#this is another post to weed out weirdos

[espioakakeith]

I think I'm gonna make tumblr my main place to just ramble on about wrestling and here's a long rambling rant why.

I joined blueskyI thought for sure I found a group of people that liked and enjoyed wrestling the way I do. And for a while it was kinda of the case, and then it became all just negative bullshit every conversation. And if it wasn't negative, it was snippy or not convo at all.

But I just wanna talk wrestling in all of its forms, I wanna riff about it, joke about it, talk shit about it, all without it being taken so fucking seriously. 'cause at the end of the day, its usually two or more dudes, half naked, with inflated egos, in babyoil and leather, wrestling.

IT AIN'T NEVER BEEN THAT SERIOUS MAH BOI!!!

So, I have made the decision to mainly liveblog/livereact here during Wrestlemania weekend. I did it last year and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed it! Yall over here on tumblr are the most level headed when it comes to watching and enjoying wrestling. The past few months I've been on bluesky, which is LEAGUES better than twitter but you still have your fucking shit heads.

Any time I post about WWE, it's always some fucking loser "duuuuur MAGA!!! duuuuuuurrr Triple H said this. Duuuuuuur fuck Booker T. I as a white person feel like. AEW SO BAD"

Anytime I post about AEW, it's always some fucking loser under it goin "duuuuuuuurrr its only flips, duuuuuuuuur fuck swerve! duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, only ex-wwe guys! duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh duuuuuuuuuh scared of the griinnnd! SO MUCH BETTER! WWE SO BAD"

If I post about GCW, TJPW, NOAH, Progress or whatever, its always some fucking loser going "duuuuuuuuuuuuur GCWWE! dduuuuuuurrr Fuck effy for saying mean things! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh TJPW isn't Stardom!!!! Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh NOAH isnt NJPW so its baaaaad"

LIKE OMFG LET ME JUST WATCH TWO HALF NEKKID MEN FIGHT THEIR PROBLEMS OUT!

Yes I want to see these men and/or women fight their problems out. No I don't care that much about what the reasoning is.

Do I like The Young Bucks? Not really!

Do I let that stop me from enjoying the show?

Sometimes the make it hard, I will admit that. Same with Jericho.

Do I like Logan Paul? I don't have any strong feeling towards him because that would mean that I see him as more than the trash that he is, thus warranting any real usage of any emotional capital.

Will I like the booking and results of these companies all of the time?

NO!

BUT I watch Gundam and anime, bitch half the folks I enjoy get killed before the 25th episode in some horrific way.

I like watching the things for FUN! I'm sorry my personality isn't based in my escapism consumption!

[copperbadge]

Amateur Translation Programs

So I had a lot of imaginative and informative responses to my post about looking for an amateur translation program -- something where I could load in a foreign language and it would insert a box where I could add a translation every-other-line. The idea was that this way I could practice translation with more advanced texts, and texts I chose, and thus move away from Duolingo, which at this point is good for drilling and daily practice but not for more advanced learning.

I didn't find precisely what was needed but I did get some inspiration for further explanation, and I also learned that adding the term "glossing" (thank you @thewalrus-said) into my searches helped a great deal in terms of weeding out programs that were either "Let this AI translate for you" or just endless promotional links for Babbel and Duolingo and such. I thought I'd collect up the suggestions and post them here; at the end I'm including my best swing at designing what I wanted, and why it doesn't work yet.

Suggestion one, from many people, was various ways to generate a page that is simply fixed Italian text with space underneath each line to add in a translation. This is pretty simple as a process and there are sites that will do it for you, such as this one that @ame-kage suggested. However, most of these don't allow for movement in the Italian text, and many produce a PDF which you would need to print out in order to write on unless you're willing to open it in Acrobat (and deal with Acrobat). A good solution for some but not what I'm looking for purely because I'm trying to make this super frictionless so that (knowing myself as I do) I will actually do it.

I did find this version interesting, suggested by @drivemetogeek: Have one word doc saved as your "template" doc and set the line spacing as 2.0 or higher. Select your text from source and paste it into the template doc as text-only. Ctrl a, ctrl c to select all and copy, then open a new document and "paste special" as picture. Right click and set the "wrap text" as behind text. Now you have a document where you can, basically, type over the existing text because it's the background of the page. This seems like the most frictionless version, because you could set up a bunch of them ahead of time. If you wanted to move between desktop and mobile, however, you'd need to ensure that the pasted image was fairly narrow so that you don't have to sideways-scroll.

Relatedly, people suggested generating a document that is simply the Italian text with empty space beneath it for typing in of the translation. This can be done either semi-automated, using a macro or a language like Python, or find-and-replace on, say, the stops at the ends of sentences. It basically outputs the same as above but with a more digitally accessible format, without any more effort than above. If you were to do this in Google Sheets you could also fix the column width so that it didn't do anything weird when you opened it on your phone. But it is still very friction-y, and does not allow for easy shifting of the Italian as needed. There's high probability of the translation breaking weirdly across the page. Still a top option in terms of simplicity and access.

@smokeandholograms suggested another variation illustrated here where essentially you're converting the text to a series of tables, with each paragraph a row, and an empty cell next to it for the translation. I might play around more with this one eventually, since I think I could possibly make it a three-column and put the Italian in one, the translation in the next, and the auto-translate to let me know where I might be slipping in the third. (Not that I trust auto-translate but comparing a hand translation to an auto translation can be useful in terms of working out when I've messed up the way a tense or mood is read. I tend to read indirect verbs as automatically imperative because I'm a weirdo.)

@wynjara linked to an add-in for Word specifically designed for translators, known as TransTools; this appears to employ a macro to do the same thing, though it does have a format where you can place the translation next to each sentence directly rather than in a separate cell. The full suite of tools is only $45 which is reasonable for my budget, but for what I need I think I could also just create the macro.

Using LaTeX as a tool specially designed for glossing was an option on offer, but I don't know enough about LaTeX to figure out the pros of this one, which is in itself the major con -- there's a learning curve that I think varies widely by person but for me is unfortunately a wall. It came out of a discussion on Reddit about trying to find something like what I want; also in that discussion is a link to a code generator that allows you to…do something…to the initial language, but it's not entirely clear to me (I'm sure it's clear to people who understand coding) what you would then do with it that would allow it to be output in the way I'm hoping for. Like, I could turn a paragraph of text into HTML, I understand that far, but any Italian I find is already on a website.

Moving more into apps that might work, Redditors on the LaTeX discussion suggested SIL Fieldworks, which is a professional language tech tool. Fieldworks isn't a program I'd previously encountered but much as with the ones I had, it looks like the learning curve is fairly steep and it is definitely overkill generally for what I need, though it might also harbor within it the thing I want. It is free, so I may download and play around with it.

@brightwanderer suggested using note-taking or "whiteboard" apps such as Freeform or Nebo; these are generally a kind of "infinite canvas" in which you can drop objects, text boxes, or handwriting. I don't know that Freeform would be measurably different to just using Word and a macro, since I'd still have to input/format all the text and then be stuck with the same "fixed text" setup -- and it's also iOS only -- but for some folks it might be more helpful. Nebo is a similar infinite-canvas with unfortunately the same issues, though on the plus it's available for Android, which is where most of my mobile property resides.

@bloodbright suggested that I was looking for a CAT tool, a professional translation tool mainly used by translators working in the field. This was a concept I'd encountered, but I hadn't found a good starting place. They suggested Smartcat and OmegaT. Smartcat bills itself as an AI translation platform and is HARD pushing the "don't translate it yourself, hire a translator or let AI do it" angle, so it's difficult to tell what it offers in terms of actual tools for translators, and it's also cagey about pricing, so I can't really evaluate it. OmegaT is free and gives off big "some weirdo homebrewed this in their basement" vibe (which I am here for) but I also recognized it from screengrabs that were the reason I veered away from professional-grade software: it looked too complex. Realistically, the major downside of OmegaT is that I don't think I can put it on my phone. One thing I did find interesting is that once you translate a portion of the text, the original language goes away, though I assume you can turn that off if needed. I do kind of like that because it means my distractable brain is looking at Less Stuff.

So where did I end up?

Well, it looked like I was going to have to try a homebrew myself. I had the idea of trying some of the initial suggestions but in reverse -- designing a document where every other line was a single-cell table fixed to the page. You could paste in the Italian, which would wrap around the cells, and then enter the English in the cells.

You can fix a table in place in Google Docs -- you click on the table, then under Table > Style select Wrap Text, Both Sides, and Fix On Page. Getting the whole page set up is a little labor intensive but once you did that, you could just save it as a template and make a duplicate of it each time. And this actually works….on desktop.

Unfortunately, if you open it in the mobile Docs app, the app can't handle the fixed tables and automatically moves them all to after the text that's been pasted in. I tried redesigning it so that it's a table within a table -- one for the Italian, then within that a series of them for the English -- but when you nest a table in Google Docs, it doesn't let you fix the second table in place. And you are also still dealing with the wrap issue, although you can resize the page and add a large right-hand margin as a kludge of a fix for that.

You can build this same kind of document in Word, so I tried building one in Word and then uploading it to Drive, but when you open the Word file in Docs (or in Microsoft Word for Android), it still strips the fixed positioning -- there's just some functionality missing from both apps that doesn't allow them to handle fixed-position tables.

So, the design is sound, just not the final execution. If I could program an app, I could probably remedy the issues with it -- it's simply a series of text boxes nested inside one another with different formatting. I would imagine that's relatively basic to set up, although given that neither Docs nor Word can handle fixed tables in mobile, perhaps I've stumbled on a much bigger problem that everyone is ignoring because nobody actually needs or wants fixed tables in mobile. :D

Experimentation is ongoing, anyway. I might simply have to resign myself to the fact that my translation study is going to have to be in front of a computer, which might be for the best anyway when I inevitably want to compare my translation to an auto-translate to see where I might have read something wrong.

[all-pacas]

do you have any taub headcanons? i love that weirdo and i can never find any good posts about him besides yours

i don't, which i won't let stop me! here's some taub headcanons i'm making up on the spot:

He likes to sing, and he's not half bad at it. Kind of a showtunes guy. Sings in the shower, or while puttering around the house.

He's a big putterer. The type who likes to do dishes or fold laundry just because the repetitive nature lets him space out and think. He'd probably like gardening if he'd ever tried it. Despite this, he's not a particularly tidy person, or even all that organized.

He did always want kids. It wasn't like a driving thing, he did believe he was fine not having them when Rachel said she didn't, he probably could have lived his whole life not having kids and been fine. But he really loves fatherhood, even if it happened in the messiest way possible.

Although Taub was driven out of his practice, he didn't have to go into a Fellowship, let alone one for a fake field like diagnostics. But it sounded fun. And that actually matters to him. He can't do a job he doesn't care about, he'd rather take a shitty paying job for House than be bored as a GP or something.

After the series, he goes back to plastic surgery, but keeps in contact with Chase partially just to fish for consults. Like come on buddy. Don't you want to tag Taub in sometimes. Wouldn't it be fun. Come on. Come onnnnnn

Taub liked Kutner a lot, but they never really transitioned into out of work friends; they'd grab lunch sometimes but Taub never had Kutner over for dinner, for example. Which absolutely destroyed him after Kutner was gone.

