#like oh you want your quirky dog but you don't want your quirky dog to move got it

[darkwood-sleddog]

like i can just imagine already the frenchie people that will be bemoaning these crosses because they don't "vibe" with the "temperament" of the frenchie because they are "active" dog breeds. god forbid your frenchie can function as a dog but like....get a pet rock if you're so inclined.

[ellecdc]

I feel like poly!marauders would have s very funny debate around group halloween costumes. Lots of Sirius being dramatic and James pouting. Only for reader to do a couples costume with Barty.

Love your writing!

hahaha aweee poor boys

poly!marauders x fem!reader who isn't matching with them on Halloween [576 words]

CW: ....none I don't think? the boys' theatrics? a prank? pouting?

“For the last time, Sirius, no.” Remus groaned, earning him a disbelieving scoff from Sirius and a whine from James.

“But why, Moons? It’s perfect.” 

“It’s not perfect, it’s ridiculous.” 

“It’s whimsical.” James interjected.

“It’s embarrassing.” 

“Halloween costumes are supposed to be a little embarrassing!” Sirius argued, earning him a head tilt from James.

“Well, now, I don’t think they’re supposed to be embarrassing. Maybe…funny? Quirky?”

“I don’t care what they’re supposed to be, we are not dressing up as the big bad wolf and the three little pigs.” Remus declared with an air of finality, causing Sirius to deflate rather spectacularly. 

“Well what do you suggest we dress up as, then?” He muttered just as you entered their dorm. 

“Uh oh. Why’s Sirius got his pouting face on?” You commented as you pulled off your school robes. Sirius turned his pout towards you and gave you his best puppy dog eyes.

“Moons is being s’mean to me.”

You made a sympathetic cooing sound that had Remus rolling his eyes before you took Sirius’ face between your hands and kissed his pouting lips. 

As you pulled your lips away but not your face, you whispered to your grumpy boyfriend. “Was he being mean to you, or did he just say no?” 

Sirius balked at you as Remus let out an inelegant snort and James’ laughter bounced off the stone walls of their shared dorm. 

“You know what? Fine, screw all of you. I’m going to wear whatever the hell I want and you all will just have to figure out your own costumes.” Sirius huffed as he pretended to turn away from you, only for him to fold the second you started to walk away and pull you into his lap. 

“Wait, wait. You guys haven’t figured out your costumes yet?” You asked in disbelief, clearly wondering how the three of them could put so much thought and planning into their pranks and mischief, yet completely fumble Halloween. 

“Well…no?” Remus asked as James blurted “what do you mean you guys?” 

“Guys, I’ve had my costume planned for weeks!” 

“Weeks?” Remus parotted. 

“Weeks.” You insisted. 

“But…” James started helplessly. “I…I thought we were going to match?” 

You looked somewhat sympathetic for him, but grimaced at your admission. “Someone else asked first, bubs.”

“You’re matching someone else?!” Sirius shrieked as he all but threw you off his lap so he could look at you. 

“Oh for Merlin- yes.” 

“Who?” The three boys chorused with varying levels of theatrics. 

And the next night, one could find three pouting marauders sitting dejectedly in the Gryffindor common room dressed as the three blind mice under the suggestion of their girlfriend. Their girlfriend, who was currently wearing matching costumes with Barty Crouch Junior - a pirate and his Treasure. 

Remus might’ve found it in him to be a little more miffed about it if you hadn’t looked so sodding good in gold and bedazzled all to hell. 

“Note to self,” James muttered defeatedly, “spend less time planning the Halloween prank and more time on the Halloween costume next year.” 

The end of his sentence was punctuated by screaming when the multiple 12 foot skeletons lining the room started walking on their own accord. 

It was way less funny than they had imagined it would be when Barty threw “his booty” over his shoulder and took off out of the portrait hole. 

“Duly noted.” Sirius sighed as he took another swig of his drink.

[moodcrab]

Fixing Skyrim's Daedric Quests

Part II - Clavicus Vile

Honestly this was the most underwhelming Daedric Quest in Skyrim, but Skyrim is by no means unique in this as it's just the most recent in a long line of underwhelming Clavicus Vile quests in the Elder Scrolls franchise. Vile, the god of wishes, deals and dodgy monkey palm style tricks forms a natural counterpart to the Divine Zenithar, god of honest work and trade, but for some reason there isn't a Vile quest that isn't "Go to dungeon and kill X". Skyrim, to its credit, tried to make it interesting with Barbas, but still resorted to "go to this cave and kill this guy."

The whole story of Sebastian, the mage who wished for a lycanthropy cure for his daughter only for Vile to grant him an axe, is a truly boring misunderstanding of what Vile is all about. An axe isn't a cure, not even in an ironic double meaning of the word cure. Any axe, indeed any weapon or spell, can kill a werewolf, but he didn't wish for his daughter to be killed, something he could easily do without making a deal with the devil. There are several ways to cure lycanthropy in Tamriel, death is not one of them. If you have cancer but you die in a car accident you are not cured of cancer, literally the opposite in fact. This isn't a mind bending M Night plot twist, it's bullshit. Not only is a dead werewolf not a cured one, he didn't wish for his daughter to be killed, so there's nothing stopping him from just throwing the axe in the sea and going to find a Glenmoril Witch. Vile gains nothing from this arrangement, and Vile doesn't enter into arrangements that don't benefit him.

A true Vile wish would have cured the lycanthropy in such a way that causes unforeseen consequences that end up killing the daughter, dooming her soul to The Fields of Regret, his realm of Oblivion. The wish would be technically granted, but it backfired horribly. The only thing remotely Clavicus Vile-ish was the big "rug pull" at the end of the quest where he offers you the axe if you kill Barbas, and like, no. No thanks. I have access to better axes, I'm not killing a dog for this *two handed 🤮* one. I never wanted this axe, there is no reason in the quest to even use the axe yourself let alone grow attached to it, unlike Barbas who has now accompanied me all through the quest. This isn't a choice.

Quest: Best Wishes

The quest opener is being moved from Falkreath to Morthal, because vanilla Morthal has no general store. Well, now it does. Compared to all the other stores you visit it will have a unique look, very mysterious and quirky with oddities on the shelves, and the owner will be an eccentric character with a cute dog. For the quest to activate you must have traded at the store a few times and reached a level. On entering, the owner will be distraught and refuse to trade unless you agree to find his dog who has gone missing.

You go on a bit of a dog hunt. Asking around Morthal gets you little useful information. In fact, if you ask certain people, they will say some curious things; like they have no idea who you're talking about, or that there isn't a general store in Morthal at all, "Oh that old place? That closed down when I was a child after old man whatever died"...

You eventually track the dog down outside the city and, surprise, it talks! Barbas explains the situation, that he is the somewhat loyal side kick of Clavicus Vile, who has an offer for you. He also makes it clear, this offer is an invitation only, you would walk away right now if you were wise. Assuming you aren't a pussy, you of course return Barbas to the shop and hear the offer.

The shopkeeper transforms into Vile, in all his jovial Skaafin glory. He tells you about a wish he has recently received, one that he would like your help in granting. There's this would be merchant in the city of Whiterun named Ysolda, who you have likely already met as she is a very popular wifu, she has been a devout Zenithar worshipper for years, but has become impatient with waiting for her hard work to pay off. She really wants to be a trader, and has prayed to Vile to make it so. If you agree to take care of it for him, he will reward you. As Barbas has recommended, you can quit the quest right now. Or...

You head to Whiterun and start investigating Ysolda. It's up to you how the wish gets granted, depending on what you discover about her:

1. She would like to buy the Bannered Mare of her friend Hulda, who isn't ready to sell. So you could ruin the business to make Hulda desperate to sell, but Ysolda would get a ruined inn. Or you could forge Hulda's will and stage an "accident", so Ysolda inherits the inn at the expense of her friend's life.

2. She has done some work with the Khajiit caravans, learning what she can about mercantile skills, but expressing how hard and horrible their lifestyle sounds. Investigating this will lead you to a secret meeting between Ysolda and an Orc. The Orc hands Ysolda a "the goods" but Ysolda complains there isn't enough. The Orc explains how dangerous getting it is. Ysolda doesn't care, she tells him he needs to go get more. If you follow the Orc to Sleeping Tree Camp you'll witness his death at the hands of the giants there. On his body there is an incriminating note, which you could show to the Whiterun guard captain, who will banish her from the city as punishment. Ysolda will spend the rest of her days with the Khajiit caravan, living as a vagrant and exiled from her home, but a trader, just as she wished.

3. As Barbas, who will accompany you, advises, you could warn Ysolda and break your side of the bargain. She believes your story (how else could you have known about the wish?), but depending on your speechcraft and personality attribute - because a fixed Skyrim would obviously have attributes - you either strike the right amount of fear into her that she flees to the temple to seek sanctuary, or you miss your mark and she decides to go check out this shop in Morthal for herself. When she gets there Vile will reluctantly let her take over the store, but if Ysolda repents she will one day become a Priestess of Zenithar, and convert the shop into a fledgling temple.

Just Deserts

When you return to the general store in Morthal it will have transformed into an abandoned ruin.

Any outcome of options one or two will please Vile, he will award you his Masque which will be light or heavy armoured dependant on which skill is higher for you and it will have a powerful speechcraft, personality and price discount enchantment. You also have the opportunity later on to take over and run the shop yourself.

If Ysolda comes to Morthal to take over the store, Vile will be annoyed at you and Barbas for being boring, but will accept that the wish is technically granted and Ysolda, now his devotee, will be spending her afterlife in his realm. You get the Masque but she gets the store ( unless you marry her...)

If you break your deal and save Ysolda, you get a curse; permanent debuffs to speechcraft, personality and prices. The cost of being a hero is high, especially when it comes to the Daedra. (Maybe Ysolda can lift the curse once her temple is up and running, but that will be a while).

[yippee-boi09]

Quirky Quinn

“Thank you so much, missy. I'm so glad you took up the offer…” Mrs. Baker says through the phone that she was their neighbor across the street, and Quinn needed a job for the week.

“No pr-problem, ma'am… annnny time…” Quinn says dejectedly

“...just ma-make sure the payment c-can come through after you come back, I apologize if I thound demanding in any way, it's just-”

“Oh no, it's fine, deary! I know how tough it is in your situation and I promise I'll pay you a very hefty sum!” Mrs. Baker interrupts, true to her words as usual. After further conversation and scheduling, Quinn hung up only for their younger brother, Johnathan, to run into the room with some scrabble on a word search that Quinn printed for him while they were on a phone call.

“Sissy! Sissy! Look! I did the word search!” He chirped excitedly while proudly holding up the scribbled word search, no actual word searching having been actually done. “Wow bubba… that's really great! You found all the words…” Quinn says with a tired tone, like some exhausted parent would to a kid after a long day of work. Only for an angry 13 year old named Sarah to come down with half finished half assed emo makeup, “Can you guys quiet down? You're ruining my brooding time… I swear I'm gonna kill you all one day…” the angsty teen says with malice and agitation, not wanting ever to admit that she was a little adored by the fact that her siblings were having such a wholesome moment.

“But sissa… why? We you're family!” Johnathan pleaded with puppy eyes so that Sarah couldn't muster up anymore empty death threats and walked out while scoffing to hide her hesitation. “Don't worry, bubba, she’s just… 13… you know how they get…” Quinn says while putting their hand on his shoulder “Well… I promise to always love you no matter what! Even when I'm 13!” Johnathan says with a big smile on his face before he hugs Quinn tightly. They pat his back affectionately.

“Hehe, sure bu-bubba… hey how a-about we go-go get some dinner? Mac n cheese sounds good t-to you? Maybe some tater tots to go w-with such a fine cuisine?” Quinn asks tiredly with a hint of playfulness to try and keep the mood light for the little boy. “Mac n cheese n tater tots!? YEAH! I'D LOVE THAT SISSY!” Johnathan cheers, throwing his arms in the air as Quinn ruffles his hair affectionately before Johnathan runs off to the living room to wait for dinner. Quinn walks upstairs and knocks on Sarah's door, “Go away” is the first response before they can even speak. “Hey, S-Sarah… I'm go-gonna make thome dinner… Do you want anyth’ng…? I could heat you up some hot dogs in a dog with ketchup…” Quinn offers, a nostalgic and warm tone in her voice as she refers to the Hot Dog Slic'r Sarah used to looove eating out of as a kid.

“What? No! That's too stupid for me. Go away!” Sarah repeats her teen phase phrase once more through the door.

“Okay… just let me know if you wanna let me in…” Quinn says the last part quietly enough for Sarah not to hear before walking downstairs to prepare dinner for Johnathan… not before they catch a glimpse of what he's playing on the Xbox, of course. “Hey bu-bubba, turn that off…” They say, taking the controller and exiting out of the game, causing the young boy to protest. “HEY!! Daddy gave me that game…” Johnathan protested as Quinn took the game out of the disc tray to see he was playing Fallout… God damnit… Quinn's gonna need to talk to Dad later tonight.

“Thorry bubba, but this game isn't a very good g-game…” “Is it a naughty game like the Auto Theft game?” Johnathan questioned innocently, referring to the time Dad gave him a copy of GTA… he got an earful that day… “Yes, Bubba, it's a naughty game… it’th only for the adults.” Quinn says tiredly. It's obvious that they're pissed with the game selection that was given this time.

It was common for this cycle to happen, where Johnathan begins asking for attention from Dad, Dad get’s aggravated and hands him a random game or thing so he can leave. At first it started out with a doll that to this day, Johnathan still keeps and snuggles with, and now it’s stuff like Fallout and GTA and even fucking Borderlands… okay maybe Borderlands isn’t exactly bad but it’s not meant for toddlers. “Look, I'll geeet you a n-new game thometime thoon, okay? I promise it'll be-be a good game…”

“You say that every time, sissy… when am I gonna get the new Sonic game?” Johnathan peeped with a pouty lip and big eyes, melting Quinn's heart internally and making them feel a little bad for not getting enough money to do so because of college. “I-I know bubba, a-and I'm so-sorry… I-I promithe I'll get you the m-m-money… in the meantime… wanna make me a drawing?” Quinn offers, brightening the little boy's face very quickly. “Do I!? HECK YEAH!” He shouted as he got up and pulled out the art box and got right to work immediately. Leaving Quinn to go cook dinner peacefully without the worry of their little brother being exposed to virtual strip clubs, which boosted the flavor of dinner! The tater tots had Johnny seasoning with ketchup on the side, and the Mac n cheese had hotdogs in them. How elegant!

“Bubba! Dinner!” They called out to the living room, setting the dinner table for him as he ran in. “Woah, bubba, thlow down… wh-what’s got you excited?” Quinn asks, holding an excited and energetic Johnathan by the shoulders. “Look! Sissy! I made you a drawing! Do you like it?” He asks, holding up a cute drawing of the three together, Sarah wearing her emo clothes and a >:( face, Johnathan smiling widely with a big :D, Quinn has a soft smile and drawn bags under their eyes and their father lies in the far right without a face… “He-Hey bubba, why doethnnn’t Daddy h-have a fathe?” Quinn asks, a little concerned. “Because we don't see Daddy often, so I couldn't give him a face…” the little boy says with a sad look on his face. “Aww, bubba, don't worry…wh-why don't you go eat your dinner, and I-I'll tuck you into b-bed and read y-you a bedtime story…” Quinn says, folding the picture and tucking it into their pocket as Johnathan sits at the table and eats dinner happily.

Quinn is sitting in the kitchen… alone… they've tucked Johnathan into bed, and Sarah's already asleep, so now Quinn waits to… discuss matters with Dad. “Being alone is weird…” Quinn thought to themself silently, a pit in their stomach from the silence, and they drank their monster.

Not from the monster or the lack of food… but from… another feeling… a sense of power? Maybe. A time to think? No. The time for their mind to run with… thoughts? Yes. Absolutely. Their mind was running with questions… “Why are we here” “Why do we still care?” “What are you gonna do after you graduate?” “What purpose will you have after this?”

These thoughts buzzed through their mind, setting down their energy drink. They sit by the sink, arms spread and sitting by the side edges of the sink while staring out the window and out into the forest… their heart pounding but deathly still at the same time and a shaky, dizzy feeling taking over… the thoughts buzz louder. “Why won't he talk to you” “Why does he ignore you?” “How come he started ignoring you after it happened?” Quinn holds up a knife from the knife stand near the sink, looking into the reflection “What are you going to do about ⍓⌾⍓?” Their thoughts are cut off by the front door opening and closing, the shuffling of keys and a groan… Dad’s home… Quinn takes a deep breath, puts the knife away, takes a swig of their Monster and walks into the living room.

“Oh… hello Quinn…” Dad says, a little surprised but too tired to express it more than a slight eyelid lift.

“Hey Dad…” Quinn says awkwardly. Talking to Dad is like meeting with an office job boss because you need a raise. “Whatcha need, kiddo? You usually don't stay up this late…” he points out, breaking Quinn out of their racing thoughts. “Oh. Ahem… D-Dad… Di-Did you give Johnathan a-a-a copy of F-Fallout?” They question his choice of entertainment for the young boy. “Oh? Is that what I gave him? How was it? Did he have fun?” he pulls out of his lips like it were another breath of air, using the same excuse to avoid the issue at hand. “D-Dad…” Quinn takes a step closer to where Dad is sitting. “...Johnathan is 6 yearth old… 6 ye-yearth old. You gave hi-him a g-g-game about nuclear war!” Quinn had heard of Fallout and how good the game is, but they never bothered to do more research after hearing all the dark humor from it… it always bothered Quinn, laughing at a joke about death…

“Yeah…? And…?” Dad questions, breaking Quinn from thought once more before they speak up. “6 y-y-year olds aren't thuppothed t-to be playing ga-games about nuclear war… and that o-other time you g-gave him GTA-” “DON’T… get me started… I know GTA was the limit but don't use it as some iron fist over what I give to Jimmy…” Dad yells before stopping himself and lowering his tone. “It'th… Johnathan…” Quinn corrects him. This had been going on for a while now.

