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[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

“omg you’re so creative. how do you get your ideas” i hallucinate a single scene in the taco bell drive thru and then spend 13 months trying to write it

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Fic preview

A preview of chapter 37 of Come Away, O Human Child

His new friend is a sprite he finds out, a few days after he helps it find the nest some others have built back in a patch of blackberry bushes a little ways away from his back yard. He’s not really sure how he feels about that—sprites aren’t supposed to be very friendly. That’s what he’s seen in cartoons and commercials and the safety lessons he has at school sometimes. Sprites are always mean and nasty in the TV shows, and the park ranger that came to his school at the beginning of the year to talk about lesser fae and magical creatures and how they should talk to them and treat them had a whole big lesson about sprites.

They’re dangerous. Not evil, Ranger Tammy was careful to say. But they don’t like humans very much—don’t even like other lesser fae and creatures that much—and they can play mean tricks on people. Sometimes they even steal people! Little kids, mostly, and he kind of got the feeling that the grownups all meant something else besides “steal” when they were talking about people who had disappeared when they messed around with sprites.

He'd been a little afraid when his new friend called itself a sprite, remembering how worried and angry the wisps had been when it first showed up. He’d stayed away from the woods behind their house, sticking to the front yard, playing with the wisps that always hung out in the trees on their street.

Wisps got bored quickly, though, no matter how much they liked him, and they couldn’t really talk to him. Same with the garden elves. The house across the street had a family of brownies that worked for them, but he hardly ever saw them outside. Maddie was so busy with school…she even had driving school, now! And his parents…

He’s lonely. Sometimes he feels like he’s always going to be lonely, no matter how many people are around him.

So when the sprite appears a few days after he first meets it, looking out at him from the bushes beside their driveway, he doesn’t go back inside. The wisps have lost interest in him for now, and there are no garden elves or other creatures around to talk to.

Ranger Tammy had said sprites weren’t evil…they were dangerous the same way a wild animal was dangerous. But this one hadn’t hurt him. None of the others in the nest he’d found had hurt him. Magical creatures always like him—even the ones that don’t have much to do with humans always like him.

He’s so lonely.

“Hi,” he says, looking around to see if anyone is watching him before crawling under the branches of the large bush, giggling when the leaves tickle his face.

The sprite hops backwards a few times, its wings flapping with a soft sound before settling in close to its back. It watches him without speaking, the ruby-red eyes glowing softly in the shadows. “Hello again,” it says, tapping its claws on the ground.

“Are you having a good time with your friends?” he asks, curling up to sit criss-cross-applesauce. The sprite tilts its head, frowning, before it flashes its teeth at him.

“Ah. Good time, yes. Letting me stay. It has been…a long time since I had a nest.”

“Oh. Didn’t your mom and dad have one?” He props his chin up in his hands, always curious about magical creatures and lesser fae.

The sprite snorts, a sound that might be a laugh hissing out between its teeth. “They did. Gone now. Cadre gone. Nest gone. For a long time. This cadre needs more members to grow strong. Convenient.” It looks off to the side, its wings drooping. “Nice,” it says softly.

“What’s a ca…dre?” he asks, stumbling over the new word. The sprite looks up at him, its tongue flicking out.

“Hmm. What we call ourselves when we are together. Used to be many. Hundreds. Thousands. Cadres are smaller now. Scattered.”

“Oh, like a family?” He perks up, thinking how nice it would be to have hundreds of people to come home to.

“Human word. But not wrong.” The sprite digs its claws into the dirt again, then takes a few slow hops toward him. It sniffs him, its wings flapping, and he almost wants to reach out and pet it. That would be really rude, though.

“Do you want to play with me?” he asks instead, hoping that the sprite actually wants to hang out for a little bit.

The sprite goes still, its tongue flicking out over its sharp, sharp teeth. “Play what?” it says in a curious voice, blinking up at him.

He shrugs. “I dunno…hide and seek?”