So he made more of an effort with the others going forward. Like Chase thought Taub was being condescending when he invited Chase over for Thanksgiving Post Divorce, but no, Taub meant it, he actually does try to be a proactive friend. He's low key about it. Foreman was easy (Taub isn't at all threatened by or intimidated by his ego). He keeps in touch with 13 in a vague way after she moves on to Greece (he goes to her eventual wedding). He even still sends Christmas and birthday cards to Masters. (She got confused the first time, because isn't he Jewish? So now he sends her Christmas and Hannukah cards.)

Taub is not at all a practicing jew but his judaism is super important to him and he does lowkey want his daughters to go to Hebrew School. Just for cultural reasons. That said, he's probably the type to put up a Christmas tree because it's easier. I'm putting a lot of my dad into him with this one. Taub has dad vibes.

He loves a good argument. In quieter moments, he and House actually probably have a lot of fun going way into the weeds on highly specific philosophical or theological arguments.

He is a fiend for gossip, and tells all of it to his wife. Even after the divorce.

He and Wilson tried to be friends and it didn't quite work. Not because they dislike one another; they have a healthy appreciation for one another. It was just one of those things. They never quite clicked. They look at one another's philandering and self depreciation and inner insanity and go "what a loser." They're just alike enough in the wrong ways that they have nothing to talk about.

Lowkey, he probably had a bit of a thing for Cuddy.

[jayparked]

oh!! and another thing i wanted to mention but forgot to add in my last ask ^^;; (you don’t have to post this, ofc it’s your choice! i’m just afraid it’s gonna cause an uproar)

i was going through your blog and your reply to one of the asks regarding riki smut was just 🤌🏻. “it’s not about your age, it’s about his”. THANK YOU. if 18 and you’re comfortable seeing/presenting yourself in that way, good for you. but don’t do it to someone else… (i’m ~5 months older than him and even then the thought of someone sexualizing me in that way right now gives me shivers. like, it doesn’t matter whether you’re older or younger, please don’t think about me that way!!!!)

the amount of times i’ve had to block blogs that post niki smut (and usually it’s while i’m scrolling to find enha fluff too SMH) and i’m still not safe… (or like those moan videos of him?? i thought it was a prank at first…)

from now on, this is going to be my response. thank you for your wisdom, all mighty snail lolol

i love being outspoken on this topic because it helps weed out the weirdos from my blog so here are my thoughts expanding on yours and my previous ones!

someone who is 18 can write/read smut. that's not an issue because they are legal and they can make that decision for themselves to consume that content. they are actively deciding to consent every time they proceed with those warnings

riki is someone we don't know. he's a real person out in this world. he's not here to consent to this stuff (and i know the other members aren't either but for this sake lets just talk about riki) that's why for me i dont want to read/write nsfw content about teenagers. let them have their childhood

is it wrong for someone who's 18/19 to write/read nsfw content about riki? no. but that's not the point. i've stated that i'm not comfortable with it and the majority of my followers have agreed with me/supported me with that stance and i'm really thankful for that! it's always made me uncomfortable when people wait for an idol to turn legal to start writing smut about them. even when i was 18 in the fanfic community i found it weird and had preferences to read smut about idols who were already in their 20s.

at the end of the day it really is about him and not us. "well, they're legal so..." is such a gross mindset for someone to have. literally just imagine yourself in his position, it wouldn't be a good feeling. at least wait like damn 😭

i've had moments of inner conflict where sometimes i'll feel really guilty for writing smut about celebrities but then i remember that i just use them as face claims really. all my stories are just characters and i take basic parts of their personality to enhance my characters. i have no clue how they are in real life and i would never project my written characters onto their real person. and i think that's what separates me from quite a few people 😬

[hell-drabbles]

(tbh, I don't even have the angel cards cuz I'm broke lol🙃, but I'll tell a few thing's what I noticed on other people's post about them either the comics, message's, or stories and theories)

Let's start with Rafael, the dude is like that one insecure kid in the family that always get compared to their other siblings or cousins, Gabriel is the messenger, Michael is the right hand, Rafael wanted to be acknowledged as something, he sees god as kind and benevolent being and being too merciful so he wanted to be the one who punishes evil for him because he loves god and wanted to understand him in some degree, so he judges based on his beliefs wether they're innocent or not and just like other Angel's, his views are always on god and wouldn't acknowledge the God's other creations because he sees them unworthy of God's recognition, bro is already insane (and God didn't even reprimanded this type behavior idk) and had spiraled further since God disappear when peepaw Solomon died, so ever since then he sees all of his decisions and other forms of punishment as a will for/from God in hopes he will come back one day and see his work.

So, the Christmas event happened and most of us know about the chastity belts they wear as to keep them pure for god, and out all of the three seraphim, Rafael is the only one that had his successfully and actually taken off by Raon (that's what they say) and by the time our little rara came back to heaven, bro had his post nut happiness because no joke that the brother actually thought he had ascended into a higher rank than Michael and Gabriel after he experience his first nut (since Lucifer said that Angel's engaged in ecstasies and eventually stop before they climax) Rafael was in a good mood back in heaven during those days that he scared most of the other Angel's.

(that's all bro, I'm new to your blog and love your raon trash talks, sorry English is not my native language btw, you also get a follow, I'll still go a couple of research for the other seraphim)

[ and also After reading a couple of your Lucifer x Companion works I'm hooked, Raon is so rotten to the point I think he wouldn't stop even if ever one day Companion gets married to Lucifer and Raon would just insist that its for the betterment of hell lol bye]

Funny you should send me Raphael of all angels, I was actually starting to write about him. So that's how he's like huh? That's funny. I am going around and reading what I can find about him, especially his card lines because I get the strongest grasp of a character by the way they're talking. And wow, he's a delusional one, ain't he? Also, I take an interest in his relationship with Heaven, since it's pretty clear he has no love for the others that live there, and if need be, will burn that place to the ground if it aligns with his views on God. What a weirdo.

Haaa, my brain has been stuck on how the seraphim would take in interest in the Embittered Companion, and how that would descend into some good old obsession. I know for certain that they didn't take any interest in the Embittered Companion. It's only after spending time in Heaven do things start to descend. Of course, I naturally want each of their obsessions to be distinct from one another. Like, how I imagine Gabriel to take issue with anyone who keeps a feather of the Embittered Companion to themselves, regardless if they were demon or angel. And Raphael, he has a weird sense of when the Embittered Companion is about to become lucid, so he tends to be there and just, stares. And sometimes laughs for seemingly no reason. He's creeeeepy.

Michael, eh, I don't have anything on him right now. Maybe later.

And yes, yes, Ra-on is certainly a rotten little thing, because holy hell man, incel behavior is no joke and that shit is extremely hard to weed out of a person. So, Ra-on is going to be a frustrating character to deal with, but he'll get better eventually. It's just going to be a rather painful process because of how much he's gotta unpack. Thank you for liking it all!

[nnugatoryextravagance]

I Think Its Time To Order A Pep-Pep-Pep-Pepperoni Pizza!

[EDIT: Temporary addendum below until I can be assed to fix this shitty link that broke on me]

[another add on i have my strawpage here go my scarabs]

[addendum number THREE im having the worst time of my entire life and need to try and find my way out of this house I wont be posting much for the sake of my health] The plan completely fell through nevermind, im back

temporary pinned post beam GO

I don't consider this blog fully nsfw however some posts will be suggestive mostly because I am an infant who thinks penis is funny, if you wanna avoid (most of) those though block the "#suggestive" tag

I try to tag things as best I can, if i fuck up please tell me I am very bad at catching myself sometimes

I have no dni and my opinions on discourse are none of your business, im a normal person with a life who thinks pedophiles should have lasers fired at them and doesn't feel entitled to know about a trauma survivor's history or all of someones diagnoseses just because I disagree with them or think they're weird, all that I really ask is if you post about incest or incestuous related(?) kinks (like, ddlg especially but others too) please dont follow me... anywhere. I'm not looking to get into a discourse argument, this is for trauma reasons

I am the host of a plural system, I am also autistic and schitzospec with a sprinkle of borderline pd, i am a born and raised weirdo-with-standards and I like weed and big men, I am also certified completely genderfucked mspec-gay who only uses it/its and neopronouns and is unable to see myself as a human and prefer to be seen as an alien sparklefur computer zombie angel, I have zero interest in making my self identity palettable to strangers on the internet this paragraph is here to weed out the weak

my art blog is juggalogojackerbox, my actually good art is posted there go checkit out if youd like tee hee

I have many more blogs but I'll leave that to when I get this god damn post working again

my discord is juggalogo and i have a discord server (16+) for shenanigans of mostly the art and fandom variety feel free to mosey on in its really quiet but i still like it

I apologize if i seem standoffish in this post but I promise im not always like this I actually love talking to people a lot feel free to poke me with a stick and say hello %]

ok that is all farewell

[mellowcaty]

INTRO POSTING! (Will contain alter intros)

⭐DNI and Boundaries⭐

Interact 🌄- Doubles, Source Mates (Not c/arg! Wilbur or the Green Fucker™️), LGBTQIAA+, Therians/FictionKin/Otherhearted People/Otherkin, SFW agere/petre or agedre/petdre, Disabled/Neurodivergent people, Systems, Small Content Creators, SFW Objectum, POSIC+, andddd anyone who doesn't fall into the DNI list!

Do Not Interact 🚩- Any kind of Dream introjects please bug off, C!/ARG!Wilbur Soot Introjects, MAP/Pedo, Zoos, Transids, Trans-Racial folks, Trans Age people, Fake-Claimers, Anti Therian/Furry/Otherkin, Anti Agere/Petre, NSFW blogs/k1nk accounts, Anti introject/Fictive/Factive, anti-xenogender, proshippers (and any variants), Poppy TWT people, fetishizers, "your source memories aren't real" mfs (gtfo of here 💀)

Alright, if you fall under DNI criteria, FUCK OFF PAST THIS POINT.

If you don't fall under DNI criteria, it's free real estate, fellas./nf

Alright, now that we've weeded out the *weirdos*, leut's get moving!

