#my bet's still on may/june for it to be official

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia Chapter 425 Spoiler Talk

I'm enjoying writing about this stuff again, though I've got a headache going on, so I'll do the best I can for now. I might add in stuff later:

I'm very happy to see our Big 3 graduate finally! I was kinda worried Mirio wouldn't even graduate for a second, but I'm happy to see that he did and he gave a valedictorian-esque speech to everyone talking about rebuilding society so everyone can have a bright future like Sir Nighteye wanted. Ending his speech with a joke is such a Mirio Togata thing 😂. I'm going to miss that guy so much 🥹

Why are Deku and some other students just lying on the ground with their feet up like that btw? Did they run out of chairs or something? It's a weird, quirky little thing that's just there, I guess.

The narration mentions that it's June in the MHA universe now (Happy Pride, btw 🏳️‍🌈). So, if the War took place around April or May, then it's been at least 1 month since we last saw the kids at the hospital.

Our class 1-A is now officially Class 2-A! They're finally second years as they should have been. Everyone including Aizawa is alive, though saying they're well is debatable. Everyone is clearly still injured in some way, shape, or form. Most have several bandages and even Jiro looks like she has a prosthetic for her missing left earphone jack.

Quick note: I notice that Bakugo is actually wearing a tie with his uniform now. It's still not buttoned up, but you can tell that he's definitely softened a bit since the war. EDIT: Looking at it again, it might not be buttoned up because he has a cast holding his right arm, but it’s hard to tell from the scans.

Aoyama not wanting to return to UA is sad, but it makes sense. I'd argue that he earned his place there regardless of AFO's influence, but I can understand that he doesn't feel that way and wants to redeem himself and become a hero in his own way without being forced to betray his friends and teachers.

Replacing Aoyama will be Hitoshi Shinso! I think most of us predicted that Shinso would be joining Class 2-A, but I'm very happy to see that confirmed. It's going to be a bit of a weird start for him, but I think he'll get used to his new classmates quickly.

Another quick note: The second-year cloud girl, Fuwa Mitawa, is seen quite a bit in this chapter and her return is something Horikoshi promised many volumes ago, so I'm glad to see him keep that promise.

Those two first panels of Shouto make me so sad, y'all 😭... His hair is so messy and you can see bags under his eyes. It's hard to tell because of the leaks, but I don't know if there's even light left in his eyes. He looks so exhausted. What happened to Dabi, Endeavor, and the rest of his family? I have no doubt that he's been agonizing over them for god knows how long. I hate seeing him like this, honestly. He's my favorite character and deserves all the good in the world, especially after the harsh life he's been put through. I want to give Shouto all the hugs in the world 🩵.

I don't think Deku smiled at all this whole chapter btw. He tries to talk to Ochako at one point, but she interrupts him with a comment about his new haircut. He just looks sad this whole chapter. I bet he's still grieving and processing what happened. I need Izuku to open up to someone because he can't just bottle this up.

Then we have this mysterious man walking around a desolate town. We have absolutely no idea who this is, but apparently it isn't someone we know of. I want to say it's a grown-up Tenko Shimura somehow, but even that might be too farfetched.

Finally, there's Shouto and the Todorokis. Shouto reassures Deku that he's ok, but I bet my gatcha game currency that he's putting on a brave face because that final beautiful panel of him does not scream "I'm ok!" to me. If anything, I'm amazed Shouto doesn't look like he got any other permanent scars on his face at least.

It looks like Shouto is going to see his family at the hospital. Specifically Endeavor and what might be Dabi who's being kept alive in a big machine. It's hard to tell because the scans are so unclear, but I'm 90% sure that's Dabi in there. It's a miracle that man is alive given he was just a skeleton last we saw him. I'm 99% sure we're going to get a Hellish Todoroki Family Part 3 or something next chapter.

But, we won't see that until 3 weeks from now because we're officially on a 2-week break. There isn't a given reason why like Jujustu Kaisen got (Gege Akutami is sick, so he's taking 2-week break too), so I really hope Horikoshi is ok. It's either he's sick too or he needs time to think of the final chapters of MHA. Or both, that too. Regardless, any breaks given to Kohei Horikoshi to give him time to rest is ok with me. Just sucks for us as fans. Leaving us on THAT kind of a cliffhanger is just mean 😭

[greenesmyfavcolor]

What year does Little Shop of Horrors take place?

Alright, as you can tell from the title, Imma bout to dissect which exact year LSOH takes place since there’s never been any concrete answer from an official source to my knowledge and lemme tell ya, it’s harder than you think lol

Ok so we know that Audrey II came to earth on September 21st/23rd (21st in the stage version and 23rd in the movie version) during the 1960’s “in an early year of a decade” but they never tell us the exact year.

However we do know that Kennedy was president during the events of the movie as he is mentioned on Seymour’s radio and his presidency lasted from 1961 to 1963.

And in the directors cut (which I consider canon to some extent), Jason and the Argonauts is shown to be playing in a theater during Don’t Feed the Plants and that movie came out in June of 1963 so that must mean LSOH has to take place after that date. So the year has to be 1963 if Kennedy is still president and that movie is playing in theaters.

However Audrey II mentions during Feed Me that Seymour could be on Jack Paar’s radio show and that ran from 1957 to 1962.

So now it can’t be 1963 as Jack Paar would have already ended by then and it can’t be 1962 as Jason wouldn’t have been playing in theaters yet.

However LSOH can still take place in both years. Who’s to say that Audrey II didn’t take over the world until the year 1963? It could have been 1962 when the events of the film started but by the time Audrey II gained enough power to start to destroy NYC, a few months could have passed for it to be 1963. And the film does begin in September which is late into the year so it is plausible.

But here’s when this whole theory really starts to fall apart lol.

Before the shop is renovated, there’s a calendar in the back that’s very hard to read but based on the positioning of the dates, it matches up with the year 1964 as the first day of the month starts on a Tuesday. And it’s shown at the very beginning of the movie so the solar eclipse has to have happened in 1964 which goes against everything else that has been brought up so far. Although the year the calendar says doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the actual year, it’s kind of a long shot to assume that they would have the wrong calendar year hung up.

Also neither the 21st nor the 23rd of September fall on a Thursday in 1964 which is the supposed day of the week the eclipse happened according to the same radio broadcast that mentions JFK.

Also also I looked up what exact month Jack Paar’s radio show ended and it just so happened to end in March of 1962 so LSOH can’t take place in 1962 if it starts in September.

So right now, it may sound like we’ve officially hit a dead end. But the thing is, I’ve mainly been listing off things that show up in the movie which isn’t the original source material. That would be the 1982 stage version. We have to remember that anything in the movie that contradicts what year it takes place in in the stage version is not solid evidence because that’s not what was originally intended. So technically, we only have to go off what the original stage production states if we want to figure out the year.

So in the stage version, it’s still mentioned that it takes place in the 1960’s “in an early year of a decade” and that Jack Paar had a radio show before 1962. The only things the movie brought up were the argonauts, Kennedy, the calendar, and what day of the week the eclipse happened. If you want to go ahead and count anything in the movie as canon evidence as to when LSOH takes place, be my guest but there’s so many things that contradict when it does happens that I’m just going to go off the original stage production.

Because of this, my bet is that the events of LSOH start on September 21st, in between the years 1960 and 1961.

I wish I had more of a solid answer so if anyone has any more evidence that suggests what year it might take place from either the stage or movie version, lmk cause I’ve been thinking on this for way too long 🥲

[tayfabe75]

I am so glad I found this blog! I’ve been following this along since last year and to me it seems so obvious! They were sad they had to go underground in June and when that random article said they were back together I think it spooked them and they decided they needed to do something drastic to keep attention off of them until enough time passed and Taylor corrected the narrative somewhat with tortured poets. They decided on PR relationships. With gabbriette it’s obvious, she is less famous and obviously looking for clout, it’s very common for these types to hook up with someone more famous and boost their profile. He was looking for prospects and I think he tried with meredith first but it didn’t work out for some reason. She definitely signed an NDA because all she did was unfollow him when he launched with gabbriette. Gabbriette was dating another guy basically a week before she started “dating” matty. Maybe they were already on the rocks and she jumped at the opportunity. Charli probably helped identify her. 

I think they made this decision in July after that article said they were back together, whoever wrote the article had some sort of proof probably and was paid off. I bet someone they know sold them out and they were both pissed. It would explain why matty had his breakdown in July, frustrated that it had to come to this, but they both think of each other as the end game and decided it was worth it to do this for a while and then slowly roll out a reunion. Matty’s breakdown in July happened around the same time travis made that friendship bracelet comment on the podcast. Travis obviously was down to sign this relationship contract to boost his chances at getting into hollywood. So basically I think this was all new to matty and he didn’t know how to act which explains his weird social media activity and trial and error with meredith. It also explains his breakdowns on stage later because he was probably sick of it while taylor is better at hiding her true emotions from fans and she has likely done this before. Basically I think that the new album is a necessary step in a plan that will allow them to end up together and not have the public freak out as much. It is no mistake that she added so many clues for people to decipher about matty. Some people are still in denial or think she hates him because of one song, but overall there has been a shift in public perception and interest in matty aside from the controversies.

My only question is how long the contracts are???? I have been reading it’s usually a year minimum but I’m sure taylor can negotiate less, wasn’t tom h only a few months? I’m at the point now where I’m just waiting to see how long they drag this out until the breakups and how they handle it, if they stagger the breakups, how they re-launch etcetera. 

What do you think???

Hi anon! Interestingly, the man who reported that Taylor and Matty were still together last July worked for The Sun, who were the ones that broke the news of their dating back in May! In September, he also suggested that The 1975 would feature on 1989. Mysteriously, he would go on to retire in December, shortly before the "Slut!" collab leak. Convenient timing!

Though Taylor would later backdate her new relationship to July, all evidence points to September for the official launch of both her and Matty's new relationships.

It seems Taylor might have had some sort of deal with the NFL as far back as 2019 in the Lover era, and that is around the same time that Matty met his current partner, who was receiving complimentary tickets to one of his shows back then. You're right, just before Matty, she had been in a serious, longterm relationship with another guy (who is now, incestuously perhaps, dating Matty's other ex - yep, the one who came both before and after Taylor! Also, these two are the absolute most hysterical side characters in all of this). Like I said before, it's also convenient that both of these relationships are basically pre-existing fandom memes from 2020!:

As you can see, I am a bit reluctant to actually type out any names because I don't want to attract fans of those relationships. I'm not here to crash anyone's party! I just happened to witness a once-in-twenty-lifetimes kind of love and I'm just trying to make sense of everything that's transpired since. Who they end up with doesn't really concern me, though I can't help but root for their reunion because, you know, I have hearing. (Which, by the way… I cannot for the life of me understand how Taylor's fans heard the masterpiece 'About You' and would rather romanticize Taylor being a "WAG" or a "teammate's girlfriend" rather than a muse for a fellow musician who is, dare I say, on equal footing with her as a songwriter and musician! I'm stumped)

But either way, like I said - I am not in the business of villainizing any characters Matty or Taylor choose to associate with. I do believe that these are PR relationships and that both new partners have gotten plenty of opportunities since becoming the public partner for both musicians, and that's not even a bad thing! If they are meant to distract from the controversy and feed ravenous fans, then so be it. Genuinely, I'm happy for them.

