#also imagine mr d as the officiant

[rosemarysdragon]

with the average life of a greek demigod seemingly ending under the age of 25, i think it’s completely possible and plausible that there are many demigods who get married at 18 or something, because fuck it, if i’m gonna die in the real world in under ten years i might as well get tax breaks for it! and it’s not out of the question that all these bonded-through-trauma kids have deep romantic connections with certain people that they’ve fought countless monsters and defied death with, and when they age out of camp might want to keep that person safe or even just keep around them.

give me demigods going into capture the flag with cheap engagement rings hanging with their camp necklace beads, give me weddings at half-blood hill where the demeter cabin handles florals, give me chiron tearing up standing in the back row because these kids he helped raise aren’t kids anymore, and even though that’s beautiful it also means he can’t protect them much longer

[wheredostarsgowhenyoudie]

Once upon a time when employees are being interviewed at SI:

.

.

Interviewer: So what is it like working for Iron Man?

Employee A: Oh! Easy question. I like that. It is an honor, you know. It's what I thought when I joined, and it still is now. But also, I did not expect that SI is a place where we are allowed to prioritize things like family. Like last time, I left my phone on silent at my desk cause I had to go to a meeting. My kid at home was having an emergency and I couldn't be reached. But apparently, Friday, Mr. Stark's AI, keeps track of phone vibrations so she made the report and someone came to notify me. I didn't even know there was a protocol for that. Turns out my daughter was having her period for the first time! And I'm a single father so I had no idea what to do and I was panicking. Next thing I know, an SI nurse came and apparently she was sent by Mr. Stark to walk me through how to help. Apparently, Fri also caught my panic rumblings and triggered 'YOU ARE NOT ALONE PROTOCOL' or something. (*laughing*) The next week, we received an official email introducing a new department called Human Care. They encourage everyone to reach out if we ever find ourselves out of our depths on non company emergency matters.

.

.

Interviewer: How long have you been working here?

Employee B: Eight years, two months, six days and counting.

Interviewer: What's the weirdest thing you've witnessed here?

Employee B: (blanks out)

Employee B (struggling to think): Ahm. Really? Just one? Er- That's a tough one. Maybe that one time they set up a room for everyone to try lifting Thor's hammer? Or wait, no, maybe that time there when flying roombas were everywhere following Mr. Stark and reminding him to eat? Or when a villain came via the vents but before he could come down, Hawkeye accidentally hit him with pepper spray? I don't know, man. Weird things happen a lot. We're used to it by now.

.

.

Interviewer: Do you feel safe working here?

Employee C: Yeah. The avengers live here. But to tell you the truth, I think Happy Hogan and his black tux team of agents scare all the potential bad guys away. I heard rumors that Black Widow personally trains them. Like, I know two of them. Jake, for instance. He's like a giant, and he is intimidating but I saw him crying one time and when I asked him why, he just said Mr. Hogan.

.

.

Interviewer: Which avenger have you met?

Employee D: Oh, I've met two of them. Captain America and Thor. It was odd but one time, they were in the cafeteria and carrying trays of food and I do not mean just one each. Nope. Like, a ton! Like they're feeding an army. But it makes sense. Can you imagine the workout? With bodies like theirs? And the battles they go to? Man, if I have to save the world from aliens, I'll probably need the same nutrition.

.

.

Interviewer: Which avenger is the kindest?

Employee E: Ahm...We all know they're all badass. But kindest, I think Spider-Man. Last Thursday, it was raining, and then Spidey suddenly came all wet and holding a box and I'm gonna quote him now. He said, "Friday, can you please ask Mr. Sam Wilson Falcon sir to come down? The shelter is close and I have a box of puppies and I really, really want to bring them up but Mr. Stark is gonna ban me from the lab again."

Interviewer: Aww. So what happened next? What did they do with the puppies?

Employee E (grinning): Falcon came down, alright. But he came with Iron Man who zoomed past everyone to drag Spidey to the penthouse. I am not sure what I heard but he was muttering about oven toasters and frozen spiderlings? In the end, aome employees volunteered to take care of them. But I believe two of them are at the avengers' floor. We saw Mr. Stark ranting about puppy paw paint marks on his armani.

Interviewer (gasps): Oh my. Was he mad?

Employee E (ends up laughing): Mad? Try grunting fondly? Peter really likes those puppies. Mr. Stark tried to act like he hates them but really, he adores everything about the kid, puppies included. He even had custom made collars with avengers logo made for them.

.

.

Interviewer: I'm sorry? The Winter Soldier was asking directions to where?

Employee F: The Lego Store.

.

.

Interviewer: How would you describe the workload? Do you still get work life balance?

Employee G: I guess it depends. I work in R&D and we're all nerds there. So like, we're typically busy but it's play for us. Some days, we're really cramped with work, mostly when deadlines are nearing or sometimes, we're just really in the zone, we do not want to stop. Peter activated 'NIGHT NIGHT PROTOCOL' for that. Had Fri lock us out of the lab and we had no choice but to go home or nap at the sleep wing. And would you believe? After the product launch, we got emails on mandatory vacation leaves with bonus to spend! Like, who does that? So yeah, it's cool working here.

.

.

And then, there was this:

Interviewer: How does it feel to be the heir of a multibillion dollar top green tech company?

Peter (stares quizzically, dumb-founded): Uhhh-....Look, sorry, I think I'm in the wrong room. I'm not- Maybe you got the wrong questionnaire? I'm just an intern-

Interviewer: Oh. Wait. Is it top secret then? Sorry, I was told of your identity as Mr. Stark's kid so I thought I could ask. But if you're not comfortable-

Peter: WHAT!?? Who said that? They're probably just joking.

Interviewer (chuckles nervously): Ms. Potts did actually.

Peter (freezes): Oh.

Suddenly the door opens and Tony walks in.

Tony: Hey kid, and Ms. Carrenland. How's the interview going? Thought I'd drop by for moral support, you know.

Peter (looks torn, but excuses himself to go to Tony): Uhm, Mr. Stark, can I talk to you for a second? Look, sir, ahm, I think there's been a misunderstanding. The interviewer asks me how it feels to be your heir. Like that's real. I don't-

Tony (has his brows rising to his hairline): Kid. Peter. Breathe.

Peter (groans and sighs embarrassingly): I just didn't want to lie! They mistook me for someone else. It was a misunderstanding!

Tony (smirking): It's really not.

Peter: What?

Tony: Kiddo, I was the one who gave Pep the approval to sign the questions. And really, you've been managing the R&D department and shadowing Pep at management for a year now. You never wondered why I make you do that?

Peter: Oh.

Tony: Yup. Genius child here.

Peter: I just wanted to help. You seem stressed out with the Avengers' work and dealing with the government. I thought I could lend a hand. I didn't- I don't expect you to- I'm not worth that, Mr. Stark.

Tony (scoffs): I beg to differ. Look, I'll be honest with you. Even if you aren't interested in the company, it's still gonna be yours. Look around you, kid. Do you think I let just anyone go around with a free pass at my tower? You have a room at my home. This place is your home, as where as everywhere else that I own. Plus, it's another motivation for you to take care of yourself when you go out as Spidey. Imagine all our employees. They need you, kiddo.

Peter (mumbling softly): I'm just Peter Parker.

Tony (smiles and pats his shoulder): And that is why I chose you.

[pjohoo-reclists]

"Poison Bending is Okay." Percy Jackson Rec List

Is anyone else upset that Annabeth told Percy that "some things aren't meant to be controlled," in HoH? Here's a list of fics where people in Percy's life comfort and tell him that it's okay for him to have and use his power over poison. Enjoy!

Also check out Percy in Tartarus, Powerful Percy Jackson and Dark Percy Jackson rec lists for more fics where Percy uses his blood and poison bending powers.

there is no antidote by maverickk

T | 800 words | Complete

Percy Jackson, Will Solace, Nico di Angelo

Scary Percy Jackson, Camp Medic Will Solace, Poison Control

Someone gets hurt, and Will drags Percy to the infirmary.

"I was monstrous." by DancingInTheSliverGlow

T | 1.9k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Percy Jackson Needs Therapy, Protective Poseidon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Aka. Fresh out of Tartarus, Percy reflects on his actions. Poseidon offers a wise perspective.

The Serenity of Acceptance by dcninja

Not Rated | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Self-Acceptance, Good Parent Poseidon, Poison Control

No one ever tells you that the worst part of war is learning to live with it after. As Percy struggles to accept events in Tartarus and his growing powers, at least he has his divine family to help.

we'll brave this storm by maverickk

T | 2.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Poseidon

Deity Percy Jackson, Poseidon is a Good Dad, Percy Jackson Needs Therapy

Poseidon won't pretend to understand what his youngest son is going through. But that doesn't mean that Percy will be going through it alone.

To be Known and Accepted by DancingInTheSliverGlow

T | 3.8k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Hermes, Percy Jackson & Blackjack, background Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Good Friend Hermes, Percy Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort

Percy senses the blood before he sees it, the way he can sense water, seas and oceans. It's only a matter of time before his powers leak out, and hurts someone. Chiron talks to him, but it doesn't help. Chiron doesn't know what happened; apparently Annabeth isn't speaking to him, and Percy sure as hell isn't about to spread the fact that he has power over poison, blood and ichor around. He even gets on Mr. D's nerves. The alcoholic god glares at him and says: "I could smite you. Turn your blood against you, your molecules to dust." All Percy can think is, yeah, so can I.

I am not what I expected (The poison just didn't take) by dcninja

M | 30k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Hermes, Percy Jackson & Hades, Percy Jackson & Poseidon, Percy Jackson & Kymopoleia

Powerful Percy Jackson, PTSD, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug

After the War against Gaea, Percy finds himself struggling in the life he worked so hard to get back to. The more he tries to fit back in, pushing down his powers and emotions after the war, the more things seem to fall apart. As Olympus prepares to officially reopen at the Winter Solstice, Hermes takes notice that something is off with the Savior of Olympus. But when he asked for help from Hades, none of them could imagine what Percy’s trip to the Pit led to and what it will mean for the hero. Or Percy finally reckons with the consequences of challenging Akhlys with a little help from his immortal family, who he might be around for a lot longer than he thought.

[smartwatermagic]

I am choosing pain today, have some argument headcanons :D

They argue. A lot. And it gets heated pretty faaast. Courtesy of Al and Annabeth’s pride.

Al takes a lot of offence that Percy and Annabeth said that they were retired, but still do jobs for Olympus. No he doesn't care that Manhattan is Percy’s city or Annabeth’s job is the official architect or that if they aren't the ones going on quests, other people who are less experienced will.

Whenever he rips into this, he gets hit with the fact that he's still throwing himself at Kronos's boots. Annabeth once made a slide-show titled "Signs that you're brainwashed" and sat him down, with Percy holding another set of flashcards. You can imagine how Al took that one.

And stop bringing up his revenge attempts at Perseus.

They all have sharp tongues.

Somehow, Luke gets brought up always without fail. Percy is not happy with this. He is also not happy with the constant shouting because it reminds him of Gabe. He loves his partners but can they just. Not?!

Annabeth would very much like it if Percy and Al stopped trying to pry into her relationship with Athena. Besides why only her when Mr. My Siblings Are Stuck On A Fratricide Ciircle To Be The Strongest is here huh?

