#Blacklist Appreciation Week

[carpisuns]

Hope you’re well! I noticed you took the LDS out of you, is everything okay?

DJDKDK ok i know what you meant but the way this is phrased made me laugh. no I didnt take the LDS out of me. that is still my church. hahaha

but to answer your question, yes everything is ok! Thank you for asking, that’s really sweet💕 I didnt actually take my religion out of my bio; i just moved it to a different spot. I was doing some blog maintenance and got a new desktop theme and thought I might try to be fancy and have an about page so it’s on there lol. (also i thought maybe fewer people would send me hate mail about it if they had to click one more time to see it djkddk)

#ngl the peak of the checkmarks drama was Rough #and that’s part of the reason I decided to move it #like i didn’t want to take it off bc my faith is just part of who I am and it’s important to me #but i mean i was being specifically targeted bc of it #and it did get to me so that’s why I logged off for a bit #it’s all good now though #i really really really appreciated all the kind messages #those got me through a hard week💕 #so yeah this is my middle ground solution for now lol #the info is there if you care to know #but is not the first thing you see when you click on my blog #anon #ask #(and for blacklist purposes) #religion #christianity #Mormon #LDS

[is-this-yuri]

have you been doomscrolling? feeling awful about it? do you feel out of control? does it seem your autonomy has been swallowed by the ever present beast that is the internet?

we live in the most overwhelmingly stimulating age of humanity ever seen, and it's only getting worse. our brains are sponges, soaking up whatever we smear them across, and it seems more and more difficult to find a clean surface to rest on. i'm no expert or professional, but ive been born and raised into the internet, and i'd like to hand out some wisdom regarding this.

the main issue: brain poison

since the brain absorbs whatever it's exposed to, media consumption is unsurprisingly going to effect it. the type of media, the amount of media, and the frequency of the media all play a factor.

it's not the internet itself that's bad here. it's the media on the internet, and the platforms designed to suck in our attention and keep it there until we're rotting inside our skulls.

we're never going to escape the internet. it's just a fact of life now, and a tool that can be used for wonderful things. so how do we learn to live with the internet and take advantage of its potential?

treat it like a dietary balance

staying aware of what goes in your brain is just as important as being aware of what you're eating. if you eat carelessly, don't listen to how your body feels after you eat certain things, and ignore any sickness that might result from rotten food, you're going to have a bad time and wreck your guts. the same goes for the brain.

you want to have a good mix of various types of media in the right amounts, or approximately so. if things are feeling bland, maybe diversify. if things are feeling stupid, try something more intellectual. if it's feeling too much, cut back on all of it

the following are three things you can do to maintain a sense of control and awareness over your media diet. this isnt a step by step and is in no particular order, theyre just ideas to carry forward in general any time it could be helpful.

1. digest

this is the process of thinking about and remembering what youve done throughout your time on the internet. it could apply to any period of time. so you might think, 'man, i've done nothing but watch tiktok all day.' or 'i've been scrolling twitter a lot more this past week.'

i feel like most people already do this to some extent, but it manifests as a fleeting sense of anxiety or shame that doesn't lead anywhere. analyze that feeling, and ask if it's really true or helpful.

ask if your media consumption is making you feel less focused, distracted, putting you into a brain fog, making you fall asleep when you don't want to, making you irritable and angry, drawing you into arguments, keeping you awake at night, or upsetting/disrupting you in any way.

digestion also means appreciating the good stuff and recognizing the good feelings you get too. so also ask if it's enriching you, helping you learn something new, giving you a new perspective, exposing you to something beautiful, passing the time, relaxing you, honing your focus, or generally lifting your mood.

