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loser-writings · 5 years ago

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Theyre an Omega || Omegaverse

Dabi

Dabi hated the fact that he was an Omega. Originally, it was because his father couldn’t handle the fact that his first born wasn’t an alpha. As he grew older, he hated his status because of a variety of reasons, the main one being how people seemed to underestimate how dangerous the man could be as well as the standards that society claimed he had to follow.

Before joining the league of villains, he made do with popping suppressants, using scent blockers, and even using his quirk in order to cover up the smell of toasted Marshmallows. His own scent disgusted him since it was just so sweet, but once he managed to befriend you, he seemed to not mind it as much due to you allowing him access to your room as well as your cologne which masked his scent fairly well.

He covered his scent so well that the majority of the league believed that he was a Beta. Toga had originally claimed that he gave “Mega alpha vibes” but he just assumed that was because she was a young omega who really wanted an alpha. He understood the desire for an Alpha, but at the same time the thought of being vulnerable like how an omega was made his stomach roll.

He did have a nest in his bedroom, but it was tucked away in the farthest corner of his closet and he would only go into it if he was having a particularly hard day or he could feel his cycle coming up. Despite the suppressants, his heat would come in very minor ways. He would be much more obedient to the alphas, not bickering as much with them, his scent would be a little sweeter and it never failed to have one of the alphas doing a double take, just assuming that he had just fucked around with some poor omega instead of the actual truth, and he did seem to be a bit clingier with you.

You had even fallen for the Omegas’ act until one day it was just the two of you at the hideout. Shiggy had decided to go out to buy some new game and the other members were doing their own thing, so that left the two of you to chill on his bed and snuggle while watching some random horror movie. He managed to convince you, the alpha he had managed to take interest in, into his bed as well as in his arms. He almost cooed at the thought of having his bed smell like you, remembering that he would sleep well before you yawning brought his attention to you.

“Hey Dabi?” You mumble, eyes never leaving the TV. “Yeah, doll?” He cooed back which only made you chuckle. “What are you? Like are you an Alpha or a Beta?” You asked and moved to hug him a little tighter which only made him blush. “Why are you askin’ that?” he mumbled before rolling his eyes which only caused you to grin. “Well I need to figure out how to court you. I sure as hell ain’t going to just say ‘I think you’re a badass and you’ve been my partner in crime ever since we met, so why not be my mate?’ I think that is kinda lame since it is my job as an alpha to express my interest.”

Dabi instantly rolled his eyes before flicking your head. “Fuck what you’re supposed to do. Just do what you want.” You chuckled and rubbed your head before sighing, snuggling into his scent gland which made him blush since he knew your scent would be stuck to him like glue. “You didn’t answer me. Are you an alpha, or a beta?” Your tone became a bit more dominant and he could feel his inner omega coo at your dominance, but he had to keep that to himself.

“I’m an Omega.” he admitted, unable to lie since you had expressed your interest in him. You blinked for a moment before sitting up, chuckling softly. “Dude, Stop fuckin around. I’m serious I want to court you and I need to know the truth-” “I’m a fucking omega you dumbass.” He responded once again in a harsh tone, not meaning for it to come off as hostile as it did. You sat for a moment before tilting your head to the side in confusion.

“But...You’re all tall and muscular and dominant?” He scoffed once again, the sweetness in his scent turning more like burned sugar with each passing second. “Do you seriously fucking believe all Omegas are little feminine brats? Hell no.” You just continued to watch him before smiling a little. “Well...Then can I scent something of yours for you? Like I dunno if you have a nest or somethin’ like it, but I want to court you properly and I guess that means I should ask to scent something!”

His face turned bright red at your optimism before he just sighed, moving to sit up and kiss your head as he stood to go to his closet. He couldn’t deny that he wanted to start tossing out his clothes for you as well as the items in his nest, but he settled on one thing for now. He came out of the closet holding a large blanket, folding it up as he sat beside you. “This is my moms’ blanket. She gave it to me before she was sent to the hospital…” Your eyes widened as you looked down at the beautifully crochet blanket. “She told me to have someone I trust scent it for me. Someone who wouldn’t hurt me the way my dad hurt her.” His hand raked over the delicate pattern before he moved to sit it on your lap slowly. “So...just scent that for me. I know you won’t hurt me, and I trust you.”

He watched as your eyes lit up as you nodded, carefully unwrapping the blanket before rubbing it against your scent glands. He smiled as your scent filled the room which only made him sigh. His omega was content, and so was he. He was about to look over at you only to feel you draping the blanket over his shoulders. “Maybe we could go give your mother a visit, but only when you’re ready. When that time comes, I’ll make sure to be there for you, Okay?” he nodded instantly, pulling the blanket closer before yawning sleepily.

“Dabi, let's take a nap.” He just nodded before moving to lay where you had been moments before, shoving his nose in the pillow as you got up to lock his bedroom door and turn off the lights. After a minute, he felt the bed sink beside him as your arms wrapped around his torso, pulling him closer so he could sleep against your chest. He had yawned but wrapped his arm around your waist. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard you softly whisper “Goodnight, my omega.” in his ear. “Goodnight Apha, don’t think this means everyone needs to know-” “Don’t worry. No one will know. Now sleep, you need it.” He simply nodded before shutting his eyes, letting your scent lull him to sleep.

Hitoshi Shinsou

Shinsou was always told that he could never be a hero. That his quirk would instantly make him a villain instead of a hero, and that there were hardly any successful Omega heroes. Yet he managed to get into UAs’ General Department 1-C on his own. He held his own on the sports festival and even caught the eye of the class 1-A teacher, Pro-Hero Eraserhead. Now, he had been told that he would be able to join the Hero Course. To say that he was proud was a damn understatement.

Yet he couldn’t help but be upset when some of Class A found out that he would be joining. Sure, he didn’t assume everyone would be supportive of this choice, but he didn’t expect it to go this far.

It started with Bakugo grumbling about how it was stupid to have omegas in the heroes course since no one in the top ten were alphas. Both Izuku and Aizawa were quick to mention that there were omega heroes that were very well known, the best example being best jeanist. That was when you hopped into the conversation and reminded him that he had understudied under Jeanist, so the alpha was weak against the omega. That promptly caused him to blow up at you since you had “Insulted his strength.” Safe to say that Aizawa had kicked him out of the class before going back to teaching.

Then it turned to how Omega heroes had some benefits due to their heats and possible pregnancy benefits. No one really said anything that was rude, but the fact that the Omega heroes had more benefits because they are “Weaker” pissed him off. He wasn’t weak and some acted as if Alphas didn’t have time off for ruts too. It just seemed like there was a double standard.

It seemed like every time the Sub-Dynamics were mentioned, Shinsou found a new reason to be irritated. Sometimes he took out his frustrations while training with Aizawa or when he was with his friends, but it normally didn’t help much since he was tired of people judging him for being an Omega, not for his actions.

Courting was something he had thought about from time to time, but his determination to be a hero outdid any want for a mate, yet he couldn’t help but be intrigued by the small vase of colorful orchids that sat on his desk when he walked inside. Others were also surprised and wanted to know who left them there since this was the first display of courting in the class, but couldn’t think of anybody who looked suspicious.

Shinsou couldn’t help but think of the meaning behind the orchids that night in his dorm. As they sat on his desk, he looked up the meaning of the colors.White ones were positivity and safety, purple were independence, Blue were faith and wisdom, orange were determination and success, and red were passion as well as love. He hated to admit it, but he was interested in the other person's intention behind the flowers because it seemed like they were extremely positive.

The next day he was shocked to see a leather notebook on his desk as well as a beautiful fountain pen. The girls swarmed around his desk, wondering if it had anybody's scent on it yet Shinsou just shook his head. It just smelled like leather and ink. Everybody had failed to notice their teachers smirk since he knew exactly who it was. Of course he did, He was the one to give them the key to his room after they asked permission to court him which Aizawa instantly deemed mature. Not to mention, he just seemed to like you more than a few others in the class.

These courting gifts continued on through the week. A cat pillow which he instantly put in his nest, a hoodie that was dark yet had a nice graphic design on it, and the final gift was a note that was beside a handmade bracelet. The girls were so confused since no one seemed to have that talent or had been working on a bracelet, and the note had been printed instead of handwritten. Shinsou sighed softly and moved to open the note when he was alone, seeing that it had asked to meet at the nearby movie theater that night to go see the new horror movie. Of course, it was one he had mentioned previously. This alpha listened. He approached Aizawa after class and told him that he was accepting the offer and would be missing out on training tonight. Aizawa instantly nodded and ruffled his hair. “It’s alright Sinsou. Have fun.”

That night, the violet haired male wore the hoodie the alpha had given him as well as the bracelet. He couldn’t help but imagine who could have weaved something so intricate, but the fact that he was gifted it made him smile to himself. About half an hour before the movie started, he left his dorm to see if he could find who it was that kept leaving him the gifts.

He was surprised to see you inside after he walked to the theater. You were looking down at your phone before running your fingers through your hair to calm yourself, clearly nervous. He couldn’t help but find it charming as he slowly approached only to sit next to you. “So, it was you who was courting me?” You blushed slightly but nodded. “Were they all okay? I tried to think of things that seemed to remind me of you or were related to your likes.” He instantly nodded before looking at the bracelet. “Did you make this?” He asked before you nodded. “My dad always told me that if I were to ever court somebody, that I should always handmake something for them since handmade gifts are cherished.”

He couldn’t deny that. He truly adored the purple and grey threads you used to weave the design, black there to make the few colors pop even more. “It’s lovely. Thank you so much for making it for me.” He smiled at you before you gasped softly. “Oh, I also got this for you.” You reached in your wallet before pulling out his ticket. His eyes lit up and he grinned before taking it from you. “Thanks, you didn’t have to pay for it you know.” Your small chuckle only made his heart flutter before you stood. “I wanted to. And I’ll pay for your snacks too okay? This is my treat.”

He had followed you into the movie, smiling as you carried the popcorn in with your drink. He held all of the candy as well as his own drink before looking at you. “Uh...Where should we sit?” he asked as he looked at the empty theater. He assumed that you would want to sit in the middle so you could get a good view even though the back was his favorite place to sit. “You lead. I want you to be comfortable, okay?” Your smile made his heart flutter again before he moved to walk up the steps before sitting in the middle of the farthest row.

Once you both settled in, you grinned at Shinsou who seemed to be excited. You could tell from how he grinned and sat in his reclining chair. It was laid down most of the way, but he had moved the armrest up between the two of you to sit the food down. He curled up into the hoodie, but he huffed softly and moved closer to you.

“It’s a horror movie, and I want to make sure you don’t get scared.” He joked to see if you would be insulted, but you just chuckled and moved to wrap an arm around him instead. “I appreciate it. I dunno how scary this movie will be, so If I text you at 3 in the morning, then I’ll deem it a success in its goal.” He only grinned and moved to lean on you a bit, happy in your embrace.

As the movie played, it wasn’t exactly scary. A couple of jumpscares had got you, The omega beside you only chuckling before taking your hand after each one. By the time it ended, Shinsou was smiling and you weren’t too shaken up. “That wasn’t that bad.” the boy said to you as he picked up the wrappers from the snacks. You nodded and smiled at him before taking the trash. “A lot better thanks to you. It was nice to have you to hold on to.” He chuckled and followed you before sighing softly. “We should do this again. I really enjoyed being with you.” You raised an eyebrow and grinned a little, liking the sound of it. “So...should it be a weekly date?” The boy nodded and moved to grab your hand after you tossed the trash. “Of course. I think it would be stupid to turn you down.” You smiled bigger before lacing your fingers together, happy that he seemed to enjoy you.

Toshinori Yagi

Everybody assumed that the number one hero, All Might, was an alpha due to his strength, speed, and natural charisma, but the truth was that Toshinori Yagi was just a quirkless Omega, given his quirk by his wonderful Alpha mentor. In his hero form, he appears to be an alpha due to the quirks that had been passed from one to another but in his true form, he was skinny, frail, and weak. His scent of matcha green tea deepened in his hero form, turning more musky yet the tea smell still lingered. He honestly was quite conflicted when it came to himself. Not many Alphas would turn their head at the sight of him, not to mention he was a bit older than what most desired.

He didn’t intend on ever finding a mate, yet he would occasionally find himself daydreaming about you, a fellow pro hero and teacher in UA. You had been in the same class as Hizashi and Aizawa, so you were a little younger than him, yet you never failed to greet him and hold conversations with him when he walked in the building every day. For the first few weeks, he would only talk to you in his hero form. It was only after the fight against the league of Villains, when he was completely spent, did he reveal his true form to you.

He expected slurs and degradation, yet was only met with praise as you bandaged up the lanky man. You treated him the exact way as you would when he was in his hero form and it made his heart flutter. You did make a comment on his sweet green tea scent, blushing dark after you told him that it was almost intoxicating. Once you finished patching him up, you helped him stand with a small smile. “I think it is safe for you to go home. Rather that, or we can go to your classroom until we are ready to go home.” He openly expressed that he preferred the 2nd option. As you both walked back to the school, you both talked. Well...You did most of the talking since Toshi was still hurting and pretty exhausted

Ever since then, Toshinori didn’t mind having you see him in his natural form. You would bring him lunches to make sure he was eating, bring him small gifts since they made you think of him, and you even made him a blanket for his house! He sleeps with it every night in his nest since it smells like you and makes his aches almost go away. He was completely oblivious to your courting attempts, but he never turned them away. It wasn’t until he noticed students courting each other when he started to get the feeling that you were courting him.

He sat in his nest after class one day, huffing softly as he looked at the large blanket you had made for him, thinking about the possibility of you courting him before just thinking that he had no chance. He whined and pulled it over his body before feeling himself sigh under his breath. It was losing your scent and he couldn’t have that happen, so he decided to ask you to re-scent it for him. In a way, this could be a way to see if you were courting him since he was aware of how to court an alpha.

He ended up bringing the blanket with him in his bag, sighing softly as he put it in the teachers’ lounge so he didn’t have to worry about the students finding it before asking him a thousand and one questions he couldn’t answer if he tried. Aizawa had noticed it and raised an eyebrow at the older omega, yet didn’t say a word before hearing the bell ring for the first period to start. Toshi thought about it for a moment before sighing, He would have to wait till lunch to ask you to scent the blanket.

He was surprised to see a lunchbox on his desk as well as a note for him when he walked into his classroom, yet he couldn’t help but smile as he read that it was from you again. He opened the box to notice an All Might inspired bento that you had made. Sure, it was a little clumsy but he loved it just the same.

When lunch finally came around, Toshinori quickly grabbed the blanket out of the teachers room before joining you in your classroom, smiling as you ruffled the hair of Izuku before looking at Toshinori. Toshi had already told you about Izuku and you had instantly took a liking to the sweet boy. Once Izuku saw Toshinori, he instantly bowed before rushing off to lunch to leave the two of you alone.

He raised an eyebrow at you as you chuckled and rolled your eyes. “He was asking me about some extra credit. Don’t worry.” He hummed and moved to attempt to sit at the desk before you scoffed. “Toshi, just sit here.” you said and stood from your desk before bringing another chair to your desk. He chuckled and nodded before moving to sit beside you. “Thank you. You always seem to go out of your way for me.” He smiled before moving to sit the lunchbox on the desk, opening it up to grab some of the food to eat. You shrugged and moved to eat a bit of your own lunch. After a moment, you noticed the bag he brought.

“Toshi? What is in the bag you brought?” You asked before noticing the red covering his cheeks. “O-Oh..” he moved to cough a little against the back of his hand which made you reach over and grab a water bottle and push over the tissues. He smiled a little before taking them both. “It’s the blanket you gave me.” he said with a small smile. “It actually is loosing your scent, and I wanted to ask if you could scent it for me since it makes it much easier to sleep in my nest.” Now it was your turn to blush, but you nodded with a smile. “Of course Toshi. You don’t have to ask for me to scent something for you, just bring it to me and I’ll do it in a heartbeat.” He felt himself getting flustered again before pulling the blanket out to hand to you. “Thank you. I was hoping you would accept since I wasn’t really sure about how you would react.” You laughed before taking it with a grin. “Well, seeing as how I’ve been courting you for a while now, Why would I turn you down?”

Cue him coughing up blood once again. You laughed a little and moved to rub his back. “Hey now, Don’t die okay?” You joked as he calmed down, clearing his throat before sitting up a bit straighter. “I apologize. I guess I really was oblivious since I just assumed you were being nice.” You grinned and moved to hold the others large hand. “Don’t. I really enjoyed the courting.” You felt him lace your fingers with his, a dark blush across his face. “Ah...well I enjoy it too, but I honestly didn’t think that you would like me back.” You smiled before shrugging. “Well honestly, I like you for you. You may be older than me, and way taller and stronger than me, but I think you’re still the most handsome omega I’ve ever seen.” He felt himself blush darker before hiding his face from you. “I swear...You are going to kill me.”

You laughed before moving to wrap the scented blanket over his shoulders, smiling sweetly as you watched him relax before snuggling into the fabric. You grinned bigger and moved to softly wrap your arms around him. “I love you, Toshi.” You said softly as your hand tangled into his blond hair. For once, he didn’t react to it dramatically. No blood was coughed up and no nervous laughter was heard, but you soon felt his arms wrap around your waist before he moved to kiss his cheek. “I love you too...Hey can you maybe come over for dinner?” He asked as his thumbs massaged into your hips. You just grinned before nodding. “Of course, darling. Let me cook though. I still want to spoil you.” he nodded and grinned happily, refusing to leave your arms till the bell was close to ringing, and even then you had to remind him that you both had class which was only met with whines. The second you pecked him though, he was quick to scamper off with the blanket, still as bashful as the day you met him.