“Johnathan… right… sorry…”

“Don't apologize. I know you work hard to put food on the table but I'm the one preparing it… I put en-enough time in taking c-c-care of the two and I'd really prefer iiiiit if you didn't give him games m-meant for adult-th… or ignore him… then you wo-wo-wouldn't “accidentally” give him inappropriate games.” They explain intently, trying to explain why it's improper and a little aggravating to have to watch over the kid's shoulder every two seconds out of fear that he'll end up seeing porn or something.

“Okay. Fine… I won't give him any more inappropriate games… Plus, I have plans next Wednesday… go- “Get you a beer? Already on it…” Quinn says before he can finish, grabbing him a beer and cracking it open for it, knowing that when he wants a beer, he has plans… usually the good kind… it's a good sign!

“We have a dinner party planned for next Wednesday, I want smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, and boiled carrots…” He explains after taking a swig of the beer. “Sweet, next Wednesday… any thpecific occasion? Is anyone coming over?” Quinn asks while writing down the plans on the fridge, Dad takes another swig of beer before answering.

“҉A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉ will be coming over…” The name froze Quinn in place as their blood ran cold at the name.

“...what… did… you say…?” Quinn forced out with a voice shaking from rage and fear. “...҉A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉… Y'know… your-”

“I know who she is… why are you bringing her here?” They asked with malice in their tone, it’s increasingly obvious that Quinn is infuriated with Dad now… “Well… there’s some business and I thought, maybe it’s be nice to talk to her after she-”

“I KNOW WHAT SHE FUCKING DID! That’s why I don’t want her coming near Johnathan or Sarah. I don't care if it's business or family reasons, I don't want her in our fucking house or even knowing where we live.” They explain with a hint of anger but concern in their voice, trying desperately for this to be canceled.

“Look, kiddo, I know it's a lot to take in, but I think it might be healthy! Plus this business opportunity means I might be able to spend more time with the kids!” He groans out, the last part bringing surprise and a hint of… hope? In Quinn’s eyes. This meant they could finally focus on life… they could… live a better life… but in return… it would mean having to deal with ⍓⌾⍓… and… having to talk to her after so long… “....Fine. Next Wednesday, dinner party, smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, and boiled carrots. Don't expect me to be kind to her…” Quinn repeats the plans before walking upstairs angrily, going to bed and staring at the ceiling.

Why the fuck must he behave like this? He’s such a stuck up asshole… always thinking about himself… but this wasn't just for him… this was for them… this was for Johnathan and Sarah and them… maybe… this… won't be so bad…

Quinn always has dreams of memories… nothing changes… no fictional situations… they dream of memories…

“Happy birthday toooo youuuuuuuu~!” The party cheers to Sarah, who blows out her candles and is greeted with applause and smiles from her friends and two family members. Sarah is digging into her precious, sugar pumped cake while Quinn makes sure to wipe off the mess of the toddler Johnathan's face.

“Hey Quinn… when will Dad show up?” Sarah suddenly questions, realizing he hasn't come like be promised. “H-He'll be here soon, thweetie…”

“Huc-huc-huc-He'll be heyear Thoon Thweetie!” One of the kids walks up, mocking Quinn's stutter and lysp.

“Hey, I swear he's gonna come! You'll meet my dad, my sister and I will prove you wrong!” Sarah exclaimed, pointing at the three kids with a pouty lip, staring daggers at the leader of the group, Roy.

“Yeah? And what if he doesn't? Hmm? What happens then?” Roy points out, before there's a knock at the door.

“See? I told you! Dad's here!” Sarah shouts to the party as she bolts to the door, expecting her father to be at the front door with a party hat and gift like some cliche you'd see in a drama. When she opens the door, she only sees the mailman, who hands her a post card from the town a few hours away from here, signed her dad's name… it was just some cheap card for her, not even a $20 bill was attached to it!

“Aww, did Daddy not show up? What is that? He didn't even write to you? Just a signature? So lame!” Roy grabs the post card and dangles it in front of her face while teasing her. The other party members join and begin poking fun at her.

“So lame! I have my Mom and Dad come to my parties!”

“That's so pathetic! He didn't even address it to you! It just says something about safe travels! So stupid!”

“No wonder why her Dad didn't show up! I wouldn't have shown up to her birthday party either if I knew she was such a crybaby!”

The last statement sent Sarah running upstairs, sobbing as she shut her door.

“Everyone but Roy is now required to leave, I need to have a chat with him, and the party is over, and none of you are ever coming back.” Quinn stated, forcing everyone out the door except Roy.

“Is… something the matter, miss?” Roy trembled out of his nervous mouth, the same mouth that spoke words harsh enough to ruin Sarah's special day, and words harsh enough to make Quinn quiver with rage.

“You have… no-no idea. No idea how long it took for Tharah to p-p-plan this out, how hard it’th been having to re-reassure her that Dad would show only to be met with this thing!” Quinn snatched the post card from Roy's hands, holding it up to his face as they cracked their joints.

“I-It was just a joke, miss! It was harmless I swear-”

“HARMLESS!? WH-WHAT ABOUT MA-MA-MAKING FUN OF SARAH ON HER BIRTHDAY B-BECAUTHE HER FATHER DI-DIDN’T SHOW UP ITH ‘H-HARMLETH’ TO YOU!?” they snapped back, interrupting Roy and shoving him back a little.

“I want you to know…” They leaned down to Roy’s level, their arms dangling as they gave Roy a blank, cold, and life threatening stare, “...I want you… to know… to never… EVER… go near Sarah… again… or nobody will ever find you again.”

Quinn opened the door and threw him out as Roy scrambled away before they shut the door.

“yawn… what time is it…?” Quinn yawned out, waking up while getting up from bed, checking the time. “Oh shit we’re gonna be late!” They quickly got up and threw on their vintage 1990's Korn tour shirt from their album, “Follow the leader”, a gray, hoodless coat they always wore with this weird smiley face on it and some baggy cargo pants. They got everyone up and prepared them all for school.

“I'll be fine… Leave me alone, mom.” Sarah mocked Quinn for double checking everything, before they send her and Johnathan to their bus and Quinn quickly runs to their car, fumbling with their keys.

Quinn was able to arrive on campus, on time. Thank god… they managed to make it to their lecture before it began, pulling out their notebook and pen, sitting next to their friend, Rae.

“...took you long enough…” He mumbled, pulling out his snack bag and holding out a baggy of some warm bacon, Quinn took it and devoured it in the blink of an eye.

“Yeah? T-T-Try packing up for school for an angsty teen thithter who ha-hates you and a younger b-b-baby brother who loves you to death and balance th-that with taking care of yourthelf…” Quinn snapped back playfully at him, causing Rae to smirk.

“Typical Quinn… your Dad really needs to get his shit together, hell, convince him to hire a nanny or something…” He suggested, causing Quinn to sigh.

“I told you already, we can't afford it, I-I-I don't wanna leave my thiblings alone with thomeone I barely kn-kn-know, and I want Johnathan and Sarah t-to be able to be around their dad… mainly me… mo-more often.” Quinn grumbled out, they had discussed this with him on numerous occasions and the suggestion was a bit old at this point.

“Dude, if you ever need a break, just hit me up, I'm always down to help you out. You deserve a break every now and again, you stress yourself out over literally everything. College, jobs, family, hell I can barely balance two of those and I still manage to take care of myself…” Rae lists off all of Quinn's responsibilities, a smirk ever so present on his face as he pulls put a family sized bag of chips and eats them.

“...I swear you're gonna put yourself in a coma one of these days…” Quinn sighed, half joking and half aggravated… before they remember something. “Hey I ha-have a d-d-dinner party ne-next Wednthday, you're not invited-”

“Damn…” Rae chuckled, interrupting Quinn and making them giggle a little before continuing

“As I w-wath thaying… I-I have to ho-ho-housit for Mrs. Baker for a f-few days… A-And I was wondering… if y-you could ba-babysit Sarah and Johnathan fo-for tho’the few dayth…?” Quinn asked of Rae politely, this had been the first time in a while that they asked Rae of anything, which made him ecstatic!

“Of course! Anything for you man, you deserve it!” Rae exclaimed quietly, patting them on the back before their teacher walked in, beginning the lecture.

It was time for sculpting, or creative time as their teacher liked to call it… Quinn had been working on a mask, the glue and water drenched paper clinging to the frail wire base with ease. Wasn't the first mask they made and surely won't be the last, lost in memory as they worked peacefully… this was supposed to be their peaceful class. The others were so full of noise it would give them a headache.

But of course, it couldn't have been, the peace interrupted by a unfamiliar voice. Now in front of Quinn was a damn dork, a smug grin on his face, as if he's found an easy target. “What are you l-looking at-t-t?” Quinn hissed, not wanting to have been bothered.

The boy grinned more, gods, could he have been any more stupid? “an idiot with a Thpeethimbediment” he mocked out, a snicker echoing behind his voice.

“Yeah? A-And wh-who would that be…?” Quinn questioned cluelessly, they'd never been able to deal with bullying aside from defending others and Quinn already struggled with taking care of themselves enough.

“You, idiot.” He retorted, but honestly it was pathetically whimpered out. His posture tensing in a defensive way.

“W-What? I-I might h-have a speech i-i-im-impediment but I-I'm no an idiot…” Quinn whispered, feeling self conscious and unintentionally boosting the dick in front of them's ego.

The random boy now supported himself like a cartoonist superhero, his smug smile returning to his face at the “win”.

Quinn goes back to working on their mask, unsure of how to handle this situation, references to heavy metal makeup pulled up on their stood up phone.

The boy looked a bit dejected now by how swiftly he was dismissed and attempted to recover but soon poked the wet mask right under the modeled lips. Purposefully making a semi-permanent mark now just for attention.

“Wha- Hey!! What was that for? You f-fucked up my m-mathk!” Quinn snapped at him, an agitated look on their face that just made the douchbag's day.

He let out a small laugh, “do what? I didn't do anything.”

“B-But… I just watched you! Y-Y-You jutht poked m-my mask!” Quinn countered, confused by the bully's behavior and tone. Thankfully, the teacher noticed after the shout, swiftly ushering the unknown boy out of the class and telling him to go back to his firmly.

“I’m so sorry about that, Quinn. If you want, you can have a restart and some extra time to finish your project since he vandalized it…” the teacher apologized, offering a free restart and extra time to complete the mask.

“Yes pleathe thir… I would ab-absolutely appreciate th-that.” Quinn accepted with a warm smile, still put off by the experience… even though it was minor… it reminded Quinn of something that they didn’t want to think of at all…

Quinn drives home, they’ll have time to finish the mask on Monday, it’s a holiday this Friday and they have babysitting duty on Saturday and Sunday… Monday and Tuesday will be the extra days to finish it. Quinn arrives at the elementary school, picking Johnathan up since Sarah’s school runs longer than both theirs and his.

“How was your day, bubba?” Quinn smiled at him through the rearview mirror as he got in the backseat, bouncy and bubbly as ever.

“Sissy! Sissy! I got an A on my math assignment!” He exclaimed with excitement and joy in his big bright eyes, handing them a math assignment. “Wow bubba, that’s great! Guess where th-this is going?” Quinn questioned teasingly, them and him knowing exactly where it’s going. “THE FRIDGE!” Johathan threw his arms up with a wide grin, giggling and clapping his hands.

Ringalingaling! Ringalingaling!

“Oh- Sorry bubba, one sec, it’s thitha’s school…” Quinn picked up the phone, Johnathan watched as their slight smile went from a reminder of the joy of today to a worrying frown. His little brother instincts kicked in and he questioned profusely as they hung up and began driving.

“Sissy? What’s wrong? Why are you sad?” Johnathan tilted his head, his smile now gone and replaced with concern and curiosity.

“It’s Sarah… s-sheeeee’s in t-trouble…”

They sat down in the principal’s office, next to Sarah, and don’t worry, Quinn left Johnathan in the car with water, snacks, air conditioning, a few fidget toys and their favorite music playing.

“Miss Devore, it has been brought to my attention that your sibling, Sarah Devore, has been causing a ruckus on school grounds.” The principal spoke firmly and mannered, staring daggers at Sarah while Quinn sat there confused, looking back down at Sarah before looking back at the principal.

“Wh-Whaddya mean? H-How i-i-is she cauthing a r-ruckuth?” Quinn asked with concern in her eyes, Sarah had her arms crossed, looking away and not making eye contact with either of them.

“...Today… she got into a very nasty fight… Two kids ended up in the ER and one kid managed to only get a broken wrist and nose.” The principal said calmly, almost with a smirk on her face as if she enjoyed putting down Sarah and giving her the light of the villain.

“S-Sarah? Wh-”

“THEY STARTED IT! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!” Sarah snapped, sitting up and pointing at the principal. “And? You didn't speak up to anyone about it, I assume…?” The principal accuses oder Sarah, her smirk a little more apparent now as Sarah fumes.

“Woah woah! C-Calm down! Thettle down…” Quinn tried to defuse the tension between Sarah and the principal. “Sarah… I understand that y-you might have been acting i-i-in self defense but that's n-no excuse for what you did!” Quinn tells off Sarah, causing the principle to make a smug remark. “That’s right Sarah… what you did was baaaad… tsk tsk tsk… you-”

“I underthtand that Sarah m-messed up but p-p-putting her down is NOT the way to go about things… m-maybe it’s your fault that s-she doesn’t feel safe enough to o-open up to you!” Quinn accuses, Sarah silently and unoticably celebrates her small victory while the principal’s demeanor falters.

“H-How dare you? Do you even know how hard I work on this school? Whipping these hellions into shape everyday…” The principal goes off, agitation apparent in her voice as she speaks.

“I’m not s-sure if I should take the whipping part theriouthly or not but you don’t seem t-to understand… Sarah doesn’t fight or break people’s boned un-unless she- she was either in imminent danger, or s-she reaches her GOD DAMN limit!” They slam their hand on the principal’s desk, almost as if they were slamming facts onto that same desk for the bitch in front of them to see and acknowledge.

“It'th YOUR fault for n-not creating a t-thafe environment for your students… And clearly Sarah didn’t feel safe e-enough twitch to talk to you about i-it!” Quinn shouted while pointing at the principal, looking down at their nameplate, “Karen Shnider” was plastered in bold, gold letters. God damnit, even her name is assholey…

“M-Miss Devore, please calm down-” The principal was cut off once more. “I don't wa-wanna hear it! The m-mere fact that y-you'd punish Sarah f-for something a-as basic as self defense, then do not speak to me “calming down” because I will now gladly take Sarah o-out of school e-early for the day now, thank y-you very much!” Quinn proclaimed, quickly filling out the forms and pulling Sarah out of the school by the wrist two hours early. They quickly load up in the car, Sarah is met in the backseat with a cheese dust covered Johnathan.

“Hi sissa!” He smiles at her, she slumps against the window while Quinn drives the two home.

They unload from the car, Quinn sets up SpongeBob on the TV, and sets down Minecraft by the Xbox in case Johnathan wants to do something else while Quinn and Sarah talk, he knew how to change discs and he loved Minecraft.

“...So you gonna do the “YoU'rE nOt AlOnE” talk or the “YoU aLwAyS hAvE mE tO tAlK tO” talk already?” Sarah asks, obviously bored and aggravated at the idea of having to talk to Quinn seriously.

“...No.” Quinn states bluntly, worry and concern quivering through their voice as they hold back tears. “The talk we're going to have is “you tell me what's going on” so I can understand what I need to do better…”

“...what?” Sarah was a little stunned, her soft side showing slightly through her expression as she relaxes her muscles, uncrossing her arms while standing straight.

“You heard me…” Quinn looked up, their face red from holding back worried sobs “...T-Tell me what's been go-going on. You've shut me out for a year and a h-half, and YOU D-DON'T EVER-EVEN TRY to talk to me anymore… I thought that… ma-maybe you were j-just growing away f-f-from me… that… you just w-wanted some space… but… in t-that I-I never knew what could've g-gotten you in s-such trouble… tell me…” they cry out, putting their hands on Sarah's shoulders and looking her in the eye. All while Sarah darts her eyes away repeatedly.

“...” Sarah stays silent before finally responding. “...They… They've been bullying me for a long time… I kept on getting back at them… the one kid… Roy… he… he was insecure… and… I was strong… so… I started bullying him…”

Sarah managed to choke out, holding back tears and sobs, wanting to just break down in Quinn's arms but too scared to do so. Quinn squeezed their fists until their knuckles were white. Quinn was angry, but they didn't know who.

“Look… I-I'm not mad at you… but… thinthe you got a FULL W-WEEK supension, you're g-grounded for the week, no outings, you're doing chores, AND no TV or devices U-UNTIL I thay otherwithe… d-do you understand?” Quinn stated firmly, getting a grumpy nod from the teenager in front of them before they walked downstairs and found Johnathan innocently building a house on Minecraft.

“Sissy! Look! I builded a house!” Johnathan exclaims while pointing to the screen, showing a quaint, little house.

“Aww… that's so ssssweet!” Quinn says, before a few villagers walk into it, causing Johnathan to pout at the sight

“No!! Bad villagers!” Johnathan shouts as he activates creative mode and lights the village on fire, causing Quinn to shut off the game.

