#.cassie is just 'we're not doing this. i'm tired'

[sansloii]

☺ ( Cassie @ Hatty)

“I am not going to compliment a man that has deluded himself into thinking he is correct when he insults me. He believed his lie even though he knew it was not true and honestly, I'd find his conviction impressive if I didn't think he lacked basic decency.” she states, “Why should I offer anything — even in jest — when asking him to genuinely apologize is too difficult for him? He gets nothing, as he deserves.”

free compliments nevermind | @soraeia

[buds-and-baubles]

silly snippets from my wildstorm to dc transfer:

apollo: no, you shouldn't fly if you're still tired. *he stands behind but still at a respectable distance, hands held out with a grin* want the apollo express to help you out?

kon: *he grabs apollo's hands* sure why not, it would be interesting to compare how you fly to claAAAAAAAAAAAAAH *apollo took off flying mid-sentence on that word just to be funny*

midnighter: *stands in the alleyway, bo staff in his hands* oh, for fuck's sake.

tim: *stands on the other side of the alleyway, twirling his bo staff* midnighter, interesting seeing you here. nice weapon, by the way.

midnighter: *he sighs, moving his weapon to one hand* what're you doing here, kid? i'm working.

tim: i'm working too. *gestures to his costume* need any assistance? we can work out some terms for a teamup but i'm sure we can come to an understanding.

midnighter: *he rubs a hand over his face* fine, but only because i know you'll pester me until i agree. you got a paper or something for these terms?

tim: *smiles wide at the 'pestering' comment, nodding his head*

ray palmer: *he's walking into the justice league conference room for a meeting*

the rest of the justice league: *discussing the anomaly (the wildstorm transfer), a blurry picture of apollo up on a projector*

ray palmer: *flashbacks to armageddon* don't trust any of them. don't trust any of them, especially THAT guy! *points at screen*

the picture: *apollo is kneeling to hold out a cat he rescued from a tree to a teary-eyed kid, halo glowing bright as he smiles*

shen: *stretching out her wings as she sits perched on a rock by the ocean* i feel like there's something to be said about a bird and a fish spending time together.

garth: *he's next to her with his legs in the water, kicking his legs to splash* dogs and cats become friends too. if we bind ourselves by what others tell us, we'll never sail away.

shen: well said. *she smiles a little mischeviously, dipping the tips of her wings in the waves to splash him a bit* though i'd prefer the analogy 'fly away'.

garth: *he's actually happy about being splashed since it moisturizes him* so no pelican analogies then?

jack hawksmoor and city boy: *spider-man pointing meme*

rose tattoo and death of the endless: *spider-man pointing meme*

jenny quantum: you know, you could use your hair as a weapon.

kori: oh, how so? *a mix of intrigue and concern on what she's going to hear*

jenny quantum: like a beautiful flaming jump rope. you don't even have to kill anyone to use it like that.

kori: an excellent reccomendation for future battles to be used in a pinch. thank you, jennifer, i'll be sure to pass the idea along to the titans. *she holds her arms out* do you still want to fly with me?

jenny quantum: absolutely! *jumps into her arms*

jenny quantum and kori: *cue to them flying with jenny in kori's arms, both of them going 'wheeee!'*

dream of the endless: *opens a door, stepping into the garden of ancestral memories* . . . this.. is new...

angie, babs, and natasha irons: *dangerously powerful teamup which the world is forever changed for the betterment of STEM*

midnighter: *takes a step*

cass: *takes a step at the same time*

midnighter: son of a–

cass: *he can't see but she's sticking her tongue out* womp womp.

apollo: *opens the door to his apartment to see the core four standing there* ..i take it this has to do with something nobody else knows about that has happened that you don't want them to know happened?

bart: for legal reasons, no comment.

cassie: that was a comment, bart.

kon: *bashfully scraping one of his boots on the ground* yes.

apollo: *takes a deep breath as he stands aside so they can come in* let's see what we're dealing with.

all four: thank you. *walk inside*

tim: oh hey, m got the new curtains he was mumbling about!

the authority: *murderizes henry bendix again*

jay nakamura: *shocked blinking meme*

the watchtower: *exists*

the carrier: *loud sentient shift ship sounds of upset informal protests*

superman: *he's hovering midair, giving a small wave* mister majestic, good to see you!

mister majestic: *he offers his own wave* i wish it was under better circumstances.

superman: that's why i am here. *he offers an apologetic smile* i'm sorry for what happened to your universe and earth. you did the best you could under those circumstances.

mister majestic: thank you. i know we did, but it doesn't make it entirely easier... on the bright side, we now don't have to worry about earth's god returning to kill us all.

superman: *baffled silence*

superman: come again?

grifter and red hood: *in a metaphorical stare down*

grifter: *twirls his two guns* full offense, you make me look healthy.

red hood: *grips his own two guns tighter* shut the fuck up.

grifter: not even a therapist could fix that. they should dip you again like an easter egg in green dye.

red hood: i'm not going to fall for this attempt to make us fight.

grifter: congratulations, you finally learned limits!

gen13: *staring at teen titans/young justice and titans with wonder in their eyes* we're just like them! *a building explodes behind them*

nightwing and huntress: *whisper bickering about the case they have to work on together because babs told them to*

midnighter: *lands on the ground with his night (escrima) sticks out*

nightwing: *turns around, frowning* the midnighter.

midnighter: nightwing and i'm guessing huntress. with the way you two were whispering, you'd be the worst spies ever.

nightwing: i'd ask you to kill me if i was ever a spy.

huntress: i'd rather throw myself into gotham river than be a spy. even worse if i had to lead them.

apollo, angie and shen: *air support/cav rescuing people after fucking up the people they were fighting*

kon: as thanks for lookin' out for me, i wanted to give you these. *hands him some circular sunglasses with yellow lenses, and a leather jacket that's got his chest symbol on the back of it*

apollo: *he carefully takes both items, putting them on* you really didn't have to, kon-el, but thank you. *he pulls his hair out from the collar of the jacket, posing* do i look, as you say.. funky fresh?

kon: *laughs, nodding his head* the funky and freshest. you wanna pose for a picture together?

apollo: *he nods* how about pictures and lunch in hawaii? i've been meaning to check there out.

kon: the s.s.superboy is at your service! *salutes as he flies off, apollo following right alongside him*

(connected to the previous one) the quantum apartment, san francisco;

midnighter: *gets a notification on his phone, opening it up to pictures of apollo posing in his new stuff with kon in hawaii* . . . *he grins like a shark* that's nice. i think i'm having a second coming out and it's gonna be mes–

angie and shen: *wearing matching knowing but deadpanned smirking expressions * we know.

jenny quantum: *stares at midnighter unblinking* dad two: electric boogaloo, you can't say that everytime dad sends you a selfie. also, gross.

[dalekofchaos]

I am not happy about Sektor and Cyrax's change from Cyborgs to power suits.

I am very excited for Khaos Reigns.

But I am not a fan of the redesign of Sektor and Cyrax.

I could care less that they changed their genders. But.... Jade, Sareena, Jataaka, Kia, Skarlet, Cassie & Jacqui and Khameleon were all right there.

I'm all for new interpretations of the characters, especially since this game is all about the multiverse, but MK1 has been building up to Countess Jade and Sareena has this great redesign that's wasted as a cameo.

Also? We have the perfect design from MK11 that they refused to let us play as and the new designs feel like a downgrade

And honestly MK9 did this better. Cyrax resisting automation while Sektor was fully prepared to lose his humanity to be a more efficient assassin. Cyrax gets his redemption in MK11(pointlessly killed because Ed didn't want us to play as him 🙃)

But we're doing this AGAIN for the sake of multiverse bullshit that I'm already tired of.

Also, if this is Sektor

Who the HELL is this from Sub-Zero's ending?