Yugi Aoyama

Not to just say that he is a clingy omega, but he is such a clingy omega. Not because he isn’t independent, but because he just enjoys the affection. Clinging to other omegas, betas, and alphas was something everyone had gotten used to with him.

God can this man make a nest. It takes up almost his whole bed and looks very aesthetically pleasing. When he works on his nest, me makes sure everything inside is not only comforting, but matches the aesthetic he strives for. Fairy lights hang on the wall above it, the pillows are a beautiful creme color, and the deep purples with hints of gold made his omega howl in pride. If only he had an alpha to share it with.

Sure, he had thought about his options. He had a notebook under his pillows with the pros and cons of each person, but he did have a desire for an Alpha specifically. With Deku, he was kind and sweet but Aoyama wasn’t sure if he would be willing to focus more on family than hero work. Bakugo was strong, protective and could give the best hugs, but his affection was too aggressive and god forbid Aoyama start whining when Bakugo is around. There were a few others, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Iida, Sero, and Momo, but none of them peaked his interest. He had originally forgotten that you were an alpha altogether.

It wasn’t until you weren’t in class that he realized you were an alpha as well, gone because of your Rut. That night, he filled a page completely dedicated to you. You were willing to be a hero, and even encouraged Aoyama to do the same despite his status as an omega, and had discussed with friends how you had wanted to have a family one day too. The thought of having pups with you made him whine softly as he pulled a pillow close to snuggle himself against. It was while he was laying in bed after writing down your interests, likes and dislikes, and more when he realized that his omega had chosen who they wanted to be with.

Once you had come back from your heat, he instantly noticed how you seemed to glow. Have you always been that attractive? He continues to try to answer that question until he notices how the other omegas started checking in on you. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of jealousy as he moved to sit in his spot, looking at you from afar before daydreaming about a future he could have with you. His hand carefully moved into his bag, moving the lunchbox he had made for you before stroking the soft stuffed rabbit inside to calm himself before the class bell rang.

His attention would randomly turn towards you once class had begun, huffing softly to himself as he doodled in his notebook, nothing more than childish love doodles. On one side of the page was Present Mic’s english notes, the other his plan of action. He wrote it all in french just to make sure that no one would read it and understood what it said, just in case someone ruined the surprise or told you about his feelings.

It was later that day when he finally started his plan, approaching you slowly at lunch only to notice that you had forgotten your lunch back at the dorm. His omega perked up and he offered you the one he had made. When you opened it, your eyes lit up seeing your favorite comfort food. You thanked Aoyama over and over and gave him a large hug, unaware that the other was purring from the affection.

Once back in the dorms, he asked if you wanted to go to the store with him since he didn’t feel like going alone. You, of course, agreed and grabbed your bag before you both walked towards your destination. The only thing that was odd about it? Aoyama had hardly spoken a word since you left, seeming to be in his own head.

“Yuga, can I ask what’s on your mind?” Hearing his first name snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at the ground in an almost shameful manner. “Ah...It is nothing really...I suppose it might just be puppy love.” His normal scent of roses turned almost burned sugar as he felt himself becoming insecure. Yet you managed to make him smile when an arm slipped around his waist and pulled him closer. “Hey! If you have feelings for somebody, then I wouldn’t say that so negatively.” you cooed before letting go to hold his hand. Of course, you knew affection would make him feel better.

“I just doubt they would want me. They’re such a sweet alpha, so why would they want some weird omega who can’t even fully control their quirk.” He scoffed, scent getting even stronger. “Hey, stop that.” you scolded and stopped walking before moving to grab his chin so he would look at you.

“You aren’t a weird omega, you are a beautiful and heroic one that I think anyone would be lucky to have.” You let go before squeezing his hand to reassure him. “I think your quirk is insanely strong and you, as a person, are so sweet and kind. Yeah, you do put on a show for others, but I know the real Yuga, and I think he's really cute and sweet and that any Alpha would be lucky to call themselves yours.”

Aoyama felt himself tearing up as you released his chin. He quickly moved to hug you and hide in your neck which only made you chuckle as you pulled him out of the middle of the crosswalk so you weren’t in anybodys’ way. His eyes shut and he purred when he felt your hands massaging his hips. His nose subconsciously found its way to your scent gland, snuggling into it as he calms down completely thanks to your scent.

You chuckle and hold him tight until he pulls away, wiping at his eyes before smiling bright at you. “Thank you...I really needed to hear that.” You grin and kiss his forehead before taking his hand again. “Of course Yuga. You deserve the world.” He blushed as his scent turned back to normal. “Hey...I actually don’t need anything from the store, but I do want to ask you something else when we get to my dorm room, okay?” You smiled and nodded before you both started walking back to the dorms.

Once you both got back to the dorms, he pulled you into his room. The only time you had seen it was when everybody first moved in, but it was much more tame than that day. He had his nest in his bed and you couldn’t lie, you were a bit jealous of whoever got the honor of laying in it with him one day since it looked so comfortable.

Your attention went back to Aoyama when he opened up his school bag to reveal the rabbit plush. He slowly brought it to you and smiled. “I uh...Would you scent this for me?” he asked and held out the rabbit, feeling hopeful and bold after your little pep-talk to him earlier. His cheeks were pink and his omega stood on high alert, waiting for your answer impatiently as you examined the stuffed animal. When you finally realized what he was really asking, your eyes widened and you nodded, bowing as you took the bunny softly. “I’d be honored to.”

He couldn’t hold back his joy as he started bouncing happily on his feet since you accepted his attempt at courting. Once you were finished, you carefully handed the rabbit back to Aoyama who had the biggest smile. He hugged it tight to his chest before pressing his nose to it, taking a deep breath of his calming scent before giggling softly. Seeing him so happy made you feel proud in a way since you had been the one to cause his joy. When he looked back at you, he just smiled and moved to kiss your cheek before walking over to his nest and crawling inside to sit the rabbit down inside. That’s when you spoke again.

“Love, do you have anything else you want me to scent?” You had asked as you approached the area, stopping at the edge of his nest. He felt himself grin at the new nickname before he nodded. “Mhm, but wouldn't it be easier if you just laid in my nest with me? I think that would be nicer for the both of us.” Now it was your turn to grin, but before you could enter, Aoyama gasped. “Hey! Shoes off first! And can you turn off my light? I have these ones that are bright enough for me.”

You smiled at how the omega had chirped at you and obeyed his requests, apologizing about your shoes as you crawled in his nest after. “It’s okay, but I can’t have this get all dirty after it smells like you.” He said and moved to lay down, holding the rabbit happily in his arms. You grinned before laying beside him, pulling him close before kissing his head softly. “You sleepy?” The blond shook his head. “Nope..Just happy to have my Alpha in my nest with me..” You chuckled and moved your hand to his waist, rubbing it softly before hearing him purr at the touch. “Well, my darling, just tell me that I need to be here from now on and I will be, okay?” He nodded and giggled softly before kissing your cheek softly, happy to have the attention of you to himself.

#Dabi x reader #mha dabi #Dabi #Dabi imagine #Toshinori #toshinori x reader #mha toshinori #toshinori yagi #mha omegaverse #omegaverse #mha aoyama #aoyama x reader #mha hitoshi #my hero academia shinsou #hitoshi shinso imagine #hitoshi shinso x reader

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childhoodgrave · 4 years ago

Note

I'm starting 2 play pathologic but I'm scared any tips for how to make the start of the game less impossibly heavy and mortifying (I accidentally started a fight got scared and restarted my game)

HI im typing on my computer this time bc i wrote likean essay long response to this and tumblr crashed instead of saving this also adding a readmore bc this will get long im sorry.. but thank u so much for sending me this ask i am so excited u r playing pathologic first of all!! i will format this in a numbered list so its a bit easier 2 read...

1. im assuming the fight u started was with the ppl loitering in evas garden, right? this is a v common problem new players face and an intentional obstacle left by the devs to teach u tht u shld avoid confrontation and fighting at all costs when u can help it. the fighting system in this game is intentionally difficult and u will usually die if u get into a fight if u dont have a gun. just leave the guys alone and let them stay and u will be fine. there arent any consequences to this so dont worry!!

2. starting and then restarting the game a few times when ur getting into it is very normal so dnt worry abt that!!! i had to restart my save like 3 times before i got the hang of things, so dont be discouraged. tht being said the game isnt for everyone so if u just consistently are not having fun w it dont force urself to play it!!

3. check out the settings page where it lists all the controls for the game, bc it will show you some mechanics the game nevr tells you about. use Q to open up your quest menu which will show you your overall goal, main quest, and sidequests. the main quest MUST be completed by the end of each day or there will be ingame consequences, so be careful. sidequests are less dire.

the I key opens up ur inventory!!

you press E to talk to people

the P key opens up ur status menu iirc. be sure to keep track of that too, but statuses will also pop up in the corner of ur screen when they get actually dire, too, so if u dont check it u wont be completely clueless dw!!

the L key opens up your letters menu. u will get letters from different ppl throughout each day and usually they pertain to the main quest at hand or a sidequest you can do so that you know what youre supposed to be doing each day. whenever you get a letter a spinning icon will pop up in the corner of the screen and the sound of a paper flipping will play, but the game never actually tells u abt it which is a big design flaw on its part.

4. pay attention to the time!! esc or q will pause ur game and pause the flow of time, but opening ur inventory wont. time is a super important aspect of the game so just watch out 4 that.

5. spend all your money on food on day 1. dont bother with eggs or lemons so much as meat, bread, fish, vegetables, and milk to a lesser extent. its important u do this on day 1 for reasons u will find out later.

dont worry abt keeping ur hunger meter completely low tho!! make sure it doesnt max out, but dont try to keep it empty, ull waste food very quickly that way and its a very important resource.

theres also an area in the game near where u start out that has some milk left out near a statue of a woman that you can pick up. raising ur fists in game will make a little dot appear to help you aim for things, and i always use that to focus on what i want to pick up because it can be very difficult otherwise. heres the area im talking about

6. check ur map frequently whenever ur going anywhere!!!! the layout of the town is intentionally confusing and u will get lost without ur map, esp because it shows u quest markers of wherever u need to go.

the walking in this game is also very slow and tedious. u get used to it but it is a feature of the game so just keep that in mind.

i used this map to keep track of where all the shops in town are because its a bit difficult to tell otherwise and can save time if u need to get stuff (like food and medicine. dont bother with clothes bc theyre honestly useless but clothing stores do sell needles which you should collect for bartering.)

7. bartering is a BIG system in the game and its actually what you use to get a lot of the items youll need. you can barter with pretty much every random npc you see in town, just press E to talk to them! different people will trade for different things and find value in different items, so just pay attention to that!

look in trash cans and bins located around the town to find useful things you can barter or use yourself, like water bottles. id recommend especially saving items that children will trade for like jewelry, flowers, needles, hooks, sharp objects (like knives and switchblades), and nuts. dont eat the nuts, trade them with children.

8. one child in particular will have an item called “schmowder” on her occasionally. theyre important for reasons that you find out in game later. if she has a schmowder, trade for it, and save it. it costs a lot so save up things this child will trade for. dont use schmowders on yourself, save them for later. the child looks like this.

unrelated but i just think this girls design is sweet. i like her dress :)

9. sometimes characters will give you items for quests. if your inventory is full, the item will drop to the ground in a bag with a thud. watch out for this and be sure to check your inventory and the ground to make sure you actually have the item you need to do a quest.

10. quests can be confusing sometimes, and if u ever feel lost i recommend checking the pathologic wiki for “the bachelor’s route” to find a guide about each quest that happens each day. OR you can just dm me and i can help u if u dont want to risk being spoiled!!! i dont know everything but if i dont know the answer i can just look it up for you since i already know the story of the game.

11. dialogue can also be confusing sometimes, so choose what you say carefully! dialogue trees that you can go back to are usually rare and dont actually happen that much. the dialogue system is also intentionally confusing and tricky. dont be afraid to reload a save file if you want to learn more or see what other dialogue options would have got you.

and thats all i can think of right now??? im sorry this is a lot, i promise the game isnt actually that difficult once you get used to it!!! its just a matter of getting used to the mechanics. lmk if u ever need any help at all :D

#pathologic #im so sorry for saying so much ...i rlly rlly tried to be brief here ok #the game RLLY RLLY isnt as difficult as ppl make it out to be #or at least the bachelors route isnt.

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ast-heljar · 5 years ago

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So I bought ane early access game called Kynseed because it seemed like the sort of sandbox game I have been searching for. It is!

The first thing I love about it is the art style. For a 2D game it is actually super pretty.

It has a lot of flaws that sorta drive me up a wall-- such as I have to remember the next step of the quest myself the task journal is no help --but it sounds like the devs have a lot of experience in their field, so I am happy to assume that they know what theyre doing and am otherwise enjoying the early access immensely.

But (and only very minor spoilers ahead because most of this is in the game description itself) the story of the game is that you make a deal with a great fae and oh boy is it a big damn deal.

So, you are an adopted orphan twin who "makes" friends with this guy Twig who teaches you how to fish. Twig is an AWFUL friend, seriously, who takes a 13 year old to this shady goat fae for their 13th birthday. And this motherfucker gives you the terms and conditions right up front-- at the cost of years off you life, that is in exchange for YOUR BODY when you turn 60, he will give a kynseed that will make you powerful. How, a smart person would ask? The Kynseed will allow you to TAKE OVER the body of one of your heirs when you turn 60 allowing you to continue playing and growing your family tree. All you have to do is dig up the seed when the time is right and hand it over BUT that binds your heir to the same contract. Shady Goat Face gets THEIR BODY TOO when they turn 60. And I hear you out there thinking, "well what if I just dont have kids, what then?" Oh no worries, if you arent interested in cultivating the sex life of your 2D PC an heir WILL BE PROVIDED FOR YOU because Goatface-o is a great fae and covers loopholes 'cause he is a nice guy. He even says so! Or says he is nice anyway, because this is just the kind of deals nice fae offer to 13 year olds.

Oh, and the reason you live only to 60 is because every year he is gonna take a life tax. Oh, and he will happily supply you with other awesome fae items in exchange for... MORE YEARS off your life. The Gluttons Trough, for example, that automatically feeds all your animals-- extremely tempting! Or, the one I chose, a Key that lets you travel faerie paths. When i figure out how I will actually be playing this game, as opposed to the prologue, i guess I will know which was worth YEARS OFF MY LIFE.

TWIG, WHY ?!?!?!

Twig is also a bit crazy, you see, i picked up a note of his and its a little bonkers. But he really adores Shady Goatmanson. The two are totes unrelated, of course.

What the actual fuck?

Anyway, the point of the game it to get married and have kids, but you can def be gay they specifically say so in game via an OOC: btw... Also, so far there is actually not a lot of, or any that I can recall, gendered language surrounding you and your fraternal twin of the opposite assigned gender even after you pick which you wanna play, so I mean, that is pretty cool personally and I pray they dont change that in the future.

In fact I would love to send the Devs a personal thank you note on the subject specifically, because I can be queer and both MC's stay nonbinary, but I dont know how.

Anyway, Im loving this game. If the Devs ever have a store with their own Kynseed collectable, tho, Imma have to pass. I DID read that contract and... hrm. HRMM.

#Kynseed #it is a lovely game #do not make deals with the fae its just a bad idea what the actual fk

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reesewestonarchive · 6 years ago

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EASTHALLOW | Masterpost | Project Page | Project Preview | ko-fi, if you like my work :p

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Back at the farm, Elijah walks, dazed but relaxed, back to the house. He checks behind him once, twice, to see if Rocky, who had followed him to the edge of his parents' property, still sits in the woods, wagging his tail at Elijah.

He doesn't.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Amanda says, as she steps out the front door. The sun is shining, bright and warm already for eight in the morning, and Elijah shakes the woods off of him as best he can.

While he's grateful the beast is a silly witch in the woods, the idea that someone out there just... lives in abandoned shack in his woods unsettles him.

"Not a ghost," Elijah says. He sighs. "Has this town always been this fucking creepy?"

Amanda cocks her head and looks at her son with a smile, then steps down the front steps and towards the hay truck. "The city has made you suspicious, my love." She waves the keys in the air, doesn't look back to Elijah. “Come on. I believe you promised me a trip to the farmer’s market.”

Amanda fiddles with the radio, sings along off-key with wrong lyrics, and Elijah absently brushes the mud from his jeans.

The market’s covered in small tables set up underneath tents. Sunlight shines through the trees, and Elijah all but forgets about Viola and Penny and their tiny shack in the woods. The air is sweet with the smell of apple cider and turnovers, and Elijah follows his mother past table after table of pickles, jams, fresh produce, pies, breads…

He last went when he was seventeen. Far too long ago. The smell of it brings him back to being a child, before he made such a shitty decision, before Josh—

“Elijah, can you take these apples back to the car? I’ve a few more tables I’d like to visit.”

Three bags of apples, Elijah takes to the car, tripping over tree roots and uneven, muddied ground. Passes tables selling food that has his stomach aching with hunger.

