#is bible quoting cringe?

[deeplovelydark]

this might be a bit of a reach but I see the goldfinch as a sort of (reverse?) narnia narrative. when theo's with his mother he is in a magical place of happiness and contentment and when she dies he's expelled into the real world. the goldfinch is a symbol of what he's lost but also of the loss itself- the day his mother died. he (to his knowledge) keeps the painting in storage and doesn't look at it. it's a magical door which cannot be entered fully, because his childhood-his time in the magical land-is over. but theo is stuck with one foot in the door and another out. he participates in the real world only tangentially and lives on the memory of the past- a mirage that cannot be grasped. magical lands are often fraught with danger, specifically the danger of staying there for too long. do not overstay your welcome do not partake of its food. otherwise the dream will become a nightmare and you will never be able to leave. theo's in-between position means that he's tormented both by the real world and the magical land. boris steals the goldfinch from theo and that almost lead to his death by suicide- but in the end that is what creates the possibility for theo to move on with his life. whoever clings to his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall save it. boris returns the goldfinch to theo but now theo has the freedom to chose what to do with it. he no longer clings to it like a desperate child. and he choses to give it away. to pass it along. to share it with other people. to allow other people passage into the magical land while he goes on into other places and other lands.

[parasolyaa]

searching for moots yaaaay

basically most of the stuff abt me is on this mood board so uh yeah, if we have smth in common or you just wanna have someone to randomly exchange shrek memes with than let's be moots!

I have a weak idea of what moots are supposed to be, so to make it less awkward let's view it as being subscribed to each other, active on each others accounts and maybe chatting :)

I actually would love to make friends here, I enjoy talking, roleplaying or sending cringey tiktoks once a week!

also I am an extreme extrovert except for when I'm not, so if I randomly disappear from social media it's either cause my social battery died or there is a mass bombing :")

hope to find some moots here xoxo

[silly-boi-broski]

"I wrote this book for a few reasons: Because I wanted more stories about boys like me. Because I was angry. Because I still am. But mainly, I wanted to show queer kids that they can walk through hell and come out alive. Maybe not in one piece, maybe forever changed, but alive and worthy of love all the same. "That's what you'll find here. Terrible things, survival, love, and a future worth fighting for. "Sharpen your teeth, take up your fire, and let's do this."

"For the kids who sharpen their teeth and bite."

I will never be over this book, bro. Just looking back at the author note makes me want to reread it again and I've read it 5 times now. It's a book that makes me want to scream and cry and throw it across the room and vomit up my insides and finally yell at the people who hurt me in the past. It makes me want to reach out to the people I used to know because it reminds me of them. Because Theo reminds me of one of my old best friends because Benji reminds me of myself and so many other beautiful and hurt and angry people because Nick reminds me that I'm not the only one going through this shit right now, that just because I'm neurodivergent doesn't mean I'm automatically weak or broken or less than even though that's what so many people that I grew up around want me to belive. This book makes me feel so many fucking things at once, and I don't understand half of them, but I have never felt so seen. I have never felt so real and understood. I have exhausted my friends of sharing about it and gushing it, but I don't care because it's a book about boys like me and I can't get enough of it. For fucks sake, I could already recite half of the god damned bible verses in the book and it made me cringe everytime but it made me feel so fucking seen because I know that I'm not alone in thinking like that. I know other people know that pain of not being able to get away from those verses and quotes, no matter how hard I try.

Andrew Joseph White has tickled my brain and touched my heart in so many fucking ways with his writing, and I don't know how to feel about it, but I know for one thing now, no matter how much shit is thrown at me. I am not alone, because I am one of the kids who needs to sharpen their teeth, and bite.

[chaos0pikachu]

Man, I hope the emoji guy in the posters of the sitcom Bible is gonna play in IS Jes, because I think Bible is gonna be a cringe fail nerd who tries to be cool: one poster has him a pilot* costume, the other him in glasses with a handheld game console looking excited... with his zipper undone, and I need them to play another cringefail couple, 4 Minutes can NOT be the end of them together.

* As someone who works in an airport and so encounters pilots frequently, they are pretty ordinary and kinda boring. Cabin CREWS on the other hand... I never encountered a flight attendant I didn't wanna kiss, tbh

I've heard - but this isn't confirmed just like something I read on twitter so huge grain of salt - that BOC hadn't officially cast anyone for that sitcom role so the guy was just a stand-in.

I COULD speculate that the guy is/was Jes b/c this was - I think? - before he was officially announced as part of BOC/cast in 4Mins.

But don't quote me on that I'd have to check the dates lol

Idk if I'll watch b/c honestly comedy isn't my thing but I do love that BOC continues to try a wide variety of series, so I love the idea of a sitcom/comedy show for the studio (especially with their new actresses KT is so crush worthy man have y'all seen her kickboxing videos? whew) plus it'll be cool to see Bible further stretch his acting muscles. Comedy will be totally new for him which makes me really excited for him as an actor.

I would love to see Jes and Bible work together again, I know they were asked about it in an interview if they could do another series together what they'd like to do:

In the same interview they elaborate; Bible said he think Jes would play a great villainous char so he'd want to see that, while Jes said something with race cars b/c Bible loves F1.

Idk if Jes is ~officially~ apart of BOC on his Insta he does have BOC listed as his work contact so there's that. But I know he's still working with One31.

Personally I like the idea of the BOC actors doing both but I also dislike studio systems along with this idea that BL series are "lesser than" lakorns (this attitude is prevalent in western fandom too stop it please).

Either way I'd love to see them in a new series together, they're both strong actors and acting against Jes made Bible better.

My dream series from BOC would be a fantasy series, since they're the only Thai studio I could see investing money in such a project - Idol Factory came close with The Sign and I adore The Sign but it was half fantasy still great tho!

That or an assassins show cause I can already tell The Heart Killers is more squeecore/romcom than true blue assassins/hired killers and I have no interest in that.

