#zebra? zebra in my ask box?

[lucypcvensie]

EYSHA? EYSHA ON MY DASH? I MISSED YOUUUU!! how are you doing?? happy new year btw! I hope things have been going well for you—are you all done with uni? it's so good to see you around ahhh <3 <3

HAHAHAH ZEBRA ILY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR and yesss i am back!!!

[3v3ry0n3z-fav3-al13n-x3]

do you have any cool patterns i could use for my character's shirt?

the old pattern is lost now so i need a new one. i thought youd be a good person to turn to because of how colorful and silly you are

y3z!! A l0t ^_^

h0p3 1 c0uld h3lp u <333

[tartagliove]

as promised, ask game time! send an ask telling me what you ate today and i'll assign you a skullpanda popmart figure!!

(examples below, featuring the one popmart figure i own on the left)

[poetryinmotion-author]

Hello! It seems @autumnwoodsdreamer is a mutual acquaintance and fellow zebra. Where may I read your poetry?

Hi there friend!!

Wow, it's so nice to meet another Zebra on here! And I'm so excited that you asked about my poetry, because I'm going to start posting more of it here on Tumblr!

Here are some of my poems have been published online:

Thorin Oakenshield Reads 'The Old Man and The Sea'

102.5, A Drunken One-Night Stand With Emily Dickinson's Grave, my love for you is a knot, Phoenician Boats

Bluebeard, My Dear (Issue 4, pg 51-54)

Thorin Oakenshield and I Get Stoned and Listen to Mozart and David Bowie, The Boxer (Or, What Survived the Fire), An Elegy Upon Parting From Long-Held Griefs

Self-Analysis, Elegy, Stripe-Child, Burn (these poems are specifically about being a zebra!)

Sarai's Tree, Through the Mountains

I also had some bangers published with the FIVE : 2 : ONE #sideshow, but they took the website down--might just have to rehome them!

My most recent project is trying to get my book published--the book that features the Thorin Oakenshield poems in sage cigarettes and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. No luck so far, but it'll get there. (I Hope)

Thank you so much for asking, and I hope you enjoy! :)

[mischievousmoony]

hi, ok i have another idea for a fic which again totally up to you to write!! but i had an idea with dad!james and r where their kid is like equally obsessed with their mum as james is with r and one day james decides to prank their kid by saying something bad about the r while their kid is present and the baby just goes off. i feel like you would do an amazing job with this! feel free to ignore too. have a perfectly splendid day!!

-🪷

"the baby just goes off" painted a hilarious picture of an infant yelling at his dad in my mind lmao. ty for the request this warmed my heart to write + special thanks to @moonpascal for chatting a little about kids, gave me the reassurance & inspiration i needed

𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔𝚜

⟢ dad!james potter x fem!reader ⊹ 1.1k ⟢ warnings/tags: fluff, dad/husband!james, mom/wife!reader, no use of y/n, no name for the son, idk how to write a child's dialogue tbh son's supposed to sound 4 years old

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

James gladly goes out of his way to mention to anyone who will listen that his little one is unmistakably a Mummy's boy. From family to friends to the poor souls who bag his groceries, James will talk the ear off of anyone he can.

He finds it to be the most endearing thing in the world— the way that your son is as obsessed with you as James is. Always staying close and clinging to you, touching affection radiating from every hug and smile.

Today, as he watches his son run back and forth across the carpet, handing his mother block after block just to see her face light up after each gift, his awe and admiration are insurmountable.

Last night, James surprised you with a pair of earrings that you have been wishing for. When your face lit up upon receiving the little leatherette box, so did your son's. He didn't quite understand why you were so excited about some cube, but since then he's been trying to replicate your excitement with presents of his own.

"Oh my! Another one! Thank you, buddy," you beam, you're gratefulness and delight unwavering as he hands you the sixth block.

Your son giggles, bouncing in his spot as you inspect each side of the little wooden toy, telling him how much you adore the blue penguin painted on one of its faces.

That's another thing that touches James' heart: the tender nurture and care that you bestow upon your son with such unwavering devotion and warmth. It has James convinced that you must be the best mum in the entire world.

He might just melt at the sight of you now, kneeling happily in front of a growing pile of blocks as your son scurries back and forth, adding to your collection. James sits cross-legged to your right, resting his elbow on his knee and laying his head in his hand, watching the two he loves most in the world with hearts in his eyes.

You gasp, as if surprised when handed block number seven. "Oh, this is my favorite one yet. How did you know I love zebras?" you ask, your thumb tracing over the red acrylic paint on the side of the block.

By the time you have twelve, nearly half of his collection, you say, "I have a lot of blocks here, buddy, do you want to give some to Daddy?"

"No!" your son protests immediately, running off to his toy box for the thirteenth time.

You and James both chuckle, exchanging amused glances. Finding your son's reaction hilarious, James’s mischievous side has him dreaming up new ways to push his buttons. Your son thinks the world of you, and James is curious to see what the little guy will do if he claims otherwise.

"Well, what am I gonna do with all of this? Should I..."

You leave your son in suspense for a moment, and his hands hover over his toy box as looks at you, hanging onto your every word in anticipation.

"...build a castle!?"

“Yeah!” your son cheers, scooping three more blocks into his arms, thrilled to supply the bricks for your castle.

James nudges you, a sign of his upcoming playfulness. “You sure about that, bud? Mummy is absolutely rotten at building castles.”

Halfway across the carpet, your son stops in his tracks, glaring at his father as he tries to keep his blocks from falling out of his arms.

Stifling a laugh, you press your fingertips to your lips. By now, you’re used to James’ bursts of mischief, and you’re more than happy to sit back and let them play out. Unless you’re an active participant, of course.

You muster up a scandalized gasp as he reaches for your mountain of presents, claiming three blocks in one hand.

“No!” your little one complains, rushing to drop his three in your lap to replace the ones that James stole, “those are Mummy’s!”

“You sure Mummy deserves all these blocks?” James asks, starting to stack them into a tower, “You watch, I’ll build a castle that’ll make her’s look like rubbish.”

Your son hastily makes his way over to his dad, both arms extended as he collides with the tower and sends the blocks flying. "Stop it," he says as he scoops up the nearest block and runs it back over to you, shouting, "Mummy's castles are the best!"

He climbs into your lap, clutching onto the toy tightly as one of your arms wraps around him, and you feel your heart start to melt as you rub soothing circles into his back. You look over your son's head, your eyes sparkling with affection as you meet your husband's tender gaze.

Not having the heart to mess with him for very long, James concedes, "You're right, I'm not being very nice, am I?"

"Nuh-uh!" your son replies, shaking his head with exaggeratedly vigor, the curls he gets from his dad bouncing about.

"What can I do to make it up to her?" James asks, turning the ordeal into a subtle lesson as he dramatically feigns sorrow and despair over his actions.

"'Pologize," your son commands, his head swiveling to look at James expectantly over his shoulder.

James puts on his most sheepish, apologetic smile, looking from his son to you. "I'm very sorry. He's right, your castles are the best. Can you forgive me, love?"

"Aw, of course I forgive you," you say warmly, your amusement manifesting as a wide smile. You lean back so you can get a good view of your son's face when you tell him, "You know, I bet what Daddy really wants is to build a castle with us. I love your presents, bud, but we don't want to leave Daddy out do we?"

He looks down at the block in his little hand. "No," he replies shyly.

"So why don't you ask him to build a castle with us?" You give him a pat on the back before releasing him from your arms. "Go on," you coax.

He steps closer to James, holding the block close to his chest. "We can all build a castle," he offers.

"Yeah?" James' face lights up, and it's not for show. Genuine joy takes over his features as he ruffles your son's hair, responding, "I'd love nothing more, little man."

"But you have to be nice to Mummy!" he demands, his little voice firm and earnest as he looks up at James with wide, serious eyes.

"I promise, I will be on my best behavior," James assures him, his voice sincere as he gives a playful salute. That's enough for your son, because he finally awards James with his very first block, which he accepts with pride.

"Good!" your son cheers, already moving on to the pile of blocks to start stacking them as he proclaims, "Mummy is the best, and we have to show it!"

Your lips part as you suck in a breath, a quiet gasp. Receiving your son's affection never fails to make your heart swell.

You don't feel James' eyes on you, but he's watching— admiring, more like, as he takes in the way that you soften at your son's sweet words. A smitten smile plays at his lips as he agrees, "She is the best, isn't she?"

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

[ebonytails]

Hi! Someone with hypermobile EDS here! The zebra is the mascot/symbol for those of us with EDS, and I feel as though some would get confused with this design. Might I suggest a tiger? I think that would be really cute :3

(From @nyanberries)

I’m replying in a reblog so everyone can read my response as well! I’m not upset, I just realized that it might be important to read

From what I understand, zebra is not just the mascot/symbol for EDS, it’s supposed to be there for all “rare disorders” as is the quote this originates from/references! I asked some others for opinions, and a friend if mine who also has EDS mentioned:

EDS is just the poster child of Zebra disorders !

A Zebra disorder is just any disorder that a doctor would ignore and normally think is another condition, it comes from the concept "If you look at a silhouette of a Zebra, you would think it's a horse"

The zebra for this flag, was also requested by an anonymous asker last year, so I’m finishing the design! But since all my pride animals are requested, I can make a separate tiger design in the future :-]

I also found this page, which might be helpful, which explains that the zebra is the mascot for rare diseases/disorders/etc. As usual, wikipedia articles are sometimes unreliable or incomplete, but here’s another as well on the striped ribbon, which talks about the zebra also.

I’ve learned that… while the zebra is commonly associated with EDS, we shouldn’t forget that the zebra isn’t only there for EDS, and is for everyone else that can fall under this

Some disability pride designs. Thoughts?

Some requirements! flag order has to be somewhere at least once, and the animal is a zebra.

First draft is on the LEFT, most recent on the RIGHT!

As I’ve said on Twitter: I won’t lie, I’ve been putting off this design for a while because a zebra is a very complicated design animal-wise with its patterning- so I wasn’t sure how to represent this flag in the best way I can. Any feedback is welcome! I plan on turning some of the pride animals into stickers and buttons to sell IRL in conventions, and I’d really like to include this one :-)

[zepskies]

BREAKING POINT - Part 1

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Reader

Summary: Russell made you a promise, but “getting out” of government contract work is even more difficult than he thought it would be. Is he willing to put the past aside, or is this going to be your breaking point?

AN: Welcome back to the Every Second Counts-verse! After the cliffhanger in Bubbly, I know you guys have been wanting this next part of their story. Get ready for a rocky ride — in two parts! 😅 (Also thank you again for all the birthday wishes. You guys are the best. 🥹💜)

Special thanks to the lovely Michelle - @luci-in-trenchcoats - for giving me tons of Tracker spoilers from the books that helped me shape the idea for BP! Both Michelle and Wayne - @waynes-multiverse have been incredibly encouraging and supportive in this one. 💚

Song Inspo: “Come in From the Night” by Chicago

Posted on Patreon: 3/28/2025

Word Count: 6.8K

Tags/Warnings: Fluff, angst, secrets and lies of omission, hints of Russell’s shady past, 2x02 events, and a twist…

⌖ Series Masterlist

Part 1: One Step Ahead of the Past

You paused in the middle of the grocery store aisle when you heard the thump. Yet another item dropped into the shopping cart.