“J-Johnathan… I-I think that'th enough video games for t-the day…” Quinn says, pulling out the toy box and finding a coloring book for Johnathan and some crayons. They walk off to prepare dinner, something a little more clean cut… “Hey Sarah, come downstairs to watch Johnathan while I make din-dinner!” They call down Sarah, for a moment there's no response but as if she suddenly remembered she was grounded she came downstairs and sat down in the living room couch, watching Johnathan begrudgingly.

Quinn couldn't stop thinking about the fire in Minecraft… it gave them… a strange feeling… maybe it was just the anxiety of Johnathan feeling a little inspired to do something irrational because if his video games. They'll limit his play time a little more now. But even still the idea of flames dancing up and down, side to side, was just… so…

“Hey sissy! Look!” Jonathan called over, breaking Quinn out of thought and causing them to run over, they thought that Sarah would either be neglecting her current duty or causing trouble. But instead they came across a very pleasant surprise…

Johnathan was sitting behind Sarah on the couch while she sat on the floor in front of him. Her hair was all braided up with bows and hair ties, almost comically bad and silly, sticking in every which way. “Sissa has pretty hair now!” Johnathan proclaimed, throwing his arms in the air with an expression of victory on his face while Sarah grumbled and pouted in protest.

“Aww, you t-two look tho thweet! Come here, I j-just made dinner for t-the two of y-y-you…” Quinn motioned for the two to follow them to the dining room, they both got up, and you can guess which one was jumping and chanting “Food! Food!” and which one was begrudgingly getting up and following with a pissed expression the way there.

Dinner had passed and it was about 8:55 PM, Quinn was out by the backyard, taking long drags of their cigarette. It was rare that they were able to smoke but when they did it was peaceful for them… usually… now instead it's filled with the soft, stomach emptying dread from being alone and a bored, sorta hopelessness feeling that coursed through their mind and soul. They looked into the forest that they used to play in when they were little. They felt as if they had some sort of missing memory… but they couldn't exactly price together this weird, missing feeling… they decided to stand closer to the forest, leaning against their fence while staring into the dark, moonlit forest… taking another drag and puffing smoke into the air, Quinn thought to themself, what was missing? God I just wanna know what was missing?

Their thoughts are interrupted by loud barking… the neighbor’s dog was being a shithead again. “Shoo! Go! Bad dog!” Quinn said loudly, hoping the damn neighbors weren't too stoned out of their mind to come and get their loud ass dog

They kept on shooing and waving off the dog, but to no avail… hell the neighbors didn't even come out to deal with it… damnit… they really are stoned out of their minds…

Quinn tried to go back to focusing on the woods, letting out another puff of smoke which only caused the damn pomeranian to bark even louder. Each little “Ark!” Louder and more ear piercing than the last…

Quinn finally snaps and kicks the dog, sending it flying across the yard, it whimpered and limped back in it's home while wincing. Quinn felt immense joy at the sight and sound but quickly ran inside, putting out their cigarette butt and running straight to bed…

“What the hell was that? Why did I…?” Quinn questions themself for a moment, exhaustion creeping up on them before they could finish their thought. Drifting into a deep slumber only half covered by their bedsheets.

It wasn't uncommon for Quinn to also NOT have any dreams… maybe faint shapes or sounds… it was practically normal for them to dream of little to nothing at all.

A tall, man. Not too tall… about 6 feet in height… with a grotesque smile permanently on his face… a faint childhood delusion for Quinn… the missing in the forest… “Quinn…” a raspy voice calls from the man, Quinn approaches and notices how burnt he looks, and his lack of eyelids… as he kneels down, they notice that he's holding his hand out, before he can speak again, Quinn is woken up by the sun peering through the window.

They sit Sarah and Johnathan down on the couch, it's Friday, holiday off for school and some jobs… and Quinn was gonna be housesitting for Mrs. Baker for the next few days, staying Friday and Saturday and coming back Saturday evening…

“Alright… Thara… Johnathan… I'm gonna be g-gone for the n-next few days, housesitting for Mrs. Baker. Now, someone I trust very much is going to be watching you…” Quinn explains to the two, causing Sarah to be a little offended…

“Wha- hey! Why can't I just be alone and watch Johnathan for you while you do your stupid job!? I'm 13! Hello??” Sarah demands, Quinn chuckles at her determination and aggravation.

“Because y-you can't twitch even make Mac n cheese without b-b-burning it…” Quinn retorted playfully, causing Sarah to stutter before she slumped back.

Knock knockity knock!

“Ah… that should be him!” Quinn walks over to the door and welcomes Rae inside, bringing him to the living room and introducing him to Johnathan and Sarah

“Everyone, this is R-Rae! Rae, that's Johnathan, and that'ssss Sarah…” Quinn introduces Rae, who's wearing his Invader Zim Gir jacket and holding a bag of things

“Huh… Johnathan and Sarah…” He says, pointing at the two and naming them incorrectly with a smug smile on his face.

“Hey! I'm not Sarah!” Johnathan proclaims, giggling and walking up to him and poking at him. “Oh? Then who are you?” Rae gasps, an obviously fake clueless tone in his voice as he kneels down

“I'm Johnathan, silly!” Johnathan giggles, causing Rae to let out an obviously fake confused noise. “Huh? But I thought she was Johnathan…?” Rae points to Sarah, causing the young boy he's kneeling down to to start giggling madly

“Alright… now Rae, I b-bought sommmme mac n cheese to make for some lunches, Sarah is grounded so she can't go out with her friends n-nor is thee to dithobey you. She'll help out with the chores around here and mak-k-ke sure Johnathan gets a good amount if entertainment.” Quinn explains like a mother worried about sending off their child to college. “Pfft. I'll be fine… we're gonna watch the Invader Zim DVD's I brought with me…” Rae snickers, Johnathan tilts his head.

“What's… Invader Zim…?” This, dear comment alone, causes Rae to let out an exasperated gasp of slightly fake shock.

“Y-YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF INVADER ZIM? Oh boy! Are we gonna have fun!” Rae noogies Johnathan, Quinn let's out a soft chuckle, kneeling down to hug Johnathan tightly. “I'll see you in a few days, bubba…”

“I'll see you too soon… Sissy…”

“Now, deary, me and my hubby will be going on a delightful cruise… we should be back by Monday afternoon so feel free to leave after feeding the kitties, unless you don't receive a call from us that morning than stay. It means something either happened or we may be running late…” Mrs. Baker explains carefully, Quinn takes the information in while they're handed the keys to the house.

“Yes, Mrs. B-Baker, I promithe I'll take good care of Tiddiewinks and Sn-Snugglebums… they'll get their meds and I-I-I'll do the chores around the home… You'll come back perfectly fine after the t-trip and you won't have to worry about a thing.” Quinn reassures the worried elderly woman as her and her husband load up in the car. Now… they had the house… all to themselves as they explored the place. It was pretty big for two old people and their cats. Three bathrooms, four bedrooms, two whole living rooms on both floors, and, not to mention, the big ass TV and the feeling of being alone…

“Huh… hey bub-” Quinn was about to call out, only to remember that Johnathan is at home, watching some nickelodeon show about aliens and a robot dog with Rae.

Quinn wasn't used to being alone, they've always been with family or spending majority of their time doing something for family… and anytime they were alone there was this… pit that always just eating away from the inside in their stomach, working it’s way around like a parasite trying to make them sick. The feeling never stuck around for long since they’d go to sleep before it could finish itself or they’d end up being occupied by company.

“mroow…” the tabby cat called from behind, Quinn turned around and looked at it, expecting a warmth to bloom in their heart only to be met with a desire for something… they didn’t understand it but Quinn scratched behind the cat’s ears anyway, trying to push the gut eating feeling down as they fixed up the food bowls for the kitties. A white fluffy cat came down, both meowing in tune with the rattling bag of cat food.

As the cats ate happily, anyone but Quinn would awe at the sight… naturally at least… Quinn tried to seem adored by the sight of the cats eating and meowing happily. They couldn't help but stare at the sight, thinking back to that night when they kicked the poor pomeranian hard enough to cause a yelp of pain, the way they sickeningly and oddly enjoyed the sights and sounds of it… Quinn decided that they'd watch TV instead! Yeah!

Quinn plopped themselves on the couch, flicking between channels… eventually they stopped on the local news, watching as the reporters… uh… report stuff… yeah this was kinda boring to be honest… what wasn't boring and had broken the boring feeling, however, was when they began to announce a recent crime. Arson was commuted along with murder just a neighborhood down from where Quinn lived. But that didn't matter, what mattered was the overview sight of the whole crime scene.

Quinn watched the video play on screen, the flames dancing up and down, side to side as they consume the victims home, and before they cut the feed they were able to catch a glimpse of the hacked up, charred corpses within the burning building. Anyone would've grown sick at the sight unless they either had a tough stomach that could handle the worst of sights or they were a twisted, sadistic nutcase…

“Mraaaooowww…” one of the cats called out, Quinn turned to them almost angrily, upset that their sick fantasies were interrupted by this cats need for… God what was it the spoiled bastard even needed? It was fat, plump, and knew nothing of the responsibilities that they had to face on a daily. It just sits around, pissing and shitting and eating and sleeping. Quinn pushed the cat off the couch aggressively, chuckling as it yelps in surprise.

“Aww, doeth the poow k-k-kitty need it meddy weddies? Fine. I'll g-g-get you your d-damn medic-cation…” Quinn said begrudgingly, getting the cats their meds and making sure they're fed the right amount.

Quinn turns the TV off and heads to the room with the biggest bed. Collapsing onto it. Why were they so angry? Why did they sound as if they were threatening a damn cat!? Why did… Quinn think about when they kicked a dog…? The racing thoughts only fueled Quinn's unknown and surprising exhaustion, making them fall into a deep slumber.

“Sissy! Sissy! Look! I found a dandy kitty!” Johnathan called out, holding up a fuzzy dandelion to their face. “Sissy, what did you say to do with dandy kitties?” Johnathan asks Quinn, to which they softly smile.

“You blow the f-fluffy fairies away from the d-d-dandy kittieth and make a wish… then your dreamth'll come t-t-true…” Quinn explains again, causing Johnathan to blow the dandelion’s “fairies” away from the “dandy kitties” and silently make his wish.

Quinn looked up at the sky, the clouds flying by, the warmth of the sun, it's almost distracting enough for Quinn to nearly not notice Johnathan running deep into the forest. They get up and following after him, expecting him to come running back.

Quinn walks through the forest for a few minutes, walking by stranded newspapers… “Woods family… murdered… eldest son… missing…” are the only words they caught from these papers. The newspapers must've flown from the town nearby, since they had been freaking out about this news for the past few days, missing flyers for the oldest son that had disappeared flying by as well from the all the wind that had been rustling the trees.

Quinn felt their head begin to spin, sleep deprivation due to nightmares and and fear from death threats received by… her… no, Quinn shook their head, they didn't wanna think about it… not in the slightest… seeing eyes on the trees, their eyes darting to look only to see them disappear. Hearing voices and turning to see them only for them to quiet down and appear in another direction. After spinning and searching desperately they stop as they stare at the towering man before them.

He smiled. Widely. Almost unnaturally, as he made long, exasperated steps towards them. Their spinning head wasn't able to tell them whether or not it was a figment of their imagination or it was a real threat. Whispers in every direction were the one thing keeping them entranced as the man approached. Suddenly, a chirpy, little voice squeaked behind them.

“Sissy! I missed you!” Johnathan declared while hugging them tightly, Quinn looked to see the man only to find he was gone… who… was he…?

Was he… even real…?

Quinn woke up in bed… an odd memory to dream of… the sun glared in their face as they checked the date, Saturday… they have today, Sunday and half a Monday to get through. They got up and stretched, they walked downstairs and prepared to make breakfast only to remember they don't have their little brother and sister to care for… they don't have their father to worry about… just… them.

They decided to make themselves breakfast for once, over-easy eggs and some crisp, juicy, delectable bacon. They didn't know how to describe it but bacon was probably the best thing ever in their existence (aside from their family), that plus waffles and syrup and a few eggs with a monster energy? God that's the closest to heaven they've felt in years, it feels great to be taking care of themselves for once.

They fed the cats, as usual, and sat down on the couch… now with nothing to do and much more energy than they knew what to do with. They went out to the backyard, seeing the tall fence that the Bakers put in only made Quinn feel even more free of judgment than they had ever felt before. Quinn happily lit a cigarette and took a long drag before sighing as the smoke floated through the crisp, morning air. Who knew housesitting away from your siblings would be so peaceful?

“Mroooww…” the same call echoed from behind, Quinn turned around and scowled at the sight of the tabby behind them. “Oh… thpoiled brat… w-whaddya wannnt…?”

“Mrrp…” it purred, rubbing against their leg repeatedly, only for Quinn to kick it away while giggling. “Hehe… aww… d-d-does kitty want a-a cuddle b-buddy? I d-don’t think tho…” Quinn mocked as they kicked the cat again, this time with the intention of just hearing it hiss and and cry in pain once more… it's only when their phone rings that they stop and put out their cigarette. Once they pick it up they hear a familiar, chirpy voice on the other end with a familiar and goofy chuckling.

“Oh hiiii b-bubba! How are youu…?” they responded, walking inside and almost feeling a bit scared and… sad about kicking the cat. Why now we're they feeling regret for hurting the cat…? Was it because they could've been caught? Was it that they were afraid of what Johnathan would think?

“I'm watching Invader Zim! I love Gir! He's just like me!” Johnathan giggles, Quinn smiles softly at his happy little voice, a warm feeling in their chest as they hear Johnathan ramble on about Invader Zim and waffles and Gir and how awesome he is and how much they relate. All while Quinn listens intently. Now they knew why they suddenly felt bad… they didn't want to hurt the people they loved… they couldn't imagine the idea of Johnathan, poor, sweet innocent Johnathan having to witness such things… not because they felt bad about being caught but… because they had someone they genuinely cared for.

“Hey… Johnathan, I-I-I know it's been a nice talk but I need t-to t-talk to Rae for a bit… just to see how you guyth are holding up without me…” Quinn requests, receiving “awws” and “I don't wanna stop talking yet's” until he begrudgingly says “bye” and hands Rae the phone.

“Heya, can you smell the excitement? I sure can… I hope you can see all the vibrant colors plastered on Johnathan's face…” Rae almost immediately stated, getting a weirded out response from Quinn.

“Rae what the hell d-d-does that even mean? We're on a phone call, not a fathetime… and whaddya m-mean “Vibrant colorth”? D-Did you paint his f-face?” Quinn questioned, almost demandingly as if a Mom just found out their teen son did something they weren't supposed to do.

“Well I gotta go now seeya!” Rae hung up, before calling again and Quinn to pick it up with a soft smile and an eye roll. “Tho… how are they? Is Sarah doing what she's told? Is J-Johnathan behaving? Is he e-eating well? Is-”

“Yeah, yes to all of those questions. Sarah is behaving very well, Johnathan is behaving and eating well, and we're all fine.” Rae retorts with a playfulness in his tone, easing Quinn's anxieties and fears.

“G-Good… I-I’m actually th-thurprithed that Sarah’s b-behaving at all… s-she usually listened t-t-to you…” Quinn explained, hints of skepticism and slight relief in their voice as they spoke.

“Oh Sarah's great! She's friendly, does what she's told, and she's quite talkative as well!” Rae exclaims, Quinn felt a shiver run down their spine and a slight dizziness in their head.

She… never talks to me… anymore… why…?

“What… wait she's being… social with you??” Quinn questioned, disbelief now more than apparent in their quivering voice. It was a slight shake that the optimistic Rae hadn't noticed one bit due to how excited he was to talk about what Sarah told him. It wasn't uncommon for Rae to talk to people and get to know them for only a few minutes and somehow accidentally manage to get said person to spiel about their lives…

“Yeah! She's been telling me all about you and stuff! She's also told me all about how she feels about you as well… I'm not gonna share any details but she's said quite a lot-”

“Wow, that's g-great, I'll t-t-try and call back, theeya.” Quinn cut him off before he could finish, texting to him a short “sorry” to excuse the behavior.

Sorry I hung up, I had stuff to do and I might not respond cuz I'll be busy the next few days

As Quinn hung up the phone, they looked down at the cat in front of them, it meowed as it begged for treats and food and attention. All they could feel was a sense of dread and regret as they remembered how they had kicked the poor animal earlier. “I'm… sorry…” They muttered, squatting down to pet the cat affectionately, why did they enjoy it earlier? Why were they feeling regret?

“Maaaaaooowww..!” The tabby cat meowed behind them, nuzzling up to them cautiously as Quinn teared up… thinking about how Johnathan would like these kitties…

That was it… Johnathan… Quinn realized at that moment that Johnathan was the only thing keeping them together. Sure, he was a little annoying at times and was a full responsibility for them, but the idea of the little boy having to watch Quinn laugh as the cats yelped in pain was enough to let the tears fall. After all these years, seeing Johnathan smile from anything, whether it be treating the kitties right or feeding him his favorite meal (Mac n cheese with tater tots and chopped hot dogs), or even giving him a new video game… his little smile and chirpy voice saying “Thank you sissy!” Was the only thing keeping Quinn together after it happened… after she hurt them…

Quinn stood up and gave the cats a few treats, trying to shover the anger down their own throat as the walked back inside the house. They didn't want to think about her in the slightest, especially since she’ll be coming next Wednesday…

Shit! She's coming next Wednesday! Just four days away! The dinner party, the food they had to prepare, having to let Johnathan and Sarah get near her… there was no other option than letting it happen. No matter the stress or anger they felt, they had to let it happen… even after the last time they saw her…

The white, fluffy cat nuzzled up against their leg from behind, breaking Quinn out of thought, they felt the anger shooting throughout their body. They clenched their fists and and stared at the cat with a death glare. They weren't angry at the cat, but they were angry at their Dad and her… but they held it in… just walking into the bathroom and shutting the door, locking it before keeling over and puking in the toilet.

