#i need to stop thinking 2020 was a year ago T^T

[fluffypotatey]

Some questions. For asks that have knowledge no one in universe of ispp would know, ex: things that Invilves the knowledge the VAs aren't real, do you want us to send to this blog or the sideblog

2) can you jump around the timelines? Like some asks set when ispp is new, when it's actually popular, pre mk involvement, some post mk

3) will you pretend to be the same person with the same views? Bc you're pretending to be pro same universe in the sideblog (according to the deacription), but like in this blog sometimes you answered back like you were also anti same universe. Would it the same for the sideblog

hey thanks for the questions!

1 - anything that involves more knowledge about the au than the fandom is aware of will be discussed here. i wanna keep the sideblog mostly in-story and not break the 4th wall too much (although if want to add anything about the au thru the blog, you can send asks like they are transcripts from interviews from other characters besides Macky or his not-real production crew)

if the ask is written in a way that delivers itself as someone from the au, then send it in the sideblog and either my character will answer it like it’s a conspiracy theory or something else will respond to it (idk but i think of something)

2 - i think jumping around timelines will be fun! it keeps with tumblr’s own kind of style of posting since we see a lot of posts that are 10 years old. however, please make sure you add a time-stamp for when you ask or submission is taking place (you can even tag the time-stamp for the submission! i’ll prob add that to the guidelines)

i think for in-story timeline, we should keep it similar to the show’s (imma try and map this out later), but also how about we mirror the years for when lmk got released (2020) and the present (so whenever s4 ends at)

3 - i think imma stay as the one character just for my own sake. tbh i am stretching myself a little thin since i have uni priorities and unfinished fics i wanna complete and internships to look for, so there will just be one in-universe character who reblogs (sorry for all the anti-same universe fans 😔 )

but y’all are free to reblog submission posts and stuff on the blog with your own kind of ‘fandom’ opinions. just make sure to tag it #unreality ;)

[crossbackpoke-check]

about to be sooo nosy so. my apologies. but. morgan frost? girlfriend? do share (or don’t! again this is so nosy i’m sorry)

for legal purposes i can neither confirm nor deny anything about morgan and his girlfriend but afaik i think he’s single right now? at one point (within the past four years 😭) he did for sure have a girlfriend and that is the extent of my wag knowledge

[reikunrei]

feeling incredibly averse to posting this but i'm just gonna drop my kofi link here in case anyone wants to help me get out of my increasingly shitty situation living with my parents

more info below ig

after having given my parents nearly $100k over the last four years, i'd love to be able to actually leave. my future job situation is still up in the air (i've submitted for about a dozen positions and the only one i've heard back from and interviewed for hasn't gotten back to me yet), and i haven't been able to build up any savings because, again, i was (and still am) helping my family afford rent and bills, and probably the taxes my parents are behind on, but if i think about that, i'll get too angry. no joke, i've given my family, at the bare minimum, 85% of my income over the last 4 years. the rest of it has gone toward medical stuff and, now, my car

at this point, with the combo of my mom refusing to lower her standards and my dad's seeming refusal to hunt for a new full time job, i don't see how they won't continue to bleed me dry. my dad even has a bad habit of taking money out of my old savings account that he's a joint owner on or whatever from when i got it set up when i was 16, even when i stopped actively putting money in it, so now any time it gets its automated $1 transfer from my checking account, he'll just take that $1 without consulting me. i'm not exaggerating, even if it has $1-2 in it, it'll be gone within a week

i've even put off starting on testosterone because of this. i wanted to start it like 3 years ago, but kept putting it off because of money issues and wanting to save as much as possible. i got really close to actually starting it this year, but because of how messy everything is, i put it off again bc having one more thing on my plate, especially when my parents are already weird about me being trans, was not something i wanted to deal with

not to mention, we're still currently not living under a lease in our house that we're, as far as i'm aware, still tens of thousands of dollars behind in rent on (again, my dad refuses to disclose our financial position honestly with any of us) and it's developed many, many issues bc the landlord, even before we were behind on rent, is shit and refuses to actually fix anything. and my dad loves to just ignore things unless we beg him to do something

i'd love to be on my own (in the, much more affordable, midwest) by the end of summer. i by no means want to rely on donations and i have other avenues i'm working with to make money (i still have my current full time job, but i'm going through my old belongings and selling a lot online), but i'll take any help i can get atp because i'm truly at my wits end. i'd start doing art commissions again if i could, but doing that from 2020-2022, partially on top of my full time job, absolutely wrecked my right hand and i'm still in enough pain that i can't make it a regular activity

idk how much else there is to say. there's more i could say but... i don't really wanna air all my dirty laundry here. i'm miserable in so many ways and it's just become increasingly clear that my dad expects me to constantly cover his ass. my younger brother gives money too, but he manages to go on big cross-country and overseas trips with friends, so i think i've been stuck with the burden of giving the most money. there's so many more things going on in the world rn and everyone is stretched thin so i don't expect much, or anything, but. idk. might as well throw it out there, right?

i’ve also since taken down the gfm i set up last year when we got our first eviction notice bc, while we still need the money, i don’t feel right keeping it up for multiple reasons, including “i don’t want to give any of that money to my family” and it feels too… serious to keep it up when i could just throw out my kofi instead

i just want to make sure i have some sort of safety net to catch me if i move before anything job-wise is finalized. i need to be able to afford a place to live for at least a month so i can job-search while physically being in the area i wanna move to, which would ultimately make it easier for me to find a job at all. i'm working on being more firm with giving less money so i can actually have the means to move and be safe and comfortable, but... that never lasts long in this house

anyway. that's it, i guess. thanks for reading

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

Because I can’t leave well enough alone or stop obsessing over the music scene in Zaun, I have a few headcanons as to the soundscape of the city.

1. Zaun and Piltover operate in a quasi-Steam/cyberpunk and steam “utopian” punk environments, respectively. For Zaun especially it operates like something sewn together with late 19th century industrial slums (NYC, London) mixed with Blade Runner vibes. Pop, alternative rock, industrial, hip-hop and rap, but also punk, exist.

2. Personally, personally, and with some cues from @lullabyes22-blog fic Forward, Never Forget, I imagine the musical landscape of Zaun changed dramatically within 40 years (roughly the lifetime of Vander and Silco). 200 years ago, Zaun’s primary music genres were folk, vaudeville, work songs, shanties, and novelty songs. Economic stranglehold by Piltover ensured that “high minded” and “perfected” genres we associate with the wealthy, operas, ballets, and the like were difficult or even inaccessible for Zaunites to compose for, but obviously commonplace in Piltover as representative of their cultural DNA. The influx of refugees into Zaun from the Rune Wars, the subsequent squeeze, impoverishment, and exploitation in slum city living, also coincided with the flowering of many spirited genres of music: swing, jazz, blues, and respective dances deemed far too scandalous and libertine for Piltover.

So as I said, in order for it to make sense why a city seems to be comprised of Edwardians standing next to literal punks, steam and otherwise, we need to internalize the miraculous phenomenon that within Silco and Vander’s lifetime, a century’s worth of musical development (1910s - 2020) occurred within Zaun. Somehow, some way, rock, metal, pop, hip-hop, rap, club, funk, dance, industrial, punk, etc. developed and flourished like kudzu. Essentially: If old white people in our real world were ever on record saying this-and-this music was corrupting the youth, then it was in Zaun. If it challenged authority or made you wanna shake and bop up and down or grind, it was music from Zaun.

3. So this means Silco and Vander would’ve borne witness to the music scene go from Puttin’ on the Ritz and Lindy Hop and If I Had a Hammer to You Really Got Me (The Kinks) and War Pigs (Black Sabbath) to Sex Pistols to Sylvester and Sly & the Family Stone to You Spin Me (Right Round) and Depeche Mode and The Clash and Public Enemy to Wu Tang Clan and Smells Like Teen Spirit and Rage Against the Machine and Selena and West Coast-East Coast rap divergence to RECESSION CLUB/POP, fucking IMAGINE FUCKING DRAGONS and wispy atmospheric female artist pop and DUBSTEP.

Literally this creaky-looking Peaky Blinders/Scarface sharkrat man would have to have grown up from going as a child listening to jazz to being in his early 40s and hearing Imagine fucking Dragons on the wind in the public square for some reason and Pusha T doing his thing. Do you understand what I’m saying how crazy that is.

It’s crazy to think about. Usually music genres fall to the wayside as developments are made and genres evolve out of them and into others, but Zaun exists in a world where the past is the present. Everything is alive and sustained all at once, like undying undergrowth, the coexistence of subculture. Little by little, the Old Guard may shift a bit, but the fashion and sensibilities and tastes will never completely die out, no matter how much further Zaun progresses within its bubbling urban cauldron of rust-and-reuse.

[justrainandcoffee]

Have you ever seen the rain (Alfie Solomons x fem!oc)

Summary: 2020. Alfie is in his Inn and he's redecorating part of it. His friend, Rose, is helping him. The song starts to sound just when their proximity is unbearable. "Have you ever seen the rain, coming down on sunny day?" A song and a travel to the past 16 years ago, in 2004.