I'm glad you mentioned the friendship bracelet! 'Cause sometimes I clown every now and then that the album Midnights seems almost like foreshadowing for what would transpire in Taylor's public life since it dropped! We have a 'Lavender Haze': January at the O2 love spiral, someone talking talk and going viral on Adam Friedland, 'Maroon'/SotB: Taylor falling again for someone from her past, YOYOK: Taylor accepting a friendship bracelet, next up - perhaps a declined proposal? As predicted in both 'Midnight Rain' and 'Bejeweled'…

As for contracts, anon, I'm glad you asked! Taylor's partner's publicist, Pia Malihi, is another interesting rabbit hole to fall down. She got her start in a company called Bowery Public Relations/EMCBowery (of all things) and has partnered with fellow publicist Jack Ketsoyan to launch Full Scope Public Relations. A few years ago, Jack went on record exposing fake romances he helped set up, calling them "love contracts" and that they "legally bind famous couples together for at least a year".

Now, what's interesting about the "year" estimate above is that there are three possible end dates for this contract, if indeed, that's what it is. September is when they actually launched as a couple. However, Taylor backdated this relationship to July! Strangely, as of today, the media is saying that it is Taylor's year anniversary, despite the fact she was definitely with Matty a year ago. So… perhaps we're stuck with this stunt until September. If we're lucky? July. If we're truly fortuitous, then perhaps it ends this month! Or you know, maybe never. Who's to say?

Make no mistake though, anon, no matter how hard Twitter tries to virtue signal... Taylor wants us to pay attention to her love life and public persona for some reason. Of course, my theory is that she's done playing Barbie and is ready to burn down the dollhouse.

Thanks for the ask! 🤍

[ilguna]

this is gonna be a rant about my life lately and how stressed out i’ve been

i know it’s been a while, i’ll get on track with writing and then eventually fall off. with june, i started working more because my birthday trip was coming up, and since then, i’ve been busy because im gonna visit family in washington this month (july).

ever since i came back from my birthday, i have had nothing but anxiety over everything that’s been happening.

some information for everyone: i work in a restaurant. i work FOH (host, togo, bussing, expo, serving). when i met my boyfriend back in november, it’s because he started working BOH (kitchen). he’s worked for this company before, it’s just been a while. and he worked at a different location. he’s a couple years older than me.

him and i started talking at the end of january, started dating on valentine’s day. he made a major mistake a couple days later, and it’s typically what people break up over. i decided to stay with him. but i made the decision after everyone at the restaurant found out. i practically didn’t tell anyone, it was my cousin who told people, that found out before me. my cousin is/was friends with the girl that told her.

i have made my decision to stay with him, i have made that explicitly clear. my close friends (4 of them) were all against it at first, but since then, 2 of them have officially come around and aren’t actively seeking out trouble for him. 1 of them is on the fence. the last 1 has promised that she will never like him and will not make an effort.

she told me this in february, and i thought i could handle her, and that she might even change her mind, but she’s not going anywhere. i had a conversation with her towards the middle of may trying to tell her that she’s making me uncomfortable and im becoming avoidant (no contact = out of mind). she didn’t offer any peace of mind at all.

my birthday trip comes around, we’re good. i had a lot of fun in vegas. then comes the following weekend, she (difficult friend) was bartending, i was her cocktail. and 2/3 separate times, one of the male servers that have been here for like 10+ years comes over to talk shit about my boyfriend.

tidbit: my boyfriend has since become a manager (at the end of february) and the GM/AGM were good with it. i’ve been here for 3 years, the GM knew him from location 1. she didn’t see an issue.

which involves another female server, who he’s ALSO known from location 1. she was asking him to cut the floor, she did it in a way that was rude, and she’s known for being like that. he called her disrespectful for it. i guess she told the male server, because that friday he came into the bar, told the friend bartender, and then said “i bet he beats women”.

i was upset, and i took it to the GM. i stayed out of the bar for the rest of the night until she finally cut me. GM talked to the male server about it, he denied it. GM talked to the female server that was disrespectful, nothing really came of it. since then, several people in the restaurant have been referring to him as a woman/wife beater.

my boyfriends been having a hard time getting anyone in the restaurant to respect him since my cousin decided that it was her responsibility to spread my business without giving me time to cope and decide.

its upsetting. i get anxiety anytime my friend and the male server are working together because they’ve been caught talking shit since. i think both of them can tell that im on edge because the male server doesn’t really talk to me. but my friend looked at me today and called me grumpy. but there was so much i wanted to say to her about how shitty she’s being.

i’m “not supposed to” choose a boyfriend over a friend but i have tried. i have done my time defending her and her actions. i have given her time. i’ve explained that she’s making me upset. and she’s still doing it.

my boyfriend even walked in to her talking with one of the other girl servers who is NOTORIOUS for talking shit and spreading it today. and her boyfriend (who works in the kitchen) is just as bad with it. the GM has doubled down and is saying that my boyfriend is the problem. our relationship is the problem. she can’t do anything about the servers. but she’s lazy and a people pleaser so she’s not going to do anything, anyway.

i’m just so tired of feeling like this. i don’t want to talk to her. i don’t want to be her friend. the only thing i can do anymore is tell her that im done being friends with her if she can’t respect MY relationship. if you want to actively seek out a persons downfall, then you’re a shit person. especially since she’s supposed to be one of my best friends.

shes older than me too, she should be more mature but she’s not acting like it anymore. i don’t want to lose her as a friend, but if this is the only way that i can show her that i’ve tolerated enough, then it’s what has to be done. and it’ll probably make a statement in the restaurant, too.

idk. that’s just what’s going on. i’ve exhausted the people i can talk to, so i thought id share on here to type it all out. it doesn’t make me feel any better, though.

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Title: Happy 28th Birthday Bryan360

Hello, September! 🍂🍁 I had no plans on sharing my throwback artworks (a.k.a. #OnThisDay post) because it is time for another celebrating a birthday! Its my A-Pal's 28th birthday! 🎂🎁🥳

IMPORTANT NOTE #1: No Art Trade this month, with my A-Pal. 😊 So, you know, give him a chance to relax while he's celebrating like my previous Bday? Yeah. ☺

• "First" off, I want to apologize for missing out on the respective anniversaries of Bryan360's three main OCs; Maxwell 🐰🖌️, May 💥👊🐰, and Sam ⚽🦊. That's because, I was dealing with my emotions on my mistakes and mishaps, not to mention I missed using my PC desktop since June 2024. I'm still using my mom's laptop... *sigh* 😔Furthermore, when I try to apply for a job on my current social media, I've sort of made a mistake but I dodge the bullet from a job scam. Thanks, Mom for reminding me from 2019. I'm still a helper at my parents' small rug business without pay.😥 So much for getting the opportunity for a real-life job and purchasing whatever I want (including my dream plush I like is that legit "DogDay" plushie doll 🐶☀️🥺🤗)

• And "Second", my OCs never get a chance to see me wearing PJs, including the ones that were gifted by Bryan360's OCs. So, I thought to myself "Why not I combine his upcoming birthday & my OCs wearing PJs into one celebratorily artwork package?" 🤔 And thus, an ultimate yet unique birthday slumber for his 28th-year birthday! 😁🥳🎊🌙🌃 After all, night day is ALWAYS a perfect way to celebrate any occasion! And the cherry on top of his birthday cake is adding pillow mattresses with their clothes gifted by the Rabbit-Fox family! What's not to love? 👕👖🥰🤗

Spot 🐶🏎️ [wearing his owned PJs from Maxwell]: Yeah! Nice idea, creator! 😁 I bet, he'll likes your gift art just like he did to you! 😊 Right now, we could stay up night for a nice midnight Birthday Slumber Party! 🛏️🌙🥳🎂

Riya 🐰🏎️ [wearing her owned PJs from May]: Yes, sir! A unique kind of birthday celebration is something interesting than a regular celebration! 😁 *hugging, rubbing, and squeezing on her pillow mattress* 👕👖🥰🤗

Cude 🐰🤖 [wearing his owned PJs from Sam]: I could agree your statements, twins! On behalf on our creator and their family, have a wonderful birthday to you, Mr. Bryan! 😊

IMPORTANT NOTE #2: His gift art → [CLICK ME!] from my 31st birthday's cake supposedly be written as "Maligayang Kaarawan" 🎂🇵🇭, instead he wrote it in a Spanish words. I would say, that this a error in mistranslation of sorts. So, I have to do something the same thing as he did to me for a fair mistake. 😅

Fun Fact ☝️😮: The Philippines in their ancient times used to have an official "Spanish" language owing to the historic colonization. 🇪🇸🇵🇭 However, by the time when the WWII ended, the Philippines already gained their independence from the United States, and the official "Spanish" language for the Philippines was removed. 🇵🇭📖 Nevertheless...

Well, that's all for now! And once again, Happy Birthday, A-Pal! 🇺🇸🇵🇷🤗🥳🎁🎂🎊

Cude (HTF OC) and the Speedster Twins (Spot & Riya; Chowder OCs) - created by ME! Maxwell, May, and Sam (Rabbits and Fox OCs) - owned by @bryan360

[farfromharry]

. ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ New Year’s 2022 ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ .

total works; 16 , total word count; 225,207

━━━━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━━━━

[ january ]

you talk too much - peter parker

Summary: Peter cannot fall in love with a criminal, he can’t, right? So why does he find you so attractive and charming? And will mr stark be mad at him for accidentally kissing you after you wouldn’t shut up?

the nurse’s office - peter parker

Summary: Sometimes Peter forgets about his super strength. He simply wanted to put Brad Davis in his place when he tried to make a mockery of him, and now he was sitting in the nurses office with a very pretty, very concussed girl; oh and it was all his fault.

[ february ]

the set up - peter parker

Summary: For Valentine’s day Peter really wants to take you out somewhere, bad blood aside just to have an evening as normal kids. But it all goes wrong when you believe he set the whole thing up to capture you.

[ march ]

our little secret - tom holland

Summary: Why plan a luxurious wedding when you could just get married in the moment? Except you and Tom kept it a secret from the world, so when the secret finally unravels at Harrison’s wedding, will everyone think you’re just trying to steal the spotlight?

nothing more, nothing less - tom holland

Summary: tom’s always been told that you and him would fall in love one day, and when you don’t he begins to think something’s wrong with him. that is until his mum tells him about platonic soulmates.

[ april ]

right person, wrong universe - peter parker

Summary: You're convinced that Peter Parker was your soulmate in this and every universe that may exist. What happens when he loses you, ends up stuck in another universe and has that idea proved right all in a short span of time?

in my dreams - peter parker

Summary: Death happens at the most unexpected times, and we’re never ready for it. But Peter wasn’t ready to leave you in heart until he knew you’d moved on and you were ready to give your heart to someone that wasn’t him.

[ may ]

the bet - harry holland

Summary: Harry Holland was a dick, a dick that agreed to make a bet against one of the sweetest people he’d ever met. However his conscience got the better of him and he had to let you know, but you took it better than expected and of course you had a trick up your sleeve that let everything work out for the both of you.

