#i'm quarantined with a LOT of dogs guys

[vanwritesfan-fiction]

Can you write a blurb about Travis being too sick to play?

Having three kids in school meant that your house was practically ground zero for a variety of illnesses. Usually Travis was able to avoid getting sick; he chocked it up to his strong immune system, but when Savannah came home with the flu right as Christmas break started, even Travis wasn't able to escape it.

A couple of days of fever and cough turned into a week, and you had Travis and Savannah quarantined in your bedroom, while the other two spent the weekend with their grandparents. Even with the flu, Savannah had a lot of toddler energy, and Travis was at his wits end.

You went to go check in on them in the afternoon, bringing two bowls of soup, the only thing they could keep down at the moment. Travis looked grumpy, slumped against his pillows, a frown on his face. Savannah was the opposite, singing and laughing along to Paw Patrol on the TV.

"Paw Patrol again, Sav?" You chuckled as you set the tray down on the dresser. She only nodded, her focus on the show. "Please save me." Travis grumbled out, grabbing your hand. You sat down on his side of the bed, gently rubbing his chest. "How do you feel?"

"Like I never wanna see another cartoon dog in my life." He let out a hard chest cough, wincing at the pain from his sore throat. He loved spending time with Savannah, but between the cold medicine and the cartoons, he was starting to go stir crazy.

"I think the game is about to start, I'll take Sav downstairs and give you a break." Travis tired to stay as healthy as possible during the season, so he was beyond frustrated that he was missing his first game of the season, and to make matters worse, he couldn't even be on the sideline to support his guys. "Don't remind me. What kind of leader am I if I'm in bed while the team is playing?" He sat up in bed, clutching his head as he felt dizzy.

"Travis, you can barely stand right now. If anything, you'd be a liability on the field, not an asset." You admired his tenacity, but it also meant that he internalized every mistake he made. "You need to focus on getting better and resting", you gently pushed him down on the bed, "and spending time with your daughter." Savannah smiled at Travis, giving him a toothless grin. "You wanna watch football, Daddy?" She climbed into his lap, playing with his beard.

"You would do that for me?" He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Yes", she nodded, "but only for a little while, 'kay?" Travis laughed at how casual she was about it, not a care in the world even though she was sick. "Do you wanna join us?" He turned to you, grabbing your hand and stroking your knuckles.

"Uh, no. One of us has to stay healthy." You tried to stand, but Travis grabbed you by the waist, pulling you down into the bed. Even at half-strength he still tackled you with ease. "Sorry, you're gonna have to stick with us. Get her, Nannah!" Savannah playfully jumped on you and began peppering your face with kisses making you giggle, while Travis was tickling you, his hands crawling under your shirt.

"Stop! Both of you!" You could barely speak between laughs, tears brimming in your eyes. They finally let up when you thought you were about to pee yourself. "Travis, I swear, if I get sick, you will wait on me hand and foot."

"Deal." Travis pulled you into his side as you settled between them on the bed, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

#traviskelce #travis kelce #travis kelce imagine #travis kelce fanfiction #travis kelce fanfic #nfl imagine #nfl fanfic #nfl fanfiction

[mod2amaryllis]

I'm waiting for this migraine to die so I'm gonna tell you guys about Marshall, the dog who made me quit. read on if you wanna learn about extended quarantine and why this job sucks sometimes and other times is the most rewarding thing on the planet, often for the same reasons lmao.

in 2021, the weight of covid was kinda crashing down. i heard this was the case for a lot of health workers. we switched into emergency mode throughout 2020 and powered through, then the rest of the world decided to try and "get back to normal" a year later, giving no regard to the people who'd been working like a speeding train with the brakes off all that time. i was losing it!!! add a few more hay bales to my back when we hired a new doc who was the most demanding dude I'd ever met (still is, but we've come to some understanding lol) and who decided to run me as ragged as possible the first day he was left to his own devices.

that was the day Marshall came in.

i didn't talk about this back then because the outcome of the case was uncertain and the details so specific, but here's the run down knowing that 2 years later, Marshall is living his best life. when he was a baby, too young to have received a rabies vaccine, his owners found a rabies positive bat in the house. the state vet will always recommend euthanasia in these situations, OR, if you can somehow find and afford the option, a 6 month quarantine. this was such a tragic situation the owners were willing to try to save him. my clinic happens to have a decent isolation ward that's rarely in use; we use it for infectious patients like parvo puppies, uri's that have to be hospitalized, etc. so my boss agreed to take him for those 6 months. but the owners' caveat was that if he wasn't mentally adjusting to isolation after a couple weeks, they would euthanize so as not to put him through it and leave him with lifelong behavior issues.

that day, when animal control brought Marshall in the middle of an insane rush, we were short staffed and already at the end of our ropes with this new doc. i was the only qualified person who could talk to the officer. i was the only person who could take him back to isolation. the act of putting a 12 week old puppy in a 4 x 4 run where i knew he would either spend 6 months untouched, or never see the outside again, broke me. last straw.

i was a mess, for the rest of that day and the rest of that weekend having to go in and take care of him, when it was too early for him to adjust so i was sure he wouldn't make it. I'd come home sobbing. eventually jose was just like, "this isn't worth it any more," and i sent in a two weeks notice. i'd come close to doing so many times in the previous 6 years but never pulled the trigger. it took a total meltdown. my managers responded with regret, but understanding.

i wish i could've just felt free and done with it but for those two weeks i was just uncertain. this job is so complicated. the benefits for my pets are enormous; it's my main social network; it's income; I'm good at it and it gives me purpose. it's just also hell on earth! with no pressure from anyone else one way or the other, by the end of two weeks I'd decided to instead try going part time. that's where I'm at 2 years later so guess it worked lol.

but! there was still Marshall. shortly after we took him, we also happened to get a call for the same situation on 2 cats, and decided to take them as well. 3 animals on a 6 month quarantine. very new and daunting for all of us.

that first weekend was hard, but slowly, Marshall figured things out. it was the least ideal situation imaginable and i was at rock bottom and so was he, but i had this moment of like.....ok. if he wants to make this work, I'm gonna do as right by him as possible. and of course all us techs were helping him (one of my road dog coworkers always opened so i referred to her as his "morning mom") but i in particular took a special interest in training and enrichment. it became a passion. i was working less, but i volunteered extra weekends so i could see him more.

he was so young he hadn't even done much basic command training, and the fact that i couldn't touch him at all was a challenge. i started with a clicker to signal I'd rolled a treat into his run, since i couldn't give it to him directly. over those months we went through the basics: sit, down, paw, touch, using a back scratcher for a hand. part of the worry was him getting enough exercise; we noticed that when he'd get agitated, he'd jump on the bars non stop. i was like hmm that might be our only option, so i made "up" a command. i'd basically run burpies for exercise, up-sit-down-sit-up. he was a fast learner, very attentive. seeing him keep his wits about him like that was straight up thrilling. he even "potty trained" himself, barking like crazy whenever he'd go to the bathroom so we'd know right away he needed the run cleaned.

in the ward, there are 2 runs and 3 kennels. i trained Marshall to go back and forth between runs so we could clean. we'd have his food waiting for him in the next run over so he could eat while we'd clean; at the midday switch, he'd have a doggie popsicle. he was such a smart dog i knew toys and treats alone weren't cutting it for enrichment, and i couldn't constantly train him when i still had to be doing the rest of my job.

i started having everyone save every single box and paper-packaging that came in. i'd unfold some boxes for "bedding," so he'd at least have something between him and the concrete (he'd chew and eat any blanket we tried giving him). the rest, i turned into puzzles. i put treats inside and closed them up. put big boxes on their side in his run so he could go in and out. crumpled up paper-packaging with treats mixed in for him to dig through. every day i'd turn one run into a box-toy paradise, let him in, clean the other, and by the time i was checking back in on him he was snoozing in a pile of destruction. success. when other techs wouldn't go to the same lengths, i'd stay late pre-making his boxes and telling people to just throw them in dammit. i also queued several ambient sound playlists, birdsong cityscapes etc, to play on the weekend days when he was alone for long periods.

the months went by like this. i learned more about training, enrichment, and most specifically quarantine than i ever had outside of my experiences with my own puppies. we fell into a routine. we straight up loved each other, he was part of my life. he'd been this horrible trigger and pretty much doubled my workload, but he got to live.

then there were the cats! they were a little easier than Marsh just because they were already adults so didn't have all this energy to wrangle. for them, daily cleaning of course, taking turns going into the 1 empty kennel where i'd have treats, catnip, and other "new" smells waiting for them. for enrichment i focused on reconfiguration. every 2-3 days i'd rearrange things in their kennels, with the big pieces being a litter box, a bed, and an upright sturdy box (so they could either be in it or on top of it, giving them one upper level). it was habitat tetris. we'd play with strings and use the back scratcher for pets. then about every week, i'd switch their kennels to slightly change their view AND traded beds to mingle scents. they were from the same household and we were worried there'd be difficulty re-bonding after not being in direct contact for so long. they also did very well by the end of 6 months aside from gaining a lot of weight (oops). i learned just as much from them, and would love to help anyone else who might struggle with needing to quarantine pets.

i've seen people posting for help about similar situations and just wanna scream from the rooftops: the beginning is very daunting and hopeless, but animals aren't like us!!!!!! they do the best with what they got!!!!! if you work hard and keep them clean and develop a routine it'll all work out!!!!! Marshall walked out of there at 6 months a normal happy puppy in desperate need of a haircut.

it's interesting because i've never interacted much with his owners. i don't think they know i'm the one who kept him from losing his mind in there, even though everyone else at the clinic does, and i'm weirdly ok with that. the other day he came in cuz the dummy ate a bunch of meds he wasn't supposed to; the doc brought him to the back and instantly, Marshall rushed right for me. he still remembers me in a good way. there's still love. it's like...one of the few patient relationships i've had that feels truly deeply personal. in retrospect i think he had a bigger hand in healing my relationship with this career and animals in general than i realized at the time.

so thanks for making me quit Marshall. i feel a lot better now.

(i don't have any pics of him from that time (tragic ssd card accident) but he was an overgrown doodle puppy so he looked like this.)

