#scott���s stash

[lex-the-flex]

Better in Yellow

WorstLogan! Howlett x reader

Summary: Returning from a taxing mission, Logan is ready to relax with you, but first, you’ve got to see your man in the iconic yellow suit.

Word Count: 703

Warning(s): None! Just pure fluff and flirting!

A/N: Hello all, I'm back after a short break! I've been thinking about this idea for the past couple of days and I need more Logan fluff in my life. Feedback is appreciated and enjoy!

The fresh scent of lemons and sugar overtake the large gardens attached to the vine-covered brick mansion. Rays of sunlight stretch through the tall trees, allowing every square inch of the green nature to feel alive.

Lightly scrubbing a large batch of lemons in a stone sink built into the wall, the cold water feels refreshing on your hands. Gently wiping the thin layer of sweat off your face, you quietly hum to yourself.

“I found some wild lavender growing in the far corner.” Rogue announces to you.

Turning around from the stone sink, a bright smile overtakes your lips.

“I didn’t even know we had that here. I wonder how many other herbs Storm and Scott have locked away in a cabinet somewhere.” You reply.

Quickly drying off the fruit, you return to the picnic table where Rogue has occupied herself with cleaning and cutting the lavender. Carefully peeling and chopping the fresh lemons, the faint sound of the Blackbird fills the air, signaling that the crew were home. Bouncing on her toes, you can tell how eager Rogue is to see Bobby, so you give her a reassuring nod.

Bolting from her spot at the table, runs through the courtyard and in between the perfectly trimmed hedges. Smiling after her, you happily return to your task.

"I see you found my secret stash." Scott teases.

Wrapping his arm around your shoulders, you can't help but laugh.

"Oh come on! It's not like you were using it anyway. But you can thank Rouge for finding it. She's got quite the eye." You reply.

Adding some ingredients to the glass pitcher, Rogue returns with Bobby and the rest of the gang.

"Speaking of having an eye, maybe don't mention the new uniforms to your beloved Wolverine. It was like pulling teeth with him just to wear these damn things. He's still a little sensitive." Scott explains, grabbing a glass.

"Who's still a little sensitive?" Storm asks, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh you know, the moody and broody Logan over there. Besides, the mission was a little rough." Jean teases, blindly aiming her thumb behind her.

"Or rather: Logan was a little rough." Scott interjects.

"Guys, you all look absolutely amazing. Regardless of how eye-catching the suits are, they still prove who we are." You state.

Pouring everyone a glass of the lemonade, the crew slowly depart from the picnic table, and you sit on the wooden surface. In the meantime, Logan slowly and surely makes his way over to you.

"Heya darlin'." Logan says.

Joining you at the table, he leans against the edge, and finally focuses on you. Taking in his tired features, the sight of Logan's light hazel eyes bring a sense of peace to your chest.

"Hi, Lo." You reply.

Silently smiling at you, Logan leans toward you, pressing a loving kiss to your lips.

"I've missed you, bub. I wish you were on the mission with you. We really could've used you. Besides, these suits didn't help either. They already need to be repaired." Logan admits.

Briefly turning around, Logan lets you examine a few slashes and dents caused by bullet holes. Running your fingers over the ridges in the damaged fabric, Logan turns back around to face you.

Carefully placing his hands on either side of your hips, you calmly stroke his cheeks. Feeling a little pit of disappointment rise in the pit of his stomach, Logan tries to open his mouth to speak his mind, but you place a finger on his lips.

"I know what you're going to say and you don't need too. While the mission didn't go the way you wanted, at least you all tried. You tried, Logan. And that's what matters. Even if yellow might secretly be your color and you look pretty damn sexy in it." You clarify, not letting go of Logan.

Earning a rare full smile from Logan, he kindly laughs at your joke. Suddenly, the heavy weight of the mission gradually leaves Logan's chest just as he leans his forehead against your own. Embracing the moment, a great wave of tranquility consumes Logan in the best way possible, as long as you are by his side.

wolverine taglist ~

@dreamliners

@chronicallybubbly

@dontfeedthebigbadwolf

@the-resident-vampire

@ovaryacted

@misssarcasmos-blog

@yellow-eyed-sams-wife

@lost-in-horrorland

@peterparkernotfound

@pcrushinnerd

@quillycrow

@till-hes-90

@the-moth-archives

@stilllivindue2spite

@wolviesgal

[rottweiler1]

❝𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧' 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.❞

pairing: 141 x male!reader and maybe some los vaqueros + others

summary: the 141 needed a helping hand to protect the world, only 4 wasn't enough. they decided for a interesting 5th member. and seemingly, the 141's other allies were also intrigued.

word count: 962 (i told u so!!)

cw: violence, normal cod gore, angst, poorly translated scottish from google,

update: enemy dynamics (ghost and dino), some flustered soap + gaz + ghost

A/N: more information is that i might just pose 1 time a day or 2 times a day or none at all, really. i have a lot of drafts saved for this series but its only up to part 1 part 2 and part 3, enjoy though! -rottweiler

2/?

part 1 - part 2 - part 3

The boys stared up at the man with adornment, amazement, and.. annoyed. Simon was the one annoyed at this point, who was this man taking away his title of the Cold, Dark stoned man who could crack your skull in a bliss? Well a man who encountered Dino before and beated him in almost a bunch of combat when still in selection with Dino. Gaz and soap looked at each other and ran to the tall man, shouting out questions and.. some curious touching. 2 men were childish enough to do this.  Price stared and sighed heavily, watching them do so.

"HOW THA' FUCK YOU GETTING THEM SO VEINY, BONNIE? Please tell me your protein shake recipe." Soap said as he was touching your arms, you were veiny and bulky.. it only made him more motivated but who knows he's gonna slouch down on the couch later on eating the cafeteria sandwich. Gaz then stared over at your dinosaur spikes from behind, admiringly touching them. "How'd you get the higher ups customize sharp looking spikes, Dino?"

The spikes were a pretty yellow, it shined down from the light. Dino stood there like some kinda statue, some kinda toy for 2 men to play with. He'd glanced over at Simon, feeling cold ice eyes staring at him. LT. Simon 'ghost' Riley. The man he fought before in selection. Price then yelled. "STOP TOUCHIN' HIM LIKE THAT SOAP." Soap then rolled his eyes at price. Soap then took out his hand for dino to shake before spatting out: "Let's fight off them fucke's ye Dino?" Soap said with a grin. Dino looks down at the Scott, shaking his hand with his big veiny hands.

Gaz then stared before saying. "Gaz, pleasure to meet you Dino." Gaz reached out his hand as well. Dino pulled away from Soap and into the palm of Kyle. Dino then spat out in a voice they never thought he had. (If you don't have one, ignore.) He had an accent and his gruff voice, it was deep.. just like Simons. Dino then spat out. "You too, new teammates." Soap and Gaz were jaw dropped.

Gaz and Soap got a bit flustered.. I mean the tone of the voice was hella attractive, no? Ghost stared deeply at Dino. If not, under his balaclava, slight tone of his cheeks were rosy pink. Price then stepped up before saying. "Alright everyone, sit your asses down on the chair." Ghost grunted when he sat down, Soap was a bit energetic when sitting down. Gaz just sat down normally. But for Dino..

The chair came on to a big creak heard in the room. The noise came from Dinos chair with some slight scratching due to his spikes on the back, scratching the wood of the back chair. Price then cleared his throat loudly.. He can admit, Dino must be pretty heavy. "As you all know we go' those terrorists on our asses. Now we failed to capture and turn in Tha' fucker." Price said, holding a map before spreading it out on the table. Glaring up at his teammates.

"Laswell found some Intel that they moved up to Toronto America." He said before pinning down a knife on the map on the table. "And this is the warehouse where they stash their guns, and maybe planning to shoot up america if they want to." Price said gruffily, staring at his teammates before Ghost spoke up. "So what do you think they're planning." Soap then said. "Probably wanting to snap off our necks after we turned off Tha' time bomb." Gaz spoke up. "I got some phone that was ringing over one of the soldiers they were talking about wanting to set chemicals into the sea and maybe shot up Toronto after one of Saudi arabia's city was raided."

