#i need to launch myself into the sun immediately

[cinnabeat]

the way reiko does something unquestionably strange and then immediately stops interacting with baby shigeru as if to preemptively avoid the rejection shes sure to get what if i start screaming

[eldritchqueerture]

unmedicated adhd will have you scrolling through the same posts on your dash for the third time, asking yourself How Do I Leave the House, hoping the answer somehow appears in the posts

[b-blushes]

can u even believe it i have dealt with 2 of the issues that were taking up most of my brain power, cooked a very vegetable-rich lunch, did my laundry....... wow that's functional, baybee

[transgenderknothead]

Protection

Pairing: Poly!Lost Boys x Vampire!Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Summary: (Takes place towards end of the movie) Reader protects the boys from Michael, Sam, and the Frog brother’s.

Warnings: Blood, Major character death, maybe spoilers

I sensed them before they’d even entered the cave, waking me up immediately. I pretended to be asleep, until I could tell what they were doing. I snapped my eyes open just before they could reach Marko and let out a hiss that woke up my boys.

“Get away from him!” I launched myself at the young boys, chasing them out of the cave, followed by David. I pulled David back, keeping him from falling into the sun as the young boys ran to where I knew Michael was waiting. 

“They have, Star and Laddie,” I growled, I never liked Star anyway, but Dwayne would be crushed at the disappearance of the kid. 

“We have to wait until nightfall,” David mumbled next to me.

“I know that, Love,” I rested my hand on his cheek briefly, walking back into the nest, “are you alright, Marko?”

He nodded at me rushing into my arms quickly. I pet his hair for a few moments, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“Go back to sleep, I’ll let you know when we’re going,” I move to sit at the entrance of the cave.

When it was time, I already sensed all of their traps. Telling the boys to wait for me on the edge of the property instead. They hadn’t accounted for me, or the fact that I was more experienced with hunter’s than any of the boys. And I had the scar on my hip to prove it.

“I hope you’re ready to learn what Lost Boy style is,” I sang into the empty halls, laughing to myself lightly. I smelled him first, the dog. I jumped out of his way, clinging to the ceiling, looking for someone else to deal with.

“Don’t worry Michael,” I called out, “i won’t kill your dog, I’m just here for you!”

I flew towards his shadow, allowing him to pin me.

“Where are they!” He yelled, I laughed, even as one of the boys pointed an arrow at my face.

“You’ve lost,” one of the Frog boys spoke, “why do you find this funny.”

I laughed harder at his statement, taking them all by surprise when I shoved my hand through Michael’s chest.

“Oh my god!”

I laughed as I chased them through the house, ripping them apart as I caught them. I caught a glance at Paul watching me from the window, sheer puppy love and adoration in his eyes. I had left and met the boys quickly, Paul and Marko throwing themselves at me with affection.

“And look who I got back,” Laddie ran right into Dwayne, a small smile appearing on my lover’s lips. Marko and Paul continued showering me in kisses, cleaning up the blood on my hands. 

“Okay, Okay,” I laughed when the kisses started to tickle, “I love you boys, I do, but I need to be able to move.

“No,” Paul countered, wrapping strong arms around me.

[n3onstarss]

OMG THERES NOBODY TALKING ABOUT LYLA OUGH IM FIXING THIS RIGHT NOW

So, here's Lyla x Spider-Woman reader! She may be OOC, but I'm using what I've analyzed from what I've seen (haven't seen the movie, but it's all been spoiled so it's whatever lol)

Blood, injury and panicking are all present, alongside some oblivious crushing on both sides :)

•••

Lyla knew how dangerous it was to be a Spider-Person. After all, she had been created for the sole purpose of helping one of said spider people.

But Miguel was tough. I mean, all spider people are, but he had trained to be Spider-Man. He hadn't been bitten, he hadn't been thrown into this like the rest of the spider people, or at least as far as Lyla knew.

So when she was scanning her screens and got a notification about a fight on Earth-921, she hurried to check in. The notification hadn't said who needed backup, only having a voice message attached, but it was requested.

She knew immediately who's dimension it was, and she knew how stubborn you were. You wouldn't call for backup unless you really fucking needed it and urgently

Oh. My. God if shes dead I'm going to kill her! The thought crossed her mind briefly, and only amplified Lyla's panic. The thought of being the first to respond, only to find you dead? terrified her.

---

My webs were launching and pulling me almost faster than I could keep up, attaching to surrounding buildings and sending me swinging in tight circles and loops around the villain I was battling.

"Too fast for ya, scales?" I teased as I let myself slide under the villains tail like an Indiana Jones movie. My version of The Lizard was more gator like, reminding me of Leatherhead in the TMNT comics I'd seen. And the cherry on top, he was pissed the fuck off. a low rumbling growl emitted from the gator as he span to keep up, trying to find a window of attack, a moment of weakness.

I launched myself as high as I could go when his back was turned, slingshotting myself off two tall apartment complexes, hollering all the way and laughing like a crazed woman. Staring up at the sun, I thought I could touch the clouds like this. The adrenaline rush was amazing, it was part of the reason I kept doing this! I turned and let myself free fall carelessly for a moment before resuming my circling attack pattern.

It only lasted a moment longer before my head snapped to the side when I thought I saw a civilian, a child, standing just inside a convenience store. Without really thinking my webs adjusted my path towards the child. I had no game plan, no idea what I was doing, but I'd work it out, I always did.

But I forgot the most important rule, never turn your back to a villain.

A heavy weight slammed itself into my back, winding me. Sharp obsidian claws wrapping around my shoulders and throwing me backwards. As i hit the ground concrete tore open my suit and back as I tumbled head over heels, and not in the fun way, along the road. Skipping like a pebble and leaving cracks and torn up asphalt in my wake.

I couldn't catch my breath, having been effectively winded again by the final impact, but I forced myself to me feet. I was hunched and swaying side to side when I called for backup, pressing the panic button and leaving a message as instructed as I thwiped into the skies again one handed.

"Heyyy, it's me," I held the watch near my face as i moved, trying to keep the audio undistorted, "Uhhhh I don't know how to explain this but The Lizard got into super crack or something methinks and he is PISSED. I could really use some backup right now!" I cut off with a scream as he swiped at me again, lodging a claw in my calf that i kicked free with my other foot. I hissed in pain and my voice cracked as I spoke again, "Yeah, definitely need backup haha! anyways, civilians in the area, angry croc, destroyed property, y'know the gist. Thankssss!"

I continued my streak of circling, attacking, hissing at a injury i hadn't noticed, and repeating until I ran out of juice. My arms were exhausted and I was nearly out of web fluid. I used some of the last to (finally!) seal the wound on my calf. The Lizard turned to face me now, face to face on the ground, or as face to face as you can get to a 8 foot or taller gator.

"Pick on someone your own size!" I quipped as he threw the first punch. "Or don't." I muttered under my breath, pissed off at the situation and myself for letting it get to the point I needed backup.

The Lizard and I circled each other, fists raised and growling at each other. I faked him out a few times to lighten the mood and provoke him, but he didn't react.

After a minute or so more a golden light and figure appeared on my watch, and The Lizard took that time to charge.

"WHAT are you DOING??" I asked slash yelled as I dove under the villain, dropping to the ground to avoid being grabbed.

"Backing you up! You did call for backup, didn't you?" Lyla spoke, voice full of worry and yet smug. She leaned around where the watch and therefore her were held at shoulder height and her eyes widened a little as The Lizard began to turn towards us again.

"Ha! got me there!" The villains footsteps soon the ground as he ran, and my spidey-sense was going off like crazy, but I didn't move. "Did you alert anybody else? cause despite how much I love your company," I dodged under a punch and spun to kick The Lizard in the gut, sending him flying, "There are civilians in the area."

Lyla scoffed, striking one of her signature poses before speaking again, "Of course I alerted someone! I sent out a general notif, Noir said he's on his way and so did Peni."

Relief flooded my body for a mere moment before I launched into a backflip to dodge The Lizard. I felt like a bullfighter. An out-of-web-fluid bullfighter.

"Thank you Lyla, what ever would I do without you?" My tone was teasing, but my words were sincere.

"Die, probably." Lyla didn't miss a beat, she never did.

"That's for sure!" I got ready to run up a wall as The Lizard approached, but my leg wound started to open up again and i stumbled.

"What is that?!"

I was a little too busy dodging fists and trying not to inhale a shit tone of dust from a villain trying to trample or punch me currently to respond in full.

"Oh. Got cocky, got clawed, the works." I don't know why I was trying to appear nonchalant about something that was hindering. You don't need to look cool in front of Lyla, we've been coworkers since You were 16! that's 6 years!! but now you wanna act cool? God you're stupid!

A stray punch missed us by an inch, and Lyla looked worriedly at where the arm had been.

"Hey, you good?" I was worried that Lyla was worried. She was always so unbothered! It was worrying to see her scared

"If course! Why wouldn't I be?" She shrunk away from the next kick too. "I just think we should, IIIIII dunno.. leave?" Her hands were gesturing wildly as she spoke. A jaw snapped itself closed way too close to us for my liking.

"Hey dickhead!! we're trying to have a conversation here!" I yelled before biting into the closest limb to us, a leg.