Just before the market closes off, though, Elijah notes a man, sitting at his table, his head rested in his hand, elbow on the table, flipping through a book with a bored look on his face. Customers seem to ignore him, as though he’s not there. Candles in mason jars are neatly lined up in front of him, a solitary empty spot where someone has bought one.

He seems to notice Elijah staring, because he lifts his head, locks gazes with him. A smile grows across his face.

“Interest you in some homemade candles, sir?”

Elijah makes a face. “I’m not a sir.” He should keep going, but—the logo of the candles. Elijah drops one of the bags of apples to pick up a candle. “This creature,” he asks, smoothing his thumb over the creature—thick hair, glowing eyes, fingers like nails. “What is it?”

With a shrug, the man says, “The Beast of Easthallow. Local legend. Man a few hundred years ago, back when Easthallow was just a mining town, claims to’ve seen it.” He cocks his head at Elijah. “There’s a book about it, you know. Adapted from Victor East’s journals.”

“So it’s real?”

Laughing, the man leans back in his chair. “Suppose that matters on whether you’re a believer.” He nods his head at the candle. “Supposed to smell like wildflowers if you see it. S’what the candle’s based on.”

Overhead, the sun hides behind dark storm clouds. Around them, the hum of chatter from the farmer’s market quiets for a minute.

“Can give you a discount if you buy the book, too.” He holds up a book, small, a plain black cover, the words THE BEAST OF EASTHALLOW embellished across the front.

Assuming, for a minute, that Elijah believes any of this, other than a crazy couple of witches living in the woods, he’s unemployed. Setting the candle back down, Elijah says, “I don’t have any money.”

He eyes the apples. “How about a few of those? They came from the Richard Orchard, right?” Elijah shrugs. “Two apples, then.”

Fine. Curiosity peaked, Elijah digs into the bag at his feet for two of the apples, without bruises, one still with a stem and leaf, and hands them over. Their fingers brush together, and Elijah’s lips twitch up in a smile, just for a split second, before he pulls back.

“Do you plan on hunting it?” the man says, dropping the apples into a bucket beside him.

“…Hunting it?”

“We also sell candles that smell like rotten wood and wet dog. Supposed to attract the Beast.”

Elijah snorts. “A candle that smells like garbage?” He shakes his head. “I’ll go with the wildflowers.” Maybe he can gift it to his mother for Christmas.

“I’ll just get you a receipt,” the man says. Elijah hears someone walk up behind him, and turns his head, sees Amanda stepping around counters, a single, small loaf of bread under her arm.

She smiles down at the man, currently scribbling out a receipt for Elijah, and says, “Good morning, Grant. All well at home?”

He lifts his head, looking between the two of them for just a beat or two before he smiles, pleasant and wide, and his eyes—

Elijah clears his throat, averts his gaze. His heart aches, as he thinks of Sean, back home. What used to be home. He wonders if the man he’d found Sean with would be comforting, in Elijah’s absence, or if he’ll find Elijah leaving cause for celebration.

“…fine, Mrs. Flynn.” Grant flashes her a smile, hands over the receipt to Elijah and says, “Have a good day.”

Elijah reaches for the receipt, and Grant winks as their fingers touch again.

As they leave, Amanda weaves her arm around Elijah’s, says, “That wasn’t so bad, was it? And I see you picked up some items as well.” She nods to the book, the candle in the bag. “Didn’t think you were a candle sort.” She smiles, reaches into the bags, plucks out an apple, and begins chattering on.

Elijah glances at the receipt. Ten digits, scribbled at the bottom—give me a call, if you’d like.

At the farm, Elijah thumbs over the receipt as he sits, reclined on the couch, listening as rain beats down on the tin roof. It’s dark, for mid-afternoon; a deep blue-grey overcast filtering the sun out and shadowing the fields.

Still better than the city.

He sighs. Reads the note again. Little early for hookups, isn’t it? Ezra considers himself fairly capable of moving on quickly, but still, if he thinks too much about Sean, something in his chest goes tight and the world feels too small. He could have gone to the other side of the country, to Australia or Japan, and still Sean would feel too close.

Fingers reach up behind him and pluck the receipt out of hand, though, and Elijah doesn’t even bother turning around to chastise his brother. Instead, he says, “Really? We’re being this childish, now?”

Josh reads the note out loud, makes an awwwww sound, and says, “What happened to Sean, McDreamy? Weren’t you guys happy-ever-after or whatever you want to call it?”

“We’re not in trouble,” Elijah says, but he doesn’t make an attempt at the receipt. He just rubs his eyes, wonders how long it’ll take Josh to give up on this. “And it’s none of your fucking business.”

It’s not a lie; they’re not in trouble. Elijah’s completely out of trouble. Feels better about this than he ever has. Josh, though, Josh takes that and runs with it, his eyes getting wide, and he says, “Holy shit. You’re not—“

“Josh—“ Footsteps are coming up from the basement steps, and fuck, Elijah’s not ready to admit that he’d failed in the city, that he ran home with his tail tucked between his legs, and no. They don’t need to know. They don’t need to know. Not yet. Not until Elijah can get on top of things, until he can

When she reaches the top of the stairs, Amanda glances between them, offers a tentative smile. “Getting on, I hope?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, already heading for her bedroom with the laundry basket. “So nice to see the two of you in the same room without screaming…”

She leaves before Josh can say anything, thankfully, and with a pleased sigh, Josh holds the receipt back out. “S’cute. Taking a page out of your older bro’s book, lying to Mom and Dad.”

Refraining from reaching for the receipt, Elijah says, “I’m not lying to them. And would you stop it with the older bro shit?”

Holding his hands in mock surrender, Josh says, "All right. Just... interesting you're the one keeping secrets these days, is all."

Elijah watches him leave, jaw clenched, and lets out a frustrated groan when Josh is finally around the corner.

It's good, though, right, to meet people. In Easthallow. If he's going to be living here... he'll need a network. Grant can help with that.

He calls the number before he can tell himself not to.

"Elijah," he answers, and his voice is smoother, on the phone, than it really should be. "I wondered if you'd call."

"How do you know it's Elijah?"

A beat, then, "I had a feeling. I wanted to know if you’d be interested in getting a drink?” So the entire town can know about it. So Elijah can spend the evening shooting glances around the bar, wondering who he can trust and whether Grant’s one of those people or not. “About the Beast—“

And Elijah laughs, runs a hand through his hair, and wonders if the entire town is like this. “You don’t really believe in it, do you?”

“You’re meant to believe what you see, right?”

“I’ve seen this Beast,” Elijah says. “Didn’t seem so freaky to me.”

Grant makes a noise, like a scoff, but his voice holds no judgement. “Everyone knows about Viola.”

Fine. Just to sate his curiosity. “All right. Drinks, and you can tell me all about this furry little beast of yours.”

Grant meets him in town, dressed in a light jacket Elijah finds himself jealous of, in the misting cold. He reaches out for a handshake. "Good to meet you."

"You, too," Elijah says. "I thought I knew everyone in this town." He grew up here, went to school here. Graduated with twenty kids in his class. Grant... either he was older, younger, or... wasn't from here.

As though sensing Elijah's thoughts, he sends him a sidelong glance and says, "I grew up in the city. Parents divorced when I was little. Thought I'd do better there, but I always liked the country." His smile is warm, pleasant, and Elijah wonders if it helps with the cold or if he's blushing under Grant's gaze. "What about you?"

"City all the way," Elijah says. "Stepping in cow shit has never been my version of fun."

Grant laughs. It feels good, genuine; Elijah can't remember the last time he made someone laugh. "Plenty of other farms than cattle farms."

"Not according to my parents," Elijah says. "You know they started planting crops when I was fifteen, to help with running costs, and my dad flipped?" He did; Allan's a livestock man, through and through. Elijah still remembers the nights his parents stomped around downstairs, trying to make sense of their next plan.

"What happened? Nobody in Easthallow exports crops."

They take a seat at the bar. Grant holds up two fingers to the bartender, and soft country music plays from the corner of the room, and something settles in Elijah's stomach. He's used to drink menus, twenty minutes with Sean while he tries to decide what he wants, and it's like relief when the bartender slides two beers in front of them and disappears.

It's the little things Elijah loves about this town.

"I knew your brother," Grant says, as he digs his phone out his pocket. "Back in high school."

His mood sours, but Elijah tries not to let it. He peers into the bottle, thinks about downing it all in one go. Doesn't.

"He was a prick." Grant taps away on his phone. "Little fucker nearly drove my little sister insane."

Sounds like Josh. "He cheat on her? Josh is an asshole."

"Wouldn't give her the time of day, mostly. She thought they'd grow up, get married, have kids, whole nine yards. Josh found out and... she ended up homeschooling for the rest of high school."

He remembers that. Something faint, and, hell, Elijah didn't even know the girl, but Josh slept with her best friend and then there was all kinds of drama. Because of Josh. It's hard to believe anyone thought he was a catch, but people like the bad boy thing.

"Don't hold that against me, do you?"

Grant doesn't even lift his gaze to meet Elijah's. "If you were anything like your brother, you wouldn't be speaking with me."

He turns his phone to Elijah, finally, onto a homepage for THE BEAST OF EASTHALLOW. He clicks around a bit, checks out the first hand accounts--all written journalism style, with publishing dates and Grant's name at the top as the author--the photos.

"A lot of them are Viola," Grant says, gesturing to the phone with the beer. "She loves getting dressed ip on tourist weekends and scaring the shit out of the visitors in the cabins." He smiles, shakes his head.

"She's not the start of the rumor, then?" Elijah'd been sure... she could've seen something, made the costume as a joke, to keep people away from her house...

"Nah. Viola's big into local history. Or--Penny, her wife, is. Viola took a liking to the Beast 'cause it's mystical."

Grant's thigh rubs against Elijah's, just a little. Just enough to catch the fabric, enough for the pull to tune Elijah into how close they are everywhere. "Did you read the book?"

"Book?" Elijah echoes, then clears his throat. Grateful for the low lights that help hide his blush, Elijah adds, "Right. No. Didn't even crack the spine."

Like he expects it, Grant scrolls down through his phone again, until he stops at a very clear, very close photo. "This is the most famous ever taken. Fifteen years ago or something like that."

When Elijah lived here. Why the fuck didn't he ever hear about this? "Someone's screwing with me," Elijah says. "I grew up here, and we never had a fucking local cryptid, unless you count the town drunk."

"Fifteen years ago, no one used to see it."

"We don't see it now."

Tapping the screen of his phone, Grant says, "Twenty times in the last year."

It's Josh. It's gotta be fucking Josh, enlisting the entire fucking town, right? Found some freaky girl in the woods to scare him, some guy at the farmer's market to fuck with him, and...

That doesn't make sense, though. Josh didn't know he was coming, and Elijah hasn't been home that long. Is this... does Grant actually believe this shit? That there's really some fucking monster crawling around their little town? Easthallow's a trash heap, people and literal garbage. There’s no cause for why he might be…

Elijah huffs a laugh, shakes his head. Downs the rest of his beer and says, “So, okay. Let’s say I believe in your furry little friend, just for like, five seconds.” He’s still not convinced it isn’t Viola. That this entire set-up isn’t something done to fuck with newbies. “Why only see it now?”

The question of the hour. Grant glances up at him, his eyes twinkling. Something there lights a fire on all of Elijah’s nerves, leaves him feeling warm, pleased, arousal building in his stomach. Grant’s an attractive guy; the muscles that scream outdoor labor, a five o’clock shadow Elijah wants to feel against his skin. Dark eyes Elijah could get lost in, and smooth, tan skin, and hair just long enough to pull.

Shit, he’s tapping his phone again, eyebrow raised like he knows Elijah’s imagining being held down by him, and he says, “Hundred year anniversary of old man Lowell’s suicide.”

“He killed himself?”

“So said the newspapers,” Grant said. “Lots of conflicting reports, though. Another one said he died in the old mine tunnels. Pushed from the roof of the Carnegie library… One said he got caught in a wood-chipper.”

Grimacing, Elijah takes a drink of his beer. “Poor way to go.”

But Grant’s voice is thoughtful when he asks, “Is it? Head first, maybe…” He shrugs.

Silence settles between them, Elijah picking at the label on his beer, Grant tapping his fingers rhythmically on the bar top, before Grant finally says, “So what brings you to Easthallow?”

It isn’t a secret, not really, but Elijah hesitates nonetheless. It’s only been a few days since Elijah spoke to Sean, but it feels like it’s been weeks. Easthallow seems so far removed from the city. Always has. “Bad breakup,” he says, finally, then, “or—not really. Just a breakup.”

“He cheat on you?”

Elijah turns his gaze to Grant. How the fuck does he know. He asks as much, and Grant just chuckles, shrugs one shoulder. Ducks his head in something like embarrassment. “I haven’t told anyone.”

“You have a vibe,” Grant says. “Definitely not from here. Wouldn’t come to Easthallow unless you had family. No one comes here.”

“Viola and Penny?”

With a twitch of his lips, Grant says, “I stand corrected.”

Elijah finishes his beer. Returns it to the coaster. Beside him, Grant pockets his phone. “I could show you Old Man Lowell’s place, if you’re up for it.”

Making a face, Elijah says, “Doesn’t that place have to be ancient by now? How’s it still standing?”

Before Grant can answer, Elijah’s phone buzzes in his pocket, incessant against his thigh. He apologizes as he checks it—his mother.

“Sorry, dear,” she says, but sounds exhausted, “your father has a situation with the cattle. Can you come home, help him out?”

Like a child, Elijah says, “Isn’t Josh home to help.”

Her voice is thick with false sweetness when Amanda says, “I’m asking you.”

He doesn’t have much of a choice, then. Offers a tight smile to Grant when he gets off the phone, pockets his phone. “Dad needs me. Cattle probably got loose.”

But Grant’s gaze snaps to Elijah’s, and his questions are lightning fast, one after another, until Elijah reaches out and grips Grant’s wrist. Intimate, for a man he’d met earlier that day. For a man with a curiosity for the unknown and a crazy loom in his eye when he talks about it. “I’m sure he’d welcome the help. My brother’s useless.”

“Bringing a strange man back to the house already?” Grant tsks, but leaves a twenty on the bar as he stands. “What will your parents say?”

Nothing, if Elijah has anything to do about it. “My mother knows you my name. I’d hardly consider you strange.”

The farm is a cacophony of noises when Elijah arrives there. A loud barking, his father’s deep voice as he hollers, the loud, angry mooing of a cow that does not want to follow orders.

“Yikes,” Grant says, closing the door to the driver’s side of his SUV. “Suddenly glad my parents run an orchard.”

“It’s not always like this,” Elijah says by means of explanation. Never once has he heard a dog barking here. His father’s allergic. He can make out his mother standing at the edge of the field, though, makes his way across the yard towards her. Grant’s headlights shine out toward her.

“Elijah,” she says, gripping his arm as he stops by her side. “Your father’s been at this for an hour. Something spooked the cattle.”

No shit. Even from here he can make out the door to the barn, broken off the hinges. “Dad leave the barn open?”

Amanda shakes her head. “No. Strangest thing. The hinges are bent.”

A chill runs through him; the hair on the back of his neck stands up. He takes a quick glance around the yard—lit up by the emergency lights his father had installed—but sees nothing, save for Grant as he makes his way towards them. “Not surprising,” he says. “Cattle are strong. Especially if the bull got out.” A beat. “So someone broke in?”

She takes a second to glance Grant’s way, a twinkle in her eye as he reaches out to shake her hand. “Grant. Didn’t realize Elijah was bringing help.” Before he can offer anything by means of explanation, she adds, “The more the merrier.”

Another bark sounds from the field, and Amanda whistles. “And this fucking dog. No idea where it came from.”

At her whistle, the dog comes bounding up to her, tongue wagging out of its mouth. In the dark, it’s a little different, but Elijah would recognize it anywhere. “Rocky?”

He barks, wags his tail. Amanda looks between them with a frown. “You know him?”

Elijah reaches to scratch his ears. “I met his owner the other day—” He almost says in the woods; doesn’t want to tell her what he was doing out there. “—does he come here often?”

“More than we’d like.”

Behind them, Grant adds, “Could it have been the dog who spooked them?”

Amanda shrugs. “Not likely. Allan nearly got one back to the barn before it ran off again.”

“You guys check the barn out?”

What? No. Elijah really doesn’t want to go play detective right now. He wants to go to the field, help his father wrangle the half-dozen cows and the bull back into their barns. But Grant’s already eyeing the barn, and Elijah’s not going to leave him on his own.

Not until he trusts what the fuck is going on here.

“Be my guest,” Amanda says. “After that, can you guys head out to the field?”

“Will do, Mama.”

Rocky follows at their heels, quieting the closer the get to the barn. The hair on the back of Elijah’s neck still stands on end, but, save for his mother and Grant, the farm’s clear—nothing out of the ordinary.

Grant whistles as he pulls on the door. “Damn thing’s strong.”

“Thing would’ve taken a truck to pull it off the hinges like this.” Elijah rubs his hand along the bent metal. The hinges look twisted, ruined beyond repair, the metal worn and fragile in places. “They’d’ve heard it.”

“No one’s gonna take a damn truck to a barn door, either. Easier to steal the cattle out of the pasture.” Grant seems lost in thought for a few seconds, then pulls a small flashlight from his pocket. “And that’s still a lot of work for half a dozen cattle.”