🩹Intros🩹

📀🍄 - C!Tommy/Sparrow

Age: 16-19

Labels: Transmasculine, Apothisexual/Sex Repulsed, MLM/MLNBM, Devilgender, Poglexic, Buggender

Pronouns: (He/Pog/It/Red/Cat/Disc/Xir/Devil)

Roles: Symptom Holder, Trauma Holder, Co-Host

Facts/Interests: BIRDS/Ornithology, Loves Music, Learning to Crochet(poorly), Always making things, Dating C!Tubbo/Nuke and C!Ranboo, photography

Boundaries - SFW INTERACTION ONLY, use tone tags, don't baby vent posts, don't treat me like I'm your "favourite character/Comfort character come to life", I'm a real person just like you, no source dating, don't mention or talk about Dream at all, ask before you souce talk

☀️🐞 - CC!Tommy/Tom/Tom-Toms

Age: 16-20

Labels: Transmasculine, Bisexual

Pronouns: (He/It/Record/Leaf/Racoon/Pup)

Roles: Idiot ™️/Pos, Emotional - Processor, symptom holder

Facts/Interests: Dating CC!Ran and CC!Tubbo, wants a person chicken, Enjoys music (duh), constantly doing a bit/hsrs, photography

Boundaries: Don't ask about irl content creator discourse, Dream supporters dni, swf only, ask me about my source; I love talking about it! Poppy twt bitches *points to a cliff* there's the door/srs

🌼📍- Cc!Winnona (MtF cc!Tommy)

Age: 19

Labels: Big ol lesbian, Transfemme

Pronouns: (She/Bug/Fae)

Roles: Caretaker, Boundary-Protector

Facts/Interests: wants to learn the drums, wants to also learn another language, actually can cook (kinda), Dating Molly (duhh), flowers are really cool

Boundaries: Sfw interaction only, don't be a creepy weirdo, dont bring up irl content creator discourseee

🦷💿- Theseus/Exile!Tommy

Age: 13-16

Lables: Rotboy, deadboy, transmasc, apothi-aroace

Pronouns: (It/he/rot/disc/dead/corpse/xir)

Roles: Trauma holder, symptom holder, urge holder, source negative, pain hooder

Facts/Interests: very fragile, amputee (left arm at shoulder and right leg at ankle), missing his left eye

Boundaries: do not mention Dream or the smiley face in any way, do not feed his intrusive thoughts, do not bring up anything about his source, trigger things like s3lf h4rm/eating disorders/ s/a (at best, don't mention it), be gentle with him, no nsfw interaction (you will be blocked), use tone tags

🌊🌀 - ARG!Innit/Ocean

Age: 16

Labels: Corpseic, deadbolt, rotic, aro-ace, unlabeled

Pronouns: (Rot/Dig/Drop/It/They/Snow)

Roles: Symptom holder, trauma holder

Fun Facts/Interests: Always dirty, cold, or slightly wet, hates taking baths, dislikes phone-calls/ringing sounds, mostly nonverbal

Boundaries: don't mention the Halloween cricket crew stream or ARG!Bur, don't ask about source, don't be a creep, sfw only

Alright fellas, that's about the end! I wish you all a lovely day 🌹

C!Tommy/Sparrow [🍄📀]

[nat-tea-n-coffee]

Just to add on to this, there are farmers markets that accept EBT and some will even give you more discounts when doing so. Pretty much all the grocery type stalls at the markets down here will accept EBT and Urban Oasis Farms actually has a matching program that basically doubles your EBT value. More modern places will let you order online for delivery or pick up as well.

Some CSAs or Markets will also have programs with boxes given out for free or reduced price for those with the need.

And to keep goin with reaching out to neighbors and family, it's not feasible cost or time wise for everybody to garden enough to replace the veggies you buy, but if you have the community available to you then you can have one or two people grow one or two riskier veggies for the pod. For example if you have a group of let's say 4 house holds, one or two people can grow lettuce or a tomato plant and share it with the group. Zucchini, another risky veggie, grows like a weed in some places and people can't kill it or give it away (also the blossoms are edible and DELICIOUS).

LocalHarvest is a good place to find info on different CSAs and Farmer's markets!

Alternatively, go into your local facebooks/craigslists/whatever and look for the gardener groups near you. Oftentimes, people will post when they have more produce than they can handle and wanna get rid of it for cheap or free.

There is always a friendly weirdo in your community who will help out a neighbor, the trouble is finding them

Just a curious question, but would this be a good time to bring up buying local? Not that it hasn't always been a good thing to buy local, but like, it almost sounds like getting food from a nearby farmer's market would be safer than a grocery store. I know there are some contaminates to still worry about but idk... spitballing ideas

thanks for any thoughts or insights and lots of support your way during this clusterfuck

Buying local is always a good idea provided it’s an option.

I’m aware a lot of my followers live in food deserts or on extremely restricted income, so I don’t always jump to just cheerfully saying “just buy local/just go to the farmers market!” because I know some people genuinely can’t.

Same with people saying “grow your own it’s actually super easy.” Even when they suggest more accessible means of gardening, it isn’t accessible for everyone, especially to those of us with energy limiting disabilities where getting out of bed can sometimes be impossible.

They are good suggestions, just not always accessible. Which raises a good point: community.

If you have the means to garden or take trips to local farmers markets, check with your friends, family and neighbors to see if they need help accessing food. Some might not be physically able to make the trip to the farmers market, but may have the money for you to buy things for them or to compensate you.

We used to buy from a cooperative with my in laws to get things like fresh fruit and vegetables from the local farmers market. We may go back to this provided we can afford it.

It might seem awkward to ask your friends and neighbors about such things, but if we want community, we’ve got to be the people who build it. And the only way we’re getting through this is by helping each other.

[theuniverseawakens347]

AT EVELYN I AINT FUCK SHANE …THAT NIGGA A CRACK HEAD .,YOU DID THO…AND AT 19 HAD ME TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM W BRIAN PUMPER AND WHOEVER THAT OLD MAN WAS WHILE YOU FUCKED STACY DASH SON …BITCH RAPE AND COERCION 🙂🙂🖕 FUCKING BITCH BROUGHT YOU TO HANG W ME N CHRIS AND DRE AT THE PARK ONE NIGHT… ME KNOWING CHRIS AND I WAS GOING TO BANG IT OUT …I TOLD YOU LETME GO GET MINE YOU DONT HAVE TO FUCK BUT I CAME TO BUSS DOWN MINE BITCH …..YOU CHOSE TO FUCK DRE LOOSE COOCHIE ABORTION OF BABY 🙂🖕…and then ST PATRICKS 2017 ..,MY NIGGA YOU INVITE WE OUT TO EAT AFTER COPPING WEED WE END UP AT A BAR YOU TALKING TO RANDOM NIGGAS THEN YOU GOT US POSTED UP W SUGAR DADDIES AND YOU OUT HERE POPPING MOLLY WIT EM WHILE IM LIKE ….MY NIGGA YOU CANT SERIOUSLY BE DOING DRUGS WITH MEN YOU DONT KNOW …THEN ASK THE NIGGAS FOR A RIDE DOWN THE BLOCK TO UR WILCOX APARTMENT FOR WHATEVER REASON HOMEBOY WHO WAS COOL ( me not knowing then is 👽🧠 family to me) STOPS AT THE LIQUOR STORE I TURN AROUND YO ASS KISSING THIS 40 YR OLD PIMP GETTING FINGER ..SNATCHED BOTH OUR ASSES OUT THE CAR WE WALKED TO YO SPOT VERBALLY FIRED OFF ON YO ASS TELLING YOU THE REASON YO MAMA KICKED YOU OUT THE HOUSE IS CAUSE YOU AINT GOT NO MORAL COMPASS WHILE TURNING NICHOLAS ONTO DRUGS WHEN YOU LEFT IMMACULATE + DOING WEIRDO SHIT ROUND YOUR INFANT SISTER AVA. …then 2 YEARS LATER PUT ME IN AWKWARD POSITION FUCKING BRIAN PUMPER AND SOMEONE ELSE THAT NIGHT 🥴…SEX TRAFFICKING MY NIGGA…PUTTING ME IN A POSITION WHERE A BUTCH CANT LEAVE PHINE BOUT TO DIE NO CAR…THATS THE LAST TIME I WENT OUT W YOU …THEN CUT TO ME LIVING AT AVA NOW YOU WANA BE A TRAINER AFTER ME TRAINING YOU FAILED CAUSE I SPOKE SOME HARD TRUTHS INTO YOU THAT MADE YOU WANT TO BOSS UP…BUT YOU STILL A FUCKING SUGAR BABE…FUCKING OSHEA FOR A BBL AND FILLERS 🙂🖕 FUCK YOU…I AINT GROW WEED W YOU IN COLLEGE METH HEAD ..YO NIGGA YOU WAS FUCKING HAD WEED WE RECONNECTED I WANTED TO SEE THE PRODUCT MAYBE BOUGHT LIKE ONCE OR TWICE. CUNT …THEN YO ASS STARTED SELLING YO OWN. OOCHIE FOR METH BY THE TIME YOU MOVED TO WILCOX

like I said Jesus hung with who….EXACTLY.

yal nigga had me taking one for the team cause 1. I’m TOO GOOD OF A.FRIEND FOR YOU WEAK FAKE ASSES

2. YAL PUT ME IN WEIRD POSITION ( preying on my trauma NARCISSIST) WHERE I HAD TO TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM. ..

BEEN CONTAMINATING MY FUCKING WEED. MESSING W ALL YOU. AJA , EVELYN AND YALL BOTH SIGNED UP FOR THE WEIRDO ANTI MASON SHIT IN 7th grace AJA AND HIGH SCHOOL EVELYN ..CAUSE I CALLED YOUNA GORILLA AND PUSHED YOU DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS BY YO HAIR BITCH IT WAS MORE THSN DESERVING YOU OICKED FIGHTS W ME ONE WAY ANOTHER EVERYDAY ON TOP OF THAT BEFORE IMMAC WE WENT TO WEST HOLLYWOOY CAMP AND YOU TOLD SOME PPL I WAS GOING TO DROWN THEM GOT ME SUSPENDED THEN PLAYED STUPID SEEING ME 2 years later at immac… WHAT MY FACE LOOK LIKE,,BITCH THE SAME. 🙂🖕

[lostinraveland]

Has it really been 6 years since I last wrote?

It feels really strange to read back through some of these entries - or blog posts...whatever we're calling it these days. Reading over some of the things I said make me wish I could go back in time and just honestly hug myself, encourage myself. It's strange how time distorts memory - I don't remember feeling as low as I was in reading these old posts. Reading my voice feeling like I was constantly on the edge was harrowing for me now.

How to even begin updating 6 years later?! I stopped writing right before we left for Colorado, one of the biggest transition periods of my life. J.O. (I do still feel strange using full names, but initials seems helpful since in reading some of these 12 year old posts I'm like, "wait, who?") and I packed up all of our things and headed out to Colorado.

Our first year in Colorado was literally a nightmare. We moved 6 times in one year. First, we (unknowingly but with a deep suspicion) moved into a house that was an illegal weed operation (which honestly is a full movie script on its own), got tumbled out into the basement of one of mom's high school friends (who she hadn't spoken to in years - moms always save the day), did a brief stint living in an office of an art gallery (while having to pretend we and our animals did not live there), felt like we upgraded into a basement rental living underneath a frail elderly man and two crackheads (who robbed his estate blind when the old man died shortly thereafter), crammed into a duplex with disgustingly disastrous plumbing issues, and finally moved into a drafty and confusingly laid out 1890's home that we would live in for just over a year. We "lived" at most of these squats for 1 month or so before passing onto the next. It was torture.

At some point in the mix of this scramble, J.O. and I ended up breaking up our triad relationship with A.B. It was crushing and confusing at the time, but we truthfully were in no position to maintain a long distance relationship. Bit of a spoiler - she was right about everything she said about J.O. then as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things in Colorado didn't start to look up for me until I was able to successfully get my MED badge (March 2017) to legally work in the cannabis industry. I started my first job "gramming" hash for $12/hour, which felt incredibly lucky.

I learned quickly that the cannabis industry is rotten from the inside out, and attracts all of the weirdest weirdos in the entire country - rednecks looking to relocate and get a "jump" in the legal industry, rich trust fund kids playing at having blue collar jobs, addicts, "heady" crowds, and a few perfectly normal folks. I'm not sure that I could accurately select which of these tiers I fell under at the time.

