#florida brain drain

[tomorrowusa]

If you were an academic, would you remain in a state which is willing to prosecute you if you deviate from the governor's political line?

With the start of the 2023-24 academic year only six weeks away, senior officials at New College of Florida (NCF) made a startling announcement in mid-July: 36 of the small honors college’s approximately 100 full-time teaching positions were vacant. The provost, Bradley Thiessen, described the number of faculty openings as “ridiculously high”, and the disclosure was the latest evidence of a brain drain afflicting colleges and universities throughout the Sunshine state. Governor Ron DeSantis opened 2023 with the appointment of six political allies to the college’s 13-member board of trustees who vowed to drastically alter the supposedly “woke”-friendly learning environment on its Sarasota campus. At its first meeting in late January, the revamped panel voted to fire the college president, Patricia Okker, without cause and appoint a former Republican state legislator and education commissioner in her place. Over the ensuing weeks, board members have dismissed the college’s head librarian and director of diversity programs and denied tenure to five professors who had been recommended for approval.

Essentially, the DeSantis education gestapo is killing off the institution — or at least making it very unattractive to students to the left of Mussolini. Of course it's not just NCF that's been affected.

The new laws have introduced a ban on the funding of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida’s public colleges and universities, withdrawn a right to arbitration formerly guaranteed to faculty members who have been denied tenure or face dismissal, and prohibited the teaching of critical race theory, which contends that inherent racial bias pervades many laws and institutions in western society, among other changes. In the face of that and other legislation backed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers that has rolled back the rights of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, many scholars across the state are taking early retirement, voting with their feet by accepting job offers outside Florida or simply throwing in the towel with a letter of resignation. [ ... ]

The prevailing political climate in Florida has complicated efforts to recruit qualified scholars from outside the state to fill some vacancies. Kenneth Nunn served on a number of appointment committees during the more than 30 years he spent on the faculty of the University of Florida’s law school. He said the task of persuading highly qualified applicants of color to move to Gainesville has never been more difficult under a governor who, earlier this year, prohibited a new advanced placement course in African American studies from being taught in high schools. DeSantis came under renewed criticism this month when the state department of education issued guidelines recommending that middle school students be taught about the skills slaves acquired “for their personal benefit” during their lifetimes in bondage.

DeSantis is so fond of slavery that every public college and university in Florida is now an anti-woke plantation run by a DeSantis overseer.

Degrees from public educational institutions in the state may henceforth be looked upon like those from Trump University.

[13thpythagoras]

“It’s a little messy, kind of like a dumpster fire right now"

"Course options have dwindled after nearly 40% of faculty members have resigned."

[everyendeavor]

“…senior officials at New College of Florida (NCF) made a startling announcement in mid-July: 36 of the small honors college’s approximately 100 full-time teaching positions were vacant. The provost, Bradley Thiessen, described the number of faculty openings as “ridiculously high”, and the disclosure was the latest evidence of a brain drain afflicting colleges and universities throughout the Sunshine state.”

[rickgrimeswifey]

Overheard gossip - Spencer Reid

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A/n: When I post this I am an official Spencer Reid slut as this is my first ever written fic about him... part 2 here

Category: Blurb

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Season: 3 

Warnings: Sexual themes, THE EMBARRASSMENT GIRL... I-

Word count: 0.6k

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It was around 1PM, the team was out on a case somewhere in Florida and Penelope was in her room working as usual. Y/n that also was a part of the team didn’t go along for the case, Hotch had told her to stay here since she had been going through some stuff recently. It wasn’t anything too devastating, Y/n was just on edge because her patience and brain wasn’t at their best state. Hotch found her too unstable to go along and investigate this serial killer. This job had drained her and she just needed some time away, at first Y/n was mad at Hotch’s decision but she realizes he just does it out of worry.

Y/n had finished her paperwork and went out to buy some lunch for her and Penelope. Something easy and that’s fast to finish eating. She skipped knocking on Garcias door before entering, she was sitting quietly in her seat searching for something through her computer. Y/n adored the work she did, no one could compare to their Penny.

“I got us something to eat for lunch.” She smiled looking at Penelope who turned to look at her.

“Well aren’t you a dear…” Penelope smiled, not taking her eyes off the screen longer than necessary.

Y/n got a chair to sit on at her friends desk before she spoke up again;

“You know I’ve been thinking about something.” She confessed as she opened up the bags with food and began placing it out on the table in front of her.

“What is that?” Penelope mumbled lost in her work, she was clearly doing something important.

“Have you ever thought about Spencer’s sexlife? I mean for a genius I bet he’d be extremely skilled at eating a girl out, I mean that he’d be a natural or more like supernatural. Or like that his dick would be huge.” Y/n said casually with a smirk on her face before dramatizing the last word.

When she had finished packing up the food she looked at Penelope who was staring at her with her mouth agape, there was something in her eyes. Y/n didn’t know what it was but it looked like panic. Why would she panic by what she’d just said? Y/n was almost positive that Garcia would’ve been someone who agreed with her.

“Are you still there Reid…?” Penelope asked nervously, making Y/n widen her eyes so much that she was afraid they’d pop out of her skull.

There was a cough heard on the phone line before Spencer's almost shaky voice was heard. “Y-Yeah… I’m still h-here Garcia.”

Y/n gasped covering her face with her hands. She felt like she’d die out of embarrassment, had Spencer just heard her say all of those things?

“I found some people that worked at graveyards but were fired in the past five years…” Penelope spoke up after a long painful minute of silence.

“Great! Uhm I’ll call you if I need anything else… b-bye.” Spencer’s voice cracked before he quickly hung up.

Y/n removed her hands from her head and looked Penelope in the eyes. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for her to burst out laughing. Y/n frowned while blushing like crazy at Garcias action.

“It’s really not funny at all, I’m never going back to work after this!” She remarked, wanting to sink into the ground and never come back up.

“Well, Y/n L/n you gotta learn to keep your mouth shut when you see that I’m working then.” Penelope laughed like crazy while wiping tears from her eyes.

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[headingalaxys-spicy]

Ok, hear me out, but Denmark, America, or France having an s/o who’s very quiet around people and gets mistaken as shy; but they’re actually just distracted by seeing how much they can tease their partner without getting caught.

I think I understood the assignment. This is a slight spice post. So be warned.

America 

At a party, small gathering, to an absolute rager of a concert, you always manage to make his heart pump hard, especially to the other brain at times. 

-Artistotle or some shit 

This time, you were in a particularly crowded bar. Letting Alfred drabble on with other patrons about whatever it was. You weren’t contributing, just either flicking your eyes to one of the TVs closest to you, to your drink, listlessly checking your phone and….

Alfred’s eye twitches a little when he feels you pinch his ass. He was glad he wasn't mid-sentence. He reflexively reaches out his left arm to grab you by the waist. He was still fully invested in his conversation about comics with another nerd but was doing his best to try and keep you in check simultaneously. Alfred took another sip of his Jack and Coke. He’d need some lubricant not to be so riled up. He was determined to have some willpower this time. 

A Cheshire cat grin spreads across your face. It's time to up the ante just a little bit more. Your hand sneakily grabs his belt; you give it a slight tug once you do, you quickly divert your attention back to your phone. Alfred looks back at you briefly before he has to answer another question. 

That smile you wore didn’t fade. 

Your next attack, you walked your fingers up his bomber jacket. 

Alfred had to bite his lip mid-sentence this time. 

‘Damm it I can feel myself begin to rise.’ 

He continued on with the conversation anyway. 

You were trying hard to suppress a giggle. 

Alfred turned his head once more to quickly whisper in your ear. 

“I know what you’re doing Y/N….” 

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, babe.” You boop his nose. Alfred’s face gets lightly dusted with red. Due to the alcohol and coquettish moves, he could feel blood begin to drain from his upper brain to his lower one. 

‘Damn it. Couldn’t they wait at least until we got back to the apartment?’ 

The people he was conversing with finally noticed you and acknowledged you with a polite nod and lifted their drinks. They hesitated to do more than that since you hadn’t shown much interest in the conversation they were having. They didn’t want to make the evening awkward. 

Alfred’s leather-covered hand squeezed your side. A silent warning? Or was it a cute tit-for-tat tactic he was employing? You were going to test and find out. 

Swiftly, your hand gripped his swiney thigh. 30% fat, 70% muscle. You liked to feel his somewhat floppy fat. 

A little more blood flowed to his lower region, making his jeans tighter. Alfred nearly bit down on his tongue, suppressing a yelp. He shifted in his seat to try and shake off your hand. 

