#cat with dried corn

[mothmiso]

Untitled (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) by Hoành Nông Đức

[greenwitchcrafts]

September 2024 Witch Guide

New Moon: September 2nd

First Quarter: September 11th

Full moon: September 17th

Last Quarter: September 24th

Sabbats: Mabon- September 22nd

September Harvest Moon

Also known as: Autumn Moon, Child Moon, Corn Harvest Moon, Falling Leaves Moon, Haligmonath, Leaves Turning Moon, Mating Moon, Moon of Brown Leaves, Moon When Dear Paw the Earth, Rutting Moon, Singing Moon, Wine Moon, Witumanoth & Yellow Leaf Moon

Element: Earth

Zodiac: Virgo & Libra

Nature spirts: Trooping Faeries

Deities: Brigid, Ceres, Chang-e, Demeter, Freya, Isis, Depths & Vesta

Animals: Jackal & snake

Birds: Ibis & sparrow

Trees: Bay, hawthorn, hazel & larch

Herbs: Copal, fennel, rye, skullcap, valerian, wheat & witch hazel

Flowers: Lily & narcissus

Scents: Bergamot, gardenia, mastic & storax

Stones: Bloodstone,carnelian, cat's eye, chrysolite, citrine, iolite, lapis lazuli, olivine, peridot, sapphire, spinel(blue), tourmaline(blue) & zircon

Colors: Browns, dark blue, Earth tones, green & yellow

Issues, intentions & powers: Confidence, the home, manifestation & protection

Energy: Balance of light & dark, cleaning & straightening of all kinds, dietary matters, employment, health, intellectual pursuits, prosperity, psychism, rest, spirituality, success & work environment

The full Moon that happens nearest to the fall equinox (September 22nd or 23rd) always takes on the name “Harvest Moon.” Unlike other full Moons, this full Moon rises at nearly the same time—around sunset—for several evenings in a row, giving farmers several extra evenings of moonlight & allowing them to finish their harvests before the frosts of fall arrive. 

• While September’s full Moon is usually known as the Harvest Moon, if October’s full Moon happens to occur closer to the equinox than September’s, it takes on the name “Harvest Moon” instead. In this case, September’s full Moon would be referred to as the Corn Moon.

This time of year—late summer into early fall—corresponds with the time of harvesting corn in much of the northern United States. For this reason, a number of Native American peoples traditionally used some variation of the name “Corn Moon” to refer to the Moon of either August or September. 

Mabon

Known as: Autumn Equinox, Cornucopia, Witch's Thanksgiving & Alban Elved

Season: Autumn

Element: Air

Symbols: Acorns, apples, autumn leaves, balance, berries, corn, cornucopia( Horn of Plenty), dried seeds, equality, gourds, grains, grapes, ivy, pine cones, pomegranates, vines, wheat, white roses & wine

Colors: Blue, brown, dark red, deep gold, gold, indigo, leaf green, maroon, orange, red, russet. Violet & yellow

Oils/Incense: Apple, apple blossom, benzoin, black pepper, hay/straw, myrrh, passion flower, patchouli, pine, red poppy & sage

Animals: Dog & Wolf

Birds: Goose, hawk, swallow & swan

Stones: Agate, amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow Agate & yellow topaz

Food: Apples, blackberries, blackberry wine, breads, carrots, cider, corn, cornbread, grapes, heather wine, nuts, onions, pomegranates, potatoes, squash, vegetables, wheat & wine

Herbs/Plants: Benzoin, bramble, corn, ferns, grains, hops, ivy, milkweed, myrrh, sage sassafras, Salomon's seal, thistle, tobacco & wheat

Flowers:  Aster, heather, honeysuckle, marigold, mums, passion flower, rose

Trees: Aspen, cedar, cypress, hazel, locust, maple, myrtle oak & pine

Goddesses: Danu, Epona, Inanna, Ishtar, Modron, Morgan, The Morrigan, Muses, Pomona, Persephone, Sin, Sophia & Sura

Gods:  Bacchus, Dionysus, Dumuzi, Esus, The Green Man, Hermes, Mannanan, Thor & Thoth

Issues, Intentions & Powers: Accomplishment, agriculture, balance, goals, gratitude & grounding

Spellwork: Balance, harmony, protection, prosperity, security & self-confidence

Activities:

•Scatter offerings in a harvested fields & Offer libations to trees

• Decorate your home and/or altar space for fall

• Bake bread

• Perform a ritual to restore balance and harmony to your life

• Cleanse your home of negative energies

• Pick apples

• Collect fall themed things from nature like acorns, changing leaves, pine cones, ect)

• Have a dinner or feast with your family and/or friends

• Set intentions for the upcoming year

• Purge what is no longer serving you & commit to healthy changes

•Take a walk in the woods

• Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte

• Donate to your local food bank

• Gather dried herbs, plants, seeds & pods

• Learn something new

• Make wine

• Fill a cornucopia

• Brew an apple cinnamon simmer pot

• Create an outdoor Mabon altar

•Adorn burial sites with leaves, acorns, & pinecones to honor those who have passed over & visit their graves

The name Mabon comes from the Welsh/Brythonic God Mabon Ap Modron, who's name means "Divine/great Son", However,there is evidence that the name was adopted in the 1970s for the Autumn Equinox & has nothing to do with this celebration or this time of year.

• Though many cultures see the second harvest (after the first harvest Lughnasadh) & Equinox as a time for giving thanks before the name Mabon was given because this time of year is traditionally when farmers know how well their summer crops did & how well fed their animals have become. This determines whether you & your family would have enough food for the winter.That is why people used to give thanks around this time, thanks for their crops, animals & food

Some believe it celebrates the autumn equinox when Nature is preparing for the winter months. Night & day are of equal legth  & the God's energy & strength are nearly gone. The Goddess begins to mourn the loss she knows is coming, but knows he will return when he is reborn at Yule.

Related festivals:

• Sukkot- Is a Torah-commanded holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelites were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Originally a harvest festival celebrating the autumn harvest, Sukkot’s modern observance is characterized by festive meals in a sukkah, a temporary wood-covered hut, celebrating the Exodus from Egypt.

• Mid-Autumn festival- September 17th

Is also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival. It is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture, similar holidays are celebrated by other cultures in East & Southeast Asia. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture; its popularity is on par with that of Chinese New Year. The history of the Mid-Autumn Festival dates back over 3,000 years.  On this day, it is believed that the Moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn.

During the festival, lanterns of all size and shapes – which symbolize beacons that light people's path to prosperity & good fortune – are carried & displayed. Mooncakes, a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean, egg yolk, meat or lotus-seed paste, are traditionally eaten during this festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the legend of Chang'e, the Moon goddess in Chinese mythology.

• Thanksgiving- This is a secular holiday which is similar to the cell of Mabon; A day to give thanks for the food & blessings of the previous year. The American Thanksgiving is the last Thursday of November while the Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated in October

• The Oschophoria- Were a set of ancient Greek festival rites held in Athens during the month Pyanepsion (autumn) in honor of Dionysus. The festival may have had both agricultural and initiatory functions.

-Amidst much singing of special songs, two young men dressed in women's clothes would bear branches with grape-clusters attached from Dionysus to the sanctuary of Athena Skiras & a footrace followed in which select ephebes competed.

Ancient sources connect the festival and its rituals to the Athenian hero-king Theseus & specifically to his return from his Cretan adventure. According to that myth, the Cretan princess Ariadne, whom Theseus had abandoned on the island of Naxos while voyaging home, was rescued by an admiring Dionysus; thus the Oschophoria may have honored Ariadne as well. A section of the ancient calendar frieze incorporated into the Byzantine Panagia Gorgoepikoos church in Athens, corresponding to the month Pyanopsion (alternate spelling), has been identified as an illustration of this festival's procession.

Sources:

Farmersalmanac .com

Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines

Wikipedia

A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs

Encyclopedia britannica

Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living

[dxwnstxr]

It's autumn with them

Fandom: Bungou stray dogs

Characters: Chuuya, dazai, ranpo, tetchou, akutagawa, tachihara

Genre: fluff, headcanons

Warnings: none

A/n: I'm already in the autumn/halloween mood, and it's not even august yet😭☕️.

🍁 Chuuya 🍁

Chuuya would cuddle with you on the couch watching your favorite scary movie. He would yelp at the jump scares, then lie and say he didn't because he's not a wuss.

Chuuya would watch the autumn rain with you while drinking hot pumkin lattes.

Chuuya would bring you to pumkin patches and lose you in the corn maze.

Chuuya would go to starbucks with you to get the autumn beverages. Then go shopping together for autumn outfits.

🍁 Dazai 🍁

Dazai would make homemade pumpkin pie with you just to steal some of it.

Dazai would make sure you both wear matching halloween costumes.

Dazai would stop to pet a black cat on your walk down a path in the orange and red woods.

Dazai would bring you outside to play in the autumn rain. Then, afterward, take a cozy apple sented shower together.

🍁 Ranpo 🍁

Ranpo would make sure to buy you all of his favorite halloween themed candy.

Ranpo would spoil all of the scary movies, so instead, you both carved pumpkins.

Ranpo would make you bring him to all of the mini autumn shops in downtown. He'd later got carried away, though, and grab you by the hand, pulling you to the shops he wants to look at.

Ranpo would only eat the whipped cream on his pumpkin pie. He'd then give the rest to you.

Ranpo would run ahead of you on sweet autumn walk and shout to you all the amazing thing he sees while pointing to them. You then would lift up your camera and capture the beautiful shot.