But what really bothers me is the change in design and going from Cyborgs to Iron Man Suits.

They took away all the depth and tragedy that came with the cyber initiative program and just made it....people in bodysuits...

So much for "gore is an important part of MK"…… Cyber Initiative was one of the biggest body horror elements of MK

It was such a traumatic event that left people scarred for life. The process of having no say in it then getting dismembered and replacing your body with machine was pure horror. Now it's just Iron Man army.

The main elephant in the room, the gender swapping, doesn’t really bother me. But taking away that fact that they’re cyborgs is mind boggling. That’s the main thing Sektor and Cyrax are known for!

It was such a terrifying and important moment in Lin Kuei history and really spoke to the lengths that Kuai Liang went to reform the Lin Kuei. It was one of the most scary and gruesome aspects of Mk, which is what mk is all about. I'm tried of these sterile and watered down versions of these characters.

If I'm being honest, storywise. The "new era" sucks in almost every way. There are good things like redeeming Sindel, Mileena being good and having a proper sisterly relationship with Kitana, Li Mei, Reptile and Ashrah. But everything else? No. Making Kuai Liang Scorpion was bafflingly stupid. Like why couldn't they just have the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu be at peace? Liu Kang's new era amounted to changing but the same shit happens anyway.

It just tells the same beats over and over again. It would've been really cool if they actually told a new and different Mortal Kombat with actually different versions of the characters or entirely new characters altogether. But in every way it's just the old story but with at best slight, insignificant alterations and at worst alterations that fail to account for what made the old stuff actually cool and interesting. It should have actually did something with Liu Kang making The Great Kung Lao his champion and that should have resulted with a new story in an early era. But they refused to take risks.

[chipistrate]

do that with Cassie

Sure! :D

Cassie:

favorite thing about them I adore how sassy she can be- like yeah she'll go down and save Gregory from the ruined Pizzaplex, that's her bestie she'd do anything for him, but that won't stop her from complaining about it. i.e. "Under Roxy Racers? *huff* that's all the way on the other side, I'm not even close." Also I believe her VA said something about her not being scared when going into the Pizzaplex iirc cause she "didn't know she was supposed to be scared" and I think that's interesting,,, "yeah that old, decaying, falling apart, creepy Pizzaplex? I don't see why I'd be scared. Gregory wants me to go there so I'm sure it's safe. Plus, what could possibly be hiding inside anyways? Bugs?" <---clueless

least favorite thing about them I'm not good at picking out least favorite things about characters I love LMAO They're just precious and beloved and I see no wrong in them<333

favorite line "that was too close. I was almost a Cassie sandwich" the DELIVERY. I love her so much even in the worst situations she's still making little shithead remarks/aff

brOTP Her and Gregory are the siblings ever<333

OTP Again- if these can be purely platonic and have no familial or romantic meaning, then her and Ellis should be and would be best friends and I stand by this forever and ever

nOTP x

random headcanon When she met up with Gregory again after SB she started helping him tear down his missing posters. She didn't know why he wanted them gone or why he was so hesitant in public, but she didn't want to pry too much and just wanted to help out. She tried, couldn't get a lot of answers out of him, and realized it was just too out of his comfort zone to talk about whatever happened while he was missing, so she just resorted to helping him however she can!

unpopular opinion Tbh I don't think she'd be angry after the elevator fall or even believe it was Gregory- at least not immediately!! Like- I could see her becoming angry over time, but I honestly think that at first she'd 100% think it was the Mimic- I mean- she literally just met a giant endo that was trying to kill her that mimicked her friends voice and communicated through speakers, I don't think she'd assume her best friend would try and kill her after meeting a dude like that. Maybe she'd end up thinking it was Gregory later and becoming way more bitter about it afterwards if we're going the Vannie route, but I think at first she'd just be really tired and sad and upset at the Mimic, but not at Gregory. She probably just thinks "he's my best friend, he would never do that. I'm sure he's on his way to get me right now, so I just need to survive a few more hours and I'll be fine." or something like that

song i associate with them Hmmm if we're talking Vannie arc then I'd say "I'm Irritated" by Fishy Bishie. If we're talking normal Cassie, then I don't listen to a lot of songs that I would consider "Cassiecore" that aren't specifically made to be Cassie songs if you know what I mean? But maybe that one really good part of "One Normal Night"

favorite picture of them

She's so confident and happy how could you possibly hate her<333

[starwarsmum]

Onto day 11 of Maribat BioFamily September 😊 today's prompt is Hong Kong and we're looking at a different Batfam connection

@maribat-calendar-events

Cass stalked the older Chinese woman through the painting studio. She had recognised her instantly, a vague recollection from when she was eight of her father spending time with the woman. The woman had disappeared shortly after but Cass had never forgotten the kind smiles and occasional treat she had received.

Now that she was older and no longer working for her father, she was back in Hong Kong and working as Black Bat. And now that she knew just how twisted her father had been, she was very suspicious of the ‘kindly’ woman that he had most definitely had romantic entanglements with. 

So now, she was following the woman she had spotted at the market, wanting to make sure she wasn't there to cause harm in her city. There had been no suspicious activity - yet - and Cass was getting tired. She had been up since the previous morning, working her day job immediately followed by her night job.

That was probably why she missed the woman turning and spotting her. By the time she realised she'd been made, the woman was moving towards her with a look of determination, instantly putting Cass on edge. But she was trapped and didn't want to alert the woman to the fact that she was more than she appeared.

“Cassie? Is that you?” The woman said, sounding slightly stunned. Cass nodded cautiously, not sure how to explain why she had been staring at her otherwise. “My goodness, I can't believe how grown up you are! You might not remember me, my name is Sabine. I dated your father for a little while, it must have been fifteen years ago now.”

“...I remember.” Cass hated how slow her speech was, not wanting to appear weak when she didn't know what this woman, Sabine, knew about her. But by the wide eyed look she received, Sabine hadn't been expecting her to talk at all. She cursed herself for not keeping the information to herself when she was unsure.

“You aren't mute anymore?” Sabine said, wonder and happiness lacing her tone. “That's wonderful! Did Davi- did your father finally take you to a specialist? He was always so against the idea, but I'm so relieved he saw sense.”

“I have a new family,” Cass said, relaxing at last. Now that Sabine had mentioned her father, Cass was confident that she was no threat. Her body language reading skills had only improved as she aged and she could see the older woman was merely someone her father had passed time with. “They have taught me many things, and care for me as my father did not.”

“I'm so sorry, Cassie, I didn't- I shouldn't have left you with him. But I was just some woman your father dated and I was young and then when Marinette-” Sabine froze and stopped talking abruptly. Cass forced herself to breathe normally but she wanted to know who this Marinette was. Was it an accomplice of her father's? Someone she should be worried about now?

“I do not blame you,” Cass said, giving Sabine a small smile that relaxed the woman's shoulders incrementally. “Nor do I blame this Marinette, although father never mentioned them. I am not in contact with him anymore,” she added, hoping that it would make Sabine more likely to talk. It paid off when Sabine completely relaxed again, giving a light laugh.

“No, your father wouldn't have mentioned her as I never told him she existed,” Sabine said, glancing at the watch on her wrist. “But if you would like, I could introduce you to her. I'm supposed to be meeting her any minute now, for brunch.”

Although Cass was tired, she needed to know whether this person was a threat, so she nodded and trailed along after Sabine to a fairly popular cafe. There were a number of people around, a pair of older women speaking loudly, a large man with a teenager laughing, a group of uptight businessmen, having a serious conversation…

Cass wasn't sure what to think when the large man looked over to them and waved, but approved of the way the teenager gave her an appraising look. There was a sharp intelligence in the kid's eyes and Cass approached the table with Sabine. Sabine said something in rapid fire French that Cass didn't have a hope of following.