Also for folks who may have missed it/need a reminder here's the announcement about said sitcom:

sidenote as someone who travels a lot for work that tidbit about pilots/flight crew is AMAZING thank you for that

[its-in-the-woods]

Coyote Head - Part 11 - Screams in the woods

master list

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part9, Part 10,

Pairing: Cooper Howard x Lucy Maclean 

Includes many other characters from Fallout

Synopsis: Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!”

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning:  Animal/people death, dead animal mutilation, general horror, religious themes, Alternative Universe, Slow Burn, Death, Aging, Family Feuding, Older Man/Younger Woman,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. So you have been warned. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

**Strap in and get ready for a ride kiddos**

Harris and Margie are looking between Cooper and Lucy, the Bible between them. Lucy had brought it over to show them and ask questions about the names on the front page, but she was now being stonewalled. The whole thing felt ridiculous, Lucy was still doubting the validity of any of what was happening.

“I don’t know about these names,” Harris said, looking over the names, his glasses making his eyes look huge. The large man had been on edge since they arrived, his shoulder scrunched body tight.

Lucy blows some air out through her nose, “You said you were lookin’ for the bible, the night me and Cooper got attacked.”

Margie glares at Harris, “Harris, for Saint Peter’s sake, just tell the girl what you know. Or I will piece together what I can, and give her what I know.”

Harris sighs, Cooper looking at Lucy trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Lucy shrugs at him, fiddling with her cup, her fingers itching for a cigarette. It had been a bad idea to start that up while all this stress was happening.

“Margie, you know I was never close with my Dad. Anything he knew about the bible was passed to Tim. Not to me.” Harris was still trying to skirt the subject, fingers twisting around each other as he looked at everyone. 

“Oh, horseshit!” Margie hollered, the little woman’s face going red, as she glared at him. Lucy was taken aback by the sudden outburst. “Fine. Fine.”

Margie stood up grabbing a black jar and pouring a tall glass. “None of you get any, 'cause I sure ain’t in the mood.” 

Harris, Lucy, and Cooper both cringing back as if being scolded with a belt. Lucy’s heart pounding as she tries to keep herself composed, hoping against hope she gets some answers. 

“Now, the MacLean’s have always had secrets. Their crops always good, and cows are always plump. Back in the day before vaccines, they barely ever lost a child. Heck, I barely ever saw any of them get sick.” Margie took a sip of her black drink. “Now we all had theories, all wondered what they were doing. They never cut back more forest than they needed, and always leased at low rates. Yet they wanted for nothing.”

Margie takes a moment to look at everyone, at the table, before she continues. 

“Then Albert died, and Tim took over. What Harris won’t tell y’all is that the whole family had been practicing devil magic.” Margie states no venom behind her words. “Bring offerings to this forest spirit, god, whatever. Not for me to judge.” 

Cooper fiddles with the edge of his cup, his shoulders moving forward, as he makes himself smaller. Lucy felt her stomach twist, she had never been religious, but calling it devil magic seemed too harsh. Even with the Anton Lavey quote in her Grandpa’s handwriting. 

“Whatever Tim did, it worked. But your Grandma was raised in the church. I loved Shirley and she put up with a lot of stuff. When Tim wanted to bring Hank into the fold.” Margie looked over at Harris.  “She said no. Said all of it had to stop, wasn’t going to be a part of it passing down.”

Harris shifts, taking his glasses off and putting them on the table. “As soon as Tim stopped, things started to go south. It wasn’t instant. It was little things, minor flooding in a field that had never flooded before. Seeds not taking as well as they should. Losing more calves than normal.” 

Margie nods, letting out a sigh, she got up and brought some glasses over. Pouring small amounts for each, before sitting down, still glaring at her husband as he speaks about his family.

“We wrote it off as a bad year.” Harris sighs, fiddling with the cup but not taking a sip. “But it kept getting worse, and worse. Blanche kept telling Harris that he needed to start doing the offering again.” 

Lucy took a sip of the black drink, it was bitter, but also strangely sweet, most likely gooseberries. 

“Shirley kept saying no, and then Blanche died.” Harris swallows, “Found her lying right by her chickens.” He finally takes a drink, wincing at the sweetness. “All her chickens were gone, and the thing had taken her eyes.” 

Cooper looks pale as he stares down at his cup, Lucy finishing hers in a quick swig. She rubs her hand along his knee hoping to help ease him. The thought of her great grandma laid out dead by her prized chickens was horrid.

“So, Tim decided it was time to start up again.” Harris says, “Shirley was beside herself, thought her husband had lost it. “

“But it worked,” Lucy spoke, “Things got better, crops grew, cows birthed easily, no one got sick anymore.” 

Harris nods, finally sipping the drink, “I didn’t want to believe it either. How could bringing a loaf of bread, or bundle of herbs, make the ground seem so much richer.” 

“Why didn’t you tell Lucy?” Cooper interjects, fingers running over the rim of the glass in several circles. 

Harris leans back, taking another small sip of the liquid, Margie pouring everyone a little more of the makeshift brew. 

“Tim said it ended with him.” Harris finally spoke, “When he came to tell me he was dying.” The man looked out into his yard, eyes glassy as he spoke. “He was different, it was the first time I’d seen him look so content with life. Tim kept going on and on about how it was finally going to be over. That he would finally be free, the whole family won’t have to worry anymore.”

“We should have told you Lucy, should have been more forward about the whole situation. But Tim was adamant it was over,” Margie adds, Lucy feels a cold spread of anxiety spill from her ribs out into her stomach. 

“But then we found the coyote head, us being attacked in the trailer,” Lucy states, “But you still kept it from me.”

“I didn’t think you’d be ready for this, especially after what happened. We wanted to give it some time. So you could heal before we dropped the family past on you.” Harris replies, reaching to squeeze Lucy’s hand. She pulls away, a feeling of betrayal still sitting tight in her chest. 

“You’ve barely been here two months,” Margie states trying to calm the room. “We know now, and we can help make it right.”