All of them looked at each other then glanced at Dino. Ghost frowned, he was probably thinking that dino would say some wolfhunt (that one term for dogpiss) idea. Dino then said. "Your all fucking missing the key." Dino took out the knife that was stabbed through the map and wood. Stabbing towards Mexico. "Laswell gave me information on the mission through the phone the key is to get towards Mexico first. If America was wanting them in, they would get suspicious. Big crates and crates unknown to the USA would get them ratted out when investigated."

Price, Gaz and Soap were amazed at Dinos explanation, Ghost grunted and crossed his arms. Sending daggers towards Dino. He didn't trust dino, and dino thought it was funny for The Simon Riley to get jealous over him. Dino smirked at Ghost underneath his sharp teeth designed mask. "It would make sense to get to Mexico first before going over to the US. As far as we know USA has extra security over the docks."

"Meaning they are slowly filling out the stash in America without anyone knowing. Possibly underground, no signal since the police can track internet." Dino briefly said. "What? It's a fucking guess." Dino grinned at Ghost.. better then fuckin' Everything. Gaz and Soap showered him with compliments, Ghost himself growled.. fucking asshole. Enemies from first glance, already enemies through selection.

Price stood their with a smile, patting on Dinos shoulder. "you are great, soldier." Dino glanced towards John with a slight nod, side eyeing Simon. Simon kept glaring like it meant he was intimidating but You just shrugged with daggers back at Simon underneath the eyes of yours. Soap whispered to price. "Cap', you see that? Seems like Ghost and Dino go' a bit of riva'ry." Gaz then crossed his arms.. wondering if Dino was paying attention. Gaz looked to where Dino was staring.. and boy was he surprised. A rivalry through first meet, they thought.

Price nodded with Soap, agreeing. But they need Simon to cooperate if he wanted to save the world. Simon then spoke out. "Very Einstein, aren't you." He spoke with a growl. Dino then shrugged again, turning around to leave with a grin underneath the mask, he himself had sharp teeth. Born with it. Simon looked away with annoyance.

Soap and Price were talking down the hall, Gaz was instructed to show Dino his room and Ghost was busy eating lunch, swinging by the cafeteria. At least he got some tea when swinging by. Gaz spoke. "Here's your room, it isn't much but it is a room. You could decorate in here."

Dino dropped his bags like a piece of paper, it was heavy as fuck but lightweight towards the large man. Dino then nodded. "Thank you, Gaz." Dino glanced at Gaz before pulling down his mask, grinning at Gaz with sharp teeth. Gaz felt knocked out.. your teeth were sharp.. and even so clean? Gaz awkwardly smiled back and leaving, he couldn't help but get flustered by the man's charm.

Dino was enthralled with this show, stealing the 141s attention from Simon like taking candy from a baby. Dino does not like his enemies. When they roar at him, he roars back but this is the teasing type of roar towards Simon. Enemies.. could turn into more, who knows?

Dino hung up some posters on his wall, only like.. 2. Dino then took his towel and walked down the hall to get over to the shower room. By the time he got there the 141 was showering. It was normal anyways. Dino then slowly took off his shirt. Soap peeked a glance at Dino and holy fuck was he in heaven. The man had a slutty waist like Simons, and abs that were worked out and trained through with scars. Battle scars.

Simon gave a side eye towards Dino before glancing at his body, peeking through since he didn't have a balaclava. Soap and Simon went back to washing to respect each others privacy, but fully well enough of how sharp eyed the Dinosaur is, He knew they peeked at him. Dino got into the shower cubicle, showering himself before Price then said in his usual gruff tone.

"Right, stand by for deployment. We're gonna meet some old pals of ours by Mexico in Las Almas, Dino." Soap then perked up before grinning.. Gaz then smiled as he brushed back his hair to continue showering, Ghost had a balaclava on and a towel around his waist, knowing full well who those old pals were. Dino glanced at price with a eyebrow raise.. Who was the cap talking about?

Dino was going to meet the Los Vaqueros.

[deadlyterrorstonight]

WHATS SOMETHING THEY WOULD FANGIRL OVER??????

Ask #7 | Question: What would they fangirl over?

Mike: Pokémon(Most things related) / DND / Video games

Vincent: Knives/ (He has a collection of all kinds. Normally just for display and because they look cool. This also includes swords which Jeremy finds super cool.) / mechanical things / Has lots of comics and oldies stash and really enjoys collecting and reading them.

Scott: Phone collection. (Seashell phone, 90’s, 80’s, 70’s, etc phones. All kinds.)

Jeremy: Obviously Sailor moon / Anime related things - Manga / Video games / Certain cartoons

Fritz: Game(s/ing) / Legend of Zelda / Robotics - Mechanical things / DND

- A/N : Possibly may change or be added onto.

[the-fever-dream-highs]

Hey!, can i ask for some scott bartlett writing?

where the plot is something like this: scott has a best friend who is outgoing and problematic, sometimes she gets into fights and defends scott a lot, one day she finds out about the awkward action with adrianna in the boy's room and she decides to teach him, you know

it must be counterfiet- s. bartlett

"Nights are so starry, blood moon lit. It must be counterfeit. I think there's been a glitch, ah-yeah."

ship- Scott Bartlett x fem!reader

summary- You're sitting in your room with Scott after you ended up in a fight with some guy. After, smoking some of your secret stash you guys start 'talking'. He tells you about what happened with him and Adrianna and how awkward it was. A few blatant hints come from Scott, so you offer to teach him.

content warnings- cursing / mentions of sex / drugs(weed) /mentions of violence / mentions of blood /

word count- 761 (Would Y'all like a part 2. since this is short?)

(Use of she/her pronouns and use of y/n)

Your head was throbbing, the cold rag only doing so much. The bleeding had pretty much stopped but the gash above your ear still hurt like a bitch. You laid sprawled out on your bed waiting and wanting the pain to subside. After some ill faced comments about Scott, you had lost it and started hitting the guy like usual. You just couldn't let the guy get away with it. You took it upon yourself to defend Scott.

You could feel Scott's eyes burning into you. "If you keep staring at me, I swear to god, Scotty," you said, bringing an arm to lay across your eyes. The lights were blinding and seemed to be making your head hurt more.

"You shouldn't have done that. I could've handled it..." Both of you knew that wasn't true. He began walking over to you slowly, as if you were asleep and he didn't want to scare you. Truthfully, you knew exactly where he was because of the small creeks from the floor. You also could swear you could feel the guilt and sadness radiating off of his body. "You know I hate when you do this cause you end up hurt."

Yeah, you knew. Did you care though was the real question. (No.) This was just you. You already had an ever-growing reputation around the town, but you didn't mind. To you it was fun. Let's just say you had a problem with authority but only in the way if they tried to silence and control you. Of course, there is more that has gone on to give you such a bad reputation but that's a story for another time.

"Pain is a part of life. Plus, he's a douche and he shouldn't be able to talk about people like that without consequences." You sat up, ignoring the pain that shot through your whole body. You looked up at him, guilt still covered his face. "Wanna get high?"

"I just don't understand what you see in her. She seems, I don't know, bitchy," you said. You both leaned against the headboard of your bed, smoking some blunts from your stash. The current topic was Adrianna. It wasn't like you knew personally but just from observing her from afar she just didn't seem like a girl you wanted to know. "But y'all would be cute."

Your tolerance was rather high so the blunt wasn't affecting you too much. Scott on the other hand was a different story. It wasn't like he was gone or anything, but he was just more confident and open. Not scared to speak his mind. "Did I tell you we did 'it'."

Your head whipped around to look at him, your eyes widening slightly. "Y'all had sex?! Holy shit Scotty," you exclaimed, nudging him with your shoulder.

"Only issue, it was awkward. Like more awkward than I can even," he tried to find the word, "describe. It wasn't very good honestly."

"What do you mean," you asked, taking another drag. You felt sort of bad. Sex wasn't supposed to suck or be awkward. Maybe some awkwardness after words but only if the guy was bad.

He sighed and blew some smoke out his mouth. "It was just bad. I didn't know what I was really doing. I know like the basics of it but- I don't know. I wish I had more experience, so I knew what I was doing." he turned to look at you. You couldn't even recognize the look in his eyes. Was he wanting you to show him?

“Are you?-“ You were quickly cut off.