2. cut

cut certain types of content from your life once you've decided they're not good for your media diet. block people. move on. tell youtube to stop reccomending that channel. block them. unfollow people. unfollow tags. block the tags. blacklist things. do it. forget the awful things that make your brain hurty. click the block button. uninstall the app. you know you want to

consider removing yourself entirely from websites that are designed to be attention predators. if you consistently feel like youre 'stuck' on a site and cant leave, it's probably best to just delete your account and get out of there. tiktok is NOTORIOUS for this.

i also tend to keep my following or subscribed count low. keeping the stream of content short forces me to find other things to do with my time. this goes hand in hand with things like turning off infinite scroll. it provides an 'end point' where the repetitive action of scrolling down stops bearing fruit, breaking the doomscrolling cycle. the internet is almost an infinite place, and its up to you to build walls around yourself so you arent lost in it forever.

its also important to get off the internet in general sometimes. i know this is obvious, but literally touch grass on occasion. doing anything with your physical body away from the screen will be more enriching than sitting there scrolling for hours. whether it's just a 5 minute walk around your house to stretch your legs or a 6 hour hike every weekend, part of cutting media will mean replacing it with real life. looking at some plants, doing a pushup, or working on a knitting project can be like rinsing your brain sponge under some cold, clean water.

3. curate

the flip side of cutting is curating. you'll want to be looking for media that makes you happy and feels productive or meaningful in some way. anything that not only doesnt make you feel like you wasted your time, but specifically makes you feel like you spent your time well, is a green flag.

keep in mind entertainment just for entertainment's sake is good for you too. you don't have to be watching university lectures and tutorials and stuff all day. finding high quality entertainment, such as personalities you enjoy, good production values, and inventive ideas can be really difficult. find the people who dont make you feel like a cocomelon baby and stick with them. from there you should be able to find similar content.

what's good for your soul is going to depend very much on you as an individual. this is also going to be an ongoing process as not only you but the internet both change and evolve. the important thing about this step is that you Make Decisions about what to consume. even bad decisions! it's all part of the process, and it's all about reclaiming your autonomy.

4. eat your junk food

this isn't a military drill or an exact science. i'm just a guy on tumblr with an intimate connection to his own brain and a LOT of time on the internet. that's my only credential. sometimes i want to turn that brain off and just mindlessly consume without putting any thought into what dirty dishwater is soaking into my sponge. sometimes adhd brain wants me to watch a shitty B movie in recap form so i dont have to commit to a full movie. sometimes i get stuck in the youtube shorts for like 3 hours.

that's fine. the most important part of any kind of self care is that a little bit is better than nothing. even just being aware that youre consuming something bad for you and knowing you arent ready to stop just yet is better than nothing.

thats it!!

now you should be prepared to take back some control over your media consumption. be gentle with yourself and take your time. eventually this stuff will become second nature, and you'll be effortlessly digesting, curating, and cutting media like it's just part of your personality. remember YOU have control over what the internet thinks you want to see. dont let it force feed you nasty slop anymore. let it be a reflection of your mind, not the other way around.

and good luck!

#media consumption #doomscrolling #long post

[mrsjellymunson]

Hello, Stranger

Pairing: Eddie Munson x gn!reader, Eddie Munson x you, Eddie Munson x reader

For @lesservillain’s excellent Strange and Spooky Stories Halloween writing event for the prompt: ‘Stranger’

Summary: A stranger comes in to buy weird stuff at odd times, and as the cashier at the local hardware store you’re not quite sure what to make of it…

CW: 18+ (MDNI), fluff, maybe SFW though caution for mature and dark themes and allusions to crime and violence. Flirting, li’l bit of awkwardness, some swearing. Both Eddie and reader are in their 20s. Reader’s gender and appearance are not described, they can be whatever you want. No use of y/n. Time period is not mentioned, and any inaccuracies/inconsistencies about history, equipment, American schooling (I’m not from around these parts) or science are deliberate and artistic oh yes they are. No smut, I thought I’d better assess whether I could string a semi-coherent story together before attempting to add that 😆

WC: ~6.2k

A/N: I love gore, revenge movies, murder shows, true crime, science/biology/forensics and DIY (sort of), so this prompt seemed like a perfect fit. There are tiny Easter eggs from The Equalizer, Breaking Bad, 80s crime TV, The Blacklist and John Wick in here - let me know if you spot any! This is the first ‘proper’ fic I’ve posted so I’d love to know what you think. Comments, reblogs and feedback are hugely appreciated and very welcome!

(Also this is my first attempt at dividers too, I hope they worked, I literally have no idea what I’m doing!)

