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lovedrunkheadcanons · 11 months

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WARNINGS: Gojo Satoru x Female OC, fluff, cuteness, comfort, established relationship, marriage, Hannah gets naked, Hannah’s a cute and adorable drunk, husband+wife.

SUMMARY: Shoko and Utahime take Hannah out drinking and she comes back home totally sloshed. It’s both adorable and amusing, until Hannah decides clothing is optional — Oh, and Makoto is out of town, leaving Satoru to look after his drunk-ass wife by himself. Mild hilarity ensues...and fluff.(Takes place between Ch. 20 and Ch. 21. Satoru and Hannah have not consummated their marriage fyi).

Read oneshot on AO3

Prequel: Gojo Takes a Wife (also on AO3).

Well, it’s official.

Satoru was never letting Shoko and Utahime take his wife out drinking again.

“Can we go to Disneyland? I’ve been wanting you to take me foreeeever.”

She had been this way going on five minutes now.

Gojo suspected it was Utahime’s marvelous idea to get Hannah roaring drunk, and since she and Shoko had declared the outing a “girls’ night” he had not been invited to come. Maybe then his wife wouldn’t have stumbled through the front door, blowing three sheets to the wind. The two conniving women responsible for her insobriety left without so much as a “Thanks for letting us borrow her, Gojo. She’s yours again, bye.”

Yup, that she most certainly was.

“I wanna go to Disneyland,” Hannah persisted, singing and twirling around the genkan, the skirt of her dress picking up and flying. “I know you~ I walked with you,” she hiccuped, “once upon a dreeeeeam…”

The clock read 2 AM. Disneyland had been closed for the past four hours.

Rarely did Satoru find himself home alone like this. As it were, Makoto’s much older brother had fallen seriously ill and with no wife or caretaker to look after him, she had left for Osaka immediately and wasn’t expected to return for a few more days. Satoru had waited all night for Hannah to come home. Now having returned in her drunken state, Makoto’s absence felt sorely missed.

“Sure thing, Sleeping Beauty. Buying us season passes now.” He slid open another door for her, following close behind so she didn’t accidentally kill herself.

She couldn’t walk in a straight line, wobbling down the hall like a dawdling penguin after being weeks out at sea, hunting for fish. He was afraid she’d trip and crack her skull or something, then they’d really be in a pickle. Hannah was short footed (when sober) to begin with. Hooking his fingers into the gold circular handle, he slid open another door for her.

Until very recently, Satoru didn’t see any compelling reason to chain himself to a single person for the rest of his life; Marriage was nothing more than a legal contract needed to continue his family’s bloodline, a necessary evil. But it had occurred to him lately that perhaps marriage had something more to offer. Companionship being one.

From the time he was a boy the Gojo house had always been a cold and empty place, with its miles of tatami and infinite paneled box rooms. This grand, noble house that was once inhabited by samurai. A house where a younger, sprier Makoto would chase him endlessly down the halls as a child, urging him to take a bath. Where he would spend his days studying and training, his many toys littering the parlor floor, with no one but himself to play with. Where for the longest time he had been forbidden to venture from its palatial gates. A gilded cage was still a cage. Hannah’s presence made this childhood prison feel like home, pushing away the clouded loneliness like warm, bright sunshine. If she asked him to jump, he’d say how high. If she ordered him to dig a hole all the way to China, he’d grab the nearest trowel and start digging. And if she needed assistance getting her drunk, sorry ass back to her bedroom because she was in no condition to ask, he would do that too.

Did that make him whipped? Certainly.

Was he upset about it? Absolutely not.

It took a lifetime to cross the end of the hall. Keeping her balanced on his arm, Satoru reached out to finger a trailing lock of her auburn hair, tucking the strand behind her ear. Upon departing with Utahime and Shoko, it had been woven in a long braid, now it hung past her hips like a curtain. She wasn’t paying attention to his fingers. Satoru had never thought of himself as a particularly soft guy, but lately he found it irresistible not to reach out and touch her when she was near. Who knew the simplest contact would derive such undiluted pleasure? Confessing his feelings to her in the butsudan room not long ago only enhanced the effect.

“Doth think thou hath had too much, m’lady.” he teased in old English.

“Thou hath — hiccup — not,” she definitively answered back.

He chuckled. Her hiccups were adorable, but it still had him concerned.

“Dear god, how much did they let you have?”

“Hehe, you said ‘God,’” she giggled, evading his query. “I thought you didn’t believe in God?”

“Freudian slip,” he sighed admittedly. Ever since she had come to live with him he’d picked up on some of her speech. “Now move it, missy. Sleep is that way — no, left, Princess. Your bedroom is down here to the left, remember?” He grabbed hold of her shoulders and gently steered her in the opposite direction, prompting a soft “Fuckin’ hell,” to exit his lips, which Hannah caught.

“Fuck? We haven’t done that yet. Is that what we’re going to do?”

“Huh? Of course n — ”

“Okay!!”

Spoke too late.

In the almost four months they’d been married - which was also the same time they’d known each other - Hannah had never cursed. Not once, and yet she had uttered the explicative like it was the most natural thing, prompting her to take the hem of her dress without a care in the world. He watched her hoist the fabric past her bare thighs, up her waist, and proceed to flash him in her lacey pink panties. One last yank and the dress was gone.

And not three seconds later so too was her bra.

“Weeeeeee.”

Satoru swallowed hard, eyes glued to the floor, Hannah’s undergarment laying forgotten in the corner. His face felt hot. Either he was the luckiest man alive or the most screwed over, wondering whether this was retribution for his misdeeds in the past. He had made good on his promise after the New National Theater not to see underneath her clothing. In fact he hadn’t ogled her naked body or stolen a peek of her bathing since then, but Hannah twirling down the hallway with nothing on except her panties made that frustratingly impossible. He was eating a huge, stinking pile of crow just now, watching her well-developed titties bounce up and down, free from any restraint, as she swayed to the imaginary music playing in her head like a tipsy ballerina. Goddammit. Utahime and Shoko were going to pay.

“Satoruuu,” she beckoned, letting out a bubbly laugh. “Hurry up, slow poke, we’re almost there.” She was still convinced they were going to Disneyland.

Fat chance of that happening.

Satoru grumbled incoherently as he trailed slowly behind. “Yeah, yeah. I’m coming, I’m coming.”

But she bounded back towards him like a Labrador puppy. Satoru caught her in his arms as she seized a hold of his shirt, “Fancy a kiss?” she asked, then took his mouth for her own, French and all. Satoru froze there on the spot, dumbfounded. As far as kisses went, her form was rather sloppy. She probably had no idea what she was doing, but he could taste the lingering agave on her tongue, on her breath. Tequila. So that was the culprit, he thought. He knew the flavor from his early days experimenting with alcohol before discovering he couldn't drink liquor to save his life. Yet the taste of her strangely aroused him. His pants suddenly grew tight, blood drawing further south towards his groin. He wanted to feel her arms wrap around him, her fingernails digging into his shoulder blades, her thighs writhing against his hips. He had to put an end to this.

Stop.

Satoru grabbed both her arms and broke away from the kiss. Hannah stared up at him, seemingly puzzled by his refusal to comply and smooshed her breasts against him, “Don’t you want me?” she pouted, hurt evident in her slurred voice. He could feel her pink nipples percolating through his shirt like tiny rose buds.

What on earth was she saying? Of course he wanted her. He wanted her more than anything in the whole universe. Gaping down at her ample bosom, he could tell by eye-balling them that each breast would fit nicely inside his palm; not too big, not too small, soft and round. Just right.

You could do it, Satoru, the perverted thought tempted. You could give them a good, harmless jiggle. What would it hurt? You’re married. She’s drunk off her rocker and won’t remember a thing at this stage. But logic prevailed. No, he was not going to fondle her breasts, regardless of whether they were ripe for the taking. It was wrong. He vowed to be her husband and protector, not her master. She wasn’t in her right mind. Alcohol had taken over. This wasn’t the Hannah he loved.

Granted permission from her to enter her chambers, the protective seal “unlocked,” and Satoru parted the fusuma doors, adorned with blooming paulownia trees and silver foil, and tugged her gently by the arm, pulling her inside. He guided her to sit on the plush futon (they really needed to invest in getting her a real bed) and told her to stay put. Situated on the bedding, Hannah examined her surroundings. “Wait a minute. This doesn’t look like Disneyland,” but Satoru wasn’t listening as he darted out the room. When he returned he was holding a full glass and some melatonin tablets.

“Here, drink this,” he said, offering the glass.

“Why? Is it more tequila?”

“Yeah, top shelf. Just for you.” He watched her eagerly down the water in one gulp, and then handed her the melatonin tablets that would rapidly dissolve on her tongue. Five mg should do the trick. He didn’t want to give her too much with the alcohol coursing through her bloodstream.

Satoru gave no time for pause as he strided into her closet next and hastily rummaged through her drawers, searching for where Makoto kept her nightgowns with the use of the Six Eyes. So many drawers. At least she wasn’t talking about sex anymore, he thought. Thank goodness. Milliseconds later he found the gowns in the bottommost chest to the right. He got one out and sauntered back.

“Alright, now put this on.”

Hannah looked at the gown as though he were a parent telling her to eat her vegetables. She crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks, turning away.

“No.”

Satoru blinked.

“Put the nightgown on, Hannah.”

She stuck out her tongue.

“Make me.”

Satoru closed his eyes against a surge of impatience. Since when did he become the adult in this relationship?

“Hannah, it’s too fucking late for this crap. I doubt you’ll remember anything in the morning.” He knew she was gonna wake up with the worst hangover, and he was beginning to feel indecent from staring at her chest. The sooner she fell asleep the better off they’d both be. “So put the stupid nightgown on…please.”

To his relief, the melatonin seemed to have finally kicked in. He noticed the way her hazel eyes drooped along with her head, bobbing up and down to keep her posture upright. Hannah stifled a cute little yawn. Without making any more fuss, she dazedly stood up from the futon and raised her arms for him to slip the blue silk atop her shoulders, clothing her breasts and allowing him to slide her dainty arms through the spaghetti straps. The skirt fell right above her knees. Mission accomplished.

Rubbing her eyelids, Hannah plopped back on the futon with a “whoosh” and turned to rest her head on the pillow. Her husband knelt down to settle her inside and pulled the covers on top of her.

“Satoru,” she mumbled, a small smile gracing her lips as her eyes flitted closed. “Disney...land...”

The Six Eyes wielder couldn’t hide his own smile. They were gonna laugh about this one day.

“You’re truly something else, Princess,” he softly chuckled. “You know that?”

Hannah didn’t stir, the melatonin having succeeded in putting her to sleep. He could hear her gentle snores wisp in and out, and bent down to press a secret kiss to her crown.

He would leave her door ajar to check up on her throughout the night, but for now he would leave his wife to dream.

“Sleep well, my hana-chan.”

#jujutsu kaisen #satoru x oc #satoru gojo x oc #jjk oneshot #gojo satoru #jjk fanfic #oneshot #gojo takes a wife #gojo satoru x female reader #jjk #satoru gojo #gojo x oc #drinking #alcohol #girls night #romance #fluff

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mariacallous · 3 months

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In October, Melissa began an in vitro fertilization cycle. A resident of Birmingham, Alabama, her fertility journey to that point had been not just difficult, but harrowing—earlier that year, she had nearly bled to death during a procedure to resolve a second-trimester miscarriage. When the IVF process yielded just a single viable embryo, she had it frozen, and a few months later started another cycle. “It’s very easy to lose an embryo,” she says. “This is such a delicate process.”

Melissa has a daughter, born when she was younger, but IVF represents her best and last chance to grow her family. After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled last week that embryos are children, all of that is now on hold.

WIRED spoke with three women directly affected by the Alabama Supreme Court’s February 16 ruling, which stated that embryos are “unborn children … without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics.” Fearing legal liability given the broad scope of the language, several of the state’s most prominent IVF providers—including the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama Fertility, and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Mobile Infirmary—have paused treatments. That means patients like Melissa, who is going by a pseudonym given the sensitivity of the topic, are stuck in limbo, and in some cases running out of options.

“I’m rapidly losing time,” says Melissa. The 37-year-old has an autoimmune disorder that she needs to plan IVF cycles around; her ovarian reserves are low enough that her doctors say she has a window of a month, maybe two, to try again. If the ruling holds for much longer, she may not have another chance.

During IVF, patients take hormone-stimulating medications to trigger their ovaries to release mature eggs. The eggs are then retrieved with a small needle and fertilized with sperm in a lab to form embryos. Sometimes a successful IVF cycle can result in several embryos, but doctors typically transfer just one or two into the uterus at a time. Success isn’t promised; about one in three embryo transfers results in pregnancy.

That makes Melissa’s situation especially urgent. There’s no guarantee that her one embryo will result in a birth. But the ruling has disrupted the lives of women at every stage of treatment.

Lochrane Chase started IVF in August, after nearly a year of trying to get pregnant and using less intrusive fertility treatments, such as ovarian stimulation. The 36-year-old Birmingham native was able to freeze and store over two dozen embryos, of which several appeared viable after genetic screening. An embryo transfer in October resulted in a pregnancy, but Lochrane miscarried a few days later. “It was the saddest I’ve ever been in my life,” she says. She tried again in December; again, she miscarried.

Before another scheduled transfer in January, her doctor noticed fluid in her uterine lining; Lochrane underwent surgery in mid-February to address the issue, and scheduled another embryo transfer for March 18. Despite the uncertainty caused by the ruling, she has started taking the necessary hormones anyway in hopes that the situation resolves by then. If not, the medications would have been for nothing, and she’ll be left with no way forward.

That’s due in part to the severity of the new restrictions on embryos in Alabama. Both Melissa and Lochrane looked into getting treatment out of state as soon as the ruling came down, but quickly found that was an unworkable solution. Companies that transport embryos have paused shipping out of the state while assessing the legal risks associated with the ruling. In a statement emailed to WIRED, a representative from the University of Alabama at Birmingham said the health system is working to identify a company that is willing and able to transport their embryos to another facility as soon as possible: “It is our goal to help patients who are interested in this option do so safely, but—at this time—there are no options available.”