When the large man stood abruptly and moved to grab her, Cass immediately ducked out of the way. The teen pulled the large man back, surprisingly strong for someone so small. She said something in French, and the man looked chastened. Cass straightened out of her slight crouch when the teen turned back to her, changing to Mandarin.

“Hi, I'm sorry about my dad,” the girl said, smiling ruefully. “He was just excited to meet you. Mum told us about you when I was younger so when she explained who you were…well, anyway, I'm sorry. I'm Marinette!”

“Hello,” Cass said, growing more confused. Why were these people being so friendly to someone they'd never met? And why had Sabine told what was obviously her family about Cass? Marinette got a funny look on her face before she turned back to Sabine.

“Maman, did you tell Cass who we are?” Marinette said, rolling her eyes when her mother said that she hadn't. “Not everyone likes surprises, Maman. Let's start again: hi, I'm Marinette, your half-sister. My dad, Tom, is technically my step-dad even though he raised me.”

“Sister?” Cass felt like she had stepped into another universe. She had a sister? One who had apparently escaped the life their father had forced Cass into and had two loving parents. Her tired brain decided it was too much information right then, so she simply nodded and joined the family for the meal.

[cherrilemon]

Cassie: Hey, Gregory?

Gregory, playing a video game: What?

Cassie: Can I share something with you from earlier today?

Gregory: Wh- what is it, Cassie?

Cassie: Well, I sent you a text early in the morning.

Gregory: Mhm.

Cassie: Because I have to go out of town for a weekend this month. And, so I was like- I won't give specific dates, but I was like, do you have any preference whether I go this weekend or the next weekend?

Gregory: Yeah?

Cassie: Your response.

Gregory: *trying not to crack up*

Cassie: At 9:30 in the morning.

Cassie: "motherfucking Jesse Eisenberg jesus Christ motherfucking Facebook movie jesus can you believe this shit"

Gregory: *laughing*

Cassie: No- no- no punctuation. Random capitalization.

Gregory: You just made me dieeee...

Cassie: So I respond, "I have no idea what we're talking about right now."

Cassie: 45 minutes pass. I get a text from you.

Cassie: "goddamn created Facebook and fucking lawyers and shit right fucking winklevoss twins goddamn rowing the boat fuck yo shit i cant even fucking believe this shit have you seen this shit fuck I just watched this shit fuck Jesse eisenberg man"

Gregory: *wheezing with laughter*

Cassie: I respond "Gregory, you're scaring me." An hour passes-

Cassie: You respond, "motherfucking spiderman Spiderman you put in the time fuck put in the time motherfucking built shit with his bare hands fucking best friend shit jesse eisenberg"

Cassie: "im very tired"

Gregory: *struggling to breathe*

Cassie: And- and I'm just like, "No- no worries, Gregory, I'll- I'll do most of the talking at the hangout today-"

Cassie: IMMEDIATE, like, response, like I'm talking 5 seconds later,

Cassie: "no man ill just talk all day shit man you have to be so interested in the shit I have to say about the Facebook movie fuck dude I just watched it a year and a half ago fuck Jesse Eisenberg man he fucked over Spider-man crazy Winklevoss twins rowing Trent Resin or did the soundtrack fuck this guy who invented Facebook I don't like dying I can't think of who the fuck invented Facebook All I can think is who played the guy who invented Facebook who the fuck invented Facebook"

Cassie: And then, in all capital letters, two hours later,

Gregory: *falling over with laughter*

Cassie: "MARK ZUCKERBERG."

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Hair Trigger

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam, YJ98

Summary: A junior at Gotham University, Jason finds it difficult to conceal his worsening mental health from his family and his friend, Jon Lane Kent. Family secrets are revealed and boundaries are pushed as Jason and Laney struggle to navigate through school, their romantic feelings, and their trauma. Could the reintroduction of Laney Kent be more trouble than it's worth, or is it just what Jason needed to confront the demons of his past?

I will also do trigger warnings for chapters and if there is smut I have the chapter(s) tagged so you don't have to worry about nsfw in the fic if you're just here for the story itself.

Chapters: 18/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Jonathan Lane Kent, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Conner Kent, Natalia Knight, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Cassie Sandsmark, Chris Kent, Bart Allen, Original Character(s)

Relationships: JayLaney, Clois, TimKon

Additional Tags: University AU, No Powers AU, Sharing A Bed, Romance, Angst

Chapter Eighteen: Overwhelm

"If you know the words to this one, feel free to sing along," Conner spoke softly into the mic before the band started playing, "I Want You To Want Me," and Laney yelled in celebration. Jason wasn't much of a dancer, so he stood there swaying until Laney started dancing with him.

Laney grinned as Jason started to loosen up, and it seemed like he was really enjoying himself. Jason chuckled at the reality of what was going on. Jason admitted to himself that Laney is the only one who could've gotten him to dance in public like that. As the night went on, the songs slowed in tempo gradually, allowing Jason to share a few slow dances. "They're doing a great job," Laney whispered in Jason's ear.

"They are, and you're standing on your tiptoes again—."

"Am not," Laney grinned.

"I'm looking at your feet right now," Jason laughed, and Laney shook his head.

"Lie again," Laney laughed, and he looked up into Jason's eyes, waiting for a kiss.

Jason smiled and pressed a kiss to Laney's lips. "I love liars," Jason whispered. Laney stopped standing on his toes, not even noticing that the band's set was over.

Sylvia ran into Laney on her way to the bathroom, and she tapped Laney's arm. "They're amazing!" she exclaimed. Laney hugged her. "Will you tell my dad that I'll meet him at the car?"

Laney shook his head. "I'll ask the girls to wait for you," Laney offered. Sylvia smiled and cocked her head.

"Mel's coming with me," Sylvia replied as she pointed to a tall girl with dark makeup on. Laney smiled and nudged her.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Laney asked. Sylvia nodded. "I like her look. Okay, I'll tell your dad to meet you at the parking lot if I see him." Jason took Laney's hand, and they went to the little area behind the stage to talk to the band. "Conner, look this way," Laney commanded as he took out his phone and took a picture of Conner.

"No, I know I looked gross. I'm sweating," Conner complained. Laney showed Conner the picture. "Oh, actually... I look kind of cool."

"Now, let me get one of all five of you," Jason added as he took out his phone. They all stood together, and Jason took a few pictures.

"You guys did great."

"Is no one willing to say it? I'm starving," Tim replied. Jason chuckled.

"We're all gonna go to Lane's," Conner reminded him as he was startled by a pat on the back from Laney.

"We'll see you at my place in a minute," Laney smiled before Jason took his hand, and they walked back to the car.

Jason got in the driver's seat, and Laney's whole body relaxed, and he closed his eyes. "Tired?" Jason asked.

"No, I'm relieved," Laney replied, "Our brothers did pretty good tonight, huh?" Jason made an affirmative noise. "What are you thinking about? Is it something I did?"

"Did you have fun?" Jason asked.

Laney smiled and nodded. "I think I know what you're really asking. This could be our first date," Laney whispered. Jason smiled and nodded. "You're so pretty when you dance." Jason shook his head with a smile on his face, and they drove all the way to Laney's apartment.

They took the elevator up, and Laney let him in. Jason washed his hands and started to set the fold-out table in the middle of the room. "I didn't know you had a fold-out table," Jason whispered.

"I don't. How many people are we setting the table for?" Laney asked.

"You, me, our brothers, the rest of the band, Sylvia, and her dad," Jason replied.

"You forgot Sylvie's girlfriend, Mel... How do you figure we're gonna seat-." Laney counted on his fingers. "Ten people. Fuck, how is Noah gonna feed ten people?" Laney asked. Someone knocked on the door. "I've got it." Laney walked over to the door and opened it and the band piled in, each of them carrying a fold-out chair.