#vet med #vet tech #work stuff #m2a #I've always wanted to tell this story it had such an impact on me

[lucidfairies]

hi 🫡

. yes that is me embarrassing the shit outta myself (I actually sent that to a handful of girls)

i. for those of you who may not know, i'm maya. i'm 18, i'm typically a masculine presenting lesbian and I happen to be a she/her. I also am unfortunately asexual

• everyone meat riding rn about why I read and write so much smut as an asexual, I would love for you to know that I'm fighting a losing battle with hypersexuality! that is all I will be sharing on that matter thank you. •

ii. I'm proficient at finding people's instas whether they wanna be found or not!! if this relates to you, you may want to hmu.

iii. um I'm single if that wasn't clear from the kicker.

iv. I have severe Audhd and I have OCD but I don't really count that because you can't really tell it's there. I'm a POTS and scoliosis survivor

(can u tell idk what the hell I'm doing)

v. I will drop my socials if you so want them but I would prefer u DM me cuz I don't need my public insta in tumblr comments tbh (I have insta, tiktok, discord, snap, so on so forth)

vi. I'm still in high school LMAOOO pls I'm not less than eighteen guys don't worry but I aspire to be in the military but I'm taking a gap year

vii. I've been writing since like third grade but over quarantine my parents kinda banished me to our basement and I was doing a lot of things I shouldn't have been doing but now I'm sorta good at writing !!

viii. fics are kinda a side gig, I do write real shit here and there but there's genuinely no point so idk why I do it

ix. I'm what people like to call a whore except I don't fuck around I just talk to like nine people at once (hop off my dick rn)

x. I'm hilariously funny if you ever wanna strike up a conversation

xi. I'm down for ANY conversations. you wanna talk about what kinks some random bitch has based on their appearance? let's talk about it. wanna tell me about the sex you had last night? I'll go get a snack. I don't get triggered by really anything so if u need an outlet, I'm right here bb

xii. I actually have a massive gyatt

xiii. I can curl a lot of lbs and um I can bench some too and I guess do leg stuff (gym girlies rise)

xiv. I'm Jewish but not like Jewish my fam just is, I am probably one of the furthest things from religion and I don't hugely support organized religion (my fav way to describe it is being Jew-ish)

xv. I am a leftist through and through (pro choice, pro science, pro gays, Black lives matter, stop Asian hate, in case you needed clarification on that one) and I avoid knowingly being friends with Republicans at all costs

xvi. I am pro Palestine, nothing anyone will say or do could change my stance on that one.

xvii. I have a cat + dog

xviii. I don't get cold like ever cuz I ski in like 10° weather all winter

xix. I have Duolingo and if u wanna beef it out w a quest then I am definitely down for that because I will beat you (I'm learning Hawaiian and Hebrew)

xx. I'm fluent in German and speak it at home w the fam and I know some Spanish + French

xxi. juice boxes > anything

xxii. some more pics of me will follow whenever I stfu

xxiii. I stand at a whopping six feet tall but I swear I have short person energy

xxv. in my personal opinion I have huge dick energy but you're welcome to put me in my place (I'm a switch and I'll cook for you)

xxiv. if your snap score is more that 300k we can't be friends I'm sorry (mine is 100k suck my c o c k)

xxvi. best position is doggy but I can be persuaded into something different

xxvii. CUNT

xxviii. uhhhh I'm from the East Coast of America so l operate in EST time

anyway it was nice getting to talk about myself for a long time 🫡 feel free to make numerous comments about my life in the comments

anyway y'all here are some for faceless pics that are guaranteed to make u cream (see, hilarious)

sayonara sistas

[anglespin]

DUDE, THE DRAGONS YOU TAKE INSPO FROM ARE SO COOL?? Woahhhh, now I have two new games to reference from. Personally, I take a lot of reference from DOTA: Dragon's Blood and a little bit of Dragon's Dogma for the dragon heart/weakness idea. (Been having a dragon au brewing in my head for RE ngl) How do you think your Leons would've got infected? I'm just asking cause usually people do something along the lines of 'this guy got infected and turned into a dog hybrid'! Or something like that. (Genetics would apply to that too, possibly???) I guess this also applies to Las Plagas Leon, but honestly the way he could've got infected could be very different from RE4/RE4R if you want to go that route. (Honestly this goes for all you hybrid Leons in general, so if you wanna answer don't complicate it too much so I don't make your brain or something die bc of me 😭)

JUST WANTED TO ASK THISSSSS!!

Receives your heart and throws millions back at you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I havent really seen anything for those two games you've mentioned... I'd love to try Dragon's Dogma though I think?

I grew up on Dragon Age so those two dragons got a special place in my heart. The ArchDemon is crazy awesome and spooky looking!!! I also love Flemmeth's dragon design as well, but I didn't use hers for anything.

My plaga Leon specifically was infected through RE4-- just with a major twist and fuckery on my part.

Leon was given a Queen Plaga instead of a normal one in order to subdue his will far easier. Saddler had known based on what he'd been told by his people that Leon was formidable and unstoppable... so he ordered Menendez to "convert" him with one. Also Saddler was very interested in expanding the holy body's hierarchy (not in a weird, breedy way though) since the Queen had no host that could take it's will and power. This is based on the Remake version of events because I haven't played OG4 yet... I have it on my pc.

Krauser's own actually reacts to the Queen Plaga

The Plaga he was given hadn't been killed when he was treated... instead it had gone dormant in shock. The treatment wasn't in time and also the plaga was just too strong to be taken out. It re-emerges once he's in the United States during his quarantine post-mission.

The US government was indeed very interested in the Plagas once they were informed of them... and Leon having a Queen specimen was very... promising. Especially because the Queen is independent from Saddler and that means Leon can command soldiers. (Which is why I have BOW armor Leon... He's deployed with Verdugos on missions. Also I want to have Leon vs. Chris at some point w it cause it sounds SUPER COOL!!! Chris wouldn't know its Leon though hehe)

C-Virus.... I've always liked to use C-virus for shit so I was like: Government experiments on Leon a little bit in some super soldier program designed to use Las Plagas as biological enhancements. They create their own Verdugos and Leon can command them as a Queen bee can. They also discover that C-Virus and Plagas are pretty compatible. It gives Plaga Leon the ability to change as far as needed... and revert back without much issues.

Leon's DNA is used for alot of the projects so everything is actually traceable back to him

Plaga Leon is actually not that strong. Chris can still go toe to toe easily with him. He's only stronger when he's more transformed... then uhhh survive :3c

The BSAA heavily pushes into investigations of the US Government and eventually the DSO over Human Rights violations among other things involving the creation and use of BOW's for their own interests. Chris actually pressures Leon over it alot... but Leon is utterly terrified of saying anything because its extremely dangerous and top secret information (also he was ahem.. conditioned to not spare a peep).

The Magenta eyes were an intentional design choice because red is kinda corny imo and also i thought it was cool :3c

KSDFJSLKFJSL AAAA HEARTS!!!

#angle's inbox archive

[zooophagous]

Today's entry of Wayward Souls deals with the aftermath of Mr. Strauss' big night on the town and is an aside exploring the point of view of a side character.

I went back and forth over when the best time was to share this. It's sort of been bothering me ever since it happened, and my therapist told me it's healthy to share and write it down. For a couple of reasons, I hesitated. First, because it sounds stupid. At best, people would think I was exaggerating for attention. Second, because some really sketchy people really, really didn't want me to say anything.

Well, sue me.

For the purposes of our story, you can call me "Tina."  Fake name, just in case someone figures out I blabbed, but it's not like they'll have a hard time figuring it out from the details anyway.

I used to work at a pet store as a sales associate. I say 'used to' because after what  I saw, I'm not going back in there. I didn't even go back to get my last check. I made them mail it. This wasn't a nice pet store, it was a chain store. A Pets-R-Inn in a shitty strip mall. The sort of pet store that sells puppies and always sort of smells like shit.

You know the type. Yeah, I know it's bad. I knew it was bad while I worked there. I figured maybe I could work part time with animals and elevate the care a little bit, you know? I can't make a store stop selling puppies but I can make sure the puppies are clean. I can scoop a dead fish out of a tank. I can quarantine a sick rat before it infects the others. Maybe trying to make a difference in a place like that was my first mistake.

I've seen so much shit and vomit and pee and parasites it would make your head spin. I'm not saying this to bring down the 'good name' of the chain pet store that sells sickly puppy mill dogs for three grand a piece and pays just above the federal minimum wage in the year of our Lord 2023 however. No, that's a rant for another time.

 I'm telling you this so you understand that I have a strong stomach. You HAVE to have a strong stomach when you work with animals. Any time you work with living things, inevitably you're going to work with dying things. Especially when most of the animals you work with are rodents with a natural lifespan not even a tenth of your own, who all live in close quarters and share their food and water and diseases alike.

I'm not being dramatic. I'm not getting worked up over nothing and I am NOT making this up. I was a good worker and I was good at my job. I didn't let one weird guy ruin it for me. It was ruined for me by a monster. And now I'm terrified I'm being followed by the FBI or the CIA or some government something. I don't know who they are. I don't care anymore. If I go missing maybe whoever reading this can figure out who to blame.

I'm getting off track here. So, this one day, I'm working the shop by myself. It was sort of a cold rainy day, real grey and dark. My stupid shit head manager Derek takes off for a "meeting" that was a 2 hour lunch he didn't clock out for, and left me to run the shop alone.

Not a huge deal, when I'm alone I can slack off and do whatever, and the major chores for the day were done because it was dead slow so I was just at the counter on my phone. As I'm standing there the door jingles open and this guy walks in.

I look up a little and say hi. I'm not really paying as much attention to him as I should, because he sort of looks like he knows what he wants already and heads right in. He looked sort of  bedraggled, scruffy, but a lot of our customers are "animal people" who have dirty stuff to do so I don't think much of it. It was half storming outside anyway.

He goes back to where we keep the feeder mice. Now, I'm sure you're probably aware that snakes eat whole prey. Well, we try really hard to get our customers to switch to frozen whole prey instead of live because live isn't as humane, and being the kindly little Snow White I am, I start preparing my spiel.

I see he's already trying to open the cages. That's no good. Liability. God forbid someone get bit by a rat or drop the whole fucking fish tank full of them and sue us. Or worse, some bleeding heart trying to "save" them again by stealing them or turning them loose.

So I'm helpful and I go back with my keys and I say to him "Hey, I need to be the one to open that for you." Now I actually do get a look at the guy. He's muddy. Like covered in mud. Soaked. He looks homeless and he might be having an episode of some sort and Derek is still gone. Great.

By this time he's got the cage open. Which, by the way, is locked. He broke the lock. The padlock. With his hands. His hands that are now rooting around in a tank full of white mice. I don't really want to stop him. I don't think I CAN stop him. He turns around and he looks at me.

He's got a little pink tail coming out of his mouth. He has a mouse in his fucking mouth. He ate a fucking mouse.

My chest gets tight and I don't really know if I should scream or if that will make it worse but I'm screaming anyway and he spits the mouse out and shoves another one into his mouth and I hear it CRUNCH and he stares me dead in the eyes while he does it.

Speaking of eyes, his were glowing. The way a cats eyes sort of shine in different colors. He's taking a step towards me and I see he's got more mice in his hand and he has claws on his hand instead of nails.

This is when I started yelling. Not screaming, really, more of a holler. An angry yell. A garbled sort of half terror and half "what the fuck do you think you're doing" that came out in a single loud note that cut my throat raw as I let it out.

I hear the door jingle again. I'm hoping it's Derek. No, just more customers, or so I thought. They're yelling at him. He backs off, he's like... hiding from them? I think for a moment I'm saved, that maybe this is just some sort of patient that wandered away from his handlers or something. But then more people pile in.

And now one of them has a gun.

Somehow or other it has now managed to ESCALATE. This guy fucking panics, throws down a whole shelf of cages and they all shatter. There are mice EVERYWHERE. They don't just scatter though, they're running together in a swarm towards the lady with a gun. Did I mention it was a lady? I thought it was weird it was a lady. Usually ladies don't shoot up stores.

But anyway these mice are running to her and running up her legs and she's screaming and while she's freaking out the guy rushes them and knocks everyone over and he's just out of there like a bat out of Hell. The crowd runs off with him, and suddenly I'm alone again.

Just surrounded by broken glass, loose mice, and no explanation at all of what the fuck just happened. It was about this time Derek FINALLY decided to grace me with his presence and yell at me for all the shit that went wrong. As if I could have stopped it.

And of course he didn't believe me until AFTER he saw the security footage. I mean granted I sounded like a mess but what the Hell kind of lie would it be that a crazy person came in and started eating mice?

The aftermath was Hell. I had to stay late that night catching mice and cleaning up broken glass and spilled bedding. He broke the door too on his way out, which Derek had to leave yet again to go get a chain and padlock to keep it shut while I stayed behind and had another panic attack.

While I was cleaning up I found a couple of dead ones. Mice, I mean. They're not built to be thrown around like that. One I found though was very interesting. It was dead, yes, but it looked like it had been dead a while.

It was hard to the touch, and brittle. Mummified like a cat in the wall of an old building. I thought maybe it had escaped a long time ago and the activity only just now knocked the carcass loose from wherever it was stuck. But its fur was damp, and it had a large, suspiciously tooth shaped gash in its abdomen.

It was the mouse that guy ate. Except he didn't eat it. He just... sucked every drop of fluid out of it and spit it back out. Then he went back for more. He wasn't eating them, just... juicing them.