“Y/N what are you doing?” He said on the side of his mouth. 

“Nothing~” You swirled your drink around in an attempt to feign a level of innocence. “Just enjoying my drink.” You take a long sip of it while you make eye contact with his cerulean hues. 

Alfred raised an eyebrow. 

“What? I’m just being honest.” He brings you in closer with his still attached arm and messes up your hair somewhat before giving you a forehead kiss. 

“Sure you are.” Once more, Alfred was being drawn back into the conversation. He turned his head without disengaging you. He chugged the rest of his drink hopin g it could slow the flow to Florida. 

Your hand suddenly maneuvered to the growing ball in his pants. Alfred had the urge to gasp loudly in pleasure. Instead, he extended his voice to assist him with getting out of there. 

“Hey! Bartender! Dude! I need the bill when you have a quick second! Thanks!” He then snaps his head back to you. 

“Alright, Y/N that's it game on.” He tilted your head upwards to peck your lips and both of his hands squeezed your hips. 

Denmark

From the exhilaration of old daydreams & fairytales, it mixes in together with just a bit of chaos. 

  -Sebastian the Crab idk 

The two of you had been having a wonderful time wandering the streets of Nyhaven. From the bright blues to the bold reds situated between the light whites…it all felt as though you were in a modern fairytale book. The crisp air of Fall refreshed you some as the salt from the sea filled your nostrils. It ignited an impish smile upon your face. You were only a few paces behind Mathias. As you encroached upon him, you decided to tap his shoulder from the opposite side of where you were walking. No other cyclist from the club flanked him from that side. 

“What the-? Y/N are you teasing me?” Mathias continued to walk along the colorful cobblestone path. He knew he’d have to summon all of his energy to repel your flirtatious attacks. 

“Nooooooo” You smile & guide your hand to quickly slap his ass. 

Mathias yelps in surprise. 

“Y/N being a bit cheeky today?” In turn, he pinches your butt to retaliate. You jump and playfully smack his hand away. 

“Heh. Are you annoyed that you couldn’t keep up with me and the others earlier?” 

“Nooooooooo.” Too prideful to admit that you were. 

Mathias pinched your cheeks, which now had a rosy tint to them. 

“Sure, Y/N, I believe you.” 

“Hej! (Hey) Mathias, cool bike tricks earlier! I’m jealous; where did you learn them?” A fellow biker from the club commented. As he became more intertwined with the conversation mentally, you were preparing for your next attack, so much so that you neglected to converse with your fellow companions on the trip. They tried but were met with only the basic pleasantries. Your eyes roamed from scanning the ground to remembering where his other weak points were. 

You bumped your elbow into his then continued to speed past him. At that moment Mathias's sapphire hues met your tantalizing (eye color) shades when you looked back looking for his reaction. 

Mathias cracked a coy smile. You’d be paying for your sins later tonight. For now, he continued on with the conversation he was having with other members of the group. 

You were itching to land another attack on him. A light bulb went off in your head and you were ready to try again. You slowed your pace so you could be directly behind him again. 

You walked your hands playfully up his back making sure they made it up to his broad shoulders.  

Mathias quickly snapped his head around to see the wide goofy smile you always had when you were messing with him. He adored that about. He swiftly grabbed your meddling hand. 

“Trying to start something Y/N?” 

“Hahaha. Noooooooooo. Don’t know what you’re talking about.” You flutter your eyes at him. You then pause to stand on your tiptoes so you can rub your nose against his. Mathias took that as an invitation to capture your lips for a few moments. When he finally let go he maintained your full attention with his eyes. 

“You’re a bad liar Y/N.” 

“So, maybe I am.” You boop his nose and gently grip his chin. You allow your bike to be fully supported by your legs while both of your arms reach up to intertwine with his perfectly spiked hair, which had been flattened slightly by his helmet. You tousle it, giving it more of an unkempt quality. 

“Catch me if you can.” You hopped up on your bike & sped away, knowing your Danish lover wouldn’t be too far behind. You knew messing with his spiky hair was an invitation to a playful wrestle. 

France

Romance is the passionate language of France. Nothing can defeat the suave. Except for a heart that has fallen deeply in love. 

                          -Victor Hugo, I think

You were at another one of Francis's popular soirees that he was required to hold each month as per his government contract. Since he’d been away from you since the work he had lately was picking up. He’s been on longer UN missions trying to finish up essential deals and meet strict deadlines. So you were determined to steal all of his attention tonight. 

You wandered over to your Frenchman, who had perfectly coiffed hair. It had been freshly trimmed and conditioned, giving his blonde locks a shiny quality. You were eager to run your fingers through it. You fluttered over to him, not really paying attention to the waves and gestures that allowed you to interact with others. Those people were far away from your awareness. Only one man consumed your mind. 

“Good to see you again, my love?” 

You kissed him on both cheeks to greet him. You stole a quick glimpse from his ocean-tinged eyes; there was a sparkle you cherished. 

However, you did also see the heavy tiredness that surrounded his eyes. 

“Great to see you too, Y/N.” He quickly kissed you back and grabbed your free hand that wasn’t holding your champagne flute. 

“I’ll only be here for just a little while longer. I just have to finish talking to these diplomats.” Francis whispered in your ear. The tickle of his short beard felt like a siren song. How badly you missed playing with his schlong. The wait had been far too long. So you decided that you’d speed up the process. You tightly squeezed his hand and inched it closer to him, making sure your thigh could briefly rub against his. While Francis let one of the diplomats drone on about something economy blah, blah. 

“You sneaky minx. I know what you’re doing~” 

“De quoi parlez-vous?” (What are you talking about?)  You pout before a giggle breaks out from your lungs. 

Francis missed that so much. You really did know how to envelop his heart with a special type of magic.  It made him feel as if he could fly. 

“Francis! My good chap, what do you think?” 

Breaking up the special moment that was building between the two of you. Francis gives your hand a reassuring squeeze and parts his eyes away from yours with a smile. 

You decided that it was time to turn up the heat. Can’t conversate correctly when all horned up. You separated your hand from his and traced your pointer finger to spell out, ‘You should make love to me.’ You did it repeatedly to rile him up. 

Francis had to bite down on his lower lip. The excitement began to build in his freshly pressed white pants. Your proposal was better than hearing this British man prattle on about numbers. 

You raised your eyes to glance over at him. You could tell it wouldn’t be long before he could no longer hold his cock back. 

Francis could feel the coming of Spring rushing to his neither region, making them uncomfortable. He shifted from side to side to try and stifle the uprising to no avail. 

“Oui…but…” He turned his head back to you, and a bright glint flashed across his eyes. Francis knew right then that–

His hair perked up all over his body, and he jerked up with a lightning bolt of pleasure. 

Francis's face suddenly turned brilliant rose. 

You’d had a firm grip on his Eiffel tower. 

“Well, Francis and I have some other business to attend to. I’m sure whatever you’re dealing with can be managed by you diplomats on your own.” Not caring if you made them uncomfortable with your bold and intimate display. 

“Y/N…. you naughty-” 

“Shhhhhhh… just kiss me Francis. It’s been too long a wait.” 

[senashenta]

Title: Horror High

Pairing: Destiel

Rating: NC-17 (in future chapters)

Warnings: Sex, Violence

Summary: John Winchester plants his eldest son at Caspar High in Jacksonville because weird things have been happening there: people disappearing. People reappearing only dead and drained of all their bodily fluids. Cocoons. It’s up to Dean to figure out what’s stalking Caspar’s halls and deal with it accordingly; but then he meets the New Kid—newer than him, even, the New-New Kid—Castiel Novak, and all his plans get severely derailed. Now Dean has to juggle the supernatural case—a really hungry jorogumo—and also the fact that he’s very quickly falling in love, something that is absolutely forbidden by his dad.

Meanwhile Castiel, shoved into the third new school in a year because his adoptive father—Chuck Shurley’s—job has them moving around a lot, struggles to fit in at Caspar High, not only because he’s the New Kid but because he’s the weird New Kid. Dean seems like a saving grace, a harbor in a storm, someone who doesn’t judge him—that is until Cas finds out about Dean’s night job. Cas’s life just got a whole lot stranger—but that doesn’t stop him from falling for Dean, regardless.

Notes: This is my first time writing Destiel OR SPN (though I have written SPN AU in other fandoms) so please bear with me while I get my footing.

Also HH was originally supposed to be like a 10-page one-shot and the next thing I knew it was 79-pages-of-11-pt-Arial-and-counting and I was looking for places to divide it for chapters so. Yeah. This storyline kind of just took over my brain and became a THING.

