#but TJ's death is devastating!

[8cfc00]

augh who up feeling like they should be humanely euthanised for liking media the wrong way... sorry for fandomising certain characters but not fandomising others enough in the right way.

[fantabulisticity]

On March 21, 26 year-old Dexter Reed was surrounded by five plainclothes police officers in unmarked cars and shot and killed in a barrage of nearly 100 rounds of ammunition in 41 seconds — all because of an alleged seatbelt violation. The officers who murdered Dexter Reed were on a police tactical team, an “elite” squad of plainclothes officers who usually patrol Black and Brown communities and use pretextual stops as an excuse to look for a larger crime. Such units exist in police departments across the country. There have been national calls for them to be shut down. Whenever and wherever such tactical teams are used, especially for pretextual stops, situations end in violence. These teams target people in certain populations and they have a habit of brutality. The officers who murdered 12 year-old Thomas “TJ” Siderio in Philadelphia in March 2022 and 29 year-old Tyre Nichols in Memphis in January 2023 were a part of such tactical units.3 Black people in Chicago deserve better. Members of the community are demanding an end to pretextual traffic stops and for the dismantling of tactical teams that operate like death squads within the Chicago Police Department. Police Superintendent Larry Snelling vowed to prioritize accountability but, instead, he has been following the same war cry of law and order, making excuses for police violence and feeding into blaming the victim. The City of Chicago has the power to hold these officers accountable and reinforce that this kind of violence against Black people has consequences. Demand Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling immediately fire the five officers involved in killing Dexter Reed. Below is the letter we will send to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling:

Here is the Petition: Dear Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling, Not wearing a seatbelt is not a capital offense. Yet, on March 21, 26 year-old Dexter Reed was surrounded by five plainclothes Chicago police officers driving unmarked cars and shot and killed in a barrage of nearly 100 rounds of ammunition in 41 seconds — all because of an alleged seatbelt violation. You vowed to prioritize accountability but, instead, you have been amplifying harmful "law and order" narratives, making excuses for police violence, and feeding into victim blaming. This has created a culture that empowers officers to aggressively target and harm Black people like Dexter Reed while never announcing themselves as police officers. Dexter Reed never should have been stopped. There is no justification for the devastating police violence committed against him. We demand that you make good on your promise for accountability by immediately firing the five officers involved in killing Dexter Reed.

[bobbie-robron]

Classic ED schedule - week 41 (2023)

Sam, the soon-to-be latest leper of the village, is convinced into going to the police about the hit and run and Edna is furious with him. The adoption hearing is held where Charity stands by her decision. Zoe and Rachel, the solicitor involved in the adoption, feel a sexual attraction to each other which Viv walks in on later. Debbie heads off on church youth group’s archaeological expedition. Charity calls Christopher Noah and later takes back her job with Tom. Cain helps Andy on the farm leading him to become his lodger. A devastated Scott moves out of Home Farm and won’t with her again. Which ‘barmaid’ will win the ballot to remain at the pub? Alan plans to move to Spain and Steph interferes with Shelley going along. Charity’s games lead her to a ring and marriage proposal from Tom. The saga of Carl and Chas’s saucy snaps. Dawn’s mum, Jean, shows up in the village. A freak accident with Carl leads to the death of Paul… and a coverup by the Kings.

UK START TIME THE ENTIRE WEEK: 1:40PM

09-Oct: 24-Jun-2004 (3774), 25-Jun-2004 (3775)

10-Oct: 27-Jun-2004** (3776), 28-Jun-2004 (3777)

11-Oct: 29-Jun-2004 (3778), 30-Jun-2004 (3779)

12-Oct: 01-Jun-2004 (3780), 02-Jun-2004 (3781)

13-Oct: 05-Jul-2004 (3782), 06-Jun-2004 One hour episode! Goodbye Paul Marsden! (3783/3784)

**Robert appears in the episode

NEXT WEEK (subject to potential preemptions): Carl is wracked with guilt over Paul’s demise. Dawn, TJ and Jean take Terry’s house but then all leave for Spain with Terry’s blessing. It’s the punters turn to decide which barmaid stays.

[swearphil]

Happy nice ask day to you in return! What’s your favorite book of the year so far? And/or what’s currently on your tbr list? 👀

thank you for sending this, friend! I looked at my list of books I've read this year and I've got four books that have been my favorites so far!

in the order I read them this year:

Loveless by Alice Oseman: I've been meaning to read more books with aroace characters, and I related so much to Georgia! it was really good for me to read

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: this book! this book! it was on my radar because both John and Hank Green recommended it. I wasn't completely sure if I would like it because all I knew about the plot was that the main characters created a video game and video games aren't always my thing. but oh my god I enjoyed this book so much! at its heart, it's a book about creativity, ingenuity, friendship, pain, and love as you follow Sam and Sadie through their years of friendship. I love how the story is told - mostly in chronological order with some flashbacks to understand Sam and Sadie as kids and some brief looks into the future that frame some of what's happening in the present. and there's one part in particular where I cried so hard. I was bawling and there's a part of me that still refuses to believe what happened happens. it's told beautifully though, so I appreciate Zevin for that beauty in devastation.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune: this book had been on my tbr ever since I'd read The House in the Cerulean Sea. I think I held off for awhile because the book involves death, and I wasn't ready to read about death. but I finally read the book and I loved it! Wallace, Hugo, Nelson, Mei, and Apollo mean so much to me!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller: another book that had been on my tbr for awhile. I know how this story ends, so I knew from the beginning it would end in tragedy, but I was really excited to read Miller's take on Achilles and Patroclus's relationship. it's achingly beautiful, and the more I read, the more I wanted the ending to be different, but of course it wasn't. yes, I cried.

and here are books I've checked out from the library that I might return without reading because I'm busy with my new job but I'll check them all out again later:

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

[harmonyverendez]

Dating Olive Stone Would Include : Manifest TV series ( Netflix )

* Gender is female. *

• To be honest you two met after her father and brother, and Aunt disappeared after the plane. •

• when she was sad and devastated, you had to pick up the pieces. •

• Being there for her when she went to therapy •

• Helping her get over her little ' crush ' over TJ. •

• Braiding her hair sometimes in her room. It makes her thinks of her Grandma •

• When her grandmother dies a year before the plane starts, you were there for her. Her shoulder to cry on •,

• when she starts acting out, you were there to pull her back. You wanted her to come back to earth. •

• that's when the plane comes, back and the old Olive returns. But only for a little while •

• Talking to her when steals, and other things. •

• That's when one morning she comes to you a little shy •

“ Y/ N, there's something I have to tell you... I think I like you ”

• You weren't expecting her to say that. A little shock maybe, but never expected her to say that. You always thought she was straight •

“ I thought you were straight? Only into boys... Well TJ?” You told her.