Warnings: None. Modern AU. || Look at me finally writing this story. || This is set after this story which I recommend to read first

Words: 3k. || Masterlist

2020

She knows all the truth now. He loved a man who broke his heart and she accepted him for whom he is. She also knows that his business is far from being legal. There's no secrets between them and he is ready to start again. But the morning after telling her everything, what they are doing is painting his kitchen, the one in his apartment that's over the inn, something he wanted to do before the quarantine but didn't have time. Now he has free time but his mind isn't focused in that job. No when the woman living with him, trapped with him in his inn, is next to him wearing an old t-shirt of his and her messy hair is a delight to Alfie's eyes.

Rose isn't paying attention to him now, she's singing -or trying to- while his playlist is full of good and old songs. The brush in her hand is painting the wall while The Doors is sounding and her movements follow the rhythm of the music. Only when she hears him chuckle, she stops.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just you are doing a mess, Rosie."

"The audacity! Alfie, I'm doing this for free, you should be more grateful."

"Oh, I am, love. I'm very grateful, sweetheart. But you know I'm right."

"You should have asked me to help you to choose new curtains or wallpapers, instead. I'm good at it."

"I'm going to consider your offer. Thank you, luv," he says before returning to his work.

It's raining, the virus is a menace everywhere, there are very few places they can go together, so the best thing to do is to be locked there, safe and alone.

Rose also looks at him when she believes he's not looking. Dirty thoughts cross her mind although she shouldn't be thinking that, but she couldn't help it. She likes him, in ways she never experienced before. She likes him as person because he showed her before that he's a good person, a sweet man, at least with her. But also everything of him, as man and all his testosterone, feels irresistible for her. And Rose knows that unless any of them do something then those thoughts only are going to increase. Despite everything she's also a woman with needs.

"I can't ignore this any longer," Alfie says throwing his brush on the floor and walking towards Rose, no longer after she returned to paint trying very hard to ignore her thoughts.

Alfie is a lot of things, including a very perceptive man. Or maybe because Rose isn't subtle at all. But he realised that she had been looking at him.

"Fuck the paint," he says taking the brush she has in her hands and also throwing it on the floor next to all the things that are there.

He advances toward her until her back touches the wall. He is front of her, giving the woman no space to escape.

Rose is pinned between the wall and him. One of his hand is on her waist and the other, tracing a path on her neck.

"Why are you so beautiful?"

"I'd ask the same."

The night before it wasn't possible, but Alfie isn't going to lose this opportunity, too. The hand that it was on her cheek is now on the back of her neck. Their first kiss is imminent. In that moment a new song starts to sound.

[I wanna know have you ever seen the rain- I wanna know have you ever seen the rain... comin' down on a sunny day?♪]

"That song was playing when I had my first kiss," she says, eyes closed, smiling at the memory that suddenly appeared in her mind.

"That song sounded when I had my first kiss, too" Alfie replies touching her nose with his.

"Are you kidding?"If she moves just an inch her lips would touch Alfie's ones, but she opens her eyes to look at him.

"No," he replies, but a memory hits his brain:

"...My name is Rose."

"Alfie."

"Tell me it wasn't raining… was it under a willow tree?" He asks and stares at her looking for an answer that he already knows.

2004

The rain seemed to be there just to ruin the party. The parents of Francesca, one of Rose's best friends, rented a house outside London to celebrate their daughter's birthday. It was summer and it seemed good to them allowed the girl have fun with her friends while the family spent time together as well.

Francesca and Rose were friends since they were eight years old and through the years, more girls joined the group till that point where they were five inseparable friends. Francesca had a brother a year older, Jules, who invited his friends because according to the boy he never was going to spend time with a group of crazy girls.

"He invited the boys that play football with him," Fran said. "A group of losers as he is. They all go to different schools, they know each other thanks to the club."

"Any of these boys is cute?" one of the girls asked. "Like Pacey Witter?"

A year ago, Dawson's Creek ended and the girls were still mourning the finale and the fact that Josh Jackson won't be the handsome and sweet Pacey ever again. It was hard not to develop feelings for a character like him. And find a Pacey in real life was difficult, not to say impossible.

"There's only one Pacey, Letitia."

"You never know," Rose commented.

"Don't keep your hopes up, girls. They're just a bunch of idiots like my brother is. And like all boys we know, too."

That was true, they agreed. It was hard being a 15 years old girl in the beginning of the 2000s, when all the boys seemed to be nothing but assholes. Yet, despite Francesca's words, the rest of her friends expected to see the boys. Why not? The hormones were knocking on their doors and the perspective of having a good day, sounded fine.

Alfie was reluctant to go, but finally accepted because the host were Jewish people too and the idea of having kosher food for free was okay for him.

"My sister's friends are brainless girls," Jules said "they're laughing all the time. Luckily, my mom doesn't allow pyjama's party that often so I guess it's good."

"One of them, at least one of them has to be hot," one of the boys commented.

"Meh. There are better out there."

Alfie shrugged his interest in the opposite sex was barely beginning so if girls there were nice or not, wasn't going to change his life.

That was he thought.

At first the sun was shining and both the teens and the adults were outside enjoying the day. The pool that the house had was being used by both groups: the boys and the girls. But later it was just the girls because the others found playing football more entertaining. But the first exchange of glances between Alfie and Rose was a reality.

He saw her for the first time when she was sitting on the edge of the pool wearing a purple bikini top and shorts. She had two braids and, in his opinion, the most beautiful smile of all.

Rose saw him when he was talking to Jules and something about him caught her attention immediately. Maybe the colour of his eyes when the sun illuminated his face. Or something she couldn't explain that moment.

"Who is he?"

"Oh," Francesca said sitting down next to her friend "that's Alfie. He's our age, 15. He goes to another Jewish school, but that's all I know. I think he lives with his mother. Jules met him in the club years ago and after Alfie invited my brother to his bar mitzvah, they're good friends. Of all my brother's friends he's the less idiot. Which is not a compliment at all considering how low the bar is."

"He seems cute."

"Alfie? Alfie ain't cute, Rosie," snorted Francesca but when she saw her best friend's eyes couldn't help but smirk. "You like him."

"What? No, no! I just said that he seems cute. That's all. It's not important."

Jules provided information about Rose to Alfie as well. She was one of his sister's friends although Jules admitted that she wasn't the brainless of them.

"But she can kick you in the balls if you look at her badly," the boy added.

"But she's nice."

"If you say, Alfie."

The rest of the morning the girls stayed in the pool or sunbathing, while the boys played on the other side of the property. And more than once, Alfie and Rose found themselves looking at each other.

"Just talk to him," Francesca said visibly tired of her friend daydreaming about the boy since the beginning of the day. "He's not going to bite you and as far as I see, he can't stop looking at you either."

The idea was to return to the pool after lunch, but the rain started when they were eating to everyone there disappointment.

It was Jules the one who searched in the different CDs he had, the perfect song compilation for the occasion and thanks to him the rest forgot that they were now forced to be under roof, away from the rain.

The first time they were close to each other was when both of them were near the window, looking at the storm outside.

"It's a pity that it's raining," he said to her and he felt like the most idiot boy in the world. Stupid thing to say to the girl who he had been looking at, since the very first minute. But Alfie really didn't know what else to say.

"Indeed," she agreed. Her heart was racing like never before but she managed to smile at him "my name is Rose."

"Alfie."

Their friends saw the closeness between them and while the boys were a bit upset for losing a player, the girls were a bit more excited. Until that moment, neither of them had seen Rose interested in a boy enough to be giggling like it was happening with Alfie.

They found their place to be alone and It didn't take them long to start chatting about unimportant thing. About school, subjects or others a bit more important for them like religion but that, in the end, was nothing but an excuse to be together.

The intense rain seemed to stop a bit and tired of being locked most of them decided to go outside, Rose and Alfie included, even if that meant ending up wet.

They didn't go with the group, they walked hand in hand through the place until they sat under the willow tree that provided them some protection from the rain that although weak, was still there.

"I always liked willow trees," the girl said "I used to read about them when I was a kid. My brother used to mock me, but I really like them. It something about their resilience that I find them fascinating. They are associated to life and w…".

"And witchcraft. But the good one."

"Yes! How did you know?"

"I had my phase reading about them, too."

She looked at the boy and smiled. Never before she knew someone interested in those trees.

Never before, Alfie felt he could talk about it without being judged.

The rain started to be a nuisance again and both of them sought refuge under the branches, they were so close that he could feel her breath on his shoulder.

From where they were, they could hear the music that still sounded inside the house. Credence Clearwater Revival was the name of the band and one of their hits was exactly the song they were hearing.

[Have you ever seen the rain on a sunny day? ♪]

They looked at eachother. A shy smile appeared in her face when Alfie felt brave enough to touch her hair.

"I want to kiss you," he finally said.

"Me too…but I- I never kissed anyone before."

"Me neither."

"Alfie, What if I disappointed you?"