Old cattle, too. Allan does it more as a hobby, now, than as a way to make money. Breeds the cattle, trades them to keep the bloodlines clean. Elijah remembers some of it from when he used to live here. His father’s trips to cattle auctions.

“Elijah,” Grant says. His tone, soft, strange, not quite a whisper but not his normal tone, piques Elijah’s interest, and he follows Grant’s gaze to where he’s brushing his fingers along where the door used to sit against the side of the barn. He doesn’t see anything at first, just like Grant’s pressing against nothing, and then…

Three long, thick gashes in the wood, splintering the siding out. Like nails, fingernails, but… there’s nothing that could do that. A bear, maybe a cougar, but… “You’re seeing this, too, right?”

Anger flares in Elijah’s stomach. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Josh. He’s always been a joker, but—fuck, getting the cattle involved in his homecoming prank on Elijah? This isn’t some petty joke he’s playing, built from an old sibling rivalry he won’t let go of anymore. This isn’t just between them, and as soon as Elijah gets him alone, he’s going to tear his brother a new one.

He turns on his heel, back towards the field, towards where he can hear his father making whooping noises towards the cattle in the dark. Josh is—damn it. Usually better about this sort of thing. It’s not the first time one of his jokes has gone too far, but it’s about to be the last.

He comes across one of the cows before he sees his father. Behind him, he hears Grant’s footsteps. The cow makes a noise, distressed, and starts to stand. Elijah holds a hand out, palm up, and says, “Easy girl, you’re okay,” in a voice he hopes is soothing.

Still, she only makes concerned noises, struggling to get up, get away. Elijah turns, slow, moves so she’ll run towards the house, not farther into the field, still talking in quiet tones. “Easy—let’s get you back to the barn, yeah? Back to sleep? Bet Dad’s got some treats for you. How ‘bout you follow me?”

She moos again; this time, her voice breaks, and she stands, slow, staring off into the darkness behind Elijah. “Grant, you’re freaking her out,” Elijah says. “Can you back away, just a bit?”

No sound, though; no answer. Not even footsteps as Grant moves. Elijah turns, ready to ask him again, when he sees it—fur, thick, eyes glowing yellow in the dark, shining in the light from the yard. It stands tall, taller than Elijah by at least a foot, and its teeth glimmer, sharp and long. Arms, impossibly long, hang at its sides, its chest heaving with each breath.

It’s different, up close. Taller, thinner. Creepier. He thinks about Viola, about how her costume looks up close, and knows, without a doubt, this isn’t her.

His throat goes dry, his blood rushes like a river through his ears. He can’t scream, doesn’t know what he would say if he could, and hopes to tell Josh off for this, later, when the thing snarls, and the next thing Elijah sees is the large, clawed hand that reaches out, as if from the shadows, and punches him in the head.

He doesn’t remember falling.

#easthallow #my writing #sorry mobile

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blacksheep28 · 6 years ago

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IKEA Days

The group headed for the door.

She paused, heading for the living room to dig out her keys and nab her real clothes. “Hey, you boys can start the car, I need to change real quick.” The keys were pressed into the hands of whoever was closest before dashing off to get ready. Papyrus gasped, practically exploding with excitement at being entrusted with the keys. The group headed out. “we’re just starting the car, not driving it,” Papyrus reminded them.

Once she had a bra on again and she’d smoothed out her hair as much as possible, Shannon rejoined the boys outside. “So where to first?” “PAPYRUS MENTIONED A PLACE CALLED IKEA THAT SELLS FURNITURE PUZZLES!” Sans exclaimed eagerly. "Yep, it sure does." This would be fine, right? She'd put together IKEA furniture before. It couldn't be that bad. "Alright. Figure out where you're all sitting and hop in, I'll drive." The lazy Papyrus settled into the back while the other Papyrus and Sans engaged in a staring contest. Sans looked at them from the front seat. “that seems intense.” Papyrus whipped to look at him. “SANS! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?” "Well. Shotgun it is. Hope you can navigate well, Sans," Shannon shot over at him with a smile. "Middle row or back row, you two, we have places to be." The shocked pair clambered into the back and settled down. Sans chuckled. “I’m a great guide.” "Alrighty, guide us safely to the mystical land of IKEA, my greatest guide." Shannon pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the city, flipping on the radio and offering out an AUX cord. "Any of you have musical preference?" “better than girl guides,” Sans joked. He pulled out the map. “OH! I LIKE FAST MUSIC!” Papyrus volunteered. “BATTLE MUSIC!” Sans added. “how about swing?” Papyrus asked. "I'm going to pretend you mean the Canadian version of Girl Scouts and spare you from my fist in your face," she smiled sweetly, then tossed the cord back towards the middle console. "I like it all, take turns." Shannon suddenly felt like she was thirteen again and helping take care of too many children at once. Sans blinked. “girl scouts? not girl guides?” So many jokes he’d have to redo. Papyrus took the cord first and blasted out Everything is Awesome. "That what we call it where I'm from." Shannon raised a brow at the music, but didn't take back her cord and tapped her finger along the wheel in time when she found the beat. Sans directed Shannon along as Papyrus took over and put on Sing Sing by Benny Goodman. Her tapping switched immediately to the old fingerings she remembered on the tenor. "Whoever picked this wins definite brownie points," Shannon shouted back towards the boys. Papyrus grinned. “will hold you to that honey.” She grinned towards her rear view mirror and felt a little remorse when they pulled up to the IKEA. It was fun getting to know their music tastes, in her opinion. "Okay, so this place is easy to get lost in. Nobody wander off," Shannon stressed, pointing at Sans and Sans. "You especially. I could spot the others from a mile away, but I'd lose you two forever." “got it. no wondering.” “SANS! SHE SAID NO WANDERING!” “right. no wondering about wandering.” “SANS!” “i’ll just have to wander on wondering.” Papyrus screeched in anguish, the relaxed Papyrus chuckling while the energetic Sans looked torn. Shannon stared blankly at the exchange. "...I didn't get enough sleep for this. Sans, you stay with me." She took his hand in hers and held on tight. "Is there anyone else I need to physically hold on to?" Sans looked at her holding his right hand. “something’s right.” Papyrus looked like he was fighting the urge to kill his brother. The other Sans looked pained at that one himself. The sweatshirt Papyrus slumped over to Shannon’s other side. “i don’t want to get left behind.” At first her cheeks flushed. Then the word play hit her and she tipped her head back and groaned, slipping a hand into Papyrus' anyway. "You two are terrible. Come on, let's go get some furniture." She dragged the group inside and asked where they wanted to begin. "What do we need to get first?" “BEDS FOR EVERYONE,” Papyrus stated. "So we need two beds, I'm assuming the beds you've already got at home are still in tact," Shannon nodded. "So we are going to 'bedroom', follow me." The group traveled through, the occasional customer and employee watching them curiously. Monsters were still an oddity with how rare they were.

“HOW ABOUT THIS ONE?” Sans suggested, pointing to a bed that looked really hard to assemble. “why don’t we test it,” Sans joked. "It looks nice. Let's see." Her hand left Sans' for exactly three seconds to test the bed's sturdiness, and there he went. She grabbed for him immediately. "Whoa, hey, no wandering off. You already have a bed, mister, don't make me pull a Girlfriend Move and have you keep your hands in my pockets," she threatened with a glare. Sans chuckled. “worth a try.” Sans examined the bed. “IT LOOKS STURDY.” Papyrus hummed resting his head on Shannon. “looks good.” "Why don't you test it out, Sans?" She looked to the skeleton in her grasp and squeezed slightly. "Not you. You stay here." “gonna leave me sans bed?” Sans face palmed. “THAT IS MY NAME AS WELL,” he complained. He sat on the bed and bounced slightly. “IT’S COMFY!” Shannon smiled towards the energetic Sans in need of a bed and let go just long enough to give a light smack to the back of the other Sans' head. "That's great! How about you, Papyrus, see anything you want to try?" Sans chuckled at the smack, only half heartedly even attempting to dodge. “I DO NOT NEED A BED! MY RACECAR BED IS VERY COOL AND SUITS ALL MY NEEDS!” Papyrus answered. “think she meant me,” the other Papyrus muttered awkwardly. He slouched down. "Yeah, I did mean this one," she clarified, jiggling Papyrus' hand in hers slightly with a hum. "This... Might get confusing if you boys are all going to stay together. Maybe we should come up with a naming system." Sans unfortunately lit up. “how about comic for me?” “WHAT? WHY?” Papyrus asked. “cause i’m comical.” Shannon bit back a laugh and looked at Papyrus and Sans' strained expressions. "Not that it isn't fitting, but let's choose something that won't give half the household an aneurysm, maybe." “I COULD BE GUARD!” Sans suggested brightly. “could just call me pal,” Papyrus suggested lazily. “PAPS! THAT’S NOT A PROPER NICKNAME!” "I mean, if you'd like that, little blue dude," she agreed before turning to address possibly the worst nickname she'd heard yet. "And that is just truly awful, orange, I'd mix you up with people in a heartbeat. No way." Sans blushed blue again, before quickly forcing his magic back. Why did he like the way that sounded? Papyrus chuckled looking down at his hoodie. ��huh. orange works.”

“what about bill?” Sans suggested straight faced. Shannon took a look at 'Orange' and chuckled softly. "You know what, it's unique. It works." She eyed Sans suspiciously-- After that comic suggestion, there was no way this wasn't a trap. Somehow. "Bill sounds fine. If that's what you want."

“THAT’S VERY MATURE OF YOU,” Papyrus congratulated. Sans immediately started humming the Bill Nye theme song. Papyrus twitched. “NYEH!” It took every ounce of self control to snap her mouth shut and keep from chanting along. She twitched, before completely dissolving into giggles. Sans grinned widely, looking completely pleased with her response. Orange Papyrus snickered as well, while the other two looked simply exasperated by their lack of maturity. “HARD TO BELIEVE THEY’RE OLDER,” Sans commented. “Okay, so you’re officially forgiven for wandering off earlier,” Shannon gasped through her dying laughter. “Whew.” She shot a look at the skeletons still holding her hands and raised a brow. “Really? You two are older?” “yup.” Sans grinned at her. “YOU WOULD NEVER GUESS IT FROM HIS BEHAVIOR,” Papyrus pouted. Her eyes flitted between the sets of siblings curiously. “No, no, I see it. Me and my brother are the same way,” Shannon admitted with an amused sigh. “When I was in grade school I helped him with his high school homework.” Orange and Bill looked impressed, while Sans and Papyrus gasped in awe. They looked absolutely ecstatic. “WOWIE! YOU MUST BE BRILLIANT!” Papyrus cheered. “I BET YOU’RE GREAT AT PUZZLES!” Sans exclaimed. The praise made her want to sink into the mattress in front of them and never resurface, but puzzles? Shannon lit up. “I do like puzzles! Mysteries are my favorite, but I like all kinds!” she gushed excitedly, squeezing Bill and Orange’s hands. Orange happily squeezed her hand back. “IT’LL BE GREAT PUTTING THE BEDS TOGETHER,” Papyrus said happily. He and Sans walked over and picked up the huge boxes the beds came in. “I’m sure it will be,” she smiled before her entire expression froze at the sight. They were just picking up the beds, like they were nothing. “I... Wow, monsters sure are strong, huh. Do you— Do you two wanna set those down somewhere before we continue?” “WE CAN PUT IT IN OUR PHONES,” Papyrus answered. “BUT SHOULDN’T WE PAY FIRST?”

Shannon looked around to find the direction of the checkout before she paused, whirling back around to Papyrus. “Wait, phones? Do you have a QR scanner or something?”

“A WHAT?” Papyrus asked. “a qr scanner. handheld device that scans an item to help people buy it,” Bill answered. “NO, WE DON’T HAVE THAT. WE JUST STORE ITEMS DIRECTLY,” Sans said.

“What the hell does— What do you mean, you store items directly?” she asked with a nervous laugh. “Do you have like hammerspace in your cell phones?”

“basically,” Orange admitted. “DO HUMANS NOT HAVE THAT?” Sans asked. “HUMANS LACK A LOT OF BASICS,” Papyrus explained. “WE ARE WORKING TO HELP WITH THAT BUT IT IS SLOW.” “their science has stuff we didn’t know,” Bill pointed out.

Shannon took a minute to just stare at the ground, slightly agape. Actual endless space inventory was a thing to monsters, and also basic. “I...really need to learn more about monster magic,” she sighed softly, straightening up.

“WE CAN TEACH YOU!” Papyrus immediately volunteered.

“You know? I’d like that,” Shannon smiled. “But primary mission first— Let’s take these up to checkout to put on hold.”

The group walked to the front. Every single human they walked past, employee and customer, stopped and stared at the floating boxes following the skeletons.

Shannon leaned across the service counter to scribble her name on a piece of paper. “We’re buying these, but we have some more looking around to do,” she explained with a smile. The employee took their ticket without a word and Shannon moved the group away, reclaiming Bill and Orange’s hands. “So what else, boys?”

The bed boxes were put down and they continued in. “still need mattresses and blankets,” Orange noted.

“CLOTHES TOO,” Sans added. “IT’S BEEN WAY TOO LONG SINCE YOUR HOODIE WAS WASHED.” Orange shrugged lazily.

"Okay, so back to the bedroom. And we'll stop by a clothing store on the way home, if you'd like," Shannon offered, leading the way back to the right section. "There's actually a mall in the center of town."

“sounds good to me,” Bill said lazily. The group tested a few mattresses, Orange letting go to flop face first into one while Sans yelled at him for being lazy.

She grinned at Orange's behavior and followed suit, hopping down on the bed beside him. How could she pass up the chance to test out a mattress? "Oh, this one's a good one. Gives just a little, firm support."

“SHANNON! DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM!” Sans scolded. Papyrus picked up Bill where he had somehow managed to fall asleep while standing.

"How else would you test the mattress, little blue dude?" she shot back, lifting her head just enough to grin up at him.

“THAT-IT-“ Sans spluttered a little. His cheeks tinted faintly blue. “THAT NICKNAME IS LONGER THAN MY ACTUAL NAME!” He finally got out.

Her grin turned into a softer, sweet smile upon seeing Sans' reaction. "Yes it is, but you do know I'm talking to you," Shannon hummed in amusement. "Would you prefer little blue?"

His blush increased further and Papyrus laughed softly. Orange grinned. “yeah little bro. that work?”

"Little Blue?" she sang playfully. "I'm waiting on an answer here, it's rude to make a lady wait."

“IT’S FINE!” Blue ducked down, really embarrassed now. The nickname was awfully sweet. Papyrus walked over with Bill under his arms. “SO THIS MATTRESS GOOD?” Orange lazily have a thumbs up.

Shannon laughed and let him be before the poor thing died of blue face. "Okay, then let's get it for you," she said to Orange, offering out a hand to coax him up from the mattress. "And get off it so we can bring it home."

“you can bring me with the mattress,” Orange suggested. “PA-ORANGE!” Blue scolded.

"Orange." Shannon paused and instead of prying him from the bed, used her previously offered hand to try and tickle him from the bed. Her fingers danced along where his rib cage would be.

Orange jolted and rolled off the mattress to escape the tickles, nyeh hehing quietly. Blue grinned happily and grabbed the mattress with his magic.

"There we go, one upright skeleton," she said proudly, grinning. "I'm getting pretty good at wrangling you boys, you know? Might have to make it a full time job. Now, off to blankets!"

“THAT SOUNDS GREAT!” Papyrus exclaimed. “THEN YOU COULD BE WITH US ALL THE TIME!” Blue raced off to deposit the mattresses with the bed frames before coming back and picking out blankets. Blue picked out a blanket covered with racing comets and planets while Orange picked out a blanket with a spiral on it.

Shannon paused. It was definitely something for him to take it so literally. "I-- I'd really love to, big guy, but I have a job and bills to pay," she laughed, feeling her face redden. The blankets weren't what she would have expected for the brothers, though to be fair, they weren't very close yet. "I like them. Good choices, Blue, Orange. You two all set on bed stuff?"

Papyrus sagged. “OH. BUT WE CAN HANG OUT AFTER RIGHT?”

"We sure can," she promised with a reassuring pat on Papyrus' arm. “seems so,” Orange agreed. Blue looked around. “WHERE’S BILL?”

"Oh, shoot, I let go of him for one second--". Shannon looked around and retraced their steps for a good few minutes before sighing and taking in a deep breath. "Papyrus, forgive me for what I'm about to do. Ahem-- WHAT'S THE MATTER, BILL?"

His voice came from a bin full of pillows. “everything...everything is matter.” Papyrus stared at the bin as if it had betrayed him, his children, and everything he believed in. “except energy, of course.”

She grinned and marched over towards the stack of pillows to peer inside. "There's my little meme buddy. Come on, Bill, let's go. Sooner we get done with chores, the sooner you can take a real nap."

“pretty comfy here.” Contrary to his words he pushed himself up. Maybe working so long on the machine hadn’t been his best idea. He just really didn’t want to wake up to find things reset. There was a reason he mostly napped instead of sleeping through the night. Blue and Orange carried their blankets to add to their cargo. “just clothes now, right?” Orange asked.

A hand stretched out to help him from the bin. "Yeah, yeah, we'll make something just as comfy when I take you home," she promised. "And... Let's see, I think so? I'm just the valet here, boys." Blue and Papyrus carefully went over everything. “PILLOWS!” Papyrus exclaimed. “right here bro.” Bill slipped the pillows onto the pile and Papyrus grinned. “NOW WE’RE GOOD!” Blue announced. They paid, took out their phones-and somehow got it all in them.

