#there is a lot to unpack here for rachel

[forabeatofadrum]

Question for fic readers and I guess also writers:

In the upcoming chapter of Ljubili se (yes, I am writing something), I am introducing a "plot point" that might potentially never be brought up again. Should I include it in the first place, or is it fine to just never bring it up again? Or at least, it won't be resolved. And that's because it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual story of Ljubili se.

Then why is it there in the first place? Well, because other characters still have a life of their own, and even though Kurt and Blaine don't know it, that doesn't mean it isn't there. Does that make sense? So it's more to show that people in this universe are people with their own lives and stories and thoughts and what not, completely separately from their connection to Kurt and Blaine. But then again, if I do bring it up, even if it's mostly up to interpretation, do people want a pay-off?

[kaleidoscopewritings19]

Jason Todd x Black Widow!Reader

Title: Kissing and Banter

Warnings: NONE

Character(s): Jason Todd, Black Widow x Reader, Dick Grayson, Rachel Roth.

Prompts: bold print, credit- @ nightprompts

“Oh great. It’s you again.” Jason’s words made you seethe. Ever since Dick brought you home (as a friend) to meet everyone, Jason instantly had it out for you. You were dressed in your Black Widow uniform and you gave Jason an eye roll. “Jason, she’s a part of the Titans now. So whatever your problem is, you two better figure it out. Because you two will be spending a lot of time together.”

The two of you stared at one another. “You look ridiculous in that outfit, by the way.” Jason said as he got up and started to walk around you. His finger went to trace around your shoulder, but you slapped his hand away from you. “Touch me, and you’re dead.” You said and Jason smirked.

“Dick, when are you going to get her a mask? It’s important that we keep all of our identities secret.” Then he looked over at you and was in a way mocking you, “Did you miss the memo, or are things done differently in Russia? By the way, where’s the accent?” He asked as he leaned up against the wall.

Jason made your skin crawl. “One I was trained in Russia. Two, I’m from Gotham too you idiot. And three, my mask is right here.” You said as you approached him slowly with your mask in hand. “Now, are there going to be anymore problems tweetie bird?” He stood at least a good foot taller than you, so he lowered his head so he could look you in the eyes.

His gaze was deep and it could’ve burned right through you. “Maybe we should kiss just to break the tension.” Jason whispered, his lips were close to yours. You could feel his warm breath, the smell of cigarettes and fresh mint gum filled your nostrils.

When he finally stood up straight, you stood on your tip toes and your hand cupped his cheek. He brought his head down and you let your lips trace from his jawline to the corner of his lips.

“There is something deeply wrong with you.” You whispered before smacking him upside the head. With a sweet smile, you took a step back and walked out of the armory. You could feel Jason’s gaze on you, so you made sure to sway your hips as you walked out of the door.

Dick looked over at Jason, “She’s something..” Jason said with a smirk as he rubbed the side of his head. He quickly trailed behind you, and Dick shook his head. “I’m not going to see either of them tonight am I?” He asked out loud before grabbing his coat.

—

Rachel led you to your assigned bedroom, “My room is across from yours, so if you ever need anything, just let me know.” She said and you gave her a smile. “I’m going to the movies with Gar, do you want to join us?” She asked and you shook your head. “No, I better stay here and unpack. How about next time?” You asked and she handed you your other duffle bag.

“Of course. See ya, Y/N!” She said before leaving you alone in your room. You closed the big door behind you, and tossed your duffle bag to the floor. The bed was huge, and you couldn’t wait to climbed into it. A knock on your door made you jump and when you opened the door, there stood Jason Todd. He was leaned against the door frame with a smirk on his face, “Looks like we’re neighbors.” He said as he gestured to the room next to yours.

You sighed deeply, “What do you want tweetie?” You asked and he came into your room uninvited. Closing the door behind him, he took a look around your room, “This bed is by far the comfiest out of the whole tower. I’ve laid in it a time or two.” He said before laying across the mattress and you crossed your arms.

“I’ll make sure to burn it in the morning.” You say as you pushed his feet off the bed.

Grabbing your duffle bag, you started to unpack it and Jason’s hands delved into the bag of clothes. He pulled out your red laced bra, “Now this would be a site for sore eyes.”

You snatched the bra from his hands and shoved it into one of the dresser drawers, but before you could get another article of clothing out of the bag, Jason’s arms trapped you against the dresser. “Don’t you have to be stupid somewhere else?” You managed to stutter out.

His dark brown eyes gazed deeply into yours, “Tell me to leave and I will. Tell me you don’t want to kiss me.” He said as he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

Your words were caught in your throat. He was close enough to see the freckles that were along the bridge of his nose, He’s a jerk! You thought. Why am I wanting him to kiss me? I can’t be weak, and I can’t let him win…. But his eyes..His lips. You had known Jason for well over a year, but this is the most either of you had spoken to one another. “I must’ve gotten under your skin earlier. Didn’t I?” You asked and he smiled.

“A little. I’m not used to a woman not begging for me to give her attention.” He said and you looked down at his hand placement. His right hand rested on your hip, and the other was placed on the dresser. Jason was pressed up against you, “So you started being an asshole because I wasn’t falling under the spell of your charms?” You questioned with an eyebrow raised.

“I find myself insanely attracted to you. It freaks me the hell out, because I want you and you don’t want me.” He said, and you smiled. “I guess there’s a first time for everything, tweetie.” You say and he grabbed your chin.

“I’m not Robin anymore. I’m the Red Hood, so feel free to stop calling me tweetie bird. I’m more lethal than a damn bird.” He said and you looked into his eyes.

“I want you to.” You whispered and he raised an eyebrow.

“What?” He asked with confusion, and you leaned closer to his face.

“You told me to tell you if I didn’t want you to kiss me. I do. I want you to kiss me.” You say with a burst of confidence. Jason’s face didn’t make a single expression, which confused you. Did he just come in here to see if you buckled? Because you did, and now you regret even saying those words. You pushed him off of you, but he grabbed your arm and pulled you back into him. He picked you up in one swift lift and sat you on the dresser.

Jason’s eyes darkened, as he cupped your face with his right hand, while his left hand traced from your knee up to your thigh. Slowly, he leaned in and his breath tickled your lips. His lips grazed yours and he pulled back so he could get one final confirmation from you.

You nodded your head, never letting your eyes leave his. Jason’s thumb ran across your bottom lip, and finally, he pulled you into him and pressed a kiss to your lips.

Your heart raced and your stomach fluttered: it was all a sensation you have never experienced before. Who would’ve thought a highly trained assassin, would be getting butterflies?

Your reaction was confirmation enough for Jason to keep going. His fingers tangled into your hair, holding you in place. A soft moan escaped past your lips when his tongue swiped across your bottom lip.

His lips were soft and welcoming, and the kissing was slow. You wrapped your legs around his waist to bring him closer into your body. The kisses were getting shorter but rougher; you bit his bottom lip and he pinned your arms against the wall.

Jason pressed another kiss to your lips before pulling away. “This complicates things doesn’t it?” He asked and you nodded.

“It definitely cannot happen again.” You say and he grinned. “But I won’t be mad if it does.” Jason said with a wink, and walked over to the bedroom door.

Before shutting the door, he leaned in, “By the way, you don’t look ridiculous in that outfit. It’s kinda hot.” He said and then he closed your bedroom door.