Yep, you were ‘that’ weird kid. Your friends in Middle School had called you a freak because you brought squirrel tails and chicken feet to show’n’tell.

“But look! If you pull this tendon it makes the claw close! Isn’t that cool?!”

No, apparently that was not cool. Especially when demonstrated against your teacher’s finger...

You’d visit a friend whose father was a doctor, begging to read his medical and pathology text books, and preferring to look at pictures of dissected and diseased organs and spontaneous human combustion over braiding your friend’s hair or talking about boys.

And, apparently, scoring a class-topping 9.5/10 for your rat dissection also wasn’t the social merit badge you thought it might be, even amongst your science-abreast academic peers.

So what if you had a strong constitution. And a love of anatomy and pathology. And then compounded it with a love of true crime, particularly serial killers and forensic methods. Surely there were worse things to be interested in?

By the time you’d finished High School you’d learned to mask your enthusiasm, covering your (apparently, socially unacceptable) fascination for all things ‘gross’ and ‘murderous’ (your friends’ words) by choosing science majors like human anatomy and pathology, criminal behaviour and forensics.

People just thought you were clever, nerdy, a scientist. You never let on that you were itching to actually experience some of these things for yourself, in real time, with your own hands…

You work the evening shift at the sprawling out-of-town homewares store on the road running out of Indianapolis towards a tiny town you’ve never been to (Hawksville? Hawking?). You work a few evenings a week plus alternate Sundays, currently in the gardening, kitchen and hardware department. It wouldn’t be your chosen section of the store (in the short time you’ve been there you’ve had to amass a lot of knowledge about tools. Also, how to politely deflect the regulars’ offers to share details of their new projects, lest you get drawn in to a half-hour discussion about u-bends or rawl plugs), but the hours suit you and fit around your college classes, and the employee discount comes in handy when things in your shitty apartment break down or your roommate carelessly breaks something, again.

The final few hours of your shifts were usually pretty quiet, barring the occasional domestic plumbing emergency, or a bored Hawkins housewife coming in looking for batteries.

You don’t mind spending your evenings amongst the tools and machinery, it gives you a chance to flick through the latest copy of forensic magazine or True Crime, or work on your college assignments.

One thing that does make the slow evenings more entertaining is the unusual clientele. A nerdy-looking guy with a moustache needing releasable cable ties, cooking oil and a large plastic sheet at 9.30pm must have an interesting backstory, right?

You find yourself concocting fantastical vignettes about the oddballs that pass through, giving them the most amusing or disturbing story you can think of as they glide by in the night.

The guy with the cable ties? Too easy. Clearly he’s got a ‘special friend’ and an interesting evening planned. TBH, that’s probably not even fictional. You call him Salacious Scott.

The friendly, rotund lady who regularly comes in for for buckets and sawdust? You know it’s Mrs Henderson, who is trying to go self-sufficient and has recently installed a composting toilet, but you prefer to imagine she’s actually a madam with a ‘specialist interest’ playroom, who you brand Madame Urolagnia.

The paranoid guy with a beard and thick glasses who won’t tell you his name, buys a lot of vodka from the liquor store nearby and comes in for plastic pipe, cladding and those slot-together foam mats for kids? He tells you he’s into martial arts and these make safe weapon facsimiles for training, but you reckon he’s actually some kind of government agent. Your imaginary name for him is Mysterious Murray.

One oddball in particular has caught your attention, and not just because he’s easily the handsomest customer you’ve had in a while.

Wait, no, you didn’t just admit that; you just find him interesting, that’s all.

It was his speed and demeanour that had struck you first, rushing in, hand atop the bandana on his head, gangly legs in ripped jeans looking like they were trying to run in two different directions at once, large, dark eyes wide as he’d frantically looked around the store.

“Uh, rope, I need rope, where’d you keep the rope?”

You’d blurted some instructions and he’d headed off, not looking in your direction.

His leather jacket and swinging chains certainly commanded attention amongst the flannel and blue denim that was usually in your line of sight, and you’d found your eyes following him, catching sight of him moving between the aisles from your position behind the counter.