"And there we go, all set!" Shannon just watched as the group made their purchases and the items literally disappeared into their phones-- It was hard not to stare. "Wow, you guys... Were not kidding. Okay, good to know."

“DO YOU WANT YOUR PHONE UPDATED?” Papyrus asked kindly as the group headed back to the car. This time Orange stole shotgun.

She unlocked the car with a little beep and slid into the driver's seat. "Thanks, Paps, but I don't think human technology is even capable of an upgrade that advanced," Shannon laughed softly. "You ready to be my first mate, Orange?" “aye aye captain,” Orange teased. Papyrus looked rather shocked. “DO YOU NEED A NEW PHONE THEN?” Blue asked in concern. "What? Oh, probably, but I hate the new phones. They're too big for my little baby hands," Shannon laughed, tossing back the AUX cord while she started up the engine. "Plus they're expensive, Blue, don't worry about it."

“YOU SURE?” Papyrus asked. “IT SEEMS RATHER REMISS TO LET YOU GO WITHOUT SUCH BASIC TECHNOLOGY.”

The car started off in the right direction at least, and Shannon smiled into her rearview mirror. "Don't worry about it, Papyrus, like I said-- It's very expensive. I don't really have the need or the money right now."

Orange carefully gave directions as they drove, far more precise than Bill had. “ALRIGHT.” Blue put on This is War by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

She was ever grateful for Orange's competent dictation. Driving to unfamiliar areas was a nightmare. "Interesting choice, Blue," Shannon hummed curiously, "Didn't peg you for this kinda guy." “IT’S GREAT!” Blue enthused. “THE PASSION! THE RHYTHM!”

"I'll have to introduce you to EDM some time," she smiled.

“SOUNDS GOOD,” Blue said happily. Bill accepted the aux cord and put on Saskatchewan Pirates. Shannon's eyebrows raised at the music choice, but she said nothing-- Some of her music choices were garbage. High quality garbage.

“MY TURN! NYEH!” Papyrus happily seized the aux cord. Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake played out, Papyrus and Blue dancing to it. "Oh, good one!" Her hands slapped at the wheel to the beat, head bobbing back and forth in lieu of actual dancing while driving. Shannon sang along to every word and grinned over at her first mate while paused at a stop light.

For just driving to get clothes it was fun.

#fanfiction #fanfic #undertale #underswap #sans #papyrus #skelebros #reverseharem #reverse harem

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-happens-if-republicans-win-midterms/

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

Gop Lawmakers Threaten To Punish Democrats If They Win Back Control Of Congress

‘When we take the majority back in 2022, I’ll make sure consequences are doled out,’ said Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Republicans are outraged that Democrats are governing by majority rule in the House. In retaliation, they are vowing to do the same things they now decry as unprecedented and wrong.

“Never in the history of our country has a Speaker acted like such an authoritarian,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday.

He was upset that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had his request to appoint Republican Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. Both men voted to overturn the 2020 election results and pushed the lie that President Joe Biden only won because the election was stolen.

“Never in the history of Congress and the select committee I checked with the historian has this ever taken place, where the one party decides who’s all on the committee,” McCarthy told Fox News in a video he with his tweet. McCarthy in fact to give Republican then-Speaker John Boehner the exact same unilateral appointment power in 2014 for the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi.

But while House Republicans claim they are being mistreated because the majority won’t let them have their way, they are also promising to retaliate by turning the same actions they criticize now against Democrats in 2023.

TAGS

‘the Beast Is Growing’: Republicans Follow A Winning At All Costs Strategy Into The Midterms

Much remains uncertain about the midterm elections more than a year away including the congressional districts themselves, thanks to the delayed redistricting process. The Senate, meanwhile, looks like more of a toss-up.

House Democrats think voters will reward them for advancing President Joe Biden’s generally popular , which involves showering infrastructure money on virtually every district in the country and sending checks directly to millions of parents. And they think voters will punish Republicans for their rhetoric about the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 election.

“Democrats are delivering results, bringing back the economy, getting people back to work, passing the largest middle-class tax cut in history, while Republicans are engaged in frankly violent conspiracy theory rhetoric around lies in service of Donald Trump,” said Tim Persico, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

But the challenges Democrats face are real and numerous.

They knew they would face a tough 2022 immediately after 2020, when massive, unexpected GOP gains whittled the Democratic majority to just a handful of seats.

“House Republicans are in a great position to retake the majority,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, “but we are taking nothing for granted.”

His rural district had been trending Republican for years. Kind won re-election last year by just about 10,000 votes.

What If The Republicans Win Everything Again

Total victory for the G.O.P. would mean Trump unleashed.

Opinion Columnist

The end of Robert Muellers investigation. The loss of health insurance for several million people. New laws that make it harder to vote. More tax cuts for the rich. More damage to the environment. A Republican Party molded even more in the image of President Trump.

These are among the plausible consequences if the Republicans sweep the midterm elections and keep control of both the House and Senate. And dont fool yourself. That outcome, although not the most likely one, remains possible. The last couple of weeks of polling have shown how it could happen.

Voters who lean Republican including whites across the South could set aside their disappointment with Trump and vote for Republican congressional candidates. Voters who lean left including Latinos and younger adults could turn out in low numbers, as they usually do in midterm elections. The Republicans continuing efforts to suppress turnout could also swing a few close elections.

No matter what, Democrats will probably win the popular vote in the House elections, for the first time since 2012. Trump, after all, remains unpopular. But the combination of gerrymandering and the concentration of Democratic voters in major cities means that a popular-vote win wont automatically translate into a House majority.

I Do Not Buy That A Social Media Ban Hurts Trumps 2024 Aspirations: Nate Silver

All Videos

sarah: Yeah, Democrats might not have their worst Senate map in 2022, but it will by no means be easy, and how they fare will have a lot to do with the national environment. And as we touched on earlier, Bidens overall approval rating will also make a big difference in Democrats midterm chances.

nrakich: Yeah, if the national environment is even a bit Republican-leaning, that could be enough to allow solid Republican recruits to flip even Nevada and New Hampshire. And then it wouldnt even matter if Democrats win Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

One thing is for sure, though whichever party wins the Senate will have only a narrow majority, so I think were stuck in this era of moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski controlling every bills fate for at least a while longer.

sarah: Lets talk about big picture strategy, then, and where that leaves us moving forward. Its still early and far too easy to prescribe election narratives that arent grounded in anything, but one gambit the Republican Party seems to be making at this point is that attacking the Democratic Party for being too progressive or woke will help them win.

What do we make of that playbook headed into 2022? Likewise, as the party in charge, what are Democrats planning for?

With that being said, the GOPs strategies could still gin up turnout among its base, in particular, but its hard to separate that from general dissatisfaction with Biden.

The 2024 Presidential Election Will Be Close Even If Trump Is The Gop Nominee

One very important thing we should have all taken away from both the 2016 and 2020 presidential contests is that the two major parties are in virtual equipose . The ideological sorting-out of the two parties since the 1960s has in turn led to extreme partisan polarization, a decline in ticket-splitting and and in number of genuine swing voters. Among other things, this has led to an atmosphere where Republicans have paid little or no price for the extremism theyve disproportionately exhibited, or for the bad conduct of their leaders, most notably the 45th president.

Indeed, the polarized climate encourages outlandish and immoral base mobilization efforts of the sort Trump deployed so regularly. Some Republicans partisans shook their heads sadly and voted the straight GOP ticket anyway, And to the extent there were swing voters they tended strongly to believe that both parties were equally guilty of excessive partisanship, and/or that all politicians are worthless scum, so why not vote for the worthless scum under whom the economy hummed?

The bottom line is that anyone who assumes Republicans are in irreversible decline in presidential elections really hasnt been paying attention.

Republicans Set To Rebound Big In 2022 Midterms Unless

We are just 600 short days away from the 2022 midterm elections, which means it is the perfect time to handicap the Republicans chances to win back the House, Senate and prepare a serious challenge to President Biden

Patrick Joseph ToomeyBlack women look to build upon gains in coming electionsWatch live: GOP senators present new infrastructure proposalSasse rebuked by Nebraska Republican Party over impeachment vote already have Democrats scrambling to flip those seats in much easier electoral terrain.

As I noted in The Hill last month, Republicans are on the hook to defend 20 of their seats in 2022, while Team Blue has just 14 seats to hold, all in states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Since March is a perfect month for sports analogies, a good defense provides for a strong offense when the status quo is Democrats retaining control of the upper chamber. While there is clearly a power in incumbency, FiveThirtyEight suggests that senate vacancies are actually more of a mixed bag. In election cycles since 1974, the party with the most Senate retirements has actually gained seats just as often as it has lost them. For every year like 2008, when more Republicans than Democrats retired and Republicans lost seats accordingly, theres a year like 2012, when a whopping seven Democrats retired yet the party picked up two Senate seats.

How these various Rs play out in the next few months will determine if the Rs are successful in 2022.

Rising Violent Crime Is Likely To Present A Political Challenge For Democrats In 2022

But there are roadblocks to fully enacting Democrats’ agenda. Their thin majorities in both chambers of Congress mean nearly all Democrats have to get on board with every agenda item in order to push through major legislative priorities. And without adjusting or eliminating the legislative filibuster in the Senate, Democrats need 10 Republicans to join them for various legislation a near-impossible task.

Renewable Energy And Health Care Among The Sectors That Could Get Shakeup Due To Midterms

The 2022 midterm elections are already affecting Washington, and the results could shake up sectors such as renewable energy, health care and finance.

As Democrats in Washington work to deliver on infrastructure spending and other priorities, theyre trying to make progress in large part because of a key event thats still more than a year away.

That event is the midterm elections on Nov. 8, 2022, when Republicans will aim to take back control of the House and Senate and become a more powerful check on the priorities of President Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats.

What leaders are thinking about, particularly since we have unified party control, is that these midterm elections are inevitably a referendum on the governing party, said Sarah Binder, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a professor of political science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

In that sense, shrinking time coupled with What is it that Democrats want to run on? it adds pressure on Democrats to get their priorities through the door.

Time is growing short, Binder said, because party leaders often avoid making their members vote on tough issues in the same calendar year as an election, since that can hurt incumbents in tight races. Party leaders often think primarily about what they can get done in the first year of a Congress, as opposed to counting on the second year, she said.

Sectors that could win or lose

Year

Races worth watching

Can Democrats Avoid A Wipeout In 2022

Bidens plan: Go big or go home.

The good news for Democrats who watched Joe Biden unveil a historically ambitious agenda last night is that newly elected presidents have almost always passed some version of their core economic planparticularly when their party controls both congressional chambers, as Bidens does now.

The bad news: Voters have almost always punished the presidents party in the next midterm election anyway. The last two times Democrats had unified controlwith Bill Clinton in 199394 and Barack Obama in 200910they endured especially resounding repudiations in the midterms, which cost Clinton his majority in both chambers and Obama the loss of the House.

Theres a very different strategy this time, David Price, a Democratic representative from North Carolina and a former political scientist, told me. Theres an openness now to the sense that a bolder plan, ironically, might have greater appeal for independents and others we need to attract than trying to trim and split the difference with Republicans.

Read: The GOP cheat code to winning back the House

There is this recognition of this moment and how fleeting it is, and an evaluation that, absent the trifecta of control, it is very hard to move big policy, said a senior official at one of the partys leading outside advocacy groups, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategizing. So you have to take your shot. I think thats part of what undergirds Go big.

What If Republicans Win The Midterms

March 3, 2018

WASHINGTON A sizable portion of the American population has been convulsing with outrage at President Trump for more than a year. Millions of people who previously took only mild interest in politics have participated in protests, fumed as they stayed riveted to news out of Washington and filled social media accounts once devoted to family updates and funny videos with furious political commentary.

Yet public life on the whole has remained surprisingly calm. A significant factor in keeping the peace has surely been anticipatory catharsis: The widespread expectations of a big Democratic wave in the coming midterm elections are containing and channeling that indignation, helping to maintain order.

What will happen if no such wave materializes and that pressure-relief valve jams shut?

The country was already badly polarized before the plot twist of election night in 2016, of course, but since then liberals and much of what remains of Americas moderate center have been seething in a way that dwarfs the usual disgruntlement of whichever faction is out of power. While nobody can know for sure whether Mr. Trump would have lost but for Russias meddling, many of his critics clearly choose to believe he is in the White House because Vladimir Putin tricked the United States into making him its leader.

This November, if the wave turns out to be a mere trickle, we could see the accomplishment of that goal take hold.

Poll: Republicans Set To Win House Back In Massive Landslide

Republicans are set to win back the House in a historic landslide in 2022, according to a poll conducted by NBC News.

Based on all factors, youd have to consider Republicans the early favorites for the House majority in 2022, poll tracker David Wasserman NBC.

Democrats best hope is that Bidens approval rating stays above 50 percent and that Republicans have a tougher time turning out their voters without Trump on the ballot.

reports: The NBC report cites the all-too-predictable trend of the presidents party losing House seats in midterm elections, Democrats choosing not to run for reelection in some cases, and Republicans reaping the benefits of increased online donations, which are now on par with those of Democrats.

It is early, too early, to guarantee the Democrats loss of their slim 220-212 House majority. Voters wont hit the polls for almost 15 months, and things often have a way of changing on a dime in the world of politics. But the early signs certainly arent encouraging for the Democrats, especially as President Joe Bidens approval rating has taken a hit in recent weeks. American voters are being bombarded with images of a completely bungled withdrawal of Afghanistan and headlines about increased COVID hospitalizations and deaths. Inflation is also becoming a growing concern each month, contrary to the hopes of the Federal Reserve, and the crisis at the southern border shows no signs of abating.

Colwell: Republicans Are Likely To Win Control Of The House Next Year But

Three reasons why Republicans are very likely to take control of the House next year involve things over which Democrats have little or no control.

There is, however, one reason why Democrats might be able somehow to hang on to their slim majority. And they do have better prospects of at least holding on to the 50-50 Senate tie.

Reasons for Republicans winning control of the House:

FIRST: History is on their side. The party out of the White House almost always makes big gains in the first midterm election in a new presidency. In those midterm elections since the end of World War II, the average loss for the presidents party has been 29 seats. Democrats lost 63 seats in the 2010 midterm after election of President Barack Obama. Republicans lost 40 seats in the 2018 midterm after election of Donald Trump.

Because Democrats already lost seats in 2020, even as Joe Biden won the presidency, Republicans need only a net of five seats to win the majority. Democrats cant go back to 2020 to win more seats.

Factors in midterm losses for the presidents party include voters wanting a check on the president and disillusionment over any presidents inability to bring about everything voters hoped for.

SECOND: Redistricting after the census will result in many more safe Republican seats. Thats because Republicans control state legislatures in far more states than do Democrats. Both parties gerrymander. But it is the GOP controlling district drawing in many more states.

Site Map

Republicans In Decent Shape To Win House Majority In 2022

Washington Examiner

It is never preferable to be in the minority party in a legislative body. But as far as minorities go, House Republicans are in a pretty good spot.

Between the trend of midterm elections usually the party that is not in the White House, a closely divided House, and a party apparatus ready to continue their expectations-exceeding 2020 strategy while Democrats rework theirs, Republicans are on track to winning back the House in 2022.

“It has the makings of what could be a good year for the Republicans when it comes to the House,” said J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

President Bidens approval rating is around 53%, and while he is not underwater, history indicates he would need to bump that rating up by at least 10 points in order to have a shot at gaining seats. Gallup analysis found that even presidents with approval ratings of 50% during the midterm elections averaged a loss of about 14 House seats from their own party.

That would be enough to bump Republicans back into the majority. Democrats have the slimmest House majority since 1930, currently 221 seats to 210 GOP seats .

Republicans in the 2020 cycle shattered the expectations of analysts who forecasted Democrats to gain House seats in 2020. Not a single Republican incumbent lost the election, and they picked off 13 incumbent Democrats.

But it is not all smooth sailing for Republicans.

Why We Arent Going To Panic

We should all have our eyes wide open as we inch closer to the 2022 Midterms, but by no means should we give up hope. There are plenty of reasons why we can win the midterms.

For starters, Democrats appear to be quite awake to how dangerous the Republican party has become in just the past few years. And since the Republicans dont appear to be any less radicalized with Trump out of the party, I dont think Democrats are going to go back to sleep.

At this point in the election cycle, we dont have a full picture of who is retiring from Congress or who the candidates will be for these seats. Getting great candidates for crucial, must-win seats can energize voters and donors.

Presidential approval seems to have an important effect on midterms and at this point, Bidens approval rating is 15 points higher than his disapproval. If he continues to do good things for Americans and keep his approval rating high, that will help the Democrats a lot.

So, lets approach this midterm as clearly as possible: Our democracy is still on the line, and as awful as the Republicans are, they are in striking position to win back some power in Congress. Each of us needs to do everything we can to ensure that does not happen. If you arent already, consider subscribing to Political Charge as Ill be delving into specific actions we can take every month!

If you want to win the midterms, please share this post with others who want to win, too!