I left my first industry job in just over a year after having gotten some experience transferring to the "garden," - I was able to transfer to another relatively well-known company with hopes to work on their cultivation team. Even with my experience, the industry proved more to be an insider club, so I started my work there as a joint roller, for $15/hour. I rolled 1,000+ joints per day - what a strange time in my life. I did finally work my way onto the cultivation team, and it was just as dysfunctional as my prior role. I ended up getting fired for being a "bad culture fit" - read: reporting illegal pesticide use. The only shimmery thing that I got to take from that job was meeting O.

2017 - 2020 were truly, a blur. It honestly probably doesn't help that I was consuming more weed than at any other point in my life. I also really delved into exploring and developing my ritual skills - I did yoga daily, without fail for a year and a half during this period. I experimented with herbalism, spellcrafting, sigiling, lucid dream exploration, ritual magic. It felt like 2017 was the portal into this realm for me. In some ways, lots of my experimentation was successful - and lots blew up in my face. We continued to see O. Things with J.O and I were always up and down - I'm not even sure if that begins to accurately describe how truly night and day things were. I don't know how I felt about it, honestly, at this time. Mostly because I had stopped writing - and stopped being honest with myself. I believe at some points during these few years he had been holding some meager work, which seemed to make a difference for us. Seeing O was the highlight of my years at this point. I had suffered through a pretty wild "gay existential panic" at some point in 2017, weirdly listening to old millennial YouTube star Hannah Hart's audiobook - of which I absolutely cannot remember the title. I just had a deep knowing that my life was not meant to be spent with a man. At least not only a man. It was the most intense and deep knowing I've had in a long while. I remember walking from my house to the library and just crying. It's wild to look back and see my queer self, in a failing relationship with a man, crying over my desire to love women. It would've saved so much heartbreak to have just ended it then. Thankfully, O came into our lives in such a steadfast way. My life felt fuller. Through lots of back and forth and negotiating with J.O. that I honestly regret dragging O through, we were able to find a way forward. --------------------------------------------------------------------

During this period of my life, I was entirely destabilized (for better and for worse). I continued my pattern of only holding a job for around 1 - 1.5 years max. I left my last job in weed and took another job on a traditional farm, which was a huge breath of fresh air. I worked a long and wonderful season growing produce for a massive, 350-person CSA. I enjoyed this work so deeply. It was during the later part of this season, that things took a sharp left. O was in a gravely serious accident that hospitalized her, requiring major surgeries to recover. This is an event that in retrospect, felt like a chapter ending moment for us. We had only just before moved into a new house together. I immediately quit my job, stepped into a support role where she had been working, and started getting to know her family much more closely than we had before. It's wild how these sorts of things pull people together. And push them apart. J.O. was absolutely and immediately absent from her support during that time. I think he visited the hospital once. I remember coming home from the hospital for the first time, days after her accident, and seeing the dinner I had made the night she went missing still molding on the stove. He hadn't even had the decency to care for "our" home in our absence. I knew that spelt the end for us. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019 was a very strange year - that led into an even more strange year. 2019 was a year of discovery and growth, which morphed into recovery and regression at times. I don't have many distinct impressions of 2019. I was learning a new job at a hydroponic greenhouse, trying to support my (still relatively new) partner through one of the most intense and confusing transitions of her life, and still trying to see a way forward for my existing relationship with J.O. Things were weird, and time absolutely felt compressed. By the top of 2020, I knew I was ready for a shift. I was coincidentally laid off from my greenhouse job just as I accepted a new position as a farm manager across town. I was excited going into 2020. This would mean me getting to go back to working the fields, my true zenith. It would also mean me getting paid more than I had ever been paid before in my life. To say I was proud would be an understatement. March 2020 hit us all like a brick. I'll save myself the labor of talking about what the next few months felt like. For me as a farmer, few things changed. Learning to hoe with a mask on felt challenging, though we often had the space to spread out. I didn't feel confined or cooped up. I actually felt more freedom than I had in a while. More people wanted fresh food than ever, and we were positioned to do that. 2020 felt like unlocking a critical part of my story. Farmers are first responders. I farmed through the 2020 season, the CO wildfires, the COVID madness. Yes, we watched Tiger King alongside everyone else. I cried the first time I had to go through a drive-through testing station. The gravity of it all was crushing. But something started to shift, mid-summer. I felt that restlessness in my bones and in my spirit, and started to realize that it was time to leave CO. I don't truly know where the impetus came from, or how it started to become a fully formed thought, but at some point over the summer, I realized that it was time for me to come home to the south. I sigiled, asked the cards and my ancestors, started talking to farmers back home. I took one flight back in July, and by September, we had started making the plans to leave. How the rest shaped up, is also a sort of blur. I remember finding the rental house - I don't remember anything else leading up to that. It just feels like we were planning to move to the other side of town. Days inched by, we collected produce crates to pack up our things, and then suddenly, the moving truck was at our rental house. O's parents came to help us pack up the house. We left our house in CO in late October, and made it back to the south in time for Halloween.

All I'd like to say about moving cross-country is - don't try to do it with two humans, two large dogs, a cat, and a tarantula in a 55 gallon tank - in a fucking Prius. We made it somehow. --------------------------------------------------------------------- We spent three months from 2020 into 2021 just existing in our new space. And spacious it was. Moving from a city to the woods wasn't without it's transition time. It was glorious. Hearing coyotes instead of sirens. Hearing the spring peepers instead of car horns. Seeing trees instead of condos. I was absolutely in love. I didn't start work until January of 2021, taking another farm management role. O started working as well (I won't share too much of her story, as it's not mine to tell), in a role that she was very happy with - albeit a bit intimidated by at first. J.O. had immediately started working away from home, with his brother. It was...surprisingly nice to have him away from the house more often. That should have been a clue. Honestly most of the story of 2021 is working, getting reacquainted with place, and us eventually breaking up with J.O. for good. Mid-summer that year, his alcoholism - which had always been apparent, but not always so troublesome - had reached an unavoidable peak. After one final - fairly dramatic, but not necessarily violent - incident, we had had enough. It took three more months of waiting for him to fully take his things from the house, but we were absolutely done. I think, if I'm honest with myself, I had already started to grieve the relationship far before it actually ended. I don't think that's uncommon. I was thrilled when it was finally able to be put to rest. I entered my (self-titled) "gay renaissance," and finally, felt fully liberated. I'm so unbelievably queer, it's wild to think of what I tolerated while I worked to recognize it. 2021 was a hard farming season, a big love transition year, and yet another important chapter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll have to come back and continue writing from 2021, as this post is truly becoming untenably long. This process has taken, embarrassingly, a few months to get together. It feels good to take the storytelling from my body. I wish I had been more present to write about the feelings as they occurred, but hopefully this process will "open the tap" back up to being able to do so. I forgot what being in stream feels like.

[bridge-supplies]

#4.1: Build God, Then We'll Talk

Attention is the most basic form of love. Using social media to amplify and focus our attention can simultaneously be a blessing, curse, superpower and virus.

What are the social media platforms I've used, and how have they helped me love?

Part 1 of 2: Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr & Instagram.

1. Blogger (~2007?)

My first presence on the internet is best summed up by its title: "My Thoughts and a Place to Dump Them". From what I can recall of that time in public school, my posts were mostly places for me to express my perspective on what interested me most at the time: "philosophy", atheism and religion, and my self-righteous insistence that I would never touch mind-altering substances (hah).

Lovability: 8/10. I never shared this blog with friends, so it was more of a public/personal journal of sorts. If anything, I think it helped me get a better sense of who I myself was at the time. You can't properly face yourself, or love yourself, until you acknowledge, accept, and reflect on your own thoughts.

2. Facebook (2007-2016)

A little too young of a millennial to join MySpace at its peak of popularity, Facebook became my first real experience with a true "social network", where you could add almost anyone you've met. Before the site became the news and media focused behemoth it is today, before you'd be following so many parasocial public figures, before the term "social media influencer" was a thing... it was actually sort of nice. Everyone was still figuring out how this technology would change how we interact with each other. "Joshua is..." (before the ability to customize statuses) always made sure your friends knew what you were doing, if you chose to share it. That 2009 movie "The Social Network" had a tagline only boasting 500,000,000 users, an indication of how fundamentally our methods of sharing information with each other were changing.

This network encapsulated my high school and college years entirely, with me ultimately quitting the service after a negative event with someone I met through college. Deactivating my account made it naively easier to avoid the social problems entirely, leading to my estrangement from most of the friends I made in college.

Lovability: 7/10. For the first time, online social technology had begun to give me more of a peek into my friend's lives, their thoughts, their memories, family, and other circles. Not only was I figuring out my own sense of personal identity through digital expression, my friends were figuring out theirs as well. We didn't know how these systems would evolve in the future, but at this point in history they certainly helped us reflect on each other in new ways.

3. Tumblr (2010-)

My first more serious girlfriend in high school introduced me to two things: weed, and Tumblr. Out of every social network I've used in my life, I truly believe the communities I encountered through Tumblr to have been the most personally transformative for me. It's where all the "artsy weirdos" would hang out, which happened to include a decent number of my friends at the time. "Reblogging" to create a mix of your own posts plus those authored by others cemented the sense that we all are truly aspects of one another. We are all connected, yet unique, and silly all at the same time.

But most of all, I believe it to have been the most "human" social network I've experienced. There's something about the vibes it brings that makes you feel simultaneously tucked away in your own cozy corner of the internet, while adjacent to a variety of forms of media (text, commentary, audio/video, music, or external links) being presented with a general lack of toxicity. Surely, no network is perfect, but I think when you put a collection of weirdos in a room with each other, they don't tend to try to hurt others for being just as weird.

Lovability: 9/10. I credit Tumblr with helping me love humanity the most: from understanding complex topics like LGBTQ issues, politics, structural and economic inequality, all the way to the somewhat tasteful NSFW communities that made their home here (before the company sale and associated ban). Humans are complex and unique, but underneath it all we are shockingly similar in our hopes, dreams, and ways.

4. Instagram (2011-2021, 2023-)

In the early days of these networks, it felt like each network was for its own purpose. Facebook for statuses and events, Twitter for text, and Instagram for photos. As a more visual person, I've found Instagram to be my longest running "mainstream" social network that I'd use to connect with friends and catch up on the latest about public figures. I haven't used it consistently, with months or sometimes a year between posts, but I never felt a need to abandon it.

That is, until a major break-up and move in 2021 sent me back to Rhode Island and wanting a fresh start. Once again, I pulled a Josh 2016 and abandoned another social platform, rather than deal with the potential social fallout of unfollowing the connections made over those several years. It took me until the summer of 2023 and the arrival of Threads to pull me back to the platform to do some housekeeping.

Lovability: 8/10. When you curate your network appropriately, mostly following real people that you actually know & want to get updates from, and steering clear of the toxic perspectives and assumptions of perfection, it can be a nice place. Intentionality is the key to success here, as with most things.

Continue to Part 2...