Top Dean and Bottom Cas which I know is the reverse of how 90% of the fandom writes them, but I am tentatively planning a sequel to HH (depending on how well it does or doesn’t go over) that will flip them around so be patient shhhh.

Cas is younger than Dean in this AU by like… six months. Dean’s official birthday is January 24th, and I used Jimmy Novak’s birthday for Cas, which is July 10th. Since they’re both in the same grade that makes Cas younger. Just accept it and move on.

I have never been to Jacksonville or Florida, so everything contained within this fic is completely fictitious; business names, street names, school names, place names, everything except Jacksonville, Florida itself. :D

ALSO, before anyone corrects me on stuff, I am CANADIAN and I know the CANADIAN high school system/curriculum. I really have very little idea of how the US school system/classes work so like. I’m just making it up as I go. :D;; (Literally how many classes do US high school students have in a day?? Up here it’s FOUR.)

Please excuse my interpretation of jorogumos, I took a LOT of liberties.

Chapter Two will be posted next Friday, if you're into that sort of thing. You can also read this HERE on AO3.

HORROR HIGH TUMBLR MASTER POST HERE.

HORROR HIGH Chapter One By Senashenta

Dean Winchester crept up the steps of Caspar High School in Jacksonville, Florida, and ducked under the line of police tape that marked off the area, heading for the little tent that had been erected just to the side of the building, near the bushes. The whole scene was theoretically being guarded by the police—but the officer they had left behind was asleep in his police car out front.

Bang up job, Jacksonville P.D.

That aside, Dean was good at his job, so sneaking into a crime scene was no big deal for him, guarded or not. And this was just your basic body check, there wouldn’t be any fighting or anything to wake the cop up—or that was the theory, anyway. (Even if there was, it wouldn’t be his first time being caught and or arrested, either, but they would probably just chalk it up to him being a nosy kid regardless.)

This was the first time his Dad had trusted him enough to drop him in a town to take care of a case alone. Of course, Sam was in Jacksonville with Dean while their Dad headed to Utah to look into a recent spate of killings there, but Sam was pretty much confined to school and the motel on this outing, as per their father’s orders. Still, Dean was going to be keeping a close eye on him: Sam had been known to rabbit in the past and he didn’t want to have to call his Dad and explain that he had lost his little brother (again.)

Now, Dean stealthily unzipped the tent flap and stepped inside, letting it fall closed behind himself.

What he was confronted with when his eyes adjusted to the darkness wasn’t a body so much as a cocoon, an oblong, rounded object the size of a person and wrapped in layers and layers of what looked almost like off-white cheesecloth or gauze. Dean leaned down and tapped at it with his fingers. It was soft, like silk.

Well that would explain why the police hadn’t taken the body away yet; there was no body, per se.

“Let’s see what’s inside you.”

Dean pulled the buck knife out of the back of his jeans, unsheathed it, and got to work cutting the cocoon open. The wrapping, though soft, was tough and sticky, hard to slice through, but eventually he hacked a seam lengthways along the cocoon, at which point he set his knife aside to pull the damned thing open.

Inside was the actual body; male, probably, and curled in on itself, shrivelled and desiccated and dried to a withered husk. At least it didn’t smell. Dean still made a face, even as he released the cocoon and picked up his knife, tucking it away again before exiting the little tent and heading off down the street, making for the motel he and Sam were staying at.

The Seafoam Motel wasn’t exactly high-class, but then none of the places they stayed at ever were. But it had walls and a roof, good locks on the door, it was cheap, and nobody asked too many questions about the occupants of the rooms, and those were all the important things. The Seafoam Motel ticked all the boxes for a financially strapped Hunter—and for his kids, too. Not that you would know it from Sam’s complaining.

At least it had wifi, the kid would have pitched an absolute fit if it hadn’t.

When he got back to the room the door was predictably locked (good job, Sammy), and Dean banged on it a couple of times, calling out, “Sammy, it’s me, open the door!”

After a moment of silence there was the sound of the chain lock and deadbolt being unlocked, and then the door was yanked open. Sam stepped aside to let Dean in and then closed and locked the door behind him, just like it had been drilled into him so many times in the past. “What’d you find?”

“Cocoon.”

“Come again?”

“Cocoon.” Dean repeated as he crossed the room, pulling his knife out and setting it on the little kitchenette table, then dropping into one of the rickety chairs. “You know, like the movie? The body was inside it. Wrapped up in this tough, sticky… I don’t know what. But it sure looked a hell of a lot like a cocoon to me.”

Sam was already heading for his laptop. “That gives us a place to start, at least.”

“Oh no, no no.” Dean headed him off at the pass, practically diving over and snatching the computer before Sam could get to it. “You’re not doing research all night, we have freaking school in the morning.” And then, “…I can’t believe I just said that.”

“Yeah, because you care about school.” Sam rolled his eyes and made a grab for the laptop, but Dean held it over his head where he couldn’t reach. “Dean.”

“I care about the girls at school.” He informed his brother with a grin, then added, “and it’s nearly two a.m., we’re going to bed. Research tomorrow. Sleep now. Besides, I have to check out the school some more anyway, just a cocoon isn’t going to give us much.”

Sam grumbled, eventually agreed, but still held his hand out for his computer. Dean deposited the laptop safely into his grasp and then started stripping down, falling into bed once he was in just his boxers and a t-shirt. “Get the lights, Sammy.”

Sam flicked the lights off with a long-suffering sigh.

-- --

Castiel Novak wasn’t having a great first day at Caspar High. He was relatively used to being the New Kid, his father’s job had them moving around a lot so he switched schools on a regular basis, but the hazing at Caspar was particularly mean spirited, he was finding, not to mention the building itself was an absolute maze, and he had been late for literally all of his morning classes simply because he hadn’t been able to find them and no one had been willing to help him out.

Now he was seated in the cafeteria, by himself but surrounded by the rest of the bustling student body, unsure what to really do with himself.

This wasn’t his first time being the New Kid. He and his father moved around a lot for his father’s job and Caspar High was the third school he’d transferred to since September. It was now January. His father promised that the moving would slow down, though; he could see how much it wore on Cas, even if the boy never said anything about it. He was going to start travelling for his seminars, instead, now that he felt Cas was old enough to stay home on his own. So Cas could potentially be at Caspar for a while.

He probably should have been worried about making friends. For most kids his age that would have been top priority, but Cas had always been a little different, and he thought he was fine on his own, if it came down to it, especially considering the first impression he was getting of the other students so far. It figured that the High School he was likely to actually graduate from would turn out to be full of nothing but jerks.

He was also possibly a little jaded from all the moving around he’d done in the past.

For the time being he just dug his lunch—a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, an apple and a bottle of water—out of his backpack, unwrapped the sandwich and began to pick little pieces of it off and eat them, rather than taking proper bites as he usually would. He wasn’t really all that hungry, considering there were at least a hundred pairs of eyes on him at the moment.

And then—

“HEY NEW KID!”

When Cas looked up, a basketball was flying at his face and he had no time to duck out of the way—but at the last possible second hands shot out of nowhere, snatching the ball out of the air before it could hit its’ target. Blue eyes blinked, and his head swivelled sideways to take in the stranger that had just saved him from a black eye at the very least.

The guy wasn’t overly tall—probably around Cas’s height, give or take—with short, tousled brown hair. He was sporting a t-shirt and a flannel button-up under a worn black jean jacket. He was also wearing ripped jeans. But Cas was most taken by his eyes, which were a sharp, beautiful forest green. As he watched, the other boy eyed the kid across the cafeteria who had thrown the ball to begin with—then abruptly pitched it back at the offender. The ball slammed into the other kid’s head, sending him flying backward out of his seat and causing laugher to erupt all across the cafeteria.

Then his rescuer just looked down at him for a moment before dropping down to sit next to him, straddling the bench. “They tried that on me my first day here, too. Same thing happened then. You’d think they’d learn.”

“Thank you.” Cas offered with a blink.

“No problem.”

“I’m Castiel.”

“That’s a mouthful. I’m Dean.” And then, “the fact that you’re wearing a tie right now isn’t going to help your popularity. Also,” he reached over to physically pull the tie off Cas’s neck and dropped it on the table in front of them. Cas allowed it, somewhat baffled. “You had it on backwards. Honestly, dude, just wear t-shirts like the rest of us.”