Lucy shakes her head, “We don’t even know what we need to make right.” She slides her chair backward. “We are going to go help John this afternoon. After that, we should all sit down and go over the journals and bible together, maybe?” 

Harris’ brows furrowed, “Lucy, I don’t think it’s wise to go in there. I know you want to help-”

“It’s my land, my property, my problem,” Lucy states as she stands up, “I am not sitting on the sidelines anymore.”

***

Lucy, Cooper, John, and Bert stand at the edge of the forest, Lucy had done up a crude map of the trails she could mostly remember. She had photocopied them so each person had one, radios, and compasses were passed around. Each ATV was checked over making sure fuel tanks were full. Guns carefully strapped into place, along with extra clips. Lucy hoped they wouldn't need them. On top of that they strapped on crates with rope, knives, tools, and first aid kits, along with anything else they might need. 

“So we each take a trail, stick to the path, mark it as we go so we can find our way out. The yellow fence line is parkland, we won’t go past that. Barbwire is either John’s land to the west or Cooper’s to the east. If you make it that far there should be gates that you can use to circle back up to the road. See anything-” Lucy stops her speech for a moment collecting herself. “I mean anything, weird, strange, cow, whatever, you radio. There is no point in any of us getting hurt. Sunsets around nine, but we should try to get out by no later than eight.”

The men nod, at her words, Lucy surprising herself by how calm and level-headed she felt. Not to mention the men listening to her, and not arguing with what she had to say. It felt odd being the one in charge, but this was also her land. It didn’t feel like hers, it didn’t feel like anyones, but if there was anyone who needed to be held accountable for it it was Lucy. She was tired and scared, but she was not going back down, not now.

“The radios we have should cover the whole area without an issue, if you run into issues and can’t get a hold of us come back here,” Cooper adds, making sure everyone nods. “All the families have been told if they don’t hear from us by nine to send emergency crews in.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Bert chirps, looking out towards the gaping mouth of the forest. 

Lucy inwardly cringing, she and Cooper had decided not to fill in the others about the supernatural possibilities. Having people scared would help no one. Lucy wasn’t even sure she fully believed any of it. Was something really haunting the woods? Was her grandfather really feeding it? Had it taken her Dad? 

“It’s just precaution,” John adds, peering towards their destination and waking Lucy from her musing. “Never know, better safe than sorry.” 

“Well, let’s get going.” Bert smiles, jumping onto the four-wheel, he starts it up and takes off towards the trees. 

Lucy feels her heart clench in her chest, a low ringing buzz just above the sound of the engine. She takes off after Bert, heading down southeast, Cooper goes directly east, Bert goes southwest, and John goes west. The trees had fully flushed out, leaves defusing the light, and the trails were clear despite having not been used much. She rode at a good clip, fast enough to keep moving but slow enough to take in what was around her. 

The radio sits on her handlebars crackled occasionally, Lucy wanted to stop every time it made a sound, but made herself continue. Every shadow, discoloration, and movement had her head turning. The further she went, the darker the place seemed to get. The hair on her arm starts to stand up, even under the heavy sweater. She couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, feeling like something was following her. Something was watching her, just on the other side of a tree or bush. 

Lucy stops as the radio crackles, her heart pounding in her chest, waiting to hear anything. When nothing came Lucy went to start up again, when a twig snapped to her right. Head turning almost painfully fast to look that way, nothing. Another snapped behind her, hair prickling at the back of her neck. Turning slower this time, Lucy nearly screams, as a black shadow slinks away behind a tree. 

Her hand is on the radio now, tensed up in a panic, her shoulder gathered up against her ears. With no other movement, she goes to turn the machine back on when it crackles.

“This is John, did someone else go directly west?” John’s voice crackles across the forest. Lucy grabs her compass from her pocket seeing that she is still pointing mostly southwest. 

“Lucy here, I am heading southwest,” Lucy replies, Bert comes over the radio saying that he is also mostly south. It was a tense moment before Cooper replies that he had turned so that he was going northeast. 

“Alright, umm, guess we’ll call that weird then. I am gonna start heading up the northwest side towards the gate.” John radios, before it goes silent again. She couldn’t help but hear the hesitation in his voice, whatever was out there had spotted them.

Lucy takes one last look around her, eyes narrowing in on the grey flesh of a stripped tree stump. She gets off her ATV and walks towards it, her heart thudding against her ears. The image of a fresh coyote head on top of stripped wood flashed in her mind. As she walks up to it she can see bones lying around. If you weren’t looking for it, it would have just blended into the forest. She stops a yard or so from it. The tingling feeling of anxiety rushes down her neck like cold water. 

Turning around in a full circle Lucy could just see further another stump. She would bet money that it was also surrounded by bones. Walking quickly back to her ATV she pulls out the map and marks it approximately. How many were out here?  Was this like the stumps that were in the bible? The illustration had shown sigils or ruins, but now they were worn from years of wear.

She turns her ATV on and continues southeast, eyes peeled for any other out-of-place signs. As she drove she would stop and note down other stumps, if she went and stood at one looking west she could see all of them in what was becoming a half-moon shape. Four total, Lucy’s gut feeling was there would be thirteen, one for each month. Placed on purpose, spaced evenly, all surrounded by bone. Every single one made her skin crawl and made her wonder if she was losing her mind. 

The radio crackled again, Lucy stopping immediately and listening. More crackling, muffled noises, then nothing. Her heart lurched, stomach twisting as she waited for any word. 

“I think-” Interference, “A cow,” It was Bert, “Least what’s left off it.”

“Where are you?” Lucy asked, already turning the machine around so that she could head in the right direction. She’d start to head west and hope that she could find Bert.

“If you head to the main trail-” Static, Lucy fires up the ATV keeping the radio turned up. “Southwest-” Lucy strained to hear, “-go directly south.” His voice seemed softer and softer and Lucy roared towards him. “next fork - west“

“Roger, roger,” We are heading your way, Cooper's voice rang over the radio. She felt her heart clench knowing that he was not far away, it was both comforting and concerning. 