You turned your head from the display of buy-one-get-one coffee brands and rose a brow at your boyfriend, trying not to smile.

“Uh, no. I don’t think so,” you said, grabbing the box of Zebra Cakes out of the cart.

“Aw, come on,” Russell implored.

“Babe, Dory and I call these cancer cakes. And you know what, for a guy who somehow keeps in like, Super Soldier-level shape, you’ve got a mega sweet tooth for all things junk,” you teased, and then smiled hard when he snaked an arm around your waist to try and distract you. You knew what he was really aiming for.

“Super soldier, huh?” A smirk curved his lips. “We talkin’ Captain America or Schwarzenegger?”

You laughed and tried to wiggle out of his grip. He had you trapped against the handles of the cart. He sneakily clawed a hand for the cartoonish black and white box of treats, but you held it just out of reach.

“If we have these in the house, you know I’m gonna eat them too, and it’s all just going to go straight to my ass, stomach, and thighs,” you quipped.

Russell hummed a kiss into your neck.

“I got no issue with that.” He squeezed your hips. “Just makes you softer to tenderize.”

A hot blush lit up your face, especially when an older lady gave you two some side-eye as she passed by with her cart. You bit your lip to temper your embarrassed smile, but you still reached back to pinch Russell’s side in retaliation. He just laughed and dodged your hand, ultimately wrapping his arms tighter around your waist.

“It’s true,” he whispered lowly in your ear.

“Hmph, I’m sure,” you replied in amusement. 

Despite your better judgment, you tossed the Zebra Cakes back into the cart and kept it pushing, literally. Russell’s pleased grin had you almost rolling your eyes. Yes, he knew how to play you like a fiddle.

You grabbed a couple packages of Gevalia coffee and continued down the aisle, but you didn’t realize that your shadow had disappeared. Russell caught up to you after a little while, withdrawing a peach cobbler from behind his back. It was from the bakery section. Another goddamn dessert?! And how’d he get over there and back so fast?

“I know I might be pushing my luck, but what about this guy for tonight?” he asked. “At least it’s homemade, right?”

You chuckled. “Yeah, homemade. Right from the factory that delivered it to the grocery store.”

But you sighed and relented on that one too, waving a dismissive hand. Eh, it’s on sale. Pick your battles, I guess.

Russell took that as consent to place the cobbler carefully next to the carrots, broccoli, and asparagus. He was slightly mollified by the bag of potatoes.

“That’s a lot of rabbit food,” he remarked.

“Oh yeah, and it’s gonna go great with the steaks tonight,” you sweetly replied. You knew the only way you were going to get him to eat said broccoli was if he had a slab of meat to go with it. Again, pick your battles. Your man was many things, but health-conscious wasn’t exactly one of them. It surprised you, considering he’d spent most of his life in the military.

“Heeeeell, yeah. With the special sauce, right?” he asked hopefully.

“Yes, with the special sauce,” you smirked.

And no, that wasn’t a euphemism.

Russell smiled, that one that crinkled the crow’s feet around his eyes. His hand fell to a comfortable place on the small of your back as he fell into step with you. It was his habit whenever you two went out together—a familiar hand on your hip, your waist, or brushing your hair back to massage the back of your neck. You liked the contact; the reminder that he was with you, and that he wanted to be.

But his touch fell away after you entered the cereal aisle. You did hear a short buzz, but you didn’t notice until you were almost at the end, halfway through asking if he wanted oatmeal or Fruit Loops. When you realized you were talking to empty air, you looked over your shoulder and saw Russell stopped in the middle of the aisle, staring down at his phone with knitted brows.

His attention was wholly on the screen, where a brief message held more weight than it should.

Are you in?

Russell kept digesting the words.  

“Russ?” you called to him, breaking him out of his reverie. “What’re you doing?”

Shit. He typed out a reply, and he sent it before he could think better of it. He pocketed his phone and caught up to you in a few of his long strides, his long hair bouncing along with him. His hand slipped around your waist and found purchase on a belt loop of your jeans. 

“So with our soon-to-be three course meal, what’cha thinking on a movie? Wanna watch Terminator again?” he proposed.

You rose a brow at three courses, but you skipped ahead to pushing back on said proposal. 

“God, no. We watched all six movies last weekend!” 

“Aw, come on, get to the choppah!” Russell invoked his best Arnold impression, prodding at your waist all the while. Never mind that the line was from Predator, not Terminator.

You flinched, and a giggle bubbled up in you on reflex as you swatted at his hand. You pushed the cart onward to the checkout counter. 

“All right, just the first one though,” you replied. “Then I want to watch Bridesmaids.”

He playfully groaned. “Gonna make me sit through another chick flick, huh?”

“Oh no. It’s hilarious,” you said with a snicker. “Though maybe it is better if we watch that one after dinner. There’s a scene with food poisoning from some sketchy-ass meat and…yeah. Anyway, you’ll like it, baby. I promise.”

Russell gave you an indulgent smile, but inside, he hid a guilty twinge. 

“What was your favorite thing to eat growing up?” you asked.

Russell was helping you unpack the groceries in the kitchen in a familiar routine. He’d been living with you for almost a year now, and still, little questions like this sometimes helped you get a window into the man.

Key word being sometimes, because even now, he considered your question with more uncertainty than it should warrant.

"You mean, uh, on the compound?" he asked.

"Sure." You'd take any brief spotlight into his childhood.

“Uh…kind of hard to answer that one. We mostly ate whatever wild game we could catch,” he admitted. “A lot of rabbit. Which honestly wasn’t my favorite, but I learned to like it.”

He soon abandoned that thought to take out the peach cobbler from a grocery bag with a devilish cackle. You knew by the boyish look on his face that he’d be cutting at least two generous slices out of that one later.

“Maybe that explains why you’re such a foodie,” you wondered aloud. Because your man didn’t just like food. He was borderline obsessed with trying new spots with you, whether it was an upscale restaurant on the bougiest part of downtown, or a sketchy taco truck on the side of the freeway.

“Could be,” he acknowledged with a chuckle.

“What was it like having to hunt for your own food?” you asked. You’d studied history and ancient civilizations for both of your doctoral degrees, let alone your experience as a professor at Wyoming University, but studying hunter-gatherer communities was much different from having to learn how to survive for your next meal.

Russell set down the cobbler on the counter. He took advantage of the task of grabbing the vegetables next, handing them off to you so you could sort them the way you liked in the refrigerator.

“Wasn’t easy,” he said, “My dad was a taskmaster. And that wasn’t just about skinning rabbits and squirrels.”

You grimaced. “Squirrels too?!”

Russell nodded.

“We had these milestones…” he trailed, as the memory reappeared in his mind. “Heh. I remember being woken up and dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. Dad had me scale a cliff in almost pitch blackness. Couldn’t see the ground below me, could barely see a few inches above me. Was the day I turned thirteen years old.”

You paused what you were doing to meet his gaze. Jesus. Happy fucking Birthday, you thought, both in sarcasm and incredulous dismay.

Russell sighed and shook his head. He continued balling up empty grocery bags.

“That. That look right there,” he said, pointing at your face. “That’s why I don’t talk about this shit.”

You quickly recovered yourself and shut the fridge.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…” You turned to him and laid a hand on his forearm, sliding down to slip your hand into his. “I’ve given you the deep cuts, right? And my brother has no problem spilling all about my awkward teenage angst, and basically every embarrassing thing I’ve ever done since I was two. But with you, there’s still so much I don’t know, Russ. Not just about how you grew up, but about your life since then.”

Russell brushed his thumb over the back of your hand, but all he could really give you was a quirk of his lips.

“That’s classified,” he said, only somewhat joking.

“Look, I get that. I know there’s a lot you can’t tell me,” you said, “but give me the broad strokes, okay? Besides Doug, who have been the important people in your life? Where were you stationed? How many countries have you seen?”

Russell let out a deep breath. None of your questions had easy answers. He knew he needed to give you something, even if it was just broad strokes. But…he just couldn’t bring himself to look back anymore. There was too much tied to things he couldn’t, shouldn’t tell you. Mostly it was for your own safety, but selfishly, there were also things he didn’t want to let loose. If he did, maybe it would change the way you looked at him with those soft, loving eyes. 

“Look, maybe that’s not something we should get into tonight,” he said. 

 Your expression shifted into disappointment. You seemed to be making that face a lot lately, whenever he told you about another job out of town, whenever he didn't come home when he initially said he would, whenever he closed up on you.

But this time, you closed up on him.

“You know what, it’s been a long day. I think I’m feeling too tired to cook,” you said. You tossed the wad of empty grocery bags under the kitchen sink and passed by him on your way out of the room, and over to the bedroom.

Russell blinked in confusion. 

“Well, wait, what’re we gonna eat then?” he called after you.

“I don’t know. Make yourself a sandwich,” you said, just before he heard the door shut.

The loud thud made him sigh through his nose. He surveyed the ingredients you’d intended to cook with strewn across the kitchen counter and rubbed a hand over his bearded face. 

“Shoulda saved that conversation for after dinner,” he mused.

You and Russell were still at odds as you got ready for bed that night. After what happened in the kitchen, you cooled off for a bit. You did end up making the steaks and watching Terminator with him, but afterward, you went back to the bedroom to read by yourself, leaving him to watch old reruns of Seinfeld on TBS.

It was never really the same without you and your colorful commentary, or the way you often burrowed into his side and commandeered most of the couch. (He didn’t mind, long as he got to cop a feel every now and then.)

He could read you all too well though. He knew you were still mad at him.

He now eyed you in your silky negligée, which he thought you’d worn to bed on purpose just to torture him a little. It was the pretty purple one with lacy edges. He bought it for you while you two were on vacation in California a few months ago. 

Russell’s phone buzzing on his nightstand distracted him. He checked it before you had a chance to see what was on the screen. It was from his handler at Horizon, detailing a string of coordinates for his next gig—plus a ticket for his flight taking off in two days. Russell planned to tell you tomorrow after you cooled off a little more, though he knew it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. 

He tried slipping into bed behind you and wrapping his arm around your waist, kissing your bare shoulder. He nosed past the thin strap of your nightgown and inhaled the pretty, floral scent of your soap…which he totally didn’t use himself.

“Nuh-uh,” you warned without even looking at him. It was a firm no on the touching, to which Russell exhaled and leaned back on his pillow, carding a hand through his hair. 

“Come on, baby. How long’re you gonna ice me out?”

“Until I actually know the man who’s in bed with me,” you snipped back testily.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Russell said. He drew back in and kissed the side of your head, rubbing a hand down your shoulder. “You already know the important bits.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” you dryly replied. It was a struggle not to give into his touch, but this wasn’t the first time you two had a conversation, verging on argument about these things.  

He knew it all too well.

Still, he hesitated. Like what? How I’ve spent a long time doing what I’m told, and not a lot of asking questions. Probably not as much as I should’ve.

He shook his head. “I’m not gonna lie, I’ve seen a lot of shit that would blow your hair back. But even though my growing up was…unconventional, to say the least, it’s made me good at what I do. Most importantly though…” He pressed another gentle, lingering kiss into your neck. “This is where I want to be. You’re the one I wanna move forward with.”

He felt you take a long breath. He hoped it meant that you were hearing him, that you were softening.

