#asking if the local kids wanted to help them test out the course before the Adult Party

[innytoes]

Slow dancing in the kitchen instead of doing the dishes after a holiday party for Rulie please?

Sunset Curve had a Reputation for being those kind of rowdy, break-hotel-rooms rock stars of yore. Reggie figured it mostly had to do with vibes, the way they dressed, and the fact that Bobby never turned on the lights to go to the bathroom at night and then tripped over stuff and Reggie was just clumsy. (They always apologised and told the hotel to bill them for stuff they broke.)

There were always stories in the tabloids about the wild parties they threw at their house, but they were never true. Mostly because their security was very good and they always invited and/or bribed the neighbours with Willie's signature cupcakes.

So no paparazzi knew that besides the loud music, their parties were usually the opposite of a wild sex-drugs-rock-and-roll party. Not just because Luke and Bobby didn't really do sex, or that Reggie didn't like drugs (or even certain triggering alcohols) in the house. It was just way more fun to throw a ‘lame’ themed party and go all out than it was to throw a ‘normal’ party.

There had been the giant paint-covered twister party. That time they'd rented a bounce-house obstacle court and several other inflatable monstrosities. They'd had to stop hosting Scrabble nights, because Alex was way too cutthroat and they were starting to lose friends over it (who knew the guys from Demon Breath were such sore losers?).

For their New Year’s party that year, they'd decided to go all out. A giant Settlers of Catan board game night, with themed snacks, mocktails, and an Emcee slash referee (Willie's Uncle Caleb, who could make anything sound dramatic).

They'd invited all their favourite industry friends. Dirty Candi was there (Carrie was the second reason they'd had to stop Scrabble night), and some of Willie's Skater buddies. The Puppet History people, after Reggie got to be on their pandemic season (the tiny cup proudly displayed next to their Grammy on the mantle). And of course, Double Trouble.

The media had tried to make his and Julie’s relationship a big deal, but they were just... too boring, Reggie guessed. Too in love, not enough drama, the best they could come up with was every six months or so there’d be speculating if Julie was maybe pregnant. They had totally trolled the media for weeks leading up to them adopting a puppy together, hinting at a new addition to the family, talking about godfathers in public (obviously Alex and Bobby, the only two people who could be trusted not to feed an entire Happy Meal to a dog).

The game night was over the top as always, with an hour break to count down and watch the fireworks. It ended in a showdown between Alex, Carrie, Ryan Bergara, and Tony Hawk. Carrie of course trounced everyone, and Caleb handed her the ridiculous trophy they’d had made for the occasion.

After everyone had been sent home, Caleb had been graciously thanked and paid (with Willie’s signature cupcakes, topped with some extra sparkly sprinkles), and most of the band had wandered off to their rooms, Reggie wandered around the living room, absentmindedly straightening up.

He always had trouble going to bed right after a party. He needed the quiet to come back to himself, to unwind, before he went to sleep, otherwise his dreams would be chaotic and exhausting. So he made sure all the Catan games were complete, pushed in chairs, snacked on leftovers as he either put them away or trashed them, and collected dishes.

He was just starting on the pile of dishes when two arms wrapped around his waist, a forehead pressing into his shoulder. “Come to bed,” Julie whined. He turned in her arms, smiling to see she’d already changed into her pajamas: an oversized Sunset Curve tour shirt and a pair of Reggie’s plaid boxers.

“In a minute,” he soothed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Her nose crinkled a little as she smiled, and he almost relented right then and there. 

“You’re not seriously going to do all the dishes, right?” Julie asked, sliding her hands over his back, to his front, and snaking her arms around his neck. “You’re literally paying the cleaning service double to come tomorrow morning.”

“I just need to clear my head a little,” Reggie said, wrapping his arms around her waist. He started rocking her, swaying with her. Julie smiled a sleepy smile at him and started to hum. This was much better than doing the dishes, he had to admit.

They swayed through two songs together, Julie laying her cheek on Reggie’s shoulder as he buried his nose in her hair. He could feel her getting heavier in his arms, and when he pulled back a little, she moved with him. “Alright, moonbeam, let’s go to bed,” he said, crouching a bit to pick her up. She gave a little giggly whoop, and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck as he walked them to their bedroom.

He laid her down gently on the bed, quickly changing into his own pajamas, giving Ellie a kiss on her fuzzy little head, and crawling into bed with her. She immediately slung an arm and a leg over him, and he smiled. Julie was like the world’s cutest, warmest weighted blanket. But it worked. His brain was calm, his body wasn’t buzzing with nervous energy anymore. He fell asleep in Julie’s arms and dreamed of dancing on the moon.

[bensonsbobblehead]

Outcry — Spencer Reid X Reid!reader

Pairings; Spencer Reid X daughter!reader

Content warnings: heavy heavy talks of rape/sexual assault, sadness, panic attacks, boys being boys

summary: Spencer’s daughter is sexually assaulted while at school and tries to hide it from him.

a/n; trying to just upload when I can! Hopefully more tmr! Also sorry if the layout is funky I’m uploading from my phone =}

wc; 1.8k

[ masterlist ]

This is what being a woman was, at least now it was. Seeing the world for the real evil it was. Your dad was your protector, so he always managed to keep you safe. No matter what he’d never be able to keep you from them. Men, boys, people with dicks, all of them.

The worse part of it all was having to deal with it alone. Your dad was a FBI agent, your best friend is the unit chiefs son, you knew they would kill whoever hurt you.

Hiding it from everyone you knew was going to catch up to you sooner as in today. It was a normal morning, you forced yourself to exist for half the day.

Already prepared for a nap before you fully wake up. As you get up your dad opens the door catching you off guard. It scared the shit out of you.

Jumping as he opened the door Spencer took notice fast. He knew something was up, of course he knew.

He noticed how jumpy you were particularly around boys, not even wanting to spend time with Jack anymore. Spencer also noticed how quiet you were now.

Always being the loudest and silliest in the room to almost nothing, it concerned him a lot.

“Goodmoring love, I made your lunch and packed up your bag from last night, also you can come right to the office after school.” Spencer smiled as you listened quietly,

“Ok thanks dad.” You said as you got up walking past him to the bathroom. It wasn’t always like this, you weren’t always like this but this is what happens when you’re raped during during cheer practice.

You felt it was no point in saying anything, considering the fact they are both the most known and a very well liked boys at school, it’s no point.

It hurt you alot having to see then in the halls, you started taking the longer way to class because of it.

Justin was a piece of shit but he was on the football and baseball team so that meant he could do no wrong. Dyllan his little puppet was also a piece of shit because he did everything Justin told him. You quickly got ready for school and headed out to start the rest of your day.

For Spencer he was just worried about you. Your shyness, quietness, and jumpiness wasn’t putting his mind at ease. Just like you he swallowed it down and headed to the office.

The case was as bad and it was local. Boys from schools around the area have been being murdered for what the team thought was for being weak.

The unsub was killing the boys because he didn’t think they were strong enough. They started with interviews at local schools and moved out more. They had a few to interview at your school.

The focus was the baseball team because most of the boys murdered were all on different baseball teams.

Justin Brown, Caleb Washington, and Dyllan Smith were all taking to the station for questions. First was Caleb he didn’t do it but they later discovered the boys were being told to show they aren’t weak or die. Caleb had to beat his younger brother in order to live.

The case honestly killed Spencer and anyone else with kids. Knowing how evil the ones around you are no matter the age. Next was Dyllan, which was interesting because he’s Justin best friend.

Dyllan got in interrogation and cracked completely. Telling Spencer and Morgan that it was Justin’s idea to do it and he didn’t mind helping him. First Dyllan had to pass Justin test to make sure he wasn’t going to switch on him.

“So, if you’re here what did Justin make you do?” Derek asked the boy,

“He told me I had to take a virginity from any girl at school.”

“So, he dared you to get a girlfriend?” Morgan asked sarcastically

“No he knew I wouldn’t be able to do that so he picked a girl from our schools cheer team and made me do it to her in the locker room. I could tell she was a virgin so I knew he wouldn’t think I was weak.” Dyllan said as if he did a good job for raping a girl.

Morgan and Reid freezing completely, Dyllan not even knowing he confessed to rape.

“Do you know the girls name?” Spencer spoke up knowing you and your best friends are on that team.

“He said it was Y…. y/n! Her name was y/n! He held her down while I had sex and he said I would be the strongest of them all” He said confessing more and more.

Dyllan really had no one but Justin all he wanted was his approval no matter what it was. Justin obviously knew this and just took advantage of him. You still wanted to kill them both for what they did to you.

Before he could continue Spencer sped across the table chocking Dyllan against the wall.

“I am going to kill you with my bare hands.” He said as he grabbed him by his neck. Morgan moving fast but not as fast. Everyone was angry at what was just said. The team was your aunts and uncles so they didn’t see anything wrong with Spencer reaction. After a few moments Derek pulled Spencer off and they both exited the room.

“Where’s Justin, I need to see him.” Spencer said frantically to Hotch.

“Spencer you know I can’t let you do that.” Hotch said firmly while trying to ccalm Spencer down.

“Aaron, he .. raped my daughter. My little girl, she’s been so closed off and quiet, he did that to her! I need to see him!” Spencer yelled at Aaron surprising everyone.

“Spence, maybe you should try to calm down for when Y/N get here.” JJ said looking at the time knowing you and jack always came here after school. It was only about 30 minutes before you’d be coming to the bullpen.

