpless people. I haven’t told my family that I am among this sea of people,” one of the volunteers said.

And when those at the front of the queues did manage to cross the last point manned by the police, they underwent temperature checks by health workers who stood at a safe distance. The health workers said that people with high temperatures would be kept out of the queue.

“But how many have you taken to the hospital today?” HT asked the health worker. He smiled and then said, “We ask those with high temperature to stay in the shade and come back again for a test.”

During the day, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people to “stay back”, assuring them of shelter and regular meals, even as he said that such an exodus potentially increases the risk of spread.

Despite his appeal, the numbers continued to swell. From different parts of the city, groups of people continued to walk to the border, relying on the generosity of some good Samaritans who lined up along the roads to offer them food and water.

Radha Yadav, 43, who worked at a factory in Nangloi, was among the many walking towards the border. He said he had heard the government’s appeal but would continue to walk. “I don’t have a job or a home here. If I have to die, I’d rather die in my village,” he said.

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[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: BLACKPOOL 0-3 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Blackpool V Gillingham........

PRE-MATCH AND TRAVEL

I got on The Kings Ferry Coach at 8.30AM From Rainham and sat down towards the back of the coach and while there was no USB Plug Chargers on the coach, I always take my portable power-packs with me just in-case there are no chargers on the coach (But I do think that whenever you travel great distances to go to away games, There should be chargers on the coach) Despite so many Gillingham Supporters turning Blackpool Away into a four day weekend, there was still close to fifty people on the coach for the final away game of the season, and there should be a decent turnout for the final game of the season, There were also some supporters on the coach who were perhaps going to there first away game of the season, which is good to see, And maybe The Bank Holiday Weekend has allowed supporters who don't normally go to away games to be able to travel to Blackpool for the final league game of the season.

I predicted the following line up on Twitter, Holy, O'Neill, Ehmer, Ogilvie, Fuller, Byrne, Charles-Cook, Da Silva Lopez, Rees, Hanlan, Eaves SUBS: Hadler (GK), Lacey, Garmston, Oldaker, Parrett, List, Campbell, I saw a comment from one Gillingham Supporter suggesting on Facebook that we should play a second string line up and make eleven changes, Which I completely disagree with, Maybe make 2-3 changes to the starting line up and change things up a bit, But I think Mark Patterson will want to name a strong enough side to ensure that Gillingham can end this season on a high by picking up all three points against Blackpool, and while Thirteenth Place is the highest Gillingham can finish in League One, If Gillingham lose and results elsewhere go against us, then Gillingham can end this season in Eighteenth and I am sure we want to go into the off season off the back of a decent result against Blackpool, which is easier said then done.

We stopped off at Norton Caines Services at 12.30PM, And The Service Station was completely packed, I saw Manchester City and Fleetwood Town Supporters at the services and the service station was completely packed, I was never going to buy anything from McDonalds, But for those who did get something to eat and drink were going to be queuing for ages and I brought A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola and A Kit Kat, and once everyone got back on the coach again, we were on our way at 13.15PM and heading towards Blackpool, There were still one or two on the coach who hadn't paid there travel far, But I paid My £34 before we stopped off at the services and I was getting in contact with Stephen, Diane and Ann saying how far away we were from Blackpool and roughly what time we would arrive at Bloomfield Road.

I was speaking to a few Gillingham Supporters both on Twitter and on the coach, and this coming off season is going to be a very important summer for Gillingham Louis (It seems like we are saying this every summer) New Manager, New Coaching Staff, Which players do we keep who are out of contact, which players are released, & who will be our new summer signings ??? - And what formation will Gillingham play next season will also be taken into consideration regarding player recruitment, And will Gillingham go down the route of signing younger players released by Premier League and Championship Clubs and look to sign young players on low wages and high potential (Like we did when Gillingham signed John Egan, Brennan Dickenson and Luke Norris in the summer of The 2014 / 2015 Season).

We arrived out-side Bloomfield Road at 3.30PM with plenty of time to spare before kick off, and despite the sun being out, it was cold and windy in Blackpool, But we had plenty of time to get something to eat and drink and look around Blackpool for a bit before kick off, When I went to Bloomfield Road when Gillingham drew 1-1 In The 2017 / 2018 Season, there were a lot of Blackpool Supporters out-side the ground with Oyston Out Banners and there was real resentment and anger towards The Blackpool Owners, and with the change of ownership, Blackpool may well start to move in the right direction, But it may well take Blackpool time to move in the right direction, because there decline from Premier League To League Two before Blackpool earned promotion back into League One has been a real fall from grace and whoever comes in as Blackpool Manager may well have to steady the ship for the short term, before there are any long term aspirations to compete in The Championship or earn promotion into The Premier League Again.

I went to A Traditional Fish And Chips Shop before the game and I brought A Small Portion Of Chips, A Cheese-Burger, Beans And A Can Of Pepsi for just under £6 which was real good value for money and I got in contact with Stephen, Diane and Ann to say that we had arrived in Blackpool and we arrived earlier then expected, And once I finished my meal, I headed back towards Bloomfield Road, brought one Match-Day Programme for £2 before needing directions from the stewards to The Away Turnstiles, because the away end has changed this season compared to last season and Gillingham Supporters were situated down the side of the pitch and not behind the goal, and once we found the entrance for the away end and I was searched by the stewards, I then put my ticket through the turnstiles and I was in the concourse of the away end and I queued up to buy A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola For £1.80 From The Food And Drink Bar.

Eventually, Gillingham's Team News Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,, Tomas Holy, Barry Fuller, Max Ehmer, Connor Ogilvie, Bradley Garmston, Darren Oldaker, Mark Byrne, Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, Tom Eaves, Brandon Hanlan SUBS: Tom Hadler (GK), Alex Lacey, Dean Parrett, Callum Reilly, Josh Rees, Elliott List and Tahvon Campbell - So Bradley Garmston, Darren Oldaker and Tom Eaves come in to replace Luke O'Neill, Tahvon Campbell and Elliott List, With Luke O'Neill's absence from the squad a real surprise, Darren Oldaker and Bradley Garmston have both been given an opportunity to start for Gillingham against Blackpool, But Mark Patterson hasn't made wholesale changes which was a very sensible decision, And Nicholas pointed out that The Football League have changed the rules regarding squad changes, I think you can make eleven changes if you replace eleven senior players with eleven senior players, but you cannot name eleven youth team players like Crewe Alexandra did a few season's ago, and you cannot do what Gillingham did against Burton Albion on the final day of The 2012 / 2013 Season where Sam Muggleton, Mahlon Romeo, Harry Grant and Callum Davies all started for Gillingham and Nathan Nyafli, Kane Haysman and Devante McKain came off the bench as substitutes, I think one of the reasons for this is because Gillingham could have played Scunthorpe on the final day and we could have given Scunthorpe an advantage to avoid the drop by making wholesale changes to the match-day squad.

And we got speaking about travel and I think the majority of our fanbase had stayed in Blackpool or the surrounding area's and looked to make a weekend of it, And I spoke about the journey from Gillingham to Blackpool and the journey wasn't too bad to be fair, Put it this way, I much rather play Blackpool on the final day of the season on A Saturday then travel to Blackpool On A Tuesday Night that is for sure, I then stood towards the back with Stephen, Diane and Ann in the block next to the block where the majority of our supporters were situated and where the singing is mostly going to come from, and despite the supporting pillar's being in-front of The East Stand, our view of the pitch from this stand was decent and we were eagerly anticipating kick off, unfortunately, the reception inside the ground for internet connection was very poor, So it was difficult to get team information or post updates throughout the game, And I wasn't alone in this regard, But the teams were out on to the pitch and lined up in-front of the main stand in-front of us and the atmosphere raised in volume inside Bloomfield Road, and we were hoping that Gillingham can end this season on a high by picking up all three points against Blackpool - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF

And The First Noteworthy Moment Of The Match Was Regan Charles-Cook putting pressure on Nick Anderton to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on in Blackpool's Final Third Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, and from the resulting throw on, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Mark Byrne, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Regan Charles-Cook, And Regan Charles-Cook uses his pace to run towards the byline and Regan Charles-Cook whips in an low cross towards the near post which is comfortable for Christoffer Mafoumbi to save towards his near post, but this was a goal-scoring opportunity for Gillingham to build on, Leonardo Da Silva Lopez was then penalised for his challenge on Jordan Thompson and Blackpool have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Jay Spearing passes the ball through to Antony Evans on the over-lap and Antony Evans stands the ball up high towards the back-stick and Tomas Holy was able to pluck the ball out of the air very convincingly, And In The Third Minute Of The Match, Gillingham almost capitalised on a mis-placed pass as Mark Byrne headers the ball through to Tom Eaves and had Tom Eaves first touch got the ball under control then Tom Eaves would have been one on one with The Blackpool Goalkeeper, but the ball runs all the way through to Christoffer Mafoumbi, who was able to gather the ball just before Tom Eaves could get there, and from here, Christoffer Mafoumbi rolls the ball out to Nick Anderton, who quickly runs down the left side of the pitch in possession of the ball and Nick Anderton is looking to thread a through-ball down the left side of the pitch towards Chris Long and Nick Anderton's pass is just slightly over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

However, Gillingham manage to take the lead In The Seventh Minute Of The Match, Christoffer Mafoumbi kicks the ball long down-field for Blackpool and Armand Gnanduillet wins the aerial challenge up against Connor Ogilvie and flicks the ball on and Bradley Garmston kicks the ball long down-field and Ben Heneghan wins the aerial challenge up against Tom Eaves to header the ball to header the ball down the line and out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Bradley Garmston throws the ball towards Darren Oldaker, who manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who passes the ball back to Tomas Holy, And Tomas Holy passes the ball back out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who gets the ball under control before running forwards in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch and Connor Ogilvie clips the ball long down the line towards Tom Eaves, who manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back inside to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball forwards first time to Brandon Hanlan, who skilfully takes on Antony Evans and Ben Heneghan before brilliantly placing the ball into the far right corner of the net and there was nothing that Christoffer Mafoumbi could have done about that - That goal from Brandon Hanlan was a goal from a player who really has stepped up in-terms of his finishing ability, because that goal from Brandon Hanlan is his fifth goal in his last twelve appearances for The Gills and the celebrations in the back of the away end were something to savour as well, I think we have seen Brandon Hanlan improve as a player throughout this season and it is great to see Brandon Hanlan score for Gillingham on the final day of The 2018 / 2019 Season.

Twelve Minutes Into The Match, And Nick Anderton is penalised for his challenge on Tom Eaves, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Darren Oldaker quickly passes the ball through to Regan Charles-Cook through by the byline, And Regan Charles-Cook kicks the ball against Nick Anderton to win A Corner Kick For The Gills, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Bradley Garmston's Dangerous In-Swinging Cross is headed partially clear and away from danger and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez gets to the loose ball first Leonardo Da Silva Lopez whips in another dangerous cross and Ben Heneghan clears the ball away from danger for the hosts and Blackpool are looking to keep themselves in the match at 1-0 down at this present moment in time.

Fifteen Minutes Into The Match, And we saw precisely why Barry Fuller was Voted Gillingham's Player Of The Season Because Barry Fuller times his challenges to perfection on two Blackpool Players with the first challenge being a sliding challenge and the second challenge being a fifty / fifty which Barry Fuller was able to win, It is these combative performances combined with the number of games that Barry Fuller has played which has seen The Experienced Right Back Deservingly Win The Player Of The Season Award (And My Vote Went To Barry Fuller) Bradley Garmston is then penalised for his challenge on Chris Long In The Seventeenth Minute, And Blackpool had the chance to equalise from the resulting free kick as Jay Spearing whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and although A Blackpool Player (not sure who) wins the aerial challenge at the far post to header the ball down inside Gillingham's Penalty Area, Tom Eaves smashes the ball clear and away from danger and anywhere will do as far as Gillingham are concerned at this present moment in time, And Blackpool were on the offensive yet again, this time it was Nick Anderton playing a long pass down-field and it looked like for a moment that Armand Gnanduillet had managed to sneak in in-between Max Ehmer and Tomas Holy and Tomas Holy just about managed to gather the ball down the left side of Gillingham's Penalty Area very close to the eighteen yard line by the byline, Tomas Holy only just managed to get to that ball, But The Blackpool Supporters were appealing for a free kick, presumingly for a potential hand-ball by Tomas Holy, And we were not in the best position to see any hand-ball from our vantage point in the away end so it would be difficult to comment on whether or not Tomas Holy handled the ball out-side the penalty area.

Tom Eaves is then harshly penalised for his challenge on Curtis Tilt and Blackpool have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Nick Anderton whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is headed clear by Bradley Garmston and the second ball drops kindly to Harry Pritchard, And Harry Pritchard gets the ball under control before looking to whip in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is charged down by Barry Fuller at the expense of conceding a throw on, And from here, Gillingham get the ball clear from danger and when the ball comes straight back into Gillingham's Half Again, Darren Oldaker has kicked the ball long down-field and Tom Eaves initially manages to retain possession of the ball, although, Jordan Thompson manages to intercept the ball from Tom Eaves and pass the ball back to Christoffer Mafoumbi, and Christoffer Mafoumbi passes the ball short to Curtis Tilt, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down the flank and Max Ehmer takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on for Blackpool, And it is from this throw on where Blackpool were close to scoring the equaliser, Nick Anderton throws the ball down the line towards Armand Gnanduillet, who chests the ball back to Harry Pritchard, And Harry Pritchard takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Marc Bola down the right side of the pitch, And Marc Bola gets the ball under control before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Armand Gnanduillet chests the ball under control and evades challenges from Barry Fuller and Darren Oldaker and Armand Gnanduillet see's his low effort towards goal cleared off the line by Barry Fuller and Mark Byrne kicks the ball clear and away from danger, It is unclear if Tomas Holy had that shot on goal covered by Armand Gnanduillet, But Barry Fuller was in the right place at the right time to make that all important goal-line clearance.

Twenty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Jordan Thompson is penalised for a foul on Tom Eaves, And Two Minutes Later, Tom Eaves is penalised for a foul on Marc Bola when Marc Bola goes to ground very easily, And In The Twenty Seventh Minute Of The Match, Jordan Thompson manages to flick the ball over Darren Oldaker's Head before attempting a spectacular dipping volley which clears Tomas Holy's crossbar by some considerable distance, but it was well worth the ambitious attempt from The Blackpool Midfielder, and had Jordan Thompson's dipping volley found the back of the net, then it would have been a sensational goal and a excellent equaliser for the hosts.

Twenty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And pressure from Brandon Hanlan forces Marc Bola to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on for Gillingham in Blackpool's Final Third - We actually thought that the ball had gone out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, But A Throw On was awarded instead - And it is from this throw on where Gillingham doubled there advantage and went 2-0 up, Brandon Hanlan throws the ball to Regan Charles-Cook, who passes the ball back out-wide to Brandon Hanlan, And Brandon Hanlan passes the ball back out-wide to Leobardo Da Silva Lopez, who takes a touch to control the ball before playing the ball through Jay Spearing's Legs to Regan Charles-Cook and Regan Charles-Cook losses possession of the ball to Jay Spearing and Marc Bola and Marc Bola runs forwards in possession of the ball before turning back into trouble because Regan Charles-Cook is putting Marc Bola under a lot of pressure and The Blackpool Defender has to pass the ball back and out-wide to Harry Pritchard, who takes a touch to control the ball and Harry Pritchard clips an aimless cross-field pass across towards the centre circle and Max Ehmer manages to intercept the ball and get the ball under control and Max Ehmer lays the ball off to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Tom Eaves, And Tom Eaves takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to curl the ball into the far left corner of the net with a magnificent finish and there is nothing that Christoffer Mafoumbi could do about that, great strike, great goal and great to see Tom Eaves score on the final day of the season in what will most likely be Tom Eaves final game for Gillingham Football Club, And 2-0 puts Gillingham in a very commanding position to go on and pick up all three points at Bloomfield Road.