———

Idk where I was going with this 😂

But thank you for reading 🫶🏻

[kimmiessimmies]

Unexpected (7/16)

“Hi…” Sadie said quietly as she entered the room when Finn was working out, his suitcase semi unpacked on the bed. It was clear he needed to let go of some frustration first. “Hey.” Finn said, not stopping his workout. “Look, I wanted to apologise…” Sadie said, “As I was talking to Rachel about our holiday, I realised we also just got stuck in bad circumstances. The rain really ruined a lot, and it probably would have been much better if we had been able to go out more…” Finn let go of the bar and nodded carefully, “Yes, maybe you’re right…” “I’m sorry, Finn, for being a bitch. Let’s not start this term out this way…”

Finn walked up to her and grabbed her hands, “You’re right. And I’m sorry, too. I know you have a lot on your mind, and I could have been more considerate of that.” “So, shall we go to the coffeehouse to get a cup of coffee and start off better?” Sadie asked. “Yes, let’s do that.” Finn replied happily. "Let me take a quick shower and then I'm ready to go." Sadie nodded, "Okay, I'll wait here."

[genericpuff]

Turns out it's been a while since I've talked about Rachel's medical fetish art so it came as a shock to people when I mentioned it in the last post (I've got quite a few asks about it lmao) So I'm gonna enlighten y'all real quick on what I'm referring to, and yes, it's probably exactly what you're thinking of when you hear the word 'medical fetish'.

CONTENT WARNING: DISCUSSION OF MEDICAL FETISH ART AND DEPICTIONS OF NEEDLES!!!!

So the name "used_bandaid" is one Rachel started using back in the early to mid 2000's. She went by a LOT of different pennames back then, including but probably not limited to:

Pepper_maid

madame_issue

Usedbandaid/used_bandaid

Rach Alex

Rachel Royale

Raquel

Medical Tophat/Medical_Tophat

Frill_house

Gingerbreadcoffin (? this one's kinda weird because the link itself with this username just goes back to her used bandaid MySpace account , so idk if she ever actually used it or if it was even affiliated with her lol)

Now you're probably about to ask, "Puff, how do you know these are all her?" and that's because Rachel still had all of these accounts interlinked through her projects, primarily The Doctor Pepper Show. She seemed to change up usernames often just for the hell of it.

Anyways. I'm not gonna show much of it here because I do think it's better to leave certain things in the past, but there's a LOT of her old work that implies the stuff that's questionable/problematic in LO has always been a part of her identity as an artist (DDLG, hot pink self-insert MC, etc.)

One such example is "madame issue":

This is such a 3-in-1 smoking gun for everything we see in LO. The reference to bandaids (see: used bandaid, which was part of her URL slug for her old flickr where this drawing comes from), the hot pink color palette, and of course, the fact that this character is almost DEFINITELY a self-insert of Rachel, thanks to that shared name.

She's also stated in old commission/print posts that Madame Issue was the one print she wouldn't sell.

She doesn't explicitly say why but I think it's pretty safe to assume it's because Madame Issue is her.

We also have Eva, "the queen of medical fetish". And the tags are... pretty self-explanatory.

That said, that's as much as I'm gonna go into with her old art, because a lot of it does get quite personal with her and I don't really think it accomplishes much more to continue digging up old skeletons, at least not unless they can be seen as parallel to LO (which some of them are and I'll likely be sharing more of those ones in a later post).

That said, there ARE still pages that are accessible without the use of the Wayback Machine that advertise her as a medical fetish artist without the need for extensive digging. If you search up The Doctor Pepper Show on Google, you'll actually find a reddit thread asking what happened to Rachel's old work, and there are comments with loads of resources to access her pre-LO content. You'll also find the listing for The Doctor Pepper Show on The Webcomic List, which literally describes it as a medical fetish comic: "This is a comic set in a world where evil doctors rule, girls wear frilly underpants and people use their manners. *May I please blow your f**king head off?* This comic features Gothic dandys, EGL (Gothic lolitas) and medical fetish fashion. (Neo victorian setting)"

I'll let y'all do your own digging from here, there's a LOT to unpack honestly and while I can't keep you from doing your own research, practice due diligence with what you choose to share. Again, I don't think it's a crime in and of itself for Rachel to want to distance herself from her past as a medical fetish artist, so I think it's only really relevant to show the things that are clearly still influencing LO (like her love for the movie Lolita or the very clear sexualization of youthfulness). While we can try to leave the past where it is, she does still write LO with a lot of the most problematic features of her former identity, and it makes it all the more bizarre that if she is trying to distance herself from it all, then why would she stick with one of the pennames that's the most easily tied back to medical fetishism?

TL ; DR: Rachel started off online with medical fetish and gothic lolita art (at least as far back as we can trace it) and elements of that past are still present in LO today. Use that info responsibly lol

[thetravelingtyper]

Letters From Nowhere - 2 (CBF! Johnny 'Soap' MacTavish x Reader x Simon 'Ghost' Riley)

Finally at home, you spend some time with Johnny before dinner...

Warnings: FLUFF

Part 1, Part 3, Masterlist

Comradery - mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.

Your laughter lights the room, taking the nervousness away with it as you finally settle back into your tired body, and soon a yawn breaks up the laughter. Johnny smiles, looking at Simon as he rejoins your space, wooden bear in hand.

“Thinking it's nap time, we’ve got a few hours until dinner.”

The stoic man just nods,

“Back to work then.”

Johnny's hand at your waist moves out and grasps Simon's shoulder.

“Thank you Simon.”

It's heartfelt and something in Simon’s eyes shines, contentment or satisfaction you think. 

“O’ course Johnny.”

Simon then goes for the suitcases but Johnny mentions he’ll grab them.

“See you later.”

You both murmur a thank you and the larger man nods before heading down the stairs and out the door, presumably to return to his lumber. You both stand for a moment before you look to Johnny,

“He’s a good man.”

“Aye he is. Saved my life too many times to count.”

You nod before yawning again. Johnny chuckles and releases your hand to step over and grab your stuff.

“Come on Hen.”

You follow him, crossing the bridge to the other hallway. You move around him to open the door to your old room. A window draws in light in the room, cream walls lighting the way. In a corner is a queen bed and the rest of the walls are clear. You had taken most of your stuff with you when you left. What did remain was in boxes in another corner and your old desk. Stepping inside, you approach it and run a hand over the nicked and dented wood while sighing. You hear Johnny enter and set your suitcase against the wall. He sets your backpack next to your bed. 

You look at him.

“Where are you staying Johnny?”

“I’ve been bunking with Simon at Elizabeth’s while recovering but your parents also have me set up in the guest room as well. When I figured you were coming I started staying here to work on the house and the portrait.”

You nod to him in understanding. You move to your suitcase and kneel down to rummage through it, pulling out a more comfortable change of clothes. Johnny, seeing this mentions,

“I’ll go shower, I can collect you for dinner if you want to just be-”

You interject,

“Will you stick around Johnny, please ?”

He grins, 

“Of course.”

With that he exits to the guest room. You hear him down the hall before the door to the guest room closes.

Finally alone you take a deep breath before exhaling and running a hand through your hair.

You were finally home. 

With that thought you start to unpack. Tucking clothes into the dresser you are humored to find some knit cardigans, expertly cleaned and stored to prevent runs and pests from getting to them. You pull one out,  dark green with embossed lavender on it. There then is a bloom of warmth in your chest and you hug the garment to you for comfort. They were from Rachel when she had her craft phase. You couldn't stand to take them with you so you packed them away for when you could face them again. 

Setting it on the bed you pull out the others, a pastel and solid mix of pretty colors. Some captured moments of you together in a way. The deep blue of the ocean with the shadow of a ship in the sky, or whales in a pod floating by. They all provided a sense of home. As you finish setting your clothes away there is a knock at the door. 

You call a soft “come in” and Johnny enters. He is in a pair of sweats but wears no shirt. Without the bandages you can see the extent of the bruising and the scars that litter his toned abdomen. He approaches you, slowing down when he sees the cardigans. Your eyes gaze over his form, brows knitting together in concern when you notice a few entry wounds and the scar partially hidden by his hair. Without thinking about it you approach him and reach a hand up, brushing back his damp hair to examine the scar. There are signs of recent stitches but the wound has mostly healed.