“Yes,” he said eagerly. "But only if you want to. Sorry, this is weird. I’m sorry I should never have asked.”

“Hey,” you grabbed his face, forcing him to turn to you. The confidence from the weed was starting to wear off of him. “I will if you want. But the only thing is no invisible strings. It would have to be completely loveless, and it is to never be used against each other. Got it?” He nodded, still staring deep into your soul. “No strings?”

He thought for a moment, debating if he should pinch himself to see if this was real or not. “No strings.” He smiled at you before leaning in, placing his lips gently on yours. There was no love in the kiss. You had said no love so he would listen to you. (He had seen you how handle people not listening to you.) This would all be counterfeit. The mocking image of love. Nothing real.

a/n- Hellooooooo! Okay, firstly, would you like a part two to this? I felt really bad for leaving this in my requests, so I wanted to get something out for you. Please tell me if you want a part two because I will happily write it. Scott is so adorable and underrated and there is a minuscule amount of stuff for him. I also might come a work on fixing it cause there's parts I hate.

For this being my second one-shot ever I wanted to try writing it differently to see what I like to do!

Please leave requests of what you would like to see next!

Bye! Love you all! <3

[missimbalance]

24 Books I (still) want to read in 2024

(a.k.a. got to keep the reading speed up AND get through the 'keep or throw away' shelf AND finish up what I've started then dropped bc not in a mood for this)

[a.k.a. "why did I only now see the 'tagging everyone with M in their URL' part of @thereadingchallengechallenge 's post"]

{if anything in this list makes you ask "have you really not read this up till now?", the answer is sadly, yes, and no one is more disappointed about it than I am}

1. Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan ✔️

2. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

3. Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

4. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

5. Willows by Algernon Blackwood ✔️

6. The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sachs ✔️

7. Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe ✔️

8. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

9. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

10. Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir ✔️

11. Nightvine by Felicia Davin

12. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant ✔️

13. at least one piece of my father's Cortázar shelf; seriously, how come my dad had stashed away a full shelf worth of books by The Author who is my Greatest Literary Frenemy and I only found it last year!?

14. since we're in the vague point era: at least try to read Borges in original; I know his Ficciones well enough I should be able to make it through at least one story? ✔️

15. check out the nonfiction side of Max Czornyj, though I'm still not sure I trust him enough

16. Dożywocie by Marta Kisiel

17. Idol, Burning by Rin Usami ✔️

18. Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

19. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

20. Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian

21. Na Drini Ćuprija by Ivo Andrić ✔️

22. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone ✔️

23. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones ✔️

24. Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Neuroscience by Sally L. Satel ✔️

Just so you know how far I am from this list: currently reading a Graham Masterton I found in a bookcrossing box. Still have a soft spot for him.

[erstwhilesparrow]

i promised that list about the second half of lizzie's last life five billion years ago and did not do it in a timely manner so now i get to have the fun and exciting puzzle of trying to figure out what any of my haphazard notes mean. my records are imperfect and so is my memory! here we go!

lizzie's actually, like, really good at the non-pvp parts of the life series? she has such good intuition (guessing correctly that ren's secret informant was etho, catching ren in the lie about being a boogeyman instantly, knowing right away that if they don't move the villager cleo will go for it, correctly guessing ren's Secret Shadow Alliance Friend is martyn) and also is kind of shameless about using people to get what she wants/taking whatever people offer to her (the particularly notable instance is when she's going through her revenge list and recruits joel to help her get revenge on cleo, knowing full well she intends to kill him later, but also bigb and ren come running to her at one point and she immediately tells them to go after joel, and ren gives her diamond stuff while visibly in iron armour and i GET IT, if ren's offering, why not, honestly, but it's fun! that is not the only way one could react to that but it is the way lizzie does. there is a pragmatism to her that i really like.) and has an incredible awareness of how to leverage people's reputations to her advantage (luring scott and pearl into a trap by telling them cleo's being scary, setting up the decoy villager ploy to hinge on people assuming her and ren are clueless enough to talk about where they're hiding their villager). also! having the foresight to leave secret armor stashes for herself all over the map! ALSO THE FUCKING FIREWORK CROSSBOWS. the way she makes her list of people to get revenge on and then pursues it with singleminded focus. oh lizzie... oh lizzie i love you lizzie.

(i would say lizzie correctly predicting that cleo is going to come burn down the fairy fort in the same episode where cleo does in fact do that is another example, but. uh. i think i said something similar in my first Last Life Lizzie Observations List: predicting that something flammable will be set on fire during the life series is like predicting that gravity will act on an object. it's kind of inevitable.)

it's interesting that i have it in my head that lizzie is really paranoid and suspicious of everyone. i think this is true, but she also really demonstrably trust(s/ed) and care(s/ed) about fairy fort -- she finds out ren is boogeyman and hurries off to warn bigb and cleo immediately. (have a suspicion my impression of lizzie is very influenced by the fact that the first thing i watched from her was her empires s2. in which she is extremely alone and skittish and wary of everyone... possibly the whole time? admittedly, my memory is imperfect. and it's not that she's not suspicious and distrustful, but it's really sweet. cleo dies and lizzie goes all over the map calling for them.)

sidebar to think about bigb: i do get why they start using keepinventory in the later seasons and have zero objections to them doing so, but there is Really something to the image of bigb standing there in the water, surrounded by cleo's floating items. it is the closest we get to ribbons of blood in the water, to a corpse and the kind of silence you only hear after a body has toppled.

okay so i knew shadowrot by reputation of [toxic yuri] and that's all well and good and i absolutely see it but i'm so Feelings about lizzie running to check on cleo after their death! she's worried! saying, "i'm gonna make sure cleo's okay." saying to bigb, "it's not me you need to say sorry to, it's cleo."

WHICH IS WHY IT MAKES ME EXTRA [chewing on drywall emotion] THAT THEY'RE UPSET WHEN THEY SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN. i have to credit novy coldwind-shiningstars for describing them as both being people who lash out when they're cornered because this is the thing i was feeling very strongly from the moment i watched that interaction but could not put into words. lizzie's i knew i could never trust you gets SUCH a flavour with the extra context that she spent time looking for cleo and thinking about cleo. there's a sense that at some point lizzie looked at herself and went, consciously or not, "this is how it is now." there's no going back, and it would hurt too much to acknowledge that she Did like and trust cleo, that it upset her that cleo didn't come back to them after the boogey kill, so of course she never trusted cleo at all. and now she's decided and she commits to it. she tells cleo they don't understand -- lizzie and bigb both get that the boogeyman curse does things to you, why can't cleo understand that? she moves the villager so cleo can't use their knowledge of the villager location to strike back at the fairy fort. talks about how quickly cleo went to scott+pearl ("it's almost like she was looking for an excuse") and turning to bigb instead. she goes red and names cleo her number one enemy. oughh life series and relationships that almost didn't break bad...

my notes do not clarify the order of events here but there's something shiny also about all of the above in combination with lizzie offering the olive branch of "i'm mad at [bigb] too." AND lizzie saying, "he murdered cleo, do we really trust him?" oughhh fairy fort, tangled web of relationships that you are.

i also have notes about someone saying "i did warn you" (i'm guessing this is cleo? but not sure) and "i always keep my promises." and if these ARE cleo i'm just. ;-; . lizzie trusted her with something and cleo laughed and said it was a bad idea. was she right? or was she doing the same thing as lizzie, backed into a corner and furious about it and making the premonition true?

copying this wholesale from my notes: cleo :handshake: lizzie going to a different person's base to live in after Trauma

copying direct from my notes again: lizzie keeps doing this, like, "you deserve this" or "it was bound to happen" (not in those exact words) but she's like. Using the way the game works to escape blame. (addendum from present-day sparrow: you have to act on the boogey curse. you have to betray and lie and leave people behind. she goes red and decides to start killing and goes, "that's what a red name would do. that's what i'm going to do."

now. i do not remember the context of the quote "teammates. what do you have, grian." but it sure!! feels like Something!!

i'm very ;-; about lizzie going, "i gotta fend for myself out here." she HAD people!! she had people who liked her, and who she liked back, and she trusted them and cared about them!! and then she's on red and everything's gone. (she even loses all her dogs. rip dragon, ogre, and taxes.)

also [chewing drywall emotion] about the above in combination with her taunting bigb when he goes red, telling him, "you're on your own now," talking about how ren won't accept him back. thinking about the interaction where lizzie tries to steal from bigb and ren and they do part ways without a fight but it's also clear they aren't allies anymore, and the other momet where lizzie goes, "ren... teamed with cleo and scott?" it's... hurts that keep compounding and multiplying before anyone gets a chance to talk or make amends or change anything about what they're doing.