And straight after the goal for 2-0, Brandon Hanlan does really well up against Marc Bola to win Gillingham a throw on in Blackpool's Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Bradley Garmston throws the ball short to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball short to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who is twisting and turning in possession of the ball and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez manages to pass the ball through to Bradley Garmston on the over-lap, And Bradley Garmston see's his cross charged down and deflected out of play off Antony Evans and how The Match Officials Award Blackpool A Goal-Kick when the ball diverts out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick I have no idea, And In The Thirty Third Minute Of The Match And Armand Gnanduillet is penalised for his challenge on Connor Ogilvie In Gillingham's Half Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham manage to create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, Connor Ogilvie passes the ball out-wide to Barry Fuller, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who looks to thread the ball through to Tom Eaves, but the ball deflects back into Mark Byrne's path and the ball just set up nicely for Mark Byrne to hit the ball first time on the volley and the ball ricochets off Curtis Tilt and deflects just wide of Christoffer Mafoumbi's Left Hand Post - that would have been a spectacular goal from Mark Byrne had that effort on goal hit the back of the net for 3-0 - And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Bradley Garmston whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross which Blackpool manage to clear towards the halfway line and Darren Oldaker takes no chances and passes the ball back to Tomas Holy, who passes the ball forwards to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez on the halfway line, And Leonardo Da Silva Lopez passes the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston who is on the receiving end of a very strong challenge from Marc Bola and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And from the resulting throw on, Bradley Garmston throws the ball short to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball back out-wide to Bradley Garmston and Bradley Garmston has to pass the ball all the way back to Connor Ogilvie in Gillingham's Half Of The Pitch, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before clipping the ball long down the line towards Tom Eaves, who gets a shove in the back from Ben Heneghan and Tom Eaves has been pushed to the ground and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Darren Oldaker's Free Kick hits Blackpool's Defensive Wall and Blackpool manage to clear there lines and Max Ehmer is penalised for his challenge on Antony Evans and Blackpool have been awarded a free kick themselves.

Thirty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham could have gone 3-0 up, Mark Byrne has passed the ball forwards to Darren Oldaker who is roughly twenty five / thirty yards from goal and Darren Oldaker has gone for an over-ambitious effort towards goal which has failed to hit the target by some considerable distance and this was always going to be a half chance, but with Gillingham 2-0 up already, It was a case of why not Darren Oldaker, why not and it was worth trying ambitious efforts because Gillingham are 2-0 up and we have only got to play for a higher league position and we're not looking to draw or win to reach playoffs or avoid relegation for example, However, From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham manage to extend the score-line further in our favour and go 3-0 up, Christoffer Mafoumb kicks the ball long down-field from the resulting goal-kick and Armand Gnanduillet wins the aerial challenge up against Darren Oldaker and Barry Fuller shows great skill and composure to work himself towards the byline and play the ball down the line towards Brandon Hanlan, who forces Nick Anderton to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on, and it is from this throw on where Gillingham extend the score-line further in there favour to 3-0, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who shows a great piece of skill to retain possession of the ball, and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez passes the ball back to Regan Charles-Cook, who passes the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston down the left side of the pitch and Bradley Garmston runs forwards in possession of the ball before whipping in a fantastic low cross and there was Tom Eaves with a neat one touch finish to calmly place the ball into the far right corner of the net, but that goal was all about the fantastic low cross from Bradley Garmston and with Gillingham 3-0 up, It is looking likely that Gillingham will end the season by picking up all three points on the final day of the season, Blackpool have not been able to cope with Tom Eaves and Brandon Hanlan leading the line and both strikers have got themselves on the score=sheet for Gillingham.

And 3-0 could have been turned into 4-0 just before the break, Callum Guy has to header the ball back to Christoffer Mafoumbi after being put under pressure from Brandon Hanlan, and from here, Christoffer Mafoumbi kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial challenge up against Armand Gnanduillet and Marc Bola's mis-placed back-header goes towards Tom Eaves, who is intercepted by Jay Spearing and Harry Pritchard kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the initial aerial challenge and the ball drops kindly to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who passes the ball back to Darren Oldaker, And Darren Oldaker plays a first time pass down-field towards Brandon Hanlan, and there is a competitive battle between Curtis Tilt and Brandon Hanlan, and although Curtis Tilt wins that duel, Regan Charles-Cook comes across and manages to intercept the ball and Regan Charles-Cook manages to keep the ball in play and pass the ball back to Mark Byrne, who whips in a first time low cross towards Tom Eaves, who manages to get the ball under control and Tom Eaves hooks his shot on the turn over Blackpool's Crossbar and that was the chance for Tom Eaves to score a first time hat-trick for The Gills, And Had Tom Eaves scored, then 4-0 would have made the points safe for The Gills.

Blackpool had the chance to get a consolation goal just before the break because Leonardo Da Silva Lopez is penalised for his challenge on Jordan Thompson after Forty Two Minutes, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jay Spearing whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Armand Gnanduillet cannot get a telling connection on the ball and the chance had gone for Blackpool, And the final noteworthy moment of the first half was another goal-scoring opportunity for Gillingham, Because Regan Charles-Cook see's his effort on goal from twenty five yards out take a huge deflection and Goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi manages to save the ball and prevent the ball from going behind for A Gillingham Corner Kick, and when the half time whistle went, boo's could be clearly heard around Bloomfield Road from the home supporters and there were huge cheers from The Gillingham Supporters In The East Stand, And Gillingham have been superb In The First Half.

HALF TIME: BLACKPOOL 0-3 GILLINGHAM

Half Time gave me an opportunity to sit down, but any attempt to try and post my thoughts and opinions on to Twitter was an unachievable task because the internet reception was very poor, But as far as first half performances go, that was a very good first half performance from The Gills, Goals from Brandon Hanlan and Tom Eaves have put Gillingham in a commanding position to go on and secure three valuable points and I can only see one team scoring in the second half and that team is Gillingham and I am sure that Tom Eaves will want to score a hat-trick on the final day of The 2018 / 2019 Season, But we also have got to praise Brandon Hanlan who has scored five goals in his last twelve appearances for Gillingham and Brandon Hanlan has improved as the season has progressed and I think Brandon Hanlan will be Gillingham's First Choice Striker Next Season.

Looking at the substitutes bench, I think if Gillingham were to score another goal in the second half then we might well see one or two changes, I think Blackpool have made quite a few changes to there starting line up because that performance in the first half from Blackpool wasn't the greatest it has to be said, therefore, I am very pleased that Mark Patterson resisted any temptation to make wholesale changes to the match-day squad, especially given how far Gillingham Supporters have had to travel to Bloomfield Road for the final league game of the season, I think we would like to see Tom Eaves score a hat-trick in what will likely be his last appearance in A Gillingham Shirt.

SECOND HALF:

And at the start of The Second Half, Blackpool Manager Terry McPhillips makes a double substitution as Jimmy Ryan comes on to replace Antony Evans and Nathan Delfouneso comes on to replace Chris Long, There are no half time substitutions for Gillingham and I think Mark Patterson will wait to see how this match will pan out before deciding to make any substitutions, I do think that if Gillingham scored a fourth goal in The Second Half, then we will see a double substitution and this will give an opportunity for players who have had limited game-time this season to make an appearance for Gillingham on the final day of the season.

The first noteworthy moment of the second half was Connor Ogilvie shielding A Through-Ball From Nathan Delfouneso towards Armand Gnanduillet out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And In The Forty Seventh Minute Of The Match, Nathan Delfouneso's pass down the line down the left flank in Gillingham's Final Third also goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, But Nathan Delfouneso is a quality player and he is going to cause Gillingham's Defence problems throughout the entirety of this second half, And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Gillingham had the chance to extend there lead even further and go 4-0 up, Tomas Holy passes the ball short to Connor Ogilvie from the resulting goal-kick, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Nick Anderton wins the aerial challenge to header the ball towards Jay Spearing, And Jay Spearing passes the ball back out-wide to Nick Anderton, who losses out to Regan Charles-Cook and the ball ricochets back to Ben Heneghan, who carelessly passes the ball straight into Tom Eaves, and the ball ricochets straight into Brandon Hanlan's Path, And Brandon Hanlan cannot get a shot off on goal, But Brandon Hanlan manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to Mark Byrne on the edge of Blackpool's Penalty Area, And Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball before teeing up Barry Fuller, who's first time shot towards goal fails to hit the target, and that would have been a rarity, seeing Barry Fuller stick the ball into the back of the net, and 4-0 would have guaranteed three points for The Gills.