His eyes trace your movement before returning to yours. When your fingertips finally brush his skin he sighs at the tender touch.

“Does it hurt anymore?”

“Not much, more just a dull throbbing. The nightmares are the worst things that happen at this point.”

You nod, the nightmares died down a year into your move, once the therapy really got going you made a sort of peace with yourself. 

You look at him for a moment, taking in the quiet with appreciation before giving a large yawn.

Johnny grins and you shake your head at him fondly before clearing the carangins to one corner of the bed and pulling back the covers. 

“Time for a nap then?” He goes for the door but you grab his arm gently and mention,

“Stay.”

His heart pounds in his chest, and for the first time in a long time, you see a light pink dust on his cheeks. He allows you to get into the bed first, laying down before he follows. The sheets are soft with a fluffy comforter that you pull over you.

On his back Johnny freezes, this wasn’t the first time you both had shared a bed. Growing up you were afraid of the dark and would often tuck into Johnny’s side as lightning would flash outside your window. He feels you shift before your hand seeks him and you roll yourself over to face him. When you pull lightly he does the same to face you. 

“What is it?” It's spoken slowly followed by a breathy exhale of your name when you shuffle into his space. His arms come around you then. There is a bubble of pride in him when you tuck your forehead into his chest. His hand begins to run through your hair and you slowly drift into a dreamless sleep. 

Hours pass peacefully until your phone buzzes at 6 pm. The dull tone on the wooden side table wakes Johnny who finds himself entangled with you. Your arms have wound themselves around him and your legs are entwined. He chuckled when you frowned in your sleep at his movement. Leaning forward he presses a kiss to your forehead and you squirm, with amusement dancing in his eyes, Johnny runs gentle hands along your back before trailing one under your right shoulder blade. 

After a few moments you jolt awake, arm moving to swat the man but he easily catches your hand. He continues the motion before you start giggling at the ticklish feeling. You wiggle in his grasp before dodging his hands and rolling onto your back, Johnny laughs before rolling as well, laying on his side to watch you. 

Your phone ringing again finally alerts you and you ask Johnny to pass you it, after which you pick up the phone. 

You answer with a hello and a male voice comes through the line.

“Did you land safely? You didn’t text me hun.”

You smile at his concern, going to reply when a hand comes around you. You look over to find Johnny close and his eyes focused. You run your hand over his and reply,

“I made it just fine, Buck.”

On the other end a dark haired man shuffles with papers behind a desk. He smiles into the phone,

“Remember to keep me updated.”

You hear him knock into something when a curse drops on the line and you laugh. The man smiles and you hear him setting his globe back on the desk. 

“Makin’ a mess?”

He is quick to quip back,

“Without you around? Always. I sent you some information regarding the sci fi book club we’re hosting. We need to go to dinner when you come home Darling.”

 Johnny frowns at the term of endearment he moves closer and tucks his head into your neck. You look down at him, a small smile spreading on your face.

“Will do Sarge. Have a good day.”

“Likewise” and with that you hang up the phone as Johnny’s arms wrap around you. You run your hand up the plains of his back.

“Sergeant?”

His voice is muffled in your neck,

“He served before joining the library a few years ago. He’s a sweet man. When he first joined I showed him around town before we went out a few times-”

That has Johnny perking up, the man lifts off to lean over you.

“You seeing him, Hen?” His voice comes out in a low rumble. 

You look up at him as the evening sunlight filters in golden orange rays through the blinds, and the light dances on his skin. You notice his muscles then, trained from years of combat. You watch his eyes focus and you raise a hand from underneath him to his chest. His muscles flex and he takes in a breath,

“No Johnny, we are just friends.”

The relief that floods his face is palpable and he droops. 

“Jealous Johnny?”

 He looks at you intently before dipping down, eyes moving to your lips.

“With you? Always.” 

His accent thickens at always and your heartbeat picks up as he hovers over you. Your eyes move to his lips and you find yourself wondering…

Your breath catches as he lowers his face towards your lips,

“Johnny-” It comes out in a whisper as your hands cup his face.

“Is this ok?” 

“Yes.” 

He grins then before leaning down and pressing his lips to yours. His lips are smooth and he shifts his weight, pressing lightly against you but keeping his weight off of you. One of your hands travels up to his hair and you feel him smile into your lips. He pulls away first before leaning back to sit on his knees next to you. You move up to lean against your headboard. Johnny’s hand moves to your calf before tracing up your leg. 

“I’ve been meaning to do that for years.” 

He traces circles into your knee, his hand engulfing your knee.

You soften then, leaning your head back to stare at the ceiling and smile when you see the glow-in-the-dark stars from ages ago you, Johnny, and Rachel put up. There were also shapes of the planets assembled in a mock recreation of the Milky Way. You reach a hand up to trace a crafted constellation of a bumblebee.

Seeing this Johnny looks up and smiles.

“What time is Elizabeth thinking about for dinner?”

You ask it looking down from your childhood sky, the fluttering images of bees and dragonflies swarming peacefully out of your vision. Johnny looks at you before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Simon I think will be in by 7, he wanted to finish the raised beds.”

You perk up at the mention of the gardens, an eager smile on your face. Johnny grins and moves out of bed.

“Come on then Hen, we’ll go see how he’s doin’.”

You nod before moving to get out of bed, stepping past Johnny to reach for some more presentable attire before Johnny waves you off.

“Ye look fine, you’re home anyway.”

You look back to the cardigans and pull the whale one on to fight the chill of the October air. You were excited to be home at this time of year for halloween in two weeks. The cardigan still fits you perfectly, just a tab bit oversized with sleeves that could cover your fingertips. You sigh happily at the feeling of the soft wool. When your eyes return to Johnny you find him watching you with a look on his face.

It is something old in his eyes and you feel the weight of it on your heart. Your eyes widen as he observes, and you want to look away but fight yourself with the gathered courage of the kiss. He must see the shift in you because the intensity softens to a honey sweet gaze. His heart is on his sleeves as he steps forward, longing at his fingertips when he reaches out to touch your cheek. He had dreamed of your return for many years, kept busy with the fieldwork, the roar of combat would shift to your laughter in his dreams.

His thoughts trail off, memories of you plucked from the fields of his mind and bundled to stand right in front of him. But, like any wildflower, you’ve grown into your own. A vibrant being to behold. 

And here you were. 

“I’m here Johnny.”

The four syllables are almost sung to his ears, the smile pulling your voice up with it. 

He snaps to that moment when you take his hand and squeeze it and he blushes, the cocky confidence washed away to the man who has loved you from the beginning. He doesn’t say it but you can feel it, the yearning, the fight with himself between wanting to follow and letting you go. You feel his hand shake a little, a miniscule tremor as his eyes drop you murmur,

“Oh Johnny.”

 “Lass-” His voice is quiet,

You look at him and reach your other hand to pull him to your chest. He curls into your neck, his hair dry and fluffed up before you sweep it back while shushing him. His arms encircle you. The man in your arms crumbles down the last wall around your heart.

Memories flash then, Johnny moving here when he was 7, bullies and you and Rachel adopting him on the playground one fine spring day. Clambering into the tree house by the creek only to play. The tears that flowed when his parents moved back to Scotland, then the subsequent passing of his grandparents in his teens. Helping him to move in with Elizabeth and Rachel, becoming found siblings with her. Losing Rachel, Johnny had to be strong for you and Elizbeth but losing you broke something inside him. You both always skirted around each other but nothing ever came to fruition-

Perhaps, until now. 

He looks back up to you with tear simmered eyes. You run your fingers through his hair. Adjusting the waves like you would always fuss about. He seems to calm then before a serious glint dissolves the tears. He stands up straight in your arms before drawing you to him and kissing you intently. While the other kiss was a curious exploration this was full of intent, some quiet desperation seeping out as he turns to kiss you deeper. He pulls you flush to him by the small of your back and your hand falls to his arms. He parts from you with dilated pupils, the black of his eyes eclipsing the ocean. 