They got up, vomit dripping from their chin before they stand up and rinse their mouth out, splashing water on their face.

They stood straight and stared into the mirror, seeing a pale reflection of their depressing self. Bags under their eyes, greasy and messy hair, a dead look in their hazel eyes…

“Shower…” Quinn thought aloud, leaving the bathroom and going over to their duffle bag, grabbing some fresh clothes and heading back to the bathroom, turning on the shower and undressing. After the fact, they feel the water.

Warm

They step in, shutting the curtain and grabbing some shampoo, lathering it into their hair before standing under the running water, watching as the soap runs down their body and drips off their legs… letting their mind drift as the bubbles do through the water.

They hated the situation they were stuck in… not just the dinner party next Wednesday, but everything about their life so… heavy. At the helm of every moment, they didn't even get a chance to grow up all because of each and every little thing that they had to look over and take care of. Their childhood ripped away from themselves, all to give to their siblings whatever they could get… all to spoil them with the little money they had. And yet now that she is coming over. She is seeing their siblings. She is prying back into their life once again... Even Quinn subconsciously knew (but refused to acknowledge or even think of) that sooner or later they would snap.

Ah… time to condition their hair…

They carefully brush in the conditioner… why did the old people always have the most soothing scents? They let it sit in for a bit before they scrubbed the product out of their hair, moving onto scrubbing their body.

They shut off the water, stepping out and drying off. They put on their clothes and walked out of the bathroom, heading to the kitchen and grabbing some marshmallows from the pantry and sitting on the couch. They shoveled a few shmallows into their mouth before a noise broke them out of their trance.

“Mroooowww…” the tabby cat meowed, nuzzling against their leg as Quinn mourned their nonexistent childhood. They didn't even notice it until the cat clawed at their leg…

“Mrrp… mrrowp…” it purred before being pulled into a tight, tear filled yet silent hug. It continued to purr while Quinn sat there in constant thought of what there life had come to. They were stuck housesitting for a job… Quinn cleaned and cooked and took care of everyone and everything around them all except themselves.

Sure… they went to college…

They majored in art of any kind…

…

“What am I gonna do once it'th over?” They thought aloud… letting go of the cat as it calmly walked away to munch on some leftover kibble.

“What's g-gonna happen to me once I gr-graduate?” Quinn had begun to speak their mind to nobody and nothing at all. “What am I-I-I even going to do? Huh? What- What job am I going to t-t-t-take? What life am I going to live? What happenth once I-I get a real job? What…” They stopped in place, they didn't even realize they were pacing and they didn't care.

“What do I even want to do for a living?” They spoke aloud… this being, surprisingly, the first time they've even questioned what they wanted… Career-wise that is. What did they even want to be? Sure, they were majoring in art for their degree, they'd been working efficiently on their time in art! They'd loved doing art their whole life, hell, going to college and seeing Rae in class with a family sized bag of snacks to devour in an instant while talking over Quinn happily doing whatever art related tasks they needed/wanted to do was their big escape in life…

But why did they choose that? They could've chosen better routes in life! Hell, if they tried enough, they could be the CEO of some big company later in life! They'd be filthy rich, able to afford proper care for their siblings without struggle, and they'd all be happy…

The same could be said for their art career. Sure, they probably won't become much, but if they do they could afford the same amount (if not more) of comfort in life!

Quinn realized that being a famous or rich or even moderately paid artist wasn't what they wanted in life! They truly didn't know what they wanted because they chose their hobby to major in college rather than thinking of what they wanted to actually do.

It was all because they spent more time worrying and caring for everyone else around them… they spent more time sacrificing for others and getting very little in return. Even when they used this to their advantage so they'd get hired and paid to do these things for others and yet it would all go to their siblings.

Before they knew it, it was dawn… they sat down, realizing how wobbly their legs were and soon after got back up, as if sitting was useless to them in that moment. They put away the bag of marshmallows and filled the cat food bowls, along with the water bowl as well. They stumbled into the master bedroom of the house, nearly tripping over their bag when something shiny caught their attention…

A hunter’s knife, a beautiful thing indeed. It had amazing handle design, along with a freshly sharpened blade and a bird beak to hold it up (if ever hung). Quinn took it and put it back in it's sheathe, hiding it under the pillow they slept on that night. It helped then sleep a little better…

Recent events with being the murders and fires going around is enough to excuse this feeling of safety and… power I guess…

The next few days passed in a flash, the memory almost blurry and nonexistent to Quinn as they awaited on Monday for a call or for the old couple to return… they flicked on the news and they were left with… shock and questions.

“A horrific and tragic car crash has taken the media by storm, the local Mr. and Mrs. Baker have passed along with several others who had been caught up in the crash…” a clip from a jam cam plays in correspondence to the reporter. “Local experts say they could’ve seen a deer or some wild animal or that, just maybe, they weren't the best drivers. But nobody really knows for sure as the camera cuts out for a split second and suddenly everyone is caught in a whirlwind of disaster and death-” Quinn shuts off the TV.

“Sigh… i-it'th a g-good thing they pa-pa-payed me in a-advanthe…” They twitched as they sat up, grabbing their duffel bag, their knife, and drove away from the home.

A quick look in the rear view mirror showed Quinn a few cop cars and (presumably) cars of investigators.

“Sissy! Sissy! Look! I made a drawing of Gir! Isn't he so cool?” Johnathan peeped, holding up a drawing of a green robotic zipper dog next to a green alien with wide pink eyes. Quinn chuckled as they pat his head. “My, th-that's a wonderful d-d-drawing! Di-Did you have fun with Rae?”

“I HAD LOT’S OF FUN! I watched Invader Zim with him and sissa was lot's of fun too! We all watched Invader Zim and played games and-” Johnathan went on and on about all the fun they had until eventually Rae walked over with his belongings in a bag.

“Ah! Rae! Don't forget your Invader Zim DVD set-”

“You can keep it for now…” Rae interrupted Johnathan, to which the little boy gasped in joy. “REALLY!?? You'll let me keep it!???” He exclaimed, causing Quinn and Rae to chuckle. “Yeah… for now… I'll come over some other time and take it back though, but I promise I'll find you another full Invader Zim DVD set to keep…” Rae ruffled Jonathan's hair, to which be ran around and jumped while squealing with joy.

Quinn chuckled once again. “Jeez… you're go-good with kids and m-m-making them all excited…” Rae laughed in response to this. “Yeah… like you aren't a charm to them. You wouldn't be able to count the times conversations were driven away from whatever topic and directed to you and how awesome you are.”

The two joked for a bit, catching up with each other before eventually Rae left and Quinn sat down on the couch, causing Johnathan to tug on their shirt sleeve. “Yeah, bubba? What is-is it?” They asked, looking down and opening their eyes to see a soft smile on the little boy's face. “You're tired… go sleep… Sarah can play with me…” He stated bluntly, they looked down at Johnathan and looked over at Sarah walking in with a bowl of cereal. “It's okay… I can handle the gremlin…” She said softly yet with a tinge of “I'm trying to sound like I don't care” in her voice.

Quinn silently agreed and walked over to their room, stumbling away in exhaustion and sadness. They shut the door, shove their stained knife under their pillow and slept once more. Waking up two hours later and stumbling back downstairs.

They sat down on the couch, almost dosing off once again before realizing what Johnathan was watching.

“Local reports say that local law enforcement when first coming to the house found that the house was in a shriveled and unkempt state. Investigators say that their were more than enough signs that there were pets there. But no such animals were found upon arrival or further investigation-” Quinn shut off the TV, causing Johnathan to protest.

“Why did you turn it off. The lady was talking about the home you were at!” Quinn looked away guiltily, answering briefly. “Yeah… Mr. and M-Mrs. Baker… t-they came back and took t-their kitties t-to the cruise!” Quinn lied to his face, causing him to smile and agree.

“Wow! They must be having lots of fun now!” He giggled as he turned the TV back on and put on Invader Zim. Quinn stood up and walked away, guilt rummaging through the back of their mind as they entered the kitchen. They were prepared to make dinner but we're surprised to find Sarah making pimento cheese chicken bake for dinner.

“Oh hey! Rae taught me a buncha dinner recipes, so I can handle dinner for tonight and the next few nights! I heard there's gonna be a dinner party this Wednesday and-”

“Who told you that?”

Quinn looked up with slightly lifted eyes, almost scared and demanding tone in their voice. To which Sarah looked back with a raised brow. “The… family group chat…?” She stated, to which Quinn facepalmed. “Of course… I forgot there's a group chat…” Quinn thought to themselves, remembering the fact that the family had a group chat between them, Dad and Sarah.

“Who's coming over again?” Johnathan asked, walking into the kitchen to join Quinn and Sarah's conversation. To which Sarah answered that before Quinn could speak up.

“Someone named A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉ or something… I think she's our-”

“She's nobody important. It's just business.” Quinn stated bluntly, the answer enough to convince Johnathan to go back to minding his own business. They breathed a sigh if relief when Johnathan left the room. And Sarah only seemed confused at Quinn's eagerness to ignore the upcoming event.

“Don't. Even… thpeak about it… ju-just… i-if you c-c-can go to the grothery th’tore on T-Tuesday for me, I-I'll drive you there bu-but… if you do it f-for me I-I'll let you ask me a f-few things about… her.” Quinn stopped Sarah before she could speak up, offering a deal that Sarah accepted gratefully.

Before Quinn could make it up the stairs, Sarah walks over. “Y-You don't wanna join dinner? I've been practicing cooking!” She called out to her sibling, only receiving a shake of the head, Quinn stops again when they hear Johnathan giggling and walking up to Quinn with his usual chirpy and squeaky voice.

“Sissy! Are you coming down? The food’s super yummy!” He declared with a smile on his face. Quinn felt their heart warm and changed their mind, turning around and coming downstairs with a smile on their face. “Sure… I'll join…” they chuckle as they sat at the dinner table.

They watched the two giggle and laugh and talk about whatever… a smile on Quinn's face as they occasionally threw in a laugh or a comment… things felt like they were back to normal… things felt like the old times, back when things were a little less tense and they were able to enjoy being together without a care in the world…

Monday came and went… going to college, going home, and with barely anything to care for (since Sarah had started becoming more productive around the house) Quinn simply went to bed a bit early… Tuesday came and was definitely slower than the last day…

They finally finished the mask they were working on, it was molded perfectly for their face and had a ravishing design. Imagine a frown, with droopy makeup resembling bands like KISS and Twiztid (that are just a little more drippy)...

They brought the mask home and hung it on their wall in front of their bed. They later took Sarah to the grocery store and got all of the supplies for the dinner party that would come the next day. They managed to avoid the topic of her on the way home with Quinn putting it off for tomorrow.

They went to bed… shaking in nervousness of what’s to come of tomorrow… she’s gonna be here… and little did Quinn know that this would be the last coherent and real dream that they would ever have again, this would be their last day of normalcy…

“GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE HEATHEN!!” She shouted angrily at a young, 6 year old Quinn, chasing them up the stairs with a glowing hot iron rod from the tools by the fireplace. Their father followed behind her, trying to convince her to stop only to relieve a slap to the face that nearly pushed him down the stairs…

Quinn was hiding on the other side of the bed, fearfully hoping that this would all end so they don't have to be stuck here… crying and helpless… all of this had started because Sarah was born… and she wanted to keep her, them, and their father here. But the divorce papers that needed to be signed said otherwise… Quinn was always under the blame for this for whatever reason that… Mother decided was best…

She finally makes her way to the room, looking down at the shivering Quinn in the corner with dagger eyes and the still burning rod clutched in her hand… “Little heathen… you really think you could hide behind your pwetty wittwe bed?” She taunted, walking around the bed, preparing to do the worst.

She swung the rod, missing and only cutting Quinn's right cheek as their father began to struggle with her… Quinn ran out of the room, running to Sarah's crib and pulling her out of their, they ran out of the house and to the police…

Of course… she was only held in jail for about 30 days because they barely even believed that a woman would even hurt their husband and children…

Years had passed, their father worked effortlessly to afford them all they could after they managed to get a restraining order against her after Johnathan was born… to which they had to move away again… Sarah lost most of her friends and began to shut herself away… their father could barely even look at Johnathan considering how he was even conceived…

Quinn woke up from the dream, sitting up and staring up at their hung mask. As if they were looking for answers for how to avoid all of this happening again…

They got out of bed, got dressed in their usual fit, and left to drop off the kids at school. After the fact, they made their way to the campus. Heading to class as per usual. Sitting next to Rae without even greeting him back…

“...You nervous?” He asked, causing Quinn to snap their head up. Looking at Rae with a dead look in their eyes.

“...what?”

“...you heard me… you good…? You don't seem… well.” Rae stated once more, a concerned and sympathetic look in his eyes. Quinn’s eye twitched in response, a scowl spreading across their face, bringing a much darker shade to their eye bags.

“N-N-No. I'm no-not fine, Rae. I-I feel like shit.” They hissed at him, he looked at them with a soft look in his eyes. Like a parent would with a child crying because they broke a glass of milk on the floor on accident.

“H-Hey calm down, I know things have been stressful now-” “Oh y-you care now, d-dontcha? Huh!?” They snapped, not yelling but indeed raising their voice.

“I've been handling my s-s-siblings for God knows how long, stressing over a d-dinner party with her and f-fucking worrying over my life’s future! H-How have you not n-noticed that I'm not o-okay!? I-”

“Hey, calm down. I know it's been rough recently, but please, not right now, you don't need anymore stress.” Rae quiets them down, managing to at least get pure silence for the rest of the day… Rae tried to talk to them after the fact but got a sour response.

“Quiet. Leave me alone. I d-don't wanna talk.”

Quinn made it home. Thinking about how badly they wanted to call Rae and apologize to him… but for some reason they couldn't bring themselves to pick up their phone and make the call.

Sarah and Johnathan were waiting in the living room after Quinn went to grab ahold (and conceal) their knife, they plopped down next to the two on the couch. Their Dad was gonna come home earlier than usual to prepare for the dinner party.

The silence was maddening, Johnathan bounced in his seat, excited to even spend time with them all while Sarah tried to think of ways to start conversations and possibly reconcile with everyone and Quinn desperately hopes some magical minimal kills her off so they don't have to worry about talking or dealing with her.

Why do I want… that to happen to her?

Their thoughts are cut short by a certain Dad walking into the home. “Alrighty, Quinn, get to preparing the salmon!” He tried to say in a cheesy, upbeat tone with finger guns and a shit eating grin on his face. Quinn nods and gets up, hoping to ask Sarah to help before Dad decides otherwise. “Sarah! Could you set up the table and do some decorations? Imma be upstairs preparing my outfit and looks for dinner! And Johnny! Little little Johnny!” He leaned over and booped his little nose, “Why don't you go help Quinn with din din?”

Johnathan happily accepts, Quinn stands there, dumbfounded and a little upset but not vocally protesting (the only protest being their facial expression). They all get up and head to handle their tasks, Sarah eager in decorating the dining room and table, and Johnathan having more fun than anyone in the house helping out with dinner.

“Sissy! Sissy!” Johnathan chirped up, Quinn took a deep breath, not wanting to lose face. They looked down at Johnathan with a strained and haphazard smile. “What's up…?” they croaked out, an exhausted tone in their dry voice. Johnathan smiled and yapped on and on, asking some miscellaneous question… Quinn could barely hear his yapping, as it was all a blur, each word passing by as a fuzzy reminder that they existed in this moment. When the question was finally asked and Johnathan noticed Quinn’s subconscious absence, he repeated their name over and over until the snapped back to realty.

“Hmm? Huh? What was it b-b-bubba?” They requested the repetition of the questions. Johnathan giggled before he asked once more, “How come I haven't ever seen mommy until now?”

…

shit… He found out…

They thought to themself, almost gasping aloud to the question… “U-Um… w-whaddya m-mean…?” They avoided answering, their voice quivering with a slight fear of what could happen… he could turn against them, he could get taken by her, he could-

“I mean like… I've never seen mommy until now… how come…?” He asked innocently, his eyes wide with curiosity and innocence, Quinn can’t help but answer this innocent question… “Sigh… well… there wath a lot of b-bad things that happened… and sh-she-she had to stay away… but I gu-guess she's coming for d-dinner now.” They stated, hoping he'll be sufficed with all these answers. “Now… Can you g-go g-get me the baby carrots, b-b-bubba?” They asked, done getting all the pots and pans out. Johnathan nodded and smiled, grabbing the baby carrots from the fridge. Quinn sighed in relief for a moment, believing that he was done with questions… but he was far from done, his curious little mind wanted to know everything about her.

“What's she like? Is she cool? What did she do?” he shit question after question, a smile still prominent on his face as Quinn was overloaded with information. “I-I-I- uh- uhm-” They put the carrots in the pot with hot water as the stuttered, turning in the stove. “Watch t-the stove for me b-b-bubba… S-S-Sissy needs a b-break…” they muttered as the ran up to their room, collapsing on the ground as they shut the door. They got up and sat down in their bed, pulling out their knife to clean it off… staring into the reflection of the blade as they put away their cloth… once again, they were met with the same thoughts and feelings that disgusted them. The same ones that they felt when they saw the fire from last week on the news, the same one that made them hate themselves because they didn’t want any harm caused to little Johnathan…

They walked downstairs, finding Johnathan watching the carrots intently. “Hey sissy! You were up for a while… I think they're done!” He chirped, Quinn smiled at his eagerness and innocence… ruffling his hair as they go back to fixing up dinner.