Percy and Annabeth are having a lot of old baggage they ignored bubble out to surface too and they do not know how to feel about that.

After arguments Percy goes to his mom or walks Mrs. O’Leary to cool down. Alabaster dissappears to gods don't know where. And Annabeth paces around hoping she had not been abandoned once again.

[sarcastic-kaz]

things i will PAY for to have in tsats

1. nico to make a bones joke

2. will to wear cargo pants to tartarus

3. apollo to give them a ride somewhere

4. them to say goodbye to some people

5. wear the ‘tartarus club’ shirt

6. will to critisize the river phleglon (river of fire)

7. nicos big sacrifice to be some super rare mythomagic card he brought

8. them to stop next to elysium to say goodbye to some dead people (jason) edit yk what that would alert hades who expressed that nico dont go back to tartarus

9. bob. please, bob be real.

10. solangelo to meet akhyles (goddess of misery)

11. will to use his glow in tartarus

12. them to hug as they fall down

13. please show meg somewhere i love nico and megs dynamic

14. will to be completely shook that nobody ever brings med kits on quests

15. meet with cupid/eros and will goes completely ballistic

16. apollo cabin to solely refer to nico as ‘brother in law’

17. yk i dont think plauge powers really would fit canon will but its a cool idea to think about @iwnut 

18. the brochure from when percabeth talked to nyx. yes @mistresscitrusslice . let them give their brochure to solangelo. “ok so in about 15 minutes and past the empousi cave, hellhound pack, and plauge spirit home should be the hermes temple” “oh thank the gods”

19. mr d to say goodbye to his favourite demigod and his boyfriend and hand will a rifle/ak47 and go “youre shit with any other weapon. the bullets are already in the bag.”

20. hunters of artemis. just. nico acting uncomfortable and will knowing part of the story so he shields nico away from most of them

21. shelper shelper shelper

22. this ones a bit far but please get married? and will to make a joke about ‘secret jedi wedding’ and for piper to officiate it and leo as the witness because he also made the rings and theyre trying not to rope that many people in

23. will to just say ‘there is a disturbance in the force’ in tartarus

24. nico to still hate pomogranites

25. please let us see nicos zombie chauffur jules-albert somewhere. 

26. mr d to force nico and will to watch something that looks like the orientation film but when they play it its percy and annabeth telling the dos and donts of a quest and percy is such a bad actor that theres so many cuts of percy saying ‘line?’  or ‘whats next’

27. and at the end percy goes ‘well what did you learn about going on your quest?’ dora the explorer style ‘great!’

28. trogs to go ‘ah its the son of hades and his bioluminecient boyfriend’ and will to just give a small sigh

29. mr d to talk to will in private and just: ‘wheel’ ‘thats still not my name’ ‘thats how nico says your name’ ‘well its just his accent’

30. please let there be an oath to styx. just not one as stupid as apollo because nico and will are smarter than that but yk what swearing to an immortal river who will get revenge on you if you break that promise doesnt sound that smart

31. solangelo to run into lukes shoes. we were robbed of this from percy and annabeth. imagine how funny itd be if they just ran into some winged shoes.

32. yk i want nico and thalia to meditate together and when asked what they were doing thalia to just respond ‘photosynthesizing’

33. orpheus and eurydice reference (this actually can become canon because on the cover it shows them holding hands with nico slightly more forward than will and pointing to the doors so nicorpheus and willdice)

34. will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backstory will backst-

35. some memories of nicos for jason to show how much he misses his friend

36. just a fleeting mention of bianca from either of them

37. if theres a will pov make him hate percy. mans was partially responsible for both his older brothers deaths. he did shit to his boyfriend which include strangling him at godsdamned twelve years old. will shouldnt exactly adore percy is more what i mean.

38. solangelo smooch.

39. nico is the new percy of chb. think of it, big 3 kid, very powerful, hero, lives at chb, close to percy, knows a lot of people. nico is just the go-to now that percy is at college and nico is a permanent resident. 

40. nico fan club. made of new younger campers, reyna, will, percy, annabeth, meg, apollo, hades, and a whole bunch of long-time campers.

41. just to have some new campers act like ttc!nico and follow nico around like he did with percy just asking questions and instead of finding them annoying like percy did nico would answer their questions truthfully like how apollo actually did for nico

these arent in order. id die to see the ‘tartarus club’ shirt to be worn by percy annabeth or nico though or at the end of the book for will to be gifted one though and more to be added

[high-school-lit-tournament]

The official high school literature tournament bracket is here!

Because I am moderately technologically inept, I printed out a bracket and filled it in; that sort of thing helps me visualize the rounds and contextualize the matchups better.

Because this is really small and fairly difficult to read, here is a comprehensive list of the matchups, as organized by side (I’m calling A, B, C, and D sides because I forgot what they’re actually called. Imagining a LP makes this imagery more entertaining).

Side A

War and Peace vs Crime and Punishment

Animal Farm vs Fahrenheit 451

The Catcher in the Rye vs A Separate Peace

The Bell Jar vs The Color Purple

Kindred vs The Stepford Wives

The Great Gatsby vs The Count of Monte Cristo

Arcadia vs A Raisin in the Sun

A Doll’s House vs A Streetcar Named Desire

Side B

Pride and Prejudice vs Jane Eyre

1984 vs Slaughterhouse 5

The Outsiders vs Lord of the Flies

An Inspector Calls vs The Crucible

To Kill a Mockingbird vs Huckleberry Finn

Beloved vs The Things They Carried

Things Fall Apart vs Invisible Man

Night vs The Kite Runner

Side C

Of Mice and Men vs The Grapes of Wrath

L’étranger vs The Little Prince

Brave New World vs Catch-22

Maus vs Persepolis

Ethan Frome vs Never Let Me Go

The Poisonwood Bible vs Heart of Darkness

The Master and Margarita vs We

I Am A Cat vs The Samurai’s Garden

Side D

Hamlet vs Macbeth

Frankenstein vs Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Wuthering Heights vs Metamorphosis

The Scarlet Letter vs Madame Bovary

The Sound and the Fury vs The Sun Also Rises

Death of a Salesman vs The Importance of Being Ernest

Sagarana vs The House of the Spirits

Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma vs Noli Me Tángere

The first round of the tournament will be split up over four weeks, with the matchups of each side lasting a week.

Stay posted for the rounds!

Update: round 1, side A (results), B (results), C (results), and D (results) are complete; stay tuned for round 2!

- - -

On accessibility: we have added alt text for cover images. In future rounds, we might write image IDs, as there’ll be less of them

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Beast Anon back again xP I apologize for the late reply and I'm sorry to hear you were stressed. As always I would encourage you to take it easy where you can, friend :) I'm doing well, thank you for asking, and to answer your question, the reason I like those kinds of AUs and relationships isn't anything that complicated, I just...find them really wholesome ^^ With them, you're always guaranteed a certain level of fluff and slice-of-life goodness that's easy to imagine and can help get you through your day when you need that extra little bit of warmth in your day, ya'know? :D As for why I prefer it with some X-Men characters, well, I have two reasons. Firstly, with the multiverse being an extremely canon thing in Marvel, especially X-Men in this case, it makes the idea of these relationships and stories a kind of canon in themselves, and it's always so fun to explore that ^^ To explain that a little more and get into the second reason, when you're dealing with the X-Men, some of the most exciting and complex Marvel characters of all time, you know these situations are going to be more than just a daily routine, there's always going to be some twist/emotional adventure to explore along the way, and it adds a whole new depth to the situation. True, you could argue that to be the case with just about any fictional character but...c'mon, it's the X-Men! xD As for your soon-to-be recent viewing of the first two episodes of X-Men '97, I promise you a real treat, but, I am obligated to not spoil a thing ^^ Except this: OMG HANK FINALLY SAID THE THING!!! :DDDD

No worries, Beast Anon! I am glad to hear from you again, and there is no set time or need to respond immediately. What happens happens. And I finally started watching the first episode of X-Men 97 and so far, my thoughts are as follows:

• Roberto you sweet, poor child... You don't know the half of it-

• Who the f*ck is hiding Sentinel parts?! They're fr*cking HUGE, how does someone just move that around?! Someone knows something, how can you not when a single Sentinel arm is bigger than a car-!

• Go Morph! Mighty Morph-ling Power Ranger! (Well, X-Man)

• Wolverine, dude, please get over the love triangle; you and Scott were friends once, can you two get some team or friend therapy and try to talk about it for once?

• Where is the official team therapist? Nor the therapist friend, the actual certified therapist-

• Let the kids have fun!

• Roberto, they viewer-insert/new guy who is how everyone would react to the crazy shenanigans of the X-Men and Marvel

• Mr. Xavier, I am starting to believe you and Magneto really WERE more than friends, or were some form of QPR at the least

• And Magento is back! And more... oddly looking well for someone who is in their... 70s, I think? Wow. He's doing good (if you aren't counting losing his best bud and possible boyfriend, not to mention inheriting aforementioned friend's family, school, and property)

Aaaaand that is about how far I've gotten. I need to play a little catch-up😅😊

And now I really want to see Beast and Carla get together/have a secret date, watch Wolverine and Morph or Wolverine and Storm become a couple, get more Sabretooth and the Brotherhood in this show (please please please let them be brothers) (sorry fandom members who ship them, I view them platoncially!), hopefully they introduce Laura/X-23 at some point, someone let Rogue and Gambit get together, we know that is likely endgame, and yes yes yes Roberto can be Jubilee's friend (and maybe sibling?) (Whatcha wanna bet she's wanted one since the first year?)

And woo! Yes, platonic yandere genre! I get the points you've made: Platonic yandere could be canon in some way, and it's Marvel, so canon is a bag of 40+ flavor jellybeans and a 45+ flavor milkshake stand... Also, yes, X-Men add a certain flair to the platonic yandere trope. Surprise, super-poweree genetically enhanced people, and this random teen/young adult/child who they somehow procured. Que a normal Tuesday of crazy villains, more insane humans, some weird relationship issues and the break-up then make-up, and (gasp) surprise! You have been blessed with this new character to love! They're called Reader, they can be sweet at times, they are willing to use a metal bat as a weapon, and oh, and they are as addictive to y'all as catnip is to cats!

May I ask your top three favorite X-Men characters? Top three favorite heroes, and favorite villain, so four favorite characters? Do you enjoy how I write them (if I have written for them) as platonic yanderes? Do you want an older teen/adult cartoon or anime where the X-Men are platonic yandere over someone? I myself do, and I would have so manh ideas on it! Are there any duo platonic yanderes you like, where two team up over Reader or are both interested in the same one? (Ex. Rogue and Gambit, Kurt and Rogue, Wolverine and Sabretooth, etc.)

I hope you have a good night/day! I will hopefully get to the second episode of X-Men 97 tomorrow, and once the first season is finished for the series, I can add X-Men 97 to the X-Men media I will write for😊 (And if you want to discuss any if this more, I am all ears!)

