#it’s about to be in the 90s where i live. . . yucky!

[suappang]

that little sweater is so cute, i saw it at target today and picked up one too!

signed, 🧸

yes, so cute! omg maybe we will accidentally twin someday in the fall :o

[godtier]

so i got an email from RT about the last season and i'm kinda annoyed

first there was this:

brother, just say it was because of the strike lmao c'mon now. we all know that's why you're pushing it back

tho don't get me wrong, i will always support a creative team pushing a release date back to perfect the product (whether it's a show, movie, or video game), but this was just stupidly phrased and they coulda just said it. i'm guessing WB was like "no don't mention it at all for the love of god"

then there was this:

now the way this reads to me is that only first members get to watch the season?? traditionally, first members got the release ... well, first. then, non-paying members got the release a few days/a week later. that makes sense to me and it's how it's been since forever. the last time i bought a first sub was for the shisno paradox trilogy and i didn't need to be coerced into it; i wanted to see it as it came out. doing it like this seems really fuckin stupid.

and, in case anyone missed it, rt already removed all seasons of rvb off of their youtube channel. so the only "official" way to watch rvb (aside from DVDs/blu-rays) is their site.

not only that, but just seven episodes? and yet it's gonna be released as a (presumably) feature-length film? so if we're to assume the "movie" cut is gonna be about 90 mins long (being generous here), that means each episode is gonna be about 12-13 mins long, which is fine... but just seven? idk, for the last season, i would have thought they'd have gone all-out and produced a more "standard" length season.

for reference, the average season length (not counting rvb: zero) is about 19-20 episodes. the season with the smallest number of episodes (again, not counting zero) is s17 with 12. i'd have been satisfied with 12, but 7 is just... what. how are you gonna wrap up an entire 20+ year-long series with 7 episodes?? if the episodes were 30 mins long each, then i'd be like "aight let's go son" but if my assumptions are correct, 12-13 min long episodes isn't enough

idk, i was probably gonna renew my first sub anyway, but the fact that they're locking it out entirely unless you either buy first or buy WB's movie-version... it just seems yucky

tbh, if you ask me and consider all the main cast seasons, rvb ended with s17. it had the best wrap-up imo (aside from s5, but only OGs will agree that's a good ending point, myself included), and it tied up everything neatly and left it open-ended. the boys had their biggest adventure, donut got to shine (yes i'm biased), and it ended in a place where you could feasibly imagine them living out their lives in peace, like they deserve.

it's been a long time since i was active in rvb fandom (and it was here, on this very tumblr!) but i'm wary about going forward now. i'm gonna watch it somehow, but i've gotta figure out the best way to do so. i'm hoping they either clarify that they meant that first members are getting it ... first (as it has always been) and the wording was just bad, or they roll back on that stipulation and just leave it the way it was.

[golbrocklovely]

I’m not in the snc fandom by any means and I have no plan to do so but being just a causal fan of them, I have seen the way their fans act towards them, especially Colby. It always leaves a horrible taste in my mouth.

I sincerely wish these guys would start setting more boundaries with their fandom. There are sometimes where I see replies to their tweets or just looking up their users on twitter because I’m a nosy rosey sometimes and the things some of their fans say to them, especially Colby is just horrendous and down right yucky. It seems to be getting worse in my end too. The way some of their fans treat Colby likes he’s stupid, slow or like a child is just so gross. He’s a human being. It’s one thing to make a joke, but it’s another thing to treat him like he was born literally yesterday. It sometimes feels like infantalazation. Like this is a huge problem and I just wish that Colby would put his foot down about it. Hell, when everytime there’s a girl involved in his life everything goes haywire towards him. I just feel so bad for him at this point. if I had fans and they were pulling stuff like this, I wound definitely say something, and start muting/ blocking people if it started getting too much. Maybe Colby hates confrontation which I can totally understand. Maybe he hates drama as well. But if his fans keep getting away with basically being overbearing and weird, they’re never gonna treat him like a human.

I also have a hunch that he might be neurodivergent and has anxiety. I see a lot of myself through him. He does a lot of things I do. But I don’t wanna diagnose him because I personally don’t know him like that. I just hope he has a good head on his shoulders when it comes to this type of stuff. and I also just hope one day some of his fans grow up and stop treating him like he’s a dummy when he’s a very intelligent person. It drives me nuts when people do that to him. He clearly is very smart and very empathetic. A bright soul who deserves so much better. 🩷

this ended up being extremely long so... sorry about that haha

i getchu. i understand not wanting to join this fandom. tbh i only really enjoy the fandom on here and that's about it. insta there barely is a fandom, the tiktok fandom is too young and just makes shit up 90% of the time, and twitter…. is insufferable lol

and i completely agree with you about the treatment of colby. it's a weird mix of both treating him like a sex doll and treating him like a baby, which makes both behaviors all the more gross.

like i'll be honest, i don't love all the decisions he makes, and i have talked about that on here countless times. however, i don't actively tell him on social media how to live his life (aka i don't @ him on twitter when he does something that annoys me like a lot of other fans do). and at the end of the day i accept whatever he wants to do with his life. me complaining on here about some of the questionable ppl he has in his life isn't even half as bad as what i've seen on twitter, especially when it comes to some of the girls he occasionally is seen with.

over the years it's gotten worse, and i'm not sure for what reason. it feels like the fans started out on the right foot. they care about colby and don't want to see him get hurt. and i get that, i feel the same way. but at the same time, he's an adult. and in life you're gonna make some dumb decisions, and be friends with dumb ppl that you shouldn't have been. and that's your choice. and that's your mistake to make.

i think part of it is a lot of fans think they are owed a part of colby's life and having a say in it. maybe bc they've put time, effort, and money into being a fan, maybe it's bc they feel like they are friends with him and thus think they can say shit that a friend would say even tho they are a complete stranger to him. and while i can understand somewhat why someone would feel that way briefly, it doesn't change the fact it's not true. you aren't owed anything just bc you've been here a long time or bc you buy merch. so what. you aren't special in either one of those regards.

and when it comes to colby and his dating life… oh boy, that's where most of the drama lies. again, a lot of it comes from fans not wanting him to date a questionable girl. understandable. i get that protectiveness. however it has become very apparent that NO GIRL is good enough for him. fill in the blank on whatever reason, it doesn't matter. there is not a single girl that exists that everyone in the fandom can agree on. and that just shows that a lot of the concern comes from both jealousy and, if we're being completely honest, misogyny.

certain fans are jealous they will never get a chance to be with him, no matter how many y/n insert fanfics they read. and no girl is good enough bc nine times out of ten the reason is bc of something sexist like she's a slut or a gold digger or isn't pretty enough or is too pretty or isn't as good as other girls.

my favorite phrase, highkey, is when a girl is seen with colby, ppl start hating on her and then when asked why someone doesn't like her they respond with "idk she just gives me a bad vibe." lmao happens like clockwork.

all of this is to say that a lot of fans, while they love colby, don't respect him. they don't trust him to make his own decisions bc in their minds, he can't make the "right" ones. and thus needs to smothered into making the right one. and if he doesn't do that, then he deserves to be bitched at for eternity.

tbh i'm surprised colby tolerates half the fanbase at this point. if the fandom isn't yelling at him for breathing wrong, they're making fun of him. and while it's fine to be playful and banter with him, there's a difference between a one off comment and constantly picking at everything he does down to whether or not he has facial hair. like… why are we talking about his body hair? yall are weird for that one.

if i was colby, i wouldn't have fans anymore. bc i would blocking ppl left right and center. idc that you supported me for a long time, if you're mean to me, you're gone. and i ain't gonna listen to (usually) a child yell at me for fucking a random girl (or maybe not even fucking a random girl). that's why last year i wanted him to go chaos mode. i wanted him to fuck every and any girl that said yes strictly so fans would come to the realization that YOU DON'T CONTROL HIM.

get over it or gtfo. it's really that simple.

and as for whether or not he's neurodivergent, that's obviously something he would have to explore himself. i personally have always thought he might secretly have depression and definitely anxiety since he's talked about that part himself. there's a lot of things he has done in the past that make me think there might be something under the surface and reminds me a lot back when i was in denial of what was going on mentally. and there are times he gets into funks, and you can just see the light drain out of him for a bit. but in the end, that's for him to explore and seek help for if he so chooses and feels the need to. i would hope if he truly did ever feel bad he would ask for help.

he's a very strong person and has such a love for life. i just hope he lives it to the fullest. i truly just want to see him happy.

[gloam-eyed-radio-tower]

January 29th, 2024

About me: I don't even know if I am using a consistent dating format. I sometimes, well... rather often get lonely, if I was just just alone in the world I think I would be fine. I would walk along the vastness of my town and for the first time it would look the same as I see it from my point of view, the illusion would end and everything that troubles me would fade. I want to go and visit great museums and galleries and get some desserts and take pictures with them with friends and go to the woods bordering the city like nature is trying to nurture what is no longer there with its palms. I want to be there having a picnic or maybe if its snow throw myself into it. Have a walk late at night at 2am with someone, stopping at the swings to try and grab a star so I could give it to them... But I feel awkward ? I don't know how I feel but I can tell when people don't enjoy my company and I'm not sure what to do. I tried to do what other people wanted of me but that just left me alone, tried acting how people wanted me to act but I guess its easy to see through the act and that just distances them away from me. I am at a point where if I do act like myself I think I would be rude, not overall but specifically to people I love the most. I would probably think ,, how could you love me so much and do this to me,, or something along those lines, so I distance myself from those who are closest to me in order not to hurt them or upset them and that distances me even more. I feel awkward. I can keep myself calm and I can keep my life peaceful and pleasant. I'm trying not to get into smoking too much, I don't know why I find it pleasant...uhmmm idk what else is new, I guess I just want a less boring life and I guess I started smoking because its just a new excitement at the moment. I feel awkward, I really want to start drawing again and pour myself into something , I will overflow , the tank will explode and I'm not sure that whatever pond is made out of it is a place where ducks could live. pee ass: riki was on my hand it was really hard to write any of this

Something cool: I think its a good idea to do a section above myself and another one where I get to nerd out about whatever I want. ill keep it short because I couldn't keep it so in the section above and I am getting tired so todays topic is going to be.... THIS NEW SECTION I JUST STARTED WOAHHHH :O where I could rant and write about whatever interest I have and there are plentyyy !!!! I stopped nerding out to friends and stuff they would prob tell my they don't mind it and like that about me but I'd just feel annoying so here it goes... ugm this is already plenty long and I started talking about myself again I utterly failed :< . Lets do fast waves of emo classifications , some left to my interpretation: Wave one would be the emocore scene with Rites of Spring being the 1st emo band of all time, its still closely related and basically still is post-hardcore, I probably like Moss Head the most out of them all. This wave started in the mid 80s and would continue to the start of the 90s with midwest emo starting the 2nd wave of emo. Bordering wave 1 and 2 I would put stuff like Sunny Day Real-Estate, Jawbreaker and Cap'n'Jazz ( the singer is the brother of the singer and guitarist of American Football and the drummer is him !!!) . I guess I would put Jimmy Eats world as the main influence of 3rd wave emo ( the 2000s yucky one that got popular ) with emo becoming more poppy with emo pop and genres like pop-punk being affiliated with it. My favourite from this era would probably be Johnny Foreigner. Wave 4 is emo revival with it mostly consisting of indie midwest emo acts with the main influence being Brave Little Abacus. Like shoegaze and slowcore the revival era mostly consists of a lot of boring music that doesent reinvent anything new, I personally dont like Modern Baseball at all, but there are a lot of good acts here that I like but I just wanted to shit on the popular normie one. Fifth Wave emo I named myself and I think I got the name the most accurate so far and I would call it bedroom emo as it consists of solo artists making emo from their room on their own, using a lot of digital software instead of real instrument and mixing genres like noise-pop and slacker rock with emo. Some of the acts from this era would be Weatherday and Parannoul but I feel too tired is 4:30 and I want to end the world.

"But I woke up this morning with a piece of past caught in my throat? And then I choked. "

[confetti-critter]

"Fun" fact about me is I had some heavy furniture fall on my foot when I was a kid and so now my big toenail on one foot is deformed and stunted and grows weird and I hate it and every like 5 years I stub it badly and it goes through a long process of falling off, after which my toe looks so fucked up and also it's super sensitive where the nail was.

Well I always thought the process takes a long time but i just now stubbed my toe and that fucking nail bent at a 90 degree angle and just like that it's off. So now I gotta deal with that.

