#setting: virginia

[cosybookclub]

Paws and Claws Mysteries

The Sugar Maple Inn in Wagtail, Virginia, is the country's premiere vacation hot spot for pet owners who can't bear to leave their furry friends behind. But this tourist town smells trouble when a killer goes on the prowl...

Holly Miller's life has gone to the dogs. She has no job, her boyfriend's former flame is sniffing around, and a scruffy but loveable Jack Russell Terrier is scattering crumbs all over her borrowed car. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, a troubling phone call about her grandmother sends her rushing home to the family inn on Wagtail Mountain.

The staff - and a frisky Calico kitten named Twinkletoes - adopts Holly and her new dog on arrival. But someone in this friendly town is bad to the bone. One of the employees at the inn has been killed in a hit-and-run accident - which is looking anything but accidental. Now Holly and her furry companions will have to nose out the murderer before someone else gets muzzled.

[jumpingpuddles]

Farscape: Durka Returns

[awu-wangxuan]

li chengze is just a girl 🎀💞💗💟🩰💄

[seithr]

VIRGINIA SCALE FIGURE REVEALED BY APEX_TOYS AT WONFES 2024

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE BACK

[dimepicture]

[kendelias]

OC HALLOWEEN 2024 → dungeons & dragons au

in which the new directions 2.0 (and mike) play d&d (feat. ocs by @scarlettmaximoffs and @ocsandallthatjazz)

[adelaidedrubman]

back by unpopular demand, requested by no one. it’s hank’s big day. 

summary: hank has a big day, and makes a new friend. wordcount: 2k  warnings: passing references to canon typical violence, unsanitary conditions, drugging/brainwashing, and animal abuse/experimentation. all seen through the eyes of an opossum.

Hank thinks from the first moment he sees the Red One that everything about her is good and nice. 

Even though Hank knows that here in the Big Mountains, red is a Scary Color. Because there is also Other Red and all of his passel who wear his color, who live in Bad Places that smell like all kinds of good garbage and things opossums would want but that Hank knows are full of Scary People who do mean things to little critters like Hank. 

But Hank can tell this Red is different. She’s good. 

Good Red has lots of stinks on her that make Hank feel happy and safe. Red smells like trash and outside and animal, not the weird scents other humans like to cover themselves in. 

And Red doesn’t call out in scary low and booming sounds like other humans. Red has a voice that’s high and sharp, but nice and scratchy and grizzled like an opossum’s fur. Red talks in screeches, and she hisses and clicks and chitters in soothing tones that remind Hank of his Mama. 

Red doesn’t have a tail, but Hank thinks he loves her even though there are things that are a little weird about her like that. Because Red does have round little ears that stick out and buggy eyes and a pink little nose and short little grabby fingers. Red even has a pouch on her belly that Hank can smell is full of food scraps and looks like it’s the perfect size for Hank to curl up in and be cozy and warm. 

That’s why Hank isn’t scared even as he watches Red sneak in the bushes and lunge to cut open one of the Scary People’s throats and then rip off his Scary Color fur to put it on herself and fool the rest of the Scary People. Hank thinks that it is good that Red is strong and smart like this. Maybe she can protect him from all the other Scary People, and make sure he doesn’t end up like the Sick Critters he sees around. 

So Hank scampers after her and makes choo noises to try to get her attention, but Red moves too fast. 

Hank is sad, but he hurries his little feet as fast as they can move to chase after her. Hank follows behind her as she kills many more of the Scary People. 

Sometimes the bodies Red leaves behind have good snacks on them, and Hank stops to eat. He chitters and smacks his gums and grins and thinks about how it’s been a long time since his belly has been as full as it is now that Red is here and fighting all the Scary People and leaving their food behind for Hank. 

That’s why Hank keeps following Red even when he sees the Scary People grab her and take her to one of the Bad Places. 

Hank won’t lie and say he isn’t scared, but he follows in the shadows anyways so that he can watch and make sure Red will be okay. He knows she will, because she is smart and strong and Hank loves her. But he still needs to see. 

Hank hides in the rafters and watches as the Scary People give Red bad smelling medicine. Hank worries it will turn Red into a Sick Critter, and he will be sad. 

But right now she just sleeps and sleeps until they wake her and all the other humans up with the bad loud sounds Other Red likes to make from the box he has. 

Red looks around with big, scared eyes. She’s shaking, and it makes Hank’s hair stand on end. Hank starts to worry, because Red isn’t moving or making any noise even as the other Scary People look at her with mean, angry eyes. And Red is always moving and making big noises, so this isn’t right to Hank. 