[ june ]

the angel and the devil - eddie munson

Summary: The two of you met at a halloween costume in polar opposite outfits. What started as Eddie being a gentleman and helping out a drunk girl, turned into a rapidly blooming crush. He believed it to be one sided after he thought you were avoiding him, but you were falling hard too, just too shy to admit to the guy you nearly puked on that he was kind of cute.

the dance - eddie munson

Summary: Who in their right mind would want to take time from their own prom to dance with Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson? Answer: you. He was alone on the bleachers with the cutest pouty face and you couldn’t stand to see him like that, though he knew it was probably out of pity anyway. But little did he know you had had a budding crush on him since the second time he repeated his senior year. Now you were both seniors (again) and this might be your last chance to tell him.

the freak and his girlfriend - eddie munson

Summary: The two of you go on more dates together until Eddie finally gets the perfect green light to officially ask you to be his girlfriend. Spoiler alert, Steve still doesn’t approve.

[ july ]

beth - eddie munson

Summary: Eddie’s trying to navigate adulthood after a baby is dropped on him from a prior hookup. He tries his best for the baby girl and does well, things are made even easier with the help of his friends around him. When he meets you his life flips again, and although it takes a while to admit your feelings, he eventually ends up with a family he never expected he would have.

[ august ] + [ september ]

apparently i posted no fics in this time

[ october ]

always had you - steve harrington

Summary: You and Steve had terrible luck when it came to dating. It wasn’t until it was pointed out to you, that maybe that was because you were in love with your best friend.

[ november ]

long live the hero - eddie munson

Summary: After Eddie almost dies in the upside down, Steve and Dustin need to take him somewhere that he can get help, only a wanted criminal can’t go to a hospital; so they take him to you. They’re not completely unaware about your history together, but they, nor you, suspected that history would start to repeat itself and you would find yourself falling for Eddie Munson all over again. 

i put a spell on you - eddie munson

Summary: Eddie stumbles upon a house in the middle of the woods that contains something he never expected. What happens next is a lot of crazy shit, that takes him on a rollercoaster of emotions. But what he got out of it was a pretty great girlfriend and confirmation that magic was real, and badass.

[ december ]

in another life - eddie munson

Summary: Eddie bumps his head after a fight with you and experiences two separate dreams of what his life could be like if things with you were different. When he wakes up back in your arms afterwards, he learns to appreciate what he has.

[saelterlude]

Around October, I noticed my AO3 wordcount for this year has reached near 40k. So I thought, "Hey Sael, surely you can reach 50.000 words by the end of the year right?" Nevermind the fact that my thesis deadline is also in December.

But hey, I goddamn did. 51.236 words. Here's a list of the fics I wrote in 2023. Chronologically, when last updated, because that's cool. + short summary/my core idea for each fic.

Happy New Year!

February

Home Address, 35 Portland Row (Lockwood & Co.)

So did George just one day knocked on Lockwood's door with Skull under his arm being all, "Hey, I commited theft." Pre-canon exposition.

April

Buried Apple (Undertale AU)

Dream watched his twin die, got turned to stone, and wakes up to someone parading in his twin's corpse. How did he grieved?

May

The Hidden Basement (Lockwood & Co. and The Sandman)

Jessamy's regrets of failing to save Dream resulted in a haunted mansion. Who else would come take care of the haunting but Lockwood & Co.

June

Killer's Soul Journey (Undertale AU, yea this fandom really inspired me)

Killer got 4 stages, he also got the gang and Color. So what if each stages react differently to each group.

That Feeling and That Tone. (Undertale AU)

Just a reset in the life of Killer and Chara.

Tales from The Library (Undertale AU)

Same universe as "The Hidden Basement". What's life like for Lockwood & Co. with a type three bird ghost, Jessamy?

July

Colorful Conversations (Undertale AU)

It's in the name. Three conversations that help Color be... Color.

Divergence (Undertale AU)

We explore how time works in the multiverse, sorta.

Versa(tear)lity (Undertale AU)

There are many ways to utilize Killer's tears, here are some of them. Crack. This is just a pure crackfic.

The Circlet (Undertale AU)

There's a gap in Dream's circlet. It widens as Dream grows and his skull gets bigger. There's none in Nightmare's circlet.

August

Feelings Imminent (Undertale AU)

Killer have trouble feeling, which means he doesn't know when he's hungry, tired, or hurt. Horror tries to help.

September

Boiled Care (Undertale AU)

Cross and Horror talk about authority figures over breakfast.

October

I Know That You Can Track It Back To Me (Link Click)

Cheng Xiaoshi wants to know from whom did Lu Guang learns all the ins and outs of their powers. Well he does have time traveling powers, so learning about the past should be easy.

Like Once You Did For Me (Link Click)

Lu Guang's POV of "I Know That You Can Track It Back To Me". On a sad and lonely night, Lu Guang comes across a strange man.

So What's With The Sudden Costume Change? (Link Click)

For a fashionable show, Lu Guang's season two outfit is just a cat pajama. Oh wait, there's also the cool theater outfits. But that came out of nowhere so why? Crack, Actor AU.

A White Dream (Link Click)

A death node cannot be change, that's what Lu Guang said, but that can't be right. Cheng Xiaoshi is sure, he changed a death node once before.

November

A Gray Coat (Link Click)

Emma's parents waited all night for her, not knowing she's lying dead under a bridge. How does a parent grief over their child?

December

Shattered Reflections (Link Click)

Cheng Xiaoshi-Lu Guang's powers swapped with Li Tianchen-Li Tianxi's powers. How would that work? How would the story progress?

(I swear I will finish the last chapter soon. I promise. I just gotta graduate first.)

How to Lose A Bet and Still Win (Link Click)

The biggest betting pool in Guidu University is "when will Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang become official". Some students try to win the bet by manipulating the not-couple and sabotaging other betters. Outsider POV.

[darrowsrising]

Hello dear! Love your blog, ngl I log in at least once a day to see if you’ve posted some new takes.

Two things I wanted to ask: first, what villains do you think will be gone in LB and which do you think will stay till Red God? I know it’s pure speculation at this point, but it’s still interesting.

Second, have you got the chance to do that re-read? If not, do you still plan to?

Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me, because it's been very difficult for me lately to...just be. At least there is a handful of people who like my ramblings, I appreciate it a lot.

1. I think Atalantia and Volsung will die in Light Bringer, but Atlas will be the ultimate villain in Red God. I also think there will be some other villanous characters from the Rim side, but idk how they will play out. I also think Quicksilver will get his comeuppence in Light Bringer.

2. I do plan to do it, but I am not exactly in the right mindset atm. I might start in May or June. Idk if I can re-read everything, given that I want to savour the details, but I will do my best. There are official re-reads and read-alongs promoted by delrey and Pierce Brown on instagram, if you wish to follow them. I regret not managing to organize things better and I don't really trust myself to do better for Red God - idk how people do podcasts and events for fandoms and have a full time job and even families.

If I win the ARC copy of Light Bringer, though, all bets are off. I will delve into it smut first, so that I can confirm that it exists. Then I can start it properly, re-read forsaken, we die like men. I know enough of Dark Age, so that it shouldn't be an immediate issue.

If anyone here gets it, though, please tell me that the otp smut exists. I need to know, my very heart needs its existance.

I do hope to do a proper re-read anyway and comment on stuff as I read. This summer surely, I should manage.

Thank you for the ask means a lot,

Howl on,

🐺💖

[fumiko-matsubara]

A Timeline of the whole messy Kaho + Maehara + Seo situation

Just trying to make sense of what was shown and hinted in the manga.

Because Class E students typically don’t graduate by the end of the school year, they are officially expelled from Kunugigaoka by the 3rd Trimester (Jan-Mar), which is all about high school exams preparations. The Class E building will then instead be occupied by the future Class E students for accommodation purposes.

The sorting for future Class E students among the 2nd years will likely occur a little after the announcements of their final exam results, which was in December.

Which means that Kaho and Maehara likely dated before December 2013.

Maehara basically ghosted Kaho ever since dropping to Class E.

Maybe until somewhere in May 2014.

And within those 5 months of ghosting, he probably even dated a bunch of girls behind her back. It explains why Nagisa described Maehara as someone who is so popular that the girl he’s seen with constantly changes.

He cheated on her 4 times the whole time they’ve been apart.

And it also explains why nobody was under the impression that he and Kaho have been dating for a long time, even though Maehara is notorious for his extensive dating history.

Hell, I’m sure that people barely even knew that they dated, or that they had already forgotten that they were dating by the time the new school year began.

Enter Seo, the new guy in the situation.

Who is also unaware of Maehara’s relationship with Kaho for some strange reason despite having a whole wide network of people to tell him what’s going on.

Horrible temper, verbally abusive, incredibly rude, and his appearance couldn’t even make it up for his horrible personality - not a single box was checked in Kaho’s criteria for the kind of guys she’s famously into (Ikemen).

So, no fucking way would she date him.

But, here’s the catch: Seo is a virtuoso - his incredibly high social standing in Kunigigaoka’s student hierarchy despite his horrible personality canonically makes everyone uncomfortable.

And Kaho is just another student from the most average class in their year.

But she’s incredibly pretty.

It could be to make himself look good in front of others for having a beautiful girlfriend or whatever. Regardless of what Seo’s reasons are for dating her, the extreme power imbalance between the two of them gives Kaho no choice but to date him at his demand.

This could have happened in April 2014, when the new school year solidifies Seo’s standing as among the virtuosos.

Fast forward.

It was in June 2014 when some of the current Class E students spotted Kaho and Maehara walking together under the rain.

That makes it more than 6-7 months of dating.

And yet, for some strange reason, none of the present Class E students where under the impression that they were dating for a long time. In fact, Kaho was made seem to be a new girlfriend of Maehara’s instead.

Which could mean that Maehara waltzed back into Kaho’s life fairly recently.

I’m just gonna assume it’s somewhere between late May to early June.

The 5th time he cheated on her, was when he scheduled that date with a girl from another school, when they are actively dating.

Because there is no other way he could schedule a new date that quick right after Kaho officially broke up with him, when preparations still had to be made for Class E to execute their revenge plan.

And he looked guilty as fuck.

Kaho and Seo most likely broke up after fighting over who gets to use the bathroom in the convenience store.

As shown in the baseball arc, Kaho openly hates him to the bone.

Since then, she has been actively going after other boys she finds cool.

Then summer came.

According to Gakushuu, if Class A had won the bet against Class E, a truth that Maehara specifically isn’t allowed to lie about when asked was the fact that he had been cheating FIVE TIMES.

(I used a raw scan I have saved in my gallery, because the two available English scanlations online translated that question in such a vague way you wouldn't have caught it - how many times you've "lied/been distracted" - when the first two characters here 浮気 translates to anything that literally means "cheating (in a relationship)").

Meaning, by the time summer came, not even Kaho knew about this.

Note: There's a chance that the amount of times Maehara had cheated in a relationship isn't actually exclusive to just Kaho herself and it might just be in general.

But the way that the people around them were seemingly under the impression that Kaho is a more recent girlfriend of Maehara's, when they've been actually dating for half a year, just solidifies the theory that he had been seeing other girls behind her back all this time.

But whether that theory is correct or not, it doesn't change the solid fact that he still cheated on her at least once, which was when he already had that other date scheduled.

This arc... pisses me off. I know I've said that many times already. And I will still say it.

What initially seemed to be an arc about Maehara's early character development because he was the focus here... ended up blatantly showing how much of a hypocritical trashy guy he instead actually is.