• Her get all flustered and admitted that she was maybe bisexual or Bi-Curius •

“ I want to try something okay? Don't move ” she had told you.

• That was the morning you and Olive had your first kiss ( You with a person and her a female ) •

• Shocked, but actually liking it. •

• The moment Grace finds out. She was supportive. She always felt like you two were an item ( Or at least like each other )

• Ben didn't mind either, as long as his baby girl was fine •

• as two years went by. You been by the the stone side. But liking Angelina for taking Eden. And other things •

• believing in the death date, you couldn't see the family you love and called your own die.

• then by some miracle, they all manage to stay alive. You couldn't be more happy •

• You were sad over Grace death, but you understand something as the years went by •

• Family means everything •

• Getting married five years later. The family joined of course, and you smiling through it all •

• Cal tells embarrassing stories, making you and Grace laugh •

• Adopting/getting a surgeon's mother. •

• Naming one at least after Grace •

• Living your life and dying old together. •

• The End •

[hayaku14]

(DNA Anon!) so the manga ending wasn’t too bad. Finding out that TJ was feeling horrible writers block at times was the thing that hit the hardest. Ngl I think that all authors lately have been feeling pressured because of the death of the berserk author. Like the pressure to finish their story, the pressure of wanting to fulfill the fans expectations, and to have a good story can influence impulse decisions. But I hope for the future for more things on TJ terms and timing.

Hello again DNA Anon!! I hope you saw my replies to your other asks!!! Sorry I reply late ><

The manga ending is still devastating to me tbh ;-; but I'm less upset knowing Terajima did his best to save his work from himself. He knew he wasn't fit to draw weekly and that he basically has burnout so he decided to save the work and just cut it off there. I can respect that.

Still hurts tho ;-; I still want the continuation of the story. I hope someday TJ-sensei will be able to come back to it if he can.

I agree with you. Mangakas are under so much pressure especially the ones publishing weekly. The work hours must be insane. I hope TJ-sensei gets his well deserved rest at least.

AND YES TO THE FUTURE!!! I can honestly wait forever, ngl LOL

[labelleperfumery]

T.J. Lavin, Daniel Dhers Pay Tribute To Pat Casey After BMX Rider's Death

The BMX community is devastated after rider Pat Casey’s shocking death on Tuesday … with stars like T.J. Lavin, Daniel Dhers and more sharing their condolences. 29-year-old Casey passed away after crashing his motorcycle while attempting a ramp… from TMZ.com https://www.tmz.com/2023/06/07/tj-lavin-bmx-world-pay-tribute-pat-casey-tragic-death/

[midnightswithdearkatytspb]

VelvetCardiganBucky’s Recomendations 2021: Week 3 | January 10-16

Welcome to week 3 of my recommendation, if you would like to be featured on a future list, I follow the hashtag #ktkvcbreadinglist, message me, tag me in your future works, or reblog this post and link to your story, one-shot, Masterlist, writing challenge, etc.

Be aware some if not most stories and writers on this list are meant to be consumed by an audience of those 18+. My blog is also an 18+ blog.

«Last Week

Week 4»

My Masterlist

Andy Barber

One-Shot’s

Imagine by @worksby-d • Andy Barber x Reader – Reader takes their chances teasing and tempting Andy, but he can only take so much. | Really good smut.

Good little girl by @donutloverxo • Mob!Andy Barber x Reader — Married life isn’t always easy. Will you be able to solve your problems? (Part 1) | Let me just say the first part sort of darkish but not really? Also I can’t help but read Mob!Andy anything.

Ransom Drysdale

One-Shots

Introducing Chaos by @the-iceni-bitch • Ransom Drysdale x fem!Reader — Ransom brings you to your first Thrombey family dinner, and you make a splash | I laughed so much while reading this and the smut was so good. It’s a really good read.

Drabbles

Playing Games by @just-one-ordinary-fangirl • Ransom Drysdale x Reader — Ransom, the man you loved, did the unforgivable. You confront him about it. | This left me wanting more so badly.

Chris Evans

One-Shot’s

Tonight’s Show by @theblvckvenus • Chris Evans x Fem!Reader — You come home to surprise Chris and his interviewer. But the excitement gets him the better of him and as soon as its over you’re in big trouble. | Came for the show definitely stayed for the smut ;)

Drabbles

Stranger on the Train by @carpediemm-18 • Chris Evans x Female!Reader — Chris comes to the aide of the reader on a late night subway ride. | Sweet and Short

Steve Rogers

Amorosa by @honeysucklesteve • Sugar Daddy!Steve x SugarBaby!Reader — you were drowning, barely surviving in new york city working at an upscale restaurant; the only thing keeping you barely afloat. when steve rogers, vp of stark industries, overhears your troubles, he proposes an agreement that’ll benefit the both of you. should you take it and suffer the consequences is up to you. | I have a huge weakness for Sugar Daddy fics, don’t ask me why but I do. This does not disappoint and it’s got some really good smut in it. Thank you Eleanor!

Bucky Barnes

The Winter Ghost by @msmarvelwrites • Bucky Barnes x Reader — A Devastating car crash causes you to lose your memory and start over. The only thing left in the wreckage was the horrific nightmares which plagued your mind. If you knew what today would entail you would have just stayed in bed. But you didn’t and because of that, everything you knew was about to change. | Get yourself some tissues because you will cry. Brontë wrote the smut moments perfectly that it flowed with the the rest of the chapters so perfectly. Nothing felt rushed, the story was just so perfect.

Picking Up the Pieces [1/3] by @gogolucky13 • Bucky Barnes x Reader — Bucky chooses to stay in his tumultuous relationship knowing you’ll be there to pick up the pieces, until finally you’re not. [Modern AU] | For anyone who has ever felt like they were the second best, this is for you. I teared up while reading. Looking forward to see where this goes.

A Favor [1/?] by @buckysbabygorl • Bucky Barnes x Reader — After breaking up with her boyfriend; Y/N drunkenly admits to the team that she’s never had sex. Not only is she single, but she’s looking. | If you are looking for a laugh, this is the place to go, I’m excited to see where this goes.

