#bc I don’t live in America I’ve never been to America and I have no intention of ever going there

[fierykitten2]

Funny thing I realised earlier: the UK elections this year happened on America’s fireworks day (independence day) and the US elections this year are happening on Britain’s fireworks day (Guy Fawkes day)

[wwandaslover]

STRANGERS | W.M

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x F! Reader

Warnings: A bit angsty, swearing, fighting, short little fic bc I’ve been gone too long

Summary: Wanda’s trying to get her boys back and Doctor Strange comes to you for help, trying to get you to kill your ex wife. Wanda’s not happy that you’re in the way.

You had been living your life as peacefully as you could ever since Thanos. You quit using magic, you moved across the country to Oregon. It was lonely.. but it was calm. You appreciated no longer having to put yourself under such immense stress, no longer fighting people and aliens, no longer worrying about stupid diets, no longer constantly feeling like you were going to die. It was amazing to be alone despite how boring it was.

You had heard about Westview from the news not long after moving to Oregon, and though it worried you to hear that Wanda was getting to such a horrible point, you couldn’t get involved and part of you didn’t want to. You and Wanda did not end on good terms, Wanda broke your heart. You were staying out of all of that shit, you were finally getting your well deserved lull.

It grew harder to not try and help Wanda the more you heard about her, you were constantly worrying about her wellbeing. Then to your luck, Doctor Strange showed up at your doorstep asking for help and disrupting your peace, telling you he had gone to Wanda and found out she’d been corrupted by the Darkhold, trying to kill America Chavez to go to her sons in another universe. It took him very little time to convince you to help.

He needed your help since you were one of the most powerful magic wielders, yet still not anywhere near Wanda’s level. Despite being stronger than you, Wanda couldn’t absorb your magic when used on her or it could kill her, you were a Green Witch. You wielded earthly magic while Wanda wielded chaos magic, and Strange wanted you to trick her into trying to absorb your magic.

You refused to kill the woman you had loved so dearly, instead you promised to help her. You wanted her to be happy and no longer hurt so much, despite how much you hated her for what she did to you.

+

Standing at Kamar Taj, seeing the dead bodies of sorcerers lying on the ground after Wanda used her magic to kill them all, seeing her walk over them like nothing.. it hurt you to see her now a shell of the woman she once was. Wanda stared at you with an icy glare as she stepped closer, annoyed that you were blocking her path to America.

Wanda laughed dryly “Of course, you’re the one they bring to stop me.”

You took a deep breath, swallowing thickly. Part of you wanted to hug her and the other wanted to punch her as hard as possible. You spoke calmly, “Wanda, I’m here to help you end this madness. I don’t want to fight you.”

Wanda hummed “I’m sure you don’t. You’d rather not die, I’m sure.”

You scoffed softly “I doubt you want to either.”

Wanda sighed in annoyance “You’re right, what I want is my sons. Now get out of my way.” She began stepping closer and you used your powers to push her back.

Wanda snarled and threw blasts of energy at you which you managed to dodge by a hair. Wanda lunged at you and grabbed you by the throat, squeezing your airways shut. You gasped and coughed, gripping her wrist, your eyes wide and full of shock. You kicked her harshly and Wanda instinctively let go.

Wanda stumbled back and shouted at you, “You little bitch, get out of my way!”

You coughed into your arm, glaring at her. Once your throat hurt a little less you shouted back, your voice slightly hoarse “Fuck you! You’re the one acting like a bitch!”

Wanda scoffed “You sound like a petulant child.”

You rolled your eyes at that, annoyed by Wanda’s comments “I have no idea how I put up with you for half a decade.”

Wanda raised a brow “You never complained about me when we were together, so I must’ve been alright.” Wanda pushed you aside and began walking inside the temple.

You caught her wrist and tried to pull her back but it didn’t quite work how you wanted it to, instead she simply dragged you along with her. After a few seconds Wanda looked back at you in annoyance. “Wh- are you seriously not going to let go of me? You know I’m just going to keep dragging you with me.”

You shrugged and tightened your grip on her wrist, trying to plant your feet on the ground but they simply slid over the stones as she dragged you. You got irritated by how your efforts fell flat, so you opted for tackling her. The two of you fell together and Wanda shouted, looking up at you “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you held her down and Wanda was distraught by the sweet sound. It had been a long time since you laughed like that around her. Wanda swallowed thickly and tried to speak angrily, but sounded more nervous than anything, “Quit laughing! What’s so funny?”

You shook your head, still laughing softly at the situation. “This is all so stupid..”

Wanda’s jaw clenched and she quickly became angry again, mad that you had called it all stupid when she was struggling “I’m trying to get my sons back, how is that stupid?”

You furrowed your eyebrows, your laughter dying out. “I’m not saying that you losing your kids is stupid, I’m saying us fighting is stupid. I also think you’re stupid for believing this’ll work, for believing those boys would just accept you as their mother when they already have one. I mean seriously, you can’t truly believe that they’ll immediately love you, or ever love you for that matter. This won’t go your way.”

Wanda roughly pushed you off and stood up, glaring down at you “Stay out of my way. I don’t want to hurt you.” She began walking away but you used your powers to throw her back to the ground, walking over to her.

“You are not killing that innocent girl! You have no right! She’s just a child, she doesn’t deserve to die, or to go through any of this! Think of how terrified she is!” You yelled at her, angered by her lack of humanity and remorse.

“I need my boys, you don’t understand! You aren’t going to stop me!” Wanda sat up and yelled back, her eyes tearing up. She didn’t want to kill anyone, or hurt anyone.. she just needed her boys.

You stared down at her, wide eyed and in disbelief of how she was acting. “Wanda, you can still have a family in this universe!”

Wanda scoffed and stood up, stepping closer to you “And how on earth would I do that? I lost Vision, I lost my boys, I lost everything!”

Your heart ached when Wanda brought up Vision but not you. You were her first love, and apparently the least important. You ignored your own feelings and spoke, “There’s still someone out there in the world for you, somebody you can love and have a family with.”

Wanda shook her head, wiping away her tears away with a scoff. “I don’t want anybody else, I don’t want other children. I can’t just replace Vision and my boys.”

God, you wanted to strangle her for acting like this. You wanted to be understanding, but she was making it so much harder than it needed to be.

You snapped at her “I’m trying to help you find happiness somewhere in this universe instead of giving up on a life here and ruining a different version of yourself’s life, so quit acting like a fucking idiot!”

Wanda stared at you with widened eyes, surprised that you had actually gotten angry at her. You were usually not the type to get mad, but when you did it was always hard to ignore.

Wanda muttered “Calm down, there’s no need to get so-“

You cut her off by yelling at her “You’re so goddamn selfish! You are condescending, controlling, possessive, overly protective, you are so infuriating and yet here I am trying to help you all because I care about you, and I still love you, but I also fucking hate you at the same time!”