"old ohn ight!" I tried to say as The Lizard reared up, shaking his leg violently. Lyla and I clung on comically as his leg flailed, her onto the watch and me onto his leg.

A flash of gold and red light caught the edge of my vision, and all three of us kept an eye on the portal. The Lizard halted his flailing for a moment, and I took the chance to readjust and sink my teeth in deeper. Lyla popped out of existence from my watch and i could see a glimpse of gold above Noir's wrist and he ran through the portal.

---

God this woman is a fucking idiot! First she's out of web fluid, then she's injured, and NOW she's clinging to a villains leg by the teeth!!

The light and colors indicative of a portal alerted me to backup arriving after what felt like eternity, but was only around 5 minutes when I checked the time. I glitched myself out of her watch and into Noir's.

"Heyy! so good to finally see you!" Sass drips like venom to the point even I can hear it. "So! rundown!" I started as Noir began his approach, "Civilians nearby, she's out of web fluid and her leg is cut open. Imma pop back over there and check on Her you got this, right? Cool, see ya!" I cut out before he can even speak.

---

Lyla popped back up on my watch, clinging onto the edge again even though she didn't need to.

"So! backup is here, and it's time for youuuu," she leaned over and poked the tip of my nose, causing me to scrunch it, "to retreat! You'll bleed put or lose a tooth like this," She gave up on hanging on, sitting with her leg crossed and inspecting her nail, rolling her head towards me to emphasize her point. "y'know?"

I narrowed my eyes at her jokingly before attempting a smile and nod and sinking my teeth in deeper. On the next kick I detached myself and let myself go flying, attempting a cool posed landing and failing when my bleeding leg buckled and gave out momentarily.

"dammit." i mumbled as I stood up fully and watched as Noir, and now Peni, who just ran past me, circled and tied up The Lizard. Lyla disappeared again as I turned to make a new portal to HQ.

---

"Hey hi me again! So, we're outta here because she need medical treatment," I relayed to Peni, pointing my thumb over my shoulder, "Good luck, aim for the legs cause shes a biter, have fun!" I glitched out again, leaving a shocked and confused Peni behind.

---

Lyla reappeared as I stepped through the portal, sitting on my shoulder in her pocket-sized version now that we were in her domain of HQ.

"Soooooo what happened again?" She spoke up. I could tell she wanted to know why I was struggling, so I explained as she leaned against my head on the way to the medbay.

I had to hobble with my right hand on the wall for support as we went, and in turn we received plenty of weird stares from any passing spider-people. I only caught it once in my peripheral, but Lyla flipped a group off.

We continued our journey, and I got lost in my thoughts. I have no idea what I would do without Lyla.

•••

sorry it's short! i tried my best sorry if it's OOC! from the clips I saw shes sassy and smug (Miguel backup scene) but also panics sometimes (Margo and her scene and also tracking the Spot) so i tried to incorporate that!! please send requests!

[audioandart]

Outer Wilds Rewards Bravery (and Exploration)

So this isn't going to be a particularly neat post. It's mostly just going to be a stream of consciousness really. (Also it's VERY LONG so click read more at your own discretion.) Spoiler warning now by the way, because I'm going to be going somewhat in depth with some things and trust me, this is a game best played relatively blind. I'm also including the DLC. So yeah spoilers below the cut!

I'm going to start at the beginning. My beginning, technically. The very first time I booted up this game. I was a cautious little creature. I climbed carefully and crashed the model ship MANY times, I made my way up to the museum. And I died. Immediately in fact! I went onto the platform of the tallest tree and managed to accidently launch myself off the railing. I was being too cautious and under shot my jump. Never even reached the statue.

Now obviously this is a personal experience, right? This could just as easily be chalked up to me not being used to the controls yet, (a problem that would persist for a few hours of gameplay,) or could even be claimed to be a problem with the game (it's definitely not). Technically you could even say it's a combo of the first two, which it probably was. In the interest of seeing how I died, the start of my second run was spent going back up that tree. I went to the same spot. I slipped again. This time I was not cautious. I sent myself with full force and this time, I only lost about half health.

This should've set the stage for me, but I was nothing if not a little cowardly. I've grown past this some but I was a scared teenager, and video games felt too real for me to stop being scared at the time. I hadn't learned my lesson. I avoided the tree, and launched my ship. Success! Or so I thought. I hurtled back to the ground as I realized I hadn't used nearly enough force to launch myself off the planet. I didn't die this time, but I was aggravated. All throughout my first playthrough, I was cautious and scared. I was crushed by sand. I was suffocated and drowned. Electrocuted. Eaten. On and on I lost to the forces of nature, and all of it was because I was wishy washy. If I stand in this corner and wait for the danger to leave, it'll all be ok. But sand doesn't leave. Anglerfish won't stop chasing you because you've hidden behind a vine (although I did get a pretty good visual of it's face while it was caught on it. Very useful.) Water doesn't stop filling the room and space is endless, no escape.

I still remember my first time with the black hole. I was careful, I'd spent nearly a whole run gradually learning the path through the crust and had gotten to Reibeck. And as I made one more jump, I slipped. I almost did something incredible, I almost entered its orbit instead and made my way to land. But because I was scared, I tried to focus on getting AWAY from the black hole instead of realizing I had immense horizonal momentum and could've kept moving forward instead. I fell right in. Braced myself for death to the point I had a stomach ache, and... nothing. I was alive and there was a VERY LARGE WHITE THING BEHIND ME OH GOD. I pushed away as quick as possible and realized that oh. It was fine. Ok. I found the warp pad and made my way back. The sun exploded. I finally started to realize I could just Do Things.

And so finally, towards the end of my playthrough, I remembered I was playing a video game. Dying is fine! It's not the end of the world or something! (Put a pin in that.) I finally started just throwing myself into situations and dealing with them. And I stopped dying almost completely! Every death from then on was simply user error rather than user terror. I played the game as normal, got the coordinates, and went to the Eye. And taking all the knowledge I'd accumulated through the game, I came to my final conclusion. And this is no joke, this is what I thought word for word, I remember this even years later.

"I need to be brave."

Then of course I repeated this mantra to myself throughout the ENTIRE trippy sequence of finding the instruments and whatnot. Y'know. Terrifying thing with the whole seeing yourself and yada yada who cares we don't need it right now. We've already learned our lesson by this point. Be brave. Look the danger in the eye (Eye?) and remember to be brave, no matter what. That doesn't mean be reckless. I've died to the anglerfish in recklessness more times than I can count. Caution and bravery can coexist and they should. But fear should not be disguised as caution and should not be disregarded as cowardice.

Leaving my own experiences (finally I know) the game tells you this from the very beginning. It's on the moon. It's in Gabro and Reibeck and all the other astronauts. It's in your town on Timber Hearth.

It's in Feldspar.

When you find Feldspar for the first time, you're probably panicked. You may or may not have just encountered the anglerfish for the first time, you may have damaged your ship. But Feldspar is excited to see you, and a traveler means safety. You talk and you read his dialogue and it turns out he very much lives up to the stories, and he very much survived the anglerfish through sheer chaotic flying. You probably got in there by carefully avoiding angering them. His ship is destroyed. But he doesn't care! He's just sitting there eating mallows and playing his harmonica, and he tells you everything he knows like he's not trapped in a terrible seed with giant fish that already tried to eat him alive. Feldspar is the traveler who made it the furthest, he's one of the founders, and he did it by being brave and exploring. The space program wouldn't exist without him being brave. No one is surprised to hear he's somehow set up camp in Dark Bramble.

I could go on and on about example after example of where bravery is what you need to progress, but for the sake of at least TRYING to keep this shorter, I'll just start listing some. You have to be brave to fly into the Stranger (you'll crash if you aren't, yes I've done this multiple times.) You have to be brave for pretty much the entirety of it's quest and dark areas as well. You have to be brave to go to the Sun Station, to dive into the depths of Giant's Deep and to explore the vast inner workings of Dark Bramble. You need bravery to go into the Ash Twins and avoid the sand, to enter each area and learn. You have to be brave to pull out the Core and you have to be brave to jump into the Eye. Being unsure will cost you all of this. Everything is timed and if you wait, you will not make it. The sand WILL crush you, if you want to make it into that jellyfish you must move FAST. The Sun Station may be difficult to navigate but you need full force to make most of those jumps, and caution will send you careening into a fiery death.

I also brought up exploration. This one is probably very obvious. It's a space exploration game, the space program is all about exploring space. But good game design has the game showing you this before you've even gotten the launch codes, before you've even finished walking towards the museum. The Zero G Cave is right there on the path, and taking the time to go through it teaches you an important game mechanic. The entire village in fact teaches you very important things, which you will only learn if you explore it. The more off the beaten path you go, the more discreet the thing it teaches you is. Talk to people. Find things. Play hide and seek with the kids. Did you know you had a Signalscope? Did you know what it did? You do now. Learn about Ghost Matter. Go to the moon. Talk to Esker. You've learned so much! Now go EVERYWHERE. And that's what the game tells you from the very start.