Idk why I'm making a post about it I just think it's weird no one really knows not even my friend for like 10 years it's like the fuckinnnnnn hold on

This shit

"They dont know my toenail is fucked up and yucky"

I'd write that on the image but my phone says theres not enough space to do that my stupid storage is all filled up

You know what I thought the man+woman dancing were just copy pasted but I realized the dides have diff hair n I was like "oh so the dudes look different but the women are carbon copies? Tch. So typical. We live in a society" but now I realize the women's hair are different too anyway time to try sleeping even though my nakey toe rubs against the blankets and its hell gnighhhhtttttt bye, byeeeee, byebyeeeeee

[absolutepokemontrash]

You don't need to write this if you dont want too because it's up to you but this is something wholsome

WHAT IF L!MC M!M & BBY A!MC BECOME BABIES AND THERE EVEONES HAS TO CARE FOR THEM,

I apologize for having such horrible writing and grammer. I never payed attention in school, nor could I afford to pay attention 👉😎👉

Bro I feel you on the not paying attention in school thing. Fear not, dearest asker, ask for demon babies, and since I am a merciful writer, you shall receive.

Oh Shit, Half-Demon Babies are Running Amok Send Diapers and Help-

Mini summary for the casual reader, L!MC is Lucifer’s half demon child who got summoned into the Devildom to be one of the human exchange students, M!MC is Mammon’s half demon kid, and A!MC is Asmo’s. Let’s get to the fic!

Ah, what a relaxing day... Lucifer was sitting back in his desk chair, enjoying a nice glass of Demonus and listening to one of his favourite cursed vinyls. He had done a damn good job on his work earlier and Diavolo had insisted there was no more work to be done and he could have the weekend all to himself.

Of course, his brothers were still a factor that could have ruined his me-time... on any other weekend! Satan had just gotten a new encyclopedia to read, so he wouldn’t be causing any trouble, Beel and Belphie were going to take that Devildom food tour, Mammon and M!MC were planning on spending the entire weekend shopping, Asmo and A!MC were going up to the human world on Saturday and staying until Sunday, and Levi... He got a sudden burst of inspiration for his Animal Crossing Island and most likely wouldn’t be leaving his room for the next month. Lastly, L!MC wouldn’t be causing any problems, his child would probably spend their time with him rambling about musicals or anime they had seen, and Lucifer found their intense interest very adorable.

Ah... peace and quiet...

...

...why did Lucifer hear crying?

There, standing in the entrance hall of the House of Lamentation, was Solomon, holding three screaming babies.

What, and I cannot stress this enough, THE HELL?!

“Ah, Lucifer,” Solomon attempted to wave hello, but needing to continue to bounce one of the babies on his hip kind of hindered the gesture, not that Lucifer wanted a wave at that moment. “I’m sure you have questions.”

After everyone had gathered into the living room, Solomon explained how a spell gone awry had hit L!MC, M!MC, and A!MC with the effect of turning the three into the screaming infants that stood (or... awkwardly sprawled out) in front of them.

On the bright side, the spell only had a timespan of roughly two days, so they wouldn’t be stuck like that forever.

Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes (save for the babies, who were still either crying or incoherently babbling) as they processed that information. Lucifer, ever the flawless older brother and leader, stood up and clapped his hands together once.

“Alright then, everyone cancel your weekend plans, we need to deal with this.”

Lucifer’s dearest little brothers all whined in protest, Satan in particular. “They’re not our kids, why do Belphie, Beel, Levi, and I need to cancel our plans?!”

“Satan,” Lucifer said sternly. “You don’t remember this, but it took six people to take care of one of you. The kids may only be half demons but there are three of them. We need all hands on deck. Besides, if you all want someone to blame, blame Solomon.”

Everyone turned and levelled their practically murderous glared at the sorcerer, who suddenly pulled baby A!MC into his lap and began to rock them back and forth.

“I have never felt more unsafe.” Solomon laughed nervously. “But you wouldn’t kill me while I’m holding my not-child would you?”

Asmo stomped over and snatched A!MC away from Solomon. “I can’t believe you- ACK! A!MC! Stop drooling!”

A!MC had a long trail of drool coming out of their mouth which caused Asmo to shriek and hold A!MC at arms length away. “Stop that! That’s gross, A!MC, you know better.”

The adorable baby continued to babble and drool.

Mammon picked up M!MC, who almost immediately stopped crying upon seeing Mammon’s watch, they began making grab hands at it. “Ah, ya want the watch?”

M!MC squealed in delight as Mammon dangled the watch above them, Mammon was delighted that his little brat still had their expensive taste, even as a baby. “Hey, look at me! I’m doin’ pretty good! Suck it, Asmo!”

As Asmo and Mammon bickered, Lucifer took the time to look at L!MC, they pulled at Lucifer’s tie and hummed to themselves. They were mind numbingly cute despite the screeching they were doing earlier. The sight tugged at the cold spot where Lucifer’s heart should have been, he had missed this part of his child’s life... maybe just that weekend he’d get a chance to-

“Solomon where do you think you’re going?” Lucifer was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed the shifty bastard trying to make his escape. “You’re staying to help manage this nonsense.”

—————

A!MC may have been an absolute ray of sunshine normally, but as a baby, they definitely lived up to the term demon-spawn.

A!MC would scream, cry and pitch a fit if they didn’t get what they wanted immediately, not that they had any way of articulating what they wanted because they were a god damn baby! Asmo and Solomon were at the point where they were just holding stuff out to A!MC to see if it would make them stop crying.

“Come on butterfly, don’t you like this... antique perfume bottle?” Asmo asked, A!MC took one look at it, then burst into flames and started wailing again. “For the love of my father WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

Now there were two sobbing messes in the room, and one was on fire. Solomon quickly magically took care of A!MC’s little fire problem (the baby was fiiiiiiine, demon babies light themselves on fire all the time!), picked A!MC up, sat down on Asmo’s bed, and snapped his fingers. Tiny balls of light gently floated into the air around the three, Asmo looked up from his pity party upon hearing A!MC stop their crying.

“See, you still like my magic, even as a baby, right A!MC?” Solomon asked, A!MC looked around in silent wonder, trying to reach up and touch the lights.

“Oh Solomon, this almost makes me forgive you for screwing up my weekend plans...” Asmo sighed in relief, he sat next to Solomon and pulled A!MC into his lap. “Not very colourful though, is it? Let me fix that.”

Asmo smiled as his own magic added streaks of colour, it was like their very own private showing of the northern lights. A!MC had on one of those goofy baby smiles that can make even the grumpiest person smile back.

Solomon and Asmo shaped some of the lights into shapes and animals, Asmo let a pink butterfly land on A!MC’s nose, much to their adorable delight.

“And that one’s a bird, and that one’s a giraffe,”

“That’s an alpaca.”

“Sorry, an alpaca with a weirdly long neck, oh! And a sheep!” Asmo looked down at his lap where A!MC sat and tickled their sides. “Everyone likes sheep!”

He then quickly shaped a ball of light into a scorpion and made it scuttle into A!MC’s lap. “But I have to say, scorpions are the best.”

The fifth born sighed in contentment as their sweet little hellspawn continued to watch the magic show. Never in his life did Asmodeus ever think he’d be this happy holding a baby, usually babies were things he thought should be handled with hazmat suits, but not at that moment. His little butterfly truly did have him wrapped around their finger.

“Asmo, hey, Asmo,” Asmo looked over at Solomon, who had a glowing triangle over one of his eyes. “Would you like to join my secret society?”

“Solomon, you are ruining the moment.”

——————

“C’mon kiddo! Eat your damn food!” Mammon once again tried to shove the spoon into his kid’s mouth with the same result as the 50 previous attempts.

“YUCKY!” M!MC shouted and slapped the spoon away.

“Here,” Beel took the spoon from Mammon. “Maybe it’s yucky like they said.”

Beel ate what was on the spoon, then smiled brightly. “You can really taste the mango!”

“See bud..? Beel likes it.” Mammon gestured at Beel, who was eating the entire jar of baby food as Belphie watched in amusement. He was such an asset to the team. “Beel! They need to eat!”

“Fine, let me try.” Belphie grabbed another spoon, and waved it in M!MC’s face. “Here comes the airplane... whoosh... whoosh...”

M!MC didn’t budge, Belphie knitted his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine, be that way.”

Levi pushed open the door to the kitchen, and upon seeing the scene before him, immediately turned and tried to leave. “Nope! Food isn’t worth getting spit up all over me-”

Mammon lunged forward, grabbed the back of Levi’s jacket and practically yanked him into the kitchen, he slapped a spoon into his hand and smiled. “C’mon, do a favour for your super great big brother!”

The third born looked at M!MC, who defiantly stared back at him, the baby had the upper hand and the little brat knew it. Babies were so much cuter in anime...

Levi nervously stepped forward and held out the spoon like a weapon. “O-okay M-M-M!MC... you need to eat your food... pls... pls eat.”

M!MC said nothing, they only did what most babies did.

...

They spun their head 90 degrees until the back of their head was all Levi could see.

Everyone in the kitchen stood in complete silence, until Mammon jumped a foot in the air and started screaming bloody murder. “MY BABY!”

He dove forward and scooped M!MC up in his arms, the baby, obviously freaked out by the sudden loud noise, had begun to cry.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! Uh... uh...” Mammon looked around frantically. “Hush little baby don’t say a word... papas gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don’t sing, papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring... and if that diamond ring is brass, butitwon’tbebecauseyouroldmanwouldn’tgetcheatedlikethat-”

M!MC spun their head back to its correct position, but their crying sounds were now several octaves lower... It sounded like if someone put a baby in the Darth Vader mask but without the weird breathing sounds...

Mammon looked to Belphie. “I’m blankin’ on nursery rhymes! Ya hafta know some kid songs!”

Belphie, after being put on the spot, suddenly forgot every single nursery rhyme and lullaby any of his brothers had ever sung to him. Oh! A song popped into his head! He could sing that!

“Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty one-”

“Not that one!” Mammon squeaked, holding M!MC closer to him. M!MC’s voice had returned to normal, the next problem is that they were only speaking in infernal. “Somethin’ else!”

“There was an old lady who swallowed a fly,” Beel began to sing. “I don’t know why she swallowed that fly... I forgot the rest of the song...”

“Dammit... Leviiiiii!” Mammon wheezed, desperately trying to calm the angrily growling M!MC. “Sing! Sing anything!”

“A-anything?” Only one song came to mind. “Uh um... With the doors of heaven and Hell barred, there is no other but the guard, Master of the Hellish Yard...”

Mammon lit up and nodded like Levi had just offered him a million Grimm. “Aw hell yeah! This song!”

He handed M!MC to Beel and began to dance and sing next to Levi, who had really gotten into the song as well!

“With those sins that you've committed, If you pay you'll be acquitted, and your crimes all permitted,” the two paused for dramatic effect before both belting out the best line in the song.

“ONLY ONES WITH CASH DO WELL, WELL AT LEAST IN HELL!”

As Levi and Mammon continued to sing, M!MC became so entranced by the dance, that they stopped their demonic babbling and just watched the second and third born dance and sing the English cover of an old vocaloid song. Belphie and Beel made brief confused eye contact to make sure the other twin was seeing the same thing.

The duo finished the song and took a bow, Beel lightly tapped M!MC’s chubby baby hands together to make it look like they were clapping. It was enough for Mammon and Levi.

“Thank you, thank you,” Mammon said. “We’ll be here forever, next show ain’t free.”

“We should sing The Tailor on Enbizaka next!”

“Levi! No! That song is like... seven minutes long!”

“Hey, morons,” Belphie stuck his thumb at M!MC. “They still haven’t eaten.”

Mammon’s triumphant expression dropped right to the floor. “Ah fuck...”

——————

“Satan, where’s L!MC-” Lucifer looked up at the ceiling of Satan’s room and his jaw dropped. “WHAT ARE THEY DOING UP THERE?!”

“I can’t get them down!” Satan hissed back.

L!MC. L!MC the BABY. They were on the ceiling. They were sitting upside down on the ceiling like it was an average Friday. Lucifer was too old for this shit...

“L!MC.” Lucifer held out his arms, L!MC squinted at him, that’s when Lucifer remembered L!MC was practically blind without their glasses. “L!MC, it’s your father, come here.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried calling them down like that?!” Satan spat as he quickly ran a hand through his hair.