The sprite freezes again, before throwing its head back and letting out a wheezing laugh. “Hide and seek,” it repeats, its wings shaking. “Easy as that?” It takes a few more hops, backwards this time, and then narrows its glowing eyes at him. “Perhaps a trade…you hide. If I find, you answer a question.” It smiles at him again, that toothy grin that isn’t quite nice, but doesn’t make him feel scared. Still, he chews on his lip for a minute, thinking carefully.

It's not ever a good idea to trade anything with a creature or lesser fae. Most of them are perfectly safe, of course, but you can never be a hundred percent sure that you’re not dealing with one of the ones that want to trick you into giving away more than you think you are. He’s only six, but he knows that the right answer is ‘no, thank you, I don’t want to trade.’ But he also knows that most people don’t get along with creatures and lesser fae the way he does. He doesn’t really understand why, but he just knows, deep down in his bones, that magical creatures won’t ever hurt him.

“What kind of question?” he asks, still thinking.

The sprite’s sharp smile doesn’t fade. For a moment, it almost looks proud. “Would like to know you better. Your magic is very bright—would like to see how you use it. I will not harm you here, Evan Buckley. Give you my word.”

He is a lonely little boy, and he has never had to worry around a magical creature. It does not occur to him to question how the sprite knows his name, when names are so incredibly important in the world of magic. Nor does he notice the very specific phrasing in the sprite’s promise not to harm him. He grins at the sprite and scrambles out from under the bush.

“Count to twenty!” he shrieks and goes racing for the back yard.

*

The sprite plays with him almost every day for weeks and weeks. Hide and seek, tag, I Spy…it even tries to kick a soccer ball around with him, though that doesn’t exactly end well. Eventually, some of the other sprites from the nest start joining in their games, mostly younger ones. Well. He thinks they’re younger than his friend. They’re smaller and their wings aren’t quite as veiny and covered in scars. They don’t really talk to him, but their smiles are a little nicer than his friend’s. It’s really nice, knowing that there’s going to be somebody waiting to play with him as soon as he gets home from school every day.

His friend keeps up their deal at first—every time it finds him, or tags him, or beats him at any of their other games, it asks him questions about himself. It really does seem to be curious about his magic—how he casts different spells, what he can do without a spell, how strong his magic is. It watches him perform all sorts of magic, and that is also nice. Mom and Dad mostly try to get him to hide how strong his magic is, and while Maddie never tells him to hide, she also doesn’t really encourage him to use it outside of the house. He likes having someone who wants to see everything he can do. Eventually, though, his friend seems to run out of questions, and for a few days he’s afraid the sprites will stop playing with him.

His friend keeps showing up, though, always waiting for him somewhere out of the way and hidden while he puts his backpack up in his room and wanders into the kitchen to find whatever snack Maddie has left for him. Sometimes the sprite has to stay away while he greets the wisps and other creatures that are never far from his house…the wisps especially do not like the sprites. He feels a little bad about it, actually, and wishes all of them could get along together. Still, it’s not like the wisps are staying away from him—and he has so much fun with the sprites.

Everything is going fine. He’s even thinking about asking the sprites if he can introduce Maddie to them. He thinks Maddie would like to see how many new friends he’s made, and a part of him kind of hopes that if she knows how much fun he has with them, she’d like to join in. Maddie has been so busy lately—driver’s ed, and drama club, and studying, and hanging out with her friends at school. She still has time for him. Maddie will always have time for him—he knows that the same way he knows that he’s always safe around magical creatures. It’s something he knows all the way down to his bones, knows it so well that it’s a part of him. He’ll always have Maddie. Just…he doesn’t have her as much as he used to.

He is trying to think of the best way to ask his friend if he can bring Maddie the next time they meet up when he hears a strange shrieking sound. He freezes, looking wildly around the woods. They’re unusually empty for this time of day—usually the wisps and elementals that live in the trees and bushes around their house are waiting for him to come out and play when he gets back from school. But he doesn’t even see any birds or butterflies. His heart starts to speed up as the air splits with another awful shriek, and the air grows thick with magic. He almost turns around and runs back to the house…but the sounds are coming from the direction of the sprites’ nest.