Now take that pin back out. We're talking about my experience again, (yes I know, I'm sorry.) The world didn't end when I pulled the Core. And so after finishing the game I gladly played onwards, and did things I hadn't done on my first playthrough. At this point I looked some stuff up, and I saw there were multiple endings. Amazing! I tried getting some of them. The endings where you misstep, or the endings where you are too scared, too late, too slow. They're all bad endings. You always die. That's not what I expected. The end to the game is beautiful, sure, but it slightly felt like a bad end. I learned another lesson. There's two types of the world ending, and both types are inescapable. There's the type where everything has literally ended, through something like death, and there's the type where something has ended, but something has taken it's place. A metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is the GOOD ending, because it's going to end no matter what. I knew this in theory, but it hadn't settled in yet. I suspect this is one of the biggest take aways people have from this game. Being stagnant is a death all it's own. (Also one of the reasons the DLC is so good as well. It shows that death in the stagnant so well!)

People fear change. Outer Wilds reminds us that change may be scary, but looking outwards is necessary and non change is the bad end. Take your bravery, and go into that change full force hatchling. There's so many possibilities and it's your time to observe them all. It's time to choose one. In the spirit of loving this game, here are some of the quotes I love the most that I think are relevant. They seem the most fitting end for this post (and it must end, the game says.)

"Our curiosity goes with you on your journey. You walk in the footsteps of those who came before you, and your path guides those who will follow later."

"Fear of failure is a poor reason not to try."

"Even if it's over now, I had a good time learning. But I think the rules are about to change."

"I believe we've reached the end of our journey. All that remains is to collapse the innumerable possibilities before us. Are you ready to learn what comes next?"

The universe is, and we are.

[jaxteller87]

Rotten Pumpkins 2

It was a few days before Halloween, and Jax had decided that our little girl, Mary, needed to carve pumpkins. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I watched him set up the table with the cool autumn sun casting a warm glow over our backyard. “You really think this is gonna work?” I teased.

Jax glanced up, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Hey, if I tell her we’re using cookie cutters instead of carving them, we might just dodge the pumpkin guts fiasco.” He smirked, remembering last year’s messy disaster when Mary had squealed with elation at the sight of the gooey insides.

I had to admit, he was onto something. Our girl had a flair for the dramatic, especially when it came to anything messy. “Come on, love bug!” I called out when I heard the school bus rumble down the street. “Me and Daddy have a surprise for you and your brother!”

Mary burst through the door, her backpack slung over one shoulder, her face lighting up as she spotted Jax. “Daddy! Thank you!” she squealed, launching herself into his arms.

“You’re welcome, princess,” he chuckled, ruffling her hair before setting her down. The moment was sweet, a slice of normalcy in our chaotic lives.

“So, Daddy thought of something special,” he began, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as he sat her down at the table. Thomas was still in his high chair with his big, innocent eyes. “What do you think about making some spooky pumpkins?”

The kids exchanged excited glances, their giggles filling the air as they reached for the cookie cutters. Jax helped Thomas, gently guiding his tiny hand as he pressed the shape into the pumpkin. “Look, Mama! I did it!” Mary beamed, her little face glowing with pride as she showed off the cat shape she’d cut.

“Good job, love bug!” I praised, unable to resist the infectious joy of the moment. Jax and I exchanged a glance and smiled. 

As Mary continued to push cookie cutters into the soft pumpkin flesh, I found myself grinning from ear to ear. “You know, when I was a kid, we carved pumpkins too. But it was a lot messier,” I said, trying to keep the mood light.

“Yeah? I bet it wasn’t half as fun as this!” Jax replied, his laughter a comforting sound. I watched him engage with the kids, effortlessly slipping into the role of “cool dad,” a stark contrast to the world we usually inhabited.

Just then, the front door swung open, and Opie walked in, his usual laid-back demeanor shifting to amusement as he spotted us. “What’s going on here? A pumpkin party without me?”

“Hey, Ope! You’re just in time!” I grinned, motioning him over. “Join us! We’re making masterpieces!”

“Masterpieces, huh?” he replied, crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter. “Let’s see what you’ve got, little artists.”

With Opie’s encouragement, the atmosphere grew even more playful, laughter echoing through the yard as they took turns showing off their creations. The warmth of the moment wrapped around us, a temporary escape from the dark realities we often faced.

Jax leaned closer, brushing my shoulder with his, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “This is what it’s all about, right?”

I nodded, my heart swelling with affection. “Yeah, it really is.”

Just as the kids were putting the finishing touches on their pumpkins, the familiar rumble of motorcycles tore through the autumn breeze like a gunshot. I glanced up, my heart racing as I recognized the sound. “Oh no,” I muttered under my breath.

“Who is it?” Jax asked, catching my apprehension.

“Clay and Gemma,” I replied, my stomach twisting in knots. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Clay, but this was news that was new to no one. He had a way of getting under my skin, and with everything going on, I wasn’t in the mood for his so-called charm. But before I could voice my concerns, the front door swung open, and they stepped inside, Gemma’s presence immediately brightening the room.

“Look what the cat dragged in!” Gemma exclaimed, her arms outstretched as she entered. “You guys making some Halloween magic?”

“Hey, Gem,” Jax greeted, pulling her in for a quick hug.

Clay sauntered in behind her, a relaxed smile on his face. “What’s up, kiddos?” he asked, his voice smooth as silk. Mary and Thomas practically lit up at the sight of him.

“Daddy! Clay’s here!” Mary shouted, running over to him.

“Hey there, little lady! Looking good!” Clay crouched down, giving her a playful wink. I felt a knot in my stomach tighten further as I watched. “You almost knocked old grandpa over! You’re getting strong!” he said, lifting her up above his head as she giggled like a giddy schoolgirl.

“Thomas, how about you?” Clay turned to our youngest, who was still diligently pushing a cookie cutter into a pumpkin. “Need a hand with that?”

“Yeah!” Thomas chirped, his eyes wide with excitement. “Help me, Pap!”

“Let’s see what you’ve got, little man,” Clay said, kneeling beside him, genuinely interested in his work.

I exchanged a glance with Jax, who gave me an encouraging nod and a subtle thumbs up. I was still on edge, but seeing how much the kids adored Clay softened my apprehension a little.

Gemma approached from behind and laid her hands on my shoulders like a masseuse. “So, the pumpkin party seems to be going well, but how about you? You doin’ okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah. I’ve been pretty well,” I admitted, trying to shake off my unease. “Just enjoying some family time.”

“Good to hear,” she replied, nodding approvingly at everyone’s handiwork. “You guys are doing great. I can’t wait to see how these pumpkins turn out when they’re finished!”

As everyone got settled into carving, I noticed Clay slipping away from the group, his expression shifting to something more serious. I felt a pang of worry and quickly called Jax over. “Hey, where’s Clay going?” I asked quietly. “You think he’s doing club stuff here?”

Jax shrugged, glancing in the direction Clay had vanished. “If he’s conducting club business in the house, it’s just how it goes.”

I frowned, crossing my arms. “But can’t he at least keep it out of our home? It’s ruining the moment.”

Jax’s gaze softened as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “I get it, babe. But you know how it is— the club’s the club. Just put it out of your head and try to enjoy the time we’re spending together, okay? Don’t let something as simple as a phone call send you into a shitty mood..”

I sighed, accepting his point. “You’re right. Let’s just focus on the kids.”

We turned back to the backyard just as Clay returned, a casual smile on his face that made me wary. For all I knew, he just secured a gun deal from the comfort of my porch— or worse yet, maybe he just put a hit out on someone. I was still on edge, but I could see the kids were too caught up in their fun— I did my best to focus on that and put anything negative as far from my mind as I could.

About thirty minutes later, laughter filled the backyard as Mary and Thomas excitedly showed off their cookie-cutter creations. That was also about the time that the unmistakable roar of motorcycles thundered through the neighborhood, making me jump.

“Great,” I muttered, irritation bubbling beneath the surface. “More company.”

Jax noticed my discomfort and just smiled, his nonchalance aggravating me further. “Don’t worry, darlin’; it just sounds like the guys. I’d know Bobby’s beater anywhere.”

Before I could lose my cool, two of the prospects rolled up in the runner van, the engine sputtering to a stop at the back gate of the yard. They jumped out, looking as eager as ever, and opened the van doors to reveal a massive pallet box overflowing with pumpkins.

“Surprise!” one of the prospects shouted, grinning as he gestured to the bounty.

The tension in my chest eased slightly as I watched the kids’ eyes widen with delight. “Look, Mama! More pumpkins!” Mary squealed, jumping up and down.

“Looks like the party just got bigger!” Jax chuckled, stepping forward to help them unload.

Clay caught my eye again, an amused smirk playing on his lips. He knew how easily he could rattle me, but instead of teasing, he simply nodded, acknowledging my presence in a surprisingly respectful way.

“Guess we’re all getting in on the action now,” he said, his tone light, as he approached the new arrivals. “Let’s see what you’ve got, boys!”

“Hey, look who it is! The pumpkin crew!” Tig shouted, a broad grin on his face. “You guys ready to carve some masterpieces or what?”

“Only if I get to carve the scariest one!” Juice chimed in as he grabbed a pumpkin from the pile.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see about that,” Chibs added with a smirk, giving Tig a playful shove. “Just don’t mess it up like last time, aye?”

“Last time? What happened last time?” Mary asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

“Oh, you don’t wanna know, sweetheart,” Tig replied, leaning down with a conspiratorial wink. “Let’s just say it involved too much whiskey and a pumpkin that looked like a nice, juicy, wet, warm….”