Even if patients could transport their embryos, IVF treatment often requires close proximity with the health care provider, making it infeasible for many.

“You have to do blood work every three days. You have to do ultrasounds. To travel to go do that, it’s almost impossible,” says Melissa. Within 24 hours of finding out that her treatment would be affected, Lochrane had made contact with clinics in Boston, Atlanta, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina—conversations that ended when embryo transportation shut down.

The impact is one of lost time and opportunity, but also of cost. Lochrane says she and her husband have spent $50,000 on fertility treatments so far. Each transfer costs $3,500; each round of medication another $500 or so. For Paula, a 38-year-old Birmingham resident, the bulk of her expenses are carried by Progyny, a fertility insurance company that she has access to through her husband’s job.

Paula, who also asked to use a pseudonym, has already undergone one embryo transfer, in April of last year. It resulted in a miscarriage. She now has three frozen embryos left, and had gotten authorization from Progyny earlier this year to attempt another transfer. That authorization has a three-month window, which expires on March 28. “The concern is, if we don’t do it before March 28, will our insurance do another authorization for us, because we live in Alabama?” she says. “It’s been very stressful. My blood pressure has been through the roof.”

In an emailed statement to WIRED, Progyny CEO Pete Anevski said that health care providers “can shift the authorization as needed,” and that the company “will continue to support its member patients and its network providers in Alabama.”

That support can only go so far, though, as long as the Alabama Supreme Court ruling persists. While all three women have frozen embryos, even that practice may be at risk. One of the many uncertainties of the ruling is whether freezing of embryos will be able to continue. “The cryopreservation of fertilized eggs is an essential component of infertility care at this point, and that whole enterprise is very much threatened,” says Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a professional organization that represents fertility specialists. Using frozen embryos for IVF is not only safe but has a higher success rate than fresh embryos.

It’s also unclear how the ruling will impact the egg retrieval process. About five to six days after fertilization, an early-stage embryo, called a blastocyst, forms. But not every fertilized egg goes on to develop into an embryo. This happens naturally, as well as in IVF labs. Under the Alabama ruling, this scenario could also open up a clinic to a potential lawsuit. “With this legal ruling, the question is, if an embryo fails to develop, will these health care providers be found liable for wrongful death or murder or manslaughter?” says Betsy Campbell, chief engagement officer at Resolve, an infertility nonprofit association based in McLean, Virginia.

In a Facebook post, Alabama Fertility Specialists said it is putting new IVF treatments on hold “due to the legal risk to our clinic and our embryologists,” and is contacting affected patients.

In a statement emailed to WIRED, the University of Alabama at Birmingham said its Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility is pausing egg fertilization and embryo development because of “the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments.”

The patients whom WIRED spoke with all shared a sense of crushing uncertainty and anger.

“People don’t understand that when you’re put in a position to make decisions like [IVF treatment], you don’t make it lightly,” says Melissa. “That it sticks with you forever. That it changes you. To have laws that prevent you from making decisions that—as gut-wrenching as they are, as hard as they are—that you can’t make them for the health of your family, it’s an indescribable feeling.”

Even Lochrane, a lifelong Alabama resident, says that the ruling has made her seriously consider leaving. “I feel so powerless in this state,” she says. Lochrane is on the board of local nonprofits, serves as a deacon in her church, and is deeply involved with numerous civic organizations. Her family is here, as are her friends. Still, she says, the last week has dramatically shifted her perspective. “If I could move to Boston and have an opportunity to have a family there but not in Birmingham,” she says, “I would be at the airport now.”

IVF providers, patients, and advocates are hoping that the Alabama legislature could allow IVF to continue in the state. Last week, Alabama House minority leader Anthony Daniels, a Democrat, introduced a bill that would establish that a “fertilized human egg or human embryo that exists outside of a human uterus is not considered an unborn child or human being” under state law. Republican lawmakers are also expected to introduce similar legislation soon.

“We’re hopeful that there will be a legislative fix,” Campbell says. How long that fix takes, though, will have life-altering consequences for many Alabama IVF patients. And if it doesn’t materialize, most will be left with no options at all.

“We have healthy embryos,” says Lochrane. “We just want to be able to have children.”

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madnessformunson · 2 years

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Double Daddy Part 4

Warnings: pregnancy, vomiting, mean girl shit, Eddie being an asshole, Robin is being the sweetest, fighting, angst

I didn’t have a a whole lot of Chrissy/Eddie/reader interaction in this one but don’t worry it’s coming 🫣

Part 5

You felt like there was no way you could finish the school day but you also know that going back home wasn’t the best option either. You decided to stick it out at school, stay low and then catch a ride home with Steve and Robin. The day was going by painfully slow. As you sat in Mrs. Click’s class, a class you unfortunately had with Eddie and Chrissy but thankfully Robin as well, you started getting a nauseous feeling in your belly. You tried focusing on your breathing but it wasn’t working. You knew it wasn’t long until you vomited. You raised your hand up and quietly cleared your throat so Mrs Click would stop rambling.

“Yes Miss Hopper? Is this important, I’m right in the middle of a lesson” Mrs Click stated as she turned to face the class instead of the chalkboard.

“Uh yeah I was hoping I could use the restroom” you said trying to force out a smile as you felt the stomach acid coming up into your throat.

“Only if you have any bathroom passes left in your notebook” she said with an annoying smile.

A bathroom pass? Really? We were all almost legal adults here.

“No I don’t but this really can’t-“ you started until Mrs. Click cut you off.

“Well unfortunately you will have to wait until the bell rings” she turned back towards the chalkboard as you heard some chuckles coming from where Chrissy was sitting. Your face got hot with anger, no way were you going to make it until the bell rang. As you continued to feel the bile from your stomach rise, you got up from your desk covering your mouth and you ran as fast as you could to the nearest bathroom. You could hear Mrs Click yelling your name as you ran out the classroom but you didn’t care, it was either get in trouble or vomit all over the floor in the room and you weren’t about to embarrass yourself any further today.

Robin came into the restroom a few moments later, your things with her as she knocked 3 times on the bathroom stall, “y/n/n? Are you there? I grabbed your stuff for you” you leaned forward, unlocking the stall door. Your face was blotchy with red and you could definitely tell you had been crying.

“Aww sweeties, it’s ok. I got your stuff and Mrs. Click said if you go to the nurse and get a note she will excuse this.” Robin said she rubbed the top of your back. Tears filled your eyes again and you sobbed to her “I told Eddie this morning that I was pregnant and he-he didn’t be-believe me”

“What? Why wouldn’t he believe you?”

“He said I’m-I’m lying, Chrissy told him that I would lie about it to get the attention off of her” you choked out.

“Well I will go talk to Muson right now! This is ridiculous, he isn’t going to get away with this” Robin was clearly upset and making her way to exit the stall before you grabbed onto her arm “forget it, Robin, if he wants to act like this let him. I thought about all my options. Joyce is going to help me make a doctor's appointment but I think I’m going to have the baby and then place him or her for adoption. Joyce has a really nice younger sister who has been trying for years to get pregnant, I can still see the baby and everything…” you said with more tears coming down.

“Is this what you want y/n?” Robin question

“It’s what’s best. For everyone that’s involved.” You stated.

Robin helped you up and escorted you to the nurses office. The nurse let you lay down and sip some Ginger ale while you waited for your dad to pick up the phone. Robin headed back to her locker to get ready for the next class when Eddie approached her.

“Uh hey Robin…” Eddie said as he twisted up the bottom on his hellfire shirt.

“Go away Edward” Robin said full of sass, as she turned to leave.

“Hold on just one second, is y/n ok?” He said as he pulled on her forearm. She turned to face him, shaking off the grip he had on her.

“Of course not Dingus, she’s embarrassed and confused… she went to you for help and you made her feel even worse” Robin was pissed. She was trying to keep her voice down since you didn’t exactly want the whole school to know about your pregnancy.

“I’m just confused alright! We always were careful, and I know she was acting strange when I started hanging around Chrissy so I just figured she was trying to get back at me somehow” Eddie looked a little defeated as he spoke.

“All I know Eddie is that I was with y/n when she took the tests, so I know for a fact she isn’t lying. I’m not sure who can say the same thing about Chrissy” Robin said as she gathered her last few things and started walking down the hallway.

Eddie just stood there even more confused than before.

A girl on the cheer team said that Chrissy called her right after she found out, he didn’t suspect she was the one lying.

Your dad showed up in the doorway of the nurses office to get you. You were almost asleep on the hard pull out cushions when you heard him walk in.

“You ready to go y/n?”

“Yeah” you said as you got up slowly pulling your backpack on.

“Um Mr.Hopper, in order for your daughter to return to school tomorrow she will need a doctor's note, school protocol” the nurse said, not looking up from files.

“Um yeah I gue-“ Hopper started before you cut him off

“I'm pregnant Nurse Gwen, not sick so I’m fine”

“Um oh ok then I’ll just add that to your chart” the nurse looked very concerned. Your dad just stood there, staring blankly at you.

“Everyone’s going to find out at some point dad, it’s gonna be pretty hard to hide it. Come on I really want to go home” you said as you yanked on your dad's arm.

You both walk out to his truck and hop in. This is the longest you have gone without fighting for days now. The ride was silent for most of it until your dad cleared his throat, “you know y/n you can’t miss every single time you get sick, you are gonna have to stick it out. You will miss plenty of school once the baby is born” the thought of that made you cringe. Not that you didn’t love the baby or want the baby, but honestly you haven’t put much thought into the after pregnancy part.

“Yeah I know dad, I won’t miss anymore. I wouldn’t want to be a failure and drop out of high school” you said as you rolled your eyes almost immediately regretting the statement.

“I didn’t mean it like that y/n and you know that. You need to start thinking of a plan. Have you told the dad yet? Whatever you guys decide to do I think it’s a good idea we all meet up and have a conversation. Just so everyone’s on the same page”

You rolled your eyes “yeah I told him dad, he doesn’t want anything to do with it”

Hopper let out a big sigh. “What happened”

“Don’t want to talk about it”

Hopper decided to let it slide just to avoid another screaming battle between the two of you.

Robin told you about her conversation with Eddie and you were a little upset with her. You didn’t want him around you, still super upset with how he treated you when you first told him your pregnancy.

As you were at your locker, feeling nauseous as ever but trying to push past it you hear whispers coming from Chrissy and her friend Amy. They were pointing and laughing at you. You had enough. You slammed your locker shut and made your way over to where Chrissy stood.

“What the hell is your problem Chrissy?” You yelled out toward her, gaining the attention of the other students.

“What, me? Nothing except the fact that you are such a good liar. Still trying to convince Eddie that you are actually pregnant with his baby when you know I am”

“We both know you are the one making it up!” You yelled as you shoved her, she fell against the locker just as Eddie was walking up.

“What the hell is going on y/n? Are you crazy!” He yelled at you as he helped Chrissy stand up. She was cradling her flat stomach acting as if you really meant to hurt her or her possible baby.

“I-I didn’t mean too, she was just talking shit about me and-“

“Save it y/n!”

“Ed-Eddie, she tried to hurt our baby, she pushed me so hard” Chrissy started to cry to the best of her abilities.

Eddie was holding Chrissy closely, checking over her to make sure no harm was done.

“I’m so scared she’ll hurt our baby Ed, she needs to stay away from us!” Chrissy cried out as a teacher came out of the classroom.

“What is going on out here? Everyone to class now!”

“Y/n went crazy and pushed me Miss!” Chrissy sobbed out.

The teacher told Eddie to take Chrissy to the nurses office and she told you to head to the principal's office.

Eddie picked up Chrissy’s bag and headed to the nurses office with her and he never even bothered to look up at you in the process.

You didn’t get in too much trouble but the office did call your dad to let him know about the “fight” and they informed him you would need to be in Detention for the rest of the week as well as write an apology to Chrissy.

Your dad wasn’t too happy to receive that phone call at work.

A few days passed. Nothing major happened, Eddie still avoiding you and was glued to Chrissy’s side. Your dad scolded you for getting into trouble yet again. Robin helped you any way she could at school and when you weren’t at school you locked yourself away in your bedroom. Listening to The Beatles as loud as you possibly could.

“Come on y/n! Joyce and the boys brought dinner, come down and spend some time with everyone!” Your dad yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

“No thanks!” You yelled back down.

“Y/N!” He yelled back.

You knew you wouldn’t win so you gave up deciding to come down and eat something.

You slowly made your way down the stairs and Joyce came around the corner to embrace you. “Oh y/n I’ve missed you dear, what’s been going on? How are you feeling?”

“Like absolute shit, thanks.” You replied.

“Y/N!” Hopper yelled through his teeth, clearly not pleased with your response. You shrugged and Joyce gently hit Hopper's arm silently telling him to knock it off.

“So did Eddie-“ Hopper started to say only to get cut off by you screaming “you blabbed Jonathan! Jesus you are so dead!” As you leaped over the table to take him down.

El used her powers to hold you back, food flying everywhere.

Jonathan sat at the table with his hands up in defense “I swear y/n I didn’t say anything to anyone!” Hopper and Joyce sit in disbelief as they watch the horror show that is happening in front of them. Will continues to eat his dinner, enjoying the show.

“Y/N HOPPER WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!” Hopper finally yelled as he came to reality.

El stopped using her powers and pushing you down onto your chair with your arms crossed.

“I was asking if Eddie talked to his uncle about coming over to look at our Furnace yet!”

“Oh” you said as you sunk into your seat a bit. “Sorry”

“You nearly killed me and all you can say is SORRY?!” Jonathan yelled in your direction, his face was beet red.

“I’m so very sorry?” You said, it came out as more of a question as you started to fill your plate with whatever food was left in the serving plates.

“What a second” Hopper said as he finished processing what happened “Eddie is the father of your baby?”

You thought it was best to not reply.