“How are you going to do that when you’re away on another job?” you asked. 

Russell paused. 

You moved away from his hold and sat up in bed. He followed suit as he noted the look on your face, tired and upset. His brows furrowed, despite the prickle of guilt bubbling under his skin.

“What’re you talking about?” he said.

“Don’t even try it. I saw the coordinates pop up on your phone just now!” you snapped, and you make a sound of frustration, rubbing your face with both hands. “You promised me, Russell. You promised you’d be done with contract work months ago now. So what is it? Is it that you need more money for your brewery?”

Russell swallowed. The truth was, he’d made the target goal on his business account months ago, but he’d also found one reason or another to accept the last few jobs out of town. There was pressure from Horizon to stay on. They didn’t want to lose a valuable “contractor,” after all. But it was also his own unwillingness to give up the feeling of knowing exactly what he was doing, what he had been trained to do, and secretly, the way his work kept him on the edge. 

That flip in the stomach that forced him to make decisions in the breadth of a second? 

Well, it was a hard feeling to give up, and an even harder life.  

He rubbed a hand over his face with a tired sigh.

“Look, it’s more complicated than that,” he said. 

“You know what, I don’t think it is,” you shot back. “I think you’re a lot like Charlie, except this—this kind of work is your fix.”

The accusation stung like a hot iron poker. Russell opened his mouth to sling back a retort, even though he knew your aim was deadly when you wanted it to be.

You just turned away from him and shut off the light. 

In the morning, Russell woke to your side of the bed being cold and empty. It made him feel hollow, shitty, after the events of last night reared back up in his mind. 

He lied there between the sheets and listened. He could hear your familiar movements in the kitchen. Letting out a deep breath, he forced himself out of bed. 

After brushing his teeth and raking a hand through his messy bedhead, he cautiously approached the kitchen. Russell lingered in the doorway just outside of view. He found himself watching you putter around in your little nightgown, fuzzy slippers, and frizzy hair. Your fingers got tangled in it while your free hand grabbed the eggs from the fridge, your hip propping the door open. 

You’d made a pot of coffee and even set out his mug for him, as was your habit. Your own mug laid half-empty on the counter. His mug was somewhat special, though not just because it currently had a spoon resting inside it, ready for his sugar and cream.

You bought it for him last time you blew half your paycheck at Marshals; a home goods store he could rarely drag you out of within an hour. That mug featured all the major condiments, including sriracha, which was what made you think of him. It matched the sweatpants you found for him, covered in cartoony fries and burgers. 

They might’ve been silly gifts, but he liked that. He liked that you thought of him in the little things that somehow added up into the big things. They reminded him that you’d given him a chance. You’d given him home cooked meals, and let him make you a few too. You’d watched virtually every popular ‘90s movie that had ever been made with him—or at least, every one you thought he’d might like. You had a list of the 2000s to tackle next. 

You were an encouraging sounding board for him, whether it was talking about what he’d serve on the menu of his future brewery, brainstorming names, or even looking up what paperwork he would need to get started. You’d also been helping him navigate his relationship with Dory, and your brother Charlie, and even Colter, whenever Russell’s still admittedly distant relationship with his brother came up.

Russell washed your car and took out the trash and washed the dishes whenever you cooked, but standing here right now, it finally clicked just how much you actually did for him. How much you cared, and put your actions behind the caring part. You’d given him a place to come home to after decades in service, and years more on the road.

Hell, you were his home. You and his sister.

But now, he realized why you were so upset. You thought he had one foot off of the firm foundation you were trying to build with him. You thought he wasn’t wanting to fully commit here, to you, and to the things he claimed he wanted. You were struggling to understand him.

So Russell entered the kitchen officially, padding in on sock-covered feet until he could slip his arms around you from behind. You stiffened in his grasp and turned to look at him over your shoulder. 

“Russ,” you warned, but he shook his head. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said. “You were right.”

You paused, allowing the fridge to close. Slowly you turned in his arms. You bit your lower lip and granted him a dubious gaze. Still, he counted it as a win when you tentatively held him back, slipping your hands over his biceps for stability. 

“About what?” you rose a brow in challenge.

“I’m gonna start shopping around for real estate here in Laramie, but first, I’m gonna start making moves on the business proposal for the brewery. Would you mind looking it over for me?” he asked. 

Your head tilted as you considered what he was saying, as well as what he wasn’t saying.

“But aren’t you…leaving?” 

“I’m not taking that job,” Russell said. “I’m calling Horizon today, tell ‘em I’m retiring. For good this time.”

It took a while, but his words seeped into your mind and settled there on the ocean floor. Tears began to sting in your eyes, but you nodded and reached up on your toes for a sweet, lingering kiss. You stroked his cheeks and slipped your fingers through his hair when you hugged him. He held you back just as tightly. 

He knew he hadn’t given you everything you asked for, but this felt like a good start.

Russell expected the call at some point, but half an hour was a new record. It was a Saturday, and he made sure you were busy in the laundry room before he took the call in your brother’s old room—AKA: Russell’s office. 

Charlie had been out of rehab for a few months now, rooming with Manny, one of his old unit buddies. Your brother agreed to leave the family house to you though, since you’d always been the stable one who could actually take care of the mortgage and the general upkeep of the house. Russell joined Charlie and his friends for beers every so often, either at Charlie’s apartment, or a new bar close to downtown. 

They traded stories and friendly fire at one another, Russell from his side of the branch in Special Ops, to Charlie and his friends in the Air Force. Dave and Manny could be especially loud-mouthed when tequila was involved, but Russell welcomed the good-natured ribbing with a few good pot shots of his own (he was still a little proud of “glorified flight attendants”).  

Now though, Russell held the phone to his ear and greeted the man on the other line.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” 

“What’s up?” Adam intoned. “‘What’s up’ is that you’re leaving us high and dry, Russ. What’s that about?” 

“Look, you know this was never a permanent gig for me,” Russell replied, speaking quietly just in case you were close by. “It’s high time I took a break, settled down, you know?”

Adam snorted. “You don’t have a civilian fucking bone in your body, Russell.”

“Well, that’s nice. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“Look, you’re the best man I ever worked with. The best CO I ever had. You pulled my ass outta the fire more times than I’d care to admit,” Adam said, “but you remember that last tour?”

Russell sobered. “You know I do.”

“And you remember what I had to do to get us out of that mess. Out of Nicaragua.”

Not like you’d ever let me forget it, Russell thought. Though it was nothing he didn’t see behind his eyes when he went to sleep.

“But when I got this gig, and they asked me who I’d recruit, you’re the first guy I thought of,” Adam said. “Well, you and Dougie. He fucking quit on me too.” 

Russell was happy for Doug. He and his wife just had their first baby a few months ago. One chunky little boy. 

“Look,” Russell said. “I’m grateful for…everything, you know that. But this is just something I gotta do. I’ve got other responsibilities now.”

“Yeah. How is your girl, huh? Been wanting to grab a beer with you, maybe get to finally meet her.”

Russell’s lips twitched. He didn’t talk about you as a rule, not to anyone in Horizon. Aside from Doug, Adam was the only one on the payroll who knew Russell’s real name, let alone about you. This was supposed to be a secure line though. 

“She’s waiting on me, Adam. Can’t keep doin’ that to her,” Russell replied. 

After a while, Adam sighed. 

“All right, Russ. I hear ya. I’m fucked, but I hear ya.”

“You’ll be fine,” Russell smirked. “You’ll find someone young and fresh off the meat market.”

Adam scoffed. “Right. These kids. Half of ‘em anxiety ridden pussies or juvie fucking flunkies. Can’t hack even half the shit we went through in basic, let alone eight months in Baghdad.”

That led into familiar territory. Russell shot the shit with his old friend for a few more minutes before he finally let Adam go. The phone hung from Russell’s hand after, and he expelled a sigh. He felt a twinge of regret, like he was letting go of hell of a lot more. 

After he left home and enlisted, it didn’t just become his life. It became who he was. Both his body and his mind were shaped by the structure of the chain of command, the mission, the follow-through. Muscle-memory.

Putting that aside had been harder than he imagined. After all, what the hell was he, if not a soldier?

Russell wrestled with that question longer than he cared to admit. It even had him getting up from his desk to consult a glass of bourbon he kept on the bookshelf. 

…It’s for the best, he reasoned. 

Even now, Russell didn’t get to see his little sister as often as he liked. Their work kept them moving in different directions, her busy teaching schedule not often gelling well with his more unpredictable one. But today, a Tuesday, he was taking her to lunch between classes.

She stopped short in the doorway of her office.

“Oh! Damn, I forgot…”

She meant to invite you too, but when she took her cell phone out to call you and see if you were busy, Russell laid a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay, she already knows I’m here,” he said. “But you and I are long overdue for some brother-sister time.”

Dory hesitated, but at his grin, she smiled back brightly and put her phone away. “Okay, then. Where do you want to go?”

He took her to a nearby café you told him about. It was one you and Dory frequented at least once a week, either for coffee and pastries, or for a nice protein bowl.

“Why is everything a damn bowl nowadays? They’re all just trying to be Chipotle,” Russell groused, but he ate his bowl of wild rice, steak, and arugula salad with just as much gusto as a carton of Chinese fried rice. He polished it off with a beer and tried to stifle his belch.

Dory rose a brow, but after a beat, she couldn’t hold in a laugh.

“Well, doesn’t seem to bother you that much,” she remarked. Her amusement slid into a teasing smirk. “Matter of fact, looks like you've been eating well since you started shacking up with my best friend.” 

Russell grinned around the lip of his beer. "What're you tryin' to say, D? You fat-shaming me right now?"

"Aw, I wouldn't go that far," she laughed. "You just look like you're settling in to this civillian thing."

Russell smirked. He couldn't argue with her. According to you, he was in super soldier shape. Still, he knew you were being a little too generous. He had softened around the pouch a little since he’d stopped moving around from motel to motel, no time to get comfortable, as he was now. His hard work was also looking different these days—sitting at his desk or on the couch with his laptop. He wasn't a complete sloth though; he still worked out on the regular.

“Gotta admit, she keeps me well-fed,” he said. Though there was no mistaking the glint in his eye, or the waggling of his brows. Dory snorted and shook her head. 

“Please, I don’t wanna hear about any of that. It’s bad enough I had to endure the beginning stages when you two couldn’t be in a room together without eye-fucking each other. Or sneaking off into a public restroom at our work Christmas party—to actually fuck each other.”

Russell spluttered a laugh into his beer, making a slosh of amber liquid run down his shirt. Dory smirked and handed him an extra napkin. He coughed and blotted out most of the stain himself, but gave her an accusatory look through his amusement. 

“You guys seem to be doing well though,” Dory said, her eyes softening along with her smile. “She told me that you finally quit Horizon.”

He rose a brow and set down the empty beer. “Finally?”

“Well, sorry, but she’s not the only one who worries about you, you know?” Dory grabbed her brother’s hand. “It’s been good to have you around this past year, getting to know you again. It feels like having a bit of home back.”

Russell smiled ruefully, squeezing her hand.

“Thought you didn’t like to think about all that.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” she admitted. Her head tilted in thought. “I remember, you used to sing to me whenever I couldn’t fall asleep.”

His mouth twitched, his eyes softening.