I loudly cleared my throat before he could say what I thought he was going to say.

“…melted candle,” he finished, winking at me.

“Eww!” Mary laughed, “a melted pumpkin candle…gross!”

“Just you wait, I’m gonna win this year!” Juice declared, brandishing a carving knife like a trophy.

“Keep dreaming, Juice,” Bobby teased, shaking his head as he settled next to the kids. “I’m the real pumpkin master here. Ya’ll ever see a jack-o-lantern carved up to look like the king?”

“You mean like King Triton from The Little Mermaid?” Mary asked.

“King Tri—” Bobby scoffed. “Jax…Amber, I love you guys, but what the hell are you teaching your kids.” He shook his head and leaned toward Mary, “The King of Rock, sweetheart…Elvis Aaron Presley…”

As the chaos of pumpkin carving unfolded, Clay found his way to my side, casually lighting up a cigar. The scent of tobacco wafted through the air, mingling with the pumpkin guts— it almost smelled…good, actually.

“Did you have something to do with this?” I asked as I gestured to the excited crowd surrounding us.

Clay took a slow puff from his cigar, a satisfied grin spreading across his face. “Maybe,” he replied, his tone teasing but warm. “Just because I’m club president doesn’t mean I don’t know how to be a grandfather.”

I looked at him, surprised but appreciating the sentiment. “Thanks, Clay. The kids are having a blast.”

He nodded. “Family is important, Amber. You all are important.”

The pumpkin carving continued around us, filled with laughter and playful banter. I glanced back at Jax, who was playfully showing Thomas how to carve a face into his pumpkin.

“Alright, who’s ready to see the best pumpkin ever?” Tig shouted, holding up a lopsided creation that looked more like a sad potato than a pumpkin.

“Not even close, Tig!” Jax laughed, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “But I’ll give you an A for effort!”

Clay chuckled beside me, and I couldn’t help but smile at how effortlessly he slipped into the role of a grandfather figure. It was a side of him I rarely saw, but one I was beginning to appreciate.

“Alright, let’s see what you all can do!” Clay called out, turning his attention back to the group.

As the laughter and excitement filled the air, I realized that maybe this chaotic family of ours could bring out the best in everyone—even in someone like Clay.

“Look, Mama! I made a scary face!” Thomas exclaimed, proudly showing off his pumpkin.

“That’s awesome, buddy!” I cheered.

The group fell into an easy rhythm, with Clay joking with the kids and helping them out while I watched from the sidelines.

In that moment, as I watched our family and the club come together, I felt a flicker of appreciation for Clay, despite my reservations. Maybe, just maybe, he could be more than the source of my stress.

[leafisamenace]

A Chickadee's Feast

A beam of sun warms my black feather cap.  Closing my eyes, I let it seep into my skin and down to my skull as I relax on my perch. A chirping song swells within me, as I release it, the notes are etched into the sky with a twisting stream of steam. The frigid air that now surrounds me marks the end of a long season. My song is inspired by this sense of relief, taking on a relaxed legato. My chicks have grown and there is now only one person I must worry about feeding, myself. However there is a new challenge, the frost has driven away the succulent bugs I would gorge myself on during the spring. Despite this I am still at ease. I have no screeching peeps or lonely nights guarding the nest from a nearby branch. Now nights are spent nestled with my flock in a sturdy tree, filled with warmth and comradery as the winter night freezes the very air outside.

The hunger within me begins to outweigh the comfort of my sunny perch. I watch the ice melt off of branches around me, splashing onto the ground. I hear a loud sound and look over to the human’s den. A man emerges, hefting a large bag full of seeds. He walks to his stash, a hanging tube in the middle of his yard, and begins to fill it yet again. He hums a simple tune as he does so, which perplexes me. I cannot understand how he is so happy to fill his hoard of seeds as every few days it is reduced to nothing. It has no security or obfuscation, he does not even guard it. So unsurprisingly it is raided by every animal in the area until it is empty. I only try to take a little when I need to as I pity the poor human; although it doesn’t look like he is hungry. The hunger within me continues to swell to near starvation and as the man leaves, I see within the tube, my favorite food, black sunflower seeds. I decide I will take a few and then look for food elsewhere, use them to tide off starvation before finding my full meal.

Swooping from my perch I land on a fence post on the edge of the woods and the yard. I look at his seed tube and see I am not the only thief today. Cardinals, morning doves, and other chickadees were all faster than me, already feasting on the man’s treasure. Squirrels are eagerly waiting under the feast for any fallen seeds like a dog at a dinner table. I think I see a single open spot, an unoccupied small green perch next to an intimidatingly bright cardinal. I begin to muster my courage, spurred on by my hunger but I don’t find myself flying to the perch. Fear has shackled me to the fence and I consider giving up. Maybe I will get lucky and immediately find food in the words. Should I just go forage hungry? But then I see a black sunflower seed, gleaming in the sun, fall to the ground where the squirrels fight over it, and my hunger becomes unbearable. I launch into the air, locking onto the perch I begin to land, but the cardinal springs into action. He lunges at me with wings open wide and war cry blaring. I almost fall to the ground in shock. I recover and bolt through the air back to the fence. From my seat I watch the birds feast and occasionally fight. Not long after me, the other chickadee is chased off.

Suddenly, all of the birds flee into the woods. The man has returned. From the fence I feel that he is far away enough to be safe and remain, cautiously waiting. He is holding a steaming mug and takes a seat outside. Maybe he has finally decided to guard his seeds? After scratching his beard he takes a large sip from his mug and then looks towards the woods and to his seed stash. After sometime he shivers, shrugs, and then returns to the inside of his den. No bird has found the courage to return yet. This may be my moment.

Filled with determination I swoop onto an empty perch hastily pulling out every sunflower seed I see. A plethora of other seeds fall to the ground for the squirrels who have already returned. I swallow seeds greedily sating my starvation. Then the dreaded sound again pierces the silence, the man has emerged again. With my stolen bounty of a full stomach I flee hectically into the forest. I don’t look back as I fly into the woods but behind me I don't hear the man make chase or even yell - instead, I think I hear him chuckle.

[your-divine-ribs]

I’m With the Band Part 2

Words: 2k

No warnings apart from my naff writing lol and Arabella’s attitude (the story does get better but I can’t promise that Arabella’s attitude does sorry 😂)

I’m With the Band Masterlist Main Masterlist

"So... you're not actually in this band then?"

Larry and I are sitting on the balcony in my room sipping on bottles of beer whilst he's filling me in on his life in the past ten years.

"No... like I say I just string Van's guitars and... you know... help them with their kit and stuff."

"So you're just a roadie?" I question him.

Larry looks slightly annoyed. "No..."

I'm enjoying winding him up. "Oh... so you're like the band's bitch then?"

I'm giggling at the look on his face but he doesn't stay annoyed for long when he realises that I'm teasing. "So what the hell do you do for a living then? I suppose mummy and daddy just let you live off them now they're loaded eh?"

I don't try to deny it. I'm unashamedly a bit of a princess and I'm proud of it.

"I tried a few jobs but it didn't really fit around my lifestyle..." I say, aware that I sound like a completely spoilt bitch.

Larry doesn't look particularly impressed but I don't care. I'm feeling a little bored of this already. Although it's actually been quite nice to catch up with him I can't imagine the next two months in this little seaside town which boasts a few pubs and one nightclub which looked like a complete dive online. I'm restless.

"So... when are we going out then?" I say, glancing at my watch, imagining what my friends at home are doing now.

"Well... we've got to wait for Bondy first..."

"Who's Bondy?" I say, draining my beer, reaching out for another which Larry passes to me.

"Johnny Bond. He's the new guitarist. He lives in Newcastle so he's coming to stay for a few days until the tour starts up."

"He's staying here?" I ask, ears pricking up at the prospect of a young male in the house. "You got a picture of him?" I nod at his phone.

"You won't need a picture, he's turning up literally any moment," Larry says, and as if on cue his phone buzzes and he takes a call.

"Bondy mate! Yeah that's right, number 52. The last house on the road. Great... I'll come down and let you in."

Larry's off and I stay sitting in my spot on the balcony, legs stretched out in front of me on another chair, enjoying the warm late afternoon sun on my skin. It really is a sun trap here. I'll have to take advantage of this. I hitch up my dress slightly, hoping to catch some rays.

"And this is my little cousin, Arabella. She's staying with us for the summer." I hear Larry say.

I glance up at the tall figure who's looming over me, squinting against the glare of the sun, my hand shielding my eyes.

Hmm... things suddenly got a little more interesting round here...

Bondy smiles down at me, he's got a warm, lazy kind of smile and a handsome face covered with stubble. His scruffy brown curls spill out from underneath the black cap perched on his head.

"Hey Bondy," I say smiling back up at him. "Or do you prefer Johnny?"

He holds out a hand to me and I reciprocate, expecting him to shake mine, but instead he stoops down and plants a little kiss on the back of mine. "You can call me whatever you like darlin."

Larry clears his throat and I'm aware that me and Johnny had definitely let our eyes linger on each other's for a lot longer than was probably appropriate for a first meeting. I smile to myself as I finally turn away, taking another sip of my beer.