Bradley Garmston is then doubly penalised, because not only was his challenge on Nick Anderton not a foul, But Bradley Garmston was shown A Yellow Card From Referee Ollie Yates, And Blackpool have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jordan Thompson's in-swinging free kick deflects off Darren Oldaker and Darren Oldaker's looping header goes just wide of Tomas Holy's Right Hand Post and out of play for A Blackpool Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Blackpool created a decent goal-scoring opportunity, Jimmy Ryan whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Curtis Tilt cannot direct his header on target and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And In The Fifty Second Minute Of The Match, Barry Fuller kicks the ball into touch for A Blackpool Throw On As Armand Gnanduillet looks to header the ball through to Nathan Delfouneso  on the over-lap, And In The Fifty Third Minute Of The Match, Darren Oldaker has kicked the ball long down-field and that leaves a foot-race between Brandon Hanlan and Curtis Tilt, And Curtis Tilt just about gets to the ball first before falling to the deck and winning A Defensive Free Kick For Blackpool, and this type of free kick decision is one where you are delighted if your the defending team, but infuriated if your the attacking team.

But In The Fifty Fourth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had the chance to extend the score-line further in there favour, Pressure from Brandon Hanlan forces Jay Spearing to pass the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On is where Gillingham had the chance to make the score-line 4-0 in there favour, Bradley Garmston manages to throw the ball long down the line, who manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Regan Charles-Cook on the edge of Blackpool's Penalty Area, And Regan Charles-Cook passes the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston, who takes a touch to control the ball before floating in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Christoffer Mafoumbi was able to gather the ball with ease.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Blackpool had the chance to score a consolation goal, Gillingham have a throw on in there own half down the right side of the pitch and Barry Fuller throws the ball back to Max Ehmer, who kicks the ball long down-field and Curtis Tilt wins the aerial challenge up against Brandon Hanlan and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez wins the second aerial challenge, however, the ball runs kindly into Jimmy Ryan's Path, And Jimmy Ryan gets the ball under control and Nick Anderton, who gets the ball under control before passing the ball inside to Harry Pritchard, And Harry Pritchard passes the ball back towards Jimmy Ryan on the halfway line, And Jimmy Ryan passes the ball forwards to Jordan Thompson, who retains possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Harry Pritchard, And Harry Pritchard manages to pass the ball through to Jordan Thompson on the over-lap down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham's Left - And Jordan Thompson whips in an dangerous low cross which is blocked by Connor Ogilvie, however, in an attempt to prevent the ball from going out of play for A Blackpool Corner Kick, Connor Ogilvie's Defensive Header lacks height and distance and Harry Pritchard wins the aerial challenge to header the ball towards Nathan Delfouneso, who manages to retain possession of the ball and Nathan Delfouneso tee's up Marc Bola who has hit a fiercely driven effort towards goal which is brilliantly saved by Tomas Holy and the second ball ricochets back towards Harry Pritchard, who gets the ball under control and whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - that was the chance for Blackpool to score the goal to try and work there way back into this match.

Darren Oldaker was very unlucky that his first time pass through to Mark Byrne on the over-lap was over-hit and runs out of play for A Blackpool Throw On, But the attempted pass from Darren Oldaker was appreciated, And just as we are coming up to the hour mark, Blackpool Supporters thought that they had claims for a penalty kick, Marc Bola throws the ball long down the line and Mark Byrne wins the initial aerial challenge and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez flicks the ball on and Jimmy Ryan headers the ball towards Jordan Thompson, who headers the ball down towards Jay Spearing, who plays the ball through to Harry Pritchard, who knocks the ball down towards Jordan Thompson, And Jordan Thompson passes the ball forwards to Armand Gnanduillet, And The Blackpool Striker lays the ball off to Harry Pritchard, And Harry Pritchard takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards to Jordan Thompson, And Jordan Thompson passes the ball out-wide to Nathan Delfouneso, who's low cross goes across the face of goal and Gillingham somehow survive, all be it, with a throw on down by the byline, and it is from this throw where there were calls for A Blackpool Penalty, Bradley Garmston throws the ball long down the line and Nick Anderton headers the ball forwards for Blackpool and Jimmy Ryan headers the ball on towards Armand Gnanduillet and Armand Gnanduillet and Connor Ogilvie are both competing for the ball down the left side of the penalty area and Connor Ogilvie has done enough to shield the ball back to Tomas Holy, But Armand Gnanduillet going down to the deck did see Blackpool Supporters appealing for a penalty, but I didn't think it was a penalty kick at the time, and looking at the highlights only confirmed my first thoughts that this wasn't a penalty for Blackpool.

There was a altercation between Jimmy Ryan and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez with Jimmy Ryan shoving Leonardo Da Silva Lopez which provokes a reaction from The Gillingham Midfielder and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez is booked for shoving Jimmy Ryan, and we don't want to see anything reckless from The Gills Now, But Blackpool are looking much more threatening in an attacking sense, Because  Max Ehmer has had to clear Nathan Delfouneso's dangerous cross and Barry Fuller has managed to kick the ball long down-field towards Tom Eaves and the ball runs through towards Brandon Hanlan, who runs towards the byline and manages to retain possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who runs forwards in possession of the ball before being penalised for clipping Jay Spearing and It is looking likely that Leonardo Da Silva Lopez will be substituted very soon.

However, Sixty Two Minutes Into The Match, And how Blackpool failed to score I have no idea, And the chance was created from the free kick Gillingham have just conceded because Christoffer Mafoumbi has kicked the ball long down-field and Nathan Delfouneso has flicked the ball on and Connor Ogilvie can only partially header the ball clear and Harry Pritchard gets on to the loose ball, sets himself up nicely to go for a curling effort towards the bottom left corner of the net which looked comfortable for Tomas Holy to save, But Tomas Holy has split the ball straight into Nathan Delfouneso's path and Nathan Delfouneso see's his follow up effort on goal from close range cleared off the line by Connor Ogilvie and Connor Ogilvie kicks the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and when your luck is in, your luck is in, And Gillingham then get very lucky from the resulting corner kick, Jimmy Ryan whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Mark Byrne has managed to header the ball clear and Jay Spearing passes the ball out-wide to Jimmy Ryan, who gets the ball under control before working his way through towards the byline and Jimmy Ryan see's his attempted pull-back blocked by Bradley Garmston and Jimmy Ryan scopes the ball towards Jordan Thompson, who hits his shot through a crowded penalty area and Connor Ogilvie clears the ball off the line and Marc Bola see's his shot towards goal deflect up into the air and Brandon Hanlan can only kick the ball up into the air and Curtis Tilt headers the ball towards Harry Pritchard who has managed to divert the ball into the back of the net with a diving header, but the goal won't count because The Blackpool Midfielder was flagged for offside straight away, I thought it was A Tom Eaves Own Goal at the time, but you have got to say that the defending from Gillingham was horrendous there and if Gillingham have had bad luck in recent weeks, then we are defiantly getting our fair share of fortune against Blackpool on the final day of the season.

Sixty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Jordan Thompson is penalised for his challenge on Leonardo Da Silva Lopez on the halfway line and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Darren Oldaker clips a high and hanging ball towards the back-stick and Marc Bola headers the ball clear and Barry Fuller gets to the loose ball first and passes the ball down the line towards Max Ehmer, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Max Ehmer passes the ball back out-wide to Barry Fuller, who see's his attempted pass cut out by Marc Bola and Gillingham have been awarded a throw on, and from here, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who plays a one / two with Barry Fuller and Leonardo Da Silva Lopez passes the ball back to Max Ehmer, who passes the ball square to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards to Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who spins past his marker and goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Regan Charles-Cook down the left side of the pitch, And Regan Charles-Cook is twisting and turning and causing Blackpool a lot of problems defensively and Regan Charles-Cook passes the ball back to Mark Byrne on the edge of Blackpool's Penalty Area, And Mark Byrne passes the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston, who uses his pace to get himself towards the byline and Bradley Garmston's low cross is blocked by Jay Spearing and Blackpool manage to survive that latest attacking onslaught on to there goal.

Blackpool managed to win themselves a corner kick a minute later when Armand Gnanduillet see's his low cross across the face of goal blocked by Max Ehmer and the hosts were awarded a corner kick and a chance for Blackpool here to score a consolation goal, And before the corner kick could be taken, Alex Lacey comes on to replace Leonardo Da Silva Lopez, who was starting to tred on thin ice after picking up that yellow card, and Mark Patterson is going to switch formation and play with three at the back with Barry Fuller and Bradley Garmston at wing back, And from the resulting corner kick, Jimmy Ryan's in-swinging cross towards the far post is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And Max Ehmer makes sure that Ben Heneghan cannot get on the end of Jimmy Ryan's Cross.