[sterek-ao3feed-archive]

With your feet on the air and your head on the ground

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51860446 by Shizunao “Derek?” Already on his way towards the door he opened the moment a silhouette appeared in the dim light coming from the inside of the house and shining down the front porch steps. “I’ll call you, love you, bye.” Stiles looked as if he had just seen a ghost, or perhaps turned into one himself, white as a sheet and reeking of dread, his arms covered in scratches and hands shaking before he stashed them inside his jacket pockets, looking between Derek and the phone he was still holding wordlessly. Then his gaze landed squarely on the wooden steps separating them and when he spoke up Derek could hear the uncertainty in his voice clearly, “I know it’s late but can I come in?” unexpected mental deterioration, long shadows and lurking in them girlfriends, cursed roommates, houses filled with kindness, singing flowers and favorite colors Words: 31764, Chapters: 5/6, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Lydia Martin, Kira Yukimura, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Isaac Lahey, Cora Hale, Jennifer Blake (Teen Wolf) Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Minor or Background Relationship(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, mutual idiots pining in love, Miscommunication, suspected descent into madness, Getting Together, somewhat heavy angst but mostly at the beggining, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Mental Instability, Angst with a Happy Ending, i promise it ends well read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51860446

[supernovaquirrel]

Christmas Lights

Summary: In this family, Christmas is a big deal…

Pairing(s): None

Word Count: 2480ish

Warning(s): none worth mentioning, some mention of character(s) death(s), other than that this is just Christmas crack 😆

A/N: Happy Christmas Eve Eve everyone! Enjoy this little speck of our imagination while celebrating the holidays!!

Craving more? Here’s our Masterlist!

“Hey, Dean pass me one of those wreaths.” 

Standing at the top of the makeshift stool you had forged together, you almost stumble back as you call Dean over. You grip onto the bookshelf in front of you and turn your head towards Dean who seems to be enjoying watching you flail about with the decorations. 

“Dean get over here before I decide to skin your ass…” you mutter a bit irritated. You have to get this entire bunker decorated and ready before everyone shows up. In this family, Christmas is a big deal.

The last Christmas you remember seemed so long ago. You never pictured yourself celebrating anymore. But now, you find yourself surrounded by the faint golden glow of the lights adorning almost every inch of the war room. Hollies and garlands are draped over every corner where the wall meets the ceiling and you had a lot more where that came from. 

“Okay here you go”, Dean said, holding a small wreath for you to clip onto the draping garlands that you lined earlier. 

“Thank you, kind sir.”

“Don’tcha think you should slow down a bit Y/N, you’ve been doing this since you got back from the market this morning.” Dean chuckles while he thinks back to that morning, “you were there forever by the way. I mean I would have gone with you, but there is nothing like killing a bitchy gnome on Christmas eve eve.” The asshole was pretty proud of himself about that too, while you were out at the Christmas market hauling ass. 

“Dude, you may not have noticed but the bunker is HUGE!”

“Your point?”

“The point, Michael Scott, is that everything has to be ready in 5 hours. And I still need to decorate the kitchen, the rest of this room, our rooms, the Dean Cave, library, and even the shower room!” Exasperated, you jump down and push past him to get another garland from the stash of decorations you bought. 

“Woah woah woah,” Dean turns with a questioning expression, “5 hours? And the shower room? Since when are you Genji girl for Christmas?” Dean chuckles at his own conclusion, and takes a couple of steps back with outstretched arms to try to block you from moving. 

You stop abruptly and he is met with your famous bitchface. You try to duck under Dean’s short arms to get to the decorations, but he decides to duck down with you instead.

You glare at him and hiss, “Dean, now is not the time.”

“What do you mean? I always have time to decorate.” Dean says with a stupid grin on his face. 

This asswipe.

Does he not realize that you have to make this dull overglorified geek mancave look amazing in a few hours? You want to ask him to move again but think better of it and opt for grinning back at Dean as you clock him in the kidney instead. Dean brings his hand to his stomach area and hunches in surprise.

“What the he-” he starts but you decide to Judo flip him for good measure as a kind of ‘fuck you’ for being annoying. As soon as Dean hits the ground with a big “oof”, you step over his idiotic self to get to your hard earned decorations you got this morning.  

As you start digging into your decorations to find something to complement the table in which everyone usually does their research on, you turn to Dean.

“Are you gonna help now that I flipped your ass or —,” Seeing that Dean is still on the ground, you realize that it probably was not a great idea to rough him up after a gnome hunt.

 “Okay. Look fine, I’ll call Cas to help me. I already sent Sam to go get us a tree. Fuck! I still have to deal with the goddamn tree!” You pace around the room and then turn to Dean again who is trying to peel himself off the floor “You . . . you take a breather.”

You decide to add two nutcracker soldiers and a poinsettia to the table. 

So far, you have hung up lights outside and have decorated the research area, the front entrance and, like, a fair amount of the kitchen.

You walk back towards Dean who is now in the kitchen getting a beer out of the fridge. 

“C’mon Dean, time to decorate the rest of the kitchen and then our rooms.” Dean pops open his beer and glares at you. “I’ll buy you a pie after we’re done, how’s that?” Dean looks like he contemplates this proposal and then decides that decorating is worth the pie.

“Alright, but I need a case of beer to get through this.” 

After about two hours of decorating, you and Dean have the kitchen, the Dean cave, and all the rooms done. Now all that is left is the shower room. You leave Dean to his last beer in the Dean Cave and head to the shower room. When you step inside, you realize how filthy it is and decide that you do not in fact have to decorate this room. You head back to Dean and declare the end of the first half of decorating.

“Okay so, Cas should almost be here by now since I called him two hours ago and I think Sam texted me five minutes ago saying he’s got the Christmas tree.” You look at Dean to make sure he is still listening and head to the front door, expecting him to follow. “Now all we need to do is help Sam bring in the tree and wait for Cas so we can decorate it.”

At the foot of the stairs to the entrance, you realize that Dean has stopped following and is now staring at you.

You're about to tell him to hurry up if he wants pie but Dean cuts you off. 

“Hey, thanks a lot Y/N, you have no idea how much this means to Sam and I. I’m sure Cas will appreciate it as well, despite how much he likes spouting off the history of Christmas for dummies.” He stops for a second, hesitating then continues, “after Bobby, then Kevin and Charlie, Christmas was hard, but thanks for, y’know, decorating.” 

You turn to face Dean and consider him for a second. 

You weren’t there when Sam and Dean lost them. 

You weren’t there to see how that may have affected all of them and you have never brought up anything about it unless one of them talked about them first in fear of bringing up memories that were not welcome. Maybe you should have asked about them more and maybe you did the right thing by waiting for them to pop up. But one thing is for sure. You are here now and every hunter knows that you take every moment that is granted to you as a blessing, because no one lasts very long in this line of work.

“No problem Dean,” you smile, “Christmas means a lot to me too.” 

He seemed visibly more relaxed now that that’s out of the way. 

Dean smiles back and not long after there is a knock at the door. “That must be Sam, or Cas, or both,” you jog up the stairs now, “took them long enough to get here.”

Dean follows after you when you open the door. Sam is there looking exhausted and Cas is behind him staring up at the lights you painstakingly put up. At least someone appreciates them. 

“Hello Dean, Y/N.” Cas says without breaking eye contact with the lights.

“Heya Cas. Thank you for coming to help. Someone wasn’t exactly…in spirits”, you chuckle. 

“Hey! You know I helped!”, Dean interjects defiantly. 

“After being bribed with a goddamn pie.” You shoot back.  

“Uhh hellooo, guy with a huge tree here!” Sam loudly says considering you and Dean are only two feet away from him. Either way, Sam still effectively shuts the two of you up. 