"You won't."

He put his hands on her waist and looked at her. The rain on their faces made them close their eyes and soon Rose felt his lips on hers.

If before that moment her heart was racing, now she felt it was going to get out of her chest. She dared to put her hands on his shoulders and play with his hair at the same time both of them discovered at the same time what kissing meant. And why it did feel so good.

As the rain began to stop again, and probably this time definitely, they pulled apart and smiled. The sunlight started to appear again as they kissed again, this time with a bit more of confidence.

At the end of the day, they weren't ready to be apart but they had to. Francesca's parents had to take her back to her house and Alfie returned to his in one of his friend's car.

"Call me," she said to him giving him a paper with her telephone number. "Please, call me."

"I will, Rosie."

"I want to see you again."

"Me too."

They kissed for the last time, with the hopes and promises of seeing each other again.

Only they didn't know that it was going to take them a while to do it.

2020

"It was you…" Rose says still incredulous. "It was always you."

"I lost the telephone number you gave me. Now I remember very well the desperation when I realised what happened. I asked my friend if he could help me but their lives after the party were chaotic and that summer they moved to Bristol and I didn't see him again and in consequence I lost the only link to you that was his sister."

"Their grandmother died and it was horrible for the whole family. My mother forbade me to bother them so, eventually I gave up. But, you know, I was only 15 and this boy blew up my mind…"

"Did he? That's a coincidence because it took him a while forget about her" A smile appears in his face and Alfie put again his hand on the back of her neck and tilts his head "Can I kiss you… again?"

"Yes."

Alfie looks at her one last time before finally resting his lips on hers. That's their first kiss… or the second one that feels like the first.

Unlike the night before, there's no Tommy in Alfie's mind, there, it's just her. He feels her hands on his waist, pressing his lower back and he starts to feel that her kisses won't be enough to calm his body.

Somewhere in the past, a distant point of their lives, they are those teenagers under the willow tree experiencing love for the first time. Rose can't help but smile against his lips. That's the feeling she craved that much. They were once again reunited… and it just took them 16 years.

With his hand caressing her skin under the shirt she's wearing, he pushes Rose against him at the same time that with her arms are around his neck, she deepens the kiss. And both of them have the same thought.

On the floor, around them there are hammers and nails, old newspapers protecting the tiles and brushes everywhere and yet, Alfie manages himself to avoid them without looking as he carries her to the first open bedroom he finds.

"Are you sure about this?" he asks as he puts her on the mattress.

Rose nods, removing her shirt "I'm completely sure."

It's not like Alfie certainly knew that having sex with her it was going to happen but it was a possibility and that morning he put a condom in his pocket. It was a good decision.

They kiss each other again, this time with a lot less clothes on them and for the first time since they met two months ago, they make love.

They can see the raindrops on the window but also the sun through the light clouds that cover the sky now. There's a mix of colours in that window similar to a little rainbow.

They're resting now. Her fingers are tracing patterns on his chest and he's brushing her back with his hand.

"What's in your mind?" she asks.

"I'm just thinking, sweetheart. What were the chances of finding you again? I mean… London has thousands of women, girls, named Rose. When we met; first I barely remembered my first kiss and second, much less the name of that pretty girl. But now, it seems so obvious, of course it was you… Maybe it's true that there's something else."

"Something that escapes our understanding? I felt that since I put my foot here. But I feel in peace, like I'm where I suppose to be. Ridiculous as it sounds."

"I feel the same. Rosie, do you want to try? Us, together… and see where we can end?"

"Are you sure? I want, but you… your ex-"

"Fuck him. And yes, I'm sure."

"Then yes," she says. Her eyes bright with joy and Alfie rolls on the bed to face her.

"There's nothing else to say, then."

"I'm not going to hurt you," she says repeating what she said the night before when they were in the terrace, by the swimming pool.

"Me neither, Rosie."

It's May and spring it's filling the air. Even inside the inn.

[luhafraser]

Anons in my inbox... Sorry... I'm not ignoring you, but what do you want me to say? Nothing new here...

New Blah Blahlands?!

Another blah blah blah book... Nothing new in this "I had Covid" speech or have you guys already forgotten the Xmas 2021 - QT LA playlist on Spotify?! ... He's just unfolding a script that he created in December 2021... There was his "wee" accident too... A series of misfortunes... True or not?! Believe what you want... 😜🤣 Fact is that at the beginning of January 2022 he no longer had anything (or he wouldn't have gone to the Chargers game with Marina and Alex), he was in LA and I don't need to mention where Caitríona was, right?!

(The best part was Cait giving her location in a interview, where she was supposedly at the end of 2021 - London -, and this article being published on January 1, 2022... Because it's very common for Cait to give her location! 😜🤣)

All the "clans" in this fandom are fed with these books... We already had "the gardener" Sam, the bluebell flower thing, and now even the believers in gay theory are well served with this pathetic description of Sam and his flirtations.

Oh... And the article in The Telegraph? He should be ashamed of that. But tell me... How many thousands of people, from outside this fandom, are going to read and/or pay attention to that?

Of course, one or other will read it because of the usual bait...

Oh and of course, JJ...

Regarding this "I don't have time for relationships because of my work", I already gave my opinion in another post.

It doesn't make any sense... After all, he supposedly had relationships years ago while filming Outlander.

---

Years ago (2019) a well-known shipper stopped believing that Sam and Caitríona had children (in secret)... One of her statements to stop believing is exactly what Sam has been using for a while to justify why he doesn't have a relationship/family. She even said that Sam would never deny his child...

Well, I don't blame this shipper, far from it... But let's be honest, SC use a lot of what we talk about here... Very little in favor and much more against shippers' beliefs.

Sam for Philippine Daily Inquirer magazine, in early 2020:

He probably added "the trauma of his father's absence" in Waypoints book, to cause commotion and be a slightly better excuse than that lame one used first?!

And the announcement of the blonde child, in August 2021, was a blow delivered using what that and other shippers started to claim. We are often our own worst enemies, even if unintentionally.

---

And what Sam said about "his daughter"... Well... He didn't lie. He doesn't have a daughter WITH MM...

😜🤣

---

It's as if the SC is always on the defensive, justifying something... Which seems strange at first, but... If Sam just said "I'm single because I want to be"... That wouldn't tease us, right? Maybe not in the same way... It probably wouldn't cause a buzz talk (here)... Anyone outside of this fandom will see just another unknown actor, who is not romantically involved with his co-star (and that's what they want).

It's been years of the same....

All of this crossed the line of ridiculousness, and when the world outside is so chaotic, sometimes it is impossible to have fun and be distracted by this circus. Sorry, Anons.

[rip-us-xoxo]

My family- Draco Malfoy x Reader (REPOST)

Posted OCTOBER 06, 2020

Reposted APRIL 16, 2023

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warnings- Body image issues and you might blush

——————————————————————————

You sat in yours and Draco’s living room, watching both of your kids play. Raynor, who is 6, was sitting on the floor playing with building blocks and Sloan, who is 4, was just playing with dolls. Draco was at work still, so you were still on kid duty. Meaning, that you weren’t able to do anything and you were honestly too afraid to.

You were very surprised though that it was peaceful because fights happen very often between your two kids. The one that they had a couple of weeks ago though was pretty bad. Sloan, your little girl, made Raynor, your little boy, mad, and then they started fighting which caused Raynor to hit Sloan. But then Sloan bit Raynor. It took so much effort to pull the two apart but at the end of it, they were both crying and Raynor was bleeding.

You looked up at the clock on the wall that showed Draco would get home any minute now. You looked down at yourself to see that you were still in a tank top and booty shorts. You did not look presentable at all.

You huffed and pushed yourself off of the sofa to look in the mirror that was in the living room. You saw the stretch marks on your thighs and saw how your boobs were practically spilling out of the top of your tank top. “Having two kids really does a lot to you,” you mumbled and then looked over at your children who were still playing nicely.

You then heard the front door open and a, “I’m home!”. “Daddy!” both of your children yelled, dropping their toys and running toward the front door. You slowly made your way over to see Draco spinning your children in the air and kissing them. You stayed silent as you watched the cute moment unfold. Draco then stopped and sat his stuff down on the bench next to the front door.

“Hello Love,” he greeted you as he walked up to you. “Hi,” you said sheepishly as he kissed your cheek, “Sorry about this,” you apologized to him and motioned to your outfit. “Don’t be,” he said and gave you another kiss on the cheek. You smiled and followed him to your shared bedroom.

“So honey, how was your day at the Ministry?” you asked him as he kicked off his shoes and walked into your shared walk-in closet, closing the door. You leaned against the door so you two could have a conversation.

“It was good, how about yours?” he asked and you heard shuffling. “It was good, I promise I did stuff today. I didn’t just sit around looking like a hot mess all day,” you said which made him chuckle. “Well I think you look gorgeous, dear,” he said as he opened up the closet door. He was now in black sweat pants and a black t-shirt.