"We just saw your roommate on the way up. Also, we stole from you guys' school," Tim announced. Jason smiled.

"Good, and hey um... Be nice, I've never met my roommate's dad before, and I'm sure she'd appreciate it if everyone was nice to him," Laney requested. Everyone nodded.

The door opened once more, and Sylvia walked in with Noah and Mel, talking about a fishing trip they had a few years ago. Noah washed his hands in the sink and turned the oven on to heat up the food. "Be honest, did either of you peek?" Noah asked. Jason and Laney shook their heads.

"Conner, can I see you in the room really quick?" Laney asked. Conner nodded and followed Laney to his room. Jason sat at the table next to Bart and across from Tim.

Bart dug through his pockets frantically, and Cissie walked over and gave him his phone. "You were scared you'd lose it, so you gave it to me," Cissie replied. Bart relaxed his shoulders.

"Thanks," Bart replied. Conner and Laney came out of the bedroom, and Conner put something in his jacket pocket and whispered something to Tim, and Tim smiled.

Noah opened the oven and took out the food before asking for everyone to bring their plates. While he served everyone, Sylvia poured everyone a glass of juice, and they all sat down. As dinner went on, Jason seemed to grow quieter and quieter until Jason offered to wash dishes and clean the table. Jason seemed to be lost in thought as he stared emptily ahead of himself.

He was startled by Laney's hands on his waist, and Laney whispered, "You okay?"

Jason nodded as he tried to put together something to say, and Laney started drying dishes on the rack as if Jason had already explained himself. Once the plates were put away, Laney said goodnight to everyone and went back out to the car. Laney took the keys, and he stood outside the car for a moment. "You're not okay, are you?" Laney whispered. Jason got in the passenger's seat. "I just wanna know what's wrong—."

"Lane, I'm tired," Jason snapped. Laney nodded and started driving back toward Jason's apartment, leaving the car in complete silence. "Laney, I'm sorry... I don't know. Maybe I'm just overwhelmed."

"That's fine. I can sleep on the pullout couch until—."

"It's not you. I hate to say today was a lot, but it was for me... I had fun, but now all I want to do is take a shower and lay down with you," Jason whispered. Laney nodded and didn't say anything else until they got back to Jason's apartment. Jason went to the bathroom and took a shower while Laney turned the tv on. He turned the volume down as low as possible. Jason came out of the bathroom and stood still for a while, trying to pull himself together.

Laney turned around and looked at him. "Jay?" Laney whispered as he got up and walked toward Jason and held him. "You don't have to talk, okay... Go sit down, and I'll make the bed."

Laney left Jason alone in the living room while he put Jason's sheets on his bed, and he made a detour over to give Jason a kiss on the cheek before taking his shower and getting dressed in his pajamas. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he stopped at the couch to ask Jason if he was ready to go to bed. Jason got up and walked back to the bedroom, taking his sweater off. After Jason got in the bed, Laney went and plugged his CPAP into the wall, and he climbed into bed.

Before Laney could sit up and grab his mask, Jason leaned over to kiss him. "Hey... No, okay?" Laney whispered. Jason nodded. "I know what you want, but I know it's not the right way to go about things." Laney took off his shirt, and he put on his CPAP and placed his arm over Jason's chest.

"I don't know why I feel like—."

"It's okay... I feel the same way sometimes, so I get it," Laney reassured him. "Jason, I understand."

Jason placed a hand over his face and clenched his teeth as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. "I'm sorry—."

"It's okay," Laney interrupted as he took off his mask, and he sat up. Jason lay there crying, covering his face with both hands, and Laney pulled his hands out of the way, and he pulled Jason up into an embrace. "I've got you."

Without thinking, Jason started to sob harder than he ever had in someone else's presence. After a while, he couldn't cry anymore, and Laney kissed his shoulder affectionately. "Laney?" Jason whispered. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. Listen, I love you so much. I just want to be here for you. That's all I want," Laney whispered. He and Jason kissed, and Jason touched Laney's lower back. "Whoa, listen... I don't want to right now." Jason nodded and took a deep breath. "We've got the rest of the weekend, but tonight I think we need to just sleep." Jason waited until Laney put on his CPAP mask to lay back down. Jason went to sleep, and Laney did as well.

Laney got up once to go to the bathroom, and he tripped over Jason's slippers and cursed, waking Jason out of his sleep. "Are you leaving?" Jason asked. Laney shook his head.

"Gotta piss," Laney mumbled, half-asleep, and he stumbled to the bathroom. When Laney came back, Jason was curled up facing Laney's side of the bed with his eyes half-closed.

"Thank you, Lane," Jason whispered. Laney smiled and got comfortable once more.

They slept peacefully for the rest of the night, and as soon as Laney woke up, he turned his machine off and just lay still next to Jason. "I used to suck my thumb on and off, and I stopped this last time right before my birthday," Laney whispered.

"Are you sleeptalking?" Jason mumbled, startling Laney.

"I thought you were asleep," Laney chuckled.

"Resting my eyes..." Jason smiled.

"Are you okay?" Laney asked. Jason nodded.

"I'm okay now," Jason whispered. Laney smiled before going to brush his teeth, and Jason followed after him to use the sink. "Mm... Lane, do you have Bart's number?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, it's in my phone. Gonna take my advice?" Laney asked before rinsing his mouth out.

"Mhm," Jason answered, "I might." Laney smiled a half-smile as he pressed a kiss to Jason's cheek and slipped out to Jason's bedroom. Jason rinsed his mouth out and dried his face on a towel as he followed Laney back to the bedroom, and they kissed. Jason lay back and allowed Laney to pin his hands above his head before being interrupted by Jason's laughter.

"What?" Laney asked. He let go of Jason's hands as he continued to laugh.

"I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry," Jason laughed until he was near breathless. Laney lay next to him.

"Can I ask you a personal question if you promise not to get upset?" Laney asked.

"I mean, yeah, you can," Jason replied hesitantly.

"When did you know for sure?" Laney asked.

"I was nine. It wasn't a big emotional thing. I just remember there was this boy in the neighborhood, and he had the prettiest brown eyes... And every day I could, I would wait for him.

I never even spoke to him, but one day he finally stopped and asked me if I wanted to come with him to the pool," Jason answered.

"What did you do? Did you say yes?" Laney asked.

"I turned around and ran home," Jason laughed. Laney chuckled.

"Really?" Laney laughed.

"Yeah, I panicked," Jason half-yelled as he started to laugh.

"We're more alike than I imagined," Laney smiled, "What did you think when I ran?"

"I thought you were repulsed by me or that you were gonna go and tell everyone I kissed you," Jason replied, sitting up.

"If I thought you were repulsive, I would've told you that. And I never would've been mean enough to tell someone you kissed me... Conner saw you and me that night. He told me himself when we got home, and I wanted to deny that it happened, but he wouldn't let me," Laney confessed, "But no... I never thought you were repulsive. I really hoped that I would get another chance to kiss you, but the time never felt right."

"You could've kissed me whenever and I would've let you. I was crazy about you... I'm still crazy about you," Jason smiled. Laney grabbed Jason's arm and pulled him a little closer.

"I'd like to kiss you now," Laney whispered. Jason chuckled as he pressed kisses all over Laney's neck and face before Laney cupped a hand against Jason's cheek and led him into a kiss.

[madeofcc]

DH MELODIA CHAP 10 : Le reste ... A new Evil part 2/2

Main Page / Previous /

[transcript below the cut ]

INT-NIGHT / LBZ RESIDENCE

JULIA AND CASSIE ARE TALKING IN THEIR ROOM ; THERE'S A LOT OF RUMOURS ABOUT KAYLA BEING WEIRD LATELY ;

CASS : I swear, you should have heard how she screamed in the middle of the class ! It was as weird as funny !

JULIA : What do you think it could be ?