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Colder Weather

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-One

A JSE Fanfic

Welcome to the third season of PNPT—both in the sense of the time of year, and in the sense of an arc of a story. The kids have laid low for a while, but they're still planning to meet up and talk about stuff, just to be sure nothing's happening. But something does happen. JJ gets something strange from their school. Could the Circle or Anti be involved? Read to find out! :D

More of this AU | From the Start

++++++++++++++++++++

Winter break was coming up. A week after the paperpillar incident, the school officially put its Christmas decorations up—though some teachers had their classrooms decorated since the beginning of November. The kids hadn’t had any trouble from the teachers belonging to the Circle. Which was a bit strange. After all, Mrs. Karter went out of her way to confront them. The Circle must have known what they talked about. Maybe the Circle was also waiting. Waiting to see what the kids would do.

Well, the truth was, not much. They’d agreed to lay off the supernatural hunting until after the holidays. And even if they hadn’t, the end of the term was fast approaching, and that meant they had to get through exams before they could finally have their winter holiday. 

“I hate exams,” Chase complained one day at lunch.

“Yes, you have said that a lot,” Schneep muttered. “And I tell you, once the exams are done, they are done. You do not have to worry about them.”

JJ shook his head. It’s the buildup that’s the worst. The anticipation. And then when it’s finally the day, there’s a time limit to complete it. It’s too much pressure.

“Yeah, well, at least you get fucking hundreds all the time,” Marvin said, idly tearing apart his empty milk carton. “Imagine what it’s like for those of us who aren’t actually that smart.”

You’re very smart, Marvin, just not in a school way, JJ said.

Marvin blinked. “Yeah. And... we’re in a school.” He gestured around at the cafeteria. “Where did you think we were? Fucking outer space?”

JJ rolled his eyes. Okay, I get it.

“Stacy, what do you think about exams?” Schneep asked.

Stacy shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I don’t really have strong feelings? Uh... I think I hate homework more, though. At least at school it’s usually quiet. So hard to do my work when Roxy is watching Barbie movies in the next room.”

“Anyway, d’you guys think we can meet up after school today?” Chase asked. “I already asked Jackie, and he said he was free all day. We can go to Zelly’s and talk about... stuff.” He gave them all a meaningful look.

The greenlight and Anti? JJ asked.

“Don’t say it out loud!”

JJ raised an eyebrow. I didn’t.

Chase blinked. Then he burst into laughter. “I-I didn’t even realize—that just slipped right by me!”

JJ also chuckled. Most people in this school don’t know BSL. They won’t realize what I’m saying.

“Pretty helpful!” Marvin said cheerfully. “I’ve asked him to help me with exams before but he’s always denied it.”

Because it would still be obvious what I’m doing, I’m not getting you in trouble for that, JJ said.

“Well, I don’t have anything today, either,” Stacy shrugged. “So yeah. I can go to Zelly’s after school.”

“Chase, should we not study?” Schneep asked. “If you are so concerned about exams, studying will help.”

Chase groaned. “We’ll have plenty of time to study today! We’re not gonna be there until bedtime!” He rolled his eyes, then looked right at Schneep. “And if you’re worried about Mom, she’s not gonna be too bothered about us not studying every day. Even with tests coming up.”

Schneep nodded slowly. “I suppose that is true... she has not been like that...” He shook his head and cleared his throat. “Well, if that is the case, we can do so, too.”

JJ frowned. We can’t go directly after school. I have to go to the dean’s office.

“Huh? Why?” Stacy asked. “Did you do something?”

I’m not sure, they just sent a note to my homeroom. I think I’m supposed to pick something up. He sighed.

“Well... be careful.” Chase frowned. “It could be a trap.”

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna go with him,” Marvin said. “They couldn’t stop me if they tried! And if it does turn out to be something with those Circle guys, I’m prepared.” He drummed his fingers on the table, sending tiny ripples of green light across its surface.

“So... we can go around dinner time, then?” Chase said. “Maybe?”

The others agreed that would work out for all of them. Shortly after, the lunch period ended, and they headed off to their respective classes.

++++++++++++++++++++

JJ’s last class of the day was his Physics class, up on the third floor of the school. It was a long walk down to the first, ground floor where the dean’s office was. Not to mention he had to stop by his locker on the second floor to grab all the textbooks he’d need for homework that night; he never wanted to carry them all around, all day. 

He finished stuffing his bag with the books and turned around, waiting for Marvin to meet him here like they’d planned. He looked one way down the hallway—

And then something flew down the hallway from the other direction and hit the back of his head.

He turned back around, surprised and a bit nervous, and saw a paper airplane at his feet. “Sorry!” a voice shouted, and a boy his age ran up to him. “I wasn’t aiming for you! Guess the design needs some work, haha.”

JJ froze up a little. Oh shit. River Bailey was talking to him.

River was a boy he had a couple classes with, with messy blonde hair and big green eyes. He always wore a brown leather jacket with fur around the collar. Even when strict teachers tried to get him to take it off, he would just put it back on whenever they weren’t looking, like it was a game to see if he could get away with it. Some time last year, JJ realized that he was starting to feel... weird whenever River was around. Like... his face kept getting hot. And he just wanted to stare at him. And he wondered what it would be like to talk to him, really talk to him, outside of school projects, but thinking about that made his stomach jump a little. And then, at the end of last school year, JJ finally had a name for these weird feelings. But he didn’t ever want to say it out loud.

Oh no he’d been quiet for too long. JJ smiled, then reached down and picked up the paper airplane, handing it to River.

“Thanks!” River grinned and took it, examining it. “Yeah, it must be a bit unbalanced.” He looked at JJ. “You’re... Jameson Jackson, right? The quiet kid? With the twin?”

JJ nodded.

“Wicked. Is this your locker?”

JJ nodded again.

“Cool. Mine’s on the corner, there.” River pointed.

It was?! How had he never noticed?!

“See you around!” River smiled and waved, wandering off.

And JJ just stood there, waving back. Wanting to follow after him, but finding his feet rooted to the spot.

Footsteps came up from behind him. “Oooooo.” Marvin appeared at his side as if by magic, grinning. “River talked to you. Congratulations!”

Jameson shoved him. He looked around, slightly panicked, but the hallway was now empty except for the two of them. Don’t say stuff like that! he signed quickly.

Marvin nodded. “Yeah, yeah. D’you know if he knows sign language?”

JJ shook his head. Probably not, to be honest. I’d have to use the notebook.

“Did you?” Marvin asked. “Use the notebook, I mean.”

He shook his head again. There was no time. It was just a passing exchange. That’s all. He looked down at his bag, pretending to zip it up. And I need to get to the dean’s office, remember?

Marvin frowned. “Boo. Fuck the dean’s office. You could’ve had like... an actual conversation. Maybe he’s... you know.”

JJ shook his head again, more fervently than before. He’s probably not. And that’s fine. Now let’s go. He quickly started walking, and Marvin hurried to catch up, falling into place by his side.

A flight of steps and a long hallway later, JJ walked into the dean’s office. The room had glass for walls on two sides, looking out into the school’s front entrance. One of the other walls had windows looking out the front of the school, observing the car park. JJ and Marvin were both very familiar with the layout of the office. The first part was where the receptionist sat, in a big metal desk with an old clunky computer on it. There were a lot of chairs to wait in here, along with a book where you could sign in if you were late to school and missed homeroom roll call. Behind the receptionist desk was another glass wall with an empty doorway in it that led into the dean’s office proper, which was a lot more personally decorated than this front area.

The receptionist—maybe that wasn’t the proper word for the role but neither of the twins knew what the proper word was—looked up as the twins entered. She smiled warmly. A nameplate on her desk identified her as Mrs. Lowe. “Hello there, boys. How can I help you?”

JJ nudged Marvin slightly, and he said, “My brother got a note to see the dean? His name’s Jameson Jackson.” As Marvin spoke, JJ took out said note and passed it to Mrs. Lowe.

“Alrighty, one second.” She took the note, and used the mouse to click something on the computer. “Okay, everything’s set! I’ll go get Mr. Worrall.” And she stood up, going through the empty doorway into the office.

Think it’s worth it to sit down? Marvin asked JJ.

No, hopefully we’re not here too long, JJ said.

Do you think it’s another award thing?

Definitely. That was the only reason he ever went down to the dean’s office. There would be an award ceremony later, but there was always a moment at first when they let him know he won something, maybe passed out a small certificate. They apparently hadn’t contacted Mam and Dad this time, but they didn’t always.

Mrs. Lowe returned with Mr. Worrall, the dean, in tow. “Ah, Mr. Jameson Jackson, always good to see you down here!” he said, clapping his hands together and smiling.

Jameson nodded and smiled back.

“Feels like just yesterday I saw you in here for Excellency in English—or was that Excellency in Maths?” Worrall chuckled in a friendly, but slightly fake-sounding, way. “Well, I’m sure you remember this one. The Royal Choice for winter term. Three years in a row! Very impressive, very impressive. In fact, it’s so impressive, that this year, before the actual assembly, we wanted to give you a little gift. Think of it as an early Christmas present.”

It was then that JJ noticed Mrs. Lowe was holding something. A green gift bag with white tissue paper. She walked over to him and held it out. “Congratulations, Mr. Jackson.”

Well... this was new. Sometimes the awards came with little trophies or medallions. Stuff like that. JJ would think that this was something like that, but the bag was a bit bigger than necessary for a trinket that small. Even so, JJ smiled and took the bag, signing Thank you with his other hand.

“No, thank you, Mr. Jackson, for being such an exemplary student!” Worrell smiled. He knew that sign—but JJ knew from experience that the dean couldn’t follow a full BSL conversation. “Please, carry on. The assembly will be on the nineteenth, at nine o’clock. Please let your parents know.”

The last day before winter holiday. That made sense. JJ nodded again, still smiling, then turned and waved goodbye, heading for the office door with Marvin right behind him. The adults didn’t stop them; apparently they had nothing more to add.

The two of them were quiet until after they left the building. At which point, Marvin started talking. “That was a bit weird. I mean, I’ve never heard of them giving out presents with the award stuff—but then again, I’m not really involved in all that, so I wouldn’t know. But don’t you think it’s a little suspicious?” He leaned closer to JJ. “We know some of the teachers are in with the Circle. And he said the teachers have given you this present. What if it’s—it’s some sort of trap in there?”

JJ considered that. But there’s a chance it could be real, he said. And Mam and Dad would be so upset if they heard that I got some special gift for my academics and we... like, got rid of it or something.

Marvin grumbled. “They don’t have to find out. We could, you know, fucking lie to them?”

Okay, but what if they talk to teachers at the assembly and they ask about how I liked the gift? JJ pointed out. I think we should play it safe. If it turns out to be some Circle thing, we can get rid of it later, and say that we lost it.

“Fiiiiine.” Marvin shook his head. “I think this is a fucking stupid idea, though. What’s in the bag, anyway?”

Let’s wait until we get home, JJ said.

“You can fake your first reaction for Mam and Dad, yknow.”

Well, also it’s cold and I don’t want to waste any more time out here, JJ said, hurrying over to the school bike rack.

“Okay, that’s fair.” Marvin followed him, and the two of them unlocked their bike chains and quickly pedaled off down the street, hoping to get home quickly.

++++++++++++++++++++

Mam was in the kitchen when the twins got home, talking with Granmam. But she immediately stopped once she saw them come in. “Hello boys!” she said, smiling. “Was the ride home from school okay? Oh, what d’you have t’ere, Jameson?”

JJ had put the gift bag into his school bag for the bike ride, but stopped outside to take it out again. He set it down on the kitchen table. I got another Royal Choice award for the term, he said. And the dean said the teachers wanted to give me a gift for getting it every term three years straight.