“Well thank you for the flattery but we’ve been married for 7 years, you don’t need to compliment me,” you told him and started walking away. He swiftly pulled you back and kissed you. “You’re my wife and I can compliment you whenever I like,” he told you, which made blush rise on your cheeks.

You then walked back out to the living room together to find your children peacefully playing once again. “Well, that’s unusual,” Draco said and looked over at you, “they would usually be at each other’s throats,”. “We thought that mom was looking a little rough lately so Sloan and I decided to behave and not fight,” Raynor said simply and went back to playing.

You frowned a little and looked down at yourself. “Say sorry to your mother,” Draco told the boy sternly. “No, sweetie, it’s fine. He doesn’t have to apologize, he didn’t say anything wrong,” you told him and rubbed his back gently before walking to the kitchen. 

You sighed as you pulled out your wand and started waving it around, ingredients flying in the air to make dinner. You stood there lazily with no expression on your face, you were still thinking about what your son had said.

“Jesus, even our son thinks I’m a mess,” you chuckled as you felt arms snake around your waist. “But love, you’re not a mess. You’re a mother, and a great one at that,” Draco whispered and gave you a kiss on your neck.

“Mommy!” you heard from behind you. Draco and you turned around to see Raynor standing there with Sloan behind him. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, you just haven’t been looking well lately so we wanted to make it easier for you,” your son told you.

“Wait, what do you mean? How has mommy not been looking well?” Draco asked, concerned. “She just looked pale and she even threw up a few days ago,” Sloan told him. Draco’s eyes went wide as he looked over at you.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick? You know I would have taken off of work to take care of you,” Draco told you and hugged you. “Well then, I guess you’ll have to take 9 months off of work,” you told him and giggled slightly. “9 months? That’s ridiculous-” his eyes then went wide as he realized what you just said.

He then looked down at your stomach and then at you. “Are you-? I’m gonna-”, “You’re going to be a dad, again,” you whispered and held your stomach. He smiled really big and hugged you super tight and then kissed you all over your face.

“I’m gonna be a father again!” he yelled and then started kissing your stomach. “Draco, stop it,” you giggled.

“I’m confused,” Sloan stated, to which Raynor said, “Me too.”. “You guys are going to be big siblings!” you cheered and then went to hug them. “Really?! Wait, where?” Sloan said and started looking around. “The baby is in here,” you told her and pointed to your stomach. She walked up to your stomach and put her face on it. “Hi baby, I’m your big sister, I hope we can play when I see you,” she whispered to your stomach.

“Aw,” you squealed and then looked over at Draco, who was looking at you admiringly. He couldn’t believe he was going to be a father to one more child and that you were the one carrying it. Draco hugged you and your children while putting a hand on your stomach and whispered, “My family,”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

xoxo

[chryza]

Presidential debate SICK ASS REACTIONS.

“The microphones will only be turned on during their turn to speak” thank the lord they finally learned

“VP Harris you and President Trump (sic.) were elected four years ago” I hope to god that it was a slip and not an omen.

Harris coming right out and attacking project 2025 is pretty pog anyway I hope she kills him. I’m still skeptical about her in a lot of ways and I’m not a fan of the continuing imperialist military industrial complex ie genocide. but fuck me she’s not a raving lunatic or a decrepit dude with dementia so like. Fuck man I’ll take it.

he keeps saying “as she knows” to try and ruin her credibility which might be effective if he didn’t immediately then verbally veer off the road and crash into a tree

WHY DID THEY TURN HIS MICROPHONE ON. THEY SHOULD HAVE JUST LET HIM FUCKING TALK TO AN EMPTY STUDIO IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO FUNNY.

I hope Kamala kills him. I’m obsessed with the way she keeps laughing at him. KILL HIM.

“She’s a marxist” this is the only time in my life I wish trump was right I fucking wish Kamala Harris was that cool.

[on abortion] “When the baby is born they will decide what to do with the baby and they will EXECUTE the baby” i don’t even have a quip to add the quote speaks for itself

Live Kamala Reaction your opponent just said Tim Walz wants to “Execute Babies”

The MODERATOR being like “there is no state where it’s legal to kill a baby after it’s born” is KILLING ME

Harris does sound legitimately incensed about abortion rights which is a massive W for her, I fully believe she would crack down on restrictions to women’s healthcare

Harris “I invite you to attend one of trump’s rallies and what you’ll hear is him talking about fictional characters like Hannibal Lector, how windmills cause cancer, and you’ll see people leaving early out of exhaustion and boredom” YES. BLOOD. BLOOD.

SHE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT SHE WAS DOING HE IS NOW SOOOO MAD SHE IMPLIED PEOPLE WERE BORED OF HIM AAAAAAHAHAHA I AM MAKING TRIXIE MATTEL SEAGULL NOISES RN

Shown: watching Trump take the bait hook line and sinker

My mom sent me memes so I knew about this beforehand but

“THEYRE EATING THE PETS OF THE PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY”

*further trixie bird noises*

[Harris] “This is why I have the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney” that’s NOT A GOOD THINGGGGG I don’t know if it’s like trying to be bipartisan but girl this is NOT the way

I need them to stop turning on Trumps microphone. Just leave it off

I TOOK A BULLET TO THE HEAD BECAUSE OF THEM

KAMALA I SUPPORT FRACKING HARRIS EVERYONE

WHAT ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT ANYMOREEEE THIS IS SUCH A SHITSHOW

“Strength as a leader is not about beating people down it’s about lifting people up” Bold words from a woman who is actively delighting in mocking her opponent, to be clear I think it is an objectively good thing, I simply think this is a hilarious thing to say ten minutes post Live Kamala Reaction

“NOW SHE WANTS TO DO TRANSGENDER OPERATIONS ON ILLEGAL ALIENS IN PRISON”

Most of what trump says is just bloviating nonsense but I am noticing that Kamala Harris is very good at making her words sound nice while not actually saying much of substance. This is not a specific indictment against her because it’s a very Politician thing, but she isn’t actually saying much here.

[moderator] So do you acknowledge now that you lost the 2020 election

[trump] No it was obviously sarcasm

[moderator] I did watch all of the videos where you said that and I didn’t detect the sarcasm.

Trump, on Biden: I’ll let you in on a little secret, [Biden] hates her *pointing to Harris*

Okay so Harris is a proponent of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine and is opposed to civilian mass-murder. I don’t even know how to begin to touch that with a ten foot pole and the whole situation feels so confusing to me in general. Overall she seems Anti-Civilians-Being-Slaughtered in the name of self-defense but then in the same breath assures that Israel needs support to defend itself from Iran so. Wow sounds like a whole mess of colonization practices that have deliberately destabilized a region that can’t easily be nuanced in a single answer

[Trump] “If she becomes President Israel won’t exist within two years” God I wish Harris was half as cool as he makes her out to be.

“I WOULD GET [PUTIN AND ZELENSKY] ON THE PHONE AND GET THE WHOLE THING SETTLED.”

Kamala Harris PUTIN WOULD EAT TRUMP FOR LUNCH put that on a check and take it to the bank I love national television

I love Harris essentially dishing the hot goss on Trump negotiating with the Taliban. Is this the platform to do it? No. But this is practically kayfabe at this point anyway. Do I even care

What a shitshow. Harris has zero high horse here, she refused to answer basic questions about position in an attempt to remain bipartisan, Trump endlessly blathered about nonsense. Kamala Harris won the debate, but to be frank, trump could lose to a mildly literate dog.

[anxiousgaypanicking]

Eating Out

!a series of me uploading the kinktober fics/drabbles i made years ago because i didnt back in 2020 for some fuckin reason. if these are bad/poor quality its because theyre old, and ive improved since then :)!

Losleep (Remy x Logan) Day 2: Eating out Warnings: eating ass

"You know, Thomas can't really fall asleep with his brain running a mile a minute," Remy said, leaning against the logical traits door with a sweet smelling coffee in hand.

"It's practically impossible for anyone to run a mile per minute," Logan responds, eyes not moving from computer screen. He continued typing, as he continued explaining. "The world record time for the fastest mile run is three minutes and forty three seconds."

Remy rolls his eyes. "You know what I meant."

"I don't."

"For someone who claims to be so smart-"

"Don't."

Remy grinned, and he could see Logan hunch over slightly. Remy whistled, strolling fully into the room.

"Sitting like that is bad for your posture, babe," Remy advises him, moving to stand right at the side of the chair. He takes a large sip of his coffee, before setting it down on Logan's desk. That gets Logan to stop.

He glares at Remy. "Move that. My workspace is not a place for you to leave your trash."

"This is half full. Far from trash, if ya ask me."

"Well, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I have work to do, Sleep, and you do too. Thomas shouldn't be awake at this hour."

Remy rolls his eyes again. "You think I don't know that? Bitch, the first thing I said when I walked in was that Thomas couldn't sleep. And that's not entirely my fault. I can only do so much for him. His brain is keeping him awake."

Logan sighs, staring at Remy for a few seconds, and Remy believes he's won.

But then, Logan just turns back to his work, causing Remy to let out a groan.

Well, guess he'd have to use force.