His friend said the nest was expecting a clutch of eggs to hatch any day now—almost twenty of them. He’s not really sure, but the way his friend talks he kind of thinks that babies don’t happen very often for sprites, and even when they do, there aren’t usually so many. His friend and the others have been really nervous for the past few days as the eggs get closer and closer to hatching. They won’t tell him exactly why, but his friend said hatching time could be dangerous for the nest.

He bites his lip and starts forward, picking his way through the bushes and branches, following the tiny path that leads to the big tangle of bramble and thorns that the sprites live in. The feel of magic in the air gets thicker and thicker, so much that he can almost taste it on his tongue, feel it sliding down his throat. It’s wilder magic than he’s used to, feels older somehow. When he breaks through to the clearing the sprites built their nest in, he gasps, his eyes going wide and round.

The sprite nest—usually dry and dead-looking—is lit up from inside. The bright glow of magic, the same deep red as the sprites’ eyes, makes it look like the nest is burning. It’s kind of pretty, but also kind of scary looking, and he freezes again, just staring. He doesn’t know quite how many sprites live in the nest, but it looks like most of them are whirling through the air around it. Small bursts of red fly from their hands every few seconds, raining down on the sprite nest and making it glow brighter. The shrieking is coming from inside the nest, wild yelps and shouts that sound like something is being attacked. Several of them are scattered on the ground around the nest, panting hard, their wings flapping weakly as they try to get back up.

It takes a moment, but some of the sprites finally notice him. A few dart towards him, making the same shrieking noise he can hear inside the nest, shooing him away before wheeling off to rejoin the cloud of sprites whipping through the air. He takes a few stumbling steps backwards, almost turns to run again, when his friend suddenly swoops down out of the sky to land on the ground in front of him.

“You shouldn’t be here! It’s dangerous!” it hisses, and he’s almost too scared to notice that it sounds different than it usually does—clearer, more like a person. All the sprites talk to him in short, broken sentences, kind of like the garden elves. He stares at his friend in shock.

“What’s happening?” he squeaks, his eyes flying back to the cloud of sprites as the shrieks get louder. His friend takes a few quick hops back towards the nest, its wings flapping.

“The eggs are hatching,” it mumbles, and he thinks it looks…worried. Maybe even scared. “The young ones feed on the cadre’s magic when they hatch. Makes them strong, helps them grow.” It takes a few more steps towards the nest, shaking its head. “Cadre’s too small for all the hatchlings. There should be others around to help.” Its wings slump down. “Too few nests in the area…no help, most of the hatchlings will die.” His friend sounds so sad as it speaks, and he can’t help but think of the times it’s talked about how things used to be for sprites—how big their “cadres” would get, how many nests would be spread all over the place.

The sprites have been so excited to have such a big clutch of eggs, but now he understands why they’ve been so nervous, too. It sounds like most of the baby sprites aren’t going to make it. He looks around as a few more sprites drop to the ground, now realizing they must be exhausted from trying to feed all the babies. He doesn’t know if sprites can get backlash shock or anything, but it looks like they’re wearing themselves out trying to help the eggs hatch.

His magic itches under his skin, a strange feeling shivering through him. Weirdly, he feels like someone is laughing at him. The way Maddie does when he says or does something she thinks is cute—so fond and warm that he doesn’t even mind that she’s laughing at him.

He can do it if he likes; it’s his choice.

He doesn’t know where the thought comes from…or why it suddenly feels like he has permission for something. But he finds himself taking a slow step towards his friend.

“Can I help?” he asks, shrinking back when his friend whirls around on him. He licks his lips and tries to make his voice sound tougher. More sure. “I want to help. I have lots of magic! I can…I think I can…” He holds his hand out, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to push his magic towards the nest, tries to make it into a ball of power like the sprites are all throwing. When he opens his eyes again, there’s a small, wavery orb of gold light floating over his palm. His friend stares at it with wide eyes.

“You would…share?” it asks, creeping closer to him. It sounds shocked, like it can’t even understand why he would say something like that. That makes him even sadder.

