#no my internet died. so my ship sank.

[paeinovis]

IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL COX INTERNET

[wumblr]

what are those extreme chances where you have the possibi of changing other peoples minds?

lord, i don't know. i pulled my abusive mom halfway out of mormonism because she loved the idea of having children so much that it quite literally physically and medically broke her heart when i went no contact. and she still died avoiding responsibility for what she'd done, not knowing me very well at all, and saying things like "if i have a being after i'm gone," "some parents have like a sixth sense when something is wrong with their kids but i never understood that," and "my therapist said it's best not to burden children with any of that religious shit" (all signs that she did not interrogate any of the core underlying causes nor uproot the underlying beliefs. but also, signs of the half-distance she was able to cover)

obviously this did not go well and i can't say i recommend it, but i have to admit i did get further than people whose parents simply disown them. i have no explanation for why. my inability to theorize or develop a model that can explain or fix this kind of thing feels like a capital-G Great Failure. but it speaks to this unacknowledged and brutal reality that there are maybe a handful of people in someone's life who can really get them to stop, question, or pivot to change their underlying philosophy, moral core, or behavioral structure

if you acknowledge that, then you can't call shouting on the internet "activism." so i understand why people don't. because the painful truth is that we do not have any capacity to steer this sinking ship and we never did, it was always going to steer on towards war profiteering til it sank itself no matter what anybody said or did. the hard fact is that billions of people are throwing their lives away at this problem and the sum total of all their efforts is precisely nothing

i'm probably wasting my time stating this on the website where 95% of people do not read the news for their mental health because 80% of them would rather imagine fictional characters from the propaganda machine having sex. which is where they get the redemption arc shit. because they watch 70 tv shows a year that narratively hinge on these far-extremal experiences. of course i can see it would be nicer (for my mental health) to believe people can change. and i do. but i believe it's much, much, much, much rarer than anyone wants to admit, and for the vast majority of those extremely rare cases, they half-ass it. because whole-assing it involves ego death and facing mortality. which is painful, in an insultingly mundane and everyday way. you don't ever get to wake up one day having done all the work with the problem solved. that's why narrative fiction is so seductive. you get explicable character pivots and satisfying endings

[carriagelamp]

My internet died for about half a week this month, so I had a really peaceful few days where I had an enforced excuse to do nothing but relax and read when I got home from work. It was incredibly zen and I really sank into my books that week.

The Call of the Wild

A classic novel that I’ve always meant to read. I was sick and headachy this month and decided that this was the perfect sort of relaxing, narratively rich book to listen to. I really enjoyed it, would recommend. It follows a dog named Buck who’s snatched from his home in southern California and is shipped off to work as a sled dog in the Yukon, where a need for strong dogs to help transport goods over the snow and ice makes them very valuable. Buck has to learn how to survive in this harsh environment as everything from the weather, his fellows dogs, and his human masters seem to fight against him.

A Complicated Love Story Set In Space // How To Bite Your Neighbour and Win A Wager

Putting these two together because my experience with them was pretty similar. For both I was intrigued by the title, got them from the library on a whim, and didn’t really mesh with either. I didn’t really get far enough in either to give much of a review, they just didn’t vibe. A Complicated Love Story Set In Space set up a scenario that didn’t really interest me — not surprising, I’m picky about my scifi — and How To Bite Your Neighbour and Win A Wager just had an… odd writing style to it. It very much feels like it’s main goal is to be a kinda horny about vampires which, if that’s what you want, all the power to you, but it’s wasn't doing it for me. I had to suspend way too much disbelief for the scenario to function.

Indiana Jones and the Cup of the Vampire // Indiana Jones and the Curse of Horror Island

A pair of choose your own adventure books I found at a used book sale. I picked them up out of sheer amusement, and they were basically what I expected and paid for: cheesy 1980s adventure stories with Indiana Jones as a nominal protagonist. They were both varying degrees of improbable, ridiculous, and racist so YMMV but they were fun to play with while I was down and out on the internet front.

The Kootenay Kidnapper

Eric Wilson is a classic Canadian author who writes children’s mystery/thriller novels. I’ve never read him before and decided to remedy that. At this point I choose to withhold judgement until I read another… I’m not sure how I felt about The Kootenay Kidnapper. It had some nice descriptive language, successfully raised the tension from time to time and made me really try to piece together who the villain was, but then also had some strange dead zones as well. The whole thing read a bit like a 1990s stranger danger PSA which was also… weirdly nostalgic? But also just weird. Would try another.

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation comic v3

I continue to be a MDZS simp, this is not news. 

The Radium Girls

I don’t read much nonfiction, but this book was so narrative in its writing that I seriously couldn’t put it down. Kate Moore took a historical event (the girls that were paid to paint watch dials with radium paint in the early 1900s) that had been written about in scientific and legal styles, and instead retells it with a primary focus on the girls themselves. You follow a variety of real life women over the decades and learn about the all the machinations that went into them being horrifically poisoned by radium, and how that changed the very foundation of American workplace safety. Super engaging, unspeakably appalling.

Scott Pilgrim v1/2

My brother and I started watching Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix and… wow, it is not what either of us was expecting but we are loving it. We’ve both been big Scott Pilgrim fans since the naughts. Since I haven’t reread the series in years I decided I should pick it up to help notice the differences between the original series and this new show — I have the big, coloured omnibus version, so I reread the first collection of stories which amounts to volume 1 and 2 of the original. 

Scott Pilgrim is one of those comics that if you’ve somehow never read then you really need to, it’s one of my all-time favourites. It’s a story about Scott Pilgrim, a young adult who’s awkwardly trying to figure himself out, combining a coming-of-age slice-of-life with magical realism. The mysterious girl he meets, Ramona Flowers, can travel a subspace highway through Scott’s dreams — of course, don’t they teach Canadians how to do that? Huh, maybe it’s an American thing. Scott is known to be the best fighter in the province and when he defeats an enemy they explode into a pile of coins. One of the Evil Exes has Vegan Powers, and another can summon demonic back up dancers. This story just does whatever the fuck it likes and I adore it for that.

Heaven Official's Blessing v3/4

I continue to be TGCF simp, this is not— seriously, the series continues to be excellent and I only get more and more invested in not just Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, but also in the side characters that are introduced. I was thrilled to have Shi Qingxuan become a bigger player in book 4, and really liked the whole plot with the Venerable of Empty Words and Black Water. Please, someone, help this guy…

The Wind in the Willows

Another classic I had never read that I decided to pick up. It was excellent, I can see why it’s stayed so beloved over the years. Though I love a good cute-animals-in-lil-clothes-living-cute-lil-lives story, so I was an easy sell. It was much more tame than the likes of Redwall, but had a bit more going on than the likes of Brambly Hedge — it keeps you very engaged, but never raises the stakes so high that it stops feeling light and comforting. It is essentially a collection of stories that follow Mole and Rat, a pair of friends that live together on the river, through the seasons and the various misadventures they and their friends go on.

The Woman They Could Not Silence

Since I liked The Radium Girls I decided to pick up another one of Kate Moore’s books. This one follows a woman who was intentionally committed to an insane asylum by her husband, purely because she was intelligent and outspoken, refusing to be cowed to his opinions or beliefs. This story details her time in the insane asylum, the abuses that the patients suffered, and how she came to fight the laws that allowed for such abuses to be perpetuated in the first place. A fascinating read about a historical figure I had never heard about before.

[tortoisesshells]

summary from Internet Archive:

David Charleston, once a world renowned journalist, now lives alone maintaining the Thunder Rock lighthouse in Lake Michigan. He doesn't cash is paychecks and has no contact other than the monthly inspector's visit. When alone, he imagines conversations with those who died when a 19th century packet ship with some 60 passengers sank. He imagines their lives, their problems their fears and their hopes. In one of these conversations he recalls his own efforts in the 1930s when he tried desperately to convince first his editors and later the public of the dangers of fascism and the inevitability of war. Few would listen. One of the passengers, a spinster, tells her story of seeking independence from a world dominated by men. There's also the case of a doctor who is banished for using unacceptable methods. David has given up on life but the imaginary passengers give him hope for the future.

This is so very My Brand that I'm embarrassed to say I've never even heard of it before. This is the choicest of treats, thank you so much!

trick or treat! no costume for me this year, but I've got a lobster costume for the cat.

Awww, that's fun! 🦞

You receive: Thunder Rock (1942)

[jujstarzzzzy]

HELP

OK my dearest 6 followers

I am on a valiant quest!!!! There was this book I read like 6 years ago; I don't remember the author, and I'm not totally sure about the title, but I think it was called Brave. It was reddish, had a big lighthouse on the cover from a wacky perspective, and the title was at the bottom in giant bold caps

I totally forgot about it apparently, and I have no idea where to find it. It doesn't even appear on the internet. I'm planning on going to the library later to see if I can find it

Here's a basic description of the plot juuust in case you've heard of it

(spoilers for this book that might not even exist)

Some mother with like 12 kids is dirt poor and hears that the ship her husband was on sank. She tells all her kids and they're all 'aw man'

and her oldest son is like 'thats bs' and goes out to Plymouth to find him (she's fine with this since hey less mouths to feed)

anyway he gets like halfway there when his little brother shows up and he's like WTF DUDE turns out the little bro was following him so that's neato dorito

they get there and beg around for a while, i think they found a dog and ate cabbage from the sewer, when some dudes come along and give them a bird in a cage and run away laughing. little bros sit there with this weird bird when the police or whatever show up and are like 'LITTLE RATS STOLE THAT MF BIRD' anyway they get framed and turns out the bird belonged to this cool guy who owns a lighthouse in the dangerous sea

so we have a whole father figure situation and the oldest kid learns to embrace himself and stuff, and tbh i don't remember how the end goes exactly but eventually he finds his father, cool bird guy dies at his lighthouse, its all sad the end maybe THANKS

EDIT: here’s my artist’s interpretation

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

Telekinesis

Summary: a reddie x daughter where she has powers? maybe that when IT died his powers went to her in the form of like maybe telekinesis or sum and she tells them when all the losers are together and they don’t believe her at first so she shows them? kinda lame but i thought it’d be cool

Another book, another disappointment, another opportunity wasted. Mike’s library was empty, both from it being after-hours as it being located in Derry, and the only light Rachel has is the obstructed street lights, eluding to an eerie feeling of impending doom and death, a real life horror movie.

The lights inside the building had to be turned off, because Rachel’s parents, Eddie and Richie, were not allowed to have any clue that she’s in here in the first place. Unlike last time she snuck into the place and got nabbed on by the woman taking over Mike’s job while he’s away on holidays, she was now determined to emerge herself in every book hidden in the smallest gap until she found a solution to her problem.