Sixty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Jimmy Ryan is penalised for a high foot on Mark Byrne on the halfway line and this free kick just eases the pressure on The Gills, But there was the possibility of Blackpool causing Gillingham problems defensively a minute later, and Marc Bola goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, and Marc Bola's pass out-wide towards Nathan Delfouneso is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, and with the recent goal-line scrambles and a element of luck (and how Gillingham have not conceded I have no idea) You just know that today is going to be your day, Blackpool then are forced to pass the ball back to Christoffer Mafoumbi, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Christoffer Mafoumbi passes the ball out-wide to Nick Anderton, who passes the ball back to Ben Heneghan, who kicks the ball long down-field and although Connor Ogilvie wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops kindly to Armand Gnanduillet, who gets the ball under control, and Armand Gnanduillet passes the ball back to Jimmy Ryan, who passes the ball out-wide to Nick Anderton, And Nick Anderton takes a touch to control the ball before dropping the ball back to Jimmy Ryan, who manages to pick out Harry Pritchard with a threaded through-ball down the right side of the pitch, And Harry Pritchard cuts inside and whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is headed clear by Max Ehmer and Jay Spearing manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Curtis Tilt, And Curtis Tilt see's his attempted threaded through-ball cleared by Max Ehmer and Blackpool header the ball back to Christoffer Mafoumbi, who rolls the ball out-wide to Jimmy Ryan, And Jimmy Ryan gets the ball under control before passing the ball short to Nathan Delfouneso, and Nathan Delfouneso passes the ball back to Curtis Tilt, who passes the ball back to Christoffer Mafoumbi, And Christoffer Mafoumbi passes the ball out to Ben Heneghan, And The Blackpool Defender lays the ball off to Jimmy Ryan, who passes the ball forwards to Armand Gnanduillet, And The Blackpool Striker lays the ball off to Nick Anderton, And The Blackpool Left Back passes the ball inside to Jimmy Ryan, And Jimmy Ryan looks to pick out Nathan Delfouneso with an attempted cross-field pass and Barry Fuller wins the initial aerial challenge and Darren Oldaker has kicked the ball clear, and from here, Blackpool manage to create a decent goal-scoring opportunity because Jay Spearing runs forwards in possession of the ball and Jay Spearing threads the ball through to Armand Gnanduillet, And The Blackpool Striker manages to hold the ball up before flicking the ball around the corner to Nick Anderton, who manages to cut inside and shoot and Nick Anderton see's his shot on goal blocked by Connor Ogilvie and the ball ricochets back to Harry Pritchard who is flagged for offside by The Linesman.

Seventy Three Minutes Into The Match, And I thought the foul awarded against Brandon Hanlan for his challenge on Curtis Tilt was harsh, But it was from this free kick where Blackpool manage to win themselves a corner kick, because Christoffer Mafoumbi kicks the ball long down-field and Armand Gnanduillet wins the initial aerial challenge and Alex Lacey can only partially clear the ball to Marc Bola, who passes the ball inside to Jay Spearing, And Jay Spearing passes the ball forwards to Armand Gnanduillet, who manages to lay the ball off to Marc Bola, and Marc Bola passes the ball out-wide to Jordan Thompson, who see's his cross charged down by Barry Fuller at the expense of conceding a corner kick, And it is from the resulting corner kick where Blackpool almost scored a consolation goal, Jimmy Ryan whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Curtis Tilt's Header towards goal is brilliantly saved by Tomas Holy and Gillingham manage to clear there lines thanks to Mark Byrne and anywhere will do, Blackpool deserve a goal based on there second half performance, But a combination of excellent goal-line clearances, saves by Tomas Holy and luck has prevented Blackpool from scoring, Now if Tom Eaves is going to score a brace in what will likely be his final game in A Gillingham Shirt, then it would be great to see Tomas Holy keep a clean sheet as well, because there is the very high probability that Tomas Holy will move on in the summer as well.

There have been a few throw on's and Connor Ogilvie shielding the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On As Gillingham just look to keep the game quiet for a few minutes and kill off any momentum that Blackpool are looking to build in the closing stages of the match, And In The Seventy Eighth Minute Of The Match, Callum Reilly comes on to replace Darren Oldaker and Callum Reilly just gives Gillingham that bit more experience to see our the closing stages of this match, But there is no doubting the ability or potential that Darren Oldaker has got and with no last day relegation battle for Gillingham at the end of The 2018 / 2019 Season, this was an opportunity for Darren Oldaker to get a good seventy eight minutes of league football under his belt, but next season, we need to see Darren Oldaker making more appearances for Gillingham's First Team, and that will be something that Gillingham's Next Manager will need to do next year, get the best out of Darren Oldaker.

Liam Feeney has also come on to replace Jordan Thompson as Blackpool use there third and final substitution, And In The Eightieth Minute Of The Match, Brandon Hanlan is then flagged for offside, And In The Eighty Third Minute Of The Match, Jimmy Ryan is penalised for his challenge on Regan Charles-Cook and perhaps an element of frustration from Blackpool because Gillingham just look like they are slowing the tempo of this game down and we're settling for three goals, It's more about keeping the clean sheet then scoring a fourth goal as far as Gillingham are concerned, And from the resulting free kick, Tomas Holy kicks the ball long down-field and Barry Fuller flicks the ball around the corner towards Tom Eaves, who is forced to run wide in possession of the ball and Curtis Tilt times his challenge to perfection and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And there is an off the ball incident between Curtis Tilt and Tom Eaves and the whole incident just spirals out of control with an off the ball incident and when everything has calmed down again, Tom Eaves, Curtis Tilt and Christoffer Mafoumbi have all been shown yellow cards and this incident just adds a bit of fire back into the game, because this match looked like it was going to head to The Full Time Whistle without any controversy, However, the decision to book all three players was in-fact the correct decision.

And after that incident Elliott List comes on to replace Tom Eaves With - Tom Eaves, we want you to stay - being clearly sung from Gillingham Supporters in the back of the away end, No hat-trick on the final day of the season for Tom Eaves, but the contribution that Tom Eaves has given Gillingham Football Club over the past two season's has been magnificent, he has been first class, eighteen goals in The 2017 / 2018 Season and Twenty Two Goals In The 2018 / 2019 Season, And even in games where Tom Eaves hasn't scored he has contributed to the team, like all strikers, Tom Eaves has had a spell where the goals had dried up and I am just so pleased to see Tom Eaves score two goals on the final day of the season which will give us Gillingham Supporters a nice send off, and a find farewell for a striker who has been top draw for The Gills, and I can only wish Tom Eaves the very best where-ever he ends up next season.

Eighty Seven Minutes Into The Match and I have no idea how Curtis Tilt climbs all over the back of Brandon Hanlan and wins a free kick for Blackpool when Brandon Hanlan was the player being fouled, shocking decision from Referee Ollie Yates, And A Minute Later, Alex Lacey kicks the ball into touch and concedes a throw on and Gillingham are not taking any chances at the back, opting to kick the ball clear rather than play our way out of trouble, And From Here, Blackpool had the chance to score what will surely be a consolation goal now, Marc Bola throws the ball back to Curtis Tilt, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Curtis Tilt passes the ball to Jimmy Ryan, who takes a touch to control the ball before turning back on himself, and Jimmy Ryan passes the ball towards Nathan Delfouneso, who lays the ball off to Jimmy Ryan, And Jimmy Ryan fires a fiercely driven effort well wide of Tomas Holy's Right Hand Post and the chance has gone for Blackpool.

Bradley Garmston is then fouled by Liam Feeney on the halfway line just as the clock ticks ninety minutes, Armand Gnanduillet mis-times his challenge on Regan Charles-Cook and no foul is awarded in Gillingham's Favour and play continue's with Blackpool in possession of the ball, Regan Charles-Cook is then penalised for his challenge on Liam Feeney and Blackpool have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Harry Pritchard whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Brandon Hanlan headers the ball partially clear and away from danger, and the second ball drops kindly to Nick Anderton, who fires a fiercely driven effort towards goal which is blocked and Gillingham manage to clear there defensive lines, and for the final noteworthy moment of the match, Barry Fuller manages to shield an dangerous in-swinging cross out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And Referee Ollie Yates blows his whistle for full time, And Gillingham have won 3-0 at Bloomfield Road.