“I can do that.” Cas agreed. He owned t-shirts. He grabbed his tie to stuff it into his backpack. Then he returned to looking at Dean, taking in his features and mannerisms. He was exceedingly good-looking, Cas decided almost absently. At the same time, Dean was looking him over as well, seeming to take stock of him, gaze alert and analytical. Scrutinizing.

Eventually Cas shifted a little and asked, “are you new, too?”

“New-ish.” Dean shrugged, “I transferred in two weeks ago.”

“That’s why you’re nicer than...” Cas trailed off and glanced around the cafeteria.

“Literally everyone else here?” Dean suggested with a laugh.

“I didn’t want to say it, but yes.”

“It gets better. After a few days they forget. They’re dumb like that, the masses.”

“Zombies.”

“Uh,” Dean hesitated, but then allowed, “yeah, sure, kind of.”

“You don’t sound very certain, Dean.”

“Well, Cas, I just think zombies are probably different than in the movies.”

Wait. “Cas?” He called himself ‘Cas’ in his head, but no one ever called him that out loud except his father.

Dean gave him a little amused look, “’Castiel’ is a lot.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“As long as it’s fine with you, that is.”

Cas nodded and offered a smile. “It’s fine with me.”

Dean gave him a little grin back. “Great.”

The rest of lunch hour was spent with Cas actually eating his lunch properly while he talked with Dean and they got to know each other a little. No one else bothered them for the rest of the time they were in the cafeteria, and Cas was hoping he would have at least one of his afternoon classes with Dean, but when they compared their schedules, it sadly wasn’t to be. Cas resigned himself to hazing throughout the day for at least the next week or so—until the rest of the student body moved on.

It was a novelty to talk with someone who overlooked his innate strangeness. Cas was so used to people giving him odd looks that Dean chatting with him as freely as he was now, was… almost baffling. Dean seemed like the kind of guy who could be popular, have tons of friends easily, and instead here he was wasting his time with Cas. It was… weird. Not that Cas was complaining.

When the bell rang to signify the end of lunch hour, Cas was mildly disappointed that their conversation had to end. He shifted in his seat a bit before asking tentatively, “you could sit with me again tomorrow, If you wanted?”

“I’ve already got a spot where I spend lunch hour, usually. Not in here.” Dean replied casually, making Cas wilt a little, then; “but you can join me if you want. Meet me by the gym tomorrow at the start of lunch, okay?”

Cas brightened again, nodding. “Okay.”

“Cool.” Dean stood up and brushed the nonexistent dust off himself with a grin, “then I’ll see you tomorrow, Cas.”

Cas smiled back. “Mm, see you tomorrow.”

He didn’t know where Dean was going, but he was off to calculus class—assuming he could find it.

-- --

“Hey, New Kid.”

Cas was really getting tired of being called that, but at least this time there had been no malice behind it. More curiosity, if anything. He was seated in calculus, having found it with (relative) ease, trying to keep his head down and out of trouble when the voice spoke up from in front of him. He reluctantly lifted his head.

The girl in the seat in front of him was twisted around in her chair to face him, a wide smile on her face. Her hair was the reddest red that Cas thought it could possibly be. She gave him a little wave. “I’m Charlie. What’s your name?”

Cas hesitated before offering, “Castiel. But just Cas is fine.”

“Wow, yeah, ‘Castiel’ is…”

“A lot.” Cas echoed Dean’s words from earlier in the day. He was starting to relax now that Charlie was turning out to be friendly. He sat up a little straighter. “It’s nice to meet you, Charlie.”

“Nice to meet you, too!” Charlie glanced around, “I know most of the population of his school are jerks, but calculus is a pretty safe class, so you can relax a little. Oh!” She gestured to the side at another girl, “this is Jody,” and then to the boy sitting in the seat beside Cas, “and this is Garth. They’re cool too.”

Jody had short brown hair and dark eyes, and almost a maternal smile; Garth was tall and lanky, kind of goofy looking but gave him a greeting grin that Cas couldn’t help smiling back to. He was definitely feeling more comfortable now, in this class, at least.

“I saw what happened at lunch,” Charlie said, pulling his attention back to her, “Dean Winchester saved you, which, like… what was he even doing in the cafeteria? He always vanishes at lunch time. No one knows where he goes. It’s a mystery.” She wiggled her fingers a little, “he must like you, ‘cause he usually just keeps to himself, or he has since he transferred in, anyway.”

“Mn, he said he was new, too.”

“Yeah, by a couple weeks. No one dares pick on him, though, he’d kick everyone’s asses.”

Cas coughed out a little laugh. “I got that impression.” Then, after a slight hesitation, “he said I could sit with him at lunch tomorrow. So.”

“Ooh, exciting! You’ll have to tell us where he eats lunch, then!” Charlie grinned at him, then rolled her eyes slightly, “aaaaaaall the girls have a crush on him. He’s handsome and mysterious and blah blah blah.”

“You think he’s over-rated.” Jody informed flatly, though her expression was amused.

“Over-rated?” Cas questioned.

“Charlie is gay.” Garth explained. “Like, so gay.”

“So gay.” Charlie agreed.

“Oh.” Cas shrugged. It didn’t bother him. “I’m not entirely straight myself.”

Charlie just grinned. “So you don’t think Dean Winchester is over-rated.”

He cleared his throat and glanced down a little. “He’s not unattractive.”

“Yeaaaah that’s what I thought.”

“I like girls, too, though, I just… I like who I like. I don’t care about their gender.”

“That’s valid.” Charlie gave him a reassuring smile, then just changed the topic entirely; “where’d you move from?”

Cas blinked. “Wichita, Kansas. My Father and I move around a lot for his job… or we did. Now that I’m older I guess he trusts me to stay home alone so he’s going to start travelling instead. So I’m stuck here.”

“It’s not so bad here once you settle in,” Jody reassured him.

“Yeah,” Charlie nodded, “and you’ve got us now, so it’s not like you have no friends.”

“You just have weird friends.” Garth laughed.

Cas couldn’t help the little grin that crept across his own face. He was actually perfectly okay with having weird friends.

-- --

In history class, after calculus, somebody tripped him on his way to his seat and Cas fell flat on his face. The rest of the students laughed. Cas just got back up and continued on, pretending nothing had happened. That was the best way to deal with bullies, he had learned, over his long and sordid history of transferring from school to school. Ignore them until they give up and go away.

Or, alternatively, have Dean Winchester throw a basketball at their face. That apparently worked, too.

In any case, after the incident in history, the rest of the day passed easily enough, until Cas found himself standing outside the school after final bell, just taking deep breaths of the fresh air and looking up at the sky—soaking in the fact that he was free, at least for the rest of the day.

“You going left or right?”

Cas blinked at the familiar voice and turned his attention to Dean, who had come up beside him while he was distracted with the general out-of-doors. He glanced toward the route he had to take to get home. “Right. Why?”

“Me too. I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh. Okay.” And then, “thanks.”

“Don’t gotta thank me. I’m walking that way anyway.” Dean nudged him to get him moving, and Cas headed off with the other boy by his side.

“No, I mean,” Cas waved one hand in an absent sort of gesture, “I mean for earlier. In the cafeteria. You really didn’t have to do that. And one of the girls I was talking to later said you don’t even usually go in the cafeteria, so I just… thanks. For going out of your way. I appreciate it.”

“You were gossiping about me?”

“I—” Cas began, then clapped his mouth shut again and shook his head in a quick negative. When he spoke up once more it was to mutter, “of course not.”

But Dean was already grinning, looking overly amused. “It’s fine, Cas, I’m used to being gossip fodder. What was she saying about me?”

“That all the girls here think you’re handsome.” Cas told him easily, but conveniently left out the part where he agreed with them. There was no sense in telling a guy he’d just met that he was already developing a crush on him, especially when he might be moving again any day. He really wasn’t sure he trusted his father’s promises that they were going to stay put this time. “And that no one knows where you disappear to at lunch time, apparently it’s a big mystery.”

Dean laughed. “Well you’ll know, starting tomorrow.” He pointed out, “you’re still gonna join me, right?”

Cas actually gave him a surprised look. “I didn’t think you actually—”

“—meant it?” Dean finished for him. His smile softened for just a second before returning to his previous jovial expression. “Mmm… I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it. And besides, you’re different from all those other assholes, I can tell.”

“I like to think I am, anyway.” Then, “you are, too.”

Dean grinned again. “I think we’re going to be friends, Cas, I really do.”

Cas offered up a smile of his own, “I’d like that, Dean.”