See, coming to Derry, roughly two years ago now, had unveiled a lot of things about her dads. Those nights as a child fearfully disclosing that a monster housed under her bed, a little child’s imagination, but her dads reacted so fierce without them assimilating why suddenly made a lot more sense. Their monster, a clown hellbent on destroying their lives and everything they had built, using incomprehensible powers and abilities to do so, defeated on its own turve, wasted away on the perspective that no one wasn’t afraid of it any longer, withered away with one last trick up its sleeve. A last gift to the youngest member of the losers club.

Her hands curl around the pages with upmost precision, attentive not to rip the age-old pages from the rug. The typing circulates, switching letters in front of her until the words all lose their meaning and Rachel rests her eyes for a brief second. She’s been at it for hours, exchanging book after book, futile. The pages provided no more research then the internet had, the only search result being that of movies with ‘mutant powers’, or stories about the mentally deranged.

Rachel yells out in frustration, and the current book she’s devouring soars across the room, the book disintegrating and several pages scattering around.

‘Ow come on. But when I actually try to make something happen you don’t do anything.’

Discovering you have supernatural abilities, more specifically telekinesis in her case, is not as cracked up as the movies portray it, Rachel’s disclosing herself. After leaving Derry she didn’t even notice something off about her, hyped up on adrenaline, the real shock only showed when she dropped a photo frame and extended her hand, stopping it midair without touching the picture in any way.

She’d conjured the experience to a trick of the light, and paranoia embedded after Pennywise, but then the same thing occurred again but a few days later, a painting skidding from its nail in the wall and cracking the floor. The experience was bizarre, as Rachel vibrated with indignation the moment it happened, worked up on an assignment for school and as she reached for a pillow to muffle her screams of vexation, the painting bustled and sank down.

Then she knew for sure that something was going on. The first trip to Mike’s library, the only place Rachel could think off holding any of the answers she was desperate to find, forlorn as it might be, ended up unavailing, caught to fast to locate any books in the subject matter in the first place, but it made Rachel just more committed. So what if she’s technically not allowed to be in here? She’s sure that if she asked uncle Mike for his keys he would hand them over without a sliver of hesitation.

‘There has to be a book about this stuff right? How in the world did uncle Mike found the artifact from the 1800 if there was no book telling him where to go?’

Rachel sits up from her position on the floor, alleviating the strain on her legs, too unbothered and eager for information to keep going back and forth from the table to the shelf's and stretches, her joints popping and sliding back in place. She idly traces the spines of the ancient old books, pondering to herself about the titles.

She’d have to come back here someday, when she’s no longer pursued by the strange things she’s capable of doing out of the blue, because some of these books really peek her interest. But no book on the subject she’s looking for.

‘Okay please universe. You fucked me over enough already can you give me a break?’ If the universe is listening, it’s doing nothing but mocking her.

‘Rachel Maggie Kaspbrak-Tozier. What do you think you’re doing young lady? We told you to stay at the Inn while we cleaned up pops house. Now all the losers are are the hunt for you.’ Her dad’s low pitched voice criticized, belonging to a ticked off Eddie Kaspbrak, accompanied by Richie, of course Rachel can never only get in trouble with one parent, and Mike, the keys dangling from his hand.

Richie mounts the words; ‘Oeh someone’s in trouble’, face half pinched in stress and the other in pure and uninhabited mirth.

Fingers flipping her pops off, their own love languages, Eddie scowl turns up a notch, and Rachel abandons ship, changing her course and demonstrating her most conniving angel face.

Eddie and Richie near her, hugging her so tight her ribs creak, their labored breath only now picked up on by their daughter.

‘Don’t you ever’, Eddie threatens, dislodging himself away from their bear pile to survey Rachel with full conviction. ‘Do that to us again. Not anywhere, but especially not in Derry.’

Richie dots a kiss on her forehead, his arm capturing Eddie back into a clasp, the memory of Pennywise nearly swallowing his daughter whole tattooed in his brain.

‘What are you even doing in here? Don’t tell me my genes created someone who likes to learn? School stuff?’ Richie spits the words school like they leave a bad taste in his mouth, ‘Eddie, love of my life, did you have an affair on me?’

‘Richie focus, that’s so not the point. And no you idiot. I’d never do that to you.’

‘I’m hunting for a book’, Rachel informs, withholding part of truth as there’s no way she’s adding her problems on the pile of stress stacked upon Richie and Eddie’s lives.

Her pops trial only recently ended and her dad found a new job doing something he actually likes to do, and their lives are starting to clear up for once. Rachel was not about to add another card to the card house and watch it spring apart.

‘On what?’ Eddie asks suspiciously, one eyebrow creased as he observes his daughter, on the lookout for her telltale sign that’s she’s lying.

‘Witchcraft? It’s for school.’ Rachel trails off, her voice sounding questioningly to her own ears. Richie scrutinizes her, much more on guard and attentive then he gives himself credit for, but Mike, sickly sweet but  a little tone deaf on the vibe in the room says; ‘Those books are upstairs in my special cabinet because they kept getting stolen, do you want me to go get them?’

Rachel’s flicks her eyes to the ceiling, grumbling under her breath with all the time that went to waste, then glancing back at Mike and kindly nodding her head. ‘That would be great, thank you uncle Mike.’

As he takes off to find the books, Richie and Eddie exchange puzzling peeks, doing their silent communication that drives Rachel crazy not being able to figure out what they’re saying.

‘Why would you need to write an assignment on witchcraft? Since when is  that in the curriculum these days? Hey Eds we would have rocked that, we knew all about it.’ Richie inquires, excitingly jolting Eddie to go along with his story.

‘Since I got a new teacher who’s very interested in that stuff.’

‘Are you sure everything is okay? You’ve been acting weird for the past few weeks and I didn’t want to say anything or push you but I’m worried.’ Eddie asks, troubled trying to balance things in his life. He wants to keep prodding his daughter to know what’s wrong with her and to help her, but he’d rather die then turn out like his mother, and sometimes Eddie fears his lines are blurred.

‘Yeah, I’ve noticed it too’, Richie agrees, serious as the topic calls for it. ‘Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell us.’

‘No I can’t, you won’t believe me.’

‘Sweetheart, we murdered a clown eating little kids and feeding off their fears, there’s nothing in the world that you can say that will prevent us from believe you.’

‘Okay fair,’ Rachel trails off apprehensive still, ‘but I don’t want to force additional stress on you guys, we’ve already had so much of that lately.’

‘Little me, if this is about the trial I’m really fucking sorry for putting you through that, but hoeza’, he jazzed hands towards himself, ‘I’m not going anywhere. I’ll never go anywhere either.’

Bursting into tears, Rachel inches closer to her pops and eases herself under his chin, her dad crams up against her side. ‘It’s not, but I’m really grateful for that pops. Promise you’ll believe me and won’t ship me off anywhere?’

‘What? Never. Nothing you’ll confess will ever make us regret you being born.’ Eddie says with vindication. ‘Absolutely nothing.’ The truth is Rachel is getting really tired of the secret she’s storing away, and she’s scared too. Terrified that someday she might accidentally hurt someone, or scared that she’s going to wake up one day and not perceive who she is.

‘I have telekinesis and I think it’s because of IT,’ she breathes out, tensing in her parents grasp as she waits for their reaction. It’s a peculiar statement to preach, but Rachel didn’t think her pops would flat out laugh at her, a reserved giggle that stops abruptly when Eddie mimes his lips shut.

‘What do you mean?’ Eddie asks cautiously.

‘You don’t believe me do you?’

‘It’s not about believing you sweetheart, it’s just where is this is all coming from? Wait, is this a prank you and Richie did to trick me? If so Pennywise is off limits so knock it off.’

‘Eds no-‘

‘No it’s not a prank, I’m serious.’ Rachel underscores, schlepping away from the both of them.

‘Bug, I don’t-‘

‘No, I’ll prove it.’

‘Okay’, Richie agrees trepidation, same as Eddie.

Rachel tries really hard, focusing all her energy and mind on levitating the same book she send flying across the room mere minutes ago, her fist balling and her face blushing in effort, but nothing occurs. Previous times this was the case too, it only happens when she’s focusing on something else, not the task at hand.

Richie snorts, assured that it’s a prank and he’s played by his own daughter, which usually wouldn’t be so far off, but this time it boils rage up under Rachels skin.

‘Stop laughing, I’ve been struggling with this for so long and all you do is laugh at me?’ Rachel grounds out, genuinely hurt that neither of her fathers take the time to listen to her.

Three things follow each other in rapid speed. The first is that Mike descends down the stairs, carrying two books, dustier than the town of Derry itself, and waving them around proudly. ‘I found them, I hope two is enough?’

The second is that the door to the library jingles, and the remaining pack of the losers walks in, and the third is the table starts vibrating, anger pulsing in Rachel’s veins having her focused on something else.

Eddie and Richie stare at the table in shock, their mouths agape as they switch to look between the table and their daughter.

‘Rachel?’  

The table is ripped from the handles and jets over two shelf's of the library, landing right in front of the losers’ feet, all of them staring in bewilderment.

‘What the hell is going on in here?’

‘Mike, I think we’re going to need a lot more books.’

[wordsnstuff]

31 Days of Horror - Wordsnstuff October Writing Challenge

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– The monthly challenges are back by popular demand! These are all a bit more detailed than usual so I hope you all enjoy this one. I look forward to seeing all of your guys’ responses here using the hashtag #wordsnstuffhorror and over on Instagram, where you can tag me @ writingandsuch.

This challenge begins on October 1st, but I thought I would give you guys some time to plan stuff out, because you may need to switch some days around to accommodate your schedule. You’re free to do one day’s challenge on another day if your schedule doesn’t allow enough time to complete that day’s challenge. Best of luck to you!

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlists || Work In Progress || Studyblr || Studygram

☼ Prompt List ☼

Write a scene of a horror story with your 3 favorite actors as the main characters

Write a story in which the main character gets trapped within an uncommon object

Write about the creepy people who are buying your childhood home

After finally building up courage and killing your husband, you think life is going to look up. The night after you bury him in the desert, he shows up at your place of work looking alive as ever.

A biologist clones his daughter that tied in a tragic accident, but the person she matures to become is not his daughter..

A woman goes to bed with her child between her and her husband, only to wake up the next morning and find only a note on their side of the bed saying “you have 24 hours to right your wrong”

A serial killer volunteers at the local annual haunted house and is tasked with making props

All power in technology and machinery suddenly and mysteriously goes out, leaving the world in a planet-wide blackout

You are the first astronaut to find out what happens when you’re consumed by a black hole when your ship runs out of power and drifts for many years into the cold depths of space

A burglar attempts to steal from the cash register of a haunted hotel that is run by the sadistic ghosts trapped within.