Taking JJ advice he removed himself from the situation and sat at his desk waiting for you. Staring at the picture of you and him with ice cream all over your mouths making silly faces.

It was from your 13th birthday party at Dave’s house when he brought an ice cream maker. It was the best day of your life thanks to your dad. His heart was aching at the pain you must have been in. Spencer dealt with some of his worse moments alone he never wanted the same for his child.

It was only 30 seconds until you’d be coming up on the elevator. The entire team finishing the paper work from the case as you walked into the bullpen. All heads snapped toward you with sympathetic faces.

“Hi everybody” you said quietly giving a short smile to everyone you seen.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” JJ asked as she approached which wasn’t off, you always talked to your Aunt JJ.

“I’m fine Aunt JJ” you smiled keeping you short and sweet as walked pass to go see your dad.

“Hey dad” sitting down in the chair next to him. As he replied and smiled at you. Everyone is being so weird.

“Why is everyone being so sad towards me?” You asked curiously, but before your dad could answer Justin and Dyllan were being taking out in handcuffs.

Your body was moving before your brain could, you were there again, in the locker room.

“Heeeeyyyyyy y/n” Justin taunted you as he walked passed you got up quickly and moved backwards away in a frantic matter almost knocking over the things on the desk behind you.

Your breathing was heavy and it felt as if you’d been punched in the stomach.

“No, No, please stop, I don’t want to I don’t want to.” You said as you curled into yourself on the floor in the corner. You wanted to just go home and lay in the bed for the rest of your life. Why did this happen to you?

You had noticed everyone watching you lose it but you didn’t care.

Your dad walked over to you and went to put a hand on your shoulder. Grabbing his hand quickly before he could touch you.

“Don’t touch me! Get off of me now!” You punched, screamed, and kicked just wanting the feeling of Dyllan and Justin off of you.

You were strong but Spencer didn’t mind getting punched in the face by you. Of course he knew the ins and out of trauma and ptsd. Not just his extensive knowledge but his own past.

“Y/n it’s me. Your dad I promise I won’t hurt. You’re at the BAu and you’re safe sweetie, your dads here.” He said softly being you back to reality. That’s when you broke In his arms.

It’s only been a few weeks since you were assaulted and you had been by yourself the entire time. Emily, JJ, and Morgan were all surrounding you hearts also broken.

“He raped me daddy” you cried into his shoulder

“Him and Justin raped me at the end of practice, I’m so sorry for not telling you.” you broke even more you needed your dad you would just never admit it.

“Don’t be sorry, you didn’t have to tell me if you couldn’t.” He said squeezing his daughter tighter. After that you both got up and headed home.

You quickly went to go shower the day off as your dad prepared your favorite dinner.

Spencer was nothing but heartbroken, he hated that this happened to you. Worse of all he couldn’t take away your pain. After your shower you quickly got dressed and headed to the kitchen.

You came out in a hoodie and sweats as you seen your dad pulling the pizza out the oven.

“Oh hey, I made your favorite.” He said turning to you with a smile. You not responding back, now that he knew you felt icky. Grabbing plates and drinks he brought it over to the counter and you both started to eat. The room was almost silent.

“Don’t look at me any differently please” you finally spit it out. You didn’t want to be looked at as a victim or someone you needed to wear kid gloves with.

“You are y/n and you always have been. You’re my daughter and I will never ever see you any differently.” He looked up from his plate with quickness reassuring her.

“Can I hug you?” He asked, you quickly got up and embraced your dad,

“I’ve got you always bug.” Hugging you even tighter, it finally felt like you could get through this.

[casuallyanidiot]

The Beta Test | Chapter 2

[Yandere M x Gn Reader]

Local party animal and known social butterfly [name] wakes up to find that they've been abducted by their very reclusive and very wealthy classmate. Why, you might ask, did he do this? Well for one reason of course! He needs to know how he's going to talk to his crush! So now, with their freedom on the line, [name] has to figure out how to get this kid with the one of his dreams or risk never leaving at all. Lots of weird conversations ensue, of course.

1.6 k words Tw. Swearing

Chapter 1 Table of Contents

You stayed shivering on the floor of the cell for what you guessed to be the next few hours. There were no windows in the little room you had been stuffed into, and even the little dim lights under the cabinets on the other side of the bars had been turned off. They had shut off a few minutes after Javier had left, leaving you in near absolute darkness. Over the course of however long you had been in there, your mind had become increasingly clear.

You had fallen asleep after a certain point. Like, what else was there to do? When you woke up again, it felt like your spine had been bent into thirteen different directions. This sucked, to say the least. Your freedom for him getting with some girl? What a freaking weirdo. You sighed as you stretched out as best as you could and tried not to think about the absolute mess of a man that could probably harm you with little remorse. 

Still, all you could really do was wait for Javier to come back. So, that’s what you did.

It wasn’t clear how long you had been sitting there, staring at the cabinets and trying to imagine what lay in them, before a beeping noise came muffled from the other side of the door. Your bleary eyes widened before narrowing sharply. A twinge of annoyance ran through you as a head peeked into the room. This little asshole stared at you like you were some kind of rabid animal. Still, he shuffled in.

“ Hey uh, you’re probably hungry cause of the drugs and all. I brought you something,” he said. He walked over to stand in front of your cell. In his hands was a tray of what looked like something edible. Honestly, it was the least he could do. 

“ I would’ve had a…someone else deliver it to you, but I think we should kinda uh get to know each other a bit more. Since you know, you’re gonna help me and all,” he laughed a little and raised the dishes out to you slightly. You could only blink at his audacity. But hey, you were pretty hungry. 

The pit in your stomach had been a big pain in your ass for who knows how long, and you doubted that a hunger strike would really get you anywhere. You let a groan out in frustration as you threw your head back and started to stand.  It was a slow and shitty process; all your joints were cracking like a glowstick. You should not be having this hard of a time in your twenties. Maybe it was time to go see a chiropractor or something. Surely someone knew a good one that wouldn’t break your bank or back. 

Walking up to the metal bars you realized that this was the first time you had ever been this physically close to Javier. He must’ve been thinking the same thing because he was shifting around so much you would’ve thought that he had to go use the bathroom or something. Still, you wordlessly held out your hands with a blank stare. He looked at you silently for a few moments, absolutely flabbergasted I'm sure, and went rigid. You rolled your eyes.

“ For fuck’s sake man, just give me the food,” you said, pretty exhausted all around. Your sure you sounded like a stay-at-home military mom with 5 kids after picking them up from school or something. Not a good look at all. Whatever. Being held captive wasn’t exactly the vibe you wanted to put out either, but here you were.

“ Huh! Oh yeah.. That. Sorry, sorry. Here you go,” he said meekly and attempted to pass you your meal, finally, but there was just one issue. It was kind of weird how neither of you had noticed nor thought about the fact that the plate might be too big to actually fit through the bars. As the plastic dish was stopped by the immovable steel (or whatever metal it was actually made of. How should you know?) you pressed your lips into a thin, tight line. You raised your head to see the gloomy man going through what you could guess were the five stages of grief all at once. 

Yeah, Javier looked like he was on the cusp of shattering like a lego building does when dropped from the twelfth story.

“Dude…” you whispered, also absolutely devastated because you were hungry, duh.

“ Uhhh, umm.”

The guy couldn’t even get a single word out; He only kept trying to shove the plate into your cell. The room was filled with only the sounds of dull tapping. You could only stare on dumbly, lips parted in absolute disbelief.

“ Hey it’s um, it’s not going to get through,” you said. It was like your words went in one ear and out the other. It was like he was a robot, trying to do an action even though it was physically impossible. You noticed his trembling hands and his quivering lip almost immediately, and you shook your head. You reached through the bars and grabbed the plastic dish, stopping the weak motions. 

“ It’s not gonna work man. Let it go.”

It was like you had backhanded him or something. His dark eyes went wide and he actually jumped back from you. You were left in a pretty uncomfortable position there while he bumped back into a table. His chest was heaving pretty deeply, and his string bean body was splayed out in all sorts of awkward angles. You stood there, with your back still hurting as the one who kidnapped you in the first place stood trembling 5ft away. 

Well, that was a total waste of time. 

He seemed to realize that he was acting very, very strangely and cleared his throat. Javier ran his hands through his flat, dark hair, clearly stressed. He straightened up, pushing on the high-quality marble counters with shaky arms. 

“ I uh, sorry. I should’ve thought of that haha. Guess that just shows how useless I am,” he laughed weakly, and you grimaced at the way he glanced to the side. You rolled your eyes, the hunger had really started to whittle down your already tiny amount of patience. The plate of food, which you still could not pull into your cell by the way, smelled stupidly good. I mean, if you really tried, you could still be able to eat. Though as you held it up, you noticed that there was nothing for you to eat with. You huffed.

“ You’re fine, man. Can you get me a fork?”  

“ I’m fine? Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed out of relief. He laughed as he waved a finger at you. “ I think… I think I can see why you get along with people so well. “ You raised a brow at his words. He stood tall, finally done with whatever emotional rollercoaster he had gone through in like under two minutes.

“ I mean, you’re really good at talking to people. I mean we’re already having some fun memories, right? I mean, I know we’re not friends, not yet at least, but um, this is good! You can help me better if you’re more comfortable with me and stuff haha,” he said while rubbing his arm. You could only blink at the audacity of this man.

“ Fun memories? Like what?” You couldn’t help the confused hiss that left your lips.