“Yeah,” he says, holding his hand out. He tries to concentrate really hard, tries to pull more magic into the little ball, make it bigger. Like it always does, his magic seems to realize what he wants to do and he feels a surge of power as the ball grows brighter. Stronger. His friend blinks, looking back between him and the nest a few times, as though it’s checking to see if they are being watched. Then it leaps up into the air, fluttering around him before landing on his shoulder.

“Yes. Yes…please,” it says, its claws digging into his shirt, its wings brushing against the side of his face. It makes a strange sound, almost like a bird call, and a bunch of the sprites in the air turn to look at them. “The nest,” his friend whispers. “Just guide your power to the nest—the others will do the rest.”

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Just gonna say it (cause no, I would never comment on it in specific stories).

WHY IS EVERYONE SO OBSESSED WITH DESCRIBING A STRING OF SPIT CONNECTING THE LIPS WHEN THE CHARACTERS STOP KISSING??????

It's the new tongues "battling for dominance" and I just don't get it.

Though obviously, if that's your jam, go for it.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

So, bit personal, but a few months ago I ended up taking one of my students and their little sibling in as foster kids. My state lets teachers count as kinship guardians so I didn't go through any classes or licensing. We found out that my student was going to be placed in another city, separate from their sibling and I just couldn't let it happen. Literally went from "can I get an emergency foster license" to "you now have a preteen and a preschooler in your house" in like a week. And it's been weird, kinda awkward, and mostly wonderful. Today we had court and they were returned to their parent's custody. And, 100%, I support that. Their parent has done the work to be safe for them again (it's been about a year-long process...I was an actual emergency placement). Their caseworker feels good about it, their GAL feels good about it, I feel good about it. Reunification was always the goal and I'm so happy for them. But I'm also really fucking sad that they won't be here anymore. I dunno, it's been such a mixed emotion day. I've always thought that I might like to be a foster parent, but if it's this hard when it was a completely positive outcome, I don't know if I could handle it if it was a harder situation.

Just screaming into the void, honestly. I'm totally sure it was the right thing for all involved, but I'm going to miss them SO much.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

I...you know what? Great acting, the Buddie/Chris scenes gutted me, and I literally shrieked with delighted laughter at "God I hope so" (look, Buddie is my ride or die, but I am thoroughly enjoying the detour into Tevan). But honestly? This episode felt rushed as fuck. Nothing felt tense or impactful, nothing felt cathartic. Just....very fast.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Well, THIS will be an interesting summer on ao3 according to my dash!

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

very funny that in the same episode, we got:

Chim @ Gerrard: go suck a dick 🙄 (derogatory)

Bobby @ Buck: go suck a dick ☺️ (affectionate)

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Heartbreaking: This person is making great points but they're being a huge fucking asshole about it so you can't reblog any of it

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buck texting tommy after finding out about doppel!shannon: you will not believe the hetero bullshit eddie is pulling tommy: babe it's 2am, and that's not even how it works buck: he's cheating on his girlfriend with a woman that looks just like his dead wife tommy: what in the hetero--

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

buck taking care of christopher while eddie cheats...bro why does it feel like BUCK is the wife being cheated on

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

So I know everyone is going all Sherlock about those BTS stills from the finale where a whole ass building is on fire, and prevailing theories are that it's Buck's apartment or the firehouse (I personally think it looks too warehousey for either location, but I also don't know anything about how sets work so there's that) and that it's a revenge plot on Bobby.

I kinda can't decide which location I would like more. Like...burning down the 118? Would absolutely gut Bobby, give us some amazing impetus for that relapse storyline they've never quite pulled the trigger on (not that I want Bobby to relapse, I just think Peter Krause is overdue a big, meaty storyline like that). Could also set up some great drama with the 118 having to be temporarily reassigned to all different firehouses going into season 8.

On the other hand...Buck has had a very pleasant and (for him) drama-free season (not belittling the impact of discovering your sexuality later in life, just compared to all the ways that storyline could have gone, it was SUPER smooth for him) and when has that ever happened? Bobby being sure Athena, May, or Harry were targets only.for it to be his surrogate son hits the Buck-Bobby-family feels juuuuuuuuust right, and hey, that also leaves some interesting openings for season 8: does he jump into moving in with Tommy too soon and create friction in that relationship? Does he go stay with Eddie and that's how the cheating and Divorce Era 2: Electric Boogaloo starts?