After finding that I finally gave up and called it quits. I didn't have it in me to keep cleaning and I wasn't sure I could come back to the store either, so despite Derek's vociferous petulant protests I went home.

Aside from suddenly being jobless, life was quiet and normal after that. I avoided the store but I'm told the creepy guy never came back. I thought maybe that lady actually shot him, not sure if it would really make me feel bad or not.

But the story doesn't just end there. Oh no! I should be so lucky! No, seeing someone having an episode or a meth bender or what have you is definitely distressing, but it doesn't really typically tip the scales from a moment of terror and confusion to a chronic anxiety that you're being followed and watched.

A few days after that little incident, I get a knock at my door. I open it, and I find an official looking little envelope. Maybe it's a subpoena to be a witness to the crime or whatever. I open it up.

No, it's a letter. Addressed to me, personally. "Dear Redacted, my name is Ursula Harker, I am writing on behalf of the Van Helsing Institute relating to a recent incident at 'Pets R Inn' retail store, in which you were the victim of an assault and may be entitled to financial compensation. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. This is an attempt to settle the matter out of court without the input of the police. By accepting our cash offer you are relinquishing your right to file civilly against the Institute, and agreeing to a non-disclosure cause. The Institute can be reached at..."

You get the idea. So I call this woman, Miss Ursula Harker. Even her name sounds creepy. She picks up, I tell her who I am.  She immediately starts apologizing to me, promising to pay for any store damages or medical bills and then some. Asking to buy my silence. So I tell her I've only got one question for her.

She says go ahead.

I ask her "What was that guy?"

She starts telling me that his name is Luther and he's a patient at such and such and I cut her off and I say again No.

What was that guy?

She's quiet for a bit and she asks what I mean. Now, I'm not a doctor. But I know a decent amount about animals. And I know this. People don't have eyes that glow in the dark. People also can't desiccate a mouse by sucking it dry in five seconds flat. She hesitates but then starts making excuses about HIPAA laws and how she can't discuss their patients and she asks me how much it would take for me to stay quiet.

I hang up on her.

Maybe that was really stupid. Could have got some cash out of the deal. The store got a new door and a nice fat payday they spent on a facelift for the place, and it only cost them their security footage.

More than that, it was really stupid because they kept calling me. She left me at least three messages before giving up. I was afraid to leave my apartment. They already knew my name and obviously knew where I lived. And they were protecting that guy... that THING somehow. Maybe they were the ones who made him? Like he was an experiment that got out and they were doing damage control?

I did a little asking around about "The Van Helsing Institute" and all I could find was that it's a private Catholic hospital. A "research hospital," whatever the fuck research that entails, I don't want to know about it.

The craziest shit though, is that this has apparently happened before. While I was digging around I found the contact info for a guy called "John." He's apparently an ex employee and now very outspoken critic of that hospital, trying to gather as much dirt on them as he can. I gave him my story, and all the descriptions I could. Basically if I see anything even remotely weird I report to him now.

It feels good, I guess, not being alone. I don't know that he could actually protect me if they got mad and came after me but I like that someone is watching them. Someone is keeping score. Mostly it feels good to know that I actually saw what I saw. It was a monster, I'm not crazy, and I think I did the right thing not selling my silence even though the lack of a paycheck hurts.

I keep getting more and more paranoid though. I've been seeing this weird woman follow me around town. Not the gun one- a different one this time. She's got sort of a medium tan skin tone, she's very petit, and she has this incredibly long dark hair and dark eyes. It makes her stand out in a crowd. I see her more and more whenever I'm out and I don't know if she's with John or with... the other guys.

I don't go out much after dark any more. I don't know how much this involves me now but I'm trying to move back in with my mom in Wisconsin. If I make it, you won't hear from me again. If I don't, just keep an eye on the obituaries. If I die, let it be known I don't want any part of my body used for research. It should be burned.

#wayward souls #writing

[laf-outloud]

I was just thinking about everything that has occurred over the last year or so where Jensen is concerned and I wonder if his attitude has changed due to the life he knew during Supernatural days going away. I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting the response that TW got, before it aired and after, and I get that some people think he's under the influence of toxic people, his stans, alcohol, and all that, but I think it's actually deeper than that.

I do think it's related to his ego, sure, but it really does seem like he wasn't ready for Supernatural to end when it did. Not so much for the show or even the character of Dean, but for everything that came along with it. He was literally a big fish in a small pond, a CW golden boy in a way (along with Jared), and now all of that has changed. Mark Pedowitz is no longer there, the CW has new ownership, he is not finding the lead roles he wants, everything he says and does is not just automatically accepted 100% by the fandom anymore, the pandemic happened, Rust happened, he was used to working away from home a certain amount of time and then he was stuck at home during the pandemic, the show didn't get to end the way he and Jared wanted it to (wrap party included) due to the pandemic, all of this stuff and more.

This guy literally had the life he wanted and now it's changed drastically. If you watch his interviews and con videos and even Instagram videos from 2018 and on before March 2020 hit, there is such a different vibe there. I know people say he never loved his wife, I don't really know (or care to be honest) but there's definitely a different vibe about him around her back then compared to now. Especially when they were opening up FBBC. I know a lot of people like to point to that one interview video with his look at her joking about being pregnant but if you watch some of the other interviews, he seems to vibe better with her than he has the whole past year (when we've seen them together like NYCC). It's almost as if him losing Supernatural and the ability to go to Vancouver for 9 months out of the year, coming back home when he wanted to, and them being forced together 24 7 in quarantine must have made an impact. And then TW on top of it and how that turned out to be a reality check for both of them that not everyone just accepts the crap they're doling out because of Jensen's name or looks. Jared was ready to say goodbye to Supernatural. I think by all accounts, Jensen was not. Jared had the next job lined up, waiting for him. Jensen didn't. So his whole trajectory over this past year makes a lot of sense to me. I think it's finally hitting him (if it hasn't already) that he is now in a bigger pond but he's not that big fish anymore. Hence the flailing and absolute shit show we're all seeing happen along with the desperate PR attempts. And it's just really sad.

Anyway, I was just thinking after seeing everything everyone was discussing these past two weeks, especially his "suck it" comment to haters at Crossroads.

I can't remember if I mentioned the same on this blog, or somewhere else, but yeah, going from the top-dog in his sphere and having a steady job with a steady schedule to suddenly having his entire world turned upside-down in the matter of a couple of years has to be very jarring.

Unfortunately, his way of processing change is to apparently get bitter and resentful instead of putting in the work and making the necessary changes to improve his situation. What's that saying? "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Right now, Jensen's dressing the part of the desperate, washed-up actor, catering to the dregs of the SPN fandom.

#ask box #anti jensen #anti spn prequel #insecure jensen

[soapkaars]

So, yesterday I made a poll before going to bed and, while it isn’t done yet, consensus seems to be to draw more obscure Lorre characters.

Of course, Lorre being a somewhat obscure actor, what would make an obscure Lorre character? Well, M, The Man Who Knew too Much, the Maltese Falcon, Arsenic and Old Lace can be taken off the list because they're somewhat known in the mainstream. They're also usually the films that draw people into the Lorre fandom! The Secret Agent, Mad Love, Crime and Punishment, The Stranger on the Third Floor, and Der Verlorene also fall off, because I’ve often seen these being discussed in books about cinema, cinematic history, and classic directors. Crime and Punishment and Mad Love even feature in a '50 films you should see before you die' compilation that I have lying around somewhere! I was an Adventuress, The Boogieman will get you, You'll Find Out, the Raven, Comedy of Terrors seem to be pretty popular in fandom circles (especially where Lorre films intersect with other fandoms - like Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff)

So I decided to focus on the films that aren’t as discussed, either in mainstream or in fandom or in film critic circles, featuring characters who seemed to cash in on Lorre's breakout film noir character: Joel Cairo. Or, as @angelamontoo once jokingly called them: 'Coel Jairo'. But I like them because they are different enough from Joel to be stand on their own, and the films they featured in are strange or interesting enough also to make fun analyses of.

First up: Kismet, the gardener studying for his civics exam and doubling as a cool knife thrower for his side gig. I like him a lot. I remember waiting for days to torrent My Favourite Brunette, and having to watch it as a thumbnail because it was the only version I could download. I was so entranced by Kismet. I loved how the film changed in tone whenever he came around - he strengthened Bob Hope's comedy by playing his menace straight and I've always had a soft heart for the 'extremely capable henchman' trope. Bob Hope's character is also hilariously unnerved by him, and one of my favourite scenes is when he tries to throw a knife at him, and Kismet just catches it, barely changing his expression. I also love how sick Kismet is getting of Ronnie Jackson's amateurishness and can barely conceal his glee when he gets to kill him.

Next up: Gino from The Chase. I like this film. I know it's a bit of a messy film, and I once turned it off when it turned out the whole scene in Cuba was hallucinated, but when I rewatched it and watched it all the way through, it really grew on me. There’s something intriguing about the dreamlike narrative it tells, and I love the visuals. I love how Gino stands in front of the roman busts, or how we first only see his eye through the eyehole behind a little cupid head. I like the nightmarish quality of the scene where that one guy gets torn apart by dogs in the wine cellar. I like how Gino's presence overshadows the scenes in Cuba. The way he becomes the figure of Death in this film. I love the strange scene where Chuck Scott ends up in the quarantine house, lit up by gaslamps and the constant sound of crying. I love the strange dinner scene where Lorna Roman is miserable and how Gino and Eddie Roman appear to be having an affair in her presence. I was disappointed when the film tried to clarify the hallucinations because it felt to me like it dropped the ball. I could have seriously enjoyed it more if it leaned in way more into its strangeness, like Stranger on the Third Floor did.

Finally, I drew Marco from Black Angel. I'm cheating a little, because Marco's been getting a bit of a comeback lately, but I think he still counts. I loved this film too. It’s such a classic film noir, with the flashbacks, the red herring villain (Marco), the drunken antihero, the psychological drama, the twist, the camera angles and effects… It’s exactly the kind of film I'd use as an example to explain the whole genre. I like Marco. Not least because he's one of the few Lorre characters who gets to see the end, but also because he's so well-worn… if that makes sense? Like he's seen it all. He's been around, he knows what people try. He manages his nightclub and that’s that. The film ends but you feel like Marco's club will still remain. Perhaps there are traces of it still around. I like Lucky, Marco's heavy. His right-hand man. His silly little rabbit. Does he call you that? Yes. No.

I hope you liked these!

#peter lorre #drawing #obscure characters #fan art #fanart #kismet #my favorite brunette #bob hope #gino #the chase #marco #lucky #black angel #film noir #1940s hollywood

[hb-writes]

TAG GAME: EIGHT SHOWS TO GET TO KNOW ME

Tagged by @twvstedsouls Thank you for the tag! ❤️ This sat in my drafts for a good bit of time with an extensive list of shows. Such a struggle to get us down to 8. 😅

PEAKY BLINDERS - The first time I tried to watch, I didn't get past the first scene, tbh. Then, a year or so later, I tried again and it became a fixed piece of my personality. 🤣 For me, it's really the family dynamics and the unrelenting mental health issues so present throughout.

SUITS - Once upon a time, I really wanted to be a lawyer. Not one like Harvey Specter, but still. Love the found family aspect and that it's set in NYC. And just feel like Harvey's assertiveness and sarcasm is something I always vibed with. And the ladies!! I love Jessica, Donna, Rachel, and Katrina!

SPYXFAMILY - Again, found family. I love love love this show so much. I started binge watching the first time I got COVID and was quarantined in our guest room and it definitely helped me through. Anya is so fucking cute and I'm a whole-ass adult, but I would let Loid and Yor adopt me in a heartbeat.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS - I was lowkey obsessed with this show when I was in high school. I remember there being a scene with Kevin and Scotty getting hot and heavy and my mom walking in and being like wtf are you watching??? 🤣 Anyway, again for me it's the dysfunctional family relationships that drew me in. And that I was obsessed with Kitty & Senator McCallister.