Johnny takes a seat opposite me and him and Larry immediately launch into talking about band stuff. I'm only half listening, catching snippets of conversation, hearing names. Van's name comes up a lot but I also hear the names Bob and Benji. Now I've seen Johnny I'm all of a sudden eager to see the other band members. Apart from Van of course. That little prick was the bane of my life throughout my childhood summers.

I pop my sunglasses back on, leaning back, stretching out my bare legs. I notice Johnny glancing over, completely unaware that I'm closely watching him through my dark lenses. He really is pretty sexy. And he's staying here... I wonder which bedroom he's going to be staying in.

After a while Larry announces that he's going inside to fetch more beers and Johnny shifts in his seat, turning to face me.

"So Arabella... how come you're staying at Larry's then for the summer?"

I pull my sunglasses down to the tip of my nose, peering at Johnny over the top as I reply. "Well my parents are in New York on business so they sent me here. They didn't want me staying at home alone. Apparently I can't be trusted..."

"Oh... so you're not to be trusted then? I'll have to remember that!" He laughs softly.

I take off my sunglasses again so I can look him in the eye better. "My dad says trouble always seems to find me."

"Is that so?" Johnny says, but then Larry reappears with the beers, distracting him.

The boys resume their conversation and I slip off to shower, returning 20 minutes later in nothing but a small towel wrapped around me, barely covering my modesty.

"Christ Bells! Put some clothes on would ya?" Larry cries as I smirk at him, leaning down to pick up the bottle of beer off the table I was drinking before.

"Well... you are in my room..."

Johnny's eyes go slightly wide and he looks away, but not before I've clocked his gaze running the full length of my body. That was the desired effect of course.

"Come on Bondy, I'll show you where you're staying." Larry motions for Johnny to follow him, then he turns to me. "We're going pub in half an hour. Are you gonna be ready?"

"I'll be ready!" I smile sweetly at Larry, then he turns his back to leave the room.

Johnny glances back just before I shut the door and I catch his eye. There's definitely a little spark there. I smile to myself as I start to get ready for the night out.

The pub's small and dark and smells of stale beer. Some people might call it quaint. I wrinkle my nose up as we all stepped inside and I hear a quiet chuckle coming from beside me.

"Not your usual kind of establishment I'm guessing love?"

I turn to face Johnny who has a softly amused kind of smile on his lips but Larry cuts in before I get a chance to answer. "Don't think they serve Cristal in here, Bella, sorry!"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Whatever you think you know about me, you've got me all wrong..."

Larry laughs, nudging Johnny. "Eh, reckon she's slumming it tonight!"

Johnny laughs too and steps up to the bar, ordering three pints of lager. I take a seat, pleased when Johnny sits down right next to me. Larry mumbles something about going out for a fag leaving me and Johnny alone.

"Pint okay for you?" He grins, taking a huge swallow of his own drink.

"Uh-huh," I nod with a smile. “Perfect.”

To be honest lager wouldn't be my first choice of drink... or my second, third or fourth for that matter, but Johnny's bought it for me so I don't want to offend him.

I reach for my glass, taking a sip, trying to be ladylike but not quite pulling it off. Johnny laughs, a low throaty sound, and he's looking at me funny.

"What?" I demand, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

"You just got it all..." he indicates his own face with his finger "... kinda everywhere..."

So much for trying to be seductive. I reach up to touch my mouth, dismayed that I now seem to have half of the head of my pint adorning my upper lip. I quickly wipe it away but Johnny's still grinning.

"Come 'ere lass," he reaches over, running a finger just above my top lip when I lean forward.

I'm not sure what possesses me, but before he has a chance to pull away I grab his hand, running my tongue lightly over his finger and lightly sucking the tip, my gaze flicking up to meet his.

"Thanks Johnny," I purr.

His eyes widen again and he snatches his hand quickly away, reaching for his own pint, shifting in his seat slightly. I cross and uncross my legs, my thigh rubbing against Johnny's. He clears his throat before looking back across at me.

"So... Arabella... I'm intrigued about what you said earlier... about your parents not trusting you to stay on your own. How old are you if you don't mind me asking?"

I give him a playful smile. "Old enough to know better... but young enough not to give a fuck! I'm 19."

"What did you do?" Johnny says, intrigued, but Larry's back and he wants to know what we're talking about. When Johnny tells him, Larry's eyes light up with the prospect of spilling some juicy gossip.

"Oh our Bells is a regular little party animal!" He says. "Trashed the house didn't you love?"

"They were overreacting," I complain. "It wasn't that bad!"

"That's not what I heard," Larry smirks, then he looks at Johnny, pretending he's talking conspiratorially but loud enough for us all to hear. "You need to keep an eye on this one, I'm telling ya!"

Larry gets distracted by someone he's seen over the other side of the pub so he doesn't see Johnny turn and look right at me.

"Oh, I intend to..." he says quietly, a subtle smirk staining his lips.

"Benji, Bob! Over here!"

Larry's on his feet now, waving, and I look over as two guys approach the table.

One is tall and thin with a wild mop of tangled curls... and a very nice smile I think to myself. He's wearing a black leather jacket and skinny black jeans and looks every inch the cool rockstar despite his seemingly quiet demeanour. The other has a cute face framed with dark-rimmed glasses. He's also got a head of curls but he's got his scraped back into a ponytail. He gives me an adorable bashful smile when I catch his eye.

Introductions are made all around and I smile sweetly at the guys, sizing them up, my disappointment at spending the summer with my cousin dissipating by the second. It's just a pity that they have band stuff to discuss and I find myself stifling a yawn as talk turns to practice venues and gigs they have lined up.

"Where's Van got to anyway?" Benji pipes up.

Even the mention of his name riles me. Hopefully he won't turn up. Larry starts grumbling and digs his phone out of his pocket but as if on cue Johnny's calling out. "There he is! Over here Van!"

Despite the sour memories I'm interested to see how my childhood nemesis has turned out after all these years, remembering the scrawny, scruffy haired lad who used to tease me mercilessly. I stretch up in my seat, straining to see, when a tall, lean figure strides over.

"Alright lads!"

Well, well... now this must be the glow-up of the century. The years have certainly been kind. Van runs a hand through his hair as he looks around the group and when his eyes alight on me he does a double-take.

"Fuck me! Arabella Turner is that you?"

His eyes are practically popping out of his head as they take me in, and he's certainly taking me in, brazenly so. Every inch.

"Long time no see, Van," I say back, trying to act aloof even though my interest is piqued in such a way that I'm finding it hard not to mirror Van's own reaction to seeing me.

I smile to myself at his slack-jawed expression and it doesn't go unnoticed by my cousin. "Fucking hell mate, why don't you take a photo? It'll last longer!"

Sniggers erupt from around the table and Van finally comes to. He steps forward, pint in hand, shunting Larry aside so that he can take the seat next to me.

"Shift up Larry, I want to sit next to Arabella. We've got some catching up to do."

Yep... this is certainly going to be an interesting summer...

[theblasianwitch]

Personal anecdote for why you should always listen to signs from the universe

WARNING: TMI for Bodily Functions

[I may be ADHD so the story may seem all over the place but bare with me]

So I wake up from a dream where 3 birds are just learning how to fly but fly with the aid of mechanical birds to launch towards the sun in which the sun basically smiles and blesses them before they fly over the setting for another dream. The birds are what's important to this I feel so that's why I'm saying that.

Anyway

Mondays are for healing. That is an innate thing that is memorized and seems to naturally happen now with the activities I do. However, I need money and decide to do some jobs with one of the delivery apps which was giving a bonus since today is a "holiday". I make my tea, have breakfast and went on my way.

I'm out for maybe less than an hour. I get a pick order and when I parked there's a little bird by itself hopping around seemingly injured at one of its wings. I notice it, acknowledge it, but keep pushing through cause again I NEED MONEY.

MINUTES LATER, I'm hit with the sudden urge to use the bathroom. This is normal for me, I wear a pad for accidents in case they happen and I tell myself I'll use the bathroom after I drop this order off. I swear the universe laughed at me and said "nope" cause almost immediately it grew and changed to a different bodily function and now I'm gophering in the middle of a Dollar General. I immediately try to find a bathroom and sure enough something came out. I found the bathroom finally but the door won't close, but I really had to go. So I went, cleaned up what had happened, thankfully not getting to my pants, and as I'm finishing a gut walks in on me and runs out. He's long gone by the time I'm done washing my hands and exiting the bathroom. I get the order and I leave. I drop off the order, lady tries to jokingly offer her man and daughter to take with her. I notice I'm really close to home and the delivery app also suddenly shows nothing around so I head home to take a shower and reset.

In the shower I usually do hot to relax but something falls knocking the water to cold and I embrace it. The thought of how hot helps depression and cold helps anxiety and nerves come to mind and I take it as a sign of not needing to worry.

So now I'm home and I'm just gonna be doing some art magic and kitchen witchery for healing cause the universe was loud today and apparently I shouldn't be worried about finances right now.

Have a great day yall

[wildelydawn]

Getting a cat was definitely the best decision I've made.

However.

I need to stop going into a full blown panic when I cannot find her.

I went to check on her. Around this time, she's asleep in one of her beds in the living room. But she wasn't there. And she was not in any of the beds. And she wasn't on the couch or under the table or on the little bathmat in the bathroom or behind the bathroom door or in my actual bed. Wasn't on my desk or below it. Wasn't using her box or her tower.