FULL TIME: BLACKPOOL 0-3 GILLINGHAM

The Gillingham Players came over to The Gillingham Supporters after the full time whistle, and the players applauded the supporters, who, likewise showed there appreciation towards the players, With Tom Eaves getting the bulk of the player chants after the full time whistle, I also took quite a few pictures of the players grouped together after the full time whistle, and that's it, Forty Six League Games, One League Cup Game, Five FA Cup Games, Three Football League Trophy Games, Three Kent Senior Games, That's Fifty Eight competitive matches I have gone to this season, along with the number of pre-season friendlies I went to before the start of the season, there have been high's, low's, and plenty of long away trips, like traveling to Hartlepool United, Sunderland and Plymouth Argyle on A Tuesday Night, Blackpool, Fleetwood Town, Accrington Stanley, and Rochdale are not away trips for the faint hearted either, But Gillingham end this season on a high.

I said c ya to plenty of familiar faces and couldn't hang about for too long, because I needed to make my way back to The Kings Ferry Coach, And once I was back on the coach again, and back in my seat, I was able to update to post My Full Time Comment On Twitter With The Following,,,, FULL TIME: BLACKPOOL 0-3 GILLINGHAM - Brandon Hanlan and Tom Eaves x2 got themselves on the score-sheet for Gillingham in what was a magnificent first half performance from The Gills. Second Half, I have no idea how Blackpool didn't score, But Gills end this season on a high., TWEET TWO: At the start of the season, If someone said Gillingham would end Thirteenth In League One and we would reach The 4th Round Of The FA Cup, Then I am sure we would have been delighted with that. I think progress has been made, But the challenge now is to build on 13th and improve (And not be five points clear of The League One Relegation Zone, Because the table looked very compact after Plymouth Argyle and Southend United both winning) Someone then said that this season was a disappointing season for Gillingham, And I replied with the following,,,, Is Thirteenth In League One and reaching The Fourth Round Of The FA Cup "A Disappointing Season"??? I do think we will be asking the question what could have happened to The 2018 / 2019 Season had Gillingham not had that winless run earlier on the season though. AND RESPONSE TWO TO THE SAME PERSON: Improving the home form whilst trying to maintain our current away form is going to be a challenge that is easier said than done for Gillingham's Next Manager But that 1-0 win against Cardiff City In The Third Round Of The FA Cup has to be the best moment of the season for Gills.

Also, This is another huge off season for The Gills This Summer, New Manager, New Coaching Staff, Which out of contact players will we release, which out of contact players will we keep, who will Gillingham sign, and what formation will Gillingham line up with for The 19/20 Season???

Tom Eaves Stats - https://twitter.com/HaydnParry/status/1124748802760630272 - - https://twitter.com/HaydnParry/status/1124727070435807232 - And how can we forget those two challenges from Barry Fuller - https://twitter.com/MJPhippsy/status/1124718374251061250 - 

Barry Fuller has been magnificent for Gillingham Football Club This Season, We stopped off at Norton Caines Services around 9PM and we were going to stop for thirty minutes to give supporters time to get something to eat and drink, What was strange was seeing the same group of Fleetwood Town Supporters at the same service station because we saw them earlier on in the day, And Fleetwood Town Supporters were saying Well Done Gillingham to us, Because Fleetwood Town dislike Blackpool with a passion, whilst we were in the services, I brought Nine Chicken Nuggets and Large Fries From McDonalds, And A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola from The NewsAgents, The queue for McDonalds was much quieter then it was compared to when we stopped off at Norton Caines Services earlier on in the day, and once I got my food and drink, I was back on the coach and we just needed to wait for a few more people and once everyone was back on the coach, we were on our way back home and Norton Caines is the final service station stop of The 2018 / 2019 Season.

There was 504 Gillingham Supporters in the away end at Bloomfield Road - Brilliant Turn Out - https://twitter.com/TheGillsFC/status/1124764391008870401 -

This link of Tom Eaves at full time deserves to be included in the post match report, I then posted these three tweets in a row ONE: So Gillingham end The 2018 / 2019 Season in style with a 3-0 Away Win Against Blackpool, And now that this season is over, I thought I would show my thanks and appreciation to everyone for all the comments and feedback throughout the season. TWO: So, When The League One Fixtures are announced on the opening day of The 2019 / 2020 Season in the middle of June, Who would you like to see Gillingham play on the opening day of the season??? AND THREE: I will go with one of Blackpool or Fleetwood Town Away, and get one of the longest away trips of the season done and dusted on the opening day. - I always prefer a long away trip on the opening day of the season, because Accrington Stanley away is far more appealing in August then it is on Tuesday Night in December, There were just so many comments, likes, re-tweets and feed-back (which makes traveling back from Blackpool fly by, even though the heating on at full blast cooked everyone on the coach and we could have done with the air conditioning on) I also sent another tweet as I was on my way back home,,, One of the reasons why Oldaker (and other players to be fair) have struggled when they are thrown in for the odd game is because there is no Reserve Team Football, I think the lack of competitive matches for players on the fringes of the first team is why they are not match sharp, I think Reserve Team Football is needed next season, and give supporters free entry, like we used to whenever I went to watch The Combination League Matches played at Priestfield Stadium, and I got to see DaveyD at those matches as well.

Whoever gets appointed as Gillingham Manager needs to build the squad around Regan Charles-Cook, Brandon Hanlan and Elliott List, And I think Darren Oldaker needs a breakthrough season where is no longer on the fringes of the first team and actually playing a crucial role in Gillingham's First Team, We cannot keep talking about Darren Oldaker as a player with potential and ability, and if whoever comes in as Gillingham Manager doesn't think Darren Oldaker is ready for the first team, then perhaps a loan spell would be beneficial to everyone, But I think Darren Oldaker should be given an opportunity to try and earn a first team spot before we start thinking about sending Darren Oldaker out on loan.

Southend United managed the great escape on the final day, and Plymouth Argyle, Scunthorpe United, Walsall and Bradford City have gone down, while MK Dons join Bury and Lincoln City In League One, And Tranmere Rovers, Newport County, Forest Green Rovers and Mansfield Town are the four teams in the playoffs, Mansfield Town, Newport County and Forest Green Rovers would all be new stadiums to go to, But Mansfield Town is easier to travel to and they are close to Nottingham Forest and Notts County as well, only one of Charlton Athletic, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Doncaster Rovers can get promoted into The Championship, I think Doncaster Rovers going up would make League One very competitive, especially with Ipswich Town and Bolton Wanderers coming down, And Southend United staying up means we get a much more local game to go to rather then going to Plymouth Argyle On A Tuesday Night.

We got back in Kent around 2.15AM In The Morning and by the time we gone through all the drop off points, I got drop back in Rainham at 2.30AM And I was back home at 3.30AM In The Morning, and Gillingham end this season on a high, with a win, a clean sheet, three goals, three points, thirteenth in League One, reaching The Fourth Round Of The FA Cup and Tom Eaves scoring twenty two goals this season, I still have one more match left this season (Well Two, The FA Vase and FA Trophy Finals At Wembley Stadium) But that would be it for me for another season and We will be looking ahead to see who is appointed as Gillingham's Next Manager, what backroom staff will he bring into the club, which players will he keep who are out of contract, which players will he release, and which players will he sign along with what formation will we line up with, There's going to be a lot to talk about over the off season.