“Couldn’t blame you. That place made some weird-ass sounds at night,” he replied, though he sighed deeply through his nose. “You were just a kid.”

“So were you, Russ,” Dory reminded him. 

He held her gaze for as long as he could stand. Eventually, he lowered his eyes. He released her hand and went back to polishing off the flourless chocolate cake she’d ordered for dessert. 

“That night…you really recognized the man Dad was talking to?” Dory asked after a while.

Russell was a little surprised she was bringing that up, but he nodded slowly. 

“I did, but hell. That was twenty years ago.”

She bit her lip. “I still can’t believe Colter thought you…”

“That’s in the past too,” Russell said, his tone even more dismissive.

Hmm. Protesting a little too much, Dory thought.

“Did you ever tell her?” she asked.

They both knew who she meant. You.

“She knows the main bits, but you’re asking if I told her how our brother thought I killed Dad?” Russell scoffed. “No. Didn’t think that little footnote would go over well.”

Dory stared back at him with concern in her blue eyes. She didn’t like keeping things from you, even if it wasn’t her secret to tell. Unfortunately, her family had a lot of secrets.  

“It’s not worth getting into, D,” Russell said. “That, or any of it…though I don’t know. I don’t think Colter’s ready to let it go. He believes me now, but he wants to know who got to Dad, and why. He’s tenacious, I’ll give him that.”

Unlike Colter, it seemed, Russell had an image of his father that had lasted in his mind. It wasn’t a good one. 

Paranoid son of a bitch. 

Russell couldn’t really blame Colter though. He was young when they were taken to the compound. He probably didn’t remember his friends, the house, the way they lived before. 

Russell had been ten years old. He remembered being on the baseball team doing well as a pitcher, and having to lie to his coach and quit the team. Russell remembered saying goodbye to his best friend, Randy, who he never saw again. Russell remembered having to lock up his tears and help his mom take care of his younger siblings, and make sure they were settling into a musty old cabin in the middle of the woods. 

“I’ve tried looking into it before,” he admitted.

Dory’s brows raised. “When?” 

He waved a dismissive hand. “A long time ago, when I had government access to some things. Got a whole lot of nadda.”

“No good is going to come of it, and I told Colter the same thing,” Dory said, shaking her head. “Whatever happened, it’s better if we all just move on.”

She continued eating. After a beat of hesitation, Russell followed suit.  

A couple of weeks later, Russell felt like he’d made good progress. He narrowed down his search to three different spots in downtown that were up for leasing, though one of them was a bit too close to Howley’s for your comfort, which meant he really had two options. Both were walkable, but one had more parking availability, while the other was a better price for the amount of interior square footage. It was a lot to consider.

You’d given him the number of a good commercial realtor you knew, thanks to your boss, Dr. Goldstein. Looked like that stuffed suit was good for something, other than piling his work onto your plate so he could get his monthly back wax. 

You were still at work on a Thursday when Russell’s phone rang. He quirked a brow at the caller ID, but a grin tugged at his lips when he answered. 

“Well hey there, Ms. Greene.”

“Russell, where are you right now?”

“Chillin’ at home. Working through some stuff on my new business venture. Though if the next question’s ‘What am I wearing,’ I gotta remind you that I’m happily off the market,” he teased.

“And thank God for that,” Reenie dryly remarked. “Listen, I need your help. Actually, I think Colter needs you.”  

He detected the urgency in her voice now, and he sobered. 

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I need you to find him. He’s been missing for over 24 hours.”

“Looks like I’m gonna be a little late for dinner,” Russell told you over the phone. "Uh, okay, maybe a lot late."

“What? It’s kind of hard to hear you. Do you have the top down on the Chevelle?”

“She’s a Chevelle Malibu, baby. Well, technically, Malibu for short—”

“Russell, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Reenie called, and it looks like Colter might be in a hard spot. I just need to go help him out,” he replied. Really, he was fighting his worry as he pressed his foot a bit harder on the gas. The sleek Chevy flew down the highway at a speed that would make you hit his arm, if you were here. 

“Why does it sound like you’re giving me the kitty gloves version?” you asked him in suspicion. 

Russell smiled ruefully. This was why he loved you—for your mind. 

“Again, nothing to worry about. I’ll be home by the morning…probably.”

He heard your heavy sigh. 

“Okay, Russ. Just be careful, please.”

“Hey, you know me. I’m always careful.”

“Right,” you snorted. 

The curve of his lips kicked up into a grin. “I gotta let you go, but I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, okay…I love you.” 

His face softened a fraction. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

You hung up with your boyfriend and slipped your phone back in your purse. An undercurrent of worry churned in your stomach. You knew Russell was downplaying whatever was really going on. Reenie wouldn’t call him for help unless Colter was really in trouble, or else why wouldn’t she call the police? 

That rewardist work that Colter did, it had led him into some shady shit, according to Dory, like insidious cults, serial killers, and corrupt politicians. She talked to Colter now more than she used to, but even then, she knew he wasn’t giving her the whole story about most of his adventures. 

Must be a Shaw family trait, you thought sourly. 

With Dory on your mind, you decided to call her up and make tonight a girls’ night. You hung out at her apartment after work, splitting a bottle of wine and several orders of Mexican takeout while watching reruns of New Girl. 

“Where do you think they are right now?” Dory asked, for a moment sobering from laughing at Jess’s antics. 

You had your glass of wine poised to your lips in thought. “I don’t know, but I do know Russ wasn’t telling me the whole truth. I think Colter’s in trouble.”

Dory worried her lip. It clearly didn’t sit well with her that both of her brothers were MIA right now. You tried calling Russell earlier for a check-in, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Colter’s number didn’t even ring. It was just a dial tone, with a disembodied voice saying this number has been disconnected.

But there was nothing you two could do. Reenie had advised you to sit tight and wait for one of them to check in. 

“You know, I may not understand them sometimes, but it makes sense to me why they are the way they are,” she said. “They had it worse than me growing up, either because I was the youngest or because I was the only girl.”

“What do you mean?” you asked, though you had a feeling you knew where she was going with this. 

“I remember, Dad used to make them sleep outside sometimes. Somewhere in the middle of the damn woods, without supplies, without food,” Dory said. She actually began to tear up, her blue eyes turning pale and glassy. “I heard him and my mom arguing about it once. Finally he agreed to go out there and watch out for them—from a distance though, so they wouldn’t know he was there.”

You stared back at her in dismay. That hurt your heart so fucking deep. No wonder Russ didn’t want to open up about this shit. How can I blame him? How can a father…

You shook your head, resting a hand on her arm. 

“But why? Why did your dad do all this? Russell said he was paranoid, but…what was he running from?” you asked.

“We don’t know,” Dory admitted. After a moment, she looked over at you and held your gaze. “All that we did know, was that his death wasn’t an accident.”

That revelation shocked you. Your mouth parted, though no words escaped. 

Dory set down her wine and got up from the couch. Then, with a certain decision weighing in her eyes, she went over to her room. 

“D?” you questioned. “You’re just gonna drop a fucking bomb like that on me and walk away?!”

Not getting an answer, you rose to follow her, where you watched in bewilderment as she dug into the recesses of her closet until she found a plain white shoebox. It was just some old cardboard, frayed at the corners, but Dory hesitated to even open it. 

“What are you doing? What is that?” you asked.

“A few years back, a family friend gave this to me. Apparently it has some of my dad’s old stuff,” she said. “I’ve never wanted to go digging through it because I wanted to leave the past behind me. I think it’s been easier for me to say that, but not so easy for Colter and Russell.”

After a beat of hesitation, she handed the box over to you. 

“Would you give this to Russell when he gets back?” she asked. “He can do whatever he wants with it. Look inside, try to piece together what happened, or just burn it all. Either way, I’m done. As far as I’m concerned, my dad wasn’t really my dad after he took us to live in that place. And my mom…” She laughed humorlessly. “She was no saint either. She went along with everything my father did.”

You took the box from her with some concern. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Honestly, I don’t even like having it here. It’s just a…bad reminder.”

You rubbed a hand over her arm in comfort. "You guys never went to the police?"

Dory shook her head. "Mom didn't trust anyone, least of all the police. She probably thought it was safer for us."

"God, I'm sorry," you said. After a beat, you set down the box and pulled Dory into a hug. She rested her chin on your shoulder and squeezed her eyes tight for a second.

"It's okay," she said. "...It's in the past." 

Sure, you thought. But there were some scars that didn't fade, no matter how much you ignored them, banaged them, or tried to soothe them.

You took the box and left her apartment shortly after. She offered to let you stay the night so you wouldn’t be alone, but you declined. Russell installed a state-of-the-art security system in your house, making it feel like the safest place in the world to you. That was where you’d be able to sleep tonight, even with this mysterious old shoebox.  

The drive back was devoid of traffic this late at night, but after what happened with Eddie Mendez last year, you always felt uneasy driving alone at night. A good part of you was also still trying to digest all of this.

On one hand, you could understand Colter and Russell wanting to know what happened to their father. If Ashton was murdered, the reason could explain everything they went through growing up. 

With all of these thoughts rattling through your mind, you couldn’t even be completely relieved when you pulled into the driveway of your home. You walked into the house quickly, shut the door, and input the code to lock everything behind you.

Holding your purse on one shoulder and the box under your other arm, your first instinct was to find a good hiding place for it. You began to wonder if you should’ve accepted it from Dory at all. If her father’s death was no accident, then what was he killed for?

But…Dory had this thing in her closet for all this time without incident. Surely there was nothing diabolical about it. Ashton Shaw had been a professor too, right? It probably just held some keepsakes, a few old essays, some paperclips and 20-year-old dust bunnies…

You found a place in the house that a burglar would be unlikely to look for something valuable (again, really, what kind of burglar would want to steal a shoebox of old junk?), and you took a deep, calming breath in the middle of your living room. 

You still hadn’t been able to get in touch with Russell. All your texts had been going unanswered. You grabbed your phone and began to find Reenie in your contacts, but you paused. You were reminded of something you forgot to do when you walked in the door. 

Along with the coded door lock, there was an app on your phone where you could monitor the cameras strategically placed outside the house. However, when you checked the app, you realized that the camera feed said Unavailable. For every single camera. 

Your brows furrowed. That’s weird… 

Seconds later, the first bullet broke through your impact windows. 

AN: 🫣 Oh sorry, did I not mention there was a cliffhanger? You can rant and scream in the comments, it's totally fine. 😂

As you can see, we're in the middle of 2x02, with my own twist on some things around it. Plus some material from the books making it into this part - and more heavily implied in the next part - coming next Sunday!

Next Time:

While the phone rang, tucked between your shoulder and your ear, you were forced to set down the gun. With trembling hands, you quietly rifled through your medicine cabinet for gauze or an ace bandage. Fuck, yes! Okay. This could work. You found the big square bandages that stick on. Russell bought them the last time he came home with a couple of nasty abrasions from a job.

Still, the phone rang.

Come on, come on, come oooon!

“Hello?” The lawyer’s voice was smooth and retaining a note of exasperation.

“Reenie! Where’s Russell?” you whisper-hissed.

“I have him right here. What’s wrong?” she asked. Immediately, her tone shifted to concern. You’d never met Reenie in person, but you knew she worked with Colter and, according to Russell, was damn good at what she did. 