Because how shameless are you to be going around cheating left and right without any regard for your current girlfriend's feelings, but the second you're on the receiving end of a cheating matter, you didn't even hesitate to expose her just so you wouldn't get the blame?

And for that alone, Kaho throwing him under the bus right after was honestly DESERVED.

I would have found this arc less pointless if the deleted Valentine's arc with Okano was instead the follow up, where Koro finally gave Maehara a piece of his mind about this whole non regard for a girl's feelings after realizing that the kid learned absolutely nothing from the situation with Kaho.

None of that whole bullshit about being completely transparent in Maehara's report card just to motivate him to do something. I just want Maehara to set things right with Okano on his own accord. No outside influences or whatsoever. Because that report card threat just made everything seem not genuine and it would really hurt to be Okano in that situation.

I don't mind the retaliation arc being left unchanged if it was instead used as a motivation to set things right in the future.

[sironae]

May and June Art submissions. I forgot to Upload May on here. Oops! At least they both go together! May Art Piece - 1st Image: Here is Lucifer Cosmar-Long, Darius (mine) and Levi's (@Zungiebungie) son. Darius is the bio father, and Levi officially adopted him when Darius and Levi married, about a year after they got custody of Luci. I was finding it a bit hard to bet motivated this month drawing wise, but pushed myself since I missed May last year - I was not going to miss it again this year! The Background is recycled from a piece of mine from last year, which features Luci's bio father, Darius. I didn't just want him floating without a BG, so this seemed fitting enough.

June Art Piece - 2nd Image: I decided to continue on with the momentum I had for Luci and draw up his adolescent design to get it out of my brain. I reused the small bat form because nothing really changes there, but the bat-beast form obviously grows and ages as Luci does. His fashion style is based on the 1940s era as he would be an adult around that time, but still keeping to the typical fancy Cosmar Fashion~

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"INSISTS ON JAIL TERM FOR REGISTERING BETS," Toronto Star. June 16, 1934. Page 3. ---- Magistrate Jones Disregards Recommendation of the Crown Attorney --- Found guilty of recording registering bets, Leslie G. Lawrence was fined $200 and costs and sentenced to a month's imprisonment by Magistrate Jones in men's police court to-day.

When police officials testified Lawrence was only a clerk and not pay-off man, the crown attorney recommended against the jail term. but Magistrate Jones refused to alter his verdict. Lawrence was arrested during a raid yesterday on a Riverdale establishment. A telephone, racing form and recorded bets amounting to $40 were found.

Pleading guilty, the accused remained silent during the trial.

"Two hundred dollars and costs. or three months, and one month." said the magistrate. "I'll pay," replied Lawrence, putting his hand in his pocket.

"But you have also got to serve 30 days," explained a police officer.

"What?" demanded Lawrence, putting his hand up to his face.

'The crime is just recording," protested Crown Attorney Malone.

"Can't I do, both?" asked the magistrate.

"I wouldn't recommend it to your worship." Magistrate Jones left the bench, returning a few minutes later with the observation that the maximum penalty was $1,000 and one year.

"Under those circumstances I see no reason for altering my verdict," he said.

Was Slashed With Razor Patrick Kelly, found guilty of wounding, was sentenced to from three to six months in jail. According to Bert Kopley, who exhibited a badly lacerated hand, Kelly set upon him with a straight-edge razor, which he had sold to him.

"He paid me 40 cents and still owed 35," Kopley testified. He then took me down and he had some beer." asked Mr. Malone.

"Was he drunk?" "Yes, he was loaded."

Kopley said that the accused returned to his house later on in the night, and demanded an order of food.

"I told him it was too late. With that he slashed me with the razor. I put my arm up and took the blow across the back of my hand."

Kelly declared he could not remember anything about the affray as he had been drinking.

"Where did you get the money for the liquor?" asked the magistrate. "I just got a job."

"And used your first week's pay to wound somebody. Well, I'll put you away for from three to six months."

A charge of automobile theft against Wilbert Shorting was withdrawn.

Fraud Charge Stands. Edgar A. Hird, charged with fraud. and Steve Kucheryk, with theft, arraigned on a count, were remanded to June 22.

This was amateurs' day in early court when but one of the eight "drunks" to stand up against the rail was fined.

"Please, your honor, I've been working on the highway and I just came to town for a bit of a do." pleaded William Hope, charged with intoxication.

"When were you here last?" asked Magistrate Tinker. "Seven months ago."

"Is that right? I wouldn't have thought it. However, I'll give you another chance."

"Where do you work?" the crown asked Russell O'Neil. also facing a drunk charge. "In a broom factory."

"In a broom factory?" laughed the cadi. "Why don't you stick to it?"

"I think I will." rejoined O'Neil, who was remanded for sentence.

Fred Westlake was assessed $10 or ten days for intoxication.

Leonard "Dusty" Rhodes preferred to travel on the railroad. Police officers said he was found sitting on top of the most expensive car load of merchandise on the train.

"Dusty," answering a vagrancy charge, said it was dark and he couldn't see what he was on.

"It may be a coincidence," replied the officer, "but we've had six robberies on that train alone lately."

"I was looking for an open box car," protested Rhodes. "And the car before this was empty with the door open." retorted the officer.

"Ten dollars or ten days," the cadi decided.

Lack of Knowledge "Your honor. I don't know nothing about it." declared Fred Falconer to Magistrate Coatsworth in magistrate's court No. 2 this morning, when asked to plead on charge of "having." Fred was nervously stroking a long gray-black beard. P.C. Craig told the court he had seen the accused staggering along Shuter St. yesterday afternoon, and that he was "pretty well gone."

"I had a few drinks but I don't know where I got the bottle," said accused, when the officer produced a bottle of wine which he said he had found in accused's pocket. "If he found it in my pocket, I'm guilty of it - but I don't know nothing."

Falconer had no permit, and threw himself on the mercy of the court. "Ten dollars and costs or 30 days, with the liquor confiscated," ruled the judge.

Both Permits Cancelled "We'd been to the race track and made some money and were having a little party," said Robert Belyea, charged with "having" liquor in his apartment without a permit. P.C. Hawton told the court he and P.C. Kerr had entered the apartment on the night of May 26, and found seven men drinking beer. A case of beer was found in the kitchen, and neither Belyea nor his wife had purchased the beer on their permits. Belyea's permit showed purchases of $155 since Feb. 9th and his wife's more than $100. He is a part-time worker and makes only a small weekly wage, the officer said, adding that Belyea had told him he "had 'phoned for the beer."

Pleading guilty, Belyea was sentenced $100 and costs or three months, both his and his wife's permits were cancelled, and the liquor was confiscated.

[mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune]

Valentino & Vox (From Hazbin Hotel) Almost Had A June Wedding...in a Weird Dream I Had...

[Note: Only Mature Audience Readers can read this, and No Little Kids that are under 16 or 18...this is just in case, also reading this post that talks about my weird dream about Valentino and Vox, is optional. also please DO NOT ignore the whole my placing "do NOT reblog this without permission", and I even try to make sure to gives a heads up, and well...I'm just saying this, cause of something that I notice a few days ago with one of my posts...also will talk about some off topic stuff, like how Toxic-Religious people are, and will talk about past lives stuff and that whole Satanic Ritual Abuse thing that some Toxic-Satanists do, and well hopefully not anymore....but I'm not gonna use those tags for this post, maybe in the next post I will but this is still gonna be about the whole Valentino and Vox almost having a June Wedding. and once again reading this post is optional, even if it gets off topic and you don't have to read this post if you don't want to.]

okay weirdest dream ever, and it happens on June 1, 2024...

well I was awake before when it became June 1...

but I did end up going to bed, and yeah did have some weird dreams.

but the whole Valentino and Vox dream might be the weirdest, even if they seem to oddly enjoy my company for some odd reason, or like tolerated it...I don't know.

but anyway besides the whole getting weird with the vows that I don't fully remember them, only maybe bits and pieces...

like asking I think one of the parts when asking Vox, if he would worship Valentino's feet...

that is weird, and does Vox have a thing for feet...?

is that why he is so obsessive with his Rival, Alastor...?

Vox, your a married man now...you can't do that anymore. XD

anyway when it did get to Valentino, can't remember much about it...

it had something to do with him loving Vox, and even as they turned into golden dust that went to the After-Afterlife...

anyway at first I said those two should get married,

and then I end up asking Vox first,

"Vox, do you take Valentino to be your Babe."

and when it got to Valentino's turn, I asked

"Valie, do you take Vox to be your Boo."

and yeah as weird as it is, I called Valentino "Valie" instead of just Val or by his full name Valentino...

it could either be Valie spelled "Valie" or "Valy"...

but it sounds pretty much like Valley too, I think.

anyway it might before I could tell them to kiss each other and before I could say you know the lines that make it official...

that I woke up...and I felt a bit sleepy still when I woke up, so I may have had to blink the sleep out of my eyes some...well it might of been more like I had just woke up so of course it will be like that, maybe sometimes...

but if the dream did finish properly, I could of said:

"I now pronounce Husband & Overlord, you may kiss your Overlord-Husband..." or something like that.

I must of been being very weird with my dreams...

this close, those two almost had a June Wedding in that weird dream.

and if I do have some kind of Priestess Blood, I wonder if that would make their getting married in that dream official...? lol XD

I was working on well, still technically working on a type of Crossover Fan Fic idea that involves Adam from Hazbin Hotel, that was inspired by two other stories, but with some differences in the plans for the Crossover idea that has to do with Adam...

anyway when I'm able to, I will post it over at Quotev...

but anyway apparently Helluva Boss's new episode came out on May 31, 2024...

I'm not gonna say what happens in it, other than Cletus, Keenie and Collin appear in it...and well, Collin was just being too adorable for words and some "bad words" he says, is just too freaking adorable...well to me it was adorable.

also a certain scene that has to do with Collin, might not help with the whole shippers, well I do find the ship interesting, but bet anyone who does ship them, will be going crazy fangirl/fanboy/fanenbying over it, and I'm not saying what it is right now...

it's gonna be a fangirl screaming time for the hardcore shippers that ship Collin with that one...the name I dare not speak for at least now...

cause I want to wait a bit more before talking fully about it.

but anyway while working on the type of Crossover story idea, which is kind of like a Crossover AU idea, that has to do with Adam...

I suddenly got this curious feeling or thought, about checking to see if the new episode of Helluva Boss was up now, and to my surprise it was, and it had been since hours ago, and well it had already became June 1 I think...but anyway, I think it was May 31, 2024 when it came out.

I did love the episode, even with some of the sad parts.

Collin, you are a Precious Gift of The Goddess, NEVER change. O_O

yeah, and if some do have a Toxic-Problem with me believing in both the Heavenly-Father/God & Earthly-Mother/Goddess, they can go kiss Mammon's butt for all I care...you know, if it were possible for them to do that...to the Helluva Boss version of Mammon.

but seriously, they can go kiss his butt for all I care.

so excuse me for escaping The Masculine Indoctrination thing...

I mean, at least not everyone who only believes in The Heavenly-Father and Jesus, are all Toxic-Religious, so that's one of the good points.

plus it means they haven't been corrupted by the Toxic-Masculine energy that sneaks in there...