“Shouldn’t be far,” John added, Lucy's heart thundering in her chest, fingers aching from holding onto the handlebars so tightly. She kept looking over her shoulder, searching for something in the woods she couldn’t see. The bumps and jumps of the machine propelled her forward. The trees opened into the middle clearing, Lucy skillfully following down southwest. Behind her she could make out the roar of another engine, looking back she could just make out Cooper’s white hat. 

It was a comfort knowing that he was close behind her, hitting the fork she went south. Her radio crackling but nothing, she continued along the path ducking past brushes as they slapped towards her. Mouth dry as she tries to urge the thing forward. A burst of static echoed louder than the previous almost stopping Lucy. 

“HELP,” 

Lucy grabbed the walkie doing her best to continue to drive one-handed. “BERT.”

“It’s here,”

“What what is it,” John calls out over the radio. “I am not far, Bert. Hold on.”

“Oh god,” 

“Oh god.”

Lucy clipped the walkie back on, riding as fast as the old ATV would go, she could hear Cooper not far behind her. As she hit the fork to head west a scream rang out, Lucy felt her ears ring. Her eyes blurring as the world spun, she blinks several times trying to make her eyes work. 

“Bert, Bert,” Cooper called over and over, Lucy hearing his voice behind her and in front of her as they roared towards their destination. 

Lucy spotting John flying up coming to join the west trail, his hat had been lost somewhere along the way. Lucy slows down to let him go ahead, Cooper now only a dozen yards behind her. Bushes and trees slap her face as they road toward Bert should have been.

As they came up over a hill Lucy had a split second of red lights warning her as she skidded to a stop just beside John. The man was off his ATV, gun in hand as he made his way over to the empty four-wheeler. Lucy parked hers, grabbing her gun and extra clip in her pocket. Cooper is skidding to a stop a moment behind them, the three of them gathering at the empty ATV.  There are skid marks behind the machine, a few scuffs in the ground, and his gun was gone. 

“Bert,” Lucy calls out, his name echoing through the tree, her voice bouncing around like she was in a funhouse. “Bert! Come on, answer us!”

“No sign of the Bert, or the cow,” John says, looking around the place, all of them naturally staying close to each other. Lucy faces one way, and Cooper faces the opposite of her. A perfect triangle as they move. “No sign of anything really.”

Cooper moves over, Lucy watching him as he walks past the ATV. Her eyes spotted what he was looking at, another stump, stripped of bark. Some of the symbols were more pronounced on this one, almost looking fresh.

“Is that another stump?” Lucy asks, moving towards where Cooper is now crouching down. He’d take out a knife to uncover some bones that lay covered in dirt around it. Lucy reaching out to trace over the ruins, the ringing in her ears stopping as she followed them all over the stump.

Cooper looks up, his hazel eyes barely visible under the shadow of his hat, “I saw some when I was driving around. All had bones around them like this.”

“W-w-what are those?” John’s face was pale, his hand fiddling with the stock of his gun. He had walked over to stand near the other two. 

“I am not sure. I don’t remember seeing this many before.” Lucy replies, trying to keep her voice level and calm. Her mind played over all the different illustrations of symbols, people standing around a stump. The face of the coyote flashed behind her eyes. 

“But these are old. Like really old.” John points out, jumping when a twig breaks, his breath is ragged as he looks around. 

Lucy and Cooper both stand looking towards the noise, Cooper swiftly pocketing the knife to replace it with the rifle. They all stand for a moment, the silence swallowing them. 

“Bert! Bert!” Lucy calls out again, hoping that it was him walking back towards them. “Where are you? Call out so we can come get you.”

John was now backing up towards his ATV, Lucy could see that he was shaking as he looked out towards the forest. It felt darker, much darker than it should have been for mid-afternoon. It was as if all the light was slowly being sucked out from around them. 

“Somethin’s wrong,” Cooper murmured, making Lucy jump as his hand clasps her shoulder. He was starting to push her towards the four-wheelers, she could feel her heart start to hammer in her chest. 

“We should call Harris,” Lucy says the dread had now seeped into her bones. Cooper was right, Bert wasn’t replying and there was no sign of him.

“No signal this deep in.” John replied phone in a shaky hand, “Probably thirty minutes from anywhere that would have a signal.”

Another twig snap had them all whirling, again facing nothing but trees and bushes. 

Lucy

Ringing splitting Lucy’s head as her name came spilling from every direction. Double over she covers her ears, trying to get it to stop. Cooper is in the same position, forehead creased as he groans. John stares at both of them as he stands perfectly still, eyes wide, phone dropping to the ground as his mouth falls open.

Cooper

John swings around, clearly hearing what they are. Lucy slowly tries to right herself, her eyes blurry as she tries to focus. Cooper leaning heavily against the stump, the forest is spinning past them. She falls and hits the ground, her body screaming at her to keep moving but it feels like someone has put a lead blanket across her body. 

“John,” Lucy croaks, trying to get his attention. He looks like he is miles away, a small pin prick in the distance. “Go, get Harris.”

John is stooping down behind herm helping Cooper up. “No, I am staying with you.” He is beside her now, his hands under her arms as he hoists her against the machine. 

Lucy - Cooper - John

They all stood now, heads as clear as possible the sound of their names coming from all directions. The echoing impossibly around them as if it was coming from hundreds of different voices, tones, and places. The place is so dark they might as well be in a cave, not able to see more than a few yards ahead of them. The wind picking up moves trees above, sending shivers across all of them, the only noise beside their panting breath. 

“That-what- what the fuck,” John states, eyes wide as he looks around. Lucy barely kept herself standing, her legs wobbly as the voice kept screaming their names

“Lucy!” Bert’s voice carries, this time sounding less like static ringing and more human. 

Lucy moves towards it, her feet moving without thought, Cooper immediately grabbing her arm. “Lucy, we can’t. We don’t know what that is.” 

“It’s Bert,” Lucy protests, trying to move away from him, Cooper’s grip only tightening further. He was right, she knew that, she knew it didn't sound right. Yet she wanted to go to them, she needed to go to them. 