It was a long silence before Johnathan nearly forgot Quinn's evasion of the questions he asked earlier. He perked up and began to shoot questions at then again, they couldn't keep up at all… it was all building up into a horrible feeling… a horrible thought…

“Quinn! Hurry up! I'm gonna go get A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉! Her car's broken down and I expect to come home with a fully prepared dinner…” Their father announced as the front door shut, the sounds of his car pulling away only fueled this anxiety and feeling to the max.

“She's coming! She's coming! Are you excited, sissy!?”

Quinn couldn't hold back anymore. Those words threw them into there very first angry fit… and probably the worst one ever…

Screams, flashes of red and adrenaline ran through the moment, the only thing stopping them is the horrified voice behind them.

“...Jonathan?”

Sarah asked, her eyes wide with surprise, horror, and grief as she stared at the bloody mess before them both. Quinn swung at her from behind, only snapping back to reality as Sarah fell back, lifeless…

Quinn stared at the mess they created in their fit, the horror and agony they just caused… they stared back at… him… and felt tears run down their face…

“You're… dead… It's… my fault…”

They thought aloud, their voice shaky with grief, loss, and pure terror. Tears continued to fall as they stumbled upstairs… they sat in their room, they had lost the two things keeping them going in this world. The only two reasons why they kept themselves alive.

What do I do? What- what's even going to happen now? I'm gonna get caught. I-I can't let that happen… I…

Their thoughts stopped as they looked up, their mask hanging on the wall in front of them… they have nothing to lose now… they have nobody to care for…

…I'll take matters into my own hands… might as well finish the job…

They though as the grabbed the mask and stapped it on their face. It fit like a glove.

Their parents stood no chance of survival against Quinn. Their deaths were quick and meaningless. They lit a cigarette and lifted their mask slightly to soothe their nerves. Before anxiety hit them like a truck.

Shit. What’ll the cops think?

They quickly made their way out back, grabbing a canister of gasoline and trailing it all over the house, out of the house, down the street…

They saw the home that lived next door, a family. A very happy family… they were eating dinner together and laughing it all up… for some twisted reason, it sickened Quinn. “How disgusting…” they muttered as they trailed gasoline around the home as well. Just barely enough made it far away enough to light it up from afar.

They finished their cigarette, staring at the still lit butt before pulling their mask back and throwing the but onto the line of gasloline… both homes broke into flames, and Quinn couldn't help but smile at the beautiful sight… and they couldn't help the maniacal laughter escaping their body. They ran into the forest, tears streaming down their face and laughter filling the silence of this blood curling night.

They managed to find a cabin after so long… it was a cabin the family used to camp at occasionally before Johnathan came along… they found their bunk and passed out for the night.

The next day, they got up and turned on the radio, expecting music to play but only finding news reporters talking about the events that transpired that night.

“-Massive house fire that burned down two homes and killed one family. Experts say the source can be traced back to the Devore's home and no trace of the eldest child can be found. Autopsies will be done to figure out how the Devore family was killed, as their charred bodies were found more mutilated than any old house fire could cause-”

That alone was enough to make them smash the radio to bits. Their paranoia began to show and it was daunting…

That's it… I'm gonna get found… I'm going to jail…

The only thoughts they had were concerned for themselves and themselves alone… for once, not having anyone to care for was dreadful but also relieving…?

What- no!! Hell no!! I just killed my family, for crying out loud! Why… why don't I feel guilty???

What…

Their thoughts transpired as a realization hit them.

…Why did I care…?

It's been a while… a week, at least… since the incident… it's really fuzzy in their head, and the lack of sleep isn't helping with the delusions and voices and dizzyness… what had happened a week prior was barely memorable…

I… killed people… who were my important… but my important… what…? Where's Johnathan? Where's Sarah?

Two weeks… the slept last week but didn't sleep again, their nightmares haunting enough with Johnathan and Sarah appearing as the mutilated corpses they became… chasing them through the forest until they came upon a tall, faceless figure and woke up right after…

Who… was that…? Why… were Johnathan and Sarah… dead…? It was my fault but…

What… did they mean to me…?

Three weeks. They slept again last week but the dream was so cryptic and horrific they could barely remember it…

I hate this… who's the faceless man…? Why is he here? Why is he familiar? Why are the two kids familiar to me?

Oh yeah… they're my siblings…

It had been a full month, they were losing their mind and had barely slept… they don't understand why they're here… they don’t understand why they ended up this way…

I killed someone… lot’s of people, actually… I took their lives but…

Who were they? I know the names “Johnathan” and “Sarah” but… why?

Their thoughts were broken up by the sound of their stomach grumbling… they need to eat again…

They got up and headed to the cooler, only to find no more food… guess it was hunting season…

They stared at the door with anticipation. It had been a whole month since they left and they had no idea what to do… they didn’t understand why they hadn’t been caught yet… they didn’t understand why they hadn’t ran farther yet… but nonetheless, hunger had struck hard enough to push then out the door.

The darkness engulfed Quinn in the night… they walk through the forest quietly, occasionally looking up at the stars through the shadows of the forest trees. And then going back to looking for at least a rabbit…

Snap…

They drew their blade and turned quickly… only finding a boy… he looked to be a few years younger than Quinn at the least, brown messy hair, pale white skin, a muzzle or mask of sorts, orange goggles, and two hatchets in their holsters… one looked a lot older than the other…

“...Y-You’re *neck snap* new… mmhh…” the boy stuttered, approaching Quinn with wide eyes. Quinn took a few steps back and the boy laughed loudly at the action. Before regaining composure…

“Heh… re-relaaax… ch-chiill… *whistle* b-b-birdy!” He twitched and ticked, Quinn tilted their head but felt a strange sense of… connection between them…

“I-I-I should sh-show ya t-to the boss! H-He's g-g-gonna be SUPER excited!” He exclaimed, nodding Quinn to follow along, but they didn't budge…

“What's wr-wrong? Sc-Sc-Scaaaaared?” He teased, only for Quinn to stay still and silent for a few moments before speaking.

“...Name?”

Toby looked up, dumbfounded as he realized he never introduced himself. “Haha! Si-Silly me… N-Name's Toby! Y-You?” He returned, Quinn taking a moment before responding…

“Quinn. Na-Name's Quinn…”

[blackjack-15]

oh syd babe the 'woman in the kitchen' speech was not gonna work on a hardass like tina. full points for trying, zero points for thinking it through

the gilligan cut from the car to cicero's house oh my land. carmy's face?? THE BEAR IS A COMEDY. poor bastard

"that was nice. thank you for that. that was good." youngest child snark pure and simple

"i thought you killed yourself!" "no, sir, that was my brother." my gosh this poor kid just Cannot go a day without people comparing him/mixing him up with mikey. also tells the viewer that carmy's mental issues are and were 1) more obvious and 2) more well-known than mikeys, which aligns with the different way society treats alcoholism (often sold as a quirky personality trait) than other disorders.

"relax. shit's regulated. i suffer from anxiety and dread" "who doesn't?" "want half?" "...no" carmy i don't normally recommend the sharing of prescription drugs but um...may want to consider investing in a psychiatrist. also once again this points to my feeling that carmy actively represses himself from 1) things he wants and 2) things that will help him

"what kinda asshole is gonna put ketchup on a hot dog?" "...a child, Richie" "yeah, a child asshole" "you're the child asshole" no notes, perfect, groundbreaking, etc

carmy's def the youngest/baby of the family, but he also seems to carry a few Middle Child tendencies -- prolly due to growing up in an incredibly tumultuous environment (guessing parental oversight was negligible) and having a strong amount of common sense

marcus hon your focus needs more focus. i'm seeing the tension that this storyline is gonna bring and...this is prolly gonna play out with as much trouble as they can physically fit in it

"what do you design?" "all of it" "...oh." THE BEAR IS A COMEDY

i feel like if syd had gone to cater, there would have been ketchup, but also the Beef would have burned down, so i'll settle for less sydcarmy this time around

[panderghast]

I have maybe a pinch of hope left...

Cause like, I have sooooo much to give. And it seems like everyone wants a piece of it, but nobody wants to give anything back. They want me to be dirty, as long as I can wash myself clean again of course (my goodness). They love how quirky I am! Until I need to tone it down, oh my gosh it's mortifying. Why would I wear that in public, say that out loud? I'm going to walk away from you if you do that, I swear to god don't embarrass me. I have strong values and morals; unless we disagree. Then I become stubborn and unpleasant while I defend my opinion and you drown out my voice with your cynicism and ego. I can't even talk about what's bothering me, it's a personal attack on them exclusively. Lord have mercy it is actually about them, because suddenly they do nothing right and nothing is ever good enough for me and they just can't lose me, they can't!

Honestly, I'm also tired of playing into the thought of basic decency being my reward? I'm not your good girl. I'm not a dog. You aren't a dom, and I'm not a sub. I don't owe you that privilege just because you saw me naked and you put your hand on my throat while you fucked me. You don't know the first thing about BDSM, and you can't even tell me the definition of a kink. So why do you think this is a turn based game instead of a bonding exercise around consent? Don't touch me.

The thing is, I want to let someone in. I want to express deep and passionate love. But I am constantly misguided. I am lead to believe these men tell the truth, and then once I get comfortable in their embrace and I feel safe they constrict me like a snake until I stop breathing. My heart is treated like a possession, not a delicate gift. I'm a conquest in some sick subjugation, not a prize to be displayed and discussed and proud of. I'm a very fun toy to have, but I'm like a sports car - but they can't use me everyday, that's why they have their family car and I'm in the garage; they can only take my out when its convenient or they're feeling nostalgic or frisky. All I was asking for is maybe some recognition? A little appreciation, some attention? Maybe give me half as much thought as you did to your Baldur's Gate 3 character. Or, I suddenly turn into their mother and I get to experience all the Freudian bullshit that they packed in their bags and dragged around with them from house to house. I must be able to teach them all the things their lacking, right? I mean, after all I'm raising 4 kids successfully on my own and maintaining a house and budget without help and I do all these wonderful things like cook and clean and make art and I can still love so freely. Wow! I'm a goddess. I'm so special, unique, incredible, astounding...So, that's something that I can share obviously. It must be a secret, a technique I've perfected through all the trauma and opportunities life has given me. If I could only support them a bit...emotionally, spiritually, financially, sexually, physically, mentally...teach them how to take care of themselves since they never bothered to learn. Then I could make them a good partner. For me, of course! ...But I have to make sure I share their interests because mine are a bit boring, they don't get it it's too much information to follow, this cartoon is kind of childish don't you think, what is this a romance, I don't really understand old horror movies they're so badly made...but hey, have you seen the entire Marvel collection? Don't worry, I'll make sure to ask you questions on everything you do like that coincides with my interests to make sure you're telling the truth. Oh wait, make sure that I don't go out without them too much, they'll feel lonely. Why is my phone going off so much? I'm so paranoid about shutting my laptop when I'm done, omg can I stop doing that why don't I leave it open. Hey, they're out of body wash and shampoo btw. Ah, shoot, can I help them clean up because they're just so tired. Can I cover this bill, order this food, get these drinks cause they ran out of money? We haven't gone out in a while...oh it's because I'm not paying or planning for it anymore and the last time you did anything was March? What the fuck do you mean you don't vote? What the fuck do you mean you think feminists are annoying? What the fuck do you mean I emasculate you, I wasn't even talking to you, I was talking to my son about doing his homework or else he would end up living in his friends apartment sleeping on a mattress on the floor with no sheets and his winter coat on cause they couldn't afford the gas bill working a dead end job at a fast food place cause he has no skills...but if the fucking shoe fits, my guy. 🙄

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Okay, yeah... I thought so...

Replies screenshot from my add to this post this post that I accidentally found through an email notification of an @ that you'll see didn't even scan on my tumblr radar on a reblog chain I couldn't add on to again because I blocked OP (good ♥).

This attempt at an @ is still hilarious by the way like OP was so afraid of me she blocked me I literally couldn't fucking hear or responded to any of what you little shits were saying ...

@poutyrootveggie @duncebento @specialmouse Whoaaaaaaa you little mediocre weebshit abled-bodied special needs dunces! I was so shocked that the last tough guy @ from the miku simp with the tumblr badges literally didn't scan and I only found out about this from opening my email and clicking the blog notes!

Yeah, I know you abled-bodied little shits wish god nuked you half as much as she nuked me since you're begging not to be perceived as feeling anything in your legs since you wanna be a vegetable that bad so you can have access to your weeby little comfort items and Mickey D's toys forever because you're never gonna grow up and get laid and I know you're gonna understand this as much as I understand tiktok memes because back in my day it was a Beelzebub Song but let me teach y'all's lil' steven universe sour cream studio ghibli guzzling wannabe misgendering unwashed surfer brah asses about something called hyperbole and sarcasm and metaphor and what a real dramatic "queer reading" means : It means I know and I don't care and if you want me to be nit picky about it y'all are too special needs to even mind your spelling...

And in this context means no disrespect but sometimes I wish I had as much the privilege and confidence as a low support needs abled-bodied autistic on social media explaining a thing about their Fandumb Oppression Olympics to be able to get away with typing like that much of a high support needs retarded version of myself while pretending to be that shocked by what a woman in a wheelchair is saying while causally misgendering her while I don't have any OCD regarding using any sort of punctuation while I'm doing that so abled bodies don't think I'm retarded, because I'm an abled-bodied autistic that can get away with doing the best impression of a retarded version of myself because I'm quirky brah it's not that deep but this lady who I just called "dude" and I have no idea how she feels about that doesn't Know Her Memes TM and that's what matters.

Not that a bunch of abled-bodied autistic weebs are trying to gang up on an actually disabled wheelchair user right now over what again, essentially amounts to a fandumb superiority/bully complex bigger than the weebs on Big Bang Theory and again, essentially started over Spoopynatch dishorse,,,,,

Because when abled-bodied autistics talk like that online or irl itssamememario but if my wheelchair bound arse ever did that in front of an older abled-bodied authority figure or anyone abled-bodied really...! Nitwit school. Special Needs Programing. 9PM curfew stuck in a group home.

Anyway, Homestuck ended years ago go lobotomize yourselves with a sharpy collective hallucination style if you wanna unlive that angy abt it!

Was shit like this why I'm getting so many new followers? Thanks but no thanks kidz go listen to your bops! ;) ♥

Have fun being stuck in your little tenderqueer fandumb mode forever because you made sure Hazbin is my last one but at least I'm a recovering Disney Adult using her Vivzietine patch instead of a little shit gen z otaku who's so spoiled I can get away with pretending to be more brain damaged than I actually am!! ;) ♥ X.O

(But oh, before I go @poutyrootveggie ...

"#ITS A MEME ABOUT PEOPLES UNNECECARY DOGSHIT HELP #I NEED THIS TO BE SATIRE" .. You mean a bunch of unnecessary dog shit like..? A bunch of weebs and apparent Homestuck and Supernatural fans trying to collectively dogpile on a Hazbin Hotel fan sharing on a fandumb post on fandumb website tungle.hel when they try to scold you about wishing you were doing s satire when they don't understand hyperbole and you wish that this abled bodied shit autistic with a Miku plushie for an icon and tumblr badges was a satire in and of themselves but deep down you know they're seriously pathetic enough to think, again that, causally misgendering and harassing a wheelchair bound woman for barking too loud about their own Special Interest Demon Discourse TM on a post made by a person with the studio ghibli cat TM as their icon talking about their demon shit rusty nail show discourse cause they're loser who liked that dog shit in the first place and I know I have far superior taste than any of ya so don't fucking @ me again... You think any of this cyberbully shit when I was just minding my own damn business and didn't even @ OP sharing sharing my fandom story fandumb story on a fandumb post on a fandumb website makes you look like the good ones? You mean pulling some "unnecessary dog shit" on me like that?

Well, jokes on you hon...This Hellhounds second bite fueled by Kesha's Cotten Candy bit down so hard on that lil' pussy OP got so scared of me that they blocked me back, meaning I couldn't even fucking hear you when you tried to @ me to stir shit up again and hows this for a final anime showdown? I'm pulling a Hatsune Miku putting my headphones back on so I won't be able to fucking hear you again.. You abled-bodied-wannabe-tard! LA! LA LA!`~ ♥

You want my silence? Pay me for it!

[didyoutrydynamite]

How would Jaune react to the Raffle? Not good I bet.

Cut to Jaune, strolling through the streets of Columbia, the city in the air. Happy people a bustle around him, enjoying the various attractions lining the fairways.

Jaune: *Holding a stuffed plushie of some dude in a powdered wig, a box of cracker jacks, a few balloons, and eating a hot dog* ( This place rocks!!! Carnival rides, awesome street food, quirky music, steampunk robots?! They're even giving out free Semblances in a bottle! Tastes terrible, but seems like smearing it on my hand still does the trick. Man, who would need rescuing from this place- OH CRAP I'M ON A MISSION! Right. I just need to make my way to the big Angel Statue and the girl should be-)

Fink: And now, the 1912 raffle has officially begun! *Crowd Cheers*

Jaune: Oooh a raffle!!! *Hurriedly walks to the crowded stage*

Pretty Girl: Hey, Mister! Hey Mister!

Jaune: *Looks around and points at himself with the hotdog*

Pretty Girl: *Giggles* Yes you, Cutie! Want a ball for the raffle? *Holds wicker basket full of numbered baseballs*

Jaune: Oh! Sure, how much?

Pretty Girl: *Giggle* Silly. There's never a charge for the raffle. You been sleeping under a rock?

Jaune: S-sorry, ha-ha. Just new in town. *Finishes hot dog, and then grabs a baseball with the number 77 on it*

Pretty Girl: 77? That's a lucky number! I'll be rooting for you~

Fink: And now, bring me the bowl! Is that not the prettiest young white girl in all of Columbia? Ha Ha!

Jaune: (...Weird. But ok.)