All of the humans start running around and attacking each other like they all want to eat out of the same garbage can, which makes no sense to Hank because there aren’t even any garbage cans around, so there’s no reason to fight and be mean. 

Lots of the humans running around have those awful toys Hank hates that make loud noises and kill critters with Fast Rocks, and some of them start to use them and make Hank’s little ears hurt. Then some of the humans come towards Red looking like they are going to fight her for the Garbage Can That Isn’t Actually There, and Red still doesn’t move or make any noise. 

Hank wants to hiss and growl at the humans coming near. But he knows he isn’t big and strong like Red, and will only get them both hurt worse. All he can do is hope hope hope Red can survive these humans like she does all the others.

But Hank is very, very scared now as Red still doesn’t move. He can see her jaw shaking, and that’s not something he’s seen before. 

And then as someone points one of the Loud Toys, Red’s limbs lock up and go stiff and rigid. The fur she wears gets all wet and smells bad, and Hank realizes she’s marking it. 

Red falls down and hits the ground hard just as one of the human’s Bad Toys goes bang, and the Fast Rock it spits out flies over her and hits the human behind her instead. The other human falls down on the ground beside Red, a big puddle of blood fanning along the floor to pool beneath them both.

The human whose toy threw the Fast Rock charges past both bodies on the ground to attack the next human running towards him, knocking her to the ground too. He runs out of the room hurling more of the Loud, Fast Rocks, and Hank can hear the sounds of more fighting outside over the pops. 

More humans scramble through the room, all stepping and clawing over the bodies on the ground. 

Not one of the humans stops to hurt Red’s body. 

They treat Red like all of the other dead and dying bodies piling up around her as they run like they have somewhere to get to fast. (Hank wonders if maybe there is a garbage can at the end of all these halls everyone wants to get to?)

Hank opens his mouth to grin, because he can see that Red’s body is still warm and alive, even though the humans don’t notice. 

Hank had known Red was good, and smart. Red knows when to play dead. 

Red’s body stays warm even as more dead humans pile up around her. Hank is so happy that when the noise starts to die down and the room empties, he can’t resist looking around the corner a few times then dashing towards Red with a clickety click click of his nails against the floor. 

Hank climbs over all the dead humans to reach his dear Red at the center. He burrows past the arm slung over her chest to finally snuggle up into her pouch, tucking himself in tightly. 

It’s just as warm and cozy as Hank always knew it would be, and feeling the thumpity-thump of Red’s still beating heart through her strange fur puts Hank so at ease he thinks he could fall sound asleep there. 

Hank closes his eyes, he isn’t sure for how long. 

“Well, can’t say I’m surprised. Brothers, gather ’round and come look at this!” 

Hank’s dreams of big garbage cans filled with huckleberries and persimmons are torn away from him when he hears a voice he recognizes. It’s the same voice that always comes out of the crackly boxes the humans like to carry around so they can make noises at each other even when they’re far apart. It’s a voice Hank has only been unlucky enough to hear come right from the human who has it instead of through the crackly boxes a few times, but he still knows it right away. 

“Didn’t I tell ya that Deputy wouldn’t be nothing but a coward without the mask?” Hank hears Other Red’s voice echo through the room, and it causes panic to jolt through him. “See, this is what happens when the weak try to play soldier and think they can outsmart the strong.” 

The fear the voice instills makes Hank’s body go rigid on reflex. His jaw swings open — not in a grin this time, but so that his tongue can flop out past his teeth. 

Other Red’s footsteps get louder, and Hank’s eyes roll back in his head. His fingers tense and curl like fists. He messes himself with the bad smells that make humans and other big scary creatures leave him alone. He hopes that Other Red’s ears don’t work as well as their size would suggest, and he can’t hear Hank and Red’s gentle breathing and soft heartbeats. 

“Ha,” Other Red barks, stopping what sounds like just short of where Hank and Red lay motionless. “Smells like the Deputy got culled with the rest of the wash-outs a while ago. They’re long dead.” 

Good, Hank thinks. Leave us alone. 

But Other Red doesn’t leave them alone just yet. Instead Hank hears a crack and pop of bones and heavy breathing that gets louder. Hank’s eyes turn up to peek through the pouch he’s hidden in, and he sees Other Red crouched down and looking at them. 