COMMUNITY - Literally got me through the pandemic low of holiday season 2020 when I thought I would be going home to see my family but ended up being sick so I couldn't and...it was a dark time, but we started watching Community and it was just a ray of sunshine in a dark time of a seasonal, COVID, and regular depression wave. And Troy & Abed are everything! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

WHITE COLLAR - I do not feel like White Collar is a very good show. It's cheesy as hell, but I love the characters. I love the nonsense. And Neal is so pretty to look at and he's clever and annoying. Peter & El are goals and such tired parents. Satchmo is my dog. I would pet him forever. Mozzie is delightfully odd. Diana and Jones are my bestfriends. I want to live in June's NYC apartment. I love the bad guys. The only person I couldn't stand was Kate tbh.

ANNE WITH AN E - I watched all of the PBS specials and read Anne of Green Gables as a kid so this series just touched something special in my heart. It was just so wholesome and delightful and I wanted more.

SHAMELESS - Shameless was such a funny show about very not funny content. I laughed a lot, but also felt a lot of pain and sadness about so much of it. It felt like a very real representation of so many issues, a lot of which touch on some issues very central to the work I do in my career. And again, family dynamics, which is very clearly something I'm drawn towards.

Anyone who wants to should share their own 8!

[tomwambsmilk]

HEY sorry i just saw your reblog about the thing/the x files and YES that episode is based on the same source as the thing and i think had some of the same vfx people involved? but it is also my favourite episode and am just glad to see some love for it on the dash :0

but yes: how do you think that would play out if it were the roys?

hope you are well!

Ohhh I did NOT know that about 'Ice'!!! That makes a lot of sense; I've never seen 'The Thing' but whenever anyone talks about it I just go 'sounds a lot like 'Ice'...' I did an X-Files rewatch last year (I was really into it high school but hadn't watched it since) and I'd actually forgotten how that episode ended, so I got to experience all the suspense all over again which was super fun!!

If the Roys were in 'Ice', well - let's assume they're all there to investigate, so they know something must be hinky going in but they don't know what. I don't think Logan could ever be persuaded to go, so it's just Kendall, Roman, Shiv, Connor, Tom, and Greg. They show up and see the bodies, which I think unsettles everybody, but nobody except Greg is willing to show it. ("Hey, uh... I think it's a little concerning, actually that they all killed each other? Like, I don't think was just normal cabin fever or whatever? Maybe we should just go." "Oh, what, Greg, you scared of some dead bodies? Think they're gonna rise up and get you like zombies?" Tom is the one responding, and he is also deeply unsettled but is making fun of Greg to draw attention away from that. He starts sneaking up behind Greg to startle him because he thinks it's funny.)

While everyone else is examining the bodies in the main room, Roman starts wandering around, which is how he ends up getting attacked by the dog. He yells and everyone comes running; Kendall manages to get the dog off him but gets bitten in the process, and Shiv (who was the only person with the wherewithal to grab something which might be useful as a weapon) sedates him (the dog, not Kendall). Tom - who I fully believe owned dogs growing up and knows more about them than any of the Roys - is the one to point out the weird nodules on the dog. They all lean in to get a better look, and spot something moving under the dog's skin - but it disappears before they can do anything about it.

They piece together that the dog might have been infected with something, which is when Greg, who's now got zombies on the brain, goes: "Um... I hate to say it, but... if the dog was infected with something, then Kendall might have it too right? Like, you know how zombies get infected?"

Dead silence from everyone.

Ken: "Woah- hey- that's fucking crazy, right? Like, I feel fine. I'm good."

Shiv: "No, he's actually got a point, Ken, we don't what's going on here-"

Roman: "Oh, hey, come on, you don't think he's a zombie, do you? Like fuck off, he looks fine, he's not a fucking zombie, he's not gonna eat us or anything-"

Shiv: "No, we don't know that Rome, we don't know what killed those guys in there-"

Tom: "Well, actually it does look like they killed each other. I think that's pretty clear."

Greg: "Yeah, what if Ken, like, goes psycho or something? I think we should, um, what's it called, quarantine? I think we should quarantine him."

Ken: "Oh, fuck off. I'm not about to go fucking Patrick Bateman on you."

Everyone looks at Connor, the one person who hasn't spoken yet, who is in fact very fixated on the dog and hasn't been paying attention. When he realizes everyone is looking at him he suggests they take a vote; Shiv, Tom, and Greg all vote to quarantine Ken, and since Connor refuses to vote they win out. They lock him in one of the storerooms, which is one of the only rooms with a lock.

Roman gets increasingly antsy, and starts suggesting that maybe it isn't so complicated - maybe the dead research team did just go cabin crazy and kill each other, that happens, right? - and they should just leave and take the bodies back with them. Greg, who has secretly wanted to leave since the first second they showed up, seconds that. Plus, then they can get Ken to a hospital and make sure he's not a zombie or anything, right? But the others want to stay - Connor is deep in the ice records (to be honest he's not even investigating the deaths anymore, he just thinks the records are neat and wants to spend more time reading them); Shiv wants to keep looking into the bodies (I'm giving her a medical background bc someone needs to have one in this story and she's the only one who could maybe possibly in some universe finish med school); Tom seconds whatever it is Shiv wants to do. They decide to stay for one more night, and everyone takes one of the crew quarters.

In the middle of the night, Tom (who has not slept an absolute wink because he's deeply concerned that Greg might actually be right about the zombie scenario) gets up and goes to the station kitchen to get a drink - which is when he sees the blood dripping from the freezer door. He opens it and - there's Connor, the first victim.

He drops the glass he's holding, and the sound brings Shiv, Greg, and Roman running, and find him standing over Connor’s body. Roman goes “Holy shit,” and then he’s pointing a gun at Tom. Shiv yells: “Where the fuck did you get that from?!”; Roman admits to grabbing it out of the gun safe that the station has, which the researchers presumably took out with them in case they ran into an aggressive polar bear.

Tom has his hands up - “Roman, what the fuck, I just found him like this - “

Roman: “Uh-huh, sure. Ken is still locked in the closet so who else was it supposed to be?”

Tom: “I don’t know! I don’t, but it wasn’t me!”

Greg: “C’mon, Roman, you don’t think - C’mon, man -“

Roman: “Well, if it wasn’t Tom then who the fuck was it? Shiv?”

Shiv has been very quiet up until this point. She looks at Tom hesitantly. “I mean.. you are standing over him, Tom.”

“Oh, come on. Shiv -“

“What are we supposed to think, Tom?”

“I don’t know, but for fuck’s sake, it wasn’t me!” He turns to Greg. “Greg -“

Greg bites his lip. “You were really close to the dog, man.”

“We were ALL close to the dog, for fuck’s sake! Come on!”

He glances around at all of them, desperately, but to no avail. They lock him in an unused freezer (that isn’t currently turned on). Shiv goes to radio for a helicopter to get them out of there, but a freak snowstorm means no signal is getting through.

That’s when Roman goes, “Hey, we should check on Ken, right? We haven’t checked on him since yesterday.” The three of them move cautiously towards the storeroom; Roman grabs the gun from earlier, just in case. They open the door -

Kendall is dead.

“Oh, shit,” Roman breathes.

He looks pale and sallow. They don’t go close to him, too worried about catching whatever killed him.

“Oh, fuck,” says Greg, once they get back out to the main room, “So- if Tom- if he also has this thing…”

He trails off, and no one else answers. They’re stuck here until the storm dies down and someone can come get them.

Shiv goes back to the bodies. Maybe she missed something important. Greg goes to hang out by the crated dog. Roman starts pacing anxiously.

Then suddenly they hear Greg go “Woah.” He’s pointing at the dog. “I just - I just saw something move again. Under the skin.”

They decide to open the crate, and pin the dog down so Shiv can try to cut out whatever is moving. She pulls out a small worm-like thing, and goes, “Oh.” It turns out that she spotted something like that in some of the researcher’s bodies - two which were alive, and several which weren’t. She drops it in the jar with one of the other living worm, only for the two worms to immediate attack each other, fighting to the death.

“Oh, shit.” Roman says. “Wait - does that mean we could-“ He waves his hands. “Like… if we dropped that thing in Wambsgans, would it-“

“Well, I mean…. Only- only if he already had a worm, right?” Greg looks uneasy.

“Yeah, but if he killed Con then he definitely has a fucking worm.”

“Right.”

They all stand there uneasily.

Greg: “… It’s just that, if he doesn’t have a worm. You know.”

Shiv: “Yeah…. And we only have the one. If we’re wrong.”

Roman: “… it’s gotta be him though, right? None of us killed Con.”

Greg: “… I mean, what if one us killed him and just… doesn’t remember?”

Roman: “Oh fuck off, I think I’d remember killing my fucking brother.”

They move towards the freezer. Shiv’s got the worm in a pair of tweezers. Roman grabs the gun and tucks it in his waistband. Greg hovers, until Roman shoved him in front of him and Shiv, annoyed.

When Greg opens the freezer door, Tom is sitting against the back wall, looking irritable, but alive.

“Heyyy, Tom,” he says.

“What, Greg? Are you here to accuse me of murder again?”

“Uh… no. Nope. Nothing like that, exactly.” Tom cranes his neck to look behind Greg; his eyes go wide when he sees Shiv and he scrambles to his feet. “What the fuck is that?”

“Tom, don’t panic,” Greg says, moving towards him, which makes Tom panic more.

“What the fuck? What the fuck is going on, Gregory?”

“Look, Tom, we’re just gonna - this is gonna fix you, okay?”

“What????”

Roman pulls the gun. “Just - calm the fuck down, okay? And hold still.”

“Calm down?? You’re telling me to calm down while you’re training a fucking gun on me? Fuck this.” He’s been edging around the room as he speaks, and on the last line he grabs Greg to use as a human shield, and lunges for the door; Roman fires blindly, hitting Greg. Shiv drops the worm.

“Roman!” Shiv yells at the same time that Roman goes “oh fuck,” Tom’s still holding Greg, but he backs them both into a corner. Shiv drops to her knees but she can’t see where the worm went.

“Shit, shit, fuck.”

“No- did you drop? What-“ Roman looks alarmed.

Greg coughs a little; Tom goes to lay him down but Shiv goes “not here!” Together, the three of them drag Greg out into the main room, and Shiv shuts the freezer door.

“Shit. Greg? Buddy? Stay with me here,” Tom says, scrambling to look for bandages. He and Shiv managed to slow the bleeding, but it’s not a great situation.

“We need to radio-“ Shiv cuts him off.

“There’s a storm, we can’t get through until the storm’s done.”

There’s an uneasy tension in the room. Tom leans against the wall, Greg’s head in his lap, absentmindedly carding his hand through Greg’s hair. Greg’s breathing his laboured, and every so often he whimpers a little bit. Shiv had tracked down some painkillers, but nothing stronger than Tylenol. Roman is sitting on a stool, the gun still in his lap, trained on Tom, eyeing him suspiciously. Shiv is pacing, checking the weather outside, every so often checking the radio, biting her nails.

After a while, Tom looks at Roman and frowns. He doesn’t look good. He looks pale and sweaty.

“… Roman?”

Shiv turns to look at Roman and then gasps. Roman jumps up from where he’s sitting, spinning to train the gun on Shiv, and then back to Tom.

“Stay back, I’m fine, I don’t have-“

“Roman you look like shit-“

“I don’t, I don’t have a fucking worm, alright, I didn’t kill Con, I didn’t-“

Tom tries to subtly ease Greg’s head out of his lap, then slowly stands up, trying to look unthreatening.