Wanda sputtered slightly, her eyes still wide. Her expression was a mix of concern and shock, concerned because you were so upset, and shocked by what you had just said. You still loved her after four years of being apart.

“Are you serious?” Wanda scoffed. It had been years, you had to be over her. She didn’t want you to keep loving her, especially not after what she had done both to you and other people. She wasn’t a good person and you were.

You scoffed back, mocking her “Yes, obviously, I’m being serious. Can you quit being such a dick now?”

Wanda hated that you were still in love with her, she wanted you to move on and she wanted to move on as well. No matter how much she loved Vision he couldn’t fill the hole in her heart from leaving you. She didn’t feel worthy of your love, or your help, not after what she did. How she left you so heartbroken and then she just went and got together with Vision. She felt horrible for what she had done to you back then, and she felt horrible for leaving you again now, knowing she should immediately go back to you and mend your broken relationship, she could experience happiness for the first time in months, but she wouldn’t.

Wanda thought for a moment and decided to just ignore the whole situation, turning away and continuing to walk. “I’m going to get my boys back.” she muttered.

You watched her with now tearful eyes, your jaw clenched and your breathing turning shaky. You were done trying to help her. You shouted after her, “I’m going to finish this whether you come out dead or alive, Wanda!”

Wanda’s heart hurt from your words, but she kept walking. She still felt great love for you, but she needed Tommy and Billy. She needed them more than she needed anything else, even you. You knew that, and watching her disappear into the temple made your heart squeeze in your chest, you knew you had lost her but you weren’t going to give up on saving America from Wanda.

a decent amount of people have asked for part two and I kinda have an idea for part two, soo, go to my requests and ask to be put on the tag list, or ask in the comments.

[localemofreak]

I’m sorry (not really) but this needs to be said in the MCR fandom- I love every single member, no matter where you come from, but seriously I think this needs to be told.

‼️WARNING: SMALL RANT ABOUT MCR AND THE LONG LIVE THE BLACK PARADE TOUR‼️

I’m sorry but like, I have seen SO MANY people complain and be so ungrateful about this new MCR tour, and it’s genuinely driving me nuts.

(Btw this is copied and pasted from a little rant I made on discord)

Tbh I have seen A LOT of people complaining about the pricing of the tour tickets, and I understand that they were definitely super expensive but like, idk if people realize that literally MCR does not control the prices of tickets, at all- literally the venues do, so they have zero say in the prices- and none of the money goes to them anyway, it goes to the greedy ass venues, and the only money they get is from merch, it’s literally the same with every band- small or big, they get NO money from the tickets, only merch- that’s why bands are always like “please buy merch” bc that’s where they get their money from.. also MCR isn’t a small band anymore like they were back in the day- tickets are obviously gonna be pricey, that’s sadly how the world and economy works.

And I’m aware most of the rage was from the fact of bots buying and reselling tickets for thousands of bucks- is there things they could have done to prevent lots of bots from buying tickets? Most likely, but still- no matter what, it was going to sell out asap, and tickets were gonna be expensive no matter what- MCR cannot control that, it is not their fault. They are a big band, with millions of fans worldwide- they are going to take the easier route obviously with selling tickets, but I’m not denying that you can’t be upset- you have every right to be, but bots buying tickets is NOT the bands fault, so don’t blame them for something they literally can’t control.

And people saying they keep “teasing mcr5 but don’t give any mcr5 shit”, I’m sorry- but they have literally NEVER teased mcr5.. we just have fun as fans and suspect something new and out of the usual MCR related automatically equals MCR5.. but literally the band has never even mentioned, spoke, hinted, teased- ANYTHING about a new album..

And I’m sorry but I dislike these people who are like “if they aren’t gonna do a full tour for ALL fans, they might as well not do a tour at all-“ IM SORRY BUT I WANT TO SEE THEM.. I’m sorry for the fans overseas, but literally- there is people in North America that want to see them, so just because YOU can’t see them.. doesn’t mean the American and Canadian fans shouldn’t get the opportunities to see them. This will be my first ever MCR show I have ever seen and I’ve been a fan for YEARS- and i am so grateful and lucky to be able to see them, but just because they chose to do one section of planet earth (and they will definitely tour more after this, come on- just look at Gerard at WWWY.. is that really the face of a man who never wants to tour again??- MCR is going to do more tours.) doesn’t mean that those people shouldn’t get the opportunity to see them, y’all will still get your clips, y’all will get your photos- even if it was only a European tour, I wouldn’t be complaining about not being able to go, them touring only a small part of one continent in my opinion is better than no tour at all.

All I can really say is, let’s just let it cook- obviously they have things in store for us all, let’s keep the complaining down yk?- because I’m just happy that they are touring once again, no matter where the tour is. I’m just happy we get to see them again.

“They should have given people more time to prepare to buy tickets” Yeah 100% I agree, they should have definitely gave us a warning to save money up, but the people complaining about the tour in its entirety.. like, maybe they want to stay in North America to be close to family??- maybe they have other projects??.. and also maybe it is probably something to bring up the American people after everything went to fucking shit obviously with the election- I think people just need to be glad they are actually doing something instead of complaining and saying they shouldn’t tour at all, because no matter where they tour- fans are not gonna be able to see them, and some fans are, that’s how the world works- and complaining isn’t going to fix anything, in fact- it could cause MCR to either pause or stop the tour altogether in fear of being cancelled or controversy, literally they do not control the prices of tickets or what people do with the tickets- including bots, so don’t go blaming them for something they literally CANT CONTROL.

And honestly, I’m sorry but people shouldn’t be complaining about it being a basically only United States tour- like with everything going on in this country, it was the perfect time- because literally I think a lot of people needed a distraction from all the fucked up shit that’s happening over here.. and MCR is an American band with American members, so it’s obviously effecting them as well- so I really think this is a perfect and good thing for American MCR fans rn.

ALSO people saying “they don’t care” um.. they literally have enough money to retire and live the rest of their lives without doing shit if they wanted too.. they are literally taking time out of THEIR LIVES instead to go tour around and preform for fans, when they could literally just stay at home and raise their kids. THEY DONT HAVE TO DO THIS, this is literally a blessing that they are still touring, because they literally don’t have too, but they CHOOSE TO PERFORM- because they care about the fans, new and old. They want people to be able to experience seeing them live, because they are aware of the impact they make on people’s lives- and tbh, I think they are still VERY humble people compared to their level of fame- they still take pics with fans when asked, sign autographs, all that shit when literally they don’t have too- they still stay down to earth and give fans stuff when they literally don’t have too. So just because they aren’t going to your country, or you can’t get tickets- doesn’t mean nobody else is allowed to have fun and see them. And it’s obvious, they literally have more in store for us all- so people shouldn’t rush to conclusions and be like “oh but they are leaving out the rest of the fans!” No they aren’t.. trust me- they aren’t, they remember you guys, but right now they are doing this- and that’s completely fine, because it’s THEIR BAND, THEIR SONGS, AND THEIR TIME.