They walked together for a few blocks, until they got to James Street, at which point Cas paused and gestured down it. This was his turn off, he had to walk down James to get to King Street where he lived, and it was… well, the term “sketchy” came to mind. James Street was all run-down houses, broken fences, guard dogs and probably drug dealers. Dean looked down the street, giving it a thorough eyeballing, before declaring—

“Nope!” He gave Cas a little push toward the street, but then followed him, falling into step beside him as they headed down James. “No way are you walking down here by yourself, dude, that’s just asking to get axe-murdered. Or worse.”

“Worse than axe-murdered?”

“Oh, trust me there are so many worse things than being axe-murdered.”

Cas would have to take his word for it. He couldn’t personally think of any, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. For now he was just going over and over in his head how this guy he had just met was walking him all the way home through a dodgy part of town, even though he didn’t have to. His tiny, newborn crush on Dean Winchester was probably growing teeth already, and it hadn’t even been a day.

“When’s your birthday?”

“Huh?” Cas blinked back to reality at the question and actually had to fumble for a response before managing, “July.”

“January.” Dean was paying very close attention to their surroundings while also trying to maintain a conversation and that was obvious. “So I’m older.”

“Only by six months.” Cas pointed out.

“Still counts. Means you have to do what I say.” Dean grinned at him fleetingly, “those’re the rules!”

“I don’t like those rules.” The younger teen gave a token protest. “I think you made those rules up.”

“Possibly, but they’re important.”

“Why?”

“Could save your life one day.”

Cas laughed softly at that, but Dean didn’t, instead falling silent until they were past James Street and out of the sketchy area that Cas had very much walked through unescorted on his way to school that morning. Dean relaxed visibly as soon as they were back to “normal” neighborhoods, his steps easier and his shoulder slouching a little, where they had been tense and taut only a moment before.

Honestly, Cas wasn’t entirely sure what was up with Dean, but clearly something was going on inside his head. He would love to have picked Dean’s brain about it, but he really didn’t think Dean would be up for sharing. Maybe he had an incident in his past, something to do with a neighborhood like James that had him acting like he was now. Cas thought possibly once they got to know each other a little bit more, he might ask, but for now…

“I live on King.” He gestured down the street in question when they neared it, “I really can walk from here, I… um. But thanks. Again.”

Dean’s steps slowed to a stop and he glanced around, as if checking the surrounding neighborhood before deeming it safe. “Okay, Cas. I’ll see you tomorrow, right? Be careful walking that way on your way to school in the morning.”

“I will.” Cas gave him a little smile, “thanks, Dean. See you tomorrow.” Then he turned and headed across the street to King, where his father was likely waiting to hear a rundown of his day.

-- --

Lunch time the next day found Cas nervously waiting outside the gym, half expecting Dean not to show—that it had all been an elaborate prank.

Cas’s morning had gone alright, though, everyone seemed to be steering clear now that it had circulated that Dean Winchester was looking out for him. He wasn’t sure what, exactly, Dean had done to garner his reputation, but whatever it was it had been effective.

“Hey.” A hand clapped into his shoulder and when Cas glanced up, Dean was standing there, “c’mon.”

Cas just stared at him. “You actually came.”

“Well, yeah,” Dean gave him an odd look, then gestured for him to follow and headed into the gym. It was empty right now, except for them, and Cas trailed after Dean as they walked around the side of the bleachers—and Dean ducked into the back of them, then dropped down and settled with his back against the wall. He waved a hand for Cas to join him.

Cas clambered in behind the bleachers as well, taking a seat beside Dean and setting his backpack beside him. “This is where you spend lunch?”

“Yeah. It’s private. Quiet, usually.” Dean shrugged, “I don’t mind you being here, though.”

Cas blinked at that, not quite sure what to say. “I—thanks?”

Dean tossed him a grin. “You don’t have to thank me for everything, Cas.”

But it was the polite thing to do. Cas opened his mouth—then closed it again. After a moment he just shrugged almost awkwardly and dug in his backpack for his lunch, unwrapping his sandwich and beginning to eat. He was so severely unused to having friends that this was difficult for him—socializing. He didn’t really know how to do it.

“Hey, what’s your family like?” Cas glanced over when Dean spoke up. The other boy had his head leaned back against the wall, his hands laced over his stomach and his eyes were staring off somewhere into the middle-distance.

“My family?” Cas swallowed a bite of sandwich and resisted the urge to shrug again. “It’s just me and my Father. He adopted me when I was five, but I don’t remember anything before then. It’s always just been the two of us.”

Dean smiled a little and looked at him. “I’ve got me, and my Dad, and my annoying little brother. But we get by okay.”

So neither of them had Moms. That was interesting. Cas took another bite of his sandwich and asked, “how come you transferred here? Does your Dad move around a lot for work or something?”

“You could say that.” Dean agreed, “what about you?”

“Same.” The younger teen nodded, in-between bites of food, “my Father is a motivational speaker, and he does series of seminars all over the place. The last couple months we were in Kansas, and Oregon before that. Now we’re here.” Another bite of sandwich and he continued, a little muffled, “he says we’re going to stay here, though, now that I’m old enough to stay home on my own. He says he’ll start travelling for his work instead.” A shrug, “I don’t know if I believe him or not.”

“Your Dad lie to you often?”

Cas sighed. “No, it’s just… I think it’s a stretch. That he’s suddenly decided all this.”

“Mm.” Dean seemed sympathetic, though Cas wasn’t entirely sure why. “Sucks that it’s this school that you’d be stuck at, after everything.”

“That’s what I was thinking yesterday.” Cas admitted, balling up the wrap from his lunch and dropping it back in his bag. Then he hesitated before offering, “but then I met you, and… things got better.”

Dean grinned again. “Yeah. I think we’re gonna be good friends, Cas.”

Cas found himself smiling back—and then Dean lifted his arm to run his hand through his hair and Cas’s eyes caught on a tear in the cuff of his jacket. He tilted his head curiously. “What happened to your jacket?”

“Huh?” Dean lowered his arm to peer at the rip. He shrugged. “I don’t even know, honestly, half my stuff has holes in it and I never know where they came from.”

Cas was already digging through his backpack again, and this time came up with a spool of black thread and a needle, much to Dean’s obvious surprise. He waved one hand toward the older boy, “take it off and I’ll fix it for you.”

Of all the ways this lunch hour could have gone, this was not one Dean would have predicted. He looked at Cas almost blankly for a moment, then let his eyes flick down to the other teen’s backpack. It was covered in vibrant patches—a cartoon PB&J sandwich, a pizza box, an LGBTQ flag, angel wings, etc.—all obviously hand-sewn on. And oh. So sewing was a thing with Cas. Okay.

Dean pushed away from the wall just enough to shrug out of his jacket and handed it over, watching curiously as Cas measured out a length of thread, then snapped it off with his teeth, threading the needle and knotting the thread a second later. He was obviously practiced at this particular skill. So was Dean, but for different reasons.

A few minutes of concentration later and Cas was finished with repairing the rip in his jacket, knotting off the thread and snapping it with his teeth again, then tucking the needle and thread away before sheepishly handing the jacket back to Dean.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s much better, right?” He asked almost shyly.

Dean gave him a genuine, grateful smile. “Thanks, Cas. It’s great.”

Cas watched him pull his jacket back on, smiling himself now. “I like to sew. It gives me something to do with my hands when I’m feeling… I don’t know. Antsy, I suppose. Like some people play with pencils or fidget toys, I have a needle and thread…”

Dean was inspecting the newly-sewn spot on his cuff, and looked up with a grin, “I play with knives.” He informed Cas, only half-joking.

Cas, not knowing any better, laughed anyway. “Hey, Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for… being nice to me. Thanks for this. For… being my friend.”

Dean almost told him he didn’t need to thank him again. Instead he just smiled, almost fond, and said, “you’re welcome, Cas.”

-- --

“What do you mean you’re not going to tell us where Dean Winchester spends lunch hour?”

This was from Charlie, who had one hand clasped to her chest and a positively shocked and scandalized look on her face. The entire thing was an act and Cas knew it, even having only known Charlie for two days. “Charlie.”

“What do you mean you’re not going to tell me where Dean Winchester spends lunch hour?”

“Aaaaaand there it is.” Jody drawled. Garth chuckled.

Cas just smiled apologetically. “It’s kind of a secret. I don’t think he wants people to know.”

Charlie pouted, “you just want him all to yourself, that’s what I think.”

Cas coughed and glanced down at the same time as Garth commented, “as if you care. You couldn’t be less interested in Dean Winchester if you tried, Charlie.”