“Gotta admit, for a second there I almost thought my brother mighta been right about ya,” Other Red says to Red as he looks at her. “But lookin’ atcha now, I’m back to trying to figure out what the hell it was he ever saw in ya.” 

“Brother Jacob?” One of the other humans asks softly, “Are you saying... Do you think… What the Father saw about the Deputy — was it wrong?” 

Other Red grunts, “The Father?” He sounds as if he’d forgotten there were other humans in the room with him, grumbling as he rises back to  his feet. “Nah. This coward dying has nothing to do with The Father. Was thinkin’ of something different.” 

A gurgle noise comes from Other Red’s throat. 

“What do you want us to do with her body?” another human asks. 

“Throw it out with the rest of ’em,” Other Red answers, his voice getting smaller as he walks away. “She doesn’t deserve to be dignified with some kinda special burial. Getting tossed out like trash is all she’s worth.” 

Hank thinks that Other Red must have a very bad brain indeed to not realize how special trash is. He feels the strange fur of Red’s pouch rustle around him. Hands are grabbing at Red to move her following Other Red’s order. And Hank thinks this is good, because it means the Scary People still think Red is dead. 

Hank tries his hardest not to scream as his lungs are crushed under Red’s weight, because Other Red’s Scary People threw her down pouch first. Hank thinks this is especially mean of them. 

Still, Red is smart and strong and continues to play dead long past when Hank has to give up and scramble out from the pile of humans. 

Hank thinks she deserves something for this, so he looks around to make sure there are no Scary People around them and then runs off to the bushes nearby. He plucks a fat berry from the leaves and puts it into his open maw. 

After feeding one to himself and tasting it was good, Hank plucks another berry from the bush and clasps it in his hand as he scurries back to Red. 

He drops it into her mouth when he gets there, and it’s small enough it slides right down even though Red doesn’t smack her jaw and chew like she usually does when she has snacks. 

Hank knows that he’s helping, and he keeps running back and forth between the Berry Bush and Red, dropping more snacks into her mouth. He eats one for himself, then runs one to Red. Over and over again. 

He sometimes takes naps in Red’s pouch over the suns that he does this, and he loses count of how many that is. 

Still, Hank is happy when at one sun Red stops playing dead, and pushes all the other bodies away from her and scampers off as fast as she can. 

Hank tries to hurry after her, but his little feet can’t move quite as fast as hers can. 

But he still moves them, grinning at the thought of their next adventure as he does. 

Hank will follow her anywhere.

[chaplinfortheages]

Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and a visiting Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia to set of “City Lights”. Top photo to Charlie's left is Virginia Cherrill (blind flower girls).

Prince Louis’ grandfather was Kaiser Wilhelm II and great-grandmother Queen Victoria.

[cosybookclub]

Domestic Diva Mysteries

Domestic diva Sophie Winston is about to learn that some dishes are best served cold...

Few can compete with local celebrity Natasha Smith when it comes to entertaining, but Sophie Winston is determined to try. Her childhood rival may have stolen the spotlight - and her husband - but this Thanksgiving, Sophie is determined to rob Natasha of the prize for Alexandria, Virginia's Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown. She just needs the right ingredient.

But Sophie's search for the perfect turkey takes a basting when she stumbles across a corpse. And when the police find her name and photo inside the victim's car, Sophie will have to set her trussing aside to solve the murder - or she'll be serving up prison grub...

[ambyandony]

tiziano experiences a microaggression

note: this is virginia. She is tizianos lesbian best friend (and housemate in this au) and of course she is an OC

[sentient-catctus]

Still can't believe the first thing that got me wasn't cannibals or mutants.

It was the radio ad from the goddamn radio...

Now I imagine Tim getting startled by it while Kelvin was none the wiser and just excited seeing a radio then Virginia muffled chuckling to save Tim from second embarassment if they decide to tag along.

[lavitaliz]

[aemiron-main]

these are literally some of the dumbest tags ive ever seen. like. there’s SO much here that’s untrue, including the empathy part. “love couldnt have fixed him as a child” have you considered he didnt need to be fixed??? Did you even watch the show???? Love would have ABSOLUTELY helped him, and he didn’t need to be fixed.

like i shouldnt be surprised that people on here are Siding On The Side Of Child Abuse but… and just like god there’s so many Factual Errors here, shitty and cruel attitude aside. “torturing animals for fun” and the kid in question looks distressed the whole time & a bunch of parallels indicate that he was trying to free the rabbit, but god forbid we look beneath our first surface impressions, right?