“Lucy, think about this. We need to stop and think.” Cooper demands, somehow breaking through the fog. “We gotta stick together. Can either leave and get help, or we all go look for Bert.”

A screech breaks through the air, right in front of them as John’s body falls forward, something grabbing his ankle and starting to drag him backward. Lucy is stunned for a moment before she jumps forward, gun abandoned as she chases after John. His face rubs against the dirt hands desperately trying to grab onto anything and everything he can. A shot rings out in the air, Lucy instinctively duckling down. Her knees hit the ground and she rolls for a second before she is back up. John continues to scream as he grabs for purchase onto a tree.

Lucy reaches for him, “Don’t let go!” Her hands find his, his eyes wide as he screams.

Part Twelve

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

*I I know I know cliff hangers, but what's a horror read without a cliff hanger?

*want to be on the tag list? add your name below

@toogaytofunctiondangit , @hiddlebatchedloki @whatsorceressisthis @dichromaniac @autumncryptids

@therealcozyaxoltol

[mortalityplays]

it's kind of funny how the intense fandom around buffy the vampire slayer never Really made the jump to online culture the way that firefly and the x files and star trek and shit did.

I know what you're thinking: "but there are online buffy fans, you're just not looking in the right places." no, listen to me. I was a btvs teenager in the 00s, I know what the fandom looked like back then. people were INSANE about it. nerdy grown men being way too into buffy was the brony joke of its day, there were multiple warring wiccan covens in my city who shopped at a proliferation of card and crystal shops where you could buy framed portraits of willow and tara. the local music/movies store sold enormous fan bibles alongside official series guides and spin-off novels and comics and ilfe size cardboard cutouts of spike and angel.

and yeah for a couple of years while the show ran, there were thriving fan spaces online. there were livejournal communities and roleplaying forums and websites dedicated to character trivia like you'd expect for the time. I know there are still fan blogs out there today, but none of it is close to the scale of what existed offline back in the day. the show ended with such a wet fart that the culture just sort of moved on and pretended it didn't happen. obviously joss whedon is now rightfully considered cringe and creepy and his body of work isn't exactly winning any new audiences, but what really gets me is the striking absence of cultural hangover.

firefly was not nearly as popular (or a fraction as long-lived) as btvs in its prime, but that show is still a watchword for nerdy Xennials online. I still see it referenced and quoted regularly, like an aging rescue cat we inherited from a past roommate that's just part of the apartment now. the x files is a perennial favourite with a thriving new zillenial fandom. star trek has had modern reboots but the older series are still finding new audiences. compared to its contemporaries (and particularly considering the SCALE of its original popularity) buffy just evaporated. I'm not arguing for a critical reappraisal or anything, i'm just fascinated. enough people still seem to remember it fondly, but culturally it's a half remembered dream. what burst the bubble?

[thanergetic-hyperlinks]

Valentine the Ninth

Tamsyn wrote 30k of a 50k divergence AU while working on Nona/Alecto:

I did end up writing a total divergence when I was writing Nona, back in 2020, because I wanted to make sure my clockwork made sense — I wanted to make sure that if you wound up Gideon and Harrow and put them on a slightly different route the laws of the universe would still flow accordingly. (I stopped writing because when your editor asks how you’re doing and you’re like “I stopped to write 30k to prove a timeline” he’s legally allowed to shoot you with a crossbow.)

—from https://www.vox.com/culture/22901210/nona-the-ninth-cover-reveal-tamsyn-muir-interview-locked-tomb-series

NZ: You mentioned during the Nona cover reveal that you wrote a 30k “divergence” for Gideon and Harrow while drafting Nona—is this an AU, and will we ever get to see it? TM: Ha! I loved writing that AU—it was ace! Problem is that it is entirely its own story and is probably more like 50k if I bothered to write out the end. (I wrote to a specific part.) I wouldn’t want it out there before Alecto, is the thing. I’d just whack it up on AO3 except I think that would be, as the kids call it, cringe. Like a grandparent who arrives at your stripper party with their own weird, coughing stripper. I’m sorry because it has characters I really like who don’t make it into the Locked Tomb at all—Ram and Capris Asht, Colum Asht’s awful brothers; Modesty Even and Jessejon Threen; and Valentine the Ninth, whom the whole thing is named for. Then again, so much of it is epistolary from Gideon Nav’s POV you are better off not getting it because she is an appalling letter writer.

—from https://reactormag.com/tamsyn-muir-on-lyctorhood-as-genderfuckery-and-greasy-bible-study-in-nona-the-ninth/

So, just for fun:

Any chance this could go along with the collected short stories (which are supposed to get published in their own volume eventually) if we the fans clamor for it after Alecto?

What the hell do you think this AU is about? Modesty Even sounds like an Agony Aunt-type of name to me. What if it's a story written entirely as an advice column, including Gideon's submissions? “so much of it is epistolary from Gideon Nav’s POV”—is GIDEON Valentine the Ninth, conducting her own advice column?

What kind of arythmonym would Even be? It's not tied to the usual number etymologies, so it might be a pen name. It could also be a BoE name, something like Modesty Even In Its Expression (Balzac quote, first result from a Google search so don't take me too seriously).

I want your most deranged opinions, y'all.

[maaradag]

massive, rambly spoilers for the new WILTY christmas episode underneath

First thoughts after finishing: oboy, both Lee and David going THROUGH it. Bet Rob was feeling all good safe in his host chair.

The guests were Victoria Coren Mitchell (whee!), Naga Munchetty, Alex Brooker and Melvyn Hayes. I'll admit I had to look everybody's names up except VCM.

Alex Brooker's lie has been available as a clip on the BBC website for a couple of days now, so nothing new there. Delighted by the fact that Victoria's (unbroken?) streak of guessing correctly on this show continues

So for me the show proper started with Victoria's card, which oh my god, holy shit, this was worth the wait.

David looks like he wants to sink into the floor, but for me, as Lee says: "If it helps in any way, I'm absolutely loving it."