But if we're traveling to Blackpool or any long journey on the coach, The Air Conditioning has got to be put on for longer, and there needs to be USB Chargers on the coach, I always take Portable Chargers with me for every away game now, But these long away trips do take it out of you, But I know so many Gillingham Fans who turned Blackpool Away into A Four Day Weekend, And finally, thanks to everyone for all the comments, feed-back, replies, re-tweets and discussions I had throughout the entire season, It has been greatly appreciated, and I am hoping I can look forward and enjoy The 2019 / 2020 Season (But who Gillingham Appoint As Manager could make next season an enjoyable or infuriating one for Gillingham Supporters), And if I was to pick my best Gillingham Game Of The Season, It has to be that 1-0 win against Cardiff City and seeing Gillingham first on Match Of The Day, It was a brilliant day and the trip to Swansea City was fantastic in the next round as well, And for the last time this season - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tikilimawmaw]

BRB

On the rare occasions that I care about my news feed, some things actually get my attention, aside from cute puppy gifs and stupid political fanaticism like wtf. Anyway, a “friend” shared this blog post about UPLB--my dear UPLB--and how uh-mazing that place is. I mean, I get it; it is a mystical, magical university (but not in a Hogwarts way) and, well, who could resist writing about, or instagramming it?

I apologize. I’m just at this point in my college life where I see everything under gray clouds, and I don’t mean the silvery kind. I mean dark, nimbus, let’s-do-relief-operations-after-this-storm, gray clouds. I hate that place, but every Monday when I return to the apartment there I’m always looking forward to walking the streets of Elbi. It’s weird.

Anyway, what I’m about to do is kind of a parallel narration according to the places described by the author/blogger. It’ll be a whiny, age-inappropriate sulking about how bad I feel in that wonderful place, but hey, I don’t know how to properly feel anymore. I need to do this.

(1 Baker Hall) The only fun I had in Baker Hall was Elbikon. Seriously. For one thing, the interior is very old--wooden steps, dramatic windows. Nothing wrong there; someone’s doing a splendid job on preservation (except that the temperature rises over unbearable degrees). Here’s the problem: the string ensemble of UPLB practices there. I hear violins, and I hate that. I hate missing the violin. It’s a piece of me that just doesn’t fit perfectly anymore when I try to get my shit together again. I mean, it fits, but not exact-o.

(2 Carillon Tower) For four years I’d lived in the same dormitory and every time I needed a jeepney ride, I pass by the Carillon Tower. It’s peaceful there; I hang around on my own and no one disturbs me because everyone else is too busy cuddling with his/her SO. It’s too peaceful actually, that all I could think about is that a pool of blood is too obvious at the foot of the tower. Besides, the gates are locked. No potential here.

Backspace. BACKSPACE.

(3 Student Union Building) Sigh. SU. Where do I even begin? Oh, wait, I need to get a number before I begin. Approximately 56 minutes before I get called. LIES! It’s like all you want to do there is rush in, get things done, rush out. But you can’t. Because you’re queued. The bathrooms are okay, I guess. I thought that SU was supposed to symbolize the university embracing the student, making them feel welcomed and that they are free to do whatever hell they want (bleargh). That’s funny, because I feel more welcomed by the river behind it. 

(4 Trees) I have this theory that the trees in UPLB are majestically large because they feed upon the souls and hopes and dreams of thousands and thousands of students, on-time and delayed, every semester. This may be only in my head, but I honestly feel like my energy is always drained when I’m there. Maybe that’s why Thursday is drinking day: so students can at least carry on through Friday and the weekends without feeling like shit. Me? I drink Mondays. And Tuesdays. And We--

(5 DL Umali) I don’t think I’ll ever walk the stage of DL Umali with pride and confidence ever again. I used to be a student achiever: college scholar and honor roll, promising GWA. I shake hands with the dean; I get a certificate. Now, I’m just a probationary student with nine failed units and one INC that all happened in one epic semester. Epic fail, that is. 

That’s not all. Our org holds our annual exhibit in the gallery at the basement. And I haven’t had any WIPs for a year. I can’t stress enough how I lost my will to draw. Recently, art has only been a way to calm me down. That’s great, right? At least I still have it. God.

(6 Nihon Koen) I think I’ll be seeing this torii regularly starting Tuesday. It’s a fun way to travel down from the UHS, where the psych is in TTh 2-5 pm. 

UPLB Tip #562: There are desperate pervs in pretty decent bathrooms. DO NOT give in to the temptation no matter how much of your life you’ve given up, because you can get sick. Or pregnant. Or worst, videoed. Besides, his dick was tiny.

(7 Thai Pavillion) Hang around this exotic gazebo every afternoon before dusk if you want to ogle at fit people stretching, and jogging, and basically all other things you don’t have the energy for, a.k.a taking care of your body. Plus, they have dogs. Dogs are one of the reasons I don’t let go.

(8 Freedom Park) Again, a haven for healthy people: F-park. Fit park. Food park. Fuck park. Whatever you wish: it’s Freedom Park. Here’s a tip: unless you’re a Jesus person, don’t sit on the benches alone. Or at least have the guts to say “no, I don’t wanna hear about the five things that I need to know to be saved.” And besides, sitting alone on a bench in front of a lot of parked cars for a few hours is creepy. There was this one time I thought this old guy in his car was actually watching me. I could take the attention but that just sounds really slutty. Try sitting at the grandstand instead. 

(9 Mariang Banga) It doesn’t matter what religion or cult you belong in: Mariang Banga is real. Ask permission before picking a flower, apologize for stepping on grass, always appreciate the weather no matter how insufferable it is, because she has power over this land, you mortal. (I still think she cursed me with a hole for a heart and a jelly for a brain.)

(10 Palma Bridge) There was a time in my early college years when Palma Bridge was called Sperm Bridge but I won’t give any hints. Get it? Hint? Like, odor? No? How about “call of the void”? “High place phenomenon”? Urge to jump? Still no? Good.

(11 Molawin Creek) This river is the same river I was talking about. It actually runs pretty far. In one of my stupid adventures pre destructive semesters, I tried to discover what was behind my then-dormitory. You guessed it: a forest. Hah okay, the river comes after it. There was this spot that I liked--clear and cold water, decently dry rocks, some shade, no one else around. Bathing naked was fun. But on my next adventure, I got lost, so uh-uh I’m not going back. Or will I? (I conclude that these adventures comprise a death wish.)

(12 Park behind humanities) Behind CAS Building is this construction where we get rubble from. And the mound of gravel that was never removed served as another seat for our tambayan, where I always feel so awkward. 

(13 NCAS) One question: how the hell can I get on the NCAS rooftop? Ideation aside, a top view of O-park would be nice. 

(14 Office of the University Registrar) Soon enough, the registrar will not include me in the list of officially enrolled students because ma’am, I am tired. I need a break. And probably my TOR.

(15 Hum/CAS) Pretend to be a younger batch if you look the part. I always do. It gives the illusion that I’m still full of hopes and dreams, and it’s a good excuse for asking about things that I should know. The three CAS buildings and Physci are the good places to do it. And Copeland gym. 

(16 Two roads diverged by O-park) Lots of walks to clear the mind // Beware acquaintances, tell them you’re fine. // Groups of friends walking, pretty intimidating // Cross the road, the other side is empty: your thing.

(17 Gamma SIgma) Yeah, well I always thought it was a shade for the CSB. Sorrynotsorry.

(18 Heritage Tower) My happy memories include playing UNO with my friends under the Kwek-kwek tower and reading the ridiculous vandals like “Jherehmie luv Ehllah 4rvr 24″. I have nothing against Jherehmie and Ehllah, but come on, that tower was [awfully] repainted. I miss the times when I don’t suddenly stop and stare at nothing while I play UNO or sing karaoke with my friends. It’s awkward; I catch myself doing it. Nope. Nope.

UPLB Tip #847: It never hurts to be observant. Get really observant until you’re almost being a stalker. But not really. There are always patterns for everything, and you just really need to be good at knowing them. For example, your crush. Your crush has a schedule; on TTh he walks out of this building at this hour, on WF he enters another. Where does he live? Which jeepney does he usually ride, kanan or kaliwa? Observation, not stalking.

(19 UPLB Gate) I’ll be back, I promise.

(20 CEM...thingy) Forget that weird piece of artsy nonsense, that buried building at the back with the swastika is the mystery. I never bothered to know the history, but hey, it’s dark, wet and eerie--must be zombies. 

(21 Raymundo) I always dub this as “not my turf”. Since I’m not familiar with it, I also have adventures here (just to be clear, adventure meant walking and exploring, nothing else). I’ll miss rolling under the gate after curfew and deciding where to eat (usually takes around 15 minutes).

(22 Never-ending bridge) Again, with the bridges. Look, it’s a long way down but the aesthetics are great. There’re these pretty purple (or were they blue?) flowers and a thick canopy of ferns and broad leaves. Die pretty.