A spelunker travels to a rarely-explored cluster of caves and experiences some unexplainable events before falling and passing out. When he wakes up, he returns to his hometown, but quickly notices that the people are acting.. different.

You’re a diver for a laboratory that researches sunken ships as they deteriorate over time. You’re sent on the most dangerous mission of your career in order to bring back samples from a ship that sank 300 years ago, only to reach the depths and find it completely intact.

You stay in an old Irish castle with your spouse expecting it to be mildly haunted, but the staff seems to be trying very hard to look inconspicuous.

A man finds some old 16mm film of family home video and in every single one, there’s another little boy that he nor his family has any memory of knowing.

The whole town is gathered in a park to witness the eclipse, and when it arrives, everyone is amazed. However, the novelty has long since worn off by the third day in the dark

You’ve spent your career researching the titanic’s lost passengers, identifying who the victims of the tragedy were. You purchase a storage unit full of old artifacts that someone had collected from ship-wreck sites, and find a rusty old chest full of bones. When you do a DNA test on one of them, you find out it belongs to one of the bodies that had never been recovered.

You fall asleep in front of the TV one night and wake up at 3 AM to a loud sound coming from it. You open your eyes to see someone shouting at you through the screen, begging you to help them. Static abruptly takes over the screen.

It’s 1865 and you live in a small town. A man shows up in your small community claiming that his sideshow has an incredible attraction opening that night. You’re the only one to attend, and he promises that it’ll be a sight you’ll never forget.

You are stuck in a dream experiencing fairytales in the role of the princess, but you quickly learn that you’re in the Grimms’ version.

You visit a medium as a joke with your date, and you play along as she asks you questions. However, she grows somber all of a sudden and asks to see your hand, telling you that she hears something strange. When she grasps it, she begins to choke and dies.

A woman wakes up from a coma in a seemingly friendly hospital, but when she leaves her room at night and curiously peeks into some other rooms, she finds out that every other patient in the building is already dead.

Every child in a small town is affected by a disease unlike anything ever witnessed. Except your son.

You find a small metal object on a trail when hiking one evening, and you take it home to end up finding it in a new place every time you’ve left the house.

You enter a hidden room in the home you’re about to buy. It’s empty and the white walls are covered in tiny photos of people you’ve never seen. Thousands of them. You touch one as you’re examining them and you’re transported to that moment. You witness the people in the photo die, unable to do anything to stop it.

You find a CD sitting on your desk when you come home from work one day. When you pop it into your laptop, it plays a short video that quickly cuts out and crashes your computer. The next morning, you wake up to a note where the CD had been left saying “thank you for freeing me. I’m sorry for what comes next.”

A chain email is circulating around the internet like an infectious disease. 30 days after you first hear of it on the news, warning not to open it due to the image attachment being a graphic photo of a confirmed murder victim, mass murders begin to take place all over the world.

A new restaurant opens in your hometown and the owners are a sweet old couple who’ve dreamt of opening their own diner since they were young. People in the town start disappearing, and you, the town detective, notice that they were all last seen exiting that restaurant.

You wake up in a hospital and the first thing you see is a doctor holding a needle and squeezing your ankle. You try to move your hand but your muscles won’t budge. The doctor says “I’m very sorry for the pain you’re about to endure, but you must be awake for us to monitor your physical reactions to this procedure.” You have no idea what he’s talking about.

You enter your home one evening after work to see that your walls are covered In photos of you that you don’t remember being taken.

Your children are dressed up as various horror characters for halloween and when they leave for trick-or-treating, you breathe a sigh of relief that you have an evening of alone-time. However, as soon as they’re out of sight from your view through the window, you hear a knock on the door. The real characters from the horror movies they’ve dressed up as are standing on your porch, and they refuse to leave.

When your mother dies, you are left in charge of your childhood home along with all of her belongings. Going through the last few boxes in the attic, you come across a brick in the wall that’s knocked out of place. When you pull it out, you reach in and pull out the bloodied fabric of a man’s suit and a woman’s gown, and then a box that has photos of you as a kid.. but between two people you’ve never seen.

–

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[xueyq-blog]

”eternal”

Let the “warship”stay at this moment forever.

My project is to integrate the attitudes of the anti-Japanese hero in China's history, Deng Shichang in the deign of a leisure complex. I think it is important to integrate the historic background with individual experience, and to finally turn this into a building to influence the economy and even the social positioning of a region. My project successfully achieve this goal, although there is still room for improvement.

To overcome the challenge, I went to the house and the memorial where he was born and got a large amount of information on the history on the Internet. I extracted the characteristics of his family and the most meaningful moment in his personal life history, and finally selected an appropriate way to combine and produce the finished product. My research is to obtain the information about the difference between Deng’s house and other buildings and the story behind it. For personal history, the goal is to gain in-depth understanding of the details behind and to draw conclusions which could help my work. The strength of my research is that it focusing on details, such as how the ship sank during the sea battle, and the last moment that the ship was drown, and so on, and my pursuit of rigour and perfection. My shortcoming is that the big-level thing is not so complete, and sometimes it's a logic vortex. dead end I first set out what I want to study and then the specific direction, and then preset what kind of result I want to have, based on which I move forward with my research. I went to his home, that was when he was born, made a lot of pictures and recorded a lot of pictures I thought was interesting to come back to analyze, After the initial research, I read a lot of books and collected information about his history from the army to the end of the war. In the part of the house, I extracted the special architectural style of the roof of the south of Minnan: the roof is decorated by overlapping eaves. And in his personal history, the most dazzling moment of his life is when he died in the war and was drown with his warship. So I decided to develop this heroic point. In the part of the house, I like the special architectural style of the roof of the south of Minnan: the roof is decorated by overlapping eaves. And in his personal history, the most dazzling moment of his life is when he died in the war and was drown with his warship. So I like the idea of demonstrating his heroism. I also thought of recording and showing the long periods starting from his childhood when he determined to join the army and to the end of his life and how he worked very hard to achieve his goal step by step. But I think it's a very common phenomenon in today's society. So I think it's a bit boring and not special. I first used the kraft paper to do the initial model, and then used the white kt-board to do because I think that the sky and the sea are blue, and the addition of white between them makes people feel fresh and harmonious in the visual sense. And the sunshine above the sea sunshine is usually very strong, so I need less heat-absorbing material to represent a sense of coolness visually. So I also made the last solid building whilte. This is a hotel, eat, play, shopping mall building.（Reference to the Dubai coast）

[reneereadskingdomofash]

Thoughts on the Ships in Kingdom of Ash

Ok, I’m writing some thoughts on the Ships in Kingdom of Ash. I’ve jumped onto a few posts, but I feel like I’m probably not being clear because well, I talk to people outside of those posts via different channels and so people aren’t getting the full picture. 

Not that this matters of course, the internet and tumblr is only a snapshot, but I wanted to write some clear thoughts on the Ships and how I am feeling about them before/during/and now two weeks after having finished the book. 1. perspectives change. 2. Reading other peoples thoughts that might enhance our own understanding happens too. **SPOILERS BELOW CUT**

Rowaelin

Before Koa: Yes, I dig it. Empire of Storms was their peak love story! Heir of Fire gave me all the Angst - love and hate, falling in love with the trainer, Queen of Shadows gave me my reunion and happiness to fight the bad guys and Empire of Storms gave me the sexy times. The Ship had sailed. Then Maeve came in Empire of Storms. And I was worried for my ship, but only because I was worried for the individual parts of the whole. What happens if they die! What happens if Aelin isn’t who she was. What happens to them! they deserve a happily ever after. *insert renee crying lots at the end of Empire of Storms* 

During Koa: I was scared. Aelin wasn’t who she was. Rowan was loosing himself in the hunt for her. What was this new thing between Fenrys and her and Rowan was on the outs? What did this mean? Why couldn't she talk? Where was my Aelin!!! Aelin had hardened and I was scared, and Rowan was scared and it made me think - she’s going to die and i’m going to cry. Then Aneille happened and Aelin almost came back. She was as close to the old Aelin as I think was possible given the trauma that she went through. Rowan didn’t care. He would have loved her anyway. Such a pure ship. And then they go on to save the world. Once Aelin had forged the lock, I wasn’t scared for her anymore. I didn’t think she might die, I didn’t think Rowan would either. The lock felt like it was the start of their happy ending. Sure lots of stuff to go on but the ship was good. 

After Koa: Same feelings. I still love Rowaelin. But I got to experience their journey over 4 books! It was satisfying in that they had page time but it didn't detract from the story. So When I’m not enthusiastic about Rowaelin - Its not because I don’t love them, I’ve just been with them a long time. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind that they would be ok. 

Elorcan (aka the ship I wanted to sail more than any other)

Before  Koa: I was scared. I feel so hard into this ship when I read Empire of Storms. And then when I re-read it before KoA I fell harder. I loved Lorcan from the start. A grumpy demi-fae, who is the most powerful, who seems angry, who doesn’t show emotions, who would do anything for his friends. (sure misguided sometimes - but that’s what it boils down to). He came to Rowan’s aid in Heir of Fire. He came for his friend. Not his general. He didn’t have time for Aelin - some mortal girl who people had an interest in. It wasn’t why he came. People who know me - know I have been cheering for Lorcan the past two years. That he’s going to show this side of himself. My morally grey Lorcan. And then Queen of Shadows and Empire of Storms happened. Oh man. Elide, my witch baby standing up for those who cant do it for themselves! She took on Vernon for Kaltain, she is bad-ass! She is the my love just as Lorcan is my love. I’m so torn I love them both. Its a good thing they found each other. Anyway. Elide stands up to him, she fights for herself and others. She protects him and he does the same back. So I love them. Elide threw herself in front of a wolf (Fenrys to save him!) And When Lorcan called for Maeve - my heart sank. Lorcan u big Dummy! I love you but come on! And then the theories started. and I wrote some too. Maybe if I think of the worst possible thing that can happen and put it out into the world it wont happen. Like jinxing the bad stuff. Lorcan “SALVATERRE” savior of lands- does that mean he will sacrifice himself??? Honestly my biggest fear going in. 