I mean, even if a Church and people in it, can still be good, there be a mix of some people in there that take it way too far and do things that could either physically or emotionally hurt others that might believe different.

either maybe believing in both the Heavenly-Father and Earthly-Mother like myself, or them not really having a belief at all and they could be Atheist, but you shouldn't try to force convert, that is sick and wrong to do that to anyone, no matter if they are religious, spiritual or not.

you do NOT force someone or a lot of other people, into a religion your in, and scaring them to stay in it when they try to leave, and saying they will end up going to Hell if they try to leave, is the most disgusting and wrong thing.

I know I had brought up that before, that someone in my family when they joined some religious group before, they had to fake being crazy I think just to get kicked out of it, probably because the whole thing that has to do with being told if they tried to leave, then they will end up going to Hell....

and let's not forget them falsely accusing one of my other family members, they just assumed and they were probably a bunch of self-righteous toxic-religious jerks, and hopefully not everyone who is part of the same thing they are, well hopefully they aren't all bad...

it can really suck when some Toxic-Religious people do take things way too far, and yeah they probably make some other people who are part of the same religion as them, unhappy with how they crossing lines they shouldn't and doing more harm than good.

also, still gonna add Toxic-Satanists to that list, also it might be a really good thing not to have full memories of your past life and only get bits and pieces come into your mind, but not full pictures.

it could be because of the damage done to the soul, the trauma it went through from dying more than once before it got to mature and develop in the mortal plane of this reality...

like being possibly aborted in one of those late abortions, also in another life being used in a freaking ritual that would be possibly satanic ritual abuse.

and I know my closes past life, was when I may have died in a hospital when I was about, maybe around 4 years old.

it may have traumatized me when I may have remembered it when I was around that age, but then at some point forgot about it and the memory ended up becoming a idea for a Creepypasta OC and then later after figuring out I was remembering something from a past life, I decided to reuse the idea that was inspired by some past life memory, into a Hazbin Hotel OC...

I did post the drawing over at Deviantart of course, and maybe sometime I can try to post them on here when I'm able to.

I know that one of the impressions I got from the possible past life trauma, that it may have made me think if I wore a dress, I might end up the same way I did before...which I don't think I have a full memory from it.

I believe the birthmark I have is from that time, so it might be from that.

it could be possible that there might be other people who didn't really get to reach past the ages they had died, and kept having bad luck for a while until they ended up being reborn into a more safe but not fully perfect but can be okay and perfect in their own way type of family...

from the accident I had in my present life, it was lucky my Mom got me to that emergency room place on time.

I know I did say before that Fizzarolli's scar had reminded me of my own, it is kind of in a different place and not at the brow part...

but it is still at where the right eye is, well is like not on the eye of course...it is like on a place and well, I was really little when it happen.

plus even a fan fic I read before reminds me about it, even if the story has a different scene from what happen.

but for all I know, if I was by myself during that time and no one came to check on me, it could be possible I wouldn't be here, I mean...maybe...?

guess I never really thought about that, that I could of died that time.

I might of been around 2 years old when it happen...

well there is that possibility that I would of died if I didn't get help on time, maybe the reason why I was kept safe from that happening, is because my Mom has those "Mom senses" like the time before that accident happen, and I had my first seizure, well was about to...

of course one of the fan fics I like reminds me of that as well, but that is besides the point...

before it did happen, my Mom had a sense that something was wrong, and when she did come back, I had my first seizure when I was maybe it was when I was 1 year old or before I turned 1 year old...

I forgot, I will need to ask sometime...but I know I was still a baby when it happen.

and even if my family might not take my theory and belief seriously,

I still think my seizures may have been caused by both the energies of people and the places we would be in.

not all Epilepsy, and I still need to talk about the whole Empath-Epilepsy thing that I had been meaning to talk about in a new post, but I had been putting it off.

maybe for all I know, before my rebirth into this life, my new Mom had to be chosen, and one of the ways to make sure I didn't die too soon, was to have me be reborn to a Mom who has RH Negative Blood.

I really need to get around to checking to see if my blood type will come out "O RH D Negative" for a third time, I keep putting it off, but not really on purpose...guess we never found a good time to do that blood type test thing again, that you can do at home to see what blood type you are.

but anyway, it could be possible that even in my past lives I may have always had the same blood type, but had some bad luck...

and for all I know, my Moms in my past lives may not of had the same blood type as me at least until now.

I know my Mom is O RH Negative, but I'm not sure about the "D" part...we aren't really sure.

maybe one of the reasons I keep putting the whole checking to see if it will come out the same for the third time, may have to do with how it ended up making me feel the few times we tried...

but I did learn that not only it is best to use the left hand when doing that blood type test, but also to close my eyes...

I know I had to either sit or lay down after the last few times and be close to some cool air afterwards, but I think I will be okay so long as I stick to the plan.

also it could be possible that if you hadn't reborn yet in the human world, you could grow-up in some part of the afterlife...

your soul might mature and grow both mentally and physically but it will stop at a certain point, but when you are taken to go through the reincarnation again, the soul might age backwards like before they send you to your new family, they use something to turn your soul back into the way they made you...

I mean that is a theory, plus it would make sense if that were the case.

we know that in Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, Sinners go to Hell and Winners go to Heaven...

well if some fan theory is true, it is only half of the Winners that end up going to Hell, and the other half that is Sinners end up going to Heaven, because of the broken corrupted system that Sera is running.

I still don't think I can fully hate her, like she still reminds me of White Diamond from Steven Universe.

like if Charlie was Steven and Emily & Vaggie were Connie,

they were in some Crossover AU in the Fanon Timeline.

Charlie, Emily and Vaggie are around Steven and Connie's age.

and Sera is telling Charlie that "she's not a demon, you are Lilith..."

and Sera could tell Charlie that she is "acting like a child"

and 14 year old Charlie from that Crossover AU of a Timeline,

would of course say "I am a child. whats your excuse...?"

the famous line that Steven says to White Diamond. XD

yeah, I'm still gonna stick to my theory that Lilith The Fallen Angel and Lilith that is Adam's Ex-Wife, had their stories mixed together and possibly had them being mistaken for being one in the same.

so in that Crossover AU idea, where Charlie is "Steven" in there and Sera is like "White Diamond", Charlie's Mom would be a Angel and a Seraphim.

but she fell in love with the Earth, and changed her form into a Human and ended up with Adam for a while, before meeting and falling in love with Charlie's Dad...

how that Fanon Timeline version of Charlie's Mom became human, could of been from Incarnation, and she may have had Charlie when she was still in her human body...

but anyway, in theory it could be possible that only half of the "Sinners" that end up in the Hell in Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, don't belong there, just as some of the "Winners" don't belong in Heaven...

also besides Fizzarolli reminding me of that scar I got when I was really little, Pink-Pearl from Steven Universe also reminds me of it.

Pink-Pearl (aka Volleyball, but I'm just gonna call her Vollie) probably tried to deny for a very long time, after being from White Diamond's control, that Pink Diamond did hurt her.

I mean, yes she knew that Pink hurt her, but she kept making excuses for her...

that "she didn't mean to." and "she was just too close to Pink during that time."

even if Pearl didn't want to believe it at first, but then she did start to believe Vollie after seeing her reaction and how they ended up bonding a bit more before they fused.

both Vollie and Spinel were badly hurt by Pink, that was before she became Rose and got a bit better...

well I like to think the Pink that became Rose and became Steven's Mom, is actually a double that the Original Pink Diamond made to act as her double while she went off to a far off galaxy away from White, Yellow and Blue...and it was that Original Pink that had hurt Pink-Pearl and Spinel, and not the one that would become Rose.

even if Charlie and Lucifer still love Lilith, they can't make excuses for her...

like Charlie doesn't even know and she thinks her Mom has just been off doing something really important for the past 7 years.

my Dad was probably gone way longer than that probably, and he never was there for the time it was time for my Mom to have me, and he could of came at any freaking point for it, but he wasn't.

he could of came and see me and still went back to his real family, like he could of visited me when I was a 1 year old, then 3 and then 5 and it's okay that he skip a few years, but I realized he could of came to see me at any other of those early times, and not just that one time when I finally met him...and yeah, even if there was some kind of bond formed, maybe it was just me being happy to finally have my dad...but, was he truly my dad...?

I mean yeah biologically yes, but he wasn't really there for me.

sure there is that whole thing where the other parent gives money to the other that is for their shared offspring, but that's besides the point.

I guess myself and anyone else would have mixed feelings about one of their parents, either it be a Mom or Dad.

but Charlie, Octavia and Loona are so lucky to have their Dads...

Lucifer, Stolas and Blitzo might not be 100% perfect and all three of them might be going through some emotional issues and they might be going through some form of depressions at times...

but at least they are trying, plus Charlie could be misunderstanding her Dad, and her "First B**th Woman" of a Mom probably lied to her about Lucifer not wanting to see her and that he only calls when he wants something...

still gonna call Charlie's Mom by that nickname...

also even if Stolas and Blitzo might misunderstand each other,

Stolas isn't exactly off the hook for what happen over at Ozzie's.

I mean, he tried to hide his face behind a Menu when Fizz and Ozzie were doing that whole song.

of course Blitzo will be upset, Stolas!

you made him think you were ashamed and embarrass to be seen in public at Ozzie's place!

if I was able to, I would punch Stolas so hard in the arm for not letting that finally sink in.

any fan who was watching the same episode, could figure that out.

well some might not figure it right away unless they re-watch it.

I mean it took me a while to figure out Tucker from Red Vs Blue, was a Cute Idiot because of the whole him believing he went back in time.

I had to re-watch the season and episode when it first started, to let it finally hit me that Tucker was a Cute Idiot...and yes, I'm still very aware about the you know what...which still not happy about, but we can still keep the Fandom alive and do the type of "in memory" stuff and well hopefully things do work out, and the new parent companies remember that the shows are for Mature Audiences Only, so long as they remember that, everything should be fine, I mean I can only hope so.

at least they wouldn't be calling Hazbin Hotel a "Kids Cartoon" like some Toxic-Religious man did in a video that one time...

seriously, it is NOT for kids, I mean did that guy even read the info about it, and how it is for 18 and up or whatever...?

I can't remember if his last name was Knowles or not...

I didn't bother watching all his video, but I know he peeved me off.

he probably peeved off a lot of others with calling the show a "Kids Cartoon", I mean NOT all cartoons or shows or movies or even books, are gonna be for kids, some are for older teens and adults.

even some parents have some sense to know this, even if half of them don't bother to watch their kids properly and end up scapegoating the Mature Content instead of taking the proper responsibility.

oh and let's not forget the half that let's their kids or the kids they are looking after that aren't their own, that they let see a a mature content thing, that they aren't the right age for.

and yeah, that had happen to me before when one of my older cousins let me watch a movie that I was too young at the time to watch, but I don't remember much during that time, and I did misremember and thought it was my Mom that let me watch it, we had rented it from some old video store place.

but anyway, turns out it wasn't my Mom that let me watch that movie, it was one of my older cousins who should of known better.