So right now, all I can say is- let’s just please stop complaining, because it won’t fix anything.. let’s just be happy that we are actually getting something from them. Please. You are allowed to be upset, but half of the things people are upset about- are completely out of the band’s control.. so don’t go blaming them- when genuinely, don’t they have to do jackshit.

And you guys are 100% allowed to be upset, sad, frustrated, angry- FEEL WHATEVER U WANT TO FEEL.. but literally my chemical romance owes nobody ANYTHING.. they are choosing to do this tour for the fans, when literally they don’t have too. So let’s just be grateful for what we are getting.

(Btw I am not saying that people are ‘too broke’ or hating, or anything like that- I’m just saying, instead of complaining because it literally won’t do anything- I’m just being honest here, we should be happy that MCR is at least still around touring, giving updates, things like that etc- when they literally don’t have too.)

[being-a-human-isnt-very-fun]

Therianthropy Alphabet

credit to @local-xenogender-icon for the alphabet!

A - awakening

I always remember running around pretending to be a deer and always drawing/seeing myself as a deer. I used to push these away when I was older and never thought about it until I realized that therianthropy was a thing and I wasn’t the only one experiencing it. After that I narrowed my theriotype down to a caribou (yes, I know there are subspecies but they’re all very similar so I just say caribou).

B - balance

My therianthropy affects the way I communicate with other people, and my hobbies. It doesn’t affect my work/school/life balance as much, aside from little “quirks” like being afraid of loud noises, being very attached to people, etc

C - city

I don’t live in a city, I live in a rural area, which I’m very grateful for.

D - diary

I do have an alter human diary! It’s mostly just documenting shifts or drawing, and also functions as a regular journal.

E - experience in the community

I’ve had an extremely positive experience in the alterhuman community on Tumblr, and I’m eternally grateful for this because it helped me untangle my therianthropy identity and figure out who I am. Other social media platforms, not so much.

F - friends

None of my friends know I’m a therian, but I have a friend who is a furry who I think suspects.

G - gear

I don’t really feel the need for gear, but I get why people like it. If I had enough money, I might look into buying something, but mostly gear is centered around foxes/wolves/cats, and it would be hard to find caribou gear. I would have to buy a commission which is very expensive.

I - identity

I only have one theriotype, which is a caribou. I’ve yet to meet another caribou, but I have met so many other deer, who have all been super cool!

J - jokes

I love making little jokes about my identity, because it is very silly if you think about it.

K - knowldege

On a scale of 1-10, I would say my knowledge of alterhumanity is a 7 or 8. I still have a lot to learn.

L - liking, loving

I don’t think I could’ve had a “better” theriotype, a caribou is a lovely animal that I am grateful to be.

N - nature

My theriotype lives in northern parts of North America, and in Europe. They are migratory, so they don’t have one specific territory or anything.

O - otherhearted

Tbh I don’t really know the difference between otherhearted and therianthropy but I don’t think I’m otherhearted.

P - popularity

My theriotype isn’t very popular (unless it’s Christmas). Fun fact: in North America, caribou are called reindeer when they’re domesticated, but in Europe, they’re always called reindeer.

R - real body

I get species dysphoria from time to time.

S - sex

I never really thought about the sex of my theriotype? It’s kind of hard to tell really.

T - traits

-fear of loud noises/sudden noise

-foraging for food (gardening mostly)

-head butting things

-communicating with grunts, moving my head, pointing with my feet, or flicking my “ears” (that don’t exist bc phantom shift)

-running/hiking in the woods and swimming

-flight instinct

Urges

I think this question was centered more towards therians with prey drive instincts, because my urges are mostly just to run away, swim in random bodies of water, eat the grass, and restlessness.

W - wondering

Leaving the question here for context: “How do you think you would look like, if you could psychically shapeshift into your therio/kintype? (Describe or put an image here!)”

Y - yarn

Leaving this question for context too: “If you wanted to buy/make a tail, would it be real fur or fake/yarn fur?”

Caribou don’t have tails…

Z - zoo (as in the place)

I like zoos that are there for protection of a species or rehabilitation. I think there can be a lot of abuse involved, though.

[housecow]

From chubby to full on obese😳

Do you stand out being on the bigger side around where you live or is it more of a normal thing?

well, i’m from san antonio tx which happens to be one of the fattest cities in america … i’ve never even gotten comments or weird looks about my size and i’ve been over 200lbs for yearssss. (i always wonder abt this bc it’s so strange? so many have had bad experiences w fatphobia but im just chilling. i think it’s bc of my boobs)

where i live now i def feel it’s more obvious i’m fat, though?? there are just a lot of thinner ppl!! but omg. i love seeing ppl in my neighborhood out walking n jogging and stuff while i’m on my ass drinking shakes n staying full for hours 🥰

don’t think i stand out too much yet at least… maybe when my belly finally becomes more noticeable than my boobs?? we’ll see :3 first time someone calls me a fat ass in public will be cause for celebration!

[facewithoutheart]

Ten Questions for Writers

Thanks for the tags @shrekgogurt, @artsyunderstudy, @youarenevertooold, & @roomwithanopenfire I’m enjoying all this navel-gazing a whole bunch actually & I’ve done this before but it’s been awhile… sooo

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 169 (niiiice)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? ~950k (yikes) although some of that is Birthday Man and collabs with people from WIP fest. Don’t ask me to do the math tho; that’s mean.

3. What fandoms do you write for? I’ve written for HP, Check Please, and RWRB although right now I’m mostly a CO writer with a toe dipping into 9-1-1. I have one Captain America fic posted and some WIPs I don’t know if I’ll finish. Nobody look at that AFTG fic; it’s pure crack.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Whoo boy do I have thoughts here. I want to be the kind of writer who replies to comments and I harbor so much guilt that I’m not; I know I miss out on opportunities to connect with readers, and I genuinely appreciate comments so much; I hoard them in my inbox like a greedy lil affirmation dragon. I write to engage and connect. So, like, I know I should but at the same time I hate forcing interactions. I like them to spawn organically. I keep my circle small because I get really emotionally overwhelmed and then I feel guilty when I can’t give people what they deserve. And I’ve also never been comfortable with compliments or gratitude, I don’t trust them. So here’s a bulk of emotional trauma no one asked for to say: I don’t reply to comments as often as I feel I should and I’m trying to release the guilt I feel about this while also recognizing that not commenting probably has a direct negative affect on my ability to meet my goal of connecting through writing and at the same time my mental health probably couldn’t withstand the pressure I would need to place on it to get to where I’m replying to comments regularly. Hi I’m a mess who’s trying to love herself and often falls short of that goal; aren’t we all?

5. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No.

6. Have you ever co-written a fic before? So many actually! I didn’t think I’d ever get to a place where I trust someone else to the level this would take but I’ve been really lucky to work with some amazing writers even if not all of those works went anywhere. I actually don’t even think I could realistically tag all the people I’ve collabed with bc I’m afraid I’ll miss someone and isn’t that amazing? Personal growth; we love to see her.

7. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Oh man. I want to just be lame and say it’s me and Mr. Face 🤣 I shipped us when no one else did. Um! Snowbaz is always going to have a special place in my heart, but I’m really leaning into Buddie right now because of age and wanting to explore people in their 30’s still figuring out their lives while battling PTSD and late-in-life sexuality realizations. For, um. Reasons.

8. What are your writing strengths? I do like my dialogue a lot; dialogue is often where I start my scenes and I develop from there. I think I’ve done a good job of honing my ability to vary action/dialogue/internality a lot. I also think I keep people engaged or maybe I just keep myself engaged which is good enough for me. Sometimes I’m funny although sadly not as much recently.

9. What are your writing weaknesses? I struggle with remembering to add in physical descriptors. (Like oh shit have I ever mentioned this character has eyes?) Logistics are a frequent source of pain. (Wait, where were their hands?) I think my plots are kind of basic and boring; I don’t come up with really vivid and detailed concepts. I use the wrong words for things. I really hate detailing out backstory. I have to reread my fics a million times to maintain character consistency. Etc.

10. First fandom you wrote for? Hey Arnold. I wish I could find those fics; I bet they suck.

Tagging 10 peeps @sillyunicorn @mostlymaudlin @martsonmars @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @ivelovedhimthroughworse @thewholelemon @palimpsessed @aristocratic-otter & @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[jewishbarbies]

There’s a post circulating rn that explicitly says it “doesn’t matter what Hamas did or does” bc it “doesn’t justify murdering civilians and children” … what about all of the innocent Israeli civilians and children that are murdered, tortured and raped by Hamas? Where is the outcry for them? Where is the rage and the upset for them? Anyone who tries to condemn hamas on that post is met with mockery and more applause for hamas. It cannot be any more clear to me anymore. Jewish lives don’t matter to these people. Innocent Israeli lives don’t matter. They want us entirely gone. - an American Jew who feels so alone in all of this.

(fwiw, I shouldn’t need to say it, but I agree that murdering innocent civilians is wrong regardless of who does it. But the fact that nobody will extend the same sort of consideration and compassion for Israelis and Jews is insanity. There are multiple victims of this war. Israelis are not their government.)

it absolutely stems from the blood libel. the “Israeli soldiers sit on rooftops and purposely shoot little kids in the genitals with rocket launchers” bullshit. like, yes, the IDF is toooootally wasting entire rockets on random kids that happened to be perfectly in the middle of the town square and witnesses could abbbbbsolutely tell the rocket was aimed at their crotch. this disgusting shit is so rampant right now. and acknowledging the falsehoods spreading does not mean negating the actual harm done - it’s simply being responsible in the spread of information about a very serious, very real conflict with real world consequences for misinformation. there are children caught in the crossfire of this conflict and have been from the beginning. but the way we talk about these groups is so fucking important.

every day there’s new info on how an actual UN backed group aided and participated in a terrorist attack where woman and children were raped, mutilated, and murdered. so many were burned alive. raped to death. people were tortured to death on their own FB livestream specifically so their families could watch. how is that at all NOT the same as the blood libel conspiracies, but real? I’m young but I’ve never seen an international event like this SO denied by the masses and I can’t help but wonder if this is what it was like for the jews that survived the holocaust and found out no one actually cared. no one wanted to join the war to free them, many thought it would be amaricans coming to save them, but most of america didn’t believe it was happening and owned a copy of TIME’s hitler cover magazine. there were nazi rallies in madison square garden.

I don’t like holocaust comparisons, but socially this feels so similar to what we know about those times, and it’s genuinely terrifying. it’s not just a sad time online. real people can and will be lost over this.

[the-owl-tree]

I’m gonna try and make my point again but on anon bc worried of harassment if Certain People don’t agree.

the christofascist themes in warriors I’ve only been able to notice because they align pretty well with patterns I’ve noticed in my own life. clan life (and starclan) HAS to be the only way for cats. it has to be accepted willingly, or forced upon the “lesser” groups (see, atheist or simply non christian) or they will be destroyed in some way. chased off their own land, killed, assimilated, etc. the clan cats are colonists just like eropean christians. see, squirrelflight’s hope. why does no one challenge the clan’s ideas that they are entitled to land, any land, that would benefit them? even if other cats live there? because they aren’t christia- I mean clan cats so they’re lesser and their lives are expendable. see again, squirrel flight’s hope.

I know the conflict of that book that everyone remembers (other than the abuse apologists and kids who don’t understand) is bramblestar abusing squirrelflight for 464 pages (and then getting her sister killed but he’s a man so it’s okay), but the glaring problem is the author’s bias on people different from them. there was absolutely no reason the only cat loudly protesting the slaughter of expecting mothers and children was the protagonist. and she was treated as though she were in the wrong, and punished over and over again in this book alone. remember they hate squirrelstar and her ideals. heinous, genuinely. and there wasn’t even a good resolution to that! moonlight died! the sisters had to leave! and then helped them in the next arc! what the fuck! anyway

one will note how christians are known to refer to non christians as “wicked” “evil” “dark” “lost” or other terms to make it pretty clear they think less of you for not sharing their faith. the clans the same. even through uncontrollable circumstances such as birth you are shamed in this society and downright humiliated on a good day, attempted murder on a bad one (stormpaw, featherpaw and stonefur)

and the victim mentality the clans have along with the paranoia that they are constantly at risk of being wiped out despite there being like 30 cats in their fucking colonies at all times. there is always a war on christianity. there is always a fight the clans have to win to survive. they always have to kill someone else, lately someone minding their business, to survive. they have to impose themselves on other cultures because they are the True way of life and they never have to be confronted with the idea that they are just as flawed if not more than their counterparts. and if they are, conveniently their opposition is killed off or written to submit later on proving them right. I will not include bloodclan and the kin in this because they were legitimate threats, even if in a way they were also caused by clan culture.

the most glaringly obvious example of why I believe warriors and christofascism overlap outside of the need to force themselves on everyone, is the inability to question anything without severe punishment. you cannot question god without threat of eternal damnation or being ostracized from peers and even attacked. you cannot question starclan without threat of eternal damnation and the same. even when there is no logical solution but to admit that they’re wrong and cruel and just as petty and dangerous as the dark forest, in the end the lesson is that you should listen to starclan, never doubt, never question, or you will be punished. and there is no hope for redemption even if you offer yourself to be used.

that is the issue I have. and it’s a very obvious one that I’m sure I’m not the only one who says something about it, but depending on where you live, I live in southern america, it’s not hard to see parallels. do I think it will ever escalate to the severity of reality? no. probably not ever. but the fact that I can see it is what worries me.

again not very well written, and I even got anxious towards the end so my apologies if it’s hard to follow or too sloppy! just wanted to share my thoughts even if people don’t agree.