Lucifer shot a glare at Satan, then Lucifer heard something that nearly made his (lack of) heart stop. Oh no- L!MC was yawning-

L!MC yawned and suddenly detached from the ceiling. Lucifer and Satan both dove forward to catch L!MC, which culminated in one of Satan’s piles of books falling down, but with L!MC safe and sound.

“Damn it.” Satan grumbled as Lucifer shifted to properly hold L!MC. “This is going to take forever to clean...”

“That was clean?” Lucifer raised an eyebrow as L!MC began to fuss slightly.

Satan growled and rolled his eyes. “Yes, it was clean thank you very much. I knew exactly where everything was.”

The cat that unofficially ruled the House of Lamentation pranced into Satan’s room like it didn’t have a care in the world, it began to bat at one of the loose papers that had been scattered around the floor. Detective Toe Beans, you’re an esteemed detective, and technically RAD’s mascot, stop that!

Satan scooped up the cat and began to put the books back in the pile, when Lucifer noticed a familiar, beat-up old book lying near the bottom of the pile.

“Ah, I remember this book,” Lucifer leaned down and picked it up, showing the cover to L!MC, who didn’t seem very interested and continued petting the fur part of Lucifer’s jacket. “It’s good for a bedtime story, right L!MC?”

Lucifer tucked the book under his arm and turned to leave when Satan practically shot upwards. “If you think you can just take that out of my room, you’re completely delusional.”

“Are you seriously going to whine about getting a bedtime story for L!MC?”

“CAT!” L!MC looked over Lucifer’s shoulder and reached for Detective Toe Beans. “CAT!”

“Yes L!MC, cat.” Lucifer whispered to them, then turned back to Satan. “And if I’m remembering correctly, I used to read this to you. Do you really want to deprive poor L!MC of bedtime stories from me?”

“Pff... deprive...” Satan rolled his eyes and huffed. “I’d be saving them. You were the only one who never did any voices for the characters, I was bored to sleep.”

Satan walked forward and swiped the book from Lucifer. “If anyone’s reading L!MC a bedtime story, it should be me. I’m twice the storyteller you’ll ever be.”

Lucifer scoffed. “Ridiculous. We’ll both read L!MC a story and they can tell us who did best when they get back to normal.”

“Fine by me.”

The three (four if you count Bean) were soon seated on the couch in Lucifer’s room. Lucifer took the first story.

Satan listened along and absentmindedly pet Bean, hearing a story he had heard over and over again had managed to bring back memories of a time where he had significantly less control over his wrath. Every night he’d demand a bedtime story or he’d throw a tantrum unlike anything the Devildom had ever seen.

The eldest was always there to swoop in and read Satan a story whenever the little ball of seething rage looked ready to kill the unfortunate brother who told him it was bedtime.

It had gotten to the point that Satan could recite most of the stories in the book completely by heart. He chuckled under his breath as he remembered the time he matter of factly told Lucifer that he’d be reading him the bedtime story that night and proceeded to pretend to read the story of The Hydra and the Pufferfish. He hadn’t actually learned to read, much to Lucifer’s dismay, Satan just memorized what to say and when to turn the pages.

Though, it was apparently impressive enough at the time to warrant a head pat from Lucifer.

The fourth born leaned closer to Lucifer to get a better look at the book’s illustrations. They were always slightly off and strange looking, much like the pictures in the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book that L!MC had given Satan for his birthday.

Lucifer abruptly stopped reading.

“Why’d you stop?” Satan looked up at Lucifer, then over at L!MC. Aw... Satan didn’t even get a chance to read...

“Our audience has fallen asleep.” Lucifer stifled a yawn and prepared to close the book, Satan quickly shoved his hand on the page to stop him.

“You started reading,” Satan looked away and grumbled. “So at least finish the story...”

Lucifer smirked and opened the book back up. “If you insist, Satan.”

————————

Yayyyyy! Babies! I’m sure the three get back to normal by Monday... hopefully...

Here’s a link to the song Levi and Mammon are singing!

I hope you all enjoyed! As of the time I’m posting this, the next set of Lessons 1-5 Headcanons will be out tomorrow at 8:30 pm EST.

[staysaneathome]

That Day (Afternoon)

(I made another part of that Entity swap WIP, this time with 90% more Melanie King and 30% more Basira Hussain, enjoy) Jon initially had no inkling that this day was going to be substantially different from any other.

Admittedly, there were some differences from his usual day-to-day roamings, but none that hadn’t been true of other days. He was a whole year older, as the Watcher informed him three weeks after his twelfth birthday, but that was ages ago now and he really didn’t feel any different between twelve and eleven.

The Collection was back in town, but he’d managed to avoid them so far, sometimes by the skin of his teeth. Somehow he continued to escape The Man’s prying gaze and the searchers who roamed the streets, some cognizant, some…not. He wondered if the Watcher allowed him to roam free because his status as The Recorder meant it liked him more than the Man, somehow.

Martin hadn’t been at the park for the past fortnight or so, though he’s promised to visit again as soon as he could the last time he was there.  So he could be forgiven of thinking that this day would be no more significant than the last.

And then he spots an eight-year-old girl toddling after one of the searchers.

She’s tall in the way that suggests she’ll be small later in life, with sparkly hair bobbles and the kind of clothes that come from Marks & Spencer or John Lewis or the other too big, too clean stores where the shop people glare at Jon as he goes past.

She’s asking questions of the searcher (who used to be known as Diana, but has lost what made a lot of her her in the flux and flow of information that The Man commands her to find). Questions like, “what do you know about the ghosts I saw on my holiday” and “why is everything so annoying now” and “why are you holding my hand so tight, it hurts” and “are you sure my daddy won’t mind, because he said he was only going to be gone for five minutes” and “hey, are you even listeningto me, you said you’d listen to me?!”

She’s only little, and she hasn’t lived that long, hasn’t got as many stories in her yet. But she’s had an Encounter with one of the Fourteen, and that called the searcher to her like moths to a flame.  Now the searcher’s taking the little girl back to The Collection, where The Man will Ask her about it.  And that will be the End of her.

Jon should turn around and walk away.  It’s sad, but this has happened millions of times, to millions of other people other than this one girl Jon had the misfortune of seeing. He’s so very incredibly lucky he hasn’t been found and dragged back yet, it’d be stupid to give it all up now. He can’t compromise his own safety for someone he doesn’t even know. He needs to turn around and walk away, see if Martin’s waiting at the park for him.

He’s going to turn around. Right now. Right now. Right. Now. Now. Now.

Now!

Jon has never been the largest child. Even when living with his grandmother and getting three square meals a day plus snacks, he’s always remained small and birdlike and bony. He’s not like Martin, who looks like he’d be soft and huggable, or Tommy, who was solid and square when he pushed Jon and stole his books.

But somehow he manages to barrel into the searcher’s arm and rip the little girl up and away with all the strength in his small body.

Of course, that’s when the girl begins trying to claw his eyes out.

“LET ME GO!!” She screams, wriggling so hard Jon almost drops her as he’s trying to run back across the busy road, car horns blaring around them. “WHO ARE—WHAT ARE—PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW OR I'LL BITE YOUR NOSE OFF, I SWEAR, I SWEAR I WILL!!”

”Stop MOVING!” He yells back at her once he’s safely hit pavement. “The searcher’s going to catch us both otherwise! I’m saving your life!!”

“I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO, YOU STUPID UGLY HEAD!!” The little girl shrieks back.

Jon considers dropping her and booking it himself for a single moment.

But the searcher’s coming for them, and now she’s seen him too, her pace quickening as the knowledge of how much the Man wants his prized Recorder back resonating in her skull until it overrides even basic instincts of pain and survival.

So Jon grits his teeth as the little girl in his arms tears into his shoulder with her sharp little nails and hauls her with him down the street as fast as he can go.

The Watcher tells him the bus pulling up to the station in front of them has a camera that’s faulty on the second level. There are two family groups that are going from sniping at each other to outright exchanging verbal blows over who deserves to get on first, the parents going red in the face with spittle flying from their mouths and the children pulling faces and calling names as the overworked and underpaid bus driver tries to keep order.

It’s easy for Jon to duck through them and drag the girl up the bus stairs with him, as the conflict below devolves into an outright brawl that masks the eight-year-old’s protests.  The bus doors slam shut, and the bus pulls away amidst the yelling and fighting outside.

Jon sags down in the seat on the relatively empty second level. The only other person seems to be a teenager slumped down across the very back seats far away from them, eyes shut and white headphone wires trailing out from under their hijab.

He stares out of the window at the searcher, whose figure is quickly vanishing as the bus picks up speed and merges into the London traffic.

”Okay.” He exhales, loosening his grip on the little girl’s collar. “I think we’re safe.”

The little girl whirls around.  Her teeth snap shut an inch away from his nose.

Jon presses himself against the window. “What is wrong wi—hey! Stop it!!”

“No!” The girl yells back. “That lady was gonna tell me why everything is being so annoying, all the time now and how to make it stop, so I can be happy again, and you, you went and ruined it!!” She’s still flailing, still trying furiously to claw him open, but there’s a frustrated edge to her voice and tears brimming in her eyes.

”I did not!” Jon protests vehemently, trying to keep a grip on her so she doesn’t give him anymore scratches like the one trickling blood down his arm. “She didn’t want to help you! She just wanted to take you back and make you tell your story so the Collection could eat up your life!”

”Liar! How would you know?!” The girl accuses, one of her sparkly hair-bobbles coming undone.

”Because that’s what they tried to do to me.” Jon hisses. “But they didn’t eat all of me, just…just made me into something like them. A monster that eats stories.”

The girl actually pauses for a moment to digest this.

“Are you going to try to eat me, then?” She asks, warily, arms tensing again. “If you’re a monster like that lady.”

”Of course not!” Jon scoffs, then adds, “Eating someone yucky like you would make me sick.”

The little girl goes bug-eyed and she tears her arms out of his grip to cross them over her chest ”I would not! You take that back!”

”No.” Jon says gleefully, then immediately regrets it when the little girl kicks him in the shin. “Ow! Stop that!”

”You started it.” The girl replies moodily, shifting to sit down in the seat properly and swing her legs.

Jon finally turns away to inspect the damage he’s sustained, pulling his shirt away from his arm and hissing as it makes his shoulder burn with pain. The Watcher tells him he needs to disinfect the cuts and maybe have a few stitches if he wants it to not get worse, but he can’t exactly get those easily where he is right now.

”If you’re a monster, why do you bleed like a normal person?” The girl pipes up behind him. Her eyebrows are furrowed.

”Why do you care?” He mutters, shooting her a dirty look.

The girl puffs out her chest, which looks a little odd, given that she’s now sitting on her hands. “I’m gonna be a ghost hunter when I’m grown up. Like in that one movie, but I’ll be even cooler and have a magic sword instead of a weird gun, and I’ll beat up all the ghosts and monsters on my own, except the nice ones, because they’ll be my friends. I’m Melanie, by the way. What’s your name? Do monsters have names?”

”Yes.” Jon replies. He enjoys the silence for a moment.

Melanie’s cheeks puff out like a pufferfish as she glares at him. “Okaay, so what’s your name?”

”Jon.” Jon says curtly.

”That’s not a very good name for a monster.” Melanie informs him.

”I wasn’t always a monster.” Jon tells her sourly. “Just like you.” The little girl doesn’t ask him many more questions for a long time after that.

”What are you looking at?” Melanie says suddenly as the bus is slowing to its fourth stop since they got on.

Jon twists away from the window. “I’m just trying to see if the searcher’s followed us—”

”Not you.” Melanie replies impatiently. “You. What are you looking at?”

The back of Jon’s neck goes cold. He twists around slowly.

The teenager in the hijab isn’t slumped across the seats. She’s half-way to standing, and staring right at them. Her eyes are cold and intent.

They stay like that, frozen for a moment.

”Melanie, run!!” He screams.

Melanie throws herself towards the stairs as the teenager explodes into motion behind them. Jon can feel her fingers try to snag on the back of his shirt as he thunders down the stairs, only narrowly missing him as he half-falls the rest of the way down and pelts out the bus doors to the sound of the driver yelling indignantly.

One of Melanie’s sparkly bobbles has fallen out and her hair is drooping down as she turns to grab onto Jon’s hand while they run.

”Stop!” The teenager yells. “Hey!” She’s gaining on them.