“Oh!” Mam’s eyes lit up. “Well, take it into the living room, we can open it up t’ere!” She hurried out of the kitchen and towards the staircase. “Rob! The school gave Jameson...” Her voice faded away as she climbed up them.

“Congrats, lad,” Granmam said, giving him a small smile. She was holding a mug in her hand, which she took a sip from. “Either of you want tea? I jus’ made a kettle.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Marvin said. “Thanks, Granmam.”

Same. JJ nodded.

“Very well.” She took another sip. “Well, let’s see what all t’is nonsense is about, t’en. To the livin’ room.”

The whole family crowded into the living room. “Here, sit on the sofa, Jameson,” Dad said, angling him perfectly. Mam was fiddling with the camera, getting it set up. Meanwhile, Granmam sat in the armchair in the corner, frowning while the parents couldn’t see her, and Marvin was sitting on the floor, using a cat toy to play with their kitten, Sinney. Her big green eyes followed the end of the string diligently, but she wasn’t quite coordinated enough to catch it yet.

JJ sat down on the sofa, watching all this, trying not to squirm. “Alright, go on, show what it is,” Mam said encouragingly. He nodded and opened up the gift bag, pulling out the tissue paper until he could see what was inside. What... was it? He’d been expecting something like a congratulatory T-shirt, or maybe some sort of water bottle. This was... weird. He reached inside and pulled out some sort of toy. A doll, made of soft fabric and cotton. It wore a smaller version of the school uniform, and had brown yarn hair and black button eyes. He held it in both hands and squeezed the torso until his fingers touched, going all the way around. There was a tag around the arm that read “Congratulations! Hollewych Secondary School is happy to have you!”

Marvin looked up, seeing it. “What the fuck is that?”

“Language, Marvin,” Dad said idly.

JJ turned the doll around and held it up for the rest of the room to see.

“Whaaaat the fuuuuck?” Marvin said, eyes going wide.

Granmam raised an eyebrow. “Bejesus. T’at’s an odd t’ing to give your student, isn’ it?”

“Oh, but I t’ink it’s cute!” Mam said, sounding delighted. “Here, Jameson, smile for the camera.”

JJ did so, smiling while she took a couple pictures. As soon as she was done, he turned it around, looking at it again. Studying it. Yeah... this was weird. This was very weird. And a bit creepy. He didn’t like the dead stare of the button eyes. He shivered, then quickly put the doll down, deciding to change the subject. The dean said they’d give me the certificate at an assembly on the nineteenth, at nine o’clock.

“Oh good! I can put in a vacation day request,” Dad said. Behind him, Marvin rolled his eyes.

“We’ll be right t’ere, cheering you on!” Mam added cheerfully.

Marvin groaned slightly. Granmam glanced at him, then cleared her throat. “Well, take yer mans up to your bedroom, t’en, Jems. Put it somewhere... safe.”

JJ nodded, standing up. Oh, before he forgot. Mam, Dad, some friends invited us out to dinner. Can we go?

“With exams coming up?” Mam frowned.

“Come on, Em, he’s clearly been working hard enough,” Dad said. “You can go, Jameson, don’t worry. But remember when bedtime is. You need to be home before that, so call us well before then. To account for driving times.”

JJ nodded again. He picked up the doll and looked over at Marvin, jerking his head back to the hallway. Marvin carefully moved Sinney off his leg and stood up, and the two of them headed upstairs to their bedroom.

Marvin closed the door as soon as they were inside. “Okay, but we can agree that thing’s fucking weird, right?” He pointed at the doll. “Who the fuck gives something like that as an award for—for whatever the fuck you did?”

JJ tossed the doll into the corner, where it disappeared behind a pile of dirty clothes. It’s creepy.

“Huh? I mean, I guess? I don’t really see it, but if you do, sure. It’s more like—like why the fuck would you do that? That’s such a weird thing to give you. It feels... personal.”

It does. JJ shuddered. Perhaps that was partly why the doll was creeping him out. So... do you think it might be from the Circle after all, then?

“Oh, for sure. I’m not sure why, but it definitely is.” Marvin glared into the corner. “Maybe it’s supposed to spy on us or something. Throw it out the window.”

We can’t do that, JJ said. You know Mam and Dad will ask about it for a while. They might even want to put it in the living room or something.

“Fuck them! Come on, JJ, say it with me.” Marvin began chanting it. “Fuck them! Fuck them! Fuck them! Fuck—”

JJ laughed. He shook his head. Stop it, they might hear you.

“They’re downstairs, they can’t hear shit.”

Okay, but seriously, we can’t get rid of it yet, JJ said. We should at least tell the others and get their advice.

“Hmm... yeah, we shouldn’t leave them out of it,” Marvin agreed. “Let’s get changed and get ready. Sounds like Dad wants to drive us there.”

The twins quickly changed out of their school uniforms and into more casual clothes. Then they hung around their room for a while before it was time to go. JJ tried to concentrate on the book he was reading... but somehow, he kept finding his attention drawn to the corner where the doll was. It felt like he waited forever before it was finally time to leave for Zelly’s.

++++++++++++++++++++

“Ah man, everyone else is here.” Chase plopped down into one of the last seats at the table. “I thought we’d be early.”

“Dad dropped us off so we got here faster than we usually do,” Marvin said. “Which like, just makes me want a car. To get places fast. But I do like biking, but it takes so long, y’know?”

“Takes longer in other places,” Jackie said, taking a drink from his glass of water. “We’re really lucky that we can walk to a lot of places.”

Schneep sat down next to Chase and picked up the menu. “Did you all order the orders yet?”

Stacy giggled. “Order the orders.”

“What? It is correct in grammar.”

“No, it is, it’s just funny to hear. Anyway, we didn’t, we told the waiter we were waiting for you.” She giggled again. “Told the waiter we’re waiting.”

Schneep frowned. “English can be strange. But I suppose German can also be strange.”

“So.” Chase folded his arms on the table. “Have any of you guys seen anything weird? Uh, especially, like... Has Anti shown up to any of you guys?”

The group all shook their heads in unison. Not since he knocked out Mrs. Karter and said that stuff about challenging us, JJ said.

“Which was so strange,” Stacy muttered. “This is all like... a game to him.”

“And it’s not to us?” Jackie said. “To you guys?”

“I got pushed down the stairs,” Marvin emphasized. “That’s not a game! That’s—that’s child endangerment!”

Jackie burst into laughter. “God, you’re right, actually.” He coughed, and stopped laughing, becoming serious again. “I’ve been looking more into Jack McLoughlin. I still don’t know where he is or where his family moved to, but Ram’s dad told me something strange when I was over at their house for a game. Apparently the McLoughlins moved really suddenly. Ram’s dad worked with Mr. McLoughlin, and he didn’t tell anyone at his work that the family was moving. Not even his bosses. He just didn’t show up one day, and when the work called him, he quit over the phone.”

“Maybe he simply hated his job?” Schneep asked.

“Maybe. But I’m just saying, that’s not how it usually works. And I don’t think the kids at school knew Jack would be going away until right before he did. He wasn’t really talking about it, y’know?”

Chase frowned. “Weird. I remember Mom and Dad talked about the move for a long time before we moved here. I told all my friends at school, and packing up the boxes took a while, and like... there was stuff with the mail, I think?”

“Moving is a whole process, especially if you’re moving countries,” Jackie agreed. “It’s strange that they just kinda... disappeared one day.”

Maybe they had a reason they had to get out of town fast, JJ said.

“Like Anti,” Stacy added in a quieter voice.

“Like Anti,” Jackie said, nodding.

“Ah... this is not too important to the matter,” Schneep said slowly. “But... what do you mean by ‘a game’? Were you playing sports at your friend’s house?”

Jackie laughed. “I mean, I’d be down to, if my friends wanted to. But nah. We usually meet up at Ram’s house for... uh...” He paused. “Have... you guys heard of Caverns and Creatures?”

“That nerd game where you pretend to have magic?” Marvin asked. Unconsciously, Chase, Stacy, and Schneep all glanced at the cape Marvin was wearing before looking away.

“Yeah, the nerd game where you pretend to have magic. I mean, my character doesn’t have magic, but others do—anyway. We, uh... do that. There. Ram’s good at running campaigns.”

“Campaigns?” Schneep asked.

“That’s what you call a C&C game,” Jackie explained. “It’s a whole thing. If you guys ever want to learn more about it I’d be happy to show you guys.” His eyes lit up as he said that. “I love to get people into it, and I’d love to try CMing sometime—Uh, I mean. If you guys don’t think it’s weird.” Jackie coughed, suddenly looking awkward.

“Uh... I’m not... usually into magic and stuff, but... if you’re interested, maybe?” Chase said reluctantly. He hoped that nobody at school would hear about that. But—no, he shouldn’t care about that. It’d be something fun with his friends. Still... playing a game like that was a step far into the dorky crowd. He wasn’t a dork... or at least not that much of a dork.

We can talk more about it later, JJ said. For now, me and Marvin have something to tell you.

“Yeah.” Marvin nodded, backing him up.

The others all instantly sat up straight, all their attention on the twins. “Did something happen?” Jackie asked. “More stuff about the Circle?”

“Well we think so, but I guess we can’t really be sure, it could just be something weird that happened,” Marvin said. “But I mean everything weird has been connected to greenlight or the Circle in some way in this town so I think it has to be connected too. So you all know how JJ had to go to the dean’s office after school? It was cause they had to tell him he got some award or something. And the dean was like ‘because you’ve won this award so much for the last couple years we’re giving you an extra present’ which I guess makes sense, but when we got home and JJ opened up the bag it was this weird doll thing. Like, a plush doll with button eyes. It was so weird.”

It looked creepy, JJ added.

“I can imagine,” Jackie muttered. “But... yeah, that’s very not-normal. I’ve never even heard of that happening.”

“I got an award last year for my art project, I didn’t get a present with it,” Stacy said.

Schneep shook his head. “That is not a thing in Germany, either. You may get a little sticker or something, maybe a medal, but not a toy. Very strange.”

“I dunno much about all that school award stuff, but that sounds freaky,” Chase said. “So, you think the Circle made that happen somehow?”

JJ nodded. We know that some of the teachers are involved. They could’ve pulled some strings to make it happen.

“I bet it’s some sort of fucking... spy thing,” Marvin said. “To make sure we’re staying out of their way like Mrs. Karter told us to. We gotta get rid of it, right?”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Stacy shrugged. “Is that why you brought it?”

The twins both looked at her, identical expressions on their faces. Mostly confusion... with a bit of fear. “Wh-what do you mean?” Marvin asked.

Stacy pointed at JJ’s bag. “Your shoulder bag is kinda unzipped and I can see something that looks all soft and plushy in there. Is that it?”

JJ looked down at his bag. His face drained of color, and he slowly reached down into the bag—oh so slowly, like he was waiting for someone to stop him. But nobody did. He grabbed something, pulling it out through the gap where the zipper is undone. It was a doll, with brown yarn hair and blue button eyes, wearing a tiny blue jacket and black pants. He gasped in surprise upon seeing it, dropping it on the table.

Marvin frowned. “When did you grab the doll? I didn’t see you do that.”

I didn’t. JJ’s signs were shaky. I know I left it at home.