This is really interesting, thanks for sharing!! I thought it was pretty illuminating, as I'm someone who's never heard of the term Christofascism. I don't know enough about Christian discourses or the subject at hand to commentate too much unfortunately, but I really appreciate your taking the time to write this out for me. If you're interested in expanding this further, I'd actually recommend looking into some texts on decolonization, as a lot of what you wrote hit on points similar to that (in my opinion of course).

I'm not really the best person to asks for texts like that so I'm gonna link you to communistkenobi's reading recommendations on the subject.

edit: missed it so thank you to cicadaclan for pointing this out but i'd argue against the separation of bloodclan and the kin in this. bloodclan are literally written to be godless outsiders who hate families. the kin are the continuation of the evil outsider intent on destroying the clans. the kin, whether or not they were a threat, still fall into the evil outsider trope.

[jonquilyst]

MILAN VINCA for @king-tower's KISS & TELL

After his unfortunate early exit from @/flocy-sim's BC Nestled with Nafisa, Milan has enlisted the help of his brother Amias (who is a famous actor and knows a thing or two about the showbiz) and found the casting call of Kiss & Tell! A little different from a traditional BC, but Milan knows his famous brother would love to see him on TV again!

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name: Milan Vinca (pronounced MEE-lawn VEEN-kuh. He's not named after the city and instead has the Slavic name that happens to be spelled the same)

Age: Young Adult (late 20's)

Pronouns + Gender: He/Him, Male

Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Panromantic Pansexual

Hometown: Chestnut Ridge

Likes: Blues and ranch music, the colors orange and brown, horse riding, silly behavior (comedy, jokes, pranks, potty humor), affection, funny people, nature enthusiasts, pet enthusiasts, rascals, homebodies, arid locations, and wide open spaces

Dislikes: Small talk, pessimists, and arguments/argumentative people

A secret you want to share with the world: Besides the single date in the BC he was on, he's a virgin to anything and everything love and dating. He's never dated anyone, never had a serious relationship, hasn't kissed anyone, etc.

BIOGRAPHY

History: Milan was born in San Myshuno to a single father who had a little oopsie when hooking up with a woman one night… However, he wasn’t the only oopsie. Milan has an older half-brother, named Amias (uh-MAI-us), who is only 6 months older than him because he too was an oopsie after a hook-up. His father moved him and his brother out to Oasis Springs when they were toddlers, and it was here that Milan discovered his love for the desert and horses. He has loved horses since he was a child and has always wanted to own his own country home in the desert with lots of land so he can ride into the sunset every day. Eventually Milan and his family moved into a smaller home in coastal San Sequoia, where he spent his teen years. During this time he missed the desert of Oasis Springs and was impatient to return, but as if it was destiny, his father met horse trainer Sienna Grove and the two began dating. They eventually became exclusive and after Amias moved out, his father and Milan moved to Sienna’s residence in Chestnut Ridge, where he currently resides. His father is now currently engaged and Milan is close to his future step-mother for their similar interests and the fact that he gets to live with her horse Flapjack.

Personality: Besides being a horse-lover, Milan is a goofball. He loves jokes of any kind, even mischief, and this stems from growing up in a lax boys-only family. In-game they all of the jokesters family dynamic with each other. However, Milan is the introverted one of the family (loner) and likes to primarily stick with people he knows, which makes it hard for him to branch out and meet new people. His preference for horses over people also tie into this, but with his family members busy building families of their own (his father marrying Sienna and his brother Amias just having his first child with his new wife), it may be time for Milan to meet someone new.

Fun facts:

He has a very diverse ancestry. He can trace his ancestry to Europe, Africa, India, Asia, and Latin America.

Since they’re only 6 months apart, he and Amias are close enough in age to have been apart of the same year in school, but their father kept them a grade apart so they could be separated and be allowed to make other friends besides each other

He’s a Sagittarius

His brother Amias is a famous actor, so Milan has a little notoriety for being his brother

Milan comes from my legacy family (that I don’t share on simblr bc I like having a family to play privately). He is a spare and is from generation 5 (Amias is the heir). As such, he is related to other sims I’ve submitted to people. He is the grandson of Marcella Vinca and the great nephew of Cylene Vinca (both seen here with Marcella on left and Cylene on right)

Once again, he is not named after the city in Italy. He has the Slavic name. He has this name because the Vinca’s have a naming convention in which the heir’s children’s names correspond to that heir’s generational theme. For example, his father (the gen 4 heir) was a serial romantic and dated a lot of people, so Milan’s name and his brother’s name each have meanings related to love.

PRIVATE DOWNLOAD IF CHOSEN

[fuck-customers]

💋Fuck you to my store who after all this time, after me bringing in thousands of dollars every single shift (I have to keep track of the numbers so I KNOW our profits are stellar), after putting me in a totally new job with more expectations and no pay raise for that, decided to finally give me a raise after six months of……….. fifteen pitiful cents. Even my boss himself said that was horrible and that he wished it was up to him because he’d pay me more. I just don’t understand how I practically live in this fucking store, I go above and beyond at a position I technically never even signed up for (still don’t understand why we didn’t get raises back then when we first opened our new makeup dept and were basically forced to do a much more taxing job for the same pay as before), just to still be tight on money. I don’t even have my own life anymore bc I’m always working. My answer to everything whether it’s friends or family or just something fun is always “sorry I have to work this weekend.” And all that just to still not be able to make ends meet? All that to get a slap in the face “raise” of fifteen cents? The second I walked out of that office I was looking for new jobs. It’s just hard because honestly nothing I can find can beat my stores pay, that’s how pathetic America is. Gotta love being effectively trapped by poverty wages amirite.

Wish me luck guys because all of this bs is bringing back my suicidal thoughts…. It was rly bad a couple months ago but I was able to mellow out somewhat, but this just reopened all of it. I’ll never be free from the capitalist machine, will I? My life is not even my own. Tell me, what is the point? What is the point of living if your life is owned by a dead end job? I just don’t understand how people can do this for years and years without offing themselves. Idk maybe I’m just a “lazy gen z” but I don’t think people should work their entire lives away, and for nothing at that because again, the pay is shit. So I’ve been extremely depressed because this is just not a reality I can accept. I would truly rather die than spend a third of my life (avg US worker spend 1/3 of their lifetime working) toiling away for shit wages. Truly my only hope is possibly getting on disability benenfits, but I doubt I’ll have any luck with that. I’m running out of options and I’m spiraling very quickly to the bottom so we’ll see if I’m the next body that gets churned up by the capitalist machine

Posted by admin Rodney.