You didn’t give a shit about any of that right now.

“Put him on the phone, please!” 

In a few seconds of shuffling, you finally, finally heard his voice. 

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

A breath of relief escaped you in a rush.

“Russell,” you sobbed.

⌖ Keep Reading: PART 2

Join My Patreon 🌟 For early access to new stories, bonus content, first looks at upcoming stories; send me requests, and more!

Every Second Counts Masterlist

Russell Shaw Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Russell Shaw Tag List:

@kazsrm67 @letheatheodore @agothwithheavysetmakeup @jacklesbrainworms @foxyjwls007

@wincastifer @ades106 @roseblue373 @rizlowwritessortof @brianochka

@branj19 @globetrotter28 @charmed-asylum @lamentationsofalonelypotato @chevroletdean

@waywardxwords @deanwinchestersgirl87 @this-is-me19 @rachiem4-blog @sweettimelady

@leigh70 @clinicallydepresso @xiphoidbones @skoveu @nyotamalfoy

@kmc1989 @jackles010378 @emily-winchester @jessjad

@my-stories-vault @deans-spinster-witch @syrma-sensei @stellasfictionalworld @ultimatecin73

@jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @pieandmonsters @grilledcheeseandtomato @taehyungxjungkookistaekook @lovelystoriesaj

@nicksalchemy1 @spnwoman @onlyangel-444 @sexyvixen7 @illicithallways

@wolkenprinzessin007 @alwaystiredandconfused @carpenterswife @cheynovak

[jude-duarte-wannabe]

welcome to the bakery

currently playing; the bakery by melanie martinez "pack it, box it, flip it, top it... the bakery, i'm tryna make some more"

this was inspired by @bunnys-kisses so go check out their page, such incredible stuff <3

when you request, please make sure to let me know if it's from my smut prompts or my soft ones [soft request prompts are still in the works]

hey lovely, how can i help? may i take your order? what do you feel like today? personally i'm in need of some iced tea and all you have to do is pick a dessert, drink and server of your choosing please, please, please don't forget to indicate who you want me to write about!! also please keep in mind that i haven't written anything in a while so it might take a bit for me to back into the groove of it. <3

the bakeries i currently have open are: formula one, resident evil, bridgerton and criminal minds, just for now.[but i am open to any other fandoms you might have in mind! please do not hesitate to ask!!]

the servers i'm currently writing for include; charles leclerc, carlos sainz, lewis hamiltion, pierre gasly, lando norris, max verstappen, oscar piastri, leon kennedy, carlos oliveria, chris redfield, anthony bridgerton, benedict bridgerton, colin bridgerton, spencer reid, aaron hotchner and luke alvez.

i do also accept polyam relationships! [pairing + reader] but only three people just to make it manageable on my end!

all orders can be made to the inbox for @jude-duarte-wannabe and i'll get your order together when i can also let me know if you want your order to...

be extra hot; real smutty or have sweetener; extra fluffy

let me know if want to be added to my taglist by commenting <3 followed by the person.

the bakery menu;

pound cake; "i can be rough and i don't want to hurt you"

churro's; "does my sweet boy need comforting"

cheese scone; "let your brother find out, i don't fucking care"

mille-feuille; "that's it, shit, such a good fucking girl"

cinnamon buns; "no promises"

gingerbread; "i mean i would totally make out with her/him but like platonically, you know"

baguette; "give me a minute, i really need to tickle the shit out of you"

pretzel; "i was never meant to fall for you"

cornbread; "you taste really good"

strawberry shortcake; "he's so cute, i really want to bite him"

soda bread; "wait a second... am i your lockscreen'

focaccia; "i could beat the shit out of you" "i know"

choux pastry; "i can't believe i ever loved you"

pumpkin muffin; "shut up... my girls asleep"

dinner roll; "holy shit, you still love him/her"

cakepop; "goodnight to my future wife, fuck the rest of you"

pull apart bread; "i love you"

souffle; "i'll be gentle"

powdered doughnuts; "marry me"

s'more; "the accent got to you, didn't it"

waffles; "you spill a single fucking drop and we're starting again"

shortbread biscuits; "if he pisses me off again, i'm fucking his girl"

red velvet cupcake; "does he know that i cum deep inside his little angel'

pancakes; "no, we can't, not here"

coffee cake; "i need to breed you"

french toast; "i don't think it'll fit"

crepes; "go back to sleep, you don't need to be awake for this sweetcheeks"

sweet pastry; "i'm trying to get you pregnant, now shut up and let me concentrate"

butter tart; "stop, don't fake it"

sugar pie; "stop wriggling"

zebra cake; "i'll make it fit"

carrot cake; "dirty girl"

date scone; "i'm going to make you a mama and your going to make me a daddy"

cookie; "do you feel that, how fucking deep i am"

brownie; "no fucking touching"

cheesecake; "don't yell at me"

pumpkin pie; "are you nibbling on me"

chocolate cake; "i'll use protection, i promise"

spice pie; "i wonder if your brother know that i cum inside you"

apple crumble; "i can't do this while you cat/dog is watching"

sausage roll; "i hate being your secret"

blueberry slice; "but what if somebody see's"

mushroom pie; "that looks like it hurt"

apple tart; "what do you mean you want me to choke you"

lemon slice; "i forget how small you are sometimes"

swiss roll; "your glasses are fogging up"

truffle; "send me an audio of you moaning"

oaty slice; "you smell like me"

cream puff; "this ends when your pregnant"

custard slice; "no hiding your face"

victoria sponge; "you wanna hold my hand"

english muffin; "i could die between these legs"

bagel; "where you going, this ain't over"

banana bread; "i can't believe you broke my bed"

hot cross buns; "i'll pay for the damages"

apple turnover; "can you keep it down"

fudge; "what do you mean noise complaint"

peach cake; "i've never done this"

tiramisu; "how could you be so stupid"

crumb cake; "nobody has to know"

custard tart; "you gonna let me cum inside"

date pudding; "your going to let me rawdog you, oh fuck"

mince pie; "so fucking dumb"

angel food cake; "did you just squirt, since when could you do that"

savory scroll; "stop stressing, i'm not going to post it"

chocolate chip cookie; "did you just call me pretty boy"

croissant; "don't you dare"

elcairs; "don't, leave them on"

chocolate mousse; "i'm sorry"

boston cream pie; "fuck it's dripping down your legs"

and to drink;

coffee; somnophilia kink

tea; semi public

juice; breeding kink

mocha; daddy kink

peppermint tea; mommy kink

vodka shot; rough sex

sparkling water; gentle sex

oat milk; one night stand

soy milk; friends with benefits

coconut milk; friends to lovers

almond milk; grumpy x sunshine

energy drink; doggy style

turmeric latte; fake dating

cold brew; possessive

espresso shot; dirty talking

chamomile tea; choking kink

glass of water; aftercare

herbal tea; soft but only for you

milkshake; size kink

pina colada; pregnancy

matcha latte; mixed with smau

cider; body worship

mai tai; loss of virginity

margarita; unprotected sex

chai; biting or hickeys [please let me know which]

earl grey; big cock

tonic water; age gap

soda; protected sex

root beer; caught in the act

americano; oral sex

whiskey; degrading language

vitamin water; dom/sub dynamics

irish coffee; drunk sex

lemon water; secret relationship

dark roast; sub character

hot chocolate; sub reader

iced tea; accentally leaking relationship

flat white; brothers best friend

iced latte; best friends brother

iced mocha latte; plus sized reader

smoothie; belly bulge

doppio coffee; wall sex

green tea; spiting kink

cortado; belly kisses

affogato; a bet

lemon ginger tea; single mom/dad

berry smoothie; accidental pregnancy

sunshine smoothies; fake dating

cappuccino; secret baby

rice milk; baby fever

cashew milk; somebody flirts with your bf/gf

iced chai; forehead kisses

[cacchieressa]

Everything Needs Fixing

in your thirties everything needs fixing. i bought a toolbox for this. filled it with equipment my father once owned to keep our home from crumbling. i purchased tools with names & functions unknown to me. how they sat there on their shelf in plastic packaging with price tags screaming: hey lady, you need this! like one day i could give my home & everything living inside it the gift of immortality, to be a historical monument the neighbor's would line up to visit even after i'm gone & shout: damn that's a nice house! i own a drill now, with hundreds & hundreds of metal pieces i probably won't use or use in the wrong ways but what i'm certain of, is still, the uncertainty of which tools repair the aging dog, the wilting snake plant, the crow's feet under my eyes, the stiff knee or bad back. & maybe this is how it is—how parts of our small universe dissolve like sugar cubes in water—a calling to ask us to slow our busy breathing so we can marvel at its magic. because even the best box of nails are capable of rust. because when i was a child i dropped a cookie jar in the shape of noah's ark, a family heirloom that shattered to pieces. the animals broke free, zebras ran under the kitchen table, the fractured lion roared by the front door & out of the tool cabinet i snagged duck tape & ceramic glue. pieced each beast back to their intended journey. because that afternoon when my father returned from work i confessed & he sat the jar on the counter only to fill it with pastries. how the cracks of imperfection mended by my hands laid jagged. chipped paint sliced across a rhino's neck. every wild animal lined up against the boat— & a flood of sweet confections waiting inside.

--Karla Cordero

[suzukiblu]

currently having EMOTIONS abt your 'Billy adopts kon and it goes p good actually'. Billy's there just like oh man I'm rambling they're gonna think I'm so lame...meanwhile I as a reader (and presumably also Kon and possibly the other characters present??) are actually going 'oh my god. oh my god he's known Kon for like one singular minute and already arranged a flat according to his best predictions of Kon's needs/wants, gave Kon FIRST PICK OF BEDROOM, and has freely offered to learn how to cook AND how to drive for the sole purpose of taking better care of Kon'. like. oh my god. oh my god. Billy is so precious and I want to give him a hug. I hope Kon isn't too overwhelmed or suspicious due to Billy's enthusiasm tho lmao. (pls could there be..more? more Billy adopts kon, if possible?) anyway I love ur writing. thank you. idk how to ask from a sidelong but this is tryingahandinholdingapen btw :D

I gotchu, friend, lol. @tryingahandinholdingapen But yeah I love a good unreliable narrator, one way or the other it's just so fun peppering in all the bits of "the actual situation that the narrator is oblivious to", hahaha.

Rich people are weird, Billy decides, then sets the swiss rolls and zebra cakes and rest of the strawberry shortcakes on the counter in case Kid Flash is still hungry or Superboy wants any of them and closes the pantry. Batman’s just doing his best, he guesses. Though Billy hopes he knows how to coupon, if he’s always buying brand-name. 

Well, he’s Batman. It’d be weirder if he didn’t know how to coupon, Billy figures.

It looks like Superboy ate all of his snack cake while Billy and Kid Flash were in the pantry, at least, which Billy hopes means he liked it. He doesn’t know how much real food Superboy’s had, but Batman’d said he should be fine eating solid stuff and not just whatever he’d been getting in his cloning pod. Though Billy’d still asked if they could get some bottled smoothies and protein shakes and stuff like that to keep in the fridge, just in case. He figured those might be easier for him to eat and digest, if it came up. Or like, maybe appeal to him more, if nothing else? 

Billy has no idea, honestly, he’s just doing his best here. The wisdom of Solomon is pretty useful but it’s not really, like, that much of a parenting guide. 