CASS : I think she's burning-out ! I mean, those stories she says about her dreams are super weird ! And this morning she attacked one of the girls when she told her she needed a good night of sleep !

I swear, if she doesn't stop, we're going for a rebellion !

JULIA : Oh ! That could be funny !

CASS : Come on ! You know we'd all tear each other appart for the crown

JULIA : But only I would earn it

CASS : And why do you think so ?

JULIA : Let's face it Cass ', no one here have as much charisma and money than I do. Excuse me, I have to go now …

SHE TAKES A COFFEE WITH HER AND GOES TO KAYLA'S ROOM. WE SEE KAYLA FROM BEHIND, SHE SPEAKS TO HERSELF :

KAYLA : Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep ...

JULIA : Kayla ? I'm sorry to bother you ...

KAYLA : Leave me alone Brindleton …

JULIA : I heard that you want to stay awake tonight so I wanted to bring you some coffee and have a chat if you want …

KAYLA LOOKS EXHAUSTED AND AFFRAID

KAYLA : You can come in …

JULIA NOTICES A LOT OF TRASH ON THE FLOOR, KAYLA SITS IN FRONT OF HER BED

JULIA : Here's for you my queen … A good expresso !

KAYLA : This should help me a lot thank you

JULIA : I don't remember hearing you say thanks before

KAYLA : I guess that you're lucky then …

JULIA : What's going on Kayla ? The other girls are saying awefull stuff and I heard when you hurt yourself two nights ago.

KAYLA : I know Julia ! Thanks to remind me that I'm becoming crazy

JULIA : I'm not ! I'm just worried you know ? I'm trying to understand, what's going on ? Drink your coffee

KAYLA DRINKS IT ALL INSTANTLY AND STARTS TO LOOK DOWN : It's been a week but I'm sooo tired …. It's like … I don't know, an endless dream ? Well it's more like a nightmare actually … I keep seeing this man …

JULIA : What man ?

KAYLA : I don't know …

SHE LAYS DOWN ON HER BED : I keep hearing his laugh in my head … I know he's coming if I sleep … He terrifies me ….

SHE DOESN'T REALISE THAT SHE STARTS TO FALL ASLEEP WHILE SPEAKING ; JULIA LEAVES THE ROOM SMILING ;

KAYLA WAKES UP IN A DARK DIRTY ROOM THAT LOOK LIKE AN ABANDONNED BURNT PLACE; SHE STARTS CRYING

KAYLA : No no no no no no ….

SHE HEARS AN EVIL LAUGH AND WHEN SHE TURNS AROUND WE SEE THE MAN FROM BEHIND : TALL, WITH A HAT, A RED AND BLACK SWEAT AND KNIVES ON HIS HAND ; KAYLA STARTS RUNNING BUT REALIZES SHE'S STUCK ;

KAYLA : Noooo SHE FALLS …. What the fuck do you want from me ?!

??? : Silly girl … I only want to hear you scream darling !!!! Hahahahaha !!!!!

KAYLA SCREAMS, KNOWING THAT SHE'S GOING TO DIE;

DESTINY HARBOUR MELODIA THE END

[itsbubbleteataro]

Like We're Gonna Die Young

Warnings; drugs and alcohol, getting clean, relapsing SLOW BURN - not edited

It seemed like it was Alastor's lucky day, having had tea with Rosie, gossiping about the happenings in Cannibal town as well as speaking about the dammed hotel. Taking his time, strolling through the streets, his mind lost in throught about the woman he saw in the video on that blasted modern contraption Angel Dust owned.

Who was she and why did she have such information on Vox?

More importantly, why wasn't it the information itself just sticking, why was her facial expressions staying in his mind? The way she was so confident when she confronted Vox, the ways her lips moved as he presumed she song.

He shook his head. It was awful. He just needed to get his information then she would be rid of his thoughts. Surely it would work out that way.

It had to be nothing more than a fad he resigned himself to.

Strolling through the town, making his way to the ends of Canabal town he spotted your form, speaking with none other than Cassie.

Strolling over to greet, with a flourish of his hand and a slight bow, he introduced himself, even if he was offput with how closely you resembled a dog,

"Salutations!"

His voice was stiffer and harsher than he intended for a greeting, but it would have to do.

"My name is Alastor, the radio demon. I couldn't help but notice you are from a small picture show. I saw the way you had Vox wrapped around claw, I positively had to know how"

You looked nervous. Rubbing your arm, gently scratching at your skin. Again you were trying again to go clean and sober. You were starting to feel withdrawals.

"O-oh! That. Cassie gave me the information. I'm just the messenger. I'm (y/n) by the way"

You continued to scratch your arm as Alastor crooked his head to the side, the sounds of bone crunching and crackling as he did .

"Just the messenger?"

He asked, clarifying one more time, to which you nodded. He then let out some sort of hum, sounding like a bee stuck in a jar. It hurt your ears to say the least.

He turns on his heel back facing you, his red coat fluttering softly as he does,

"Terribly sorry. Thank you for your time"

And with that, he left.

You scratched your arm, a little harder. It was really starting to bother you now. Just a small hit, a little one, it would make it stop. No, you reminded yourself. Your clean.

You turned back to the sidewalk, muttering and mumbling to yourself as you walked.

Failing to pay attention to where you were walking, you bumped into a certain spider demon.

After apologizing to each other Angel Dust realizes something is off. The scratching of your arm, how you look tired, been through hell one could say.

"You alright toots? Are ya?"

He tilts his head to the side. You nod. He sticks out one of his many hands,

"Angel Dust. I know a place that can help. That is if you want any"

"(Y/n). That would be nice"

Without any further explanation, he leads you towards the hotel after stopping by your place for a few bags of your belongings, then getting whisked away to the hotel, the entire time you and Angel Dust speaking. Mostly about getting clean, a shared goal the two of you have, and thus becoming fast friends.

Hand in hand Angel Dust took you to the Hazbin Hotel, where he swiftly introduced you to Charlie. Charlie Morning star was bouncing off the walls after Angel Dust introduced you to her. She was happy that another sinner had decided to check in.

You then crossed path with Alastor, finding out that he was the manager of the hotel. He again bowed to you, ever the gentleman, helping you with what belongings you had and helped you get settled into your room, telling you to inform him if you needed anything, then taking his leave to let you settle in.

[jodjuya]

More bitching about Animorphs #38.

But also I'm somewhat mollified because the writing does pick up a bit from chapter 11 onwards...

Cassie channels her inner Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately for her, Marco has also seen Star Wars, and he's not on board with this nonsense.

Cassie, what the fuck are you even talking about?? Assassinating one's nemesis is the cowardly, easy way out??

Cassie Animorphs! You! are! a! guerrilla! terrorist! Now is not the time to be channeling the Marquess of bloody Queensberry!

No, just because you, Cassie—unwilling child soldier and aspiring pacifist—don't perceive assassination to be a valid tactic of asymmetric warfare, doesn't mean that it is therefore "murder".

At least Marco knows which genre of story he's in... :/

Following this outburst, Jake is all like "I'm just too fucking tired to even breathe, let alone figure out what to do about these dropkick Andalite Irregulars and their big talk... "

And then a whole bunch of stuff happens very quickly:

Rachel is all like "no really, wtf is our plan?!"

So Marco (lightly) SLAPS RACHEL ACROSS BOTH CHEEKS in a 'snap out of it' gesture, ordering her to "wise up" and accept that they've lost the war.

Rachel, naturally, flips the fuck out and starts beating up Marco. Marco cowers on the ground and receives his beating until Jake physically steps in to pull Rachel off of him.

Tobias is like "okay, yeah, fuck this; I'm done. goodbye forever" and he peaces outta there

Then Rachel fucking GOES OFF! She's all like "I don't remember ever seeing MY signature at the bottom of the Geneva convention! And I am SO DONE with this pathetic baby shit! So fuck all you fucking losers, I'm going solo! Time to show these fucking Yeerks what REAL fucking terrorism looks like!!!" and she leaves too.