I do still like the movie, and now have it on DVD.

but I had learned that what happen when I was little, was wrong and my older cousin should of told me no, and I wasn't old enough yet.

well, one of my family probably covered my eyes in some parts of the movie, so that is good...

but seriously, parents or guardians or even grandparents, as well as cousins and siblings who are old enough to know better.

shouldn't just say "yes" or "okay" when it came to what happen, and they can't just keep scapegoating their irresponsibility to the Mature Content that is NOT aimed or for much younger viewers.

yeah some slight mature references that is in a show for all ages, will have that joke that will go over some kids heads and only those older will get...

like one of the episodes of the Powerpuff Girls, when the girls tried to join that all Super Hero Boys Club...

it wasn't just the Reboot that had Mature stuff, and one of their mistakes was that too twerking thing...

but I don't think that show was all bad, but it still made some mistakes...but what show doesn't, and maybe someday they could try again and bring a new Powerpuff Girls back in the future.

I liked Bliss, sorry, but I do...

plus maybe some could relate to the whole "not being able to fully control their powers thing"...

I'm still gonna use my gem bracelets for the multi-purposes I have them before, that is both protecting me from certain energies...

and the whole making sure that the thing that the pendulum had unlocked doesn't become too powerful that it gets like Cassie White or even Alessa Gillespie...or like fully like Alastor.

lucky the whole freaky thing with the modern Radio only happens once in a while and yeah my spirit animal or like I could call my spirit familiar is a deer...I think it is suppose to be a stag.

I know I do like sweets, but even I have my moments when I want something else besides sweets...but yeah I did get curious maybe a year or so ago about the whole Pineapple Pizza and surprisingly I liked it.

I also found out I like both meat and pineapple on pizza, and also dipping it in ranch dressing.

yeah, I'm that weird to dip a pineapple pizza (no matter if it has meat with it or not) into some ranch dressing...

it's been a while since I had some pineapple pizza, it might of been before that Covid-19 mess happen when I first tried it.

maybe I will try to put strawberries on my slice of pizza to see how I like it, not sure if I will eat it with ranch dressing though...

that should be for the pineapple and meat, also when its just cheese pizza.

but anyway, that dream I had about Valentino and Vox was pretty weird...I think I almost came so close into marrying them.

I mean not becoming their bride, well if those two were real and they did hypothetically marry me, guess that would make them go from just Overlords to "Princes"...

I mean yeah even if I don't have that official title, but if someone not just me who is descendant of a few royal families, and not just King Solomon, which once again not gonna view being his Granddaughter as a curse, because the best thing ever happen is that my line can't take that throne, no matter if there is a loophole there or not.

but yeah, if you are a descendant of some royal families, you are technically a Prince, Princess and Prinx...

Prinx is suppose to be the Nonbinary term for some Royals who are Nonbinary, well that and some could choose Monarch as well.

but I don't mind the whole "Princess" thing, maybe because I'm one of the different types of Nonbinary that is more of a Nonbinary-Gal and still go by She/Her.

plus there is that whole info I found before, that has to do with the info I found before that has to do with O RH D Negative the blue blood and also called Sange Azure, and how it is a very Ancient Bloodline...well that, and also I'm pretty sure O RH D Positive might be the same, you know Ancient as well.

anyway one of the information about the O RH D Negative, has to do with it being a very Ancient Bloodline and it having to do with The Spiritual Royal Bloodline.

I'm still gonna hope that Jesus is just a distant cousin, I still want to pray for him every once in a while, so both he and the Antichrist do NOT cross a line...

we still need the Divine Feminine energy to heal, that means that we need more balance and not some Masculine energies crossing lines they shouldn't and making the healing process of the Feminine have a setback and taking even longer...

I can still believe in the good side of Jesus, but I'm still gonna hope that the terrible futures that involve him and his army and the Antichrist, can be prevented...

we need to think both empathically and a bit more logically in maybe in a more open mind to the Feminine parts of Men, Women and Nonbinary, and even if I do talk about this, I know it's not likely many will even listen and try to understand the messed up stuff that is going on, is because that the Toxic-Masculine energy is out of control.

the reason why the Toxic-Feminine energy isn't as bad but is still a bit dangerous, is because it hasn't been around as long as it's Masculine counterpart.

we need both the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, and I'm gonna try to hope that Toxic-Masculine energy is stop soon, in the right way and not in the Toxic-Masculine way...

also there is a reason I'm hoping that Jesus is just a distant cousin.

even if it could be interesting if he were a Ancestor, and the whole "Grandpa" thing...like possibly addressing him like that...

but there would be a down side to it to me...

I mean I did point out before that I'm not only Seth's descendant, but I'm also Cain's descendant...and I had looked up some info before that has to do with some info that makes me hope that I'm only Jesus's distant cousin...

I mean yeah, some of my royal ancestors were from France, but ya can't prove it even if there is that whole info about Mary Magdalene escaping to the south of france and raised a family that make up Jesus's children.

I already know about some of the hot mess that goes on with well, what is going on...I'm still hoping to just go live where the Earthly-Mother is, or like make some plans to someday just run away to another universe...

Cain's Dad isn't the boss of me, and I'm not talking about his REAL Dad Adam, but his suppose and possible Bio-Dad...whichever he is.

I'm still gonna give Cain and Seth those nicknames "Grunkle-Paw"

cause they would technically be both Grunkles and Grandpas...

also I know I don't work 100% like other Earth Angels, and maybe only some are Weird too...I mean I'm weird enough to have the whole "Earth Angel Princess" pop into my head, and the whole nicknaming myself "Eveningstar Princess"...

which doesn't really have to do with Lucifer, cause once again...

it is from the whole thing with my Mom and how she never got Morning Sickness with me, she only got Evening Sickness.

still need to look up the whole "Michael Eveningstar" thing, well that info that has to do with Archangel Michael and how he also went by both "Morning Star" and "Evening Star", I will look that up again when I'm able to.

what would be freaky, if Lucifer's Twin Brother that is known in the Fanon AUs of Hazbin Hotel, ended up appearing in the canon and he goes by "Michael Eveningstar"...

so help me if he goes by "Eveningstar" I might end up freaking out. O_O

maybe not fully, but maybe just a little freaking out...

but anyway, there might not be much to say about the whole weird dream about my acting as "Priestess" and marrying Vox and Valentino...

like the whole saying "do you take Valentino to be your Babe."

and the whole "do you take Vox to be your Boo."

normally it be "husband" or "wife" or for some "partner"...

guess I was just being really weird in that dream.

well I had that weird dream about Husk that time, but he might of been drunk, and he ended up leaning on me, and if I remember right, he said I smelled nice...I knew I wrote it in my diary so I don't forget, same with that weird dream that has to do with Vox and Valentino and that weird dream happen on June 1, 2024.

Valentino & Vox almost had a June Wedding, and if I had finished the dream, I could of told them to kiss...

and I had watched the new episode of Helluva Boss first, before I had that weird dream...

and yeah, got way off topic probably around the whole if some a Toxic-Problem with me believing in both the Heavenly-Father & Earthly-Mother, they could go and kiss Mammon's butt...

well maybe like the Helluva Boss version of Mammon if that were possible, well either him or one of the Cuphead AU version of Mammon.

his and Stella's ship name Mamtella, still reminds me of food and yeah I did get hungry that time and my stomach growled a little because of it...it might remind me of Nutella, and I'm trying not to go as crazy on it like the last time I first tried it...I think I am doing a bit more better than that time.

and that Mamtella name had pop into my head, not sure if many people who ship Mammon x Stella are using it, but I hope they will at some point.

still gonna remind me of Nutella...

anyway if I ever have a dream like that again, and that is a big if...

I'm gonna finish marrying Valentino & Vox, and have them kiss. XD

[televinita]

Am I lucid dreaming??

Y’ALL.

Not only did the weather cooperate -- snowed last night instead of rained, so the roads were fine AND it was so sunny it felt at least twice as warm as the 15 degrees the high was -- but when I went to my book sale...

there were ONCE UPON A BOOK CLUB SUBSCRIPTION BOXES THERE.

Six of them. New in package. With all items present and unopened. Ten dollars each.

When I tell you I SCREAMED!!! (silently. did audibly gasp though)

I know I am not lucid dreaming because they did not include any of the few super-special boxes on my genuine dream list, but I have wanted a box for so long and not in the more than a year since I’ve been following their releases have I seen a book in YA or adult that I liked enough to spend $50 on. I came close to caving during the Christmas in July and Black Friday sales, but there were still weren’t any I wanted enough to spend $25+ on, not to mention shipping and sales tax. I debated some individual items, but even held back on those. I’ve looked all over Mercari and eBay; the resale value of subscription boxes is nuts. But ten dollars flat for everything???

I ended up buying two -- initially I chose The Lost Love Song (”Love and Music,” December 2020) because I remembered that was one of the boxes I’d considered before, and I think there was an individual item I’d considered as well. I was going to stick with one, because I didn’t want to be greedy or overwhelm myself when one box is already such a treasure.

But after I took it back to my car, I decided I’d better look up what was in the other boxes, because the items might appeal to me even though the books either didn’t or were unknown to me, and immediately went back to buy In Another Light by A.J. Banner (October 2021) because the stuff sounded pretty neat.

Boxes I left behind:

-A Betting Woman: A Novel of Madame Moustache by Jenni Walsh (May 2021) - although this looks like it has some very neat stuff if you are into the games!

-If The Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy (August 2021)

-Reset by Sarina Dahlan (June 2021)

-Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley (June 2022)

I am officially in love with whoever donated these instead of turning them into quick cash, especially during the holiday season. I wonder how many the sale started out with, if there were any more -- I got there 2.5 hours after opening, but I was browsing around for more than an hour and nobody else, that I saw, even touched these.

Regardless, I am SQUEALING!!! I have been squealing for two hours straight. I think I might just wrap these right back up and wait until Christmas to open them properly, because seriously, this was an actual-fax Christmas present from the universe. M’book fairies, you have gone far above and beyond anything I could possibly have expected. Or actually, I suppose if I was ever going to say “thanks be to God” and mean it, this is the moment.

I did get a few actual books too, but that’s for another post.

[neonredglow]

WHAT IF THEY ARE GETTING RID OF HIS MERCH BECAUSE HE IS LEAVING THEM

to be very real, after the way rca and the rest of zayn’s team treated him it’s only a matter of time before he officially leaves them

[nowandajenn]

Laid Bare Chapter 2

Pairing: High school history teacher Ari Levinson x single mom OC Peyton Whitmore. Lucy’s Dad (special surprise guest) x Peyton Whitmore (previous) (Written in first person)

Warnings: 18+ because it’s me. Mentions of strip clubs/gentleman’s club and working in one, language, angst (again, it’s me, and I’m a drama slut), fluff, mentions of teen pregnancy, future smut, slow burn. I’m just trying to cover all my bases here, but I’ll add more specific warnings for each chapter going forward.

Warnings for this chapter: language, mentions of drug laced baked goods. That’s it I think for this one. We finally get to meet Lucy’s dad at the end.....

I own nothing but my original characters, Peyton Whitmore and Lucy Whitmore. This is an 18+ story, as stated above. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Please don’t repost my stories and pass them off as your own. It’s a shitty thing to do.

Summary: Peyton Whitmore, a single mom of a 16 year old daughter, takes a job moonlighting at the exclusive gentleman’s club, Club Onyx, to help with the expenses that come with raising a teenager. The money is coming in, there’s more breathing room in the budget, and things are good. Then she meets her daughter’s new high school history teacher and all bets are off.