Fink: *Reaches into the raffle bowl* Alright then... the winner is... number 77!

Jaune: *GASP* I won! I WON!

Pretty Girl: *Giddy* Over here! Over here! He's the winner! *Gives Jaune a wet kiss on the cheek.*

Jaune: *Blushes and laughs, holding up his base ball for everyone to see, causing the crowd to cheer*

Fink: Number 77, come and claim your prize!! First throw!!

The big red curtains on stage opens to the sound of wedding music. Card board cut outs of jungles and cartoonishly grotesque monkeys move and shift on mechanisms. In the center of the moving parts, an interracial couple, bound to stakes and dressed in dirty rags made to resemble wedding garbs. They both look terrified.

Jaune: *Smile instantly drops and his veins run ice cold*

Crowd: *Join in chorus, singing a long to the tune of the wedding music in a mocking fashion* First throw! First throw! First throw!

Bride: Pl-Please... don't do this!

Groom: It was me! It was all me! Please, please! No...

Jaune: *Looks around him to the cheering crowd, noticing not a single other person looking as horrified as he felt.* What...

Groom: PLEASE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

Fink: Well, young man?! Are you going to throw it... or are you taking your coffee BLACK these days?! Hahahahaha!

Crowd: *Laughs and jeers*

Pretty Girl: Well go on now!

Jaune: *Grits his teeth in anger, drops his merchandise and baseball and hops on stage*

Fink: Oh?! Want a closer shot-?

Jaune: *Snaps* Let them go, NOW!

Crowd: *Boos*

Fink: Ha-Ha! Funny! Want to give them a head start, hm? *Leans in* Listen, kid. These people waited all year for this, so go bleed your heart out somewhere else!!

Jaune: *Pushes him aside, surprisingly hard* I'll do it then! *Walks up to the couple and starts undoing their binds*

Groom: T-Thankyou. Thankyou!

Fink: *From the ground* T-That was assault! POLICE! POLICE!

A pair of police guards hop onto stage as Jaune manages to get the couple free.

Jaune: *To the couple* Go! I'll hold them off!! *Reaches for Crocea Mors when he suddenly remembered that the twins made him give up his gear, armor, and clothes in order to better fit in* Well that ended up doing no good.

Policeman 1: Down on the ground, son! *Goes to swing his baton*

Jaune: *Blocks the strike with his left arm and reels back with his right for a haymaker* How about YOU go down?! *Hits the police man straight in the face, a sickening crunch as he felt the man's skull cave in*

Policeman 1: *Soars back into the crowd, landing in a bloody heap as his face was all but gone*

Jaune: *Looks in shock, looks to his hand covered in the man's blood* I... I didn't-

Crowd: *Screams and scatters from the police man's corpse, fleeing the area*

Jaune: *Feeling tears well as he looks at his bloodied fist, flashing back to Penny* I- I didn't mean to! I didn't want to-

Policeman 2: YOU BASTARD! *Revs up a rotating hook gadget on his arm and slashes at Jaune*

Jaune: *Crosses his arms, the serrated hooks grinding against his Aura*

Policeman 2: *Grunts* W-What in the hell are you?!

Jaune: *Grits his teeth, manages grab onto the policman's arm and wrench it to the side, surprising himself when he heard a loud SNAP*

Policeman 2: GAHHHHH! *Drops to his knees as his gadget fell to the ground and his broken arm bent at an impossible angle.* GAHHHH!!

Jaune: *Looks like he's about to puke* (T-They're so fragile! Is everyone in this world not able to fight like people on Remnant?!) *Thoughts interrupted as he feels his head snap back from a painful pinpoint force, nearly knocking him down. When looks to the ground he sees a bullet had just struck him in the forehead*

Policeman 2: *Firing his pistol with his good arm* DIE INTRUDER!!

Jaune: *Flares his Aura, taking a couple more shots before digging in his pocket for the Possession bottle, and splashing the liquid into his face. Now glowing green, Jaune place a hand on the man's head* Drop your weapon!

Policeman 2: *Face goes blank as he instantly drops his gun, seemingly unaware of the immense pain his broken arm should be giving him right now*

Jaune: N-now, stand up, take off your ammo belt, and go to the nearest hospital! GO!

Policeman 2: *Drops his ammo and police baton and starts walking away*

Jaune: *As soon as the policeman is out of sight, Jaune bowls over and starts puking his guts out and hyperventilating* Wh-what have I done?! What- What do I do?!

Sounds of police whistle sound in the distance, along with the sound of something akin to a tornado warning siren.

Jaune: *Looks frantically around him, then looks to the giant golden angel in the clouds in the distance. After a second to calm his frantic breathing, he kneels down attaches the ammo belt to his waist and holsters the firearm. In one hand he held the baton and the other he slipped on the sky hook gadget. With one final breath he begins jogging, deeper into the city in the clouds*

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

(((Hello! Let me drop a concept here that's been circling around my head since a certain part during some parts in the archon quest)))

--------

You were a mere mortal in the grand scheme of things, a speck of dust in the ever grand plan of the beings higher than you. So who were you to question when along with your dendro vision, you were granted the ability to read your fate lines.

They were all sorts of rather quirky, sometimes even funny strings that tie you and a person of interest. One of them had you read that "■■■ will owe you more mora than what you can manage." And lo and behold, one freaky accident that nearly cost you an arm had him pay you an extravagant amount for the troubles he cost (living in luxury had been quite jarring from your humble day to day life). Another rather interesting tid bit had you reeling back at the information from "Your knowledge of the Geo Archon's true fate shall not deter him from his actions." Honestly you were ready to scoff at such bewildering sentence but the gentleman with amber eyes and an knowing smile made you realize that he knew that you knew.

And just like what your fate string says, he will do nothing about it as your knowledge does little to stop his plan.

Sometimes, you have very dangerous premonitions towards others that leave you turning back and never interacting with the other party again. Sometimes, despite your knowledge, things end up inevitably.

Like for example, the strapping young ginger diplomat from Snezhnaya in front of you, grinning and offering to pay you for your services.

"Your heart will be devoured by this beast"

What the hell does that even mean!?

Childe, as you have come to know him, is a rather funny man. He's charismatic, goofy, charming, but you know inherently he is very very dangerous. The way he moves, how he scans his surroundings, his smile...

He is certainly a beast in disguise.

So when he cornered you one night, you were prepared for the worst.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?"

"... Huh?"

A few days of your date night ended in somehow you falling deeply for the man.

He's not just a dangerous Fatui Harbinger, he's a caring older brother, amazing loyal son, protective and passionate boyfriend.

"Hey, uhh, I want you to meet someone..."

And apparently, a literal beast also resides in him.

The big moth-like monster (called Foul Legacy) was just, if not more, affectionate as his human counterpart. If Childe (or Ajax as you have now known him more) was like a playful fox, Foul Legacy is one giant cuddly dog.

You realize that you don't mind such a big revelation that your boyfriend has a huggable beast in him. In fact, you didn't realize how much you cared when you find him injured after the fight with the Traveler.

"I will yell at you about what you nearly did later but right now I want to yell at you for doing this to yourself!"

As you fret over the apologetically cute moth resting on your lap, your eyes settled onto your dendro vision. A string only you could see connected itself onto the giant moth.

"Your heart will be devoured by this beast"

Oh.

"Oh..." a realization hit you as you carefully pat his head.

Truly your heart, your love, was devoured by this beast.

--------

(((Hhrhehjdjs so uhh if you like the fluffy ending as it is please skip this last bit shdjsjsi it's an alternative ending for the angst lovers)))

--------

"Well, would you look at that?" The Doctor's rather amused and cruel voice echoed in your ringing ears. Your nearly blank eyes stared below at where a hole is present in your chest.

Beside him stood Foul Legacy and a glowing green contraption that seemed to have been controlling the beast.

"Elchigen may have been a worthless subject but his contribution had been no less fascinating. This, Wisdom Orb, seemed to be perfect at creating an army for Abyssal creatures." With a cruel laugh, he turned away as your eyes draw upon your glowing green and slowly blanking vision.

The string connected to him read:

"He is a catalyst that will twist your beloved fate"

Your mind grows heavy as you hear a cracking in the distance and a grieving screech that you were rather familiar with. You felt bloodied claws grasp at you desperately as Childe, Ajax, Foul Legacy, you don't know honestly, cries at your dying form.

The string that connects you to him glows as your fate once again echoes in your mind before all fades to black.

"Your heart will be devoured by this beast"

anon please forgive me for hoarding this for a bit but i had to because it's SO GOOD!!!!!!!

at the realization of your fate you're quick to pull Foul Legacy towards your home, ignoring the pouring rain and sounds of battle coming from the ocean and the Jade Chamber. you're both drenched once you reach your humble house, the door swinging shut and locking with a click as you wring water out of your shirt and drag Foul Legacy over to the couch, sitting him down with an order of "wait here". when you return with a pile of towels he's hunched over, knees brought to his chest and refusing to meet your gaze

he looks so ashamed, and your heart softens, walking over and beginning to gently dry his fluffy hair and fur with a towel. gradually Foul Legacy relaxes at the soothing movement, leaning his head against your hands with a rumbling sigh, and in a moment of inspiration you trail your fingers down his cheek and under his chin and begin gently scritching the area. Foul Legacy croons, wings shivering in delight as he cranes his neck upwards and eventually slumps into your arms, pulling you down into the soft couch. he tries valiantly to dry your hair as well, sharp talons holding the towels so delicately, and you both succumb to sleep as the never-ending rain drones against your window, Foul Legacy's claws brushing protectively over the Vision that houses your hopes and dreams

------- (angst version below heheoohohoeohoo)

Foul Legacy has no choice but to run, leaving your body and taking only your Vision as the Dottore cackles in the distance. his mind is filled with horrible images of ripping your heart out, the pulse of that cursed device echoing as you slump to the ground with eyes empty and cold because it's his fault, his fault, his fault. in the dark he mourns for you, alone, for where would a beast such as himself go without the one he loves? Ajax died that day, and even when he transforms back into his human form he simply sits in silence, eyes shining but only with tears

on particularly cold nights he cries, clutching your Vision to his chest and sobbing with grief as he sees and remembers the blood on his claws- your blood. your Vision, previously the vibrant green of Dendro, remains cold and gray, and sometimes he finds himself begging, wishing for it to shine once more and light a path for him, a path back to you and your comforting arms and stern lectures whenever he got injured. but it's impossible, because he watched the light fade from your eyes, your despairing pain as you died, because it's his fault

[kwardo]

Day One

Thou hast stumbled upon mine Animal Crossing blog. I'll keep this updated as long as I don't lose interest in the game, which tends to happen a lot. I'll be playing the first game, as it's the only one I haven't paid much attention to. Besides the very basic objectives this game has to offer (achieve perfect town status, house upgrades, more..?) i wanna try and obtain all the NES games legitimately. I also *have* to replace the trees in town with golden trees. I just need to.

Starting off, I get taunted for being lonely. And I thought this was supposed to be a comfort game. I'm not really sure what he means by "getting friends to come here", though. Gamecube doesn't support online play, but maybe he knows more than I do? Maybe I'm just ignorant. Still, he shouldn't comment on my social status. I used to love this guy in City Folk. He was humble. He loved his fans, he loved *me*. But it turns out he's an asshole. Well, what more could you expect from a dog? I hope he gets kicked out of whatever label he's signed to. Let's see him handing out mixtapes on the street. Maybe that *did* happen, which would explain his humbleness in further installations of the series. I'm hoping it did. Anyway, I board the train, and I get approached by an anthropomorphic cat. Guess what he utters.

I mean, this feels like a poorly disguised fetish. It's like he *wants* to drool on me. It's like he said that, expecting a positive reaction from me. It's like he wanted me to say "Oh, no worries! I'd love to have your sloppy saliva on my clothes!". But that just won't fly. Not with me. I refuse to take part in this guy's sick fetish. If this is the first thing he says to an acquaintance, just imagine what's on his hard drive. Thankfully, this is the only time you see him in-game (and thank god for that...) But since I'm a kind soul, I put up with him. He figured out that approaching me like that wasn't exactly appropriate, so he resorted to small talk. Asked me for my name and all. I put in "Dre". It's short for "Andre".

He just laughed in my face. I'm starting to think that this guy is more of a social cripple than me. It's not like his name is any better. This is the first time I've seen a cat named Rover. That's the equivalent of being a man named "Aubrey", so I suggest he keeps his mouth shut.

He starts interrogating me. Asks me what town I'm moving to. Why I'm moving. Now, I try to maintain an image of glamour and wealth, but truth is I'm broke. And I'm forced to tell him that. I'm forced to tell him that I can't afford a roof over my head. He's guilt tripped into helping poor 'ol me find a place to live.

Just try and tell me this doesn't sound like two dope peddlers discussing profits. And here I was, thinking that this guy is just a gooner incapable of running a business. I never would have imagined that he'd be in the crack game. Dirty money or not, it doesn't matter. I need a home, and I need one fast, cause this train's gonna reach it's destination someday. I'm also not entirely convinced that he's helping me out from the goodness of his heart. He's a porn-addict, after all. He's probably doing this in the hopes of crawling into bed with me. Absolutely disgusting.

I get off the train, and *damn*. I look absolutely terrific. I bet all the quirky girls in town are gonna be throwing petals at my feet (that is, if they're not fast asleep already...). Yeah, I arrived in town a little *too* late. 22:39 (that's 10:39PM for you yankees). Gonna have to put off my lady killer antics for tomorrow, unfortunately. I know, I need to get my priorities straight, and my priority right now is finding a place to sleep, preferably warm. You can't see him in the image, but Tom Nook is *right* there! He's the only person in Katos (that's the name of the town!) awaiting me, and it's not because he wants to give me a housewarming welcoming ceremony. He's awaiting me purely for his own gain! He informs me of the loan prices, and they're quite generous, actually. First loan is 19.800 bells. Now, if you didn't know, bells are based off Japanese Yen (I *might* be lying here. I read this on the Animal Crossing Forums years ago, but it makes sense, right? Nintendo is a Japanese company or whatever.) Now, 19.800 Yen equates to 135.360 US Dollars. Now, I'm convinced that this is a money laundering scheme. Tom Nook is a dope dealer, and he's loaning off houses as a cover. 135 Dollars with no interest? It's a little shady.

This is the aftermath of my first deposit. I only had a thousand bells on me. Now, he mocks me for being impoverished, but I laugh back at his comically elongated nose. Just look at it. You could stack donuts on that thing. Kissing is probably very complicated in the Nook family. He offers, no, he *forces* me into working for him. Usually, I'd salvage my dignity and smugly refuse, but these are grim times. This doesn't stop me from slacking off, though. I'm gonna go and make a plethora of friends!

*Ow*. That's what I get for slacking off. You think this is an elaborate scheme by Nook to punish me for not happily waltzing into his shop immediately? Cause I don't. I think this guy is just an asshole. From now on, August 22nd, he's my enemy number #1. He's gonna leave town whether he likes it or not. There's a good reason as to why every acre around his house is devoid of residents. I think he's hiding something. Maybe he's involved in the whole drug thing? I feel like he would've been forced out of town by the other villagers. Tom Nook *has* to be the one keeping him here. Surely the others would not tolerate him, unless they're in on the whole thing too...A cartel town.

Now, I was approaching this guy's shop, mood ruined, until I stumbled onto this ball. Now, kicking the ball is quite fun, actually. It makes bouncy noises. They're such a joy to listen to. So much so, that I couldn't help but share the sound with the 2 people reading this blog. Now, I didn't realize that my microphone was on, so you're gonna hear me flicking the joystick around, but it's the thought that counts, right? :)

Now, this lady got mad at me for some reason. I was mistaken with some "hipster" (who could that be?). I suspect that this "hipster" dude is gigolo. The dialogue is *very* revealing. "I've been waiting here all night!". No comment.

She profusely apologized once she realized I wasn't her man. Weirdo. I'm starting to think that I'm the only normal one here. I don't even want to know what the rest of the town roster looks like. Better stop slacking off and get a job.

Wow, starting off great... This business doesn't seem profitable. Look at what he's selling here. Wallpaper, carpet, and a shovel. I'd get rid of those right off the bat if I was him. How often does one buy a carpet?

"**41.9% The percentage of the U.S. flooring market represented by the carpet industry in 2015, according to statistics from Marketing Insights**"

I'm too tired to try to decipher the meaning behind that statistic, but it's either saying that 41% of people use carpet, or that 41% of people don't. And there's a cactus and umbrella, too. *Nobody* buys that stuff. Maybe if he opened up a bakery he wouldn't be forced to operate in a shack. You don't launder money like this.

As punishment for being late, he made me wear this preposterous costume that I'm too ashamed to show here. He tasked me with with planting flowers, claiming that it would be "aesthetically appealing to visitors" or whatever. I wasn't really listening, was too distracted by his absurd nose. I did whatever any self-respecting person would do and planted the blossoms outside my soon-to-be residence. It's not like a bunch of poppies would make his sorry shack look any better, no? No.

He told me that I can't proceed without getting along with the townies. Actually insufferable. I don't wanna introduce myself to any more dodos, but orders are orders, and as much as I'd love to disobey them, sometimes you gotta be responsible.

Hey, it's not all that bad. This girl likes me (platonically! I'd never go out with a frog). It seems that she has her own merchandise, too (Note the cutesy frog T-Shirt she's wearing). Wow, there's one stable person here! She even let me walk into her one-room house.

*Oh*. Maybe the umbrella business really *is* profitable?

I also had to say hi to the mayor. He was at the wishing well, for some odd reason. Now, guess where you can ask for an apology? Exactly here, at the wishing well. I feel like he kills off his opposition in order to stay in power, and now he feels remorse. That's why he's here. Tom Nook even says that "You can find him by the wishing well", so this is a regular thing for him. The things people do to stay in power. You can even see how startled he is to see me there. "Eh? Whuh?" He's acting like he just got busted. Now, he's trying to distract me here with some really odd questions, like asking me which family member I respect the most. The reason he's asking me this really random question is because he worries. He worries that I know the real reason as to why he's at the wishing well. Now, I see right through him, but I play into his game. I know he wants me to say that I respect my Gramps the most, but I said Grandpa just to piss him off. He's probably divorced, too, so that's just adding salt to the wound, right? He promptly gets pissed off and starts boasting about his status. I don't care! Oh, also, the wishing well could be a metaphor. There's water in a well, and he has blood on his hands. How do you wash away blood? With water, obviously. The signs were all there, and I'm probably the first to notice them. I'd like to point out a pet peeve I have with this game. It's about the music you hear in the tutorial (when you work for Tom Nook). It's one of the best songs to come out of this series as a whole, and yet you only get to enjoy it for, what, 20 minutes? It's a shame, cause this would've worked as a 1-4 pm theme really well. Here, have a listen.

It's the biggest missed opportunity of this series. If I was smart enough, I'd mod this in as hourly music. But alas, I am not. I've just barely figured out HTML.

I had to advertise my employer's business in a letter. Now, I know how much *everyone* hates getting mailed ads, so I thought I'd try something more experimental here, so I wrote this mantra. It's supposed to represent the shop calling out to him. 50/50 chance it will work.

Turns out this game has cops. That whole "cozy, comfort game" facade has fallen. They operate a lost & found thingy, so I took advantage. Yes, I've been in town for 20 minutes and I already lost 2 of my tees. Silly me!

Turns out that Bob is here! He stuttered when I introduced myself and he's obviously socially inept. Asking me to give something to someone else when it's him that should be doing it? He's obviously doing it to avoid talking to..Oh, it's Spike. The asshole bull from earlier. I don't blame him for shifting that quest on me, honestly, I'd do the same...

Wow, okay, this means war. How could he call Bob a loser? The poor kitty is just scared of the world...I'm not letting him get away with this. I told him to sleep well tonight, because I will be banging my shovel against his bamboo fence anytime he gets rest, starting from tomorrow.

That scared him off good, so he gave me this really ugly shirt to try and bribe me into bestowing mercy upon him. Not only was the shurt ugly, but it also had sweat stains, bleugh. Into the dump it goes!

And just like that, I was done. I had paid off an additional 1,700 bells. It was NOT worth it, not one bit. The worst part is that I all the shops are closed now. I can't even dig up the daily glowing spot. That's a thousand bells I'm missing out on. We'll get 'em next time, I guess. For now, I can just go home and take a gander at what furniture I got gifted.

Yeah, I didn't mention this, but the villagers give you stuff when you run errands for them. They usually don't say *that*, though...

This is just bonkers, now. I have a kiddie table that's as big as my house. I guess that's where I'm sleeping tonight. There's also this thing I stole from the Police Station in the bottom right corner, but I'm not really sure what it is. It looks rad, though, so it's staying. And that was all. Writing this was *exhausting*, it took me about 2 hours, and for what? So that I can have 2 people read it? I'm *really* hoping that I don't get bored of this game quickly, cause that's what tends to happen when I try to get back into City Folk. Hopefully this one has something that keeps me coming back to it. I'll go and get some good sleep now.

[jeanmoreausautismstickers]

things my best friend has said as marauders quotes

Sirius at James and Lily: don't breed. breed is bad.

Sirius: he (remus) would be a good stripper I think

James to Sirius: you're a hoe. but a lovely hoe

Barty: listen. I've cut open humans before and they have big breathing sacks-

Sirius about Regulus: he's a middle aged child

James explaining Sirius and Remus's relationship: they're besties...with benefits 😏

Peter: is there an ankle kink?

Regulus: because ALL ghosts just HAVE to be white don't they?

Evan, mispronouncing androgynous: yeah I feel a bit an-dro-gy-noose today

James: [sirius], please stop assaulting my pen

Evan: I'm a little German boy, I'm gonna get your toes with my little German boy fingers

Barty: give me the dead fetus, I have plans

Peter to Remus: do you have... a knee kink?

Marlene: I think the eggs for breakfast caused my period actually

Marlene: monkeys are the ancestors of cats

Barty, to Regulus: are you a keyboard? cos I'll play you like one

Sirius: I swear to [Merlin] I will sniff your arse

Sirius to Remus: can I unwrap you like a Christmas present?

Marlene: step-mummy please😩

Remus: no one likes a dog that vibrates [padfoot]

Mary: if a bee hit it from the back would it die before it could orgasm?

Peter: I think I could top a spoon

James to Lily: im not wearing anything under this mirror👀

Barty about Regulus: evil dick, giant brain

Sirius: haha [marlene] ate dick

Marlene: BOOBIES? WHERE

Lily, after a marauders prank: I could write a sixteen page essay on how much I wish I were a lesbian

Sirius when Remus walks in: hello sexy male

Sirius: a secret, third thing, my deep ass cheeks

Remus: Lma-no.

Remus: stop saying thick-arse rim!

Marlene, drunk: horse shoes don't go on horse cock, that's why they're horse shoes not horse condoms

Barty, about Regulus: I'd let him punch me for free, but you got PAID?

Sirius: [Regulus!] you devious little dog!

James: I can confirm, [Marlene] and my mum did not have sex to make me

Sirius: someone cummed in a glue bottle, that's why it's so hard

James, panicking to Pomfrey: MY JUGULAR IS JIGGLUNG

Remus: mate stop fingering the biscuit

James: I don't want your drug pens!

James at Marlene: stop underlining your nipple

Sirius: haha there's a man on your tit

James: my mum is not a man! nor a football!

Sirius: [Dumbledore] is a BOTTOM everyone

Barty: I'd be the one DOING the fucking, not getting fucked

Regulus: can I refer to you as a travelling circus?

Barty, in response to ^: well I am a walking joke

Sirius: if you're homophobic you get sent to bitch jail

James: I'm just too quirky for my own good

Sirius: does that mean pussy is dogwater

Sirius when Remus gets rid of his trousers: how much are you selling your arse fabric for?

Remus: I dare you to drink the bananas cum

Lily: I don't want to hold hands with Jesus, put him back on his cross

Sirius, after losing his virginity: I started celebrating because I got to touch arse

Remus: christ no I don't want to touch God's nuts

James when Remus gives him anything: thanks. it doesn't have weed on it, right?

Sirius: I'm like a bird hi-YAH oh shit I pulled a muscle

Remus: the wake up woman touched my penis

James: please stop serenading my father

Marlene: whore core?? I think you mean me when women

Sirius and Regulus about slow walkers: you know what career they can pursue? ROADBLOCKS

James: be careful. I'll beat you up with my Calvin Klein man muscles

James: im clutching my house keys

Effie, about Sirius: I saw him and I knew immediately I should put him in my child jar

Sirius after drinking water: im gonna break records with how much I piss today

Evan, seeing Sirius from afar: is that Jesus christ? why is he so white? absolutely translucent

Barty, holding Regulus's diary: I think this may be a gay sex book

baby James: what do you do? I'm a snot picker

Sirius: thaddeus with the phatteus

Sirius about Regulus: stop babygirl-ifying him! he is not babygirl material! I am :(

Barty: he was a man. probably a white one, there was a lot of audacity

Sirius: that is two cheeks too many mate

Sirius: give me the fathers I need to collect them

Remus: stop squeezing my fucking flange

Regulus: calm your foot before I eat it

Marlene: it dried my nose. it was so dry. drier than a straight man's wife, I'll tell you that

James: oh, you did competitive ballet when you were young? my parents loved me so I can't relate

James, trying to help Remus and Sirius get together: do you like balls bursting in your mouth?

Barty: stop playing with balls in your mouth

James, watching Regulus, Evan and Barty walk into the toilets: three men just walked into the loo, they might kiss~

Remus, trying to find a body wash: does this smell like weiner or hydrangea

Sirius when McGonagall: turn your bagpipes off for [Merlin's] sake

Evan: thumb me bitch

Sirius to Marlene: you already knew you liked women! you were in her boohs!

[burdened-boy]

List your top 10 favorite films in whatever order you like, but explain your very favorite! Pass this on to whomever you want to learn more about them! Have a good day!

@archerwhiterp

ok this is going to be a doozy

blade runner 2049. there's a lot of dialogue on the internet about this movie, and it gets caught up in the whole incel thing...which is unfortunate because 2049 is a gorgeous movie. it's very long, the plot moves very slow, and there are admittedly boring parts, but you could literally screenshot any frame of this movie and set it as your wallpaper. its beauty for beauty's sake, and i love that so much. it swallows you. if you don't mind slow burn movies, i cannot stress enough that 2049 is worth the time. oh my GODDD THE SOUNDTRACK!!!!

mad max: fury road. this shit rules. if you know me, you know i am obsessed with cars, and if you watch it, you'll at least understand why people like me love them. fury road is chaos incarnate. like, this movie is fucking nuts. i'm struggling to type this portion right now because even thinking about it activates my monkey brain. it's fire and speed and steel and gasoline. it's heavy metal blasting out in the desert. it's driving an armored semi truck into a tornado, and throwing exploding spears at anyone who tries to stop you. witness me.

the good old original star wars (a new hope). i'm a closeted star wars fan, though i haven't engaged with it much lately. a new hope is such a refreshing movie to watch; i love it so much because of how genuine it is. yeah, by 2023 standards it's cheesy, but who cares? corniness is only bad if it's in bad faith. i don't hate disney star wars (ROTJ is actually my fav of the sequels) but a literal giant evil corporation cannot match the fun of a new hope.

(these next ones aren't in order, they just bang around in my head like those little toy lawnmowers toddlers push around with the balls inside them)

original robocop. ACAB, except robocop. i need to rewatch this one, because it would probably unseat a new hope.

the fifth element. incredible story behind this movie's development.

dunkirk. rarely-told story from wwii, with another banger soundtrack.

1917. the great war doesn't have as many movies made about it, so seeing this was fascinating, but deeply sobering.

metropolis. the first cyberpunk movie! hi Spoons lol

isle of dogs. oh my god, a quirky movie about dogs. it looks like it was made with stop motion. sold.

a town called panic. it's french. it's actual stop motion. it's really fucking weird and silly. truly never a dull moment in this goofy ass flick from the early 2000s. what a treat. HIGHLY reccomend

[befriending]

╰   ☆  ◞  gracie abrams / ciswoman / she/her ———  no way is that DYLAN WEBB? you know they’re TWENTY FIVE years old and they’ve been in los angeles for ALL HER LIFE. they’re chillin’ as a SINGER / MUSICIAN. oh and they’re notoriously known for being ALOOF but there are some people who have seen them be QUIRKY. i heard they’re a part of a SOLO ACT called DYLAN WEBB, yeah they’re a VOCALIST / GUITARIST. to be honest they sound a lot like GRACIE ABRAMS / OLIVIA RODRIGO / MAISIE PETERS. they’re actually FAMOUS.

BASIC INFORMATION:

full name: dylan elizabeth webb

nickname(s): dyl / d

age: twenty-five

date of birth: 7th september 1999

place of birth: los angeles, california

gender: ciswoman

pronouns: she / her

orientation: pansexual

language(s) spoken: american english

neighbourhood: downtown la (previously eastdale)

living arrangements: living in a downtown la loft, with a roommate.

FAMILY TIES:

mother: elizabeth webb (retired musician)

father: adam webb (movie director)

siblings: stella webb (younger sister) & alex webb (younger brother)

spouse / partner: n/a (very single!)

children: n/a

pets: french bulldog called, milo

OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION:

occupation: solo artist / pop star

skillset or specialisation (if applicable): singer/guitarist

name of their act: dylan webb

so they play instruments? if so what?: guitar / piano / little bit of drums

how long have they been a part of the act?: all her life!

artist influences: taylor swift, olivia rodrigo, maisie peters, chappell roan, beabadoobee, nell mescal, dodie, laufey

current monthly spotify/apple music listens on average: 2,538,556 listeners

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

face claim: gracie abrams

hair color: dark brown

eye color: brown

height: 5"7

tattoos: small lightning bolt on her left wrist

piercings: both ears pierced, used to have a nose piercing at one point but took it out.

clothing style: mum jeans, cosy jumpers, white / band tees, red lipstick, flannel shirts, converse, big hoodies, hair bows, wearing running shorts casually, dad caps.

distinguishing characteristics: she's got a scar on her knee, from where she fell off her bike as kid! also, she's almost always wearing a bow in her hair!

PERSONALITY:

positive traits: caring, hardworking, intelligent, observant, quirky.

negative traits: disorganized, critical, impatient, forgetful, stubborn

hobbies: learning how to play musical instruments, writing songs / music, going out dancing, drinking iced coffee, hanging out with her dog milo.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

best-friends: dylan has lived in la her whole life, i'd love to see her have a group of close-knit friends, that do EVERYTHING together!

roommate: she's recently moved out of her parent's home, got her own place in downtown la with a roommate, do they get on? do they hate each other? we can talk about that!

current hook-ups / fwbs etc: u know the vibe, dylan is dating very very very causally at the moment, for fun more than anything!!

exes: she needs some people that she can write songs about, PLEASE!! we can discuss if they ended badly or not!! thank u!!

QUESTIONNAIRE:

"start at the beginning, who are you and why are you important?" "oh yikes! you're not holding back are you?" dylan laughs awkwardly, "i'm dylan, i'm twenty five and uh --- well i like to sing".

"how long have you been making music?" "god, this is very cheesy, but i've been making music since i was a teenager, if you look hard enough on youtube, you'll find a channel i posted my awful covers on".

"how would you describe the kind of music you make?" "again with the tough questions! i'd say, it's kinda poppy, fun, and vibey but also, sometimes, it can be super dramatic, sad, mope around your bedroom music just depends on what kinda mood i'm in". "who are some of your biggest musical influences?" "my mum, obviously, stevie nicks, dolly parton, taylor swift". "what is the first record you ever bought?" "ohmygod! i think it was a one direction vinyl, don't judge me". "what has working in the music industry meant to you thus far in your career?"

"everything! music is the only thing i've EVER wanted to do, so i'm very thankful that i can do that".

"what are some stand out moments from your career so far?" "ooh, i've done so many brilliant things, but i'd have to say recording some of my mum's older songs with her, was a dream". "how would you describe your style of performance? what makes your shows worth seeing?" "it's a big experience, some songs are just me and my guitar, other times, it's me and my band. i like to put on a show for people, i make things as fun as i can by interacting with the crowd a lot, my fans make the show! recently they've started handing out friendship bracelets at my shows, i LOVE THAT" "what are you still hoping to achieve in your career?" "i've already done so much, i'd really like to record something for a film soundtrack, that'd be great" "what’s next for you?" "dude, i've got no idea, but i can't wait for it"

if you’d like to plot with dylan, then please feel free to like this post and i’ll message you or feel free to message me on discord @ radcorrie!! thank you!!

[gaykarstaagforever]

This is a list of scripted ABC shows from the last season. I haven't heard of most of them because I'm not 63 so I'm going to guess what they are about from the titles and then check and see how right I was. Or if my idea is better.

1. The Conners was that reboot / sequel of Roseanne. But then Roseanne was insane and racist in real life so they kicked her off of it. I assume it was retooled to now be about the family becoming private eyes and traveling from town to town in a gadget-loaded super RV, solving mysteries.

You should all note before I go on that most of what I know about network television comes from the 70s and 80s. Back when it was also cheap and lame, but at least fun.

2. Abbott Elementary. Probably just Community / The Office, but in an elementary school filled with a diverse cast of quirky characters who only seem to date each-other. I bet they do a lot of jokes about helicopter parents and people getting offended by seemingly innocuous things. There is probably a sassy brown person whose culture is played for light-hearted comic relief.

3. Station 19. Firefighter show, where all the firefighters look like soap opera actors. Most of the show is people having arguments and making out, then like 3 times a season stunt people in face-hiding fire gear fight a big fire inspired by some thing that happened in the news around the time they were filming the show. I bet the tag line is "And you thought the hottest action would be the fires!" Occasionally old actors from 80s movies will cameo as someone's parents. I am falling asleep just typing about it.

4. Grey's Anatomy. Oh my god. In real life these people would have retired from being bad doctors by now. Or be in jail.

5. The Rookie. I looked this one up due to the last post. Nathan Fillion plays a 50 year old rookie LAPD officer. Because they wanted to do a cop show with him but he's too old for that, without the premise. He probably has to learn about diversity and drugs or something. No one ever gets shot and they don't show LAPD white supremacist cop-gangs doing dog fights or anything. Wasted potential.

6. The Goldbergs. I've heard of this. It was some writer's Everybody Hates Chris about his 80s secular Jewish family. Obnoxious old people watched it to be reminded about how they just don't make good rock music like that anymore, man, because they are too old and lazy to go find new music they might like via streaming platforms. It has been cancelled. Good, if only to spare me that recurring conversation with people I don't like.

7. Home Economics. A rich white homemaker lady gets divorced and has to get a job as a home ec teacher at a public junior high to make ends meet? And she slowly learns to laugh and love again, while also coming to realize that poorer people are good for more than just mowing your lawn. There are hijinks about her wearing $600 shoes that get covered in cake batter. She has to rent part of her house out to an Indian immigrant family. Starring Delta Burke from 1995.

8. The Good Doctor. Ha ha ha. That show about an autistic doctor, except Hollywood doesn't know what autism actually is so he's just a deranged lunatic who gets away with shitty behavior because he's good at hearts.

But not in the fun, House MD, way.

9. The Rookie: Feds. This got cancelled so that means it was bad, even by low network TV cop show standards. I don't even know how to do that. Uh...some 50 year old TV actress I probably wouldn't recognize quits being a crime professor to become an FBI agent, after her son FBI agent goes missing under mysterious circumstances? And it ended in a cliffhanger when she got attacked by a polar bear in the middle of the jungle.

10. Not Dead Yet. My Name is Earl, but if Earl was a nice zombie. He has a best friend guardian angel played by Jaleel White.

...This actually just sounds like Highway to Heaven, if Michael Landon had been a zombie. And instead of brains he eats Jell-O, and he can take his limbs off and send them into air ducts and up drain pipes to help people, like trained rats.

...I'd watch a couple episodes of that, I guess.

11. Will Trent. Oh give me a break.

Okay. There is guy named Will Trent, who is on the run from the...CIA, because he was with them but then someone framed him for killing the Speaker of the House with a poisoned lapel pin. He now travels from town to town, helping average people and their sexy sisters out of jams, while also trying to figure out who framed him and what their master plan is, to clear his name.

The last season ended with it looking like the real villain is the First Lady, who belongs to some ill-defined anti-America cult.

It's probably based on a book series from the early 2000s that only the loudest uncles read.

12. Big Sky. Some cowboy thing, probably. Where all the cowboys are hunky stoic white men who are millionaire ranch owners. But you are still supposed to sympathize with all their "we gotta keep a-hold of this land at any cost" violent toxic male shit, because you are a postmenopausal my mother and want to have sex with these men.

It's one of those shows that just "accidentally" has zero POC cast members, who aren't one-shot drug-runners or coyotes or thugs hired by rival ranch owners.

One-shot because that is how all of their characters are killed.

It probably got cancelled when some writer got smart and tried to do a thinly-veiled anti-Trump allegory and all the Evangelicals turned on it. Tucker Carlson probably got mad about it for 3 minutes, before he interviewed some Russian politician about how the Ukrainians hate Jesus.

13. The Company You Keep. Black women try starting and running a bakery. It quickly devolved into a romantic melodrama. Black audiences never cared and white audiences wanted more sexy rich cowboys.

I don't know. It's ABC. Every seasonal lineup has at least a couple token shows starring POCs that get immediately cancelled after one season, because they aren't serious attempts at anything outside of the politics and so never connect with an audience.

Also all of them are still written by white men, so what chance could any of them have, really?

14. Alaska Daily. Northern Exposure, but the protagonist edits a news blog when not busy solving quirky small-town mysteries. The Janitor from Scrubs might be in it.

...Well. WAS in it.

This Twin Peaks thing is hard to pull off in a compelling way unless you are willing to go kookoo-bananas with it.

15. A Million Little Things. This one "ended," which means the cast wanted too much money after so many seasons, so "the producers had always planned from the beginning to wrap things up after 5 seasons."

It was probably one of those shows that just follows a "typical American family," which happens to have soap opera problems every week based on things the writers heard CNN say people in the Midwest are mad enough over to vote for Trump again.

It probably had a regular cast of like 16 people, and was on the giant TV in the showroom of every US car dealership at least once. Until someone changed it to that show which is just Kitchen Nightmares, but Gordon Ramsey has been replaced by a balding round man who lacks his charm and good heart and is just an asshole to struggling restaurateurs.

You know the one.

Or, at least, your parents do.

Update: The Conclusion

[yippee-boi09]

Quirky Quinn, pt. 1 (for now)

“Thank you so much, missy. I'm so glad you took up the offer…” Mrs. Baker says through the phone that she was their neighbor across the street, and Quinn needed a job for the week.

“No pr-problem, ma'am… annnny time…” Quinn says dejectedly

“...just ma-make sure the payment c-can come through after you come back, I apologize if I thound demanding in any way, it's just-”

“Oh no, it's fine, deary! I know how tough it is in your situation and I promise I'll pay you a very hefty sum!” Mrs. Baker interrupts, true to her words as usual. After further conversation and scheduling, Quinn hung up only for their younger brother, Johnathan, to run into the room with some scrabble on a word search that Quinn printed for him while they were on a phone call.

“Sissy! Sissy! Look! I did the word search!” He chirped excitedly while proudly holding up the scribbled word search, no actual word searching having been actually done. “Wow bubba… that's really great! You found all the words…” Quinn says with a tired tone, like some exhausted parent would to a kid after a long day of work. Only for an angry 13 year old named Sarah to come down with half finished half assed emo makeup, “Can you guys quiet down? You're ruining my brooding time… I swear I'm gonna kill you all one day…” the angsty teen says with malice and agitation, not wanting ever to admit that she was a little adored by the fact that her siblings were having such a wholesome moment.

“But sissa… why? We you're family!” Johnathan pleaded with puppy eyes so that Sarah couldn't muster up anymore empty death threats and walked out while scoffing to hide her hesitation. “Don't worry, bubba, she’s just… 13… you know how they get…” Quinn says while putting their hand on his shoulder “Well… I promise to always love you no matter what! Even when I'm 13!” Johnathan says with a big smile on his face before he hugs Quinn tightly. They pat his back affectionately.

“Hehe, sure bu-bubba… hey how a-about we go-go get some dinner? Mac n cheese sounds good t-to you? Maybe some tater tots to go w-with such a fine cuisine?” Quinn asks tiredly with a hint of playfulness to try and keep the mood light for the little boy. “Mac n cheese n tater tots!? YEAH! I'D LOVE THAT SISSY!” Johnathan cheers, throwing his arms in the air as Quinn ruffles his hair affectionately before Johnathan runs off to the living room to wait for dinner. Quinn walks upstairs and knocks on Sarah's door, “Go away” is the first response before they can even speak. “Hey, S-Sarah… I'm go-gonna make thome dinner… Do you want anyth’ng…? I could heat you up some hot dogs in a dog with ketchup…” Quinn offers, a nostalgic and warm tone in her voice as she refers to the Hot Dog Slic'r Sarah used to looove eating out of as a kid.

“What? No! That's too stupid for me. Go away!” Sarah repeats her teen phase phrase once more through the door.

“Okay… just let me know if you wanna let me in…” Quinn says the last part quietly enough for Sarah not to hear before walking downstairs to prepare dinner for Johnathan… not before they catch a glimpse of what he's playing on the Xbox, of course. “Hey bu-bubba, turn that off…” They say, taking the controller and exiting out of the game, causing the young boy to protest. “HEY!! Daddy gave me that game…” Johnathan protested as Quinn took the game out of the disc tray to see he was playing Fallout… God damnit… Quinn's gonna need to talk to Dad later tonight.

“Thorry bubba, but this game isn't a very good g-game…” “Is it a naughty game like the Auto Theft game?” Johnathan questioned innocently, referring to the time Dad gave him a copy of GTA… he got an earful that day… “Yes, Bubba, it's a naughty game… it’th only for the adults.” Quinn says tiredly. It's obvious that they're pissed with the game selection that was given this time.

It was common for this cycle to happen, where Johnathan begins asking for attention from Dad, Dad get’s aggravated and hands him a random game or thing so he can leave. At first it started out with a doll that to this day, Johnathan still keeps and snuggles with, and now it’s stuff like Fallout and GTA and even fucking Borderlands… okay maybe Borderlands isn’t exactly bad but it’s not meant for toddlers. “Look, I'll geeet you a n-new game thometime thoon, okay? I promise it'll be-be a good game…”

“You say that every time, sissy… when am I gonna get the new Sonic game?” Johnathan peeped with a pouty lip and big eyes, melting Quinn's heart internally and making them feel a little bad for not getting enough money to do so because of college. “I-I know bubba, a-and I'm so-sorry… I-I promithe I'll get you the m-m-money… in the meantime… wanna make me a drawing?” Quinn offers, brightening the little boy's face very quickly. “Do I!? HECK YEAH!” He shouted as he got up and pulled out the art box and got right to work immediately. Leaving Quinn to go cook dinner peacefully without the worry of their little brother being exposed to virtual strip clubs, which boosted the flavor of dinner! The tater tots had Johnny seasoning with ketchup on the side, and the Mac n cheese had hotdogs in them. How elegant!

“Bubba! Dinner!” They called out to the living room, setting the dinner table for him as he ran in. “Woah, bubba, thlow down… wh-what’s got you excited?” Quinn asks, holding an excited and energetic Johnathan by the shoulders. “Look! Sissy! I made you a drawing! Do you like it?” He asks, holding up a cute drawing of the three together, Sarah wearing her emo clothes and a >:( face, Johnathan smiling widely with a big :D, Quinn has a soft smile and drawn bags under their eyes and their father lies in the far right without a face… “He-Hey bubba, why doethnnn’t Daddy h-have a fathe?” Quinn asks, a little concerned. “Because we don't see Daddy often, so I couldn't give him a face…” the little boy says with a sad look on his face. “Aww, bubba, don't worry…wh-why don't you go eat your dinner, and I-I'll tuck you into b-bed and read y-you a bedtime story…” Quinn says, folding the picture and tucking it into their pocket as Johnathan sits at the table and eats dinner happily.

Quinn is sitting in the kitchen… alone… they've tucked Johnathan into bed, and Sarah's already asleep, so now Quinn waits to… discuss matters with Dad. “Being alone is weird…” Quinn thought to themself silently, a pit in their stomach from the silence, and they drank their monster.

Not from the monster or the lack of food… but from… another feeling… a sense of power? Maybe. A time to think? No. The time for their mind to run with… thoughts? Yes. Absolutely. Their mind was running with questions… “Why are we here” “Why do we still care?” “What are you gonna do after you graduate?” “What purpose will you have after this?”

These thoughts buzzed through their mind, setting down their energy drink. They sit by the sink, arms spread and sitting by the side edges of the sink while staring out the window and out into the forest… their heart pounding, but deathly still at the same time and a shaky, dizzy feeling taking over… the thoughts buzz louder. “Why won't he talk to you” “Why does he ignore you?” “How come he started ignoring you after it happened?” Quinn holds up a knife from the knife stand near the sink, looking into the reflection “What are you going to do about ⍓⌾⍓?” Their thoughts are cut off by the front door opening and closing, the shuffling of keys and a groan… Dad’s home… Quinn takes a deep breath, puts the knife away, takes a swig of their Monster and walks into the living room.

“Oh… hello Quinn…” Dad says, a little surprised but too tired to express it more than a slight eyelid lift.

“Hey Dad…” Quinn says awkwardly. Talking to Dad is like meeting with an office job boss because you need a raise. “Whatcha need, kiddo? You usually don't stay up this late…” he points out, breaking Quinn out of their racing thoughts. “Oh. Ahem… D-Dad… Di-Did you give Johnathan a-a-a copy of F-Fallout?” They question his choice of entertainment for the young boy. “Oh? Is that what I gave him? How was it? Did he have fun?” he pulls out of his lips like it were another breath of air, using the same excuse to avoid the issue at hand. “D-Dad…” Quinn takes a step closer to where Dad is sitting. “...Johnathan is 6 yearth old… 6 ye-yearth old. You gave hi-him a g-g-game about nuclear war!” Quinn had heard of Fallout and how good the game is, but they never bothered to do more research after hearing all the dark humor from it… it always bothered Quinn, laughing at a joke about death…

“Yeah…? And…?” Dad questions, breaking Quinn from thought once more before they speak up. “6 y-y-year olds aren't thuppothed t-to be playing ga-games about nuclear war… and that o-other time you g-gave him GTA-” “DON’T… get me started… I know GTA was the limit but don't use it as some iron fist over what I give to Jimmy…” Dad yells before stopping himself and lowering his tone. “It'th… Johnathan…” Quinn corrects him. This had been going on for a while now.

“Johnathan… right… sorry…”

“Don't apologize. I know you work hard to put food on the table but I'm the one preparing it… I put en-enough time in taking c-c-care of the two and I'd really prefer iiiiit if you didn't give him games m-meant for adult-th… or ignore him… then you wo-wo-wouldn't “accidentally” give him inappropriate games.” They explain intently, trying to explain why it's improper and a little aggravating to have to watch over the kid's shoulder every two seconds out of fear that he'll end up seeing porn or something.

“Okay. Fine… I won't give him any more inappropriate games… Plus, I have plans next Wednesday… go- “Get you a beer? Already on it…” Quinn says before he can finish, grabbing him a beer and cracking it open for it, knowing that when he wants a beer, he has plans… usually the good kind… it's a good sign!

“We have a dinner party planned for next Wednesday, I want smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, and boiled carrots…” He explains after taking a swig of the beer. “Sweet, next Wednesday… any thpecific occasion? Is anyone coming over?” Quinn asks while writing down the plans on the fridge, Dad takes another swig of beer before answering.

“҉A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉ will be coming over…” The name froze Quinn in place as their blood ran cold at the name.

“...what… did… you say…?” Quinn forced out with a voice shaking from rage and fear. “...҉A҉҉n҉҉d҉҉r҉҉e҉҉a҉… Y'know… your-”

“I know who she is… why are you bringing her here?” They asked with malice in their tone, it’s increasingly obvious that Quinn is infuriated with Dad now… “Well… there’s some business and I thought, maybe it’s be nice to talk to her after she-”

“I KNOW WHAT SHE FUCKING DID! That’s why I don’t want her coming near Johnathan or Sarah. I don't care if it's business or family reasons, I don't want her in our fucking house or even knowing where we live.” They explain with a hint of anger but concern in their voice, trying desperately for this to be canceled.

“Look, kiddo, I know it's a lot to take in, but I think it might be healthy! Plus this business opportunity means I might be able to spend more time with the kids!” He groans out, the last part bringing surprise and a hint of… hope? In Quinn’s eyes. This meant they could finally focus on life… they could… live a better life… but in return… it would mean having to deal with ⍓⌾⍓… and… having to talk to her after so long… “....Fine. Next Wednesday, dinner party, smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, and boiled carrots. Don't expect me to be kind to her…” Quinn repeats the plans before walking upstairs angrily, going to bed and staring at the ceiling.

Why the fuck must he behave like this? He’s such a stuck up asshole… always thinking about himself… but this wasn't just for him… this was for them… this was for Johnathan and Sarah and them… maybe… this… won't be so bad…

Hey this is me (the writer of this) this is the first part of the story, once I finish it and touch it up a bit I'll set a release date for the story and moght post it on ao3 or Wattpad (yes, I have a wattpad) and you'll all see it. The original creepypasta belongs to my dear friend, @bloodydove08 who poured her heart into this story back in 2017 (but never released it) and is letting me make this (official???) rewrite, essentially Quinn's backstory. I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to criticise me! Any criticism (reasonable and not "kys", something constructive like how I should write or something) is welcome!

[mtnkat3]

Oh sometimes.. sigh. D'oh!

How about when I had gotten chores done & stopped to take a shower.. was just a good, no tripping time. Grin. Was thinking about you .. my secret garden master suite shower I've had in my head & been redesigning oh since 1993. Glass, rock, plants, copper, wood, wrought & cast iron... dilemma I've been stumped on but maybe now.. a classy clawfoot tub.. with whirlpool jets.🤔😏 but... want a big comfy one to enjoy with you too! Alas, dilemma. I'm kinda the type to cleanse in a shower then soak with jets all my aches. Cause dirty water..ew.🤭🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

but... I get all relaxed &....dang cgm falls off! Of all the! Wth. So. Had to scrub off adhesive & put on a new one. [Luckily I found a place I can buy spares to have when..it falls off days early! Gr!] Anyways.. got my leopard print camo lounge set on. Grin. Now back to work.

Oh! I was thinking about pets & poor pup that was barking like crazy. Since I've never had a dog I cannot say from experience, but.. why have a dog if not to have it with the family? I don't get that one. Of course around here I think the poor babies are just about status, & not the animal.

I mean my mini horse sized neighbor dog isn't much about barking. But something interesting, he looks at me & just wants some love.. but he hates wh. So I think he has a dilemma at times. That's when I'm outside & he too.

I don't know if I've ever said.. but I used to be terrified of dogs. Chow cornered me in a street 9yo. But now I just be my calm self, show them attention, talk to them, look at them with respect & I usually get a lap full of love. To me that's more enjoyable than all the people running around & being loud.

I'd rather have fur babies surrounding me. I talk with them, learn their body language & just relax. I only get tense when they react negatively. I don't like that pronounced jaw snarl. Think that & teeth kinda triggers tension.

Why I get so upset about how certain breeds have been given a raw deal. I have first hand experience of witnessing dogs chained to tires & trees for fighting. When my dad took that bad person on is when I learned about social responsibility.

I do not like animals being mistreated for humanity. Want me to get pissed & on my soapbox. That'll do it. Animal mistreatment.. human mistreatment. Gets me.. low growl. Maybe that's why my cat is forcing my attention on her! Lmao!

Ookk! Since my cat is now draped over my arm & hand.. guess time to zip it. Lmao!

[11.6# draped over right forearm. She ain't a lightweight kitty!]

Just.. you .. animals.. make me smile. Even when the world around me is gloomy & gray. When I feel alone, lost, scared, unknowing of what is going on. I smile. And thank God. 🎶

I know the time is nearly upon me. I know it. My soul is knowing this.

So I work. Listen. Await.

~True love never dies & true love always waits!.~

Your complex quirky warrior queen daughter.

~Tijgeress kat Phoenix. ✝️🌺🐾🐯

😏🤭🧖‍♀️🛀🧘‍♀️🤓😸😻👩

🙇‍♀️🙏⚓🌂🔗⛓🧰🐯🐾🐐🦉🐢🐛🦋🌱🌳🧶🧵

⌚⚡🌠🗝🔱⚜💝🐻🦌🧩♠️♾🕯🧭🎶💋

Sa.11.19.2022 2.50pm est.