He’d moved towards you with a sturdy knife, a shovel and 3 rolls of duct tape that he’d collected on his way to the checkout, arms full (he didn’t pick up a basket), when you’d ventured,

“I’d recommend the next brand up, if you want something stronger with better sticking power? It costs a little more, but it’s better quality, so overall you’ll use less”, (silently thanking Mr Wheeler’s recent diatribe on the merits and pitfalls of various brands of adhesive tape, remembering the detail because he’d gone so far as to demonstrate by sticking small pieces of it to your skin. It was a weird interaction for sure, but also oddly informative).

He’d lifted his head to look at you and your eyes had connected for the first time. Your eyes widened, and you think you spotted a slight twitch of a smile at one side of his mouth.

Oh, he’s actually really cute.

“Uh, okay, if you think that’s best”.

He dropped his eyes from yours and, after unceremoniously dumping everything else onto your counter, he’d exchanged the rolls and returned.

You’d both paused, you don’t know for how long, and you’d wondered how someone buying rope could be so captivating. But the spell was broken as you’d both spoke simultaneously:

“Did you find everything you need?”

“I’m kinda in a rush, so…”

You’d both chuckled nervously, and you’d set about ringing up his purchases, noticing that a small smile definitely now graced those previously harried features.

He’d paid with a handful of old, crumpled bills pulled from his jacket, politely declining your offer of a bag, and then he was gone as quick as he came, hurrying out into the night with the swish of the automatic doors and a breeze of parking lot-scented night air.

You didn’t know why anyone would need rope and a shovel at that time on a weeknight, but with this particular guy, who you dubbed The Stranger, you found yourself thinking that you wouldn’t mind finding out.

You’d unintentionally spent the rest of that evening coming up with fantasies about that particular customer, although, unusually for you, quite a few of them hadn’t actually involved what was on his receipt…

When The Stranger next comes in he’s after heavyweight garbage bags, more tape and a saw, but seems in slightly less of a rush.

He pauses at your counter for a few moments, making polite conversation, asking how long you’d been working here, whether you were working late tonight.

Is he trying to… flirt? Surely not…

“Thanks for the tape recommendation by the way, it was a real lifesaver. That stuff’s really good, I definitely have a new favourite!”, gracing you with a broad grin (oh fuck, that was a sight) before he was on his way again.

Another time he bought shears, tarp and a large quantity of painting coveralls.

The next trip involved wire cutters, buckets and a wet’n’dry vacuum.

You begin to enjoy The Stranger coming in buying random shit at odd hours. You can’t quite make him out. He buys a lot of gardening and decorating-type equipment (plus he’s almost single-handedly keeping the cleaning product aisle in business), but he dresses like neither - always in tight, ripped jeans, shredded band tees and his signature leather jacket. You’ve never seen him covered in leaves or dirt, and his clothes have zero paint on them. Those coveralls must do a really good job…

You build up a rapport of sorts with him. There’s always a polite, verging on friendly greeting between you, and you let him know when there’s special offers on tarp and garbage bags, and what days there are deliveries of latex gloves and those painting coveralls he seems to like so much. (Sometimes you’ll even stash a few of the latter for him under the counter if there’s a holiday weekend coming up, knowing Hawkins’ husbands will be out in force and not wanting him to miss out.)

But the ‘fantasy vignette’ and forensically-inclined parts of your brain begin to overlap, and start to tickle your imagination. It’s almost as if each selection of items he buys could be used to either dispatch someone, or dispose of a body. But that’s crazy, right? He seems way too nice to be a serial killer. And mob activity in this part of Indiana? Nah. That wouldn’t happen around here.

Would it?

It’s a quiet Friday night when you next see The Stranger. He’s picked up bolt cutters, pliers, some metal trays, a sledgehammer, a mop, and, most bizarrely of all because you’ve noticed he’s not usually one for personal safety equipment, ear defenders.

Again, he’s basket-less, barely able to contain the items piled up in his arms. They topple as he arrives at your counter, and some end up partially covering your open magazine.

“Shit, I’m really sorry about that.”