The other kids stared at the doll on the table. “...Jameson,” Schneep said quietly. “Is it... supposed to look like you?”

“Oh. Oh my god, yeah, i-it’s wearing the same outfit you are!” Jackie gasped. “And the brown hair and blue eyes—”

“Wait a second, I don’t think it had blue eyes before!” Marvin protested.

It didn’t. JJ shook his head. And it was wearing different clothes.

“What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?” Marvin said under his breath. “Okay, I’m with you now. This is creepy. And it’s definitely some greenlight shit. We have to get rid of it.”

“How do we do that?” Chase asked.

“It’s fucking fabric and cotton, just tear it apart!”

“Noooo nonono, I-I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jackie said hurriedly. “You guys know about voodoo dolls, right?”

“Hmm?” Schneep blinked. “No, what is that?”

“You know about so much, but you’ve never heard of a voodoo doll?” Chase asked.

“I do not know everything, Chase.”

“It’s fine,” Jackie said. “Uh, basically, a voodoo doll is like—well I think it’s based on a real thing in real life, there’s like a religion in America called hoodoo, I think? I don’t know much about that, though. But in pop culture and shit, a voodoo doll is a doll that’s meant to look like someone, and whatever you do to the doll happens to the person. Like, if you stick a pin in its stomach, the person will feel a sharp pain in their stomach. Or if you hold it underwater the person will have trouble breathing. This doll might be sorta like that.”

JJ was now as white as a ghost. Do you think that’ll happen to me?!

“I don’t know! I-I never thought they’d exist in real life—I mean, like I said, the idea of them in pop culture is probably based on something real but I bet it’s really exaggerated—but other than that, I didn’t think they would—they would—you get what I’m saying, right?” Jackie looked around at the others.

“There’s definitely something weird about how it looks more like JJ,” Marvin muttered.

“But if the doll is like how Jackie described, we should not destroy it, should we?” Schneep fretted. “I do not want JJ to get hurt.”

“He’s not going to get hurt,” Jackie said, looking like he regretted bringing up the possibility. “Here, JJ, just give it to me. I’ll hang onto it. Paul can use it to climb on.” That was what he named the paperpillar after it had shrunk down.

JJ quickly handed the doll over. How is the paper caterpillar, by the way?

“Good, it’s good.” Jackie put the doll in his backpack. “He acts more like a toy than a real animal, I think. One of those robot ones. Doesn’t need to eat anything other than paper, and likes wandering around or ‘sleeping’ sometimes. I’m trying to figure out how to buy a terrarium or something without Dad asking me about it.” He looked around at the others. “Anyone else have anything they wanna report?”

The group all muttered various ‘no’s.

“Great, so we can get food and chill, then,” Stacy said, picking up the menu. “I didn’t know they did actual food, either.”

“I think it’s a new thing,” Chase said. “But last time Schneep and I were here, we got the chicken fingers, they were really good.”

“I want to get that again,” Schneep said. “And I want to hear more about this Cavernous Creatures game Jackie mentioned.”

Jackie laughed a little. “Caverns and Creatures. I think it’s really fun! I mean, I wasn’t too keen on getting into at first, but Sly dragged me into the group he had with Ram, Mincy, and Celine, just for a oneshot, and I really liked it. It can be a bit complicated, though.”

“Isn’t there, like... maths?” Chase asked, making a face.

“It’s just addition and subtraction. But all the numbers could really put people off, I get it.” Jackie grinned. “But it’s mostly very creative. Like writing a story together. Each person makes a character, and they fill out details about the character on a sheet, and that’s where they can also write down the spells and treasure the characters get over the course of an adventure. Then the Cavern Master runs the game, giving you scenarios that you can work through! It’s like—like if any of you have ever played those old text games on computers—”

“Oh, I know those games!” Stacy gasped. “I love those games! And the ones where you click on stuff and do puzzles, too!”

“So... it’s like a video game... but it’s all in your brain?” Chase asked, tilting his head to the side as he considered this.

“Well there’s a board,” Jackie said. “And little pieces you can move around—but the pieces are usually pretty expensive so Ram just uses anything they have around the house.” He laughs.”But yeah! Kinda like a video game in your brain.”

“Oooo.” That did sound more fun than Chase thought. There would still be math, but he could put up with math if the rest was fun. “Okay, I’m kinda wondering about it too, now.”

“What about you two?” Schneep looked at the twins. “Are you interested?”

Marvin scoffed. “How dare you assume that I... would not be interested in a game where you can cast magic spells. Do you even know me?”

JJ chuckled a little. Marvin’s always been curious, but we’ve never known enough people to try it out in a group.

“Yeah, and you have too, don’t lie,” Marvin said, bumping his shoulder against JJ’s.

A little bit, JJ said slowly. Marvin rolled his eyes.

“Well, if all of you guys are curious I could... maybe... ask Ram to borrow some of their CM stuff,” Jackie said slowly, trying not to look too excited. “And we could hang out and try it out.”

As talk moved on, JJ slowly started to relax. The doll changing had really freaked him out. But it was fine now. Jackie could keep it, and they could figure out if they could get rid of it later. Everything was fine.

++++++++++++++++++++

When JJ and Marvin got home from dinner with their friends, their dad sent them straight upstairs to get ready for bed. Even if bedtime wasn’t actually for a couple more hours, he wanted them to be ready. Marvin groaned and complained but did it anyway. JJ did it without the groaning and complaining.

The two of them spent the last couple hours before bedtime hanging out with Granmam, all of them watching Sinney play in the living room. The time passed surprisingly quickly, and soon, it was 9:00 and time for bed. “You two are old enough t’get at least another hour,” Granmam complained. “But no arguin’ wit’ your parents, I s’pose. G’night, lads.”

They headed up the stairs—Jameson was sometimes nervous around them, ever since their birthday, he couldn’t know how Marvin could handle it—and into the room. “I’m gonna be tossing and turning,” Marvin muttered, heading straight for the bunk bed ladder. “Too fucking early.”

JJ shrugged. Good night, anyway. He turned off the overhead light and walked over to the bunk bed... and noticed something. A shape on his pillow. He couldn’t really make it out in the darkness, but he knew it wasn’t there earlier. Confused, he walked back over to the light switch, flipped it on, and hesitantly looked again—

It was the doll.

JJ let out a little shriek and backed up.

“Jameson?!” Marvin leaned over the side of the bunk, knowing that something really serious must’ve happened if JJ screamed. “What is it?! Are you okay?!”

He didn’t answer. His eyes were locked onto the doll... which was now wearing smaller copies of his pajamas. Slowly, he walked forward and grabbed the doll, holding it by its arm and as far from his body as possible. He held it up for Marvin to see.

“What the—” Marvin started to yell, then quickly corrected himself to a whisper-shout. “...what the fuck?!”

JJ shook his head, speechless. It was definitely the same doll. Either that, or someone had broken into their house to put an identical doll in a different outfit on his bed. He wasn’t sure which option was creepier.

“Throw it out the window!” Marvin hissed.

JJ didn’t argue. He ran over to the window, threw it open, and dropped the doll into the bushes below. Then he spun back to face Marvin. We have to tell the others!

“Gimme the phone, I’ll call them.”

The phone was on their dresser. JJ grabbed it and handed it to Marvin. Then he paced back and forth while Marvin tried to call their friends one by one.

“Ugh, no use,” Marvin finally said. “None of them are answering.”

Text them, then, JJ said. They’ll see it in the morning.

“You’re a faster texter, you do it.”

JJ took the offered phone and quickly typed out a message, sending it to all of their friends. The doll is back. It showed up on my bed despite Jackie taking it. I threw it out the window but it might do something like that again. Me and Marvin are gonna try to sleep now but call as soon as you see this no matter the time. He didn’t want to put the phone back on the dresser so he instead set it on the floor next to his bed. So he could lean over and grab it if he heard anything happen.

“Do we just fucking go to sleep now?!” Marvin asked, staring at the window.

I guess we try to?? JJ said.

“I... I guess? I don’t... know what else we can do...” Marvin trailed off. “Do you, um, think Mam and Dad would get upset if we left the lights on?”

JJ nodded sadly. You know how they are about the bills.

“Yeah... But is it worth it to keep them on anyway?”

JJ shook his head. I don’t think so.

Marvin was quiet for a while. “Well... if you don’t think so, we won’t do it. But... fucking hell.”

Yeah. That was the best way he could put it.

They turned off the lights and each climbed under their blankets. But JJ knew Marvin would still have his eyes open, looking towards the window. He knew it because he was doing the same thing.

The night was silent. But even so, it took them both a long time to fall asleep.

[toffrox]

Less than a month until Hunter’s Gift, Apollo’s Glow officially becomes an AU!!

if you’re impatient for The Sun and the Star do I have the fic for you!

Read it while it’s still canon-compliant!

63k | 27 chapters | completed work

Preview below 👇

Nico

It shouldn't be surprising, really.

Nico shouldn't be surprised.

He had known this was coming.

They had heard the prophecy. Nico had heard her voice, calling him, for months.

And yet, seeing Akhlys again is more devastating than Nico could ever have imagined.

He unfurls himself from Will's arms to confirm what he already knows from the sound of her voice.

She looks different through the shield of Mist he is now able to put up but the sight of her still knocks the breath out of his lungs.

"Nico di Angelo." She croons in her rasping voice. Nico fights back against a full body shiver. Akhyls smiles wide through her tears. "My old friend."

Nico feels despair curl upwards from the base of his spine, shooting through his torso and up into his throat. For a moment he's convinced that he's going to scream.

And then- 

Warm hands covering his own. A familiar presence against his back. 

Will's shoulders curved protectively around his. Will's breath steady on the back of his neck.

He's stepped forward, keeping Nico held in his embrace.

And Nico hears his warm voice, directed at Akhlys. Strong and somehow unafraid. Defensive.

"He's not your friend." 

And Nico realises: this is not the same as the last time he stood before Akhlys.

As this dawns on him, Will's words still reverberating through his body, he sees Akhlys's smile fade.

Another line of the prophecy slots into place in Nico's mind.

You shall fail to please the Goddess of Woe.

Fail to please.

Fail. To please.

Nico squeezes Will's hands in his own and pushes back so that he's leaning further into his boyfriend's warmth.

He thinks of everything he's achieved since the last time he was here.

Accepting Jason's help. Coming out to Percy and Annabeth. Following Will's advice in the infirmary. Making friends at Camp Half Blood. Talking to a doctor in New Rome every week. Deciding not to leave Camp Half Blood. Deciding not to leave again, every single day. Sharing his past with Will. Sharing his fears with Will. Being vulnerable. Being there for Will when he's vulnerable too. Starting therapy with Mr D. Accepting himself, and finally starting to understand himself. 

And Tartarus is terrifying, and the memory of the last time he was here is still there, but Will is also here. And right now, he's a reminder of everything that's different.

Last time, Nico hadn't known who he was. He was so lost. And Akhlys had called him perfect. 

This time, Nico does know. And Akhlys is distinctly un-pleased.