“All the times he was over here and you said not to worry because there is no way you would do anything with him was a lie? YOU DIDN'T RESPECT MY 3 INCH RULE!”

Oh he was pissed. You were in for it now. You just continued to eat, not making any eye contact with anyone at the table.

“You are in big trouble young lady and I mean big trouble”

El and Will started to giggle, trying their best to hide it. You glared in their direction.

“I don’t know how I could get into anymore trouble dad, I’m grounded from everything including my bike, I have to come home as soon as school is over and uh oh yeah I’m pregnant” you were starting to match his energy and that was never good for either of you. Or anyone near you two.

“That’s it just, just go to your room. I can’t even be around you right now” he didn’t even scream. He just looked majorly disappointed in you.

You got up from your chair and started making your way to your room before turning back to get your plate. As you held your plate, you looked down, tears flowing out of your eyes. “I’m really really sorry everyone” you sniffle as you turn and make your way up to your room.

Joyce and Hopper start cleaning up the mess. Hopper has a confused look on his face the whole time.

“I just don’t get her Joyce, the yelling is normal for her but crying like that? I haven’t seen y/n cry in years…”

“She’s going through a lot Hop, she’s super emotional and fragile right now.”

The next morning you were getting ready for school. Hopper was already yelling at you to hurry up so you would have time to eat before school.

El started to approach the door to tell you to hurry up yet again after your guy's dad begged her to try to get you going faster. She could hear you mumbling on the other side of the door

“Stupid freaking pants why won’t you zip!” You sounded super out of breath.

“Hey y/n/n it’s El” she said as she pushed the door open. She saw you laying on your back on the bed trying to suck in to zip up your pants. All different types of clothes thrown around the room.

“Woah, do you need help?” El questioned.

“No just get out, tell dad 5 more minutes I can’t find any clothes to wear he must have strunk it all in the wash”

“Ok if you say so…” El said quickly closing the door behind her so you couldn’t make a comment back.

El raced down the steps to return to her pile of waffles.

“So? El is she coming down?” Hopper said in a whisper while taking a drink of his coffee.

“Uh she said 5 more minutes, she can’t find anything to wear. She said you strunk everything in the wash”

“Oh dear I’ll go check on her” Joyce said quickly running up the steps.

“Hey y/n/n, El said you might need some help, everything ok?” Joyce said as she knocked on the door.

You flew the door open as tears went down your face, “I can’t get any of these stupid pants to zip up!”

“Well sweetie, that is what happens. Here, look I got you a book so you can read about how the baby is changing every week and how your body will react to those changes, I figured it would help.” She says the book down on your desk and you rolled your eyes.

“Maybe try something with a stretchy waistband dear, you know since your dad shrunk all your clothes” she said as she winked and left the room.

You finally found a pair of pants that fit and a loose tee shirt. You made your way down the stairs to head out the door.

“There she is, ready to go y/n?” Jonthan said.

“Yeah I guess. Hey dad?” You said turning to face him and he looked up at you.

“Uh I’m like really bloated. Can you buy me some new pants?”

“Um aren’t you pregnant?” Will said joining in the conversation. You glared at his direction and he shrunk down in the seat.

“Honey if you want new pants you’ll have to use your own money, you have a job” Hopper said to try to get your attention off of Will’s comment.

“I am not spending my money on fat pants” you mumbled as you walked out the door.

Hopper and Joyce couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the situation.

#fanfic #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x hopper!reader #stranger things #chrissy stranger things #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #hopper!daughter #stranger thing fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson fandom #eddie munson fanfic #madnessformunson #jim hopper

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notafraidofredyellowandblue · 10 months

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i don't wanna cause any more drama but have you read the new Spiegel article? About the friend of the daughter of another bandmate :/ and being 15 gosh. I don't know what to think anymore honestly.

Serious post alert, and it will get long too...

Please skip or block it as you feel needed. This story will not be graphic (at least i will try not to), and let me state up front that nothing bad ever happened to me personally, nor that i know of ever happening to people i know.

---

This ask i got right after the Spiegel article was published, which was right before the Brussels concerts. I deliberately didn't answer it at that time, because ofcourse the timing of the media wasn't a coincidence and i don't play that way, and i wanted the final concerts to be just about music, the band, and fun.

In short, the story is about a lady, now 28, who 13 years ago was (and possibly still is) best friends with a daughter of a bandmate of Till, even was in a band with her, she joined the family on a vacation in Germany, and met Till there. They talked, had some drinks, and kissed. Later they went beyond that. Her father found out and ended the situation. When she was grown up she reconnected with Till and they again had an affair. Two bandmates of Till are said to have known about the situation.

The story is under an alias, so if you feel that it's anonymously, i don't argue with that, but realistically, those of us who follow the band a little, know which bandmate and daughter would seemlessly fit that description, and although we don't know the person by name, i'm sure for people who are in their personal circles, it won't be a secret who it is. This is my assumption at least.

The story also does not involve any criminal act, because having sex at that age is legal in Germany (with consent, but consent can be given by anyone over 14 i think).

And ofcourse this is just the one story, no comments from Till, his lawyers or the band have been made, so at this point it is 'a story' and not more than that. We have heard similar stories or shards of it in the fandom over the years, but these too were never substantial. So what was it about this one...

Thing is...this story didn't shock or surprise me. It didn't have me rolling my eyes and thinking 'how could that even happen'.

And maybe more than anything my initial reaction surprised me. So i also took these last days to consider that, and figure out why that was.

-------

I think i figured out...and it's a couple of things, and none of it really have to do with Rammstein...

For those who don't know, i am rather older than the average tumblr user, and as this may be relevant in this case (generational gap?) i will state again what i usually say "i am younger than most of Rammstein (but not all)". What also may be relevant is that i grew up in west europe (netherlands), a very liberal country, sex wise (certainly when i grew up).

Firstly, different from some reactions i read on social media by fans (i don't read much about the Rammstein allegations, but i read some about this one), i am not mortified at the idea of a 15 year old having sex. When i was in highschool at 14/15 i had several friends who had adventures with guys on the weekends when they all went camping. I happened to be a rather naive and unexperienced teen, but my friends sure weren't (i learned much of my sex-ed from them, let me tell you). There boyfriends were usually teens themselves, although usually a few years older, but that sex happened was clear. Also, in the teeny magazines i read at the time sex was on many of the 'sent in questions' that the magazine answered.

(the Rammstein guys are about my age, i think when asked when they first had sex, they all mentioned being in their mid-teens, Richard a bit younger at 13)

I didn't have the sex myself as a teen, i stayed pretty much naive, unexperienced and unremarkable for a long time (maybe i still am), but also, i never did things *because* others did them, peerpressure never impressed me. If i didn't want something, i didn't do it (still don't). I didn't drink alcohol either as a teen, even though that too was pretty common for other teens.

In my early 20's i still didn't drink, still didn't have the sex, and was still naive, and unremarkable. What i was, was being very active in a youth movement (bit like 'Scouting' but a different one). Our youths varied from age 6 to 18, so where we as staff were in large part in our twenties, some of the teens in our groups were almost our own age. Some of the older youth also helped out occassionally as staff, and i have known many wonderful, active and dedicated teens (15, 16, 17 etc). Ofcourse when they helped we always made sure that there was an adult present, that they were never alone responsible for a group, but as there was sometimes only a few years between us, we did not see a problem in them having a beer with the rest of the staf when they helped out (just one, we always made sure no one would overdo, but we definitely weren't alcohol-free).

What also was part of the movement, was that we as staff had courses to teach us skills on things to do with our groups, you know: making fire, frying food without a pan, setting up a camp with tents etc etc. Staff members who were more experienced would be the tutorsand these courses were great fun, camping out in the woods, getting all grimy, long nights at a campfire, singing songs.

One of the tutors who was often involved was a guy who must have been in his mid 30's (maybe near 40) at the time, a great guy, very charismatic, well respected by everyone, because he knew his stuff and explained things very well. There was a great vibe about him, people loved hanging out with him, making things, building stuff, making better campfires. Everybody in the youth movement knew him, and valued him particpating in a course, a real people's person. What we also all knew of him was that he was a ladies man...he regularly had a new 'girlfriend', and even more snogs with not official girlfriends. He didn't flaunt it, but rumours were many, where he was seen heading of to a tent at the end of a campfire night with a woman. We all knew it, women informed eachother about that fact, so anyone getting involved was aware of his reputation.

Like i said, we as staf were usually all in our 20's at least, you had to be 18 to be official staf and to particpate in courses, so i never heard about him getting with younger women, but i realise now that with him being, let's say 35, a 20 year old, may have been a significant age gap in itself from an outsider point of view.

And for me being the naive, unremarkable person...it was amazing that this guy, when i met him on my second course, remembered my name, came up to talk, gave me a 7-up (remembered i didn't drink). Between planned tasks, he taught me as a sidenote, to make a fire with rubbing too sticks together (a pretty timeconsuming way, and not on the official courselist, we had easier ways to do so), which was a fun thing to know. Everybody always wanted to be near him and chat, but if he ended up next to me, he chatted with me too (that never happened to me normally 😊).

I never made a move, and he never did either...but realistically...if i had been interested in 'more', i don't doubt that he wouldn't have turned me away for a night in a sleeping bag..

Years later, i was already away from the movement because i had a busy job, there was a huge reunion, of people who had been staf in the past 20 odd years. So i went, just out of nostalgia, over 300 people attended and the guy was there too (with how much he did for the organisation, not a surprise), and believe it or not, he still remembered me, and we had a nice chat, before others came to talk to him and swooped him away.

I have lost touch with that crowd by now (work, also moved away), but if i met him now, and if he'd remember me 🌺 i'd love to have a bit of chat. But how many women he snogged or shagged back then...no idea...

----

When i read the story in Der Spiegel, unlike what i see many say as it being unbelievable...i totally get it. I was early 20's, but naive, more naive than my schoolnates at 15. Here is this guy who is easy to talk to, and makes you feel he's interested in what you say (me! never..). I didn't make a move, he didn't either, but had i maybe had a bit to drink, i might have (i sure crushed on him a bit).

And meeting up years later and being remembered, that makes a person feel good. Add a bit more alcohol...well...

Let's say i get it.

I hadn't thought about the guys in over 20 years, but when i read this, i did..

I've been wondering if a guy like that should feel skeevy to me now, with what i know these days, and how much moral has changed. And i don't know.

Do i think now someone should have intervened and have that guy not attend the courses...i think no...like i said, all adults, and we all knew his ways. But is that still an acceptable excuse nowadays. I don't know that either.

Should the guy have kept his youknowwhat in his pants and just had a steady girlfriend, possibly...but i never heard he forced anyone, ever. He just...had a way about him, women were as interested in him as he was in them.

So that's where i am...

If the story in Spiegel did happen, i wish it hadn't, but i'll react to it, when that's confirmed.

Until then, i'm still gathering my thoughts...and try to figure them out..

#my 2 cts

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3amclothesmonster · 8 months

Text

Lore

Lore for a character teheee

@motherarts wanted to be tagged djfjdjf

TW// Gore and death and me being cringe

"Mary Contrary, how does your garden grow?" Is how the nursery rhyme goes I may not know the exact details of how it does grow but I have some idea. The following statement is taking from a police report for a missing person and almost exactly word for word.

On July 7th, 1978, 6 P.M Mary Pines did not return to her house in New Orleans, she was last seen by her mother, Mrs. Pines, heading outside, across the street to meet with a few friends. The friend's names have been redacted to due them being under the legal age at the time.

When the curfew came, Mary did not return to her family's house, this was unusual for the young girl as usually she would be there earlier then her curfew, Mr. and Mrs. Pines grew concerned at the time grew where Mary did not return. They soon filed a missing persons report when it was allowed. After that, making several tons of flyers with the girls face on it and the house phone number.

Below is some general information on Margaret 'Mary' Pines.

Margaret or Mary was born on April 2, 1964. Born to first generation Welsh immigrants, her mother Bronwen James and her father, Arthur Pines. Mary was described to have a pretty stable upbringing, growing up in a middle class family with loving parents, as well as a younger sister, Gwen Pines. Mary was also described to be shy, kind and caring. Usually keeping to herself, despite this she was able to make a decent amount of friends over the years. Her childhood best friend stated during an interview: "She wouldn't even hurt a snail, I don't know if she would even hurt a bit of dust!"

Mary of course, did have some issues, despite descriptions of her being someone who wouldn't hurt anything, she would have outbursts time to time. This usually ended in at least something be on the floor, slightly broken.

At the age of 14, three of her friends invited her out for a picnic then to go get some sugary items at the local ma and pa shop. With her parents permission, she got dressed for the occasion and headed out to her friends. Unfortunately, she had an argument with her mother right before hand. The last words she ever spoke before the events that followed are presumed to be ''I hate you"

Following events.

After around eight hours after leaving, Mary had yet to return, her parents, despite being annoyed, were concerned for their eldest daughter. What was supposed to be a supposed two-hour special outing with her friends, turned into two days of radio silence. Of course, they filed a missing persons report an investigation soon started, the three friends were interviewed soon after being found in the schools halls which Mary and the three friends in question attended. After soon questioning, it was discovered that Mary never made it to the meet-up spot and the friends presumed she had decided not to join and after not showing up to school they concluded she was sick or out of town. Once they discovered this the police realized this wasn't a run away case but possibly something more serious and criminal. Soon enough, they had search teams searching for the girl whilst officers interviewed people close to her and neighbors. Unfortunately, they were unable to come up with any evidence nor any leads.

A basic description of the girl was soon given to the public, she was last seen wearing an dark blur overall dress like thing over-top a orange sweater, white socks and black mary janes. Her psychical appearance was described to be light brown in skin, green eyes, ginger hair, around 5'5, 120 pounds, freckly with a few sun spots and smile lines, a few bruises on her lower legs from falling and an unmistakable scar on her right hand from when she had accidentally cut herself on a kitchen knife whilst cutting ingredients for a salad. A few sightings and leads came after this yet, nothing could lead to what happened to Mary Pines nor where she could be.

A lucky, unfortunate event.