And I started freaking out and started hysterically calling her name. Mind you, I have not opened the front door or pantry or closet doors, so it's not like she walked out or is trapped anywhere, but of course, I can't remember that in the middle of panic.

Then she pokes her head out from under the bed. Then I remembered that my asshole neighbor was yelling earlier, and when he does that, she immediately hides for three hours at least.

She's fine and good but I Am Not Good, I would absolutely launch myself into the sun if something happens to this cat.

[noro-noro-noro]

had neat dreams but literally only remember some parts

1. i’m a serial killer & this girl who has a crush on me is tracking me down 2. 3 heavenly sisters vs the tower of hell  3. cyborg me eats a bomb at the president’s children’s soccer game

- there was some blond girl hunting down a serial killer whose tag was The Wolf. she was in every online forum & stuff but she kept her identity well hidden. fortunately as the omniescent god of all my dreams, I can sometimes bend reality to my will so I knew her :)

- there was also a girl who looked like roxanne Ritchie from megamind who waa also somehow involved? the dream's c plot or something idk it kept cutting back to her arguing with her ex boyfriend bc it was a breakup on mediocre terms & they both kinda wanted to get back together but they were too proud. I remember she specifically mocked something he said.

- anyway with my omniescent dream powers I realized that girl wasn't some kind of junior vigilante she just had a huge crush on the wolf. good for me :) so when I saw someone offering to meet her in the front of my friend's boyfriend's new job place (a combination bubble tea and clothing store that he lived in the back of) I decided to kill that second person and meet her instead. the second person was always carrying around a little cloth lacy umbrella as an accessory. it was cute so I took it.

- anyway I saw her immediately & came up behind her & said "so you're the little cutie that's been looking for me" & cornered her in the store. she looked really 😳😳 about it, but she was also carrying a gun. I thought it would be easy to hit the gun out of her holster before she could react bc I wanted to keep teasing her , but my friend's bf came over bc he thought I was being threatened by some weirdo with a gun. appreciated that. we all ended up getting bubble tea. i jokes about poisoning hers & she went 😳😳😳 again. girl stop idolizing serial killers lol

next

- from heaven ? or some other sacred place there are 3 sisters & also some generals. we are going to be under attack soon. we're in a place thate above some clouds. unknown to everyone else the middle sister is in constant close contact with Real Mother, who has her own schemes. through the power of real mother middle sister is able to do weird shit, like las time we sent our forces to combst the hellish tower as soon as she had line of sight with the enemy she teleported into his body & did something & he was fuckinf gone except for his eyeballs, which she walked out of the tower holding.

- the younger sister's mortal vessel had been killed last time so she was in a child's body. the older sister was strong & beautiful & fearless! I was from her pov for a bit. the clouds were swallowing up our corner of the world, but I walked through sum to find a spot on the hill to stand in the sun. and then I saw the youngest sister falling from the zip line so I launched myself like a bullet to catch her.

- the middle sister was like "we will need to kill the newest hellish warlord again, but you said it was through the fleetfooted mount of my youngest sister you were able to do that?" the youngest sister rode a golden pegasus. his name was Percy. he was killed by the middle sister for overwhelming loyalty not to Real Mother but to his owner. her new mount was just something else idk

- anyway the hellish tower looked like it was in minecraft. the walls were impenetrable. the front doors were not. however the hellish warlord liked to pour lava down from the top to scorch our forces and trap them until we were all cooked, and there was no other way in. pain in the ass.

next

- I was some kind of cyborg dude that looked like sin kiske at some little league baseball or soccer game. people in the audience just wanted to have sex with each other though, except for a couple peolle who were trying to sabotage the game and actually blow the children up. I became aware of this but the perps were trying to herd everyone somewhere else by leaking a live feed of some cage of raccoons blowing up but the cage in the footage was upside down & nobody was listenikg to me. I stayed in the bleachers. there was an enemy guy with like....a smug evil anime prettyboy type of face. he had a face that would be stylized in fanart as>:-} . he looked like if shu yamino was evil and goth and had a lame haircut with long front bangs and also was part cyborg and had one black wing. like okay. his name started with a P. anyway he was acting in somebody's orders and he airdropped a bomb in but I shot it! but there was another bomb.?

- the two bombs were rolling around and the kids didn't understand what was going on yet so they were kicking one around like a soccer ball while the principals tried to stop it . when P tried to detonate it aftee having his other men tackle me to the ground & beat me up a little, nothing happened. i put up a good fight! me & his two favorite henchmen were all pinned down by some.metal net bc I'd dragged them down with me. unfortunately I was now malfunctioning as well due to sustaining heavy damage to my internal parts.

- antway I realized - when I shot at the thing I'd missed due to the original owner's proframminf of this genre of rctboeg would never make a mistake. so then I'd caught the bomb and put it inside of my head bc at least I'd be able to run away, but then forgot due to being beat the fuck up. I started laughing and then the bomb fell out of my head and then I stopped laughing and swallowed it. it was a small purple cube not round at all . I was like "dude! P! you're a fucking moron! wanna see something funny?" & P turned around all red in the face from fucking this job up and looking bad to his boss. then my alarm went off and I woke up and I was a little disappointed since I wanted to know what robo me's plan was

[cassandrasimplex]

"If going through that didn't drastically affect a person's feelings about these things I don't know what would..."

Oof. Okay so. Not to at all minimize the impact of having been the stunt double for the guy who died on set, which was undoubtedly far worse, but you didn't have to be there for Lee's death to drastically affect your feelings about the use of real guns as props. You didn't even have to be then.

I want you to tell me a story....

Many of my friends are a decade or two younger than me, and sometimes go through periods of discovering that stuff I loved when I was a teenager or 20-something (and they were babies or not yet born) is pretty cool, and I love it when they ask me, "Is there anything more like ____?" The next best thing to experiencing it for the first time myself, after all, is guiding someone else to it.

Last Hallowe'en, I did a remote movie night with one such friend and we watched The Crow. (Well, technically we started the night before it, for movie-related reasons. Hallowe'en ain't till mañanaaa!)

I'm not sure this friend would consider themself goth, but they're at least goth-by-osmosis in that many or most of their friends are. Every fifteen to thirty seconds was another message: "WAIT IS THIS WHERE THAT QUOTE COMES FROM?" Yes, friend, it's difficult to overstate the effect this movie had on the average 90s goth or its impact shaping that culture going forward from there. This movie is our own dialect of Darmok and Jalad. You've probably heard every single line before at least once. You just heard them out of order and spread out over thirty years. Half of us don't even remember where we got these lines any more. We're too old; our memories are getting bad.

When it was over, my friend was incredibly excited about this amazing new actor they'd just discovered. So talented! So gorgeous! Why hadn't they seen him in a million other movies? They needed to see everything he'd ever done, immediately!

Eric on the rooftop, guitar wailing.

"Uh. I'm afraid I have some bad news about that. Like, I wasn't exactly avoiding telling you, but... knowing in advance can sort of ruin immersion in the story? You know? And maybe you already knew. Or maybe you'd never think to ask, and then you wouldn't have to know. It's a tough call to make. I hope I handled this the right way for you..." And then I had to tell them.

Take your shot, Funboy. You got me, dead bang.

A long pause. That strange text silence. Are they typing? Thinking? Crying? In the kitchen for a glass of water, still blissfully unaware for a few more seconds? Then...

"Wait. Is this why every elder goth I know wants to launch Alec Baldwin into the sun?"

...in alphabetical order.

"Listen... I mean, yeah, it is. But now you have a choice. You've grokked like 3/4 of the impact of that accident already. For the rest, we'd have to watch the bonus content, the interview with Brandon Lee filmed not even two weeks before he died. But I won't let you go into that without warning. You're gonna need a box of tissues. It's also perfectly okay to stop here."

"Let's do it. Can it really make this feel worse? Let's watch it."

"It will make it feel worse, yes, but in a strange way, also a little bit better."

Believe me, nothing is trivial.

The thing is, there was no unaltered live round accidentally loaded in the gun that killed Brandon Lee. What happened was so much weirder than that.

images from:

Compare that to the Rust shooting, which was of course the reason all my friend's elder-goth associates wanted to launch Alec Baldwin into the sun the year before. It wasn't just Baldwin we were angry at/about; it was the fact that in 1993, Brandon Lee's death pretty much proved to the industry that no, using real guns with fake bullets is not a safe way to film a shooting, ever, even if you follow all the best-practice rules, even if you can be absolutely certain that no unaltered live round ever finds its way into that real gun -- and given the thirty thousand moving parts in motion during filming, you can't be certain of that at all. Even the wrong combination of "fake" ammunition, used at different times, can be fatal in a worst-case coincidence. (Although, as noted, the first set of ammunition was improperly deactivated -- a fact that has been used since to try to justify the idea that using real guns with altered ammunition is okay after all, as long as you're perfect about your safety measures and no mistakes ever happen. Which is totally achievable, sure... until suddenly one day it isn't.)

You shouldn't smoke these things. They'll kill ya.