Read on ao3

[just-rant-and-write-fic-idea]

Amnesiac!Damian Wayne as Peter Parker Headcanon

-The timeline is after Alfred's death, in the middle of Lazarus tournament after his fight with Connor Hawke where he fall from a cliff

-In this Headcanon, the bat siblings is not able to find Damian before the Lazarus tournament, and Dick gain his memories before becoming Ric Grayson when Damian join the Lazarus tournament

-Damian ended up injuring his head and get an Amnesia because he hit his head really hard when he fall

-Instead of being found by Ra's, Ben and May Parker found Damian and save him

-Feeling sorry for Damian, Ben and May Parker let him stay with them for a while until his memories come back

-But they ended up loving Damian so much, and Damian also love them so much because they genuinely love him, and my boy finally get to know what it feels like to have normal parents who didn't have any high expectations that weight him down

-Ben and May officially adopted Damian, and named him Peter Parker

-Amnesiac!Damian act cheerfully like a boy his age because he didn't have any memories of the abuse that he go through in the League of Assassins, so he ended up growing up into the Peter Parker that we know and love

-3 years later, Damian is 16 years old and got bitten by radioactive spider, gaining his spider power, Ben Parker unfortunately die like in canon, Damian is so heartbroken, because he lost the Father figure that he love so much, after that incident, Damian become Spider-man

-Then the events in Civil War movie happen, Damian get closer with Tony Stark, who become another Father figure that he love so much

-In this Headcanon, the blip only happened for a year, and everyone survive the Endgame

-Damian become Tony's personal intern, The Avengers and Stark Industries' employees get front row seats of the shenanigans that Damian and Tony did in Tony's lab

-One day, Tim Drake come to the Avengers Compound to have a meeting with Pepper about partnership between Wayne enterprise and Stark Industries'

-Imagine how surprised he is to find his long lost little brother in the Avengers Compound, even though they didn't get along, Tim loves Damian, and he, along with all Batfamily members are desperately looking for him for the past three years

-Tim immediately run to Damian and hug him tightly, making Damian and Pepper really confused

Tim: "Damian, finally, I finally found you, you brat, don't disappear like that ever again please, I know you probably hate me, but even though you are such an annoying little brat, you are my little brother, and I love you so much, please don't disappear again"

Damian: "Umm... this is awkward. Sir? Mr. Drake? No, Mr. Wayne? Mr. Drake-Wayne? Did you mistake me for someone else? Because my name is actually Peter Parker, not um... Damian?"

Tim: "What? Peter Parker? Damian, what are you talking about?"

-Pepper call Tony, while Tim call Bruce, hearing Tim found Damian, Bruce, Dick, Jason, Cass, Duke, Stephanie and Alfred (who got revived) immediately fly to meet them in Avengers Compound

-They held a meeting, and the people who join the meeting are Damian, Tony, Pepper, May, Alfred, Bruce, and the Bat siblings

-Damian do a DNA test to prove if he really is Damian Wayne, and the result is, obviously, he is Damian Wayne

-Bruce, Alfred, and the Bat siblings are so happy because they finally found Damian, especially Dick, he is the one closest to Damian after all

Dick: *hugs Damian* "Little D, my baby bat, I miss you so much, I'm so happy, I always dreamed of being able to found you and hug you again like this, even if you never get your old memories back, just know that I will always love you so much buddy"

-Even though Damian don't have any memories of Dick, his heart still remember how much he love Dick too, that's why, even though in his mind, Dick is a stranger, Damian hugs him back, and he feels so much love and happiness hearing Dick's words

Damian: "I... I hope my memories of you come back Mr. Grayson..."

-After the meeting, Damian still choose to live with May. At first, Bruce want Damian to go back with them to Gotham, but Alfred and the Bat siblings convince him to let Damian stay after seeing how much Damian love May and vice Versa

-The bat siblings, especially Dick, often visit him to hang out with him to hopefully trigger his memory to come back, Dick and Clint get along really well after they found out about each other's circus past, giving Tony even more headache because they get along too well

-Dick and Damian of course immediately get along really well, Damian always feel comfortable and happy whenever he is around Dick, they often hang out together and do many kinds of activity, like going to the zoo, eating together, etc.

-Bruce finally decided to reduce the amount of on and off-world mission that he go to so that he will have more time to visit Damian, he finally decided to make Damian his first priority after all the years of putting Batman as his first priority.

-Bruce remember how strained his relationship with Damian has become because he prioritize Batman over his own children, he remember all the regrets that he feel after Damian disappear and realize that he is such a terrible father for Damian

-Bruce is really jealous of Tony after seeing how close he is to Damian, how he act more like Damian's father than Bruce ever was even though he is Damian's biological father, seeing Damian so happy to be around Tony is making him even more jealous

-Bruce make a promise to himself that he will not make the same mistake, this time, he will become a good Father for Damian

-The Batfamily and the Stark Family, consisting of Tony, Pepper, Baby Morgan, May, and Happy, decide to schedule a hang out together at least twice a month so that Damian can hang out with both of his Family, the Avengers sometimes join them too if they did not have any mission

-A few months after that, alien invasion happened, The Avengers and Justice League decided to work together because this alien invasion is really, really bad

-Damian is fighting the aliens as Spider-Man. In the middle of the fight, he meet Nightwing and they ended up working together

Damian: "Wow! Mr. Nightwing, sir, it's a honor to work with you, I'm Queens' Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"

Dick: "Hey kid! Just call me Nightwing, glad to work with you too, I heard many good things about you, let's end this invasion quickly okay?"

-Suddenly, an alien shoot Dick with a laser gun, seeing Dick get injured and about to get killed, it trigger Damian's memory

Damian: "RICHARD!!!"

-Damian immediately attack the alien who is about to kill Dick and beat him up really badly until Dick stop him before Damian kill the alien

Dick: "Damian! Stop! I'm fine buddy, I'm fine, please calm down okay?"

Damian: "...Richard? I... I remember now, I remember everything, you... You are back...? You are not Ric anymore...?"

Dick: "Yes Little D, I'm back, and you are back too, and I will never leave you again sweetheart, never again, I love you Damian"

Damian: "I love you too Richard"

-Even though they still want to hug each other a little while longer, there's still an alien invasion that they have to fight in, and a reunion happen when Jon Kent join the fight.

-Jon see Damian's face under Spider-Man mask using his X-ray vision, when all alien in their area are defeated, Jon immediately tackle Damian into a hug, and hug him for a long time because he miss Damian so much, and Damian hug Jon back because he miss Jon too

Jon: "Damian, I miss you so much, please don't go again, playing and be a superhero is not fun anymore without you as my best friend and partner, we are Super Sons! Remember?"

Damian: "Yes Jon, I remember now, I miss you so much too, I'm sorry, I will not do it again, Super Sons forever?"

Jon: "Super Sons forever! Oh, did you change your costume? Now your theme is Spider? So cool!!"

Damian: "Yes, no more Robin, now, I'm Spider-Man"

-The Aliens are finally defeated and earth is safe again

-The Batfam is so happy when they hear that Damian regained his memories, and they are also surprised to know that Spider-Man and Damian are the same person

-When Damian see Alfred after regaining his memories, he immediately hug Alfred, apologizing to him while crying

Damian: "I'm sorry that I can't save you Alfred, i-it's my fault that you ended up getting killed, I-I'm so sorry, I understand if you hate me now"

Alfred: "Me getting killed is never your fault my boy, you should never blame yourself for that, the one at fault is the villain who kill me, not you, never you, and I will never hate you, I love you Master Damian"

-Tony feel conflicted because he think now Damian will leave him

-But Damian assure Tony that he will not leave, because Queens is now his home, and he didn't want to leave May alone

-Bruce and Tony then work together to give Damian and May a big house with Zeta tube installed so that Damian can easily visit the Batfam and vice versa

-Damian's relationship with the Batfam become so much better and closer now, all of them decide to do heart to heart talk, letting out everything that they feel, and finally going to therapy

-Damian introduce Jon to Ned and MJ, and all of them become best friends, hanging out together, doing shenanigans that ended up getting them into trouble, giving headache to both Bruce and Tony

-Damian finally able to have many Family and friends who love him so much

The End

Can someone please make a full fic based from this headcanon? Please give me a link to your fic if any of you decided to make a fic

[turtletoria]

HEY UR PLAYGROUND SLASH SCHOOL AU IS SO AWESOME QWQ THEY LOOK SO CUTEEEE anyways so does Tobey use toy robots? does Ms Q encourage kids to ask questions? What are Victoria, Eileen n Mr Big's roles? i imagined a politician/businessman set up a promotional ad nearby where the kids played, and that's how they came up with him? How does Becky's secret identity work? does Maria exist bcs kids think lights cutting suddenly is scary? is Maria an electrician? are henchmen assistant teachers? ty! :D

thank you so much!!!!! also im definitely going to call this the playground au from now on thats so cute thank you anon

for tobey, i imagine him building them out of legos or the like! but i wouldnt put it past him to use action figures ahaha

while drawing her i struggled thinking of what kind of teacher ms q would be (seen in the fact i didnt specify what kind of teacher she is in the drawing XD)! i liked the idea of her being a science teacher (being curious of the natural world and whatnot) but that niche is filled by boxy, unfortunately. i was thinking maybe she could be like an english teacher and her questions encourage kids to think and read critically!

victoria is just a mean kid in becky's class and becky makes her a villain out of spite lol (i imagine them to have a little rivalry but hopefully become somewhat acquaintances over time!). eileen wants to be involved too

i like that idea with mr big! i havent really given him much thought if im gonna be honest XD maybe he could be like the funny guy in the front office. maybe even be a math teacher?

i guess becky wouldnt really have a "secret identity" since shes just making all this up with her pals

also i really like the idea of maria being like. an electrician that kids see in the hallways during school. but i would imagine that maria is kind of a metaphorical representation of the fear of electricity that youngsters could have lmao

and also yes, 2 brains' henchmen are the assistant teachers in becky's class :D theyre like interns/learning to be an official teacher, so i would imagine theyre like in graduate school! names in this au would be charlie and henry chapman (because he canonically doesnt have a name. yeah i cringed to myself too. i would name him something that starts with a U but i cant think of or find any that is fitting, sadly).

[yuzufuku]

Amnesiac!Damian Wayne as Peter Parker Headcanon

-The timeline is after Alfred's death, in the middle of Lazarus tournament after his fight with Connor Hawke where he fall from a cliff

-In this Headcanon, the bat siblings is not able to find Damian before the Lazarus tournament, and Dick gain his memories before becoming Ric Grayson when Damian join the Lazarus tournament

-Damian ended up injuring his head and get an Amnesia because he hit his head really hard when he fall

-Instead of being found by Ra's, Ben and May Parker found Damian and save him

-Feeling sorry for Damian, Ben and May Parker let him stay with them for a while until his memories come back

-But they ended up loving Damian so much, and Damian also love them so much because they genuinely love him, and my boy finally get to know what it feels like to have normal parents who didn't have any high expectations that weight him down

-Ben and May officially adopted Damian, and named him Peter Parker

-Amnesiac!Damian act cheerfully like a boy his age because he didn't have any memories of the abuse that he go through in the League of Assassins, so he ended up growing up into the Peter Parker that we know and love

-3 years later, Damian is 16 years old and got bitten by radioactive spider, and gaining his spider power, and Ben Parker unfortunately die like in canon, Damian is so heartbroken, because he lost the Father figure that he love so much, after that incident, Damian become Spider-man

-Then the events in Civil War movie happen, Damian get closer with Tony Stark, who become another Father figure that he love so much

-In this Headcanon, the blip only happened for a year, and everyone survive the Endgame

-Damian become Tony's personal intern, The Avengers and Stark Industries' employees get front row seats of the shenanigans that Damian and Tony did in Tony's lab

-One day, Tim Drake come to the Avengers Compound to have a meeting with Pepper about partnership between Wayne enterprise and Stark Industries'

-Imagine how surprised he is to find his long lost little brother in the Avengers Compound, even though they didn't get along, Tim loves Damian, and he, along with all Batfamily members are desperately looking for him for the past three years

-Tim immediately run to Damian and hug him tightly, making Damian and Pepper really confused

Tim: "Damian, finally, I finally found you, you brat, don't disappear like that ever again please, I know you probably hate me, but even though you are such an annoying little brat, you are my little brother, and I love you so much, please don't disappear again"

Damian: "Umm... this is awkward. Sir? Mr. Drake? No, Mr. Wayne? Mr. Drake-Wayne? Did you mistake me for someone else? Because my name is actually Peter Parker, not um... Damian?"