[loplainlointhemorning]

i have tons of nightmares abt stuff that didn’t happen that’s just mental extensions of what I’m afraid could have happened or will happen. i was never consistently physically abused but my mom threatened to kill me at least once that I remember and so lots of my nightmares abt her are about her killing me. i also have tons of health related nightmares bc I know my parents will do anything to keep me away from a doctor. then there are the rape nightmares which are much fewer and farther between but are still prevalent bc it’s very upsetting that like…..had i and my first love been together the way we really wanted to I would likely be a victim of that and the only thing stopping her was a physical inability to get to me. also living in the city as a young femme-presenting person who’s pretty small is scary. then there are the getting yelled at dreams which are pretty standard, it’s just being screamed at and chased through weird areas. my least favorite are the ones that involve my family members dying or going missing bc I can’t stand that. like those are so bad I’ve considered staying home from class bc I don’t want to leave my house and upset the universe. THEN there are the short story nightmares that are basically epic narratives where I inherent different characters and those also really suck bc they aren’t restful whatsoever. but at least I am not dreaming about my ex girlfriends anymore god bless fucking America

[netherfeildren]

I read HSM when I was in Japan last week.

It was my first ever visit to this country, and my first ever overseas trip with a friend (I usually travel with family, and only had local trips with friends). And HSM is my first ever ABO fic. I have to say, reading smut in a hotel room at night before going to bed was a very relaxing way to unwind. But I also couldn't stop thinking about your masterpiece while looking at shrines in Kyoto, and also during the entire flight back home. Anyway, HSM is like a core part of this trip, which is definitely an experience I'll cherish forever.

Now, as I await the arrival of the finale, I'm going to write my first ever cover letter (send help, btw) in hopes of landing my first ever big girl job (send more help pretty please). Low key gonna make myself finish my shit first before I get to treat myself and read part 3!!!

Anyway, it feels like HSM is like this thing that bears witness to all these little milestones of mine, and I love your writing and your brain so much ugh!

Also omega reader is such a little princess baby and she wields so much power over him, slayyyyy!!! And girlita is really so dramatic and naughty and so cute 😭

japan!!! how exciting!!! i hope you had the most wonderful trip ever!!!

tbh i’ve never written a cover letter before (hallelujah) idk how i’ve finagled my way out of it every single time but i have, so i have no help there but omg big girl job!!!!! you got this!!!!! i believe in u !!!! i am now moving on from my first big girl job onto an even bigger big girl job and i am strangely, and for now, not nervous at all, but i’m sure that once the horror of all the responsibility kicks in i will be aptly terrified. advice to be given: pack your lunches and don’t eat out every day this has always been my own personal rule bc i like cooking and i used to waste so much money eating out (mom advice), talk shit responsibly — don’t forget they’re your coworkers and there are never ever Any secrets in an office Ever, pick your battles strategically and don’t forget it’s just a job and not the end all be all and you’re more important than corporate america (if that’s where you live sorry to assume) or corporate anywhere

GIRLITA!!!! i fucking love that hahahahhaha thank you so much for reading, for remembering little old me when you’re off on all your worldly adventures, for sharing this with me, for being here 🫶🏻 i hope you enjoyed the finale as well as the start of the story. i loved writing this one so much i found something so so special in her character and in the way she imposed herself on joel despite his fight against it. i’m so glad i wrote it and that i was able to share it with you 🤍

[iheartmoons]

asks for you bc i’m bored

fav food?

fav drink?

fav show?

fav subject? (i feel like i already know this one but i might be wrong so)

fav snack?

comfort food?

weirdest food you've ever eaten?

most out of character thing you've ever done?

wallpaper?

if you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

any phobias?

is there anything you’d wait in line for a week to do, see, or get?

if you could name your brain, what would you name it?

where do you want to travel the most?

you don’t have to answer all of them or any at all if you don’t want to!! they’re very random lmao

you can answer privately too if you’d like <3

OMG HI i should be sleeping but this is more fun:

(strap in bc it turns out that i cant choose anything for the life of me, and i enjoy oversharing)

fav food: i cant….choose. being a basic bitch id say like chicken curry and rice bc idk 🧍‍♂️it’s good. but uhhh i love chinese food generally, like oh man. duck pancakes w the cucumbers and sauces and uh, the noodles and the pork and chicken and dumplings and bao buns (i am aware this sounds terrible to others, but i am drooling)

fav drink: ooh oreo milkshake, or if we’re talking standard drink from the shop, specifically fanta fruit twist (it’s also the colour i would dye my hair btw). my go-to is always generally water tho 🤭

fav show: i cant choose…. maybe like friday night dinner, she-ra, and strong girl bong soon

fav subject: english <3

fav snack: OH um. i love choc chip muffins or choc chip cookies tbh, also brownies!!!!

comfort food: any type of chicken curry and rice

weirdest food i’ve eaten: i really haven’t eaten anything weird. i don’t eat any red meat very often apart from pork, sooo idk. (i’m thinking meat wise here btw) i guess i’d say pig intestines - look it sounds bad, but if you think abt it, lots of people are eating all the other parts of the pig w/o thinking about it. my bro once ate crocodile at a farm once tho which was pretty wild (apparently it tastes like chicken)

most out of character thing ive ever done: see i cant really answer this because i’m just so different in diff situations or w diff people, but i honest to god think that it’s saying i love you to all my online friends. like. id never ever do that in real life. i find it extremely hard to show my emotions, it’s so awkward and uncomfy.

wallpaper: for a moment there i couldn’t decide whether u were asking abt my literal wallpaper or my phone wallpaper…. i’m still unsure… but my lock screen is reg and sirius, and my home screen is the marauders. and if ur asking abt my bedroom, i got lilac walls 🙈

if i had an unlimited supply of smth, what wld i choose: ohhhhhh oh. fuck idk. ummm money??? lmao 😭😭😭 maybe time with my cousin (she’s my fav person and she doesn’t live in the same city + she’s going to uni after next year so my chances of seeing her are slimming)

phobias: the ocean/any big body of water, death (big big emphasis on this one) and ummm like dolls and clowns- actually i’m scared of so many things, the list could go on and on

smth i’d wait in line to see/do/get: i’d wait in line for a hug from mitski tbh

if i could name my brain, what wld i name it: WHAT SORT OF QUESRIONS ARE THESE 😭😭 good lord. id name it the fucking universe. i had this thing when i was younger where i started this universe and kept building characters upon characters until there were hundreds and i knew each of their intricate storylines and id act them out and it was actually bad bc i couldn’t focus on anything else for literal years (there you go, big moons secret - not rlly a secret, i’ve said it before) so yes. there is an entire universe up in my brain probably.

where do you want to travel the most: i wanna go to the south of france + tokyo + venice, but i heard it’s not all that. my fav places that i’ve been to are vietnam and america which r two very different places and i adored them - vietnam more for the food and culture and surroundings, american more bc of family + tourist attractions + theme parks. so. maybe one of those wins.