A secret third option that no one has thought of yet? I'm so excited.

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

I love all the hints they've woven through the narrative that Buck is a: fucking bisexual and b: kind of a kinky motherfucker

I’ve tried everything. Not everything. 

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

so, eddie left his son with his husband to go cheat on his girlfriend with his wife ??

[totallyjustabunchofhocuspocus]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #16

April 26-May 3 2024

President Biden announced $3 billion to help replace lead pipes in the drinking water system. Millions of Americans get their drinking water through lead pipes, which are toxic, no level of lead exposure is safe. This problem disproportionately affects people of color and low income communities. This first investment of a planned $15 billion will replace 1.7 million lead pipe lines. The Biden Administration plans to replace all lead pipes in the country by the end of the decade.

President Biden canceled the student debt of 317,000 former students of a fraudulent for-profit college system. The Art Institutes was a for-profit system of dozens of schools offering degrees in video-game design and other arts. After years of legal troubles around misleading students and falsifying data the last AI schools closed abruptly without warning in September last year. This adds to the $29 billion in debt for 1.7 borrowers who wee mislead and defrauded by their schools which the Biden Administration has done, and a total debt relief for 4.6 million borrowers so far under Biden.

President Biden expanded two California national monuments protecting thousands of acres of land. The two national monuments are the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, which are being expanded by 120,000 acres. The new protections cover lands of cultural and religious importance to a number of California based native communities. This expansion was first proposed by then Senator Kamala Harris in 2018 as part of a wide ranging plan to expand and protect public land in California. This expansion is part of the Administration's goals to protect, conserve, and restore at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.

The Department of Transportation announced new rules that will require car manufacturers to install automatic braking systems in new cars. Starting in 2029 all new cars will be required to have systems to detect pedestrians and automatically apply the breaks in an emergency. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration projects this new rule will save 360 lives every year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually.

The IRS announced plans to ramp up audits on the wealthiest Americans. The IRS plans on increasing its audit rate on taxpayers who make over $10 million a year. After decades of Republicans in Congress cutting IRS funding to protect wealthy tax cheats the Biden Administration passed $80 billion for tougher enforcement on the wealthy. The IRS has been able to collect just in one year $500 Million in undisputed but unpaid back taxes from wealthy households, and shows a rise of $31 billion from audits in the 2023 tax year. The IRS also announced its free direct file pilot program was a smashing success. The program allowed tax payers across 12 states to file directly for free with the IRS over the internet. The IRS announced that 140,000 tax payers were able to use it over their target of 100,000, they estimated it saved $5.6 million in tax prep fees, over 90% of users were happy with the webpage and reported it quicker and easier than companies like H&R Block. the IRS plans to bring direct file nationwide next year.

The Department of Interior announced plans for new off shore wind power. The two new sites, off the coast of Oregon and in the Gulf of Maine, would together generate 18 gigawatts of totally clean energy, enough to power 6 million homes.

The Biden Administration announced new rules to finally allow DACA recipients to be covered by Obamacare. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an Obama era policy that allows people brought to the United States as children without legal status to remain and to legally work. However for years DACA recipients have not been able to get health coverage through the Obamacare Health Care Marketplace. This rule change will bring health coverage to at least 100,000 uninsured people.

The Department of Health and Human Services finalized rules that require LGBTQ+ and Intersex minors in the foster care system be placed in supportive and affirming homes.

The Senate confirmed Georgia Alexakis to a life time federal judgeship in Illinois. This brings the total number of federal judges appointed by President Biden to 194. For the first time in history the majority of a President's nominees to the federal bench have not been white men.

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Tonight, we remember one who lent his enormous talent to telling the story we have all come to love. Hail, the victorious dead!

May the Simbelmynë cover his tomb as it did the tomb of the one he so accurately portrayed.

Bernard Hill Dec 17, 1944 - May 5, 2024