[thesoftboiledegg]

Last time I went to Spencer's, I watched a stoned guy point at a pillow with a weed pattern on it and tell his friend "That pillow is hard as fuck." Spencer's is the place for weirdos and rebels. It's the place for cops and soldiers who get a 10% bootlicking discount for no reason. And it's also the place...for merchandise roundups.

I saw this item months ago and had forgotten about it until I found another one sitting on a bottom shelf. Back by popular demand: the Rick and Morty snow globe.

Little off model, but OK I guess.

This cracked me up when I saw it. I guess there really is nothing that Adult Swim won't sign off on. It's not bad, but...why? It's like the Rick and Morty hot sauce that I saw the other day. I understand the apparel and collectibles, but are people watching the show and going "Man, I really wish I could drink Rick and Morty hot sauce! I wish I had a plant growing out of Rick's head!"

Socks in Hot Topic! Why does so much merchandise have Morty screaming on it?

An art book inconveniently covered in plastic.

I wasn't having much luck (Spencer's and Rue 21 had plenty of merchandise, but it wasn't anything that I hadn't posted before), so I went to one of the local "nerd" stores that usually doesn't have anything.

I checked the posters and collectibles...no luck. I walked through the aisles and didn't see anything. Then I saw these on a shelf. This store has the California Raisins but not Rick and Morty? Come on! No one's cared about the California Raisins since the 80s!

I was about to give up when I stumbled on this card game.

And this Morty action figure. Congratulations, "nerd" store: you redeemed yourself!

Still, Morty's expression implies that he's not sure about this. I don't think he wants to go home with me.

[mrshamada-dorian]

idia (accidentally) tries an edible

i wanna start off by saying thank y'all for showing love on this series. im actually very insecure about my writing and it took alot for me to start posting my stuff on tumblr so the fact that y'all mess with this series makes me feel more a bit more confident. also if you have any ideas for who i should do next let me know. leona ver. adeuce ver. azul ver.

cw; drugs, tagging nonconsensual drugging just in case

it was another day for you and idia to hang out.

you two had managed to come to an agreement that you two would take turns planning the hangout since you didn't want everytime you hung out together to be in an enclosed space and even the world ending wouldn't drag idia out his room.

today was idia's turn and of course you spend it how idia's turn normally goes, in his room playing games and watching movies ( or anything else you prefer as long as it ain't no normie shit ).

well everything was almost normal...

something was off... about you to be exact.

he noticed the moment you got here. your eyes were droopy and red and you were kinda slow on the uptake. which, of course, isn't like you ( otherwise idia would not be hanging out with your slow ass ).

idia wanted to bring it up to you, but he didn't want you to know that he was paying that much attention to you. he wasn't THAT much of a weirdo...

so he decided not to. if you weren't hurting anybody or yourself then he wouldn't be too worried.

everything was fine for the first few hours. just the taking turns picking movies and beating you in video games. idia would admit that he was having fun.

but then you got a call from ace. you excused yourself out of the room so you could talk in private.

as you got up, a little baggie fell out of your pocket and landed conveniently next to his. when idia looked over at it, he noticed it was full of gummies. he immediately knew where you got it.

wait wait wait before you say anything, he wasn't stalking you. he just so happen to see you from his tablet as you received it from another classmate.

idia wasn't dumb, he knew that these weren't regular gummies. he's heard about edibles and weed (he's on the internet all the damn time so of course he's heard), but that's about it. he's never tried it himself nor was he given the opportunity.

his mind was wondering to how that guy got weed on campus when you came back in his room telling him you had to run to heartslabyul real quick before riddle managed to collar both grim and ace for eating his tart. if idia were you, he would've let them get collared and stayed here. but he knew that that wasn't the type of person you were.

after a quick hug and an even quicker "i'll be right back.", you left like the wind.

and now idia was alone. not a problem, you’d be back in couple minutes. so he’ll just spend this time catching up on his single player games until you get back.

a couple minutes passed and you still weren’t back. again no problem, but he was getting a little bored waiting for you. so he did what every bored introverted person does and started snacking. he grabbed a few of his gummies and ate them. expect the gummies tasted a little weird. idia instinctively looked down and noticed some of your gummies were missing and immediately connected the dots.

he could’ve shit his pants right there.

idia started to freak out. of course his bad luck would extent to him eating your weed gummies on accident.

he didn’t really know what to do. so he quickly grabbed his phone ( maybe a bit too quickly cause he almost dropped it ) and called you. it took you a moment to answer. your side of the phone sounded so chaotic with riddle screaming in the background and you attempting to calm everything down. you couldn’t even talk to him right away with you playing mediator and everything. yet you managed to get trey to take over a bit so you could take your phone call. 

honestly you sounded so stressed when you finally said hello. he almost didn’t want to make it worst. 

but he needed you to get back NOW.

idia told you that, but you told him he had to wait since you had something else you were already doing.

he didn’t really like that answer. maybe because normally you’d drop everything and hurry over and this time you didn’t. you really spoil him sometimes...

anyways you told him to wait so he’ll have no choice but to wait... yayyy...

so idia just sat in silence, knees to chest, waiting for you come back.

it took longer than expected, but when you finally got there, idia was hiding under his covers. he wasn’t moving so it kinda worried you. you approached him and slowly lifted the covers and revealed a stuck blue boy staring off into space. his eyes were bloodshot and wide. he slowly turned his head to you with a pleading look in his eye.

a teasing chuckle fell from your lips. you had a feeling what was going on. you ran your fingers through his hair ( which was turning a little pink at this point ).

“so,” your teasing smile grew. idia knew where this was going. “how many did you take?”

“shut up.”

[planetsano]

sneaky links.

SYNOPSIS: their vibe being a sneaky link (hooking up with someone in secret).

WARNINGS: nsfw, 18+, drug use (weed).

CHARACTERS: bakugou katsuki, eijirou kirishima, shinsou hitoshi.

— bakugou

he's the sneaky link with your ex 😭

this is so toxic, oh my god. you guys would break up over something so dumb but you're both too stubborn to actually talk about it and get back together. (bonus points if you're both stubborn ass taurus, aries, or cusped who hate talking about feelings.)

he'd text you one day asking if he can come over to talk because, honestly, he missed you. but it didn't work out too well because somehow another fight ensued.

honestly, it just feels like you guys liked arguing by the way he ended up fucking you into your mattress. the pleasure is so much that you kept squirming trying to run away.

"Don't run. You were talking so much shit earlier, what happened to that, huh? Fuck me, right? I'm an asshole?" toxic. 😭

it started to happen on the regular. you guys kept it on the DL, neither of you was fond of the idea of people labeling you as "fuck buddies."

you guys will make eye contact in public by accident he'll look you up and down with a smirk before returning to his conversation.

an hour or so later he'll text you like: "come over, weirdo. I saw you staring at me earlier, miss me?" you weren't even staring but okay katsuki.

I think after a week or two of this you guys would get back together. either from fucking out your emotions OR one of you get really sappy about how they feel prompting the other to do the same.

— kirishima

being kiri's sneaky link is just wow. he's still so sweet, you'd catch feelings real fast. 🥺

the type to post a shirtless mirror selfie on snapchat captioned: "thinking about you and only you." and send his story to you with no explanation.

(it's supposed to be a sneaky link kiri.)

he likes to facetime you when he wants to meet up, he thinks it's more "gentleman-like" to address you that way instead of over text. again, he's too sweet.

you don't complain too much though because facetime with him gives you butterflies. he just looks so good on the camera. his hair down and slightly in his eyes, tank top exposed his muscles and collarbones, teeth sharp and pearly white.

"there's my pretty baby! are you busy?"

"hm, no. what's up, eiji?"

"let's hang out."

"mhm, to do what?" You, but he wasn't going to outright say that. being disrespectful was so not manly.

he tries to be so slick but it's so much fun seeing how he gradually gets closer and closer to you through the night.

you're supposed to be watching a movie but somehow he ends up spooning you with his hand down your underwear playing with you until you finish. his hard-on is pressed snug against your ass. the whole time he's asking shit about the movie as if he's not about to make you cum.

"do you like the movie so far?" "y-yeah, kiri.. 's so fucking good."

he's so attentive, putting your needs before his own. he's never disrespectful or acts weird after sex as a lot of men are in situationships. he encourages you to stay for a while.

sometimes you think he has feelings for you and contemplate asking but.. nah, you don't want to make it weird.

— shinsou

chill, consistent, a good time.

one of the best feelings is getting a "let's link" or "let me smoke you out." text from shinsou because that only meant one thing: he was going to give you the best dick you've ever had.

walking down the dorm hallways at 2 AM in the shortest pajama bottoms you own paired with a comfortable hoodie and bunny slippers is always fun.

you always smell sweet like something from bath and body works, always shaved, scrubbed, and soft. shinsou appreciates the effort, he likes someone who takes care of themselves but sometimes he just wants to taste your day.

you get to his door and knock a couple of times. he answers really soon and as soon as you open the door you're hit with that pungent weed scent.

smoking 2 or 3 joints on his balcony. you're both incredibly high and he looks over at you with lidded eyes and he beckons his head for you to go back into his room.

he really likes oral, both giving and receiving. he'll go down on you for what feels like hours. he's taking his time, so genuinely content with his head between your legs he'll lose track of time.

he expects the same energy when his dick is in your mouth. take your time, tease him, play with him, look up at him while you do it, dirty talk.

will 100% light another joint while you're giving him head. he looks so hot taking hits and blowing the smoke into your face to inhale.

he'll start thinking. he really wouldn't mind cuffing you and making things official. ah, but that was another topic for a different day. he's about to cum.

© all content belongs to rekiri 2021. do not modify or repost.

[harryschicagooutfit]

Confessions

Word count: 1.7k

A/N: Hi y’all. First off, thank you for all the love on my first post. 100+ notes, my heart is bursting. Will be working on a part 2 because someone requested. I love writing for Rafe, but he’s kind of draining so I’m gonna take a break from that for a second. Anyways, this is FLUFF the house down. I’m in a lovey dovey mood right now sorry not sorry. JJ Maybank, please fall in love with me. K thanks enjoy.

y/f/I means your first initial btw hehe

Boyfriend!JJ x fem!reader

Y/N’s POV:

I sit on my bed, laying on my stomach as I bathe in the sunshine that’s graciously shining through my curtains. I flip through the pages of some summer reading book before I hear a knock at the front door.

“I got it!” I yell, not even sure who is home or who would be knocking on my door. I’m hoping its JJ.

I trot down the stairs, letting myself grab onto the railing so I’m careful not to slip and fall. I can see his truck parked on the street outside my house and I feel my heart skip a beat. I walk a little faster, practically running to the door to swing it open. It reveals a familiar handsome blonde with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.

“Well, hello there.” I say with a bit of tease in my voice, bowing to him. “To what do I owe the pleasure.”

“Oh, you know, just in the neighborhood, wanted to stop by.” JJ replies. I quirk an eyebrow at him, knowing that’s a lie.

“Why on earth would you be in kooklandia? For fun?” I say, referring to the fact that we were on figure 8, where I live with my mom. He sighs with a light laugh.

“Ok maybe I lied. I have something for you. Wanna let me in? Its boiling out here.” He tells me. I grab his hand and pull him inside, closing the door behind him. I pull him into a hug, I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him close to me. Subconsciously, I breathe him in. JJ always smells like one of three things. Weed, grass, or cologne. Today, it’s a mixture of all three.