[blackwidowmarshal123]

Thoughts

Hello Everyone,

This is blackwidowmarshal123 reporting to you. I have been in a maze of thoughts lately. I have been working at this job for almost 8 months, and really loved it. It gave me the challenge I needed. It was the only place where I felt supported and needed. I felt like an important team member. I was very grateful for what I’ve had. I only had to make space for having a good time outside of work, I needed time for hobbies. I had goals, like wanting to learn coding, saving up for a Masters Degree and choose a subject. Unfortunately, I lost my job, not bc I was fired (thank god), because of a bank scam. I had no choice but to look for work elsewhere. Tried to interview at retail stores, shops, corporate offices, remote, but everyone is rejecting my application. Even Amazon, Google and Disney. Like I don’t understand why I would be unfortunate in the inability to land a job. All they care about is finding the best of the best for their company, to a point where they don’t think about those want a place, too. There’s only certain people in the spotlight all the time. I don’t get a chance, because I don’t stand out as an applicant. And no one is interested in me. Maybe it’s America and the job industry becoming more unfair each year. I know I have a history of being replaceable in every design job I worked at. Maybe if I worked in a different country, I’d become more stable.

Some jobs, like retail, want to see people with full availability, weekends and weekdays, holidays. If not, you can’t get the job. Even a job like Entry Level, you just entered the industry, they want to see you take on things fast. They want you to already be able to hit all nails in the right place in how long? A MONTH. By the 5th week is where my anxiety comes, where I have to see if I’m able to stay with the company for any longer. My self-esteem plummets at that point. I’m frustrated, pacing back and forth, not being able to sleep for nights. I can’t stand the pressure. If I can’t land a design job, imagine how hard it would have been for people to respect me for what I do. They always are going to compare me to other professionals, no matter what. I could lose my friend’s respect, family will frown on me.

I just wasn’t sure what was coming next, what is supposed to be the next step for me. I know everyone has a set of milestones to reach, I felt like I wasn’t reaching many through my life. I even wanted a relationship. I wanted love, but the opportunities given to me weren’t good enough. I was scared of jumping into a relationship because of fear of disappointment, and this danger of getting trapped into someplace I can’t get out of. I’m aware of some women I’ve known, who always suffered, and things never got better. There were many more reasons to name outside of that.

I needed help, tried to reach out but I felt that barely anyone was actually able to help, the way I would imagine. In order to find a relationship, you will be told to put yourself out there, but the world isn’t pretty, because of it’s people. I can’t trust anyone I barely know, only those I’ve known for years, but I get tired of the same people I don’t care about.

There are people who are single and happy, living their best lives. There are those, like me, who are single, unhappy, and unemployed. The last thing, I wanna be told is that the workforce isn’t suitable for me, I should a housewife instead. Or worse, a spinster.

[adelaidedrubman]

i'd like to hear more about the johnjessie hallmark au :)c or even jenna and faith in the hallmark au whichever you feel more like doing (--direwombat)

THANK YOU BELOVED! sorry this took so long it got buried in my asks, but digging it back out in the spirit of the season. also apologies i got really carried away and did both and they’re both super long (partially bc i realize i’m running out of time to actually get anything written before christmas and still want the ideas Out There). DO NOT feel obligated to actually read any of this shit. also warning for sex and drug references on both. you know hallmark

so the johnjess hallmark au actually does in fact exist in full story form for anyone who would like to read it. the concept behind it was basically to be a fun little experiment in parodying and playing with genre conventions the characters don’t fit with, both general and fandom specific. but the basic outline of the story is: 

takes place pre brothers reunion, whilst john is still john duncan and in midst of gentrifying his hometown. (play on the hallmark returning to your hometown thing).

in this universe jestiny’s family never moved from kentucky to north dakota when she was 17. and with the appalachian trail still in reach, she decides to blow the small college fund she’d built for herself on living her dream of hiking it instead. 

she ends her journey in december in rome, georgia (this is technically ~70 miles away from where the appalachian trail ends irl, but it was close enough i decided to fudge it), wandering into a hotel that had previously (at the time jessie had started her hike) been a motel 6, but had since been torn down and replaced with a luxury hotel. and she doesn’t realize it’s christmas eve! 

she knows she can’t afford the hotel, but asks to use the phone because she just wants to call her mom to wish her a merry christmas<3 she’s america’s sweetheart<3

the hotel owner (john, naturally) Takes An Interest, and offers her a free room and invite to an extravagant dinner in the spirit of christmas. 

uh-oh! genre subversion time! jestiny is real life aware of how extremely predatory and disingenuous this all is and goes on a long winded diatribe dragging john for it and telling him he’s a selfish creep and no one will actually be thankful for anything he does ever and will only resent him and everyone like him. 

he’s like “so true!” and gets a boner about that.

jessie explains to the reader she hasn’t gotten laid in 6 months due to the appalachian trail thing and will be meeting john for dinner. 

they spend an hour or so verbally berating each other and being divorced. john pries into jessie’s actual reasons for avoiding her family and calls the dutiful daughter act out for the fraud that it is, possibly ambiguously admits to murder; jessie calls john out for gentrification while not actually knowing the word for gentrification (this was legitimately so annoying to write it honestly could have saved me 3k if she knew the word), calls him cringepathetic for needing to trick someone into having christmas dinner with him in the first place. somewhere in the middle jessie mentions she likes when it snows on christmas, john tells her he’s never seen that happen in georgia. they go back to fighting. it is not very hallmark. 

they resolve to hatefuck. 

on the way to do that they cut through the courtyard. 

re-engage hallmark mode: just in time, it’s snowing! they pause the hatefuck to experience childlike wonder and share a hallmark moment kiss and sit out and watch the snow instead. (another fun fact i found out while researching is that rome, georgia did receive snowfall on christmas eve for the first time in over a century in 2010 — which is another slightly off for their timeline but close enough i could fudge it thing.) 

to share new johnjess content with anyone who has read the original: i’ve also kicked around writing a morning after Christmas Day sequel to the hallmark fic proper but still just in the brainstorming stages because there’s a few different plots i’m considering. but here’s the possibility that’s been on the mind most. (and now that i’ve basically outlined it i feel obliged to go with this version…) 

they wake up the next day sick as shit because they sat out in the snow (what did you think was going to happen idiots this isn’t a hallmark movie) and have to spend all christmas day in painsuffering because they wanted their romantic snow watching time. (and also realistically probably fucked raw in the freezing cold five minutes after the camera cutaway because they can’t engage gratification delay long enough to make it to a bedroom in any universe ever). 

they still spend it together and attempt to take care of each other while bickering and dying. 

jessie screams at john for suggesting they order soup via room service because she’s taking a definitely principled and not just contrarian stance that he’s satan for having anyone staffed on christmas day at all. she berates him and storms out of the bedroom and starts rifling around his cabinets. 

he tantrums and yells and pouts by doing a line and chugging some scotch and storming out of the suite altogether to go for an angrywalk. it ends at the front desk and he (while visibly intoxicated) tells the kid at reception to go home, it’s christmas to Prove A Very Important Point to jessie. kid says it’s fine he doesn’t even celebrate christmas and john yells and tells him to shut up and start celebrating it because he’s spreading the christmas spirit.