“ Oh you know, like right now. I made a mistake and um, you were all reassuring and stuff. Like I said I know we’re not friends, but um it was really nice how you kept me calm and stuff. I know that I’m probably gonna remember this for a long time,” Javier giggled a little bit at the end.

“ Ah okay. Well, that’s cool and all, but can you please get me a fork?”

“ Yeah, it is cool. I’m glad that I came and talked to you today. I almost didn’t, haha. I was um, kinda nervous. I mean… yeah this was nice. I’m gonna go now. See you later,” he said. His gloomy expression had become noticeably brighter. He gave a little way and smiled before turning to the door.

“ Wha- hey wait!” You cried out, but he just kept walking. The door was shut once again and the same mechanical beeping rang out. You stood dumbfounded, an offended scoff leaving your mouth as those stupid lights dimmed down. The food in your hands couldn’t easily be eaten without utensils, and even if you did, your hands would probably be super messy. Your stomach rumbled as you sighed in defeat.

It was awkward to move the plate down to the ground while your arms were still outstretched beyond the bars, but you managed to do it. You stared at it longingly. Maybe if you looked at it long enough the flavor would somehow miraculously end up on your tongue. You slumped over in slight defeat.

While you had always assumed to an extent that Javier was socially inept, you would’ve never guessed it would be this bad. Like, the dickwad didn’t even spare you a second glance as he left. Did he even hear you? Was it even possible to be that wrapped up in oneself? You could kinda feel bad for the guy if the current setting was literally anywhere else. 

If you were back in the quiet corner of the library, then sure, you might feel for the guy. Hell, if he had asked you to help him like a regular fucking person would, you probably would’ve jumped at the chance. But here? Now?

You groaned as you slumped over. If he was this bad, then there was absolutely no way that he was going to get with that girl. Even if you helped. You looked miserably at your plate and bitterly came to the reasonable conclusion that you were probably gonna die here because of that fact alone.

Fucking Javier Galvan, man.

[sl-vega]

0.2; abandonment issues personified

project: love liason! - a scaramouche smau

scaramouche:

childe's childhood best friend and former next door neighbour

moved around a lot as a kid before getting taken in by his aunt due to his mother always being away on business trips

mona's academic rival, saw her as a nuisance before recently developing feelings for her (not that he'd ever admit it.)

was childe's neighbour up until they were sixth grade and scara's aunt passed away, so he ended up moving abroad to live with his mother

doesn't say it out loud, but he's grateful that childe did whatever he could to keep in touch with scara while he was living overseas

moved back just in time for freshman year of highschool

has a pet gecko that his aunt gave him before she died, he named him durin

only uses durin as his pfps

childe:

real name is ajax but childe was more of an inside joke/nickname that way too many people caught on to

guy of many talents, and part of many extracurricular activities around campus

essentially a walking wallet for the rest of the group due to his family having many connections

doesn't mind paying for everyone and that is frequently abused

albedo:

albedo is basically that one cousin/friend that your parents always compare you to

honour roll, member of the student council, as well as the science and art club, not to mention a trusted tutor

sometimes people who have crushes on him fail tests on purpose just on the off chance that they can get him as a tutor

venti and childe thinks it's funny af but he got pretty annoyed by it after a while

his block list on all his platforms are mainly made up of people who pretended to be failing just to get his attention

poor guy doesn't gaf about their grades he just wants some alone time

venti:

drunk without alcohol friend

chronic band kid, frequently tries to convince new students to join any of the band courses

always mooches off of childe whenever the rest of the group goes out

met scara after childe introduced them to each other during a school dance that everyone was forced to attend

heizou:

the FBI friend of scara's group

just like navia he knows everything about everyone, except he actually charges people for his services

has a questionable search history at best

a SHIT ton of burner accounts on all his social media platforms for "research purposes"

has blackmailed a teacher into giving him an extension once

kazuha:

recently transferred midway through sophomore year

knew scara while he was living overseas and fate brought them together again

the actual dad of the group regardless of what childe claims

works part time at his local book store and is a MAJOR literature and poetry nerd

is part of several book clubs with a bunch of sweet old women

additional notes:

profiles are finished and done!

taglist is still open so just lmk if you want to be added <3

𝜗𝜚 SYNOPSIS: you're head over heels in love with childe, and scaramouche is (begrudingly) smitten with his "rival" mona. and, by sheer divine coincidence, you both happen to be the best friends of each other's objects of affection, so you strike a deal with each other. if scaramouche helps you ask out childe, you'll set him up with mona. so with the annual spring formal right around the corner, the two of you vow to be each other's wingmans so you can end your junior year on a high note (and maybe even kick off your senior year with a new relationship!). between, scheming, planning, and researching, you and scaramouche find yourselves developing a new relationship via helping each other out. now the real question is whether this friendship will remain as a pure platonic bond, or blossom into something more?

<PREV ll MASTERLIST ll NEXT>

🎀 - taglist!;

@agaygothicmushroom, @035814, @freyao7, @sketcheeee, @tsukimara, @shyentsmissingink, @justpeachyteastea, @aries-afk, @lxkeeeee, @sakiimeo, @sugxryratz, @shutingstar, @lalaloveallmydays, @bellflower1257, @haruumei, @kichiyosh1, @littlemisssatanist, @dee-zbignuts, @candyescapism, @crimxeorcremeexistspeacefully

[cowgurrrl]

Getting Older

Author’s note: FUCK IT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT TOMMY’Y GRIEF

Summary: "I love my little brother so much. I wish I could take back the years I spent treating him like I didn't." aka Joel and Tommy Talk [1.5k]

Warnings: discussions of deployment/Army, mentions of Sarah and Tess, pregnancy, deceased parent, learning to love someone even when you can't recognize them anymore

The brothers had been avoiding the topic pretty much since Joel learned of Maria. They were close once. Of course, they were. Joel let Tommy live in his home, work with him, and help him raise his daughter once he came back from Afghanistan. When the nightmares got bad, Joel was there in his stoic, big brother way to ask about therapists and support groups for veterans. When Joel didn't have enough money to buy Sarah a bike for her birthday despite scraping together pennies and dimes for months, Tommy miraculously came up with it after a few rounds of Texas Hold' Em at the local bar. They were a team. Had been since their mom died. 

But twenty years of a world ruled by fungus is enough to break any bond. The first few weeks in Jackson are rough. Not only are Joel and Ellie recovering from their journey, but Jackson offered up a whole new world of pain that Joel didn't even know existed. Kids Sarah's age running around without a care in the world. His baby brother suddenly no longer a baby anymore but a husband and a father-to-be. The little graveyard a little further away with lovingly etched headstones that make his stomach turn when he thinks about the river his little girl died next to. Couples walking the street hand-in-hand, and he knows Tess hated PDA, but maybe she would've made an exception. You don't realize how big a bed can be when it's suddenly empty for the first time in a decade. They struggle. All of them. There is no one in this little fucked up family that goes untouched by the hurt. 

It takes a month before Joel invites Tommy and Maria over to their house for dinner. Joel does his best to make a niceish dinner and even buys freshly cut flowers from the market. Ellie teases him about it, and he teases her back, but deep down, he just wants everything to be okay again. Normal. Tommy and Maria arrive with a wave of polite smiles and offerings of help, which Joel refuses like any good host. He finishes dinner while Ellie tells her aunt and uncle about school and her new friends. It's quaint when they sit down at the table together. If you squint, you could almost believe this is how it's always been. 

They shoot the shit and tell stories and enjoy the meal Joel lovingly made for them. Joel even asks about the pregnancy, which makes his insides clench like a vice grip, but he doesn't let it show. Maria gives surface details: how far along she is, how she's feeling, how the nursery's coming along. He's silently grateful they don't talk about names or clothes. He'd always saved Sarah's baby clothes in little boxes in the attic. "Just in case," he told himself. Whether it was in the event of a sibling for Sarah or a cousin, he never got to find out. Now he wonders what became of the boxes of pastel pinks and yellows somewhere in Austin. 

When Maria yawns and announces she's tired, Tommy offers to take her home. She refuses and looks at Ellie. "I've got some more clothes for you back at the house. Wanna come look at them with me?" She asks. Ellie looks to Joel for permission or maybe reassurance that she's safe to go with Maria. He nods and picks up her empty plate. "You better get a move on." He urges, and just like that, they're out the door and talking like they've known each other forever. Joel and Tommy collect the dirty plates and wash them in the sink side by side, a tradition their mother instilled in them so young they can barely remember a time when they didn't do it. Tommy's the first one to break the silence.

"She's a good kid." He says, testing the waters, and Joel nods. 

"Most of the time," Joel says, laughing to himself. "She's nothin' like Sarah." It's the first time they've talked about her. Really talked about her for a long time. Tommy freezes like he's trying to figure out what to say or do, but Joel continues. "They're both smart and funny and strong. I think they woulda even been friends. But Ellie…" he trails off. "Ellie's just different. A pain in the ass, sure, but different." He shrugs as he puts a cup face down to dry on the towel next to the sink. "And your little one'll be different, too."

"Joel-" 

"I know you're gonna wanna compare them to Sarah 'cause that's what I did, but it don't work like that. Every kid's different. You just gotta figure out how. You gotta give 'em a chance to show you who they are." He continues. Tommy knows not to interrupt him when he gets on a soapbox like this. So, just like he did when they were kids, he stays quiet and follows his big brother's lead. "I'm happy for you. I really am, and not 'cause I'm forcin' it or anything. I always knew you were gonna be a good dad, and I know it now."

"But?" Tommy asks, and Joel shakes his head. 