As always, shout out to my rockstar beta, @what-is-your-plan-today​. Without you, I’d never get any writing done. 

At 65 years old, June Mathison may be getting old, but she’s certainly not blind, and right now she’s thanking the good lord above for that fact. She smirks to herself as she grabs the coffee pot and heads over to where the new arrival has just sat down with his newspaper at the counter. 

“You know, I’ve owned this bakery for 22 years and I think you’ve officially become our most loyal customer. And I have a feeling it’s not just the coffee and pie that has you coming back.” she says with a knowing grin as she pours him a cup. 

“Come on now. Your pie is ridiculously good. Like, crazy good.” he leans in closer to June with a sly smile “Tell me the truth…..there’s crack in it, isn’t there? That’s what keeps the line wrapped around the building most mornings?” 

She brings a hand to her ample bust and lets out an over dramatic gasp. 

“I would never!” she breathes out, trying not to laugh. “Hold on a second. I know who you’re here for.”

She starts to head towards the back, but turns back after a few steps. 

“Not crack, by the way. Meth.”

She smiles to herself as her guest almost chokes on his coffee from laughing so damn hard at the older woman’s bawdy humor. 

“Hey, it looks like you have a visitor.”

“Oh yeah?”

I barely look up from the latest batch of the bakery’s famous Christmas cookies that I’m frosting and decorating. This is the fifth batch that I’ve baked and decorated since we opened at 6am, and I’ve got a system going, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let anyone disrupt the flow. The cookies look perfect, and I look like I lost a fight with a bag of flour. 

June raises her eyebrow and gives me a smirk that never means anything good. 

“Yeah, Mr. Tall, dark and sexy sitting at the counter out there. Looks like he’s making that spot his second home.”

The second the words come out of her mouth, I squeeze the pastry bag a little too hard and white frosting shoots from the star tip and onto the counter. June bursts out laughing, holding one hand over her mouth, and one over her chest. I toss the bag on the stainless steel prep counter and run my hand down my face and look down at the cookie I just ruined. 

“Lucy, you want a cookie?” I call. 

“Is that a trick question?” she replies, walking over from the other counter where she’s been scooping cherry filling into danishes. She looks at the cookie that would be perfect except for the giant squirt of icing all over it, and over at June, who’s still laughing her ass off, and then to me. 

“Did I miss something?” 

“Your future step dad is sitting out there waiting to get some face time with your mom.” 

“June! I swear to God, I will throw my apron down and quit right now if you don’t stop. You know he can probably hear you out there, right?!” 

I grab a paper towel and wet it down, wiping down my face and chest really quickly to get rid of any stray flour or sugar or anything else that might have gotten on me while I was working. 

“What?! Who?! Oh my god, does mom have a secret admirer?” Lucy gasps, running to the swinging door to peek out into the bakery to see who her boss and honorary aunt is talking about. She turns back towards us with her eyes narrowed. 

“Oh God, mom, please tell me she’s not talking about Mr. Levinson!” 

“I thought you liked him!” I tell her. 

“Yeah, as my teacher! Not as your…..” she turns and pretends to retch “your boyfriend.”

I roll my eyes and head towards the door. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a guy. He’s YOUR teacher.”

“Yeah, just a guy who’s drunk his body weight in coffee here over the last couple weeks and really likes the pastries. But I think what he’s really here for are your mom’s buns.” she says, nudging Lucy with her elbow. Lucy and I both facepalm at almost the same time, and it sets off June’s cackling once more. 

“Gross.” Lucy mutters, walking back to finish her work. 

I put my hand on the door, but turn back towards June at the last second, gesturing to myself. “Am I good? Face, hair?” She gives me a thumbs up and I take a breath, pushing the door open and hoping to God that Ari didn’t hear the ridiculous conversation that just took place. 

“Be cool. Don’t be a spaz. Just breathe.” I whisper to myself. 

I grab a rag from the sanitizer bucket and start wiping down the counter so I can give my hands something to do and to make it seem like I’m not just out here to talk to Ari instead of being in the back working on baking an assload of Christmas cookies. 

“You know,” I say as I wipe the counter right in front of Ari, grinning when he picks up his coffee cup automatically so I can get under it. “This is your third visit this week. People are going to start to talk.” I tease, throwing him a wink. 

I watch as he takes a long sip from the coffee cup that looks positively tiny in his big hand and I find myself thinking that no one should look that damn good drinking coffee on a Saturday morning when it’s ten degrees outside. 

“So, let them talk. In fact, I think you should let me take you out to dinner, so that way we can give them something really good to talk about. Other than the fact that I’ve become addicted to the methamphetamines that June puts in the pie.” The twinkle of mischief in his eyes has my stomach somersaulting in a way I haven’t felt since I was dating Lucy’s dad. 

“Damn it, she told you?!” I cry out in mock outrage. 

I take a step back from the counter and stick my hands in the front pocket of the black and red polka dotted apron that I’m wearing. 

“You’re relentless, you know that?”

“I prefer to think of it as goal orientated.”

“You’re Lucy’s teacher.” I tell him. 

“I’m aware. It’s not like I want to take HER out to dinner. I mean, I guess she can tag along if she wants to….” he says with a grin. 

I can’t stop myself from rolling my eyes at him. 

“Ari…..I like you. I really do. But my life is….I hate to use the word ‘complicated’ but I can’t think of a better one. It’s been me and Lucy her entire life, and I’ve been perfectly okay with that. I’ve been too busy trying to keep her alive to really worry about dating or relationships or anything like that over the years. My last real ‘relationship’ was when I was 16 and that was with Lucy’s dad. I just…..I don’t know how to do this.” 

He sits quietly in front of me, twisting his coffee cup back and forth in front of him for a few moments. “Can I see your phone?”

I pull it out of my apron pocket and unlock it quickly, handing it to him. I watch as he punches in his phone number and adds himself to my contacts. 

“Listen, I know you’re busy and you’ve got a life. Trust me, I don’t want to get in the way of that.” He says, standing up and reaches into his wallet to retrieve some bills that he tosses on the counter. “So, I’ll leave the ball in your court. If you ever want to have a night off and get dinner with me, call me. If you’re having a crap day and you just want to vent to someone, call me. If you just want a friend….”

“Call you.” I say softly. 

I watch as he pulls on his heavy winter jacket and something starts to ache a little at the thought of him leaving. As much of a surprise as it started out as, seeing Ari and engaging in all the banter and flirting has become the best part of my day when it happens. And I’m not quite sure what to do with that information. 

“I’ll see you later, sweetheart. Save me a spot at the counter, yeah?” 

I raise an eyebrow at him. “First you want me to go out to dinner with you, and now you want me to save you a piece of prime real estate at the hottest bakery in town? Asking a lot for one day, aren’t you?” 

“Maybe, but I like my odds.”

By the time I get home that night at quarter to six, I’m so tired that I don’t even take notice of the rental car with the Massachusetts plates that’s parked on the street in front of the house. I park the car and grab my stuff before hauling ass to the front door to get out of the biting early December air. 

I open the front door and step inside, shaking the snow off my coat and slipping my boots off. The house is nice and warm and I’m looking very forward to eating dinner and maybe curling up in front of a fire with some wine and all the crap on the DVR that I haven’t caught up with yet. As I walk into the living room, I hear the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. Lucy’s laugh I could pick out in a heartbeat….the other one, however….well. I hang my head and make my way towards the kitchen like it’s a death march. I linger in the doorway for a minute, watching father and daughter sitting at the kitchen table, identical brunette heads bent and focusing on Lucy’s cell phone and watching videos on TikTok. 

Lucy finally looks up and notices me. “Mom! Hey, you’re home!” she says with a slightly nervous tone. 

“Hey hon. Don’t you remember me asking you not to summon demons when I’m not home?” I ask in a sweet voice. 

The scoff that comes from her father makes me narrow my eyes at him. 

“What are you doing here? You get lost on the way to the country club?”

“Funny. I had some business in the area, and I thought I would stop by and surprise you guys. Lucy said you were working late, so we ordered Chinese for dinner. It should be here any minute.” 

Well, he might be an asshole who doesn’t call and just shows up unexpectedly, but at least he ordered dinner to make up for it. I leave them to their own devices while I go upstairs and shower really quickly, washing away the sweat and powdered sugar. After getting changed into sweats and a ratty Led Zeppelin T shirt that I’ve had for years, I head downstairs. 

Sitting at the kitchen table, I make it my mission to do some real damage to the container of Chicken Lo Mein in front of me while Lucy and her dad sit and catch up with each other. He hasn’t been here to see us since April of this year, but he is pretty good about calling and FaceTiming her, along with the check I get once a month that gets deposited straight into the account that I have for her when she turns 18. Between that and the trust fund that was set up when she was born (and that she doesn’t know about) she can do whatever the hell strikes her fancy when she gets done with high school. I hope that she’ll decide to go to college and get to have the experiences that I didn’t have a chance to, but as long as she’s doing something that makes her happy, that’s all I want for her. 

“So, winter break is coming up in about two weeks.” 

I look up and turn my attention towards him. “Good job, you can read a calendar.”

“My parents just bought a place in Aspen and everyone is flying out there for Christmas. I wanted to see what you thought about Lucy coming out there with me for a week.”

“Really?! A whole week?” 

Lucy’s excitement is reaching fever pitch and all I can do is sit there feeling like I got punched in the stomach. I blink slowly and try to focus on swallowing the bite of food in my mouth and not choking on it. I listen to our daughter chatter excitedly and I know she’s so stoked over the thought of spending an entire week with her dad that it probably didn’t even register yet that we wouldn’t be together for Christmas if she goes. And he knows damn well that I don’t have the heart to tell her no about spending time with him. 

“Babe, why don’t you go take your plate in the living room and watch some TV while me and your dad talk it over?”

Once she loads up her plate with more food (seriously, I don’t even know where she puts it all. She’s like 100 pounds for God’s sake) and heads into the living room, I get up from the table and start getting the leftovers together while seething internally. 

“Peyton-”

“Oh, shut up. I don’t want to hear it.” I snap. “We spend Christmas together every year. Me, her, and you, when and if you decide you’re not too busy to show up. And you just roll in here, out of the blue I might add, and offer to take her on this big, fancy Christmas vacation that I’ve never been able to take her on, and rob me of Christmas with my kid?”

“Our kid.” he corrects. “I’d like you to be there too, but we both know that you and my mother would end up trying to kill each other, just how you do every time you’re within 50 feet of each other.” 

“Really? ‘Our kid’. You’re only a dad when it’s convenient for you. You think because you call every once in a while and show up a couple times a year and send a check every month, that makes you a dad. She adores you, and in her mind, whatever time you decide you want to spend on her is worth you not being there the rest of the time. And you completely manipulated the situation! You could have called me and discussed this with me, but instead you bring it up right in front of her with no heads up to me, and you get her all excited and fired up, and you know I can’t and won’t say no to her!”

I throw the containers in the fridge and slam the door. I’m so upset and frustrated at the situation while also dealing with the residual huge emotions I have whenever I’m around him, and I know that if I don’t make a quick escape, I’m going to start crying and that’s the last thing I want to do in front of him. 