He is not going to cut Superboy in half. Like, ever. Like he understands the idea of that story but also it is an insane and incredibly freaky story and he is just not invoking it, ever. Just no way.

“If it’s alright, Captain, we should get going. We’ve got a bit of a drive to get home,” Mrs. West says, then sighs as Kid Flash empties the boxes of swiss rolls and zebra cakes in lightning-fast succession, though he leaves the strawberry shortcakes alone. Billy checks in the fridge and offers him a couple of the more filling smoothies–peanut butter and banana should be more filling, anyway, even with a speedster’s appetite. He steals those from convenience stores sometimes, when he can. He can’t be Captain Marvel all the time. 

Well–maybe he could, he guesses. But he does miss being himself, sometimes.

“Thanks, man,” Kid Flash says eagerly, then immediately shotguns both smoothies. 

“Wally,” Mr. West says in exasperation as Mrs. West sighs again. “Don’t eat Captain Marvel out of house and home.” 

“It’s okay, we’ve got lots of food!” Billy promises cheerfully. “I work with Flash, I know how hungry he gets. I bet it’s way worse when you still have growth spurts to get through.” 

“It is so much worse,” Kid Flash mutters vehemently, eyeing the empty smoothie bottles in his hands accusingly. Billy gets him another peanut butter banana one on principle. He really doesn’t want Kid Flash to be that hungry. It’s . . . not a good feeling. 

“We appreciate it, Captain, really, but we’ve got snacks and a cooler in the car,” Mrs. West says. 

“Oh, good,” Billy says, relieved. Mr. and Mrs. West both give him strange, inscrutable looks, then glance back to Superboy. Billy wonders if he likes peanut butter banana smoothies. Though if he liked the snack cakes, there’s strawberry banana ones too, so that might be better? And strawberry kiwi, but that’s probably less filling. “Superboy, do you want a smoothie too?” 

“No,” Superboy says. Billy pauses again, then gets him a strawberry banana one and tosses it over. Superboy catches it, eyes it, and then opens it and takes a sip.

Okay, Billy thinks he’s getting the hang of this. But also they should probably talk about how “no” needs to actually mean “no”. Like, for Superboy he’s sure it’s just like that phase when toddlers want to say “no” to everything no matter what, but it’s still important for him to understand. Billy doesn’t want to accidentally upset him or overstep because Superboy doesn’t know how to really say “no” to something.

Yeah, they definitely need to talk about that, he decides.

[buntress]

[IDs in alt text]

❝ Elephant // Hippo ❞

[PT :: Elephant // Hippo]

Elephant :: A presentation term for zoochord individuals who are tall, fat // chubby, and may seem unsettling to others. Hippo :: A presentation term for zoochord individuals who are average height, fat // chubby, and may seem unsettling to others.

[IDs in alt text]

❝ Zebra // Penguin ❞

[PT :: Zebra // Penguin]

Zebra :: A presentation term for zoochord individuals who are short, lanky, and may seem unsettling to others. Penguin :: A presentation term for zoochord individuals who are short, fat // chubby, and may seem unsettling to others.

───────

Notes :: I don't have any other plans for more, but if anyone has suggestions my ask box is open :3

Archive Tagging :: @radiomogai @horrormogai @presentationflag-archive

───────

Taglist :: @genderdenied @mimiscoiningcafe @discrophy @horrgores @smilepilled

[justforbooks]

The Best Album Cover Shoots – in pictures

From the Beatles crossing a zebra to a naked Prince, via Grace Jones attempting the anatomically impossible and Led Zeppelin’s New York tenements, these cover designs became as famous as the music they enclosed 🎶🎵👏

Grace Jones – Nightclubbing, Island Records, 1981, by Jean-Paul Goude

Nightclubbing's iconic artwork is a 1981 painted photograph titled Blue-Black in Black on Brown, created in New York by Goude. This was the singular image that accompanied the original LP, as it "was concealed in a plain, black inner sleeve, no lyrics and with no photo on the back cover." Composed by right angles, the photograph shows Jones cut to waist, bare chested, and dressed in an Armani man's wide shouldered suit, with an unlit cigarette aiming downward from her lip. She is shot with her signature flat top haircut and her chest bones showing; her dark skin confers upon the image a violet, blue-black colour. The image is noted for its androgyny, with Jones not only "[unpicking] some of the boundaries of unconventionality, but [choosing] to confuse such boundaries." Rick Poynor writes: "Goude admired Jones for her mixture of beauty and threat, and the Nightclubbing portrait expresses this duality with absolute composure and no false histrionics." Piers Martin of Uncut felt the cover was "arresting", and wrote: "the indigo mood, cool gaze and cigarette suggested Marlene Dietrich, the gender-bending a touch of Bowie."

Prince – Lovesexy, Paisley Park, 1988, by Jean-Baptiste Mondino (design by Laura LiPuma)

The artwork of Lovesexy sparked as much interest as did the music. Mimicking The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, the cover shows Prince reclined naked with a lily stamen suggestively positioned above his groin. It is an image that captures the LP’s essence of spirituality perfectly. Prince had even denied Warner’s management sight of the cover prior to the album’s retail release. The image was deemed far too risqué for 1988 and prompted many retailers to conceal the artwork under black plastic wrapping (Wal-Mart refusing to stock it at all) or keeping it behind the counter, deeming it too provocative to display in store. It is likely this hindered sales of the album in the more conservative leaning US. The shot is the work of fashion photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Prince’s first choice to direct Under The Cherry Moon but was unavailable. Mondino would instead direct the video Mia Bocca for Jill Jones which led to doing likewise with I Wish U Heaven for Prince. He would also shoot promos for Neneh Cherry (Manchild) and Madonna’s Justify My Love. During a breakfast in LA, Prince asked Mondino if he would shoot the album’s cover. The image was captured in LA, with the lilies and stamen added at Mondino’s studio back in Paris using Paint Box software, a forerunner to Photoshop.

Mondino’s cover is the sole promotional image shot for the album – its back cover and inner sleeves feature the tracklisting and lyrics hand drawn by Margo Chase. With no alternative shots available and keeping with the theme of nakedness, the singles Alphabet St. and Glam Slam were issued without artwork, their transparent sleeves labelled with a sticker. In April 2022 Lovesexy was exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery in London staged in celebration of the art of iconic album designs.

Boz Scaggs – Middle Man, Columbia, 1980, by Guy Bourdin

Middle Man is the ninth studio album by Boz Scaggs, released by Columbia Records in 1980. Scaggs hired members of the band Toto as session musicians (as he did for Down Two Then Left and Silk Degrees) and shared songwriting credits with them, returning to the commercial, soul-influenced rock of the latter. It would take him eight years to release his following album Other Roads, again retaining the personnel of the three preceding it.

Tirez Tirez – Etudes, Aura, 1980, by Brian Griffin (design by Bill Smith)

Brian Griffin: ‘This photograph was taken in my studio/bedroom at Elsynge Road in Wandsworth [south London] using my bed. The model is Martin Cropper, who I used in my work at the time. It was originally taken for my book Brian Griffin Copyright 1978 and later purchased for the cover by Aaron Sixx of Aura records for Tirez Tirez’.

Tom Waits – Rain Dogs, Island Records, 1985, by Anders Petersen

Rain Dogs is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, Rain Dogs is generally considered the middle album of a trilogy that includes Swordfishtrombones and Franks Wild Years.

The album, which features guitarists Keith Richards and Marc Ribot, is noted for its broad spectrum of musical styles and genres, described by Arion Berger as merging "outsider influences – socialist decadence by way of Kurt Weill, pre-rock integrity from old dirty blues, the elegiac melancholy of New Orleans funeral brass – into a singularly idiosyncratic American style."

The album peaked at number 29 on the UK charts and number 188 on the US Billboard Top 200. Rod Stewart had success with his cover of "Downtown Train", later included on some editions of his 1991 album Vagabond Heart. In 1989, it was ranked number 21 on the Rolling Stone list of the "100 greatest albums of the 1980s." In 2012, the album was ranked number 399 on the magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and at number 357 in 2020.

Though it has been remarked that the man on the cover bears a striking resemblance to Waits, the photograph is actually one of a series taken by the Swedish photographer Anders Petersen at Café Lehmitz (a café near the Hamburg red-light boulevard Reeperbahn) in the late 1960s. The man and woman depicted on the cover are called Rose and Lilly.

Thelonious Monk – Monk, Columbia, 1964, by W Eugene Smith

Monk. (1964) is the fourth studio album Thelonious Monk released on Columbia Records, and his seventh album overall for that label. It features two original compositions and several jazz standards.

The track "Pannonica" is a tribute to the jazz patron Pannonica de Koenigswarter. The track "Teo" is a tribute to the album's producer Teo Macero.

The album cover is a photo of Monk taken by W. Eugene Smith in 1959. Between 1957 and 1965, Monk and other prominent New York jazz musicians rehearsed at the photographer's home, nicknamed 'The Jazz Loft'.

Photographer and photojournalist W Eugene Smith demanded such perfection of his images that he destroyed most of his early work. He had a vast career and helped define photojournalism through his work at Life magazine, before joining Magnum Photos in 1955. He is remembered as a master both technically and in the darkroom. This photograph is titled Thelonious Monk Rehearsing in the Loft, 1959.

Madonna – True Blue, Sire/Warner, 1986, by Herb Ritts

The album cover was shot by photographer Herb Ritts. It shows Madonna in profile, with her head thrown back and eyes closed against a sky-blue background; her skin is bleached-out, and her hair platinum blonde. Jeri Heiden, who was working at the Warner Bros. art department, was given the task of editing the photos to adapt them into record covers. The final photo was selected by Madonna, Heiden and Jeff Ayeroff, creative director of Warner Bros. at that time. After the image was chosen, Heiden experimented with a variety of treatments of the original, which was shot in black and white, to go along with the album's title, and finally arrived at the final, blue toned, hand tinted version. The album's inner sleeve did not feature any photographs, and instead was dedicated to album credits and song lyrics, since Madonna wanted to be represented by her work rather than her image.

Lucy O'Brien described the cover as a "moment of Warholian pop art. A mixture of innocence [and] idealism […] Our first glimpse of Madonna as a classic icon". For J. Randy Taraborrelli, author of Madonna: An Intimate Biography, the artwork indicated how "[True Blue] was a vehicle of growth for [Madonna]"; the "washed out color photograph" cover was "understated", especially when compared to the "sexier poses" she had been associated with in the past. For Joe Lynch from Billboard, it is one of the greatest album covers of all time.

True Blue was released on June 30, 1986. In the United States and Canada, the cover did not include the singer's name. Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine that the record company thought it would be "cool" to use a shrink wrap on American releases, so that when the public took it off, they'd be left with the photograph of Madonna. In Europe, Warner felt that the name was needed, as they did not want to risk messing with Madonna's popularity. The back sleeve and booklet feature the song titles in Heiden's own handwriting. About cropping the image for the cassette and vinyl releases, Heiden said: "I think the image became more interesting cropped into a square—and at that time we always started with the album cover configuration. It was like she was floating—her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue—Goddess like. In the vertical cropping you see her leather jacket and the wall, and it becomes more typical, editorial, earthly". On May 22, 2001, Warner Bros. released a remastered edition of the album with two additional remixes of "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita". Twenty years later, a 35th anniversary edition was released; it includes additional remixes, dub and instrumental versions. It was reissued on crystal clear vinyl on November 8, 2019.