You both look at each other, a little shocked before Johnny dips to your neck with a chuckle. His nose ghosts your neck and you feel your face flush when he skims the base of your neck with his lips. His voice is a rumble, 

“Can’t let you go can I?” 

He feels you hum, vibrations, and a jumping pulse under his lips. You sigh in contentment, his hand coming to the back of your neck to cradle your head as he finally presses a kiss there.

“Might need to take Buck up on dinner then-”

The joke gets you a nip to the neck and you swat Johnny for that.  

“Johnny!”

He just laughs, a deep resounding sound before he pulls away from you. His eyes are half lidden and he leans his forehead against yours sweetly. 

“We better get moving before Simon comes looking for us.” You raise a brow when Johnny shrugs, an easy grin on his face,

“Do we have to?”

You gently smack his arm before attempting to untangle yourself from him. Despite your effort he doesn't budge. 

“Let me take you out.”

Your heart skips a beat,

“Sure, but we gotta go.”

With the confirmation he presses a swift kiss to the side of your lips and  lets you go with a grin, elation bubbling in his chest as he heads out of the room to change.

“Stubborn Scot” It's a fond mumble while you go to prepare yourself for dinner.

-

The fall chill gathers as Johnny opens the front door. He pulled on an old service shirt with a jacket. He steps out into the cold and you follow turning to lock the door before tucking your keys into your bag. You shoulder your bag before taking the first steps before a hand takes yours and intertwines your fingers. Johnny then pulls you against his larger form to block out the cold and you both head across the street to meet Simon.

Stepping over the curb you enter Elizabeth's wide yard before crossing through the gate and into the back. Behind the fence, a dense forest looms beaconing your inner child. You hear the sound of moving wood and look to find quite the sight. 

In 55 degree weather, Simon works only in jeans and boots. Your eyes widen at the extensive scarring that litter his taunt torso. You hear Johnny call out to him, squeezing your hand before releasing you to approach him. You follow a few steps behind as their quiet murmurs blend into the wind. You look up to Simon and find his eyes on you intently, you freeze upon seeing his unmasked face for the first time.

 As Johnny speaks, a smile curling on his face, his hand comes to Simon's shoulder as the other man nods. Dark eyes regard you and you watch Johnny carefully as confusion swirls in your form, but before you can doubt yourself, Simon smiles and your breath catches in your throat as his eyes soften at you. You sense then it is a rare sight to see, and you find yourself approaching the two. Sensing you coming Johnny opens his arms and you tuck yourself into them as the smell of Simon’s cologne and the fall washes over you.

You find yourself relaxing into the fabric of Johnny's jacket and a hand comes up to your hair. Fingers gently comb through your hair as the men talk. Simon shifts a few minutes later, moving behind to one of the raised beds. He lifts a small beam, the muscles in his back flexing, before setting it down and bracketing it into place. 

As you look over the other beds you notice the patch of sunflowers. Your lips turn up and you pull from Johnny to go see. But as you approach you hear a bark before a dash of brown tackles you into the grass. You go down with a yelp before an eager dog is kissing your face with a whine. 

“Jesus Riley down!” 

Your eyes blink open and you find a beautiful gray-eyed german shepherd sitting on your hip, her weight smushing the air out of your diaphragm and lungs. You feel her tail thump against your legs before there is a call of her name from Simon as the man's steps clamber over. She just whines and chooses to lay down on your prone form, tucking her snout into your chin.

“Riley, come.” The baritone of his voice is over you now but the down refuses to comply instead looking at you and whining. Your hands dig into her coat behind her ears and she gives a satisfied grunt.

Johnny starts to laugh, throwing an arm over Simon as the older man shakes his head.

“Ye spoil that dog rotten, I told you she had good taste in people.”

Simon gives a hum, a small smile tugging on his lips at you playing with the rescue, 

“Right there Johnny.”

The dog's tail thumps against your legs faster and she starts giving a low woof  the sound breathy and playful.

“You gotta let me up sweetheart.” 

Your voice comes out in a laugh, the dog cocks her head but steps off you immediately as a hand drops down to help you up. 

You take it and Simon pulls you effortlessly, his hand is warm from the work and rough, and he holds yours a moment longer, looking into your eyes,

“She likes you,” he squeezes your hand before letting go, the look in his eye warming your heart. Seeing you are up, the dog comes to sit at your feet, her tail thumping. You can feel Simon's warmth, look up to him, and find Johnny looking at him. They look at each other and something warm passes between them because Johnny's head comes to Simon's shoulder. A flicker of affection passes the lieutenant's eyes before he turns to you.

You feel your heartbeat in your ears at the affection and then you realize there must have been something there. You find your heart starting to rear but a large hand comes to your head, brushing through your hair. Your eyes widen and an arm runs around your middle as Johnny pulls you to his chest. You look up to him, eyes wide in question and he nods, your heart pulls but Simon’s hand brushes the leaves out of your hair gently and you look to him to find warmth in his eyes.

“Are you guys together?”

The question comes in a whisper as you try to calm your racing heart, how he was looking at you spoke of stories. Riley whines, licking your palm as Simon's hand pulls the last leaf from your hair. 

“No”

It's Simon that speaks, his hand coming down your cheek gently. Your heart picks up when there is a knowing shine in his eyes. He finally got to meet you, the one that shaped and saved his beloved Johnny. 

“Johnny?”

Your voice comes out small, and he is there instantly, nose tucked into your hair.

“It's all up to you sweetheart. Nothing will take me from your side.”

Its simon who speaks next,

“I’d like to take you out, Love.”

Your heart hammers at that, his hand now cupping your jaw. Unlike Johnny’s shining love, warm like the childhood sun, Simon’s affection is calm, more cool and soothing to your jittering heart. A light like the moon shining in his eyes.  

 “We would like to.” 

Johnny adds grinning and Riley barks in time, nudging your leg suddenly making you stumble. Simon's arm winds around you and Johnny smiles when you blush.

“Riley!”

At your call she just whines, pawing at your legs. Simon’s thumb brushes down your cheek, soft as a whisper. He grasps your hand and lifts it to his lips, pressing a kiss on your knuckles. Testing yourself you curl your fingers around his and he smiles.  

“You’re sweet Dove.”

His affirmation builds your confidence. You found the man to be charming, his scars and care for Johnny in all. You explore then, releasing his hand to grasp at his face. His cheeks are warm, rough with the occasional scar, he leans into your touch. 

“I think I’d like that.” 

You reply to Johnny, said man smiles, tugging you back to him to spin you around. 

He laughs, a sound that lights up your heart and Simon’s. You brace your hand on his shoulders when he finally slows, his arms around your waist. He gently sets you down when he kisses you passionately.

The sudden action takes the breath from your lungs. He takes the initiative then, nipping your lip, before tucking you into his arms and holding you close. You close your eyes and just wrap your arms around his heart racing when you see Simon’s lips quirk up and Riley barks when the man moves.

“‘Bout time for dinner love birds.”

His voice rumbles as he passes you two, his hand ruffling Johnny's hair before heading to a workbench by the porch.  He stretches, pulling his back and rolling his shoulders. He then calls RIley who trots over to him, he heads to the sliding door and pulls it open before stepping in.

Riley stops at the edge of the door, turning to look back at you before barking. 

You pat Johnny on the back and he huffs, releasing you.

You then approach the door, hearing Riley’s tail thump harder against the siding of the house at your approach. She then play bows and darts into the house followed by you and Johnny.