During  Koa: Kingdom of Ash was a roller-coaster for my ship. I was so invested in everything they did. I paid way too much attention to their sections than other ships. - honestly I skim read nestaq scenes (who I love). which is bad I know. but elorcan for life apparently.  And Lorcan was being sneaky and trying to help Elide be comfortable (sure more period talk but what ever) because he had been traveling with her for months and months and knew she needed stuff. He shows love by doing. Not always doing the right thing (his decision making skills need work) - but he tries. Elide was a bitch at the start. Just going to say it. Sure she might have been justified, but sometimes you don’t need to voice all the nasty things in your head. And I got mad at her. Then she basically said she wouldn’t care if Lorcan died. And his heart broke and my heart broke and I was upset and probably crying.  AND THEN THE BATTLE OF ANEILLE HAPPENED AND I CRIED!!! AND I SCREAMED AT MY BOOK. Direct quote from my notes: “ P500 - NOT HAPPY! Lorcan!!!! OMG NOT HAPPY! LORCAN JUST DROPPED HIS SHEILDS - fucking egg! Omg ahhh! Crap. Crap crap.”  I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have dropped his shields if Elide hadn’t said such horrible things to him and he didn’t feel like he needed to die. So I was mad, fucking live you dork. Its just a girl! I ship you two, but if You are both going to be Dorks then I don’t!  So when Elide went to go find him I was like - OMG YES U DO LOVE HIM... direct quote from my notes:  “ I'm crying .... Elide- "I will always find you", running down the stairs... oh it hurts.... please please be ok ....  Ahhh she grabbed chaols horse! A horse for Hellas himself... ahh Lol and then that's explained a couple of pages over Lorcan!!!(517) "Get up" :sobbing emojis: "I promised to always find you. I promised you, and you promised me. I came for you because of it; I am here because of it. I am here for you, do you understand? And if we don't get onto that horse now, we won't stand a chance against that dam. We will die." P 520 :more sobbing emojis: Omg :more sobbing emojis: You have to let me go I love you And I will be with you.... I will be with you always :more sobbing emojis: Lorcan Omg Fucking hell And elide! Yes! You claw at him girl!! That dam! Oof Omg my ship - you are killing me “

Honestly. Such a Rollercoaster. So as you can see I was invested. and then they seemed to tentatively get over each other and what happened and proceeded to get cuter and cuter as the book went on and just gave me warm fuzzies and happiness. 

After Koa: I love this ship. I would die for this ship. Fight me! - oh majority of fandom also Like my ship now... cool cool. that’s cool. guess we cool.

Manorian

Before Koa: I dig it. Its alright. Manon eats men for breakfast so Dorian has a little bit of a death wish but I can see that playfulness, that bond from living a similar life. Heirs in name only, for the longest time. I appreciated it, but wasn't strongly invested. I had picked my OTP already. Still enjoy this ship tho - just less invested.

During Koa: I really liked the tentative relationship between Manon and Dorian. I have so many notes about how I think he is a witch tho - so those stand out in my notes more than ship points. I liked that they shared a tent when Manon never did. I liked that Dorian spent time with the 13 developing friendships. It showed that he wanted to know Manon, more than just for sex. But it also cannot be denied that they like sex and used it to avoid talking. That happens in relationships too - not necessarily bad. Its one of the things I actually like about SJM’s ships they aren’t cookie cutter relationships. But I did feel like both Manon and Dorian chose the mission over the relationship (For Now) which is fine too btw. In life we might take a job in a different city and do long distance and still come back to each other. I think Dorian lying to Manon on their last night together by omission is a little sucky. But again. relationships have ups and downs. I’m glad it kinda ended there. Sure they come back together, But I like that its left open. Firstly because they have had the ship burn in flames - their isn’t an “unhappy” ending... the story is still playing out. We just cut away before seeing the end. 

After Koa: Wow ok. So people have lots of thoughts on this ship and maybe I should have been paying attention. Why don’t people like it open ended... ok? maybe its a loose end but there is still a book to come (the world of throne of glass) and sure its not a novel about Aelin. This doesn't mean it wont tell us about the encyclopedic history or Ardarlan and the Witch kingdom and how both are run by people who are seeing each other. A certain boy who knows how to use portals to get from one place to the other quickly - doesn't seem like living on opposite sides on the continent is going to be a problem.... maybe that’s just the optimist in me. If they have children - a girl to rule the wastes and a boy to be king. Seems like an amazing fit. I’d really like to see this happen tbh, but this takes time and time KoA didn’t have in the pages - but - maybe - the world of throne of glass will.  

Chaorian

Before Koa: Ahh cute - they had their love story i’m happy!

During Koa: Damn I love Yrene. Shes the best. Chaol, you are ok too - but Yrene has your back and is the light relief in your life. Chaol you are too serious - listen to your wife.

After Koa: awwww little wittle chaorene babies. awwwwww daddy Chaol. awww  uncle Dorian. <3 <3 so many warm fuzzies.

Nestaq

Before Koa: I ship them so Hard OMG SARTAQ I LOVE YOU. You are a way better fit for Nesryn than Chaol. Man i’m glad she met you. 

During Koa: oof Sartaq why u gotta have a Khagan hat on - you are so serious. Good thing Borte is there. 

After Koa: Nesryn has no idea what she is in for - Can I please get more Yeran and Borte. Still love Nestaq - but I understand the peak of their story was in Tower of Dawn. 

Lysaedion

Before Koa: Oh Man you two. The end of Empire of Storms - Aedion you are a dick! Why! Why! Oh you better just be mad and make it up to her. You love her dang it, you wanted to marry her! Argh. I don’t know how to feel, I like them together - but what is this past Aedion has? What is coming. I don’t want to get my hopes up. 

During Koa: Aedion! Aedion! What! Are! you! doing!

I’m so mad at Aedion right now. You better apologise.

Its so complicated to break down. But basically Aedion is being an A-hole to Lysandra and she doesn’t deserve it. She is running herself into the ground and you do that! Aedion! I’m so conflicted, why are you a good dad to Evangeline but an awful person to Lys! AHHH AEDION STOP! 

After Koa: I still don’t know how to break down this relationship. It sets off so many red flags for me. - About how someone can be a great dad but an awful partner.  - About how someone can be abusive essentially but explain away their actions. - About how other people stand by and watch, when they see this behavior. - About how it is all “circumstances”. 

Now - I think its fine for people to work through things and overcome their problems if they want to but that takes time. What Aedion did in Kingdom of Ash did not make me think he should have been able to win Lysandra back as quickly as he did near the end of the book. And it hurts. However I know people in real life who have gone back to people who have treated them badly. So its not uncommon. It is their decision. It just hurts. 

Part of me wants them to get a divorce and I’ve made a couple of joke-ish statements about that. But I could have been on Lysaedion’s side if it had a similar ending to Manorian. If it was left hanging, left on a - lets see where this goes. War does strange things to people, and I think Aedion was affected more than others, but he needs to prove he isn’t going to be the man who threw Lysandra out into the cold. In my eyes at least. 

I have prob left ships out, and thoughts out but this is a lot of writing for me that’s not counting towards my nanowrimo - hahaha. 

[berniesrevolution]

In the beginning there was… well, I don’t know what there was. But then there was a tremendous explosion. Then, for a few hundred million years, there was nothing of much interest. After that, stars and galaxies began to form, and they were fascinating and beautiful, but nobody was there to notice. Billions and billions of years went by, until a molecular cloud happened to collapse, inadvertently giving us the Sun, moon, asteroids, etc. Our humble planet Earth formed by accident, and for billions more years it was wet and gassy, with little to recommend it save some bacteria here and there. Then plants emerged, then all of a sudden there were animals—weird ones—and they lived and they died and they evolved steadily into dinosaurs, who met an unfortunate fate, then very recently we showed up, looking something of a mess, and our ancestors struggled to stay alive, and they fashioned tools and they built little dwellings and they made do and then died, and then the next batch did the same, and they learned to farm, and they learned to build, and slowly something quite impressive emerged. (They were also often killed or enslaved, or did the killing and enslaving.) They built civilizations and they discovered math and they gave birth to Socrates and then they murdered Socrates for asking too many questions. And they fumbled along and tried to figure things out, and they mostly failed, but they learned how to fill their bellies and minds, and they discovered their incredible potential, building printing presses and cotton gins and hundred-story buildings and gigantic ships that sometimes sank. Together, based on what those before them had learned, they invented steam trains and then pickup trucks and then jet airplanes and then television game shows and then internet pornography and then six different kinds of poop emoji pool float. And all through the process people fell in love, and were torn apart, and worked their asses off, and watched their children screw up or do well, and went on adventures, and played with Legos, and built too many cars and clogged the roads but refused to carpool so they got stuck in traffic and it served them right, and did monstrously cruel things, and tamed a lot of diseases, and ate a lot of tacos, and petted a lot of animals, and treated the planet in highly irresponsible and ungrateful ways, and just generally acted out a stunningly violent, heartwarming, infuriating, inspiring collective drama on an inconceivable scale.

And what I refuse to believe is that all of this was just the buildup to Donald Trump being given the power to end all human life, neoliberal capitalism devouring the earth, Elon Musk buying all of outer space, and everyone eventually ending up working as a drone in an Amazon warehouse until the planet boils or eventually the sun explodes. That cannot possibly be the end of history. Surely not. No. That isn’t how this story goes. That would be a tale told by an idiot, signifying fuck all. I would want my money back. Zero stars. Liked the plot but that ending was garbage.

Yet this is the direction a lot of people seem to believe we’re heading in, and I don’t think they’re wrong. I mean the first thing already happened: the United States gave the world’s most selfish and ignorant man control of its 4,018 nuclear weapons. He’s joked about making himself president for life. Monopolistic corporations are steadily wrapping their tentacles around every part of the economy. There should be hardly any doubt that the U.S. in particular is one major terrorist event away from a frightening concentration of power in the hands of a single unstable person, if you’re not already frightened by the whole nuclear weapons thing.

This makes a lot of people I know feel hopeless and uncertain. They see people with no qualifications except wealth being put in charge, and see Jeff Bezos building a 42 million dollar clock in the desert while his workers pee in bottles because they can’t take bathroom breaks. They see their fate in the hands of grotesque individuals who could not care less about anyone but themselves, and many ask themselves the question that Navy veteran Seth King asked himself when he found himself in the “revolving door of bodies” known as the Amazon fulfillment warehouse: “If this is the best life is going to get why am I even still here?” Every year, in the United States alone, 40,000 people take their own lives because they cannot find a satisfactory answer to that question.

From one perspective it’s strange that that should be the case, because we’ve come so far and done so much as a species, and as George Orwell put it, the Earth is a raft sailing through space, fully stocked with enough provisions for everyone. And yet, history is a record of brutality on an unthinkable scale. Chattel slavery was ended only just recently, and the century that brought us Motown records and the Golden Gate Bridge was, for hundreds of millions of people, also a machine of death creating pile upon pile of corpses. For a few decades, it’s been comparatively peaceful, but only because the world’s great powers keep civilization-ending missiles pointed at each other, and one false move could destroy everything. Oh, and let’s not even talk about climate catastrophe. (Living in New Orleans, I cannot bear to contemplate it.)