🍁 Tetchou 🍁

Tetchou would see you still hungry after eating your thanksgiving meal and would give you his portion.

Tetchou would lay a nice freshly washed and dried blanket on you while it's still warm as you sleep on his shoulder.

Tetchou would promise to take you to a pumkin patch. He ended up losing you 10 times before he called it a day.

Tetchou would let you pick out his outfits when you both went on autumn dates.

🍁 Akutagawa 🍁

Akutagawa would watch scary movies with you, but every time you jumped, he told you that you're being a baby. He later got embarrassed when he got scared near the end of said movie.

Akutagawa would ride on the hayrides with you and act like he hates it. Though after a while, you catch him smiling at the scenery.

Akutagawa would fall asleep easily on rainy autumn nights. You would cuddle him while he softly snores in your arms.

Akutagawa would take halloween very seriously but would act like he could care less. Though when it's time to knock on the doors, he gets nervous and acts you to do it.

Akutagawa would sit at the island counter and peacefully watch you make autumn pastries. Spooky halloween music would be playing in the background as akutagawa tries to sneak some samples, then gets mad and lies when he gets caught.

🍁 Tachihara 🍁

Tachihara would challenge you to see who'd escape the corn maze first. To which he ended up getting lost in.

Tachihara would go on a midnight autumn ride on his motorcycle with you. You would point out places you'd like to stop, and he would. You'd hope off, take out your camera, and take calming pictures of him under the autumn moon.

Tachihara would call out all of your friends just to have a pumkin carving competition. To which tetchou came first, you second, and teruko came third.

Tachihara would playfully dip his pointer finger in whipped cream and then poke you in the nose, leaving a dot of whipped cream.

Reblog divider cr: @benkeibear

[radrage]

1 Weird Fact about each Companion

I have no explanation for most of these. They just seem right.

Cait: Is missing 2 teeth. One was knocked out from a fight, the other from her parents. She doesn't like to talk about how she lost the latter.

Curie: Raises animals in her spare time. Since being rescued by Sole from vault 81, she's had an interest in irradiated lifeforms, especially Rabbits and Radstags. Her favourite animals are Cats as she finds it interesting how they haven't evolved to combat the Commonwealth's radiation.

Codsworth: Still celebrates Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. He'll cook a big meal for the settlers at Sanctuary and force them all to take the evening off so they can relax and eat. Most of the settlers don't understand the traditions, but go along with it anyways.

Danse: Has never been drunk. First time Sole gets him drunk though, he steals one of Deacon's hats and starts dancing to "Uranium Fever" on the radio.

Deacon: Collects hats. I mean, for a master of disguise, you'd expect no less. But he loves really outlandish ones especially. His favourite is a comically large corn cob hat that looks like a Jojo hairstyle

Dogmeat: Favourite meat is Mole Rat meat. When Sole meets him at Red Rocket, he's chasing a Brood Mother and her children. Loves the chewy texture they have when their skin is dried.

Hancock: Eats flowers. He likes Dandelions especially, because of the fuzzy texture they have. Only eats them when he's on Jet or Buffout though, Menatat Hancock is too sophisticated for that.

MacCready: A big DCR fan. When he's travelling around the Commonwealth, it gets lonely, so he'll turn on the radio that's attached to his holster and listen to the Silver Shroud and Travis. Can sing "A Wonderful Guy" verbatim.

Valentine: Really good cook. He doesn't cook much, but when he does, it's delicious. Mostly it's just him and Ellie eating, and Ellie will gush to Piper about how good Nick's cooking is.

Piper: Grew up in a share-home. After her dad was killed when she was only 13, she and Nat were relocated to a share home for other orphans in her hometown. She likes the feeling of a busy home, as it keeps her from her thoughts, which is why she likes the noise of the Diamond City market.

Preston: Played the trumpet when he was small. His parents probably found it for sale for, like, 200 caps from a local vendor, and scraped together enough to buy it for his birthday.

Strong: Reads Shakespeare to Shaun to get him to sleep. He sits in an armchair next to his bed and reads it slowly, asking Shaun about words he doesn't understand. Sole often finds them both passed out with a play script in his hands.

X6: Sometimes wishes he was human. Solely so he can experience growing up and what Sole describes as "childhood innocence".

[eddiemunson-reader-shame]

A Freak and A Basket Case (Like the Lord Intended)

“The Camping Episode”

You know how in anime there’s usually a beach or a camping episode? This is that episode.

Eddie Munson x OC

Tags: established relationship, original characters, sad Dustin, mentions of alcohol and drug use, general dirty talk shenanigans, mentions of period typical racism

****

“Good afternoon ma’am… um… is Dustin home…?”

Allie made sure she used her best ‘I am small and vulnerable’ voice as she fidgeted at the Henderson’s doorstep. First impressions weren’t her strong suit. Then again she was basically allergic to any event that required making a social call. Unlike the polished and put together girls in Hawkins, Allie resembled a small half drowned mouse— wet and frightened.Her forehead was drenched in sweat, her blow dried bangs sticking to her forehead. Like always, she refused to take her jacket off even in the face of Hawkins humidity. The quilted lining around her armpits worked overtime to absorb the sweat like a thirty wick, and she stood all hunched and chest heaving to catch her breath. A butterfly gold Pyrex dish with a cream color lid was held out before her as if an offering to a Pagan god. The aroma of fragrant green chile, cream of chicken, cheese, and corn tortilla slipped through the cracks of the lid.

Mrs. Perea always insisted time and time again that you didn’t just return a Pyrex empty, porque tenemos dignidad, cabroncita. You don’t just show up to a house empty handed. That was number 279 on the list of rude little nitpicks that Mom harped on. Allie hadn’t even put up a fuss when her mother pushed the warm dish into her daughter’s hands before she left — she had a mission for Dustin, and would be remiss to not show up at the Henderson house with a little tit for tat.

“Are you little Alexandra?” Claudia Henderson gushed, and Allie tried not to wince at the use of the overly anglicized name that the majority population of the United States had given her.

“Well hello there, sweetheart! Dusty Buns is just in his room right now, I think he did mention you’d be coming by. Was that your little voice on the phone? Would you like to come in? You look like you’ve run a marathon, aren’t you hot in that jacket? You look a little damp, sweetie! It’s not good for you to be wandering around with the wrong clothes, why don’t you come inside before you catch heatstroke?”

Much like a stray cat reluctantly approaches someone with an outstretched palm, Allie entered the Henderson house in a similar reluctant shuffle, clinging to that Pyrex dish like a shield. The house to her was unremarkable. It was a home, much like hers and maybe a little cluttered. If she was honest, it reminded her more of a kind grandma’s home if anything. This was the house your parents sent you to for the summer to get plump on cakes and foods cooked in liberal amounts of butter.

Still, she didn’t truly trust Claudia. Not everyone who was nice had good intentions. All she knew of Dustin’s mom was little snippets mentioned here and there, along with context clues gleaned from the Henderson’s home decor choices.

Judging by the gray fur embedded in the shag and the overlooked scratches in the wood paneling, Claudia obviously was a cat owner. An obsessive, even. With the way she had hundreds upon hundreds of sepia and color photos of a chubby, smiling kid with curly brown hair interspersed between the kitten decor, it seemed the obsession extended to her son as well as the cats.

Suffice to say that Claudia operated on infantilizing everyone and everything. She seemed to think Allie was still in elementary school (typical, it was the height and babyface). The whole conversation had started off so juvenile, and Allie almost had to stop herself from reflexively asking in a tiny voice if Dustin could come out and play. Now she was just standing there as the older woman talked at her, firing a hundred and one things all at once.

Claudia complained about the humidity. She whinged that just looking at Allie in her coat made her hot flashes act up. She whined that her kitten had been lethargic all day and uninterested in playing, and that the summer months always made her little “love muffin Dusty Bun” irritable and uncomfortable. Ergo, because her little “Woogums” was irritable, Allie must have also been suffering.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable? I can get you an iced tea? Do you like lemonade? You can take off your coat and hang it here in the coat closet next to mine if you like. Here, let me take it for you.”

Rose pink fingernails reached for the quilted brown Carhartt, and Allie immediately flinched away.

Claudia’s face softened when she saw Allie’s nervous response, shaking hands struggling to stabilize the casserole dish. Unbeknownst to the girl, it worked to her advantage. They didn’t call Allie a Basket Case for nothing; she could appear helpless to an adult, and startlingly unstable to a bully. It unnerved her peers and endeared her to adults. The perfect camouflage.

“No thank you ma’am um this is for you…”

Her voice came out all in one breath, and she kept Claudia at bay by holding the Pyrex out with her eyes trained on the cream color shag carpet. She hoped the woman would just stop talking and take the dish.

“Thank you for the jello, um… we made this for you. It’s uh… green chile chicken enchiladas… they’re real mild… uh, not so hot that you can’t like, eat them. I tried them to make sure.” Alex muttered.

Mom had made sure to craft the enchilada dish with Allie’s delicate palette in mind — mainly because she was the only person in the house with a delicate midwestern constitution— and with her delicate tongue, Allie had declared the dish perfect during the taste test.

Not too hot, but just enough of a tiny kick that it complemented rather than overpowered the other seasonings.

“Oh thank you, thank you so much!” Claudia Henderson gushed, taking her Pyrex from Allie..

“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for us! Thank you for making it mild — you know Dusty and I can’t handle much heat. My poor baby, it makes his little bowels just ache and I won’t get him out of that toilet until Christmas. My Dusty’s widdle belly and mine appreciate you!”

She gave a girlish giggle as she patted her own generous middle. Allie cringed.