“Are you smelling me?” He questions, his chest rumbling against mine as he laughs at me.

“Maybe…” I admit, pulling back to look him in the eye.

“Weirdo.” He teases me, pinching my sides softly causing me to yelp a little. I slap his chest, my jaw dropping.

“Don’t be mean J! A girl can’t love the smell of her boyfriend?” I defend myself, scrunching my nose in aggravation.

“I’m just teasing darling. I love your smell too.” He relents, pecking my lips once, then another for good measure.

We stand there swaying for a moment before he lets his arms fall from my waist which cause me to pout unwillingly. He laughs at my need for constant physical connection and grabs my hand.

“C’mon. Told you I’ve got something for you.” He repeats, leading my upstairs and into my bedroom.

“Hope this is going where I think it’s going.” I half joke, smirking to myself as JJ turns around to catch me.

“Keep your dick in your pants, Y/N. I’m trying to be romantic. Now c’mere.” He laughs at my sexual eagerness.

I follow his order and sit criss cross adjacent from him on my freshly made bed, the same sunlight shining, now over his tan skin and blonde hair. I smile as I admire the pretty boy I have on my bed. How did I get so lucky?

“So……….” I drag on, waiting for him to begin. I can tell he was a little nervous.

“So. The other day, well, every day, I was doing some thinking.” He starts.

“That’s never good.” I joke. “Kidding.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny. Hush. It was good thinking.” He rolls his eyes at me, and I lean in to peck him before he starts again.

“I can’t get you out of my head. Like, for real, Y/N. You’re the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing on my mind before bed. You make me feel things that no one ever has before. The butterflies in my stomach haven’t stopped flapping their stupid little wings since the day we met.” He takes a moment to pause while I giggle at his silly analogy.

“And that right there. That laugh, God, I wish I could record it and put it on a record player. Everything about you to me is seriously perfect. You are by the sweetest, most caring, lovable, bad ass, strong and dependable person I have ever met. Not to mention, you are too beautiful for words. I am left speechless when I look at you, for real.” He confesses. I can feel tears start to prick the corners of my eyes and he grabs one of my hands, kissing my knuckles to comfort me.

“I can go on, and honestly probably will. As we’ve gotten older, I’ve been able to sort out how I feel about you. I’m finally old enough to understand. I’ve got this love for you that I can’t control and definitely can’t keep to myself.” He explains. My heart skipped a beat at the L word. We hadn’t said it yet.

“I am so in love with you.” The words roll off both our tongues at the same time, like a perfectly coordinated confession. It felt right.

His smile grew wider than it already was, and he accidentally collided our foreheads as we both went into kiss. A wince left my mouth as he held his forehead, and then bursts of laughter erupted from both of us.

“We can’t even get our cheesy love confessions right, god damn it.” I joke.

He laughs, grabbing my face and kissing both my cheeks before landing a few on my lips, which are smushed together by his fingers that are sprawled across my face. He lets go and reaches into his back pocket, revealing a small black drawstring bag. My lips curl into a smile as he places the bag in my hands, motioning for me to open it. I pull the hole open, seeing a little gold flash at the bottom of the bag. I fish it out with my fingers, pulling it out and up to my face to analyze it. My jaw drops once I notice the details of the ring. It’s gold, perfectly my size, and it’s got a little tiny ‘J’ engraved to the front of it. With my jaw still practically on the floor, I look up to lock eyes with JJ again.

“Oh my god.” I exclaim. He takes the ring from me, grabbing my hand and sliding it on my ring finger for me. I watch carefully as his hands play with mine for a second before speaking up again.

“It fits perfectly, J.”

“Yeah. You like it?” He says, getting a little shy. He always gets nervous giving gifts because he doesn’t ever think they’ll be enough for me. I tell him all the time that I love his shells that he collects me because he thinks their “pretty like me” or a bandana he bought because he claims it brings out the color of my eyes. I have always been more about sentimental value than gaudy expensive gifts.

“It’s perfect. You. You are perfect.” I say, a little under my breath because I’m slightly blown away that he nailed a present like this. I lunge forward to tackle him in a hug, knocking us over on the bed with me on top of him. I begin to kiss all around his face, causing him to smile my favorite smile. I kiss both of his dimples before pulling away to admire his face for a second.

“And look.” He says, taking one of his hands from my back and holding it up to his face, showing me the matching ring, he got himself. It sits thick and proud on his pointer finger. His is silver, like most of his jewelry and there is an even bigger Y/F/I engraved right on the top of it. I let out a shy gasp, smiling at the gesture.

“We are just too cute. Now everyone will know!” I say with excitement. “I would hope they already know, the way we cling to each other in public it’d be dumb not to assume. You’re my girl, yanno. I want people to know.” He tells me, scanning my face as he pushes my hair out of my face.

“I love you, J.” I admit, for the second time today.

“I love you. That feels so good to say.” He lets out a sigh.

“Almost wanna shout it from the rooftops.” I joke.

He looks around the room, thinking something before swinging his legs off the bed and getting up, walking over the window in my room, leaning to open it.

“Dear Figure 8, I fucking LOVE Y/N Y/L/N.” He yells at the top of his lungs, earning some looks from old people walking their dogs.

I giggle, following him to the window and matching his energy.

“Hey! Everybody! I AM IN LOVE WITH JJ MAYBANK. I wanna have his kids!!!” I yell, almost louder, with a smile.

“No one cares!” An old grump man tries to yell back before starting to cough from the strain on his voice. His wife scowls at him and smiles up at my window, putting her hand to her heart, as if to tell us she’s proud.

“That’s what he gets for trying to hate on our love.” I tease, walking back to the edge of the bed.

“Wanna have my kids, huh?” JJ asks with a smirk, approaching me and letting his hands find my waist.

“Well duh. I wanna do it all with you, J. Let’s do it all. Marriage, honeymoon in Greece, travel the world, smoke every strain of weed and have crazy sex. That’s the goal.” I ramble, smiling as I think about all the future things we will be getting ourselves into.

“You, my love, were made for me. Let’s do it. Start with crazy sex though?” He jokes, kissing me and backing me up till I fall on the bed.

“Hmmm who can’t keep their dick in their pants now.” I tease, back calling to earlier.

He laughs and shuts up. His nose rubs against mine and he lets his eyelashes brush underneath my eyes.

“I love you.” He admits one last time.

God it feels good to be his.

[luminnara]

Goddamn, Shit-Sucking Vampires | Lost Boys x OC  CH 1

Summary: Vera is an unusually vicious bloodsucker who's never stuck in one place for very long...until a mysterious feeling pulls her right to the murder capital of the world: Santa Carla, California. Now, she needs to figure out why exactly she's there, where she fits in amongst the boardwalk's nighttime denizens, and how to cope with her own personal vampire-related problems. Poly Lost Boys/OC, starts just before the movie

Also posted on AO3

My requests are open!

Chapter one | Chapter two

Warnings: Blood, gore, smut, all that good stuff

Vera had been to a lot of cities, some of them twice, some of them three times, some even more, but none of them were quite as unique as Santa Carla. The boardwalk was crawling with lost souls, kids with nowhere else to go, and she was one of them; no family to call her own, no real friends, barely any possessions…Vera was a wanderer, a lone soul, a lost girl. She drifted from town to town, hanging around for a day or two if nothing interesting happened before moving on...and honestly, nothing very interesting ever happened. 

Sometimes she took the bus, if she had the money from odd jobs or pick pocketing her meals, but for the most part, she was left to her own devices. She traveled on foot when she had to, avoiding major highways unless she was feeling up to a fight. During the day, she took refuge under bridges if she was broke, or motel rooms if she had a little cash. If she felt particularly frisky, sometimes she even managed to seduce locals into helping out, but for the most part, she only had herself as company, traveling by night for no reason other than an insatiable wanderlust and nobody else to spend her time with.

Nothing had ever held her in one place. She had started traveling a long time ago, when she realized she had no reason to stay in her hometown. Plus...people started to grow a little bit suspicious when they noticed too many bodies cropping up. The world was changing, and for someone like her, it was best to stay on the move.

After that, it became a habit, and she got used to wandering and never having a place to call home. Did it ever bother her? Sometimes, when she was resting, it did. She could stop and look at the stars, with some kind of foreign aching in her chest, but it was rare that she thought about it. It had started up years ago, and she had forced herself to get used to it. She had never found any cure, and while she lingered around the east coast, it had finally dulled to a strange, quiet pain. A constant throb in her chest, next to her heart, some kind of strange tightness that she was happy to forget whenever she could. It was becoming more frequent, though, as she neared California, and she chalked it up to the fact that she had been alone and hungry for far too long.

She would have to do something about that soon. She hated feeling hungry.

Vera hopped off the bus when it stopped in Santa Carla, a coastal town that boasted a crowded boardwalk and just the kind of nightlife she needed. From the road, she could see the bright lights of a Ferris wheel and even a roller coaster, and she couldn’t help but smile. She had always liked fairs and carnivals. They were fun and exciting, and good places to pickpocket. Plus, the chaos made it easier for her to go unnoticed.

At the bus stop, she was greeted with boards and telephone poles covered in missing persons ads, and it was an oddly comforting sight. She would fit right in.

“Murder capital of the world, huh?” she said to herself, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She had seen the graffiti on the back of a big WELCOME TO SANTA CARLA sign on the way in, and the flyers only added to the town’s reputation.

Yeah, this place was worth checking out.

The pier was bright, neon signs and carnival rides lighting up the night. Kids and adults alike were enjoying their summer, stuffing themselves with treats or screaming their way around the roller coaster. It all looked fun, she had to admit, and maybe once she had a chance to grab some cash she could hang around and enjoy herself. She could use a break from running constantly, and she was finding that the boardwalk was already making her happy. 

As she walked through the crowds, Vera spotted every kind of person, from middle aged parents toting along a family of four to dirty vagrant children to punks to a couple of weird kids lurking around the comic book store. There were pizza places, cotton candy carts, all sorts of dine in restaurants and bars...Santa Carla seemed like it had everything, but mostly, it was a good place for someone like her to spend some time. 

She sat herself down on a railing, trying to ignore the hunger pains she was feeling as she people watched. Beyond the homeless kids and the weirdos, the boardwalk was full of partygoers, and it looked like summer vacation was in full swing. There were a million smells in the air—cigarettes, weed, funnel cakes—but none of them really caught her attention. She let out a sigh, leaning her chin on her hand. She hated being indecisive about dinner. 

“Ugh, Surf Nazis,” a woman whispered to her friend as they ran by. 

“Gross,” the other wrinkled her nose.

Vera looked past them to the men that were shouting about their asses as they left and she snorted. 

“What’s wrong, girls?” One of them yelled. 

“Come back, we’ll show you a good time!” Another cackled, tossing an empty beer can over his shoulder. 

Vera rolled her eyes. Disgusting, pathetic creatures, all standing around a trash can as they smoked. They smelled awful, she realized with a wrinkle of her nose, and it wasn’t just from their smoke. They were nasty, leering at girls and laughing loudly with each other when the women they were bothering scampered away. 

Well, they weren’t her first choice, but at least she had found a meal.