I mean this is golden. Victoria starts trying to explain David's underwear philosophy, before turning to David and checking if she's not you know, revealing too much information on national television. David who has already spent the last few minutes looking like this is his worst nightmare, reassures her that no worries, "this is dreadful". All the while Lee is clapping his hands delightedly.

(BONUS Sweet moment!. Naga patting David on the shoulder, in an attempt at reassurement, cringing too hard to be very reassuring)

I don't know who Melvyn Hayes is (I'm not British, so my bad I guess) but his small comments here and there really brought it up a notch. Could have been annoying but it was really funny.

Other nice quotes from this round:

Victoria (to David, having revealed much about his underwear habits): I'm so sorry. (Then she laughs a bit more)

David: thE biBLe AnD fifTy SHadEs oF grAy

Melvin Hayes: I'm excited! (everybody cracks up)

This was FINALLY the resolution of Lee's quest to find out what David wears underneath his clothes.

(If only I still wrote fanfiction, and if only I could ever manage to write RPF this would segment would surely inspire me. Just putting that out into the universe before going back to hiding beneath the covers)

Have some pictures of David going through it:

BONUS: Lee being a smug bastard

The Melvin Hayes story did very little for me, as previously mentioned, no clue who he was before this, and the people he mentions are people I've heard about before but also know very little. Glad everyone seems so delighted by it though.

To contrast the previous picture have a happy picture of David and Victoria being pleased by Melvin Hayes story

THIS IS MY (Feat. a Celebrity Guest whoohooo)

Yet another person I don't know who is, but Patti seemed famous and Lee was all over her which turned out to be quite funny.

Victoria's sounded familiar by any rate, like I heard it before. Delightful story anyhow, her delivery of "better still, you can be in it." killed me.

Naga with the slow reveal of it being Lee that they hadn't recognized. Wonderful! Lovely! No notes. It's great that the story wasn't true because then the digs at Lee, and the Jimmy whatshiface of it all just became the marks of a good liar

(looked it up, the guy's Jimmy Nail. An English singer-songwriter apperenly, according to google).

David used his versatile tool to make decent stomach growls. Colour me impresssed.

Last round is a classic Lee round, in which he gets an herculean task and we watch him try to reel it in. (Alex B turns out to be quite the generous laughter which is great.)

Tag yourself I'm Alex, losing it.

[queen-esther]

I actually really enjoy the Jesus Revolution movie, but I cringe at the scene where the pastor is leading Communion and “quotes” the Bible as saying, “This represents my blood.” Not what Jesus said, bro!

[strawbrygashez]

Kyle Sullivan hcs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• autistic. He’s not really good at expressing what hes feeling or thinking. He comes off as awkward. He prefers to keep quiet.

•He didn’t ever really respond to Shanes ‘I love you’s until they actually got together. For a couple reasons but the main ones being he wasn’t sure in what way Shane meant it (🤨 boy it’s pretty obvious) and he was still trying to figure out how he exactly felt about Shane. Like of course he liked him a lot but once Shane started to really show his unstable side, he needed time to think about everything, how he genuinely feels about him deep down.

•Likes when Shane sit between his legs. Shane mostly does so when he’s working on homework or reading on Kyle’s bed.

•Speaking of Kyle’s bed, he gets used to Shane just randomly appearing in it next to him. Like he has no reaction when he wakes up in the morning and finds Shane slipped in thru the window above his bed to sleep next to him.

•Borrows CDs from Shane. He already had a lot of CDs of his own but Shane of course had more of the ‘evil satanic shit’ that they both love.

•When it’s not some underground concert they are seeing, Kyle takes care of getting tickets for the both of them to go see more bigger artists like Deftones. Going to an actual big concert was probably one of their first ‘dates.’

•He won’t say it because his head would end up on a stick BUT he thinks it was absolutely adorable Shane thought he could start a band with no musical experience. Anytime he offers to help him learn the basics of guitar, Shane gets all huffy and changes the subject.

•They spent a lot of nights just talking about their shitty dads and how they’d love to beat the shit out of each others dads.

•It’s happened a couple times where Shane comes over one night after getting beat up by his dad or just got in a fight with someone in general. Kyle will help patch him up even if Shane says he doesnt need help.

•I feel like once they get together, all Kyle wants to do is leave the town with him. He doesn’t really care where they end up. He just wants away from both of their families. (And if Shane drops the satanic cult stuff, he thinks it would help him a lot to just get away from the area and old friends.)

•I think it would be funny if his gf would be barely surprised he wants to break up so he can be with Shane 💀 she berates him over it like “you’re a bigger mental case than I thought if you wanna be with that loser.” And blah blah blah. I think they’d still occasionally talk tho. He just ignores the jabs she makes at Shane. He knows Shane’s messed up too so theirs no point in arguing much over it with her.

•He’s used to helping Shane with withdrawals. He doesn’t even react negatively if it’s really bad where Shane’s freaking out about needing something and he’s yelling at him. He knows to just let him go thru the motions and do his best to help however he can once he calms down.

•One of his school notebooks is just filled with scribbles and whatnot done by him and Shane. Pentagrams, demons, band logos, gore, satanic bible quotes, badly done drawings of each other, etc. Once a teacher took it because the two wouldn’t stop whispering and giggling. They stole it back pretty quickly.

(The very back is where they decided to put all the cringe lovey dovey stuff. Flirty notes, their initials together, hearts, stuff like that. Also Shane can’t go long without telling Kyle he loves him so that’s written a TON in the back. Kyle couldn’t even count them all unless he was real bored and needed something to do.)

•He gives Shane his jacket :3 AWWW <3!!! Shane will act like it’s nothing but puts up a fight when Kyle asks for it back. Hes probably kept it for weeks on end a couple times.

•After being together for a while, it gets a bit easier for him to deescalate situations where Shanes getting worked up over something little someone else did to him that he didn’t like.

•Shane would burn any award he won or old picture of himself from back when he did swimming competitions. The only reason he hasn’t is bc his mom would freak out and also Shane stole some of the pictures and awards.

[laulo821]

did you get your name from season 5 episode 14 of breaking bad or was that just a happy coincidence

the number of media that shared the Ozymandias reference i discovered after borrowing the name....

short answer: wasn't planned :] happy coincidence

long answer:

if i want to be lame or not be considered cringe, i can go back to the poem by percy b shelley and yea that's it, the source. but that's not all...

as of now people have cited the breaking bad episode a lot. or the DC character. both of those i watched after choosing my name (circa september 2021).

i watched the Watchmen movie circa march 2022 and breaking bad during spring 2023. so they are not the source material

the source material for my name is, in fact,

SCP-245

or well. the game. so that's scp-245-1 but it's scp-245 that quotes the poem

i was enamoured by his voice, the way he(/it?) quoted it and how relevant it was to his story arc. i was a big fan of rpg horror games and creepypasta/scp at the time (like . 2015?) and that's how i discovered the poem. it was my roman empire in some way

i also like how it applies to my view of the world and how i interract with it. as long as i've remembered, i've wished not to be remembered when i die. Nothing Beside Remains. i accomplish nothing meaningful in my life and prolly create irreparable damage unbeknownst to me. Round That Colossal Wreck. i am nothing but a small fraction of what has happened and what's yet to happen in the universe. Boundless And Bare, The Low And Level Sands Stretch Far Away.

though, i do think i'm superior in some way, and an egotistical, Whose Frown, / And Wrinkled Lip, And Sneer of Cold Command keep people away. i am the King of Kings and Ye Mighty should rightfully Despair when looking Upon My Works, as i produce art, love and things beyond your comprehension

the way things matter now and how they'll never matter as much ever again. how things are fleeting. how it is all meaningless to be so vain, but how it also is a reason to be vain. how we are beautifully alive and doomed from the start. i am everything. yet i am nothing.

also it is believed that it is Ozymandias, also known as Rameses II, is the Pharaoh who caused the Plagues in the Bible, during the Moise n Exodus episode. :] being raised a catholic, yknow i had to sprinkle it with mocking irony, although it is more like a tribute.

[fictionadventurer]

4, 13, and 49! :D

4. What’s your favorite hymn?

I have a special love of "Panis Angelicus".

13. What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve done in church?

I still cringe to think of young me bragging to the deacon about knowing which chapter of the Bible Linus was quoting in the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

49. Have you ever been a lector?

Closest I've come was reading out a petition or two at a few of the Masses run by the children in my grade in the religion program.

[zzoupz]

oc questions !!! feel free to answer all or none :))

1. tell me about your favorite! (/pos)

2. tell me about your least favorite! (/pos) (stinky awful garbage man *gender neutral)

3. anything living in your head rent free? story concept, single scene without context, oc concept you wont get around to making?

4. tell me about your favorite relationship (friendship included!) between ocs!

5. do you have a favorite oc name? what is it and how'd you get it?

6. anything driving you truly batshit? going insane over them?

7. tell me something sad about an oc!

8. tell me something sweet about an oc!

9. any ""retired"" ocs you still think about?

10. pick a favorite character n tell me three songs you think theyd like!

hihi! sorry this is a bit late I want to get back on my pc for this

1. oh damn I have multiple favorites! I think ones that I enjoy the most (at the moment) are them

(yellow: Lee Harrison | blue: Bryan Dickinson)

they are basically a (in the 2000s) newbie punk band formed by two friends who are like brothers to each other. they bonded over both having not so great families (not like tragic-backstory awful but yknow. the average traditional family)

yeah I still can't figure out what their band name would be. yeah since 2020. sorry. such is life.

while they're not the ones I've wrote the most about, as in not much at all, I just really like them :)

2. Bartholomew. I used to like him then I realize how generic he is so I hate him now (/j) (yeah I actually do want to post about him less though)

3. been thinking about the dynamic normal human x immortal who finds them in every life. so simple and common but I go insane over it every time. I think it would be fun

4. ohohohoho man ok here are some in no particular orders

Time & Denial core, Denial/Dan (black hair, also the last image) is by @/ akamavarii

they were basically our coresonas, but they've became their own characters at this point so I think it counts

friends who commits OSHA violations together!!!

they share 1 brain cell and takes turns over it like an Xbox (quote from ami himself)

Iandithas & Lumeous (if you noticed one of the name changed its bc I did)

a bard & a wizard duo who are retired and are now a shopkeeper & a chemist

its funny I care about them this much bc Lumeous was supposed to be a dad and a side character to my other oc and Iandithas was a doodle of a random guy and now they mean the world to me

there have been like 5 people who pointed out that they look like a couple and you're right and I fucking hate that you're right. and they were roommates etc

Overseer / Conqueror

this one is new very obviously but I've been thinking about them for a LONG while.

friends to lovers to enemies heehoo heehoo heehoo heehoo heeh

can you tell I like it when queer relationships

5. Fakzky HAS to have my favorite origin. fun fact there's a bot on facebook that would combine the names of their followers (only if they request, don't worry) and it was my source of inspo for my fantroll names in 2020, Fakz is the only one I took completely from it and the post is still there!

6. the 35 awesome and cool animatics that exists in MY mind

7. oh man I don't wanna say something sad :( mostly bc I'm bad at it and it would sound cringe :(

8. I have a plague doc oc and she has 3 pet rats ^_^ they're all named after murderers from the bible but yeah whatever

(Dias Cain Jael in that order btw)

9. hmmm them I think. I make stuff about them way less nowadays but still draw them time to time. Cath is from 2018 and funnily is originally a fusion of two characters. and Danya is from early 2021 when I was just trying stuff out. I made them friends just cuz I think they look like they would do drugs together

10. I have no idea man I created them not know them (I am so so bad at this)

[just-somedude]

What quote!?

