#this only works for the fall and winter

[stubz]

Among the Hidden/The Shadow Children was one of my favorite book series as a kid

The country experienced a mass famine and is still recovering from it years later. To reduce demand a law is made that forbids any family to have more than 2 children. Adults found to have broken this law will be severely punished as will the "shadow child(ren)" be via imprisonment or death

While remembering the plot of the book I thought of The Owl House and the Noceda family.

Camila and Manny had wanted a child yet it seemed like that wouldn't be case until one day they stumble upon a box by the side of a busy road. Inside was a baby boy with copper-like eyes. A third born child surely.

A horrible occurrence that was becoming more and more common ever since the Population Police formed. And yet it was a blessing to the Noceda family for that was how they got their son Hunter.

15 months later Camila is pregnant. She's going to have twins.

She gives birth in her friend Eda Clawthorne's home, a cabin in the woods. She has girls. Luz and Vee.

Now comes the dilemma. She could give up one twin and keep her adopted son or she could give up her adopted son to keep her two biological children. Those are the options the Population Police will give her. Well screw that. She's keeping her babies, all her babies.

On the other side of the country two teary eye-d blonde toddlers huddle together in the corner of the room. Though afraid they hold fast onto the 2 month baby held between them. Despite their young age they glare through tears at the source of their anger and tears. Their mother.

She moves closer to their sister and they scream. She raises her arms the boy roars. She touches the baby the girl bites her mother's hand.

Shuffling and mumbled apologies can be heard from behind the woman.

Odalia Blight looks at her baby daughter in her arms. 2 months old and she had costed her 2 million dollars. Forced to hang up with yet another client when Alador couldn't stop her crying.

Why hadn't she stopped her pregnancy when she could have? Or put her in an orphanage yet? Well first of all she did have love for the child. When she learned she was pregnant she felt excitement and eagerness. She was happy as was Alador.

Also the child proved to be an incredible motivator for the twins. Why Emira's first sentence was her wanting to play with her. And Edric was seen teaching the babe how to take of pants. Withholding Amity was also a great punishment for the twins. Biting Daddy? No bath time with Amity. Not staying by Mommy's side while at the store? You don't get to wake Amity from her nap.

They were also fiercely protective of her.

"Emira, Edric, do you remember what Mommy told you about if anyone finds out about Amity?" they nod their heads.

"Bad"

"Yes, very bad Edric. And why is that?"

"...Amity goes bye bye."

"Exactly Emira. If anyone finds out about Amity she will go away. Forever. That's why Mommy's upset because someone almost heard her crying."

"NO!" they get to their feet and hold onto their Mommy's legs as if to protect her and Amity from the bad people who would take away their Amity.

"Don't worry my darlings Amity is safe. But do you think you could help me and Daddy with something?" two pair of hazel eyes peer up at her. Tears gone eyes now curious.

"Can you try to keep your sister calm when someone is in the house? Or when Mommy is talking to the screen?"

"Yes yes yes!"

"Yes Mommy!"

Odalia Blight is a very pragmatic woman but the pros of keeping her forbidden child far outweigh the cons. Motivated children who will now do their part to help keep Amity a secret. A happy husband. Another heir to the Blight company. And another child she can love and cherish.

[angelmush]

i got a goose tattooed on the inside of my forearm today and it was a flash piece but it's my favorite tattoo already it means everything to me i could sob

[manasurge]

bleh

[anhonestdaysworkcomic]

i've done so much research on medieval farming and all it's gotten me is more questions

[merry-fagoland]

oh it's joever for my white ass

i'm gonna be boiled steamed fried cooked sautéed ect ect ect made into a fine melted paste that you'll have to scrape off the pavement

[showyoumyfavoriteobsession]

Roughly once every four years I ponder the alternate timeline where I didn't get scared and quit college rugby after a single practice

[thistransient]

- If I had a nickel for every time I posted a photo of a goose and it ended up getting over a thousand notes, I'd have two nickels. I would say 'who can fathom the whims of the tumblr audience', because photos I love often go totally unappreciated in favour of something random I shared on a whim, but clearly there is a trend here. Also, the first time around I warned new followers the goose was a one-time phenomenon, and clearly I lied. There may well be future geese, just keep your expectations reasonably low.

- The other day I was talking to a Japanese friend about how jarring it is to overhear one's native language when living somewhere it isn't spoken often. Forced to eavesdrop because you can't not understand it! (Unlike the blissful white noise attained by zoning out around a language that requires some focus to understand.) Recently a loud American guy has started turning up with a companion at my local breakfast joint and inflicting this very situation upon me at high volume. I might not mind so much if I couldn't still hear him when they sit at the very back of the shop and I at the very front. To be fair, a) they come at the same time daily so it's within my power to simply go earlier and b) I'm sure I've tormented enough people with my own public English conversations (although I don't think anyone will ever accuse me of being loud, after a lifetime of complaints that I'm nigh inaudible). In a moment of pettiness, however, I decided to bring my loud Canadian friend today and sit in the back at their usual table. "I can see why you call him your nemesis" he commented, after witnessing [hearing] the state of things. I felt somewhat validated.