“Okay Sammy, we get it.” Dean looks like he is two seconds away from rolling his eyes. “So, um, where exactly is it, because it would suck if you spent all day in town looking for a tree while I killed some creepy ass garden gnomes on this fine Christmas eve eve.” 

“It’s right behind me Dean,” Sam says while pointing behind himself, “maybe if you actually looked for once instead of just standing there, you would have just seen it.”

“Whatever bitch,” Dean throws at Sam.

“Jerk,” Sam says back while holding back a laugh.

“Okay guys, why don’t we get the tree from wherever it is before we all freeze out here?” You interject because it's frickin’ cold out and you will be pissed if you catch a cold on Christmas day. 

Looking around his slouched form, (let’s be real he is far too tall even when slumped against the wall) you see a pine tree tied up and leaning against the Ford Sam borrowed from the garage, easily looking 10 feet tall. 

That’s an impressive find considering that you sent Sam to look for a tree two days before Christmas Day. You were expecting him to return with one that was 3 feet tall looking like an overgrown Charlie Brown tree.

“Wow okay and uh, how do we plan on getting Sasquatch 2.0 into the bunker?” 

“Well, uh, I was thinking of just getting Cas to carry it, seeing as he is the only one with super strength here,” Sam says while looking behind him to find Cas who is nowhere to be seen. “Yeah so, did anyone see where he went?” 

“Nope,” you and Dean say in unison. 

“Okay,” you start, “you guys might as well help me with the ornaments to go with the tree. While you're at it, I’ll grab some beer eggnog that I hid away in the fridge.”

Sam looks at you in disgust. “That sounds revolting,” at about the same time Dean says “as long as it's beer.” They look at each other and look like they are about to initiate a staring contest. These two are absolutely ridiculous sometimes. 

You giggle, “Well c’mon, I’m cold and we can look for Cas later to get him to bring the tree in.”

Sam and Dean follow you down the stairs to the kitchen for a much needed refreshing drink of what may or may not be the most disgusting beer they will have. They all pop open the beer after grabbing it from the fridge and are about to have a swig when they hear a loud crash from the general direction in which the library is. 

“We should probably go check that out,” Sam says, attempting to conceal his happiness now that he has an excuse not to try the beer. 

“Yeah fine, I wasn’t exactly digging the idea of eggnog beer.” Dean says while looking back at you like you had made a mistake. Traitors.

“Fine, be that way then,” you pout as you put the beer down and walk away from the counter, Sam and Dean hot on your tail out of the kitchen. 

When you guys get to the library, Cas has already got the 10 foot christmas tree in the door and has set it upright on a makeshift base made out of wood he got from who-knows-where. The tree itself proves too tall for the library and is tilted at an odd angle to make up for the height. The whole thing looks to defy the laws of physics, but it works, and no one questions the being who has been on this earth for longer than all of them and their family trees combined. 

Cas himself is still nowhere to be found for some strange reason. 

“What’s with the disappearing act again?” Dean says, “how did no one see or hear Cas bring this in and set it up? And how the fuck did he get it through the door?”

“Beats me,” you start, “maybe it was because you and Sam wouldn’t stop bitching about the beer.” 

“I never bitched about the beer!” Dean says, “That was all Sam.” He points at Sam to make his point.

“Well, I mean, no offense Y/N but it is a weird flavour.” Sam says and backs up at the same time, thinking that you are about to make a deal about the beer. Which you are. Before you get the chance however, Cas speaks up from behind the tree.

“My apologies everyone, but it seems I have found myself to be in a predicament.” 

“What the hell Cas. Why are you behind the tree?” Dean says while making his way to Cas. “Holy shit, guys look at what Cas did.”

Feeling a sense of dread, you and Sam peer around the tree to take a look at Cas. The sight itself is hilarious. It is funny enough to make you forget about the beer no one wants to drink. 

Cas seems to have managed to tangle himself in multiple lights that suspiciously look like the ones you spent hours setting up outside. You would be pissed about the fact that Cas took them down, but he looks like a kicked cat right now because he is bending over with a hand at his feet trying to untangle himself, and another stuck to his side by the lights. Serves him right. 

“Cas, buddy, what did you do?” Dean says while making a very large effort to not laugh. 

“I seem to have tangled myself in some Christmas lights,” Cas says like he’s stating the obvious.

“Yeah, Cas we know, but how?” Sam adds. He, unlike Dean, is already chuckling.

“I thought the lights on the bunker would look nice on the tree, so I took them down after carrying the tree in.” Cas continues to claw at the lights at his feet while simultaneously trying to stand upright. “I didn’t realize that the lights did not come apart and were instead made to be one long string of small bulbs and got tangled. I fell over soon after and now seem to be stuck int his position.” Cas looks to have given up on the lights and just stares at all of them.

“Well, I’m up for that beer now.” Dean says. 

“Me two,” you add.

“Me three,” Sam says.

“I would like to point out that I am still stuck,” Cas continues to stare at them like he can commune you guys to help him out of his predicament. 

“Buddy, I think we all need a beer before we help you out of that crap.” Dean says while making his way to the kitchen.

“I second that.” you began to say, “you guys really know how to spice up a Christmas eve eve.”

[j4m3s-b4k3r]

deadpan & deadly

A recent TV favourite is the Australian crime comedy MR INBETWEEN. About a night club bouncer who is embroiled in underworld shadiness on the side. While also raising his ’tween daughter, dating, and caring for his terminally ill brother. 

The 'hitman as everyman' is by now a tired trope, and I wasn’t expecting to like this show as much as I did. However, I was quickly on the hook. Constantly marvelling at the balancing act this series manages, between laughs, and grim spectacles of mortality & dread. A dreadpan comedy. This show manages to be funny, terrifying, and even (surprisingly) poignant. 

All 26 episodes in the 3 season run were written by Scott Ryan, who also stars as Sydney crim, Ray Shoesmith. Every episode was directed by Nash Edgerton, one of the founders of Blue Tongue films. I first became aware of this collective of filmmakers via their short films SPIDER, BEAR and I LOVE SARAH JANE. They’d started making shorts a few years earlier, to support each other and expand their skills. Going on to make several highly regarded feature films (including ANIMAL KINGDOM).

Nash Edgerton started his career as a stuntman on such films as TWO HANDS (a personal fave) and Hollywood blockbusters shot in Australia (like the MATRIX trilogy and STAR WARS prequels) while directing rock videos & short films. Including the one that got him noticed, 1997’s DEADLINE. 

In 2005, Edgerton saw an early 30 minute cut of THE MAGICIAN. A mockumentary following a Melbourne hit man on the job. Scott Ryan wrote, directed, and starred in it himself, on a budget of $3,000. Edgerton helped expand it to feature length, getting it a cinematic release in 2005. Ryan & Edgerton then developed the film into a TV series, and took it to networks. All balked at a show starring the unknown Ryan. 

Then, in 2018, the FX network took a chance on MR INBETWEEN. Perhaps because by that time Edgerton’s stock had risen, having directed feature films THE SQUARE, GRINGO, and several high profile rock videos. Ryan had never been on a professional film set before working on MR INBETWEEN. He'd only done odd jobs. Driving taxis and delivering pizzas since last being in front of the camera, over a decade earlier.

So it’s perhaps understandable that networks hesitated. Assuming that he couldn’t carry a series. However, I’m glad they finally took a chance, as Scott Ryan gives the performance of a well seasoned actor. With range to deliver brilliantly timed deadpan comedy, deadly rage, and even existential sadness.

Being embroiled in the everyday lives of antiheroes is one of TV’s most familiar setups. A ‘way in’ to a loon's life, allowing the average non-psychopath to empathise with (if not exactly like) the main character. We learned to understand Tony Soprano (the prototype for all these recent ‘everyman’ goons) when introduced to him via his therapy sessions. It was hard not to feel for Walter White, as he dealt with his financial & medical emergencies. 

Similarly, when Ray talks about unicorns with his daughter over ice cream, or reads her a children’s book, of course we’ll see the softer side of the hardened crook. But for me, 'getting' Ray, began when he took the blame for his buddy Gary’s porn stash. Discovered by Gary’s wife. In taking a bullet for his mate, and willingly copping naked contempt for it, I began to actually like Ray, and his personal no mate left behind warrior code.