“Not true!” Charlie insisted, “he is, indeed, a mystery that I am interested in solving! Just… not in, like, a romantic sense. Because ew.” Then she paused before adding, “I mean, objectively I can see where you would find him attractive, Cas, but just… no thanks.”

A soft laugh from Cas, faintly embarrassed. “Sorry, Charlie. I’m still not going to tell you.”

The girl heaved a suffering sigh. “You disappoint me, Castiel Novak.”

Again. “Sorry, Charlie.”

“You are not.”

He wasn’t even a little.

-- --

It became habit that Cas met Dean outside the gym every day at lunch and they spent lunch hour behind the bleachers, talking and laughing and becoming better friends, Cas’s minor crush on Dean growing into a huge monster of one very quickly.

Dean never had anything to eat at lunch and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Cas, though he had thus far neglected to say anything. But the longer he knew Dean and the more time he spent with the other boy the more it bothered him. He wasn’t bringing anything from home, obviously, and never bought anything from the cafeteria, he just sat through lunch hour watching everyone else eat and going hungry himself, scribbling in a battered notebook that he carried in his inside jacket pocket.

And that didn’t sit right with Cas because some days it was obvious Dean was hungry from the way he watched Cas eat out of the corner of his eye. But why he never had food was probably a sensitive subject and Cas didn’t feel he had the right to ask.

He could, however, do something about it.

So the next time Dean plunked himself down on the ground behind the gym bleachers at lunch time, Cas sat down next to him, then swung his backpack around and fished out not one but two sandwiches, each individually wrapped in cling-film. He blinked at Dean and held one out. “Here.”

Dean just stared at him. “Dude, what are you doing?”

“Feeding you.” Cas stated matter-of-factly, and when Dean didn’t immediately take the offered sandwich, he just set it in the older boy’s lap and returned to his bag, digging out two apples and setting one next to Dean’s sandwich. This was followed by a pair of bottles of water. Then he shrugged. “Someone has to do it.”

“But—I—you—this is—”

Cas could sense where this was going. He headed it off at the pass. “It’s not charity, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s as easy to make two sandwiches as it is to make one.” He was already unwrapping his own sandwich, and paused to glance sideways at Dean before taking a bite; “we’re friends and friends help each other out, right?”

“We are, yeah…” Dean continued looking at him rather oddly while he started to eat, like he was having trouble with the idea of someone doing something so nice for him and not wanting anything in return. Eventually, though, he glanced away, as if suddenly shy, and carefully picked up his own sandwich, unwrapping it and taking a huge bite right off the bat. He was obviously starving. Once that was chewed and swallowed, he cleared his throat and offered, “uh… thanks, Cas.”

Cas shrugged again but gave him a smile. “As long as you don’t mind peanut butter and jelly, I don’t mind sharing with you.”

“…I am not eating the apple. Apples belong in pies.”

The next day Cas started bringing him a fruit cup instead. “It’s close to pie.”

“It’s not even.”

Despite his protests, Dean ate it anyway.

-- --

On top of eating lunch together, it had also quickly become habit for Dean to walk Cas home—mostly because he was very suspicious of James Street and that neighborhood in general, and he didn’t want his only friend to be snatched up by some monster, or even a common-place serial killer. A life of being a Hunter’s son had made him more than a little paranoid when it came to things like that.

Usually Cas made it outside first, and just waited around by one of the retaining walls until Dean emerged from the school a few minutes later, at which point they set out. Cas kept telling Dean he really didn’t need to walk him home, and Dean kept doing it anyway.

Because aside from his paranoia, he really did like Cas, and enjoy spending time with him, possibly too much, really—but walking Cas home also got him away from the crappy motel and his annoying little brother for just a little while longer, which was always a bonus. He was a Hunter, and he had a job to do, his dad drilled that into him all the damn time, but he was also not-quite eighteen and needed distraction every now-and-then.

“You’re quiet.” Dean was always quiet when they were walking down James Street. Cas always tried anyway. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking it’s going to rain.”

Cas glanced up. It was severely overcast, with storm clouds overhead and the humidity was through the roof. Dean was probably right. “Yeah, probably.” He agreed. “Hey, do you want to walk all the way to my house today? I could introduce you to my Father, if he’s in. We could hang out.”

Dean flashed him a little smile. “I can’t. I’ve gotta get home to Sammy.”

‘Sammy’ was Dean’s younger brother, thirteen from what Dean had told him, and attending Bedwin Junior High. Bedwin was Caspar’s affiliated Junior High, so if they were around long enough, Sammy—Sam—would go to Caspar as well. Dean seemed to feel that they wouldn’t be around that long, though, which was… disappointing. Upsetting, even.

Cas was used to moving around, himself, and in the beginning he had been young and hadn’t known better, he had made friends wherever he went, and then inevitably had to leave them behind. When he got a little older, he started purposefully avoiding making friends, so he wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of losing them.

Now, at Caspar, he had dropped his guard again, and even if his father kept his word and they didn’t move again, and he was able to stay friends with Charlie, Jody and Garth, Dean… he and his brother were in the same boat as Cas had been in previously. So, Cas had gotten to be friends with Dean without even meaning to, gotten close to him, developed a huge crush on him—though he never let it show—and Dean could be leaving any day. It was only a matter of time, really.

Cas had thought that he had hardened himself to the reality of losing friends, considering how he’d grown up, but the thought of Dean taking off just… put a lump in the pit of his stomach. He really had it bad for the older boy, had since Day One, probably, Charlie was right about that much.

But Dean was funny and smart and so attractive, so of course—

Something heavy slammed into Cas’s back right at that moment, the blow cushioned only by the fact that he was wearing his backpack, and Cas yelped out a startled noise even as he tumbled to the ground, landing roughly on the hard pavement.

Whatever had crashed into him was still on top of him—a person, he thought—and scrabbling at him, one hand holding him down by the chest while the other grabbed at his hair and shoved his head to the side. Then they lunged forward and bit into his neck—Cas gave a sharp cry—and abruptly Dean’s voice shouted something unintelligible and he yanked the person off, flinging them away.

When Cas looked up, the person who had attacked him was standing a few feet away, wiping at his mouth and spitting. Dean was between him and Cas and had a huge buck knife in one hand (where had that come from?), holding it at the ready. When the stranger stopped gagging and lunged toward Dean, Dean braced himself and full-body tackled the man, knife flashing—first silver and then red—as he stabbed it into the man over and over again.

After that onslaught, though, and despite being stabbed several times, the stranger wrenched himself away and took off, fleeing into the oncoming storm.

Dean stood where he was for a moment, heaving, before wiping the knife on his jeans and tucking it into the back of his waistband, where Cas assumed it had come from to begin with. Then he hurried back over to Cas and crouched down, hands hovering uselessly. “Shit, Cas, are you okay?”

Cas brought one hand up to the side of his neck where he had been bitten, wiping there before dropping it again to look almost blankly at the blood on his palm. That was about when it started to rain. Dean reached to help him up, and together they got Cas back to his feet. He actually didn’t feel too bad, all things considered.

Dean was already checking out his neck, ignoring the fact that rain was pouring down on them now. “It doesn’t look too bad. It didn’t get you too deep. Could’ve ripped your throat out, you’re lucky.”

“It—what—he bit me—and—you stabbed him and he didn’t even—"

“Cas,” Dean looked him in the eye, deadly serious, and told him firmly, “that was a vampire.”

[beepingmemesauce2727]

Plans for future Spidey-Villains if I were in charge of continuing The Spectacular Spider-Man.