And the actor who fired the fatal shot on the set of The Crow was pulling the trigger deliberately, exactly when and how he was supposed to, after the weapon had been handled properly (or at least as planned) by the crew and while the scene was being filmed, not fucking around on set with an unchecked weapon like Baldwin was. Then that poor actor had to take more than a year's sabbatical for his mental health, as who wouldn't*, and he swore he would never be able to watch The Crow (and reportedly never did). *Compare that to Baldwin's behavior -- but only if you want to be really really angry for a while.

I have something to give you. I don't want it any more.

So for an actor, on set, 28 years later, to have access to a working gun loaded with a live round and be unnecessarily playing around with it off-camera in such a way that the gun was aimed and the round was fatally fired at another person? That's absolutely inexcusable.

*ting* Each one of these is a life. *ting*

It really shouldn't take seeing someone you work with being fatally shot to get across the point that there's nothing, nothing whatsoever, that can excuse using a prop capable of accidentally killing someone that easily -- whether it requires a complicated accident or a simple one. It really shouldn't have taken Brandon Lee being shot at all. And plenty of us who are old enough to remember are still mad about it.

So I can only imagine how the guy who might have been in front of that gun instead, had the scene been considered a little more perilous to the star, views the continued use of working firearms on set now. But holy fuck can I imagine it.

[iviarellereads]

A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Chapter 1 In this fateful hour

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index for the Time Quintet, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which, if you read the table of contents, you know something's popping off almost immediately.

In the kitchen of the Murry house, Meg Murry O'Keefe(1) is grateful to be home for Thanksgiving with the family. Calvin is in London presenting a paper. She and the twins are talking, and Dennys asks how she, Mrs. O'Keefe, is doing. She looks over at Calvin's mom, sitting next to the fireplace, and comments that name's still strange to her, too. Dennys, home from med school, dotes on Meg and comments on her pregnancy.

Across the room, Charles Wallace and Mr. Murry are bent over a model of a tesseract.(2) Charles's silence has a different quality from usual. The senior Mrs. O'Keefe is also silent, but more surprising is that she agreed to come at all. Mrs. Murry says there's more to Mrs. O'Keefe than meets the eye, but Meg hasn't found it yet.

After thinking of how much she's grown up, and hoping that Charles finds himself similarly soon, she remarks that she misses their old dog, Fortinbras, who died of old age. Meg asks why they haven't a new one yet, and Mr. Murry says the right dog finds them, usually.

Mrs. Murry diverts Meg's inquest about the dog situation by asking her to make the sauce for the plum pudding. Mr. Murry gets a call from the White House, and the smile he wore to start quickly gets wiped away. The whole room seems to take notice and go silent at once, even though he's just listening. Meg worries that there's something supernaturally wrong with the weather.(3)

When the phone call ends, after everyone asks him what's happened, he says war's broken out. "Mad Dog Branzillo", the dictator of Vespugia,(4) has gotten a nuke and is threatening, credibly, to use it.

Mrs. O'Keefe asks if they're playing some trick on her, and asks why the president would call them. Mrs. Murry explains that the current president considers Mr. Murry a nonpartisan scientific advisor.

The whole family starts discussing how this could be the end of civilization, the end of humanity. Mrs. O'Keefe starts mumbling some prayer, over and over, between the discussion bits. Charles points out that as long as no missile has been launched yet, there's a chance it won't happen, and says they should celebrate Thanksgiving in all its meaning.

As they serve up, Mrs. O'Keefe keeps saying her prayer, and the family tries to be more hopeful. Mrs. Murry says her mother told her a story about having lived through a time when experts believed nuclear war would break out by the end of summer between the US and Soviet Union, and how she walked her street wondering if the pussy willows would ever bloom again, and never took their blooming for granted in the springs thereafter.

As Sandy passes Mrs. O'Keefe the cranberry sauce, he finally hears her muttering, and asks what it is. She says it's Patrick's rune and she can't remember but she feels she needs it. Her grandmother from Ireland gave her the verse, and she's forgotten it. They keep talking, the twins in particular whistling in the dark as she keeps trying.

Finally, Meg goes to her, and helps her to remember, and the verse as it's recited causes great, strange things to happen in the room.

At Tarah in this fateful hour, I place all Heaven with its power, And the sun with its brightness, And the snow with its whiteness, And the fire with all the strength it hath, And the lightning with its rapid wrath, And the winds with their swiftness along its path, And the sea with its deepness, And the rocks with their steepness, And the Earth with its starkness All these I place by God's almighty help and grace Between myself and the powers of darkness.(5)

Meg is sure her shoulder will be bruised from her mother-in-law's grip, but it's done, and Mrs. O'Keefe wonders why it occurred to her now, after all these years. Sandy compares it to Patrick's Breastplate, a song his glee club sang in college. Mrs. O'Keefe is firm that it's Patrick's Rune, a ward against danger.

Suddenly, all the lights go out, even the fireplace dwindles to near darkness. Charles Wallace calls on Mrs. O'Keefe to say the rune again, but she's already forgetting. He says he'll say it with her, but she has to help. They repeat it together, as the storm rages outside. Dennys lights the candles at the line about the sun, the power comes back up at the lightning line, and at the end Charles looks out the window and observes that the rain turned to snow somewhere in there.

Sandy asks what that was all about. Meg thinks it might mean that there's hope yet to be found. Both Sandy and Dennys are their usual skeptical dismissive selves.

Mrs. O'Keefe says she came because of "Chuck". She charges him to stop Mad Dog Branzillo, though she can't say his name properly. Meg thinks she looks so small and weak, and how strange that she called Charles Wallace "Chuck" when nobody else in his life has ever. Mrs. O'Keefe continues that she wasn't going to come, but that morning she woke up and felt compelled to, for some reason, and she didn't know why until the rune came back to her. Finally, she asks for someone to take her home, now that she feels she's done what she came for. Dennys says there's still salad, and dessert, but she insists, so he does the duty.

The rest of the family discusses what just happened, with Sandy the lone holdout skeptic, until the phone startles them all. It's Calvin, calling from London to say his presentation went well. Meg can hardly say a thing, but she hopes Calvin didn't notice because she's always overwhelmed on international calls. Just after he disconnects, Dennys gets back, so Meg conveys Calvin's love, and Dennys suggests they get on with the rest of dinner.

—Why are we trying to act normal? Meg wondered, but did not speak her thought aloud. But Charles Wallace replied, “It’s sort of like the string holding the package together, Meg. We’d all fall apart otherwise.” Her father said, “You know, my dears, the world has been abnormal for so long that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to live in a peaceful and reasonable climate. If there is to be any peace or reason, we have to create it in our own hearts and homes.”(6) “Even at a time like this?” Meg asked. The call from Calvin, the sound of her husband’s voice, had nearly broken her control. “Especially at a time like this,” her mother said gently.

Again, the twins act the skeptics to the rest of the family's belief in whatever just happened. Dennys asks Charles what he thinks, and Charles says he's sure if he's supposed to do something, he'll be told what. Sandy asks about aliens, but Charles says no, he'll feel it inside. To deflect, he suggests they skip the salad and go straight to the pudding, to gather around the light of the flame on it. The family oblige, though Meg wants the comfort of the lights.

“And the fire with all the strength it hath,” Charles Wallace said softly. “But what kind of strength?” Meg asked. She looked at the logs crackling merrily in the fireplace. “It can keep you warm, but if it gets out of hand it can burn your house down. It can destroy forests. It can burn whole cities.” “Strength can always be used to destroy as well as create,” Charles Wallace said. “This fire is to help and heal.” “I hope,” Meg said. “Oh, I hope.”

=====

(1) Yeah, some time has passed! 9 years, as we'll find shortly from Charles's age. (2) Not that you can ever truly model something in fewer dimensions than the thing exists in. You can draw a cube but you can't necessarily convey cubeness unless someone knows what the indicators mean. (3) Ah, still catastrophizing, I see. Some things never change. (4) A fictional country just for L'Engle's setting. Not sure if it's better or worse than using a real one. (5) If you look at the table of contents, that's sure the chapter titles, all in order. It's a slightly edited version of a James Clarence Mangan poem, St. Patrick’s Hymn before Tarah, which itself is altered from a real medieval piece, Saint Patrick's Breastplate. It's been adapted a lot of times, hence the glee club classic Sandy remembers. (6) And, we DO need to keep a place for peace and love in our hearts and in our lives. Everything can't be fear or we lock ourselves away and the work can never get started. Everything can't be anger or we burn ourselves out, and set fire to those near us besides, before the work can be finished. We have to be able to balance ourselves out somewhere.

[sayurifellfrost]

Prompt #19: Taken

Character: Shurentsetseg Himaa

Age: 23

A nigh uncomfortable silence hung around the quartet of siblings, Shurentsetseg’s eyes locked upon the drapery leading into the yurt not too far from them. She was accompanied by some of her brothers, Taichar - who was the eldest out of them all, and her one cycle younger twin brothers, Mandukhai and Narmandakh.

They hadn’t seen or heard from their youngest sister in a sennight, and despite the fact that the girl had distanced herself from the family and seemed to hold no intentions to return to them.. They had at least seen her around, and knew she was safe. But now..

Too many suns had gone by, and the pit of dread Shurentsetseg had in her gut had grown significantly the more they had waited.

If he had done something to her..