Some early reviews complained that the basic idea for the series was nothing new. It's true that we do see Ray in anger management classes, and other such familiar scenes (entertaining though they may be). However, the series evolves, and by season two I found the stories to be uniquely thrilling affecting and funny. Critics who stayed with the series agree.

The 19-25 minute episodes are miracles of narrative compression. They swoop in, set their explosive timers, and get out. Just like Ray on a mission. Some are purely funny. Focusing on bickering between Ray and his crim cohorts. Or verbal sparring with his daughter & brother (the bogan poetry of my people bantering was, for me, a constant pleasure). There are also brief, existential meditations. Other episodes are barely verbal - action movies distilled to a white knuckled twenty minutes. Taken as a whole, the series is a crime comedy that evolves into something more. A smorgasbord of brilliantly written, acted and directed short films - serving laughter, horror, thrills, and heartbreak.

---------

Nash Edgerton’s most recent directing was for the Irish black comedy thriller BODKIN on Netflix. Scott Ryan is apparently writing new stuff, but has kept a low profile since MR INBETWEEN. That great series had a long gestation, and the next one might too. I'll gladly wait as long as it takes for him to deliver his next gem.

[sublimeobservationarcade]

Australia Is A Wealthy Nation Raising Little Tax Revenue

We measure ourselves against our peers. Australia is a wealthy nation raising little tax revenue, which is revealed by OECD economic research. It is important to state we are not talking about income tax exclusively here but all revenue raising taxation. Considering Australia is in the top 10 wealthiest countries globally it is surprising that we trail our peers like Canada and New Zealand in raising tax revenue annually. Taxes pay for our public services like Medicare, education, our military, and law and order to name a few important of these essential services.

High Rates Of Poverty For Over 50s In Australia

Digging down a bit deeper into the figures, we, according to economic data sourced from the OECD and highlighted by Greg Jericho from the Australia Institute, trail Canada by some $140 billion a year. This directly feeds into the fact that Australia has one of the highest rates of over 50 YO poverty among the advanced economies of the world. Obviously, the wealth of the nation is not shared equally among our citizens. In fact, we pay among the lowest rates of welfare as a replacement for wages in the OECD. Whether you are on the pension or receiving JobSeeker you are getting less that 30% of a replacement wage equivalent. Really, unless you have savings you are heading for poverty and folks on the pension would not have substantial savings or they wouldn’t be on the pension in the first place.  Australians put up with this and seemingly don’t much care about how the other half lives, as long as it is not them.

Photo by David Peterson on Pexels.com

Mean Spirited Australians & F*ck All Welfare For The Needy

Robodebt was a clear illustration of this, as the LNP Coalition federal government illegally went after half a million Australians doing it tough. This was an ideological attack on so called ‘dole bludgers’ and had plenty of support among working Australians and the media. The fact that PwC, who did reviews into Robodebt, found that there was not a plethora of welfare cheats operating in Australia did not phase Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott, Alan Tudge, and Stuart Robert. In the greatest betrayal ever enacted on the Australian people by government vulnerable people killed themselves in despair and many thousands later sued the federal government in a settled class action costing tax payers $1.8 billion. Incredibly, no one has been prosecuted for this illegal and immoral travesty some 7 years later. White collar crime attracts get out of gaol free cards downunder in stark contrast to blue collar unsubstantiated accusation levelled at the CMFEU for instance. Bureaucrats and politicians look out for each other if you look at the historical evidence. Think about all those Royal Commissions into banking, aged care and disability – nobody ever pays the price for the rorting and deaths ultimately caused. The Economic Carve Up In Oz OK, so who is getting the biggest slices of the pie in OZ? The top 10% are stashing away over 90% of the wealth growth in Australia over the last decade and a half. John Howard, the PM from the 1990’s accelerated this shift via the economic policies his government brought in. Capital gains tax (CGT), negative gearing (NG), and the emphasis on investors over workers since the Howard era. CGT and NG have turbo charged the property market in Australia making it now unaffordable for most younger Aussies to get into the market without the bank of mum and dad. In concert with this, Australia has some of the weakest money laundering laws in the developed world, which sees overseas investors of dubious provenance pouring money into top end residential property in Australian cities. Despots, organised criminals, and the like can stash funds downunder and watch them appreciate. This pushes up property prices and makes homes more unaffordable for Aussie first home buyers and the rest of us. “Wealth inequality: Nearly half of all wealth is held by the top 10% of households, worth an average $5.2 million each. They hold 15 times the wealth of the lowest 60% ($343,000 per household). Over half of the wealth (53%) of older households was owned by one-sixth of older people. They had an average wealth of $5.6 million, comprise 4% of all households but hold 18% of all wealth. “ ( https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/04/wealth-gap-widening-new-report-acoss#:~:text=Wealthinequality,onesixthofolderpeople.)

The Gas Industry Pays Little Or No Tax Australia is a low tax paying country for multinational corporations, especially those mining LPG gas and selling our resource around the world. Indeed, half of them don’t even pay royalties on the gas they extract from Australia. WTF? How can this be true? Our politicians, our resource ministers are so inept and/or corrupt, that they agree to deals which see Australia missing out on the kind of tax revenue nations like Qatar and Norway derive from their mining sector. These industries do not employ a whole lot of Australians either, so that is no excuse. We are a soft touch for these foreign owned gas companies and our governments let us down. These facts are hidden and PR campaigns distract ignorant Aussies from the real state of affairs. Australians wrongly believe that mining is the economic backbone of the Oz economy but again this is not true. School teachers collectively pay more tax than BHP. The gas companies manage to not pay company tax in Australia, thanks to their clever accountants. Nor do they pay the Petroleum Resource Rent tax. They make billion dollar profits and don’t pay tax! Why is that? Write to the Prime Minister and ask him why. Write to your local MP and ask her or him. Why are we being ripped off by the gas sector? These companies donate money to both the two main political parties in Australia.

Photo by Magda Ehlers on Pexels.com Our Democratic Politicians Are Weak Australia is a wealthy nation raising little tax revenue. When we say that we cannot afford to pay welfare rates above the poverty line. When our governments say this, we need to ask why they fail to raise the required tax revenue from sectors like the gas industry, the mining industry, the fossil fuel industry. Why are Canada and New Zealand capable of raising much more tax revenue than Australia? The OECD report tells us that we are a low taxing country for the multinational corporations doing business here. Is this because we are stupid or historically have had low self-esteem? Or is it basic corruption because many of our resource ministers end up working for these foreign owned companies on highly paid packages following their departure from public office. This stuff has been going for ages and apathetic Aussies seem to just suck it up. Are our politicians gutless and too afraid to rock the boat? Yes, I think that this plays into the equation as well. The business councils representing these multinational corporations have deep pockets to purchase advertorial and editorial to attack governments afraid of push back at the polls. Democracy is weak in the face of oligarchic self-interest. Our newspapers and networks are controlled by Rupert Murdoch, a right wing media proprietor who sells his soul for greenbacks every day. Corporate media like Nine Fairfax and Seven West run the narratives paid for by their biggest advertisers. The only objective media organisation in Australia is the ABC and this has been cowed by conservative forces over recent years to its detriment. Economic Choices Made By Governments Budgets of governments are lists of what these particular governments value. What they spend money on are as much political decisions as economic decisions. The failure to raise enough revenue has been a result of neoliberalism running its small government narrative. Lowering company tax rates sees less tax revenue being raised. This has been pushed by business groups as an economic panacea promising the trickledown effect. This has never been realised anywhere but they go on promoting this just the same. The extra money goes into the pockets of investors and CEOs. Teams of accountants at multinationals ensure that these giants pay less and less tax. The evidence is there for all to see in government revenue records over the last couple of decades. Australian governments have overwhelmingly listened to these business councils to the detriment of ordinary working Australians. We have one of the worst poverty rates for over 50 YO’s among advanced OECD countries. At the same time, we are one of the wealthiest nations globally but the wealth has not been shared. Instead of lifting up all of us, we have been misled onto a regressive path where a smaller group of winners take the lion’s share and the rest of us get bugger all. This is the American way, where a wealthy superpower contains a select group of multibillionaires whilst tens of millions of citizens live in extreme poverty. At the same time, the wealthy class run a PR campaign blaming the poor for their own poverty, despite locking them out of economic opportunities via exclusion from elite colleges, universal healthcare, and decent basic wages. America offers no leg up for those from the wrong side of the tracks but plenty for the sons and daughters of the wealthy. They then run this BS narrative about merit and self-made men. It is a sham, a scam, a long running con perpetuated upon the country. America is a republic of elites looking out for their own interests at the expense of workers, immigrants, and other marginalised denizens. The Hollywood factory has always promoted the myth of American opportunity for all. Have you noticed how often in American movies groups of ordinary Americans gather around and cheer the hero of the movie. This BS is thick on the ground in the USA.