He gripped the back of Logan's chair, before spinning it so that he and Logan were face to face.

"For someone who wants best for Thomas, you sure aren't trying very hard," Remy says, roughly grabbing Logan's chin and pulls their faces close together.

Logan's eyes go wide for a minute, before they narrow. He goes to retaliate, but Remy beats him to it.

"Sitting that close to a screen will hurt your beautiful eyes babe. Give you a headache too. But you've already had one, if not more of those. Don't think I didn't notice the bottle of Ibuprofen on your desk." He releases Logan's chin, and instead, grabs Logan's wrists and pulls him up and out of the chair.

"Tell me, why can't you just put this stuff off until tomorrow?"

"Because it needs to be done tonight-!"

"Oh? It needs to be done tonight?" He pushes Logan onto the bed.

"That's what I just-"

"You know what else needs to be done tonight? A whole lotta sleepin', and I'm willing to help our host in any way that I can," Remy purrs, crawling onto the bed after Logan. "And if that means helping you destress in order to do so, then so be it."

Remy's now positioned so that he's straddling Logan's lap, hunched over Logan as Logan's back is pressed to the bed.

Logan's hands are on Remy's shoulders, but Remy can tell Logan's mind is still on his work.

So Remy's hand slides down and grips Logan's tie, pulling it so that Logan's face is once again close to his. His other hand is busy rubbing up and down Logan's side, an all too comforting gesture that greatly contrasted with how intensely he was staring down Logan.

"May I?" Remy suddenly asks, a smug smirk creeping onto his face.

Logan, getting the implications, spared one last look at his computer, before sighing out a tired "you have my consent." Remy grinned, wasting no time as he worked to strip Logan, Logan helping as best he could.

Although, there really wasn't a need to, considering how quickly Remy tore the clothes off of him.

"I believe this is less to help me destress and more to satisfy your high sex drive," Logan states, frowning when Remy removes his glasses from his face.

He can still see somewhat decently, but he prefers to wear them in order to avoid getting headaches.

Remy then removes his own sunglasses, revealing his own dark brown eyes.

"I won't be satisfying myself in any way," Remy counters, his hands roaming over Logan's nude body. It was stiff and rigid, as if Logan was incapable of relaxing.

Knowing him, it probably was.

Logan was surprisingly fit, though, which Remy would be more surprised about if he hadn't already seen Logan shirtless. He had broad shoulders, but looked to just be skinny and lanky when you looked at him normally.

But naked? He was well toned, his arms and legs definitely held muscle, and-

"Remy, can you hurry up?" Logan asks, voice rather irritated. Remy tsks, hands coming to rest on Logan's thighs.

"I was just admiring your body," Remy says, as he spreads Logan's thighs apart. Out of nowhere, he slaps the inside of one of them, and Logan lets out a mix between a squeak and a whine. He then glares at Remy, while Remy just grins.

"Can you flip yourself over for me please, love?" Remy asks, hands massaging Logan's thighs.

Logan does as he says and flips himself onto his hands and knees, before saying "I thought you wouldn't be satisfying yourself in any way," clearly expecting Remy to fuck him.

He gasps, and is rather caught off guard however, as he feels a wet muscle prodding at his entrance.

He instinctually pushes himself back on it, only for the stimulation to disappear almost immediately.

Logan whines, and he hears Remy chuckle behind him, his hands going back to running over Logan's body.

"Remy..." Logan whines out, and Remy's hands pause where they are. He bends over Logan's back, lips hovering right above Logan's ear.

"Yeah babe?" Remy responds, voice quiet and low. Logan whines in response.

He was embarrassed to admit that his cock was fully hard, just from the touches and light stimulation. He didn't partake in sexual acts often, so his body was rather sensitive when it came to this sort of thing.

"Are you really going to make me ask?"

Remy grins at Logan's rushed out question, before he places a kiss to the side of Logan's head.

"Nah. Guess not. I'm here to help, although, I'll admit that hearing you beg is a pretty hot thought," he answers, pressing a kiss between Logan's shoulder blades. Logan just rolls his eyes.

He feels Remy's hands running over his body yet again, and found himself getting a bit irritated, as he assumed that Remy wasn't going to give him what he wanted. That was, until, he felt Remy spread his cheeks, and his tongue back at his asshole.

Logan whined, pushing his face into the pillows, as Remy held his ass up with his hands holding tight around his waist.

Remy's tongue is lapping at Logan's asshole, before he slowly prods the entrance. Logan let out a shaky breath at the action, pushing back on the muscle.

Remy begins to thrust his tongue in and out of Logan's ass, the logical side, gasping and moaning at the actions.

In a matter of time, Logan was gasping out that he was close, his own hand coming to work his cock. He moaned as he began jacking himself off, Remy continuing to thrust into his ass as his hands massaged Logan's hips.

Logan came with a whine, before Remy pulled his tongue out and released Logan, said man falling into his own mess on the bed.

He let out a slightly disgusted noise, as he landed in his own come.

"I need to wash my sheets now," he mutters, and he hears Remy laugh.

"Yeah, you do. You could probably also use a shower. Buuuuut," Remy drew out the word as he shrugged off his jacket and pulled off his jeans, before crawling into bed with Logan. "You can always do that tomorrow," he finishes, pulling Logan to his chest, holding him rather tightly in case he planned on escaping.

Knowing Logan, he'd probably just get right back up early tomorrow and continue working, but for now, Logan could use some sleep. And he was finally relaxed enough to get some.

[mynewchapter]

Wow!! I didn’t realize I never shared my story of my fur-children. Rescued.

Long read.

TLDR:

Long story short, I had to give my cat Hitome to my parents 10 years ago because my brother-in-law is allergic to cats, in 2013 my parents got a second cat named Shadow. In 2021 my mom ended up moving to a LTC home, and my father was going to give way the cats. I decided I didn't want to risk her at a shelter. Last week our plans were moved up because my father ended up in the hospital. She was so matted, broke my heart. I found a vet that was able to sedate her and shave her. We hesitated but took in Shadow too (we live in a basement). Both cats are now both loved, spoiled, healthy, and happy.

So a little bit of a backstory. Back in 2009 I got a 6 week old kitten, I named Hitome (domestic long hair). She was quite special, in the sense that she didn’t like being pet (she’d follow you, just no touchie),she was picky with her food, and would only eat at the table. She lived with me until 2010, when I gave her to my parents. I was moving in with my sister and her husband was allergic to cats.

Main story

For the first few years she was good there. My parents wanted to get another cat...Hitome is an alone cat and I told them as such, don’t get another cat. My idiot father choose not to listen to me and adopted Shadow (domestic short hair).

When Hitome got older she stopped grooming herself and she started getting terrible mattes. So my parents would go to the pet store near by and got her shaved. When the store stopped dealing with cats, they got a local groomer to come to their apartment and would get her shaved. After her last shave in 2018, my parents told me she was allowing them to brush her, no more mattes. All was good! The last time I visited them was early 2019. Hitome was matte free and everything was good. Sadly I didn’t visit their home for the rest of the year, until late 2020 and that was to grab something so I didn’t see my cat.

In Jan 2021 my mother came down with Covid. It was pretty much touch and go, she ended up going to a LTC in May. The first chance in May my sister and I could grab things for my mother, while there I found Hitome in such terrible matted fur. I was furious. My father made bullshit excuses of why they allowed her to get to that. He also told me that he didn’t want to take care of the cats anymore and thinking of taking them to a shelter. Since at this time Hitome was 12 and doesn’t like being touched, I knew the only one to give her the love she needed was back with me. We weren’t sure about Shadow (story in a bit). But we weren’t sure when we could grab her.

The time to pick her up was forced onto us, when my sister and I discovered that my father had be unconscious, no food or water, and delusional for 3 days at his front door...with two cats inside.He was in the hospital for about 3 weeks. Between work and both my sister and I living far away from my parents, for a week we could only go every 3 days to see the cats, that were sadly alone in the home. I tried to make sure they had a ton of water, a lot of dry food and every time I went over I gave them wet food. Still horrifies me thinking of that time.

Since I wasn’t sure how she would react to being shaved, I found a vet that could shave Hitome but also sedate her if needed be, I brought her over for a checkup and a shave.She had a clean bill of health, minus some stress...which was like...DUH!

I didn’t take her out of the kennel until we got home and once she went to roam free....I cried when I saw her fully shaved, how much pain was relieved. My parents told me she couldn’t jump anymore and assumed because she was old. It took a few months before we had evidence that she could still in fact jump and that it was the matting that prevented her. We did buy her some steps for the bed though, since she is getting older.

I’ve had her for 1.5 years now and I know she’s happy. She’s spoiled. She also has regular vet visits, grooming visits

Now on to Shadow.

Even though I told them not to get another cat, my stupid father got one. All I know about Shadow is that was they got him from a shelter, he was able 6 months old. Hitome was 4-years-old. I’m also not sure how they got along.