Tim: "What? Peter Parker? Damian, what are you talking about?"

-Pepper call Tony, while Tim call Bruce, hearing Tim found Damian, Bruce, Dick, Jason, Cass, Duke, Stephanie and Alfred (who got revived) immediately fly to meet them in Avengers Compound

-They held a meeting, and the people who join the meeting are Damian, Tony, Pepper, May, Alfred, Bruce, and the Bat siblings

-Damian do a DNA test to prove if he really is Damian Wayne, and the result is, obviously, he is Damian Wayne

-Bruce, Alfred, and the Bat siblings are so happy because they finally found Damian, especially Dick, he is the one closest to Damian after all

Dick: *hugs Damian* "Little D, my baby bat, I miss you so much, I'm so happy, I always dreamed of being able to found you and hug you again like this, even if you never get your old memories back, just know that I will always love you so much buddy"

-Even though Damian don't have any memories of Dick, his heart still remember how much he love Dick too, that's why, even though in his mind, Dick is a stranger, Damian hugs him back, and he feels so much love and happiness hearing Dick's words

Damian: "I... I hope my memories of you come back Mr. Grayson..."

-After the meeting, Damian still choose to live with May. At first, Bruce want Damian to go back with them to Gotham, but Alfred and the Bat siblings convince him to let Damian stay after seeing how much Damian love May and vice Versa

-The bat siblings, especially Dick, often visit him to hang out with him to hopefully trigger his memory to come back, Dick and Clint get along really well after they found out about each other's circus past, giving Tony even more headache because they get along too well

-Dick and Damian of course immediately get along really well, Damian always feel comfortable and happy whenever he is around Dick, they often hang out together and do many kinds of activity, like going to the zoo, eating together, etc.

-Bruce finally decided to reduce the amount of on and off-world mission that he go to so that he will have more time to visit Damian, he finally decided to make Damian his first priority after all the years of putting Batman as his first priority.

-Bruce remember how strained his relationship with Damian has become because he prioritize Batman over his own children, he remember all the regrets that he feel after Damian disappear and realize that he is such a terrible father for Damian

-Bruce is really jealous of Tony after seeing how close he is to Damian, how he act more like Damian's father than Bruce ever was even though he is Damian's biological father, seeing Damian so happy to be around Tony is making him even more jealous

-Bruce make a promise to himself that he will not make the same mistake, this time, he will become a good Father for Damian

-The Batfamily and the Stark Family, consisting of Tony, Pepper, Baby Morgan, May, and Happy, decide to schedule a hang out together at least twice a month so that Damian can hang out with both of his Family, the Avengers sometimes join them too if they did not have any mission

-A few months after that, alien invasion happened, The Avengers and Justice League decided to work together because this alien invasion is really, really bad

-Damian is fighting the aliens as Spider-Man. In the middle of the fight, he meet Nightwing and they ended up working together

Damian: "Wow! Mr. Nightwing, sir, it's a honor to work with you, I'm Queens' Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"

Dick: "Hey kid! Just call me Nightwing, glad to work with you too, I heard many good things about you, let's end this invasion quickly okay?"

-Suddenly, an alien shoot Dick with a laser gun, seeing Dick get injured and about to get killed, it trigger Damian's memory

Damian: "RICHARD!!!"

-Damian immediately attack the alien who is about to kill Dick and beat him up really badly until Dick stop him before Damian kill the alien

Dick: "Damian! Stop! I'm fine buddy, I'm fine, please calm down okay?"

Damian: "...Richard? I... I remember now, I remember everything, you... You are back...? You are not Ric anymore...?"

Dick: "Yes Little D, I'm back, and you are back too, and I will never leave you again sweetheart, never again, I love you Damian"

Damian: "I love you too Richard"

-Even though they still want to hug each other a little while longer, there's still an alien invasion that they have to fight in, and a reunion happen when Jon Kent join the fight.

-Jon see Damian's face under Spider-Man mask using his X-ray vision, when all alien in their area are defeated, Jon immediately tackle Damian into a hug, and hug him for a long time because he miss Damian so much, and Damian hug Jon back because he miss Jon too

Jon: "Damian, I miss you so much, please don't go again, playing and be a superhero is not fun anymore without you as my best friend and partner, we are Super Sons! Remember?"

Damian: "Yes Jon, I remember now, I miss you so much too, I'm sorry, I will not do it again, Super Sons forever?"

Jon: "Super Sons forever! Oh, did you change your costume? Now your theme is Spider? So cool!!"

Damian: "Yes, no more Robin, now, I'm Spider-Man"

-The Aliens are finally defeated and earth is safe again

-The Batfam is so happy when they hear that Damian regained his memories, and they are also surprised to know that Spider-Man and Damian are the same person

-When Damian see Alfred after regaining his memories, he immediately hug Alfred, apologizing to him while crying

Damian: "I'm sorry that I can't save you Alfred, i-it's my fault that you ended up getting killed, I-I'm so sorry, I understand if you hate me now"

Alfred: "Me getting killed is never your fault my boy, you should never blame yourself for that, the one at fault is the villain who kill me, not you, never you, and I will never hate you, I love you Master Damian"

-Tony feel conflicted because he think now Damian will leave him

-But Damian assure Tony that he will not leave, because Queens is now his home, and he didn't want to leave May alone

-Bruce and Tony then work together to give Damian and May a big house with Zeta tube installed so that Damian can easily visit the Batfam and vice versa

-Damian's relationship with the Batfam become so much better and closer now, all of them decide to do heart to heart talk, letting out everything that they feel, and finally going to therapy

-Damian introduce Jon to Ned and MJ, and all of them become best friends, hanging out together, doing shenanigans that ended up getting them into trouble, giving headache to both Bruce and Tony

-Damian finally able to have many Family and friends who love him so much

The End

Can someone please make a full fic based from this headcanon? Please give me a link to your fic if any of you decided to make a fic

[theofficefantasyfootball]

WEEK 11 - Wrap Up

Any Given Sunday

I know I post this almost every season. But, there's nothing better when it comes to football speeches...and the bottom line is we are at that point in the season. It's time gentlemen to start fighting for those inches. 3 more weeks till Playoffs! Will you be there?

MALIK MY BALLS vs TuPADRE

I am still in shock and disbelief. I think it's a bit like looking at the scores on Sunday and seeing the Patriots week after week. You just grow so use to the Patriots being great that you can't imagine them being bad. So it is with Andy Gullahorn. For years and years he was a tough match up. Someone to fear on the schedule...but now - the guy puts up under 80 points. Am I thankful? Yes. Of course I am. But, man it's hard to watch a dynasty like Andy Gullahorn / a fierce competitor at heart....fall into obscurity. Nice win Me! Nice F'ing Win!

MOOSES ON THE LOOSES vs TREE HUGGERS

Moose right now (Above GIF). He's dropped 2 in a row. Everything is working out...he's now 6-5. Can we get him to 6-6? Please Brett - Please stay focused next week and make this happen. Scott, what can I say about Scott. What a great week he has had. Survivor Champ....moves to 8-3 and if that wasn't enough he took the high point. I tried to take it from him but came up just a bit short. Big players for him - Tank Dell, Bills D and Kyler Murray. Nice win! Congrats!

TRADE WITH ME vs BOOMER SOONER

There he is!!!! There's Brett Rutledge. Week 11 and puts up 127.68 points! Amazing. And, he took down Stu Jones who was on a 3 game winning streak and looking like he was going to coast into the playoffs. Stu had a huge week from Purdy and a decent day from the 49ers D but it couldn't compare to what Brett had going with Love, Cook, Ridley, Gibbs and anytime someone puts up 17 from their kicker it's going to be a good week. Keep it up Brett. I believe. The Moose is next!

LANAKILA vs BACKDOOR BANDITS

Kyle has got to be in tears tonight, knowing that after 6 losses in a row - he finally grabbed a win. He also finally put up over 100 points...108 to be exact. Cliff saved most of his players for Monday night. His ring leader - Pat Mahomes, his trusty Running Back Pacheco and the Eagles kicker Jake Elliott.... Cliff would need 75 points out of these three to steal the win away from Kyle and I know Patrick Mahomes is good but I just don't see this happening - so I am in an early draft of the wrap up...giving this one to Kyle! Congrats! Enjoy the win!

HOWARD vs LONG LEFT BALLERS

Will Bebo ever lose again? This is crazy! Crazy I say! I don't even know what to write anymore. He is really really good. I am officially scared. That's all. Nothing about Rob either. Doesn't matter.

FUNK GUY vs MR AWESOME

Well, here we go...once again it's a monday night and once again Dana is in the hunt for a win. Gabe seems to have it all wrapped up - with all his player finished and 101.86 locked in. Dana has 78.70 and Jalen Hurts left to play. So Dana needs 23.17 from Hurts to grab his 3rd win in a row. The first half Hurts did absolutely nothing but by the 2nd half....he had it going on. Dana came close but in the end...it wasn't enough. Gabe wins in another close one! Congrats Gabe.

SURVIVOR

This is the winner. Scott Krippayne - winning in dramatic fashion as the Lions had to come back to win the game. Congrats Scott!

CHEERLEADER OF THE WEEK

Meet Korea's most popular cheerleader Park Kiryang. She cheers for the KBO (Korea Baseball Organization), She is 23 and I am a fan.

[davidstfde]

8 Key points to help you know NEP 2020 (New Education Policy) better!

“The Destiny of India is shaped in her classrooms.” has been rightly quoted by the Education Commission. Education is the backbone of any strong nation. It is only with proper knowledge and education that a country can progress and shine at the forefront of today’s world arena. That is why this blog is to help you know about the facts of the NEP 2020. The NEP or the New Education Policy has been proposed by the Ministry of Education earlier known as the Ministry Of Human Resource and Development (MoRD), on 29th July 2020. It has been a revolutionary step by the Ministry to pave way for the entire education system in the country to be changed, and probably change for good. After a span of 34 years, that is from the induction of the old education policy that has been prevailing in the country right from 1986 this is the first time that a change or amendment has been made keeping in mind the need for the Education sector to adorn itself well with the demands of the 21st century. Read this blog, to understand and know some key points about NEP or the New Education Policy listed below-

1) Timeline for NEP — the committee for brainstorming and preparation of the draft for the New Education Policy handed over its first report to the concerned Ministry on 31st May 2019. This draft was based on the foundational pillars of the policy, which are access, affordability, equity, quality, and accountability. After submission of the draft, it was uploaded on the MoRDs website, inviting suggestions and views from various stakeholders as well as the common public. Post this the draft was circulated to the different Ministries of the Government as well as all the States and Union Territories for their views on the DNEP or the Draft National Education Policy. Gradually there were several meetings with different Education Ministers, heads of autonomous organizations, concerned officials of the union and state government, VCs of different Universities, etc. Finally, after all the deliberation and several meetings the New Education Policy or NEP was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Mr. Narendra Modi on 29th July 2020.