Corporations employ communications firms to promote the stories they want to tell the world. They spend millions on advertising, PR and marketing. In addition, these huge companies employ lobbyists to sweeten their relationships with legislators. Democratic governments are beleaguered by the sustained requests of these corporations. Of course, large campaign donations are factored into the equation by these companies and business groups. What hope do ordinary voters and citizens have up against this well-funded machinery? Whose voice is going to be effectively heard in the halls of power? Not yours or mine but the much louder corporate voices. Australia is not dependent upon multinational mining corporations for its wealth. This is a furphy, a misnomer, deliberately purported by the communication specialists employed by these industry groups and companies. The figures do not add up for miners, as school teachers collectively pay more tax than BHP. Governments dependent upon the goodwill of its voters are loath to upset organisations with deep pockets and influence. This is why we the people go on taking it up the arse economically whilst wealthy interests feather their nests at our expense. We lack the intention, whereas a senior mining executive or his lobbyist are hell bent on achieving their aims from government. They get to sit down with ministers, we do not. Their job security is dependent upon getting what the company wants from government. We are focused on other stuff in our lives and let this go on screwing us from afar. However, we the people need to wake up to the truth of the matter. “Taxes and royalties paid by the mining industry make up just 5 cents in every dollar of state and federal government revenue in Australia. 95% of Australia’s public services are paid for by other industries. Mining is also heavily subsidised in Australia, receiving the vast bulk of the $11 billion fuel tax credit scheme. “Relative to its size, the mining industry pays nowhere near enough tax in Australia and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they are keen for that to remain the case,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.” (https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/analysis-95-of-government-revenue-not-from-mining-industry/) Whilst we, the Australian people, allow our governments to go on subsidising the mining sector and not taxing it adequately, we will continue to deprive our own vulnerable citizens, the elderly and unemployed, from economic assistance and watch them being driven into poverty. It is wrong that we are a wealthy nation but continue to push older Australians into poverty. Simultaneously, young Australians are being locked out of the property market and being hit by a prolonged cost of living crisis fuelled by corporate profit gouging. More crime and civil insurrection is on the cards for countries that economically support growing inequality. Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump. ©WordsForWeb Read the full article

[the-firebird69]

And Dave is still at the apartment and our son wants to know what he's here for he's here when his father is not and we are going to start attacking him. He's for this birth certificate stuff too he just doesn't think that he's visible or something yeah that's right this guy is a nincompoop. Natural born idiot now we're going to start hacking away with these two idiots again I'm gonna put it out there right now to start doing it. He has to be gone completely in order for him to change.

---we see it too they are together and apart and samw eith bja and trump. now they plan to attack us. lets take their stuf the stashes and caches too large and sit. they farted around today.we need it out. and they re slow lame and dont do it. bja is a plug globally. need around it and tommy f is frustrted. angry. and mean you faggot do it an ten medium out of 300 who cares and we see him get angry today. trump rolled up and died. and that was it.

now we understand the behaviour but the pseuod empire likes it and works and shall take big ones and after they are done. the plan they have entails it.

The Mack Warlock today lost a lot of stuff no but they lost a lot of people they're getting killed and they're getting forced out of cities along with them is the pseudo empire they're getting forced to areas like here. And they're coming here and they're taking these people out they're up north in Gainesville and Tallahassee soon de Santis will be displaced and he will be our others too the governor scott he will not be a representative and that's the idiot trump and more will happen to these people coming up very soon as they have a deadline on this this big caverns in the deadline is probably a week or so the 5 medium quarter mile caverns sizzled today and the sizzling tonight and there are tunnels they're about 10 miles away in some cases and the tunnels are about five miles long but it took about two weeks for that to happen and they were already breached yeah no it took a week and it's not 5 miles and they're having to say stuff it's only about about a mile and a half it has to go 10 miles but it goes faster everyday and we still expect it about five days from now but still that's not long it could be anywhere from 5 to nine days 5 days is not long. What's going on now.

-today stan had conniptionno was followed and right on him and ten more around. he was aghaast said we are leaden here and surrouned and overwhealmed and were are. tehy pour in now and from bases yes and are here to work. and willand tke ships out tommorrownd more. tons of htem. need it now these pay they say. and will rock it. now we seeit working and they are up and morlock down. and it is per the revelutionary war reinactment. dave andcarrol were held and the pseuod empire did it. and yeh they got them things and money. true no. did not. were mean yup. acted as they do no were atrocious and mean and dave a ssiad itwh the hella re you and it was not real macs and shut up and such no. so they were that way here for years. and shal be again they say. and we sy no you will be small. and too small. and we and macs and forg force you to. or y ou die. and the mrolockw illbe out andforcing it. too.

and shortly due to thier obsesson wiith keep ing them out

Thor Freya

Olympus

and they turned on me yes and i see it is math as usual. and force. they are nasty idiots and these idiots ok. true too he says lilek trump the living frt and true haha. he is too a gros s person and single midnedd and got us in real trouble. they leave go west msut are ushed out. and pseudo pushed out of cities to ours. and thn we here are in charge a bit. and out no will be overun. and h ow. the place occupied by giants and mutnts and the empireand other groups at us. and at our bases here. use them and yeh ok that is it. they will fall too. anddue to this assinine belief they can do it all what hokey shits they cant doa simpleanalysis. and the trump fleets once gobbled up wil lmake them unstopppable and we dont need another rogue group. of rebels. are ridiculous. tommy f will occupy them and break the tie. and all of it a setup to fight each other in wrhammer. and a terrible series.

mac daddy your dopoes ok morons you fall for tons of stuf the mpire wantsand say i am im tired you shits

Olympus print tnow okd

[uinuvien]

Okay, let's face it, I'm never going to remember to post my w.i.p. on W.I.P. Wednesday, so here's

Later that night Stiles was laying down on his bed - a real bed! - listening to Claudia-23's breathing. The party had been surprisingly okay, and Stiles had even tried out several new foods. He was particularly proud of trying fried, spicy insects, which he had actually liked quite a lot.

Claudia-23, powered by a nap and a bottle of formula, had predictably wrapped everyone around her tiny little finger and even gifted Scott with spit-up down his shirt collar. Stiles had rewarded her with kisses for that, just for the look on his new brother's face.

And most importantly, Stiles had managed to smuggle a little bit of food to start a new food stash. He'd somehow even gotten a few packets of formula powder for Claudia-23.

It had taken a good chunk of time to figure out a place for it, his new room being all sleek panels, but eventually he had figured out his closet's bottom would come loose with bit of prying and he could hide the food there.

He and Claudia-23 wouldn't go hungry again.

[the-fever-dream-highs]

~*Rory Culkin Masterlist*~

✠ ——— ✠ ——— ✠ ——— ✠ ——— ✠ ——— ✠ ——— ✠

*Rory Culkin-

*Clyde-

*Scott Bartlett-

it must be counterfeit- s. bartlett summary- You're sitting in your room with Scott after you ended up in a fight with some guy. After, smoking some of your secret stash you guys start 'talking'. He tells you about what happened with him and Adrianna and how awkward it was. A few blatant hints come from Scott, so you offer to teach him.

*Gabriel-

*Jack Thurlow-

*Charlie Walker-

*Danny Cooper-

[cdlistener]

SWIRL360 - ‘ASK ANYBODY’ 1998 album

I’m back!! the next cd from my parent’s stash comes from my mum’s collection.

‘Ask Anybody’ the album was brought upon its release in 1998 and mum says ‘14 year old me loved it, but my tastes have evolved’ 

✫ I wasn’t super familiar with Swirl360, I’ve only known their later music so listening to their debut album and hearing their growth as artists was an exciting experience and I’m very happy I did so today. 