Jon tries to Know where they can go to lose her, how they can escape, but the Watcher just gives him useless tidbits instead; that man with the skateboard there has undiagnosed intermittent explosive disorder, this lady jogging over up ahead served two tours as a nurse in her youth to pay for her medical degree, that young person with the pins on their bag here is coordinating a flash mob on his phone to protest—

“Go away already!” Melanie complains on a furious exhale, and kicks a discarded can in her path hard.

It rockets away from her, bounces off a rubbish bin, and somehow jams in between the wheels of the man’s skateboard. He yelps as he falls, but roars when the teenager chasing them runs directly into him without slowing down, rising to block her path. The lady jogging furrows her brow with alarm, and races forwards to put herself between what she sees as a hostile and a young civilian in need of her protection, inadvertently preventing the teenager from advancing in her attempts to diffuse the situation and keep the man from lashing out at her physically. The person on their phone looks up and sets their jaw, switching it to video record the conflict and grabbing the teenager back even further, acting as a shield and spit inflammatory accusations that do more to raise tempers and attract attention than to resolve anything.

Jon watches all this with rapt eyes, drinking it in until his hand is jerked hard and he almost falls over.

”C’mon!” Melanie yells, irritated and scared and guilty and angry, the mark of the Slaughter almost an audible note to her voice, her footsteps. “We need to get away from those creepy ladies, find somewhere to hide, where do we go?!”

To hide.  Jon tightens his grip on Melanie’s hand and changes their course slightly, heading towards a place he frequents regularly.

”Follow me,” He gasps, trying to ignore the stitch in his side. “I have a friend.”

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Day 194

September 21

So I didn't get done anything that involved leaving the house today, which is not great. It was just kind of a failure to launch day, I guess. I did get stuff done inside the house though; folded the laundry, made an enormous pot of spaghetti and meatballs, dewormed the kittens, etc. I will definitely have to leave the house tomorrow because when the kiddo realized tomorrow is going to be gorgeous all day, he was sad until I told him we could try doing school outside by hotspotting off my phone. (unlimited data on the family plan ftw!) He has now come up with an elaborate plan that also involves snacks and drinks, so I may have to get up a bit earlier than usual to set stuff up. I'm nobody's Pinterest Mom, but it's nice to do something a little different and fun sometimes. 

I realized I've been falling a little behind on watering my garden because I got so used to the rain, so I gave everything a good drink and perked it up today. I also harvested some more lemongrass and some ginger leaves and made a very nice tea from them. I learned today that lemongrass is perennial, so there is a possibility it might live through the winter and come back next year. It's not certain because I planted it in the most ridiculous possible spot, one of the side pockets in a strawberry pot, but it apparently liked it there well enough to grow like crazy all through the late summer. It and the lavender both survived, the cilantro grew and flowered and died, and the dill apparently didn't like being there. I did not put any strawberries in the strawberry pot this year because the plants I bought were too big. I think we may have explored this topic in the early early days of this journal but that was a thousand years ago and I do not remember. The ginger leaves just came from some ginger root that I forgot to use and stuck in an unused pot of dirt when it got all wrinkly. It grew beautifully! (Here's the strawberry pot early this summer on its trip to North Carolina. I got it in Laredo and it is one of my favorite things.)

I explained to the kiddo that today was the autumnal equinox, the day of the year where day and night are balanced, just before the nights start getting longer. He sighed and wished it was the other way around, so I also explained the vernal equinox. He was not impressed. He spent more time outdoors today and also a lot of time in with the kittens. They are at an extremely fun age right now, though apparently Audiva nearly got him chat banned on his minecraft server for typing gibberish. I can empathize, Sebell nearly installed the Harris Teeter app on my phone this evening by sitting on it. The biggest problem with the kiddo's current kitten preoccupation is definitely his allergies, poor kid. At least we have allergy meds for him. I also gave the kittens their second dewormer this evening, to take care of any nasty little roundworms. It's only Pyrantel though, so they'll probably need Drontal as well to take care of any tapeworms. Any kitten who has had fleas might have tapeworms, yucky. Better to take care of it while they are young and in foster! 

I keep telling myself that it is almost the end of the month, but it really is not. I can put off shopping for a few more days, but not ten full days till payday. The good news is I did get paid for some mystery shops I did a few weeks ago, so that's 70 dollars in pay any reimbursement that can go towards groceries. I already told my shopping people that I'm not doing any more restaurant shops this month because I'm out of money. They understand, they don't exactly have glamorous high-paying jobs themselves. I may, I suppose, do a couple of grocery store shops because I have to get groceries anyway, may as well take the edge off by getting a little bit paid for, right? If only it weren't the most expensive grocery stores hiring mystery shoppers! I have an extensive list by now that just keeps growing and growing, but the only thing I bought today was another pack of 50 disposable masks. They're cheap on Amazon if you don't mind waiting a month for them to ship, so I have just been ordering a new pack (about six dollars) every few weeks and assuming I will be ready for them by the time they arrive. 

In the meantime, I made a huge pot of spaghetti tonight so that we will have several meals worth of leftovers. I also pulled a ham out of the freezer (buy your ham after the ham holidays, so cheap!) and by the time the spaghetti is gone, the ham should be ready to cook. My husband doesn't like ham by itself much, but ham is incredibly versatile and can go into a million things. Plus ham salad is one of my favorite lunch foods ever. Anyway, I chopped up an onion and cooked it in a little butter till it was just starting to go a little golden, then threw in garlic and a pound of ground beef and a bunch of Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle. I used my Dutch oven because I wanted to make _lots._ When the meat was cooked I sponged off some of the grease with paper towels, then added an undrained can of diced tomatoes, a couple spoonsful of sugar, some salt and pepper, and three cans of the cheapest brand of spaghetti sauce. You really can't beat the convenience and volume of just oomphing up the kind of sauce that's 88 cents for a 20 ounce can. I threw in a bunch of frozen meatballs and simmered it for twenty minutes, then added a few big handfuls of mozzarella cheese and served it over angel hair. Very popular, and so many leftovers! I am the best at dinner. 

This day’s entry is already getting long, but I really ought to remember the Punching Mattress for posterity as well. The kiddo is now happy in his new bed on his new mattress, which means the old bed is kaput. I sold the twin frame in less than a day on Facebook Marketplace for 25 dollars. I paid 90 for it in 2013, so it was a good deal for both parties.  The mattress is only about a year old, but the kiddo has had a few destructive-feelings days and kind of severely messed up the fabric on one end. So it's not likely we're going to be able to do anything with that mattress and for now it is leaning against the wall in our entrance hallway like we're expecting a human cannonball over for dinner. I don't even remember who started it now, but it has become a good place to let off some excess energy by pretending you are a superhero or a championship martial artist. Yelling "punch, punch, punch!" while punching the mattress is optional but encouraged unless somebody is in a Zoom class. It's good exercise, and cathartic, too! I'm kind of melancholy about the idea of getting rid of it already.   

[pbjpuppy]

Walks

I’ve been going on a lot of walks recently.

‘Cause, y’know being in the house all the time isn’t really good for you. Like, y’know, cabin fever and stuff? Plus, we just did this unit in science- through the computer, they’re calling it distance learning- about indoor air pollution, and how the air inside a home can be multiple times more polluted than outside air, and how most people spend most of their time indoors (90%!), which really makes sitting in my bedroom for long periods of time kind of unappealing.

I don’t always like staying in my room anyway. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I spend most of my time in there like any other teenager does, and it’s great! I love my room. I’m even lucky enough to have my own instead of having to share it with a sibling like some people do. But still, even if you live in paradise it’s a prison if you can’t leave, so I don’t stay in there all the time. Sometimes I just wander around my house in circles instead. Or sit in my dad’s room.

Anyway- walks. Lots of them. One every day is the new routine, unless I get lazy, which has happened once or twice and I always regret it. To the end of the block, which intersects the road in a “T” shape, then I turn to the right and walk all the way until the sidewalk ends (Through the old elementary school’s parking lot- I’m always worried security will yell at me, but so far I’ve been peacefully ignored), then I turn back and walk all the way past my block again to the other end of the sidewalk, then home. It’s not the most scenic route; I live in the suburbs of Long Island and all the trees are dead because it’s only just turned April, and all there is to see is houses and road.

I keep myself entertained, though. There’s actually a lot to see if you really look. Nothing extraordinary, but that’s kind of what I like about it. I keep my eyes to the ground a lot, and you see a lot of litter on the ground: Cups, cans, cigarette boxes, packs of tissues, chicken wire, caution tape, strange boxy wooden contraptions that look busted and have been abandoned. Once I even saw an unopened condom. It’s an environmental nightmare, of course, but for the arrogant human on her walk it provides plenty of brain food. For every piece of trash there was a living, breathing human who held it, who used it, who discarded it. I wonder what they’re like and if I’ll ever meet them, what they’re up to. If they’re alive right now.

There’s not much that’s all too impressive in terms of nature, like I said, but it’s still outside, and I’ve seen a bunch of interesting nature-y things, too. On my first walk, I found a chunk of a wasp’s nest, half-rotted. Recently I found a bird’s nest too, and I wanted to go pick it up, but it was in somebody’s yard and I didn’t want to get yelled at for trespassing. Just today I passed right through a murder of crows, kind of. They were perched in a group on the trees and telephone wires, and their croaking startled me out of my daydreaming to admire them. I’ve seen a lot of things that look like bones that aren’t bones, and one time I saw something that looked like a bone that actually was a bone.

The one natural thing I don’t see on my walks is humans. Not one in a week. I would have expected to see at least one person walking their dog or something, or just doing work in the yard. I mean, everybody else has to be as restless as I am inside, right? But no, no people to be seen. That’s okay, though. The sidewalk is narrow, I like not having to share it. It also means I can text while I walk and not worry about bumping into someone. Plus, I guess it’s been kind of yucky out weather-wise. By the time I get home from my walks my nose is usually pink and runny from the cold.

I live with two other people, my dog, my cat, and my two pet rats. That makes seven living things and three living humans. The house is quiet a lot of the time. My brother and I are both teenagers- I’m seventeen, he’s nineteen- and we spend a lot of time in our rooms. My dad is usually working, or out of the house. He likes to go over to his girlfriend’s house a lot, or out to the city for the weekend before… Everything happened, and I’ll take care of myself for the evening and the following day or so. Sometimes it’s longer than that. I don’t hear from my brother those days, he makes his own food. Sometimes I’ll be home alone and won’t even realize until I walk past his bedroom and see it’s been empty this whole time.

My dad’s been away a lot this week, I think. And my brother’s been quiet. I think he’s told me he doesn’t feel well. That’s okay. I can take care of myself well enough and I think I have people online to talk to. My dog barks a lot, that’s kind of like conversation. Plus, I have Animal Crossing, that game where you live on an island with a bunch of little animal people? It’s really cute, I love it. I talk to the animals on Animal Crossing. I don’t mind being alone.

I’m on a walk, and my fingers and nose are cold and pink. I have an umbrella, but I don’t actually need it. It’s not raining anymore, the wind is just moist and cold. It’s dangling from my wrist. I liked playing tug-of-war with my umbrella against the wind, but the wind won, and my umbrella turned inside out, so I stopped. I’m coming back from the right side of the T.

There’s lots of evidence of humans. There’s so much litter, pieces of trash that somebody was holding and let go of and now it’s on the ground. I thought I smelled weed before, which is gross, but that means that somebody somewhere was smoking it, somewhere nearby. There’s graffiti on the street signs.

There’s lots of cars on the road, too. I don’t know where they’re going. Nobody’s really supposed to be going anywhere right now, I think. We’re supposed to be staying home, that’s what I was told. Maybe they’re going to get groceries. You’re allowed to go get groceries. All of them are getting groceries.

Going to school online is a weird and kind of stressful experience, by the way, did I mention that? I’ve never done anything like homeschooling, I’ve always gone to public school my whole life, ever since I went to the old elementary school that I have to pass through on my walks. I’m used to structure. There’s this bell that drones at the end of every class, and when you hear the bell you get up and shuffle to your next class, forty-two minutes every class period. I’m used to that. Now they’re so far away. The classes, I mean, like, the concept of them. It’s just kind of a vague idea that there’s work I should be doing, now. I’ve been doing okay. I set alarms every forty-two minutes and pretend I’m going to class.