Then Cassie is like "I'm out too; if this is unwinnable then how can we justify continuing to kill Hork-Bajir Controllers when they're basically just innocent victim prisoners of war??"

(so I guess this is genuinely some character growth? she's so sickened by war she can't bring herself to continue. It's not just lazy flanderization)

Then Marco bails too

And Ax is the last man standing. He reaffirms his oath of loyalty to Jake, but Jake is like, "nah man, we're done here. No more Animorphs. Go hook up with the Andalite Ginyu Squad to get yourself home."

Next chapter: Ax hooks up with the Andalite Irregulars, and notices that they give him sus vibes... 🤔

[pvccblog]

THAT'S A WRAP!

What a great closing day! The wildfire smoke was pretty heavy today for sure. It has had its good and bad moments throughout the week. Many of us have coughs or are losing our voices. My voice is just about gone! Those aren't clouds in these pictures, very smokey!

This week has really been such a blast. The locals are so appreciative of what we're doing here and the goodbyes were tough today. Quite a few tears for sure!

Andrew did an amazing job with the Sports Camp lesson this morning telling about Jesus feeding the 5,000. Once again, we ended the final sports session with a massive game of tails. Then, of course, we had a great dance party at the end.

BARF Nights was the most well attended of the week with lots of great interactions going on. Great chats among the teens, the leaders, the parents - everyone! This crew has really bonded. We played Rabbit Sticks and Plungerball which left everyone pretty dang tired!

Isaac was the lucky one tonight. Students don't ever know when they will be called on to share their testimony but he was the only one left who hadn't shared. He was well prepared and did a great job. The kids here really look up to Isaac, and he has some great leadership qualities. It's been super cool seeing him mature.

After BARF Night, we were invited along with a bunch of others to swim over at David and Cassie's house. They are the ones who work with the youth at the Baptist church in Glendale. It was so fun! He has a sweet family and it's been inspiring to witness how they are impacting their community for Jesus. Please keep the prayers coming!!

We're heading to bed soon as we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. A long two days, really. In the morning we're gonna clean the church, eat breakfast, pack up and head south! We will be home on Sunday.

One of the things I've noticed about this team is that the whole week they've been drama free. That's a big deal on a missions trip! God is good and has unified this team and called them to a special purpose. I think that they will be having withdrawals from each other after they get home! The photo above is of our encouragement bags that Maci set up for us. It's an opportunity to write a note of encouragement for your team members. It's pretty great!

Thanks so much to everyone who followed along and prayed with us. Keep checking back as I'm sure we'll be posting again soon. Love y'all!!

[girl-mercury]

Love to hear more about timegem or the 12 Monkeys crack wips!

(from the WIP meme, where i listed my many, many WIPs and asked for people to let me know what they're curious about)

Already did a post on timegem, so I will share some 12 Monkeys stuff!

"let this whole town hear your knuckles crack" never got particularly well developed as a story, but was an attempt to write something about the messy bloody determination of hope in a place where there was so little hope to go around. Title from the Mountain Goats song "Damn These Vampires" which I added to the mix I made and never posted as a song for Cole and Ramse. (The mix has ficlet bits for some songs and not others, which was why I never posted it, but honestly should just live with that.)

SNIPPETS (multiple, because there's not enough to string into a scene):

"I am resolved that the end justifies the means," Jones says. "We must ensure it. Our success is crucial, for the world, and for our own souls. We have set ourselves on this path, and I do not deceive myself that our actions are righteous, but nor do I second-guess them. The end will justify the means because we cannot allow any ending that does not."

"You're a piece of work, lady," says Ramse, eyebrows raised as he looks upward, as if God will suddenly emerge and provide a more reasonable conversation partner. 

Cole doesn't comment. He knows he's not quite as eloquent as Jones can be, which is even more humbling when he considers that she's not even speaking her first language. But he has jumped in that chair time and time again, to feel his atoms ripped apart and reassembled as the strands of time passing shoot through him, and he's done so without hesitation. He's done stupid shit before for worse reasons, in an ever-descending spiral of violence, regret, throwing himself into the path of life-ending danger, violence, regret, rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat. At least this is an interesting way to end his existence. At least this way he got to meet Cassie, and a world worth living for, even if he won't be the one living in it. 

_______________

"We succeed at this, and I'm erased, finally. I get wiped right out along with this timeline, and we're done." Cole rubs his eyes. He's so tired. He's been tired forever, feels like.

"Ooh, better watch out for that kind of talk, Otter Eyes," Jennifer warns, her eyes going wide. "You wander out of the passive ideation, you'll get us sent back to vacation at the grippy sock resort."

"What are you talking about, Jennifer?" Cole snaps. 

"'Do you intend to harm yourself? Do you intend serious harm to someone else?' That's when they start telling our secrets, Cole. It's mandated. You want to take yourself out, you keep it to yourself, you keep that secret." 

Cole rewinds the conversation in his head, tries to translate it from Jennifer-ramble. He knows that he doesn't listen to her as much as he should, but she's so hard to follow, and he never has enough time, and he does genuinely feel bad about that along with everything else. But he tries to find an end to grab onto to follow the thread of her mind. It's the socks that do it, the weird socks that he'd gotten after being checked into JD Peoples when they’d taken his boots and their laces. And the questions, over and over trying to confirm if he was a danger to himself.

"Hey," he says, reaching out his hand to clasp hers. "Nobody's taking us back there. And if they do, you'll break me out, right?"

A giggle escapes from Jennifer. "You betcha."

________

"I make these choices not because they are right, Mr. Cole," Jones says wearily, "but because I am able to carry the moral burden of these sins when others cannot. It is no more complicated than that." She lets out a sigh and takes off her glasses to wipe a her hand across her eyes. "You are not the only one looking to erase their damage to this world."

_________

Katarina sends James to 1957, and then Cassie, and then she's done. It's done. As the storm eats its way through the facility, lifting the roof and blowing at her, she holds her breath and braces for the unmaking of everything she's ever been. 

There's nothing more surprising than finding yourself alive after the end of existence. She doesn't know what that means, exactly, but the storm took over and then it never had, so that seemed like some sort of success had been found. All that was left was waiting out the months running parallel to James and Cassandra's mission. She quickly learns how she will need to live through that waiting: a shotgun, dividing up the food stores so losing one didn't mean losing all of it, setting up traps, and patience. She journals and tends the garden that she's filled with corn, beans, squash, and tomatoes with tobacco plants around it to draw away the insects. She pulls out her old viola and tries to remember what she had once learned. She reads through all the Shakespeare she has on her shelves, plays and sonnets both; she reads Göthe, which has been familiar since long before she was comfortable enough with English to read Shakespeare. Her tiny library has always brought her peace. 

None of it fills the silence of the halls she walks, empty of everyone who made it the home it had been for so many years. There isn't even the buzz of electricity, since she reduced power usage to be less detectable. She's been lonely, cripplingly lonely, in her life before. This is a new kind of lonely. This comes after James putting his faith in her, after finally getting to know Cassie since their brief encounter in 2015, after giving David Eckland the chance to know her that another her had already allowed, after the earth-shattering rewriting of her life when Hannah re-entered it. She had never let so many people know her so well. 

[gremlinwithapen]

Augusnippets Day #5: Caretaker's Clothes (Bonus Prompt)

tw: implied lab whump, nonhuman child whumpee

"Gods, where did you even get that thing?"

"I just found xhem, okay? I couldn't leave xhem. And xhey're not a thing."

"Okay, xhey're a person. A child, if what you were saying before is right. What are we supposed to do with xhem? I mean, we're on the run, you're still sick from the incident, I'm running on fumes..."