Republicans Will Likely Take Control Of The Senate By 2024

The usual midterm House losses by the White House party dont always extend to the Senate because only a third of that chamber is up for election every two years and the landscape sometimes strongly favors the presidential party . But there a still generally an out-party wave that can matter, which is why Republicans may have a better than average chance of winning in at least some of the many battleground states that will hold Senate elections next year . If they win four of the six youll probably be looking at a Republican Senate.

But its the 2024 Senate landscape that looks really promising for the GOP. Democrats will be defending 23 seats and Republicans just 10. Three Democratic seats, and all the Republican seats, are in states Trump carried twice. Four other Democratic seats are in states Trump won once. It should be a banner year for Senate Republicans.

Balance Of Power: 2022 Senate Races

If Democrats want to win the again, they need to win the four competitive seats they currently hold Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. That or augment any loss with a gain in any of their three competitive targets Pennsylvania, , or North Carolina.

This Senate preview still holds up, but the shorter version is Democrats are easily favored in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. They should also win New Hampshire if Chris Sununu doesnt run .

The thing is, theyre also favored to win in Pennsylvania, where they have a strong field of primary candidates and where Joe Biden won.

They have to be no worse than, and admittedly probably better than, a tossup in Wisconsin, where Republicans have candidate issues and Democrats have a strong likely nominee.

So even if New Hampshire goes Republican because of some local candidate factors, Democrats are in a good spot to win the Senate again.

That means if youre trying to make a bet, you can essentially box out two of four combinations where the GOP wins the Senate, and focus your attention on the two remaining options, if youre looking for the values.

The 1858 Midterm Election

November 2, 1858

There is always a lull after a tempest, and so the political world has subsided into an unwonted calm since the election, commented a reporter for The New York Times. The Republicans are naturally . . . exultant over their sweeping victories. Such a commentary might apply to any number of elections, but this reporter described the outcome of a particularly historic electionthe midterm election of 1858. The Republican success that year was especially remarkable because the Republican Party was only four years old.

Almost by spontaneous combustion, the Republican Party burst forth in 1854 in response to the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act. For decades, Americas political battles had been fought between the Democrats and the Whigs. By the early 1850s, however, the issue of slavery had splintered the Whigs into warring factions and divided Democrats between north and south. When Democratic senator Stephen Douglas pushed his Kansas-Nebraska bill to passage, including its proposal to settle the issue of slavery by popular sovereignty, the uproar among northern abolitionists and anti-slavery activists was too fierce to be contained by the ailing Whig Party. As one person commented, The Whigs were simply not angry enough.

The Future Could Actually Be Bright For Republicans

Ed Kilgore

The most common political narrative outside MAGA-land is that the Republican Party is screwed, and richly deserves the ignominious future it faces.

Until recently the GOP was a reasonably normal and intermittently successful center-right political party, not wildly different from its counterparts in other countries with a two-party system, despite some racist and militarist habits that burst into view in times of stress. But then America elected a Black president, and Republicans went a little crazy, according to those outside their circles. First they abetted a destructively antediluvian Tea Party Movement and then lurched into the arms of an evil charlatan who somehow got elected president and spent four years trashing hallowed conservative principles and losing both Congress and the White House before his disgraceful and violence-inflected departure.

Worse yet, in the face of huge demographic challenges that beg for a new approach, the Republican Party has now lashed itself to a Trumpian mast going forward, following the most consistently unpopular president in American history in his bizarre crusade to deny he has ever lost anything. Meanwhile a shockingly united Democratic Party is whipping a few decades worth of liberal legislation through Congress as Republicans whine about cancel culture and try to sell the idea that Joe Biden is actually Che Guevara.

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angstandhappiness · 3 years ago

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Interesting

@howtoeatworms If celestial spirit magic is so rare and hard to come by, then why do magical shops sell silver keys like they are an everyday item? Back in chapter 1 Lucy picks up Plue's key and the shop owner makes no attempt to say she can't have it or hides it away. It's just assumed that, although not being very numerous, a lot of people have silver keys. And speaking about the silver keys, there like hundreds of thousands of Plus spirits running around the spirit world, and if each one has a key then we should be seeing them everywhere. It doesn't even have to be a new character. Mashima could have just had people in the background with a Plue spirit by their side.

@rueririn @howtoeatworms YES oh my god. The rarity of gold keys doesn't even feel valid because not only does Lucy get so many, it's not like we ever see another Lyra or Horologium anyways, so they may as well be one-of-a-kind as well and nothing would ever change in the story as we got it. I definitely want to see background characters hugging a weird Plue. It's a popular pet spirit according to literally just exposition. There so much 'show don't tell' writing problems in FT :(

@howtoeatworms @rueririn the only other time we see someone other than Lucy hugging a Plue was a girl in the filler arc 'key of the starry heavens.' And hell your telling me that in the 100 years Fairy Tail existed, no one ever brought a sliver key, or got one as a reward from a job? It feels like celestial spirit magic being extremely rare was retconned around the grand magic games arc

@ashvdosentknow @howtoeatworms @rueririn omg yesbyes yes to both of you!!! I think there could have been so many ways to fix this like at least make silver keys super not rare, or great another key tier so one of them other than gold can be common to add some backing to the whole idea celestial gold keys are rare. I also wish we knew more about the history!!!! like c’mon these immorality god like entities being bound to keys and no are bound to humans and have theyre own celestial laws involving servitude, how the literally fuck did THAT happen???? and lost celestial magic??? like uneo metrios cintos or whatever??? what’s up with that,??

is there anything you ever wish we learned more about celestial magic? or at least anyway you’d want to change it considering how it work now, because it had so much potential but as you’ve stated it now basically works as celestial spirt take over (which honestly if take literally could be even cooler like lucy and her sprits merging sure as hell is a concept)

Oh dear here I go. I love this topic.

I definitely wish we learned more about the spirits themselves, their powers, and their dynamics between each other and people around them.

We explored this in the Angel fight, but that's really the most we ever get. I liked when we sawCapricorn's loyalty in Tenrou (and how Loke knew it), but again, we just never get anything like it ever again. I was looking forward to Libra the whole show (because it's my sign) and she ended up being a plot device to show off how cool Kagura is.

I genuinely believe that spirits should never be undermined in their own main magic, because they're just pointless then. At least make them equal like Juvia vs Aquarius, geez. Horologium is one of the most useful spirits Lucy has, and he's irreplaceable, unlike her fighting spirits. No other spirit can do ultimate defense like him, (eg Loke can be interchanged with Virgo or Taurus, because if you just want raw power, they can all do it similarly).

This ramble got really long so here's a read more.

Keep reading

#fairy tail #csm somehow became more rare than dsm #it gets even worse when you think about the 400 year plan and how the heartfilia family was incapable of keeping the 12 keys #and how time works differently in the csw #what person would subject themselves to that much labor with so little breaks lol #readmore #writing ideas #ideas #readmore +

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imaginedilestrade · 7 years ago

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An English Blizzard- Part 1

Warnings: Swearing (what's new) Shameless flirting. A/N: Okay so this is the first part of my 'Thank you Fic' 😁 the reader (you) in this is 25 years old anywhooo I hope you all enjoy and I'll post the second part in a few hours then the third part after that. I'll post the other chapters tomorrow! Enjoy! —————————— Chapter 1 —————— "Will someone get the fucking door already?!" You screamed out from the couch. You let out a sigh hearing no movement in the apartment. You assumed everyone was out. You let out a huff of air and tugged down on the hem of your nightdress that your dad had gotten you last Christmas as a joke. It was surprisingly comfortable, even if it had the joke 'Come to the math side...we have pi' on it with little mathematical symbols floating around as if they were stars. Your feet hit against the cold surface of the wooden flooring making slight thudding noises "I swear to god if this is Sherlock forgetting his keys again!" You muttered to yourself. All you wanted was a nice relaxing day on the couch but the person on the other side of the door clearly had other ideas for you. "What?" You snapped slightly but were surprised "Uh can I help you?" You saw an unfamiliar silver haired man at the other side of your threshold. "Erm hello! Sorry to disturb you but," he held out a notebook "Mary left this in class today and I was told she lived here." He handed it over to you "Oh thank you for bringing it, I'll see she gets it." "Not a problem..." he trailed off, a silent indication he was asking for your name. "Y/N," you held out your hand with a smile. "Greg or more commonly known as Professor Lestrade." He sent you a small wink and you suddenly felt yourself using your hand to pull down on your nightdress more, as if that would help stop the blush that was beginning to creep up in your face. "Oh!" A sudden wave of realisation hit you "You teach law don't you?" Greg bashfully nodded with a smile. "That's handy to know," you leaned against the doorframe with crossed arms "If I'm ever in trouble I'll go to either you or Mary to get me off the hook!" You giggled. Greg playfully narrowed his eyes and stepped forward ever so slightly "You're not a bad girl...are you?" You forgot oxygen existed for a moment as your lungs failed from the slight purr in his playful tone. "I should be off," he announced, dragging you back into the real world "Nice to meet you Y/N." "Y-you too Greg," you managed to stutter out your words "I'm sure I'll see you again, Mary would forget her head if it wasn't screwed on!" You laughed to ease your nerves. "Well, I'm hoping she forgets something very soon." He left you by your doorframe. You were on the verge of melting into a puddle. You shut the door over slowly and pressed your back to the door, letting out the air that had been trapped in your lungs. You weren't entirely sure how long you had been holding it in. The door knocked again and you jumped feeling the vibrations on your back. You couldn't help but smile as you opened the door assuming it would be Greg...it wasn't. "I forgot my keys again." "I swear to god Sherlock! I'm going to tie those things to you!" You tossed him his keys "See you later." You returned to the couch and let out a sigh, you couldn't focus on your film. It was background noise as feelings whirled around inside you. New feelings. Feelings you hadn't felt before, well not as strong as this. Your mind had turned into mush in a matter of minutes over Greg. You knew you shouldn't be feeling like this, he was a professor at your university for crying out loud! You shook your head in attempts to shake away the feelings. You turned up your TV "Okay Tom Hiddleston, distract me from that gorgeous man who just came to my door...and I'm not talking about Sherlock!" --- "She's out for the count." "I wonder how long she's been sleeping." "She ate that entire tub of ice cream! Y/N ate a whole pint of ice cream!" "Bet it only took her ten minutes." "I'm saying twenty." "Fancy making a bet then, John?" "You're on, Sherlock." "You win then Sherlock." Everyone screamed hearing your voice. You opened your eyes to your four roommates "Ten whole minutes and just because my eyes are shut doesn't mean I can't hear you." You sat up and Molly sat down next to you "I take it you had a very relaxing day then?" She asked eyeing up the table laced with empty packets and tubs of junk food. "Ohh I really did," you contently sighed "Except I was disturbed when your professor popped round Mary. You forgot your notebook." You stood up and grabbed the book, handing it to a relieved looking Mary. "Thank god! I was looking for this everywhere! It's got all my research notes in it for my dissertation. Thanks Y/N." The blonde woman smiled. You held your hands up "Don't thank me thank Greg." "Ohh first name basis now are we?" Sherlock murmured as he texted. You rolled your eyes at his remark "I literally only met him today, had no idea who he was until he told me." "I'll make sure to thank him on Monday then!" Mary skipped off to the she shared bedroom with John, the trainee doctor hot on her heels. --- "I hate your dad!" Sherlock grumbled into a maths textbook "And I'm sure he hates me." "No he doesn't, if he really hated you he wouldn't let you stay here." You smiled and ruffled Sherlock's hair which he quickly fixed. You were fortunate enough to have a father that was high up in the university. He got the flat you're staying in near the campus at a discounted rate, one big enough for you and your friends to live in. Your dad was an incredible and a highly renowned mathematician, he taught it at the university. "Whatever you say Miss Moriarty but I don't quite believe you." "Believe what you want Mr Holmes..." you drawled out his name. "Speak of the devil," you sighed and saw a text from your dad "Ughhhh he wants me over for dinner next week." "Well it's not that difficult to get to his is it? He lives down the road and you see him almost every day on campus." Sherlock spoke while continuing on with his coursework. You rolled your eyes and accepted his invite. Your dad did live a few streets down with his now husband, Sebastian. You loved Sebastian as a step-father and you loved how happy he made your father. Your mother had separated from Jim a few years after you were born and soon after your dad found Sebastian. Your mother had moved on with someone new too but as long as they were both happy was the main thing for you. A knock at the door disturbed you from your thoughts and you went to answer it. "G-Greg! Hi!" You smiled and glanced behind your shoulder, Sherlock was narrowing his eyes in curiosity "Did Mary forget something?" "Uh no," he gulped. You furrowed your brow and walked out of the flat, shutting the door behind you for a little more privacy in the cove between the main hallway of the apartment building and your flat "I actually forgot something." You raised a brow in confusion "You did?" Greg reached for something in his pocket "Erm yeah, I f-forgot to give you this," he handed over a card with his name and work number on it "My mobile number is on the back, incase yanno you want to grab a coffee or something sometime?" He suggested. You took the card off him, biting your lip as you did and curtly nodding "T-thanks." He left with a shy smile on his face. You eventually got your legs to move and they took you back into the apartment and then your room. Sherlock didn't even notice you come in, his head was buried in a book. You tossed yourself on the bed and pulled out the card and your phone, staring at both items. They were taunting you. You put his number in and placed your phone down again, only to pick it up seconds later. 'Its Y/N, are you free tomorrow for a coffee? X' you mentally debated wether to put the kiss or not but decided to put it at the end of your text anyway. He text you back fairly quickly. Quicker than you would have expected 'I'll meet you at Lion coffee at 11. See you then. X' ——————— Tags: (Let me know if you'd like to be tagged/Untagged) @adorablebadger @damnitman-jamlocked-inthetardis @daynaan @rikkachloechan @holmes-maev @cutie1365 @wcsteland @theyre-my-divsion @gotham-s-lover @littlepostitnotes @chrissydarlingwrites @laterthantherabbit @annkli

#imaginedilestrade #an English blizzard #greg lestrade #greg lestrade x reader #lestrade #lestrade x reader #professor!au #professor lestrade #bbc sherlock #bbc sherlock imagines #bbc Sherlock imagine #Sherlock #Sherlock Holmes #mary morstan #molly hooper #john watson #jim moriarty #sebastian moran

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maliciousunicorn · 8 years ago

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hi i dont know why but i love being annoying so if you wanna see me expand on my tag rant from earlier and talk about fat characters please click under the cut. skinny or even average weight writers take a look, it aint personal but please,

[also im going to be using the word ‘fat’ quite liberally, a word i dont love but its easiest to apply. in this post its referring to all body types that are heavier (have more room for love ❤︎ ) than average]

holy fuck im gonna make this a Big Deal because i just downed a whole mug of coffee in about two minutes so heres some things that need to be destroyed

fat characters being the Doofy Sidekick to the Competent Hero

fat characters helping the main character by accident 99% of the time

fat char is friends with skinny/avg char, and both are ‘uncool’ but the skinny one is the kind of ‘uncool’ that wears beanies and is actually fashionable/smart, while the fat one is our definition of uncool with ugly clothes, rude demeanor, and the whole relationship just looks like its the ‘cool’ uncool(skinny) taking pity on the fat one

Big hulking powerhouse

fat characters being good at cooking/good with food*(more on this, there are exceptions)

fat characters being one-dimensional comedic relief with like four minutes of feelings sprinkled across three episodes to make it seem like the writers actually cared

y’all know i’ll add more if i think of it but lets just start because i have literally nothing better to do with my time

fat characters being the Doofy Sidekick to the Competent Hero

holy fuck....hoooooollyy fuck!! this whole??? thing!! where fat characters are the dumb sidekick needs to STOP!!! i mean, you’ll never see a main character thats not either skinny or buff anyway(usually, female and male, respectively) ((also steven universe is the exception to pretty much this entire post because they do multiple fat characters well, with diverse personalities and interests. crazy.)) and they usually just slap a sidekick on for a supporting role, comic relief and The Obligatory Weight Representation all in one for simplicity but. thats can stop any day now. constantly the Main goes off on some big quest to a magic world where the Sidekick can’t follow, and more than often they are, to use a particularly relevant phrase, ‘fat and happy’ and rarely question it. if they do, its a one-episode arc.

i mean i understand if theres only supposed to be one main character, but at least present it that way. dont kind of tease at a partnership if you arent going to develop the partner, fuckass. dont have fights and then make-ups where they bump fists and go “partners???(/equals/bros/team,etc)” “yeah, partners! :) (etc etc etc)”

its worth noting that this dynamic is mostly in male&male friendships because a girl who isnt pixie thin, heaven forbid, and a girl who has one best friend but not, also, a group of 2-4 other, less close but still “besties!!!” friends, ever comes to exist.

and then, in the same lines, we have

fat characters helping the main character by accident 99% of the time

where, whoops, and a ha-ha, the Fat Sidekick drops their Food Item!! and, haha, oh look, ew, haha GROSS !! theyre still gonna try to get it back!! but? whats this, by accidentally throwing/grabbing at the Food Item, they defeat the Villain of The Hour and save the day!!!!! ahhah what wacky hijinks!

yeah, im sure you’ve seen it, or minor variations of. and can i just say? fuck this trope with a red-hot iron poker. seriously. its disgusting. theres other ways the Fat Sidekick Accidentally Helps, but its mostly by knocking something over, or sleeping. so, moving on,

fat char is friends with skinny/avg char, and both are ‘uncool’ but the skinny one is the kind of ‘uncool’ that wears beanies and is actually fashionable/smart, while the fat one is our definition of uncool with ugly clothes, questionable social skills, and the whole relationship just looks like its the ‘cool’ uncool(skinny) taking pity on the 'uncool’ uncool (fat) one

i pretty much wrote all of this in the title. don’t do it.