Mac Gargan / Scorpion:

• Private Investigator hired by J. Jonah Jameson, like in the comics

• Fails due to Peter using his spider-sense to evade him, leading to him being fired by Jameson, which not only causes him to lose his job, but also leaves him homeless, but is offered a second chance by a man claiming to work for The Kingpin

• Registers for an experimental operation by Wilson Fisk and Alastair Smythe, the idea behind the operation being to essentially create a genetically-enhanced police officer

• He is injected with multiple steroids that enhance his physical strength, and his outfitted with bulletproof armor equipped with a cybernetic tail

• Same story as in the comics basically, he is sent to capture Spider-Man, but over time, the chemical augmentations start affecting his brain and drive him to insanity, leading him to paralyze Smythe, and attack J.J.J., Peter promptly defeats him

• Eventually joins a new version of the Sinister Six

Roderick Kingsley / Hobgoblin

• Perfume company CEO, wants to buy Oscorp, but Harry doesn't like him as he thinks Oscorp is the "Osborn Family Legacy", Roderick doesn't like Harry either, seeing him as a nepo baby, (which Harry kind of is)

• Has a twin-brother named Daniel, but is less successful than Roderick, leading to constant belittling by his older brother

• Secretly does shady business deals, like in Season 2 where he attended the auction with NYC's various crime lords

• Hires a spy to infiltrate Oscorp one night, that thug discovers the Green Goblin's tech, spy steals it and brings it back to Roderick

• Roderick sees an opportunity, and creates a new persona, The Hobgoblin, and learns that Osborn used performance-enhancers to gain his superhuman powers

• Creates a chemical compound that includes all of the effects of the original Globulin Green with none of the side-effects

• Roderick decides he can frame other people as the Hobgoblin so he can get away with his crimes scott-free and take control of Oscorp and expand his business

• Multiple people are framed for being the Hobgoblin throughout the third season, including Ned Leeds, Harry Osborn, Emily Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, and even Roderick's own brother Daniel

• Enters a turf war with Wilson Fisk

• Eventually, Roderick is outed as the Hobgoblin, and is imprisoned

Art by TheJikaruss on Deviantart

Micheal Morbius / Morbius the Living Vampire

• Born in Greece in 1939, raised in America

• Was raised by his single mother, his father left his mother before he was born

• His mother died of a rare illness which caused her blood cells to rapidly degenerate, and eventually, Michael develops this disorder as well

• He meets Emil Nikos, and they become best friends, Nikos finds out about Michael's condition and vows to help him create a cure

• They won a Nobel Prize for their achievements in hematological research, and used the money to conduct the experiment that would cure Michael of his condition in 1971

• The experiment involved injecting Michael with a serum derived from the DNA of vampire bats, and electroshock therapy to enhance Michael's mutated blood cells

• The experiment goes awry, and Michael is transformed into a hideous creature resembling a vampire

• Michael kills Nikos in a bloodthirsty rage, and only regains his senses when he has completely drained Nikos of his blood

• Wracked with immeasurable guilt, Michael attempts suicide, but saves himself as living is a habit

• He roams the world for decades, eventually stumbling upon the house of Curt and Martha Connors, who he attacks while Peter is on a school field trip to the Florida Everglades

Morris Bench / Hydro-Man

• Demolitions expert, as he is in the show

• His wife divorced him a few months prior to the series, so he's a bit depressed

• He is brought to an experiment taking place on a cargo ship overseen by Oscorp, where there are experimenting with a device that can filter out hazardous chemicals in the world's various oceans

• The ship is attacked by the Hobgoblin, who is trying to steal technology, a fight breaks out between Spider-Man and Hobgoblin, and in the scuffle, Morris is knocked overboard

• Morris' body reacts strangely to the generator's radioactive materials, which causes his body to break down and then reform itself into a body that can transform itself into living water

• Hydro-Man escapes the hospital he was held in, and runs into the Hobgoblin, who convinces Morris that Spider-Man is responsible for his condition, and Hydro-Man swears revenge against the web-slinger

• He battles Spider-Man, who defeats him by freezing him with liquid nitrogen, and handing him over to the NYPD

• He is imprisoned, but eventually thawed out to join a new version of the Sinister Six

Cletus Kasady / Carnage

• Cletus is revealed to be a serial killer like in the comics

• He was born to Roscoe and Louise Kasady, and after he tortured and killed his mother's dog, he was sent to the St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children

• After he burned down the orphanage and killed the staff and its students, he murdered his parents as revenge for locking him up in that hell-hole

• He went on to murder several more people, until he was arrested, where the judge labeled him insane and had Cletus sent to the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, where he "befriended" Eddie Brock

• After the Venom Symbiote returns to Eddie in his and Cletus' cell, Eddie turns into Venom and causes a break out

• Little did Eddie know, the symbiote had produced an offspring, and it bonded to Cletus' bloodstream, turning the symbiote red and giving it full control over Kasady's cellular structure, making him much stronger than Eddie and Venom

• Cletus became Carnage, and resumed his killing spree, but on a mass scale, turning anyone in his way into his symbiote possessed minions

• Spider-Man realizes he has no choice but to team up with Venom. He also joins up with Black Cat, Cloak & Dagger, Morbius, Sandman, Prowler, and Silver Sable to take down Carnage and his drones

• Carnage is eventually defeated, and the symbiote hordes are returned to normal

• Cletus is imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D., due to the catastrophic event he just caused, and that's the last we ever see of Carnage

• Or is it?

Hobie Brown / Prowler

• He becomes friends with Peter in Season 3

• He has a bone to pick with Harry Osborn due to his doping in Season 2

• However, his girlfriend Mindy McPherson is kidnapped by the Hobgoblin's men, and he takes matters into his own hands

• He dons the Prowler suit for the first time, and takes out mutiple caches of Hobgoblin's goons throughout the city in order to get to Mindy

• He runs into Spider-Man, and they get into a disagreement on how to take down The Hobgoblin, Peter just wants to simply defeat Hobgoblin and bring him to justice, whereas Hobie wants to kill Hobgoblin, and they get into a fight

• They eventually stop fighting, and put their differences aside to save Mindy

• They defeat Hobgoblin and his men and save Mindy, but Hobgoblin escapes before he can be arrested

• Prowler eventually teams up with Spidey again during the "Maximum Carnage" event

John Jameson / Man-Wolf

• Still in Ravencroft after Season 2

• He's still obsessed with the strength he obtained during his time as Colonel Jupiter

• He is visited in his cell by J.J.J. and Miles Warren, who offers to give him back the power he so desperately wants

• He is injected with a steroid that turns him back into Colonel Jupiter, and he becomes an ally to Spider-Man again

• Warren secretly installed nanites into John's bloodstream that would activate under lunar rays

• During one night out on patrol, John keeled over in pain and transformed into a hulking canine creature dubbed The Man-Wolf

• Man-Wolf eventually attacked his father at the DB, but Spider-Man used an antidote on John that eliminated the nanites in his system and turned him back into a human

• John was eventually turned back into Man-Wolf, and kidnapped by Kraven the Hunter and forced to fight Spider-Man again during this show's adaptation of "Kraven's Last Hunt", (Man-Wolf takes the place of Vermin) but after Kraven dies, Spider-Man goes after Man-Wolf and turns him back into a human again

• Warren finds a strand of Man-Wolf's hair, and keeps it along with a sample of Globulin Green...for safe keeping

Prof. Miles Warren / Jackal

• He's taken Dr. Connors' place as ESU's science division

• He has an assistant named Debra Whitman

• He was behind Molten Man and Man-Wolf, and will be the ultimate mastermind behind the Clone Saga

• He creates a clone of Peter and Gwen, the Peter clone is used to tarnish Peter's reputation as Spider-Man, while the Gwen clone would become Miles' surrogate daughter

• Miles' wife and daughter died prior to the series in an accident, and Gwen reminded him of his daughter

• So that when she died, Miles had a mental breakdown and decided to use his expertise in cellular biology to create a perfect clone of Gwen

• But Peter and his clone eventually put aside their differences, and confronted Miles in the ESU lab

• As a last resort, he injected himself with a serum comprised of canine DNA and Norman Osborn's Goblin serum, turning him into a monster called The Jackal

• He's eventually defeated, imprisoned, and returned to his human form after a vicious fight with Peter Parker and Ben Reilly

• He later escapes prison and creates a newer, stronger clone he calls Kaine, he brainwashes Kaine and sends him after Peter and Ben

• Kaine is eventually freed from his brainwashing and kills Miles for all the people he's hurt, Peter, Gwen, Curt Connors and his family, Mark Allan, and John Jameson

Art by Lunamidnight1998 on Deviantart

Martin Li / Mr. Negative

• Was experimented on by Wilson Fisk's head scientist, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, and was imbued with Light & Darkforce powers

• Runs a soup kitchen with Aunt May and Nathan Lubensky called F.E.A.S.T.

• Secretly a crime lord called Mr. Negative and forms a group called the Inner Demons

• The experiments by Dr. Ohnn also created Cloak & Dagger

• Becomes the third wheel in The Kingpin and Hobgoblin's Turf War

• Eventually depowered and redeemed

Thank you for reading! :)

[angelicalbones]

Complaining about my ex

I don't know why a post of someone being hugged tight sent me into a tailspin but it just reminded me of the last time I had dropped my ex off at the airport. I got him completely organized and ready to go, took him alls far as I could and even tho we were separated at this point I gave him a tight hug and a kiss bc he gets extremely anxious traveling alone. And I didn't mind I did it completely willingly I even offered bc I could tell he wanted to ask for it.