"We'll figure it out, Cassie. We're not letting them take any of us back. You, me, or the kid. The second we can, we're getting out of this place."

Nobody was curled up on the couch with xheir blanket, listening into the conversation coming from the other room. They probably thought xhey couldn't hear them, but xhey didn't mind it. Xhey were used to being talked about like xhey weren't even there.

Eventually, the sounds of talking petered out, and it was quiet for a bit. Then the door opened, and the one who'd brought xhem here--she'd called herself Val, if xhey remembered correctly--walked in. She was holding a pile of something in her hands, and xhey peered at it suspiciously.

"Hey, kiddo," she murmured, the gentleness in her voice offset by how hoarse her throat sounded and how tired her eyes looked. "You doing alright?"

"I'm okay," xhey said, struggling a little to speak. Xhey weren't used to being able to talk with other people this much. It made xheir throat sting, so xhey huddled up a little further under the blanket.

"That's great to hear," Val really seemed relieved at that, her smile becoming a bit more genuine. "I brought you some clothes to wear. I know you don't really have anything to cover, and you can just make your own, but these'll keep you warmer than anything else. They're mine, and they might fit a little weird on you, but I don't think we'll find anything better."

"Why are you doing this?" Xhey murmured in confusion as they stared at the pile of cloth being offered to them. "I'm just... Nobody. If I weren't here, you'd have less problems to deal with."

"Kid, I'm gonna have problems no matter what," she shook her head as she dropped the pile into xheir lap. "I'm helping you because it's the right thing to do. Gods only know that I need a little bit of that in my life right about now. Now get dressed. Or don't if you don't want to, it's really up to you." Nobody watched as she backed away and left the room, the sound of a muffled cough following her out. Even as weakened as she was, she was still going out of her way to take care of xhem. It felt... nice, after going so long with xheir only human interaction being a never-ending series of pokes, prods, and cuts.

Xhey stared down at the clothes in xheir lap for a few moments before grabbing them and standing up. It was the least xhey could do to actually make use of that kindness, and if xhey had to morph a limb or two to actually fit into them, that was an easy sacrifice to make. Xhey wouldn't just let it got to waste.

Maybe it was just what they needed to feel like the person she was convinced that xhey were.

@augusnippets

[curseofbreadbear]

SONGS I ASSOCIATE WITH MY MUSES || ALWAYS ACCEPTING! || @bugsbloom

bugsbloom asked: 🎵 For Circus Baby, Cassidy, Cassie, Buster, and Glamrock Freddy (both normal and Proto!)

*breaks knuckles*

End Me - "Tell me I can still prove myself after all these years" // "You know, she's still in me; I'm still a girl who tried to be the perfect daughter" // "I have no sympathy. I've lost my will to care, I'm tired of my life being a nightmare"

Drift Away - "And then she smiled, that's what I'm after. A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter. Happy to listen, happy to play, happily watching her drift away" // "You keep on turning pages for people who don't care, people who don't care about you" // "And still, it takes you ages to see that no one's there; everyone's gone on without you" // "Aren't I a fool to have happily listened, happy to stay, happily watching her drift away?"

Copycat - "I'll become what you like; this is what you wanted, right!? Sacrifice all I know, I will teach myself to let go" // "I'm starting to talk like you do; here we go, I'll be gone soon"

What You Want - "Now here's a gift that I can relish; a victim who dies, but cannot perish. Every word that I hear you scream, every second you plead, I will be sure to cherish" // "You know you're gonna burn with me, wait 'til you see what I've got in store" // "I'll always come right back just to watch you fall! And every time we find you, you hide behind these walls; we're gonna break them down!"

Lost Children - "Tell your friends that I'm gone; they won't even care, they won't even stop to find me. Tell your friends that I'm dead, they won't even care, they won't even stop to mourn me"

Handlebars - "Look at me, look at me, driving and I won't stop; and it feels so good to be alive and on top. My reach is global, my tower secure, my cause is noble, my power is pure" // "I can do anything with no permission, I have it all under my command"

The Party Isn't Over - "I'm just lost, it's true, with some déjà vu...like I've been through this over, and over, and over again" // "The party was over, but you're gonna throw it again; throw it over, and over, and over again. It's our show and you know that it won't ever end. Don't bite off more than you think that you can chew, 'cause the party isn't over for you."

The Afternoon - "See the footprints in the cave? I would follow them if I were brave, to find out why there's no second set of footprints in the cave" // "If you take another look in the workings of your pop-up book, there's a secret message left there for you" // "If you choose a place to dig and you make a hole that's deep and big enough, you will find exactly what you need"

In Fact - "Step one: light me on fire. Step two: walk clean away. I won't burn long and evidence of your done-wrong will be gone in seconds, I swear" // "Oh, that's right; I did nothing and you were the mean one. In fact, you even broke my good tape deck. In fact, I don't wanna be friends"

BUSTER:

Awoken - "I've stoked the fire, seen more pain than you can know" // "Pushed by desire to change the way my steam will flow. Now I've awoken and I'm taking back control" // "I try my best to block out the screams, but they're haunting me in my dreams" // "I man these wretched machines; day in, day out, the grinding wears on my brain, undermining my sanity, making me question my reality"

I'll Be Good - "I never meant to start a fire, I never meant to make you bleed; I'll be a better man today" // "I'll be good and I'll love the world like I should; I'll be good for all the times that I never could" // "I've been cold, I've been merciless, but the blood on my hands scares me to death. Maybe I'm waking up today"

Epoch - "Everyone makes mistakes; I've had more than my share, but it's okay 'cause I'm gonna repair it" // "Take it back to the start, I've had a change of heart; I know we can make it better than it ever was" // "We are free to choose our destiny and be the way we want to be, a second chance, you just need to believe"

It's Getting Crowded In Here - "It's something quite peculiar, but we must outmaneuver the ones I've known for so long; they seek your foreign presence, unwelcome adolescence, yet something tells me they're wrong" // "If you need a safe place to hide, or a kind of partner in crime, in me you can always confide; your escape is a metter of time" // "We're facing all this terror, but when we work together, we'll find an answer that's right"

You Are The Music - "You can learn music, let me teach you three simple chords; with a D and a G and an A, you'll reap the rewards" // "You are the music, you are the pulse and the pitch and the time and the tune and the groove" // "You got a knack for the notes and a tantalizing touch with the tune, you got me over the moon"

When Can I See You Again? - "Switch on the sky and the stars glow for you; go see the world 'cause it's all so brand-new" // "Joined at the hip, your sidekick needs you; life is a trip and the road map leads you" // "Let me know before I wave goodbye, when can I see you again?"

PROTO FREDDY:

The Purple People Eater - "I commenced to shaking and I said "ooh-wee," it looks like a purple people eater to me! It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater. Sure looks strange to me!" // "I said, "Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line?" He said, "Eating purple people and it sure is fine. But that's not the reason that I came to land; I wanna get a job in a rock n' roll band!" // "I saw him last night on a TV show; he was blowing it out, really knocking 'em dead, playing rock n' roll music through the horn in his head!"

Monster - "What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster?" // "Confused, mind bruised, it seeps out; face-down, home town looks so grey" // "Convexed, you bend, twist, and shout; stand up, brush off, get moving"

Used to the Darkness - "Then my eyes got used to the darkness, and everyone that I knew was lost and so long forgotten after you" // "I'm just a man, I'm only flesh and bone; I can't bring it back on everything I've done. Now there's no one else left to love, I'm used to the darkness"

[cryptidsurveys]

Wednesday, August 7th, 2024.

Who will you be spending Christmas with this year? Depending on what day it falls on and what my schedule looks like at the time, I will most likely be spending it at the animal shelter. The rest of the day will be spent at home with my dad. I'm sure I'll do something with my mom to celebrate Christmas too, but not necessarily on the day-of.