“I think you should give me the gun, Roman”.

“Fuck, no.”

“Give him the gun.”

Roman is backing towards the research station’s door. “Fuck no, fuck off, both of you-“

Tom lunges for him; Roman fires again but misses. Tom hears the bullet ricochet off the wall. He’s got a lot of height and mass on Roman, so once he’s got him pinned down it’s easy to hold him. That’s when he sees something rippling under the skin on the back of Roman’s neck.

“Shiv,” he yells, but he doesn’t get a response; he reaches for the nearby table, blindly feels around for something sharp, and grabs a scalpel. He manages to slice in where the worm is and pull it out. When he does, Roman stops moving.

He checks the pulse. Roman is dead.

He stumbles to his feet, looking for something to keep the worm in; he tosses it in one of the jars.

Then he glances around. “Shiv?”

He spots her on the floor. She’s lying there unmoving, what looks like a bullet hole in her throat.

“Oh, shit, Shiv-“ Tom rushes over to her. There is no pulse; it must have hit her spine, killing her instantly.

He stays there for a minute, stroking her hair. Then he closes her eyes - which were wide open, staring into nothing - and stands up.

It’s just him and Greg, now. He goes back to where Greg is lying.

“Hey, bud.”

He sits back down, easing Greg’s head back into his lap. He feels tired. Excessively tired. And maybe a little feverish. He runs a hand across his forehead, and it comes away damp.

Greg looks up at him. “Tom?” His voice is incredibly strained. “You good, Tom?”

“Yeah,” he says. He blinks. There was a dark spot in his vision for a second. “Don’t worry,” he says, lightly patting Greg’s chest. “I’m fine.”

The wind howls outside. There’s still static coming over the radio.

“I’m fine,” he says again, and this time his words sound a little bit slurred.

#this is maybe not at all what you asked for #also it’s a bit rough #I do want to maybe clean this up and turn it into a full fic…. #maybe with some more details where I skimmed over stuff #and also figure out some consistent lore lmao #is this how it would actually play out? I don’t know #tw blood #tw violence #I don’t know how else to tag this #tw worms #? #tw horror

[meanwhileinstasiville]

Some things you can find yourself dealing with in a place like this

*Sits down* *skinhead looking guy yells "positive male role model" out of context in what I assume was a conversation before that. Within a minute or so.

And then this guy. And then the skinhead makes another pass "my son in law" he yells. Like a nazi daddy or a skinhead bootlicker thing? But I digress.

So I got to see a veterinarian with aVh on the sign try to double bill for removing anal glands from a dog. Procedure at place and time had nothing to do with that, and as anyone might assume; they can only be removed once.

Now, secondhand because I'm seated away from their office, it's relayed to me that "is there any way we can top that!?!" As said by the vet to his assistant. And meaning it was intentional. Of course that seems *extremely specific a thing* to try that with because that's a young dog surgery. As expensive as could plausibly be assumed.

So there's more to the story with this. Years ago I'm beefing with a coworker over a lot of different things, and what this amounts to is, sitting in Ashland restaurant formerly a greasy spoon building across the street and *waiting almost an hour for a hamburger when the place is all but empty* Almost empty because I'm sitting at the counter rather than a table and there's a sketchy thuggish guy whose decided to sit next to me. And this is exactly like the vet but immediate and personal. And it's cold when I get it, too. Something of a recurring theme.

It's not like they're being called out on it so much as it's not taken politely, and so they lean farther into it. About like someone who's taking your newspaper and you know they kill you if you catch them; you can have these vague suggestive conversations about the stuff but then, a newspaper is worth murder.

And I've got stories like this going all the way back through school and *I'm over forty* now. And yes, this place is so-called "little Chicago" since the 1920s.

So it's school districts and businesses, a lot of management around them, street gangs, drug traders, a chunk of the student body of at least one highschool from what I've experienced around town. A friend commented on "how expensive all this must be" and *it's Chicago* a lot of homeowners here don't work and I would guess it's a majority.

So I can get sought out by a scoffing group of latinos referring to me as "speaking of the wild goose" at the end of sutton. Why? Because a fire gutted the neighborhood next to a golf course less than a mile from an interstate called "the freeway". So they're redlined yes and no because it's total loss to the people who lived up there, meaning bare land, and they can build houses on the cheap. Arson is a really good way to crash the neighborhood, I guess. And I'm not Chicago but they seem true to form in "whitening" latinos by getting them houses here.

And again, we've got some unbelievable number of convenience stores here since quarantine; tiendidas every few blocks. Ashland can put them next to the huge number of gas stations left over from prohibition; one of which even *became a literal bar* called growler guys. And a smoke shop up a street from another smoke shop. One next to a carpet store. The other next to a tattoo parlor. So it's haves and have nots like class war but they're all in the same business. And *to me* while leaving out a whole lot of stories, it feels like a Vichy France thing. Like some people built this place including my own family, and then it got occupied, and then history got weird according to the occupiers.

So it's like, "they have no idea why it's here or how it works" and yet it's Chicago "resort retirement community in perpetuity", and they're all enemies in Chicago but "they're all friends here".

[glow-worm]

The Dog Days Are Over

Welcome to Puppy Town! (Read on AO3 as well!)

--

The crew disembarked from the Starblaster, wary. The last two cycles had been extremely difficult.

It seemed like a normal planet—forests and mountains, lakes and little towns they could see from the ship.

They walked for a few miles to the nearest settlement, hoping the folks who lived there would be amicable.

In the distance, they could hear something that sounded like dogs barking.

Magnus crossed his fingers to wish very hard.

“Planet of dogs, planet of dogs, planet of dogs,” Magnus chanted quietly.

“Never stop dreaming,” Taako quipped.

Magnus always wished for a planet of dogs. It never seemed to happen, but the crew encouraged him—after all, it wasn’t statistically impossible.

Lucretia stopped in her tracks and drew her wand.

“Something’s coming,” she warned.

Magnus wrapped his hand around the handle of his axe.

A rustling came from nearby bushes, along with a mysterious whimpering and panting which grew louder and louder.

The team tensed, their weapons readied.

Three puppies tumbled out of the bush, playfully nipping at each other.

Magnus let go of his axe.

“Yes,” he whispered.

The puppies—which ran on four legs but wore clothes, two in overalls and one in a dress—saw the crew and charged forward, barking.

“Yes!” Magnus exclaimed.

The dogs leapt up, and Magnus allowed them to knock him over.

“YES!” Magnus yelled as puppies licked his face and trampled him.

“Well, shit,” Taako said, lowering his wand.

“Need help, buddy?” Barry asked.

“If this is how I go,” Magnus began with tears in his eyes. “This is how I go.”

One of the overall-clad puppies sat on Magnus’s chest wagging its tail happily until it did something no one expected.

It opened its mouth and spoke.

“Hewwo!” The puppy howled.

Taako raised his wand again, gritting his teeth.

“Absolutely not,” he said with derision.

Lup put her hand on her brother’s wand and lowered it down.

“Holy shit, they can talk!” Davenport said.

The dress-wearing dog yapped and sprinted over to the captain, jumping up at him until he conceded to pick it up so it could lick his face.

The third dog ran around in circles, jumping up and smelling each of the IPRE crew while shooting off questions.

“What are you! Where did you come from! You smell weird! Where are your tails! Why is your fur only on the top of your head!”

“Uh—” Barry began as the dog began to bite and tug at the cuffs of his jeans. "You’ve never seen anything that looks like us before, huh?”

“Noooooo!” The little dog howled. “But we’ve never left Puppy Town before...maybe Mom and Dad have?”

Lucretia couldn’t help but smile, scratching underneath the chin of the rambunctious pup.

“Did you say Puppy Town?” Magnus squealed.

“That’s our village!” The puppy on his chest answered happily. “Are you new to town?”

“If they’re not from Puppy Town they must be from Rover Ridge!” One exclaimed.

“No, no, I bet they’re from Barkborough!”

“I can’t,” Taako breathed.

“Barkborough?!” A puppy exclaimed. “What’s it like in the big city? What brings you to Puppytown?”

“Uh—” The captain began, but he was cut off by a deep howl sounding off in the distance.

“Dad’s calling us,” said the dog on Magnus’s chest before leaping off of him. “Let’s go.”

“I dunno,” the dress-wearing dog started. “Maybe we should have him come here instead. So he can smell these guys.”

“Good idea, Bits,” an overall-clad dog answered. It then sat back and threw its head into the sky with a squeaky “Awooooo!”

The two other puppies joined in the howling.

Magnus sat back up, grinning from ear to ear.

“Wipe that smile off your face,” Taako said. “They’re calling for backup.”

“They’re dogs,” Magnus asserted with exasperation.

“That’s exactly what they want you to think,” he retorted.

Magnus gently pulled up the floppy ears of the puppy closest to him and looked up at Taako expectantly.

“What else would you call this?!” he asked.

“A trap,” Taako said.

“An adorable trap,” Lup added with a shrug.

The deep howl grew closer and closer as the crew bantered. Davenport subtly raised his wand towards the sound, just to be safe.

The puppies ceased their call, then all three began to bound towards a large oak tree.

From behind the tree stepped a full-grown adult dog, walking on two legs and wearing a tweed suit and cap. He was a tricolor hound, and as he appeared he stopped howling. The puppies jumped up at him, sniffing and licking him. He gave each one a good sniff before suddenly locking directly on to the crew. He pointed at them, and stared without blinking.

“Dad!” A puppy exclaimed. “Meet our new friends!”

“Friends?” Dad dog repeated, still staring the crew down.

“Yes, we sniffed them and they gave us scratches and rubs,” Another puppy said. “And now we’re best friends.”

Dad dog relaxed. “Oh,” he said. “I see. Hello!”

Davenport lowered his wand somewhat awkwardly. “Uh, hi,” he said. The dog, on his hind legs, was a solid foot taller than the gnomish captain.

Magnus jumped back up to his feet and exclaimed, “Hail and well met, Dad Dog!”

“Oh, please,” he replied. “Dad Dog was my father. My name is Barkley.”

“We’re gonna die,” Taako whispered. His sister shushed him.

Barkley approached Magnus, his tail wagging behind him. “And these are my pups: Peanutbutter, Kibbles, and Bits.”

The kids yapped happily before continuing to romp and play with each other.

Barkley sniffed around Magnus, who knelt down so Barkley could get a solid lick across his face.

Magnus began to ugly cry.

“Hey Mags, want me to kill you so you can die happy?” Taako offered. “I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know what you folks are,” Barkley said thoughtfully. “But I think I love you already? Come on back to the village, you must be hungry. Come on. Come on!”

Barkley beckoned as he began walking, two of his pups playfully following behind him. Peanutbutter tugged at the cuffs of Magnus’s pants, so Magnus followed too.

The rest of the crew hung back, exchanging wary glances.

“Fifty GP says this is a trap,” Lup said. “Like, for real.”

“A talking dog named his kids Kibbles and Bits?” Taako mused. “Yeah, this is absolutely a trap.”

“...I do like dogs,” Barry noted.

“Natch, everyone loves dogs, dogs are great,” Lup said. “But what are the odds?”

“We’ve seen plenty of impossible things before,” Davenport pointed out.

Merle was already going after Magnus. “Y’all are a bunch of ninnies,” he remarked. “The IPRE will face off against an all-consuming living Hunger but not investigate some fantasy-Beatrix-Potter-ass dogs?”

“I didn’t say we shouldn’t investigate,” Lup clarified, following suit. “I mean worst case scenario, Barry and I lich it up. I’m just saying it's suspicious.”

Lucretia sighed and followed Magnus and Merle without further comment. Barry and Lup trailed along.

Taako lingered back before rolling his eyes. “I am not spending this cycle baking dog treats,” he said. “I want it on the record now.”