“Oh, no problem, honestly. I probably shouldn’t be reading on the clock anyway”, you say, slightly bashful, as you move the crumpled magazine out from underneath his items, smoothing it down. The Stranger’s eyes are locked on your hands, and as they move across the page they reveal a headline about a recently apprehended serial murderer and some photographs of a variety of grisly-looking, bloody weapons.

“That looks… interesting, watcha reading there?”, he remarks, leaning in.

“Oh, this? It’s about a new guy they’ve just caught over in Europe. He’s fascinating, he used such a variety of tools and methods that at first the police didn’t even think to link the crimes. Ingenious, really, when you think about it. So creative!”

You look up, and The Stranger is regarding you with an unreadable expression. Does he think you’re weird, babbling on about this murderer like you admire him? Or is he actually impressed with your enthusiasm?

“Sorry, I’m a true crime buff, it’s a bit of a pet topic of mine. And I’m studying forensics at college, so it’s kind of like schoolwork too.” You chuckle nervously, arms moving in front of your body and shoulders subtly curling in on yourself in embarrassment.

The Stranger seems to sense your discomfort, and shakes his head, making his curls bounce, smiling and chuckling along with you.

“No, yeah, uh, me too with the crime thing, actually. Well, not so much the reading, I’m more of a hear-it-through-the grapevine, hands on kinda guy.”

‘Hands on’? WTF does that mean?

“Oh, cool, coolcoolcool”. Smooth…

As you scan his items your fantasy vignette tickles your brain again.

No, don’t be silly…

You bag everything up this time, insisting it’ll be easier to carry, handing them to him and taking his crumpled bills.

Your curiosity is more than piqued and you can’t hold it in any longer. Feeling bold, you ask, “So, what’s all this for?”

“Huh?”

“The- the stuff. What’re you doin’ with it?”

The Stranger looks at you through his lashes, not speaking.

Shit, you’ve overstepped, he’s gonna leave, find a different store and you’ll never see him again.

“Uh, well, some people I know out near the big city are, er, planning a, uh, party, with a few of their, um, associates, and I think it’s gonna get pretty loud, hence the earphones. I, uh, don’t usually get involved in stuff until later in the evening, y’know, after all the main fun’s over.”

You look a little quizzical.

He thinks for a moment.

“I tidy up, but I sorta make it a bit more fun for everyone. Bring a bit of pizazz to a usually mundane part of the evening. Kinda thing.”

You process for a few moments. The ‘Mob Cleaner’ vignette you’d fantasised about screams loud and long into your cerebrum.

Nerves give way to curiosity, and you brashly ask, “So, what exactly is it that you do?”

“I’m kind of a cleaner, I guess? If someone has a problem that they’ve had dealt with and they wanna make the cleanup more, um, interesting, I’m the guy they call.”

Probing further, you clarify, “So you don’t make the, uh, mess, you just clean it up. Creatively?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

He explains he’s still quite new to the job, and kinda fell into it. His boss and his mentor are both encouraging, saying his USP is truly original (Unique Selling Point, he explains when you look confused), and that he definitely ‘has potential’. He’s learning a lot as he goes, but his enthusiasm seems to be appreciated and he wants to do well.

“All you really need is a strong stomach, imagination and a flair for the dramatic!”

He illustrates his last point by making jazz hands by the sides of his head, offering you a generous smile. Yeah, you can see how that particular part of the job comes easy to him.

“Oh, well, it sounds like fun. I hope you have a very successful evening!”

“Okay, well, thanks again! I’ll see you.”

You watch him leave, noticing in particular how well his jeans fit tonight.

What’s that saying again - I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave…?

You shake your head to rid yourself of the lewd - and crazy, yeah, totally crazy - thoughts you’re having about The Stranger and encourage yourself back into work mode.

As you busy yourself and tidy your counter you notice something small and white on the floor in front, about the size of a credit card. It must’ve fallen out of his jacket as he fumbled for cash.