Big hulking powerhouse

fat people can be nimble, fluid, and elegant. thank you. goodnight. *drops mic*

*runs back to pick up mic* on a side note, skinny people can be clumsy but stop the trope where the clumsiness is cute and only lands them in the arms of their crush. clumsiness knocks shit over. clumsiness can cause damage and hurt feelings resulting from honest mistakes *sets mic gently down on the floor this time*

fat characters being good at cooking/good with food*(more on this, there are exceptions)

obviously, cooking/food talent is an applicable trait that can come from their background. say a parent was a chef, or they grew up having to cook for themselves. if you give reason and background as to why they talented in this area (which, frankly, you should do with every quality), it can be fine! but when your Fat Character (i mean, if you;re writing the trope im discussing rn, im assuming you’re dull enough to only have one chubby/fat character) is just, good with food. when your fat character is just, a good cook. when your fat character is just, able to tell ingredients by smelling something, FOR NO REASON, then you need to back up and fucking stop.

we may eat more than average but that doesnt mean it comes from just, wanting to eat. for me personally i eat when im stressed, bored, or sad, which i am almost always one of. its different with everyone though. many lorge people wont mind if you message them asking for advice on why they eat the way they do. some will. please just be sensitive.

fat characters being one-dimensional comedic relief with like four minutes of feelings sprinkled across three episodes to make it seem like the writers actually cared

this is. probably the worst. i see it most in younger audience targeted shows, granted, but the fact remains that when some character needs to make a crude remark for the sake of the plot, 90% of the time or more its the fat one.

and to the second part of this trope, fat characters are overused so much for dumb jokes they get abused to the point of disuse, to which the show/book writers respond with a single episode/scene/whatever where they show Real Depth™️ (usually over the loss of a burrito or some fuckery, but its connected to dead relative or some shit so they can be emotional without losing that Important Quality Where Food Is King), which is the equivalent of the writers picking up a dropped piece of steak that the dog licked, rinsing it off in the sink, and putting it back on your plate with a smile and a “here, kiddo. ready to eat again.” but if you were paying even a smidgen on attention you can see all the hair and dust still on it. and it looks thoroughly unappetizing. as it should.

here are some fun tips!!!!!!!

---fat people can have interests in athletics. like. jesus christ. i know this might blow some of your minds, but fat people can enjoy sports. and, even crazier, you dont absolutely have to make a joke about their being out of shape every time they take a step

try this: FUCKING SUBTLETY. if your characters go to a high school, maybe the fat character(s) and their friends all walk together when they technically should be running laps, and you dont make it look like an act of pity. (I.e., instead of ‘oh, F.C., want me to slow down and walk with you? :)’ try ‘oh man, F.C., running sucks and i dont wanna. may i walk with you?’)

---fat people can obviously also have sedentary interests. sewing, drawing, math, board games, i can go on. they can have all the interests all people have in real life

---fat characters dont always have to be motherly, give big soft warm flab hugs (though those are nice) and be protective. fat characters can be upfront, a bit mean, but still a good person/liked.

---fat people can be wanted!!! a character can have a crush on a fat person and have it not just be a comedy joke thing!! crazy i know!!!!! fat people can be involved in real romance where the arc doesn’t center around how great the skinny one is for loving them *despite* their body!!!!!!!! i fucking hate when it implies a fat character is loved *despite* their body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---ideally, their eating habits can be subtlely portrayed as part of their character. maybe they have a little more for lunch, or take two dessert. maybe in the background of their room theres a few extra food wrappers than their friends. (note these are things i, personally would support). If you’re feeling nervous about it, its better to not write any ‘signs’ of it than overdo it, but 99% of the time the key is it existing, but no one comments on it in the story,

---seriously, stop making every kind interaction about FC’s weight from a skinny character an act of pity. i think this is one i react especially strongly too because of my personality, but its important overall.

here are some horrible Fat™️, in the generalization of the term, characters that I think are portrayed disgustingly overall, maybe there’s a scene or two exception, but mostly. these fuckin suck.

Howard (Randy Cunningham, 9th Grade Ninja) <this show is pretty garbage overall tho so

Toby (Trollhunters)<this show is actually worth a watch, if you can stomach his portrayal at certain times

here are some lovely Fat™️, in the generalization of the term, characters that I think are portrayed pretty darn well to end this post on a good note

Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)

Hunk (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

Steven (Steven Universe)

<<yeah there’s not a lot to go on for either side because fat characters that are actually relevant to the story are a rare find indeed>>

TL; DR!!!! FAT PEOPLE CAN BE LITERALLY ANYTHING!!! THEIR BODY TYPE IN NO WAY RESTRICTS THEIR INTERESTS, TALENTS, OR CHARACTER TRAITS

#this is a writing thing i guess if skinny ppl need the reference but i mostly wrote it because im bitter #god this is so fucking edgy #i just wanted to be Informative #and then 5 months later im gonna see this in my archives and think 'damn i rlly thought this would help ppl at the time lmfaooo'

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themoneybuff-blog · 6 years ago

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Questions About Weddings, Roth IRAs, Shoes, Blankets, and More!

Whats inside? Here are the questions answered in todays reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Thoughts on caring for parents 2. Wedding question, part one 3. Wedding question, part two 4. Starbucks Visa 5. Books on home buying 6. Frugal running shoes 7. Roth IRA contribution question 8. Roth IRA or bigger e-fund? 9. Unwanted Christmas toys 10. Marketing crocheted baby blankets 11. Where do I get advice? 12. Further areas of philosophy Here in Iowa, it felt like winter did not begin until about January 12th or so, but when it did, it hit with a vengeance, with many inches of snow and a forecast for the coming week that has wind chills at our home approaching -50F. When the weather gets that cold, it interferes with all kinds of things. You simply avoid going outside if at all possible, which means that As I write this, Im bundled up in multiple layers of clothing with a cup of hot tea on my desk. I feel quite good after getting up quite early to shovel snow. I dont bother running the snowblower unless we have several inches, as shoveling our drive of a few inches of snow is good exercise. On with the questions. Q1: Thoughts on caring for parents My wife and I are in our forties. We have two adult children that are moved out and on their own. Her parents are both in their late seventies; my parents have been deceased since I was 20. Her parents are ailing. Theyre not in a situation where they need to be in a retirement home, but household tasks wear them out. They live about an hour away and we visit them two or three times a week to help out, as do my wifes siblings. We have been talking about the possibility of having her parents move in with us to make things easier on all involved. We are actually set up very well with this, as we have a large main floor bedroom that could be used by them and a main floor bathroom with a shower that could be modified a bit to make it easy for them to use. Our main worry is that the other siblings will simply stop helping or visiting in any way and just assume were taking care of it. They really like the regular visits from their children and grandchildren and we worry that will all dry up if they move in with us. Our secondary worry is financial as it will add some household expenses. What are your thoughts on this? Shaun In general, if everyone is on board with this, I think multigenerational living is a great approach for everyone involved. The key to making it work is communication people cant hold back on their feelings or else you will turn every little molehill into a mountain. You have to listen to each other and genuinely try to be supportive of one another to the best of your ability. If you can do that, itll work well. As for your specific concerns, with your primary worry, one way to handle this is to just simply have regular family dinners at your house. Make it a routine to have people over for dinner a couple of times a week. I dont know whether your home can support this, but it sounds like it can. Doing this gives people a reason to visit and see your in-laws rather than just stopping by. Its usually easier to go visit a parent or a grandparent if you have a reason to do so; if its just stopping by, its easy to skip it. If theres a meal involved, it feels more like a reason to visit. So, if the move happens, just institute some regular meals. Maybe have a regular Sunday evening potluck or something like that, and maybe start inviting a few people over on weeknights on a regular basis. For the extra meal effort, dont hesitate to ask people to come early to help prep if needed or to bring a side dish in fact, thats a good idea, because it invests them in the meal and makes the visit feel more purposeful. As for the financial concern, talk that over with your in-laws. They will probably want to feel some ownership over the situation anyway. You can simply ask them to pay the energy bill and the internet bill or something like that, something that will partially replace their utility costs at their old place and possibly cut your overall bills, too. They can contribute to buying food, too. This can end up being a money saver for you, actually. The key with any situation like this is open communication and candor. Everything wont go perfectly and youll all do things that drive the other one crazy. Just be open about it and dont let it grow into hurt feelings. Understand that everyone loves each other and you all want to make this work. Q2: Wedding question, part one I have two wedding-related questions for the Reader Mailbag. One of my best friends is getting married, and has asked me to be a bridesmaid. We are in our mid-to-late 20s. She and her fiance make good incomes and come from fairly well-off families. My friend and I have pretty different approaches to our finances as she really enjoys going out, eating out, shopping, etc. Meanwhile, Im currently in grad school. My friends wedding will be at a swanky venue in one of the most expensive cities in the U.S. (Note: its not a destination wedding, but I dont live there.) I expect everything about the wedding to be top-of-line. My friend wants all of her bridesmaids to purchase bridesmaids dresses together as a group from the same store, by the same deadline. The store stylist said that this guarantees that all of the dresses will come from the same dye lot. The dress that my friend chose for everyone to wear is $300. Its not that I dont have the money for this, but thats a lot of money! I found that same dress, used, in my size online. The used dress is significantly less money than the dresss retail price. I dont feel that dye lot matters much, but some online wedding forums warn against bridesmaids purchasing dresses piecemeal to avoid inconsistencies that may show up in the wedding photos. I would feel awkward asking my friend if I can order the dress on my own rather than as part of the group, because I feel like Id be ruining her expensive photos. Again, its not that I absolutely cant afford it, but it just seems so wasteful to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress when I can find it for so much less. Is this a time when I just need to suck it up and participate in the group order for the sake of maintaining social normalcy? I already feel bad because Im skipping the bachelorette party which is across the country, so I feel like Im the odd one out. Tammy If I were in your shoes, I would sit down and talk to your friend about the situation. Simply ask if it is okay for the bridesmaids to buy the dress on their own. If she asks why, simply explain the reason youre a graduate student, $300 is a lot of money, and you found the same dress in the same color for much less. The thing to remember is that if this causes a real issue, then there are issues in the friendship to begin with. A good friend appreciates the situation that their friend finds themselves in and works to find a way around it. A wedding is not made or broken on the dress worn by a bridesmaid. Just have a conversation. The vast majority of the time, this will be a non-issue. If it is an issue, its a valuable indication of the status of the friendship. Q3: Wedding question, part two Second, how much would you recommend spending for the wedding gift? I was thinking of something from the registry thats $100, but a lot of wedding etiquette sites say that if its a really good friend, you should be spending closer to $175. I dont want to seem cheap or send the message that I dont value her as a really good friend, especially when this is going to be a really nice/luxurious occasion. But theres also a shower gift to account for Tammy You should completely ignore wedding etiquette sites when they give an exact dollar amount for a gift, especially one as weirdly precise as $175. Thats just weird, bad advice. Give a thoughtful gift you can afford. Pick something from the registry that you can afford and then also write a nice handwritten note to go along with the gift expressing your best wishes for the couple in your own words with your best penmanship. Anyone who looks negatively upon a gift given to them is a person lacking in character. Gifts should always be given freely based upon what the giver can easily afford. Q4: Starbucks Visa As a Starbucks lover, is the Starbucks Visa worth it? How does it compare to popular cards like the Chase Freedom? Lana Well, lets walk through the hypothetical example given in their sales pitch. In that example, youre spending $525 a month for a year, $25 at Starbucks and $500 elsewhere, so that adds up to $6,300. Lets say you use the card for two years, so the total is $12,600. This earns you 64 rewards in the first year and 28 rewards the second year, totaling 92 rewards. A reward is a drink or food item at Starbucks and appears to be at least somewhat Starbucks choice. Lets assume these are worth an average of $4 each, so your total rewards are $368 in value. To get that reward, you also have to pay $100 in annual fees on the card. So, youre getting $268 in value, all in the form of Starbucks items that you largely cant select yourself. Thats a little over 2% in rewards in the form of food items that are probably good but you cant select yourself. Thats not really the best card deal out there, and its going to decline in value each additional year because you only get that big bonus the first year. I dont think this card is worth it unless you drink a lot of Starbucks, in which case you might want to rethink how much youre spending in coffee shops. Q5: Books on home buying Do you have any recommendations on books to read to learn about home-buying? My wife and I are planning to purchase this year. Jim My first recommendation for first-time homebuyers is Home Buying Kit for Dummies by Eric Tyson (seriously). Its an extremely good guide to what people should know about buying their first home, and Sarah and I read an earlier edition thoroughly when we were considering buying our current home. Ignore the for Dummies part its a really good guide. From there, Id hone in on which aspects of home buying arent crystal clear to you and read articles and find books to fill in gaps in your knowledge. If I had to pick a second book, Id probably look at 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask by Ilyce Glink. While its not as thorough as the Tyson book, it does delve nicely into specific areas of the home buying experience and can complement specific areas of the Tyson book well. Q6: Frugal running shoes For a new years resolution I followed your advice and started a resolution of running for 1 minute every day this year and running more if I feel like it but not required. Its been working great! I have been running about 20 minutes a day on average on warm days and at least running a block or two on the really cold days. I thankfully have a spot to run on snowy days. Anyway Im writing to ask for frugal advice on running shoes. I used to be a big spender back when I was running and bought expensive shoes constantly. I whipped my finances in shape during a time when I wasnt running for various reasons but now that Im back at it, I need to figure out a way to do this without spending $100-200 a month on shoes. Ideas? Tom Lets get this out of the way right now: I do not advocate anyone running in worn out shoes. You are begging for various physical problems by doing so. You should be replacing your shoes 300 to 500 miles or every 18 months, because the sole of the shoe simply wears down. Look at the bottom of the shoe and see if you see a lot of creases on the shoes bottom and theres significant discoloring thats a great sign of wear and you should probably get new ones. My recommendation is to find a good mid-cost model that really works well for you, buy a pair of them, and then stalk out bargains on that specific model. I have either personally liked or heard very good things about ASICS Gel Venture, Nike Revolution 4, and Adidas Cloudfoam, all of which are available under $50 a pair with ease, so try those. Once you have a sub-$50 pair you really like, just watch very closely for bargains on those shoes and buy multiple pairs at once if you find a really good deal. You can watch them on Amazon by using tools like Camel Camel Camel, for example. Q7: Roth IRA contribution question I decided to put some money that I got for Christmas from my wonderful generous grandparents into a Roth IRA. I opened one through Vanguard and went to deposit the money and they asked if it was a 2018 contribution or a 2019 contribution. Which should I choose? Not sure of the ramifications. Julie Since this is a new Roth IRA meaning you havent made any contributions to a Roth IRA in 2018, I assume and Im also assuming that (a) you havent filed your taxes for 2018 yet and (b) the amount youre contributing is less than $5,500, then you should make a 2018 contribution. Each year, youre allowed to contribute up to $5,500 to your Roth IRA starting in 2019, that limit goes up to $6,000. That window to contribute starts on January 1 of a given year and ends when you file your taxes for that year early in the following year. So, until you file your 2018 taxes (some time before mid April), you can still make a 2018 Roth IRA contribution, and you should do so because that window is about to close forever, plus it leaves the 2019 contribution window wide open. This is a great thing to be doing with a gift from grandparents, by the way. While they might want you to do something fun with that money, if you told them that you put it aside for your future, theyll be proud of you and for good reason. Heres another good Roth IRA question. Q8: Roth IRA or bigger e-fund? I have about $3,000 in an emergency fund which would be enough to get by for about two months. I am single with a 7 year old daughter. I have about $1,000 surplus in checking. Should I add to the emergency fund or add to my Roth? Nowhere near contribution limits for the year. Amy First of all, I want to say that I am in awe of what youre pulling off here. Youre a single mother who not only has a healthy emergency fund, but is also concerned about saving for retirement. You are on the ball and deserve kudos for that. Second, two months of living expenses is a good healthy emergency fund. If I were in your shoes, I would probably make the Roth contribution with most of the surplus, leaving a little behind in checking as a buffer. Then, I would set up an automatic transfer from checking to savings each week $10 or $15 or $20 should do. This way, your emergency fund automatically grows slowly over time and if you have to tap it, you know its going to refill over time with no further effort. So, Id probably contribute around $750 to the Roth IRA, then Id set up a $20 per week automatic transfer into my emergency fund going forward. Q9: Unwanted Christmas toys My kids receive an absurd number of gifts for Christmas each year. For the last few years, my husband and I have actually removed a few items from their pile that they were less interested in and put them aside to see if they remember them and if not we quietly sell them and put the money in their 529. We figure the gifts were unwanted. This past weekend my sister came over and mentioned the toy she had bought for our middle child. It was one he had overlooked and we had put in storage in the garage. We hadnt sold it yet. He wanted it so we dug it out and gave it to him. My sister was obviously curious as to what the deal was and we explained it to her and she got really mad at us and called us thieves. What are your thoughts? Jason I honestly dont see anything too wrong with your approach. Youre putting the gifts that your children arent interested in aside for a while, giving it some time in case they do think about them, and then if they dont, you sell them off and put the money aside for their college education. Its not as if youre stealing their toys or anything youre just turning the ones they dont want into something that will help them for life. Your sisters response might have had something to do with the fact that she apparently put a lot of thought into the gift and your child wasnt interested in the gift, which hurt her feelings. Her feelings were probably hurt even worse when she found out you were going to sell it unopened. This is one of those situations where you should just give it a little time and talk about it when the situation is less raw. I think your sister will see the sense in what youre doing. Q10: Marketing crocheted baby blankets In late 2018, three extended family members had babies so I crocheted a blanket for each one. The recipients seemed to genuinely love them and two suggested that I try to sell them. I enjoy making them but I dont even know where to start. Carrie My honest suggestion is that you throw out the suggestion to your social network. Post it on social media along with a picture or two of the baby blankets and say that youre willing to make them for baby shower or birth gifts. State your price and the dimensions and what kind of customization options you offer. Im honestly not sure what to charge for the blankets. Thats something you would be much better at assessing than I am. My suggestion would be to go relatively low in price at first cover the price of the yarn and make a little for yourself, but not a mint and then raise it if your blankets become popular. You might also consider an Etsy account in order to sell your wares. Q11: Where do I get advice? You give so much great advice! Where do you go when you need advice? Jenna When Im in a situation where I dont know what to do, I usually write it all out. Im a huge proponent of doing three morning pages, which is a journaling technique where you sit down each morning and just brain dump three pages of writing in a blank journal. I try really hard to do that every day, and it often turns into a forum for me to take a problem in my life and turn it over thoroughly with pros and cons. I usually need to really understand a problem first before I can look for meaningful advice on it. Quite often, this process will make the solution to my problem screamingly obvious. The next step, if journaling doesnt give me an answer, is always to talk to my wife, even if the advice I need involves her. We communicate with each other a lot not a day goes by without a few meaningful conversations. Sarah is my primary source for advice on everything. If Im still unsure, I usually go to the library and try to research ideas on my own. I tend to trust expert advice from books, where the reasoning behind the advice is usually laid out and I can see how that advice applies to my life. If Im still unsure, I usually talk to a few people in my life that I really trust. I have a few mentors in the community. I really trust and value the views of my parents and my wifes parents and my sister-in-law. I talk to them next. If Im still not sure what to do, Ill go talk to a professional in that particular field, but its very rare that I get to this point. Q12: Further areas of philosophy I have been enjoying your semi-regular series of Saturday articles about how different schools of philosophy provide personal finance guidance. What areas are you planning to cover in the future? Dane So far, Ive covered stoicism, Epicureanism, Aristotleanism, and secular Buddhism, for those interested. Danes note actually came in before the last one was posted. Going forward, I definitely want to write an article on transcendentalism, which Ive touched on indirectly several times. This would cover Emerson and Thoreau (who I hold in very high regard), among others. I can see a useful article on utilitarianism at some point. I want to read more about various Eastern schools of philosophy which, outside of secular Buddhism and a few others, I know little. Beyond that, it really depends on where my reading takes me. I love reading philosophy, particularly those with a practical angle that provides insights on how to live, and I find that most such schools of thought that deal with the practical in some fashion have a lot of application to personal finance. Got any questions? The best way to ask is to follow me on Facebook and ask questions directly there. Ill attempt to answer them in a future mailbag (which, by way of full disclosure, may also get re-posted on other websites that pick up my blog). However, I do receive many, many questions per week, so I may not necessarily be able to answer yours. https://www.thesimpledollar.com/questions-about-weddings-roth-iras-shoes-blankets-and-more/