--------------

They approached the village and saw a large wooden sign, decorated with colorful paw prints that read:

“Welcome to Puppy Town!”

“We’re here!” Barkley announced. “Feel free to have a good sniff around. Our cottage is that one with the chimney smoking over there,” he pointed to a quaint house. “You’re more than welcome to come to dinner later, but if you’re hungry now the Barkery is right down the street.”

“The Barkery,” Taako repeated, monotone.

“Yes!” Barkley said. “You know, where you get treats and kibble and bread?”

“If I die here,” Magnus cried. “Just let it happen.”

The town was peaceful, and the crew was investigated by just about every dog they passed. There were many questions, and even more sniffing and petting.

Over the next few months, they learned a lot about the dogfolk. They had magic and classes. Instead of races, they had “breeds” and certain breeds had certain traits. There were beagle wizards, shiba barbarians, pit bull clerics. It fascinated the crew. It was a very research-heavy cycle.

Young puppies walked on all fours, and began to transition to being bipedal in their teenaged years. Adult dogs mostly walked on their hind legs, but would run with all four if the need arose.

There were no gerblins or imps here, but there were pesky squirrels. Barkley was absolutely vexed by these pestersome creatures, but to the crew…they were just literal squirrels that stole the occasional cherry pie from a windowsill.

Lup and Taako were disappointed to learn that there wasn’t too much to say in the way of cooking and baking here. Luckily the food wasn’t gross or too weird, but there were no new recipes to be learned. The dogfolk’s diets were fairly similar to humans, save for the biscuits, mostly eating bread and meat and fruit—though they were very adamant that no grapes were allowed in Puppy Town.

It was mostly a relaxing cycle, a welcomed reprieve after multiple trying years. They went on walks, studied a few cantrips that were unique to this world, gave belly rubs, and played.

Fisher stayed inside of the Starblaster, however, as Lucretia was worried the dogs would try to eat him.

The IPRE were hailed as heroes after they managed to teach a few of the more competent wizard dogs the Silence spell—something that was previously undiscovered on this plane. It proved very useful during a thunderstorm a few months in.

About halfway through the year, while on a brief break from searching for the Light, it was brought straight to them.

Magnus was in the town square, whittling away at a stick while a few younger dogs watched with watery mouths.

An adult dog charged forward on all fours, his clothes dirty and slightly tattered. In his mouth he carried a familiar glow.

He brought it forward to Magnus, tail wagging furiously.

Magnus reached out and the dog placed the Light of Creation in his hand. It was covered in slobber.

“Holy shit, you found the Light!” Magnus exclaimed.

The dog looked up at him expectantly, sitting back on his hind legs.

“Thank you so much,” Magnus said. “Uh...who’s a good boy?”

His tail thumped hard against the ground.

“I am!” The dog said. He paused thoughtfully and his tail slowly stopped wagging. “Please throw?”

“I’m dead,” Taako said. He began walking back to the ship.

“Oh!” Magnus smiled awkwardly. “Well, we...we kinda need this one, buddy, but—here—”

Magnus picked up a stick.

The dog jumped up, ready to run.

With a hearty throw Magnus yelled, “Go fetch!”

----------------------------

After they’d secured the Light, Barry and Lup had a few new lab partners.

A yellow lab, a brown lab, and a black lab.

It was only fair to let the dogfolk study the Light too. After all, they would survive the Hunger. Perhaps with the Light they could make their own scientific advances, and learn and grow as a species.

The crew did explain the Hunger/Light/IPRE situation to the dogfolk in hopes of making things easier on them, but only the smartest among them really understood. Still, Magnus gave some combat training to as many dogs as he could, aiming to protect them. The plan was to get out as soon as the Hunger showed up, hoping that the Hunger would do minimal damage before following them away from the plane. But just in case any of the dogfolk needed to defend themselves, Magnus helped them build their strength. One particularly feisty Pomeranian barbarian attended every session.

-------------------------

One night late in the cycle, Lucretia was interviewing an elderly Irish Wolfhound. It was dark out, but he wanted to go for a walk. They strolled by the lake and Lucretia asked various history questions, wanting a firsthand account, when suddenly he stopped. The reflection of something on the lake had caught his eye. He followed the reflection and looked up into the sky, at the full moon.

He began to howl.

Lucretia smiled and documented the incident with amusement before she started to hear howling call from all over the village, from dogs small and large.

“Why do you howl at the moon?” She asked sweetly once the old dog had ceased.

He suddenly looked very serious.

“We dogfolk are of the sun,” he said. “The catfolk are of the moon. Now—most folks say there’s no such thing as cats. And maybe not, here. But you said yourself: there were dogs back on your home planet. So who’s to say there aren’t cats?”

Lucretia held back the urge to inform him.

“Cats may lay in the sun. And dogs may howl at the moon. We may dream of and admire the moon, but we may never touch it. We howl to remind ourselves of this. Every full moon, we sing its praises. But we can never, never touch the moon.”

“…But your scientists are studying space travel. Laika just got her dogtorate in astrophysics, she wants to be a cosmonaut. What would happen if they explored the moon?” Lucretia questioned.

“The apocalypse.”

“Huh?” she blinked.

The wolfhound nodded, sorrowful.

“Lucretia,” he addressed. “You are an inter-planar traveler. But this is a universal constant. No matter how much we howl, no matter how far into space we go. Whatever you do, wherever you go: dogs must never touch the moon. Promise me you’ll do your part to uphold this.”

“Right,” she promised, grim. “No dogs on the moon.”

-----------------------

The end of the cycle approached, and the IPRE was greeted with a sea of puppy-dog eyes as they boarded the Starblaster for the last time. The crew had explained what was going to happen multiple times—there was nothing more they could say.

Magnus had wanted to stay back and help the dogs fight, but both the rest of the crew and some of the leaders of the dogfolk said it would be harder for the dogs to understand what was going on if Magnus stayed behind and then suddenly disappeared when the Light took him.

So when the grass turned the telltale shades of gray and the sky grew darker and darker, the crew said their goodbyes and prayed that Puppy Town would be spared.

As soon as the bond engine allowed, the Starblaster took off. And, as they’d hoped, the Hunger hadn’t even hit the ground yet—and they followed the ship without so much as touching Puppy Town.

For once, the crew was absolutely certain: they had saved an entire plane, and not even one creature in it was harmed.

#taz #the adventure zone #taz fic #humor #crackfic #it's just fucking......it's just puppy town #it's just puppy town folks! #silly #puppy town #no dogs were harmed in the making of this fic #i'm quarantined with a LOT of dogs guys #balance #taz balance

[hellenhighwater]

I have a question for you about Vice.

Is he Just Like That or do you suspect some kind of past trauma? What do you do for him to calm him down? I ask because I have a cat of my own that exhibits similar behavior and night terrors with no history of trauma and has since kittenhood.

Well, he had a rough go of it very early on--he was but a wee babby when I got him, but prior to that his mom got eaten by a dog, the whole litter was orphaned, and by the time somebody found them they were all very sick and were basically raised in a vet clinic. He'd barely been at the foster home when I got him. So there's some degree of trauma early on, but also...he's just an anxious little guy.

Part of why Vice is so attached to me specifically is that I put him in Malice in mandatory me-only quarantine for the first month of their life with me. I spent a lot of time introducing myself very very slowly, so I've always been safe for him.

When he's stressed, he retreats to under my bed or another hidden location. I let him do this. He wants to be somewhere nobody can attack him. I will go find him, pop my head down, say hey, offer a hand to sniff if he seems to want it, and leave him be. I do not try to fish him out of his safe spot. I will sometimes put a familiar item, like a bed he's preferred lately, into that spot, or a bit of dry food.

Mostly, though, I just let him hunker down until it passes. He doesn't get night terrors--he's a very light sleeper--and as time goes by and nothing terrible happens to him, he gets braver. He actually sleeps outside of my bedroom when I'm gone now, which is huge progress.

(This is the oldest picture I have of him, it's from his vet file before I got him.)

[myheartstopperblog]

Permanent Rain Press interview with Rhea Norwood (Imogen Heaney in Heartstopper)

My notes:

She was interested in performing since a young age and would watch behind the scenes footage from the Harry Potter films, Narnia, Pirates of the Carabbean,...

She also likes to sing and dance

She will graduate from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School late this year

Because of the quarantine she would have class via Zoom and had fun experiences because of it

Her and Alice wanted to bring out the vulnerability of the character and a sort of ignorance (but not in a bad way)

She knew a lot of girls like Imogen in secondary school

She did research for the role, for example she talked with 15-16 year old girls and asked them about their experience in an all girl's school

They compare her and see parallels between Imogen and Amy from Sex Education

She didn't think of a very in depth backstory for her character, but that she is privileged, has a middle class family and is well off, has a dog (who she called Winney), she's always been popular and is scared to lose that

We can see that Imogen is persistent and confident

She thinks that Imogen got detention because she wore brightly coloured nail varnish

Imogen does see that Harry and the other guys aren't very nice and that Nick is different and that's why she has a crush on him

Her favourite scene to be a part of is when they film her in the canteen with Tara, Darcy and Elle (but also Harry's party because they shot that on her 20th birthday) but also the rugby scene because they were all there

She looked up the "white girl dance" trend on TikTok and watched a few for inspiration for the party

The scene with Nick on the bench in the park was a very windy day and it rained a lot, and Echo (Nellie) wouldn't hug Rhea so the trainer had to give her a sausage to have in her hand but she's vegan and doesn't like touching meat so it was a challenge

Imogen feels amazed and proud when seeing Nick and Charlie walk away on sports day

She also wants to go to Paris

She thinks that Imogen has a good heart but has some growing to do, and also shed the facade that she has up and "do a Nick" and just be herself

"I'm not like homophobic, I'm an ally" is like Imogen's iconic line

She also loves photography

She lives near Tobie (Isaac) and has a dog

She also has another project the way called Kill Them With Kindness

If she could be any ice cream flavour it would be White Chocolate or a mango sorbet now because she is vegan lol

#heartstopper #rhea norwood #imogen heaney #the permanent rain press #Youtube #again english isnt my first language #also might have missed something so sorry! #mine

[hoodharlow]

Stuck with Nowhere to Go

El Novio Quarantine Edition: Part 1

AN: This is part one of El Novio week and I'm gonna be posting a new part for this mini series everyday until April 17. Thank you to everyone that has been supporting me and following Cal and Claudia's story. I love y'all so mucha nd hope y'all enjoy this.

Requested?

Warnings: smut, brief quarantine talk, a small arguement. and overall Claudia being h word for Cal

Word Count: 3.1 k

Calum gently pushed Claudia against the mattress, getting in a more comfortable position as they devoured each other. With one hand balancing himself, so he wouldn't squish Claudia, he used the other to unbutton the flannel she wore. He slid his hand inside her shirt and gave her breast soft squeeze before sliding down to her soaked-through panties.

Frustrated with his teasing touches, Claudia tried to roll him onto the mattress. But he wouldn't budge.

"Cal," She whined against his lips, jutting her hips against his to feel some sort of relief.

"Pretty girl, I know, but your parents are across the hall." Calum mumbled before kissing down her neck.

"It's been three weeks. Please," She sighed. "I'll be quiet."

"Fine, but you have to be quiet. For our sake." She eagerly nodded at him before he continued. "I'm only going to eat you out okay?"

"But—"

"Later okay? When we get to our house, you can have your way with me. I promise." He held out his pinky to her.

"Okay." She pouted, wrapping her pinky around his.

Calum sat on his knees and slipped off his shirt. He tossed it to the side before towering over her once more. A giggle escaped Claudia when he sponged kisses all over her face.

Having enough of his teasing, she pulled his lips back to hers. She wrapped her leg over his waist, helping her stay balanced as she grinded herself against him. Claudia was basking in having the upper hand that she didn't feel Calum's fingers slip in her panties.