I still haven’t seen a single human. I’ve been looking into the windshields of the cars as I walk and I still haven’t seen a single one. I don’t know who these cars are trying to fool, you can’t drive a car if there’s nobody in the driver’s seat. That’s impossible. But I haven’t seen a single human. Super-smart cars, maybe. I think I’ve heard about those on the news, right? Sometime before everything happened. They’re sending their cars to get groceries.

I walk past the cemetery if I want to walk farther than usual. Usually my walk stops me right by the cemetery. I like ghosts and spooky things so I like living so close to a cemetery. It’s a nice cemetery, too. I don’t go in it very much, the only dead person I know wasn’t buried in the cemetery and I don’t want to intrude on anybody who’s grieving their loved one. Walks aren’t that important and I have a different route. I don’t think I would find anybody in the cemetery, but I’m going to go home anyway. I’ve been walking for a long time.

I think a lot on my walks. My mind wanders. I do it on purpose, actually, I put on my music and let my mind wander while I walk. I like to draw and write stories, and letting my mind wander while I walk is good for inspiration. I’ve been thinking about humans and cars and crows. The crows fly away when I walk near them. I wonder if the humans are like crows and that’s why I can’t see them. Maybe I did something wrong and everybody’s avoiding me. Maybe everyone’s too busy getting groceries to be in their cars. It must be a lot of groceries.

My dad has been away a lot this week. I want to tell him about the bugs I caught in Animal Crossing. I don’t know if I’ve seen him in a while. I thought I said goodbye to him yesterday. Yesterday it was snowing, when I said goodbye. It wasn’t snowing yesterday. I wish he’d get back from whatever he’s doing. I hope he brings me back something from the grocery store.

My brother hasn’t been feeling well. He wants me to leave him alone, I think. I think he said that, and that’s why he’s not in his room. He doesn’t want me to bother him, I think. He hasn’t been feeling well for a long time. He’s such a complainer. There’s mold in the food he left in his room.

Online school is so frustrating. I’m really not good at math, and I tried to message my teacher about an exponents question, but he hasn’t been replying to me. I skipped the math problems, I think, and I can’t find the right website we’re supposed to be doing them on. I can’t find the app on my phone I used to text my teacher. I’m so forgetful. I forgot to text him, I think.

This wouldn’t be happening if everything hadn’t happened. If we were in school, I’d be able to raise my hand and ask the teacher in person about my math question. And there would be other students, too. But we have to stay home. Everyone has to stay home.

I don’t know why we have to stay home. I thought somebody told me. I can’t remember. I know everybody has to stay home. The government said so or something. That’s why I can’t find anybody. Everybody’s at home.

My dad isn’t answering his phone. I want to know when he’ll be home. He’s not supposed to be out. I forgot my dad’s number, I think. I’m going to walk to the grocery store. It’s getting dark out now, but I think I need to go. I’m going to see what all the fuss is about. Everyone’s at the grocery store, that’s why I can’t find them.

There’s not much to see in the suburbs of Long Island. The shapes the buildings make are kind of pretty, though. They’re all warped and blackened, like a giant hand smushed them like play-doh. There’s lots of litter. There’s evidence of humans everywhere. The sun is setting behind the ruined buildings and it looks red and burning. It reminds me of something awful. Maybe a movie I watched, I think, about some awful explosion. The sun is too red and it’s scaring me. I’m going to keep walking to the grocery store.

This parking lot is empty and dirty. There’s lots of litter: plastic water bottle casings, old lighters, trampled wet paper bags, turned over shopping cars, shells of cars, the grocery store sign smashed on the ground. I step on the broken glass because it makes a nice sound. It smells like food, I think. The smell of the food is making my throat hurt, I think. There’s smoke rising from the building. They’re cooking, I think. The sun is so red behind the smoke. It looks like fire.

It looks like fire. There’s so much fire. It’s reminding me of something really bad. I’m really scared, something in my brain is really scared. Something happened and I can’t remember. I don’t want to be at the grocery store anymore. I’m walking home now but my legs aren’t feeling very normal. I wish the sun wouldn’t look so red. Everything is red and warm and smoky. It’s only just April and my nose and fingers are supposed to be pink from the cold.

I’m getting lost, I think. Once I find my way home I can get my dad to hug me so I feel better. I don’t know why I’m crying. Something is making me sad and scared but I can’t remember what it is. Reminds me of a movie, I think. A big scary explosion in a movie. The air smells like smoke. I think I might be upset because of cabin fever. That’s it, I think.

I think I need to go on more walks.

[the-real-tc]

Review! Ep. 1208: Stress Fractures

Took me long enough to get all my thoughts down about this, but I quite enjoyed this episode. Two thumbs up to Alexandra Clarke and the whole cast and crew.

Euro Tour or Bust!

All that Georgie has been striving for, sacrificing for, training for, exerting herself for… it apparently all comes down to this one event… An event she simply can’t miss… So of course she misses it. Why? It starts like this: Wyatt has been frustrated by her rigorous training because it has meant she’s had no time for him, poor baby. But now that Olivia has broken up with Adam, Wyatt wants to cheer up his friend and has bought tickets to a concert in Calgary. He begs Georgie to come along. After much cajoling, she eventually does go, if only to escape the camping trip from hell…

Everything Old is New Again!

With Lou, nothing is really new. Just her same old frustrating habits: Jumping to conclusions, barreling ahead with decisions without consulting with anyone else, and taking offense easily have been her trademark personality traits from Day 1, so of course it is no different when she comes back home “for good.”

Lou took Nicole’s offer and sold her shares to be a silent partner in the Maggie’s franchise — all so she could afford aforementioned Euro Tour. She’s so darn proud of herself for being able to help her daughter pursue her dreams that she doesn’t even tell Peter.

She also comes home with an idea for “Pioneer Days” at the Dude Ranch. Families “disconnect” from technology and go on a covered wagon ride/camping trip like the pioneers did. Sleeping under the stars, fireside cooking, etc. (Sounds like a great way to get food poisoning and some terrible water-borne illness, but whatever.) Lou manages to rope Mitch into things; Jen and Peter also tag along, which is fine, since Ty and Amy bailed out so they could handle problems with a certain Fairfield horse…

Shooting Star… Shooting Up Painkillers!

With Lisa still away in Istanbul (not Constantinople! Or maybe France, we never know for sure anymore, it’s been so long since we’ve seen her) Fairfield manager Laura has been taking some liberties with her boss’ horses. We knew from a previous episode that Laura said Lisa had high expectations for Star this racing season; Ty was cautiously optimistic, but his manner indicated Star would be out of it for the foreseeable future. Maybe Laura thought if Star won a few races, her boss would be happy.

When Ty and Amy find out Star raced—and won—on a foreleg with a stress fracture, a blood test conducted on the sly indicates the presence of a load of painkillers. When Team Ty & Amy confront Laura about her doping scheme, saying they will have to tell Lisa about it, Laura has a chilling comeback: She will blab to the press if they blab to Lisa. Ty’s career would be ruined, because, gee, he’s the one who provided the drugs in the first place (never mind the drugs were for other horses, not Star). Of course Fairfield’s reputation would also go down, ruining everything Lisa built.

Jack counsels the pair not to trouble Lisa with this news quite yet, since she’s about to get a plane to come home. But wait! She isn’t! Aunt Evelyn’s health takes a turn for the worse, so she won’t be coming home “this weekend”.

Bust…

After the concert, Wyatt, Georgie and Adam find themselves trapped in the parking garage stairwell because Wyatt forgot the fob-thingy that would grant them proper access. This means Georgie isn’t getting home before curfew; isn’t getting a good night’s rest and is probably going to miss her event. She is not amused. Wyatt tries to make light of the situation; Georgie blows up at him. Already forlorn Adam is helplessly caught in the middle. By the time a guard comes by next morning and they speed off to get “Cinderella” to her ball, Wyatt’s Mustang decides it’s the perfect time to come up lame. It’s at this point that Georgie dejectedly admits defeat.

Petulant Pioneers

The camping trip is not going well for Lou due to her amazing ability to stew over things. First, she can’t light a fire, which Jen easily manages. Then, there’s the fact that Mitch is not only still seeing Maya, he’s actually now engaged to her. (So much for rekindling *that* fire!) Peter gets upset when he learns he was kept out of the loop about paying for Georgie’s Euro Trip. Lou is upset to hear Jen and Peter had dinner together in Vancouver earlier. She can’t help but feel like she’s being replaced, and their yucky pioneer dinner ends on a very sour note. Fortunately, Mitch manages to convince her later that night during a lovely fireside chat that she is undoubtedly, 100%, one-of-a-kind, and he can’t imagine why she ever thought she could be replaced. Morning comes, and Lou is in a better mood. She mends fences with Peter and Jen, and she vows to “let go” of a lot of things.

Race Against Time…

Laura seems bent on ruining Star. Or something. Because despite the stress fracture, she has entered the horse in another race. Ty and Amy tear out of Heartland in a mad quest to stop this from happening. Will they get there in time?? Episode 1209 will tell us for sure.

Final Thoughts:

Adam Parker has the best line this episode as he deadpans: “Spoiler alert—tears will be shed” as he whips out a playlist of songs written C minor, a key which apparently epitomizes heartbreak.  

Amy and Ty as first-time parents are adorable. (Two phone alerts aren’t enough to wake to slumbering Lyndy, but a toppled toy clattering to the floor… “Mommy..”)

Jack installing a wine fridge for when Lisa gets back is a nice gesture, provided she ever really does come home. She still lives there, right? We think so, since she keeps sending wine there. Oh, and she’s probably going to need all that wine after she finds out the mess she’s coming back to with Fairfield and Laura and Shooting Star.

I really hope Lisa straightens things out, because what Laura is doing is highly illegal, and Fairfield's reputation really could be ruined, right along with Ty & Amy's fledgling partnership. Katie 3.0! I mentioned it earlier, but it’s great to have Lou and Peter’s daughter back on our screens in the person of Ziya Matheson. Please stay. We don’t need a Katie 4.0, okay?

The Pretender

This is sort of from left field. 

That business card with the phrase “Where Everything Old is New Again” was seen in an episode of a ‘90s TV series called The Pretender. Of course it was unintentional on Alexandra Clarke’s part, but I found it amusing that phrase popped up in Stress Fractures. 

The Pretender episode in which this business card appeared happened to also have a certain guest star we know named Jessica Steen. 

(Yes, I am such a nerd.)

[plotsnshots-blog]

Smoking is a Health Risk ft. the Effects on Oestrogen

“…They spray hormones on the wrapping papers,” Clark warned him. “To help women lose weight. You’re filling your lungs with oestrogen.”’

It has occurred to me that a lot of my posts do appear to be about women - unsurprising given my own gender, but surprising when one considers that this book is written by a male author from the perspective of a fourteen-year-old boy.

Anywho, as a follow-up post to my last post, I think it is important to educate people on the health risks of smoking and also the impact it has on women’s health in particular, due to this quote above. 

Whilst tobacco companies clearly did have some sly techniques for marketing cigarettes to women, including telling them it would help them lose weight (see my previous post), they definitely did NOT spray hormones on the wrapping papers, so this is just another point in the book where Alf and Clark are stating opinions as fact which are untrue (a common occurrence which makes them equally more annoying and more comedic and more dumb in our brains). Unintentionally or not, there is some truth to Clark’s words - whilst you are not filling your lungs with oestrogen, there has been evidence that smoking does raise the levels of both oestrogen and testosterone in your body (as well as just generally fucking with your hormone system in general). More under the cut.

Firstly, smoking is the biggest bane of the health industry. If nobody smoked, 1/3 of the cancer deaths that do occur would just not happen. It’s the most preventable cause of death globally and causes 1 in 5 deaths. That should be enough to see the enormous detriment of smoking, honestly, but for completeness, here are the health risks:

You could die of:

Lung cancer - causes 90% of lung cancer-related deaths. If you smoke, your risk of lung cancer goes up 25%.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - 80% of COPD-related deaths are due to smoking. Basically severe lung damage due to smoke particles being stuck in your lungs making it harder to breathe over time. Includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis (types of lung damage). 