How can anyone have hope when Donald Trump is the president? How can anyone have dreams about the Star Trek future, in which we all go on adventures through space together in a spirit of equality and shared purpose? The resurgence of “nationalism” spells absolute doom; nationalism is one of the silliest and most destructive imaginable ideas. Silly because nobody, looking at human beings in the context of the Universe, can think national distinctions worth worrying about. (Even Reagan admitted that existing global conflicts would seem trivial if the aliens showed up.) “Most destructive” because nationalism operates like a purpose-built empathy inhibitor, making other humans seem less and less like ourselves and thus making it easy to distrust, detest, or destroy them. Nationalism makes it possible to put on a uniform, strut around, and denounce the enemies who will destroy our culture and way of life, without realizing how ridiculous you look to the Universe.

(Continue Reading)

[castielusive]

Ray’s Miscellaneous Rec List

Several of these are unique, and a lot of my favorites are on here because of that. Assume all fics are rated explicit unless stated otherwise. WIPs are marked, but few and far between. Updates regularly.

Title: Asunder by rageprufrock

Word count: 23,817

Summary:  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6)

Sam gets married, Dean gets a wake up call. Easy top 3.

UPDATE: Pod fic version. It’s so good. (x).

Title: Carry On by TamrynEradani

Word count: 148087

Summary: When Sam gets into Stanford, Dean needs a bigger paycheck than Bobby’s garage can give him. Luckily, he knows a guy.

Edit: The author took this one down, but she’s said she’s fine with people reading it if they have the pdf. Hit me up if you want it.

Edit 2: Podfic version: x

Title: The Breath of All Things by KismetJeska

Rating: T

Word count: 65,404

Summary: Dean Winchester was twenty-six years old when a car accident killed his father and left him paralyzed from the waist down. A year and a half later, Dean is in a wheelchair and lives in a care home in Kansas, where he spends his days waiting to die. It’s only when Castiel Novak starts volunteering at the care home that Dean starts to wonder if a changed life always equals a ruined one.

Easily number three in my favorites.

Title: Drop Anchor by almaasi

Word count: 42,124

Summary: AU. A sailor and an enemy pirate are marooned on an island together, and while awaiting rescue they accidentally achieve domestic bliss.

Or:

Dean Winchester is lieutenant of the Royal Trading Ship Echelon. On a pleasantly sunny but particularly catastrophic day, he is marooned on an island somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only one man for company. That man is Castiel, captain of the black-sailed Leviathan: a pirate, no less. Given the circumstances under which they are stranded, rescue seems unlikely, and it could be aeons before a ship even comes by. The two of them may as well make the most of their own private island, personal differences be damned.

This is lovely.

Title: In the Weeds by Nanoochka

Word count: 40,265

Summary:

“Dean knew, from the minute he laid eyes on Chef Castiel MacCarthy, the day would come that he would have to kidnap the man and dump the body in the darkest, dirtiest crack den in Ireland. Given that this was Dublin city, it wouldn’t be hard to find.”

Title: make you whole by casfallsinlove

Word count: 4,531

Summary: In which there is a funeral, mixed-up feelings, quiet motel rooms, and a long journey home.

Title: 300 Things by cautionzombies

Word count: ~76,500

Summary: Dean’s life at twenty-four makes him feel like he’s forty–he works two jobs to help pay bills for his house and put his genius little brother through private school, and has spent six years (on and off, let’s be honest) working on his mechanical engineering degree at KU. With so much of his life devoted to his family, Dean has little time in his schedule for class and no time for social interaction. Then, while getting his classes together for the fall, he finds himself in a do-or-die situation: He must take his last literature class now, his spring already filled with those left for his major…except that none of the English classes will fit his schedule. This is how Dean grovels and begs Dr. Castiel Milton to make a special arrangement for him, and Dr. Milton does.

Easy top 5. Ashton’s art is what got me to read this one in the first place, and I didn’t notice it linked anywhere in the fic, so I’m sticking one here quickly.  [x]

Update: Tenoko1 did an audio fic and I am completely enamored with it. [x]

Title: Significant by holyhael

Word count: 4,547

Summary: Dean Smith’s and Castiel’s unconventional morning after.

This is? Amazing?

Title: There’s No Going Back by Catchclaw

Word count: 2983

Summary: Some of the things you find on vacation are hard to bring home.

Dean Smith/ Endverse!Cas is quickly becoming my favorite thing ever.

Title: put your hands on my waist by mcpadalackles

Word count: 2,182

Summary: “Dean is sitting at the window seat in their dark bedroom, the one that opens onto the fire escape. He must be cold. He’s wearing nothing but boxers, miles and miles of lovely bare skin exposed to the cool breeze drifting in. If he is, he doesn’t seem to care.”

Short but sweet. One of my top 10.

Title: Bicker by followyourenergy

Word count: 7947

Summary: Sam Winchester is nervous.  He’s taking his girlfriend of eight months, Jess, to meet his brother, Dean, and his brother’s best friend and roommate, Castiel.  Sam loves his brother and loves Cas, but it seems like all the longtime friends do is bicker and he hates it.   Sure enough, from the moment they arrive Dean and Cas are at it.  Sam thinks he knows what’s best for the two of them, but Sam ends up learning a few things about love and relationships that he never expected.

[NEW] Title: Smells Like Queer Spirit by ChasingRabbits

Word count: 8,364

Summary: It's been ten years since Sam Winchester has seen his brother. However, just as he's come to terms with the likelihood that he will never see Dean again, fate (and the internet) intervene and Sam is finally able to track him down.

What he finds throws him for a monstrous, brain-scrambling loop.

A series with a lot of variety. Not every piece is my favorite, but this one and the last two are great.

[NEW] Title: Mr. & Mr. Smith by amarillogrande

Word count: 26,550

Summary: Dean and Castiel Winchester are a normal married couple, living a normal life in a normal suburb, working normal jobs—both as secret deadly assassins. When they find each other as targets, their quest to kill each other leads them to learn a lot more about each other than they ever did in five (or six) years of marriage.

Canonverse and (mostly) canon divergent:

[NEW] Title: A Little Company by VioletHaze

Word count: 48,585

Summary: After Cas became human, he and Dean finally stopped dancing around what existed between them. The vulnerability of the newly-fallen angel scared the hell out of Dean, scared him enough to decide that he was ready to stop pretending and make some serious changes.

Now, five years later, they'd retired from hunting to live a "normal" life in Sioux Falls complete with a house and a brand-new adopted baby daughter.  Against all odds, Dean had found that the civilian life he'd always scoffed at nearly overwhelmed him with joy. 

But Dean knew better than to bask in it; the world was a dangerous place and a happiness like that depended on him safeguarding his little piece of it.

[NEW] Title: Hunting for Faith by  perunamuusa and riseofthefallenone

Word count: 270,952

Summary: It starts a few days earlier.

Castiel first notices it in the middle of the night when the dreams of fire and screams have kept him awake. He’s kneeling before the altar, praying, when the glass in the windows start to shake, the very air vibrating around him. Castiel is on his feet and reaching for the gun tucked into the back of his pants as the shutters over the windows start to rattle.

Title: Bring up the Deep by beenghosting

Word count: 22,679

Summary: They went back and forth on whether or not to make the drive until Sam found an article in the town’s local paper dated a week earlier about a lobster fisherman who swore a monster sank his boat.

Case fic!

Title: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by amarillogrande

Word count: 22,237

Summary: Heaven is white.

Well. Isn’t that fucking stereotypical

Dean isn’t really sure how he got here. Or even why he’s here. And hell, for all the times the Winchesters have died, he thinks he ought to know the drill by now. But what he doesn’t know is when most folks go, they find something different.

There’s a system God put in place. That when you’re gone (for good) there’s a couple things you gotta do first.

There are five people waiting for you.They are the five people you meet in heaven.

Best canonverse fic I have ever read.

Title: Faith Healer by punkascas

Word count: 75,087

Summary: Dean hates faith healers. Scam artists and power-hungry dicks, all of them. But with Sam nearing the end of his rope and desperate for a way to keep their father’s last words from being true, Dean has no choice but to turn to the enigmatic and irascible Castiel, more tattooed junkie than spiritual leader, in hopes of finding a way to cure Sam. Yet Castiel hides dangerous secrets, and Dean soon learns they have more to worry about than just Yellow Eyes and Sam’s growing demonic abilities. War is coming. Canon divergent after 2.10.

Title: Dean (and Cas’) Top 13 Zepp Traxx by pantheon_of_discord

Word count: 82,450

Summary: Dean eases Baby down the frontage road, trying not to look in the rearview mirror as his home gets smaller and smaller behind him.

He’s done this a hundred times. He’s driven down this road in the soft morning light, heading out to some little town in some distant corner of the country. This is a job like any other.

“It’s not like we’re never coming back,” Cas says from the passenger seat.

Dean and Cas and the open road, to the tune of Led Zeppelin. A post-series story in thirteen parts.

Title: where the weeds take root by beenghosting

Word Count: 16,450 (so far)

Summary: “Are you happy? Y’know. Just—being here,” Dean says, gesturing to the yard with his beer bottle. “Being with—I mean, you used to fight in celestial wars and—and save the world. Now you’re growing vegetables and talking about chickens.”

Title: new testament [just more of the same ‘verse] by outpastthemoat

Word Count: 46,880

Summary: No heaven. No hell.  Just Dean and Cas and the status quo.

[ziamfanfiction]

this week’s ziam ao3 feed

Hey y’all! welcome to the ao3 feed, this week we had some good updated works and new fics so go read them and remember to leave kudos and comments! Stay tune for next sunday for a new edition of the ao3 feed! :*

fics updated/posted from April 16th to the 22nd

A Growing Dysfunctional Family by the_less_i_know (wip)

I don't really know how to summarize this... but at its most basic the story is set in a world where humans and supernatural beings exist, except that humans of course are unaware of the supernatural world. It's a messy story where Liam and Zayn fall in love, but it's not solely focused on their relationship. This means that if you're just expecting to read about ziam only, then this story probably isn't for you. This story is not just about romantic love, but about friendship and family love too. It starts out with Normani, Zayn, and Louis, who kind of set the tone of the story and it all develops from there. Dinah is 27, Louis is 26, Zayn is 25, and Normani is 20. Liam and Niall are 23. Ally, Harry, and Lauren don't have any concrete ages so yeah.

Beauty Of Life by Larry_tattoos (wip)

"Look who we have here, the nerd of the school", I didn't need to turn around to see the face of the person mocking me cause i already knew him by just hearing his voice.

I wasn't even a nerd, the fact that i top my math class doesn't make me a nerd, I don't wear glasses, i don't wear funny looking shoes, i don't wear braces, i don't wear acne with pants up to my waist but in Zayn Malik's eyes i'm one.

I pretend to arrange my books in my satchel just not to have an eye contact with him, the truth was he terrified me. I could not imagine a day that i would not shiver just hearing his name.

"Wha- what do you wa- nt?", Him and his arrogant friends saw me struggle to form the words and i could hear them giggle.