"No 'but.' I'm just thinkin'." 

"'Bout what?"

"Your wife kinda scares me," Joel admits, making Tommy laugh. The sound is reminiscent of summer days spent roughhousing in the backyard or playing with little green Army men in the kitchen while their big chocolate lab, Arlo, lay on the cool tile nearby. 

"Yeah, me too," Tommy says, and now it's Joel's turn for childhood giggling. When the laughter dies down, Joel turns and looks at his brother fully. If he looks past the beard and the long hair, he can almost see the eighteen-year-old he dropped off at boot camp all those years ago. It pushes on an ache in his heart, and maybe that's what prompts him to finally say what he's been dodging this whole time.

"I wish I was there," he mumbles. "Your wedding." The weight of the admission hits Tommy square in the shoulders, and he clears his throat. 

"Me too." 

"Was it… I mean, was it nice? Did you get all fancy or anythin'?" He asks, and Tommy chuckles. 

"Yeah, it was nice. Borrowed a suit that was a little too big, and Maria wore a dress that was a little too old, and we got married down at the courthouse few years ago. I've got a few pictures if you wanna see 'em." Tommy smiles, and Joel does too, and for a second, they're not men beaten down by wars and death. They're two little boys with missing teeth and red popsicle staining their mouths. 

"That's nice," Joel nods. "You deserve nice. I want you to have nice. Always did." The words drown out the dripping sink and the wind blowing through the trees and shaking leaves against the windowpanes. They land somewhere deep in Tommy's stomach, where he stored all emotion and grief down after that September night when he dragged Joel away from Sarah because he was being a "fuckin' idiot." They don't fully relieve him of what he feels is his share of the blame for how things happened, for what happened to Sarah, but they made it a little less heavy. Tommy didn't realize tears had sprung to his eyes until Joel sucked his teeth and pulled him into his chest like he did when Tommy scraped his knees, falling off his bike in second grade. 

"I love you. I'm sorry I acted like I didn't for so long." Joel whispers, his own tears threatening his lash line, and Tommy tightly wraps his arms around his big brother. 

"Love you too," Tommy says, removing a stone from the pile on Joel's shoulders. "Thanks for comin' back for me."

"I'll always come back for you. You're my brother."

Not a soldier. Not a hunter, a raider, or a smuggler. Not even a patrolman. A brother. It's been a long time since Thomas Miller has been allowed to only be a brother. He thinks he likes it. He thinks he can get used to it. He thinks there will never be a day after this one where he doesn't include brother in his list of titles because, for once, he's proud to be Joel's brother, and he will be until the day he dies. 

When they were little, and they used to fight over stupid things like bikes and what music to play in the car, their mama would look at them in the rearview mirror and raise her eyebrows in the exact way Joel is prone to doing and shake her head. "Now you two better settle it 'fore I settle it for you," she'd scold. "Y'all are gonna have to learn to live with one another 'cause I'm not gonna have all this fightin' all the time. Y'all are brothers, and that's gotta count for something." Tommy thinks he can hear his mother's voice in his head as they cry together for the first time in decades. He thinks she'd be happy with the way they turned out. He thinks she'd be proud of them for coming back together in this way.

They're brothers, after all. That's gotta count for something. 

TAGLIST: @abbyhaslongshorts @kiwiharrykiwi @sumsworldz @myloveistoolittle @anavatazes @marantha

[candycandy00]

do you have any scary stories, experiences, etc from living in Appalachia 👀👀

I have a few! (This was such a fun ask, thank you, anon!)

First of all, let me get a couple of things out of the way: 1.) I don’t believe in ghosts/the supernatural, so keep that in mind. 2.) Movies like Wrong Turn make “mountain folk” or “hillbillies” seem frightening but they’re actually some of the nicest, most welcoming and helpful people I’ve ever met. If you get lost in the mountains they’d be absolutely delighted to help you. They’d invite you to dinner too. It’d probably be squirrel gravy but still.

That being said, I can talk about a few things. The first is a local legend. There’s a tiny little place very close to where I live called Graveyard Hollar (if you know anything about Appalachia, you’ve heard of “hollars”, which are little roads going into the mountains, many not even paved, where small neighborhoods are - I myself live in a hollar). It’s literally within walking distance from my house. Graveyard Hollar itself goes up a pretty steep mountain, and at the top is a very old cemetery (hence the name). Leading down from the cemetery, and going all the way down to the main hollar before you begin going up to Graveyard Hollar, is a small waterfall that stays dry unless it rains. 

All my life, I’ve heard wild stories about Graveyard Hollar and that waterfall in particular (because driving along the main hollar takes you right by the waterfall). I’ve heard there’s a werewolf that lives there (yes really). Apparently a guy with a convertible said it jumped into his car as he drove by the waterfall and tried to kill him. Who was the guy? Well a friend of a cousin of a boyfriend, of course!  

The most prevalent story about the waterfall, however, is that if you stop your car right in front of it and cut the engine (which will leave you in total darkness - there’s no streetlights in hollars!), you’ll see two glowing green orbs dancing around. If you let your window down, they’ll fly into your car and go home with you. Legend has it that two young lovers killed themselves there by jumping from the top of the waterfall to their deaths, and the green orbs are their spirits. 

As a kid, this was a popular “test of courage”. Every time I had a sleepover, I’d get my older brother to drive me and my friends to the waterfall and stop there, cutting the engine to look for the green orbs. I never saw them, but one time a friend in the car with us suddenly started screaming as if she’d seen something horrifying and wouldn’t stop screaming until we got home. She swore she saw the lights. 

Supposedly it gets wild on Halloween night. A guy who lives near there would never leave the hollar on Halloween. He said no one could pay him enough to drive by that waterfall on Halloween. He was a bit odd though. 

There’s a place nearby called Red Cedar, which is at the top of a mountain. It’s stunning, with a pack of friendly wild horses running around up there. Most of it is only accessible via atv type vehicles. My brother and his wife go up there all the time to have picnics and feed the horses and pick raspberries. If you want to see some gorgeous scenery photos of the mountains and horses, hit me up! 

Anyway, like I said he goes up there all the time and they’ve pretty much explored every trail. But one day he and his wife found a trail they’d never seen before. They decided to follow it, and after traversing some very rough and dangerous terrain (at one point nearly riding off a cliff), they found a very strange place. It was marked off by rope, and once they went inside, they found these very odd lanterns sitting around everywhere. I’m including pictures because these things are eerie. There was also a strange metal table right in the center of the area (my mom said “that’s where they do the sacrifices” lol). You have to understand this is an extremely remote area that was almost impossible to reach and took them a long time to get there.

Okay, this story is about a scary human encounter, which to me is much more frightening because humans are real. And I actually witnessed this and was involved. 

My mom and I live in a house. Behind us is a mountain. In front of us is a creek, then more land, then another mountain. Directly across the creek from our house is a piece of property we own. My brother and his wife and son lived there for a while. At this point their son was around six or seven, and he stayed at our house a lot. My brother worked the night shift in a coal mine. 

So let me set the scene: it was a warm summer night, around 9pm. My nephew was spending the night with me and my mom. My brother was at work and his wife, my sister in law, was home alone. Me, my mom, and my nephew were sitting on the porch in rocking chairs (this is something country folk absolutely love). From our porch, we could see my sister in law across the creek step out on her porch to smoke. Now, we’re close enough that if we yelled, she could hear us, but we couldn’t have a conversation. So her son yells at her, she waves, and then he says he wants to call her. So he does. 

After talking to his mom for a few minutes, he hands the phone to mom, so they start talking. Now, next door to where my brother lived, there’s a small car wash. It’s really out of place because there are no other businesses nearby but oh well. It has an old pop machine (soda machine to you city folk) that’s always well stocked, and my sister in law often walked over to get a pop. On this night, we watched her walk over to the car wash, her cordless phone at her ear as she kept talking to mom. But before she could get her pop, she noticed something strange and decided to check it out. Someone was in the car wash owner’s truck, and it wasn’t him. She’d stumbled upon someone breaking into the truck and trying to Hotwire it. 

Against all logic, she yelled out “Hey! What are you doing?” And the guy climbed out of the truck. We could see him from our porch. This guy was freakishly tall, very thin and gangly, had long dark hair, and wore a dirty trench coat. He was creepy as fuck! 

My sister in law ran, back toward her house, and the guy ran after her! From our porch we watched him chase her. My mom was still on the phone with her, screaming “hurry! Run! He’s right behind you!” Also keep in mind her son was watching all this and losing his mind. The poor kid was screaming bloody murder. 

Somehow, she made back to her house and locked the door just in time. We watched him bang on her door, try to pry it open, etc. Her son was still screaming. Then all at once, the guy apparently noticed us. His head turned sharply toward where we were on the porch, and then he started running toward us! He ran straight down into the creek! 

I ushered my screaming mom and nephew inside and locked the door. The last thing I saw before closing it was the guy climbing up out of the creek on our side. After locking up and getting my gun, I looked out the windows on all sides and saw nothing. I called the police and after much begging they agreed to send a car out to check things out. That was over 15 years ago and we’re still waiting. 😑

That’s all I can think of at the moment. Aside from alarming animal encounters (like seeing bears, bobcats, packs of coyotes, snakes, etc.).

[187days]

Day Seven

Well. Today was a whole lot of things.

It started with the first PLC meeting of the year. I got together with the social studies department to give a few standard reminders about grading and communication home, discuss upcoming events, talk about how we'll be administering the citizenship test this year, and hear how everyone's classes have been going. We were interrupted by a guidance counselor, and then again by The Principal because of Very Serious Things, but by that point we were winding down our conversation anyhow.

Folks split off for the remainder of the meeting time to work on their specific courses. Mrs. C and I spent that time talking about Global Studies and Civics (her)/APGOV (me). We're teaching those courses at the same time (perk of being a department head: I get to plan it that way), so her Civics students will be able to get in on my APGOV candidate Q&As. That's going to be excellent. More on that in future entries, for sure.

I mentally rewrote today's Global Studies lesson four or five times before I taught it, and finally settled on doing a bit of a basic geography review (longitude, latitude, continents, etc...) and then focusing in on the Americas. I brought them back to yesterday's lesson in which they'd described their cultural identity, NH culture, and US culture, and asked them to share what came to mind when they thought about cultures throughout North and South America. Once they answered that, I told them that it was awesome to find out what they already knew because we were about to learn more, starting with labeling a map of the region. I thought that was going to take the remainder of the class time, and it did in my second section, but in the other two students finished with about fifteen minutes to spare. So I adapted on the fly during the first section (a must-have skill in teaching), grabbed the article on culture in the Americas (cribbed from World101) that I was planning to use tomorrow, and started teaching them how to annotate it.

I had to do some on-the-fly lesson adaptations in APGOV, as well. My lesson started out going the way I thought it would: I lectured on state government, to start, and fielded a bunch of questions as I went through that. And then, when I had students look at the US News state rankings for NH, that also produced a lot of discussion- and got us talking about how a lot of the positive and negative stats are a result of choices made by state and local governments- so that was great. But when I asked them to tell me more about the major issues in NH, beyond what was evident on that ranking sheet, they went quiet. Like, I got one or two hesitant comments, but that was it. So I had them get on the state government website, look at the recent bills before the House and Senate, and tell me what issues they're meant to address, and- thankfully!- that reignited the discussion.

After the bell, I went down to talk to Ms. B, at her request, about a few students who are struggling. She had some ideas about how to help them be more successful, and she wanted to get my opinion. I taught most of these kids last year, so I hopefully offered her some solid insights. And I reassured her that she's doing a good job. Being a first year teacher is hard, but she's got terrific ideas and instincts.

After that, I went back to my desk to wrap up my own work, and found an email from one of the school counselors that I had to respond to- about getting a new student- so I dealt with that as quickly as I could. I'm going to stop pulling the late afternoons soon, seriously!

[evermorehqs]

CATCHING MY BREATH, STARING OUT AN OPEN WINDOW

Dashiell Parr is based on Dash from The Incredibles. He is a 29 year old superhuman, mechanic, and uses he/him pronouns. He has the power of super speed, super stamina, heightened reactions and enhanced durability. Dash is portrayed by Alexander Calvert and he is open.

CATCHING MY DEATH, AND I COULDN’T BE SURE

Dash was fast. At least, he used to be fast. As a boy his powers often got him into trouble, using his abilities to his advantage when it came to pulling pranks and cheating on tests... and never playing fair with the other kids. If you asked him, it wasn't fair he had to keep what he could do a secret. He was awesome! And he wanted everyone to know it. Within time, he began to mature and started to see the bigger picture, and finally — much to his parents' relief — started making himself useful to society instead of a nuisance to it. Being a superhero was something that others only dreamt of, and he could actually help save the world... which made him even more awesome. His responsibilities didn't stop him from having fun, though, in ways that didn't compromise his family's identities. Like running out into the middle of the ocean and joining the track team to win with ease, but make it look like a close call. He liked to think he found a good balance for himself, and honestly, he had very few complaints in life. Up until now. They had been on a mission. Hadn't they? Dash was not alone in forgetting what exactly had led his family to Evermore, but he was alone in forgetting how to use his powers... which was basically the worst thing that could have ever possibly happened to him. All of the other parts of life he'd forgotten (nearly everything) paled in comparison to the loss of his abilities. He was bitter; at his siblings, for still being able to do cool things, at his parents for whatever reason they'd brought them here, at this stupid town and everyone in it and mostly at himself for being completely and utterly useless now. How does someone forget to run? He had built his entire life, his entire personality around what he was, and with it stripped away, Dash was lost. He fell into a job fixing cars at a local garage, street racing motorcycles in his spare time for the adrenaline rush he missed... and waiting for his family to find a way out or cure this memory loss before he goes ballistic.

I HAD A FEELING SO PECULIAR

❀ Gogo Tomago: The mechanic that he works closely with, Dash would probably think she was cool and all, if she wasn't faster than him on her bike. He has to bite his tongue to stop from telling her she's really not all that. ❀ Pascal Welker: Dash likes having Pascal around because he can vent to his heart's content, leaving out important details, of course, and they just nod along. It's like talking to a wall. In the best way. ❀ Francis Ferguson: Francis very well may be his absolute least favorite customer, and that's saying something. The dude is so snide, he swears if he still had his powers he'd wipe that smug grin from his face so fast.

THAT THIS PAIN WOULD BE FOR EVERMORE

[aajjks]

NO CONDOM?!!! 😱😱😱

TPOL!JK

you came so hard and so many times that night. it was the most passionate sex the two of you have ever had and you enjoyed every second of it. you never want to forget it.

jungkook being the early bird he is, is already up and tending to bam while you are just now waking up and notice something running down your legs. a little leftover of last night.

“dammit, kook” you curse to yourself as you begin looking for morning after pills but then it hits you, it’s the first time the two of you have had raw sex. he’s always wearing a condom and never fucks you without one but maybe that explains the total bliss the two of you experienced because that layer of protection was missing.

“ughh, no pills” you complain and make a small note to get yourself some before you head to class. when you look at yourself in the mirror, your body is littered with bite marks and hickey’s. while you’re doing your morning routine, in comes jungkook who took bam for a walk and brought your favorite drink from starbucks. once you’re finished and dressed, you come out the bedroom excited to see your sweet boyfriend who is just as excited to see you, even bam.

“hi bam!!” you say excitedly and then wrap your arms around jungkook to give him a kiss “hi, you” you lean in for another kiss and pull away before you end up in a walker permanently.

“aww, thank you” you gasp when you see the starbucks drink and give jungkook one last kiss. “i’ll be back soon. i love you” you tell jungkook before you’re off to school.

it’s the same thing everyday, you both eat some breakfast together, you both go your separate ways, and then return with pent up energy you both release in the bedroom. you still visit your mother with jungkook of course and everything seems to be going smoothly until you noticed your period tracker reminding you to “log in when your cycle begins” which you hadn’t logged your period in almost 3 weeks.

“you don’t think you’re pregnant do you?” asks yerin and though you look to be shrugging it off, you’re actually nervous as hell because your partner isn’t too fond of children and has no desire to be a father.

“oh, c’mon yerin, my period is irregular all of the time. i’m sure it’s nothing” you say to your best friend who is convinced that you’re pregnant. sure you have an irregular period but its almost been a month since you got your monthly.

“then take a pregnancy test”

“are you crazy?! i’m not pregnant, yerin. quit it”

“i’m just being honest! take a test, y/n. i’m serious”

you take your friend’s word and buy a pregnancy test from a local convenience store. you buy five of them actually and kept them well hidden in your bag so that jungkook doesn’t find them and speaking of jungkook, he just got home around the same time as you.

“hi, jungkook” you say while trying hard not to appear nervous in front of him. “can i ask you something?”

“let’s try for a baby”

He’s still standing, but your words take him aback. He’s confused, his eyes are crinkled as he looks at you completely clueless.

He scoffs.

“What are you talking about Princess?” He laughs, as he goes to the refrigerator to get a water bottle. He suddenly feels like his throat is very dry. “Try for a baby?” He laughs as he chugs down the water.

You have to be kidding.

“Haha are you messing with me? Baby I’m exhausted today.” He groans, as he sits down on the couch. “What’s gotten into you?” He’s genuinely confused.

Jungkook tries his best to not let your words bother him but he can’t help but react a little, he doesn’t want to hurt your feelings but you know everything yet still.

“Why would you say that?” He sighs. “No yn I’m sorry but.. I don’t want to have a baby, you always knew that didn’t you?” Jungkook stands up and takes your hands in his.

He actually takes his time to focus on you and your hands are shaking, what’s up with you and why are you so nervous?

“Princess, is everything okay? Is your mother alright?? You’re alright, yeah?”

[thissmallplace]

Thor Fic: Thunder in the Land of The Sun

(Set between TDW and AOU.)

Chapter 1

Steve kept an eye on his good friend. He always did. Not because he feared for him, nothing like that at all. Nothing on earth could really damage him. And it was not that Steve distrusted his friend either. He knew he was noble and, of course, worthy. It was just that they were helping human, local authorities fight crime in a country that was not Steve's and he didn't want to seem like they were above the laws and authorities of that country.

Steve also knew that Thor was an almighty god, but he didn't have to be reminded of being respectful and careful. He always was. Thor's supernatural strenght and power never failed to make Steve a little nervous, though.

"Neutralise and arrest! I remember, my friend Steve! I always do, my captain!" Thor's deep voice reached Steve and there was humor in it. Was Thor reading his mind?

" Would you stop looking worried?" Thor asked and chuckled. No, Thor wasn't reading minds. He was just a good observer. As he spoke to Steve, Thor sent some controlled, tiny rays of light, tiny lighting, through his fingertips and tased the thugs they were trying to capture.

When they dropped to the floor unconscious, Thor grinned at Steve." Captured alive, captain!" He said.

One of the special forces members came closer to Thor.

"Sir, are they safe to touch?" The young man asked in Spanish. He was about to repeat his question in English when Thor replied.

" Yes, brave warrior, you can take them to your realm...country's justice." Thor said in Spanish.

"Allspeak?" Steve asked Thor, but he hadn't understood Thor's answer and when he had heard him use Allspeak before all Thor said was understandable for him.

"No, no. It was actually Spanish." Thor replied with a little shrug.

"Why not Allspeak? It seems so practical." Steve commented as they went to meet Tony, and the local authorities arrested the thugs they had helped hunt down.

"I only make use of the Allspeak for languages I haven't learned yet, Steve." Thor replied.

Steve's eyes widened." Do you mean...? How many languages do you speak?" He had to ask Thor.

"I haven't counted them. But they might be around 63,000." Thor said and seemed a little confused by Steve's surprised face.

" Compared to Midgardians, we have extremely long childhoods in Asgard. There's plenty of time to learn from our scholars and elders."

" Those are so many languages. And that's an understatement." Steve was really impressed.

Thor reached and gently patted on Steve's shoulder." And those are only some of the ones spoken in the nine realms. It might be impossible to learn them all. For those we haven't learned we use Allspeak."

"Did you take lessons to learn all that?" Steve asked as they walked to the quinjet.

"Of course, Steve! As princes of Asgard we received the best education. Our parents were really strict about it. Of course, we sometimes sneaked out of the palace for some mischief instead of taking our lessons." Thor smiled fondly at the memory.

"Your classmates and you?" Steve asked. Thor looked at him.

" We took our lessons alone. Only Loki and I." Thor replied and he looked down and blinked a little. Steve could see how his smooth eyelids got a little reddened and his golden eyelashes visibly darkened with tears.

"I was a good pupil, but Loki was a brilliant learner. Always. We had our tutors in the highest regard. I even got to love most of them as if they were aunts or uncles of mine. Loki loved them, too. But he was the one who tested their patience with his wit and mischief." Thor's smile was soft, sad." I remember our lessons fondly. "

"Are you telling me you were a studious little kid?" Steve asked trying to joke a little, to soothe Thor's sadness.

"Why do you sound astonished, my friend?" Thor chuckled gently and then he sighed." I was, indeed, a studious child. I am full of surprises."

Thor shook his head as he chuckled. There was something wry in his smile. He felt as if no one really knew him in Midgard. Even those he loved there, those he considered dear friends, had a wrong or limited idea of him.

"I thought you had always been a man of action. You have to admit, you don't look scholarly at all." Steve joked.

"You Midgardians have a strange way of pigeonholing people." Thor replied." Well, not only Midgardians. My Loki... I mean, my brother Loki looks more like the studious type for most people." Thor said the last sentences quickly after he said "My Loki".

Tony was waiting for them, arms crossed and leaning on a wall near the Quinjet.

" If you two hurried a little, I would still be on time to catch my game." Tony said.

" Baseball?" Steve asked and Tony nodded." And you didn't invite us." He smiled and shook his head.

"You are always invited, my work wife." Tony quipped." You are also always invited, Goldilocks." He told Thor who seemed a little distracted."Goldilocks?" Tony repeated.

"Apologies, Stark. I'm grateful that you invited me to your game of baseball." Thor replied and then he sniffled the air as if he were a golden retriever." It smells delicious near here." He said.

"Well, Point Break, smell quickly as much as you can before we go." Tony patted on Thor's shoulder.

"I am sorry I won't go to your game, friend Stark. I want to stay here for a while. It's been a long time since I visited these lands. I have some acquaintances here." Thor explianed."I'll be joining you later. You can send me a message if I am needed."

Thor noticed Steve and Tony seemed surprised and he wondered why. Then he remembered time was different for them. They were Midgardians, mortals, they weren't even ideas lost in the universe when Odin took all of his children on a tour around the nine realms. Loki and Thor had been really young children then, but his memories of their visit to those realms were vivid and happy.

He watched Tony and Steve take their leave a few minutes later. They had been summoned to help in the northern part of Mexico. The last time Thor had set foot on those lands he had loved it. It was sunny and full of colour and as you traveled south the variety of climates and vegetation had impressed him. There had even been snowy peaks and forests not so far from humid, lush rainforests and sandy beaches.

The Midgardians who thrived there were known by subsequent civilizations as the Olmecs. Odin had even taken them to meet some of the gods the Olmecs worshipped and who protected those cultured, refined people.

Thor wanted to explore. People in Midgard knew him by then. He had no need to try to blend in wearing Midgardian clothing though sometimes he wore it simply because he liked it. He flew with Mjolnir searching for the nearest city, but he landed on a small town, a little more than a village because of something he smelled. It made his stomach growl and his mouth water.

There was a temple in the middle of the town with a lovely, little square across from it and the Midgardians there looked up at him and pointed at him in awe as he landed.

TBC

[enchantingruinscandy]

ok you've got me. what are your thoughts on trans!bruce 👀👀👀👀

Oooooh so I started to answer this but I knew I had a lot of thoughts on it so I saved it as a draft but tumblr ate it and im so sad. But anyway here we are answering this ask (sorry it's been so long I've thought about it every day since receiving it). Tw for mentions of transphobia below the cut (but it's so brief you might miss it)

SO

Bruce is a trans man, right? He realized it pretty early in life, earlier than many, but he was only around 10/11. So his parents were already gone when he realized. He sat on it for a while before telling Alfred bc be was scared, but when he finally told his guardian he was so relieved.

At first Bruce asked to use they/them pronouns while he was figuring everything out. In the meantime Alfred asked local news outlets to start referring to his charge with gender neutral terms. He figured they could update everyone when Bruce decided on pronouns and a new name. Some places respected the request, some places ignored it.

About a year passed and shortly after Bruce turned 13 he came to Alfred with a new name and definite pronouns, but he didn't have a middle name picked out yet. His middle name from his deadname was after a person in his family that his parents respected a lot and wanted to honor. Bruce had issues changing it. He was worried it was disrespectful to do so. Alfred told him it would be disrespectful to himself to keep a name that he had grown out of just because he thought it made a dead person happy. Alfred assured him that his parents would want him to change his name if it made him happy to do so. He suggested that if Bruce still wanted to honor his parents he could take his father's name as his middle name. Bruce agreed and they started the paperwork to legally change his name from [REDACTED] to Bruce Thomas Wayne.

Bruce had always planned to become Batman and he started training before he ever told alfred about it, even if it just meant that he was punching a bag or teaching himself to hack in a lightly used part of the house. He got pretty good considering the fact that he was teaching himself, but his first test was when he made duplicates of every newspaper that mentioned him by deadname or misgendered him and broke into the gotham city public library to swap them out. He ended up being spotted by the security guard but managed to give them the slip and get away without them realizing why he was there.

Eventually he told alfred about his plans to become batman and poor alfred nearly had a heart attack at the thought of his kid endangering himself like that. Of course, Alfred agreed to help Bruce out, preferring to be kept in the loop rather than B hiding things that important out if fear if rejection.

[jyp-priestess]

Lee Haneul was born on May 28th, 1999 as Li Ling. She was welcomed into the world by the bustling city of Shanghai, China, and her very successful producer parents. She walked and talked at the age of one before her little sister would take a share of her spotlight a year later. Li Xiang was partially left in her older sister’s care while their family welcomed their baby brother, Li Cheng. Despite their attention hogging, Haneul loved her siblings to death and gave them more love than they could ever ask for.

Haneul grew up with a plethora of opportunities. Her family had a theatre background, a big chunk of her family were musicians, and her parents were, of course, producers. With this, she grew up in a very musically inclined environment. However, she was still encouraged to pursue other fields despite this fact. They found it beneficial for her to branch out and expect different things instead of forcing something into her. These being her involvement in figure skating, volleyball, harp, violin, dance, singing, art, and much more.

From the young age of 6-12, Haneul did figure skating. Of course she did her training as well, but figure skating was her main focus aside from academics right up until she passed the audition. She won numerous medals and was well known in Shanghai for this.

Her siblings looked up to her and her achievements, but she encouraged them to go their own paths. Haneul never thought what she was doing was the best course of action, despite her huge self-confidence, so she didn’t want to influence her younger siblings to go on the same direction. She wanted them to complete their education from start to finish and get good-paying jobs to live happy, fulfilled lives.

During her summers as a kid, Haneul would help work her grandparents’ farm, but also do puppet and paper theater shows for the little kids. She’s always been a performer at heart. She showed great empathy in others and tried to help or make someone smile the best she could, friends and family often found it to be one of her best qualities.

As she grew older, her desire for music grew and her understanding of it widened. Haneul quickly outgrew the talent and dance agency she was in, and decided to enter a local audition of YG Entertainment. There were no other companies with open auditions in the area at that specific time so she went for it, hoping for the best.

On the application form Haneul did not write how she was the daughter of big producers. Of course, being 13 and having done the academic achievements she had, you’d expect a child to be mature by then, but it felt as if she was ready to be an adult. Her excuse that she finally revealed later on was, “I didn’t want such a small, but significant, factor to give me an advantage or disadvantage over the other people who were trying to get accepted too. Fighting on an equal platform feels a lot better than not.”

Roughly a month later, she was accepted, and on the condition she’d start her training whenever she graduated from high school. Maybe she was greedy at the time, but she studied extra hard that summer and took all the necessary tests to graduate early just before entering her 2nd year of high school. That decision turned out to become one of the best ones in her life. Of course she also became widely known for how she passed those tests with flying colors, a mark of her intelligence.