- Further brekkie shop gossip (what a fulfilling social life I have, you see): my slutty bisexual summer completely failed to manifest, but we can still have awkward bisexual autumn. Last week the cute guy who also eats there regularly and I ended up putting our trays away at the same time. He looked at me (probably on the simple basis that I was standing next to him). I glanced back and then quickly away. Outside the shop, he was organising his scooter when something possessed me to make direct eye contact. He gave me the nod, and something possessed me further to smile radiantly in response (albeit under the mask). He smiled back. I ran away.

- Because I agreed to model for a friend at a rope class this weekend, I have been faithfully abstaining from anything that could overly aggravate my ribs in their healing (although this also means I haven't been socialising much, hence the most interesting thing recently being the breakfast shop dynamics) and just going biking instead (safe enough so far). The blissful but brief window of perfect fall weather I waited for all summer has already started edging into "I could go outside and gambol about without getting too sweaty, buuut actually now I'm cold and would like to stay under the blanket." (Complain as I might, I actually do appreciate the return of boot & coat season. Or at least for myself, raised somewhere around the 43rd parallel north, since it's apparently always boot & coat season for locals.)

- I suppose the counselling I started has been having some effect, because I've begun to get some of my shit together (some, not all, but better than nothing). However, I think I will still have to do my December visa run (that ironic ticket to Macau). Because I haven't bought a return yet, I started to ruminate on the possibility of getting another Chinese visa (my previous one was invalidated when I updated the personal details on my new passport)- I could in theory take the ferry to Hong Kong and do it at the same agency where I got my first one, except that things have changed post-Covid and one must enquire personally about their rates and conditions. I may have enquired and am awaiting a response...

[thylionheart]

I’ve mentioned before, I’m making a folklore book for my baby nibling and of course we want a multi-regional book of folklore so I am desperately trying and failing to find a Mesopotamian myth where sex isn’t too important a plot point

[robinsnest2111]

ah, good old duvet cover as a makeshift blanket trick

[rosicheeks]

🫶

[emometalhead]

Why is college so expensive? 😭😭

[nihilistic-optimistest]

hozier didnt lie when he said "to all things housed in her silence, nature offers a violence" violence of course being -20 degree celsius in early winter

[cherrysnax]

should prolly make an official update post but im lazy so…

so like we did manage to get some groceries, some cat food, some trash bags which im mad grateful for because holy shit it was getting bad.

but we are not out of the fire yet. my two older brothers are currently facing a housing situation (shitty landlord, shittier apartment, shittiest situation) and both have no income so everything we cook is also given to them, but that’s now splitting groceries for 8 people. my younger brother only eats his same food, and multiple of us have dietary restrictions so to add two grown men on top of that is a lot to say the least

[avibero]

TikTok feels like a prime outlet to recruit people into conspiracy theories and weird cult like mentalities. Like I just go there to find some funny memes or recipes and gardening ideas, but there is such overlap between gardeners and preppers that the algorithm starts feeding me the most unhinged vids of government conspiracies followed by new agey prophets foretelling, idk, the rapture? But all framed as, like, advice for small homesteaders. And it KEEPS GIVING THOSE KINDS OF VIDEOS TO ME. I remember catching myself almost believing some of these things last year because I just kept seeing them and the ideas wormed their way into my brain until I started thinking that way (and this is one of the many reasons I only occasionally go on tiktok). And what I'm seeing are probably the more tame ones! This feels bad? Especially with so many younger people on the platform

[artemisiatridentata]

roommate has covid (again) (I hopefully dodged it bc I've been out on a work trip all week but still). I apparently got assigned awhile ago to lead next week's work trip but today is the first I heard about it so I'm scrambling to prepare everything on time. a covid conscious person I connected w/ online is coming to visit tomorrow and I'm stressed bc I have to get a bunch of work done before then and also I hope the vibe is cool in-person and that we can be friends! also none of my coworkers have said they can cover my shift tomorrow even though I put the request in the group chat weeks ago and I cover their shifts whenever I can. i am on day 32 of a 41 day stretch of working every single day with only two days off including 9/5 and tomorrow (IF one of my coworkers steps up...) . and then my next day off, in October, isn't even really a day off because I have to drive 4 hours round trip to the nearest city to get an MRI to see whether or not my recently diagnosed genetic disorder has given me internal cysts or tumors. I am hanging on by a thread haha

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

I bought new jeans today and I got a whole bag of free yarn, plus I got a new vintage-y (but new) cardigan last week, so finally, FINALLY, my wardrobe is properly growing and I'm so happy about that