The tension in her body was noted by the trio of brothers, Taichar opting to settle a hand on his sister’s shoulder in mute comfort, gaining a glance from her.

“.. Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked quietly. “.. Saran will likely be furious with us if she ends up being in there.”

“I am sure.” She responded confidently. “.. This bastard took her from us, so even if she is in there.. I swear I will drag her home myself.”

Taichar exhaled a deep sigh, yet sank his head into a small nod.

“Alright, I will grab him, you grab her.” His gaze trailed to his twin brothers, tilting his head slightly. “Manduk, help Shuren if needed, Narman, you’re with me.”

The twins nodded in unison, splitting from each other to step closer to the sibling they had been assigned to. Narmandakh was quick to follow Taichar as he began to walk towards the yurt, drawing a deep breath as he did.

“OUTCAST.”

The shout he let out was loud enough that it almost echoed in their immediate surroundings, voice carrying a tone only befitting a protective brother.

A sound of mild annoyance emit from within at the shout, nothing quite seeming to happen for a time until the slightest ripple against the drapery announced the incoming Xaela, who didn’t even manage to step through completely before Taichar barrelled forwards, shoving his forearm horizontally into Qoroltai’s throat as he proceeded to shove him into the yurt, siblings in tow.

Qoroltai’s back violently met the center pillar of his yurt, a hostile snarl passing his lips as his hands reached to grasp onto the arm that was invading his personal space.

“What the fuck?”

Shurentsetseg made a swift sweep of the inside alongside Mandukhai, the feeling of dread she already held worsening to the point of nausea as there was not a single trace of her sister. Saranzaya was gone, as were her belongings.

“Just keep still and I won’t have to beat your ass.” Taichar growled, narrowed eyes locked with his.

“I’d like to see you try..” Qoroltai snarled back at him.

With a hand over her chest, Shurentsetseg stepped forwards to place herself in the outcast’s view, a deep frown on her features.

“Where is Saran?”

Qoroltai’s gaze fell to the woman, one brow lofting.

“Not here.” He scoffed.

“Where?”

“How the fuck should I know?”

“You’re the last damned person who was with her!”

The direness of the situation whacked into Taichar as the fact Saranzaya was not present settled in his mind, teeth gritting and arm shoving further into Qoroltai’s throat to pry a choked sound from him.

“Where the fuck is she? What have you done to her?!” He yelled.

“She– left–!” Qoroltai croaked back.

“To where?!”

“-- I don’t fucking know!”

He managed to shove his hands between his throat and Taichar’s offending arm, shoving the man away from him.

“She got mad at me, fucked off. Didn’t tell me where.”

“Why was she mad at you?” Shurentsetseg was quick to ask.

“Because the bitch couldn’t handle authority–”

The insult spoken of their sister was barely registered by Shurentsetseg or the twins, before Taichar had launched a fist directly into Qoroltai’s jaw to send him stumbling with a hiss.

“How fucking dare you call her that?” The twins echoed in unison, hands balling into fists.

Qoroltai quietly rubbed his jaw, gaze shooting between those present.

“If you have done something to her..” Taichar growled.

A half-hearted laugh of a sound escaped Qoroltai, who leaned himself slightly forwards, eyes locking in Taichar’s.

“Oh, I have..” He taunted. “I’ve done plenty. Her, among those.”

The admission caused Taichar to immediately launch himself at Qoroltai, swinging his fists and tumbling to the floor with the slightly larger Xaela.

“I will fucking kill you!” He shouted.

“Taichar!”

She had hoped to have her unease settled by coming here. To find her sister, safe and sound.. And instead her worry had spiked and mixed itself with anger towards this man who had coaxed her sister away in the first place - stolen her from them in her moment of distress. Left without a trail for them to follow.

Where had she gone..?

[companyknowledgenews]

23 New Beauty Products Our Editors Are Loving This September - Notice Today Online https://www.merchant-business.com/23-new-beauty-products-our-editors-are-loving-this-september/?feed_id=186958&_unique_id=66d659bda584d #GLOBAL - BLOGGER BLOGGER While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here.It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down and September has begun. The last few months have been filled with record-high temperatures and lots of adventures in the sun, but now, it’s time to get excited about fall. We’re ready for cozy sweaters, pumpkin-spice flavors, candles, and our personal favorite, new beauty launches.Judging by the new makeup, hair, and, body, skin-care products hitting store shelves, September is already looking bright. Though the time will be here soon to trade in our lightweight formulas for something heavier, right now is all about transitional beauty products that make the switch from hot temps to cooler days easier. From candles that will help you embrace the fact that fall is right around the corner to warm, floral perfumes and face moisturizers that keep dry skin at bay even after long days at the beach, there are a variety of new beauty products for September to explore.Ahead, our editors made fall shopping a little easier for you by sharing their favorite new beauty launches of the month, and we promise — they’re good. Keep scrolling to see what made the cut, and get ready to click that “add to cart” button 24 times.www.skinmedica.comDigital Products Best Hydrating MoisturizerSkinMedica HA 5 Hydra Collagen Replenish and Restore Hydrator ($192)“In the summer months I spend most of my time at the beach, and although I make sure to moisturize before and after, wear plenty of SPF, and even a hat, my skin still takes a beating. I try to keep my face out of the sun as much as possible, but for the most part I rely on good skin-care products to help my skin out. The SkinMedica HA 5 Hydra Collagen Replenish and Restore Hydrator has been an absolute lifesaver, especially after long days at the beach. It’s lightweight, made with five different forms of hyaluronic acid, plus avocado oil, passion fruit seed oil, and vitamin F.” — Renee Rodriguez, staff writer and social producer111skin.comDigital Products Best Lightweight Moisturizer111Skin Cryo Revitalising Moisturizer ($200)“Made with ginseng complex, and a blend of eight types of hyaluronic acid, the 111Skin Cryo Revitalising Moisturizer is as luxurious as it gets. Every time I use it, my skin feels refreshed, hydrated, and it even looks a little less puffy. The texture is silky and smooth, and I especially find myself reaching for it in the mornings when my skin needs a serious wake up call. Pro tip? Stick it in the fridge to get an even cooler effect when you slather it on.” — RRsephora.comDigital Products Best Pre-Styling CreamStraight to Wavy Light Pre-Styling Cream ($60)“When the Dyson team told me the reason behind developing these new hairstyling products, it immediately made sense. I love my Airwrap, and I think it’s one of the most innovative tools on the market. However, I agree with (apparently) many consumers that it can be challenging to get the hairstyles to hold. The formula contains oyster mushrooms, grapeseed, castor, and argan oil, and beeswax to reduce frizz, protect against heat, and boost shine, in addition to helping with hold. The mushrooms within the formula are responsible for the soft and moveable yet structural hold that’s designed to make your styles last longer. All I need is a few pumps, and my Airwrap curls last all day. You can read my full review here.” — Jessica Harrington, senior beauty editorsephora.comDigital Products Best Shine TreatmentOribe Mirror Rinse Glass Hair Treatment ($64)“Oribe just launched its new Mirror Rinse Glass Hair Treatment, and to say I’m obsessed is an understatement.

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The brand is known for its ultra-reparative and restorative serums, and now, it’s brought that same science to a body product. The formula contains the brand’s signature DNA repair complex, peptides, and antioxidants. It reduces redness, firms, moisturizes, plumps, and fades discoloration.” — JHsnif.coDigital Products Best CandleSnif Half Baked Pumpkin Smash Candle ($34)“I am fully in the ‘I hope summer never ends’ camp, but there are a few things that can get me in the mood for fall, and one of them is the Snif Half Baked Pumpkin Smash Candle. It’s a seasonal scent that they brought back this year, and if you get the chance to smell it, you’ll understand why. It’s a sweet and spicy blend that will fill your room with notes of pumpkin spice, cinnamon salted maple, and roasted chocolate. Um, yum.” — RRblueland.comDigital Products Best Laundry DetergentBlueland Laundry Set in Spring Bloom ($25)“I’ve been thinking a lot about overconsumption and waste lately, and one area that I know could use a lot of improvement is laundry. Think of all the waste created from detergents, fabric softeners, dryer sheets, and so on. I love the new Spring Bloom scent from Blueland. The laundry set contains 65 plastic-free tablets that you simply toss into the washing machine — no measuring needed. Once you run out, you can buy a replacement pouch. It’s easy and eco-friendly.” — JHnordstrom.comDigital Products Best White Floral PerfumeFrederic Malle Carnal Flower ($295)“When I first spritzed this perfume, believe me when I tell you I let out an immediate, visceral ‘OMG’. It smells like a sexy, oiled-up moment on a Polynesian beach thanks to the notes of tuberose, orange blossom, and jasmine absolute. It’s definitely bursting with white flowers, but it never feels sickly sweet or overly femme. I’ll be taking this summery scent with me into fall, forecast be damned.” — AKJessica Harrington is the senior beauty editor at PS, where she writes about hair, makeup, skin care, piercings, tattoos, and more. As a New York City-based writer and editor with a degree in journalism and over eight years of industry experience, she loves to interview industry experts, keep up with the latest trends, and test new products.Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts. http://109.70.148.72/~merchant29/6network/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/26036932447_905ea96635_o.jpg While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here. It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down and September has begun. The last few months have been filled with … Read More