and also, the whole “before the lab” thing makes me insane because it acts like everything in his life was fine prior to the lab. meanwhile, he talks about how he was treated as being broken PRIOR to the lab and how his mother despised him PRIOR to the lab and how she wanted to send him away to an abusive predator scientist PRIOR to the lab and that’s just the surface level shit let alone all of the subtext about what his life was like pre-lab.

and not only is it impossible for him to have been trancing victor and killing slice at the same time & theres so much weirdness there, even if he straight up murdered virginia and alice got killed as part of it, it’s not like it happened because He’s Inherently Bad And Evil. I think he was in the right to kill virginia!!!!! Like sorry but wanting to send him away to Brenner????? She had it coming. Alice didn’t, but again, there’s so much weirdness around that AND even if he did kill her, the whole thing could have been prevented if people (Virginia) weren’t trying to send him off to the lab/fix him.

Like it’s insane to me that people will watch Dart’s arc about how creatures from the UD aren’t inherently evil and how Dustin’s love made a huge impact on Dart and yet will also go “oh yep mhm the duffers wrote this Literal Human Child to be Evil and Bad and Broken and he Needs To Be Fixed but hes so broken that not even love can fix him”.

Like. Op is the one with the real lack of empathy here & I sure hope they don’t extend this viewpoint to the abused and autistic kids/people in their life. I don’t feel bad calling the tags dumb because they ARE dumb and literally factually inaccurate and they’re cruel and contributing to the stigma around people who are low empathy (and henry isn’t even low empathy).

[henrysglock]

“To hear me talk, just pull my string…but wait till you hear what I tell you to do.”

Most obviously this connects to Chrissy being her mother’s doll, programmed with a handful of lines and made only for beauty…but Talky Crissy has some weirdness I’d like to look at.

Her tag line is very ominous (see: the opening line of this post), and she has a younger friend worth looking at:

Velvet. She’s blonde, she has a yellow dress, a purple dress (shown later), or a pink dress, and she’s younger than Crissy by a lot.

Velvet’s main tag line, as opposed to Crissy’s authoritative one, is “I can pose and move, can you?”

(All of these dolls have retractable hair, btw. That’s the defining feature, that they can have both short and long hair.)

Let’s get into what really haunts me here re: Stranger things.

The fucking costuming and set design.

I cannot escape the fucking IMAGERY in this show.

First off we have the Creels and the doll imagery…and identical outfits to the talking dolls.

It comes back for the Wheelers, but in a more subtle way (ft. El in the pink dress, which is eerily similar to Velvet’s, and blonde wig because that was her as Mikes sister/cousin).

Something something “each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before it”…something something Holly and the demogorgon (Henrygorgon) in ST1…something something Vecna/Henry refusing to or being unable to kill El…something something accidental sibling deaths and swapping places/trying to replace them with other people…Something something El in Nancy’s dress and a blonde wig wanting to be Mike’s sister…

And that’s not even touching on Holly being played by identical twins. Anyway. I’m chewing on the meta of all that, and I might pop out a separate post about it later. Moving on.

The other thing that gets me are the tag lines and who is paralleled to whom.

Crissy, Virginia paralleled directly by outfit

Guess what’s new? I can talk to you…but wait till you hear what I tell you to do.

[laughs in “she somehow new it was me” and “she wanted to lock me away”]

Does anyone want to tell me who’s really making the moves within the Creel family?

Velvet, Alice paralleled directly by outfit and doll imagery:

My hair swings, and it grows too. I can move and pose, can you?

It’s so…non-threatening in comparison. It is however, giving “all while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day”.

Looking at Alice’s line about the Creel house being like a fairytale…She may have been more accurate if she called it a dollhouse.

A brief note—

Velvet has a younger sister, who also looks just like our Chrissy:

This is important, since our Crissy figures and Chrissy are not the same people. Our Chrissy, just like Velvet’s little sister, is younger than everyone else involved.

[scarlet--wiccan]

You know, everyone says that the Maximoff family is super complicated and confusing but I actually think that the most confusing part is the Vision. Like, I can explain Wanda and Pietro’s parental situation in five minutes or less. The thing with Wanda’s babies is really not that weird if you actually just read 80s comics. But then you get to the Vision’s extended family and you have to explain how, technically, Tigra’s cat baby is Billy Kaplan’s great-uncle.

[paradoxgavel]

listening to the taz amnesty soundtrack and tearing up a lil bit when i hear the amnesty lodge's theme again