What time do you usually go to sleep at night? I go to bed super early (like 7pm-8pm); however, it takes me a while to fall asleep, so unconsciousness happens sometime around 9pm. I also typically wake up during the night and it takes me a bit to get back to sleep. Going to bed so early is pretty much the only thing that even halfway guarantees that I'll get at least 7-8 hours of solid sleep. Unfortunately, going to bed later with the hope that I'll fall asleep faster or sleep more deeply just shrinks that available window of opportunity.

Did you go to high school with your current best friend? No, but we did meet during my high school years.

Have you ever wanted to be vegetarian or vegan? I have been vegan/vegetarian at different points in my life, but not currently.

Do you park your car in a garage, carport or just in a driveway? I park it in the driveway. There's no room in the other half of our garage, but even if there was…lmao, I'm afraid I would park in there and I wouldn't be able to back out again. New driver problems, I guess. ;D

Have you ever been a passenger in a semi-trailer truck? Yeah. In childhood. We broke down on the way back from a grocery shopping trip in another city and a semi driver gave us a ride back into town.

Have you felt sick today? No. Just tired, but a good, satisfying type of tired.

Whose was the last funeral you attended? It was for the father of a past partner, back in 2009.

Have you read The Hunger Games trilogy? I have.

How many times a week do you wash your hair? A bunch. Twice on animal shelter days because I shower before and after, then at least once during my two days off. Like, sometimes I'll skip showering on one of the days if all I'm doing is going grocery shopping, but if I'm feeling gross or have therapy or some other social activity later in the day, then I'll take one.

Do you need to wash your hair right now? I guess I don't need to because I showered last night, but I will be showering shortly because I need to get ready to go to therapy before too much longer.

Do you avoid using public restrooms? Not really.

What is your boss’ (or school principal’s) name? I'm not going to give their real names (I've been using aliases for animal shelter staff for the sake of anonymity, plausible deniability, or what have you), but they will be referred to in this blog as Leslie and Iris.

Have you seen any extended relatives in the last month? I haven't.

Do you like eggnog? Yeah.

Is there anything important you need to do today? Therapy, wash my bedding, make some art, and spend some time with my kitties (I can tell they miss me now that I'm gone more often). Oh, and because I don't know if I'll get a chance to take a survey within the next few days, I'll just talk about some upcoming stuff. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow morning and I need to pick up a bunch of doughnuts to bring in on Friday. It might be Cassie's last day, so I want to have a little going away celebration with the people in cattery. It's also going to be one of our community service worker's last days, so we're going to sneakily invite him back there as well. Plus Darrel - can't forget Darrel. And I'm getting enough so that the dog staff can have some too because I don't want them to feel left out, especially not with how kind they've all been to me.

Who is the person you dislike the most? Okay, you know when you work with someone who drives you up the wall with their behavior/personality? Then you find out they might be leaving (it's still a case of I'll believe it when I see it)? And you're like…damn, I'm actually gonna miss you a little bit. Maybe you're not so bad after all. And what if the person who replaces you is even worse? (It's Alex, lmao.)

Do you take part in paying the bills for your household? Yeah.

Have you ever properly listened to classical music? Did you like it? I don't know what you mean by properly, but I basically always listen to classical music whenever I'm in the car. I do like it.

Do your parents know how to text? Yeah.

Do you text your parents often? Not that often. I text my dad when I'm on my way home from the shelter after full days (sometimes we get finished much later than expected), and I text my mom only very occasionally.

What letter does your middle name begin with? A.

Do your initials spell an actual word? HAT.

What will you do when this survey is over? I'm actually going to stop here and go take my shower. I'll finish this later in the day, so you'll have your answer then… OKAY. I'm back from therapy. It was cancelled due to a family emergency. I had a snack, made some art, and after this…I think I'm going to lie in bed and listen to something on YouTube until lunchtime.

Do you know anyone with celiac disease? I don't think so.

How many siblings do you have? Are they all full siblings? I have one sibling.

What’s the weather like today? Sunny and hot.

Have you ever eaten a cinnamon donut? I might have.

What is the longest relationship you’ve ever been in? A few years.

How many times a day do you brush your teeth? Twice.

How do you usually celebrate New Years? I don't really do anything. I don't even bother staying up until midnight.

Is the place that you’re in right now quiet or loud? What can you hear? It's a little bit loud due to the swamp cooler.

Do you currently have any alarms set? No.

How many cars can fit in your driveway? You could probably squish four in there if you wanted to.

Do you like whiskey? I don't like the taste of hard liquor in general. Then again, I don't drink it for the taste.

When was the last time you ate, and what did you have? I had Greek yogurt with fruit, cereal, and chocolate syrup.

[supersapphical]

oooh I would love to read your spin on JoCassie! so if you wanna write a drabble abou them, that would be so amazing <3

JOCASSIE!!! Okay, I wasn't sure exactly where to go with this prompt at first until I realized what Jo and Cassie would both care about so deeply: work and love. So this is a small moment between Jo and Cassie, many many years in the future, after they've made a life together built around their shared passion.

Read on AO3 or under the cut.

"Cassie, you almost done?" Jo pokes her head into Cassie's office.

"Yeah, almost, almost," Cassie says. She's sitting at her desk, crouching over several stacks of paper with hundreds of streams of numbers across them. "Five more minutes."

"Your five minutes will turn into an hour," Jo laughs.

"Fine," Cassie sighs and pushes the piles away from her. Her back pops as she straightens up. "Oof, I'm getting too old for this."

"Pouring through some scumbag politician's financial records is a young man's game," Jo smiles at her and moves to rub Cassie's back. Cassie groans and leans into it, her shoulders relaxing as Jo's strong hands quickly work some of the tension out of her back.

"We need to hit the farmers market quick, I need to leave for Tupelo by 3."

"Tupelo, what's in Tupelo?"

"A rugaru," Jo says.

"A rugaru in tupelo?"

"No, but that would be really funny, wouldn't it?"

Cassie sighs, pretending to be too tired to laugh at Jo's silly joke.

"Just a newbie hunter out there," Jo continues, bringing her elbow up to put more pressure on the center of Cassie's back. "Garth wanted me to check in with them. It should be an easy salt and burn but he says it's taking them a bit too long to figure out what's keeping the spirit here."

"Do you think he'll ever retire and get his nose out of everybody else's business?" Cassie says, unable to keep the fondness out of her voice.

"Garth? Never," Jo says. "You know he's probably saying the same thing about us."

"Hey, I'm a reporter," Cassie says. "All self respecting reporters work until they drop dead at their desks."

"Yeah, and all hunters drink themselves to death by 40 but I don't drink so I guess I need a new plan," Jo says.

"But that plan won't be retirement."

"Absolutely not."

Cassie sighs again and rolls her shoulders.

"You're going to have to promise me you won't get so wrapped up in your work while I'm gone that you let all the produce we're about to buy go bad in the fridge," Jo says as she moves her fingers to deftly work the tight points in Cassie's neck.

"Oh so you can abandon all the food here while you go running of on a hunt but if I forget it then I'm the irresponsible one?"

"Yup," Jo says happily.

"Why don't we just skip the farmers market this week?"

"Because if we buy the food, you have to make the food," Jo says, a smile in her voice. "If we don't buy the food then you'll just order takeout the whole time and I'll come home to a wife who won't let either of us sleep because of her terrible indigestion."

"I won't get—" Cassie starts to say but she cuts herself off. Jo knows her too well.

Eventually, Jo's hands drop from her neck, giving her one final comforting squeeze before falling away. Cassie stands up and turns to look at the other woman. She stares at Jo, her partner of two and a half decades now, her sight tracing the laugh lines around Jo's eyes and the shining locks of gray hair framing face.

"Ready to get to work?" Jo asks her.

"Always," Cassie says.