Or

Being bullied by the love of his life is not the worst pain for Liam, the worst pain is he has no way of erasing the love he feels.

So he let's destiny take his course until its gets too much and he is caught between letting the love go or holding onto it.

But what happens when the love of his life aka his bully starts to care?

Twelve Fic Outtakes/Deleted Scenes by watyonameisgurl (wip)

Pretty much exactly what the title says and what I've hinted at in numerous end notes of the main fic for like forever - a collection of outtakes/deleted scenes (and possibly even some eventual alternate scenarios if I feel up to exploring that) from the Twelve fic verse

[DO NOT READ if you haven't finished the first fic in the verse yet]

Part 3 of Twelve Verse

Intoxicate Me, Mesmerize Me, Obliterate Me by eternallyunleashed (wip)

There was a certain heat obtained from rebellion that even the actual throes of heat never sparked. Keeping up an image of perfection; being the good kid, the perfect son to the Mayor and Chief of Police, the city of Lincoln’s sweetheart omega, it was all taxing to Zayn. Walking the thin line of danger was exhilarating. Was it coincidental that this danger happened to be an attraction to a certain alpha who was none other than the leader of the South Side Vipers gang, who seemed to despise him and the part of town he came from? Probably not. But when had anything ever stopped Zayn?

Within You Without You by PersephoneJones (wip)

Liam started to swipe up to unlock his phone, and then paused, thumb hovering over the screen. He’d been angry at Zayn for a very long time. Probably still was, to be honest. It wasn’t even about him leaving the band. It was that Zayn hadn’t just walked away from his job. He’d walked away from their friendship. Five years of togetherness and camaraderie, and what Liam (and just about everyone else) had thought was a special bond.

Or, the one where Zayn dipped out, sank the Ziam ship, and didn't even bother to call. Can Liam forgive him? Does he want to? And just why have the two of them always been so cuddly with each other, anyway?

dRuNk/Like I Would/Let Me/Dusk Till Dawn by watyonameisgurl

“Happy birthday, I guess,” Zayn says, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice at the fact that this is his third call and Liam still hasn’t answered. At the fact that he’s with her. At a party that Zayn wasn’t invited to...

Or: A series of drabbles based on the themes of the aforementioned songs…basically my headcanons for the moments that inspired these songs (these aren’t songfics though)

Two Point 0 by watyonameisgurl (wip)

“Because healing is messy and ugly and slow and doesn’t just happen in a progressive line. Sometimes...sometimes it’s gonna feel like you’re going backwards or sideways or every direction but forward, and you might not ever feel the same as you were, you might always be different from the person you used to be, but sometimes that’s okay...”

Zayn looks out at the sea of faces staring back at him, fights down the anxiety still threatening to overwhelm him even though he’s almost through now. He’d known this wouldn’t be easy, but there’s so many of them, looking to him. And seeing all of them here, now, in front him—even if it still isn’t all of them—is a bit overwhelming. As he looks around though he catches sight of Liam in the sea of faces, smiling proudly, and that’s all it takes. He can already feel himself relaxing, powering through the last of what he wants and needs to say. Counting down the moments until he’s back by Liam’s side again, safe and sound and that’s what gets him through.

[Or: Zayn keeps healing, Liam does too. But it’s not easy when there are so many forces still so determined not to let them. And fighting them alone is one thing. But the problem is it’s not just Zayn's fight anymore.]

Part 2 of Twelve Verse

All the different kinds of flowers by Androgyne, ZoeRavenclaw28 (wip)

When Liam, the future Tsars right-hand man, meets Zayn, the son of an Emir, his world turns upside-down.

A story about late-night chess games, scents, herbs, and so so many flowers.

Part 2 of All The Different Kinds Of Flowers

Baby I'll Never Leave You (If You Keep Holding Me This Way) by CrazyMofos (wip)

It was 2015 I am Liam

The King Of Queens by LHSHIP (wip)

Zayn was just like every other fangirl, except he was a boy. To be exact, the only boy in a girls’ only world, the Liam Payne fandom. His internet friends - all girls of course - thought he should be referred to as "The King Of Queens" apparently being the only boy who openly drooled over singer Liam Payne. And he liked it, not only because it was his dad’s favorite TV show but also because he'd always called all of his girls “queens” to make them feel special.

So yes, he was one of those totally obsessed fans who basically spent all of their time on Twitter because of a super famous and successful celebrity who didn’t even know about their existence. And sometimes Zayn had to deal with his real life and real problems such as the upcoming class reunion and a missing date.

And maybe he was a just a tiny little bit of in love with Liam Payne...

Half Of The Stories by CamelotHarris (wip)

'Half Of The Stories'from Louis' Just Like You. These stories are about after Zayn left One Direction, five boys' life and what will they think of something about themselves . In the story there are part of the content is real. And will repeat some events about them . Now they are going through a lot of things, so I don't know when to end it.

iT's YoU by SpookyFaces (wip)

Popular, handsome and athletic Liam Payne has nothing in common with Zayn Malik, the bad-boy of the school, who wears leather jackets, combat boots and spends his lunch breaks with a cigarette and a sketchbook in his hands. There is something mysterious, something strange about him. Rumors say the half of his family has tragically died a few years ago. And there is something tragic about him. The way he walks alone in the hallways, the way he barely talks to anyone, except his stupid, curly friend.

Liam hates him. He hates his honey-colored eyes, his stupidly long eyelashes, his unbelievably long fingers, his raven-black hair and mesmerizing lips.

Yeah, he obviously hates him.

"Obviously" - Louis agrees, wiggling his eyebrows.

I remember every look upon your face by cpiklor (wip)

Zayn thought his summer break was going to be his most boring one yet - his new job was working him to levels he'd never experienced prior, which meant he rarely had free time away from the greasy deli kitchen to mentally prepare himself for his upcoming second year in college.

Until the deli got a new employee. Liam.

Liam was one of the hardest-working employees in the grocery store, Zayn could tell already. He listened intently to every instruction he was given, and nearly perfected everything - whether it be breading chicken, slicing cheese, or just chatting up the customers during lulls.

Liam was beautiful in every sense of the word - golden-brown hair with deep brown eyes, tall, slim, and fuck, he was toned. His biceps were noticeable even through their chunky cloth work shirts. He was ridiculously kind and hilarious, too. Everything made him laugh, and Zayn had yet to witness him in a bad mood.

The complete opposite of Liam, Zayn was broody and shy, with black hair, olive and a love for quiet spaces. He had a killer bitch face, which made him less approachable, and no wonder Liam wasn't sure about him. He could do better than someone like Zayn.

Zayn was fucked.

Beyond Words by StoryAnonGuy33 (wip)

"Some things are beyond words" Liam added lightly, Zayn laying back down on Liam's chest. "They are, aren't they?" He commented back, Liam smiling and kissing the top of his head. "You bet babe"

Or when Liam and Zayn attend the same college and with budding and cemented feelings between the two, will things turn out the way they want?

[ejm513]

DEFENDING THE ENDING OF TITANIC *SPOILER WARNING?*

 I don’t know if I should even bother with a spoiler warning because if anyone knows anything about the RMS TITANIC it’s no real shock or secret what happens.

And the movie is so famous that I kind’of just assumed most people who are old enough to have seen it know the ending or at least know what happened through word of mouth and you know… the internet.

 But just in case….

 STOP! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

 Hello everyone! So I’m going to do something different today. I’m going to-are you ready for this-not talk about Gruvia, not talk about Fairy Tail, not talk about anime at all.

I know right.

 Well you can take Buzzfeed for that.

I was looking through Facebook where I saw this quiz you could take and find out weather you could both yourself and Jack, just yourself or you both die.

 For the record I killed us both so… yay for that.

 However throughout the whole thing it was very passive aggressive against Rose (one of the answers to the question made a snide comment about Rose mentioning the cold because Jack’s already aware of how cold the water is). And look I understand that it’s Buzzfeed and it was supposed to be silly-however I once again felt something stir in me.

 The pure unadulterated urge to bang my head against the wall and chuck my computer out my window.

 Why you may ask? It’s really simple. I am a little annoyed with people complaining about Jack dying at the end of TITANIC and painting Rose as a selfish bitch.

 Of cores everyone is allowed to have their own opinion and I respect that, and I will defend your right to speak your mind even if I don’t agree. However the wonderful thing is that it goes both ways. I’m simply trying to put a different perspective on the ending, and explain why I did the ending is grate the way it is. 

 Before I begin let me give some brief background information.

 TITANIC is my absolute favorite movie. Technically the first time I was exposed to it was accidently when I was seven or eight, somewhere around that age. I walked in and it was at the part where Cal sees the little girl screaming and crying her head off.

 I was traumatized to say the least.  

 I forgot about it fairly quickly though, and a few years later my mom showed it to me. I was 10 (perks of having a parent who studied film) and I was in liked it as much as a ten year old could. I thought Leonardo DiCabrio was the greatest thing in the world and the most handsome actor in Hollywood (still kind’ of do TBH

, and I was enamored with the costumes. Now I’m going to be honest, it was too much for me at that point in my life-especially since I tried to be stubborn and watch it on my own. When I saw Cal begin to shoot at Jack and Rose I lost it and ran to my mom screaming and crying.

 However looking back, it was pretty obvious that movie affected me from the start. I began to look up the history of the real ship and read all kinds of books on the subject. I can honestly say that was my first steps into learning and researching history, a passion which has stuck to me to this day. After all I was a history major and am still a history minor and while my love of history was always there, I wonder if it would have taken longer for me to discover my passion had I not watched the movie.

 TITANIC also inspired me to act and write. Not only did I want to tell a beautiful story that would help people escape as TITANIC helped me escape, but I wanted to be the person to bring those characters to life. I adored Kate Winslet and idolized her (again still do) and my dream was to be like her. Honestly even though I haven’t acted in three years, I still dream of being an actress and being like Kate Winslet from time to time.

 So to sum it up, this movie is very important to me and has a special place in my heart. I thought I needed to get that out into the open so people know where I coming from.

 Now to the ending!

 We all know what happens at the ending; the ship finally sinks and Jack and Rose are left stranded in the freezing North Atlantic. They swim until they find a large piece of wood-I believe it’s a door-floating in near by. They get to it and Rose gets on. Jack tries to follow her but the door tips over. Jack stays in the water and he and Rose hold hands. He makes her promise to never let go of her life and the plans they had, to live it until the fullest. By the time one of the life boats returns to look for survivors Jack has passed and Rose is waiting at death’s door. She’s ready to go to heaven with Jack but then remembers his promise and lives. She lives until she’s 100 years old-almost 101 and does indeed die warm in her bed.

Not long after the movie appeared people began to notice that both Jack and Rose could have fit on the door, and I am not here to dispute that. It has been proven not just by fans but by the elite Myth Busters themselves.