Shadow was adorable and friendly when I first met him. But things changed after my mother had a stroke in 2018. When I visited Shadow would attack me. Everyone else that visited when I was over, he seemed all friendly with, but me he was an asshole. This was one of the reasons I wasn’t sure if I could bring him home.

In a sense, I’m thankful for the pandemic, because so many shelters were full and couldn’t take him. Also, with him being a black kitty, he might have had worse luck being adopted. I spent the whole week they were alone at the apartment trying to find someone who could take him. My (now husband) fiance and I live in a basement and weren’t sure if we could have room for two cats. But he saw the stress I was in. He originally thought I said that Shadow was an asshole so was hesitant, I clarified that he was only an asshole to me, he loves everyone else. So we took him to the vet (got a matte shaved off his back) and a check up. He was healthy too.

Sadly, we found that he was attacking me, because after my mom had her stroke the caring of the cats went downhill. So the only time Shadow would get attention would be when he attacked my father’s legs. He has grown out of it (mostly) and is now one of the bestest boys I’ve ever had and is just as spoiled as his sister.

Also, even though they lived together for 8 years, Hitome hates Shadows guts. She will growl at him whenever she sees him (we’ve tried everything). So at night they are separated and never left unsupervised. But there are times when Hitome is sleeping where Shadow will take a nap near her.

I’m sad I lost 10 years with my baby girl, but I’m defiantly making up for it now. 

If you got this far, thanks for reading along.These are my two prides and joys.

[bllsbailey]

Freedom Feels Different in a Red State: Alabama Launches Ammo Vending Machines

In the world of retail modernization, this story is number one with a bullet.

Is there anything more 20th-century American than vending machines? They revolutionized life in the 1900s. By 1890, New York City had placed automated chewing gum dispensers on its railway platforms; soft drinks were delivered by mechanical means in 1937; and back in the social Stone Age, Americans used machines to secure their cigarettes.

Person-free peddling appliances have also gotten political. In California, machines have meted out marijuana; in heavily Democratic Connecticut, they've dealt abortion drugs. But red states have their own ways of revolutionizing life for the masses. And in the southeast, the self-service industry has gotten a 2nd-Amendment-themed update. 

From Al.com Wednesday:

Two grocery stores in Alabama...have an automated vending machine that dispenses ammunition.

The boxy, high-tech bullet brokers -- constructed by a company called American Rounds -- use facial recognition to confirm each buyer's identification. Once a photo ID is received, a 360-degree scan is performed.

Such news calls to a defining difference between regions of the country. For years, Californians have had to undergo background checks to acquire ammo. The political machine there seems stacked against those who relish the right to bear arms. Meanwhile, AL is the opposite of LA.

And where might firearm owners in the Yellowhammer State acquire their vended cartridges? The grocery store, of course.

More from Al.com:

The machines can currently be found at Fresh Value locations in Tuscaloosa...and Pell City... The company plans to expand to other locations in Alabama as well, according to CEO Grant Magers. Magers said the Pell City store approached the company about installing one of the machines, thinking it was a “good opportunity for their customer base.”

Sometimes you just need some milk, eggs, and 9mm 115-grain jacketed hollow points.

In a promotional video, Fresh Value COO Terry Stanley claimed a win with store patrons: 

“Anything that we can do to help them make their shopping trips easier. Based on the feedback that we’ve gotten from customers...they are so excited about us having this ammo kiosk."

Innovation in the realm of munitions sales makes sense; thanks in part to 2020's riots, the gun market hasn't exactly waned:To be clear, Alabama isn't the first state to see a machine that bestows bullets. Eight years ago, Fort Worth's Shoot Smart chain introduced the first such convenience to be offered at a Texas shooting range:But Alabama appears a pioneer in adjoining guns and groceries.

And stop the presses -- there's been some very recent recoil. On Friday, WVTM competitor ABC 33/40 reported the Tuscaloosa machine is being benched:

[T]he legality of the machine was questioned during a pre-council meeting on July 2nd.  ... During the meeting, Councilman Kip Tyner said; "I got some calls about ammunition being sold in grocery stores, vending machines, the vending machines. Is that? I mean, I thought it was a lie. I thought it was a joke -- but it's not."

Nope.

As to Councilman...Tyner's question about whether these machines are legal? The city of Tuscaloosa's legal department says they are, provided they are installed in retail businesses with appropriate zoning.

Per ABC, the manager of a different Fresh Value location claims Tuscaloosa's kiosk has suffered lackluster sales.

Regardless, Oklahoma has followed Alabama with American Rounds installments in supermarkets.

Is AI-vended ammo the way of the future? In red states, maybe. In woker regions, such installations would see grocery stores requiring trigger warnings.

Whatever the fate of robotic bullet sales, surely we can all agree that the future looks stunningly strange.

-ALEX 

[gavrannoir]

I want to talk for a moment about Bill Maher.

I remember, as a child, my parents being upset when he was pulled off of the air after 9/11. The cancellation of his show was a direct result of a conversation he had with Dinesh D’Souza where Maher said, "we have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, [it's] not cowardly." [check the “9/11 Controversy and Cancellation” section on Politically Incorrect’s Wikipedia page for more info]

My parents loved watching him on ABC because they thought he was honest and cut to the bone of an issue. It’s been over 20 years since his first show was cancelled and my parents have gone from not being able to afford cable to having an HBO subscription and living comfortably in one of the most expensive areas of the US. They now watch Real Time with Bill Maher, which was picked up by HBO in 2003, but my parents didn’t start watching until 2014 at the earliest.

I remember being so excited to watch it with them, because I was too young in the late 1990s and early 2000s to watch his previous show. I remember watching my first episode in the mid 2010s and thinking he had some funny one liners but overall he was mean and made me feel uncomfortable.

My understanding is that my parents and older brother (who lives with them) started watching Real Time regularly in 2020. I’ve been out of the house since 2014 and have not spent significant time in my parents’ home since. I’ve caught bits of Bill Maher’s show during visits and my discomfort just kept growing.

I’m visiting my parents right now and am about halfway through a month long visit. My first night here, my dad and brother started spouting some out-of-pocket opinions that genuinely shocked me to hear from either of them because they were deeply Islamophobic and they denied that the Israeli government and military is perpetrating genocide in Palestine. A few nights later, while getting ready for bed, I heard the opening chords of Real Time’s theme song and pretty soon later heard Bill Maher say almost word for word some of the talking points my brother and father had used.

Bill Maher isn’t a liberal any more let alone a progressive and he needs to stop masquerading as such. He is a racist, a queerphobe, a xenophobe, ableist, and probably other things since I have been fortunate enough not to be subjected to his rhetoric too frequently. Lately he’s been asked in interviews why he’s been speaking against the left so often in addition to the right and he has said that “[i]t’s not me who’s changed; it’s the left, who is now made up of a small contingent who’ve gone mental, and a large contingent who refuse to call them out for it.” I would venture to say he is right in that he is not the one to have changed. He has always been, as I complained to my husband a few weeks ago, someone who thinks cruel is cool. I think that we have societally shifted the left’s Overton Window enough to no longer include him in the definition. At best, these days Maher is a centrist, but really I think he’s a conservative (not an alt-righter).

Fox News talking heads like to recite a quote misattributed to Winston Churchill: ‘If you’re not a liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re old, you have no brain.’ (The young ones in particular like to grin while reciting this as though they’ve surpassed love and gone straight to brain-in-a-jar status). The logic here, theoretically, is that liberalism is for the bleeding hearts with nothing to lose while conservatism is for those who have spent their lives building up their retirement plans and would be disrupted by a revolution. Really, though, I think it’s simpler than that. If society is always hoping for betterment, every generation is going to try pushing the envelope farther. If you live long enough and you choose not to keep yourself educated, you might become uncomfortable with where we’re sending the letter.

I hope Bill Maher gets more and more uncomfortable, because he doesn’t seem to be interested in learning.

[alarrytale]

It´s the anon who send you the blog link first asking for that larry denial by H.

I mean first thing nobody probably ever realize is that anyone can´t say "yes, larry is real but shhhh don´t tell anyone, it´s a secret" like what are everyone expecting as an answer to that question? Nobody will confirm it for multiple reasons we, larries, well know why and if anything, it will out them both, simple as it is. I wrote this point as a reaction for that ask but it´s not a larrie blog and not even open to larry so the answer to was that H never directly denied it but this time he supposedly denied it and that´s why that fan unlarried and disappeared. And of course the discussion (read more asks reacting to mine) went straight to how Louis denied larry multiple times and larries are lunatics who don´t believe him eventho he said it and said he´s straight, other anon said how larries ruined their cute friendship (classic one) and the person running that blog even said that they thought that Louis having a kid will make larries stop believing but they still believe it. So I left this blog because curate your fandom experience. So the final conclusion to this theme is that it´s not true?