Other cancers - your risk increases for cancer almost anywhere in the body

You are at risk of:

Coronary heart disease - smoking damages your blood vessels, and this makes them thicker and therefore narrower (think of the healing process from this damage leaving a thicker “scar” inside) which means it’s harder for blood to flow, meaning your blood pressure goes up. This means your heart has to work harder and is therefore not as efficient, so clots form leading to:

Heart attack

Stroke

Pulmonary embolism (clot travels to your lungs, inhibiting your ability to breathe)

You could develop these conditions:

Type II diabetes - nicotine raises your blood sugar and makes you more resistant to insulin, making you 30-40% more likely to develop type II diabetes

Rheumatoid arthritis - because smoking damages your blood vessels, it causes widespread inflammation (swelling and other injury responses just inside of you) which your body has to use its immune system to react to. This puts undue pressure on it, predisposing your to rheumatoid arthritis which is an auto-immune disease (when your immune system attacks itself)

Cataracts, glaucoma and dry eyes - once again, damaged blood vessels in your eyes raises pressure there which causes glaucoma. Nicotine has also been associated with macular degeneration and therefore loss of vision via cataracts.

Osteoporosis - your bones become weaker and more susceptible to fractures because nicotine affects your ability to absorb calcium which is what is needed for your bones to become strong and also causes inflammation and releases toxins in the body which can damage bone tissue.

Physical changes:

Teeth and gum disease - everything becomes stained yellow and black because of the tar - hugely unattractive. We all know this one from the back of smoking packaging in Australia (go look it up if curious). 

Wrinkling of the skin (including the face) - because nicotine causes narrowing of the blood vessels to your face, there isn’t enough oxygen and vitamin A getting to your skin, causing wrinkles and the appearance of premature aging. Not so hot.

Weight loss - this is true, and probably the only beneficial side-effect (but is it worth it?). Smoking decreases appetite, metabolism efficiency and therefore caloric absorption so you do lose weight. However, think of the nutrient loss and how unhealthy that could be in itself.

Chronic venous insufficiency and deep vein thrombosis - this is the ugly swollen veins and bruised skin that you get on your legs and is due to blood flow issues and clots in your legs due to damage to the blood vessels

Reduction of fertility - for men and women. Smoking also decreases your chances of successful IVF by half. This is because the toxins you inhale can damage your eggs and sperm and cause DNA damage to them.

Decreased immune function - you will get sick more often/you are more susceptible to falling sick.

But here’s the good news aha.  5 years after you stop smoking, you are no longer at risk for stroke and cancers that are not lung cancer. 10 years after you stop smoking, your chances of developing lung cancer will drop by half. Not bad, huh?

Okay so final note: whilst branding companies definitely did not cover the wrapping papers in oestrogen for lady cigarettes, smoking does have a huge effect on your endocrine (hormone) system, and your oestrogen levels do go up. So here is a short bit on the effects smoking has on oestrogen:

So in brief, oestrogens are a group of sex hormones (ikr, not even a single hormone) which are in both men and women, but in very low quantities in men. It is called a sex hormone because it is what gives girls their secondary sexual characteristics - in other words boobs, periods, wider hips and interestingly, more hair on our heads.

They also help us to look after our reproductive systems, and when we are in the process of getting pregnant and pregnancy, help us to fertilise and develop the egg into an embryo and eventually a baby. 

Oestrogen is made in the ovaries but stored all over the body in tissues like fat, muscle and bone. The release of oestrogen in cycles is what’s responsible for periods.

Smoking increases testosterone (the male sex hormone) and oestrogen post-menopause. There are many reasons that this is bad:

The metabolites of oestrogen (things that oestrogen is broken down into) are toxic and potentially carcinogenic (can cause cancer) so you don’t want too much of that

Oestrogen is what some cancers like breast cancers live off and so too much oestrogen will encourage them to grow

Early menopause - data on this is inconsistent and they are unsure as to how oestrogen levels cause early menopause, however women smokers were found to reach menopause at least a year earlier than non-smokers which is significant, because after menopause your oestrogen levels drop and you become at risk of heart and bone disease which needs to be closely monitored and treated (as well as a host of other yucky symptoms I won’t embellish on ahem vaginal dryness and hot flushes etc.)

So yes, a hopefully informative post, but (because it’s medical) less positive than the others (but still interesting, hopefully). TLDR; smoking is bad for your body.

[the-tin-dog]

This is such a big thing to me because I live in a sub tropic climate so like, yeah. Bugs are fuckin everywhere. It’s LITERALLY impossible to not see a roach in your house occasionally. (Not the invasive German kind, the native, American roaches, that just kinda. Live outside in the palm trees and eat decaying plant matter) like down here 90% of the time seeing one (1) native roach inside is just like. The lil guy wandered in. He’s just as confused as you are. Roaches carry less bacteria than you get from not washing your hands. Less than what is currently on all of our cell phones. But people are TERRIFIED. And like sure, no one wants roaches in their house. But at the same time, (again, provided you aren’t in a cold climate where one roach is a full on infestation) they’re EXTREMELY important??? Out of almost 4500 species of cockroach, only THIRTY are considered pests, and that’s counting ALL OF THEM. EVERYWHERE. And pest =\= invasive.

So like yeah I have a soft spot for roaches. (And before anyone argues I have had an infested apartment from a neighbor who got infested, they were the highly invasive German roaches, which are different from the ones that occasionally wander inside where I live now)

But the real point here is that I’ll see these posts and people will always be like “yeah we love bugs! Except those yucky roaches 🤮” and it’s like. Buddy. Friend. Bestie. Just like. I’m begging you. Please learn about bugs. Including the “gross” ones. Because without roaches we’d all be living in our own shit.

Been working in pest control for 3 months now and i can confidently say that nobody on earth seems to understand that sometimes You Will See A Bugs and that's Normal if you live literally anywhere with oxygen

[gayliensfromspace]

Since I’m bored so I’ll just answer these all in one 8)

1: Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?

I have no doors for my closet :/

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?

Never been to a hotel.

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

I try to tuck them in but I guess I flail like a fish when I’m asleep since they always get untucked

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before?

NO

5: Do you like to use post-it notes?

Never use em

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?

Nah

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?

Bear i guess, Bees will die 8/

8: Do you have freckles?

A few

9: Do you always smile for pictures?

NO I get too nervous

10: What is your biggest pet peeve?

UUHHHH People not being honest with me about things I guess?

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk?

Nope

12: Have you ever peed in the woods?

NO

13: What about pooped in the woods?

NOOO

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing?

Nope

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils?

I used to

16: How many people have you slept with this week?

[looks over at my stuffed animals] UH

17: What size is your bed?

I think it’s a twin bed??!!

18: What is your Song of the week?

None? :)

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink?

absolutely!

20: Do you still watch cartoons?

YE BOI

21: Whats your least favorite movie?

I’m not sure, probably any live action talking animal movie? they seem so annoying

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?

In the titty

23: If you’re a girl, bra size? If you’re a guy, pants size?

Wow

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?

NOTHING I JUST CONSUME

25: What is your favorite food?

Cake

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love?

I guess some Disney movies?

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you?

N/A

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout?

Nope

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?

NOOO

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?

I think never

31: Can you change the oil on a car?

No

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

No

33: Ever ran out of gas?

Listen I don’t drive

34: Favorite kind of sandwich?

Chicken sandwich

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast?

Chocolate cereal, cinnamon rolls, pancakes

36: What is your usual bedtime?

[wild shrugging]

37: Are you lazy?

Oh

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?

Different things?

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign?

MONKEY

40: Are you horny?

NO

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

NOOOOOO

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs?

Legos?

43: Are you stubborn?

Ye

44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman?

What

45: Ever watch soap operas?

Nope

46: Are you afraid of heights?

BIG YEAH

47: Do you sing in the car?

NOOOOOOO

48: Do you sing in the shower?

NO NO NO

49: Do you dance in the car?

WHAT NO

50: Ever used a gun?

NO

51: Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

UUHHH

52: Do you think musicals are cheesy?

No???? I guess??

53: Is Christmas stressful?

In a way yeah

54: Ever eat a pierogi?

wat

55: Favorite type of fruit pie?

UHHH I guess apple

56: Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

I wanted to make a movie when i was a kid featuring my OCs, and... well still kinda do :’)

57: Do you believe in ghosts?

I guess no

58: Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

A lot yep

59: Take a vitamin daily?

I try!

60: Wear slippers?

nope

61: Wear a bath robe?

nope

62: What do you wear to bed?

T shirt and shorts

63: First concert?

N/A

64: Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

I guess Walmart

65: Nike or Adidas?

Wat

66: Cheetos Or Fritos?

CHEETOS

67: Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

Neither

68: Ever hear of the group Tres Bien?

No

69: Ever take dance lessons?

NO

70: Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

I never really thought of this... I guess I just don’t know, nor do I care what her job will be

71: Can you curl your tongue?

yeeee

72: Ever won a spelling bee?

No

73: Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

YEAH!!

74: Own any record albums?

no

75: Own a record player?

It’s not mine so no

76: Regularly burn incense?

No

77: Ever been in love?

Uh it’s complicated

78: Who would you like to see in concert?

N/A

79: What was the last concert you saw?

N/A

80: Hot tea or cold tea?

Yuck yuck

81: Tea or coffee?

YUCKY

82: Sugar or snickerdoodles?

Sugar I guess?

83: Can you swim well?

NOPE

84: Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

Ye

85: Are you patient?

Depends on thing like right now super impatient for Spyro remaster announcement 8)

86: DJ or band, at a wedding?

DJ GET THE FUNKY STUFF GOIN

87: Ever won a contest?

Yes...... only because I was the only participate 

88: Ever have plastic surgery?

NO

89: Which are better black or green olives?

YUCK

90: Can you knit or crochet?

Nope

91: Best room for a fireplace?

Living room I guess?

92: Do you want to get married?

YEAH

93: If married, how long have you been married?

N/A

94: Who was your HS crush?

N/A

95: Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?

NO I’M NOT A BABY

96: Do you have kids?

No

97: Do you want kids?

Dunno I guess

98: Whats your favorite color?

Blue (Cerulean), Purple, Indigo, Teal

99: Do you miss anyone right now?

Nope.

[newstfionline]

Armageddon on a Shoestring: Prepare for Disasters Without Destroying Your Budget

The Simple Dollar, 17 Sep 2017

Just before and right after every disaster, you see news coverage of crowded stores, depleted shelves, and interviews with people who don’t have enough (water, batteries, whatever).

Don’t be those people. September is National Preparedness Month, and its theme--”Disasters don’t plan ahead. You can.”--is also the theme of this post. Even if you’re on a tight budget, or living paycheck to paycheck, you should be prepared to live at least three days without basic services.

Should things go south, got any idea how you’d eat, drink, and stay warm until things got back to normal?

Two other things you might not consider until it’s too late:

Where would you and your family go to the bathroom if the power and/or water cut out?

Do you have a manual can opener?

Sound funny? It’s deadly serious. If you don’t have a plan for the potty, your back yard is going to get real foul real fast. (Assuming, that is, that you even have a back yard.) And imagine the frustration of not being able to open up those cans of soup for your hungry household. (Assuming, that is, that you have a way to heat them up.)

The good news: You probably already have a lot of the stuff that Ready.gov suggests you need. The better news is that you can get the rest of it very cheaply, or even for free. And the time to do this is now, before the next power failure, ice storm, blizzard, hurricane, earthquake, or windstorm reshapes your life.

What’s for dinner? The “food” section of Ready.gov suggests the best foods to have on hand: protein- and calorie-rich items with long shelf lives: soups, stews, canned beans, quick-cooking oatmeal, peanut butter, dehydrated foods (e.g., instant mashed potatoes), dried fruit, canned fish or meat, protein or granola bars, and crackers.

To that list I would add almond or other nut butters (not everyone likes peanut butter), some gelatin or instant pudding (a dessert can really brighten the day), Nutella (it’s just fun to eat), interesting foods from the supermarket’s health-food section (hummus, refried beans, even vegetarian taco filling), good-quality bouillon cubes, and hardtack--aka “pilot bread.”

You might already have a lot of the foods you need. Now you just have to keep it that way, i.e., never let your pantry get too bare. When something your household really loves goes on sale, get a few extra. Use a dark marker to write the sell-by date on the front (not the top!) of each food product and make sure they get rotated and replaced regularly.

Pro tip: A site called CouponMom.com does a state-by-state match of coupons, many of them downloadable, to sales in supermarkets, drugstores, and even dollar stores; fairly often you’ll pay nothing at all for food, toiletries, and first-aid supplies.

Should you buy disposable plates and bowls? Residents of hurricane country probably should, since they’re likely to lose water and power regularly. As for others, that’s up to you. If you’re without running water, you certainly shouldn’t use up precious stored water to wash dishes.