The Rolling Stones – Goats Heads Soup, The Rolling Stones Records, 1973, by David Bailey (design by Ray Lawrence)

Goats Head Soup is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 31 August 1973 by Rolling Stones Records. Like its predecessor Exile on Main St., the band composed and recorded much of it outside of the United Kingdom due to their status as tax exiles. Goats Head Soup was recorded in Jamaica, the United States and the United Kingdom. The album contains 10 tracks, including the lead single "Angie" which went to number one as a single in the US and the top five in the UK.

The album cover was designed by Ray Lawrence and photographed by David Bailey, a friend of Jagger's who had worked with the Rolling Stones since 1964. The portrait of Jagger on the front cover was approximately life size in the original 12-inch LP format. Jagger was reluctant to be shot enveloped by a pink chiffon veil, which Bailey said was meant to look like "Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen". The album's gatefold has Taylor, Wyman and Watts wrapped in a similar fabric, and Richards on the back. The album's original rejected cover art featured the entire band as centaurs and an image of goat's head soup, a Jamaican dish made from a goat's body parts, such as the head, feet and testicles.

Serge Gainsbourg – Love on the Beat, Philips, 1984, by William Klein

Love on the Beat is the fifteenth studio album by French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. On this album, Gainsbourg used American musicians to achieve a funk-heavy rock sound. The album was controversial due to its very sexual lyrical content, with homosexuality and prostitution as the subject matters on many of the tracks. Perhaps the most controversial was "Lemon Incest", which was set to Frédéric Chopin's Étude No. 3 and sung as a duet with his then-13-year-old daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg.

French singer Serge Gainsbourg dressed in drag for the cover of Love on the Beat. Gainsbourg gave up alcohol for 12 days ahead of the shoot with legendary photographer William Klein to make himself beautiful.

Grace Jones – Island Life, Island Records, 1985, by Jean-Paul Goude (design by Greg Porto)

Island Life is the first greatest hits album by Jamaican singer and songwriter Grace Jones, released in December 1985, summing up the first nine years of her musical career. The album sits among Jones' best-selling works.

The cover picture is one of the most famous images of Grace Jones and was created by her then-partner Jean-Paul Goude. The impossibly graceful arabesque is actually a montage of separate images, following Goude's ideas on creating credible illusions with his cut-and-paint technique. The body position is "anatomically unlikely".

Jones assigned her then partner, Jean-Paul Goude, to create this cover image for Island Life. In what has become an iconic portrait, Goude compiled several separate snaps of Jones and constructed this lissom and elegant, if anatomically dubious, pose, all before Photoshop existed. ‘Unless you are extraordinarily supple, you cannot do this arabesque,’ Goude has said. ‘The main point is that Grace couldn’t do it, and that’s the basis of my entire work: creating a credible illusion’.

The picture was originally published in New York magazine in 1978 and subsequently used in the music video for Jones' hit single "La Vie en rose". It has been since described as "one of pop culture's most famous photographs". Also included in the album sleeve are other iconic images of Jones, among them the "twins" photograph, Grace Jones in a cage and wearing a "maternity" dress.

The cover picture was featured in Michael Ochs' 1996 book 1000 Record Covers and has been often imitated in works by other artists. The image was also referenced in Nicki Minaj's 2011 music video for "Stupid Hoe", with Minaj mimicking the pose.

Joe Jackson – Look Sharp!, A&M, 1979, by Brian Griffin (design by Michael Ross)

Look Sharp! is the debut album by Joe Jackson, released in January 1979. The album features one of Jackson's most well-known songs, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?", as well as the title track "Look Sharp", "Sunday Papers", "One More Time" and "Fools in Love".

The cover, featuring a pair of white shoes, ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest album covers of all time.

In 2000, it was voted number 865 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.

The photo used on the album's cover was shot by Brian Griffin on London's South Bank, near London Waterloo station. Upon arriving at the South Bank, Griffin noticed a shaft of light landing on the ground and asked Jackson to stand there: the whole process took no more than five minutes. According to Griffin, Jackson hated the record sleeve as it did not include his face, and vowed never to work with Griffin again. Nonetheless, the album artwork became one of the nominees for the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

Some observers didn't understand the tongue-in-cheek nature of Jackson's choice of title and cover art—an early reviewer in New Musical Express said they "suggest an obsession with style" and sniffed that Jackson sported "a pair of white side-lace Denson winklepickers that are, unfortunately, not nearly as cool as he evidently thinks they are". As time went on, journalists became more familiar with his youthful lack of interest in fashion, and The Face noted how most agreed with the general summation of him as a "sartorial disaster area".

Brian Griffin: ‘This was shot on London’s South Bank, which you could say was my open-air studio, as I did not have a studio then. I fell in love with the quality of light that pervaded there. It was the fastest album cover shoot that I ever did, maybe it took four minutes. I saw this patch of light making a pattern on the paving and said to Joe: “Stand there!”’

Diana Ross – Silk Electric, RCA, 1982, by Andy Warhol (photograph and design)

Silk Electric is the thirteenth studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on September 10, 1982, by RCA Records. It was Ross' second of six albums released by the label during the decade. It reached No. 27 on the US Billboard 200 (No. 5 R&B), No. 33 in the UK Albums Chart and the Top 20 in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The album cover was designed by Andy Warhol.

The album contains Ross' US Top 10, Grammy-nominated single, "Muscles", which was written and produced by Michael Jackson. All other tracks were produced by Ross, including the US Top 40 follow-up single "So Close" featuring prominent background vocal arrangements by Luther Vandross.

The song "In Your Arms", written by Linda Creed and Michael Masser, was covered by Teddy Pendergrass and Whitney Houston as "Hold Me" the following year. The song "I Am Me" was co-written by Ross (and incorrectly listed as co-written by Cindy Birdsong instead of Janie Bradford on the Greatest Hits: The RCA Years compilation album). The album was certified Gold in the US and Silver in the UK.

The album was remastered and re-released on September 2, 2014 by Funky Town Grooves as an "Expanded Edition", with bonus material.

Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine, Epic, 1992, by Malcolm Browne

Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It was released on November 6, 1992, by Epic Records, four days after the release of the album's first single, "Killing in the Name". The album was based largely on the band's first commercial demo tape of the same name, completed 11 months prior to the album's release. The tape contained earlier recordings of seven of the ten songs.

The cover features a crop of Malcolm Browne's famous photograph of the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, in Saigon in 1963. The monk was protesting against President Ngô Đình Diệm’s administration for oppressing the Buddhist religion. In 1963, Browne’s photography and coverage of the event earned him the World Press Photo of the Year award.

The songs on Rage Against the Machine all feature political messages. Activists such as Provisional IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton are listed in the "Thanks For Inspiration" section. Also thanked were Ian and Alec MacKaye.

The lyrics for each song were printed in the album booklet with the exception of those for "Killing in the Name", which were omitted; the booklet reads "2. KILLING IN THE NAME", skips the lyrics and continues with the next song.

The statement "no samples, keyboards or synthesizers used in the making of this record" can be found at the end of the sleeve notes. Similar statements were made in the band's subsequent albums. The band also refer to themselves as "Guilty Parties" for each album.

The album was a critical success upon release, with several critics noting the album's politically motivated agenda and praising frontman Zack de la Rocha's strong vocal delivery. Ranked number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time", the album peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers chart and number 45 on the US Billboard 200 and has gone on to achieve a triple platinum sales certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the US. Multiple publications have ranked it as one of the best albums of the 1990s. In 2020, it was ranked 221 in Rolling Stone's updated list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

The Beatles – Abbey Road, Apple, 1969, by Iain Macmillan (design by John Kosh)

Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although Let It Be (1970) was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly recorded in April, July, and August 1969, and topped the record charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. A double A-side single from the album, "Something" / "Come Together", was released in October, which also topped the charts in the US.

Apple Records creative director Kosh designed the album cover. It is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover, which was Kosh's idea, despite EMI saying the record would not sell without this information. He later explained that "we didn't need to write the band's name on the cover […] They were the most famous band in the world". The front cover was a photograph of the group walking on a zebra crossing, based on ideas that McCartney sketched, and taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. At 11:35 that morning, photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up traffic behind the camera. Macmillan took six photographs, which McCartney examined with a magnifying glass before deciding which would be used on the album sleeve.

In the image selected by McCartney, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney and Harrison. McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the others. Except for Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter. A white Volkswagen Beetle is to the left of the picture, parked next to the zebra crossing, which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was repeatedly stolen from the car. In 2004, news sources published a claim made by retired American salesman Paul Cole that he was the man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture.

Although Abbey Road was an instant commercial success, it received mixed reviews upon release. Some critics found its music inauthentic and criticised the production's artificial effects. By contrast, critics today view the album as one of the Beatles' best and one of the greatest albums of all time. George Harrison's two songs on the album, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", are considered among the best he wrote for the group. The album's cover, featuring the Beatles walking across the zebra crossing outside of Abbey Road Studios (then officially named EMI Studios), is one of the most famous and imitated of all time.

Graham Parker and the Rumour – The Parkerilla, Mercury, 1978, by Brian Griffin (design by Barney Bubbles)

The Parkerilla is a 1978 live double album by Graham Parker and The Rumour. It was recorded at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, Manchester Opera House, Apollo Theatre, Oxford and The Palladium, New York City; and mixed at Rockfield Studios, Wales.

The album was recorded as a contractual obligation album as Parker had already signed with Arista and was preparing "Squeezing Out Sparks" for that label. The album was longer than a traditional record and Mercury elected to release it as a double album. The single "Hey Lord Don't Ask Me Questions" was a re-recording of a song from the first album (and slightly retitled) with the song occupying the fourth side.

The album met with a mixed reception from critics who were waiting for new material from Parker.

In 1991, Rolling Stone ranked The Parkerilla number 64 on its list of 100 greatest album covers. The cover photography was by Brian Griffin, with the artwork completed by Barney Bubbles.

Brian Griffin: ‘Dave Robinson of Stiff Records commissioned me for this. It was my first album cover and was shot on the South Bank in London next to the Hayward Gallery. The idea to make Graham Parker look like a gorilla was Dave’s, using prosthetics. This album was also my introduction to Barney Bubbles, who designed the cover’.

Led Zeppelin – Physical Grafitti, Swan Song, 1975, by Elliott Erwitt (design by AGI/Mike Doud/Peter Corriston)

Physical Graffiti is the sixth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. Released as a double album on 24 February 1975 in the United States and on 28 February 1975 in the United Kingdom, it was the group's first album to be released under their new label, Swan Song Records. The band wrote and recorded eight new songs for the album in early 1974 at Headley Grange, a country house in Hampshire, which gave them ample time to improvise arrangements and experiment with recording. The total playing time covered just under three sides of an LP, so they decided to expand it into a double album by including previously unreleased tracks from the sessions for the band's earlier albums Led Zeppelin III (1970), Led Zeppelin IV (1971) and Houses of the Holy (1973). The album covered a range of styles including hard rock, progressive rock, rock 'n' roll and folk. The album was then mixed over summer 1974 and planned for an end-of-year release; however, its release was delayed because the Peter Corriston-designed die-cut album cover proved difficult to manufacture.