She hopped off the fence and sauntered in their direction for a moment before turning, giving them just enough time to notice her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw them perk up, and before long, all four of them were following her through the crowd, shouting profanities as she made her way down to the pier. 

“Hey baby, where you goin’?” one yelled, jogging to keep up with her pace. 

Vera looked over her shoulder. “Down under the boardwalk...unless you’re chicken.”

She heard a chorus of hoots and whistles and grinned to herself. Men were so easy. 

“I call first dibs!”

“I wanna piece of that ass!” Another yelled.

They always did. Vera was a short girl, only around five feet tall, and stocky. She carried her weight in her legs, giving her thick thighs and a round butt that could never quite stay covered by the denim shorts she loved to wear so much. 

Boys liked the way she looked. They liked how she seemed so easy to grab, so soft, so touchable. As the Surf Nazis followed her down the rickety stairs to a secluded spot under the boardwalk, their hands were already moving, unbuttoning pants and reaching for Vera as if they were entitled to her. She smiled sweetly as she backed into the shadows, cooing for them to follow, grinning sickly when they obeyed. They always did, like lambs to the slaughter, never clever enough to recognize her predatory gaze and dangerous movements until it was too late. 

Sometimes, if they were lucky, they could catch a glimpse of her bra or panties before it was over, but tonight, Vera had little patience for the dirty fingers that tried to pull her shirt off and her shorts down. Their faces leered down at her, even in the darkness, grunting as they palmed themselves through their pants.

She gave them a second to enjoy it before her lips twisted into a sick grin and she reached for them, nails like claws and teeth like fangs. The air was suddenly filled with the sound of their screams, but the waves crashing against the sand drowned the grisly noises out. As she tore into them, she laughed, loving the way they were so terrified now that they had completely lost any sense of power over her.

 Boys always liked the way she looked, until she was covered in their friends’ blood.

-o-

David was having a boring night. 

His boys were under control for the time being, lounging on their bikes next to him. Paul and Marko were laughing loudly, occasionally punching each other just for the hell of it, and Laddie was reading a comic as he clung to Dwayne. Star had decided to stay home for the night, and nobody was complaining about that; at the thought of her, David growled to himself, grimacing at the reminder of the troublesome bitch. Max had wanted a daughter and a good mother for Laddie, and what had they ended up with? A mopey, whiny little cunt who refused to kill and feed like everyone else.

Feed...damn, he could go for a snack. He could practically taste blood in the air as he thought about grabbing a bite, fangs threatening to lengthen. He hadn’t even thought he was that hungry, but now that he was thinking about it, it was bugging him, and when David got the urge to feed, there were very few things that could stop him. The hunger would sometimes gnaw at him the way it did a newborn, and even Max was occasionally put off by it. It was something he expected from a younger vampire, like Marko, maybe, but David? His appetite could be insatiable, truly monstrous in a way that most others’ weren’t. 

The boys picked up on his hunger and he heard a few growls of agreement before he nodded for Dwayne to take Laddie back to the cave. The kid was never allowed to go with them when they hunted, and Dwayne was capable enough to grab something for himself if he didn’t catch up with them. Ever since Laddie had gotten his pesky little hands on their bloody wine bottle, they had been stuck with him, and if Dwayne hadn’t turned out to be so good with the kid, David would’ve been irritated beyond belief. 

It all worked out, though, and Laddie fit in well with the rest of the group. David just had to keep reminding himself to be patient. 

“Anybody catch your eye?” Paul asked as his brother took off down the beach with their youngest member.

“Absolutely fucking no one.” David sneered.

The tall blonde straightened up to sniff the air. “Get a whiff of that, though…”

David paused, mimicking Paul. He was right. There was a metallic scent on the breeze, the sweet smell of fresh blood. It made him thirsty, and as he led Paul and Marko down the boardwalk, it only grew stronger.

“Shit,” Marko mumbled as they started down the stairs to the beach. Once they had broken free of the crowd, the scent had hit them like a train, and even David was having trouble controlling himself.

“Careful,” he warned, voice coming out with a ragged, heavy breath. 

Murders happened in Santa Carla all the time, and not only because of the Lost Boys. It was a rough place, full of drugs and vagrants, and the violence only helped them blend in. Someone had probably gotten themselves in trouble under the boardwalk, and at this point David was just hoping that the killer was still around to sate his hunger. They never fed from corpses, so stumbling across them never yielded any good results unless they were in the mood to rip them apart for shits and giggles.

David was not in the mood.

He led Paul and Marko off the stairs and through the sand, hurrying now as the blood filled his senses. It was so fresh, and there was so much of it...this wasn’t normal, even for the murder capital of the world. What kind of sadistic human would cut someone up enough to spill so much blood? What the fuck was going on under his boardwalk? Sure, it was something he would do, but other than his boys, who could possibly be that brutal?

It was in the shadows of the pier that he finally got the answers to all of his questions. 

Just like the blood had, her scent hit him like a freight train. He could tell Paul and Marko were just as confused by the way they stopped and hissed, fangs already out as they looked down at the bodies littering the sand. It was a gorey scene, throats and stomachs ripped open, Surf Nazis gutted with their pants down. 

And in the middle of it all, she had the audacity to glance up at David, and then completely disregard him as she turned back to her final victim. She wasn’t worried in the slightest about the three males, and that pissed David off a little. When he would have snarled a warning at her insolence, he found himself distracted instead, head tilted and lips parted as he drank in her scent and checked her out.

She was wearing shorts that barely covered her bloody legs, ratty combat boots on her feet and an equally ratty denim vest over a ripped up black shirt. Her ebony hair was cut into some sort of shaggy mullet,  falling around her shoulders. It was long and wavy and glossy, but tousled and messy, no doubt thanks to feeding. 

He could only stare in shock at the black-haired girl that was feasting on a Surf Nazi. He couldn’t decide if he was angry at someone else hunting on his turf or happy to find a real female vampire, one that wasn’t stupid and whiny like Star, but the one thing he knew for sure as he took a step towards her was that he was just the tiniest bit turned on.

Paul and Marko could both smell the tiniest hint of their leader’s arousal, and it excited them. They weren’t used to supernatural girls, and the thought of getting a turn with her was enough to make the air heavy with the scent of lust as they followed David. 

Paul let out a low whistle behind him. “Shit, first time I wouldn’t mind bein’ a Surfer. I’d take a little of that sugar right now, know what I’m sayin?”

The vampiress lifted her head from her victim and smiled, drunk on blood and high off the hunt. “I don’t usually share meals, but I’ll give you the rest of this one if it gives me a free pass back outta here.”

Paul tensed to take her up on the offer, but David stopped him. “Free pass?”

The girl sat back from the still-whimpering Surf Nazi, blood running down her chin. “Figure you wouldn’t want me in your territory. Sorry. Didn’t realize anybody else was here, else I’d have been moving on already.”

David smirked. “No need, sweetheart.”

She furrowed her brow. 

“It’s feeding time, boys. Grab a snack.” David grinned, allowing Paul and Marko to surge forward and rip into the Surf Nazi. He watched with a twinge of annoyance as Paul turned from his meal and pressed his bloody lips to the girl’s, but that annoyance turned into surprise when she kissed back, albeit lazily. 

She smiled as her lips moved against his, a hand moving to tangle in his wild hair. Fire tore through Paul and he growled, pushing her down until her back hit the sand and her chest touched his as her breaths turned into frenzied pants. 

Hands ran down her sides, hard nails digging into her skin as Paul nipped at her lower lip. With a whine, she arched up against him, tugging at his hair until he snarled.

“Paul,” David growled a warning. 

Paul sat back up with an irritated grumble, licking his lips before plunging his fangs into the Surf Nazi and leaving Vera alone.

David had to admit, he had never met a female vampire that wasn’t stuck in limbo like Star. They seemed rare, or at least they were around California, but Max had always told him that girls of their kind were a special breed. He was already feeling a tug toward her, some kind of something pulling at his chest whenever she moved, and before he knew what he was doing, he was crouching down to suck up the last few drops of blood while his boys turned their attention to the killer.

“What’s your name, beautiful?” Marko asked, playing with a strand of her hair. 

“Vera,” she answered with the sweetest voice either of them had ever heard, practically a purr. 

Paul sighed, leaning in again. He was head over heels already. “What brings you here to our little corner of the world, Miss Vera?”

She blinked, and they were fucking mesmerized by those lashes and those hazel eyes. “Just passing through, boys. Don’t wanna step on any toes.”

Paul groaned. He wanted her to stay. She smelled amazing, and when she had returned the kiss he hadn’t even realized he was giving her, he felt jolts of electricity shoot through every part of his body. 

He wanted more.

“Damn, babe, you’re breakin’ my heart,” he said, holding her face so that he could lick blood off her chin.

“No fair,” Marko nudged his brother. “I want a taste…”

David looked up from the drained corpse, listening as his boys slurred with love drunk voices. Max had warned him about females, about those with foreign sires. They could trap you in a web of lust, keep you dumb and happy there for as long as they wanted, rob you blind and kill your entire family...but somehow, he got the feeling that Vera wasn’t even trying to fuck with them. There was no misty, foggy sensation that would signify magic, no eye contact, no focus. As he rose to his feet, he realized he was walking towards her of his own accord, the only spell being that strange, unspoken one that kept pulling him to her.

He had an inkling of what it could be, but he didn’t dare get his hopes up.

“Got a place to stay, darling?” He asked as he shoved his boys out of the way and knelt before Vera. 

She leaned toward him, a sweet smile on those bloody lips that told him she was confident enough in her ability to handle them all. She was calm, completely in control of herself, even when faced with three healthy male vampires. Her eyes were half-lidded, long lashes fluttering whenever she blinked. 

When her tongue slipped out to lick blood off her lips, David’s eyes widened at the sight of something he had never seen before. It was split in two, each side moving of its own accord easily. Paul let out an eager noise, Marko shoving him with his shoulder to try to get a better look. Vera just laughed at their fascination, pulling her tongue back into her mouth and smiling. 

David could feel her breath on his cheek as she took in his scent and he couldn’t help the shiver that went up his spine. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her better than Paul had, to fuck her and hear his name on her lips. He wanted to show her how strong he was, to impress her, to prove himself for some reason. He would kill a hundred surfers if he had to, if it would grant him her favor. He would sit out in the sun and burn himself if it meant he could be hers. 

He had never felt this way about anyone, and it was pissing him off.

Vera laughed to herself. She could smell his desire, and she knew that it was because of her. Just like those Surf Nazis, these vampires wanted her, but at least she liked this little pack. What’s more, that aching in her chest had stopped when they showed up, and she had a feeling she knew why. 

It was a little bit terrifying, though, and she wasn’t about to stop and think about it. 

“What are you suggesting?” She asked, brushing her fingers along his cheek, a smear of blood following. 

“Stay with us,” he breathed, blue eyes locked with hers. 

“Darling, I don’t even know your name,” she quipped, never shifting her gaze. 

“David,” he said with a slight growl as he felt himself getting lost in her eyes. 

“David,” she repeated, voice soft and breathy. Her hand moved to cup his cheek and he leaned into it, nose twitching as he smelled the fresh blood in her wrist. It was sweet, sweeter than any blood he had ever encountered before, and all he wanted to do was sink his fangs into her flesh and get a taste.