“I’m going to bed. Lucy’s going to want you to stay the night, so you can crash on the couch. Go ahead and book her plane ticket now, I guess. I’m not going to be the bitch who says no to her spending the week in Aspen learning how to snowboard with her dad. So, you win.” 

Hours later, I’m still awake when I hear my bedroom door open. The bed dips a moment later and I find myself wishing I slept with a taser under my pillow. I lay on my side facing away from him and stay quiet, hoping he’ll just go away. 

“I never meant to come here and piss you off. I know you probably don’t believe that, but it’s the truth. I don’t know how to be a good dad. God knows I didn’t have a shining example to live up to. But I’m trying to be better.” he says softly. “I really am sorry.”

I turn over and take a good long look at him before rolling back over on my side. 

“Go be sorry somewhere else, Ransom. And get the fuck out of my bed.”

@what-is-your-plan-today @spectre-posts @jtargaryen18 @syms-things-5 @icanfeelastormbrewing @imaginedreamwrite @traceyaudette @supersquirrel1996 @sweater-daddiesdumbdork

[no-disco]

Sounds, 27th June 1981. Photos by Virginia Turbett

transcription under the cut

photos and article taked from sacreddm.net on the wayback machine

  Five months ago the prospect of doing an interview shut inside an airless, sterile studio would have made Depeche Mode run all the way home to Basildon. But then five months, as Wowington Woy would say, is a long time in the wacky world of wock and woll. One look at Vince Clarke sitting confidently behind the mixing desk and shorts-sporting Martin Gore’s welcoming smile and I knew things would be hunky dory.

  Dan “The Man” Miller quickly ordered Martin back in front of the mike to contribute his part to the now characteristic Mode quasi-barbershop harmonics on a new track which might be the new single, or possibly the start of the (gasp) album.

  “I just can’t get enough, I just can’t get enough,” sung Mart.

  But he had, and stopped for a cuppa and a chat.

  Les Moders, as I’ve hinted, are now 100% more confident, talkative, witty and brighter than all other known brands of washing powder. (Shurely shome mishtake?) Vince set his synth onto random programming to break the icky atmosphere and we commenced. How appropriate! With one record set straight – ie Depeche Mode aren’t shy, incommunicative, fragile young things at all, here’s the official mode of pronunciation: Depech-ay, if you please. “It’s probably grammatically wrong,” said Vince. “But we like it that way.” [1]

  Okay. Depecheeee Mode are laying down lotsa new tracks, having come to a halt after mucho gigging around London following the surprise success of “Dreaming Of Me” and even bigger surprise of “New Life”. Up until now Andy and Martin have had day jobs so the touring principle is only now an ongoing viability. Offers of the calibre of Classix and Toyah had been pouring in, but Vince reckoned it wasn’t the best thing for them to do at the time. Martin considered that the Classix tour may have tied them irrevocably to the futuromanticism tag which they’ve steadfastly been trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid.

  But of the bands who secured deals following the “Some Bizzare” LP, Depeche have fared the best: their simple, uncomplicated synthi-pop tunes are terribly hard to dislike, after all.

  “We had a sad day on Tuesday, though,” said David Gahan, crest suddenly fallen, “we expected “New Life” to go up a bit more. I think we all thought it wasn’t gonna do much at first, but inside… You can’t tell.”

  Funny, ’cos “New Life” is definitely even more instant than the debut… Vince: “It’s really up isn’t it.”

  David: “We learned a lot from “Dreaming”, came in here and just did a better job on the next one.”

  And that riveting little synth riff is still locked in my head, reminding me of God-knows-what. Just an old r&b riff, said Vince. No, it’s a good job they do have insistent hooks – David reckoned people have beaucoup de trouble remembering the name:

  “I bet they get to the shop and forget the name. They go on, hum the tune and say oh, can’t remember the name, I’ll have that Duran Duran one instead!”

  Andy Fletcher suggested Dep Mod as an abbreviation in fine Orch Man tradition. An imaginary lightbulb above Vince’s head suddenly fired him with a cracking good idea.

  “When your photographer comes,” he smirked, “can we have a picture taken in the back of Dan’s Renault? Just like Spandau Ballet? Only there’ll be five of us in the back, and we’ll all be squashed up like this…” (David imitates dead sardine)

  OK, wrench those tongues out of yer cheeks, boys. Mutemobile, indeed? It is true that they did well in the US Disco charts and have great appeal for Europe too… deals are currently being set up with several different majors to get Mode released in France, Germany et al. Many doubted the ability of Mute and Miller to break the Modes, but for an indie they’ve broken the required barriers.

  David: “We would much rather have had points than big advances, and we’ve got that with Daniel – he’s proved he can get us what we want, there’s nothing he can’t do – that we haven’t found out yet!”

  Andy: “Indies are at their height, they never used to get in the charts before.”

  David: “And radio stations are more likely to play indies.”

  Vince: “They have to pay less royalties!”

  David: “Radio One have been very good to us – 3 plays a day on this one. They said they’d stick with it, give it lots of airplay.”

  So from the insecure, nervous and unsure start, things have actually turned out as they’d hoped?

  Vince: “It has really. You learn things very quickly. With Mute we know everything that’s going on, we’re in contact with distributors, pluggers and promotion people every day.”

  Andy: “What we don’t know is what a major is like. We’re quite happy with our set up, but we don’t know if the distribution could be better.”

  Aah, but Rough Trade gets you into those little shops that the hordes of independent buyers frequent, you lucky boys.

  Andy then proceeded to go off at a tangent (this is not unusual), musing about how the band’s audiences had changed, become much younger. No-one else agreed.

  David: “We get a varied audience, you can’t say that at all!”

  Vince: “In clubs an’ that, the audience is already there, they haven’t come to see us.”

  David: “Don’t be silly! You can’t say everywhere we play has a fixed audience!”

  Andy: “You’re getting worse than Martin now… Martin hasn’t said one thing yet!”    Martin woke up. “I’m saving it up, it’s all going to come out in a minute, I’m just waiting for the right question.”

  We launched into a discussion about clubs, people not dressing up as much as they used to and the sight of Midge Ure sending lace-clad young girls into the water and into a frenzy at Crystal Pal last week.

  This caused much amusement.

  Andy: “That’s what Martin does!”

  Martin: “You’re asking for it, Fletch…”

  To avert a full-scale war, I mentioned my liking for the “Rio” mix of “Shout!”, B-Side of their first ever 12”. They love the rhythm, but the song? David loves it, Vince hates it, Martin says so-so. Humph. It’s the first dancefloor oriented thing they’ve done tho’, eh?

  Andy: “Apart from the things we did when we were Light Of The World…” Silence… laughter!

  They all paused to watch Daniel frowning in the control room, doubtless searching for that stray note out of tune. A conspiracy brewed. “What was that thing we wanted in Jaws about Daniel?” they whispered. “Nooooo – don’t put it in, he’d know it was us… if you say it, Andy, you’re the one – we all tried to stop you!” [2]

  Andy turned to me with a probing question. “Who told you about the folk group and church hall thing?” (Referring to a gossip item about their acoustic past). “We practised in a church hall, that’s all.” [3]

  And they’re recording in a deconsecrated church now! [4]

  David: “Yeah, we just love churches.”

  Martin: “You wait till you hear our new single – it’s a gospel song.”

  David: “It’s called “Have You Got The Sunshine Smile”.”

  Andy sung the words, gesticulating his finger at his smiling lips in Sunday School teacher style.

  David: “On the picture bag, there’s Andy’s face, and when you press his nose, a finger comes out and there’s Martin inside showing the actions. Martin doing the Mode!”

  And they chorused: “Have you got the sunshine HA-HA-HA HEE HEE.” I think this is what we in the trade call a joke…

  On entering studiospace, I’d noticed Darryl, Fan Club President and original Silicon Teen, scribbling away replies to D Mode fan mail. Are they getting lots?

  David: “Not really. We were just trying to impress you! We were s’posed to have this Postman come in just after you with a great big sack!”

  Andy: “Yeah, binfuls of used biros, hard skin on our fingers where we’ve been writing so much!”

  Well, I saw at least ten letters.

  David: “A lot of them are really young. This 13 year old boy wrote us a story using words from the singles and sent us some badge designs.”

  Vince: “We’re pop! Ultra pop!”

  Andy: “People write to us from up North but they haven’t seen us. We want to branch out from London, but first we must rehearse new material, we’ve been doing the same set for 4 months. The live show should be better, more danceable.”

  Daniel looked quizzical again. The boys told him to stop listening in.

  Andy: “He’s a great man. Look – the ultimate picture of Daniel Miller, father of electronic music…”

  Vince: “Grandfather, more like.”

  Daniel the scolding father retorted, “I can hear you.”

  A man from ITV arrived to discus Dep Mod’s appearance on a 20th Century Box prog on the Essex music scene, past and present. Depeche are to be filmed live at Croc’s in Rayleigh, and filmed au naturel around Basildon, all to be shown sometime in August.

  “You can film my usual Saturday morning routine,” joked David. “Have a sauna, go to a brothel, then a commando course… Nah, it’ll be Andy waking up at 5am, having ’is toast and going down the newsagents for his paper round. Boys next door!” He concluded, sensibly: “It doesn’t matter if we’re sitting on the loo – a minute on tele is better than a thousand radio plays.”

  Andy came over all pensive again, wondering why so many of their interviews spent more time talking about Daniel than the band.

  “There’s nothing really that people can say about us is there? All other bands go on about political things, we don’t talk about our views.”

  Dave: “We don’t have political views, I don’t think.”

  Andy: “There’s always an extrovert member of a band with strong views.” [5]

  Vince: “We don’t stand for anything united do we?”

  Andy: “We haven’t got a person who’s domineering.”

  David: “That’s good!”

  Andy: “On the other hand, that’s why our interviews are very empty, ’cause usually the loudmouth of a band goes on about what the Labour party are doing or something.”

  Martin: “Sexism always comes up too, especially with HM bands.”

  David: “They always talk about sex.”

  Vince: “It’s all that macho stuff.”

  Macho. Dep Mod certainly aren’t Macho. Now they were in a more reflective mood, I asked what their immediate hopes for the future were.

  Chorus: “Ultimate success!”

  David: “We’re happy as it is, we’d just like some money.”

  Vince: “We want to change our sound, get some new stuff together, get a good live show.”

  Vince: “We don’t want to get like Kraftwerk, we don’t want to use tapes any more. We’ve got a rhythm unit with a TV screen that plays Space Invaders as well!” [6]

  Andy: “We want to give the show more of an aura.”

  David: “Down the Bridgehouse?!”

  Now there’s a thought… anything else?

  David: “Yes, Andy would love to have a cult following, be underground. We have gigs in here when Vince is getting down on the mixer, and Andy sings! Things get on top of you in the studio – you have to do something to let it all go, so we come in here and scream and shout.”

  The lads played me a tape of impromptu raw electro-punk with Crass-style vocals by Andy, featuring a cover version of “Simple Simon Says”, “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” and a sensitive rendition of a popular school hymn. There’s that religious influence again… But they need this relief valve from the precise orderliness required to produce their brand of neatly-packed pop songs – operating, generating new life for our pop kids.

  A lot of people know the name Depeche Mode now. Now you know who they are, what they are. Like their boss, they’re all heart – boys next door who turn into Ultra Popsters at the flick of a switch. Mode: strictly not avant-garde.