And my addition to anon who wrote about being in a queer community and being the only one who believes H is queer. I came to this fandom as a solo het harrie who thought the same - he´s doing it only for attention, he has balls to wear extravagant and feminine clothes but he´s straight because he dated famous women only. What made me change my mind is literally digging into his queercoding, into his past actions (i mean baby boyfriends era when he was so obviously in love with Louis, hello?), him visiting gay club in like 2012, him saying how he´s open with his sexuality to his family and close friends, him obviously reading MP on Feb 2020 when nobody knew what will come next month and next year doing everything to get the role of Tom Burgess, him singing about poppers and aknowledging it, his gay stylist calling him Sue/Angel Sue and H calling him like that as well. Or the whole chapter called rainbow bears, hello!!! And I can continue. You don´t even need to go that deep under the surface and just look at his neck wearing feminine pearly necklace and bananad*ck for years (and it´s still there when you zoom the latest pap shots, yay!) like no straight man would do that so yes, that´s queercoding as well and it´s not part of the costumes. So I think it´s way too easy to just say he´s doing it all for attention and you just have to be openminded and just go under the surface and look for all those evidence. Just like I did last year and it took me like 2 months of exploring it all. It´s just sad that most queers don´t recognize him as queer but guess that´s the result of years of gaslighting and him being deep in his closet which means it works. But I still think most people noticed him only recently (2019-2022) and so they just don´t have any idea that he´s been like that since he was 16 because it´s been way too long ago.

Hi, anon!

Harry has never denied larry (if you're not counting the sunrise interview). Louis has done it plenty of times (none of it convincingly).

I agree with you that if people actually look into H they'll come to understand that he's gay and not queerbaiting, nor breaking down toxic masculinity. He's queercoding because he's gay. It might take a bit of research to come to understand that he's gay. Casual fans might not look up the video diaries where he's drooling over Louis or read his magazine interviews. So they'll continue to assume he's straight. As long as the tabloids cover his PR/bearding relationships and he has two different personalities on and off stage, they wont have a clue.

[thewomanwhowatchedchristmas]

A California Christmas (2020)

Interesting title choice for this film, because it does take place in California, but not big metropolitan city California. Wine country California. Which does feel like a very different vibe. The most important question I have is does it snow anywhere in California with any seasonal regularity?

Our story opens on Joseph (Josh Swickard) who is clearly very good at being a rich playboy who doesn't worry about much in his life. His mother, Amy Van Aston (Julie Lancaster), threatens to cut him off from his lifestyle if he doesn't get this farm girl to sell her land to them for a shipping center or something. Amy tells Joseph that the only thing he's good at is getting young women to do what he wants, so he has until Christmas to get her to sign the contract.

Callie Bernet (Lauren Swickard) is the farm girl in question. Also on the farm is her sick mother Wendy (Amanda Detmer) and younger sister Hannah (Natalia Mann). Callie has been trying to make ends meet for a while and still hasn't found a solution, but desperately wants to keep the farm because her father passed away three years prior and her mom's days are dwindling. Also popping in and out a few times is Connor (Gunnar Anderson), a local guy who has taken it upon himself to be a bit too involved in Callie's life since her fiance died three years ago (in a car accident with her dad, also Callie was in the car and was the only survivor).

Leo (Ali Afshar), Joseph's personal assistant, is driving Joseph to the farm to talk about the deal when he hits a pot hole and Joseph spills coffee all over himself and has to change. The only clothes in the car are things Leo was going to donate, so Joseph changes out of his suit into an old t-shirt and jeans. They get to the farm early and Joseph walks up while Callie and Hannah are helping a cow give birth. They see Joseph and think he is the new farmhand they hired to help for the season, and Joseph rolls with it. Once he's alone, he calls Leo and tells Leo to find the real Manny (David Del Rio) and stop him from coming to the job because Joseph needs more time to get to know Callie before he can convince her to sell.

We all see where that's going, but the real plot twist is the unlikely friendship that occurred between Manny, farmhand and COD player, and Leo, wine connoisseur. Their relationship is like a bit that keeps going throughout the movie, and it did kind of lead into the resolution, so that was really fun.

This movie is mostly just a thirst trap for farm laborers, but it's also pretty fun to watch. The acting is surprisingly good for a formulaic movie style and genre, but the main characters are married in real life, so that probably helps the chemistry on screen. There is a sequel to this that I am excited to watch for tomorrow's review. Overall, 4 stars.

[soulfulscriptor]

1 month update

It has roughly been a month since I decided to do online side gig and turn them into a functional, profitable business. So the plan has always been to go into business for myself, but I needed Accounting and Finance degrees plus certifications and work experience/networking.

Well you can see that hasn't happened yet. Granted I've been in the, I need to be financially free mindset for about 7 years now. And I had vision blinders on to the point I was blind to all the options out there in the world. I could have been a multimilionair if A. I continued making AMV's and stuff that I was making for fun in highschool and freshman year of college.

So that was right around when YouTube went live. I was in highschool 2004-2009, so you can imagine if I kept on being creative over the last 2 decades, what sort of money that would have brought in. Granted I didn't know until probably 2015, that one could make money off YouTube. Those video's are still live, and some have thousands of views for low quality stuff where I just got pictures off the internet and made a video, sometime putting hours of work into them, until I liked them.

And if I didn't get bored easily of gaming, my gaming channel could have been monitized 7 years ago. Granted no personal computer, so only being able to record on a PS4 at the time, and no way to edit stuff, made me just stop playing all together. Though there will always be potential for the channel to start having videos posted to it again.

But honestly, I thought the markets for everything had been tapped out. I personally don't think I can solve problems, or at least see a problem that needs a new or better solution to what's out there. To myself I'm not creative, as I have a hard time articulating what I'm trying to do, and sometimes it could take months or years for me to finally say or ask what I'm trying to do.

YouTube has away of giving me what I need before I know I need it. And it's been doing that since 2019/2020, though I wish it could have prevented my financial crisis I had that year.

So enough back story.

So 1 month into giving it my to create a better life for my kids. I've had $0 profit. My etsy shops need to be gone through for a 3rd time, and SEO optimized again. I'm struggling with titling things and descriptions and tags. And so far no amount of YouTube video's are helpful besides telling me, you need to figure this sh*t out.

My YouTube channels are Ok. My Ambience Channel is being neglected a bit, but at the same time, like Etsy, I'm struggling with SEO creative optimization to make people want to click the videos, and I don't have the ability to get the software to make the video's longer than 30 minutes at the moment.

And for me, as I've been utilizing Frequencies, Ambient noises, and such for almost 4 years now (YouTube suggested to me, when I was struggling with being able to sleep), it's something I not only want to do for myself and kids, but I want to give to others. But that channel ain't going too great right now.

My Fact channel, the one you see some blogs about, is going decent. I'm hoping I can monetize it before the school year starts up in August. I have some series ideas for the channels though so I'm hoping that will help. I'm doing decently keeping all my stuff SEO optimized for this one, as it's facts and information and education in general, it's alot easier to create things that the algorythm can get out to the public.

I'm fully aware if I had better software to make high quality content I probably would have been monitized already. But if I want to add clips that aren't from places like pixabay, I first have to record the clips from my phone, put it in my google drops box, and than download to the laptop I use for my day job. And sometimes that can take hours to get to the drop box.

But I'm not letting that stop me, and I plan to remake old conent in the future when I have better equipment, and can get an extra hand to find clips that the public would like, because what I like and what everyone finds high qulaity isn't the same.

I also generate AI art for Adobe stock, no sales there, but my subscription to the AI just renewed today, so I need to get some more art up there, and make sure these ones are more creative in the titling, descriptions and tags. I let Adobe fill it all in for me for my 1st 40 images, and I"ll be honest they weren't great.

I had just got done watching a side hustle video with this as an idea, and I just rushed through it. Lesson learned, and now I plan to take my time and find what works for me.

Then I have a good friend (whom I call Krispy) we met in a game I've been for 3y now, and that's his in game name. And he thought affiliate marketing would a good idea.

So call me crazy I'm trying it, well doing it. Had to get a business account for pintrest, which I never use pintrest. I've been very anti social media, as even though I want to be out there, I don't want to be out there. At least not out there with pictures or videos of myself.

I'm always on the fence about it with my own kids. Social Anxiety for the win, am I right?

And I've made $0 off that as of today as well. So, money made $0, expenses probably close to betwenn $500 and $1k. But I'm sticking it through. A couple of things I've gotten have 1 year subscription plan, so I don't have to worry too much about losing video software, and other things are free.

I'm working on turning my losses around, by bloggin, sharing links to my stuff and just optimizing what's already out there.

If you've made it to the end, thanks for reading. I hope you can read more of blogs and check out some of my YouTube Channels or Etsy Shops. I appreciate everyone who reads about my adventure.

[vertical-dreams]

5.30.23

All right. I  wrote this out once and accidentally erased it. Here was the gist of it, for more or less.

wow, here we are

back on my bullsh*t

I don’t think I would have imagined myself right here right now. 

But that’s okay.

I don’t know why I had a crush on the guy that I did (I didn’t even know him) but then again, we didn’t stray too far from the past.

I saw that guy the day before yesterday, and btw best friend, you absolutely could have. Please stop undervaluing yourself. Recognize your worth. Maybe, just maybe, go for it? (in the future, not that context! because honestly...)