And then I remembered how I drove myself to the airport every time. I had to deal w the stress and anxiety all alone. Organize expensive Ubers or pay over $100 in parking. He never once offered to take me.

The one and only time I remember asking him outright if he could take me bc we were literally 5 minutes from the airport I got punished for waking him up. I was relying on him to wake up on time to drive the 5 god damn minutes to the airport so I could go spend the holidays alone w my family bc he never fucking visited my family with me and he yelled at me. He stayed up insanely fucking late the night before and told me to leave him the fuck alone so he could sleep.

Even his shit head of a father(we were living w his dad at the time) was shocked and confused that he wasn't driving me. I told him my ex just wasn't feeling well so I was gonna take an Uber no big deal.

And then his dad was the one who fucking picked me up when I got back.

I bent over backwards to always be there for my ex even in extremely simple ways like driving and picking up from the airport bc that's just what you do for a friend or partner if ur able to! That's just how I feel and operate.

And yet I never

Ever

Got that energy back

I don't know how much I have to chalk up to well two different people have two different sets of standard operations and how much I can be like wow I feel consistently fucking neglected bc I never get half the fucking energy I put into this relationship back.

I couldn't even get him to run errands for me. I had to do them all. And usually I had to do them completely alone. And God forbid I forget something bc I have fucking swiss cheese brain thanks to physical and mental illnesses. I got in trouble for that shit too and would have to immediately turn around and retrieve whatever it is I forgot.

I convinced myself we had an equal partnership for years and we didn't. Sure he paid one month of rent, two utility bills, and moving costs. I feel ashamed I ever EVER had to rely on him financially and fucked up so bad I cost him so much.

He barely ever kept the house clean on a day to day basis. Never ran errands. Never did anything by himself so if he wanted to do something I was the chauffer. Never managed travel for cons that was all me. Never coordinated groups bc again that was all me. Never set up a single bill. I'm the one who got us into nearly every place we lived until florida. Even then the only place he "handled" was the last house and I'm still the one who set up the lease, the utilities, and everything else.

He just bought me trinkets and talked about all the cool things he wanted to do but couldn't bc I was financially draining him.

My life was falling apart bc of him. Of course I was making my own decisions and own fuck ups but he set the stage I proceeding to fall off of.

What is it like to be actually loved and supported. Is that even real? Am I even worthy / capable of it?

Fucking Christ this was such a spiral I wasn't expecting I'm exhausted.

I just can't handle thinking the past 8 years of my life were a fucking lie. But it's starting to feel like it was.

[azspot]

At this point in the discussion, someone is bound to ask: If red states are so awful, why are so many people moving there? It’s true. Between 2020 and 2022, the five states with the biggest net population growth were all red: Idaho, Montana, Florida, Utah, and South Carolina. The two biggest net population losers, meanwhile, were blue states: New York and Illinois. I just got done telling you what terrible places Oklahoma and Tennessee have become to live in. But Oklahoma and Tennessee are two of the fastest-growing states in the country. How can that be?

The Red State Brain Drain Isn’t Coming. It’s Happening Right Now.

[scentedchildnacho]

Asparagus juice coffee....also good more niche learning......my bloody nose is actually a good sign...they beat the back right of my head in Lakeland Florida they put me on high doses of seroquel and drained a lot of my blood and passed out and hit the back of my head on the floor then they put me into the very loud MRI....so it's more with peggy mason that I'm getting faster at drawing the constellation line from the back right of my head to my right eyebrow scar or brocas aphasia......to my broken collar bone.....it was just inflammation so the bloody nose is probably just signs my brain is healing to allowing phobias of extreme runs from the texas police...

[soul-dwelling]

Book bans are trash.

(Although, fuck Bill O'Reilly: fascist misogynistic dick.)

And not to give the ass-backwards fascistic fuck-sticks in Florida any more ideas, and assuming it wasn't already part of an earlier book ban: they ban Soul Eater Volumes 2 to 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, and 21 to 23...but not Volume 1. You know, the one with Soul crashing into Blair's breasts, Black Star spying on girls bathing, and mummies stripping the Thompsons. And not the other volumes ("Madness of Boobs" Volume 25.)

And all of that shows these idiotic book bans are inconsistent: it's not about sex or violence or protecting anyone, especially not protecting children. There is no set of consistent guidelines--it's just chaotic, because chaos is the point. To repeat myself, if there was consistency, then you would think Volume 1, assuming it isn't missing from this list, would also have been banned.

No, the reason for these damn stupid book bans is because the rightwing losers in Florida just want to erase any authors who are or are allies to Black people, Latino/a/x people, Native American people, Asian people, Jewish people, Muslim people, LGBTQ+ people, women, and on, and on, and on.

(While those same rightwing losers are the biggest bunch of hypocrites. They are banning books that have violence and sex. But they themselves spend their lives as hypocrites, condemning other people's sexual interests when they have the same or comparable sexual desires, as well as their own infidelities and just the worst alleged stuff that I don't want to get into without adding a thousand content warnings to this post. And they are just some of the most violent fascistic goose-stepping fucks you can find. Seriously, these finks are cheering on January 6 traitorous insurrections while banning books for being too violent--what the actual fuck?)

But, hey, Escambia County, Florida, just because your rights are being trampled upon doesn't mean you need to worry. At least you can enjoy Volume 1 of Soul Eater (although it probably was indeed banned, given all the other books listed here) where Soul wakes up to see Blair's tits in his face. That should make you feel better as your freedom of choice is being stolen from you!

(For the love of God, if you can legally vote where you are, register and vote to stop this brain-drain in the schools and libraries--goddamn, what the fuck.)

[tomorrowusa]

The medical brain drain out of red states continues.

In August we posted about how OGBYNs are leaving states like Florida whose Republican governments have enacted severe restrictions on reproductive healthcare.

Many of those same states have also passed laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community. In doing so they have made life difficult for LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals and their families.

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, a pediatric cardiologist, has recently fled from Louisiana to New York with his family because of homophobic laws passed by the Republican-controlled Louisiana legislature.

[Jake] Kleinmahon, a pediatric cardiologist, earned his medical degree from Tulane University, and despite leaving the state to complete his fellowships, he said he felt drawn to Louisiana. “At the time there was only one heart transplant doctor in the state of Louisiana,” he said, adding some children who needed heart transplants had to be transferred out of state. “I believe the kids in Louisiana should have the same world class health care as any other part of the United States.” He accepted a job at a local children’s hospital as director of the pediatric heart transplant program. But this past spring the Republican-led state legislature passed a series of controversial bills that targeted the LGBTQ community.

Thanks to Republicans, Louisiana now has one fewer pediatric heart transplant surgeon.

The Kleinmahons join other LGBTQ families who are also facing the same choice. They say they no longer feel safe or welcomed in states that have passed laws targeting their community. Many have made the difficult decision to leave. In 2023, more than 525 anti-LGBTQ bills were passed in 41 states, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for the LGBTQ community. Of those bills, more than 220 explicitly targeted transgender people. As of June, 77 anti-LGBTQ bills had been signed into law. Many of the laws enacted have been met with legal challenges from advocacy groups and LGBTQ families. Some have been blocked by judges while the legal battles play out in court. [ ... ] Kleinmahon said he was also receiving hate mail at his job from people condemning him for being gay and saying he needed to “find Jesus.” Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed three bills, including one that banned gender-affirming care for most transgender minors, and HB 466, the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that prohibited teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in class. The state legislature overturned Edwards’ veto of the gender-affirming care ban and the new law will go into effect in January.

Those homophobes urging Dr. Kleinmahon to "find Jesus" are going to have more difficulty finding qualified medical specialists in their state.

In August, Kleinmahon decided to move his family to Long Island, New York, where he took a job at another children’s hospital developing a heart transplant program. Kleinmahon said he worries his departure will leave a void in the Louisiana healthcare system. There are now only two pediatric cardiologists who manage heart transplants in the state, and they will be expected to serve the same number of patients, he said. “That is going to affect care,” Kleinmahon said, adding that “the absolute hardest part is me saying goodbye to my patients.”

State legislatures and state governments in general need to get more attention from moderate and liberal voters. When Republicans control a state they proceed to turn it into a MAGA dystopia like Florida and Texas. We can no longer afford to ignore what goes on in our state capitals.

It may take years to dislodge the mini-Trumps in some states, so the sooner we get started, the better. The first step is to find out who is representing you in your legislature. This site can help...

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

[ms-cellanies]

DeSatanic & other "leaders" like him are determined to undermine EDUCATION & have forced teachers to leave their professions. Dumbing down education is the goal.