Cash. Always cash. Never credit card, never cheque, never — anything traceable…

You round the counter and pick it up, thinking you’d save it and return it to him the next time he comes in. It’s a business card. The text is unfussy and clear, but glossy, bold and slightly gothic. It’s a company name above some text and a pager number, but it may well be the most intriguing piece of writing that you’ve ever come across:

E.M. Creative Disposal Services, Apprentice to Mr Kaplan & Associates, For dinner reservations call: (555)-666-6969

It’s another quiet night, but there’s already a couple of people at the counter when The Stranger arrives. Mr Sinclair needs a pipe wrench and a plunger (you don’t envy him his evening), and Mrs Wheeler has come in to buy double-As for the second time this month (although this time she also added gardening gloves and secateurs to pad out her basket. Not that you’d judge either way).

You spot The Stranger’s curls before anything else, bobbing in the fluorescent lights as he comes through the entrance doors. He spots the queue and immediately joins it, glancing towards the counter and visibly brightening when he sees you behind it. He’s carrying the sledgehammer he bought last time. As you start to ring up Mrs Wheeler’s batteries you see him examining the head of the hammer. Frowning slightly, he moistens his thumb with his tongue and rubs at one corner, then polishes the same spot on the front of his jeans.

He reaches the counter, receipt retrieved from a bundle pulled from inside his jacket.

You greet each other with a quiet ‘hey’. He continues, “I, uh, wanted to return this. Can I do that?”

“Yeah, sure, lemme ring it through the till. Can I ask why? Company policy,” you shrug, almost apologetically.

“Sure, uh, well you know that phase ‘using a sledgehammer to crack a nut‘? Turns out a sledgehammer does indeed obliterate the, uh, nuts… Let’s just say it wasn’t really suitable for the project I had in mind. I think I need something…”

Lighter? Easier to aim?

“With a little more finesse?” You venture, eyebrows raised, hoping you haven’t completely misread things.

“Yeah, finesse! I like that”. He beams widely at you tilting his head slightly, revealing the most gorgeous dimples you’ve ever seen, and it’s all you can do to hold on to the edge of the counter while your knees gently fail beneath you.

“Umm, you want some help choosing?”

He readily agrees and you direct him to the hammer section, both of you discussing the merits and disadvantages of various models as you choose ones from the display and encourage him to feel their weight and balance. He seems impressed, clearly not expecting you to be so well-versed in the finer aspects of hardware.

“Y’know, you really know your tools!”

You squeak out a bashful, “Thanks.”

You slip into self-deprecating mode and brush off his compliment, saying, “It comes with the territory I guess. I’ve picked up a lot working here. Plus I just sometimes browse the shelves, thinking of nefarious uses for random household objects.” Hurriedly adding, “For school, of course!”

You cringe a bit, thinking this must make you look like some kind of weirdo, but The Stranger takes it easily in his stride, commenting, “You know, you’d be surprised to learn just how much of a marketable skill that can be.”

You chat some more and he eventually chooses a smaller, less unwieldy hammer, and after he pays you part ways again.

You still desperately want to ask him exactly what he used that other hammer for, what ‘Creative Disposal Services’ actually means, and what the hell have dinner reservations got to do with any of this?

The next night you see The Stranger he saunters in at about 8:30. He has a different energy about him this evening, seeming both more relaxed but also somewhat on edge. He’s not in his usual ratty band tee tonight, you notice, and no leather jacket either. Instead he’s wearing a what looks to be a clean, maybe even pressed, electric blue raglan shirt with black half length sleeves. You spot a crimson guitar pick necklace that you’ve not seen before dangling from a twinkling silver ball chain, resting against his sternum and resplendent against the blue.

Observing his forearms for the first time you notice how attractive - and (oh!) tattooed - they are. Toned and veined, their shape and his mix of tattoos are shown off to perfection by that sleeve length, and a leather and chain bracelet that adorns one powerful-looking wrist. The glint of his chunky silver rings accentuates his large hands that peek out of his jeans pockets as he wanders over to you. He’s still in tight black jeans, but they seem a little… neater than usual. And he’s not in a rush. It’s almost like he’s not working, maybe even making an effort.

You feel a frisson of excitement - could it be that he’s come in just to see you?

Exhibit A, m’lud: Scrubbing up well.

He heads straight for your counter, and you greet each other with your characteristic friendliness.