So, dear friend. You’ve had a crush for about two years now on a man (... on the idea of a man. This is important.) you met twice in the late summer of 2020. It feels silly, I hope it hasn’t been a waste of time. But I guess nothing is a waste of time, it’s just shaping you into who you are (so use it wisely--or not; maybe just have fun with it). I saw him 3 days ago, on a Saturday. It was exciting. It was different than I imagined it would be. I have spent so long trying to remember what he sounded like, how tall he stood, how he acted, and when the moment came I was so overwhelmed that I didn’t notice much of it at all. He sounded more confident than when we last met, which I think was more intimidating. He said the word “porch” so oddly, in a downeastern accent (he is not from downeast). He lives in the neighboring town now, about 12 minutes away. I waved at him when he walked in the room, he waved back. My wave was eager and fast, his was slow, hesitant, awkward, in conjunction with a surprised yet mild “he-ey.” He knelt down beside his grandfather to speak to him, on one knee rather than the two I had been on in the same exact spot shortly before his arrival. I helped him move an exercise bike (well, he was helping me to move it/doing it all by himself). I got it stuck on the door and mumbled “sorry” and he said “it’s all right” or something to that effect. It was kind of awkward, and kind of sweet. I feel so far behind him. I feel like I’ve missed out on a chance for a sweet, awkward, naïve love. He turned on a light for me in a dark corner, mumbling something about “let me get that for ya.” And, as I so often do, I shied away, avoiding eye contact, not saying the thank you I had meant to. I don’t understand why I do that.

*edit: I saw him, once, twice, since then. Maybe the last I ever will. :-/ Once, in early July, on a Monday afternoon at the local grocery store (I think. Judging by the beans sticker, which was alongside a darth vader sticker and another odd symbol I could not place with multiple lines that created a triangle shape). He was carrying a brown bag out to his silver canyon. The most recent, on the fourth of August, at his grandfather’s service. I released soooo many fluids from my face holeeessss. Was in desperate need of a tissue. Could not obtain. Anywho, he had the bottom half of his head shaved. Inch-resting choice, he seemed sweet like before. I took peeks at him, seeing him wipe is eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose from above his glasses. He was wearing a blue shirt and bean boots (??? in the middle of summer). I overheard bits and pieces of his conversation with a cousin (not intentionally! I think) about his work schedule affecting throwing his sleeping schedule out of whack and about his roommate letting him... ??? maybe play in his band I couldn’t hear (not that I was trying, obviously! :-) .) He walked up beside me later on to join his sisters and my family. I smiled and he smiled back. He thanked my grandfather for being such a good friend to “Grampy,” to which my Grampy responded with a light chuckle and “my pleasure”. My grandfather mentioned the cat and our dogs being put down, and he said something to the effect of “I’m sorry” and “what happened? why did you have to put them down?” I kinda zoned out but also zoned in. idk! Before that I had also said a comment about “If you move into [his grandfather’s] house (which was supposed to be a thing!), I hope you like cats.” with a smile and he smiled and said he does. and then something about how he thought all of his grandparents cats just seemed to stumble on into that house. I smiled and the subject moved on to Buddy, but that was all that I had said. except for something about my grandfather eating too much corn, that it couldn’t be healthy for a human (but I wasn’t the one who brought that up!). He picked up flowers from the grave and brought them back to his truck (?) to go to the house. I would like greatly to see him again, many times again. Lord, may I have that chance. *

*edit no. 2* coming in hot on december 12, 2023 baby! ok so. feels weird writing this but hey it’s not like i have a ton of friends to tell so i will tell it to my empty blog instead. that was not him at the grocery store, my man drives a chevy (just a boy in a chevy truck, had a tendency of getting stuck on back roads at night) ok ok i am here. i guess a lot of guys just look like that (good for me, hello options)! sooooo i embarrassingly told his FATHER that i wanted to be his FRIEND in september and asked about him moving in. I talked about a lot of stuff, practically pulled a punisher on the guy (according to ms brittany broski--like when you corner someone at a party talking about something). so that was mighty embarrassing and I shudder at the thought that THAT is how that man will remember me by (because I might not see him again! life is strange) (but also he is just a man. so is his son. everyone is just some guy. huh). anywhooooo, i was proud of myself for doing ~something~ even if that thing was. hey. so embarrassing. that guy did move in next door btw, in like early november. annnnnnnnnd on Friday the 8th? of December, you did go talk to him. On thursday the 7th, however, you made cookies, checked to see that he was there, hyped yourself up for like 10 minutes, and went over and he was GONE but fear not, your footprints around the house stayed ❤️ but on friday you went over and knocked 4 times and said hi (hi) and asked if this was a bad time (no) and are you sure and can i *points in house* (yeah) and the house was messy and that kind of make me feel better and this man was in a gray ROBE over like some PJs and he had shaved MORE of his head so he just has like. a short little ponytail in the middle of his head? told him i had a few questions mostly about the cat -- do you know where he went to the vet? i think he said he needed shots this month but don’t know where or which ones. (no i don’t know) also do you still have the cat carrier (yes, right here and this is how it works and this one is broken but it still works etc. etc.) do you mind if i take it (no) and about the vet thing, i wasn’t sure if there was an appt set up for this month (let me check, can’t find anything) sorry for just barging in and if you find out can i just give you my number so you can text me and i don’t have to barge in again (sure, i know i have paper, here’s paper, and let me get) oh from his cup of pens (yeah haha oeeeee *bc he dropped something and squee’d*) here annnd this one is embarrassing but i’ll regret if i don’t ask... do you or your dad or your uncle have the bean soup recipe (no, that was one thing that i forgot to ask him before he left, idk i can ask uncle eddie on fb. i think it’s pretty simple) yeah but idk what the base is (i know it’s a matter of soaking the beans overnight and i think he was planning on making it again bc he had this *got into freezer and pulled out* salt pork) oh that might have been me because i was talking to him about it, but i wouldn’t have known that was in there. (yeah and there’s ham, my dad doesn’t like this so he added ham to it, too)

actually what am i doing right now i am so smart and accomplished and funny and beautiful and i am writing a blog post? all forlorn like? ridiculous. kinda sweet. but still!! anyway might as well finish because here we are

yadda yadda do you like pumpkin? (my voice was like at a whisper here, couldn’t help it, it was quivering when i was trying to talk louder) and he leans his head down, eyes up at me and says in a whisper to match mine “yes, i love pumpkin” and so i asked ‘do you want these? they are pumpkin chocolate chip’ and he said ‘yes, i would’ or something like that. then i said also another thing is you might be fine here but if you ever want to hang out sometime i am like. 30 feet that way. and i am in need of friends who still live in the state. (btw you know what response i got to that? not a ‘yeah, for sure, sounds good, etc. i got a “yeah, it’s nice to have friends so close” ... damn okay? wtf did i do to hurt you?? like seems like he might as well have said no. maybe he is just as painfully awkward as i am. or maybe i am just naïve. anyway i am like ‘okay i think that’s it’ and grab the cat carrier and head out the door. and while i’m stepping over the threshold he goes ‘oh hey, nice boots’ and i go ‘thanks! the color surprised your grandpa, he said i thought they only made those in brown, and i was like ... surprise’ (i think it was something to that effect idk) and he goes ‘yeah they make them in a lot of colors. i saw a pair that had like a teal stripe and a white like base’ and i said ‘awww, cute!!’ (thinking what a weird thing to be talking about in the doorway?) and he goes ‘do you want them? they are like a 9, 9 and a half. do you think they’d fit?’ and i go ‘probably not. i got big ol’ feet cuz i’m a big ol’ girl’ (hey love. checking in. why did you say that? whatever, it was kinda cute in a very you way) and he laughed with his nose scrunched and his head turned to the left and then i said ‘bye!’ and he said bye and that was it. and just as when i was walking in, as i was walking out the wind blew and a light dusting of snow fell from the tree near the staircase and i paused and looked up and admired it for a second as it fell on my face and all around me and then i went on my way. and he texted about the vet and i said sweet, thank you! and i have already made it embarrassingly clear twice that i want to hang out with him so i think i have done my part, and whatever happens happens. i know i will find what is meant for me.*

*edit no. who cares: 12/17/23 hey, checking in just to say that this has all been fine and lovely and whatever it has been. but you do not want to be with somebody who does not want to be with you. you do not want to be with somebody who does not want to be friends with you. (also he didn’t even say anything about the cookies 🍪 wtf! girl you put in werk. and they were yummy!) if he is not interested in being your friend, you are not interested in being his lover. your sweet, beautiful soulmate is out there. maybe it will take some trial and error to find them. that is perfectly okay. but they will know enough kindness to befriend you, and you should not have to worry about seeming desperate or lame, because you are so many beautiful, lovely things and *I* love you for all of those things, little dove. someone else will too and they will make that clear. it will all be okay, my love.*

Maybe one day I will have that love. For now, my own will do just fine.

You are so kind, smart, beautiful, funny, and loving, you sweet, sweet girl.