One-Shot’s

Teacher’s Pet by @nastybuckybarnes [Dark Fic] • AlphaProfessor!Bucky x Omega!Reader x AlphaProfessor!Steve — The perfect omega doesn’t exist, right? Well, Steve and Bucky think they might’ve just found her in the form of one of their students. And they’re not gonna stop until they have her begging beneath them. | Okay this is such a good A/B/O one-shot. Like it’s got the little bit stuff you need instead of just jumping straight into the good stuff. Which isn’t bad, but sometimes a little bit of a burn, is so good. I highly recommend.

The Thought That Counts by @imerdwarf • Bucky Barnes x Reader — Reader offers to brush Bucky’s hair | All the fluffy fluffy-ness you could want or need.

On His Shoulder by @whateveriwant • Bucky Barnes x Reader — Five separate occasions in which Bucky tells you to put something on his shoulder. | A one-shot that made me wish I was somebodies Jack to somebodies ass. In all honesty Sam does a magnificent job giving reader a nickname and making this one-shot so unbelievably good. You got some laughs, some fluffs, and some smut.

Till The End Of The Line by @chanelsebbie • Bucky Barnes x Reader — You and Bucky go on a mission together to hopefully put a dent in H.Y.D.R.A., but things don’t go as planned. | Shaye how dare you, I cried, this is just so beautifully written and I just want more. Like I was waiting to see more and have him come back. I couldn’t make a link for this one-shot don’t know why, so here you all go.

Drabbles

Boob Move by @nano--raptor • Bucky Barnes x Reader — Y/N falls asleep with her boob hanging out on Bucky’s couch | I’ve never read something so funny yet hot all at once.

Drops of Jupiter by @imerdwarf • Bucky Barnes x Reader – Bucky has a nightmare and you find him on the rooftop looking up at the stars. | All The Fluff!

Lee Bodecker

One Shots

505 by @captain-barnes-writes • Dark!Lee Bodecker x Reader — On her summer break from college, Y/N embarks on an affair with Lee Bodecker. But she realizes that not all that drips from his lips is honey. | If you are looking for some dark Lee Bodecker, but I mean it’s Lee.. with some of angst thrown in and some smut, this one-shot is for you!

Misc.

Drabbles

I See You by @sevans-is-my-weakness • Colin Shea x TJ Hammond x F!Reader — TJ Hammond is your roommate and Colin Shea is your guys neighbor. | Short read that I enjoyed but I suggest also reading through this masterlist, there’s so much I want to share!

Writers

@bbonkyy - is one of my all time favorite writers but I could be bias as we are friends. I know they haven’t published in a really long time but they still deserve some recognition. They do take request, trust me they write some amazing smut! *chefs kiss*

@nsfwsebbie - Please please please do yourself a favor and check out Sabrina’s concepts masterlist, dark fics, and masterlist, I’m slowly making my way through them. Sabrina has got some writing talent in them and I love reading what they put out!

@mypoisonedvine - Looking for an eclectic collection of characters and different choices to choose from? j.d. has you covered with their stories. I love their writing, the dark, the fluffy and smut.

Writing Challenges:

Mostly a Milestone Writing Challenge hosted by @mostly-marvel-musings | What you need to know: You can write for celebrities but they have to be from the MCU or you can write for MCU characters. You do not have to reserve a spot in this challenge. OFC’s, any pairing, AU is welcome. The due date as of right now is the end of 2021 and the theme is... Romance Movies

Shout Out To My...

@redhead-wine-and-literature-club — Mods Scarlett and Ruby say they read and write fanfiction usually with a glass a wine to go with it. They are pairing characters (Steve and Bucky) Sebastian and Chris have played with wines. In February they’ll have daily prompt challenges. You can check out the club's welcome post here!

[rjzimmerman]

Before and After: Photographer TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance stands next to an old-growth tree in B.C. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

A gorgeous pair of cedars destroyed. TJ Watt/Ancient Forest Alliance

Excerpt from this story from Treehugger:

The old-growth forests of British Columbia remain the world's largest intact stand of temperate rainforest, but they are under threat from logging. Despite the provincial government's promises to protect old-growth forests, an area equivalent of 10,000 football fields is razed every year on Vancouver Island alone. This is a devastating loss that TJ Watt of the Ancient Forest Alliance tells Treehugger makes no sense whatsoever.

Watt is a photographer from Victoria, B.C., who has spent countless hours bushwhacking through forests and driving the logging roads of Vancouver Island to capture images that convey both the sheer grandeur of these trees and the unfortunate destruction they face. A recent series of before-and-after shots – depicting Watts standing next to massive trees that are later reduced to stumps – has captivated and alarmed viewers around the world. Indeed, it's what brought Watt to Treehugger's attention and started our conversation.

There are few sights as heartbreaking as the death of an ancient tree. When asked why he thinks these pictures have resonated so deeply, Watt said, "It's not like it's a black-and-white photo from 1880. This is full color, 2021. You can't feign ignorance about what we're doing anymore. It's just wrong." He points out that it will be the year 3020 before we see anything like it again, and yet logging companies keep decimating them with the government's permission.

[beauregardlionett]

all i have left

AO3 Link

A/N: based loosely on the show word of honor; slightly ooc portrayal and implied suicidal ideation (very mild but just to be safe)

Beau stood off to the side of the raised stage, her expression calm, almost stoic. Inside, her mind was racing, her heart beating a frantic rhythm against the back of her ribs. Only minutes before, she had been at peace with her fate, feet planted firmly on the wooden slats of the dais.

Now, she stood in the dirt, gaze upturned to the figures scarcely illuminated in the overcast afternoon. Obann lay on his back, thoroughly defeated. Yasha, miraculously alive, loomed over him. In a rare show of charismatic courage, Yasha had sparred with Obann while unveiling each one of his hidden atrocities to the gathered crowd in a steady voice. With one well-rehearsed speech, Yasha turned their favor to her and their disdain to Obann - a complete reversal from less than a week before.

Even if this had not worked out, Beau thought, she still would have stood against the world with Yasha. She did it before, and would do it again without question.

Though, the last time she did, she thought Yasha fell from a cliff to her death. Which was why seeing her standing here following her dramatic entrance left Beau dazed and more than a little hurt.

Shifting her weight between her feet, pain lanced through Beau’s torso and she barely concealed a wince. Yasha’s supposed demise had been a tipping point for Beau. This felt like fate’s cruel trick.

Yasha turned and strode away from Obann, head high. She was a vision in the grey light of day - dark hair spilling in braids and waves down her back, the long sleeves of her tunic rippling with movement. As much as Beau wanted to punch her for the deception, she longed to embrace Yasha in equal parts.

The moment Yasha stepped off the stage and stood before Beau, her bravado seemed to vanish and her shoulders deflate as she smiled sheepishly down at Beau. Unimpressed and reigning in her desires, Beau stared quietly back.

“Hello, Beau,” Yasha whispered, twisting the fabric of her flowing sleeves between her fingers.

“You’re alive,” Beau said, her voice softer than she meant it, but flat. Yasha barely contained a wince, Beau catching it only in the crinkle by her brows in a way she was all too familiar with.

“I am,” Yasha murmured. “I’m sorry...that I deceived you. But the fewer people who knew about this, the better chances were I would succeed.”

Beau folded her arms across her chest. A clear giveaway, but one she couldn’t help. Yasha’s eyes flicked down to Beau’s arms and back up to her face again.

“I can assume my foolish apprentice was in on this, then?”

“I needed TJ to be involved so it would appear genuine. Everyone here thought I killed your family, so his rage was the selling point.”

“And what about me?” Beau said, her hurt and anger bubbling to the surface so suddenly that she fumbled and failed to contain it. “Did you need me in the dark so that my reaction and throwing myself off the cliff after you seemed genuine?”

Yasha did not contain her wince in time, flinching back as if Beau had struck her.

“I’m sorry--”

“You’re sorry, I know,” Beau cut Yasha off. “But do you understand how devastated I was, Yasha? I promised you I would stand with you through everything, because that’s what soulmates do. But you left me. I thought you were dead!”

Yasha stared down at Beau, eyes wide and watering. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but Beau had opened the floodgates and didn’t care enough to find the strength to shut the dam again.

“We promised each other, Yasha. I know you needed to get justice for what Obann did to your people, to Zuala. But I told you I would help you, that I would travel the world with you and leave everything behind, that you needed only to ask. You promised me you would stay by my side, that you would help me rebuild my home, and you would help train TJ no matter what. Fjord and Jester risked their lives coming all this way to help me...and now I’ve ruined that because I thought you were dead.”

Yasha took a step closer, moving into Beau’s space, and Beau let her. Every part of her ached, both physically and emotionally. She could feel her time draining away now that the poisoned nails piercing her points of Ki had been removed. As much as they had been slowly killing her, they had also been holding her together - a knife stoppering a wound from gushing. In a fit of grief, hoping to follow Yasha into the beyond, Beau had yanked them from her skin. Her veins ached with the loss, her Ki tainted with poison and draining from her unnaturally, taking her life force along with it. Jester had said there was a way she might be able to help heal Beau, but that was before. Now, Beau was actively dying, taking any chance of Jester succeeding away along with her life force.

“What do you mean?” Yasha whispered fervently. Her hands moved as if to hold Beau, jerked to a stop, and hovered inches from Beau’s skin. Beau wanted to sob at the proximity, ached for Yasha to hold her.

The oppressive weight of the surrounding crowd, most minding their own business as they traded gossip, stopped her. Obann was still on the stage, his subordinate crouched beside him, most of the attention on them.

Beau pulled her tunic aside just enough to expose the puckered skin beneath her collarbone, pink and irritated.

Yasha sucked in a sharp breath and searched Beau’s face frantically for a denial Beau couldn’t give her.

“Why did you...” Yasha choked on her tears, unable to finish her question.

“I told you,” Beau murmured, the fight, the anger, the misery draining out of her. She was so tired of fighting. “I thought you died.”

Yasha touched her then, cupping Beau’s face in her warm, calloused palms. Tears leaked from Yasha’s eyes, shimmering over the slope of her cheekbones. Yasha still looked beautiful, even in her grief. The guilt behind that thought followed quick on its heels.

“I’m...I’m so sorry,” Yasha whispered, her voice cracking down the middle. “I’m sorry.”

“We’re both at fault,” Beau said quietly, circling her fingers around one of Yasha’s wrists. “This was a reaction to my anger and grief, but I didn’t consider TJ or the other apprentices waiting to help me rebuild. I only knew I couldn’t live without you beside me. And now I’ve doomed you to that fate instead.”

“No,” Yasha shook her head as she pressed her forehead to Beau’s, uncaring about the nobles still gathered around. “No, you haven’t. Jester can find a way, and if she can’t, Essek has connections. I’m sure we can convince him to help, or we can have Caleb convince him. There has to be a way.”

Beau couldn’t help it. She pressed up on her toes and kissed Yasha firmly on the lips. She kept it short and sweet, but resolute. There were far too many people around, most of them the type to take advantage of affection and call it weakness. Beau wasn’t willing to risk a gesture any more passionate than a quick peck. But her fondness for Yasha engulfed her rationality. To the outside world, Yasha was a hulking woman with a terrifying sword that cut down even the most terrifying of enemies. The common folk whispered rumors that her gaze paralyzed her victims like a strike of lightning, that her sword sounded like thunder when she swung. It was all horseshit, but rumors held weight, turned to gossip, and turned to myth.

The Yasha that Beau knew - the one who kept willingly returning to Beau’s side - was sweet and quiet and thoughtful. She was determined, if not somewhat stubborn, and occasionally a tad melancholic. But Beau couldn’t claim any different for herself, and she loved Yasha regardless. They understood each other in simple and convoluted matters, and continued to choose each other at the end of each day.

Beau saw Yasha’s stubborn refusal to let Beau die in peace and fell just a little more in love with her.

“We can try,” Beau said as she reached to tuck a stray braid behind Yasha’s ear. “But it’s probably best not to get our hopes too high. I helped design these nails, remember? No one has ever survived their torment, especially once they’re removed.”

Yasha, who had been wide-eyed following the kiss, furrowed her brow with determination. If Beau didn’t know Yasha as well as she did, she might be intimidated by such an expression.

“Don’t say that,” Yasha said. “That sounds like you’re giving up and I won’t allow it.”

Beau chuckled, a soft sound under her breath, and squeezed Yasha’s wrist where her hand was still on Beau’s cheek.

“Okay,” Beau acquiesced. “I won’t give up, I promise.”

[merelygifted]

‘A cartel shouldn’t get away with this.’ Anger at opioid settlements that exclude admission of wrongdoing | Opioids crisis | The Guardian

There is growing anger among families bereaved by the US opioid epidemic at pharmaceutical companies “buying their way out of accountability” with multibillion-dollar settlements that specifically exclude any admission of wrongdoing.

The opioid maker Johnson & Johnson and the country’s three largest drug distributors on Wednesday agreed to pay $26bn to settle a raft of lawsuits accusing them of acting recklessly and illegally in pushing prescription opioid sales when they knew the painkillers were driving an epidemic of addiction and overdoses.

But after announcing the deal, Johnson & Johnson continued to insist its actions were “appropriate and responsible”. The distributors said they still “strongly dispute the allegations made in these lawsuits” even though they have previously paid significant fines to settle federal claims that they broke the law.

Families bereaved by the opioid epidemic, which has claimed 600,000 lives in two decades, criticised what they regard as a persistent failure to hold to account pharmaceutical executives who manufactured the worst drug crisis in US history by manipulating federal regulators and the medical profession into mass-prescribing narcotics with false claims about their safety and effectiveness.

Emily Walden, chair of the Fed Up! coalition of families harmed by opioids, said the restitution payments are relatively small for some of the country’s largest businesses, particularly when they will be made over up to 18 years.

“This should not be ‘the cost of doing business’, another tax write-off,” Walden said. “They need to pay for what they’ve actually done. And then criminal charges need to come against these executives.”

Walden lost her son TJ to an opioid overdose stemming from a painkiller prescription at 11 years old.

“I don’t think we would let a cartel get away with this. So why is it different for a corporation that knew exactly what they were doing? They knew the harm that was resulting and they continued. They get away with paying a fine? There are people sitting in jail for years for possession of drugs, illegal drugs, but still only possession. And these executives are going to walk?”

Johnson & Johnson is renowned in legal circles for fighting lawsuits but it has been less keen to go to court over opioid cases after an Oklahoma judge in 2019 ordered it to pay the state $465m in restitution in a damning verdict that characterised the company’s executives as little better than drug pushers.

Last month, the company agreed to pay $230m to avoid a jury trial after it was sued by New York’s attorney general.

The three drug distributors – McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health – are still on trial in a West Virginia civil case that has made highly embarrassing revelations about their failure to fulfil legal requirements to report and halt suspiciously large-scale orders even as they poured more than 1bn opioid painkillers in to the state between 2006 and 2014.

West Virginia has long had the highest opioid overdose death rate in the US.

In emails, executives at AmerisourceBergen called people who became addicted to opioids “pillbillies”, spoke of parts of the country blighted by the epidemic as “OxyContinville” and responded to new regulations in Kentucky to curb painkiller prescribing by writing: “One of the hillbilly’s [sic] must have learned how to read :-)”. ...

... Earlier this month, the US justice department trustee, William Harrington, who oversees the federal bankruptcy system, accused the Sacklers of misusing the process to avoid liability for “alleged wrongdoing in concocting and perpetuating for profit one of the most severe public health crises ever experienced in the United States”.

Harrington said the bankruptcy deal would mean families devastated by opioids could receive as little as $3,500 in compensation. The Sacklers would retain several billion dollars of the profits from OxyContin. ...

[izzielizzie]

Chapter Seven

Sorry this took so long!!! I had a hard time getting it started. Anyway, we’re back at Bronwyn’s pov. Enjoy!!

“We’re leaving in twenty minutes!” Mom calls up the stairs. We’re going to Simon’s funeral, and even though I feel a little weird going after the school practically accused us of killing him, my parents said I have to go, so I guess I’m going. 

“Okay!” Maeve calls down the stairs as she leaves the bathroom. She’s just taken a shower, and her hair is wrapped in a towel. She catches sight of me and frowns. “What?”

I shake myself a little. I must be giving her a pitying look. I keep trying to figure out if I should tell her about TJ cheating, but I feel like she wouldn’t listen. 

“What do you want Bron?”

“Can I chill with you before we leave?” I find myself blurting out. Maeve stares at me for a few moments, and I’m so ready for her to laugh and tell me to go away that I don’t completely hear her when she says, “Sure. Why not?”

She brushes past me to push open her door and pauses. “Well don’t just stand there like a weirdo, come on.”

I step into Maeve’s room for the first time in what is probably five years. I mean, I guess I am allowed in here, but I make it a point not to come here. Maybe because I was scared that Maeve would change her room and our childhood would be gone. Or maybe I wanted to prove to her that she could trust me. I don’t even know anymore, but I didn’t need to worry about her room changing: the walls are still a pale purple, and her window seat is still white with floral throw pillows and a purple knitted blanket folded underneath the book I’ve seen Maeve reading in the living room when I practice piano. The only difference is her corkboard with pictures pinned up is filled with photos of her and her soccer friends, not me and our childhood friends like it was when we were young. I sit gingerly on her bed, covered in her white duvet with the purple and yellow polka dots. Maeve opens her closet door and roots through until she finds what she wants. She turns with a black jumpsuit pressed against her body.

“Good?” I’m temped to turn around and see if she’s talking to someone behind me, but I’m not that stupid.

“Good,” I agree. I turn and let Maeve change, and I turn back again when she tosses her shorts and t-shirt over my head and into the hamper. She’s at her dresser, in front of her mirror, when I turn back around. The back of her jumpsuit is still partly unzipped, and I stand and walk over to her. She flinches when I fix the zipper, and I’m startled for a moment. Since when did the girl who demanded hugs every five minutes flinch when touched?

“Thanks sis,” Maeve says. There’s a serenity to her that isn’t there usually. She’s humming as she brushes her long hair out. “I’m thinking of cutting my hair. What do you think?” I still want to look around to find the actual recipient of my sister’s kindness, but I don’t. Whatever is happening right now, I don’t want it to end. 

“I like it long,” I say truthfully. She looks nice with long hair, and I can still remember how devastated she was when her hair first started to fall when she was little. Once when I was laying in her hospital bed next to her, she had sworn that after all this was over, she would grow her hair out as long as Mom would permit. I had told her I’d do the same, and now, when I step forward to look in the mirror with her, I can’t see the resemblance between us anymore. My eyes, a sharp grey, are behind dark glasses, my tan skin looks yellowish against my black dress, and my shoulder length curls are limp and a little fuzzy. Maeve looks, as usual, amazing. Her straight hair is falling around her like a curtain, and it’s a few shades darker than mine. Her skin is as pale as Mom’s and the splash of freckles across her face are more pronounced than usual, and her eyes, god her eyes are so bright they could illuminate the room. My sister has always been the beautiful one, and I’m glad she’s happy today. But, even though I know I’m going to regret asking this, I need to know: “Maeve, why are you so happy today?”

Maeve smiles a little as she gives her brush one final tug and places it on the dresser. “I hung out with an old friend yesterday. It was nice.”

“Luis Santos,” I say promptly. Maeve hits me with her best side-eye.

“Don’t be so judge. I saw you with Nathaniel Macauley.” She did? When?

I hold up my hands in surrender. “I’m not judging. Just stating a fact. I saw you with him at the dinner party yesterday.”