UPLB Tip #1036: Don’t shut everyone out. Ever heard of “don’t burn your bridges”? Yeah, well if you’re that kind of person who possibly needs to utilize people in the future, then go. But geez is that all there is to connections, the utility? What about just having fun conversations together, and lunches and dinners? IMHO, the people you meet at your later years in college are more likely to become “colleagues” than “friends”. Unless he’s the one. Squeal.

(23 Forestry route) While the torii is my way down, this road takes me up to the psych.

(24 UPLB) I hate my house. I hate my school. I just want to be in between, in the journey. I know I’ll get to the two points at some time in my life but not now. A view from afar would be nice. “I’ll be there,” I would say, “just give me a moment to catch up.” I’ll be right back.

Welp. That was awfully long. So here’s the blog, again. Vivid pictures, beautiful words, I am nothing. 

Edit: She’s on Tumblr. OH NO.

[izzarail]

The Thing near the tracks

I work a part time job for the city of Houston as a porter. My work schedule starts in the evening and ends in the early hours of the morning. I'm picked up by my boss and crew from home. In the truck it's usually four of us going out to work, sometimes three if someone calls out or quits. We drive through out Houston and clean up centers owned by the individual or company that has hired us for our services. The job consists of picking up litter, sweeping stair cases, and using a leaf blower to blow, well, leaves and pine needles into piles to pick up. The job's pay is shit and the work is unbearably boring. But what can you do when you have no vehicle to help you have that better paying job? I'm not here to complain about my situation though. You see, last week something very strange happened. I'm still coming to grips with the whole thing. It feels like, a really bad dream except there's no waking up from it. No matter how badly I want to I can not deny what I saw. I'm hoping that doing this, posting what I've experienced will help me cope with the insanity that is slowly taking over my mind. Alright, here goes nothing.

It was a Tuesday night, and we arrived at our third center in Greenspoint area off 45. I believe the company was Tellepsen, or perhaps it was near their facility. Without getting into the boring details, we did our job. Picked the place clean of litter and checked the parameter for anything else to toss away or clean. On the opposite side of the building there was an abandon train track. All that was left of the tracks were the rails, it's tiles removed or some cracked from age. One thing I forgot to mention, I'm the only male on my crew, so for anyone who is aware of greenspoint area and what it is like, you'd understand when I say that I was usually the one to go off into the darker areas to clean or check to make sure we didn't miss anything. So I was the one to cross those tracks to the back of the building to go clean and make sure nothing else was amiss. Now, I'm not exactly a brave individual but I do this to help speed up the process for us to quickly leave the center so we can move on to the next one and hopefully end the nights shift early. I don't let the area I work in bother me at all and I tend to be ignorant of the danger I put myself in by being alone while I work. Stupid, I know. As I was strolling down the tracks pointing my flash light this way and that way to be sure all was done, I noticed what seemed to be a fresh puddle next to a big container. Seeing this both confused me and intrigued my curiousity because it did not rain the previous day or the day before either. I looked behind me and saw my co-workers at a distance finishing up their little area of the center, just to be sure I was in their sight in case anything happened. I approached the puddle and turned off my flash light as I got closer since there was a source of light on a building adjacent to the container. As I got closer I saw that it was no puddle of water but what looked like a fresh spill of black paint or tar in a perfect circle. I don't know why I was drawn to it, but as I looked closer the black spill shimmered in the light that was available. I pulled out my pocket knife and used it like a shovel to scoop up some of it up. Surprisingly, the black substance didn't slowly drip or slide off the blade. Its touch as well felt sort of gooey, it reminded me of blood when it clots up from an open cut. I heard the work trucks engine come to life in the distance, queuing me that we're heading out to our next center. As I'm getting up I immidiately smell something so fucking putrid it made me gag. I have a weak stomach to bad smells, so it took me a moment to regain my composure.

"H-help me. It hurts.. It huurts." Said a voice behind me. I quickly turned and saw an aged man dressed in ragged clothes. His face was twisted in a state of agonizing pain, the same black substance that was on the ground was stained below his lips and on his chin. He was gripping at his stomach and using his other hand that was covered with blood and more of that black shit to reach out to me.

"Help, help me! I'm in so much pain. My insides, they're t-tearing apart!", the man cried out.

Now at this point, I was frozen in place. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was chilled to the bone by the man before me. So many red flags were popping up in my vision. A voice in my head shouted "Run you idiot!" But instead I stood there dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. My boss pulled up behind me in the truck, its headlights putting us in a spotlight. I noticed the man's eyes were bloodshot red and tears were streaming down his face.

"Martha!" I called out to my boss. "Call the police, get a paramedic!" I meant to say this with courage in my tone, but it came out more hesitant and cracked like a young school child. I was frightened. Something didn't feel right and the goosebumps on my arm were a sign that none of what was happening was in anyway normal.

"Holy shit.. Quick, Jessica is on the other side of the building. Go and get her now as I help this man." Martha said. Martha's an old woman, but she doesn't let that stop her from defending herself from anything or anyone and is capable to flee if need be. I trusted she'd be alright, so I ran off to go and get my co-worker. I didn't have to go far. As soon as I crossed the tracks she was already coming around the corner of the building to us.

"Woah hey, what's the rush? Is everything okay?" She asked me. I just shook my head and motioned for her to come to the truck. When I turned back around I saw that the man and Martha were no longer in sight. Before I could even think of anything else, I heard her let out a blood curdling scream that made my heart stop. Jessica and I ran in the direction of the scream that was just on the other side of the truck. We went around the front end of it and saw Martha and the man. Martha was on the ground, hands keeping herself up and widespread panic on her face. The man was between her and us, his back facing me. He was groaning in pain, but.. His voice.. The sound of it seemed as if there were two voices in one. I can't explain it, but it wasn't his normal voice. He must have sensed our presence behind him, cause he began to slowly turn around and face us.

Fuck man.. His stomach was torn open and these.. These appendages were wriggling out of him. Instead of blood it was the same black shit I saw on the ground earlier that oozed out of his stomach. I saw his face.. My god his face. Twisted in pain, terror, confusion. As if to say with his expression "Why is this happening?" He let out one last groan. And I say this not because he then died, but more appendages came out of his mouth. Opening it beyond human possibility. All the while, the man moaned and groaned, still alive through it all. His eyes now widened to the monstrosity he has become.

"Get away from it! Run!" Martha screamed. The man, the.. The thing turned to her and slowly began to make its way towards her. His movements like that of someone carrying something heavy or.. In excruciating pain. One foot lifting, the other dragging behind with each step. Jessica took this moment and ran to the truck, jumping into the driver seat and putting it in reverse. She backed it up close enough for Martha to get up and jump in the passenger seat. She then cut the wheel to the left and reversed, turning the truck around towards me. All the while my gaze was upon the thing that just a few minutes ago was a poor homeless man. During the daring escape and saving our necks, the thing turned its attention to me and just looked at me. I could hear it breathing, no, wheezing. Though I'm not certain how given that the appendages were wriggling out of it's mouth. Before anything else could happen Jessica backed the truck up between us and without hesitation I jumped into the bed of it and she hauled ass put of the center. I looked back as we drove away and saw the thing look at us as we escaped. An ungodly scream came from it. Sound of both monster and what once was a man. I keeped looking at it as we drove further away until we turned a corner and the thing was no longer in site. I still didn't feel safe. My heart was racing, eyes wide in fear. At that moment and even now I could not believe what just took place. That eerie scream still haunts me. We never went back to that center. Martha checks it off on our list as if we did it each time a day comes for our scheduled route towards greenspoint. I haven't gone back to work in three days. I still feel its presence, as if it knows where I am. Martha called me yesterday to check on me. I could tell she was still shakened by the event. She told me she's taking a vacation. Her and her husband are going out of town. I hope that helps her. I wish I could do the same, escape from my home and never look back. You see, the thing is that yesterday I walked the dog in my apartment complex. As we passed up a dumpster he began to whimper and growl at something on the other side of it. As I said, I'm not brave, but I do the things I do cause they must be done. That, and curiosity always gets the better of me. I went to the other side of the dumpster to see what bothered my dog. My heart sank as I saw it and dread filled my mind. On the concrete next to the dumpster, was a puddle of that black substance. Now.. Now I don't feel safe at my own home.