scene of john trying to high and drunk and fever delirious work a minimum wage job for the first time in his life. 

he (probably while ignoring guests) makes a series of angry phone calls to his own room to brag to jessie he’s working the front desk himself on christmas, while sick, he hopes that proves to he’s not the spoiled, helpless elitist she thinks he is. 

she doesn’t answer, in his room or hers, which causes him to have a second freakout that she’s left entirely. 

probably right as he’s in the middle of max panic tantrum and getting ready to throw the lobby christmas tree into the fireplace because this is his worst christmas ever and he no longer believes in the holiday season, jessie arrives and asks what the fuck he’s doing. 

and she has soup! It Was All A Misunderstanding, jessie explains she was making homemade soup and didn’t answer the phone because she was trying to find where the fuck he was to give it to him. 

john changes his mind again and decides this means the woman he’s known for twenty-four hours and spent most of those twenty-four hours fighting with is the love of his life and his personal Christmas Miracle after all. 

they eat soup in front of the fireplace and cuddle. 

cut to new years. jessie in fact never left the hotel and they’re still “happily” (you know. by their standards) together, dressed up at a party and just finishing up a regularly scheduled fight to share a midnight kiss! 

the front desk kid from the scene before walks in and interrupts them to serve john with a religious discrimination lawsuit for demanding he celebrate christmas. fin. 

AAAAAND i’m doing faithjen too because i do want to write them a hallmark fic too even though i probably won’t in time. same idea as johnjess, this is mostly parody and the absurdity of fitting the characters into the setting because they are Not A Hallmark Couple. 

their hallmark au would start basically the same as their canon story though — jenna is a hardworking grad student who travels to the offbeat but picturesque rural paradise of hope county for an important project for her thesis, and finds herself increasingly charmed by its residents and smalltown values. (read: researching a cult and wants to stay there and continue studying them like bugs and starts helping them with unethical drug experiments too.) 

also since it’s hallmark, rather than jenna and her previous girlfriend from california having broken up over six months before she ever left for hope county when her gf moved to nyc for art school, they’re still together and she’s the Evil Current Partner from the Big City. 

cue opening scene phone call between jenna and Big City Gf (i’m sorry i never named her), gf is complaining jenna is still stuck in that Stupid Town and Nothing There is worth studying because it’s a Dumb Hick Town, she should just hurry up phone in her thesis and fly to new york in time for the Swanky Nondenominational Holiday Party. on the nose shot of jenna watching from the window of the chemistry lab as faith dance around barefoot in the snow outside and saying “i think there’s lots of interesting things to study here.” 

end call. jenna continues to stare wistfully out the window as she injects someone with terribly painful experimental research chemicals.

she turns her attention back to the station where she’s producing the evil experimental research chemicals and does more science stuff, faith walks in and says she shouldn’t be working this late on christmas eve. jenna says she has to, chemistry has no holidays and matter changes at its own schedule she can’t just rush, the whole bliss batch would go to waste if she left now. faith says let it, there are more important things, playfully chastises jenna for not having christmas spirit and asks her to please come to the christmas eve gathering she and her brothers are having at john’s ranch. jenna considers it, gets a text notification from Big City Gf, then declines. 

faith leaves disappointed and jenna gets back to work, but shortly after she does there’s an explosion at her lab station and she’s knocked out. 

while she’s passed out, she has a vision in which she’s visited by Three Ghosts. 

the first, the ghost of christmas past, who is a woman named lana she’s never actually met before, shows jenna the last few christmases she spent — writing journal articles alone in her apartment while Big City Gf parties. a woman named selena she’s also never met takes over to show her the last christmas she was happy, making christmas cookies with her sister. 

the second ghost, the faith seed who jenna knows, shows her a vision of christmas present — the seed family at the ranch. they’ve gathered in the kitchen to see dinner was burned save for one dish. joseph gives a speech about how it’s alright, what really matters is that they’re together for christmas. they all dine on nothing but watery mac and cheese, but they’re happy. a christmas lesson. 

the third ghost is one of the angels, who brings jenna to a church cemetery to see joseph officiating a funeral for an out of town scientist who died alone in her lab. a tearful faith sings a dirge, then places a bliss flower on a grave, which is — gasp, jenna’s! (and Big City Gf was too busy to come to the funeral…) 

jenna is woken by faith shaking her to consciousness, asks what day it is you know the drill. faith says it’s christmas eve and explains she heard an explosion and came back in. 

jenna tells her about the dream she had while she was passed out. 

faith says it must have been a special christmas vision, given to her from a divine source to show her she needs to have faith in christmas. (actually that’s probably the fic title. have faith in christmas. ha.) 

jenna says logically speaking she’s pretty sure it was the high volume sudden burst of gasses from the hallucinogenic drugs she was producing being released into the air. but it did give her an idea. 

cut to montage of them going around town replacing all the regular mistletoe with bliss mistletoe to secretly dose people. ends with them reaching for the same doorway to hang blisstletoe in and ending up beneath it. hallmark kiss under the mistletoe fadeout. fin. 

[worms-i-think]

In the most ironic turn of events, I think I have developed a fear of worms.

I’ve always liked worms because they seem like cute, harmless squiggles, and my url here was very much a random pick.

However, these last few weeks I’ve been living somewhere new (college) where worms are absolutely EVERYWHERE. On one of my fist days it was very hot and I found one stranded in the street, so I picked it up to return it to the dirt when it started jumping and thrashing about. I have this on video bc it was so bizarre, but unfortunately can’t share it because I ended up having to pick it up with my ID because it hated my hands so vehemently.

I wished it a well-meaning goodbye when I put it back into the ground, which I found a day later was probably not a good idea.

Turns out, these are actually jumping worms, which are extremely invasive here and are Not Good for our plants! They originate from Eastern Asia but thrive here due to our similar climates, and I cannot exaggerate how many of them I’ve seen this week. It rained a few days ago, and the path was covered in them.

C. O. V. E. R. E. D.

Like, the next day you could see from where the cars had driven in the streets the white goop trails of dried worm squish, each inches from the other.

I have never seen so many worms that spasm like they’re filled with a demonic parasite within them, especially not ones that big—the largest one I saw could’ve passed as a small snake from a distance. The fact that I’ve always been terrified of parasitic worms has NOT helped this experience. But I think that from the time I carried one and now watching where I walk whenever I go out in fear that they’ll jump (they can go up to 1 foot/.3 meters high) onto me and go crazy mode again and…

Guys I think wormy might be afraid of worms. Like I bet these guys are good for the ecosystem where they come from, but the fear of them being Everywhere and also being so Frantic has freaked me out super hard. I miss seeing my earthworm buddies.

^Anyway. If you’re from North America and you see these guys: they don’t belong here. And that’s not me being xenophobic toward worms, it’s just me recognizing invasive species. (And worrying because they’re worms on crack and they terrify me…they look so innocent…)