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”

— Heraclitus

It would just be the words "One Warrior" or something like it, if I decided to get that as the tattoo, but I doubt it

It sounds cringe as fuck but this book I read by David Goggins called Can't Hurt Me resonated so fucking well with me that it's like a bible to me, and that quote was in it

[shammah8]

🕊️🌺Wendy🌺🕊️:

The Fall of Man God's Word had gone forth: Man would have dominion over the works of God's hands.

Satan challenged it. If he could stop God's Word from coming to pass, he could defeat God.

His tactics were simple. He tempted the will of man. Man yielded and turned his will crosswise to the will of God.

Some of—if not the—saddest words in the Bible are:

GENESIS 3:8-10 34 Circle of Glory 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Early one Sunday morning I was meditating on these things in preparation for the class. I'd put on a roast for dinner. And I was fixing my hair in front of the wide mirror in our only bathroom before waking the family.

From behind me, high and to the right, I heard a Voice. It probably was not audible—but to me it seemed almost audible. When the question came, I knew it was the Lord.

Do you know Romans 3:23?

My first thought was, Thank God, it's one I know. I grew up in Baptist churches. Baptists lead people to the Lord down the Roman Road. Romans 3:23 is the first step.

So I whirled toward the Voice and quoted rather glibly at first, "For all have sinned, and come short of...Ah!...." I gasped as I saw it! The last four words fell feebly from my lips trailing almost to a whisper, "...the glory of God...."

The Voice spoke the revelation I'd glimpsed.

That's what happened in the fall. I crowned man with glory. Man sinned and fell short of the glory.

I felt I would faint with the revelation of the fall from such glorious heights to such heinous depths.

Then the Voice literally revived me with words based on Hebrews 2:10:

But the Captain of your salvation is bringing many sons to Glory.

35 The Blood and the Glory I saw it for the first time! The circle of glory!

Man was crowned with glory. He fell from the glory. Through Jesus Christ he can return to the glory.

Then in a flash of revelation across my spirit I saw the predicament of the fall.

To the right, high and lifted up, was the place of the throne of God.

To the left, low and very low, stood Satan with man cringing at his side.

Between the two places there was a great gulf fixed.

I heard these words.

You always look at the fall from man's viewpoint. I want you to look at it from My point of view.

Within my spirit an automatic response arose, "I will be happy to, if You are pleased to show it to me."

The reaction of a natural man to a fallen son is to grab him and clasp him to his bosom. Had I clasped Adam to My bosom, I would have consumed him. My glory would have burned him up. And in him mankind.

Satan would have stopped My words from coming to pass. For I had spoken that man would have dominion over the works of My hands.

Then I saw my first son, Terry. He stood tall, broad shouldered and thin at the waist with a large silver buckle fastening the leather belt around his blue jeans. I felt an urge to throw my arms around his middle in a tight squeeze.

What if you could not hug your son? For if you hugged him you would consume him.

I'm a hugging mother. So the Holy Spirit taught me with a hugging-mother parable. Back then when I hugged Terry he would sometimes say, "Aw, Mom." But he liked it and so did I. I couldn't imagine not being able to hug him. In fact I quickly considered how I probably would forget and 36 Circle of Glory he would be destroyed. I somehow felt a little of God's position at the fall of man.

And in a new way I understood how sin cannot stand in the Presence of God. It is written, "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).

What does He consume? Sin.

I understood the precautions of the Old Testament.

God's glory stood behind a thick curtain in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest alone could enter there once a year on The Day of Atonement.

And then he took great precautions.

It wasn't that God did not want mankind in His Presence. It was that man could not endure the glory of God.

I thought of when David brought up the Ark of the Presence on a cart rather than in the way God had instructed them to carry it for their own safety. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady the ark, and died. It wasn't that God was just waiting to get him. God's glory broke forth to judge sin when the two came into contact. (2 Samuel 6; 1 Chronicles 13.) Again I saw the scene with Satan clasping the cowering man and laughing up at God across the gulf. He thought he'd won. He thought he'd succeeded in separating God and his man forever. Satan knew that Adam, who once delighted in the Presence of God, would now be consumed by it.

His whining words ran together as he sneered over and over at God, "What-are-ya-gonna-do-now? What-are-ya-gonna-do-now? What-are-ya-gonna-do-now?"

I was made to know that God did not answer him.

But I also knew that God had a plan. A. plan which began in heaven before the foundation of the world. God did not need to do anything now.

He already had done something.☕️Billye Brim

[the-expose-on-girls]

You know what's cringe?

Girls who are under 5' 6" and constantly talking big on their social media, threatening to beat up their invisible "haters".

Violence ain't cute, sis, and trash talking like a WWE fighter when all you're capable of is yanking on some poor girl's hair is really, really pathetic. And yelling insults into the void on the internet is the social media version of talking to the voices in your head. You look like a fool. Now, I know the Bible says it's futile to argue with fools, as they lack the self awareness to learn that they're wrong, but here is an attempt to teach them, anyway.

Substatus (n)

"A substatus is like a subtweet, but on facebook. It is where you post about somebody specific without actually tagging them in it."

(-Urban Dictionary)

Here are some quotes from a local hussy who films threatening substatus tiktoks in her car while wearing her fast food uniform:

"I don't have many regrets, but I should've punched that mf in the face and dragged her friend by her stringy dead hair." "Don't make me get VIOLENT" "I don't think, I just sit here and look pretty. You're a loser." "Pretty bitches love me, ugly hoes hate me." "You'll never find another bitch like me" "Posting because she's watching." "You might be bigger than me, but you ain't bulletproof." "You do it good, I do it better." "When they get aggressive, but your your father's daughter." "My roman empire is I should've swung right then and there honestly."

GROW UP!

Most of the time, having "haters" is a sign that your behavior is toxic and people are justified to have issue with it. This is clearly one of those cases, judging by how aggressive and confrontational you are toward everyone on social media.

Being hated by other girls is NOT cool and NOT something to brag about. It is a result and cause of needless conflict. Grow up and realize that other girls should be your closest allies in life. Embrace sisterhood. And no, your one bestie who you don't see as a threat to steal your bf does not count.