This group is of twin brothers (Denny and Kenny Scott), who make summer pop music. They’ve had few chart toppers and after some research I found they had a tough time in the music industry as they strived for #1. 

S360′s aesthetic and cover arts are so pleasing, they frequently use stars (which is an instant win in my eyes) and swirls ofc!

^^bonus points 4 good looks, they’re hot

but as great of an idea SWIRL360 is, they do fall short musically. These two formed a classic 90′s boy band, the marketing is flawless and definitely caught the admiration of fangirls/ swirlheads (my mother confirms). 

The album has 13 songs, beginning with their two hits, ‘Candy in the sun’ and ‘Hey Now Now’. swirl360 excels with their pop music and the charts show that, as they reached radio’s top 5 worldwide in 1998 (as well as having 3 other chart topping songs) But SWIRL360 only truly explores indie-pop and summercore. Lyrically the album has simple and catchy words, more often than not the songs are about fleeting love, being young and literally summer. [they execute their music perfectly and though it doesn’t stand out to me, its easy listening and light]. Vocally Kenny and Danny’s voices are rhythmic and they harmonize well, BUT technically, they’re almost stereotypical, not quite reaching impressive ranges and they don’t have any unique or defining traits in their singing. 

S360 (Australian) was picked up by LA record company ‘Mercury’ and worked under the manger of band Hanson, this + s360′s music shows their market and goals as artists and celebrities. 

★・・・・・・★

ASK ANYBODY ALBUM 

1. Candy In The Sun 2. Hey Now Now 3. There 4. Stick Around 5. Heaven Is What You Make It 6. Don’t Shake My World 7. Rewind 8. I’ll Take My Chances 9. Ask Anybody 10. Love Should Be A Crime 11. Slow [Be There] 12. Summer Of Love 13. Forget You Too

☆ FAVOURITES, I unfortunately don’t have too much else to say,FORGIVR ME

6. Don’t Shake My World 

I like the chorus, this song is a good example of what kind of music SWIRL360 excels at :)

8. I’ll Take My Chances

9. Ask Anybody 

I love this song! (I couldn’t add song previews??? SRRY)(’Ask Anybody’ is on most platforms)

★・・OVERALL・・★

The album was predictable and though their slower songs were underwhelming, that did not ruin my listening experience. This cd was saved by its summer pop tracks. 

6/10 music, 10/10 cover & brand

Have a good DAY★!!

by user 55555

[ch40tic-st4rg4z3r]

Okay then ig 😭🙏

c - Come Along With Me (idk who made the song but its from adventure time)

h - House Of Asmodeus (cover by Annapantsu

a - Aftermath (Caravan Palace)

o - Open The Sky (The Stupendium

t - Teeth (5 Seconds Of Summer)

i - I Wanna Be Yours (Arctic Monkeys)

c - Call My Dad (AJR

s - Shit (Bo Burnham)

t - Take A Slice (Glass Animals)

a - Any Day Now (Bo Burnham)

r - Redesign Your Logo (Lemon Demon)

g - GMFU (Odetari, 6arelyhuman)

a - Abandon Ship (fin)

z - Zydrate Anatomy (I also forgot who made this one </3 )

e - Eat Me (6arelyhuman)

r - Rät (Penelope Scott)

This took too fucking long </3 sorry to everyone I'm about to tag now

@smoresthehalloweenqueen @re-yourbrains @idkbutilovenintendo @rarestdoge @capturecharlesau @tlmfan @octostar @maxphilippa @lilacs-stash (I don't have enough friends to do one for every letter oop)

Tag Game!!

Pick a song for each letter of your URL, and then tag that many people!

Tagged by @whumpninja <3 from this post

W- Would you go with me - Josh Turner

H- Hey Mister - Poor Man’s Poison

U- Unbelievable - Ethan Gander

M- Moving On - Ghostly Hounds

P- Plenty - Aeseaes

I- I don’t wanna wait - David Guetta, OneRepublic

N- Never Be Alone - Shadrow

T- There was another time in my life - Relient K

H- Hero - Family Of The Year

E- Easier - 5 Seconds Of Summer

P- Poseidon’s Rage - Murray Lee

O- Only Us - Miracle Of Sound

T- Thunder - Gabry Ponte, LUM!X, Prezioso

Tagging 13 people: @ilasknives @angst-after-dark @reborrowing @whumpy-wyrms @whumpsday @winged-wolf-s-collection-of-arts @kyp-the-spacekiwi @not-a-space-alien @spinosaurusdex @guro-honey @sowhumpshaped @i-can-even-burn-salad @taters169 and who ever else wants to join!

[dmsden]

Monster of the Month - Otyugh

Hullo, Gentle Readers. September is here, the heat seems to finally be dropping a bit, and we have a new Monster of the Month. This month, we're looking at that delightfully disgusting garbage-dweller - the Otyugh. As always, big thanks to Scott Fabianek for providing the wonderfully gross original art.

Otyughs are one of those monsters that're pure D&D. They aren't based on mythology or a story; one must assume they came out of Gary Gygax's imagination. appearing first in 1977's Monster Manual. I've seen speculation that they may be based on the trash-compactor monster from Star Wars (the dianoga if you're as geeky as me), but the Monster Manual came out only about seven months later, so that doesn't seem super-likely.

Otyughs inhabit an important place in a dungeon's ecosystem; they get rid of carrion, offal, and other nasty waste. It's not hard to imagine dungeon dwellers learning to take advantage of an otyugh's presence, throwing their leavings down a pit to be dealt with the nasty thing. "Dump that bucket down the well, but if you hear or see anything funny, move away quick. Old Slargbargh's down there, and he'll eat fresh as soon as rotten."

Looking at an otyugh's stat block, we see a lot of interesting stuff. They're aberrations, which suggests that they originally hail from the Far Realm. This makes sense, given their monstrous appearance, their tentacles, and their touch of psionic power in the form of their limited telepathy (more on that later). Their abilities are decent, but their high Constitution save makes them extremely hearty creature...makes sense that a beast that wallows in filth is unlikely to succumb to poison, disease, and the like.

It has a nice, solid multi-attack of a bite and two tentacles. Given that the tentacles have a 10 foot reach, and they enforce both the Grappled and Restrained conditions on their targets, this is clearly its primary mode of attack. The bite, although shorter in reach, does more damage and carries a very nasty disease. Not only does that impose the Poisoned condition, but it carries a wasting sickness as well that slowly drains the sick person's maximum hit points. While this sounds scary, characters able to take on the otyugh (with its challenge rating of 5) are likely to have access to the lesser restoration spell.

The really fun sounding ability an otyugh has is its power to tentacle slam creatures. The image of this bloated, monstrous creature either slamming grappled opponents into each other, the ground ,a wall, the ceiling, etc is very cinematic. And not only do they take a decent amount of damage (more than the original tentacle damage, actually), but they can be Stunned as well. Very dangerous situation for the PCs.

By far the most unique element of an otyugh encounter is the creature's limited telepathy. Otyughs only speak their own language, but they can transmit simple messages and images to creatures. Since they're not particularly stealthy, this seems like a good way for an otyugh to lure its prey in. As you get closer to the pit, you hear a cry, like a child, from within. You can't make out the words, but they sound so pathetic. Surely you can't abandon the tyke!

As I mentioned before, an otyugh seems like a really likely creature for other dungeon denizens to know about and to use. The bullywugs might pretend they have treasure hidden in the midden pit, or they might tell the PCs that's here they've got the prisoners stashed. When the PCs seem to hear a call for help, that'll add to the scene the bullyugs are laying. But what emerges as they approach, or lashes tentacles out at them, certainly isn't the prisoners. Let's hope the prisoners are elsewhere, because, otherwise, they're likely in the belly of the beast!

This is a monster I would be sure to describe in lavish detail, especially when describing the nauseating smell of it, the sucking, smacking sounds of its huge mouth, the pain of the piercing tentacle barbs, and the foul breath and rotten teeth as someone gets dragged into a bite. I would 100% play up the scene for complete grossness.

I hope this article has you drooling to add an otyugh to your adventure. Next month is October, so we're bringing a creepy creature of darkness from Japanese mythology into the light. Until then, may you spot the otyugh in the garbage before it spots you!