Around six years had passed since the young girl went missing, it had turn into a cold case rather quickly, but then, something was found. A hiker one day tripped on something, two mary jane shoes, mudded and infested with plants and spiders. They were hidden under a tree and were identified to be Mary's. The police soon started a mini investigation and what could be counted as a lucky but unfortunate event, a dismembered hand was found, it could not be through DNA technology but it did have one thing that was undeniable, a scar on the hand. The family identified it to be Mary's hand and this blew out any hope the Pines family had of finding their eldest daughter. It was presumed she had gotten lost and was attacked by some sort of feral animal that she could not fend off.

[END OF POLICE REPORT]

This case interested me a lot, as it took place in my hometown. I dug further and was able to find some things after the investigation closed.

After math.

Later in the 90's several teens found old flyers and newspapers about Mary. They thought it was just some joke someone else came up with, as the flyers and papers were almost in perfect condition. The rumor spread like wild fire soon after, becoming an urban legend around the town. "If you go into the woods the same day she went missing or when her shit was found you could see or hear her. Rustling in the trees or weeping." The legend went. Little did they know

...........

.........

......

.....

....

...

That's not what happened.

A tale of what happened, truly.

Oh Mary, how much a gem you were,

Kind and careful, popular too,

You shouldn't have been so trusting, shouldn't have been so angry that day,

For when you stormed off your fate was sealed,

When you were buried in that forest after that attack, did you know what was to come?

Fungi and plants sprouted out of your decaying corpse, leaving your spirit to watch,

How did it feel to hear the weeps of those close to you?

How did it feel to have your head nailed to a tree base?

Oh that Daniel lad, you liked him truly,

It seems he didn't feel the same though, right?

He did do this to you after all, you shouldn't have been so trusting,

For when that happened a slender, suited man found you.

He ''Saved" you, didn't he?

For when that occurred, you reawakened,

He heard the legends, can't you tell? He is one as well.

You took revenge that very night in '94,

It felt nice to see that bloodied mangled corpse of the one who did this to you, right?

He lied on the ground motionless, brain all splattered out.

Oh, what a mess! I hear a knock, you better run before you get caught,

How did it feel, seeing your ghostly reflection in the river stream?

You looked so blue in the skin, hair tangled with dried blood,

Nails sticking through your head! Your right hand gone,

An eye popped out of it's socket, oh no! You better pop it back in but you can't!

That mushroom seems to like your eye socket, better let it be!

You sprout with flora and fungi, with twigs in your hair,

Is that some grass or mold I spot on you or am I seeing things now?

The one good eye permanently crying a white liquid as when you were attacked you cried and wept!

I thought you would stare back with sadness now her you are,

Teeth exposed, is that a smile I see?

You look at the looming slender suited man, is that you doing a curtsy?

You seem to see this man as a guardian of sorts now,

Before you go say goodbye to me and mom and dad!

I'll miss you so, but I know you have to go!

So wave a goodbye and leave me to accept your fate

Poem from patient Gwen Pines, in regards to her older sister Margaret Pines' disappearance. Gwen was emitted here due to a breakdown. Documented in the poem in which she was told these things by her quote: "Sisters soul"

-------

Anyways here's a half assed drawing I did of the character in question

#Creepypasta #creepypasta oc #oc lore #lore posting #lore #tw death #tw gore #tw body horror #I wrote this at 10 P.M - 1 A.M aughgghghg #I wanted to get this out before I leave on Monday to visit family #And I did yippeeeee #I forgot her freckles but eh

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qqueenofhades · 2 years

Note

Seeing leftists whine about the ACA not being that great and how Obama should’ve codified Roe into law instead of worrying about healthcare, and as someone on the younger side who was too young to really remember it well—wasn’t the ACA more universal originally and Obama was forced to whittle it down to appease the Republicans?

...Girl (gender neutral). Oh my god. The ACA was originally supposed to be FAR more expansive, and the Republicans spent MONTHS fighting it tooth and nail and forcing Obama to take out absolutely everything they could get away with. There were also a few Democrats who needed to be persuaded, but the Republicans were already well aware of Mitch McConnell's inauguration-day statement that they were going to make Obama a one-term president and obstruct everything that he did, and they acted accordingly. Like. This is another "wow are your memories really just that short, or are you actually that fucking stupid?" moment. Because if you're going to completely write off the AGONY that it was to get the ACA done and through both houses of Congress, and the fact that trying something as radical as joining other developed countries in offering discounted healthcare (we couldn't even get as far as free!) cost Obama the House and then later the Senate.... yeah, you don't get to comment and whine and backseat drive, 12+ years later, about what "should" have been done instead, like it was that easy!

As noted, even when Obama had 59/60 senators (the latter being for only four months), there simply were not 60 pro-choice Democrats in the caucus!!! There were not!! There were a lot more Blue Dog Democrats a la Joe Manchin, senators from red states like South Dakota and Nebraska, and other places that would not have voted to support an abortion law, and if they had, they would have lost the Senate in 2010 along with the House. Besides, these cutting-edge political geniuses are so desperate to place the blame anywhere else than where it belongs that their argument has now boiled down to "Obama, who had to fight for his life to get an ordinary healthcare law through Congress, should have spent that time magically also passing an abortion law, which a Supreme Court hijacked by extremists in the next administration as a result of white backlash against him would still have been able to strike down!" Frankly, it would not have even lasted that long. Any abortion law that Obama did pass (again, please tell me how "Obama" alone was supposed to do that) would have been instantly savaged and dismantled by the courts in the same way that the Republicans launched a nonstop legal barrage to destroy even the watered-down version of the ACA that did get through! This is not hard to understand!!!

Anyway, I don't remember for sure, but I feel as if there were also some abortion-related provisions in the ACA that were political kryptonite, which the Democrats were forced to take out. If they couldn't even get them passed as a rider, what on earth makes people think that a separate bill would have made it through the relentless Republican obstruction machine? Not to mention that this is a truly spectacular case of hindsight; there were a lot of things that Obama wanted to get done, but couldn't, because the Republicans were so hysterically demented about opposing everything he did and in the short time he had full control of Congress, he had other things on his plate! Maybe just a little! Besides, "healthcare for everyone is a bad thing and a Democratic president was wrong to focus on it!" is, uh, not a take that you would expect to hear from progressives who supposedly actually cared about improving everyone's lives.

The ACA, even in its enervated and chopped-down form, was a game-changer for much of the country. So... Obama was stupid to help those people, and should have wasted his time trying to push another law that was never, ever going to pass, and would have been pounced on and judicially dismantled by the Republicans anyway, and should have foreseen that Trump would be elected and pick three SCOTUS justices via cheating and magically acted to somehow stop all of this before it happened? And that is easier for them to accept than "Christofascism is bad, Trump was a lunatic grifting criminal who lost the popular vote but won because of the Electoral College, and SCOTUS issued a 6-3 decision, following its Trump-installed partisan hijacking, to strike down Roe like Republicans have literally said for decades that they want to do?"

Oy fucking vey.

#anonymous #ask #politics for ts

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aitadinnerwex · 7 months

Note

Did you get a lawyer op :(

Yes, I have!! Sorry for going so long without any updates, but right now there's a lot of legal stuff going on and tbh? Most of it is kind of boring. My daughter talks to her dad on the phone, but is still mad at FIL and MIL. She's going to therapy in person every week. My ex is being very cooperative about the custody issue. I met K briefly and it was awkward (more on that under the cut)

I got in contact with a lawyer the day after I made my last post. I live in a state that does not recognize common law marriages, and my ex and I were never actually married. Add that to the fact that my home has been my daughter's primary residence for the last 3 years, and the fact that she's almost 12 and that's the age she has a say in who she wants to live with, and my lawyer assured me that in the eyes of the law I am currently my daughter's sole legal guardian. My ex would have a case if he wanted to fight for custody, but he doesn't. He just wants the arrangement we had before: I keep custody of our daughter, but she is free to come see him whenever she wants. He even offered to pay child support and help with my bills until she turns 18, but this I declined. I make more money than him and my own parents, while estranged and on the other side of the country, love their granddaughter and are more than happy to help financially.

We worked most of the legal stuff out on zoom calls, but one day we were meeting in person with both our lawyers to sign some legal stuff and K came with my ex. Some of you thought she must be younger than me and my ex because she sounded so immature, but y'all. She's older. Much, MUCH older. She looked like she was at least in her late 50s, which bleach blonde hair and yellow smoker's teeth. I don't wanna be petty or tear fellow my fellow woman down but... y'all. She looked like Donald Trump doing drag. Poorly.

Anyway, she stays quiet the whole time we discuss things with our lawyers. but she does keep one hand on the back of his neck kind of... grabbing him and massaging him? And the other hand is holding his hand in his lap, or occasionally stroking his thigh. In other words she was all over him. I can only imagine she was trying to show me that he was hers now or something, but I honestly couldn't care less. She can have him.

Before the meeting ended both lawyers asked if there were any questions and I admit, I got a little petty. I asked if I could maybe know even a little about K, because she was, ostensibly, going to be acting like a stepmom to my daughter if/when she decided to reconcile. K just gave me this death glare, but ex asked what I wanted to know and gave me short answers.

How old is she? 52.

How did you two meet? Church. (I doubt this, he hasn't willingly been to church since high school, but I didn't argue)

Why did K move in with ex at MIL and FIL's house after less a year of dating? None of your business. (Fair)

I asked a few other things too, mostly about my daughter and how we could more effectively coparent, and ex was helpful here and K continued to be silent (and handsy).

So, yeah. Court stuff is agonizingly slow, and talking to ex is like talking to a brick wall, but at least he's being a cooperative brick wall for now.

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anintrovertsdiary · 1 year

Text

This week, I made a friend.

Don’t get me wrong, I never had anything against Reagan. He’s always been a gentleman and he’s always been a good friend to Ryan. Even when it felt like he was going through moments of mania, I felt safe around his company. Honestly even when he tore off his underwear one day in front of everyone, I didn’t think anything less of him. There was always this aura around the company of the four of them, Ryan, Reagan, James and Howard, where I knew they would always protect me, emotionally and physically.

In college, Reagan dated Rebekah who was a year younger than us. She drove this Kia soul and I think we all cringe inside when we see them 1. Because they’re Kia souls 2. Because she voluntarily picked one out for her parents to buy her (rich Southern California kid that can afford out of state tuition and goes up to pnw for college). That tells you enough about someone. She was also a part of a sorority which you’d think meant she had a lot of friends that were probably all interchangeable white blondes and brunettes. But for some reason, she was the unspoken fifth roommate of the house on Vinyard Ave. The house also had a driveway that could fit 3 cars but one after the other so she would park her car in the driveway blocking in the other two cars and then go about her day, the idea never crossing her head that 1. She didn’t even technically live there 2. James and Howard couldn’t use their cars while she was parked there.

Anyways, I thought they were for sure end game when they both tested for the same food allergies/sensitivities. Broccoli slaw was a favorite date night dinner for them. Also note that she never had a job in college and her lifestyle of ‘alt’ urban outfitters clothes and vegan eggs that cost triple of actual eggs was funded my her parents or her trust fund. Same difference. But yet if Rebekah was at the grocery store, she’d buy Reagan the banana he requested and then proceeded to Venmo request him 19¢.

I honestly didn’t care much for Rebekah. She was just kind of there. Sure it was nice having another girl around sometimes, but her presence made no difference in my life if I’m being honest. She never wanted to drink or do any other illegal/legal activities. I remember buying Reagan and Rebekah a joint once (legal in pnw) and I’m sure she would add that to her list of worst gifts she’d ever received. Even her parents would do a gummy every once in a while. C’mon.

Anyways, post college, they continue dating. Rebekah moves back to Southern California, Reagan moves to LA. I can’t remember the exact events but leading up to the breakup, Reagan was driving for some reason, an earth polluting amount. Taylor swift levels of carbon emissions. There was an urgency for him to do it in person so he drove from his parents house in our college town all the way to Southern California and then back or something along those lines. A concerning amount for someone post break up to be on the road by themselves.

Reagan was my friend but it wasn’t until the last few days of 2022 where I could say I was his friend because I wanted to be and not as a default of Ryan’s extensions. In college, Reagan and I would watch the intramural water polo games that Ryan and Rebekah both played in. The team name probably had the word cum or cream or load in it which gives you a picture of the maturity level of these men.

Right after graduation, I moved east and he moved down to Southern California to work in the film industry, 3 years later we’re finally in Portland at the same time. I had never had real conversations with Reagan until we were smoking on the balcony of my apartment having the most casual conversation about our trauma. It was the kind of conversation that might make some people cry if they heard it but we both knew that we both just two people catching up on our latest trauma and what has changed in 3 years. Not that we couldn’t cry in front of each other. I know we can.

At the end when there was nothing left to smoke, Reagan had said something along the lines of “I’m looking into your eyes and it’s like if there was a pool of water beneath us and you jumped, my eyes would just follow yours and I would subconsciously jump too”. The moon was out.

We dropped Reagan off at the airport, I’ll say I was Reagan-ed out. Nothing was left unsaid. Raw emotions were shared between two people that never would’ve thought they’d enjoy each others company.

Here’s what I learned about Reagan:

- Reagan loves Ryan. I know Ryan smiles ear to ear when he’s reunited with him. You know that laugh Ryan does when he actually thinks something is funny. It’s like high pitched and annoying but you never get tired of hearing it.

- I like talking to Reagan about pop culture because Ryan’s never caught up and the only people I can talk to about pop culture are my friends Peter who is gay and Eliza. So it is interesting hearing the perspective of a straight wasian man.

- Reagan is a hard worker. But I already knew that.

- Reagan has a big heart and is deserving. He deserves to be loved and he deserves to be understood.

- There are a lot of versions of Reagan. I’ve witnessed his highs and low. I’m excited to see his success and I’m proud to call him my friend.

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childrenofthelab · 1 year

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Ok so I’ve had this rotting my brain after talking lab stuff with @firstcurse and @memxriaxx and so I had to get it all out because while Ten might be my baby, Two has also been giving me brain rot like the little asshole he is.