Vera heard a sigh and finally took her eyes off David. The other two were watching, just off to the side, staring hungrily at their leader and the new girl. 

“And what about you two?” She asked, hand sliding down to the side of David’s neck to keep him in check. She was confident enough in herself to handle him, but at the same time, he put her on edge. There was no way she was going to let her guard down around him yet.

That was the thing about female vampires, though; they had the uncanny ability to always put on a facade, and Vera was no exception. David made her nervous—they all did, honestly—but she wasn’t about to let them know that. 

“Paul,” the tall blonde said quickly, rushing forward as if he would die without her touch. He pressed his nose against her throat, breathing her scent as if he was starving. 

“Marko,” the smaller one followed, desperately reaching out to touch her hair. 

“Paul,” she purred, earning a growl. “...Marko…”

Another growl. 

They acted like they needed her, all three of them, but they were behaving themselves. She had no doubt that if she gave them the go ahead, she would be naked within seconds, but for the moment, they were listening to her. She had never experienced something like this before; usually, other vampires ignored her, or threatened her until she left their territory. These boys seemed to adore her, and she had to admit, she liked it. 

“Paul, Marko,” David said roughly. “Clean up so we can go home.”

With a groan, the younger two did as they were told, dragging Surf Nazi corpses into the ocean before wiping their hands and faces clean. 

“You’re their leader,” Vera said, more as an observation than anything else. “Are you their sire?”

David smirked as he helped her to her feet. “Depends on how you look at it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “There’s only one way to look at that, David.”

He melted when she said his name, leaning in to catch another whiff of her scent. It was sweet, like honey, sticky and sick, and all he wanted was to drown in it. “What have you done to me, Vera?”

She smiled and took his hand, raising it to lick blood off of his fingers. “Nothing on purpose, I promise.”

“Whatever it is, I don’t mind,” Paul suddenly grabbed her from behind, arms snaking around her waist as he buried his nose in her black hair, inhaling deeply and letting out a happy sigh. The feeling of her there in his arms, pressed up against him, was enough to make his fangs slide out again, and he couldn’t help but swipe his tongue up the side of her neck.

David snarled, snapping only inches from his brother’s face. “Behave.”

“You say as if you are,” Vera snorted, giving David a gentle push and easing her way out of Paul’s grip. “But you boys are all very sweet. I don’t mind the attention.”

“Oh, you have our attention, sweets,” Paul whistled as she turned and bent over to wash her face and hands at the water’s edge, giving them all a good view of her ass. A low rumble rose in David’s throat as he appreciated the sight, and Marko echoed it. 

“So greedy,” Vera mocked as she straightened up again. “Are you this nice to every bloodsucker that hangs out on your boardwalk, or is it just me?”

“Just you, that’s for sure,” Marko said, almost cackling.

“The others aren’t so delicious,” Paul cooed with that signature laugh. 

“Oh, aren’t you a charmer?” Vera said, walking back to them. Now that her arms and legs were clean of blood, they could see that she was covered in tattoos, and David wondered if she had them as a human before she was turned, or if she had found some way to make the ink stay in her regenerative skin.

Paul gave her a cocky grin and David rolled his eyes. His brother was such a flirtatious bastard. He was a lady killer, literally, even more than David was, but Vera didn’t seem to mind his advances. She seemed comfortable with Paul, taking it all in stride.

It made David just the tiniest bit jealous. 

“Come with us.” He said it more as an order than an offer, extending his hand out to her. 

“Unless you got somewhere better to go,” Marko joked. 

“And there ain’t nowhere better,” Paul snickered.

“There aren’t too many places to hide from the sun on a boardwalk,” Vera snorted. She was finally coming down from her high, the thrill of the hunt fading again and giving way to her less monstrous personality. “I was going to have to find a good spot anyways…”

Now that she wasn’t operating solely on instinct, she could take a moment and think about her situation. Three male vampires, none of whom had tried to kill her for stealing prey in their territory, seemed to be absolutely obsessed with everything about her and wanted her to go home with them. One had even kissed her and she had kissed him back, because it had felt so right. She allowed them to touch her, to taste her skin, to share her meal. They were stronger than her, and they outnumbered her, but she still felt like she was...in charge? 

David, the definite leader of the little pack, was looking at her hopefully. His face was stony, but she could see excitement in his blue eyes, and when she smiled, there was a spark of something in those irises. 

“Just don’t kill me in my sleep,” Vera joked as David took her hand and began leading her back up to the boardwalk. 

“No promises,” Marko leered as they followed.

“You look good enough to eat, babe,” Paul growled playfully, lunging forward to cop a feel of her ass. 

Vera only laughed, but David snarled dangerously at his brother, moving his arm to Vera’s shoulders and pulling her against his side. 

“Relax, you big angry beast,” Vera said with a grin, raising her hand to his chin and giving a teasing scratch. 

David huffed and Marko hooted with laughter. “Damn, she’s way more fun than you, David!”

“I dig this chick,” Paul snickered.

“You better share her,” Marko whined.

David smirked as they climbed the stairs back up to the boardwalk. Could he manage that? He only ever shared things with his brothers, but even then, he was terrible at it. Vera had some kind of magnetic pull on him, yeah, and his mouth watered at the thought of keeping her around, but Marko and Paul were both obviously into her...and she was into them. 

She was into all of them.

He needed to talk to Max. He honestly hated having to ask his sire for help or advice, and he avoided it whenever he could. Max had never been very nurturing, despite wanting everyone to act like a big family. It worked out for the boys, sure, but Max was…not a great father. A patriarch, yes, always seated at the head of the metaphorical table, but he was cruel and cold towards David, and he had been from the very start. He thought they all needed a stern hand to keep them in check, and David didn’t like that. 

Still, Max let them run free, and he knew more than David did about their own kind. He was helpful, sometimes, in his own way, and his son was going to have to defer to him. He had questions about Vera, about the pull he felt toward her, and Max was the only one with the answers.

As they returned to the boardwalk and joined the crowd of humans, Vera was pleased to see that the sea of people parted for the boys. They stepped aside, glancing with mixtures of emotions at the little pack. Girls looked dreamy, parents grabbed their children, Surf Nazis raised their lips in sneers. Was it because of their reputation, or did the humans somehow know that they should be afraid of the predators that stalked Santa Carla? She hoped it was both. She hoped that these boys were wild and rowdy enough to rule this boardwalk, and she hoped that they liked her enough to keep her around. 

She glanced up at the sky, a few stars twinkling despite the light pollution from the city. For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t itching to hop on a bus or hitch hike to the next town. For once in her life, Something was occupying her mind, and the wanderlust was giving way to another, completely foreign feeling. The ache in her chest was gone, but it was replaced by a strange, burning, almost longing that she had never felt before. It was almost similar to the emotions she experienced during bloodlust, but she was in control of herself. Her fangs weren’t poking through, her eyes weren’t shining...she was happy and her hunger was sated, so where was this coming from? 

She was still avoiding the one train of thought that would bring her to the right conclusion. It was just too much to consider, especially with everything happening so quickly all of the sudden. 

They came to a halt when they reached their bikes, Dwayne already back from dropping Laddie off. From the looks of it, he had grabbed a bite on the way, jeans stained with fresh blood that the humans would just assume was from a fight. 

Vera stopped. There was another male here? She was finding it hard to believe that she had stumbled across a pack of four males without any females, but she couldn’t smell much in the way of estrogen on them. It was just odd; vampires didn’t usually live in bachelor groups like these, but she supposed it wasn’t entirely unheard of. It was just strange that they hadn’t found any girls they wanted to keep around for all eternity.

Most people got lonely eventually. Maybe these four were all actually lovers...but she hadn’t seen any marks that would mean they were claimed, and she hadn’t smelled or sensed anything that would lead her to believe that they were serious.

Odd.

The one leaning against the bike was tall, long dark hair falling around his shoulders and a curious, but serious, expression on his handsome face. She felt frozen under his gaze, uncharacteristically nervous, like a deer in the headlights. It was like he could see right through her, and she didn’t know if she liked that or not.

“Dwayne, this is Vera,” David said as he tugged her along. She found a way to make her legs work again and followed, letting a smile curl its way onto her lips when Dwayne bowed his head to her. 

“And she’s tough,” Marko said, bouncing over to his bike. 

“And she’s gorgeous,” Paul took her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss as he passed her.

“I can see that,” Dwayne said, his voice deep and smooth, a seductive smile on his lips. 

David narrowed his eyes, but tried to hide the movement with a smirk. “Keep an eye on her. I’m going to visit Max.”

“Oh, I’ll keep both eyes on her,” Paul winked as he beckoned for her to sit behind him on his motorcycle. 

David rolled his eyes, desperately trying to not make a scene. “Control yourself. I’ll be back.” 

He pressed a kiss to Vera’s head, inhaling deeply before leaving her side and stalking off down the boardwalk. He could already feel his sire tugging questioningly at his consciousness, curious as to why David was so eager to speak to him. His son had always been good at blocking him out, keeping his mind locked down unless he needed something or there was trouble that called for Max’s attention. The others were more open, but Max didn’t have as strong a link with them, and while David was supposed to be his prodigal son, he was so...secretive. Private. Closed off. For him to be willingly heading to the VideoMax store for anything other than annoying him or hitting on Maria out of boredom, something very important had to be going on, and Max was beyond itching to know what it could be. 

“Who’s Max?” Vera asked, joining Paul to perch on the back of his bike. 

“David’s sire,” Marko answered. 

“A grouchy old bloodsucker,” Paul grinned. 

“He runs the video store. He hates it when we crash.” Marko laughed. 

“But...that cashier is pretty cute,” Paul said, thinking of Maria. “I’d love for a bite of—”

He was cut off by the breath leaving his body when Vera wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his back. 

Marko hooted with laughter at his brother’s reaction and Dwayne let out a chuckle. Paul was absolutely speechless, and Vera wasn’t even making skin on skin contact with him. 

Until she felt him tense, smirked against his back, and slid her hands under his mesh shirt. 

If Paul could blush, he would have. He would have been a shade past tomato red. The feeling of her fingers running over his abs was all he could focus on for a moment, and all he wanted was to kiss her again, feel her again, maybe get a little tongue action...

“You’re supposed to behave yourself, Paul,” Marko taunted as he caught a whiff of the lust in the air and felt his brother’s excited thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah,” Paul snarled. “I don’t need this shit from you.”

“I’m just repeating what David said,” Marko said defensively. “You’re the one who can’t keep it in his pants.”

“Well, aren’t you just the perfect little angel?” Paul shot back. “I’m the one with a goddess on his bike, might I remind you.”

Marko scoffed, lip raised in a nasty little snarl. “Not for long, Paul!”

Vera smiled as they bickered. Paul’s arousal hung in the air, but she didn’t mind; in fact, she liked it, and she hugged her arms around him tighter as he squabbled with Marko. She was eager to get back to wherever it was that they called home, and she was eager to sleep surrounded by them and feel truly safe for once. She was used to being alone, and she wasn’t scared of it, but she was always on edge, always ready to run or fight. It made her a light sleeper, and the concept of not having to worry was more tantalizing than any of these boys were on their own.