“It’s no problem thank you again for the Jell-O ma’am…” she whispered.

Instead of heading off immediately to continue her mission, Allie struggled through small talk with Claudia. Interest in the conversation was lukewarm at best. Not like it was anything substantial anyway, just little baby voice anecdotes of Dustin’s various gastrointestinal issues and deeply personal stories that could only come from a woman with a lot to say and no one around to really say it to. To tell the truth, she didn’t dislike Claudia. Conversations like this were just a new thing to her. Back in New Mexico everyone was less than enthusiastic about speaking to new people. You kept your head down most of the time, and ignored everyone else.

But, Claudia Henderson had taken the time to bring the Pereas a welcome to the neighborhood dish. It was the nicest thing anyone had done for them. Not one adjacent neighbor had come out to say hello since the Pereas had moved in at the beginning of August. And because of that fact, Allie had enjoyed the partially melted red Jell-O with the encapsulated strawberries just a little more.

Maybe a good five minutes of this one sided conversation passed, but to Allie it felt like eternity before she made her mumbled excuses to escape.

Time to focus on the mission: secure a dog sitter, pay him in cash, then leave for home where Eddie would be waiting with the van.

The worn out rubber treads of her converse whispered against the shag as she scurried away from Claudia, thankful for the quiet reprieve found at the back of the house. Keeping her eyes on the carpeted corridor – because she always looked at her feet when she walked – Allie stopped short when she saw a Siamese kitten stretched out just along the threshold of Dustin’s closed door.

Instantly, she fell in love with it.

“Well hewwo widdle cutie bag of doughnuts…” Allie wibbled, her voice raised almost to Claudia’s baby pitch, “Aren’t you a soft widdle pumpkin seed loaf? What’s our name, huh? What’s a fuzzy’s name?”

The kitten yawned as she stroked its soft fur with her fingertips. With a stretch (which Allie encouraged with an ‘Ooooh, big stretch!’) the kitten took its time getting to its feet, lazily rubbing itself along the rolls of her slouchy socks.

Now, obviously there was no way she could avoid giving this kitten love. Testing the waters, Allie wrapped her hands around its middle and lifted. Not so much as a struggle. Instead, the kitten nestled in her arms. Very laid back, relaxed even, it began to purr as she cradled it like a baby. Nearly forgetting why she’d come, Allie kissed its soft fuzzy head over and over, giggling as the cat batted her face with dainty little smacks with its soft paws. She was mush. Totally absorbed with the little fuzzy baby, until she stopped mid forehead kiss and realized she still hadn’t come to do what she’d set out.

Okay, mujer, focus. Take the cat with you and just ask him already. In fact, I’ll take the fucking thing home. This is my cat now.

She knocked on Dustin’s door, calling out to him.

“Muad’Dib…?”

There was a bout of awkward shuffling inside, followed by what she thought was sniffling. She waited. And waited… Until she got fed up and decided to just try again. She tapped smartly on the door again with her knuckles, shave and a haircut. No two bits responded.

“Muad’Dib…” she insisted, “Apúrate bro, it’s me. Open up, I come demanding a favor from my most esteemed Mentat-…”

Her words stuck fast like glue when the door opened, plugging her throat up. Immediately she clocked that Dustin was trying to hide the fact that he had been in the throes of a mental breakdown. She knew the signs well. Wiping tears from his face like he was brushing hair out of his eyes, putting on a brave smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ah! Hey…!” He laughed awkwardly.

“… you alright?” Allie asked.

Dustin was struggling to keep his composure. Shoulders shaking. Eyes watery at the corners.

“Um, yeah, yeah I’m okay. I’m good. Feeling good in the neighborhood.” He insisted.

Allie frowned a little in concern. Dustin began to panic, opening the door and pulling at her jacket sleeve.

“C’mon,” he insisted, yanking her forward, “Come check out my room. Uh… See you found Tews there, he can come in too.”

Allie wandered in with the kitten. Both her and Tews were looking directly at Dustin as he closed the door behind them.

“You look like shit.” She observed.

Immediately she felt bad for blurting out her rude comment when she saw the young boy scrub his face and try to smile.

“Jesus, you’re brutal, chica.” He laughed, “But what else did I expect from Hellfire’s Reverend Mother-…”

“What’s wrong, Muad’Dib?” She tried again, coming up directly to stare him in the face, “Why’re you crying?”

“Huh? Me?! No, no I’m okay, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”

She reached out with one hand, still cradling the kitten. With a gentle swipe of her index finger against his cheek, she wiped a tear that had managed to squeeze out.

“No, it’s not nothing.” She insisted.

“Allie, I swear on my life, it’s nothing. Anyway, what’s going on? You said you needed a favor…?”

“My favor can wait. What’s wrong with you? How come you’re crying-…”

“I’m not crying!” He barked, his face turning red, “God dammit!”

Now she knew something was wrong. And deeply wrong at that. Dustin Henderson never yelled, he never lashed out in anger. Dustin usually acted like a smartass, and hovered around her and Eddie every chance he got, buzzing like a mosquito in her ear about his new little inventions or quizzing her on certain aspects of Chapterhouse: Dune. This was so… unusual to see him like this. Angry and defeated..

“You didn’t come to Hellfire Club.” Allie said gently, electing to ignore his outburst, “None of you guys did… we missed our freshies.”

She and Eddie had at least expected Dustin to show up for Hellfire on Friday, but surprisingly, he pulled a no call no show. It had just been her, Eddie, and the Corroded Coffin guys. That’s how it had been before Eddie had corralled the freshmen, but the new blood always added some extra spark to the mix.

Mike and Lucas typically flaked. That was nothing new. But surely Dustin would always show up?

“I…”

It took a while for him to answer. Tews began to struggle in Allie’s grip, so she gently set the kitten down on the ground so that he could disappear under Dustin’s desk. With a soft grunt, she sat down on his bed, looking up as she dangled her legs off the edge.

Their eyes met. And when her own eyes softened behind her large glasses, Dustin broke.

“It’s just… it’s been a shitty week...” He croaked.

From what it sounded, he’d been going through the motions trying to keep it together. What began as a mournful recount of events, soon devolved into a passionate rant about every single wrong done this year. One atop the other, each micro transgression riding pig-a-back on the last until it seemed like it just snowballed out of control. Things were different, Dustin wasn’t dealing well with different.

“— and my mom has just been up my ass all week after school, and just… everyone except me has plans…”

Queue another impassioned rant. His childhood friends were drifting apart and leaving him behind. Mike was spending Labor Day weekend in California with his girlfriend and their buddy Will. Some girl named Susie-Poo would be attending a weekend long family reunion in honor of Labor Day weekend — no electronics allowed in favor of activities involving banana pudding, fireworks, prayer, and cornhole — and Dustin seemed to take it as a personal affront that she had refused to bail on family time to spend the weekend talking with him. A little lover’s quarrel had ensued, and her older sister had unplugged the radio on the Utah side after complaining about the noise.

When Dustin told Allie that Lucas had practice, she frowned. Obviously that was a lie, because Chrissy Cunningham told her she had been invited to that same Labor Day “basketball practice”. It was what they were calling it when in earshot of the adults so as not to arouse suspicion.

But it was so cookie cutter, too perfect and almost too stupid of an excuse, that immediately Allie had laughed. She had swatted at Chrissy’s arm, and demanded the truth. And because Chrissy and Allie gossiped like broody hens about everything— from pregnancy scares to the ragers that caused them— Allie knew on good authority that Lucas would not be spending his weekend practicing defense or rebounding drills. Instead, he would most likely be partaking in seven hundred and fifty milliliters of Frangelico with Chance. Meanwhile Jason, Patrick, and Andy would be playing strip beer pong with the pep squad in the McKinney’s two car garage.

“No, dude. It’s not a practice. He’s going to Patrick’s party this weekend.” Allie said bluntly.

“Wait, seriously?!” Dustin exclaimed, “He’s going to a party?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, “I don’t know why he lied. He should have just told you…”

As much as Eddie hated Jason Carver’s “Good Ol’ Boys” chapter, he didn’t begrudge Lucas for going to a party. Hell, the hefty little markup profit Eddie had made from Andy’s need for speed was currently sitting pretty in Alex’s skirt pocket. After securing his bag, Eddie had come to her house grinning like a maniac, having come away from the jock encounter a couple hundred dollars richer.

That was how their weekend getaway had come about anyways. Originally the intention was to use half of Andy’s markup as a house sitting incentive for Dustin, and to use the remainder as extra spending money for a weekend camping trip for two since everyone else had plans.

If Eddie had known ahead of time that Lucas had planned on going, he would have encouraged him to go (and probably tried to sell him a little extra bud to help boost his popularity). But the fact of the matter was that it seemed like Lucas didn’t trust Eddie fully with the truth. Or any of his other friends for that matter if Dustin didn’t know.

Allie wasn’t angry at Lucas, just disappointed that he’d given a dodgy excuse.

“Eddie’s not happy about it, he said Lucas should have just been honest and told him he wanted to go drinking.” Allie admitted, “It’s not like we’re all prude. We could have just canceled club.”

Unspoken things floated up in the air between the two of them like dust particles. The truth pierced like an arrow, and it had hit the boy in front of her hard. Watching Dustin deflate like someone had let the air out of him was the saddest, most pathetic thing that Allie had ever seen before. She cleared her throat, and spoke up to alleviate the unease.

“But um… Eddie wanted me to check on you, because you’re not all flighty, and you don’t usually cancel on us. But with Lucas gone last minute, it left us a few players short. So like, we landed up ending the Palace of the Silver Princess early… and we all kind of just went home. Because it wasn’t the same without you making commentary.”

A shuddering sob transformed into a noncommittal shrug on Dustin’s shoulders. He was betrayed. Bewildered even.

“Whatever.” Dustin gulped, his voice guttural as though he was trying desperately not to burst into tears, “It’s whatever. Fuck it. If he wants to go party with the jockstraps, let him. I always get left behind, it’s okay.”

You don’t mean that… Allie thought, Come on, Muad’Dib… you don’t truly mean that.

It was normal to be angry at your friends every once in a while. But seeing him like this — seeing her Muad’Dib hurt like this — it was painful.

His expression stabbed her heart. Like the burning poison of a Gom Jabbar, his sadness infected her.

“I’m sorry, Muad’Dib…” she said, “I didn’t know that you didn’t know…”

“No it’s fine.” Dustin insisted, “I don’t care… like I said, everyone leaves me behind, why should I matter now? Clearly everyone’s majorly top secret Labor Day plans don’t involve a fat nerd like me!”

Much as she saw him as a nuisance on a good day, she saw something else in him now.

She saw a younger version of herself standing in front of her. Hurting. Trying not to cry. Cursing everyone who had ever wronged her. Always excluded. Always lied to for protection. As if her feelings were too delicate to handle the truth. Maybe Lucas was just trying to protect Dustin from the backlash if the boys got caught? Maybe he had done it on purpose? Who could say.

This was all far too complicated of a situation. At the very least, far too complicated for Allie to understand why Lucas’ white lie was so hard for Dustin to take on the chin.

“Ugh… shit…! Anyway, what was the favor you needed? What did you come here for?” Dustin asked, still trying to wipe his boogery nose with the back of his hand.

You don’t need to try to be brave, Muad’Dib…

“About that…”

Everyone always teased Allie and Eddie to no end that Dustin was secretly their love child. He had the same coiling curly hair that they both did, and Lucas swore up and down that Dustin had Eddie’s dimples. Mike even said that they both had similar dental problems, even though Dustin had corrected him over and over, because diastema wasn’t actually the same as cleidocranial dysplasia.

Maybe Dustin wasn’t quite at the level of affection she’d have for a love child, but she did feel something else…

Pity.

Specifically younger sibling pity.

She didn’t see him as a love child, not quite a best friend, but some secret third thing…

A brother.

An awkward, annoying, startlingly intelligent and innocent younger brother who had read the same books she did, and then some. A short, chubby, and awkward nerd brother like her who always got left out. Who everyone always thought needed to be coddled like a baby.

In that moment, seeing her poor desert mouse— her Muad’Dib — so vulnerable, she felt honest-to-god compassion.

“… There’s a slight deviation to the favor now.” Allie said.

Dustin looked up, utter confusion on his face.

Allie scooted off the bed until she was standing up. Automatically her damp sleeve cuff went to her mouth. Reacquainting her tongue with the damp, salty tang of the stretch knit, she began to chew and suck on the fabric in quiet contemplation.

“What are you doing for Labor Day weekend?” She asked, voice muffled by the cuff.

“Wha… huh?!”

“Specifically, tomorrow and Sunday?”

The question totally caught him off guard. She could tell by his body language, not by his eyes. Allie couldn’t stand to keep looking at those sad little wet eyes.

“I don’t have any plans…” Dustin admitted rather grudgingly, “Why?”

She sniffed. Looked at Tews who had come wandering back to her to play with her shoelaces. Then, with a sigh, came to her final decision.

“… How would you like to go camping with me and Eddie?”

****

Cursing loudly and nearly tripping over her untied shoelaces, Allie finally tucked the loose strings into her socks. No time to tie them in a nice and neat bow, because Eddie was laying on the horn and blasting “Love Me Like a Reptile” right outside her home. Laughing and scrambling to get to him, Allie was already half way to the van by the time her lover caught sight of her scurrying like a mouse with a cat in hot pursuit. The Gaucho was parked haphazardly with one wheel on the sidewalk, and it looked like Eddie had been waiting for Jaime to pull out his Monte Carlo so Eddie could take the spot in the driveway.

Just as she crossed the street into her own cul-de-sac, Jaime nearly ran Allie off the road with a petty side swipe of his ranfla, laughing and holding up a middle finger at her as he drove off to partake of his own Labor Day weekend plans.

“Fuck you, asshole!” She screamed.

Allie leaned on the driver’s side of the Gaucho with her middle finger raised at her brother, before leaning over to kiss Eddie.

“Jesus Christ.” He laughed, stubbing out one of his Camels into the overflowing ash tray, “No love lost between you two, is there?”

“I don’t have time for his fucking bullshit.” Allie grumbled, “There’s been a change of plans.”

The passenger door was sticking again, and it finally opened with a grunt and a mighty yank. Once she was in, Allie turned off the stereo and shed her coat. Eddie frowned, and was about to open his mouth to ask what was wrong when his girlfriend began to walk him through the whole Dustin Henderson situation. There were no lurid details spared. Everything was fair game for her to explain. Of particular emphasis was how he’d been abandoned, how he had just been on the verge of losing it…

“- and then he just started like, ugly crying,” Allie said, gesticulating her arms wildly, “And he looked so fucking sad. It was like looking at a kicked puppy, babe.”

“Wait… are you serious?!” He asked, “Dustin Henderson started ugly crying?!”

“Oh my god yes…” Allie was tugging at her hair, only stopping when Eddie swatted her hands away with an admonishment of “don’t do that”. It had been his personal mission to try and break her of these nervous habits, and a roach was offered to her for the nerves which she gladly took.

Puff, puff, give.

“He lost it, I’ve never seen someone like that before.” Allie admitted, curling up in the bucket seat as Eddie took a hit, “Like, he almost had a whole mental breakdown in his room about it.”

A plume of smoke billowed out of his nose, like a dragon idling with a fireball in its mouth.

“That’s why I felt like a bitch for wanting him to sit for us, and I just invited him along... Babe, he’s got nobody in that little room.” Allie said, “All his old friends are gone. He doesn’t have any plans for the weekend, he was miserable.”

She tugged on her jacket, almost wanting to bite her cuff again, but stopping and instead hitting her mouth with the back of her hand softly.

Eddie inhaled through the nose, exhaled through the mouth.

“No, you did a good deed. I know he takes things on the chin, but he’s human.” Eddie admitted at last, blowing a raspberry as he looked in the rear view mirror, “At the end of the day, it’s shitty being left behind like that. Even if it’s not intentional.”

“I know.” Allie nodded, “That’s why I figured I’d invite him along.”

This side of Allie was a new facet that she had never really shown to Eddie. She was sweet and non judgmental of course, he knew it from the first time. Where as all others saw a bitch of a basket case, or someone that ought to be ignored, Eddie saw the real her. The Allie Perea that had giggled and smiled at him, the one who treated him like a human being when they first met.

But it had taken Allie some time to warm up to Dustin and the freshmen. Lucas toed the line on her shitlist for ditching sessions without notice, and Mike Wheeler and Alejandra Perea were like water and oil with the way he nitpicked her to death during the campaign.

Dustin by association with Mike was also on her shitlist, but now, Allie seemed compassionate. In her heart of hearts, she cared very deeply that Dustin was being left out. That was her Muad’Dib. It wasn’t fair he was being left behind.

“You’ve got a pure heart.” Eddie teased, ruffling her hair, “You know that?”

“God dammit, no.” Allie murmured, “I am darkness, I am the night…”

“You’re about as dark as a basket of kittens.”

“But they’re evil kittens.” Allie argued, sticking out her tongue, “Evil kittens that commit war crimes.”

“Name one war crime.” Eddie grinned.

“Oh… Shit I dunno, but I’m pretty sure my very existence is a crime against humanity in some districts.”

They both laughed, leaning against one another and enjoying the light they brought to each other’s lives. Fuck being miserable and sad and alone, this was what Allie loved about being around Eddie. And if Dustin was going to be sad and alone on Labor Day, he deserved a little happiness too. Even if it didn’t mean much because his friends were still gone. Tenderness for his plight made Allie want to spread the happiness, and if she had to make sure this sad little nerd went camping with two freaks with issues of their own, then that was how it was going to work out.

It was what she would have wanted… especially when she was back in New Mexico.

“You with me, babe?” Eddie asked, looking over briefly at Allie as he shifted the Gaucho into gear to leave.

“Hm?”

The image of Dustin’s sad, watery eyes had made her distracted and melancholy. But it wasn’t anything that she wanted to unpack just yet.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” She insisted, “We better get a move on to Rick’s, you said you wanted him to buy you a six pack, right?”

Nodding, he pulled the van out of the driveway and began the trek towards Mulberry.

“Yeah.” Eddie nodded, “It ain’t camping if your man can’t have a beer. Jesus knows I’m gonna need it if we have to deal with Henderson’s smart ass on this trip.”

He was joking, of course, but Allie couldn’t help but give him a dirty look until he laughed.

“Kidding, babe.”

“You better be.” She warned, “Otherwise I’ll leave Scruffy instead of bringing him.”

“Wait?! You’re bringing my baby boy?!”

Alex nodded, while Eddie punched the air. He was obsessed with the dog. Nearly every visit to the Perea household deviated from a planned make out session, because Eddie would often be too busy playing fetch with the family’s mutt.

“Hell yeah!” He cheered, “I get to have my boy with me for Labor Day!”