He skillfully slipped his ring and middle fingers in her, causing her to loudly gasp and stop all her moments.

"What's wrong, pretty girl?" He whispered in her ear, making her whine. “Want these off?” Calum asked her, toying with the waistband of her panties.

“Please.” She nodded eagerly. He gently patted her ass so she could lift her hips up.

Once Calum slipped her panties off, he situated himself in front of her core. “All this for me pretty girl?” Calum asked. He placed soft kisses on the insides of her thighs. She squirmed at the feeling of his lips. They got closer and closer to where she needed him the most.

She let out an inaudible gasp of pleasure when Calum licked her. She tried closing her legs, but Calum’s grip on them kept her in place. He softly moaned at her taste and savored her, taking his time with his tongue. He pushed one of her legs to her chest, giving him better access to her.

He inserted another while he pressed his thumb on her clit. Claudia felt something build up in her. She felt pleasantly overwhelmed with Calum’s fingers and tongue. Calum felt it too. He sped up his fingers and circled his thumb on her clit roughly.

She moaned out, not caring who heard her, but he grabbed a pillow and covered her face. Calum lapped up her release. He dropped her legs down and laid next to her.

“Happy album release day,” Claudia whispered excitedly after catching her breath.

He grumbled his response, making her giggle. He rolled to his side and traced his thumb under her bottom lip, giving her a quick peck. He got up to the bathroom to finish himself off, but Claudia had other ideas.

“No, let me,” Claudia said. She sat up and pulled him back by the waistband of his boxers. She brightly up at him, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Se me antoja un chorizo.”

“The kitchen is downstairs, Claudia.” He told her prying her hands off him.

“Cal, please let me suck your dick.” She fake cried.

“No, go get ready. We were supposed to be on the road by now. But someone doesn’t know how to keep her hands to herself.” He said before closing her bathroom door. He popped his head out once more. “You better be ready when I’m done.”

***

Calum watched Claudia skip down the steps of Ashton's house when it finally hit him. The last he saw her wear the dress she currently wore was when they went to Coachella the year before. It was probably his favorite dress on her, even if he's only seen her in it once.

"That's the last of them." Claudia said sliding onto the passenger seat. She has baked 'CALM' cakes for the guys in their favorite flavors along with sugar cookies shaped in their initials and in their instruments.

She took off her mask and reached for her now watered down iced coffee. She made a face and set it down in the cup holder. "This is nasty. I fucking hate almondmilk." she mumbled before taking another sip.

"Why are you still drinking it?"

"I have to finish it. It was like five bucks."

Calum shook his head, hiding his smile. He reached for his army green Hydro Flask and took a long sip of water. He capped it and started the car. Pulling the car into reverse, he gripped Claudia's head rest a little tighter as he felt her gaze on him. As he got out of the spot, he watched Claudia shift around in her seat.

"You really have a parallel parking kink." Calum laughed as they left Ashton's neighborhood.

"I do not." Claudia scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Keep telling yourself that. Your tits don't lie." He said, pinching one of her nipples. She smacked his hand away as he checked that there weren't any cars before turning into the main road.

"The AC isn't even on so can't say you're cold."

"Whatever."

Calum shook his head and drove to the nearest Target. When they got there, Claudia grabbed a homemade disinfectant wipe from her bag and cleaned their cart. They went straight to the electronics section so Calum could get a record player for the live stream later in the evening. The needle broke in the one he had and since Ashton demanded that they play the album in vinyls, he had to get a new record player.

Claudia took the cart after he placed the record player in the shopping cart. She still felt awkward shopping for pads in front of him. They agreed to meet in the alcohol aisle after she hopefully found some pads. Tampons weren't an option. Pandemic or not, the only thing she was having inside of her was Calum.

“They may not have toilet paper but least they have White Claws.” Calum told Claudia as two boxes, one of only black cherry flavor and the other variety pack because Claudia only drank tangerine flavor.

"I managed to get one thing of pads, so it's something." She told him, covering the pads with the other groceries. "I'm just lucky my period ended last week. I have a month to worry about getting more. You have dog food right? Because there's none in the aisles."

"Yeah, bought some when we got back from Medelyn's baby shower, water and toilet paper too." He nodded his head over to the shopping cart. "Is that everything? And what your parents needed too?"

Claudia looked over their shopping cart. It wasn't much but it was enough since the stores set limits on how much to buy because of the lack of ability to restock.

"I think we're good. If we need something we can drive back and steal from Ashton's garden." she joked.

While they waited in line, Claudia thought about how quick her life changed in less than two weeks. Her landlord practically kicked her, Dulce and Sara out and wanted them out by the time spring break started because of mandatory stay at home orders. She was lucky though. Calum took her in and for the meantime she was going to live with him. Though just last week Diego told her to come home. It took her a lot of convincing, but Calum ended up going with her too.

"Your total is $132.76." the cashier told them.

Claudia was barely pulling out her card as Calum scanned his phone in front of the pin pad. He thanked them and nodded Claudia to keep up.

"We agreed that I was going to pay groceries since you don't let me pay for anything else." She told him as he put the groceries in his car.

"I didn't agree to shit." He furrowed an eyebrow.

"Yuh-huh you nodded and waved me off."

He stayed silent, trying to remember if he did. Then it hit him. "Was it when we ordered Mikko's? Because I thought you meant you were paying for that."

"Of course you did, your cheap ass doesn't pay for sushi." she mumbled to herself. "Well I'm paying for groceries from now on."

"I don't like it when you spend money for us when I can pay for them. Especially now that we're both basically jobless. You need that money for school, Claudia." Calum said as they pulled up to the In-N-Out drive thru across the street from Target.

"And I don't like you paying for things that I can afford too." She argued back, but Calum ignored her since he was ordering their lunch.

He had his card ready to pay so there was no way that he was going to let her pay. When he reached the window the computer crashed and they were only accepting cash. Claudia pulled out a twenty, knowing that Calum never carries cash on him unless they're outside of California. He begrudgingly took it and gave it to the cashier.

***

Claudia considered herself a patient person. An elderly person taking their time in front of the ATM, no problem. Her getting cut in line at Starbucks because she was answering a text from Calum and not paying attention to the line, not an issue. Where she did lose her patience was when she would get stuck in traffic.

“The San Ysidro border is faster than this.” Claudia groaned, dropping in her seat after poking her head out of the sun roof.

“Well we would have avoided traffic if someone didn’t need to go back our place to get a fucking coloring book.” Calum muttered under his breath.

He had enough of her complaining. Ever since he got on the I5, that’s all she’s been doing. They’ve been stuck for over four hours and it was just her mumbling over and over how she would rather be waiting to cross the border than be stuck in the freeway. Even Claudia during her period was less irritable than this. Before she could get a word in, he turned up the volume on the true crime podcast they were listening to.

Ironically it was about a couple where the girlfriend murdered her boyfriend and disposed of his body by a lake in the very same freeway they were on.

Calum glanced over to Claudia. She was curled up, leaning against the window playing tetris on her phone. He rotated his neck and hands in hopes that he loosened up, but nothing worked. He knew he shouldn't have said that to her. It wasn't her fault that there was traffic.

"Cal…" Claudia said quietly, reaching down to lower the volume.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be getting all irritated when I was the one who suggested that you take me back to your house. Because of me we're stuck in traffic and—"

"Claudia, you have nothing to apologize for. You're not the one who caused the traffic. If someone should be apologizing, it should be me. I'm just stressed out because of the album dropping tonight and I'm taking my nerves out on you. So I'm sorry for being a fucking cunt."

"Apology accepted." she giggled.

Claudia leaned over the center console and kissed his cheek. Slowly, she descended down to his neck And sucked under his jaw, making him jerk the car.

"Ashton needs me alive for at least tonight." Calum said, gently prying her off of him. He adjusted his shorts and looked toward the road.

Not even five minutes later, Claudia was toying with a loose string on Calum's shorts. Her hand occasionally bumped into his crotch. Wordlessly she unbuckled her seatbelt and tried reaching for her purse in the backseat. It gave Calum a great view of the nude lace panties she wore.

Before he tried anything, she sat back down and pulled out some nail clippers. Claudia bent over the center console once more and clipped the string with them. She rubbed his thigh and laid her head in the console. Her fingertips deftly smoothed down his leg hairs.

"What are your thoughts on road head?" Claudia asked. She tiptoed her fingers up his thigh, slowly inching to semi hard on.

"I don't know, never thought about it." He answered her, swallowing hard with his gaze glued on the road.

"Really? Like you never thought of me choking on your dick while you're driving?" She pushed herself up from the console and sat criss-cross applesauce. "I have. The thought of you guiding my mouth over your dick surrounded by other cars, clueless to what we're doing. All I have to say is thank fuck for your tinted windows."

He watched from the corner of his eye. She had pulled down her dress, exposing her breasts and her panties were on the dash. One of her hands disappeared under her dress while the other was tweaking her nipples. She whimpered Calum's name loudly as her fingers sped up.

Calum pulled her hand away and licked her fingers cleaned. He slipped his and continued where she left off. With one hand on the steering wheel he brought her to her orgasm. Her hips chased his fingers as he stopped thrusting them in her and only rubbed her clit. Once her high relaxed, he slipped his fingers out of her and licked them.

He pumped a quarter size amount of hand sanitizer in his hand, cleaning his hands, and kept driving.

He looked over to Claudia and smirked. "Thank fuck for tinted windows, huh Claudia."

***

Claudia was bundled up in her room so she wouldn’t disrupt Calum during the livestream. She went downstairs to get her water and a snack after hearing 'Not in the Same Way.' She bumped into Calum in the kitchen, who was getting another White Claw.

"Hey," she said kissing his cheek.

"Miss you." Calum said in between kisses.

Before she said anything, Michael's yelling that he was a pickle echoed through the kitchen. Calum gave her a look and went back to the living room. Duke tried getting on the couch but failed.

"I leave for a fucking second and you're a fucking pickle." Calum said, trying his best not to laugh.

He picked up Duke and sat him in his lap. Panchito wandered over and hopped on the couch and used Duke's bed as a pillow.

"Uh… this is Panchito. He's the Santos' family dog." Calum said introducing the blue heeler puppy to the 40 thousand people watching. "He's about four months old and just sleeps all day with Duke."

The livestream went on until Michael's phone died and Calum continued with Luke. But just before Michael signed off, he thanked Claudia for making the CALM cakes and cookies. Calum struggled a bit to get Luke connected, but he managed once Claudia hopped in and showed him how. He gave her a sheepish thank you and watched her curl up on the opposite end of the couch.

At some point during Calum and Luke's segment, they strayed off their music and discussed cake flavors. When Claudia heard Luke say that he's not a big fan of red velvet cake, she bit back her comment about Luke eating a few slices of red velvet cake at Calum's birthday party the year before. If Claudia knew how to do one thing, that's bake a good red velvet cake.

By the time Calum finished the livestream and his phone call with Luke, Claudia had fallen asleep. He signaled the dogs to follow him outside so they can do their nightly business before going to bed. He guided them back to their respective kennels and secured the doors, so they couldn't escape to go ruin Soni's plants.

"Claudia," Calum said softly. He gently nudged her awake. "Let's go upstairs."

"Fuck, did I fall asleep?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, surprisingly since you took about four naps today." he teased her.

"Oh shush." she grumbled, folding the blanket she covered herself with.

They quietly went to the guest room where Calum was sleeping to watch a movie. Not even fifteen minutes into the movie, Claudia and Calum were devouring each other. Her hand lazily stroked his length through his sweats as Calum's hands ran over her thighs and ass.

"We should get on the floor, the bed squeaks too much." Claudia said when pulled away from Calum to take off her hoodie.