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rjantiqueattic · 8 years ago

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DINKs, WOOFs, and HENRYs: Selling to the rich

The list of social-status acronyms grows longer each year. I’m sure you’ve heard of YUPPIES (young urban professionals) and probably DINKs (double income, no kids), SINKs (single income, no kids) and SITCOMs (single income, two children, and oppressive mortgage). This week, I discovered the acronyms WOOFs (well-off older folks) and HENRYs (high earners, not rich yet).

Understanding Income Structure

One of the newer acronymous to hit the mainstream is HENRYs (High Earner Not Rich Yet). *Photo courtesy Bloomberg

I’m continually impressed by the amount of money these cohorts spend. Daily, my inbox fills with reports of six-and-seven-figure auction results. Fabulous amounts of money are spent on collectibles, yet antique shops seldom see any of it. Oh, we may score a five-figure sale once in a while, but they are few and far between. The big auction houses and art dealers get the lion’s share of high-ticket sales while Mom-and-Pop stores struggle to pay the rent.

Where are all these “rich people”? I used to think that they were only in places like The Hamptons, or Hollywood, or Miami; there certainly weren’t any in my town. I was wrong. No matter where you do business, affluent (rich) consumers are right around the corner, and they would love to do business with you.

Kate Mason, in a recent article for Target Marketing Magazine [http://bit.ly/2rzOnVZ] said: “They’re extraordinarily wealthy, highly educated, and have a penchant for purchasing high-priced items. Who are they? They’re American antique collectors … and possibly a direct marketer’s most desired target demographic group.”

Rich = Dream Demographic

Quoting from Patricia Hoffman in Art & Antiques Magazine, Mason continues: “They’re a dream demographic…These people are passionate about their hobby, and their purchasing percentages continue to rise…On average, our readers spent $5,990 on antiques in the past year.”

We’re not talking about a paltry few people here; Art & Antiques Magazine has 180,000 active subscribers who enjoy a median annual income of $164,000. There are many, many more affluent collectors; thousands of them are in your state. Where are the WOOFs, HENRYs, HNWs (high-net worth individuals) and UHNW (ultra-high-net-worth individuals) in your neck of the woods? And how do you market to them?

Notable is Hoffman’s phrase “their purchasing percentages continue to rise.” A recent Federal Reserve Bulletin (September 2014, Vol 100, #4) offers statistics that show that virtually everyone in the top 10% of U.S. households is a millionaire – about 11.53 million households – and that the fastest income growth occurs in the top third of this segment. In her whitepaper “Five Key Luxury Market Trends for Market Research” [https://unitymarketingonline.com/], Pam Danzinger sums it up thus: “So more correctly, we should say that the ‘Richest are getting richer, while the merely rich (i.e. next 7%) are holding.’”

Tips for Turning Knowledge Into Sales

How do we capture sales from affluent and rich buyers? As Deep Throat said to Bob

You’ve likely seen the window decals with stick figures representing every (or almost every) conceivable combination of family members. This one gets straight to the point of explaining DINKs (Double Income No Kids). *Photo courtesy Pinterest

Woodward during the Watergate investigation, we “follow the money.” What that means is that we don’t approach very affluent buyers directly (unless they walk into our store). A direct approach of any sort – in person, by snail mail, email, or whatever – will get you shut down in a heartbeat.

Moneyed people rely on assistants to run interference for them, and it’s difficult to break through that barrier. The way to reach rich customers is through their existing relationships; that is, through people they already know, trust, and do business with. A personal referral is required.

In his 1993 book “Networking with the Affluent” [http://amzn.to/2smRhv4] Dr. Thomas J. Stanley says: “The affluent respondents whom I have interviewed report that interpersonal endorsements were most influential in their (purchase) decisions.” Dr. Stanley refers to the endorsers as patronage opinion leaders, and that “cultivating the endorsement of these opinion leaders is a very productive way to address the affluent market.”

Connections, Connections, Connections

Affluent consumers are like everyone else in your community: They need goods and services to function. Who is their doctor? Dentist? CPA? Barber? Interior decorator? Lawn service? Who owns the local luxury car dealership? Where do the affluent go to church? What magazines do they read? Which civic organizations or country clubs do they belong to? Where do they put forth charitable effort and support? If you want to make contact with affluent buyers, get to know the people who already know them. If you want to sell to affluent buyers, you can either proactively network or wait for an affluent buyer to walk into your store.

In “Networking with the Affluent,” Dr. Stanley offers eight detailed strategies on how to network with opinion leaders. The most powerful of these you likely already know: send them some business, or do business with them yourself. Joe Girard – listed in the “Guinness Book of World Records” as “The World’s Greatest Salesperson” – gets his hair cut by a different barber every other week. He claims barbers are a steady source of customer referrals. When you enhance their revenue they will be more inclined to refer you (provided they know you, like you, and trust you). Don’t think that there are any millionaires in your neighborhood? That’s understandable; not all affluent consumers flaunt their wealth. If that’s the case in your town, you may find Dr. Stanley’s second book, “The Millionaire Next Door” [http://amzn.to/2qKsrZd] to be helpful.

Understand the Potential Market and Then Act

Of course, the above discussion assumes two important prerequisites: that you sell quality merchandise and that you’re a reputable business person. As with other aspects of life, a good reputation can take years to develop yet be destroyed in a second.

Selling regularly to affluent customers can be very profitable if you proceed cautiously. If you are successful in your marketing efforts then you, too, might become a WOOF or a HENRY, or some other acronym.

The original location of DINKs, WOOFs, and HENRYs: Selling to the rich comes from Rjanti Queattic.

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apsbicepstraining · 8 years ago

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3 practices you’re working out wrong | Fox News

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There were two lat-pulldown stations situated next to each other in this gym I belonged to many years ago. On one of them was an older dame who was lifting, if recall serves, 10 pounds. I can only assume that she misconstrued the name of the utilization and thought it was a lap pulldown, because thats where the bar intention up when she wheeled it down the figurehead of her torso.

On the contiguous machine was a guy who was lifting, if remember provides, the entire heavines stack, or most of it. He rose off the seat at the beginning of each rep to assistant him get the load moving, and then leaned back at a 45 -degree angle to get the bar to his chest. The deeper he got into his set, the more force and figure English he employed.

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Two people, two completely different ideas about how to do one of the most basic efforts in the gym. And both of them completely wrong.

If you walked into that same gym today, chances are youd watch multiple versions of exerts hardly anyone did a decade ago, like planks and kettlebell changes. Those are in addition to the classic exerts, the simple ones that every lifter has done as long as hes been filching, but may not be doing in a way that helps him reach his goals.

Theres more free info than ever, and yet form hasnt improved, mentioned Nick Tumminello, columnist of the upcoming Building Muscle and Performance: A Program for Size, Strength, and Speed, and a coach based in Fort Lauderdale. Husband are stubborn, and they always think they know better.

Flawed exercise form certainly comes down to three fundamental problems TAGEND

Lack of control

Poor stability

Misreading the item of the exercise

Lets tackle them in that order.

Control issues

Most beings are in the gym to do bodybuilding, Tumminello enunciated. That is, to build muscle. But most people in the gym instruct like weightlifters, where the goals and targets is to removing the heavines . Theres a big difference. Bodybuilding is about checking the weight through the entire series of motion.

Take the lateral invoke, for example. The space most guys do it, Tumminello mentioned, is to shaking the heavines up, and let it disintegrate down.

But the entire level of the rehearsal is to target the middle-of-the-road part of the deltoid muscles. To establish them proliferate, you need to made them under strain. Theyre under the most tension at the top of the stray of the motionthe segment everyone cheats through, he says.

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You see this over and over in activities designed to target specific muscles, includes the lat pulldowns I described at the beginning. Tumminello also mentioned the bent-over barbell sequence: Theyll pluck it halfway with good form, then jolt it the rest of the way.

He furnishes a simple fix TAGEND

Select a weight you can hold at the point of maximum friction, with good form.

If you cant accommodated it four to five seconds, then the loads too damned heavy, he answered. You dont necessary to brace it when you civilize, but thats how you should research it.

For most bodybuilding exerciseslateral conjures, lat pulldowns, bent-over or accommodated rowsyou can experiment your weight at the end of the scope of gesture. For biceps bends, its the midpoint, when your forearms are parallel to the floor.

Or you are able to make it simpler, and exactly remember which part of the raising you typically have to cheater to get through. If you cant hamper it there for a few seconds, try using a lighter weight.

Bad posture

Picture these four rehearsals TAGEND

Plank

Pushup

Loaded carry

Bear crawl

What do they have in common? If you answered, Theyre all the same exercise, youre a lot smarter than me. It never resulted to me until Alwyn Cosgrove, my coauthor on the New Rules of Lifting books, excused it.

Of course they dont looking alike. But the key to good form is exactly the same: Whatever your posture is standing up straight-from-the-shoulder, thats what it should be when youre doing a timber, or a moving plank( aka pushup ), or a walk-to plank( aka loaded carry ), or a scooting plank( aka bear creeping ).

On the plank, pushup, and carry you should be able to draw a straight line from your ears through your shoulders, hips, and ends. On the bring crawling, the line should connect your ears, shoulders, and hips, with your torso parallel to the floor.

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The most common mistakes are postural. With the plank, pushup, and bear crawling, you verify these almost every day TAGEND

persisting your butt in the air

letting your stomach sag toward the floor

promoting your foreman to check out the form of the person in front of you

On a pushup, you can tell if youre elevating your as when your nose reaches the storey ahead of your chest. If your stomach is sagging on a board or pushup, youll possibly feel it as an unpleasant strain in your lower back. And if you find yourself mesmerized by the person in front of you on any of these employs, youre perhaps face-lift your head.

The biggest problems on loaded carries entered when the heavines is held to one side, as in a suitcase carry. Mistakes might include TAGEND

Bending to the side comprising the weight

Overcompensating for the heavines by stooping to the opposite side

Leaning back and flaring your rib cage out

You can self-correct the first two issues by attaches great importance. If youre dispassionate, you should be able to tell if youre standing up straight-from-the-shoulder. If its a battle, lowering the weight.

A good self-check for the latter question is to target your non-weight-bearing hand on your sternum. If you feel your underside ribs start to move forward, settle your posture.

Cognitive disappointment

Return for a moment to the confused dame at the lat-pulldown station, the one pluck the bar down to her hips. Clearly, she didnt understand that the aims of the activity is to engage muscles in her midriff and upper back, and to do that she needed to select a reasonably challenging weight and attract the bar to her chest.

I recollected it because its not something you picture every day.

But there are a few usually misunderstood exercisings youll appreciate on a regular basis. Tumminello mentioned the hang knee parent. As ab usages move, its about as hard-core as the majority of members of us will ever get. But thats their own problems: Most of us cant actually do the activity correctly.

To do it right, Tumminello told, you need to tilt your pelvis upward, something thats hellaciously difficult from a dead hang. Instead, most guys will merely lift their knees, a crusade that works the hip-flexor muscles on the figurehead of the pelvis but doesnt project the rectus abdominis, the six-pack muscle, through the intended scope of motion.

RELATED : 38 Dumbbell Exercises Youve Probably Never Seen

If you cant do that pelvic tiltand as I enunciated, few of us canthen youre much better served by doing the reverse crunch from the storey or an incline bench.

Another common mistake involves usages for the opposite side of the torso. When you do a kettlebell swing, the goals and targets is to move the load by straightening your hips. That commits the potent glute and hamstring muscles. Your limbs and shoulder are precisely along for the ride.

But before you can arrange your hips, you have to load them by pushing them downwards. If you dont do that, you cant generate the force are required to swing the load out in front of you. Thats whether you are look so many parties return the swing into a front invoke: theyll various kinds of squat down, and then gather the weight up overhead utilizing their shoulder muscles.

A good shake, by compare, should end up somewhere between waist and chest stature. One route to tell if youre going it right: the bell exits precisely a bit higher than your hands at the opening of the move. If youre hoisting it with your forearms and shoulders, itll do the opposite, and end up below your hands.( For a full seminar on how to do the usage, check out The Right Way to Do a Kettlebell Swing .)

How to do any employ better

The lessons of these nine exerciseslateral promote, bent-over sequence, plank, pushup, bear crawling, loaded carry, lat pulldown, hanging knee grow, kettlebell swingcan be applied to any utilization you try. You just need to ask yourself three queries TAGEND 1. What is the point of the rehearsal ?

If the goal is to build muscle, then focus on developing strain in specific targeted muscles, and dont employ momentum to blow through that the members of the exercise.

2. What should my form look like while doing the workout ?

This is trickier, because on numerous rehearsals its hard to check your figure without divulging figure to look at yourself. And thats only if you have a mirror nearby. Without one, you have to pay attention to your form signals. If you feel a strain in your lower back on a board or pushup, thats your clue to work on your alignment.

3. What activities should and shouldnt be involved ?

This is even trickier, and may require coaching, or at least some reading outside the gym. Most parties looking at a kettlebell swaying would think the goals and targets is to lift the load up in front of you, so it reaches sense that youd use your limbs and shoulders. If nothing tells you its all in the hips, how would you know?

Which makes me to perhaps the most reliable clue: When other lifters stop, gaze, and then shake their tops as they walk away, you can be pretty sure youre doing something wrong.

Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist and contributing editor to Mens Health. Check out his new book Strong: Nine Workout Programs For Women to Burn Fat, Boost Metabolism, and Build Strength For Life, with coauthor Alwyn Cosgrove .

This article initially appeared on MensHealth.com .

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-happens-if-republicans-win-midterms/

What Happens If Republicans Win Midterms

Gop Lawmakers Threaten To Punish Democrats If They Win Back Control Of Congress

‘When we take the majority back in 2022, I’ll make sure consequences are doled out,’ said Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Republicans are outraged that Democrats are governing by majority rule in the House. In retaliation, they are vowing to do the same things they now decry as unprecedented and wrong.

“Never in the history of our country has a Speaker acted like such an authoritarian,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday.