#isaiah’s idiocy

[sta7z]

“I Hate that I Love You” Dark!Yandere! Nancy Wheeler x Fem!Reader  )Part 1(

Disclaimer: this is a HORROR fic. And I do not endource the actions used here nor should they be replicated in reality. That being said, the warnings include:

Stalking gaslighting Spoilers for a book that came out in 1800-

꧁༺☽⛓ .♱. ⛓☾༻꧂

Nancy wasn’t one to be vulnerable. Sure she had a few flings with Steve and Jonathan, but it wasn’t until she saw you that she really felt something. Nancy wasn’t some lovesick fool, you weren’t perfect. No one is. But it’s something about you that made her feel… warm. But that warmth quickly raised to a boil when she saw you around other people. She wasn’t sure if she hated you or not. You made her hate everyone that came in contact with you. You were like a parasite, completely stuck to her, taking over her mind. You made her feel so… confused, that didn’t sit well with her. Nancy was constantly in control, there was a time and a place for everything but around you it was pure chaos.

꧁༺☽⛓ .♱. ⛓☾༻꧂

After school you went over to Mike’s House to play DND. About 2 hours in the phone rung upstairs and Mrs.Wheeler called you. “Your mother called, the teacher called saying you’re failing a class!” You huffed, you were never good at that class, but last you checked you had a B-… it was weird. You heard footsteps coming down the steps and turned to see Mike’s older sister. The two of you never interacted much, other than those weird stares she had been giving you for all these weeks. The two of you went into her room, she gestured for you to sit on her bed. “So, what is it that you struggle with?” You shrugged, “Grammar, spelling and semi colons and all that bullshit.”In all honesty you were a little scared of her. After the whole Will thing she changed, sure you never knew her before. But Barb talked about her a lot. Barb… maybe that’s why Nancy changed, you can’t judge a book by its cover after all.

After a few hours of studying you finally understood the topic and thanked Nancy. You were getting ready to leave when Nancy breeched your actions with her soft, yet demanding voice “Wait! Did you ever start the book? Frankenstein?” You shook your head. You were fairly good at reading things in a short time frame. Reading it so soon would only make you forget it later after all. But what’s a few more hours? Plus Nancy was… nice! Odd, but nice.

“For this I had deprived myself of rest and health. I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart…” Nancy read aloud. Me and her alike felt this, mutual fear but familiarness when it came to Victor Frankenstein. His creation, his child, a monster. One he made while blinded by the light of his innocence. Nancy looked really upset, so, you recommended stopping there and studying together tomorrow. She agreed.

꧁༺☽⛓ .♱. ⛓☾༻꧂

The next day at school, you questioned your teacher about why exactly you failed. “What are you talking about? You’re actually doing extremely well. After this essay, I bet your B- will go straight to an A!” You were happy, who wouldn’t be, but she called, didn’t she? You shrugged it off, mayhaps she called the wrong parent. The school was huge, it wasn’t that unlikely.

You went into the lunch room, thank god. 45 minutes of free time. You usually sat with the boys. But they weren’t there? Perhaps they were with Mr. Clarke, some science project probably. You peered around the lunchroom for a place to sit. You felt eyes burning, seemingly through your soul, you turned around to see Nancy. She wouldn’t mind if you sat there, right? Nancy wasn’t one for small talk, in fact she stayed silent as you spoke with Steve about the many hilarious ventures him and Robin got into during their summer jobs.

Robin, speaking of her… “Hey Nance!” Robin came, seemingly out of nowhere and sat on Nancy’s lap. Wheeler broke her unwavering glaze over to her. “Oh get off of me,” she chuckled. “Hey Y/N!” You waved in a reply. Right. They were dating. How could you forget.

[polizwrites]

PoliZ's WIP Update - 6 Sep 2023

A low-average writing week - I touched four fics (2 WIPs & 2 new works)  for a total of  2254 words, roughly half of which were on a single fic.

On Ao3, I posted:

Chapter One of Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight - a Stony Spu AU expansion of this Tumblr ficlet.

Braking Their Fall - Sam & Rhodey No Powers AU featuring a skydiving rescue (remix of Falling For You)

On Tumblr, I posted:

The Family You Find - Ayo takes Bucky to his new Wakandan refuge.

I have  20 semi-active WIPs  😬 with my  current  deadline being the All Caps Bingo that wraps at the end of September.

See  below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc.  As always, feel free to send me   prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding  any of these projects  or any other WIPs I’ve got out there.   Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

Seek & Destroy Collab

After reading @psychiccatpanda‘s amazing   Morguna and the Green Queen, I  got the itch to explore the Soldier’s POV and talked  Faustie into   collab’ing with me!  We’re working on a new part of the series, and I’ve  contributed about 900 words towards the  2500-ish we have so far.   Going to see if I can squeeze any of my BBB squares into this fic.  

Hot Bucky Summer [BBE_HBS]  (Ends Aug 30) 

Thanks again to the @buckybarnesevents  mods for running this event - it was a lot of fun! Masterpost

Tony Stark This or That [TSTOT_23] (Ends 31 Aug)

Thanks @tstot mods for bringing this challenge back - hope to see you next year! Masterpost

Stony AUgust (Ends 31 Aug)

Kudos to the @stonyauniverse mods for running this clever weekly challenge! Masterpost

Week 5: Sweet or Steamy - Posted Chapter One of Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight last Friday. It crossed over with my TSB KINK: Deep throating and SAUB AU: Spy squares and came in at 1466 words including the original ficlet. Due to the time crunch, I only got a bit of steaminess going, but am working on Chapter Two, which is up to 562 words and will include Tony's mission as well as the encounter between Steve and Tony alluded to in Chapter 1.

All Caps Bingo [ACB_R1]  (Ends 30 Sep)

I’ve got twenty completed fics, and four WIPs and  am in good shape for a blackout, since I'm finally starting on the "The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!" challenge.

* Row 5 (One Fill, One Bingo).   “Man, shut the hell up!”, Alpha Bucky Barnes, James Rhodes, Humping, Competitive Idiocy. I'm about 255 words into Sam and Rhodey working to get their alpha besties together after watching them pine over each other for way too long.

* N2 - Sex Toys - Filling this with the upcoming Chapter Five of Finding Something Fresh - Beta!Sub!Bucky and Omega!Dom!Steve enjoy their first sexual scene together. It will cross over with my SVB Tied to a Bed square. It's up to 988 words and will hopefully post Friday.

* G1 - Isaiah Bradley -  Planning to add more to The Fist, Defeated.  (possibly present day)

* G3 - Established Relationship - planning to fill this with Chapter 2 of   Half of the Flesh and Blood That Makes Me Whole   - a Bucky POV remix of at least the first part of Take What Was Wrong (And Make it Right), which is current sitting at  52 words.  I’m expecting at least one more chapter, possibly two, depending on how far I want to take the remix.  

* O3 - Pararescue Sam Wilson - Wrote a remix of  Falling For You from Sam’s POV as a crossover with @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt: [#FFF212 Gotta Go Fast]. Braking Their Fall came in at 607 words and will post to Ao3 before this event is over.

Sam Wilson Bingo [SWB_R3]  (Ends 15 Oct 2023)

I have five fills and one WIP -  I need to work on cross fills between this and the All Caps, Bucky Barnes and Captain Bottom bingo!

* B4 - Natasha Romanoff -  Maybe add on to my Card Sharks drabble, where  SamNat & Steve conspire to create a polycule with Bucky?  this idea crosses over nicely with my BBB KINK: Seduction mission square

* N5 - James Rhodes - filled with Braking Their Fall - see ACB Pararescue Sam Wilson above.

* G3 - Joaquin Torres - possible expansion of A Rising Star

WinterIron Bingo  - [WIB_R1]   (Ends 16 Dec 2023)

I have sixteen fills completed and two WIPs for this brand-new bingo event that I’m helping mod!  Along with crossfilling against my other bingos,  I’m going to try to combine my B column squares for the Iron Soldier badge (complete a bingo with a single work). – Alpha Tony Stark, “That was not my intention.”, James Rhodes, Alpine loves Tony and Blind date.   (Tony POV remix of A Sugar Coated Pill?)

* N1 - Bucharest –  I think I can fold this into a future chapter of My Love is Vengeance -  where a young!Tony and a recovering!Bucky have been kidnapped by Hydra, who still thinks Bucky is the Soldier.  

* G2 - Eye contact during sex - This will come into play in Chapter 6 of A Sugar-Coated Pill, where Bucky figures out what making love really means, with Tony’s help. It’s crossing over with BBB KINK: Gentle Sex and is up to 312 words.

* G4 - AU: College Students – looking to expand Beaten to the Punch with some backstory on Bucky and Tony as science camp counselors to fit with this square - will also cross over with my WFB  Volunteering Together square.  

* O5 - Gentle – use this poem  as inspiration?

Stucky’Verse Bingo Round 1 - [SVB_R1]   (Ends 22 Dec)

Ten fills, three WIPs and a couple of ideas.

* A1 - Harem - crossover with CABB Secret/Forbidden Relationship - Bucky and shrimpy!Steve are both concubines - they love each other more than their lord. I poked at this a little last week and have 71 words.

* A4 - Fairy Tale Curse  - this seems custom-made for a continuation of Beyond the Beast😁  Nothing written yet, other than some Vague Ideas.  

* B3 - Tied to a Bed –  Chapter Five of Finding Something Fresh - see ACB Sex Toys above. 😁

Bucky Barnes Bingo  - [BBB_R5]   (Ends 10 Jan 2024)

I’ve got  eleven fills,  four WIPs,   and a couple more Vague ideas.

B2 - KINK: Seduction Mission - might add a new chapter to Card Sharks - where Sam/Natasha and Steve finish what they started to get Bucky onboard for a poly partnership.

U1 - Never the fall that kills you -  I’ve got a WinterIron hanahaki fic idea for this that I might play with.

U3 - Fireplace -  Working on a 1980′s No Powers WinterIron fic set at a ski lodge where Tony’s being wooed by poetry and love letters that Bucky wrote to someone else.   Started poking at this as a crossover with a Love Letters prompt and it's sitting at 129 words.

C2 - Yelena Belova–   The plan is to use this prompt in the next chapter of Peresmešnik,  (aka Three Avengers and a Baby), which is currently sitting at 1100 words (400-ish of which are mine).

C5 - Marriage of Convenience/Pretend Couple -  next chapter of   Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion.    Got a spark of an idea the other day that might get me a bit further on this fic.  

K3 - Magic -  Aro!Bucky healing with a kiss idea?

Y1 - Gentle Sex – In-progress Chapter 6 of Sugar-Coated Pill- see WIB Eye Contact During Sex.

Y3 - Alpine  - see WIB Iron Soldier combo.

Y4 - Forgotten Things -   using this for Chapter 4 of   You Can’t Stop It With a Gun  - it’s sitting at  116 words at the moment.    

May Adopted - Insomnia - finally got this filled with The Dead of Night, which also filled a Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF211 An Old Friend] along with my JBB FREE square. It came in at 317 words and will post to Ao3 before this event ends.

August Adoptable: Take the Shot - sounds like a WinterHawk fic to me… maybe cross over with JBB Touch-starved?

Tony Stark Bingo Round 7  - [TSB_R7]   (ends 15 Feb)

Ten fills and zero WIPs, with a couple of ideas in play.  

* S1 - Galaxy - possibly use in final chapter of   Never More to Go Astray ?  

* S4 - “Are you there yet?”   -upcoming Chapter 5 of Sugar-Coated Pill – see ACB Nesting above

* T5 - Shawarma - possible crossover with SAUB Canon Divergence – Battle of New York-related?

* A2 - KINK: Concubine - possible crossover with SAUB Gentle Dom

* A4 - Historical - see Stony AUGust Week 2: Time Period above.

* R1 - Animal Transformation - DemonPanda shared a fun prompt on the WIB server - Tony as a short-haired werewolf who needs to cuddle his pack members for warmth.

* R2 - KINK: Deep Throating - filling this with Chapter One of Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight - see Stony AUgust Week 5 above

* R5 - Doppelganger/Evil Twins -   The Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF214 Broken Mirror] got me at least a good start on the idea I’ve been playing with for this square. I posted NamNori on Tumblr and have a general idea of how I want to build on it to also fill my SAUB AU: Crack square. It’s currently sitting at 360 words.

Stony AUniverse Bingo  [SAUB_R1] (ends 15 Feb)

Another brand-new bingo I’m helping co-mod!   Five fills, three WIPs and several  crossover ideas already!

* S2 - AU: Crack - see TSB   Doppelganger/Evil Twins

* S3 - AU: Wings - see ACB Established Relationship

* S5 - Accidental Baby Acquisition - see BBB Yelena Belova

* T1 - AU: Fantasy -  CoffeeOwl shared a really cool dragon!Steve/indebted!Tony prompt in the ACB Discord server that I may be playing with for this.

* T4 - AU: Canon Divergence - see TSB Shawarma above.

* N1 - AU: Spy -  expansion of  Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight see Stony AUgust above.

* N2 - Mutual Pining - crossover with CABB Royal Knight?

* N3 - Gentle Dom - see TSB KINK: Concubine above

Captain (America) Bottom Bingo - Round 2 [CABB] (ends 28 Feb 2024)

I signed up for a 3x3 card for this bingo and have four fills, one WIPs and a couple of crossover ideas.

* A1 - Licking Lips - Chapter Four of Finding Something Fresh - see HBS Week 13

* A2 - Secret/Forbidden Relationship - see SVB Harem

* B3 - Royal Knight - see SAUB Mutual Pining.

Post July Break Bingo  [JBB_23p] (Ends Apr? 2024)

@julybreakbingo is running another event to tide participants over with a 2x3 non-fandom-specific card - I got mine earlier this week and am checking it over for potential crossovers.

A1 - “It’s you. It’s always been you.” - This might fit in with my TSB Doppelgangers/Evil Twins fill NamNori above :: ponders::

B2 - Character’s personality is split into two different beings – I’ve never played with Bucky & the Soldier being two different people, but this seems like the perfect opportunity! Will see what might be a good crossover on BBB or WIB (or even SVB)

C1 - Touch Starved – another good fit for a Bucky-centric fic. (Steve or Tony or Clint) possibly crossover with BBB "Take the shot"?

Warm and Fluffy   Bingo  - [WFB]   (no end date)

I got my card from  @warmandfluffybingocards back in February but really hadn’t done much with it  - however, I’m picking it back up for some crossover possibilities!

 * O5 - Volunteering Together – see WIB AU: College Students

————

On  other creative fronts:  I have an Audrey II Stuffed With Character figure in progress for a commission.  If  you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations, check  out Stuffed With Character    over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 150!).   These soft stuffed figures are  mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC   and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design   requests  for any fandom!

[maxem-lgbtq-supprt-help-vent]

The Uglier it sounds...

The Uglier it sounds, the more painful it gets, yet the better the sealing the wound does.

I was bullied from 1st grade, changed lots of schools between each academic year multiple times from this.

During fourth grade, I developed my passion for art and drawing, doodling my ideas away. My first drawing was basically a furry with a friend... My true solo was Bowser Jr, as I was very hyperfixated with Mario games. I developed lots of strange and grotesque art as well, due to internet influence and me also being bullied, mixing the two into one ventful art full of sides, dark and happy, evil and good, sad and content. This doesn't stop me.

Even so far as moving to the United States, where I got into Chestnut South, the Chestnut Accelerated Middle School, with North being well, TAG being Talented and Gifted, and South being the worst. I was located deep within trouble makers. I excelled once Top 10 students of the entire school... Yet the bullying debris was horrid. Staff, counselors, and many more never left a day without seeing me at least twice in the schooling hours.

When I was being bullied on an art class, I was already uncontrolled, I was not seeing anyone for behavior issues. What I did was only the memory of what I could remember... The rest was a blur of darkness and stress and crying... For the first time, I defend myself using a chair and threw it across the table to the bully's legs, and had to be taken to the nurse, and I withdrawn from the classroom. Last I remember on his sentence, was the most shocking yet most hypocritical thing that he spewed out... Isaiah Figeroah, I'll never forget that sentence of your bullshit... "I thought we were friends."

We were never friends. I never did anything to you, asshole. You sought out to abuse me on my academic years, and your screaming in my ears ring to this day. Your idiocy made me insecure, you made me manic.

When I got into high school, I fell in love with a best friend female, who I still contact barely to this day. Our relationship became too unstable that we cut for years. When I got admitted to the inpatient, I began crushing on another best friend who I resulted to being clingy, possessive and sought attention, and made it so broken that they and all groups evaded me to this day. I wish I could say sorry, but to each our own. Each memory we made of fun is now only but pain and regret whenever it crosses. It is only null, but numb... When I entered college, COVID was around harsh. My depression and my third relationship was one of toxic miscommunication and full of traumatic separation anxiety. I no longer know if this person even lives to this day, for troubles follow them. When I fell in love with a person long distance, I was encouraged too much by love that I flew all the way to Idaho, only for discovering it was an incompatible romance. Returning to MA was only welcomed by my mother.

During the frame of Idaho friend, I overdosed once for the first time, I remember taking those pills and I remember it was a winter sunday... I regretted my decision and called emergency... Worst thing ever.

Now... All of that comes to now... I have a committed relationship with a beautiful transwoman, who I still love and will soon reach one year anniversary with, I have a job yet will find a better one.

If I haven't called, I would've never met those who I have met today and furtherpast.

Sure... The Uglier it Sounds, the more painful it gets, yet the better the sealing the wound does.

And so far... It is semi worth it, adulting ain't fun but I get to see myself become better with my own harsh past and my life and mentality.

It feels nice to be alive, even if it's one step at a time and ten backwards...

[andersunmenschlich]

A Small Rant

To all employers: telling me what you want is only half of what's required for us to come to an agreement.

You want somebody to do this specific kind of work? Cool, I can do that kind of work. We are now in the position of you wanting an apple and me having an apple.

Why should I give it to you?

See, here's what I want: enough money to pay for shelter, food, heating and cooling, clothing, internet access, a working phone, medical care—life, basically. I want to have, at the very least, enough money that I don't die. Ideally I'd also have enough money to buy fun things, like books and games and toys.

Do you have that? I have what you want. Do you have what I want? Yes? No? Tell me! Aaargh!

[id-rather-be-an-outsider]

Simps. And Dumbasses.

Eren Yeager x Black!Reader

summary: Eren Yeager is an absolute simp and has no clue what to say or do to get you to notice him, and his pride leads him to ask Connie, of all people, for advice.

word count: 4080 (including words in text messages)

a/n: I’ve been vibing to Sza lately and for some reason I’ve been inspired to write this, uwu. reader uses she/her pronouns? warnings are reader experiences bullying throughout her childhood, hint of a micro aggression but it could also be seen as ppl just making fun of her curls bc I’ve experienced that before, so it’s up to the reader’s interpretation, that’s it I think. enjoy!

masterlist

“You’re a fucking simp, dude,” Connie laughs over the phone, and Eren squeezes the bridge of his nose, knowing exactly the stupid face the baldie was making. Connie continues, “But hey, I don’t blame you. If I had a chance with a baddie like that, with a booty like that, I’d already be so much of a simp ya’ll would never hear from me ever again.”

“That would be such a blessing, Connie, truly. Please go meet someone hot and leave the group chat in peace.” Eren chooses to ignore Connie openly discussing his crush’s ass in favor of the cynical jab. “Anyways, are you gonna help me?”

“Uh, yea. Just be yourself. It works for me.”

“… But you’re perpetually single.”

“No I’m- oh wait, I am. Shit.”

“Did you seriously not know your own relationship status?” Eren blinks, falling back on his bed. “I just got a migraine from your idiocy.”

“I’m sorry that I fuck often enough to have to debate it, simp.”

“You’re a thot. And stop calling me a simp!”

“Then stop simping for y/n and just talk to her, dumbass!” Connie hangs up before Eren can retort, and Eren’s phone vibrates in his hand. He checks his messages and a text from Connie reads:

Eren scowls, furiously typing back:

Eren throws his phone away dramatically, already tired of Connie’s antics. A few seconds later, though, he picks it back up, texting Jean:

Eren rolls his eyes. How is he supposed to learn about you? Other than approaching you, of course, because that would just be weird and bad and he would look like a creep. At least, that’s what his brain has decided on a whim of anxiety.

Anxiety isn’t normal for Eren, even general nervousy isn’t. Sure, back when he went to Paradis Prep, he would get nervous for big tests if he wasn’t strong in the subject, but this is different. For the first time, he cares about what another person thinks of him.

Do you think of him, even? God, he hopes so. If you don’t then that’s really embarrassing. As he ponders this with a tinge of existential dread, a notification pops up on his screen. You tweeted a link to your Spotify wrapped, and a lightbulb goes off. Okay, not a lightbulb, more like a sign saying, ‘HEY DUMMY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS LUCKY OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW’ beat him fifty times in the face, but still.

He browses through the list, realizing he doesn’t recognize a single song. Jhene Aiko, Bryson Tiller, Megan Thee Stallion, Sza, Doja Cat and Isaiah Rashad. Definitely not his genre. Over the course of the day, he listens to the entire list, but one song specifically, titled ‘Pretty Little Birds,’ catches him off guard. He closes his eyes, letting the wind outside caress his face and letting the tide of the music’s highs and lows take him with them. At its end, he’s surprised to find himself with tears webbing down his face, and the next song makes it even worse.

*******************************************************

Armin hears music blasting from his shared dorm with Eren and immediately shakes his head, knowing it can’t be a good thing. He sends a quick text to Mikasa to let her know her brother is likely inconsolable, and opens it to hear ‘Garden (Say It Like Dat)’ by Sza breaking the sound barrier, and when he sees Eren laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, he sighs. “Alexa, volume down.” Eren lifts his head up and glares at him, and Armin says, “Eren, what are you doing?”

“SOMEBODY HURT HER, ARMIN! Somebody made her feel unworthy, or like she was an imposter, or something just as bad!”

Armin furrows his brows. “And just so we’re on the same page, this is about… who?”

Eren scoffs, like it should be obvious. “Y/n. Who else would it be? You know I’ve liked her for forever, Armin.” Armin does know that, yes, but he also knows that Eren has spent the last several months adamantly denying his crush on y/n. Armin suspected it had a bit to do with him being scared of everyone teasing him for it, and a bit to do with not wanting to be beat to a pulp by Onyankopon for crushing on his little sister.

The man is pretty chill normally, but the few times he’s gotten into fights were when guys tried to make a play for y/n and he didn’t think they measured up. The fight between him and Porco is one Armin remembers well, mostly because everyone was betting on Porco then. Armin bet on Onyankopon and won quite a bit of money. All under the table, of course. He’s seen the way Mikasa obliterates people who come after Eren - he knew Porco’s infatuation for y/n would be no match against an overprotective sibling, and he was right.

Wait. Porco.

At the time of that fight he hadn’t considered why the two were fighting other than y/n being too precious for anyone by Onyankopon’s standards, but now he remembers Sasha mentioning y/n dumping Porco after dating for a month because of something disrespectful he did, which Sasha heard from Niccolo, a close friend of y/n’s fiercely loyal older brother.

As he ruminates on this, he debates telling Eren, but decides he shouldn’t. It’s really not worth the risk with Eren’s temper. Instead, he says, “You know, Niccolo is friends with y/n, and Sasha is starting to get closer to her. Maybe you could ask them if she’s actually in need of comforting. Since you probably won’t ask her yourself.”

“Who says I won’t ask her myself?” Eren retorts.

“Uh, do the last two quarters ring any bells for you?” Armin supplies, knowing he’s got Eren beat.

Eren concedes, “Okay, y’got me there. When is Niccolo going to Sasha’s next?”

“I feel like I shouldn’t tell you.” Armin grimaces, leaning toward not telling him.

“I’ll tell Annie you like her if you don’t spill the beans.” Eren threatens, his gaze ice cold.

“Tomorrow.”

“Thanks, ‘Min.” He says, getting up and clapping him on the back as he makes a beeline for the fridge.

*******************************************************

“So, you want to know about y/n? Why don’t you just ask her out?” Sasha asks as she carefully licks Niccolo’s special sauce off her fingers. She loves having a chef as her boyfriend. Every time he cooks for her she’s convinced she could die happy.

Armin warned Sasha that Eren was acting manic now that he’s finally admitted his crush on y/n. It’s cute to see Eren give a shit about something other than video games, and him coming over meant Niccolo would cook more, ergo she would eat more because Eren would be too busy talking to notice her eating his entire plate after finishing her own, so she doesn’t mind the intrusion.

“I already told you, I can’t just ask her out. Onyankopon would kill me.” Eren grits out between his teeth, putting a hand up to shield his mouth from Niccolo’s eyes.

Niccolo, who definitely heard what Eren said, supplies, “What? Onyankopon is a nice guy, he wouldn’t do that. Just don’t hurt her and you’ll be fine. He likes you.” He sits down across from Sasha, his plate lightly scraping on the wooden table.

“But what if I do hurt her? With my… with my…” Eren trails off as he looks for the right words.

“Idiotic tendencies?” Sasha quips, shrugging her shoulders at him when he gapes at her.

“Why is everyone so mean to me?” Eren asks the air, hoping for some sympathy.

“Because you’re an open target.” Sasha answers for the room as she steals a shrimp from Niccolo’s plate, avoiding his disapproving glare.

“Thanks for that vote of confidence.” Eren slumps.

Niccolo laughs quietly. When both Sasha and Eren look at him, he says, “Just communicate, Eren. Ninety percent of relationships fail because they lack healthy communication. Do you think Sasha would stick around for my good looks and cooking skills alone?”

“I would.” Sasha replies, pupils practically heart-shaped.

He glances over at her lovingly, “Okay, fair point. But,” Niccolo’s face grows serious as he shifts his attention back to Eren, “If you’re not a handsome devil like me who made it through Hell’s Kitchen, you need to make sure you have that on lock.”

Eren nods, all seriousness. Then, he meekly asks, “So uh, what’s her favorite food?”

*******************************************************

He’s a foot from your door, about to knock. Before Eren decided to do this, he DMed everyone who he knew was friends with you and wouldn’t spill the beans, or he crashed whatever activity they were in the middle of, only coming across one sock on a door during his investigation. He now knows your favorite colors, candies, food, he’s caught himself up with all your favorite animes and historical dramas, has familiarized himself with your hobbies, and knows your schedule practically by heart. He’s almost sure you’re home right now, and he hopes to high heavens that he remembered correctly what your favorite flowers are, otherwise the bouquet he’s holding will look pretty thoughtless. He can feel his stomach bubbling and he’s not sure if it’s from all the Sprite he helped Connie drink a few hours ago before the rest of the case expired, or if he’s just regular-anxious. Or both. Probably both.

He takes a deep breath, and knocks. After about thirty seconds, Hitch answers with a happy greeting. “Hi, Eren! Y/n will love those,” She chirps as she grabs his arm, pulling him inside. Hitch is one of y/n’s roommates and her best friend, but Eren knew she would want to help him. She’s always been a romantic. “She’s not here right now, but I’m sure she’ll be back soon.” He’s smiling, getting his hopes up just a bit, only for his stomach to drop when he rounds the corner. Yelena.

He knew Yelena was another roommate of y/n’s, but he failed to consider that she’s Onyankopon’s best friend - along with Niccolo, of course. The one person he’s been terrified of finding out this whole time, is sitting right in front of him on the couch, one leg crossed over the other, his fingers pressed together like he’s thinking deeply and a sly grin on his face.

“Hello, Eren Yeager. Sit. Let’s have a chat.”

*******************************************************

Onyankopon thinks himself to be pretty even-tempered, all things considered. He’s only ever gotten into a few fights in his lifetime, and they all were justified, in his opinion. You may occasionally beg to differ, but you’re his sister - it’s not like you’re always going to understand that sometimes he has to do things you won’t agree with.

Like when school bullies would pull on your hair when you were small, or put sticks and twigs in it, laughing at how your curls kept it in place. When you got older, you realized why he put them on their asses, even if it meant being sent home from school and being dubbed a ‘problem kid’.

When you hit puberty and those same people who used to mock you now wanted to be your friends, you thought nothing of it, thinking that maybe they’d grown out of that phase. That was, until Onyankopon came home with a black eye and a busted lip because your supposed ‘guy best friends’ were joking about running a train on you in the gym locker rooms.

You blocked them all the same night, and the next day, asked your teachers to move you across the room. You ate your lunch in your history teacher’s classroom, and you held your head high when you caught them staring at you despite wanting to cry.

You never paid much attention to the way they were more touchy-feely with you before, or at least, you would brush off your discomfort as them just being like that and you being weird because you had a hard time making friends when you were little, but after that you realized how they never respected your boundaries and seemingly viewed you as a slab of meat.

Onyankopon didn’t need you to tell him how you felt then in order to know it - he knew you - but he listened anyway when you told him your fears, your insecurities, your doubts. He also listened to your dreams and desires, and he swore to himself that he would make sure no one ever crossed your path who didn’t tick all those boxes for your ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’.

Nowadays, you guys have a tight enough relationship for you to know, if Onyankopon says a guy isn’t worth it, he isn’t. Most people think you’re twins until he sets the record straight, but twins or not, he knows your heart.

He also knows that you’ve been crushing on Eren Yeager for a while now, your poor soul hoping he would ask you out, which made him sad since he knew Yeager would probably never do it - he knows Eren’s kind of an idiot. But, he did always think Eren was a nice guy. Definitely nicer than Porco, he thinks, who spent the week before being dumped by y/n getting too comfortable and making snide remarks about things he wished she could change, especially her lack of a want to get intimate early on in their relationship. Of course, you didn’t divulge that information to your brother until after you decided to dump Porco, but he still beat him up anyways.

Onyankopon’s mind stills as he observes Eren nervously wringing his hands, looking around himself at the environment, occasionally widening his eyes at Hitch who’s watching from the kitchen, very amused at the scene unfolding before her. As if he’s asking for help.

“So, uh,” Eren starts, his voice quivering a little as he swallows. Oh boy, this is gonna be fun. “Nice dorm you guys have here. I mean, girls, I mean, I usually use ‘guys’ as a gender neutral term but I don’t know if it would make you uncomfortable, but-“

“Eren!” Yelena stares at him grimly, before smiling gently and whispering, “Calm. Down.”

“Sorry.”

Onyankopon finally clears his throat (though he didn’t really need to, considering the attention was on him already), deciding on what to say. “So you want to date my sister.”

Eren nods meekly.

“Do you want to fuck her?”

“No!” Eren shouts, then corrects himself. “I mean, yes, I mean, if she wants to and we’re both capable of consenting, but that’s not- that’s not my main goal with it- that came out wrong, I-“

Onyankopon puts up a hand, effectively silencing Eren, who quickly clamps his mouth shut. Onyankopon can almost see the gears spinning in his head, and he wants to laugh, but he’s also kind of enjoying watching Eren turn into a blathering mess. “Are you… usually like this?” He asks, choking on a laugh he doesn’t want to release.

“Uh, only when I’m nervous. If you uh, need proof I’m not an idiot I can show you my GPA-“

“-Not needed. I know you’ve been on the Dean’s List every quarter. I always see your name when looking for my sister’s. Speaking of which,” He leans back comfortably, offering Eren a more friendly smile. “Why do you like y/n?”

Eren fidgets, stammering out, “Well, you see, I- We’ve a few classes together, and obviously the first thing I noticed was how pretty she is - and I mean really, she’s beautiful-“

“-AWWWW!!!” Says Hitch from the kitchen, before Yelena tosses another one of her murderous looks at her, after which Hitch opens up the fridge and pretends to browse around for a snack like she isn’t hinged on every word of the conversation.

“Continue.” Yelena urges, crossing her arms and turning to look at Eren next to her. She used to envy Eren’s abilities, until her own surpassed his. He’s not an idiot or anything, though - she’s just brilliant.

“Yea. Ummm, but what really caught my eye was how smart she was, and how passionate she was, is, about learning, and I know I’m probably not the person you see her potentially being with, but I really do like her-“

“Eren. All I want in a partner for my sister is someone who treats her how she deserves to be treated and values her like I do.” Onyankopon states.

For the first time during their whole conversation, Eren’s fiery eyes make an appearance instead of the ones where he looks like a scared cat. “Then I promise, Onyankopon, that is exactly what I will do.” And he can tell Eren means it. He knows that resolve, that fighter’s spirit - and it’s why he was secretly happy when he noticed the lingering looks you gave each other at social gatherings, both of you just oblivious enough to never catch each other in the act.

“Then you have my golden star. Don’t lose it.” He stands up, saying, “I gotta head out for work, but I’ll see you around, Yeager.”

Eren waves goodbye, and when he closes the door, Yelena and Hitch start chatting with each other, while Eren releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, sinking down into the couch cushions.

A few minutes later Hitch’s phone rings, and she answers it, mouthing ‘It’s y/n!’ Before saying, “Oh, yea? That’s totally weird. We’ll come and get you - we were gonna check out the Marine Biology Club anyway, Armin just started it and is looking for new members. Yep. See ya!” She nods at Yelena, and Eren looks between the two of them.

“Uhhh, what are you guys communicating that I don’t understand?” He asks, worried.

Hitch groans, “The vibes, Eren. Just read the vibes.”

Yelena says, “I compromised y/n’s key card this morning so it would stop working and we would have to walk down to get her instead of her showing up while we were still interrogating you.”

Eren sits in silence, wondering how the hell you compromise a key card. “So what do I do?” He settles on after a moment.

Hitch smiles at him. “Stay here and wait for her to walk in so you can surprise her.” She frowns, seemingly to herself. “Maybe hold onto the flowers so she doesn’t rationalize it and convince herself you’re not here to ask her out. And make sure you actually ask her - don’t just fumble around and drop the ball, because we’re not picking it up for you if you do.”

“Right. No pressure.” He says to them, but also to himself. He’s far too worried for a situation with only two possible outcomes.

“Good luck!” Yelena exclaims, cheery smile on her face as the door slams behind them, leaving Eren to his own devices for the next however-many-minutes.

*******************************************************

You can tell something is up from the way Hitch and Yelena give each other scheming little side glances, so you’re already shaking your head to yourself as you ride up the elevator to your dorm, which just so happens to be on the top floor, leaving you plenty of time to ponder every possible scenario before you open the front door.

None of that pondering prepares you to see Eren Yeager, holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers, standing in your living room. You drop your keys on the floor in shock, both of you just staring at each other like neither of you know what to do next.

“E-Eren! Hi!” You say nervously, then ask, “Uh… how did you get into my apartment?” You smile at him, then bend down to pick up your dropped keys, depositing them in your key tray and heaving your book bag onto the counter next to it.

Eren says, “I knocked and you weren’t here but Hitch was, so she let me in and then her and Yelena told me to wait. Oh! Uh, these are for you.” He holds out the bouquet, and you notice the wrapping around it is your favorite color.

You never realized how much Eren paid attention to you, the two of you only interacting through your friends. You feel your cheeks heat up, and you’re glad he can’t see you blush as you graciously take the bouquet from him. “Thank you, you’re really sweet. So, uh…”

“Sorry, right- erm… I should probably explain,” Eren stumbles through his sentence and if you weren’t so keen on him you might laugh at him, but you are, so you find it endearing. “I’m here because I want to go out. With you. I mean, um, I want to take you out. On a date.”

“Now?” You ask, a little surprised and confused, but not disappointed.

“No! I mean, I’m sure you’re busy right now, but if you’re interested in going out… with me… we could… my number! I mean- ugh.” Eren slides his palm over his face, sighing. “I’m sorry, I’ve never asked someone out before. How is this going?” He peeks at you through his fingers, hope shining in his eyes.

You laugh, and you don’t know it, but your smile causes Eren’s brain to melt down the rest of the way. “You’re doing terrible, but it’s really cute. I would love to get your number, and go out on a date sometime.” You wink at him, then raise an eyebrow after a few seconds of him standing there dumbly.

“Oh! Yea, here.” He retrieves his phone from his pocket, holding it out for you to type your number into his keypad, calling your phone when you finish so you have his number. You don’t know this, but Eren’s already put your name in his phone as “😍 y/n 🥰”, and will not let you see that until after your first kiss, but you’re no better.

After you say your goodbyes, which are full of you both giggling and smiling like drunk idiots, you look at your phone, copying his number from your recent calls and creating a new contact.

His name?

“💕 SIMP 💕”.

[pippki-writes]

An Ill-Fitting Name: Snippet 10

NOTES:

Snippet 1; Snippets 2 & 3; Snippet 4; Snippet 5; Snippet 6; Snippet 7; Snippet 8; Snippet 9

Faoust belongs to @thebiggestnerd - she writes him, Isaiah and Detective Voros here are mine.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Isaiah has thought about texting Faoust many times. But no, he said he’d leave him alone. And besides, what the hell would he say? Where do you even begin?

Faoust thinks about texting Isaiah sometimes too, but like Isaiah, has no clue what to say either.

Both of them, sometimes, thinking about the other, phone in hand, pulling up their messages, beginning to type something, anything—but stopping short. Nothing is quite right. Delete the words that will never suffice, put the phone back down.

Serendipity finally strikes—both Isaiah and Faoust have their texts open at the same time, starting to type and then deleting something only to see the other one’s “...” typing dots show up.

Both stop, pause, to see what the other was going to type. A stalemate, as now neither is typing, dots frozen on the screen.

Isaiah waits to see if Faoust was going to say something. But shit. He knows Faoust saw him typing. He should just leave him alone. He puts the phone down for a second. No. Maybe he should say something. He picks the phone back up. He chews on his lip for a second, thinking.

Well it’s not like Isaiah has much else to do, is there? He feels...strangely nervous. Hell. He starts to type.

Isaiah: “sorry. I know you saw me typing. I wasn’t trying to bother you. Just. Thought about you. Should’ve kept it to myself, I know”

Whatever he’d originally been typing, of course, is not exactly any of that.

Faoust doesn't know what the fuck to say. He doesn't want to admit he'd been thinking about him too.

Faoust: "Interesting. Thanks."

Isaiah lays back on his bed, phone in one hand, nervously opening and closing his knife with the other. What do you say? What do you say when no words can convey the enormity of your own idiocy? That you only recognize looking back and so thoroughly disconnected from who you’d been? What a disaster. He’s surprised to note that he’s...feeling things, isn’t he? That’s a little new. Not sure what to do with that.

Isaiah: “almost could’ve gotten away with it if you hadn’t seen me typing. Oh well. I’ll...go back to leaving you alone”

Faoust: "To be fair, you saw me too. I don't know what to say to you"

Isaiah: “I was gonna be polite and not call you out on that. But yeah.”

Isaiah: “I don’t know what to say either”

Isaiah: “feels like there’s something to be said, but I’m too stupid to figure it out”

Faoust: "I'm not stupid and I still don't know what to say. I guess emotionally we're stupid"

Isaiah: “could be. I’ve just been thinking a lot on everything. And ..wow”

Isaiah: “what a disaster”

Isaiah: “I was a piece of shit...but I sure did ruin a good thing”

Faoust: "Yeah.Yeah you did."

Isaiah: “sorry is pretty insufficient to cover it”

Faoust: "it's a start"

Isaiah: “I’m sorry. You were a friend and I didn’t know what to do with that”

Faoust: "apparently try to kill me? Fuck with my head?"

Faoust: "That's not entirely fair of me. I was going to kill you for fucking with my head. That's not exactly rational behavior"

Isaiah sits up on the bed. He has thought about this a lot, the rough shape of what he wants to say next. The words are never exact as he’s turned them in his mind, but he wants to try to tell them anyway.

Isaiah: “ok, do you want to know what Asmodai was thinking? About you, specifically? Would that help?”

Isaiah: “not to excuse anything of what I did, of course, but to understand maybe?”

Faoust: "O..kayyy?"

Asmodai would rather have died than admit any of this—but in a way, he did, didn’t he? Isaiah, on the other hand, feels almost eager to pry Asmodai’s thoughts and feelings open, to offer them up for Faoust to know.

Isaiah: “he loved spending time with you. He loved going and murdering the shit out of people together. He loved fucking with you more than any of the endless parade of hookup app fucks he summoned up. You had power over him—without you around, these things weren’t as enjoyable. And that fucked him up. He couldn’t deal with that. He wanted you to suffer, because he suffered enjoying things less off on his own. It’s all very fucked up. I don’t know what to say.”

Isaiah: “and now I just know the ghosts of all these feelings, and I don’t feel that shit. But. I was thinking about you. I don’t know”

Faoust: "well that's very frustrating, I'm sure you understand"

Isaiah: “yeah. Sorry”

Faoust: "and what about you? What do you feel?"

Isaiah licks his lips. This is what he was dancing around, hesitant to admit of himself.

Isaiah: “I don’t feel like killing you, or making you suffer for whatever fucked up reasons, or any of that bullshit. But. Even though I’m not him, and I don’t feel that shit......it’s weird.....I think I might miss you”

Faoust sighs and rubs his temples.

Faoust: "I think I might miss you too"

Isaiah is easily up to a dozen victims. All have been reported missing.

Detective Voros looks at a map with dots for every home address of a missing person for the past six months. Nope. She switches to a map with last known locations instead, but still, no pattern emerges. She pulls up a list of each missing person by name, and the last known contact for each missing person. Who last saw them (alive, she can’t help but add cynically). And for every missing person in nearly the past month, the last contact was an officer of some kind. From her own agency. She closes her laptop and stares out into the night.

What.

The.

Fuck.

The first thing Detective Voros checks on the next missing person report that comes in is whether the person had contact with the police that day. Sure enough, the police are not the last person this guy had contact with, but there’s a field contact for the missing young man as a witness in an assault perhaps an hour earlier.

She wishes she hadn’t noticed this. Noticing it means eventually she’ll be compelled to do something about it. What seems most likely is that she’s looking for a suspect in the department. And this many missing people is far too many for them to be kept alive. Not. Fucking. Good.

She clicks the pen in her hand. The pattern here really only started this month. Who would be so reckless? There’s maybe one or two missing persons reported that don’t fit—detritus, she can’t help thinking, the sort of people no one cares much when they go missing, druggie dropout types, but all the others. They fit. She’s briefly grateful for the high missing person rate of this town, because it means no one higher up has started pressing hard on this yet.

Detective Voros stops clicking her pen as realization of a potential lead dawns on her.

God, ugh. She’s so fucking stupid.

The victim who wouldn’t talk.

Who someone probably had tried to kill.

It couldn’t be coincidence, could it?

Maybe it could. Maybe it could.

In her patrol car, she groans in great annoyance. Even though she’s made detective, short staffing regularly keeps her on patrol. Luckily? Unluckily? Tonight is a patrol night. The weather is unusually warm, and the citizens are up to no good. Before she can put herself on a self initiated follow up, she’s dispatched to a call.

On the one hand, Isaiah has already killed someone today. On the other hand, the weather is perfect to go out looking for trouble. It would be almost criminal to stay in his motel room as nice as it is. He goes for a walk.

Faoust texts Isaiah finally.

Faoust:  "As much as it seems like a bad idea, I'll give you another shot"

Isaiah immediately texts back, because he is so far past the bullshit of playing games and hell, he hasn’t talked to anyone in ages really. He says nothing to his victims, these days.

Isaiah: “I defer to your judgment. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, etc. was just out for a walk”

They meet for coffee. They catch up, though there isn’t much to tell of Isaiah’s life besides his return to killing. It’s so different from the theatricality of Asmodai, the way he murders now. Faoust wonders whether it would even work, them killing together again, as he has his sort of ritual compared to the quick, clean efficiency that Isaiah has now adopted. But Isaiah assures him, as much as Faoust once waited around for the deranged things he did as Asmodai, he wouldn’t mind waiting around for Faoust.

That covers the murder friends part, but what about the friends with benefits aspect of what they’d had before? Faoust tactfully asks about whether Isaiah is interested in that as well.

“I have been thinking about this too,” Isaiah says, picking lightly at the paper sleeve on his coffee cup. “Sex is for the living, and I’ve only just begun coming around on accepting that’s what I am. Living, I mean. And that I have to figure out what I want to do with...This fucked up life I’ve inherited from myself.” He stops and sighs. “There are a lot of mistakes Asmodai made that I’d like to avoid repeating. But fucking you was not one of those mistakes.”

Isaiah having killed so many people in the same town in such a short timespan is too reckless for the two of them to do any more of it that night. But spending some time reacquainting themselves with one another violently on top of the motel sheets? A perfect way for Faoust and Isaiah to spend the evening.

They don’t limit themselves to the sheets. There’s also the floor, the wall, the cheap plywood of the dresser. There is something almost feral about the two of them together.

“Do be rough with me, will you?” Isaiah says when they first got back to the motel room, hooking his fingers into the waistband of Faoust’s pants, pulling their hips together. “Think I’d like that.”

Faoust doesn’t think at all. His body moves on muscle memory, the familiar feeling of Asmo—no, Isaiah, he corrects himself at one point—beneath his hands. The same, and yet not the same. The same lips, crushed to his own. The same deliciously thick, fluffy hair to pull on. Isaiah is not as loud as Asmodai was, but there is a deep, deep satisfaction in his moans.

Isaiah was right.

He very much likes this.

Detective Voros manages to weasel the regular patrol officers into being the ones to take people down to the Magistrate’s Office. She merely dispenses her wisdom to the combatants—“THERE’S A FUCKING PANDEMIC ON, STOP FIGHTING INSIDE THE GODDAMN WAFFLE HOUSE”—and finally puts herself en route to a motel just outside of town for a follow up.

She pulls up in the parking lot and sits in her car for a moment, filling out one of the little contact cards, as it is her—hope? Expectation?—that the door will not be answered when she goes to knock.

Detective Voros nods at the card, gets out of the patrol car, and walks up to the room, hoping he might still be staying in the same room as before, if only so she doesn’t have to apologize to a stranger. She could check with the front desk but ugh, sounds like work. She sighs, and hates that she ever had two brain cells run into each other to have this thought of a lead to pursue, and knocks on the door firmly twice

“Mr. James?”

Faoust, just barely dressed and getting ready to leave, looks bewildered at Isaiah. Isaiah’s eyebrow goes up as he quietly scrambles out of bed, pulling on his shirt and pants. He makes a face as he debates whether to answer the door.

Detective Voros tucks the card into the doorframe as she speaks. “It's your favorite local law enforcement representative. I was hoping to talk to you for some leads on who it was that put you in the hospital. Think it might be connected to some other cases we’ve got, and, well, you’re our only hope Obi-Wan. Or however the fuck that quote goes.”

Isaiah sighs, sets his shoulders, and slowly goes over to the door, opening it a few feet and peering out. “Hm?”

The card flutters to the ground, and Detective Voros, who’d already started walking away, spins on her heels.

“Mr. James! The magical vanishing devil himself.” She looks at his incredibly messy hair.  “Hope I didn’t wake you. Forgot, do you go by Asmodai or Isaiah? Which do you prefer?”

Isaiah feigns a yawn. “I prefer someone who visits at a reasonable time.”

“Hey, I prefer when victims tell me shit they know right from the get go, but I guess neither of us got what we wanted here.”

Isaiah leans against the doorframe, holding the door with his arm as Faoust listens from behind the door. “Hm.”

“Ennnnntywaaay, I was hoping perhaps some quality healing time might’ve helped your memory vis-a-vis that assault, or shall I reckon it, probable attempted murder, that put you in the hospital? Anything at all you remember about the bastard or bastards that fucked you up?”

Isaiah shakes his head sadly. “‘Fraid not officer. Too much head trauma, that’s what the doctors seem to think. The whole night is simply a blank.”

This is far from true. Isaiah remembers with startling clarity every awful minute, every painful blow. It would be real fucking nice if he couldn’t remember, actually. He’s gotten used to the twinge of pain deep in his bones, and mostly accepts and ignores it.

“Well that’s a real fucking inconvenience, Mr. James. Because I don’t believe you, and I wasn’t kidding, you might be the only lead I’ve got in a much bigger case. I’m not gonna stand here and argue with you. But if you find yourself magically remembering something that might help—“ she snatches the card off the ground and hands it to him “—call me, would you?”

Isaiah takes the card, pretends to look at it, and tucks it in his pocket. “Of course officer. I do wish I could help.”

Detective Voros presses her lips together. “Do you. Do you really. Hm. Whatever.” She goes back to her patrol car and sits in the parking lot.

Isaiah shuts the door and takes the card back out of his pocket.

“Is she gonna be a problem?” Faoust asks.

Isaiah holds the card in one hand and brushes it against the fingers of the other thoughtfully. “Not sure. Maybe. She, well, rightly I suppose, thinks I know more about my assault than I’ve told them. And now seems to think it’s connected to something else? It was her radio I stole, by the way.”

“Looks like we might have found an officer to kill.”

Isaiah nods. “Might have to, yeah.”

“Or we could go a more direct route. She still out there?”

Isaiah peeks out the window. “There’s a patrol car in the parking lot, so I’ll say yeah.”

“This is either a great idea or a terrible one. At any rate, I'll see you later yeah?”

Isaiah quirks his eyebrow. “Yeah, I hope so.”

Faoust opens the door and heads directly over to the patrol car. He slams his hand on the roof of the car, leaning down to put himself at her level.

“Evening officer.”

Detective Voros, to her credit, doesn’t even flinch. “Oh it’s you, solid citizen. Fuck, what was your name? Not fuck. Hm.” She looks from him back toward Isaiah’s room, and back to Faoust. “Made up with your friend I see?”

“Never had an issue with him.”

“Of course. My mistake. I’ve been breaking up Waffle House brawls all night.”

“Ok here's the thing. Stop asking questions. We both can tell you don't want the answers. I will give you one free question, then you fuck off.”

“Unfortunately for every goddamn one of us, I’ve kind of been promoted to a position where asking questions is my damn job. But gee, your cooperation would be fantastic if you know something about the case I’m working on.”

“I'm telling you now. For your sake and mine. If it comes back to him?” Faoust jabs a thumb towards the motel room. “You don't want anything to do with it. You're a cop. You're good at not doing your job properly. Make it go away.

“But I'm a man of my word. You get one question I'll answer truthfully. Then you go away and don't come back.”

Detective Voros rubs the side of her head. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

After a pause, she rests her hands on her duty belt, and against better judgment speaks. “I think you know shit too. People have been going missing for a while. None of them ever get found. Your friend there is the first missing person in a year to be found. And now we’re back to more missing people again. A dozen at least in under a month. And I don’t think these are missing persons cases. I think this is one big goddamn string of homicide investigations that we’re too stupid to realize. What I haven’t decided is whether your friend is protecting someone else, or is he just scared of whoever’s doing this, I don’t fucking know. But I can’t just ignore shit this big, and I can hardly come up with one fucking question to ask you to make it worthwhile.”

Faoust shrugs. “Then you lose your chance at any knowledge. And when I say it's better for you to ignore this? I mean it.”

“How the fuck—wait no!! That’s not my question.” Detective Voros practically growls, eyes narrowed at Faoust, thinking. “....give me a second.”

“I got all night.”

Detective Voros didn’t make detective because she was smart, or good at interviewing people. She made detective because of dumb luck, because of shit she tried not to look too closely into, and perhaps very specifically because of these two assholes. Maybe somewhere in the world there is a smart detective who would know exactly what to ask to get exactly the answer she needs, even if she doesn’t know exactly what she needs. But Detective Voros doesn’t know a fucking thing about how to be a detective. She doesn’t know what to ask to help herself, to help this case, to help stop what she suspects is a lot of murder. She sighs.

“What is it that he knows but won’t tell me?”

Faoust tilts his head from side to side, thinking. “Mmm. Ah. I'm the one who beat the shit out of him.”

“You’re fucking joking! HAH! Wait, wait so my intuition was correct! HAH,” she laughs again triumphantly.

“Yeah, we had a big fight. He tried to kill me, I told him it wasn't going to happen with a baseball bat. Then I decided to let him live.”

Detective Voros looks at Faoust closely. “Be level with me, do I need to go check that he’s still alive in there now?”

Faoust laughs. “No, we made up. I just fucked him.”

Detective Voros nods, and gets the feeling he’s telling the truth. “Good. Didn’t feel like getting out of this car again.” She sighs and stares off, thinking to herself. “So ...the mysterious would-be murderer...probably—“ she spares a side glance at Faoust “—isn’t who I’m looking for as the culprit in my case.”

“Probably not.” Faoust pats the top of her car. “I meant what I said! For your own safety, leave it alone.” He stands up straight and starts walking towards home.

Detective Voros sighs such an aggravated sigh it can be clearly heard all the way across the parking lot. She drives back into town, and decides not to think on this more right now, and gets dispatched to another Waffle House brouhaha for her troubles as soon as she clears from her follow up.

Isaiah realizes, at some point, that Faoust is the first person he’s ever slept with who knows his actual name.

- NEXT SNIPPET -

[notquitedickens]

That Shelby Blood (Michael Gray x Reader)

“You fucking Shelbys better not corrupt that boy” I snap the second the doors shut for the family meeting. “It’s bad enough that Finn isn’t even 15 and he’s becoming a mini version of you. Iz brings the boy to my house at least once a week to get patched up, Tommy. He’s still a child.”

“It’s the Shelby blood, even if I didn’t find him he’d be in trouble somewhere.” Tommy put out his cigarette. “Like I said to Polly, we’ll keep him on the legal side of things.”

“You better,” I muttered, sitting in my seat at the table in front of Isaiah.

It wasn’t until the day after the meeting that I found out that the two boys in question had been eavesdropping through the door. I expected it from Finn but not Michael, I had a hope that he would have more manners. I only found this out when once again Finn was dragged into the kitchen of the Shelby household, knowing I was in charge of locking up. I was expecting to see just two teenage boys like always, but no, Michael was there with Finn draped over his shoulder, more beat up than normal. I quickly ushered them to sit him down on a chair, boiling some water on the stove. I told Isaiah to go get towels as I rolled up the sleeves of my blouse.

“What happened? Finny who did you fight this time?” I gently brushed his hair out of his face so I could see the damage done.

“He tried to fight an older lad, said something about not being a child,” Isaiah answered, knowing the routine by now and getting the bowl ready for the boiling water.

“You were eavesdropping again weren’t you?” I chuckled, pouring the water into the bowl and chucking the towels in.

“They’re family meetings so why aren’t I in there? You and Iz aren’t even that much older and you are in there every time.” Finn snapped, fists clenching around the fabric of his trousers.

“Shirt off,” I instructed, waiting for him to take it off as I squeezed the excess water from a towel. “Your brothers don’t want you to go through what they did, Finny. You saw what they were like after the war.”

He went silent at that, knowing I was right. Dabbing at the dried blood on his face and chest, I tried to work out the actual damage to him. Half of the blood was clearly his opponents and it covered a lot of the cuts on his skin. I was about to tell Isaiah to get alcohol but he was already on it, soaking a rag with it and handing it to me.

“You already know this is going to sting.” I told Finn, not giving him time to prepare before cleaning the wounds littered around his body. “You also need to learn to do this yourself. Also, you bruised your rib pretty bad, you’re going to be in a lot of pain for a while and I guess you deserve it for your idiocy.”

“Give the kid a break, he actually won.” Michael finally chimed in. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face as I saw Isaiah nodding in agreement. “Although, I think a lot of people could beat that guy.”

“Like you’ve fought a day in your life, country boy.” I smirked, knowing Tommy was right about what he said earlier. Michael was already corrupted by the Shelby blood.

“Being the oldest in the family does help.” He had a slight smile playing on his lips. “Chased one too many boys out of my sister’s bedroom.”

“Right, ruining your sister’s chance of fun in that shitty little village are we?” I threw Finn’s shirt back at him and poured the dirty water down the sink. “You really do have that bloody Shelby blood in you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He raised a brow at me.

“It means that the Shelby brothers have scared boys from her since she was born, Polly was friends with her mother.” Isaiah answered again.

“Could’ve said that myself, Iz.” I wiped my hands on the table. “We were babies together Michael. Wish I could remember more of you than I do.”

“I bet I missed out on quite the adventures here.” He wrung his cap in his hands. “Especially after what the boys told me.”

“You just missed getting roped into babysitting John’s kids with us.” Isaiah chuckled. “And helping out Pol in the shop while the boys were away.”

“We used to see who could count their hat the fastest.” I smiled at the memory. “I always won. I was the only one who paid attention in school.”

“Hey, I listened!” Finn retorted.

“Yet you can’t read.” I ruffled his hair. “You’re getting there though, just a couple more lessons and you’ll be just fine.”

“I’m sure I could help you out too, Finn.” Michael stated.

“Oh please, you’d just stare at (y/n) the whole time.” Finn scoffed. “We can all see you eyeing her.”

Michael turned red as the boys laughed. I simply smiled at him and shoved Finn upstairs to bed, getting Isaiah to tell Pol the four of us would stay here tonight. I put the kettle on again to make us both a cup of tea. His eyes kept flickering between watching me and the table, I could feel his gaze against my back as I flitted around the kitchen, cleaning everything up.

“You know, I don’t think the boys would chase you down the street.” I said as I handed him a cup of tea at last.

“So, I am at no risk if I ask you to dinner?” He rested his hand on top of mine. “Because I’d like that very much.”

“I’d be honoured if you did.”

“In that case, would you like to go to dinner on Friday?” He took my hand and kissed it.

“She’d love to, now go to bed and stop being all lovey-dovey in my kitchen.” Tommy said from the doorway.

[ambitionsource]

character takeover - zay babineaux

Okay, okay, let’s get this thing going. I’m ready. Bring it on, then.

Introduce yourself. Isaiah “Zay” Babineaux, junior A class

What is your creative focus? Performance, specifically dance

What from the previous school year are you most proud of? I mean, there’s a lot I could say actually. I was the recipient of the exclusive Kossal summer program for AAA, which we only get to try for once -- which was a ton of fun, by the way. I helped choreograph or pitched about a third of the numbers we did in class, especially once Farkle and Maya got all distracted either fighting or being best friends so they weren’t paying attention. I also managed to avoid getting too much mention on the chaotically stupid Confessions page, but I think that’s just because I clearly didn’t care and I’m… like, liked. There’s the lesson, kiddos -- don’t be a dick, and people will leave you alone. Crazy!

What about the previous school year would you like to improve upon or change? Honestly, in spite of everything that exploded at the end of last year I’m feeling good about junior year. I’ve got my focus in check, and with the Kossal program under my belt I feel like I’m truly ready to make some serious strides. Suffice to say, what I would like to change is not in my control -- the behavior and idiocy of my classmates who allowed something like AAAC to blow up in the first place. The idea that they’ll have fixed that over the summer… well, a man can dream...

How do you best receive praise? I think small gestures make a big difference. Like I’d much prefer we have a one-on-one conversation about what worked and what didn’t than have someone laud me with what could be faux adoration in front of everyone. It’s a lot easier to see what people are really feeling and thinking when you’re in private without everyone else watching -- trust me, I know that better than anybody at this point.

How do you prefer to receive criticism? See above, but also just be upfront about it. Beating around the bush isn’t going to help anyone, and as long as you’re respectful about it I’m going to appreciate the input.

You have an important engagement at 5PM. What time are you arriving at the place? Ideally, 4:45, but it depends on what I’ve got going on beforehand. I don’t like to be late, but if there’s more important things occupying my attention… I can push it to 4:50… maybe 4:55...

Favorite AAA faculty? Long live Miss Angela Moore -- she may have played serious favorites, but she was a good instructor and had a good head on her shoulders. But she’s going to achieve the dream, so can’t fault her that. I’m optimistic about who they’ll bring in to replace her, but I’m hoping to G-d it’s a woman. Wait, did I just say G-d? Haha, that’s so funny, I can’t believe that slipped out. I’ve got to tell -- anyway. There’s enough testosterone running AAA.

Who are you most excited to see when school is back in session? I’m pretty good about seeing my friends during the summer, but I’ll admit I’ve been busy and haven’t gotten to see Riley as much as I should’ve. I hope she’s had an okay summer -- she’s sounded kind of weird when we’ve talked on the phone. I’ve tried to get her to talk about what happened at the end of last year, but she is not budging. Otherwise, it’ll be dope to see Nigel again. He’s probably my school friend who I see the least out of school, but like, real talent sees real talent, you know what I mean?

Who are you most hoping to avoid? Whoever actually ran that dumbass Instagram page is dead to me. Like, I know we all threw Farkle under the bus for his psychotic on-camera meltdown, but he wasn’t the one who posted it. Nor gave students the option to submit shit anonymously, and then outed them at the end of the year for the sheer chaos of it. Like, I know it’s stupid to submit stuff to that page, but the people who did have still have lives. They’re real people. I swear if I ever find out who did it, and they cross my path again, they’re finished.

What are your goals for this year, personally and professionally? Professionally, I want to keep up the momentum I started building at the end of last year and make a serious impression where it matters. Not get distracted by everyone else’s drama, or get sidelined by the more diva-like antics of my classmates. Nothing is going to derail my focus this year. Literally nothing.

Personally… I’m going to make things count. Focus on relationships that bring something good into my life. That feel real. But maybe extend a little more forgiveness too. People make bad choices, for a million different reasons, and I think I can hear those motivations out and decide for myself whether or not a person is inherently worth my time. Already done it enough.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Darkness

by William Jay

"Give glory to Yahweh your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness." - Jeremiah 13:16

The removal of the gospel is darkness. The gospel will never be removed from the world but it may be withdrawn from a particular place or people. And this has been done. The Jews are an eminent example. The kingdom of God was taken from them. And when we consider the miracles, the institutions, the privileges by which they were distinguished and see how they were all laid waste, well may the apostle say, "Behold the severity of God; and if he spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not you." Where now are the seven churches in Asia? Where is the famous church of Rome whose faith was spoken of throughout the whole world? At present, you have the inestimable benefit. Be not as the swine who knows not the value of the pearl and therefore tramples it underfoot. What wonder if the manna should be taken away when you despise it as light food? And what if the Lord should send a famine in the land--not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord? Then we shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness.

Impenitence is darkness. A man may be surrounded with food, yet he dies if he cannot use and digest it. The means of grace may remain, yet we become incapable of deriving benefit from them. It is an awful fact that God punishes one sin by another, and judicially blinds those who provoke him. Because they do not like to retain him in their knowledge, he gives them up to a reprobate mind. Because they receive not the love of the truth in order that they may be saved, he sends them strong delusion to believe a lie. They are joined to idols, and he leaves them alone. They delight in error, and they find it. They seek objections to the faith once delivered to the saints, and they are overcome by them. They trifle with the gospel, and at length they cannot seriously regard it or feel any impression under it. Thus is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says, "By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive." Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness.

Public calamity is darkness. Was not the bondage in Babylon darkness to the Jews when their country--the glory of all lands--was desolated and they were carried away captives and oppressed as slaves, when they were insulted as a proverb and a by-word? And would not national distress be darkness to us? Some effects of this we have experienced, but how inconsiderable have they yet been compared with the sufferings of other countries, or with our own deserts. And is there no danger of greater? If God has a controversy with us, it is in vain to argue; we must submit. If he is provoked and determined to punish, vain is the authority of rulers, the wisdom of statesmen, the courage of warriors. "But he has a people among us," you say. He has; and he will take care of his own. He can secure them and destroy others. But even they themselves may help forward or even occasion the calamity, for no sins offend him like those of his own people. Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness.

The loss of reason is darkness. And how soon may the understanding be eclipsed! How easily may the slender and mysterious basis on which intellect rests be destroyed! See Nebuchadnezzar eating grass like an ox. See the philosopher moping in driveling idiocy. Religion can only operate through the medium of thought; and therefore, while you have your mental powers, employ them lest darkness come upon you.

The loss of health is darkness. Is it nothing to be made to possess months of vanity or to have wearisome nights appointed us? Yet in this season many suspend an attention to the concerns of religion. When thought is broken to pieces and every avenue to the soul is occupied with the anguish of disease and the anxieties of recovery, surely sufficient for that day is the evil thereof. Use your health while you have it, lest darkness come upon you. The same applies to age. Then desire fails, the grasshopper is a burden, sight and hearing, memory and judgment decline. "Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not nor the years draw nigh when you shall say "I have no pleasure in them."

Death is darkness. Then you must give up your employments however interesting, your possessions however valued, your connections however endeared, your religious advantages however important. Stripped and silent you must retire into the gloom of the grave. This darkness is certain; it cannot be remote, it may be close at hand. There may be but a step between me and death before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death.

Hell is darkness - outer darkness - where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The dreadfulness of this state it is impossible either to describe or imagine. But we know that it is possible to escape it. We also know that the present is the only opportunity. Behold, now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation. Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness.

Blessed be God for his long-suffering goodness and his warning mercy. He might justly have spared his words and come instantly to blows. But he speaks before he strikes, and he threatens that he may not destroy. May the kind alarm awaken our fear, and may our fear produce flight; and may we flee for refuge to the hope set before us, even Jesus, who delivers from the wrath to come.

[sta7z]

“My Girlfriend is a Witch!” Witch! Robin Buckley x Reader

A/N: another gift for the amazing @semishyguy! I know it’s a bit early for Halloween but shhh

☾(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*・｡ﾟ☽

Everyone had their suspicions about Robin Buckley, sure she was a little… weird. But no weirder than you or Steve or Jonathan. Your girlfriend had this strange infatuation with a stray in your neighborhood though, a little black cat with the widest yellow eyes you had ever seen! She named him “Y/N Junior”. The two of you never brought him into your house, primarily because he didn’t want to. But you bought him a little collar a while ago, and always gave him his favorite foods when he stopped by the door of either of your homes.

it was October 28th. Robin was lounging around the study hall and reading a book. “Hey babe! What are you reading?” Robin jumped and closed the book. “Nothing, love.” She hid the book behind her and you peered behind her. A questioning look on your face. “What book? You know I love reading with you!” She sighed and pulled the book back out. The title read ‘R.L Stien. Fear Street.’ You could’ve sworn it was a different color… and from what you saw it was a hardcover book. Not a paperback how it is now. You shrugged it off, maybe it was just a trick of the light.

You, Steve, Dustin, El, and Jonothan all went to Steve’s house to work on a project. You invited Robin but she said she would prefer to work alone. That was… a first to say the least. The two of you loved your half work- half interest rambling sessions. Then cramming everything 5 minutes before the presentation. The two of you were inseparable. Jonathan interrupted your thoughts “What ideas do you all have for our film project?” Jonathan fiddled with his camera. Dustin pulled out a lot of VHS tapes “well, you see, I’ve collected THE BEST horror movies of all time. It being October and all.” Steve rolled his eyes, “now I’ve got an idea,” Steve placed a loose piece of ribbon on his neck and gave his best ‘Hollywood accent’ “A big picture about a handsome lead role, that’s me. Finding the love of his life! A semi-secluded loner named… Breddie!” He said, picking up a piece of toast and chewing it. He gestured to El, “and then! They find and adopt a witch!” Everyone huffed an rolled their eyes.

“Speaking of Witches,” You said, “What’s everyone dressing up as for Halloween?” You looked around the room, “Well me and the boys are dressing up as Star Wars character’s. I’m Han Solo of course.” Steve shrugged “probably somebody hot. Chicks dig werewolves right?… does Eddie like werewolves-?” Everyone laughed. Jonathan broke the lighthearted tone of the conversation “has anyone noticed Robin had been acting… weird lately.” By ‘everyone’ he meant you. You shook your head and asked “why do you think she’s being weird.” “Yeah, like, more weird than normal?” Steve chuckled.

☾(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*・｡ﾟ☽ The Ring.

Jonathan described many odd occurrences. Robin seemingly disappearing fully between crowds, being late for something but popping up behind us randomly, and lately she’s always been reading something. You couldn’t help but agree. “Once, she got me this beautiful but extremely expensive ring for our 1 year anniversary.” You flaunted the Snake engraved ring for a moment. “But Steve, you as much as anyone knows how much the two of you get paid. Most certainly not enough to afford something like this.” Steve nodded and gestured to Eleven. “What do you think kiddo?” El paused for a moment trying to find the words, “Witch.”

🕸️🕯Later 🕯🕸️

You all considered using Eleven’s powers to spy but decided against it. Primarily because if anything bad happened Max would knock you over the head with her skateboard.

“Jonathan?” ”yeah?” ”Do you think… Robin could be like… apart of a gang or something” He stopped dead in his tracks and gave the most humorous laugh. He almost fell over. “ROBIN BUCKLEY??” You rolled your eyes, “it could explain the money, and why she’s always so late.” Jonathan nodded. “Understandable, but yet again. It’s Robin ‘Give me the newest Cabbage Patch Kid doll’ Buckley.” The two of you laughed. You parted ways as you showed up. You looked up at the house and noticed a crash sound coming from the top floor, Robin’s room. You grabbed the key Robin hid under the mat and struggled to unlock the door. You heard something fall from behind you.

“Junior?” You peered at the Yellow eyes that seemed to speak to you somehow. You shuddered and continued unlocking the door. “Robin? Baby? Are you okay?!” You shouted walking up the steps. “Yeah I’m okay!! I just erm- dropped something! My Teddy Ruxbin! You know how loud those things are!” You sighed in relief to hear your girlfriend’s banter again. “Doll! You can come in!” You opened the door, Robin’s hair was a mess. She was sitting on her bed, her window open. You closed it, shivering “Love, it’s freezing outside! You really shouldn’t have your window open, here let me grab you a jacket.” You headed towards her closet and Robin shouted “Wait!” You stopped in your tracks and turned around. “I- um- I I got you something!” You tilted your head. She grabbed your hand and gently kissed your fingers, with her other hand she pulled out a box of VHS tapes. It read “The Addams Family”. You gasped happily, you were either busy with schoolwork or your job that you hadn’t been able to catch the show while it was on. “Well I saw this, the entire collection and I couldn’t stop thinking about my little Moonray,” she pulled you onto her lap. “I would say I’m Gomez and your Morticia. But honestly Nighteyes, you are much much more ravishing.” She pulled you into a kiss, her black lipstick staining your lips.

There was still one thought on your mind, Where did it even come from? Her bag was far too small to fit it. There was no lump in her blanket… and why was Y/N Junior on the roof.

🔮🧙🏻‍♀️☾TO BE CONTINUED🕯🌙🌕

@semishyguy

[polizwrites]

PoliZ's WIP Update - 13 Sep 2023

An average writing week for once 😁 - I touched 5 fics (4 WIPs & 1 new work)  for a total of  2482 words, roughly half of which were on a single fic.

On Ao3, I posted:

Chapter Five of Finding Something Fresh - the fic finally goes Explicit as omega!Dom!Steve and beta!Sub!Bucky start their first sexual scene together.

WinterIron Bingo Round Robin - September 2023 - College AU where thanks to a wrong number, Bucky ends up rescuing a drunk!Tony from a party.

I have  20 semi-active WIPs  😬 with my  current  deadline being the All Caps Bingo that wraps at the end of September.

See  below cut for what I’m working on/planning to work on - arranged more or less by bingos/challenges/etc.  As always, feel free to send me   prompts or plot bunnies as well as asks regarding  any of these projects  or any other WIPs I’ve got out there.   Interaction really helps feed the Muse and keep me motivated!

Seek & Destroy Collab

After reading @psychiccatpanda‘s amazing   Morguna and the Green Queen, I  got the itch to explore the Soldier’s POV and talked  Faustie into   collab’ing with me!  We’re working on a new part of the series, and I’ve  contributed about 900 words towards the  2500-ish we have so far.   Going to see if I can squeeze any of my BBB squares into this fic.  

All Caps Bingo [ACB_R1]  (Ends 30 Sep)

I’ve got 21 completed squares (counting unclaimed adoptables) , and four WIPs and  am in good shape for a blackout, since I finally have a handle on the “The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!” challenge.

* Row 5 (One Fill, One Bingo).   “Man, shut the hell up!”, Alpha Bucky Barnes, James Rhodes, Humping, Competitive Idiocy. Finished the draft of A Forest's Worth of Pining - Sam and Rhodey (and Natasha) working to get their alpha pals Bucky and Tony together. It's coming in at 1015 words and will post on Friday.

* N2 - Sex Toys - Filled this with Chapter Five of Finding Something Fresh - Beta!Sub!Bucky and Omega!Dom!Steve enjoy their first sexual scene together. It crossed over with my SVB Tied to a Bed square and came in at 1506 words.

* N3 - FREE -- Will probably use this for the next chapter of Technicalities - which I need to get started on!

* G1 - Isaiah Bradley - I'd like to add more to The Fist, Defeated, but may end up replacing this square with an adoptable.

* G3 - Established Relationship - planning to fill this with Chapter 2 of   Half of the Flesh and Blood That Makes Me Whole   - a Bucky POV remix of at least the first part of Take What Was Wrong (And Make it Right), which is current sitting at  52 words.  I’m expecting at least one more chapter, possibly two, depending on how far I want to take the remix.   If I can't pull this off - a quickie Stucky drabble may have to do.

* O2 - Canon-adjacent Matched this up with a Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF216 Found Family] for The Family You Find - Ayo takes Bucky to his new Wakandan refuge. I will post it to Ao3 before the event wraps up.

* O3 - Pararescue Sam Wilson - Posted Braking Their Fall -- a remix of  Falling For You from Sam’s POV -- to Ao3 last Wednesday. It was a crossover with a Flash Fiction Friday prompt: [#FFF212 Gotta Go Fast] and SWB James Rhodes square and came in at 608 words.

* Sept Adoptable: Dominant Omega - this is of course a perfect match for the next chapter of Finding Something Fresh (currently sitting at 406 words) - where omega!Dom!Steve and beta!sub!Bucky continue their scene.

Sam Wilson Bingo [SWB_R3]  (Ends 15 Oct 2023)

I have five fills and one WIP -  I need to work on cross fills between this and the All Caps, Bucky Barnes and Captain Bottom bingo!

* B4 - Natasha Romanoff -  Maybe add on to my Card Sharks drabble, where  SamNat & Steve conspire to create a polycule with Bucky?  this idea crosses over nicely with my BBB KINK: Seduction mission square

* N5 - James Rhodes - filled with Braking Their Fall - see ACB Pararescue Sam Wilson above.

* G3 - Joaquin Torres - possible expansion of A Rising Star

WinterIron Bingo  - [WIB_R1]   (Ends 16 Dec 2023)

I have fifteen fills completed and two WIPs for this brand-new bingo event that I’m helping mod!  Along with crossfilling against my other bingos,  I’m going to try to combine my B column squares for the Iron Soldier badge (complete a bingo with a single work). – Alpha Tony Stark, “That was not my intention.”, James Rhodes, Alpine loves Tony and Blind date.   (Tony POV remix of A Sugar Coated Pill?)

* N1 - Bucharest –  I think I can fold this into a future chapter of My Love is Vengeance -  where a young!Tony and a recovering!Bucky have been kidnapped by Hydra, who still thinks Bucky is the Soldier.  

* G2 - Eye contact during sex - This will come into play in Chapter 6 of A Sugar-Coated Pill, where Bucky figures out what making love really means, with Tony’s help. It’s crossing over with BBB KINK: Gentle Sex and is up to 503 words.

* G4 - AU: College Students – looking to expand Beaten to the Punch with some backstory on Bucky and Tony as science camp counselors to fit with this square - will also cross over with my WFB  Volunteering Together square.  

* O1 - Wrong Number - Filled this with WinterIron Bingo Round Robin - September 2023 where Bucky gets a call meant for someone named Jim to come get Tony from a party. My part came in a 337 words and posted this morning.

* O5 - Gentle – use this poem  as inspiration?

Stucky’Verse Bingo Round 1 - [SVB_R1]   (Ends 22 Dec)

Eleven fills, two WIPs and a couple of ideas.

* A1 - Harem - crossover with CABB Secret/Forbidden Relationship - Bucky and shrimpy!Steve are both concubines - they love each other more than their lord. I poked at this a little last week and have 71 words.

* A4 - Fairy Tale Curse  - this seems custom-made for a continuation of Beyond the Beast😁  Nothing written yet, other than some Vague Ideas.  

* B3 - Tied to a Bed –  Chapter Five of Finding Something Fresh - see ACB Sex Toys above. 😁

Bucky Barnes Bingo  - [BBB_R5]   (Ends 10 Jan 2024)

I’ve got  eleven fills,  four WIPs,   and a couple more Vague ideas.

B2 - KINK: Seduction Mission - might add a new chapter to Card Sharks - where Sam/Natasha and Steve finish what they started to get Bucky onboard for a poly partnership.

U1 - Never the fall that kills you -  I’ve got a WinterIron hanahaki fic idea for this that I might play with.

U3 - Fireplace -  Working on a 1980′s No Powers WinterIron fic set at a ski lodge where Tony’s being wooed by poetry and love letters that Bucky wrote to someone else.   Started poking at this as a crossover with a Love Letters prompt and it’s sitting at 129 words.

C2 - Yelena Belova–   The plan is to use this prompt in the next chapter of Peresmešnik,  (aka Three Avengers and a Baby), which is currently sitting at 1303 words (600-ish of which are mine).

C5 - Marriage of Convenience/Pretend Couple -  next chapter of   Lady Natasha’s Consort and Lord Steve’s Companion.    Got a spark of an idea the other day that might get me a bit further on this fic.  

K3 - Magic -  Aro!Bucky healing with a kiss idea?

Y1 - Gentle Sex – In-progress Chapter 6 of Sugar-Coated Pill- see WIB Eye Contact During Sex.

Y3 - Alpine  - see WIB Iron Soldier combo.

Y4 - Forgotten Things -   using this for Chapter 4 of   You Can’t Stop It With a Gun  - it’s sitting at  116 words at the moment.

May Adopted - Insomnia - finally got this filled with The Dead of Night, which also filled a Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF211 An Old Friend] along with my JBB FREE square. It came in at 317 words and will post to Ao3 before this event ends.

August Adoptable: Take the Shot - sounds like a WinterHawk fic to me… maybe cross over with JBB Touch-starved?

Tony Stark Bingo Round 7  - [TSB_R7]   (ends 15 Feb)

Ten fills and zero WIPs, with a couple of ideas in play.  

* S1 - Galaxy - possibly use in final chapter of   Never More to Go Astray ?  

* S4 - “Are you there yet?”   -upcoming Chapter 5 of Sugar-Coated Pill – see ACB Nesting above

* T5 - Shawarma - possible crossover with SAUB Canon Divergence – Battle of New York-related?

* A2 - KINK: Concubine - possible crossover with SAUB Gentle Dom

* A4 - Historical - see Stony AUGust Week 2: Time Period above.

* R1 - Animal Transformation - DemonPanda shared a fun prompt on the WIB server - Tony as a short-haired werewolf who needs to cuddle his pack members for warmth.

* R2 - KINK: Deep Throating - filling this with Chapter One of Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight - see Stony AUgust Week 5 above

* R5 - Doppelganger/Evil Twins -   The Flash Fiction Friday prompt [#FFF214 Broken Mirror] got me at least a good start on the idea I’ve been playing with for this square. I posted NamNori on Tumblr and have a general idea of how I want to build on it to also fill my SAUB AU: Crack square. It’s currently sitting at 360 words.

Stony AUniverse Bingo  [SAUB_R1] (ends 15 Feb)

Another brand-new bingo I’m helping co-mod!   Five fills, three WIPs and several  crossover ideas already!

* S2 - AU: Crack - see TSB   Doppelganger/Evil Twins

* S3 - AU: Wings - see ACB Established Relationship

* S5 - Accidental Baby Acquisition - see BBB Yelena Belova

* T1 - AU: Fantasy -  CoffeeOwl shared a really cool dragon!Steve/indebted!Tony prompt in the ACB Discord server that I may be playing with for this.

* T4 - AU: Canon Divergence - see TSB Shawarma above.

* N1 - AU: Spy -  expansion of  Keeping All My Secrets Safe Tonight see Stony AUgust above.

* N2 - Mutual Pining - crossover with CABB Royal Knight?

* N3 - Gentle Dom - see TSB KINK: Concubine above

Captain (America) Bottom Bingo - Round 2 [CABB] (ends 28 Feb 2024)

I signed up for a 3x3 card for this bingo and have four fills, one WIPs and a couple of crossover ideas.

* A2 - Secret/Forbidden Relationship - see SVB Harem

* B3 - Royal Knight - see SAUB Mutual Pining.

Post July Break Bingo  [JBB_23p] (Ends Apr? 2024)

@julybreakbingo is running another event to tide participants over with a 2x3 non-fandom-specific card - I got mine earlier this week and am checking it over for potential crossovers.

A1 - “It’s you. It’s always been you.” - This might fit in with my TSB Doppelgangers/Evil Twins fill NamNori above :: ponders::

B2 - Character’s personality is split into two different beings – I’ve never played with Bucky & the Soldier being two different people, but this seems like the perfect opportunity! Will see what might be a good crossover on BBB or WIB (or even SVB)

C1 - Touch Starved – another good fit for a Bucky-centric fic. (Steve or Tony or Clint) possibly crossover with BBB “Take the shot”?

Warm and Fluffy   Bingo  - [WFB]   (no end date)

I got my card from  @warmandfluffybingocards back in February but really hadn’t done much with it  - however, I’m picking it back up for some crossover possibilities!

 * O5 - Volunteering Together – see WIB AU: College Students

————

On  other creative fronts:  I have an Audrey II Stuffed With Character figure in progress for a commission.  If  you’re looking for one of a kind gifts for birthdays or other celebrations, check  out Stuffed With Character    over on Facebook for a full list of my designs (now over 150!).   These soft stuffed figures are  mostly Marvel and monsters, but I have some Star Wars, Star Trek, DC   and Disney figures as well. Plus I love to take custom design   requests  for any fandom!

[itsyourchoicedevotionals]

From Defeat 

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.  For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:1-4NIV

Father God began questioning me— ‘Why don’t the believers praise Me? Are they disappointed in My salvation? Is their disappointment because I didn’t give them their desire? I am God. I am still on the throne. I am still in control. Nothing and no one will ever defeat Me. And I refuse to be manipulated.’

Face it, praise comes much easier from the point of victory than from the point of defeat. Our 2020 election brought defeat dashing many of our hopes and expectations. 2021 continued to reveal the idiocy. How can we praise Him?

Saddened by our spoiled mentality, I remember a video clip I watched. From a hidden cave in China rang soft voices in praise. They have very little worldly goods— yet they meet daily to worship God. Each day, they take different routes to lose anyone trailing them. Over 100 people were gathered worshiping— adoring their King and ours. Returning home by different routes, twelve hours or more later, with nothing to be thankful for, they’re thankful for salvation— AND they worship.

Back thirty to forty years ago, church services didn’t have wonderful praise bands leading worship of the Lord. With no internet churches, most services weren’t televised, fitting into a thirty minute program. Holy Spirit showed up at most services. As people praised and worshipped pastors allowed Holy Spirit to take lead. God’s power settled over those attending. We left our baggage from life at the pew, when we knelt, danced, fell on our faces and worshiped in God’s Presence. Non-believers would often fall on their faces in repentance. Amazed at His goodness, they joined the believers in worship of King Jesus.

Of equal importance with prayer, and Bible study for every believer is the pleasurable work worshipping our King. Mother used to point to her heart, saying, ‘as I praise, Almighty God moves right in here, inside me.’ Now twenty years later I understand what she meant, as I, too, have felt His Presence come and stir my heart during praise. “…You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3ESV.

What are our excuses for not giving Him all the worship and praise He deserves? Who’s President doesn’t matter, God is King. What laws can a dictator make, when God is still on His throne making His ways known?

From heaven, I’ve heard God speak. “Now I will arise,” says the Lord. “Now I will exalt myself; now I will unveil my majesty!” Isaiah 33:10TPT.

Excited, at peace, anxious, calm, plus every emotion we can experience— “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.” At times totally bummed out, yet, through worship I’ve moved from defeat to total peace. Psalm 62:1BSB “In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.” Where do the world’s souls find rest?

Are you defeated? Raise those hands in the air—it’s time to praise the Lord before He shows off and exalts Himself. Your praise helps create the answer. It’s your choice. You choose.

PRAYER: Lord God You are worthy of all glory, honor and praise. We’re forever indebted to You for salvation. Everything else You bestow upon us are blessings above blessings. Praise and bless You forever, in Jesus Christ’s name.

by Debbie Veilleux Copyright 2022 You have my permission to reblog this devotional for others. Please keep my name with this devotional, as author. Thank you.

[dfroza]

A commissioning to write:

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 9th chapter of the Letter of First Corinthians:

And don’t tell me that I have no authority to write like this. I’m perfectly free to do this—isn’t that obvious? Haven’t I been given a job to do? Wasn’t I commissioned to this work in a face-to-face meeting with Jesus, our Master? Aren’t you yourselves proof of the good work that I’ve done for the Master? Even if no one else admits the authority of my commission, you can’t deny it. Why, my work with you is living proof of my authority!

I’m not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don’t seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master’s brothers and Peter in these matters. So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way? Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don’t dairy farmers get to drink their fill from the pail?

I’m not just sounding off because I’m irritated. This is all written in the scriptural law. Moses wrote, “Don’t muzzle an ox to keep it from eating the grain when it’s threshing.” Do you think Moses’ primary concern was the care of farm animals? Don’t you think his concern extends to us? Of course. Farmers plow and thresh expecting something when the crop comes in. So if we have planted spiritual seed among you, is it out of line to expect a meal or two from you? Others demand plenty from you in these ways. Don’t we who have never demanded deserve even more?

But we’re not going to start demanding now what we’ve always had a perfect right to. Our decision all along has been to put up with anything rather than to get in the way or detract from the Message of Christ. All I’m concerned with right now is that you not use our decision to take advantage of others, depriving them of what is rightly theirs. You know, don’t you, that it’s always been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the proceeds of the Temple, and that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has been sacrificed? Along the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be supported by those who believe the Message.

Still, I want it made clear that I’ve never gotten anything out of this for myself, and that I’m not writing now to get something. I’d rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or question my motives. If I proclaim the Message, it’s not to get something out of it for myself. I’m compelled to do it, and doomed if I don’t! If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I’d expect some pay. But since it’s not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid? So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don’t even have to pay my expenses!

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally.

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No lazy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.

* * *

The Letter of 1st Corinthians, Chapter 9 (The Message)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 44th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah in which is written of a pine Tree with the alphabetic number of the word “pine” being 44:

Eternal One: Nevertheless, listen to Me, My people:

Jacob, My servant; Israel, My chosen.

The Eternal who made you,

who formed you in the womb and promised to help you, has this to say:

Eternal One: Don’t be afraid, My servant Jacob,

My dear Jeshurun—My chosen.

Like a devoted gardener, I will pour sweet water on parched land,

streams on hard-packed ground;

I will pour My spirit on your children and grandchildren—

and let My blessing flow to your descendants.

And they will sprout among the grasses, grow vibrant and tall

like the willow trees lining a riverbank.

One will call out: “I belong to the Eternal.”

Another will say, “Jacob is my people; Israel my honored name.”

Yet others will write “Property of the Eternal” on their hands.

The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,

King of Israel, who paid their ransom, has this to say:

Eternal One: I am at the beginning and will be at the end.

There is no God except for Me.

If you know any God like Me, tell it now.

Declare and demonstrate any who can compare to Me.

Or if you know and have announced events before their time,

told what is to come, then speak so now.

Don’t be afraid. Let your minds be clear of fear.

Haven’t I announced events and revealed what is to come?

From the earliest days, I have done so. You know it—you have seen and know.

So, go ahead, My witnesses: is there a god out there other than Me?

Witnesses: There is no other rock like God. I don’t know a single one.

But whoever does make an idol is not improved or enriched. On the contrary, their passing fancies contribute nothing of value or purpose. Those who look on at such misplaced attention don’t understand what they’re seeing, and the idol-makers will end up embarrassed at best. It’s easy to say, “What pathetic idiocy! Who would do such a thing—make gods that are by definition worthless?” The people who worship them will be shamed and humiliated. After all, people made those gods. Yet it happens all the time. So, let’s put these images, these figurines all together; stand them up—they will tremble with terror and be ashamed.

A metalworker shapes the raw materials into tools and then uses them to make little gods by hammering, bending, heating, and cooling the materials. And in the process, he gets tired and hungry; without water he soon grows faint. Likewise, the woodworker measures and marks the wood, chisels and planes it down, marks it with a compass, and carves it until it looks a bit like a human—lovely, maybe—in order to put it in a house. To take it back a bit further, perhaps he cuts down cedars or he carefully selects the cypress or oak himself, watches it, nurtures it until it is ready for his purpose. Perhaps he plants a pine; with sun and rain, it grows tall. When it’s time to harvest, he uses some of the wood for fuel to stay warm, some to heat the oven and bake bread, and some to craft a god. Then the woodworker bows down and worships before the image he just made. Do you see the irony? He sits around, warming himself and roasting dinner with wood from the same tree from which he crafted a god to which he bows and worships and prays—one time saying, “I am warmed by the wood fire”; another time saying, “O dear god, save me.”

So we see again how it is that they’re blind—their eyes shut to the truth in front of them, their hearts and minds refusing to think and really understand what’s going on. So without stopping to think about it, the fool says, “Gosh, I used half of the wood to build a fire, and baked the bread and roasted the meat over its hot coals. After I eat, I think I’ll use the rest of it to make a repulsive god. Maybe I’ll bow down to this leftover lumber.” A fool like this is feeding on ashes—his addled mind and deceived heart lead him nowhere. He can’t figure out how to save himself, much less see the error of his ways and say, “Is this idol in my right hand just a lie?”

Eternal One: Let that be a lesson to you, My people.

Don’t forget it, Jacob; O Israel, remember—you are Mine.

I made you; you are My servant; I will not forget you.

I have swept away your wrongdoing, as wind sweeps a cloud from the sky:

I have cleared you of your sins, as the sun clears the morning mist.

I have rescued you; come back to Me.

Sing, starry sky and every constellation, for what the Eternal has done.

Shout for joy, dark soil underfoot and deep caverns below;

Erupt in joyful songs, mountains and forests, and every tree in them!

Sing joyfully, for the Eternal One has rescued Jacob, His people;

The splendor of God will be revealed in Israel.

The Eternal, your rescuing hero who formed you before birth, declares,

Eternal One: I am the Eternal, Creator of all there is and will be.

I alone stretched out the heavens and spread out the blue earth.

I confound the lying swindlers who claim to tell the future,

and I make the fortune-tellers look like fools.

I stop the highbrow intellectuals in their tracks,

and I show the fault of their reasoning.

But I stand behind the words of My servants,

and I accomplish what they predict.

The one who says about Jerusalem, “This place will be built up again”;

about Judah’s cities, “They will be restored”:

I confirm their predictions. They will rise from their ruins.

After all, I am the One who needs only to say “Dry up” to great waters,

and your rivers run dry.

I am the one who says of the Persian victor over Babylon,

“Cyrus is My shepherd. He will accomplish what I determine.”

My word goes out concerning Jerusalem:

“It will stand, a glorious city, again”

and of My house within it, “Restoration will begin at once.”

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 44 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, july 22 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A set of posts by John Parsons that looks into the True nature of the heart:

From our Torah portion this week (i.e., Vaetchanan) we read, "Know therefore today and return to your heart (והשׁבת אל־לבבך), for the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39). Here again we see the centrality of the heart as the mode to encounter God (Luke 17:21). Savor the phrase, "Know therefore today and return to your heart..." It is the heart that is the place of connection with God... As Yeshua said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). Today is the day to "return to your heart" and receive again God's love for your soul... [Hebrew for Christians]

7.20.21 • Facebook

In our Torah for this week (i.e., Vaetchanan), Moses recalled the awesome revelation of the Torah at Sinai, describing how the mountain “burned with fire unto the heart of heaven” (בּעֵר בָּאֵשׁ עַד־לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם) when the Ten Commandments were inscribed upon the two tablets of testimony: "And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire unto the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone" (Deut. 4:11-13).

The sages say that the tablets represented a heart, as it says, “write them on the tablet of your heart” (Prov. 3:3), and God’s word is likened to a fire that reveals the great passion of God’s heart for us (Jer. 23:29; Deut. 4:24). Tragically, the two tablets were smashed after the people lost sight of the heart of heaven (לב שמים), and therefore God requires a broken heart - teshuvah - to behold his glory once again. Therefore we see that Yeshua died of a broken heart upon the cross for our return to God, when the fire of his passion burned unto the very heart of heaven, and in his mesirat ha’nefesh we see the greater glory of God... May we, then, readily take hold of his passion and never forsake his love and truth. [Hebrew for Christians]

7.22.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 22, 2021

Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

The doctrine of verbal inspiration implies that not only are the words of Scripture inspired, but the very order in which they appear is also inspired. Study by commentators and translators have rightly noted that a change in the order of the words would at times change the meaning or emphasis of a passage. This phenomenon is often seen in the order in which the various names of Christ appear. By noting this order, one may sometimes gain new insight into a passage.

While the name Jesus, alone, normally appears in the gospels and the book of Acts, the compound name Jesus Christ appears on occasion. Interestingly, the same compound name is used exclusively by the disciples John and Peter in their letters, and by James and Jude, the brothers of our Lord. Of course, these men knew Him first by His human name, Jesus, and only fully comprehended the fact that He was the Christ (meaning “the Anointed,” or “the Messiah”) after His resurrection and ascension.

Paul, on the other hand, first encountered Christ in all His glory on the road to Damascus. Perhaps, as a consequence, he frequently reversed the order, speaking of Christ Jesus, although he used both orders many times.

The reason for this choice of order perhaps can best be illustrated in Philippians 2:5-11. In verse 5, Paul described the Anointed One, who first emptied Himself of certain aspects of His deity to take on human form. Therefore, Paul used the name Christ Jesus. In verse 11, however, the order is reversed. In this case, as in our text, the movement is from humanity to glory. In one, the glory of the risen Savior is emphasized; in the other, the glory that we shall share with Him. This glory is assured us through His victory. JDM

A tweet by illumiNations:

@IlluminationsBT: DID YOU KNOW...We've made it possible to directly fund Bible translation work that is taking place in high risk areas of the world.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3gfPRwh

7.22.21 • 12:02pm • Twitter

[wisdom-positivity-teachings]

Isaiah 28:14-20 is the reading in the verses..

The meaning if it all: your leaders signed you into a pact with death, but it's going to be annulled, as your being saved you will hear a terrible message about the idiocy of my people and it will be like hail that falls from heaven ; no one will want to deal with what they hear, but nonetheless you will be saved.. the future is better.

Paul the apostle " who likes chastisement, it is unpleasant at the moment" also " God does not chastise illegitamate children, only those he loved"

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A post shared by Joseph D. Barbree (@wisdom_positivity_teachings)

[pig-brain-fucker]

He dreams of the sea for the first time in a long time. He wakes up retching, empty and shrivelled stomach producing nothing but painful cramps and the faint taste of salt.

Thinking back to the island is easy. He can think rationally, detached from those awful events, leaving behind the horror and thinking only of the facts. But dreaming? Dreaming makes him relive it. He can taste the meat, feel the hunger, the thirst, and, eventually, the madness.

It started on a ship. 

Before that, a slave plantation. He remembers the sugarcane they harvested, the heat of the fields, and the mistreatment of the owner. His owner. He doesn’t remember much more than that. Memories of it are only awakened years after the events took place, startlingly clear in the hazy fog of his mind. He doesn’t know if it’s because he wanted to forget them or was forced to by his mind to keep him sane, but he remembers fire, smoke so thick it filled the quarters, choking him, suffocating everyone, burning those unlucky few who the fumes didn't finish. Everyone but him.

This was the first time he escaped death by a hair’s breadth. The first in the longest line of near misses and close calls.

Except he can’t call them that. Near misses. Close calls. That would imply he survived them all, when he did anything but.

The ship. What work is there for an escaped slave? Nothing proper, so he joins a crew, and meets the sea.

He wonders why, when he escaped death so narrowly that first time, would he fall in with pirates? Drowning, fighting, disease, hanging to the neck until dead - all fates he’d seen men befall. Men he knew, men he may have called friends. He preferred to not think of it. 

Maybe running parallel to death was where he was always supposed to be. If he was a more superstitious man he’d call it fate. Most said idiocy.

He and two other men are marooned. 

In many years to come the island they’re abandoned at would be called idyllic or paradisiacal; heavenly. When he thinks back he can only remember it as hell.

The white sands didn’t look so bad at the start. He almost resigns himself to it, dying on a pretty island in the Caribbean, as opposed to suffocating surrounded by the cries of his trapped companions.

Then, one of the men speaks up.

He seems to speak in riddles, of hunger and thirst, of heat and sun. 

His name is Isaiah, he says.

He knows how to survive. It’s too terrible of a way to survive for him to even consider. Until ten days after the ship leaves.

He’d tried eating the sparse grass and leaves from the island, but it had done nothing to quell his hunger. He supposes they must have done something for his thirst for else he would have died, but then again he never saw Isaiah or the other man attempt to eat anything.

Later on, he thinks the third man must have been drinking seawater to have gotten into the state he did.

He approached in the evening of the tenth day. Spouting of words in a language known only by himself, raving in some unintelligible way. He recognizes the lunacy in this man.

When he doesn’t respond, the man gets physical. Then violent.

He strikes out and is answered with a shove backwards. He doesn’t know where he mustered the strength to push him hard enough to knock him over, to cause him to hit his head that heard. It’s another one of those things about the island that doesn’t quite make sense in retrospect.

But he knows it was real as well as he knows the sky is blue.

Although the sky wasn’t blue then. The dawn sky was steadily turning black, deeper than he could have sworn it was the night before.

Isaiah is there immediately when the man dies, crouching at his head, staring in his eyes the moment they go blank, unseeing like the fish markets at the ports they used to dock in.

Isaiah stands.

He knows what’s coming.

He doesn’t watch as Isaiah smoothly cuts into him, but goes to sit at the edge of the island. Escapes the sight of the man he killed getting butchered in preparation.

He can’t escape the overwhelming scent of it though, and he sure as hell can’t escape the taste of it as he’s gorging himself on it next to Isaiah. They eat like the starving men they are, consuming the meat raw as they are without any resources to make a fire, but it tastes better than anything he may have tasted before, and after.

They sleep, Isaiah lying next to a murderer and himself next to a man who calmly cut up a man like a pig. It’s better than he’s slept in any of the previous nine nights on the island.

When they finish eating the other man entirely, Isaiah walks into the sea. 

He doesn’t pause, doesn’t hesitate, just walks until he’s submerged and then carries on.

That’s when he starts drinking seawater. He just needs something to parch his constant thirst.

He thinks it was just a dream sometimes, and that there were only ever two men, that Isaiah never existed; maybe he did lose his mind.

But he always remembers that he never drank seawater until Isaiah disappeared into the ocean. And his memory never seemed to falter after the island.

He used to ponder on what Isaiah was: just something that wandered out of the sea and traded scales for lungs, a witch destined to go back to the sea after cursing a poor desperate man to eternal torment, some personification of the devil staking a claim to his soul, or was he just a man?

Then he thinks that surely Isaiah could not have been a man, for wouldn’t he have run into him? Seen him in the centuries he’s lived through things he didn’t survive?

He thinks that if he did see him, it might just be the thing to make him die and stay down eternally.

He remembers getting off the island like he remembers everything else - clear as the stillest lake, the most flawless glass.

A boat comes past, a merchant ship. Somehow, someone sees him.

When the skiff hits the island shore, he falls to his knees. He can’t remember the days he’s been here, the time, hours dragging on without food or clean water or company. Doesn’t know how long it’s been and couldn’t even give a guess.

He does, however, know that he should be dead. Be a long dead corpse, like the bones he buried in the sand. He’s perfectly aware he should have died long ago, even with the seawater pickling his brain.

He falls to his knees in the sand, and weeps. The men ask him things, questions he can’t answer.

They take enough pity however and let him board their ship.

It takes weeks until he feels like the last traces of seawater are out of his system, the final taste of salt out his mouth.

At some point, years have passed.

He meets a girl. A pretty, white girl, who isn’t wealthy or influential, but he loves her, and she loves him back and it’s enough. If it were up to him, it would always be enough. But it isn’t.

The folk of the town don’t like it. Her family moves, but not before her brother and father and the clergyman and the grocer and the teacher beat him and drag him to the road out of the town.

They don’t leave him to make his own way out of town though.

They tie him by his arms, ropes crossing over his shoulders to avoid ending the fun too quickly.

Then they drag him between the father and the brother’s horses, all the way to the end of the gravel and dirt road, only to turn around and do it again. Two miles out of town, they cut the ropes and spit on him and leave him with sharp biting words. They leave him with so much.

He feels torn, torn up and torn open, love and pain clouding his mind.

He feels like what he imagined keelhauling to feel like. Then he feels lucky. He’d go through this times over to never have to see the sea again.

He bleeds and bleeds and his wounds don’t start knitting together nor his broken and dislocated bones start falling back into place until his skin is cold and his breath all gone.

When he wakes, bloodstained and aching, he walks back to town only to find his girl gone and the townsfolk whispering behind closed doors. Demon, witch, devil, ghoul. 

He thinks he knows what happened, but doesn’t yet think of the island.

At some point, years have passed, but he hasn’t. He looks young still, not aged since he left the sea.

It’s then he starts to think about it. 

He has never lost the lean look starving gave him, but sleep can ease the haunted look on his face and in his eyes.

He hungers and thirsts but it never seems to take any toll other than discomfort.

He does not age though.

He can die, though, it just never seems to stick.

He makes sure he never hungers, for the fear the island instilled in him. Somewhere, some deep, hidden part of him thinks that, maybe, if he starves again Isaiah will come back. And he can’t bear to think of that.

Even when he cannot afford food, he steals it. What can stop him when he can’t die?

He steals, gets punished, he heals. He steals, gets killed, he wakes right back up.

He hasn’t forgotten a thing since the island, so every regeneration, every injury, every fight, he remembers as though it happened mere hours ago.

He remembers burning to death. The first time that happened, he thought he was dying for real. A house fire that threw him right back into the memory of the plantation, so much he couldn’t escape and died with lungs blackened by smoke and eyes watering from fumes and memories.

He remembers getting hanged; the times his neck snapped, the times shock got him and when slowly choked out. He usually woke up before it got to the burial, but he has a single memory of waking up in a pinewood box, only to drown in dry dirt times over until he clawed his way to the surface.

He remembers the drug overdoses. Overwhelming cold only to feel like he was burning when he came back.

But he remembers the joy too. The peace, the love. He can remember every lover he has ever taken, every friend ever made, every family ever had. He has never sired any descendants of his own but many have felt like his own children.

And now he sits, after the last war of many, in a ruined world. There is always a silver lining though; for all his hunger and thirst, in an arid and malnourished world, he has never run into Isaiah again.

There is always a future in which to meet him again, but he needs his hope too.

[sirtravisjacksonoftexas]

Was Jesus Christ based on the Hindu god Krishna? Um, NO, and here is why.

According to Hinduism, the god Krishna is an Avatar, or incarnation, of the Hindu God Vishnu. He was one of several (Including Rama, Kalkin (aka Kalki) and even Buddha). He lived a heroic life, teaming up with another Hindu hero named Arjuna (who was a demigod). 

Krishna’s cult dates back around the 5th century BC, five centuries before Jesus walked the earth. Due to this, and supposed similarities between Jesus and Krishna, many, if not most Jesus Mythicists will claim that Jesus is a mythical figure based on Krishna, that the story of Christ found in the gospels is a repackaging of the Krishna myth.

Was Krishna the basis for Christ?

No, and here is why:

  1.  Virgin born?

No.

It is true that Krishna’s conception didn’t involve sex; Vishnu got his mother Devaki pregnant by plucking out two of his hairs; the white one became Krishna, the other became Balarama, Krishna’s older brother (who was himself thought to be a partial Avatar of Vishnu). This sounds first like a virgin birth…until you realize that Krishna’s mother, Devaki, already had 6 other sons (7 if you count Balarama, who was born before him).

The other 6 were made in the old fashioned way.

Thus, no virgin birth.

Also, the prophecy about the virgin birth of the Messiah (i.e. Christ), found in Isaiah chapter 7, actually predates the Krishna cult. While the latter began in the 5th century BC, Isaiah wrote in the 8th to early 7th centuries BC. Though many scholars think that Isaiah chapters 40-66 was written later (though there are strong arguments against their conclusion), only a few try to say the same about Isaiah 1-39, which includes the virgin birth passage (The scholarly consensus is that Isaiah 1-39 was written in the 8th century BC). Indeed, Isaiah 1:1 shows that he prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Also, Isaiah himself mentions in Isaiah 6:1 a vision that he experienced after the death of king Uzziah, as if relating this to a scribe (many ancient peoples used scribes to write their words down). Uzziah’s reign started anywhere from 783-791 BC, while Hezekiah’s would have ended possibly about 686 BC.

Thus, once again, the prophecy of the Messiah’s virgin birth predates Krishna!

But wait! Wasn’t Krishna, like Christ, miraculously conceived? Isn’t that a similarity?

Yes, he was miraculously conceived. So was Isaac (Compare Genesis 16:1-2, 17:15-27, and 21:1-7), the Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1-20), Samson (Judges 13:1-25 and John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25, 39-45, 57-66). These men were born to women who were either barren and/or too old to conceive a child. Miraculous conceptions! Indeed, countless figures of world religions and myths (many of which predate Krishna) were miraculously conceived, such as Hephaestus (in some versions he was conceived without sex, though not by a virgin), Hercules, Theseus, Achilles, Gilgamesh (these sired by sexual unions of god and mortals. Miraculous conceptions as well!), etc. It’s a bit too broad of a category to make a good enough parallel here.

2. A star proclaimed Krishna’s birth?

Nope.

3. Shepherds visited him when he was born?

Nope, it was cow herds.

4. Angels at his birth?

 Let’s break this idiocy down:

One:  The angels in the Christmas story don’t appear in the manger; they appear outside, where the shepherds are tending their flocks. If I was standing outside a hospital, and a baby was born inside the hospital while I was outside it, could I logically say that I attended the birth? Did the people In the parking lot at the time attend it?

Two:  Angels are of the Judeo-Christian tradition, not Hinduism.

Three:  The beings who carry out the same role as angels in Hinduism are human gurus, gods and ancestral spirits. Just because they had a similar function doesn’t mean they were the same. Leopard Seals perform the same function as Polar Bears (i.e. the Apex predator. Polar bears in the arctic, Leopard Seals in the Antarctic). Does that mean that Leopard Seals are polar bears? 

If I was attacked by a hungry Leopard Seal, would it be logical for me to say that a polar bear tried to eat me?

5.  Was he an incarnate god like Christ?

Yes…but there is a caveat.

Krishna was indeed Vishnu incarnate, but we have to remember that the Avatars of Vishnu had far different personalities: Krishna was a womanizer and big drinker, while Buddha was an ascetic, living a monk’s life. Reincarnation is one of Hinduism’s beliefs, and no one would be  expected to have the same personality or mind in any two or more lives (If you were born a cow in one life and a man who becomes a rocket scientist in another, the comparative personalities of both your lives would be, needlessly to say, DIFFERENT!). We also have to remember that, even though he is an avatar of Vishnu, Krishna is also himself a god, distinct from Vishnu.

Christ, on the other hand, kept his divine personality while incarnate. His mind was always that of God the Son. We have to remember that reincarnation is not taught in the Hebrew Bible. Some Jews have  believed in it, but it was never a canon belief. Thus, ancient Jewish Christians would not have seen God incarnate the way the Hindu’s saw their avatars. Plus, Jesus and God the Father are not two different yet connected gods; they are two persons within the trinity. 

Thus, their incarnations are not as similar as you think.

6. Both part of a trinity?

Not really.

Vishnu, Brahman and Shiva together make up the Hindu Trimurti, the triad of great gods. These gods were manifestations of Brahman, which has been called anything from a divine spirit, to a universal consciousness, to an “uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent and all-embracing principle”. The Hindu god “Brahma” is the personification of Brahman, but all three gods are manifestations of him. Many Hindus believe that these are manifestations of a single god (Brahman is  considered by some sources to be a god, but in mainstream Hindu theology Brahman is not), and there are statues showing these deities sharing a body. Since Krishna is Vishnu’s avatar, this would seem to technically make him part of this trinity (as would Buddha and the other avatars of Vishnu).

However, there are some problems.

You see, ALL Hindu gods are manifestations of Brahman!

Repeat: All Hindu gods are manifestations of Brahman!

And how many Hindu gods are there?

Take a guess.

Take a wild guess.

Some say 33 million.

Others, 330 million. 

That goes well beyond…3.

Indeed, trying to compare the Biblical Trinity with the Hindu Trimurti has further issues. In the latter, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer. However, Vishnu’s and Shiva’s roles here at not set in stone; they are not always preserver and destroyer respectively. Both represent opposing forces, but Brahma is the balancing force. This is a far different relationship to what we find in the Christian Trinity.

Plus, despite being one of Vishnu’s avatars, Krishna is also a god in and of himself, another of Brahman’s manifestations. Indeed, he is one of the most popular deities in Hinduism. He is NEVER listed as a member of the Hindu Trimurti. Vishnu, the god who Krishna is an avatar of, is, but Krishna in and of himself is not. Indeed, there are other avatars of Vishnu that are thought to be gods (The hero Rama, the horse god Kalki/Kalkin (some seem to doubt the latter is an avatar of Vishnu, but he is usually presented as his avatar). If we are to put these gods into the Trimurti (remember; despite being avatars of Vishnu, they are also different gods), then our Hindu Trinity…is no longer a trinity.

Such much for the Hindu Trinity argument.

7. Miracle worker?

All gods were capable of performing miracles. All were miracle workers.

Next.

8. Great teacher, one who used parables?

No, Krishna never used parables. He did teach, but so did numerous figures of world religions and mythology. Paul the Apostle, Zalmoxis, Moses, The Watchers (in the Books of Enoch, fallen angels who had sex with women and taught sorcery and other arts to mankind), Prometheus, King Minos (gave laws to his people that civilized them, in some myths he was inspired by Zeus to make them), Buddha, Zoroaster, Muhammad, etc.

Once again, big deal.

9. Butted heads with religious leaders of his day?

Interesting. So did Elijah (1 Kings 18:16-40), Jeremiah (26:1-27:17), Amos (5:21-27), Micah (2:6-11, 3:5-8 11-12), Zephaniah (1:4-6), King Saul (1 Sam 23:6-23), Paul the Apostle (Acts 23:1-11) Peter and John (Acts 4:1-22) and Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60). True, both Krishna and Christ had a beef with religious leaders of their day over adherence to ritual over caring for others. However, Jesus also had beef with the religious leaders of his day over man made traditions (Mark 7:7-13) and false theology (Matthew 22:23-33). Indeed, other historical figures did likewise (Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, Muhammad, King James the 1st of England, etc).

Not much of a comparison.

10. Had a disciple named Arjuna, a name linguistically connected to John?

Arjuna was a “disciple” (which simply means “student” in Greek) of Krishna’s, but the English name “John” is derived from the Greek “Ioannes”, which in turn is derived from the Hebrew name “Yochanan”. There is no connection between these names and Arjuna.

Next.

11. Killed around the age of 30?

Try 125.

12. Crucified?

No, a hunter named Jara accidentally shot him with an arrow. The arrow hit his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body (quite similar to how Achilles died in Greek myth. Since Achilles’ myth is older, does that automatically mean that Krishna was partially based on the ancient Greek hero? Or maybe a simple case of coincidence? Most likely the latter.)

Plus, it makes sense that Krishna wasn’t crucified, considering that crucifixion wasn’t an ancient Indian form of execution (It was practiced in the Middle East, and later the Roman Empire).

13. Resurrection?

Though some modern books may seem to indicate so (without stating it clearly), the ancient sources tell us something different. He did die and later rose back into the heavens, though this seems more like his spirit or essence entering heaven than a resurrected body. True, the Srimad Bhagavatam states that “He did not desire to keep His physical frame here in the mortal world”, but this could be his way of saying that he didn’t want to keep his life on earth (If I am going to move out of Texas, and I say that “I don’t want to keep my land in Galveston.” That doesn’t mean that I am going to take the land with me when I move. It means that I’m going to sell it or give it away). The gods were there “to witness the passing away of the Supreme Lord”, and after meditation (“he closed his lotus eyes and fixed his consciousness within himself”. This was done in preparation for his death), and a brief mention of how his body is “the most attractive to all the worlds”, “he entered his heavenly abode.” This has to refer to his death. Otherwise, he would be rising into the heavens in his physical form without dying first, which goes against Hindu teaching. Indeed, the text states that Krishna could have survived the arrow shot using his powers, but decided not to, stating that “He did not desire to keep His physical frame here in the mortal world”, i.e. did not desire to heal his body and stay on earth.

Thus, no physical resurrection.

14. He will one day come back on a white horse to execute judgment?

No, that would be Kalkin/Kalki, another Avatar of Vishnu (and some sources question him as being an avatar of Visnhu).

15. The name “Christ” derives from the name “Krishna”.

I...don’t know what Jesus Mythicists were thinking when they came up with this one. I guess they think that “Christ” and “Krishna” sound similar, so therefore they must be etymologically linked. 

They’re not. 

BTW: Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, anymore than “King” or “High Priest” is.  

And what do the words king, priest and Christ have in common.

They’re titles. 

Repeat: titles. 

Titles and names are two different things.

 Now, keep in mind, much of Krishna’s stories come from texts that postdate Christ by centuries. Indeed, all his miracle accounts date to centuries after Krishna was supposedly alive. If there was any borrowing, then it was…the other way around.  

Christ was not a mythical figure based on Krishna.

He was a historical figure.

He lived.

He is still lives.

He is real.

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and none come to the Father save through him (John 14:6).

Sources: Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.30-31

http://bhagavata.org/canto11/chapter30.html 

http://bhagavata.org/canto11/chapter31.html 

“Encyclopedia of Gods” by Michael Jordan, pages 136 (also see page 129) “The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology” by Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm, pages 380-381, 414-15(compare pages 353-4) “Book of Historical records” by Norris McWhirter, page 41

https://www.ancient.eu/Krishna/ 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rama-Hindu-deity 

“The Case for the Resurrection of Christ” by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona, 143“AMG’s Encyclopedia of World Religions, Cults and the Occult” (compiled by Mark Water), page 192 “Doomsday Prophecies: Armageddon A to Z” by Jim Willis and Barbara Willis, page 218  

https://www.learnreligions.com/angels-of-the-bhagavad-gita-124013 

“The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology” by Pierre Grimal, pages275-76

https://www.ancient.eu/Prometheus/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6vtA5O5Ako&feature=emb_title 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lord-Krishna-lived-for-125-years/articleshow/844211.cms 

The Archeological Study Bible (NIV), pages 1051, 1055“Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance: Second edition”, by Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III, pages 599 and 1559

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-33-million-demigods-o_b_1737207 

“The Diamond Book of Hindu Gods and Goddesses”, by Suresh Narain Mathur, B. K. Chaturvedi, page 57  

https://books.google.com/books?id=pVZm8AFXqD0C&pg=PA57&dq=Hindu+gods+330+million&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMp4Cn7vvkAhUSD60KHZB-CcMQ6AEwB3oECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=Hindu%20gods%20330%20million&f=false 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishment  

https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/04/05/no-jesuss-name-does-not-mean-hail-zeus/