She was a trainee at YGE for roughly a year before SME requested she transferred. They’d seen her monthly evaluations and knew that someone that talented needs to be put in somewhere bigger and grander, or whatever their excuse was. Haneul didn’t care too much, but thought experiencing a different environment would be beneficial.

Haneul’s time at her 2 years at SME gave her more contacts and friendships than YGE could ever. Sure she came to know some of the biggest in the industry, but the trainees and debuted groups made her feel like home. They’d wake her up at 4 in the morning to raid her fridge and have her cook them food, and then proceeded to bug her the entire day. That was what made them all lovable… all 40 or so of them.

Even as a trainee, Haneul spent about 60% of the time dancing and singing, plus other typical trainee things. But that other 40% she spent at the company was for producing. She came from such a big producing background it was hard to ignore it. Some days she’d practice with her tracks, other times she’d dump them in a trash, it was a matter of taste mostly.

Then, to her greatest surprise and delight, JYPE offered her a job as one of their producers. She signed the contract and transferred, but never lost touch with her friends. That decision was probably the best one of her life. Believe it or not, she felt the most free at JYPE.

Haneul’s time as a trainee at JYPE was nothing short of well, short. Time flew by too fast, and she made connections quickly. Maybe it was how warm and sociable Bang Chan was, who knew practically everyone, or that she worked on pretty much everyone’s tracks, or maybe her own extroverted self was the cause of all of it. She loved the busy life regardless.

The 9 boys quickly became close and clamored over her every time they saw her. She didn’t mind, but to be truthful, there were days she wanted to spend alone or only with a single one of them. But that of course, is hard to make a reality with how clingy they were.

Haneul and 3Racha bonded the quickest, sharing their love of making music. On top of that, there was no doubt she was close to Chan and vise versa. Somedays they’d be coddled her but against one another, and others piled on top, without any worries. In fact, it was a huge worry for Haneul as Chan was pretty oblivious and her ever growing crush was a hot topic around her sunbaenims. She could never hate them for it despite how red she’d become when they began talking about it.

2017 came and Haneul was given the chance to debut. In fear of it overlapping with the Stray Kids show, she did prep over time, right up until the final episode aired and her debut in less than a week. However, she was teased far before the show even began airing. What an eventful period. The time she spent cooped up in offices and recording studios, then out shooting music videos and teasers was probably the most stressed she’d been.

She supported the boys through their entire journey on their, and thoroughly surprised them with her own debut as teasers flew in every week. She sacrificed many sleepless nights helping them cope rather than worry about her next recording or photo shoot for debut matters. She had even talked with JYP about their mental health in worry about how they’d proceed on the show.

The week she debuted and after was the busiest but quite possibly one of the happiest times of her life. She was given a lot of encouragement, even being called an early Christmas present at some point. Regardless, that was just how far she had came on her journey, and it was all worth it.

[ignitedfms]

[ go minsi, cis-woman, she/her ] Look who just landed! BYEOL-NIM "BERYL" CHOI, I sure hope you packed all you need. Perhaps you’re not worried as CORRUPT SCIENTIST of X ACADEMY and INFORMANT TO THE OVERSEERS. The city has plenty of spots for a 26 year old SIGHIR like you. You’ll be known in the city soon enough as THE MAD SCIENTIST, being CHARISMATIC and VENGEFUL. ( min, 28, EST, removed for discretion )

00000 - - INTERVIEW INCOMING - - - 001

001101 1- - ARE you A LOCAL OF MARS OR HAVE you LANDED HERE RECENTLY? WHAT IS your OPINION OF THE CITY OF NEW JAKARTA? - 00011011

There was a laugh that left Beryl's throat. She's been working with them for how long now. The OVERSEERS probably expect her to die in the next couple of years or so. A small part of Beryl hoped someone would care for her.She only had the Jaito Gatebox (M1) for her perusal. She gave the rehearsed answer.

"Byeol-nim is Korean for the stars. The stars are the only thing I've ever known. My opinion of the city is as long as I can go Mawar Market and beat some kids at the arcade I have nothing to complain about."

0101022 - - ARE you AWARE OF THE CRIMINAL CIRCUIT OF NEW JAKARTA? WOULD you BE WILLING TO INFORM THE OVERSEERS IF you SEE ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY? - 001200

There was another laugh even more high pitched and manic then the last one. "Do I have a choice in this matter-no didn't think so Sheldon." She said tapping the monitor. There was something in her inner ear device (m2) but she didn't catch it. "But of course. I lost my father because of one of those rebel groups and I don't want to lose anyone else if it can be helped. That's why I'm on the side of order or whatever."

000111311 - - HAVE you BEEN TESTED FOR ANY TRACES OF SIGHIR? HAVE your TESTS ON THE VIRUSES COME BACK CLEAN? - 0012133

As the question was asked the milkshake and her daily capsules came across the corridor. She picked it up and swallowed instantly. Beryl made a face from the sudden aftertaste in her mouth. "SVD is a pain sometimes." She admitted. "And it had to happen in a time in my life where I want to hold someone's hand and be intimate with someone. But I can't because this stupid disease." She said. Even though there were advances, people would still run away from her like she had the plague.(m3) "Sometimes I wish I didn't have traces of SIGHIR either." The tears streamed down her cheeks. "I just want to be normal."

0113114 - - DO you HAVE ANYTHING TO DECLARE? WEAPONS, AUGMENTATIONS, MECHANICAL PARTS OR AI-RELATED APERTURE? - 0012444

"I'm already a freak Sheldon, I have enough on my plate as it is. Though I do have this on my person." She said pulling out the virtual Jaito device. The  hologram man appeared before he started dancing. "Beryl Beryl she's that girl she makes all the stars swirl." He said before disappearing. There was an unamused look on Sheldon's face.

" Time for the seppie suds and indome (m4)" She made the New Jakartan sign for peace with her heads and left.

(M1) Jaito is a rip off of Kaito from the vocaloid series, Min didn't want to get sued (M2) The inner ear device cheeks her temperature and potential energy spikes, she's required to wear them during her interviews so in case it spiked up the interviwer can make a run for it. (M3) I imagine as long as she doesn't get the spikes, but has to fight the stigma which is exhausting for her (m4) Sepsie Bath or Antiseptic Soak Beryl has to do entering and leaving a building, again an extra precaution.

[bluehavenfrenchbulldogs]

How to Find a Reputable French Bulldog Breeder

Are you trying to find a reliable French bulldog breeder near me?

Everyone wants a Frenchie these days, from young couples to celebrities as these lively dogs are popular.

Unfortunately, a rise in internet fraud and unscrupulous breeding techniques have happened with increased interest in French Bulldog breeders, leaving many Frenchie puppies in less-than ideal-circumstances for both potential owners and their parents.

Make sure to research the breeder before purchasing a Frenchie. Here are a few guidelines.

Start With Some Research

Researching a potential French bulldog breeder near me from which to buy your new dog is the first step in bringing home a joyful and healthy French Bulldog puppy.

The most crucial step in locating a healthy Frenchie pup to bring to your household is researching local breeders and visiting potential breeders. 

Spend time researching the breeding methods used by the four or five breeders you've chosen in your neighborhood, then start contacting them.

2. Make Contact and Get to Know the Breeder

When searching for a French bulldog breeder near me, one of the most important things is to learn about the breeder's opinions on breeding and do an interview. You want to find breeders who limit the number of litters their breeding stock has to one or two per year in order to preserve the mother's health. It's a significant warning sign if a breeder puts profit before their mother puppies' health.

However, breeders with numerous litters each year aren't always breeding manufacturers. Some breeders have many mothers, and they schedule the litters each year based on the estrus cycles of each mother and their capacity to care for each litter from fertilization until the puppies are ready to be adopted.

Asking the correct questions will help you identify the breeder you are speaking with. Inquire about their dog breeding regulations and how frequently a mother dog can give birth to puppies yearly.

3. Ask For Certifications and Medical History

Ethical breeders can have spent money genetically analyzing their breeding stock, and they can show you the results of this testing. They can also contain documentation of the parent dogs' visits to the vet, such as records of vaccinations, proof of worming, and other regular maintenance procedures typical of breeding stock.

A dog that tests positive for genetic issues will not be utilized for breeding by ethical breeders. So don't be afraid to request this proof.

Additionally, the breeder of your choice should administer the first 8–10 weeks of immunizations and offer proof of doing so. When you pick up your dog, they will be prepared for life at home.

4. Schedule a Visit

A breeder you've only spoken to on the phone should be avoided. Why? Because puppy mills out there will mislead prospective owners and exploit dogs. Some dishonest breeders can pass the phone interview, but they'll raise red flags when you ask to see their facilities.

If you are looking for a French bulldog breeder near me, visit the breeding facility; it's one of the nicest things you can do. Of course, you shouldn't expect to see anything fancy. Some home-based hobby breeders set aside a room for one or two litters each year. It is appropriate if the area is tidy and the dogs are properly cared for.

Conclusion

When you look for a French bulldog breeder near me, good breeders will interview you like how you would interview them. They need to inquire about whether there are kids in the house, if you have any prior experience with pets, and about your regular daily schedule. Even recommendations from a veterinarian can be requested. Visit BlueHaven French Bulldogs if you are searching for a reliable French bulldog breeder near me.