The album was originally released with a die-cut sleeve design depicting a New York City tenement block, through whose windows various cultural icons could be interchangeably viewed. The album designer, Peter Corriston, was looking for a building that was symmetrical with interesting details, that was not obstructed by other objects and would fit the square album cover. He subsequently came up with the rest of the cover based on the idea of people moving in and out of the tenement, with various sleeves that could be placed under the main cover and filling the windows with various pieces of information.

The two five-storey buildings photographed for the album cover are located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York City. The original photograph underwent a number of tweaks to arrive at the final image. The fourth floor of the building had to be cropped out to fit the square album cover format. (The front doorway and stoop at 96 St. Mark's Place is also the location used by the Rolling Stones for the music video promoting their single "Waiting on a Friend", from their 1981 album Tattoo You).

Eschewing the usual gatefold design in favour of a special die-cut cover, the original album jacket included four covers made up of two inners (for each disc), a middle insert cover and an outer cover. The middle insert cover is white and details all the album track listings and recording information. The outer cover has die-cut windows on the building, so when the middle cover is wrapped around the inner covers and slid into the outer cover, the title of the album is shown on the front cover, spelling out the name "Physical Graffiti". Images in the windows touched upon a set of American icons and a range of Hollywood ephemera. Pictures of W. C. Fields and Buzz Aldrin alternated with the snapshots of Led Zeppelin. Photographs of Lee Harvey Oswald, Marcel Duchamp and Pope Leo XIII are also featured. Per the liner notes, package concept and design was by AGI/Mike Doud (London) and Peter Corriston (New York). Photography was by Elliott Erwitt, B. P. Fallon, and Roy Harper. "Tinting Extraordinaire": Maurice Tate, and window illustration by Dave Heffernan. In 1976, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best album package.

Physical Graffiti was commercially and critically successful upon its release and debuted at number one on album charts in the UK and number three in the United States. It was promoted by a successful U.S. tour and a five-night residency at Earl's Court, London. The album has been reissued on CD several times, including an expansive 40th anniversary edition in 2015. Physical Graffiti was later certified 16× platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2006, signifying shipments of over eight million copies in the US.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[logs-pods]

HI SORRY TO LIKE RANDOMLY ASK FOR ISO ADVICE

I wanna keep some isopods! (i hear dairy cows are a good beginning) Do u think this container would be good if i drilled small holes close to the top? if not do u have any recommendations for a beginner? (id be keeping 10-20 isopods at the start)

Hi! No problem at all I'm happy to give advice.

Ramblings to follow:

If your planning on turning this box to the side so that the door opens on the top, I think this would be a pretty good size for a starter colony, a little on the small side tho. Most species need a fair amount of ventilation, so either plenty of small holes or a larger hole with mesh over it would be the way to go. ( Btw in my experience acrylic can be hard to drill with out a power tool so just something to keep in mind for this specific box)

Something to remember when choosing a container is that your isopods will continuously breed and make more babies forever- so you either have to be prepared to size up their home, cull or split your population.

For that reason some people recommend starting with a bigger container. Personally I keep my colonies in tubs of a similar size (bit bigger and I wish I could upscale) to this because ive had to move a lot and have limited space rn. But because of that I do have to periodically cull / give away isopods. It's a sad reality but it's the ethical thing to do over letting your isopods live In overcrowded and unhealthy conditions.

For that reason I actually recommend a slightly slower growing and reproducing species like something in the Armadillidium genus. There are tons of A. vulgare morphs that are affordable and beautiful. Zebra isopods (A. maculatum) are also a great starter.

Dairy cows, powders and P. scaber are some of the easiest and cheapest pods to keep but they reproduce wildly fast to a point where I personally don't enjoy keeping them as much.

[bluespace-writer]

Hello there, this totally isn't the mod of heavyweponguy. But if it's not too much trouble, could you do a heavymedic?

Also, I love your writing

[Thank you for this request stranger that can be @heavyweponguy Hope you enjoy this story!💀✨️]]

Red duo

◇ TF2 Heavy [x]and Medic [Come on. You know what]

◇ some blood and slight gore description

◇ includs Archimedes❗️

"And zhis is how I lost my medical licence!" Medic laughed after ending his repetitive story he was always proud to say.

Heavy laughed as always. Even if he heard Medic's story of how he stole a patients skeleton. He heard it many times, and yet every time, it was entertaining and fun to listen to. Today, Heavy was helping Medic in his workshop, bringing boxes with new animal organs, like zebras lungs or horses hearts. Finally, he picked up a long package, ready to put it into the freezer, but Medic stopped him.

"Ah! Not zhis one. Can you put it on my operation table?"

Without a word, Heavy put a light, wierd, shaped bag on the table, noticing excitement on the doctor's face. When he was opening a package, he looked like a small boy opening his present from Santa on Christmas. But when Medoc revealed what was inside, Heavy's face was in a state of small shock. Inside the bad was the whole body, but it was missing a head.

"Doctor, what is this?" Heavy asked.

"Vell, do you remember zhat team ve vere fightin' with? Vhat was zheir name? Classic, I think. I don't remember really" Medic answered while looking back at his reflection in bonesaw.

"I see. And who body is this?"

"It's Greg's! I couldn't just leave it like zhat! I put my most valuable organs in him after all. It would be a shame to let them go to vaste. Besides, I vas lucky. His body vas parciatly burned to crips!"

Heavy didn't answer to that. Meanwhile, Medic stabbed his bonesaw in TFC Scout's chest, ready to find his missing parts.

"So why is Heavy here?" Heavy asked. On those words, Medic turned around to him as if he had just asked the obvious question.

"To entertain me, of course. I got used to operating on patients who are vel, awake, and vorking in complete silence is boring for me. I vanted to ask Engineer to assist me but he said he didn't have time so that's why I asked you. Here, hold this"

Medic gave Heavy his bonesaw.

"So....what exactly doctor wants to 'regain' back from him?"

"I thought you'll never ask!" Medic's face brightened visibly when he heard the question, as if he was waiting for it to be asked.

"Beside my three baboon uteruses, one kidney, twelve centimetres of cow's intestine. I also put small brain in his left leg. Unfortunately, it was burned, so I can't really bring it back to life again"

"And why is he missing his head? Was there no brain inside too? I wouldn't be surprised"

Medic giggled at Heavy's joke before continuing his work.

"Oh no. His brain simply melted like butter while Pyro was burning him. I tried to make something out of it, but unfortunately, nothing vorked. What a shame- Archimedes no! Give it back!" Medic scouted at his dove, who took peace of liver and flew on lamp, holding it in its beak. Heavy manage to get it back, reaching Archimedes and snatching organ back with his strength.

"Danke! Birds, am I right?" chukle escaped his lips before continuing the operation.

Some time passed, five hours to be precise. Medic was determined to get every last organ he saw in his victims chest, as Heavy was by his side, helping slightly from time to time. Finally, Medic sat down on chair exhausted. Seeing this, Heavy sat down next to him.

"Doctor needs to lay down in his bed"

Medic ignored these words, laying his head over Heavy's shoulder, smirking.

"Nein. I want to stay like zhis" he said, slowly closing his eyes.

"Doctor..."

But it was too late. Medic fell asleep (or probably just acted like he was) in seconds. He was in his comfortable position, laying his head over Heavy's shoulder, refusing to move even an inch. Heavy sighed before closing his eyes, too, knowing that waking his doctor was pointless, so he decided to rest too.

Both of them stayed like that for a while, but later, Heavy woke up again. He looked at the clock, realising how late it is, yet he couldn't just let himself and Medic sleep on chairs. So, Heavy stood up and picked up Medic, and walked to their shared room.

Finally, he arrived at the big room, laying Medic on bed, and Heavy himself layed down next to him. Why? Medic is known to sleepwalk, so Heavy to prevent this sleeps with him, holding him down. Last time he wasn't, Scout screamed because he was standing above his bed with the übersaw and wide crazy smile. Heavy glanced at the doctor's face before closing his eyes, this time falling asleep quickly. Both of them hold each other close, enjoying this comfortable time together...

[The end! Hope you like it! Tell me in comments what do you think!💀🌌]

[luffysprincess]

HIII MISS AMIRA!! i'm loving the new pooh theme! it's so cute hehe and the minty green-blue color is so nice. I keep watching the gif of him chasing after the butterfly haha >u< how are you doing today? any plans for the weekend? c:

HI ZEBRA!!! Thank you thank you!!! In a Winnie the pooh au, that gif is childe the pooh chasing after his zebra butterfly 🤭

I’m doing great today!! I made a pineapple banana apple smoothie and it’s so yummy. I was also looking up some Winnie the pooh quotes for Inspo on the theme and so many of them were so damn cute and wholesome. I ended up using one in my ask box. The rumbly in my tumbly one. It was just too precious haha.

I think this weekend I’m just gonna keep it low-key. I’m working on my genshin s/i and will be watching a show with my sisters later. And tomorrow i have a soccer match so I’m excited for that!!

[ladycamdens]

hi friends. i removed my post from reddit, not because i retract my statements about kong, but because this whole thing has been too triggering for me tbh.

this post is sort of a way for me to vent and provide some clarifying statements for anyone who is interested. feel free to ask questions if anything is unclear.

kween kong and i were "drag family" from 2019 to 2020. in that time, we saw each other basically every weekend she was home. i worked hours and hours of unpaid work for her, as did the rest of her drag family. which she would later completely discredit and talk shit about us all for.

when we first met, she just didn't talk about her race much. she lip synced the n word (as pictured in this video)

and wore box braids and things like durags. she also strictly performed songs by African American artists. at first, i did presume she was black. then, within that time, when actively asked by us, according to her, she was of strictly Pacific Island descent. on both sides of her family. and still only publicly claims that.

i also remember being out with her @ lunch once, she looked at the Cafe staff and said (loudly) "these *n slurs* clearly want us to leave". i also then wanted to leave. it would be very shortly after that that we would have a very public falling out. where i called her out for this post on her insta story

keep in mind she did nothing but yap about how she was creating a "safe space" for all of us and had multiple plus sized daughters.

now flash forward to her time on drag race !!!

she was still doing looks like this and not addressing her racism

i love all the zebras and black girl magic in *checks notes* Polynesia...

she would finally claim some of her actual identity, only to play activist, whilst promoting a bar that she knew employed abusers

now the final nail in this goddamn coffin is how she lied about her children

1. all of her children, bar two of us had perfectly fine relationships with our parents. and most of them lived at home lmao

2. one of her daughter's CHOSE to do escorting. she still does.

3. on average the members were about 24. there were zero minors in the haus of Kong. you cannot work bar gigs in australia under the age of 18.

4. whenever her daughters, usually young POC trans kids, asked her for help, she would demonise them and say all they did was take from her.

5. as i mentioned before, we were largely unpaid. our actual lipsync numbers were paid through tipping - which is near unheard of here. most queens get a booking fee. if you didn't have a lot of friends or family you'd be lucky to make $20

photo of me with the fucking "kong dollars" as she called them

if you got through this entire post. thank you. that means a lot to me. i love you all. if you do wish to share this it would be really helpful to me. okay bye xo