Fin

Special things to @breakawayresin for looking at some of this beforehand <3

[helpallthenamesaretaken]

my thoughts on the plot for wothd

”Now, to secure his second letter, Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover must agree to a new challenge – pet-sitting for the goddess Hecate while she’s away over Halloween week”

Are we getting the trio dressed in halloween costumes?? PRETTY PLEASE. Also, i can smell the chaos all the way here

They just need to follow her simple rules

Look after her pet polecat and mastiff like their lives depend on it (because they do).

Don’t touch anything – especially Hecate’s magic potions!

I am already laughing from the number of jokes they’re going to make of themselves just messing everything up. Also grovercabeth being pet parents>>>>

“But when Grover’s curiosity gets the better of him, the friends find themselves with a giant goat, a destroyed mansion, and Hecate’s (terrifying and potentially deadly) pets on the loose in New York City”

There’s so much to unpack here.

First of all….THEY’RE BEING PET PARENTS AND LIVING IN A MANSION TOGETHER???? THE THREE OF THEM??? DOMESTIC GROVERCABETH YES PLSSSSS Sorry this hits so hard after percy’s ideal future in cotg where three of them are living together in a beachside cottage i can’t—

Also, groverrrr no we dont touch magic potions HE’S A GIANT NOW LOL GIANT GROVER 😂

“Now the trio have only days to find the pets and restore the mansion to order – or face the full fury of Hecate and her horrifying three-heads. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

This seems like such a rollercoaster of emotions 🥹 give it to me now richard

Also, OLD AND NEW FRIENDS!!!! Imagine if rick is in a sadistic mood and just make jason one of the old friends and make him spend a lot of time with them to set up for the death news next book hooohooo

But im hoping for rachel, nico, or hey it might be thalia with her mist bending powers that’ll help or piper with charmspeak or—

But new friends, im guessing it’d be a supporting character like that iris girl blanche. Maybe a hecate kid??

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

This book might eat i fear

It sounds like such a bundle of chaos, fluff and even more chaos, the expectations are high. I cant wait to see how rick writes percabeth living together. Also, i know that annabeth has sodnyc and percy has school so it’ll be fun seeing grover being the parent in the situation and making them breakfast and getting them ready to school. And their daily routine. (LOL I DONT KNOW WHY IM DELULUING MYSELF THEY MIGHT NOT EVEN LIVE IN THE MANSION)

Im excited if you couldn’t tell

[brighter-by-the-daly]

Rachel Daly x Reader

Part Nineteen - Surrounded

You’d never been on such a long flight before, Florida had been the furthest you’ve traveled but that was when you were young and barely within memory. A feeling of dread sunk into you the night before - over 30 hours of travelling in a flying tin tube can do that to a person. The thought of exciting spontaneity had drifted away in the early hours of the morning and had been replaced with stomach churning anxiety. Unable to sleep as Rach snored loudly next to you, the more she breathed the more you were getting frustrated; knowing that if you’re not well slept you get grumpy and that’s the last impression you want to make in front of everyone.. although you’re sure that you won’t be the only nervous flyer on the plane tomorrow, well today seeing as it’s 2am now. Putting up with Rachel’s snoring was getting hard to bare, every breath was a reminder that she was asleep and you were not. You’re used to falling asleep first and being a deep sleeper the snoring never usually bothers you but tonight it felt like world war three was boiling up in your stomach. In a desperate attempt not to project your frustrations onto your girlfriend you decided to get up and run on the treadmill for a while - you’d been working out a lot more now there’s a gym in the house. You ran until your body felt tired then had a warm shower but that was a mistake as it only woke you up again. Moving into the lounge where your suitcases were waiting you sat and stared at them for a while until something took over your body and made you pull everything out of them. Convinced you’d forgotten something and your mind beyond able to listen to reasoning made your arms frantically unpack everything you’d squeezed in, albeit most of the stuff probably unnecessary. The words of your girlfriend “if we forget something, we can just buy it” far off in the distance. You’re not used to having spare money to spend on stuff needlessly, if you have it already it’s coming. Unfortunately half way through packing everything back into it’s place, you fell asleep.

Awakening to a slight shake of your body you opened one eye to see Rach staring down at you from above “what’s happened here then?” her soft morning voice broke the silence. Grunting in realisation you’d fallen asleep surrounded by your belongings and were using them as a blanket, you wedged your eyes shut determined to get more zzz’s. “I couldn’t sleep” you mumbled trying to force her to stop talking and leave you alone. “What’s the time?” you asked hoping beyond anything that you’d at least got a few hours but when Rach said it was 6am you could not control your disappointment that she’d woken you up. “Just leave me, I’ll tidy this up later” pulling a pair of shorts over your eyes to block out the sun. “I’m not leaving you in the middle of the floor (y/n/n), come on” Rach bent down and scooped your tired body into her arms to carry you upstairs, laying you gently on the bed she sat with you for a while stroking your hair until you fell back to sleep.

Rachel’s morning hadn’t started quite the way she’d expected it to, making herself a cuppa tea and sitting cross legged on the floor to pack up your suitcase again. She wasn’t angry, she knew this was out of the ordinary for you and had wondered when the anxiety was going to kick in. A few hours passed when she heard you stirring so flicked the kettle on then crawled back into bed with you. “Are you okay baby?” she asked as her arms wrapped around your body making you the little spoon. “How did I get here?” your voice croaky and your eyes still shut but comforted by your lady’s hold on you. “You don’t remember?” with a shake of your head Rachel filled you in on your early morning antics. Groaning in annoyance at yourself that you’ve now go to pack your entire suitcase again, something you’ve done every day for the past two weeks. “Don’t worry darlin’, I’ve sorted it” she kissed your cheek “you didn’t have to do that doll” shuffling around so you were facing her, eyes squinting from the light coming through the curtains. “I know how big of a thing this is for you, I just wish you’d have woken me up” she said gazing into your tired eyes. You laughed softly to yourself remembering how mad you were at Rachel’s snoring and told her that. “I’m dreading this flight Rach” pushing your face into her chest so your words were barely audible. You don’t like admitting when you’re scared but a worry shared and all that. “Hey it could be worse, you could be on a public plane! You’ve always wanted to go to Australia, you’ve got me and Millie and all the others, I’m sure Mary will keep you busy with TikToks! All the snacks you could want, leg room for miles, beds; we’re gonna have a great time. You won’t even realise we’ll be flying for so long. And we stop off for a whole day in Dubai, have you ever been there?” Shaking your head with mild amusement, “do I look like the type of person that’s ever been to Dubai before?” your eyebrow raised in an unsurprising fashion. “Well, we get to have an adventure there too! Another magnet for your mum’s fridge!” she smiled squeezing you tightly. Rach always knew what to say - never called you silly or your feelings stupid, always validated your emotions and made them feel normal. Rachel was the most supportive person you’d ever had in your life, never questioning or demeaning and you were starting to realise what a healthy relationship truly was.

Gathering at SGP you were greeted excitedly by some of the others, Millie and Mary came bounding over to see you both the second they noticed your car pull up. Jordan came over with her arms out shouting “look who’s here!” The days of watching Villa together on the sidelines while she was injured ran through your mind. She’d talked about her worries about making the team and you were so happy to see her here. “I’m so proud of you!!” screaming as you scooped her up, “I told you you’d do it!” Soon it was 5pm and everyone boarded the coach which included a lot of karaoke that you were urged to join in with. Checking in at the airport made everything suddenly seem real, the nerves were starting to set in and it wasn’t going unnoticed. The girls linked your arms and lead you on board the flight - Rach in the middle and you and Mill either side of her. The plane was like nothing you’d ever seen before, there were even cabins with beds at the front! Food was served and you watched films together, they then entertained themselves by interviewing you on how it felt to be on your way to your first ever World Cup. After they both fell asleep you listened to music before trying to get some shut eye yourself until the lights came back on. You’ve never been able to sleep on flights but you had never been on a private plane with so much room before so you quickly drifted off and stayed that way for hours.