“That’s nice,” Maeve says, picking up her chapstick. 

“Are you going to date him?”

“Are you going to date Nate?”

“What? No!” I’m shocked for a moment. “He wasn’t totally in love with me when we were kids. Unlike someone.” I bump my hip against hers, and she spins away from me. 

“Yeah, right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask as Maeve pulls her black sneakers out from under her bed. “And don’t wear those.” Maeve glares at me as she puts her sneakers back and crouches down until she finds her party shoes, the black leather ones that are nearly identical to mine.

“It means, mi hermana, that Nate was like, totally in love with you.” Maeve redoes the laces on her shoes as I stare at her.

“Don’t be dumb. He was my best friend. That’s all.”

“Best friends don’t have their first kiss after a soccer game.” I can feel my face turn red as my sister smirks at me. 

“And best friends don’t carry each other to the elevator at fancy hotels,” I fire back. I’m waiting for a reaction, but I don’t get one.

“Luis isn’t my best friend,” Maeve says calmly with a shrug as she unplugs her phone from her charger and sways out of her room.

“Nate isn’t mine either!” I call back. Maeve just laughs as she leads me down the stairs.

Half an hour later, Dad pulls the car into a parking spot outside of the church, and we pass Luis Santos, Cooper Clay, Addy Prentiss, and a bunch of their friends. “Maeve!” Luis calls. Maeve’s glow intensifies until I can hardly look at her. She turns to our parents, a questioning look on her face. 

“Go ahead honey, we’ll save you a seat.” Mom is grinning at Maeve, and I can tell why. Maeve hasn’t been this giddy since she was a kid. Maeve floats away to Luis and his friends, and Luis slips an arm around her. “Not friends” my foot. 

“It’s nice to see they’re friends again,” Dad muses as we pass Luis and his friends. 

“It is,” I agree, smiling at him. I know Dad thought of Luis as a son, and he’s missed him. Dad smiles back and wraps an arm around me as we walk into the church. Mom’s about to pull open the heavy oak doors when a hand reaches around her and pulls it open. 

“After you ma’am,” a familiar voice says, pulling the door open.

“Thank you so much d-” Mom stops short when she is face to face with her worst nightmare in the form of a smirking boy in a leather jacket. 

“Nathaniel,” my father says, disentangling himself from me.

“Hello Mr. Rojas,” Nate says.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh you know,” Nate says casually, “I was walking by, saw a large crowd, and thought it would be a good opportunity to make some transactions.”

Both my parents stare at Nate as I try not to laugh. They can be a little gullible sometimes. 

“Hey Nate,” Maeve says as she materializes next to us with Luis. His other friends seemed to have disappeared, but they’ve never struck me as people who’d want to go to a funeral.

“Hi, Maeve.” Nate is squinting at Maeve like she’s insane. Understandably. She’s smiling for once. Honestly I forgot she was able to do that. Also, the last time Maeve talked to Nate she yelled at him.

“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Rojas, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Luis says to my parents, seemingly sensing the tension.

My parents both brighten as they turn to Luis. He shakes my father’s hand firmly and leans down to kiss my mother’s cheek. Nate and I roll our eyes at each other as Maeve glows so brightly she might put the sun out of business. All Luis is missing is a hat to tip. 

“How are you doing son?”

“Well, Mr. Rojas, and you?”

“I’m good.”

Luis smiles and motions towards the door. “Are you going in?”

“We are. Are you Nathaniel?” My mother asks.

“What did you do Nate?” Maeve asks, rolling her eyes. She knows my mother’s danger voice as well as I do. 

Mom tells Maeve what Nate said, nearly verbatim, and Maeve doesn’t even try to hide her laughter. “You’re so gullible Mom,” she says breezily, pushing past us to walk through the doors. She turns to us. “Well are you coming? Nate’s coming to the funeral too.”

“I am,” Nate confirms. My parents instantly relax. 

There’s a glint in Maeve’s amber eyes as she delivers her parting shot: “his probation officer made him.”

To say the funeral was tense is an understatement. Nate ended up sitting with Maeve on his one side and me on his other. Maeve shook with silent laughter through the entire service and Nate glared at the wall. I breathe a sigh of relief when we exit the church, but the next problem appears in the form of a man in a crisp suit blocking our path as we try to make our way to the car. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Rojas?” The man asks.

“Yes?” Mom says.

“I am Detective Wheeler with the Bayview Police. Would we be able to take your daughter Bronwyn to the police station to talk about the events of Simon’s death?”

I freeze and Maeve crashes into me. That doesn’t sound good.

“Why?” Mom asks.

“Just a customary check in, we’re doing it with all the students. Just to tie up loose ends.”

That really doesn’t sound good.

“Only if we can come with her,” Dad says.

The detective nods. “Of course. We aren’t holding her. But your younger daughter…” The detective trails off, looking at Maeve suspiciously. 

She smiles a little. “I’ll go wait by the car. I need to tell Luis something anyway.”

“Go ahead honey, we’ll see you soon,” Mom says. Maeve gives a jaunty wave, steps around me, and walks away with a spring in her step. If I had to guess, her forthcoming interaction with Luis wouldn’t involve a lot of talking.

I follow the detective and my parents to the police station down the street, where we’re directed to what seems an awful lot like an interrogation room. The detective starts talking about Simon’s death, and I don’t listen because I’ve heard it too many times, but I zone back into the conversation when Detective Wheeler shows us a tablet with About That, Simon’s old gossip Tumblr, pulled up to a post that makes my heart stop. It’s about all of us at detention. About how Cooper used steroids (unsurprising), Nate sold drugs while being on probation (expected honestly) and how Addy cheated on her boyfriend Jake with a boy named… oh no. TF. TJ Forrester. Maeve’s ex. The one she’s been moping about for months. I’m not surprised, I knew this, but my parents didn’t. I glance at them to see their reaction. My mom’s eyes are trained on Addy’s piece of gossip, but my dad’s are on the next piece. The one I’ve been ignoring because it’s about me. More specifically, about how I cheated in my chemistry class last year. 

All my blood rushes to my head as Detective Wheeler asks “well, Miss Rojas, what do you have to say about yourself?” 

My mother stiffens. “My daughter has no comment. And we aren’t going to talk about this until we have a lawyer present, Detective.”

“Very well,” says Detective Wheeler resignedly. He seems to have expected this. “But let me tell you that your friends are all here, Bronwyn, and one of them will admit to your crime.”

Mom’s pushing me out of the room before I can ask what crime he might be talking about. Surely my “friends” have nothing they can say about my cheating. Mom and Dad don’t say anything as we walk the block back to our car. They look angry though. Mom’s expression softens when she sees Maeve, however. 