2) Structure of School Curriculum as per NEP- Let’s now try to get some idea about the structure of the new policy. The old structure of 10 + 2 was dropped with the introduction of the new structure which would be 5 + 3 + 3 + 4. Now the classes would be divided into two four categories namely-

a) Foundation Stage (includes 3 years of Anganwadi or pre-school followed by classes 1 and 2).

b) Preparatory Stage (includes classes from 3 to 5).

c) Middle Stage (includes classes from 6 to 8) and lastly

d) Secondary Stage (includes classes from 9 to 12).

3) Stream/Subject Selection- Earlier as soon as a student passes his class X examinations, the parents, as well as the student, rush to get admitted to any of the streams available amidst the 3 streams. Imagine you like Physics but you also like Sociology or have an interest in political affairs of the world. What would you do now? Well, One of the biggest merits of this newly introduced Policy is that there is no hard and fast rule for selecting subjects from a rigid set of subjects provided to the students. The process of subject selection is quite flexible. Students are free to choose the combination of subjects they would prefer for their studies. There won’t be any compartmentalization like Science or Arts.

4) Multiple entry and exit points- With the introduction of this New Education Policy (NEP) now, one of the ground-breaking changes that have been made is that now the students will be provided certificates at various levels during their undergraduate course. Earlier if a student due to some reason could not sit for the final exams during the last semester or the last year, he/she was considered a dropout, and all his/her previous years are wasted without a degree. But now with NEP or the New Education Policy, a certificate will be provided after the first year, Advanced Diploma after two years, Bachelor’s Degree after 3 years, and Bachelor’s with research after four years.

5) Focus on Multilingualism- Imagine coming to school, in a new environment, among new people, and the medium of instruction is only restricted to one language which is not the same as your mother tongue. It would be hard to communicate your feelings to the teachers and friends as well. Earlier the medium of instruction was restricted to English but now NEP focuses on the compulsory use of mother tongue/regional language/local language till grade 5 and preferably till grade 8. No language will be imposed on any student. Sanskrit will be taught and offered at all levels of school and higher education as a part of the school curriculum, including in the three-language formula. With the introduction of using the mother tongue in the lower levels of classes, it will be beneficial for the students as they will feel more at ease and in comfort, enabling them to learn more proactively.

6) Emphasis to be given to faculty/teacher training- Children carry their education and knowledge they have gained during their studies for life. And the teacher is the one who imparts this knowledge to the students The NEP focuses on the teachers to be well trained, energized, have good institutional leadership quality, etc. the process of teacher recruitment will be very transparent. Also, the minimum criteria for teaching would be four years of integrated B.Ed degree.

7) Importance in online education and digital teaching-. With the world witnessing pandemics and epidemics, the online mode of education was practiced worldwide. This New Education Policy has emphasized on the need for alternative ways of the teaching-learning process in case the offline mode of teaching is not available. How more and more online methods of teaching can be introduced that will be efficient in the teaching-learning process.

8) Focus on Vocational Training- In today’s world being just a bookworm by merely focussing on marks is not sufficient and good for the holistic development of the child. And thus, the New Education Policy lays more stress on the need for the introduction of vocational training as a part of their curriculum. This will enable the students to acquire some set of life skills that would help them during any point in their life. Thus from 6th standard onwards, options would be available to select the choice of vocation training the students would like to go for.

Hope this blog helped you in knowing a lot about the New Education Policy and clear your clouds of confusion regarding the NEP 2020.

About SFS School, Guwahati

SFS Guwahati is one of the best Private CBSE School in Guwahati with Integrated Coaching, awarded with the “Certificate of Excellence” by Bharat Shiksha Puraskar and Ranked №24 across India for “Mental Health” Ranking 2021.

[worldofwardcraft]

Their civil war is already under way.

November 10, 2022

With every imagined outrage — from the Mueller investigation to anti-COVID mask mandates to the FBI "raid" of Mar-a-Lago — the MAGA mob and its adherents on social media threaten to unleash civil war upon our nation. According to a recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, 30% of Republicans agree with the idea that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”

Unsurprisingly, the GOP’s warm embrace of their radicalized base has fostered an alarming increase in right-wing violence. In fact, an asymmetric guerilla war of assassination and terrorism waged by the right against its perceived enemies has been going on for some time. Targets in this war to "save America" include election workers, medical personnel, journalists, teachers, federal law enforcement, Jews, African-Americans and, most especially, Democratic elected office-holders.

This one-sided conflict is being waged by organized groups, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who attacked the Capitol in January 2021. And the militias that stormed the Michigan capitol building in April 2020. And the criminal gang that was convicted last month of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

One Ohio member of another such group, the Boogaloo Bois, was arrested by the FBI last week and had a history of vowing to kill police and other government officials. A search of his home uncovered an arms cache of military-style weapons, including homemade machine guns, stockpiled silencers, bomb-making materials and a rifle-mounted grenade launcher.

“Lone wolf” individuals motivated by right-wing propaganda also seek to carry out this war. Like the MAGA-deluded man who attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband. Or the armed man who died attempting to breach an FBI office in August because he was upset about the bureau’s Mar-a-Lago search. “We must respond with force,” he wrote on Trump’s Truth Social website.

The same day as the Pelosi attack, a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and his staff. As The New York Times reports,

In the five years since Mr. Trump was elected in 2016, the number of recorded threats against members of Congress increased more than tenfold, to 9,625 in 2021, according to the Capitol Police.

These are all part of the right's continuing armed insurgency. And a study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies last year found that, since 2015, right-wing extremists were involved in 267 plots or attacks. Americans need to understand that a 21st century Civil War isn't just a MAGA fantasy. It's happening now.

[americanguano]

“Ain’t it a fine day for a hanging?” was the popular salutation exchanged this cloudless October morning in front of the Custom House, but not by me. When the snuffing of a fellow human’s spark becomes another man’s sport, I’m decidedly agin’ it. 

But as The Baltimore Sun’s senior typewriter on the city desk, it’s my job to be here, like it or not.

On the plus side, I’ve chanced into Elsie D.— spitfire on the badminton court, hellbent to be the first woman admitted to Hopkins Med School, and the brickiest member of the Suffrage Movement in town.

“Hello, ducky,” she said with a playful elbow. 

“Morning, Elsie. Surprised to see you here.”

“On my way to Druid Lake and thought I’d see what the hubbub was all about.” She lifted a napkin covering her basket. “I made finger sandwiches. Want to come along?”

“I’ll have to take a rain check.” I pointed to three Negroes standing before the crowd on the Custom House steps. “See those men? A year ago, they were sitting in the block house for stealing chickens. Then, thanks to a few choice bribes and looks the other way, they were shackled in the hold of a three-master bound for hellish climes to finish their sentences mining guano by the ton.”

Elsie’s face beams color, even when the photo is sepia. Rosy lips forming a quizzical “O” against a high pink flushing of cheeks, auburn bangs dancing like Surrey fringe. “That’s terrible! Also, I don’t know what guano is.”

“Excrement.”

“Don’t patronize me, Mr. Newspaperman with your afternoonified vocabulary. I can curse with the best of them. It’s eighteen eighty-nine for goodness sakes. If you want to call bull crap, call it. But I’m telling you true, I don’t know what guano is.”

“Elsie, guano is excrement. Mostly referring to bird and bat. The noxious caviar of fertilizer, guaranteed to turn tobacco leaves into greenbacks. We import it by the literal boatload. The Custom House boys call it ‘white gold’ and tax accordingly.”

“And those poor men were forced to mine it?”

I forgo’ed the obvious remarks about America’s track record on coequality. “Turns out if enough seabirds defecate on a spit of land, the real estate turns into Vanderbilt Row. There’s an island west of Haiti called Navassa piled with so much excrement, we declared it part of the United States under some nonsense called the Guano Islands Act.”

“You’re pulling my leg, Samuel.”

“It gets worse. These three, and others pilfered from Maryland prisons, were held in squalid camps and served slop you wouldn’t feed a mongrel.”

“What’s wrong with people, Sam?”

“I wish I knew, Elsie. Life’s a stumper.”

A man selling bags of popcorn squeezed past. I resisted the urge to trip him. These rubes will turn anything into a circus.

“So what happened?” Elsie asked.

“As you can imagine, shoveling bird feces from sun-up to sun-down inungodly heat, knee deep in muck and sucking lungfuls of ammonia-ripe air might shorten a man’s temper. Especially when some overseer brutally starts flogging a worker who can no longer stay on his feet, then ties him to a tree by his wrists to dangle for hours.”

Elsie grabbed my arm and held tight. It would’ve seemed melodramatic had I not known her heart. “No, Sam.”

“There was a riot. Dead Marylanders on both sides. The workers surrounded the island superintendent’s house demanding human conditions. Navassa was in a state of chaos, until a Naval frigate showed up to restore peace. Brought back the uprisers to meet their punishment.” 

“So what’s going to happen to these three?”

Before I could answer there was a sharp military drumroll and an official appeared on the steps.  His hands trembled slightly as he read from a document.

“You, the Accused, are charged with inciting a riot, destruction of government property and homicide. The court finds you guilty, and sentences you to be hung from the neck until dead.”

There was a cheer and applause from the crowd. Elsie stepped forward, eyes flashing, cupping a hand to her mouth. 

“This is CRAP!” she bellowed. 

A hundred heads turned in her direction. I took my hands out of my pockets, hoping my new suit would survive. 

“All men and women are created equal!” Elsie screamed. “Unalienable rights for all!”

A hob in overalls stuck his nose in and told Elsie to shut her darky-lovin’mouth, so I balled up my best knuckle potato and popped him in his hate-spewing sauce-box. 

The suit didn’t make it. 

#

There was an extra edition with the big story. Only I wasn’t the byline, I was the headline.

SUN REPORTER INSTIGATES FRACAS.

They threw me in a Negro cell, the cops muttering something about being with my people. They locked me up without so much as a pat-down, allowing me a well-deserved snort of Pikesville’s finest rye out of the engraved pewter flask that tucks so neatly into my elastic-sided boot.

As me and some other guys alternated nips, I heard whispered news circulating around the cell from ear to ear, inspiring knee slaps and wide grins with each telling. Eventually it made its way to mine. 

Seems my fisticuffs set up a nice distraction for some axe-wielding members of the United Brotherhood of Liberty, who saw it as their cue to chop the gallows to the ground. News of the trouble travelled to Washington and President Harrison, after reading the official Naval report on the Navassa riot, sent a telegram commuting the accused’s sentences. 

None of it was pretty, but it was a step in the right direction. One of those rare moments when I have hope that humanity might actually be capable of humanity. 

I drained the last of the flask. If I ever get out of here, I must remember to take Elsie up on one of those finger sandwiches.