Part 20 - On Top of the World

[whatsjulietslastname]

Headcanon that Max and Chloe didn’t mention Rachel at all after the Storm (both because Chloe was still grieving and because it was still a sensitive topic for both of them after what happened) until a few months after they started dating when they finally had a long, genuine conversation about her and how they both felt about her and there was a lot of things to unpack here : Max’s jealousy, Chloe’s unresolved feelings, Chloe and Rachel’s whole relationship and everything Chloe never told Max about, Max’s feelings of insecurity after so many people compared her to her, Chloe’s feeling of betrayal after finding out Rachel hooked up with Frank, everything Jefferson told Max about Rachel, and their shared trauma after discovering Rachel’s body in the junkyard. And that was probably one of the heaviest, most complicated discussion they had since they left Arcadia Bay, but now they can mention Rachel Amber light-heartedly, and it helped them a lot to communicate.

[a-queer-seminarian]

Hi there. I'm wondering how you deal with reading parts of the Bible that talk about the Israelites coming to the promised land, defeating the people there etc, in light of... well, I'm sure you get where I'm coming from! I'm scared to look up commentary on it because I fear it will either be from a Zionist perspective, or dismissive of the "old testament" in that antisemitic way a lot of Christians can be. Every time my daily devotions include a Psalm with a line praising God for granting Israel victory in battle or anything like that it makes me so uncomfortable it's hard to pray...

Hey there, anon. Thank you for your courage in wrestling with these questions. I'm going to try to answer this well, but I may mess up, so I welcome correction or expansion, especially from Jewish folks — any antisemitism here is not my intent and I will fix it if pointed out; my sincere gratitude who anyone who chooses to share their time and energy correcting me.

I also have some books that grapple with these issues on my reading list (more on that at the end of this post), so stay tuned for more posts about these issues in the coming weeks once I've read them.

I see several interlocking components to your conflict, anon:

The presence of violence within scripture, carried out by its protagonists, often with express instruction or at least no condemnation from God.

Uncertainty regarding the relationship between the biblical Israel and the modern state of Israel.

The convergence of the first two components, allowing the use of biblical passages that speak of God giving the "promised land" to Israel to justify the modern Israel's occupation of that land.

Let's start with the first component apart from modern issues.

Wrestling with violence in scripture

When we come across violent or otherwise complicated parts of scripture, we should be disturbed. If scripture is inspired by God, does that mean anything a biblical text seems to condone is also condoned by God — up to and including genocide??

No. Even those of us who hold that scripture is inspired can acknowledge that it was written by human authors, living in specific historical and cultural contexts.

(If you've been raised with something closer to a "biblical inerrancy / literal Word of God" mindset about the Bible, it's okay to feel rattled by realizing there are other ways to read the Bible! You might find my webpage about a framework for reading scripture that acknowledges its human authors helpful for easing into such a discussion.)

In her book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again, Rachel Held Evans has a whole chapter on wrestling with the Bible's war stories, taking their historical and cultural contexts into account and seeking places where God's inspiration breathes through the human accounts.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I posted a loooong excerpt from this chapter over here, because I find it so important and helpful for unpacking these "texts of terror," as Phyllis Trible called them. That post is my top suggested reading as you wrestle with questions of violence in scripture, but I'll also add a little more here.

One important bit of context regards when many of the Hebrew texts were written: during or soon after exile in Babylon. Here's an incredibly over-simplified timeline:

In the 700s BCE, the Assyrian Empire destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel. That left its sister kingdom, Judah, rattled and grieving, with a lot of existential questions about why God "allowed" such a thing.

Then in the 500s BCE, the Babylonian Empire sweeps into Judah and obliterates the temple in Jerusalem, deports Judah's leaders into exile, and leaves the people even more traumatized, with more questions about where God is in their suffering and why God "let" such horrors happen to them.

As they're asking these questions, they're looking back at their history, looking both for places where God's presence and support are evident, and places things went wrong.

They consider their exodus from Egypt, and their eventual arrival in Canaan — and they re-imagine that arrival as much more violent than historical and archeological evidence suggest it was: instead of a gradual integration with the peoples already living in Canaan, they write about mighty battles where they wipe the previous people out completely.

Even if such violence didn't historically happen, it's still disturbing to read. Why did these authors want to re-imagine their people as having committed ethnic cleansing and even genocide?

Holy Resilisence: The Bible's Traumatic Origins by David Carr explores how trauma impacts these choices in greater detail than I can here, but part of what he suggests is that in depicting themselves as powerful and capable of enacting the kind of violence that was being enacted on them by empires like Assyria and Babylon, they felt a bit more stable in their current situation.

Trauma and grasping for a sense of control in a situation completely out of their control is also why a lot of the biblical authors, particularly prophets, write about God "sending" those empires to "punish" Israel and then Judah for "going astray" of God's instructions. If these empires are attacking and desolating them simply because they're Big and they Can, the people are helpless to do much about it. But if it's because the people lost God's protection, then they can regain that protection if they start acting faithfully again. There's a sense of control there!

There are also parts of scripture where a writer imagines doing some mega violent stuff to their enemies — the book of Nahum being one such place; Psalm 137 is another. When we read about the psalmist imagining dashing the heads of their enemies' infants on rocks, we must remember that this is the daydream of an extremely traumatized person imagining something they don't actually have any power to carry out. We're allowed to bring all our messy emotions to God, even violent fantasies. We don't have to tidy them up first. Imagining it isn't the same as acting it out. An oppressed person thinking about such violence isn't the same as their oppressor actually doing the violence.

Again, this is all vastly oversimplified; David Carr explains in much more detail, drawing more historical context and trauma theory to do so.

Edit: A fantastic and easy-to-read article on reading the "conquest of Canaan" and how it connects to modern-day Israel by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg can be found here!

So that's some info on grappling with violence in the Bible in general. But what about...

Disconnecting biblical Israel from the modern ethno-state

When the name Israel comes up in the Bible, it's reasonable that our brains immediately connect it to the other Israel we know of — the modern settler colonialist state currently occupying Palestine. This connection has been made intentionally by Israeli supporters, both Christian and Jewish.

But it is vital that we disconnect the biblical Israel with that modern state.

I'm extremely grateful for Jewitches' post that explains the distinctions, and the harm that comes from conflating the Israels, in detail. I urge you to read through their whole post (you'll see it's in infographic form, but scroll down and there's an image description of it all); but here's some main points:

First thing to know is that even within scripture, the word Israel can refer to several things: the person Israel, i.e. Jacob; Am Israel, the people group descended from that person — before, during, and after the biblical kingdom of Israel existed; Israel the kingdom; and Eretz Israel, the physical land discussed in the biblical texts.

None of these are Medinat Israel, the modern political state of Israel.

For centuries, all Jews have continued to identify themselves as Am Israel, the people of Israel, even in diaspora.

To conflate Am Israel and Medinat Israel is to erase that diasporic history, to erase the Jewishness of Jews living outside that political state. That denigration and erasure of diaspora Jews is an intentional goal of Medinat Israel, so that diaspora Jews will feel like they need to come to Israel.

Finally, to conflate Medinat Israel with the biblical people or kingdom of Israel does great harm as well.

The harm in conflating biblical Israel and modern Israel

It's not a mistake that people do conflate these things; there's a long history among both Zionist Jews and Zionist Christians in intentionally using passages from scripture to justify modern Israel's occupation of Palestine and violence against Palestinians. We must resist this!

Again, I'm indebted to Jewitches' post detailing these issues; again, I urge you to read their whole post, but will sum up some main points:

Once we conflate biblical and modern Israel, Zionist Christians are able to use verses like Genesis 12:3, “Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel, and cursed is everyone who curses you," to justify support of the state of Israel. Anyone who questions modern Israel is warned that they are supposedly going against God and incurring divine wrath.