Pro tip: Watch clearance sales after major holidays and get up to 90% off paper plates, bowls, and cups. Don’t necessarily throw them out after eating; sometimes the higher-quality stuff can be used more than once.

Water, water everywhere? Ready.gov suggests stashing one gallon per person per day for at least three days. Got pets? Don’t forget some extra agua for them.

Rather than spending money on bottled water, fill empty milk jugs or two-liter soft drink bottles until you have enough. Every few months, use the water in these containers for tasks like watering the garden or doing hand laundry, then refill them with fresh water for storage.

A word to those who filter their water: that sink-mounted or whole-house filtration system won’t do you much good if the power is out or the municipal water supply system is damaged. In that case, have a filtration pitcher and at least one extra cartridge in your emergency kit. (I regularly see these pitchers at thrift shops.)

Or take a simpler route: Sprinkle a little powdered drink mix into each glass of water to disguise the yucky taste. These packets cost about a dime each at Walgreens and dollar stores.

Incidentally, most of us already have a decent amount of water stored--in the water heater.

Sometimes a hot drink is soothing--or even potentially life-saving--in a winter storm emergency. (Hypothermia victims are cold all the way to their innards.) Thus teabags, instant coffee, or cocoa mix are all great things to have on hand.

Pro tip: Whenever you boil water, make enough extra to put into a thermos-type jug.

For hot water you’ll need a safe heat source--and again, you may already have one in the form of a wood stove, camp stove, barbecue grill, hibachi, or burn barrel. While modern gas stoves may not function normally in a power outage, you might be able to use the range the old-fashioned way: lighting the burners with a match.

Any pan you use for heating water or food is likely to get sooty over a fire. Consider looking for an extra pot or two at thrift stores and/or yard sales. (I’ve found three pans that way, including a cast-iron skillet, in the “free” boxes at yard sales; maybe you’ll be that lucky, too.)

Note: It is essential to cook outdoors with grills and open flames, not indoors, due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Generators pose the same risk. The Orlando Sentinel recently reported that five people died and more than a dozen were injured due to CO poisoning after Hurricane Irma.

Thus if you’re planning to create your own post-emergency power, get a CO detector and follow other best practices suggested by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A roof over your head. Organizations like FEMA and the American Red Cross may show up after major disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. But they can’t always help everyone, and some people prefer to shelter in place. Besides, some problems (windstorms, ice storms) don’t necessarily make your home unsafe--just inconvenient.

The questions, then, are how you’ll stay warm or cool. In cool or cold weather, dress everyone in layers: long underwear top and bottom, plus wool socks, extra shirts, fleece layers or sweaters, and knitted caps. The quilts or comforter from your bed might stand in for a sleeping bag.

Pro tip: Plan to have everyone sleep in the same small room for shared heat.

If you don’t have enough warm items for everyone, time to hit the thrift stores and yard sales. For other tips, search online for “staying warm during power failure.”

Keeping cool post-hurricane or during power outages is a real challenge. Some fairly obvious tactics are staying hydrated, wearing light clothing, and avoiding direct sun. Pull the curtains or shades and close off warmer rooms (e.g., the ones with south- and west-facing windows) to keep things from heating up. Sleep in the basement, if you have one (and if you have enough flashlight batteries).

Lighting is an enormous issue with regard both to safety and morale. While plenty of people stock up on candles, the danger of fire is very real. If you must use them, put them in jars set well out of the reach of children, pets, and anyone who might bump into a table.

Flashlights are safer. My partner and I have five headlamps (he bought them in a blister pack at Costco) plus some hand-held torches. If you don’t want to store batteries, look for flashlights that recharge by being cranked or that can recharge via your vehicle’s cigarette lighter.

Where’s the bathroom? As the children’s book says, everybody poops. The question is where you’ll do that.

I grew up in a rural area and we filled buckets and the tub with water when bad weather was predicted, then used that water to flush the toilets when the power went out. That’s still a good idea.

Pro tip: Before filling the tub, thoroughly duct-tape the stopper in place. Otherwise the water may slowly, inexorably seep out.

You may already have a giant bucket (or more than one) left over from a painting job or a bulk buy of laundry soap. If you don’t, get one: It will make a passable toilet. (Check Freecycle and the “free” section of Craigslist.)

Since not everyone is physically capable of squatting over a bucket, look online for toilet seat that snaps onto most five-gallon pails. If you’re flush, so to speak, then splurge on a prefab portable toilet.

Pro tip: Line the bucket with at least one layer of garbage bag, and throw in some clumping cat litter.

You’ll want hand sanitizer for afterwards, and some baby wipes (which I call “shower in a pouch”) to keep the rest of you clean. And speaking of babies: If you’ve got one and you routinely run out of diapers, break yourself of that habit pronto. You don’t want to be down to a couple of didies when trouble starts.

The same is true of pet food and supplies, and prescription medication. Do not run out of these things.

A few more final tips: When severe weather is predicted, boil some or all of the eggs you have. Should the power go out, you’ll have an easy-to-eat protein. Should the power not go out, just about everybody loves deviled eggs.

Buy supplies with gift cards you get by cashing in points from rewards credit cards, or rewards programs, to get gift cards to places like Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

Check out the dollar store. Paper products, hand sanitizer, and some interesting foods can be found there.

Keep small bills on hand. It’s possible that stores won’t be able to process credit or debit cards right away.

Make sure you have matches--even if you aren’t using candles you might need to light a camp stove or hibachi.

Stocking up all at once? Ask the supermarket manager for a discount on buying cases of canned goods, especially the store brand.

Remember how challenging it can be to build and maintain a cash emergency fund? Think of emergency preparedness the same way: It can take some doing, but it’s as essential as financial preparedness.

Get started right now, by taking pen and paper throughout your home to look at what you already have. Then make a list of what you still need, and make creative, frugal plans to get those items. Don’t wait until after an emergency happens to start looking for your flashlight. Or your can opener.

[melien]

100 questions tag

Tagged by @teekapoa, thank you! It was an interesting tag.

1. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR CLOSET DOORS OPEN OR CLOSED?

Closed. I like privacy :D

2. DO YOU TAKE THE SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONER BOTTLES FROM HOTELS?

Hmmm no

3. DO YOU SLEEP WITH YOUR SHEETS TUCKED IN OR OUT?

Let’s just say my bed is a mess when I wake up

4. HAVE YOU STOLEN A STREET SIGN BEFORE?

What no?

5. DO YOU LIKE TO USE POST-IT NOTES?

Not anymore

6. DO YOU CUT OUT COUPONS BUT THEN NEVER USE THEM?

I don’t even cut them out

7. WOULD YOU RATHER BE ATTACKED BY A BIG BEAR OR A SWARM OF BEES?

Neither xD

8. DO YOU HAVE FRECKLES?

They show up only in summer but not really

9. DO YOU ALWAYS SMILE FOR PICTURES?

No... sometimes I end up with a resting bitch face which doesn’t reflect my personality at all

10. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

I think people who don’t keep their promises. And who hate on others for no reason

11. DO YOU EVER COUNT YOUR STEPS WHEN YOU WALK?

Maybe... sometimes

12. HAVE YOU PEED IN THE WOODS?

I guess so

13. HAVE YOU EVER POOPED IN THE WOODS?

Noooope

14. DO YOU EVER DANCE EVEN IF THERES NO MUSIC PLAYING?

Sometimes xD

15. DO YOU CHEW YOUR PENS AND PENCILS?

Only pens. Pencils taste yucky

16. HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU SLEPT WITH THIS WEEK?

Zero

17. WHAT SIZE IS YOUR BED?

Middle-sized one (I fit just right)

18. WHAT IS YOUR SONG OF THE WEEK?

Happy birthday? Because it’s my birthday tomorrow

19. IS IT OK FOR GUYS TO WEAR PINK?

It’s okay for anyone to wear any colour they like

20. DO YOU STILL WATCH CARTOONS?

Of course!

21. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE?

50 Shades of Grey... it’s the most boring movie I’ve seen imo 

Also those movies where they harm animals

22. WHERE WOULD YOU BURY HIDDEN TREASURE IF YOU HAD SOME?

Hmmmmmm am I supposed to reveal this? :D

23. WHAT DO YOU DRINK WITH DINNER?

Usually tea

24. WHAT DO YOU DIP A CHICKEN NUGGET IN?

Ketchup

25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD?

Pizzaaaaaaaaaaa

26. WHAT MOVIES COULD YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND STILL LOVE?

Back to the Future 1-2-3, Love Actually, 21-22 Jump Street

27. LAST PERSON, YOU KISSED/KISSED YOU?

I don’t even remember who I last kissed on the cheek

28. WERE YOU EVER A BOY/GIRL SCOUT?

Nope

29. WOULD YOU EVER STRIP OR POSE NUDE IN A MAGAZINE?

Well if I had a flawless body, I’d think about it... but I think I wouldn’t either way

30. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A LETTER TO SOMEONE ON PAPER?

Damn it was so long ago I can’t remember

31. CAN YOU CHANGE THE OIL ON A CAR?

No, I don’t even have a car

32. EVER GOTTEN A SPEEDING TICKET?

Nope

33. EVER RAN OUT OF GAS?

No

34. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF SANDWICH?

Burger

35. BEST THING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST?

A sandwich with cheese and sausage

36. WHAT IS YOUR USUAL BEDTIME?

12 am

37. ARE YOU LAZY?

Yeah

38. WHEN YOU WERE A KID, WHAT DID YOU DRESS UP AS FOR HALLOWEEN?

I remember dressing up like a witch once, generally I didn’t celebrate Halloween often

39. WHAT IS YOUR CHINESE ASTROLOGICAL SIGN?

Ox

40. HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN YOU SPEAK?

Four, not sure about the fifth one

41. DO YOU HAVE ANY MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS?

Nope

42. WHICH ARE BETTER: LEGOS OR LINCOLN LOGS?

Uh legos? Because I didn’t have lincoln logs

43. ARE YOU STUBBORN?

When something is very important to me, yeah

44. WHO IS BETTER: LENO OR LETTERMAN?

I have no idea who they are

45. EVER WATCH SOAP OPERAS?

Nope

46. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS?

Oh yeah

47. DO YOU SING IN THE CAR?

No, I’m usually there with my parents

48. DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER?

Sometimes

49. DO YOU DANCE IN THE CAR?

No xD

50. EVER USED A GUN?

Held a decorative gun at some museum

51. LAST TIME YOU GOT A PORTRAIT TAKEN BY A PHOTOGRAPHER?

Long ago, I think it was for my passport

52. DO YOU THINK MUSICALS ARE CHEESY?

Yeah, but there’s nothing wrong with this kind of cheesiness. I enjoy some musicals

53. IS CHRISTMAS STRESSFUL?

I don’t think so

54. EVER EAT A PIEROGI?

Yeah I love them!

55. FAVORITE TYPE OF FRUIT PIE?

Probably berry pie

56. OCCUPATIONS YOU WANTED TO BE WHEN YOU WERE A KID?

I wanted to be a teacher... what was I even thinking

57. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

Maybe... but I don’t want to

58. EVER HAVE A DEJA-VU FEELING?

Sometimes yeah

59. DO YOU TAKE A VITAMIN DAILY?

Shit xD

60. DO YOU WEAR SLIPPERS?

I do

61. DO YOU WEAR A BATH ROBE?

Yeah, it makes me feel cozy and warm

62. WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO BED?

Old T-shirt and pants

63. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CONCERT?

Some local singer’s

64. WALMART, TARGET, OR KMART?

We don’t have them here

65. NIKE OR ADIDAS?

I don’t care xD

66. CHEETOS OR FRITOS?

Maybe fritos, idk they seem similar to chips

67. PEANUTS OR SUNFLOWER SEEDS?

Peanuts!

68. EVER HEAR OF THE GROUP TRES BIEN?

Has anyone?

69. EVER TAKE DANCE LESSONS?

I used to but I’m too awkward for dancing

70. IS THERE A PROFESSION YOU PICTURE YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE DOING?

I’d like both of our jobs be connected with travelling

71. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE?