 So if it’s been proven that both Jack and Rose could have fit on the door… that would might seem to support the claim that Rose is a selfish bitch and Jack was a moron.

 HOWEVER

I don’t believe that is true

 I tend to look at things from a historical and realistic perspective, so I’m going to try and look at this ending through that lenses.

 So here are some basic facts that I will hopefully not screw up.

 We know that the water that fateful night was below freezing (under 32 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius), and humans cannot survive in that kind of temperatures for very long. It’s a common myth that most of the 1500 people who died that night died from drowning-and that’s understandable since one would think people die in the ocean by drowning. However most of the people died from hypothermia.

 It’s also worth mentioning that the largest group of people who died were men. This is obvious because at that time the rule was that women and children went on the life boats first.

 Here are some statics according Wikipedia;

 There were 175 men in first class, 118 died, meaning 67% of first class men died.

There were 168 men in Second class, 154 died, meaning 92% percent of second class men died.

 There were 462 men in first class, and 387 died, meaning 84% of third class men died.

Let’s take that into perspective- 84% of third class men died. I bring this up because people

need to understand that the likely hook that Jack would have survived was very slim. He would have ended up in the water anyway, and he may not have been able to get on a piece of wood.

 It is also known that the life boat that eventually came to rescue Rose, ran by 5th officer Lightoller, searched for survivors 2o minutes after the ship sank and searched for 45 minutes and Rose was one of the last people to be rescued. This means that it took over an hour for Rose to be rescued.

 Now that we can a solid foundation, shall we continue?

 As I stated before I am not here to claim that both Jack and Rose couldn’t have fit on the door. There have been fans lying in a tape outline of the door in various different positions, and the Myth Busters proved that if a life jacket was tied underneath the door it would have helped with the buoyancy.

 HOWEVER…

 I don’t think any of this is realistically possible.

 Put yourself in the character’s shoes.

 It’s the middle of the night; you just survived a ship sinking only to find yourself submerged in below freezing water. Everyone who is in the water is panicked, screaming and desperate. You swim further away from the crowd for your own safety. You’re exhausted and freezing on top of being petrified.

 I don’t know about you but I don’t think I would have the mental capacity to say;

 “Okay let’s try this position maybe that will work” or “Hey why don’t we try trying your life jacket to this thing it might help”.

 I just don’t think either Jack or Rose would have been in the frame of mind to think in such a way. And if Jack was that desperate to survive and hadn’t accepted the fact he was going to die, he would have continued to try and and find a way for them to both fit. 

He didn’t though. Because he chose to sacrifice himself so the person he loved could live. 

 All of this adds up to the ending just making sense, and making the movie far more powerful.

 That’s right I said. The movie would not have been as meaningful had Jack lived, and it’s because of Rose and her story.

 As mentioned before a lot of people see Rose as a selfish bitch in part because of the ending. Is Rose perfect-no of cores no. Can she be selfish and a bit of spoiled princess-at times. But this was not one of those times.

 She didn’t want Jack to die anymore than we did. Remember was willing to die for him but she didn’t. She remembered her promise to him-which FYI was nota bout physically letting him go-and survived. Not only did she survived but she did everything she wanted to do and said she would do with Jack. She lived her life to the fullest despite what she went through and eventually did die an old woman safe in her bed.

 I don’t know about you but I think that is not only a beautiful tribute to Jack’s life and spirit, but it shows how much strength Rose had.

 Yes it would have been nice if Jack survived and they had their happily ever after, the romantic in me adores that idea. However Rose’s story would not have been as meaningful had she not een forced to live and do all those things on her own. 

 So let’s recap why the ending of TITANIC works;

1-It is likely Jack would have died no matter what-Rose and drift board or not.

 2-While it is true that both Jack and Rose could have fit on the board, the reality of the situation did not allow them the time or afforded them to be in the frame of mind to think the way they would need to think.

 3-It creates a stronger and far more meaningful story than if he had survived.

 So what do you think? Please don’t be hesitant to share you opinion-I have facilitating and participating in debate, especially about movies!

[tempocannon]

The Underdogs: St. Louis’s Record Labels

[A feature I wrote in spring 2014 about St. Louis record labels. Amazingly dated already, but such is the lot of articles about DIY scenes.]

[Eads bridge, STL.]

So, here’s the situation: in the last 20 years, digital production and the Internet have demolished the traditional record industry. There are all kinds of statistics to show the dire state of the giant record companies of old, but the fundamental fact is that record sales go down every year. According to a January 8th Rolling Stone recap of the music industry’s performance, even digital downloads sank 6% from 2012 to 2013. Major labels are mummies, the big indie labels—Merge, Drag City, Jagjaguwar, and all the others—have staked out some space on a sinking ship, and Record Store Day itself is a tourniquet, an annual reminder that physical products are alright. Of course, all that is totally fine, because musicians are still out there making music. The same technologies that annihilated the record industry blew open the doors of music production, so now you can now record, distribute, and promote music for a fraction the former price. In the age of Bandcamp, it’s totally feasible musicians to do it all.

Who, then, are the intrepid souls who start small labels, who throw their time and money down what Robert Severson, Pancake Master of Pancake Productions, calls “one big money pit?” Why do they stick out their necks for the creative projects of others?

We asked the daredevils who run St. Louis’ labels, and they say a top reason is the joy inherent in working hard on something good. Running a record label is an artistic process of its own, with all the highs and low that come with the territory. For Joe Schwab of Euclid Records, it’s about the work itself. As he puts it, “my favorite thing about doing a label is simple: dealing with creative people. Not just the musicians, but the cover artists and graphic designers as well.” Pat Grosch of Mounds Music echoes the sentiment. He got into the game because being “around extremely creative individuals as they let you into their projects, and thus their hearts, is reward enough.”

People start running labels for pragmatic reasons, too. Local scenes are generally composed of loosely organized groups of friends with various degrees of interest in promoting themselves. Forming a label can coordinate the knowledge and energy of young and veteran members of a city’s scene, as well as provide an infrastructure for artistic cross-pollination. Damon Davis of the FarFetched Collective sees his label as an artists’ union. He started the organization, he says, to interact “with artists and [foster] connections between us in the music community.” Robert Severson of Pancake Productions was frustrated with the here-today-gone-tomorrow nature of a lot of St. Louis music, so he started his label, Pancake Productions, partly just “to be an entity that never died.” And a coordinated scene is easier to explain to outsiders, so a label can be a doorway to out-of-state promotion. As Extension Chord’s Tim Rakel puts it, “an umbrella label seemed a good strategy for promoting music from Saint Louis.”

And then there’s the most fundamental concern of all: getting the music out! Major labels and even the big independent labels have simply never had an interest in putting out a lot of adventurous and underground music. Gabe Karabell of Don’t Touch My Records says it best: “Small labels have been killing it since the '50s and '60s, so I'm not surprised that the real jams remain underground to this day.”

Small labels work hard for the bands on the ground, and we owe so much excellent music to lonely owners. To get a sense of what’s really going on in the vinyl mines, we conducted a census of a dozen local labels in honor of this year’s Record Store Day. See a label you’re interested in? Check it out! Don’t think any of these labels look cool? Go forth! Start your own!

Twelve Saint Louis Labels

Big Muddy Records 

In a business where many labels close up shop soon after they open, Big Muddy Records is a crusty old uncle on the scene. Chris Baricevic lost a bet and started up the operation in 2005 with the self-titled Vultures EP, and gradually began putting out records by some of the city’s best-known Americana acts, including Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost, The Hooten Hallers, Rum Drum Ramblers, and Pokey LaFarge. According to Baricevic, big things are in the works for Big Muddy: “a constant cycle of life and death, ulcers and dishwashing jobs, and we might have a hot dog party for our brother Brice.” He’d also like to say that Record Store Day should be about giving record store employees gifts.

Extension Chord Records 

Tim Rakel and Melinda Cooper of The Union Electric started Extension Chord Records last year as a way of releasing work by their side projects Town Cars and The Chainsaw Gentlemen. The label racked up five releases in its first year, and it’s moving fast: Town Cars’ debut CD is coming out this year, and the honchos are considering expanding the label’s roster. According to Rakel, the organizational headaches and sometimes glacial movement of the production process can be demoralizing, but ultimately, “it makes most sense to go ahead and do everything on your our terms.’”

Euclid Records 

Euclid Records (the store) has been around for thirty years, but the label has only been putting music out since 2009. The label got started pressing in-store sessions onto vinyl singles and selling them for the benefit of The New Orleans Musicians’ Relief Fund, but Euclid has quickly expanded the roster, issuing full-lengths by Troubadour Dali and Sleepy Kitty. Joe Schwab, the owner of both the label and the shop, sees underground labels and independent stores as closely entwined. “The only game in town these days are independent record stores,” he said, “and we're the ones that have been pushing indie bands and indie labels.”

Tower Groove Records 

Tower Groove Records is less a label than a loose collective of South City bands. Tower Groove’s been silent for a few months, but in the last several years Adam Hesed, Jason Hutto, and the rest of the collective have made some very unique releases happen. They got things rolling with a double LP compilation of 22 bands, and last year Tower Groove released a mail-order singles series. Each month of 2013, subscribers received a brand-new single that paired two local bands.

Mounds Music 

Mounds Music is the brand-new project of a few of the Bug Chaser dudes, an effort to put high-quality analog recording into the hands of local acts. Pat, Jake, and Zeng secured a start-up grant from the Regional Arts Commission, and they’ll be producing between 6 and 10 cassette releases in the next year. According to Pat Grosch, Mounds will be a creative platform, “an attempt to provide some new opportunities to musicians, and help let them focus on their craft—music—as we manage the production side.” The list of future collaborators is long, but Mounds is currently cooking up cassettes by Maximum Effort, The Bad Dates, Kisser, and Zak M. Details will be revealed soon.

Eat Tapes 

Eat Tapes is Matt Stuttler’s cottage industry, an all-cassette label that started when Stuttler moved from putting out tapes for his own projects to putting out tapes for his friends’ projects. The label has released material for Burrowss, Bruiser Queen, and others, but Stuttler has made a specialty out of sticking two bands together on one split tape. Split tapes are definitely in line with the label’s mission. As he puts it, “labels like Eat Tapes operate on a local/regional level that concentrates on supporting bands/artists that aren't going to necessarily have mass appeal. But who cares about that?”

Don’t Touch My Records 

The mission of D.T.M.R. is simple. Gabe Karabell, founder and tapemaker, says, “I just want to document some of the bands that I like before they break up.” Karabell is casual about the whole thing, but since 2012, the label has been in the right place at the right time to release music by The Brainstems, Rat Heart, Wild Hex, and Shaved Women. The only downside, Karabell says, is waiting in line at the Post Office to mail tapes when I'm late for work.” What’s up next? The debut of Self Help, “a new band with folks from Doom Town, Los Contras, The Vultures, Jack Grelle's band and the Bill McClellan Motherfuckers.”