“But, if you wanna bring Scruffy, we gotta bring Tiffany too.” She said, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

The car horn sounded as Eddie pounded against the steering wheel, a loud “fuck!” erupting from his throat. Tiny Tiffany was a terror. She had the nasty habit of pissing on the tires of the Gaucho whenever Eddie came over. She snapped at his ankles when he and Alex took her for a turn around the neighborhood on her leash. When she wasn’t snapping at his jeans, Tiffany was chewing on Eddie’s Reeboks… she’d already went to town on his Converse, and Allie was still apologizing for it.

Nearly every day Eddie expressed his disdain and displeasure for Allie’s crusty white dog. Since day one, they had been sworn enemies. Doing battle like knights of old for the affection of a nervous wreck of a girl.

“Nooooo!” Eddie wailed, “Fuck no! Not the rat dog!”

“Yes, we are bringing both of my dogs, and don’t call Tiffany a rat!”

“You know damn well that dog is a yappy, toothy little rat.”

“No she’s not! She has abandonment issues, she’s just grumpy when she feels neglected.”

“Neglected my ass, she’s a spoiled bitch.”

Allie huffed, swatting Eddie with the sleeve of her jacket. If she was going to have peace on this trip, then Eddie would just have to make peace with the dog. As much as she didn’t want to go the drastic route, Allie knew there was only one way that Eddie would treat her sweet pup with kindness.

“You little… Listen honey… You be nice to Tiffany, and I won’t take away your tit privileges for the weekend.” She huffed.

“Oh come on! Don’t hold my girls hostage! They need me!”

Nearly making the car swerve into the tree line, Eddie cried out pitifully like a baby as he tried to reach for her chest. But Allie pulled away, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring hatefully.

“Nah uh, full on Fort Knox until you’re nice to my baby.” She snapped.

No matter how much Eddie whined or made faces, Allie did not budge. She was sick of the constant yapping from both her boyfriend and her dog. Labor Day weekend was supposed to be fun, and if Dustin was going to join them, she fully intended to make sure everyone got along. Even the animals. It took a long time for her boyfriend to finally acquiesce to her demands.

“Ugh… fine. I’ll be civil with rat dog, but you better let me have unfettered access to my girls.” He pouted.

“You’re not going to be civil, you’re going to be nice.” Allie corrected.

“Fine… I’ll be nice to her, I’ll even try to make her like me, how’s that sound?”

“Sounds like Eddie Munson is a sucker for fat tits.” Allie laughed, “But it sounds good. Hope you can keep up your end of the bargain.”

Eddie snorted, looking over at her as they pulled into Rick Lipton’s driveway.

“Oh I’ll keep my word alright. And hey… If they’re your fat tits, I would suck scum off the bottom of a boat just to get a good handful.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re fucking dirty!” Allie laughed.

“Gotta keep my eyes on the prize, baby.” Eddie smirked, “And you best believe, I will do anything for a little smackerel of boob.”

This weekend was going to be arduous, of that, Allie was certain. But maybe she’d get lucky? There was always the possibility that she could get eaten by a bear and not have to deal with drama.

Please let this be a normal trip… she thought.

And please… don’t let me regret changing my plans...

[smudgingpumpkins]

SAMHAIN

Pronounced as "sow-in," as in "cow"

When is Samhain?

In modern times, Samhain is celebrated October 31st through November 1st, roughly the halfway point between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.

What is Samhain?

It is a celebration welcoming the "darker half" of the year, as the harvest season ends and winter approaches. The veil between the world of the dead and the living is at its thinnest during this time.

Who does Samhain celebrate?

Deceased ancestors and loved ones are primarily honored and respected. Gods, Goddesses, and other deities associated with death and the underworld may be regarded, such as Persephone (Greek goddess of agriculture and the queen of the Underworld), Cailleach (Gaelic goddess of winter and wisdom), The Morrigan (Celtic goddess of strife and death), Hecate (Greek goddess of the night, a bridge between good and evil), and Crom Cruach (Gaelic god of harvest), to name a few.

SAMHAIN TRADITIONS

Work with gemstones that keep away negative energy, such as black tourmaline, smoky quartz, and hematite. Stones that invoke luck and hope are also appropriate for the upcoming winter harshness, like opals, rubies, and pyrite.

Use herbs to stave off negative spirits and bad energy, by burning palo santo, patchouli, and sandalwood. Resin from the copal tree, a deep red color much like blood, also radiates good energy and symbolizes the "sacrificial blood of trees," connecting us to our ancestors. This comes from Mesoamerican traditions.

Consume foods rich in nutrients and/or will warm you up for the cooling weather, like squashes, pumpkins, turnips, apples, mulled wines, pork, beef, and traditional barmbrack (sweetbread filled with raisins and spices).

Decorate and dress yourself in spooky colors like black, grey, purple, and orange.

Incorporate animal imagery (e.g., figurines, photographs, drawings, et cetera) of bats, spiders, black cats, and crows--animals associated with the nighttime, (mis)fortune, and as messengers between realms.

SAMHAIN ACTIVITIES

Cleanse your home. Use stones, palo santo, and/or essential oils to rid your home of any negative energy.

Take a ritual bath. Add a drop of patchouli essential oil, coarse salt, and cloves to your bath, and relax under the moonlight.

Honor the dead. Do this however you may see fit; perhaps place a photo of a deceased loved one in a magical space, offer items that they had liked (e.g., food, toys, clothes), and light a white candle in their memory.

Light a bonfire. Commune with your ancestors and/or community beside the fire, and welcome the darker days.

Carve a jack-o-lantern. You can use a pumpkin or a turnip, carving out a scary face and illuminating it by placing a tealight inside.

Make a Samhain altar. Add a photograph of a deceased love one or iconography of a deity of your choice, and surround it with lit candles, harvest foods (e.g., squash, pumpkins, corn, or even your jack-o-lantern), dried leaves, salt, and symbols of death (e.g., ash, bones, the death tarot, et cetera).

Get creative with recipes! Carlota Santos, who is the author of Magicka, recommends a vegan version of lambswool, a traditional Samhain drink. Here is the recipe below!

[ofmermaidstories]

Mermie I’ll take The Sun God’s Bride for $1000🎤

it’s been so long since i first posted it that i’m seriously considering rewriting the first chapter—in the meantime, though, here’s a snippet from the second:

You go out of your way to avoid Kirishima, as Jori called him. Indeed, you go out of your way to avoid all the men of the Sun God’s army. But the Temple, as open as it is, is still small—eventually you are found.

It’s another soldier—zipping around the temple like lightning. His hair is yellow like corn and cut roughly, to his chin: a jagged black streak marring it like a kiss from the Gods. You have seen him often, watching him suspiciously as he oozed around your Sisters, well practised in his charm. It was different to the redhead’s earnestness, his consideration of others—this lightning soldier was touchy to all, like his hands trailed after his words, reaching out to grab at the cloth of a skirt, or tapping on someone’s armour. It even extended to his torment of the Temple cat: picking it up and carrying it everywhere with him like a coddled babe, fingers twining with the creature’s tail.

The fidgeting made him wretchedly nosey, you think; this is how he finds you, the damnable man stumbling into the kitchens as you are setting to the task of baking the evening’s bread.

“Oh,” he says in blank-eyed surprise, before grinning brightly. “Hello! You’re the Sister that runs away from us.”

You frown at him, already soured by the descriptor—runs away—though you coax the dough from your bowl onto the floured table.

“And who are you?” You ask, short. It does not deter the man, though you imagine Jori’s disappointed face at your behaviour.

“Kaminari,” he greets brightly, with an exaggerated flourish. “I know your name—the others have told us—”

His fingers dart over the dried apples in their bowl, testing them, and you make a tiny noise of displeasure as he takes one, biting into it hard.

[gummysunnybear]

Headcanons :3

sun

Sexuality

Bisexual and non-binary(now a transfem)

Smell

Like wine and glue

Favorite musics

Spit-baby bugs

Teeth-baby bugs

Favorite animals

Any cats

moon

Sexuality

Aroace,gay and agender

Transmale

Smell

Melatonin and ink

Favorite musics

Rise of the moon

Favorite animals

Bats!!!

lunar

Sexuality

Pansexual and poly

Smell

Bean bags and candy

Favorite musics

Spit-baby bugs

Favorite animals

Bunnys

solar

Sexuality

Non-binary and aroace

Smell

Oil and dust

Favorite musics

Rain

Favorite animals

Cats :3

earth

Sexuality

Pansexual

Smell

Flowers

Favorite musics

Mlp

Favorite animals

Any animals :>

jack-o-moon

Sexuality

Aroace and pansexual (shush-)

Smell

Like very very old oil

Favorite musics

Rain

Favorite animals

A frog

solar flare

Sexuality

Aroace bisexual

Smell

Oil

Favorite musics

Doesn't know what music is

Favorite animals

He doesn't have one

eclipse

Sexuality

Aroace (just aroace)

Smell

Candy corn

Favorite musics

Spit-baby bugs

Favorite animals

Snake

frank

Sexuality

Gay

Smell

Oil

Favorite musics

Rain

Favorite animals

Doesn't have one

pollux

Sexuality

pansexual

Smell

Sweet candy

Favorite musics

Childish music

Favorite animals

Cats

castor

Sexuality

Bisexual

Smell

Books

Favorite musics

Quietness

Favorite animals

Doesn't have one

bloodtwins

Sexuality

Bloodmoon:aroace

Bloodymoon:asexual

Smell

Dried up blood

Favorite musics

Heavy metal and screams

Favorite animals

Bats

[thebrandywine]

tagged by @silvercap and @colesabi!

tagging @phoenixmetaphor @strands-of-starlight @fonulyn @flurrin and whoever else wants in!

[balkanradfem]

I spent my last few days working on these! They're a gift for a friend's birthday.

First is a decorative basket made out of cat tails, and a few corn leaves at the top. I collected the materials earlier in the year and dried them, that's my first cat tail basket!

The flower-shaped pillow is made out of old t-shirts that were no longer wearable, it's mostly cotton, and I used the filling I took out of old pillows that other people threw away (I washed it). My friend loves the color blue the most, so I made one side two different light-blue, and the other a dark blue fabric.

Completely environmentally friendly gifts. And my friend liked them a lot.

[coffeecat1983]

Coraline: Same Goals pt 1

     "Mom, what did all that mean?"    Mel Jones sighed as she sat at the kitchen table. Rain pattered on the window as a blanket of grey clouds slowly crawled across the autumn sky. The kitchen's normally drab look had been spiced up for the Halloween season. Cabinets, walls, and even the fridge were decorated with fake flower and leaf arrangements, paper pumpkin and bat cutouts. Among these Coraline had snuck a few black cats as well as some ghosts. Uncarved pumpkins took up one of the countertops, waiting to be given their custom smiles. The thirteen-year-old ran her fingers over the pumpkins, clearly worried.      "All those big words had to mean something, right?" The two had moved to the kitchen after Mrs. Lovat had left. She had come by with a handful of papers that had the stamp of a big hospital from the closest big city and she spoke quietly with Mel for a while. Coraline meanwhile got ahold of the papers and began looking them over. They were test results with a lot of medical terms that Coraline had never heard before. The one thing she could work out was the tests had been done on Wybie. Her classmate and friend had been excused from school a lot lately, and Coraline frequently brought his homework back for him.      "Sit down, sweetheart." Mel said with another sigh. Her daughter sat next to her, bright eyes watching her closely.      "It, it's bad, huh?" Coraline asked softly.      "Yeah," the reply was quiet, "it's bad."

   Coraline traced a fingertip over the table's sleek surface, ignoring the stains from the marker she had used for a school project.      "Can the hospital help?" she finally asked, still processing what she had been told.      "It's not that easy. If they had found it sooner then maybe, but it's..." Mel sighed again. "It's too late."      "Oh." The single word held a mix of disbelief and heartache. She stood, glancing at the window. "The rain's stopping, I'm going outside."    Mel didn't object as she left. The floor creaked as Charlie Jones came in, coffee mug in hand.      "What's with our dizzy dreamer?" he said, adjusting his glasses. Mel turned, her arm resting over the back of her chair.      "Better be ready to give a lot of hugs, Charlie."

   Scattered raindrops fell, the remains of a passing storm pattering around Coraline's feet as she walked the stone pathway. The summer flowers were long gone and the mums that the family had planted from the start of autumn were beginning to fade. Pumpkins dotted the garden pathway, along with playful scarecrows and tied bundles of dried corn stalks.    Charlie had wanted to put out giant spiderwebs but just as she had the year they moved to the Pink Palace, Coraline had been insistent they skip any and all spider decorations. While her parents were confused by this, they didn't object. As she kicked a few loose pebbles out of her way she heard a muffled meow from nearby.      "I know but the ground's wet!"    Wybie appeared from around the corner. He was wearing his black rain boots and coat, the chest of which was bulging slightly. Coraline folded her arms, staring at him as he coughed.      "What are you doing?! You shouldn't be outside, you're sick!" she scolded. A meow and the Cat popped out from Wybie's coat to look at her. Wybie scratched at the cat's head, prompting him to purr loudly.      "I know I'm not supposed to be out right now but I couldn't take it! Gramma won't let me leave the house and it's so boring." The two sat along the stone wall. Overhead the clouds parted to let in misty sunlight that struggled to burn away the chill in the air. Rubbing the back of his neck, Wybie realized something.      "So you, you heard, huh?"      "Yeah." Coraline scratched the Cat's ears as he crawled out of Wybie's coat. "How long?"    The tip of his boot scuffed at the mud. "Two years? Something like that. T-The doctor said a lotta weird stuff I didn't understand."    Coraline watched as the Cat slinked off, hunting a lingering bug. The silence was broken as Wybie had a coughing fit that finished with him muttering a soft 'oww'. Trembling slightly, he stood.      "I-I better get home before Gramma finds out. See ya, Jonesy."      "Yeah, bye." she replied quietly.

   Standing she watched him as he hurried back to the house down the hill. Wet, slopping sounds reached her as footsteps stomped over the muddy stones. Bobinsky joined her, his tall figure wearing a tattered red coat and grey scarf. He hummed to himself as he spied the retreating figure.      "You have heard news of our friend, da?"      "Yeah. Mrs. Lovat came over. It's not fair!" she stomped her foot. "He lost his parents and now this!" A gloved hand on her shoulder was accompanied by a warm voice.      "Caroline," Bobinsky said gently, "It is way of life, to have hard tings happen. But there is someting to remember."    Opening his coat he quietly unpinned his medal, holding it out for her to see.      "When there is bad, remember there is good, da? There is always way to help." Coraline's brow creased in thought.    A way to help...

   Wandering back into the house with the Cat right behind her, Coraline dumped her boots and coat by the door, not caring that Mel would have a fit about the mess later on. Her socks made a muffled pad pad across the floor as she went right for her dad's study. Pushing the door open she felt the faint tinge of relief that there wasn't a strange piano to greet her like in her dreams. Instead, Charlie looked up from his computer and gave her a faint smile.      "Hey kiddo, you doing okay?"      "Yeah." her tone was of a kid trying to play it casual, but internally they were bouncing off the walls with a secret plot. "Hey dad, how would you open a door if you were missing the key?"    Crossing his legs, Charlie leaned back in his chair. "Well, let's see, there's calling a lock smith, using lock picks, or you could try dynamite." he said with a grin.      "Daaaaad!" she groaned, rolling her eyes as he laughed. "I'm serious!"      "There's always a skeleton key. They unlock most things." Coraline pondered this. "Where would I get one of those?"      "You could try the keys in the junk drawer, or maybe one of the neighbors has one."    A soft 'prrt' as the Cat brushed around Coraline's legs. He sat and looked up at her, his eyes saying it all.    I know what you're thinking.    Ignoring him, Coraline returned her attention to her dad. "Thanks!" Turning to leave she realized something. "Oh. Do you know what it would look like?" she laughed nervously. "There's a lot of keys in the junk drawer."    Charlie shook his head, laughing again. "C'mon, I need a break anyway so I'll help you look." Mel cocked an eyebrow as her husband and daughter came in. Coraline went right for the junk drawer and began digging in it, picking out keys and setting them in a row on the countertop while Charlie poured a fresh cup of coffee.      "Look for one that's old with a smooth edge." he instructed, joining Coraline and looking over the keys. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment.      "None of these look like that."      "Mmm, here," Charlie began picking out a few keys. "Try these, there's a chance they'll work. What'cha opening, anyway?"    The Cat, seated in the kitchen doorway, perked up at the question. Coraline let out a nervous laugh.      "Uh, just one of my jewelry boxes, I lost the key." she scooped up the keys that had been set aside. "Thanks dad!"      "Coraline, don't scratch up your jewelry box with those keys!" Mel called as Coraline ran out. "And pick up your coat and boots!"

---

Part 2 here

[clown-demon]

Mun Comforts

Comfort food(s): Cheese, mac n cheese, mozzarella cheese sticks, pizza, croutons, gummies, starbursts, peas, corn, french toast.

Comfort drink(s): Grape drinks, energy drinks, grape and raspberry ICE, Fruit punch ICE, Fruit punch crystal light, grape crystal light, soda

Comfort movie(s): Bungou Stray Dogs Dead Apple, The Cat Returns, Spirited Away.

Comfort show(s): Bungou Stray Dogs, Bleach, My Hero Academia, Chowder, Rocko's Modern Life, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

Comfort clothing: Anything baggy

Comfort song(s): Bernadette by IAMX, Killer by The Hoosiers, Black Rover by Blinding Sunrise, Acid Rocket by DK-Zero, Get Jinxed (Russian) by Onsa Media, Happy by Secrets in Studio, Execution is Fun! by Tardigrade Inferno, Everyday is Halloween by Creature Feature, Misery Go Round by Night Club, Toy Soldiers by Marianas Trench, Burnt Babies Fear the Fire by Blaqk Audio, Simping for the Villian by Boy Jr., Lucifer by Elle Lexxa, Kinda Outta Luck by Medusa, Boy Jr., Heart Eater by Connie Glynn, Happy Face by Jagwar Twin, Better than Drugs by Skillet, Happy Face by Aesthetic Perfection, Summer Goth by Aesthetic Perfection, Clarity by ZEDD Foxes, BEELZEBUZ by Fake Type, Everyday Oblivion by 8Graves, Evil by 8Graves, Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift, Dead Air by Rufus Rex, Shallow Grave by The Birthday Massacre, Happy Birthday by The Birthday Massacre, Bones by Imagine Dragons, Wash it all away by Five Finger Death Punch, All Systems Go by Krypteria, I Idolize you by Massive Ego, Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie, Merry Go Round by Man with a Mission, The Perfect World by Marty Friedman, Monkey Boy by Kontrust, Dried Moat by Stolen Babies, Oh Raven (Sing me your Happy Song) by Unlike Pluto, Rad Drugz by MISSIO, Can you Feel the Sun by MISSIO, Riptide by grandson, Toxicity by System of a Down, Kill Everyone by Hollywood Undead, The Underground by 8Graves and Unlike Pluto, Blood//Water by grandson, Villain of my Own Story by Unlike Pluto, Outrunning Karma by Alec Benjamin, Turn the Lights off by Tally Hall, Hit the Streets by Aesthetic Perfection, Oh! Gloria by Aesthetic Perfection, Big Bad Wolf by Aesthetic Perfection, Riot by Three Days Grace, Fly Home by The Living Tombstone, Can't Wait by The Living Tombstone, Not One Less by Ken Ashcorp, Alkatraz by Demon Dice, The Sky Will Turn by The Birthday Massacre, Touch Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon, Ghost by Mystery Skulls, Thnks fr th Mmrs by Fall Out Boys, Coin Operated Boy by The Dresden Dolls, Pyramid by Two Door Cinema Club, Stray Cat by Vicke Blanka, Kids by MGTM, Devil's Wedding by Fake Type, Back on Track by DJVI,

Comfort book(s): Bungou Stray Dogs, Guardians of Ga'Hoole, cat Warriors, The Sight, Wings of Fire

Comfort game(s): Hollow Knight, Okami, Pokemon, Disgaea, WoW, FFXIV, Guild Wars II, Wario Ware, Super Smash Bros.

Tagged by: @villains4hire (THANK YOU!)

Tagging: (You don't have to!): @kitxkatrp, @yoxngmadnxss, @giftandguile, @electricea, @swordduels, @pluviacuratio, and anyone else who wants to!

[wren-phoenix]

🍺 If you ran a themed bar what would the theme be?

🧑‍🍳 Do you have a food or cooking (or eating) tip for us?

I've actually talked quite a bit about someday running a queer cafe and bar with some friends. The main theme would be dark fairytale, but with areas to go that are a bit calmer and/or brighter. All with a big focus on being as accessible as possible with being sensory friendly/having quiet rooms, fully wheelchair accessible, braille and picture menus, and others. and also just being a good place for people to hang out at any time of day.

for food or cooking tips, you can never have too much garlic (just keep it away from cats), jalapeño powder (ground dried jalapeños) adds an excellent kick to any dish, ginger is also always an excellent addition. Make sure to eat iodized salt. if you have a bunch of leftover vegetables, you can cut them up and throw it all in a wok. Water, soy sauce, sesame oil, and your choice of spices, and some corn starch (or other vege starch) (as a thickening agent) makes a good basic sauce, add it to the wok after things are cooked pretty well and let it keep cooking until it's to your preferred thickness

[piscesseer]

Harvest Blessings: Mabon 🍎🌾

On September 22, the harvest festival of Mabon is celebrated. As the leaves begin to change color and a cool breeze sweeps the air, we find ourselves on the cusp of Autumn, a season of transition and transformation.

Mabon occurs on the Autumn Equinox, marking the beginning to fall here in the North where the days will eventually shorten. Mabon presents as an opportunity to reflect and embrace the coming darkness as a necessary part of the annual cycle. Mabon, also known as the Second Harvest or Witch’s Thanksgiving, is a time to be thankful for the bountiful harvest and to prepare for the dark months ahead.

On this day, the night and day are equal. This balance of light and dark is symbolic of the harmony and equilibrium that is found in nature. We are reminded that life is a constant cycle of change, and just as the seasons shift, so do our own lives. Mabon encourages us to reflect on the balance within ourselves and in our daily routines.

Symbols: basket, cornucopia, pinecone, seeds Colors: orange, red, yellow, brown, copper, dark yellow, dark green Foods: corn, beans, squash, apples, pumpkins, root vegetables, eggplant, pomegranate, grapes, wine, cider Herbs & Plants: yarrow, rosemary, sage, mugwort, rosehips, sunflowers, thistle, marigold Stones: amber, citrine, cat’s eye, aventurine, sapphire, jasper Deities: Mabon, Green Man, Demeter, Persephone, Morgan, Pomona, Inanna Animals: owl, stag, blackbird, crow, salmon

One of the central themes of Mabon is gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Today, even if we aren't directly involved in farming, we can still embrace the spirit of Mabon by giving thanks for the abundance in our lives and giving due gratitude for the things we do have in our lives that have served us well.

Named after the ancient Welsh hero named ‘Mabon ap Modron’, meaning Son of Mother, Mabon is the second harvest festival (Lughnasadh being the first, and Samhain being the third). Mabon was said to be held hostage as a baby in the underworld, similar to the story of Persephone and Demeter. The Greek goddess Demeter is closely associated with the Autumn harvest, as it was her grief at losing her daughter, Persephone, that turned the earth from lush to barren cold. 

A celebration of not only the bountiful harvest that nature provides, but also the bounty and rewards of all that we have sown and also reaped over the past year. This is not just a time of harvest, but also a time to prepare the way so that new seeds will be able to grow in the future. The Equinox is a natural time in which to sow peace and gratitude. Any and all positive energy sent out at this time will help to ameliorate any discordant energy, both in our personal lives, as well as the world at large.

It is through gratitude that we can attune ourselves to the natural ebb and flow of this seasonal shift. And one way to do this is to create some sort of gratitude list. Begin with the things that we take for granted: clean air to breathe, water to drink, a safe place to sleep. Then move on to those things that you are particularly grateful for. Pay special attention to those people and things in your life that matter to you the most.

Here are some ways to celebrate Mabon:

The easiest and most fun way to celebrate Mabon is to decorate your home, porch, entryway or altar for Autumn. You might set up your altar with symbols of the season, such as acorns, pinecones or cornucopias and candles with autumn colors, like red, orange and brown, can add a warm, cozy ambience to your space. Bring in fresh and dried flowers, if you’re lucky enough to be able to cut your own, even better. Find acorns and pinecones from outside. If you don’t have access to your own, visit a farmer’s market or take a short stroll to the woods.

Go on a nature walk and appreciate the beauty of the changing seasons. Autumn is a time of stunning natural beauty with vibrant hues of red, orange and yellow. Take a leisurely walk to observe any signs that the season is changing. Nature has a way of grounding us and encouraging introspection.

Celebrating Mabon often means indulging in delicious feasts made from the season’s bounty. Incorporate seasonal foods into your meals. Apples, pumpkin, squash, and corn are all traditional Mabon foods. Try crafting apple pie, roasted pumpkin or heat up soups. Spend time with loved ones and enjoy a feast of seasonal foods. Sharing dishes with loved ones can deepen our connection to the season and its blessings.

During your walk or time outside, reflect on the past year.  What goals have you achieved and what lessons have you learned? What do you want to release as you move into the darker, introspective months of the year? Consider writing these thoughts down. Write down what no longer serves you on a piece of paper and burn it to symbolize releasing those things.

Cleanse your house and release the negative and stagnant energies.

Light a candle and reflect on your blessings. Consider creating a gratitude journal where you can jot down the things you are thankful for. Create a gratitude list and share it with others. Acknowledging blessings can help connect with the essence of Mabon.

Mabon is a time to celebrate the beauty of the coming autumn season and the abundant harvest it brings. It is a time to let go of the old and embrace the new. It is a time to be grateful for all that we have and to look forward to all that is to come. Whether you choose to celebrate simply or do something bigger, the key is to embrace the essence of the season and the lessons it offers. As you celebrate, may you find harmony and contentment in the changing rhythms of life.

[theoddcatlady]

My sister came back from the dead

When I was young, there was a serial killer in my town.

For three summer straight, he killed people. Young, old, female, male, it didn’t matter to him. You just had to be alone long enough for him to snatch you up like some kinda boogeyman. Hell, it didn’t even have to be at night. Mrs. Gibbs ran out for groceries with her husband, he stepped back inside for a minute to grab something they forgot, and came back out to their baby crying in the car and a dropped bag of groceries next to the car.

They found her three days later, her ribs all cut open and splayed out so anyone and everyone could see her guts.  

It was a nasty time, I’ll tell you that. I was only a kid. Like, maybe five when it started, eight when it all ended. I only found out the nastier details when I got curious and asked enough questions to people willing to answer. Not many people were, that was for sure.

Where I grew up was a pretty small town, so you’d think we’d find the murderer faster. But nah. Our neighbors couldn’t be killers. During the summer people did their damn best to never be alone. People who lived by themselves would move back in with their parents, friends would all group up. It’s hard never being alone though, ya know? There’s always moments when you just need to step out for a breather or you need some private time. And that’s when he got ya.  

That last summer when the killer lurked was hot as hell. You’d be able to fry eggs on the sidewalk. I got a sunburn so bad I had to stay in bed for a whole day, the box fan blowing only slightly cooler air on my dried up face. There was at least two incidents when elderly people croaked from heat stroke. And of course that killer was back. Heatwave didn’t stop him from killing my sister.

I don’t remember Jill all that well. There was about a ten year age gap between us, so we were never close. My parents had her real young and she grew up to be stubborn. And like most teenagers, she felt untouchable. Immortal. That particular summer was bad, probably because she’d broke up with her boyfriend when he went off to college and met a fellow college gal.  

So one night she blew off my parents when they told her to stay home and instead went to a party. Next morning is when they realized Jill never came home.

It took two weeks to find her. I made myself find out the details, you’ll figure out why later. She’d been fucked up real bad, he’d kept her alive as he cut her to pieces. First her fingers and toes, then her hands and feet, and up until she had no limbs. Then he cut up her face, cut out her tongue. And to wrap it all up her gutted her while she was still alive.

She suffered. But this time the killer made a mistake. Cuz someone saw him leave with Jill.

Frank Stokes. He was nearing his midthirties but spent most of his time with highschoolers or young adults. But mostly people thought he was harmless. Real quiet, real shrimp of a guy. But you know, there was a few rumors of his wild teenage years, how he stole his neighbor’s cats and dissected them. It was brushed off as youthful curiosity and charges were never pressed, probably because said neighbor died from a sudden stroke. Who knows, maybe it wasn’t a stroke, maybe Frank stuck some rat poison in her coffee. No one could answer that but Frank himself.

My town suffered far too long because of Frank though. My parents, my dad in particular, wasn’t gonna wait for the cops to fix this. So he gathered a mob and they went to go get Frank. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, death for death.

They broke into Frank’s house and found a collection of human body parts. His souvenirs, I guess. People talked about how they found all sorts of fucked up stuff, I don’t know how much is true of course, since it all ranges from sacrificial altars to a taxidermied human being. They chased Frank out and into the nearby corn fields.  

This is the part where it does get a little more fuzzy. Like it wasn’t fuzzy already. Retellings of the story vary, some people say they actually caught Frank and gave him what he deserved, beating him into the dirt as he cried and pleaded for mercy. Some other tales say they only cornered him. And another one says they actually started to hang him on the nearby oak tree before this next twist happened.

This is the one part of the story that does line up though. The part of the story where Frank said he could bring all his victims back.  

Yeah, you’re not misreading that. While bawling his eyes out, Frank promised to return their loved ones to them if they only let him live.

Such a stupid idea. I mean, he killed a little under twenty people. And when you’re dead you’re dead. There’s no coming back from dead, especially when some have been dead for years by that point. I don’t know how he convinced them that yes, by tomorrow morning all of his victims would start coming back, but he did. My dad came back and got Jill’s room ready, the bickering between him and my mom actually woke me up.

I remember peering through my sister’s bedroom door and watching my dad make up Jill’s bed. But Jill was gone, my parents told me that Jill was dead. Jill was never coming home. But my dad even turned her radio on to her favorite station.  

My mom ended up storming out, tears in her eyes. I think she was pissed dad didn’t end up killing Frank. I mean, I don’t blame her, if I’d really understood what was going on back then I would’ve been pissed too. That bastard took away my sister, and sure we weren’t close but she was still my sister.

Next morning though I was watching cartoons when I heard a knock at the door. Not really thinking as I was still waking up I stumbled to the door and opened it up.

There was Jill, wearing the same outfit she’d been buried in, standing out on the front steps. She smiled at me.

“Hey, idiot, mom and dad moved the hide a key. Thanks for letting me in.”

Numb, I just nodded and moved aside for her to walk in. She mouthed thank you as she tip toed inside. She sighed with relief as I shut the door. “God, it’s already getting hot. Mom? Dad? I’m home!”

My mom ran into the living room and promptly dropped into a faint. My dad ran in after her and fell to his knees, pale and shaking. I don’t think he really believed Frank was going to follow through with his promise. But Jill was here, back and perfectly fine. Or so it looked.

For the first days, everyone was just shocked to see the friends and family they’d buried come back to them. Even if they’d been dead for years and years, they came back looking as alive as you or me. They had no memories of actually dying, which is probably for the best considering how Frank made them suffer. But they did know they’d been dead.  

It’s sad to say that Jill and I really only bonded after she came back from the dead. I guess dying shifted things back into perspective. She went from hell child to perfect angel. She did her chores, never broke her curfew, and spent time with me. We went to the park, the ice cream parlor, hell, we even had a day at the zoo. During all this time she kept telling me how much she loved me, how she was sorry she always pushed me away or treated me like an obnoxious lil shit before. She was just frustrated and took it out on her family.

We all took the miracle at face value. Don’t be mad about it, we were just so damn glad to have our family back. No one noticed how Frank just slipped out of town one night. People only realized he was gone after he didn’t show up for work three days in a row. But now he was someone else’s problem, people reasoned. All the people he’d murdered were back, so why even bother anymore, right?

But come on, I’m sure if you’re reading this you know that bringing people back is always a fucking mistake. When you’re dead, you’re dead, and that’s that. You don’t get a do over, at least, not in the body you started out in. I dunno about reincarnation and shit like that, but I do know that all those people coming back was a big fucking mistake.

It was just little things at first. Dead animals, roadkill turning up with no blood in it. Dry as a bone, those bodies. Then a funeral home was raided the night before Ms. McCarthy’s funeral, she’d been drunk dry too. Not only that, Mr. Quinn, the funeral director had been attacked. He’d lost so much blood that they thought he was a goner. But he managed to pull through, when he did he had the strangest story to tell.

He’d just been getting things finished up for the night when it happened. A small group of people barged on in, and before he could ask what they wanted the leader grabbed him and threw him to the ground. Most of the group ran to the casket, dragging Ms. McCarthy’s body out and started cutting her open with knives. They looked disappointed at the minimal amounts of blood as she’d been embalmed but all Quinn could do was watch as they sucked away at the wounds they made.  

Then one of the leaders cut open Quinn’s wrist and screamed with triumph as they began to suck away at the wound. He tried to get away but more and more of them pinned him down and made cuts all over his body. They only left after they’d drunk their fill from him and Ms. McCarthy.

If there’d been no body there that night, I imagine Mr. Quinn wouldn’t have survived to tell the tale.  

Jill wasn’t doing well though. Although she’d been strong and healthy at first, she’d gotten pale and started wasting away. She wasn’t sleeping at night, and when she did sleep, she woke up screaming. I think she remembered what happened to her. But she wouldn’t tell us if she did.  

It all came to a head when someone heard screaming from the Gibbs residence. Course, 911 was called, and when the police got there the eldest daughter stumbled out, her shirt covered in blood and cradling her bleeding youngest sibling. She just pointed inside before she collapsed.

Inside was Mrs. Charity Gibbs, sucking on her dead husband’s neck while two of the other resurrected drank from other wounds on his body.  

They managed to escape, after killing a cop and taking his body with them. I think they found it later in the ditch, drunk dry of blood and all shriveled up.  

Lots of people died as the resurrected made their escape. All of them got out too, ran off into the woods and just disappeared. Turns out a couple of them actually had help from their living relatives and friends, bring them animals and people to drink from.  

Every one of them left. Except Jill.

Jill called me to her room. My parents were out, don’t remember why. But I went into Jill’s room, probably one of the only times I did. She never liked me in her room.

She looked terrible. White as a sheet, her face all shrunken, she’d probably lost like twenty pounds in the matter of a few weeks. She took my hand in hers and squeezed as tightly as she could. “Can you stay with me?” She asked, her voice raspy and dry.

“Why?”  

“Because I’m gonna die again. And this time, I don’t-” She coughed and spattered blood all over my face, “I don’t wanna do it alone. I know it’s selfish. It’s gonna be bad… and I could’ve… I could’ve stopped it, but I didn’t want to hurt anybody. Please stay. Please?”

I stayed. I sat at the foot of her bed and stayed. Her fingers gripped tighter and tighter until they went lax… and rolled onto the bedspread.  

Her palms followed shortly after, plopping on down in my hand. I ended up dropping it and it rolled away on the floor. It took a bit longer for her arms to come off at the shoulder, each muscle and tendon snapping like a rubber until it hung on by a few shriveled threads. She cried as her head fell to rest on my lap, her tongue falling from her lap and onto my shoe.  

She fell all to pieces in a matter of an hour.  

My parents came home to find me on the bed, rearranging my sister’s body parts to look like she was just resting. I don’t remember that, but frankly I blocked it all out after she ended up dying for the second time. I was admitted into the hospital, I didn’t speak for weeks.  

But I recovered, you know. I bet that bastard Frank would’ve loved to see the havoc he caused. No one thought about looking for him after they got their loved ones back, and after their loved ones turned on them we had our hands full. Gotta admit, a clever move on his part, to give him enough time to get out of our lives.  

Frank’s gone. And he stayed gone. I just hope he isn’t causing problems somewhere else.

[artemis-the-starling]

Foods I love so far!

🍒 cherries!

🫐 blueberries!

🪱 live meal worms & wasp larvae!

🪲 live beetles!

🍎 apple sauce!

🌸 fresh violet petals!

🌿 pandan cakes!

🟡 butternut squash!

🍉 watermelon seeds!

🥔 potato!

🥬 lettuce stalks!

🦗 live crickets and grasshoppers!

🐛 live superworms!

🍓 strawberries!

🥒 cucumbers!

🧀 provolone cheese!

🦃 turkey!

🍳 scrambled eggies!

🌶 banana peppers from mom's garden, and jalapeno seeds!

🍇 Cotton Candy grapes!

🍯 sugar 😈 (only 'cause I steal mama's food!)

Foods I'm still iffy about:

🍠 Sweet potato mash

🪱 Red wiggler worms (store bought)

🍎 Apple slices

🪰 Calciworms (I only like some)

🥜 Nut butters

🥕 Carrots

🌰 Pistachios

🍑 Peaches and plums

Things I refuse to eat 😡

🪲 Isopods

🪳 Dubia Roaches

🪰 Fly larvae

🍇 Candy Heart grapes

🍌 Bananas

🪱 Waxworms (blegh!)

🐔 Freshly cooked shredded chicken

🫑 Bell peppers

🥒 Zucchini

🌽 Corn

🐈 Cat food products

🍦 Yogurt

🌱 Herbs (It's fun to run around with!)

🧀 Yellow cheeses

🪱 Dried or canned insects

🍤 Shrimp or seafood

🥫 Canned bugs 😡

❌️ Anything dry, crunchy, or stinky 😡

💀 Anything dead! (If it's not kicking, then NO!)