So first of all I want to clarify a little about Two’s background, at least in my interpretation. As of the events in September 1979, my Two is seventeen years old. While I’m aware the actor was a little older at the time of filming (I believe he might have been around twenty, but I’m not certain) I’ve aged him at seventeen for a variety of reasons:

It’s not uncommon for slightly (or sometimes less slightly) older actors to play teenagers, particularly given the rest of the cast it fits (ie the party who are supposed to be fifteen being played by actors who are around eighteen, Joe Keery and Joe Quinn veering closer to thirty, etc) and going down from twenty to seventeen is hardly much of a stretch

Given the whole set up of the lab, I feel that it works better that Two is still young enough to legally be considered a child- he’s veering close to adulthood in technical terms, but he’s not quite there yet

We know that Henry was taken into the lab in 1959 at the age of twelve. It also seems to be more or less implied that Two has no more knowledge of One than any of the other children. Two being seventeen places him as being born in 1962, when Henry is fifteen, and kidnapped and brought to the lab in 1965, when Henry is eighteen, and thus more plausible that Henry would have been pulled from the official testing/being ‘One’ part of his time at the lab, hence Two has no idea of his existence. Making Two any older either means him not knowing One is more unplausible, or leads to the idea of him being taken at an older age, and I don’t feel that particularly suits Two

So as I’ve stated, Two wasn’t born into the lab. His father was an ex-subject of MKUltra who no effects had been noted on, but the lab kept tabs on him even after he left and went on to get married and have a son of his own. Even as a baby, the lab was aware of Two, then known as Harry Miller. He had a fairly normal life, save for his own little quirks, which Hawkins Lab of course recognised, beginning to make plans of their own. One day in 1965, shortly after his third birthday, he went out to the local park with his father. Mr Miller turned his back on his son for only a few minutes, but those few minutes were all it took. Harry was brought to the lab.

At first the toddler was terrified, alone in a small bedroom and crying for his mother. That was when Dr Brenner came in, with a soothing hand, and a small stuffed toy. His family had to go away for a very important job, he told him, but he was going to look after him from now on. They’d have a lot of fun together, he promised, and play lots of games. He could call him Papa, and Papa would call him Two, like a fun little nickname, another game of sorts. A game that would involve new clothes, a new haircut, little numbers on the inside of his wrist. He believed it, sought out the comfort of Papa, revelled in the attention.

For a little over a year, Two was the only child in the lab. He had Dr Brenner’s sole attention, specialised lessons, and though he asked of his family from time to time, he was always mollified by the answer. Then, in 1966, two more children were brought into the lab, and Two became an older brother of sorts. Though a little uncertain about his feelings to suddenly sharing Papa’s attention, it was nice to have friends of sorts, and he quickly bonded with Three and Four, though Three was his closest friend. Five was added not long later, and joined their little posse of friends, though Two tolerated her more than anything else.

As more children were added to the lab, Two grew a little more unruly. He began pushing himself harder in his lessons, a quiet fear building within him that Papa might end up replacing him with one of the younger children. At first, Two had seemed like a fun nickname, used to the point where he couldn’t recall his actual name. But as the numbers grew, it became clear that this was not the case. With more subjects, the time Brenner had for Two naturally reduced. But as long as he was still the favourite, as long as he could still prove that he was the best, in Two’s head he would be okay.

As he got a little older, Two was given some clarity in a way as to why they were here from Papa. The outside was dangerous, he told him, and there were bad men out there who sought to cause trouble, who sought to create war. But he and the others, Papa told him, had been given a gift, this miracle of their powers. They had to train, and train carefully, and one day, they might help to fight the bad men. This was a secret between them, Papa told him, the others wouldn’t understand. They were all still too young to understand, too immature, but he was grown up, he was mature, he was powerful. He would be the first to go and fight the bad men. He had to be. He wanted out.

One thing always haunted Two’s mind though, from the moment more and more numbers began to be added. He was Two, and the numbers continued after him. Three, Four, Five, all the way through. But if he was Two, then that meant there had to be a One. And yet Two had never seen them, never even heard whisper of them. It brought to his mind two possible conclusions. First, that One had failed in some way, that they had done something wrong, been such a failure that Papa had cast them aside and deigned to never mention them again. The other option was that One was out there. That they were fighting the bad men, just like Two wished to do. All his life in the lab, he’d felt like he was being held to some impossibly higher standard set by an unknown. But as he thought about it, perhaps One had set those standards.

It came with the stinging realisation that perhaps he might always be second best.

This in turn only further ignited Two’s fear and anxiety surrounding his own place. The cocky arrogance that had started from being Papa’s favourite became fuelled by desperation. From around the age of thirteen or fourteen, what had been previously been more standoffishness towards his fellow subjects grew into aggression and intimidation. He felt a need to establish amongst them that he was the best, the most powerful. It was important to him that the others knew their place and that they kept to it, that no one even dared to try and supercede him as Papa’s favourite. In his head, if anyone surpassed him in Papa’s ranking, it might ruin his chances of getting out of the lab, of getting to go and fight the bad men. He was the soldier, the one who trained and trained and trained, even within the privacy of his own room.

When Brenner began focusing more time on Eleven, Two’s self-doubt and anxiety sky-rocketed. To his knowledge, Eleven was nothing special, in fact as far as she could see, she seemed to be way down at the bottom of the list. It scared him that perhaps there was something more to her, something that he couldn’t see that jeopardised his own position. When she beat him in that lesson, Two had never been more terrified. So he’d acted on impulse, feeling that if he reminded her of her place, things might go back to normal. He’d planned on confronting Eleven alone, but his little posse had followed, so he’d improvised.

Overall, Two has always felt a little like he’s being held up to standards he can never meet, and as he’s grown older it’s become increasingly apparent to him that everything comes with a condition. He’s becoming a lot more disillusioned with the lab, but at the same time he’s clinging to it because it’s all he really knows, and he feels that if he’s not the best, then he serves no purpose and that he might be discarded. Hence he always pushes himself, which in turn is a problem. Two has a lot of physical power, but in his quest to always be the strongest, he lacks control, lacks refinement, which contributes to Brenner’s dismissal of him.

Do I personally think that Two alone if given the chance would kill Eleven? No, I can’t say I do, particularly after Brenner’s punishment of him. That being said, I feel like things might be different when within the mob mentality of his little group, and I do feel like Three, Four and Five and their presence pushes him to extremes he wouldn’t reach alone, with the expectation of being strong and in charge.

Also because we were talking about biblical references in ST, one I noticed that I was telling Ire and Ellie about is Two’s attack on Eleven, followed by Brenner’s interrogation of him. It feels like such a big reference to the story of Cain and Abel, with Two being Cain and Eleven Abel, and Brenner amusingly filling the role of God, with asking what happened, and the response akin to “I am not my brother’s keeper.”

#headcanon #headcanon: 002 #mun thoughts #whoops i rambled

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bthebeachboi · 2 years

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I was a kid, but I wasn't clueless

(Someone who loves you wouldn’t do this)

“G, darling, why won’t you go with your siblings to Pennsylvania?”

Slowly, the oldest looked at her, holding the US tight by his collar and looked at his sleeping family on the couch. He knew the pain in two colored eyes, he knew that old, undying fear and he knew that it meant a lot of things, but good ones. Silently he grabbed his notebook and when the tall woman in front of him looked back at his friend, he threw it with all his strength.

She let go of the young man, who backed up and barely kept his balance. Gov saw how he tried to speak up, but he didn’t care.

“Why would you do it?” She was cold, like a breeze in Alaska, yet he stood there like she didn’t have any power above him. “Why, Government?”

She never screamed, only using her physical force to hurt them, to punish them for what they did. That’s good, they wouldn’t wake up his siblings.

“Because-” he started, yet she hit him before he could be done. His nose cracked, something in him felt broken, but he couldn’t be bothered. “Because you were trying to hurt the US, I can’t let it happen.”

She was always like that, her anger was so hot it turned cold, blue eyes were sharp and if they could kill, he knows he would’ve been dead by now. His friend was already out of the room, since he ran as fast as he could when he noticed she ignored him.

The US wasn't always scared of the British Empire, even if he had his moments, but he could never handle it when she got aggressive, fearing for his people, for his own family. That was something the Gov could understand, worrying what will happen to people close to you, those who you love.

Or could he?

Another punch landed closer to his eye, her favorite ring ripped his skin, leaving a small open wound. Blood slowly fell down, painting gray carpet red, making them both look down.

“...You will clean that whole thing, do you understand? That’s your punishment.”

“Yes Ma'am.”

///

The US finally was free, free of her cold gaze and her sharp nails, and he looked so happy. He hugged his friends close to his chest, Massachusetts was chuckling under his breath and even York smiled lightly.

After some time, the British Empire was gone, she died and left her younger sister, now called the United Kingdom, alone. Sometimes, when he ended up meeting her, she would give him the same cold stare full of hatred, but as always, it never bothered him.

After a few years, or maybe more, his younger brother took the position as the Government, as Congress, and it was fine, he was fine.

Until hell broke loose.

DC was in the building, worrying for his life and trying to leave, never being fully able to do so and everyone learnt why only the Gov could be what they were trying to give to him. DC was scared, he felt emotions that his brother could never feel, like IDC and CDC.

So he was stripped from his family, like always. He was always different, in the name and in the way he was, so they took them away physically and legally, making him alone. Silently, he sat in his brother’s place, looking at states in front of him and acting, like he always did.

I mean, why wouldn’t he? He was here just to make sure everything went like the US wanted it to go.

One day he was sitting in the kitchen, drinking his coffee and reading the papers he had to take care of when Mass and PA walked in. They shared a look, but he didn’t even have time to think about it. Rough, bandaged hands grabbed his face lightly and a pair of gray-ish purple eyes looked into his dark blue one’s.

“Oh Congress, my dear, it’s actually you.” Penn State sounded soft and, oh so sad. “All this time you were alive? Where have you been? The last time I- we’ve seen you was when Louisiana joined, wasn’t it?”

They knew the difference. - rang in his mind, annoying him. - How did they know? Was he so different from their DC? (Was he always so different from all of his siblings?)

“...Yes.” he finally answered, lightly nodding. “I had to take care of other things, so I was, well, brushed to the side.”

I was swapped, replaced, they didn’t need me, but they needed the job done. “Brushed to the side” more like thrown to the trash, like I wasn’t supposed to be, like I was wrong for being.

One of the fingers slightly brushed his skin, like he tried to make sure he was real and PA slowly breathed in and hugged him.

And for the first time he actually felt everything around him, his ex friend’s choking warmth and his sweet smell, his more awake part tried to remember their name, but he couldn’t be bothered. His mug was taken from his hand by Mass near him, when all he could do was hug Penn State back, holding him like he would lose him again, like he would be taken away.

And maybe he felt the tears in his eyes, maybe he felt all those years of pain and fear that they won’t survive until tomorrow, that the US will die in front of him, maybe he finally felt like the life he had was something he wanted to have.

Years of being empty can’t be taken that easily, but it changed something, something broken in him moved, shards of it pushing deeper than any knife.

(Killing him quicker than his friend’s hands that one day that he pushed him too far.)

“When you disappeared, we were sure you died, that DC was new you, but you and your blue fucking eyes are not easy to forget, brat.” his voice was heavy, like when they met after his first war, holding so much weight that he never should have to carry. “Why weren’t you the one we got, why weren’t you with us?”

He wanted to repeat himself, that it’s because he wasn’t actually needed, that he wasn’t the one they wanted, but was it enough? Was it the real reason? He couldn’t remember why, he just knew that after his first death, it all went to shit, that the US didn’t want him around, so when the Louisiana broke, his last death occurred, he was thrown out for “his safety”.

Still holding PA, he tried to remember what his friend told him back then.

“...It’s because you have your mother’s eyes.” the US sobbed, while holding his neck in a tight grip. “I can’t… Gov I can’t handle your cold fucking gaze, don’t be around me.”

He started shaking, his nails digging deep into Pennsylvania’s shirt. Was he really so similar to her that he hurt him? He looked around, searching for something to see himself in, noticing the fridge behind two older people, just to learn something new.

He couldn’t see his own face.

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asa-m-holland · 1 year

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V A L E N T I N E “ V “ D U P O N T

— BASICS

Name: Valentine “V” Dupont |Age / D.O.B.: 33, May 17, 1990 Gender, Pronouns & Sexuality: Genderfluid, He/They, Pansexual Hometown: Kilkenny, Ireland Occupation: Author, Visitor.

— BIOGRAPHY

As a kid, V was precocious and wild. A middle child in a family of five, the young curly-haired child would get his older and younger sisters, Benna and Ruth, to tag along on all his hair-brained schemes. But V took longer to ‘grow up’ than their sisters. Ruth was off to law school and Benna went into fashion and moved to the States. V had just barely graduated high school and was convinced college wasn’t for him. Even so, living with his mother showed Val a strong woman working in journalism, and he started to wonder if that was his path as well.

Finally seeking out college programs, V decided to apply for residencies. Despite not having much experience, a professor at BU decided to take him in, finding their application intriguing. It was Val’s first time away from home for more than a few days and he made the most of it. The first few weeks were all partying and sleeping around, but V started noticing an issue with their vision- it was getting harder to read the whiteboard, and he found himself trying on reading glasses, having issues with the reading homework. Even their own notes were suffering- and after a trip to an eye doctor, V got some bad news. Their vision was failing and in the next year or so, they’d most likely be legally blind. With this knowledge, it re-started something inside them. He wanted to do well in school, wanted to get the things done he’d always wanted. With a few helpful professors encouraging them, Val was writing creative stories he’d thought about way back when he was growing up in Kilkenny. Suddenly there was a manuscript, and just as suddenly, Valentine Dupont was a published author with a series of middlegrade fantasy novels.