She got off from the bed and grabbed a duvet from the closet and laid it on the floor. She grabbed some of the decorative pillows and arranged them neatly so they could lay on them. Calum followed suit and shedded off his sweater and sweatpants. He laid back on the duvet and took in Claudia. She sat in his lap in nothing but a light grey bralette and matching panties she got at Aerie. It wasn't an overall sexy set, but it still sent him spiralling.

She leaned down and captured Calum's lips with hers. He let out an incoherent grumble as Claudia rocked her hips against his cock. He slowly inched his hands up her thighs, feeling his way around until he found her ass. He roughly gripped her ass and began guiding her along his clothed cock.

“Can you fucking wait?” Claudia giggled, pulling away from his lips. She sat back up on his lap and took off her bralette. “I wanna take care of you.”

“I don’t want you to.” He said.

“You better remember that the next time you get a stomach ache for eating too many chilaquiles.”

Claudia drummed his chest and got up from the floor. She reached for Calum’s hoodie and tied her hair in a bun.

“Where are you going?” Calum asked her confused.

“You don’t want my help, so I don’t see what I’m doing here.” She shrugged.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and gave him a small salute before leaving his room. She waited outside, knowing he was going to go after her. A few seconds later he opened the door and pulled her inside.

“I’m kidding, I need you.” Calum said peppering kisses all over her face.

“That’s what I thought.” She said, triumphantly. She got down on her knees and tugged down Calum’s sweats. She licked her lips and looked up at him. “Now let me show you how proud I am of your album.”

“What would you rank it?”

“Definitely one of your top four.”

Taglist: @f-mu @another-lonely-heart​ @sunshinebabycal-deactivated2021​   @calumscalm​ @karajaynetoday​ @cherryxwildflower​ @myloverboyash​  @idontneedanyone​ @findingliam-o​ @5-secondsofcolor​ @spicylftv​ @sexgodashton​ @fckingpernico​ @2fangirl4u​ @calpops

#calum hood smut #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfic #calum hood one shot #calum hood fluff #calum hood imagines #el novio series #el novio quarantine edition

[waugh-bao]

I'm hoping you can help me find a video. I saw an interview with the Stones from around the mid-70s. Iirc, they were all sitting together on a couch. The interviewer was asking Charlie about him being president of a sheepdog organization and Charlie was saying it was more his wife. I swear I saw this but now I can't find it anywhere. There was more to it than just Charlie and the dogs but that's what I most remember. Does this sound at all familiar?

Yeah, it does!

The interview is from 1978, and I don't know the interviewer, but it was done in Australia. Unfortunately, like a lot of those '70s interviews, it has disappeared from the internet, or never was there at all.

But you actually can still find the bit about the sheepdogs, and some other parts of the interview. In 1983, the Stones did an MTV rewind. It's a bunch of music videos, live performances, and interviews cut together and mixed in with an overarching storyline. Basically, the story is that everyone in the band has been confined to Bill Wyman's Stones archive, which he's turned into a museum. Bill and Mick are the only ones who actually appear in the story portion, because, as they go along preparing for the museum to open that day, they discover that everyone else has escaped:

And they have this conversation about Charlie:

Mick then turns the dial, and the portion of the interview that concerns sheepdogs comes on. It'll start at around 8:40.

Personally, my favorite part of that rewind is what comes after the Charlie interview. Each part of the story which ties the clips together concerns Bill and Mick discovering that another member of the Stones has vanished, and generally they'll show a compilation that pokes fun at that person. So Keith's, for example, has a lot of out there drunk and druggie behavior. Charlie's is extracts from all of the other's solo interviews, because, every time someone asks why the Stones have decided to stay together, they bring up Charlie, as a personality and as a drummer they couldn't bear to be parted with:

That whole sheepdog thing is actually took an interesting turn after Charlie passed away in August.

Some of the obituaries mentioned that he was the President of the North Wales Sheepdog Association, but everyone in that organization was baffled, because, as far as they were aware, he'd never had anything to do with it. (I think the organization Charlie is referencing in '78 is something slightly different which he didn't truly know much about, because it was really Shirley's thing). But a guy called Dave Jones, the a former secretary of the Search and Rescue Dog Association in Wales (SARDA), turned out to have the answer.

He travelled to El Salvador in 1986 to help earthquake victims, and brought a sheepdog called Meg to assist in the rescue efforts. When they returned to the UK, Meg had to be quarantined, and that ran up a £2,000 bill, which the charitable organization she belonged to would struggle to pay.

Charlie and Shirley somehow found out about the problem. They had just lost one of their own dogs, a sheepdog also called Meg, and were very charitable in general, especially to animal related causes, so they donated all of the money necessary to cover Meg's stay in quarantine and vet bills. Somewhere along the way, rumor and fact got confused, and that's why so many people thought he was some kind of sheepdog club president. But the actual story is really much better.

#just Charlie and Shirley being awesome #as always #the rolling stones #keith richards #charlie watts #mick jagger #ronnie wood #middle aged married band #shirley watts #shirley ann shepherd #ask response #anonymous

[emachinescat]

I've decided to watch MacGyver from the beginning (again), and I'm live tweeting the experience with every tweet tagged with #savemacgyver. I thought it would be fun to share my collected thoughts from the episodes on here as well.

My Thoughts on S1E1, "The Rising"

Good old Lake Como.

"How do I look?" Always amazing, Mac, though here you are so bebby. Gosh, tiny Lucas is tiny.

Ugggh, Nikki. My least favorite story arc in the show. Even with her redemption arc, even her face makes me mad.

I am soooo glad this awkward flirting is only in this episode. Mac and Nikki have never vibed with me.

JACK DALTON

"Who loves ya, baby?" We all do, Jack.

I always wished they would have played more into the original Mac's reason for not carrying a weapon - not just so he doesn't get caught but because he doesn't like them. That was actually one reason I used to be so upset at the reboot when it first came out. I still feel like Mac's character was off for this first episode - a little too cocky, not super developed. But still lovable, and with so much potential!

It's so cool to see how much Lucas has grown into this character over the years, really making it his own while still holding on to its essence.

Lol "serious bad-assery" - Nikki thinks she's so cool. (Spoiler: she's not.)

Lololol Nikki is the Walmart brand of Riley.

Mac in glasses. Adorbs.

Man, I'm already so ready for Matty. Patti is the off brand version of her.

I always love watching Mac rifle through stuff to find his improvisation supplies!

First MacSplaining session! Electromagnets!

"Is this George Clooney's house?" I miss Jack so freaking much.

Mac kind of looks like a penguin with that waiter outfit on and I'm living for it.

The second Mac hack is so Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew.

"Why don't you ever flirt with me like that?" Um, Jack, do you want your partner's girlfriend flirting with you, daddy fixation or not?

There are two kinds of oops, accordng to Jack Dalton: Oops - I just stubbed my toe / Ooooooops - Zombie apocalypse initiated.

Mac's hair is so shaggy.

"START THE DAMN BOAT!" Classic.

"Hold this and get out of my way." Dang, Mac.

The bad guy is the dude from Galavant hahaha. I know this guy has been in so many things, but he will always be Gareth to me. (That's his name, right? Gareth?)

W H U M P

I actually love the consistency of Mac always having that scar even seasons into the series (except for the last time, in the river). Overall great attention to detail!

That is a LOT of blood in the water.

Lol I'm pretty sure Grandpa Harry didn't say that in so many words, Mac.

Poor traumatized bebby. What am I saying? I live for this stuff.

Awww, lil Bozer. So smol. So pure. And now I want waffles.

"Eat your waffles." Three words I will never say no to.

"Give me Wang." -Bozer, 2016

Am I the only one who finds these intimate scenes between Mac and Nikki hella awkward?

QUARANTINE, sounds familiar.

Lol "cyberteam." Once Riley Davis comes along, they will be obsolete.

Jack just wants a hug.

I always hated the clinical white room in the pilot. Can't wait for the War Room.

I love the interactions between Jack and Riley.

Mac and Riley EYE CONTACT.

"You two are on timeout from now on." 😂😂😂

THE MOMENT WHERE HE GRABS HER HANDS

Lol, thanks for telling me that's a paperclip. I was so confused.

"Riley has so much hair!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I love how Riley takes charge. Her confidence is 🔥🔥🔥

"You know what, never mind, I'd be pissed at you too." 🤣

Jack's so proud of his daughter. 💕

"Is that real?" Bless Jack's heart. He's such an old man.

Patti is a square. Pretty, competent, but boring. I miss Matty.

"My man never jokes about tin foil."

Ooooo Nikki is alive. Poor Mac. His whole world keeps getting turned on its head.

Jack can be scary when he wants to be.

Poor, poor, Mac. When he faces Nikki, he looks like a kicked golden retriever. (Also, NEVER kick a dog.)

I'm just eating up all this angst.

Mr. Wizard lololol

Mac hanging from a plane is soooo iconic.

"Don't get cocky. You're the only other one here." Haha, the SASS on this girl.

"Go ahead, you aready had me killed once." Also, oof. Undercover or not, Nikki is cold. I can't stand her.

Excuse me, Patricia, but I would consider running over your neighbor's dog (or any dog) a damn catastrophe, too.

"Sometimes a purge is necessary to fix what's broken." Codex, anyone?

Love this whole chase/fight sequence so much. The music, action, everything... perfect.

The sweat on Mac's forehead when dangling out of the 🚁 - such a great detail!

"YOU GO KABOOM, I GO KABOOM"

Kind of weird to me that Mac seems to be using so much guesswork with this bomb, especially when we know that he's one of the best specialists out there.

That fight scene in the back of the vehicle is one of my all time favorites. The whump is excellent.

Okay, but when does MacGyver ever do anything the way Jack has in mind?

DIY or die. Still so lame, lol. The parachute is awesome, though.

Oof. That landing looks painful and the whumper in me loves it. Even more, I can't get over how worried Jack is as he rushes to Mac's side. ❤️❤️❤️

That break in his voice when he asks if Mac's okay is just... AYSKTUFYIFUYliIIGUOG

Mac burning Nikki's pics like that old Taylor Swift song.

Bozer calling Jack his bestie is so weird and funny to me.

I am so ready for Bozer to get over Riley. They are so much better as friends.

Lol "Those fries won't cook themselves." The crack of a whip, man.

Jack calling Riley a little rascal and then gently asking Mac if he's doing all right there, pal ... taking care of his kids, and I am DYING.

The Three Amigos... come on, Jack. You can do better than that.

Is it bad that I'm actually a little surprised that Jack knows what a Phoenix is? Just seems like something he wouldn't care to learn, especially since he's a sci fi junkie but I never really hear him talk about fantasy.

Oooooooo Nikki's on the loose. Gotta end with suspense, to hook those viewers and make them want more. Well, I want more of this show, but not because of her.

Well, awesome re-watch of episode 1. Definitely not my favorite by a long shot, but so iconic and with some amazing moments! It just makes me that much more excited to get to see the show and the characters grow!

If anyone wants to join me in my re-watching and tweeting adventure, please do! It's my way to take about an hour a day in my busy, busy life to commit to the #savemacgyver movement. (And to enjoy my favorite show yet again!) If you do tweet as you watch, make sure to tag EVERY tweet with ONLY #savemacgyver so we can keep that hashtag trending! :)

Thanks for letting me share my (numerous) thoughts on this episode. This was really fun, and I hope it's something you all enjoy, too. I'll probably go ahead and post episode 2 tonight since I just watched it. I'd love to know what you all think of the episode in the comments! ❤️

#macgyver #jack dalton #riley davis #wilt bozer #macgyver rewatch #my thoughts #episode review #tweet compilation #with minor edits for an easier tumblr experience #savemacgyver #please join me in my rewatch and tweeting on twitter #using the hashtag savemacgyver #we can save our show #pilot episode #emcatreviews #s1e1 #the rising #spoilers