“Hey!” Maeve says pleasantly. She’s sitting on the car’s hood, her phone in her hand. She holds up her free hand to block the setting sun from her face. It doesn’t work that well though, since the light streams onto her face, turning her hair coppery, her freckles golden, and her eyes into the most fiery they’ve ever looked. She looks like the picture of the warrior queen on the poster in the library, and I almost expect her to come flying at me with a sword. Which is stupid. Maeve is the least confrontational person I’ve ever met. Subtle jabs are more her style. 

“Hi Maevey,” Mom says. Maeve stares at her. Mom hasn’t called her Maevey in years. 

“What the hell happened at the station?” Maeve whispers to me as we climb into the back seat of the car.

“Let’s just say that this isn’t going to end well,” I whisper back through clenched teeth as Dad glares at me through the rearview mirror. 

“Understatement,” my sister mumbles as she puts her earbuds into her ears, leaving me to face my parents’ wrath alone.  

[godofplumsandthunder]

I Can’t Do This Anymore

Pairings: Bi! TJ Hammond x Reader

Warnings: Mentions/Alluedement to SMUT (18+ please), Like one curse word

A/N: Here’s another quarantine drabble for @the-ss-horniest-book-club I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy, while practicing safe social distancing and following all of the issued guidelines. I know it seems rough, cause it is for me, but we will get through this together. This prompt was submitted by @littledarlinhavefaithinme and I just had to get it cause TJ is the softest and deserves a happy ending! Anyway, I hope you like it.

“Baby, I need you to get off me. I can’t do this anymore.” TJ rolls you off of him, laying you down next to him. “We gotta stop this, Y/N.” The this, that TJ is referencing is your friends with benefits arrangement. It started after his overdose. After what happened in December, you were really worried about T.J. You wanted to know why he kept using, even after all the times he tried to come clean. You just wanted to know how to help him.

“Why T.J.? Why do you keep going back to that stuff?” You ask T.J. as he lies in the hospital, as you clutch on to his hand. You’ve been friends with T.J. since his days in the White House, and he’s always been one of your closest friends. So to see him like this, the second time on death’s door in just a matter of months scares you.

“To feel something, Y/N. I don’t know if you’ve seen my family, but one really cares for me. Sure, they love me cause they have to, but they don’t take time for me. My dad’s too busy doing his new girl toy, my mother and brother are too occupied on advancing their careers in D.C., and my Nana, well she’s just as screwed up as I am. When I take something, when I feel that high, I feel cared for. Almost like it loves me.”

T.J’s frank admission hurts you. You knew that his family life wasn’t always the best, but to hear he’s replacing love with chemicals breaks your heart. And you want to do something to fix that. So you got an idea. A crazy as hell idea, but one that might just work.

“T.J., it hurts me to see you do this. So, I want to help. And none of that bullshit take you to the 12 step shit. Cause I know that doesn’t work for you. I read somewhere that having sex releases almost as much dopamine as doing drugs. So, when you feel like you need to use, just text me, night or day and I’ll come over. No strings attached. Just pure, raw, sex.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that sex can get me as high as coke did? And I’ve been wasting my money on that shit? Let’s do this Y/N! Maybe I’ll finally come clean.” T.J. just chuckles and squeezes your hand as he goes back to sleep, leaving you with the magnitude of your decision.

For the last 8 months, you kept true to your promise. You went whenever and wherever T.J. asked you to go. On his part, he’s been clean for those 8 months. Everything was going great, up until tonight.

“I don’t get it T.J. I thought we were doing good. That you were doing good! What’s changed?” You look to T.J., who’s become quite coy.

“I just can’t do it anymore Y/N.”

“Really? You’re not even going to give me an explanation? I care for you T.J., I do but-” T.J cuts you off, the built-up frustration, desperation evident in his voice.

“I can’t do this because I’m in love with you! And the last time I loved someone I nearly died!” Tears are rolling down his face as he looks at you, absolutely devastated.

“Oh T.J.,” you cup his face and snuggle close to him. “That doesn’t mean we have to stop. Cause I’m in love with you too. I have been ever since we went to Camp David together.”

T.J. looks at you and gives the faintest of smiles. “Really, Y/N? You really mean that?”

You pull him into a kiss, a slow and passionate one, describing all the feelings that you couldn’t put words to. “Does that answer your question, T.J?”

He gives a soft chuckle, “Yeah, I guess it does, Y/N. Do you want to, I mean you don’t have to, but can we go out? Like steadily?”    

“I guess T.J. We already have the sex part of the relationship, might as well do the rest of it.”

T.J. pulls you back on top of him and showers your body with kisses.

“God, Y/N, I love you! You’re mine forever. Only mine.”

[thisiswhatwereupagainst]

Hey, this is an assortment of random Marvel characters who are very minor but I think are cool and interesting for whatever reason.

Nocturne: Not to be confused with TJ Wagner, Angela Cairn wore the codename of Nocturne first, though far less famously. A police detective who was devastated over the death of her partner, Angela went on the search for a serial killer, only to fall into the clutches of one of Baron Zemo’s mutates, who forcibly mutated Angela as well into a mute, empathic, bat-winged being called Nocturne. Nocturne struggles greatly with acceptance of herself, but finally arrives at the conclusion this was in fact her real self all along, and it comes off to me very much as a coming-out story, as I write about HERE.

Solarr: Silas King was a drug smuggler and, unbeknownst to him, a latent mutant. When his van broke down in the Mojave desert, he nearly died from the heat, but the same sun that nearly killed him also activated his latent ability to  absorb solar energy and discharge it as heat blasts. Calling himself Solarr (yes, with two Rs) he began using his powers for common crimes such as bank-robbing, which brought him into conflict with Captain America and other heroes…and into partnerships with other villains such as Klaw. This eventually landed him in Project Pegasus, a prison for super-powered criminals where they were also studied by scientists in hopes of developing alternate forms of energy. Solarr was killed by another inmate during a jail break. Solarr was not a nice or moral man, and was in fact murderous and cruel in pursuit of his greed, but it was a sad ending for him nonetheless.Though he was inexplicably named Bill Braddock rather than Silas King in the 1990s X-Men cartoon series, he has no relationship to Betsy and her siblings.