While V made trips back home many times and even lived with their mother for a time, ultimately he moved to New York City, closer to the publishing company he worked closely with, his agent, and a new assistant. But after a trip out to the countryside to take a nice vacation, V ended up somewhere... odd. Their driver had car trouble and V had taken a very short walk on their own- to their knowledge, just down a few steps. But suddenly they couldn’t find him, the car... anything. V was left without any of their things and ended up in Huntsville. He’s still trying to figure out his footing in Huntsville and doesn’t have another job yet. Without his assistant or driver, V’s been a little out of sorts but has relied on kindness of strangers and the money they already had on hand- thankfully, quite a bit.

#huntsvilleintro #intro #vintro #valbio #valintro #vbio #!!!

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servin-up-surveys · 1 year

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survey #104

(taken january 22nd; uploading surveys taken while gone)

Have you ever been for a ride in the back of a truck? Yeah, when I was way younger.

Did your grandparents teach you anything? To not be an old-fashioned, holier-than-thou piece of fucking garbage that refuses to change with the times and kiss the feet of an invisible mass murderer in the sky.

What are the longest and shortest romantic relationships you’ve been in? Longest, over 3 1/2 years. I was with Juan less than 24 hours.

Have you ever been obsessive over calories, exercise etc.? I've had multiple phases of this.

What are you listening to? So Rammstein's vocalist has an independent band as well and I sometimes explore his solo work and I'm currently obsessed with "Ich weiß es nicht" and I've just fully accepted chaotic 50-60 y/o men dominate my interests lmfao

How is the weather outside? It's raining. I wish it would just snow already, I really wanna get pretty winter weather pictures this year.

List eight things you like about your best friend. He is extremely patient, absolutely hilarious, a strong listener, the most loyal person I've ever met, very obviously genuinely cares about me, he's a very hard worker that's super dedicated to whatever he sets his mind to, he's very good with animals (especially dogs), and he's super intelligent.

List two favourite colours. Pastel pink and coral.

What was the last book you read? I started Wings of Fire: Talons of Power the other day.

How many best friends do you have? I only feel like I'm being entirely accurate in the sense of what I consider an absolute best friend to be when I answer with Girt, but I know some people will be like "oh he doesn't count" because he's my partner, but whatever. If not him, then it's Mom, buuuut again, I know some won't consider that a valid answer. My closest friends that are just friends and not blood or anything are both Tez and Mazzy, though.

Are you holding back doing or saying anything? Yeah, I guess. Nothing very important, though.

Have you ever been used? Oh I'm sure I have been, in one way or another.

Are you pregnant? Zero chance of that.

Do you want to be? BIG no on that one.

Can you describe your entire family in three words? Complicated, strained, distant.

What’s the first thing you see when you look out your window? Our road and houses across the street.

What’s your favorite fair food? I actually don't know; I've been to so very few and tried barely any food. I do know that I actually don't like funnel cake, though.

What’s something you always wear, even in the shower? Piercings.

How did you feel after your first kiss? There was a whole lotta butterflies and shyness but also tons of happiness and peace and the feeling that I was in the midst of something wonderful. Girl if you only knew lmfao

What’s your state's or country’s minimum wage? $7.25/h 🙃 proven to be properly unlivable here

What was the best thing you ever did for your parents, legal guardians or parental figures? hell if I know honestly

Have you ever worn a suit? No but women in suits is FUCKING HOT

Would you rather make 2D or 3D art? 2D. Sculptures and stuff aren't my thing, at least when it comes to ME making them. I love looking at that kinda stuff, though.

Do you eat candy corn? No, I hate that shit.

Were either of your parents baptized? I can absolutely, positively guarantee my mom was, but idk about Dad.

The last concert that you were at, was there a mosh pit? Nah.

Do you think pepperoni would be good on a meatball sub? I don't even like meatball subs to begin with because the bread gets so damp and gross.

Has anyone killed one of your pets before? Well, yes. Growing up we had cats get hit by cars a lot. I've told the story of our then-neighbors' rottweilers getting loose and going on a cat massacre once too, but I honestly don't blame the owners and haven't for a very, very long time. Those dogs were smart and it wasn't like them getting loose was even a remotely common thing. It was entirely an accident.

Does your bathroom have a theme to it? Neither one does.

Are any rooms in your house themed? Not really. I WANT to redesign mine with more of a nature-y vibe, though.

Is there someone that you have lost respect for recently? My grandmother, who I ALREADY didn't respect at all.

Have you ever edited an article on Wikipedia? No.

Do you remember your first love? I am not AT ALL exaggerating the times I say that I very sincerely doubt that I would forget Jason even if I developed dementia/Alzheimer's. Some patients do remember specific details of their lives and I am fully convinced that would be me with him.

What is something you can never give up (that's not love or family)? The Internet, lmao.

Have you ever waited in line overnight for something? No.

Is there such a thing as being too rich or too poor? Obviously?????????????

Go back to your freshman year; what kind of music were you listening to? Same stuff as now, various forms of metal, but I would also listen to more scream-y stuff.

Do you have an alter ego? Describe them: No.

What is something you think about yourself that nobody agrees with? That I'm incredibly dumb. People who know me, especially family, always love to point out I'm "super smart" (when it comes to book-type knowledge, everyone knows I have terrible common sense) but I very much feel like they just think about how I performed up through high school. I don't know WHAT happened once I started college (my one and only guess is that my trauma genuinely affected my memory and even how I register information), but it did a fantastic job at making me feel appallingly stupid and unable to process new information. It's probably always going to upset me, how much I changed in terms of learning.

What about something people think of you that you don’t agree with? That I handle kids quite well. I always feel like I'm doing or saying the total wrong thing and acting awkwardly, and even seeing evidence that kids DO seem to gravitate towards me doesn't make me believe that I'm actually good with them.

What is your favourite type of video game? Horror, esp psychological-type horror.

Do you sometimes pretend to do things you dont know how to do? No, that sounds like a bad idea.

If you have tattoos, which one that you have was the most painful? I want to say my inner forearm, I think.

Do you have any pets who will bite anyone else out there, besides you? No.

If you died right now, what would be your biggest regret? Never feeling like I found my place in the world.

What do you believe was your greatest achievement? Healing from the breakup. I know it sounds super little and unimpressive, but when you know how desperately I just always wanted to be dead and the psychological damage it all did that I STILL deal with, you'd realize it was a feat of fucking strength and self-love that I frequently forget about.

What have you learned from pain? To cherish every single moment without it and to also have empathy and understanding.

What was the last text or IM you sent? Girt was asking about moving our hangout day to Wednesday, which I told him was fine; he just feels like having the weekend to himself. I wanted to see him, but I'm not actually upset at all; he's allowed to have time with himself, even if I WASN'T okay with it.

What is the simplest way to make you happy? Talk to me about meerkats or Rammstein or Silent Hill and stuff lmao.

When was the last time you had deja vu? Actually when I was writing an RP post yesterday, it was really weird.

Is there something you are always interested in? The main topic of deep interest that has prevailed the longest is meerkats.

Do you like buffet restaurants? I really don't, I find the concept super gross with how people are.

When was the last time you felt like you were starving? Full realism, I've never felt like I was sincerely, truly starving because I never factually have been. Yeah, I exaggerate and sometimes am like "I'm starving" when I mean I'm super hungry, but I'm fully aware I'm actually not. I consider myself an incredibly lucky person to have constant access to some kind of food.

Would you ever dye your hair all the colors of the rainbow? If my hair would actually take it and it wasn't absurdly expensive, fuck yeah.

What has made you laugh lately? I've been watching a lot of Game Grumps lately, and they do very, very easily. More than any other YouTube channel on a consistent basis.

If a Miley Cyrus song was playing in a store, would you leave? Oh, grow up. I'm not leaving a store I went to to get something I need or even just want just because a fucking song comes on.

Have you ever actually discovered someone watching you? No, thank the fucking lord. That would REALLY creep me out.

What would you do if you found an inappropriate picture of yourself online? I would be EXTREMELY freaked out because I've never taken an inappropriate picture of myself and I've never allowed anyone else to either, so someone would've done it in secrecy. I'd also be absolutely fucking humiliated because I hate my body. I'd absolutely try to figure out who got the picture and try my absolute damnedest to get it taken off the Internet.

What do you think of Facebook? I use it to keep tabs on people I care about and also see memes haha, plus other cool or motivational/inspiring stuff, but it DOES sometimes negatively affect me in the sense it makes me feel insanely behind in life.

Would you rather have Junior Mints or Reese’s? Reese's.

Have you ever taken a Polaroid? I'm quite sure I haven't, though I would actually really like to have a Polaroid-type camera. I can absolutely see the aesthetic appeal of them.

When was the last time you felt pressured? This past Friday Emerson wanted to play catch with one of her toys for a little bit, and though I didn't really want to because I was reading a book, I obviously did.

How many times have you broken a bone? Once.

Do you have a preference of chocolate? Milk chocolate with either a peanut butter or caramel interior.

Do you have a favorite author? Nah I really don't.

Do you own anything “designer?” Definitely not. I ain't got that kind of money.

If you had to draw your life, what would it mainly include? A lot of mental illness imagery and also Jason. Mom.

What is your favourite dinosaur? It's always been the spinosaurus. I also really love velociraptors, but their understood anatomy has changed a whole lot. I've found I prefer less feathery dinos. The Jurassic Park iteration of them are more my style.

Have you ever made bread? I personally haven't.

Would your childhood self be disappointed? UH, YEAH.

Has anything ever fallen asleep on you? Yeah, pets, partners, kids. Maybe sisters at some point.

What do you feel about surgeries? Do they worry you? Well, they worry me NOW because I learned sleep apnea (and mine is apparently severe) is a dangerous complicator in surgeries. I've also wondered if my nightmares could be an issue... I also have a considerable fear of anesthesia awareness, but it's not absolutely overwhelming.

Do you have a Tumblr? My Tumblr was (I'm assuming) accidentally terminated over a month ago and I am STILL waiting to hear back from them, even after sending a second report. 🙃 I've been tempted to go back to my old email account (that one was ALSO randomly terminated after a theme edit but was restored), but I really don't want to so am trying to wait. I just don't at all see what in the world I could've done wrong to be fairly banned.

Would you ever consider moving to another country? Realistically I don't think I will. My mom has basically begged us girls to stay together and prioritize our family bond because our extended family ALL live out of state, usually many states away.

Would you like to live in a realm where the zombie apocalypse is possible? How do we know the one we live in now isn't? Zombifying parasites already exist in simpler, smaller organisms; who knows what the future holds. I do remember reading a scientific article about it for some reason just not seeming possible for humans with our current biological knowledge, but. Who knows. BUT ANYWAY, I would DEFINITELY prefer it to not be possible. I will never understand the absolute maniacs that basically fetishize that universe, like bitch you will die within the first couple days like basically everyone else, stop pretending you're a godly badass in the face of a horde of dead humans that are deadset on eating you and accept you're gonna shit your pants like everyone else lmao.

#survey #surveys #random questions #personal questions

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sfnewsvine · 2 years

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Trump Lashes Out Dangerously at Judges and Juries After Key Durham Acquittal

The MAGA response to the acquittal of Igor Danchenko got here as a shock to many people on the Left. Only a few of us adopted the Durham investigation (there wasn’t quite a bit to observe), few very of us thought there can be a lot to come back of it, and most of us believed that the FBI is incapable, nor desirous, of a widespread conspiracy to maintain Trump out of workplace. Many people believed that the FBI was doing its job in checking on the counterintelligence issues with Trump. However it’s a utterly completely different story in MAGA land, the place there was an absolute conviction that enormous sections of the “Deep State” had been definitely out to get Trump, and Durham would spherical all of them out and expose the plot. Now they’re lashing out. We’ve got seen it out of Spicer, Cavuto, the NYPost, and others, and now, we’re listening to it from Trump. Solely it’s much more harmful coming straight from the chief. By way of Reality Social: The disgraceful judicial system was on full show but once more with the Danchenko Verdict. Durham couldn’t get a good shake within the Swamp of biased and partisan juries, the place you might be instructed that no Republican primarily based or supported case might be received irrespective of how good it’s, & judges which can be so biased, unfair and indignant that it’s actually harmful to be in court docket! I used to be instructed by many who Durham’s case was an ideal one however he has ZERO probability of successful in “that Courtroom.” Sorry Justice Roberts, however so true! The bolded are phrases of battle or at the least severe strife. If issues had been reversed, and we genuinely believed the above (versus it being a conspiracy principle), wouldn’t we be on the lookout for methods to remedy the issue non-violently? Many on the MAGA Proper are ready to “repair this” violently. Discover how Trump frames it as “Republican-based or supported”? He means Trump’s favourite circumstances. All non-Trumpers are RINOs. This bomb of a put up is supposed to serve two functions. One, he’s livid that nobody is discovering this Russian hoax as a result of deep down, on the very least, it isn’t a hoax, simply because the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee quietly discovered. Second, and rather more importantly, Trump faces so many court docket circumstances now, simply out of the E. Jean Carroll deposition, already defending the New York A.G. case, and with doable legal costs coming from the IRS in New York all the best way all the way down to U.S. District Courtroom in West Palm Seashore. The extra Trump can forged the judiciary as rigged. Finally, simply as with elections, Trump needs to undermine any ingredient of presidency that doesn’t go his method and damned the implications. That is the “nice man” we’re speaking about, the savior to the disenfranchised cult, terribly afraid of a rustic headed into a brand new age of pluralism. It’s the Article Three assault to go together with the First and Second. It’s a grievance, one meant to convey that they now not have a rustic anymore. There isn’t a redress in need of violence. That’s the message. @JasonMiciak believes a day with out studying is a day not lived. He’s a political author, options author, creator, and legal professional. He’s a Canadian-born twin citizen who spent his teen and school years within the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a younger woman, writing from the seashores of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and presently research philosophy of science, faith, and non-math rules behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please be happy to contact for talking engagements or any issues. Supply hyperlink Originally published at SF Newsvine

#SF Newsvine

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defensefilms · 2 years

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Why George Monbiot’s Work Is Important

I had such fun writing the roughdraft of that book of policies but in writing the rough draft of legislations for what I intend to be a book, I began to wonder what were the influences that took me from merely being frustrated at my own country’s struggles, to writing a blog post about policy and legislation.