[horwathgolf]

Building a Miniature Golf Course in Your Backyard: Tips and Tricks for DIY Enthusiasts

A miniature golf course is the most fun home project you can do because it's a combination of DIY and entertainment. Building your own mini golf course is easy to do with just a few simple tools and materials. Here are some tips to ensure your DIY mini golf plans will be fun for everyone.

1. Choose the Right Course Layout

The first step in creating the ultimate mini golf course is to choose the right layout. Next, you'll want to make sure that you have enough space for your course and that it fits your yard. Once you've determined this, it's time to consider which obstacles would be best suited for your backyard.

An excellent miniature golf course should feature a variety of holes with different types of challenges, but don't make them too complicated. You don't want players getting frustrated or bored. The best courses are ones where each hole feels different from its predecessors without sacrificing a theme.

2. Determine the Materials You Need

Always take the time to determine the materials you need. You'll want to start by getting in touch with your local hardware store and asking about what types of supplies they sell, as well as how much they cost. The best thing about DIY mini golf plans is that it doesn't require any special tools or equipment, just some basic carpentry skills, and some patience.

3. Mark Out the Holes

Marking out the holes is crucial to your DIY mini golf plans. You can use a measuring tape and pencil, or if you're feeling more ambitious, measure with a ruler and mark each hole with chalk or spray paint. This will give you a working model of the entire course you can walk around and better visualize how you will build.

4. Painting and Finishing the Obstacles and Features

Now that you're done with the construction and layout of your course, it's time to paint and finish all of the obstacles and features. You can use any type of paint you like, but high-quality paints are best because they will last longer and look better (especially if you plan on playing mini golf in wet weather).

5. Lighting and Landscaping

Mini golf is a fun game, but it's even more enjoyable when you can see your ball. Lighting is an easy way to add some pizzazz to your DIY mini golf plans. The proper lighting can highlight certain features or obstacles or help make the entire course stand out. It all depends on what you are looking for. We highly recommend LED lights or solar powered features to reduce costs.

6. Test Your Mini Golf Course Before It Opens to the Public

It's important that you test your mini golf course yourself, but don't be afraid to ask for feedback from friends and family as well. You may even want to post photos of the course on social media and ask people in your local community what they think about it.

That is if you want others to play on your personal site. Many people use DIY mini golf plans for their own private enjoyment and not for the rest of the community. It is entirely up to you.

7. Build With Maintenance in Mind

Finally, build with maintenance in mind. Your DIY mini golf plans should include how you will get a mower around your property, how the weather will affect your needs, and what types of materials you will have to check periodically to ensure they are working properly.

Conclusion

As you can see, building a miniature golf course in your backyard is not only fun but also quite easy. The process involves a lot of planning and work, but it's worth it if you want to build something special for your kids or friends.

If you are looking for some help with your DIY mini golf plans, contact our team at Horwath Miniature Golf Courses. Our design and building team has years of experience crafting highly engaging mini golf courses for personal and commercial use. Schedule a visit today, and let’s get your backyard course up and running.

[prof-peach]

What would make a good ghost-type starter? My kid's about to turn ten and REALLY wants a Gastly. I think it's because the Ecruteak Gym Leader, Morty, and his Gengar are like, her childhood heroes. She says she even wants to be a ghost-type specialist. Honestly though, I'm kinda reluctant. I mean, you've heard the rumors about ghost-types and children, right?

Your concern as a parent is wholesome, and I can understand your reluctance to dishing out a ghost Pokemon without further investigation first, so let’s put some rumours to bed here.

The dex entries often depict ghost types and tricky, scary, wild and sometimes even dangerous, stealing children away, being living grudges, turning lost kids to Pokemon, and being overall hard to handle, often somewhat lacking in empathy even.

This is what a dex does, it’s built for kids, it’s information is out there to inspire kids to find intrigue in species that are overlooked. When your little, you make up stories, as a parent I’m sure you know, some of those stories your kids tell you seem actually terrifying, horrific, some kids love to indulge in the creepy, the unusual. It’s not to be feared, it’s to be celebrated. The dex is an exaggeration, a base for further learning, and often the gateway to kids wanting to know more. There is a fatal downside, their entries and statements about some species can be unnerving to a regular adult. We are fearful, we see this potentially spooky dangerous thing and of course we want to protect the family from that. But the info given is often a 1% (at most) chance occurrence.

Phantump? They aren’t born of lost kids in the woods. You ask any breeder worth their salt, and they’ll tell you they’ve seen those Pokemon hatch from eggs like everything else.

Drifloon, tries to steal kids apparently? Nah, they’re lighter than air, most of their movements just simply look that way, but it’s usually the wind pushing their bodies about. They’re actually very kind pokemon.

What else, oh, Banette. Born of a discarded toy with an eternal grudge? Haha nope. They aren’t all made that way, at all, many evolve to be perfectly happy healthy Pokemon with a lot of love for their trainers.

The dex focuses in on the unusual, the extraordinary, the facts that statistically will interest their target demographic most, and kids have way less fear than us. Look at yours. She’s been exposed to the same stuff you have, yet she’s not hesitant to want a ghost type, she’s not afraid, not learnt that fear yet, which is an incredibly good thing.

On the very unusual case where a ghost type is like their dex entry, it’s usually captured, aided, and rereleased in a secure location, away from those who could get hurt by it.

Ghost Pokemon do not hatch with a choice of body, a choice of type, or a set of rules to follow. Just like us, they learn and amble through their life trying to find satisfaction, friends, work, family, love and kindness, and to figure out how they fit in it all. They’re highly complex and empathetic Pokemon, often treated differently because of what they are, rather than who they are. When they find people and Pokemon who don’t treat them with hostility and unkindness, they will spend their life with them, they will give everything for them, protecting their loved ones with the ferocity other species can’t muster.

I for one think that as long as your kid knows what to expect, and is responsible and reliable in caring for a Pokemon, then perhaps it’s a good time to start looking. A ghastly is a perfectly fine starter, they have low care requirements, snacking occasionally, but feeding mostly from places of reflection or worship.

You know why ghost types always hang around graves? It’s how they feed. When people reflect, they produce a certain kind of energy, it is not something you can measure easily, or see, but a ghost Pokemon can sense it. They have learnt to live off the energy people expend reflecting, and the most common accessible place to get this for a ghost type, is graves. They also frequent places of worship, monuments beloved by locals, and buildings that once housed a lot of love. You can tell when an abandoned house had something truly terrible happen in it, not even the ghosts will feed there. The energy is bitter to them, and many don’t care for it.

To help your kid, set up a place within the house where you, your family, your other Pokemon, can go to reflect. Some people build this space around the telephone, or computer. When thinking of, or talking to distant loved ones, the same energy is produced, so at home the ghost type can snack and not run low on energy. It’s a nice modern day adaption that’s makes caring for ghost much easier thankfully. Spending 10-20 minutes every other day in the reflection zone will feed the ghost, but will not drain you or your kid. They do not eat up a lot from us, nothing we haven’t already expended.

Along with this, be aware that the ghost line can be somewhat nocturnal, so setting up a regular bedtime might be a little tricky, so that the Pokemon is accounted for, but also so the kids not out all night, that’s not safe at all. Sunset seems to be their peak active hour on average, long shadows mean they can jump around fast between dark patches, a trick ghost show off regularly.

If you are worried, try to make time to go out with your kid and their partner, to a park or maybe a more central street that’s well lit, so they can practice and be trainers in a safe environment. I can totally get not wanting them out in the dark alone, safety always comes first.

What else. She’ll probably have to start carrying an umbrella around. Ghastly aren’t too keen on suuuuper bright light, midday is not easy for them, but some do not want to sit in the pokeball while their trainer is up and awake, they want to play and be around them. An umbrella means they can get some shade no matter the time of day, and have some freedom to move about even in harsh sunlight. Too long in the sun will drain them of energy, and they’ll need to rest and sleep it off, recharge at the reflection station at home, or go spend an hour in a churchyard or something.

They eat most things and sleep anywhere, so there’s not a huge amount of specialist items to be bought for the home. Test different flavours on them, and try to find a ghastly that has a temperament that’ll get along with your whole family. You should definitely check out local adoption centres, they are in undated with ghost types this time of year. People hand them in for all sorts of reasons.

Little tip, if you bring Morty spicy baked goods, like chilli cheese bread or something, he’s more inclined to help you. He hangs out near the burnt tower a lot with his team, and takes trips to the local food festivals too, so if you notice an advert for one, see if you can catch the guy there. He’s reluctant to take on students, but if your kid turns up with a ghastly, and (from what I can assume) and overabundance of energy for Pokemon, plus a spicy treat, the guy melts a little and you can ask questions or request a little time for your kid to get some tips and tricks from a professional gym leader. I think it’d be interesting to investigate at the least, sounds like he’s the closest link between her and the Pokemon she so desperately loves. Plus how cool would that be for her? Gets to talk to her childhood hero. Kind of cool.

As a parent, I advise you get some cleanse tags too. There may be rooms you don’t want them entering, or items you don’t want them messing with (knives/power tools ect) , placing a cleanse tag on each wall, or on the items, will stop them interacting with them, so you can sit knowing things are safe for the Pokemon and your family.

In short, don’t knock the ghost types, they’re just as important, kind and loving as any other Pokemon. I’m not saying naughty troublesome ones don’t exist, but chances are you’ll find one that’s a great match for your family. Thank you for asking questions and not jumping to just get a Pokemon ASAP, you’d be surprised how few people do their homework before inviting in a new Pokemon to the home.