Lourdes Chantel: A native of Barcelona, Lourdes was a mutant teleporter and the fiancee of Sebastian Shaw. She met him long before he became Black King of the Hellfire Club, or even rich at all, and they fell in love. However, when Shaw was inducted into the Hellfire Club, and then its Inner Circle, Lourdes was concerned. A member of the Hellfire Club herself, she knew how it changed people, and feared (rightly so) that it would corrupt her lover. She also feared the machinations of Edward Buckman,the White King, and believed he was planning to stab Shaw in the back. Her predictions proved true; she died saving Shaw from Sentinels sent by Buckman to kill all the mutants in the Hellfire Club, and Shaw avenged her death with Buckman’s murder, becoming the new Black King of the Club—-exactly what Lourdes would NOT have wanted.

Toxic Doxie: Sometimes called Toxie Doxie instead of Toxic Doxie, Dr. June Covington doesn’t much care for either “codename” that the press has given her. A beautiful, brilliant scientist and remorseless sociopath, Dr. Covington craves genetic perfection she’s quite willing to kill others to get it. After all, she deserves it, being so perfect herself. To this end, she’s given herself an array of unusual superpowers using her “genetic plug-in” technology, such as neurotoxic blood, antispetic saliva surgically implanted gills, thermal blasts from her own body heat, and “invisibility” to machines. June served as the “Scarlet Witch” in Norman Osborn’s “Dark Avengers”, complete with wearing her costume, so if you see a blonde lady in Wanda’s getup—don’t worry, whitewashing the Maximoffs hasn’t gone THAT far yet, it’s just June!

[colestis]

We Both Die At The End: A Tyrus Mini Series

A They Both Die At The End Tyrus AU no one but myself asked for.

Tj Kippen’s POV, 12:15 AM

Death-Cast is hitting me up as I'm beating up my ex boyfriend's new boyfriend to death. I'm still on top of this dude, pinning his shoulders, but my friend's cheering came to a stop when Death-Cast started calling me.

Death-Casts alert has that dun dun dun effect when they call, and everything around me feels like it could jump at me in a matter of seconds.

"You gotta pick that up, Teej," Reed says. He's recording the beat down because he likes watching fights, but now he's staring at his phone too, afraid death-cast might call him next.

My phone stops ringing.

"It could be a mistake?" Lester says, walking away from our bikes towards us.

My phone rings again.

I feel it vibrating in my back pocket, and they probably won't stop spamming me any time soon, so I'll get off of the dude and walk away for some privacy.

I click talk, only hearing dead silence until I say "Yeah?"

"Hello. I'm Andrea from Death-Cast. I'm here to speak to Thelonious Jagger Kippen." She says. I hear her mutter 'unlucky name' under her breath.

"It's Tj." I say. I still know it's me, because it's my full name Tj at I never use.

"Tj, I regret to inform you that in the next 24 hours you will be meeting an untimely death. While we can't do anything to suspend this, you still have a chance to live. First of all, how are you doing? It took you a while to answer." She says.

Who asks that when their about to die?

"I don't know how I'm doing." I make a mental not to not throw my phone against the brick wall in front of my right now. "Just tell me my options." I say.

She tells me the forecast for today, as well as what events that might be going on around me, restaurants with decker discounts, and more.

"How do you know?" I ask. "How do you know how people die. Do you guys have a calendar or something?"

"I'm afraid that information isn't available to me either." She says

"Hey. I'm three weeks away from turning eighteen, and I have a question. Does it ever piss you off that I'll never get to go to collage? Get married? Find a job? Have kids? Live? Doubt it. I bet you're just chilling in you're office having a grand ol' time because you have a few decades ahead of you, right?"

Andrea clears her throat. "You want me to be a person? You want me to be real with you? Okay, I'll get real. A few minutes ago, I had to call a devastated mother to tell her that her month year old daughter was going to die, and she begged me to find a way to stop it, but no one has that power. And then I had to put in a request to dispatch a cop in case her mother has something to do with her death witch believe it or not, isn't the most disgusting thing I've done for this job. So please cooperate because I have many more of these calls to make tonight."

Damn.

She runs over the details of what I want to put on my grave and stuff, and I cooperate for the rest of the call. I can't tell you who hangs up first, but it doesn't matter.

The damage is done.

Cyrus Goodman's POV, 12:22 AM

Death-Cast is calling me with a warning of a lifetime — I'm going to die today. I guess "warning" isn't the correct word since a warning isn't guaranteed, but Death-Cast is never wrong.

The alert is endless — heart stopping — and it makes everything in time slow to a stop. All I can hear is the alert playing over and over making sweat trickle my forehead.

It's so distinctive you could hear it from miles away.

The crazy thing is that a minute ago, I was reading yesterday's blog entry of CountDowners —where deckers post how they're going to die— and now here we are.

I'm the person who could be making the entry. Good thing I was reading them . . . right?

Right?

Maybe they have the wrong number. Maybe it's a tech issue. Maybe I'm not actually dying. I mean, how could you get the call when you haven't lived yourself?

It's not fair.

After what feels like forever, with my phone still ringing, my shaky hands lift my phone to the caller ID DEATH CAST, of course.

My hands are shaking. My heart is racing. I can barely catch my breath. Tears brim my eyes, ready to spill at any given moment.

But no one should spend their end day crying.

Thinking that somehow convinced me to press talk, hoping maybe — just maybe — it's not me they're looking for.

"Hello, I'm calling from Death-Cast. I'm Andrea. You there, Tj?"

Tj.

My name isn't Tj.

"You've got the wrong person." Relief washes over me, and I hold onto the hope that they have the wrong number. That they contacted the wrong person.

I hear computer keys tapping on the over end, and then I hear her say aha, like maybe she found his correct number.

"Oh, apologies. Tj was the last person I talked to, got pretty pissed. Poor thing. You're Cyrus Goodman, right?"

And just like that, my last hope is obliterated.

"Cyrus, please confirm this is you. I have many of these calls to make tonight."

I always thought they would be sympathetic, and actually care. But all they care about is their thrown in their office with their well paying salary.

"Yeah, I'm . . ." I pause to inhale "I'm Cyrus." I say.

"Cyrus, I regret to inform you that in the next 24 hours you be meeting an untimely death. While there isn't anything we can do to suspend this, you still have a chance to live."

Andrea talks about how I need to go on their website and put in information I would like to have for my funeral, and what I would like to have put on my grave.

"And Tj, on behalf of Death-Cast, we are sad to see you go. Live this day to the fullest okay?" Andrea says.

"I'm Cyrus." I say.

"I'm sorry about that, Cyrus. It's just these calls are just so stressful and—" I hang up on her, witch is rude I know.

But she's not the one dying today.

My knees sink to the floor as I hug and cry into them, hoping to find some source of comfort.