When I was younger the closest I could get to the kind of media available today was documentaries like Zeitgeist.

And yes, at 17 I considered Zeitgeist to be politics.

See back then, there was no The Young Turks, or Sam Seder or James O’Brein or even WION. There was no variety in political commentary, local or international, there was no 24 hour internet access, no youtube or independent media. I may have tried to get some conspiracy theory books but there was nothing that was current, informative and still a counter to mainstream television or radio news.

I think I tried reading Noam Chomsky a few times but I’m not afraid to admit, that stuff was way over my head.

In 2022, there are plenty of alternative news and information sources that are not state or corporate owned. Outlets that do a better job of speaking on real news, real injustices and covering these misdeeds objectively and without fear of reprisal from advertisers, employers or regulators.

Even as recently as 2008, not many outlets or writers would have been able to take the kind of holistic anti-capitalist approach in the way George Monbiot did and still does, through written works, speeches and videos.

George Monbiot is a staunch environmentalist, writer and activist from the UK, whose work spans from the mid 1980′s to present day, and includes articles published in newpapers, books and a very unpopular approach to activism as far as some media outlets, big corporations and government officails are concerned.

His approach is so complete, he has addressed the destructive effects of capitalism from a foreign affairs perspective, to capitalism’s contribution to climate change, it’s effects on education, law, politics, religion, war, food, farming and employment.

It’s clear that he wants the works on his website to be a complete understanding of the ways a global economic system has torn at the fabric of an entire global populous, on both a macro and micro scale.

Among my favourite Monbiot articles is one called “Invisible Hands”, in which he describes how corporations and the wealthy patrons, have learned how to bypass the UK’s democratic system, by in effect, bribing government officials to push for legislations that give them undue power, such as passing a bill that bans political parties from accepting money from the public, thus meanining only big business is legally allowed to financially back any eligible political candidate.

Monbiot’s work openly questions whether democracy is even possible when cash is king, and can democracy truly exist when there is no transparency to ensure that it is being upheld.

Another reason for his being shunned by certain media outlets is Monbiot’s coverage of subjects like colonialism, at a time when it seems that the “powers that be” in Britain, would rather colonialism be forgotten.

Going back to Monbiot’s first ever book, entitled “Poison Arrows”, Monbiot has long been a dissenter of governments and corporations who go to less developed parts of the world in an attempt to exploit land, natural resources and/or the native people’s cheap labour.

You have to understand that colonialism is an incredibly unpopular topic in the UK, particularly in England, so when Monbiot goes on to a independant platform like Double Down News and does stuff like this.........

youtube

It definiently sticks a needle in the governments side and brings up something they’d very much, rather be forgotten.

Always willing to lean in to less than pleasant topics, Monbiot has not ingratiated himself with the political and wealth elite of Britain, but when Monbiot is at his best, or rather when I enjoy his writing the most, is when Monbiot pulls at the things once thought to be institutions of daily life.

Education is high up on Monbiot’s priorities and things that need to be changed, or even just outright go away.

From private schools costing UK tax payers up 100 million in tax exemptions per year, even though they are not in any way charitable organizations, to a relentless lampooning of the old boy culture of prestigious private schools, to the incessant testing that is part of education system.

Worse yet, is when Monbiot takes aim at advertising that targets children.

In his article titled “Suckled On Lies”, Monbiot describes how advertising firms are now targeting this demographic by advertising within the schools walls and in classrooms. For instance how a company like Revlon can have an advertising firm distribute free samples to students during classes.

Monbiot’s work stands as a testament to what it looks like when someone commits to doing the right thing.

It’s not a reasonable standard to hold others to by any means, but it is nonetheless, admirable and increasingly necessary.

I may not be all the way in as far as his stance not eating meat, but overall I stll have more confidence in Monbiot’s politics being more well-meaning, and overall better for the majority of people (those that are not obscenely wealthy), around the globe.

#george monbiot #writers #politics #the uk #socialism #independent media #environmentalism #anti capitalism #progressive media #progressivism #double down news #worker owned co-op #the young turks #sam seder #kyle kulinski #tim black #james o'brein

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phoenixyfriend · 3 years

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The Family Tree is... a Disaster

Takes place in the TCW Leverage AU. It does contain a few deviations, namely that the narrative ended up shifting Plo's role in Ahsoka's life, and Ventress's role overall.

This is mostly just dialogue where I outline the fuckery that is the disaster lineage family tree, not actual fic. It stemmed from my incessant need to justify "25yo Obi-Wan somehow got custody of 9yo Anakin without Shmi dying."

Warnings for: canon character death (modernized), canon violence (modernized), and references to Nazis and white supremacists (Palpatine collects WWII weaponry as a parallel to his canon display of Sith artifacts in his office as chancellor, and Ahsoka thinks it's sketchy)

----

"Okay," Cody says, setting down a glass of whiskey as he drops into the seat across the table. "What the hell is your family tree like?"

Obi-Wan raises an eyebrow, and continues cleaning off the definitely-not-stolen crystal komodo dragon he'd won in today's job. "I beg your pardon?"

"You and Skywalker," Cody says, gesturing between Obi-Wan, who is just sitting there minding his own business, and Anakin, who is across the closed-for-tonight bar and doing something inadvisable on the pool table. "You've said he was your brother, and mentioned raising him, which, sure, I'm over twenty years older than my youngest brother, people take over parenting roles all the time. But you have different last names, have mentioned stepfamilies that the other doesn't have, reference things as 'your aunt, not mine,' and I am just getting... very confused. I figured it was personal and I could leave well enough alone, but considering your older brother almost shot us today--"

"Okay, Xanatos is not my brother," Obi-Wan immediately says. "Just. I just have to stop you right there. Xanatos was a student of my father's for a time, but I promise he's not family. Nobody except maybe Komari would consider him even close, and she doesn't count since she's in prison for life and the farthest thing from stable."

Cody gestures. "That, Obi-Wan. That's what I'm talking about. I don't even know who Komari is."

Obi-Wan purses his lips in a failed attempt to not smile. "Do you actually want the explanation? It's long and unnecessarily complicated."

"So's mine," Cody snorts. Obi-Wan waits, patient and pleasant, and is rewarded when Cody sighs. "Please."

"Of course, my dear. To answer your first question, though, Anakin is my half-brother." With a smile, Obi-Wan digs a piece of paper and a pen from his briefcase. "So, center of the chain: me, my father Qui-Gon, my grandfather Yan, and my great-grandfather Yoda. With me so far?"

"Easy enough. Do you have to go back that far?"

"Great-grandfather Yoda is still alive and regularly escaping the old folks' home to terrorize younger relatives, so yes," Obi-Wan says. "Given that you may just meet a tiny, meddling relative of mine when he's bored, we do in fact have to go back that far."

"...how old is he?"

"We don't know for sure. A hundred and eight-ish is the best guess." Obi-Wan shrugs. "It's not a huge deal, mostly he likes bothering Anakin these days. Anyway, grandfather. Yan Dooku. Inherited a minory duchy from his maternal grandfather decades back. Mostly hangs around there because he's on terrorist watchlists in the States."

"Oh, lovely."

Obi-Wan grins. "Trust me, it gets worse. Anyway, grandfather never actually married, but spent most of his time with his 'best friend' Sifo Dyas, who died about a decade back."

"Gay?"

"Well, we know that now, but they got together in the seventies, and this was back when they were both working government jobs, so, you know. It happens."

"Good to know," Cody says. "So, Yoda's kid is Yan, who inherited a title and land from a maternal relative, and had a life partner but never married. With you so far."

"All of Yan's kids were adopted," Obi-Wan continues, sketching out the first branch away from the Yan/Sifo partnership. "Rael was actually grandfather's cousin, maternally, and ended up in his custody after getting orphaned at five. These days, he does most of the stewardship duties at the Serenno Duchy. His daughter Nim is teaching military history at a university in Germany."

Cody nods. "Uncle number one is named Rael, technically your dad's cousin, has a daughter. Got it."

"About a decade after Rael, they adopted my father, Qui-Gon. He and grandfather fought, frequently, but they did care for each other. My father was a botanist, did bio-engineering. We'll get back to him later, because he's where things get complicated." Obi-Wan made sure to leave room around the name. "Just a few years older than me was--is--Komari Vosa. She is... serving a life sentence. I think she fought Jango once."

"She fought my father?"

"To the best of my knowledge, they both almost died, yes," Obi-Wan says. "She's in maximum security these days. She was an assassin. I'll get a call if she breaks out, and I'll let you know along with everyone else."

"Bad news auntie, got it."

"Last adoption, sort of, is Ventress," Obi-Wan finishes off. "A few years younger than me, is technically grandfather's personal assistant and does secretarial work and the like, but we all know he's planning to leave as much of the inheritance to her as he is to the rest of us. She's aggressive and unpleasant, but she takes care of him and hasn't actually threatened to kill any of us yet, so that's fine."

"How'd she join?" Cody asks.

"Ky Narec was a friend of Qui-Gon's; Ventress was his daughter. Ky died a few years after Qui-Gon did, and Ventress was a mess, after." Obi-Wan shrugs and scratches that connection into the little sketch of a family tree as well. "Grandfather offered her a job until she got herself back together, and then she just kind of... stuck around."

"Youngest aunt, more of a cousin." Cody summarizes. "Now we go back to your father?"

"Qui-Gon Jinn was a man of many skills," Obi-Wan says drily. "Adequate birth control was not one of them."

It's almost a pity that Cody wasn't drinking anything, because going by the way he chokes, Obi-Wan's pretty sure the spit take would have been spectacular.

"I'm sorry," Cody says. "Can you repeat that?"

"I was an accident," Obi-Wan says, not even bothering to hide his smile. "So was Anakin."

"So that sounds like... a story."

"It is," Obi-Wan confirms. "My biological mother has never been in the picture. They had a fling, she wasn't sure if she'd want to abort or give me up, just that she wasn't ready to be a parent, and Qui-Gon volunteered to take full custody so she could go back to her life after the birth. I've never met her, but I kept her family name. You can consider her irrelevant beyond that."

Cody nods.

"So, when I was about a year old, Qui-Gon reconnects with an old flame, they get married two years later. Step-mother number one is Tahl. Lovely woman, I absolutely adored her, and she had a daughter, my stepsister, Bant Eerin."

"I met her, right?" Cody asks.

"Yes, she was the doctor who patched up my bullet wound a few months ago," Obi-Wan says. "With the giant glasses that make her look a little fish-eyed."

"She was nice."

"She is," Obi-Wan agrees. "At any rate, that was our family for a while, and then Tahl died when I was fourteen. Bant wanted to go to a magnet school for medical studies, and Qui-Gon's grief was... not optimal for taking care of multiple teenagers, shall we say, so Bant moved in with her paternal uncle, Kit Fisto, and Kit's son Nahdar. He's a marine biologist, incredibly friendly, and has no idea of any of the rest of my side of the family's questionable activities. If you ever meet him, you will pretend that we are a legal firm with a team of security consultants."

Cody raises a brow. Obi-Wan despairs. "Best you could do?"

"We're not that likely to run into him." Obi-Wan draws out a new line. "So, Qui-Gon deals poorly with grief. This is also around the time that Xanatos came around to ruin our lives a little. He was a very rich and unpleasant man, but he's dead as of four hours ago, so you don't have to worry about him. Or his son."

"His son?"

"Anakin handled that," Obi-Wan says. "Thoroughly. Granta Omega is no longer an issue. He's not dead, but... well. Anakin has his ways. Er--I should probably mention Feemor; he was my father's assistant at the university for a long time. Anakin and I still call him our uncle."

"Also a person to avoid mentioning criminal activity to?" Cody prompts.

"Well... no, but only because I don't think he'd care. The man is, forgive me, more of a 'walking sweatervest' than I am. He's a very bland and unassuming man. He once described himself as the background character of the soap opera that is my family's existence."

"Sounds like a charmer."

"Oh, he's very kind and clever, and witty as well. I adore him, and he really is family. He's just also very, very normal. Not boring, but..." Obi-Wan trails off and shrugs helplessly. "He's an editor for an agricultural research journal. Also not someone I anticipate us running into."

"Noted."

"Right, so, Qui-Gon dealing poorly with his grief didn't involve much drinking, but there were a few months of him trying to... lose himself in the pleasures of the flesh?" Obi-Wan tries, and then deflates at the look on Cody's face. "He was slagging around. Shmi got pregnant with Anakin, who was born when I was sixteen. Shared custody at first, Qui-Gon got him weekends and every other holiday, that sort of thing, and then they got married because they actually did like each other well enough, and it was easier on the taxes."

"So Shmi is stepmother number two."

"Shmi is stepmother number two, yes." Obi-Wan sketches in Anakin and Shmi. "About nine and a half years after Anakin was born, Shmi and Qui-Gon were in a car accident with... well, it later turned out it wasn't an accident, there was a hitman called Maul involved, he's actually Ventress's second cousin or something, I don't know. Grandfather handled most of that problem. Qui-Gon died, Shmi was in intensive care, and I got custody of Anakin as his nearest adult relative. We weren't very close before that, because I was off at university by the time he was old enough to form memories, but that changed once he started living with me. I more or less raised him as a single parent from that point."

"This is why he jokes that you're like a father to him."

"Precisely," Obi-Wan says. "Shmi took about a year to recover enough to move again, and grandfather covered the costs. She still had to live with a dedicated carer and attend daily physical therapy. At that physical therapy, she met Cliegg Lars, whose son Owen was also a patient there. They hit it off, and three years later, they married. When Anakin refers to his stepfamily he's talking about the Lars out in Nevada."

"Nevada?"

"They have a farm. A very, very normal one. We don't drag them into our activities, unless we have an at-risk person who needs a safe house." Obi-Wan pauses, and then decides this really needs to be stressed. "This is important to me and Anakin, that we don't get them involved unless there's absolutely no other choice. Shmi's been through a lot, and the Lars are busy enough running the farm."