But Christian Zionists don't actually give a damn about Jews; they're using them as pawns in their own theological and political agendas. They can support modern Israel in one breath and pass antisemitic legislation or preach antisemitic shit with the next.

Moreover, "Conflating all Jews with Israel allows people (Jewish and non-Jewish) to attempt to revoke Jews of their Jewish identity when their politics do not “fall in line”."

My recommendation for starting to learn more about the history of the Jewish Zionist movement, started in 1800s Europe, is this article by JVP.

My recommendation for Christians who want to learn more about the harms of Christian Zionism is this other post by Jewitches as well as the Christian site christianzionism.org.

Summing Up / Further Reading

So to sum all this up:

When you encounter stories about Israel or mentions of Israel in the Bible, remember these things:

Am Israel, "the people/nation of Israel," is not to be conflated with Medinat Israel, the modern ethnostate. Am Israel in the present day = all Jews! Not just Israelis. Don't let Medinat Israel erase diaspora Jews, their diverse and vibrant expressions of Judaism, their right to connect with their own scripture and culture.

The biblical people and kingdom of Israel were a small group pressed by more powerful nations on all sides. A lot of the biblical authors bring grief and trauma into their writing about Israel. Remembering this can be helpful when grappling with the Bible's war stories.

While the biblical Israel was constantly besieged and at risk of occupation by others, the modern state Israel is the occupier. Their situations are completely different, so that applying biblical verses to modern Israel is both inaccurate and harmful.

___

There are still more questions to consider. I don't have all the answers; I'm sure I never will, but I'm working on gathering more information. I've had some books in my reading list that I plan to get to in the coming weeks / months; if I find any useful stuff in them, I'll share it on this blog.

If anyone is interested in doing their own reading / research, here are the resources I've gathered — please know that my listing them here is not me vouching for their content. It's possible some of them might turn out to be anywhere from a little problematic to total shit lol. We'll see!

Again pointing to ChristianZionism.org for essays and resources on resisting Christian Zionism.

Palestineportal.org has info on joining with pro-Palestinian Christians and getting active as churches, which is great!

That includes links to various denominations' pro-Palestinian organizations; my own denomination's is the IPMN. Apparently this congregational study guide + video of theirs is good.

Palestine Portal also has several lists of book recs! Here's their recs on Zionism, Christian Zionism, and the Bible. And their liberation theology list. The following books are ones from those lists that I've selected to read.

Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes by Mitri Maheb

Justice, and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation by Naim Stifan Ateek

Jesus and the Land by Gary Burge, an ex Christian Zionist. He has a statement about why he's not a Zionist any more here.

Chosen? Reading the BIble amidst the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Walter Brueggemann

Israel/Palestine and the Queer International by Sarah Schulman

If anyone has other resources on any of these topics that they recommend, please do share! Thank you.

[ginawankenobi]

Rules: you will be given a word. Then you share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of your word!

Thanks to @eponine119 for tagging me with the word DANCE 🪩

D: “Do you think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew?” Juliet asked Rachel.

“With James? I don’t know, you haven’t even gotten to first base yet.”

A: Apart from Rachel, she wasn’t used to being treated with so much consideration. (A sad truth, but one she was working to unpack.)

N: “Not that he’s an asshole about it or anything. I mean he can be an ass, but not about that.”

Juliet laughed. “So not a commitment guy,” she clarified.

C: “Come on, or they’ll actually start thinking we hooked up in here.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding, but our food’s probably there by now and I’m starving.”

E: “Everyone was great.”

“Good, ‘cause Sawyer and Ana were a little worried. We all really like you - both of you. We didn’t wanna scare you away.”

“Believe me, of all the things I find scary, the lot of you don’t even come close to resembling it.”

“Yeah, you should see her ex-husband,” Rachel threw in.

Tagging: @ethereal-ocean-eyes @taweretsdagger & anyone else who wants to! Your word is: RUBY

[ofwittyardor]

Continued

@promqueengreen

Traffic; which wasn’t as lame as Rachel obviously thought. He did drive up here during rush hour; the airport got busy. But I knew I was drowning. Ross was very smart. But with Rachel she had the tenacity to make him squirm because she had a hold over him. She knew him like the back of her hand, just like he knew her. Did he think any of the excuses he told tonight would fly with her? No of course not but given our history deep down the brunette knew the why I was here. 

She’d gloss over the why because she didn’t want to talk about it. Obviously given her silence since I left that voicemail months ago. And if Adien wasn’t here dragging his feet behind us; I’d definitely have a lot to say to her. Even if it ended with the pending rejection. Ross normally walked away in fear, he didn’t want to be rejected but with Rachel he’d do anything for her. 

The way Rachel spoke she was making me out to be an idiot, a weak one too. It was a reminder of how far our history went. Years of knowing the other; her lack of gym activity, but I also wasn’t the one embarrassing the other right now. I felt unsure how to respond, I could hear Ariden chuckling behind us, I felt like such a fool to believe for one second that I could compare with this guy. Glancing to the pavement as we walked closer to my car, I found my voice. 

“ Yeah yeah, we get it, but you’d be surprised how much I’ve changed since you’ve been gone, I’m not the same Ross you knew,” Well I was still quirky, I was still an idiot sometimes, but I decided to keep those inner thoughts to myself. I wanted to make an impression. Upon settling myself into the drivers seat, I heard the retorts regarding my sister, she was a organized freak which means the female’s apartment was already fitted with her belongings, boxes undone, her clothes were inside the closet, her place would have the furniture before we arrive, it was kinda impressive about Monica. I had to release a laugh from lips as I aired out my reply. “ In other words we let Monica do the hard work, I’m sure she had Chandler there just to help with the boxes unpacking I mean, yet again it was probably her bossing him around.” What a poor fool I thought to myself; yet again I was the fool that was sitting in my car ready for the ride with Rachel and her new boyfriend. I was dreading this car ride; but for a second I managed to forget, upon hearing her confirmation that she was happy to see me, plus her hand on my knee. Eyes glanced to the contact as I responded to the dinner comment. 

“ I’ll see what I can do.” I never lied harder; I had no intention of going to this dinner, one I did want to pretend I had plans, and two to witness Rachel with her arms around Aiden all night now that made my stomach knot up. No thank you. But I kept that bit to myself as I nodded before I had placed my hand on the gear to put us into drive. 

Other hand moved to the radio letting some lame pop tune play; it would be a long ride for me, as I tried to focus on the road once we reached the parkway; let’s just make this painless right? It had already painted crap in my face; let’s just escape and prepared Aiden wasn’t in the backseat.

[kcenvs3000w24]

Blog 06: Nature Interpretation Through History

Hi everyone, and welcome to my sixth blog post! The topic we are focusing on this week is nature interpretation through history. There is a lot of information to unpack here, so let’s dive in!

This week’s discussion was based on natural history and the interpretation of it. Natural history involves creating stories and memories based on evidence. Interpretation is needed to give life to past events, as well as remember the importance those events may have had. Interpreters have the ability to enrich their audience by relating historical experiences to their own lives. 

Interpretive writing of natural history has the power to change the world. It has the ability to both persuade and entertain (Beck et al., 2018). An example of this would be Rachel Carson and her novel Silent Spring. Last semester I explored the impact Rachel Carson had on the use of pesticides in the United States in another Environmental Science class here at UofG (ENVS 3020). Through her book, Rachel Carson was able to bring attention to the adverse effects pesticides have on the environment and wildlife (Beck et al., 2018). Through her writing, which she used as an interpretive tool, Rachel was able to influence public perception and reconstructed movements towards protecting the environment. 

Rachel Carson's novel Silent Spring

"There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it."

The above quotation is from Edward Hyams in the 7th chapter of his book, The Gift of Interpretation. When unpacking this quote, I think of the importance of both the past and present coming together. There is not necessarily significance in things just because they are older, but the real value lies in seeing the bigger picture (both the past and present). In order to maintain integrity, we must consider memories and knowledge of the past. Sometimes we live our lives without thinking or remembering what or who came before us. 