I can xD

72. EVER WON A SPELLING BEE?

Oh man don’t remind me, we once had this contest in middle school and I was super close to winning but mixed up one letter (I think said c instead of s), and it ended with me crying so hard that my whole face was red at photos

73. HAVE YOU EVER CRIED BECAUSE YOU WERE SO HAPPY?

When I’m happy, I usually laugh and blush

74. OWN ANY RECORD ALBUMS?

Maybe old ones

75. OWN A RECORD PLAYER?

Yeah but it has no use now

76. DO YOU REGULARLY BURN INCENSE?

New Year night usually

77. EVER BEEN IN LOVE?

Yeah... but now I’m not sure it was real love, rather huge teenage crushes

78. WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN CONCERT?

There’s a lot of singers and bands who I’d like to see! But I’ll probably never see them

79. WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU SAW?

Two days ago my friend dragged me to the concert of some Korean guitar duo. They were really cool and I felt sorry that barely anyone came

80. HOT TEA OR COLD TEA?

Hot tea, cold tea doesn’t have a taste for me

81. TEA OR COFFEE?

I can drink both

82. SUGAR COOKIES OR SNICKERDOODLES?

Um it’s hard

83. CAN YOU SWIM WELL?

Yeah

84. CAN YOU HOLD YOUR BREATH WITHOUT HOLDING YOUR NOSE?

I can (holy shit I actually had a dream today where I had to hold my breath under the water in order to escape some cruel kingdom without being noticed)

85. ARE YOU PATIENT?

I’m good at pretending I’m patient

86. DJ OR BAND AT A WEDDING?

Band

87. EVER WON A CONTEST?

Uh not really besides winning some Polish language contest at school and getting winning places at English contests but it doesn’t count does it

88. HAVE YOU EVER HAD PLASTIC SURGERY?

Nope

89. WHICH ARE BETTER: BLACK OR GREEN OLIVES?

Green, only green!

90. CAN YOU KNIT OR CROCHET?

I think I could when I was younger, because my mom is good at it and she taught me, but now I don’t remember how to do this

91. BEST ROOM FOR A FIREPLACE?

Living room if that’s what was meant

92. DO YOU WANT TO GET MARRIED?

Yeah

93. IF MARRIED, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED?

-

94. WHO WAS YOUR HIGH SCHOOL CRUSH?

I didn’t have crushes at high school, I had them on celebrities and fictional characters

95. DO YOU CRY AND THROW A FIT UNTIL YOU GET YOUR OWN WAY?

Nope

96. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

My sims xD

97. DO YOU WANT KIDS?

Yeah I do, but when I feel like I can ensure them a good life

98. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?

Maybe blue and pink

99. DO YOU MISS ANYONE RIGHT NOW?

My niece and my grandma

100. WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TAG TO DO THIS TAG NEXT?

As usual, I tag everyone who’s feeling like going through these 100 questions :D

[pbjpuppy]

Walks

A short horror story I liked enough to share!

--

I’ve been going on a lot of walks recently. 

‘Cause, y’know being in the house all the time isn’t really good for you. Like, y’know, cabin fever and stuff? Plus, we just did this unit in science- through the computer, they’re calling it distance learning- about indoor air pollution, and how the air inside a home can be multiple times more polluted than outside air, and how most people spend most of their time indoors (90%!), which really makes sitting in my bedroom for long periods of time kind of unappealing. 

I don’t always like staying in my room anyway. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I spend most of my time in there like any other teenager does, and it’s great! I love my room. I’m even lucky enough to have my own instead of having to share it with a sibling like some people do. But still, even if you live in paradise it’s a prison if you can’t leave, so I don’t stay in there all the time. Sometimes I just wander around my house in circles instead. Or sit in my dad’s room. 

Anyway- walks. Lots of them. One every day is the new routine, unless I get lazy, which has happened once or twice and I always regret it. To the end of the block, which intersects the road in a “T” shape, then I turn to the right and walk all the way until the sidewalk ends (Through the old elementary school’s parking lot- I’m always worried security will yell at me, but so far I’ve been peacefully ignored), then I turn back and walk all the way past my block again to the other end of the sidewalk, then home. It’s not the most scenic route; I live in the suburbs of Long Island and all the trees are dead because it’s only just turned April, and all there is to see is houses and road. 

I keep myself entertained, though. There’s actually a lot to see if you really look. Nothing extraordinary, but that’s kind of what I like about it. I keep my eyes to the ground a lot, and you see a lot of litter on the ground: Cups, cans, cigarette boxes, packs of tissues, chicken wire, caution tape, strange boxy wooden contraptions that look busted and have been abandoned. Once I even saw an unopened condom. It’s an environmental nightmare, of course, but for the arrogant human on her walk it provides plenty of brain food. For every piece of trash there was a living, breathing human who held it, who used it, who discarded it. I wonder what they’re like and if I’ll ever meet them, what they’re up to. If they’re alive right now. 

There’s not much that’s all too impressive in terms of nature, like I said, but it’s still outside, and I’ve seen a bunch of interesting nature-y things, too. On my first walk, I found a chunk of a wasp’s nest, half-rotted. Recently I found a bird’s nest too, and I wanted to go pick it up, but it was in somebody’s yard and I didn’t want to get yelled at for trespassing. Just today I passed right through a murder of crows, kind of. They were perched in a group on the trees and telephone wires, and their croaking startled me out of my daydreaming to admire them. I’ve seen a lot of things that look like bones that aren’t bones, and one time I saw something that looked like a bone that actually was a bone. 

The one natural thing I don’t see on my walks is humans. Not one in a week. I would have expected to see at least one person walking their dog or something, or just doing work in the yard. I mean, everybody else has to be as restless as I am inside, right? But no, no people to be seen. That’s okay, though. The sidewalk is narrow, I like not having to share it. It also means I can text while I walk and not worry about bumping into someone. Plus, I guess it’s been kind of yucky out weather-wise. By the time I get home from my walks my nose is usually pink and runny from the cold. 

I live with two other people, my dog, my cat, and my two pet rats. That makes seven living things and three living humans. The house is quiet a lot of the time. My brother and I are both teenagers- I’m seventeen, he’s nineteen- and we spend a lot of time in our rooms. My dad is usually working, or out of the house. He likes to go over to his girlfriend's house a lot, or out to the city for the weekend before… Everything happened, and I’ll take care of myself for the evening and the following day or so. Sometimes it’s longer than that. I don’t hear from my brother those days, he makes his own food. Sometimes I’ll be home alone and won’t even realize until I walk past his bedroom and see it’s been empty this whole time. 

My dad’s been away a lot this week, I think. And my brother’s been quiet. I think he’s told me he doesn’t feel well. That’s okay. I can take care of myself well enough and I think I have people online to talk to. My dog barks a lot, that’s kind of like conversation. Plus, I have Animal Crossing, that game where you live on an island with a bunch of little animal people? It’s really cute, I love it. I talk to the animals on Animal Crossing. I don’t mind being alone. 

I’m on a walk, and my fingers and nose are cold and pink. I have an umbrella, but I don’t actually need it. It’s not raining anymore, the wind is just moist and cold. It’s dangling from my wrist. I liked playing tug-of-war with my umbrella against the wind, but the wind won, and my umbrella turned inside out, so I stopped. I’m coming back from the right side of the T. 

There’s lots of evidence of humans. There’s so much litter, pieces of trash that somebody was holding and let go of and now it’s on the ground. I thought I smelled weed before, which is gross, but that means that somebody somewhere was smoking it, somewhere nearby. There’s graffiti on the street signs. 

There’s lots of cars on the road, too. I don’t know where they’re going. Nobody’s really supposed to be going anywhere right now, I think. We’re supposed to be staying home, that’s what I was told. Maybe they’re going to get groceries. You’re allowed to go get groceries. All of them are getting groceries. 

Going to school online is a weird and kind of stressful experience, by the way, did I mention that? I’ve never done anything like homeschooling, I’ve always gone to public school my whole life, ever since I went to the old elementary school that I have to pass through on my walks. I’m used to structure. There’s this bell that drones at the end of every class, and when you hear the bell you get up and shuffle to your next class, forty-two minutes every class period. I’m used to that. Now they’re so far away. The classes, I mean, like, the concept of them. It’s just kind of a vague idea that there’s work I should be doing, now. I’ve been doing okay. I set alarms every forty-two minutes and pretend I’m going to class. 

I still haven’t seen a single human. I’ve been looking into the windshields of the cars as I walk and I still haven’t seen a single one. I don’t know who these cars are trying to fool, you can’t drive a car if there’s nobody in the driver’s seat. That’s impossible. But I haven’t seen a single human. Super-smart cars, maybe. I think I’ve heard about those on the news, right? Sometime before everything happened. They’re sending their cars to get groceries. 

I walk past the cemetery if I want to walk farther than usual. Usually my walk stops me right by the cemetery. I like ghosts and spooky things so I like living so close to a cemetery. It’s a nice cemetery, too. I don’t go in it very much, the only dead person I know wasn’t buried in the cemetery and I don’t want to intrude on anybody who’s grieving their loved one. Walks aren’t that important and I have a different route. I don’t think I would find anybody in the cemetery, but I’m going to go home anyway. I’ve been walking for a long time. 

I think a lot on my walks. My mind wanders. I do it on purpose, actually, I put on my music and let my mind wander while I walk. I like to draw and write stories, and letting my mind wander while I walk is good for inspiration. I’ve been thinking about humans and cars and crows. The crows fly away when I walk near them. I wonder if the humans are like crows and that’s why I can’t see them. Maybe I did something wrong and everybody’s avoiding me. Maybe everyone’s too busy getting groceries to be in their cars. It must be a lot of groceries. 

My dad has been away a lot this week. I want to tell him about the bugs I caught in Animal Crossing. I don't know if I’ve seen him in a while. I thought I said goodbye to him yesterday. Yesterday it was snowing, when I said goodbye. It wasn’t snowing yesterday. I wish he’d get back from whatever he’s doing. I hope he brings me back something from the grocery store. 

My brother hasn’t been feeling well. He wants me to leave him alone, I think. I think he said that, and that’s why he’s not in his room. He doesn’t want me to bother him, I think. He hasn’t been feeling well for a long time. He’s such a complainer. There’s mold in the food he left in his room. 

Online school is so frustrating. I’m really not good at math, and I tried to message my teacher about an exponents question, but he hasn’t been replying to me. I skipped the math problems, I think, and I can’t find the right website we’re supposed to be doing them on. I can’t find the app on my phone I used to text my teacher. I’m so forgetful. I forgot to text him, I think. 

This wouldn't be happening if everything hadn’t happened. If we were in school, I’d be able to raise my hand and ask the teacher in person about my math question. And there would be other students, too. But we have to stay home. Everyone has to stay home. 

I don’t know why we have to stay home. I thought somebody told me. I can’t remember. I know everybody has to stay home. The government said so or something. That’s why I can’t find anybody. Everybody’s at home. 

My dad isn’t answering his phone. I want to know when he’ll be home. He’s not supposed to be out. I forgot my dad’s number, I think. I’m going to walk to the grocery store. It’s getting dark out now, but I think I need to go. I’m going to see what all the fuss is about. Everyone’s at the grocery store, that’s why I can’t find them. 

There’s not much to see in the suburbs of Long Island. The shapes the buildings make are kind of pretty, though. They’re all warped and blackened, like a giant hand smushed them like play-doh. There’s lots of litter. There’s evidence of humans everywhere. The sun is setting behind the ruined buildings and it looks red and burning. It reminds me of something awful. Maybe a movie I watched, I think, about some awful explosion. The sun is too red and it’s scaring me. I’m going to keep walking to the grocery store.

This parking lot is empty and dirty. There’s lots of litter: plastic water bottle casings, old lighters, trampled wet paper bags, turned over shopping cars, shells of cars, the grocery store sign smashed on the ground. I step on the broken glass because it makes a nice sound. It smells like food, I think. The smell of the food is making my throat hurt, I think. There’s smoke rising from the building. They’re cooking, I think. The sun is so red behind the smoke. It looks like fire.

It looks like fire. There’s so much fire. It’s reminding me of something really bad. I’m really scared, something in my brain is really scared. Something happened and I can’t remember. I don’t want to be at the grocery store anymore. I’m walking home now but my legs aren’t feeling very normal. I wish the sun wouldn’t look so red. Everything is red and warm and smoky. It’s only just April and my nose and fingers are supposed to be pink from the cold. 

I’m getting lost, I think. Once I find my way home I can get my dad to hug me so I feel better. I don’t know why I’m crying. Something is making me sad and scared but I can’t remember what it is. Reminds me of a movie, I think. A big scary explosion in a movie. The air smells like smoke. I think I might be upset because of cabin fever. That’s it, I think. 

I think I need to go on more walks.