"Works for me," Cody says. "We've got enough safe houses that it shouldn't be an issue. I'm guessing this story doesn't end there, though."

Obi-Wan grimaces. "My own love life has been... a bit of a mess."

"I already know about Kryze, at least."

There's that. "I was temporarily engaged to a friend, Siri Tachi, shortly after high school. We were in a relationship, but this was mostly something done to appease a relative of hers that was getting overbearing to the point of absurdity, and she couldn't just cut them off. We broke off the engagement after the relative passed, and we're still friends."

He notes that down, then adds the other embarrassment of his early years. "First marriage was actually a drunken joke between myself and my best friend when we were in college. We got it annulled a few months later because we just didn't have time to drop by the courthouse before then, and he's actually engaged to Asajj now."

"Asajj?" Cody asks, watching in fascination as Obi-Wan tries to mark in both his own short marriage and the newer, long-term engagement without crossing any lines. He settles for just writing the name twice and including an asterisk with 'this is the same person.'

"Ventress," Obi-Wan clarifies. "Yeah, Quinlan's a fun guy. His little sister, Aayla, treats Anakin like a beloved younger cousin."

"Are they also off-limits for criminal activity?"

"No, Aayla's the one that taught Ahsoka how to vent-crawl," Obi-Wan says. "And I'm pretty sure Quinlan has contacts in every major government branch, criminal organization, and Fortune 500 company on the planet. I reach out to them regularly."

"Resources, then."

Obi-Wan nods. "Some time later, I married Satine. We had a son; you've met Korkie. We split due to incompatibility a year and change before Qui-Gon's death. Satine doesn't engage in criminal activity, but Bo-Katan is..."

"I've met Bo-Katan. I know what she's like, Obi. You don't have to explain."

"She works with Maul sometimes."

"...the man who killed your father?"

"Yes. It's all very stupid and convoluted." Obi-Wan still writes her in. "So, that's them. Korkie goes to boarding school, and I try not to involve him in anything. Anakin and Ahsoka like to teach him self-defense and the like, but Satine is adamant that he stay unaware of my less legal dealings until he's an adult."

Cody shrugs. "Makes sense. Is that every--wait, no, Skywalker's married."

Obi-Wan grins. "Yes, and Padme's got twins on the way."

"I was there when he told us," Cody says drily. "He was very loud about it. Okay, how does Ahsoka fit in?"

"Hold on, I forgot Beru," Obi-Wan mutters. "Owen's fiancee. Same rules as the Lars. Okay, you asked about Ahsoka. Right. So. Um."

He dithers. Cody waits for him, and then Obi-Wan just gives up. "Ahsoka, dear, would you like to explain how you joined the family, so to speak?"

Ahsoka looks up from whatever she and the boys are doing--there are multiple beer glasses and straws and duct tape involved, and Obi-Wan doesn't really want to know--and then flips off the table and over to Obi-Wan and Cody. She looks over the family tree chart, and then says, "Oooh, did you tell him about the cult?"

"You were in a cult?" Cody demands.

"No, Komari was. She was head priestess or something. I dunno, it's why she's in prison and stuff."

"I did not tell him about the cult," Obi-Wan mutters, already regretting this. "The Bando Gora aren't a problem anymore. I've already gotten to explaining how you and Anakin know each other."

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, steals his pen, and starts sketching in around Quinlan's name, over by Asajj since Obi-Wan's section is too crowded. "Okay, so, Quinlan's adopted. His dad is Tholme, and Tholme's dad is Plo Koon. Plo Koon is good friends with my Auntie, Shaak Ti, who raised me. They live next door to each other, out in the country, and I'd play in his yard a lot, because he had puppies, and he took me to visit his bees. Whenever Auntie needed a babysitter, she asked Quinlan or Aayla to do it since she knew and trusted them, and Aayla needed pocket money."

"This is so unnecessarily complicated," Cody mutters.

"It is!" Ahsoka chirps. Her grin is far too sharp. "So, this one time, Aayla was watching me when I was fourteen, and she was just helping me with my physics homework. BAM, the door slams open, and in stumbled Skyguy with his arm missing. I've never met him before, and my first introduction is him shortly after he's gotten an unplanned amputation."

Anakin, on the other side of the room, giggles. Obi-Wan just sighs. The Fett brothers appear to be in the land of 'horrified fascination.'

Ahsoka revels in it. "There's blood everywhere, I'm screaming, Aayla's panicking, Anakin's halfway to unconscious and insisting we can't call the hospital, and nobody can get Obi-Wan on the phone. Quinlan's in another country, and Auntie Shaak and Uncle Plo are at a movie, so they've both got their cellphones off. Tholme was faking his death at that point to get away from an incident with the Irish Mob, so we didn't even try him."

"What the actual fuck," Rex breathes.

Ahsoka continues with relish. "We get Bant to pick up, and she's there an hour later with Padme, because Padme knows how to drive the way Skyguy does, and the entire drive there is just Auntie Bant on speakerphone telling Aayla how to stop the bleeding and get him stabilized while Padme's screaming at traffic at the top of her lungs."

"I owe Aayla a fruit basket," Anakin muses aloud. "The anniversary of her saving my life is coming up, it's warranted."

"Five years, baby!" Ahsoka crows. She fist-pumps.

Obi-Wan just drops his head into his hands. "You're killing me, children."

Anakin shrugs, grinning. "You know, I think Fett Senior might have been involved in that fight."

"My shitty dad cut off your arm?" Rex demands.

"No, I think he was busy fighting the Interpol guy," Anakin says. "But he was definitely there. I think. Blood loss kinda got to me after a bit, but I'm pretty sure Jango Fett was there, and also Boba might've been hiding in the getaway car?"

"I need another glass," Cody mutters. He doesn't stand up, though.

"Wait," Rex says. "So who cut off your arm?"

Anakin shrugs with an unsure noise. "Someone tried to convince me it was Grandpa Yan, but he was in the middle of a court case in Italy for some kind of parole violation when it happened, so he had an alibi."

"...did he actually violate parole?" Cody asks, and Obi-Wan thinks he looks like he doesn't know if he actually wants an answer.

Ahsoka shrugs. So does Anakin. Obi-Wan carefully looks at a spot behind Cody, and doesn't explain anything about wine tastings used as covers for illicit arms deals.

"The arm?" Rex prompts, sounding a little desperate to get back to the question he likely thinks is the most important.

"I still say it was Skeevy Sheev," Ahsoka chimes in.

"It wasn't Palpatine," Anakin snaps.

"Your creepy older friend who took you to operas and gives you fancy gifts and knows way too much about swords who was conveniently there to talk to the police and cover for you so you didn't get arrested for getting in the middle of a gang war in the first place, yes," Ahsoka says, dropping into a chair and sighing dramatically. "The guy who definitely hasn't been trying to convince you for a year and change that your wife is cheating on you with your older brother."

"Ahsoka!"

"What? He is."

"Anakin," Rex says, "your life sounds like a trainwreck."

"I'm not going to assume a frail, elderly man cut my arm off!" Anakin protests. "Even if he wanted to, he doesn't exactly have the muscle for it!"

"Grandfather's older," Obi-Wan points out, even though he knows it won't help. "And he definitely still could."

"Ha!" Ahsoka shouts.

"He could have hired someone?" Cody suggests. "Doesn't need to do it himself, if he has enough money."

Obi-Wan has a sneaking suspicion that Cody is deliberately stirring the pot as revenge for Anakin sending him eighty-seven cat memes inside an hour during last night's dinner.

"You all suck," Anakin declares. "Also, what the hell do you mean 'knows way too much about swords,' Ahsoka? You know way too much about swords!"

"Yeah, but I'm like ninety-percent sure that his antiques are Prussian and mid-century German military officer dress uniform relics, and pairing that with the Nazi pistols he's got on display--"

"He's just a history buff! And his family's German, of course he prioritizes that region, it's not like he doesn't have Russian or French or English antiques in there too, it's all sides of the war and--"

"I'm just saying he's almost definitely sending me sketchy glances like he thinks I'm planning to steal the silver on the three occasions you've had me with you when you stop by, and I'm pretty sure it's got less to do with my criminal record and more to do with me being, you know, not white."

Anakin looks ready to blow, so Obi-Wan interrupts. "Ahsoka, you were explaining how Anakin passing out on Aayla and scaring us all half to death led to your friendship?"

Ahsoka blinks at him, and then sticks her tongue out at Anakin and turns back to the chart. "So basically, Skyguy had to recuperate in Uncle Plo's living room for a week or two, and I kept showing up to bother him because he was bored and nobody would give him a laptop for 'security reasons,' because he had to lay low and stuff. He made me help him sketch out designs for a prosthesis and do all the writing for the math he had to do for the 3D printer, and we got to chatting."

Ahsoka hops up and back onto a table, legs swinging below her. "I decided he was cool and started following him around while he was getting used to only having one hand, mostly because I was bored. He showed me how to hotwire a car, and explained the best places to put a bug if you were looking to make it sneaky, and he picked my pocket to show off so many times when he was walking around Uncle Plo's house that I made him teach me that, too. And, uh, then Aayla found out and they got into a shouting match about it and decided they both needed to teach me parkour so I could get out of any mess I got myself into, since I was obviously going to follow them into a life of crime."

"And you did," Anakin says, far too proudly. "You're the best thief in this half of the country."

"Only because Aayla moved out east."

Anakin rolls his eyes and pulls Ahsoka into his side, digging his knuckles into her skull. "Best thief! You are the best thief! Be proud of yourself!"

"Let go!"

"Never!"

Obi-Wan sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. "Children, please."

"You're not my dad," Ahsoka growls out at him. "Skyguy, I'm going to bite you!"

"Good luck, the only arm you can access is the one that's going to break your teeth."

Ahsoka shrieks in outrage and stomps on Anakin's instep.

It's almost funny, for all that Obi-Wan's seen it play out a million times before, but the really interesting part is seeing Rex's look of fond dismay.

Obi-Wan thinks he might be adding a branch out to the Fetts soon. He's not actually sure if Rex is interested in Anakin or Ahsoka, and he's smack dab between them in age, so that's not a help either, but... well. The expression is familiar enough.

"Please tell me you don't match-make," Cody mutters to him.

"No, I plan to let the pieces fall where they will," Obi-Wan responds, just as low, and far more amused. "I'm simply trying to predict where those landings are to be."

Cody looks at him, and then back at the roughhousing trio, and sighs heavily. "You know, I really didn't think that you technically being minor royalty was going to be the least convoluted thing in your story, Obi-Wan."

He laughs, because it's true. "I'm first in line to inherit the title, since Rael denounced his claim. Nim isn't interested, and Qui-Gon's dead, so... I'm next."

Cody makes a face. "Delightful. I'm guessing that's not a connection we can safely make use of."

"No more than the Kryze or Naberries, I'm afraid." Obi-Wan claps him on the shoulder. "Chin up, I've plenty others in the metaphorical rolodex, all far less legitimate and far more amenable to work with our little outfit."

"Rolodex, really?" Cody snorts. "You're not that old."

Obi-Wan smiles winningly. "You don't know how old I am, Cody. All my IDs are fake."

"Anakin's twenty-four, and you're sixteen years older than him, going by the story you just told me," Cody points out. "I do know how to do basic math, Obi-Wan."

"I had to try," Obi-Wan admits. "I threw a lot of information at you all at once; I'd hoped you missed some of the ages in there."

"I have eight brothers," Cody scoffs. "And literally dozens of cousins, plus niblings, uncles, aunts, and so on. I have experience on this."

"If I asked you to list of the age of every single relative you have, you'd be able to do it?"

"Do you want me to draw a chart? I can draw a chart."

Obi-Wan can't help but laugh. "I'd be delighted, my dear."

Cody rolls his eyes, but Obi-Wan thinks--it's hard to tell in the dimmed lights of the closed bar--that there's a hint of a blush on the man's face. Obi-Wan lets himself slouch to the side, drops his head to rest on one fist, indolent debauchery in every line of his body. Cody does his best to ignore him, but Obi-Wan knows how to smile lazily and blink slowly and draw a man in.

(The whole 'indolent debauchery in every line of his body' phrasing is Anakin's, from back when he was a teenager trying to read highbrow literature to impress a cute girl... and to come up with new insults for his older brother.)

"So," Cody says, with a cough meant to somehow distract Obi-Wan from whatever's showing on the man's face. "Why, uh, why is your grandfather on terrorist watchlists?"

"Well, he didn't initially do anything," Obi-Wan says. "He was just a gay man who didn't hide it quite well enough, and had too much money and too white a face for someone to just call the cops on a faulty report. The Red Scare was technically over by that point, I think, but if a few people made suggestions that he was more loyal to the country that gave him a noble title than to the United States... he received a few warnings, of course, and it could have all blown over..."

"But?"

"But my grandfather is not a man to do things by halves, and instead decided that if the government was to list him as a threat, then he would oblige and make himself a threat," Obi-Wan finishes. "Living up to their labels, rolling with the assumptions, whatever you'd like to call it. It all irked him, and so he made some incredibly questionable decisions to make the government's lives harder. Some weren't bad, like donating to anti-war foundations that were protesting the Gulf War and the interventions in Yugoslavia, that sort of thing, and some were... nobody really looks well on gunrunning, you know."

"For fuck's sake..."

"Indeed," Obi-Wan chuckles. "Ironically, he has minimal opinion on the optimal form of economics, for all that virulent xenophobia and the remnants of anti-communism were involved in the whole mess. He just wanted to create problems for the people that were causing him problems."

Cody shakes his head. "I want to judge that, but you've met my father."

"Jango Fett is, indeed, also not a man to do things by halves," Obi-Wan agrees, attempting to nod gravely but breaking into a smile at the end. "That man is absurd."

"At least he's not dragging Boba into it anymore," Cody mutters. He drags over the fresh sheet of paper and pen that Obi-Wan offers him. "Okay, right, let's start with Jaster..."

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