What I have taken away from this quote is to consider the importance previous history and events have on us in our modern day lives. By understanding history, we are able to learn valuable lessons that allow us to make informed decisions in the future. 

References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage: For A Better World. SAGAMORE Publishing.

[kevinmchalenews]

Feliz Glee! ("Glee, Actually" S4 EP 10)

Glee gets into the holiday spirit, drawing inspiration from "It's a Wonderful Life," "Love Actually," and the Mayan Apocalypse?? There's a lot to unpack here! Rachel and Kurt are back in the Glee club! Sam and Brittany get married? Rory is back? What in the ghost of Christmas past is going on here? Jenna and Kevin break it all down and reveal some special behind-the-scenes secrets, like why it was so uncomfortable filming Feliz Navidad for Kevin, the very meta scene at Paramount Studios, what Director Adam Shankman had to say about this episode and the 'movie magic' trick Kevin used to get himself to cry on camera. Yule enjoy this episode … it sleighs!

[anethara]

Books I read in August

since it's probably the last month I'll do any pleasure reading for the next two years.

Pageboy by Elliot Page Validating, cathartic, triggering, and absolutely fucking beautiful prose. Like, I want to read novels by this guy. His descriptions of internal and external landscapes are stunning and visceral. A great read especially if you're ftm because it's so familiar; especially if you're cis because it really unpacks and lays bare the intricacies of transness that are so difficult to communicate. It loses a bit of momentum in the eleventh hour, but it's a memoir so...you know, sometimes life is like that. Just read the thing.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion I read this book for the first time in seventh grade; for the second time in sophomore year of high school; for the third time at 21. Reading it at 32 is so much more rewarding than all previous readings (I suspect I will feel this way about reading it at 32 when I read it again sometime around 47). The horrors within it feel more profound; the stakes are much higher. There's a tangible sense of dread from that time that feels almost comforting in its familiarity, as if to say, "History rhymes; we have been here before; it's not too late to turn it around." Really interesting examination of political/cultural group think, and the ways in which opposing sides born of the same puritanical cesspool feed one another in perpetuity. And of course, Didion's style of prose is evergreen.

Real Americans by Rachel Khong I picked this up at a Target while on a trip to Idaho and enjoyed it immensely. The characters are compelling and for all my fellow aging millennials, the jokes will land because they are true and we have to laugh at our financial struggles or else we will have a collective nervous breakdown. My only complaint is that it feels like it should have been three separate books, and this is the only time I think I've ever felt that way. We're always complaining that a trilogy could have been condensed into a single work but for once, it would have been nice to get a richer, fuller story of each generation that the narrative follows.

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber This is one of those books where the premise feels like, "Yeah, no shit" to anyone who has worked in the service, hospitality, or manufacturing industries, but there's a lot of good here! It's one thing to know something for anecdotal fact, another to be able to articulate it with data and a cohesive argument. Graeber's system of taxonomy isn't perfect, and his grasp of feminism falls short of ideal (his arguments implicitly condemn sex work while tokenizing sex workers), but generally, the concept is there. This is a useful book to have around if you're an undergrad student who needs a library of citation material for research and persuasive papers. I also think this is an excellent 'baby's first critique of economy' read - a good gift for parents who are exiting their late-life Libertarian phase. The holidays are around the corner!

[summerstrash]

there's something buried deep in the connections between Alex, Maddie, Cable, Kwannon, Mystique, Destiny, Kurt, Forge and Greycrow (and a little bit Betsy & Rachel, too) in the Krakoan Era, and I think it's going to take a lot to unpack but for the moment, suffice to say:

it's somewhere in the idea of women bearing messiah-children they will never raise, women losing their children, the spectre of catholicism juxtaposed with ghosts and devils in the machines, women lost in the desert, the destruction of the body as the creation of the weapon, blood and destruction and undying love and mirror images and queer women and the men who love them —

it's all here and I wish I had better words for the web of connections I see in my head, but I don't, it's not a thing I can express in an essay form yet but it's so vibrantly present and I'm expecting it'll take me five more years to unpack it all.

[sacrifical-lamb-core]

@auroraofthesun1

Diary of a teenage Christian girl

Monday 1st August 2024

Writing late at night so this makes no sense. I’m under the covers in Esther’s bunk bed and she’s drawing me. She draws me much prettier than I am and she says I write her much prettier than she used to. I am truly blessed by the lord for such a good friend.

So here’s what happened when we arrived

Apparently we have a room switch up, after we’d unpacked which was annoying but expected. Camp is apparently always sorta unorganised like that! I’m still with Esther, Praise the Lord on high, but with an entirely different group.

In the group there’s 4 other girls, and my sister isnt here. I don’t really mind though. It’s not that we don’t get along, but me and Darlene aren’t very buddy buddy. We chat but run in different circles, it’s fine. I have 8 siblings, I don’t have to be super close with all of them.

The four girls are : Rachel, Mary, Ruth (not the other Ruth, we have a lot of Ruth’s in our church) and Sarah.

It’s kind of encouraged to talk bad about your roommates. Me and Esther do it a lot, and I know they do it too. It seems ingrained into church culture. I see mom do it, I see the ladies at church do it. Everyone’s a judge.

Like how Mary’s a glutton who probably loves food more than the Lord and Rachel’s a slut who admitted to wearing a certain outfit for male attention and Ruth has a necklace with a crystal on it which she swears is fake but I don’t believe it.

Me and Esther are sinners too, everyone is. I think I am the worst and ye the best, I think that I am so much better but the scum of the earth, I am the best Christian in this room and yet the most unworthy in the eyes of the Lord. Ive done a lot for christ, and so has Esther. Esther fasts. She fasts most of her time, and barely eats. I admire her dedication. I fast a lot too, and supliment never eating with praying. Praying so much. I scream to the Lord. Always

If I’m not thinking about God then what am I thinking of? Picture God and Jesus standing on heaven looking at me and judging me. They see everything and every thought. They KNOW!

But other than that I chatted with my roommates and other than the stuff I mentioned they all seemed great. We went to the sermon, which was powerful.

We spent the first hour thirty minutes singing worship songs and praise. I might have permanent hearing problems sorry Lord that last comment was ungrateful for even if the Lord brings sorrow I will rejoice and rejoice in my suffering suffering suffering. I am not suffering. I have the Lord.

I cried during the sermon, when they talked about how Jesus died for me. The guilt could have crushed me and I felt so happy. Happy that I was feeling the right emotions, guilt. Esther was crying too, and I knew she wouldn’t eat tomorrow. Good for her. I should fast too. I would, praying and fasting and praying and begging to be forgiven. Forgiven for what? The crime of existing.

A couple kids collapsed, sobbing, touched by the spirit. It didn’t happen to me. I felt awful, why didn’t I happen to me. It happened to Rachel and she cried about her parents divorce tainting her. At least she’s self aware. I’ll fall to the ground next time. We’re here for threee weeks.

The sermon was on sacrifice. I remember hearing a similar one when I was 7, the day I knew I would gladly die a martyr. I had my martyrship perfectly planned since I was 7, and with a bit of tweaking I’d made a perfect death.

It would be when I was still young, because it would be more inspiring that way. Id be in a situation of oppression. A shooter would come in to my class room, a big scary atheist who hated Christian’s and wanted us dead. And I wouldn’t hide, and would sing Amazing Grace. I would sing amazing grace while he shot me and my final words would be praising the Lord. I would be loved and adored even in death. I would certainly go to heaven. That was my dream. My greatest wish is to die.

Esther showed me her drawing. She’s a great artist, and drew me adorable . She says I am adorable.

She’s adorable too. I’m gonna sleep now.

Forever the Lords

Grace