Spotted Race 

For the last year and a half, Spotted Race has been churning out tapes from the city’s punk and hardcore underbelly. As operator Martin Meyer puts it, Spotted Race exists to release “bands that deserve to be put out but probably wouldn't be otherwise.” Meyer has assembled around 25 releases, by hand, for free, all to get the word out about bands that would normally never be heard outside the city. His work is paying off, though: Spotted Race has sold enough tapes, at home and around the world, to afford to release a Ruz flexi disc, a Black Panties flexi, a Trauma Harness LP, a Nos Bos flexi, a Dem Scientist 7-inch, and a Lumpy and the Dumpers 7-inch.

FarFetched Collective 

The goals of FarFetched go beyond simply distributing music. According to founder Damon Davis (LooseScrewz), the hip-hop centered collective aims to “create and nurture all forms of progressive music everywhere,” and even more fundamentally, to “create art that is genuine and thoughtful and make a living from that for my artists and myself.” FarFetched is home to artists including Scripts ‘n Screwz, 18andCounting, CaveofswordS, and Black James. Davis calls the label fundamentally focused on community and collaboration, an “artists’ union” rather than a hierarchical business. Look out for releases this summer, including a vinyl release of label comp Prologue III.

BDR/Rerun Records 

The BDR/Rerun collaboration is all about issuing lost gems of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Jason Ross, of Rerun, and Matt Harnish, of BDR, have done much to dig up, dust off, and reissue St. Louis punk, post-punk, and rock ‘n’ roll gems from The Welders, Max Load, and The Retros. After a period of silence, the label is returning April 1st with a bunch of releases from vintage Milwaukee bands.

Encapsulated Records 

 Encapsulated is the new, improved incarnation of I Hate Punk Rock Records. In 2012, owner Mike Jones opened Encapsulated Studios, a punk rock fortress in Maplewood where bands can practice and record, and where the operations of the label are centered. The label is still home to punk and hardcore acts from St. Louis and around the country, including Bent Left, Black for a Second, Fister, The Haddonfields, and Jetty Boys.

Pancake Productions 

Robert Severson, Pancake Master, created Pancake Productions as a production company for his student films. Sometime in the early 2000s, though, he started a one-man band, Googolplexia, and got caught up in music as well. Severson began by issuing albums by broken-up bands, a move that was not financially lucrative but certainly reflects the label’s ethos. Severson says, “Pancake Productions has never been about turning a profit. In some ways it's not even about breaking even. Really it's just about using every last dime (of both real money and credit extended to me) that I have to get good music out and available.” There’s a lot ahead for Pancake Productions, including a Vanilla Beans EP, a potential Stonechat CD, and “some top-secret things in the works for summertime.”

[arandomindividual]

Tag Game

Hello! Huh, I usually don’t get mentioned in a Tumblr post that much, so thanks for tagging me @everythingisubtext ! :D 

Rules: Answer all the questions and tag 20 people that you would like to know better.

____________________________________________________________

Name: Alexandra (*cringes* *vomits* ewww too long! Too many syllables! D:)

Nicknames:  Alecs (pronounced as “Alex” but on the internet I like to call myself “AC” because it’s a nickname for two of my firstnames. And “Alexandra” is wayyy too long).

Star sign: Taurus... (Huh. Explains my stubbornness and my commitment for certain things! XD)

Height: 5′3/5′4 (Approximately 1.59m!)

Orientation: Bisexual. A very grumpy one at that due to the fuckiness of TFP! :/

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw Favorite Colour: Finally. the spelling that I’m used to! (due to living in New Zealand! :/) To be honest, my favourite colour at the moment is cerulean blue. My favourite colour changes depending on my mood and day. 

Favorite Animal: I don’t really have one... but if I have to have a favourite animal, it would be an otter. Or maybe a hedgehog. (*cough* Otterlock *cough*).

Average amount of sleep: I don’t have school at the moment, so 7-8 hours. But when I do have school, I get 6 hours of sleep.  cat or dog: Dog! Of course!

favorite fictional character: Can it be characters? As in plural...? So: John Watson (he’s bi!), Castiel, Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Hudson (so badass!), Nico di Angelo, Carter Kane, Leo Valdez, Charles Xavier, Hermione Granger, Gabriel, Papyrus, Sans, Haruka Nanase, Connor (Unwind series), Jayden (Unwind series), Fred & George Weasley, and more.... etc. too many names! D:

Number of Blankets you sleep with: 2. A duvet and a soft blanket. I use my soft blanket in the morning and wrap myself into a blanket burrito to watch Supernatural and read fanfictions. (Similar to what Sherlock does with his sheet! XD).

Dream Trip: An alternate universe where all fictional characters are real and my ships/OTPs are fucking canon. e.g Sherlock and John, Dean and Cas. Haru and Makoto, Dan and Phil, etc. 

When did you create your blog: Lemme check. Approximately a year ago, once I turned 13, I’m quite sure. I was so curious about Tumblr since I was 11, now... Tumblr is an endless scrolling of Hell. Like literally.

Current Number of followers: Now.... as I blocked some porn blogs from my list, 324 followers. Meh. *shrugs* .... okay. So I’m supposed to tag some people. Okay! :D @blurry-birb @deliciousdeathexperts @221b-sh @mycroft-lestrade-holmes @my-ships-will-never-be-sank @canihaveacupoftea @castiel-is-not-a-god @askskyblaze @allroadsleadbacktobakerstreet @sherlockmindpalace221b @iheartsnoopy @chocolate-scissors-and-corn @shazel64 @inspirelocked @queen-of-the-nerds69 @ohgodjohnlock @not-our-division01 @husband-earrings @thelostsmiles @anotherlivingfangirl @grumpybisexualcrayon 

[austinpanda]

Dad Letter 11252018

25 November, 2018

Dear Dad--

Happy late Thanksgiving! My Thanksgiving was really, really nice. Like the best one in years. We woke up and started cooking. I made my sausage Bisquick balls, so everyone could make ball jokes. Zach then made an apple brown betty. We went to Stacy and Eric’s place for Thanksgiving brunch! Eric made peppered bacon and little muffins that tasted of apple and pumpkin spice. I brought the balls. (“Your balls are really amazing! They taste so good in my mouth!”) Stacy made cranberry relish (which looks like a puppy drank a bottle of pepto bismol and then exploded, but it’s actually a delicious blend of cranberries and sour cream and horseradish and other shit, good for dipping the balls in.)

I helped do a few dishes and everyone sat around eating and being thankful for being able to eat peppered bacon and balls and not have to go to our jobs. I gave Stacy a late birthday present and a card. The present was a small purse (more like a clutch…?) that had shiny beads on both sides that made it look like a peacock feather. Hard to describe, but as far as purses go, this was a beautiful, iridescent little sparkly thing that I found hypnotic. If I had any desire to own a clutch, (you know, to store nails or gunpowder in, whatever) this is the one I’d want. As it happens, I’m not a purse kinda guy.

After the lovely food, Zach and I came home to start preparing our own Thanksgiving feast. I made a ham with a Dr. Pepper glaze, and stuffing. Zach made cornbread and crock pot macaroni and cheese (you know, just like the pilgrims did) and everything was great. My friend Tom, who was my first boyfriend and then my good friend and roommate for a long time after that, showed up to share our dinner. That was nice; haven’t seen so much of him since he moved to the opposite side of town, and Zach and I moved into the teeny shoe box in the south side of town.

On the subject of shitty dwellings, I wrote an (...essay, I guess you’d call it?) online recently about the main reason why Zach and I want to move out of Austin, besides the crowds and the heat: the cost of living here. It occurs to me that having just enough money to pay the monthly bills, with nothing left over, can have a seriously negative impact on your well being after a while. It makes you worry about car breakdowns, so you drive less. It means you go to fewer movies. It places lots of limits on your behavior, and that just sucks. So, since living someplace outside of Austin is going to be so much cheaper, we’re curious to see what this does to our day-to-day mindset. Perhaps we’ll feel freer to go do more things. Perhaps we’ll be able to afford to, for a change.

And that’s what this whole move is about. Zach really dislikes it here, and while there are parts of Austin life that I dislike, the main reason I want to leave, is because I’m stagnating here. There’s so much happening here! And I don’t get to participate in much of it, because it’s either too crowded or too expensive. I don’t think there will be many things to do in Marquette, Michigan that are too crowded. And I know it’ll be less expensive. We’ve found two restaurants we want to try, and they both have stupid names: Donker’s, and Beef-A-Roo. Donker’s is kind of like Appleby’s, or TGI Fridays, or Chili’s; it’s a standard sit-down American food place. Beef-A-Roo is a burger joint that’s apparently been in operation since 1967, otherwise known as The Year of Stacy’s Birth, and with a name that stupid, if they’ve been around that long, they must be doing something right. Zach and I are planning on going, but we’ll do so over our own aesthetic objections, because nothing named Beef-A-Roo should be allowed to operate for very long without being required to get a less stupid name. Also, we want to go because it’s hard to fuck up a cheeseburger, and maybe there's something magical about how they do it.

There’s been so much going on in the news lately! Aside from all the exciting political stuff, we’re now supposed to avoid romaine lettuce because, as with all vegetables, turns out it’s deadly poison.

Oh! I’m reading a good book again. Not sure if I’ve recommended it already, so allow me to do so now. The book is called Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. It’s about life aboard the Lusitania, and its sinking, as well as the life aboard the U-boat (U-20) that sank it. Fascinating stuff. And I’ve just reached the point where the torpedo hit the Lusitania (spoiler alert), so things are starting to happen pretty quickly. Trying to get lifeboats deployed when they’re manned by panicking people, from a ship that’s still moving through the water pretty quickly, and listing badly toward the bow and the starboard, is excitingly difficult, as it turns out! At least a couple of lifeboats got filled with people, and then upended on the trip down to the water, dumping all the people out. The German captain couldn’t even keep watching through his periscope, all the well-to-do honkies in mortal distress, putting their life jackets on wrong, and bobbing with their butts in the air.

Now that the Lusitania has sunk, I suppose I get to learn next how it fits into the broader context of World War I. I should remember this from previous reading, but I don’t. (Damn you, Mary Jane!) I assume it’s integral to the United States’ entry into the war? So far the book is only talking about Woodrow Wilson as it pertains to him falling in wuv and proposing marriage to some lady that became his friend after his wife died. History! There’s always someone wanting to fuck someone else. :)

More next week. Stay warm! Haven't got too many new funny pics off the internet lately, so here are some classics. Hope there aren't too many repeats.