He spies the hefty text books you’ve spread before you, and leans onto the counter to get a closer look.

“Watcha workin’ on tonight, Doctor Quincy?”

You swallow at the cute nickname, voice cracking slightly as you start to tell him about the assignment you’ve got. It’s about evidential tool marks, and how pathologists can identify what’s been used as a weapon or tool of dismemberment.

The Stranger tries to play down his interest, but his demeanour betrays him as he presses for more details, even asking if he could maybe read the finished piece.

That’s weird, right? People don’t read other people’s science essays for fun. Do they?

But you agree, promising to bring him a copy when it’s done.

The conversation lulls, and The Stranger twists the pad of one of his thumbs against the counter, seemingly a little nervous, though you can’t imagine what about.

To break the silence you slip into work mode, but for some reason drop your voice a couple of octaves and murmur,

“So anyway, what is it that can I help you with, sir?”

Wait, is he blushing?

“Um, oh, uh, I actually don’t have a shopping list today, I was, uh, just gonna browse, I guess.”

He backs away from your counter, giving it a few rhythmic slaps with his fingertips before turning away from you and ambling off into the store. He returns a few moments later with a small hatchet and mid-range fold-out knife, plus two rolls of his now-favourite tape.

“You can never have too many of these, amirite?”

He gives you that dimpled smile again, and you feel your stomach do a full (though anatomically impossible) 360° flip.

Observing his lack of focus and comparatively small selection of items, you wonder if he really needs those things, or whether he’s just picking them up as an excuse to come in to the store. Your chest heats up a little at the thought.

Exhibit B: Small, possibly unnecessary purchase. The evidence is mounting up.

Seeing the hatchet, your eyes light up with enthusiasm as you remember something.

“Hey, we just got some new stock in that I think you might like, y’know, if I’m not overstepping or anything.” You finish with a nervous chuckle.

You smile at him nervously through your lashes, skin heating even more in case this is suddenly all a bit too familiar.

He grins, responding, “Sure, go ahead!”

Your smile broadens and relaxes as you turn away from him and walk to the back shelves, crouching down and retrieving something in your arms.

Standing quickly and turning, you notice his eyes widen and immediately flick up to yours, a slightly alarmed expression on his face.

Exhibit C: Was he checking you out when he thought you wouldn’t notice? (Also, is it getting hot in here?)

With a loud thunk you lay two (frankly, terrifying-looking) multi-tools out on the counter in front of him. One looks like an oversized, overspec-ed Swiss Army knife, and the other could easily pass as a prop from an exorcism-themed horror movie. You over-excitedly explain the features of each, saying, “This one has a hammer and an axe, plus screwdrivers, pliers, a saw, wire cutters, a magnesium rod”, you look up at him quickly and ask, “do you ever need to start fires? Plus, it has…”, you wave your hand dramatically over your favourite part of the item, like you were showing it off on a shopping channel, and stretch out the syllables of the final two words for emphasis, “…a bottle opener…”. You raise your eyebrows and grin widely, like this must surely be the deal breaker.

The Stranger laughs, throwing his head back with deep-throated barks from the centre of his chest, and then he chuckles a little, bringing a strand of hair over his cheek and a curled finger to his lips. You’re slightly distracted by that glimpse of his extended neck (god, you want to gnaw at it), and that laugh? You wish you could’ve recorded it somehow.

You quickly compose yourself and continue, switching to the ’horror prop’ product, “And this one has fewer features, but I like it for its simplicity, robustness and practical charm. It’s an axe, hammer, nail puller and pry bar. And it even has a rubber coated handle, so you can still use it safely even if your hands are wet. For, y’know, whatever reason…” you finish, slightly abashed.

“Aw, Pumpkin, this is the kindest thing anyone’s done for me in a while, thank you.”

Pumpkin. PumpkinPumpkinPumpkin. Exhibit D: A term of endearment!

He takes some time to examine both articles, testing out their various features, hefting them in his (large, strong) hands (stop it!).

“I love them. Y’know what, I can’t decide. I’ll take both. What’s the damage?”

You visibly brighten, a squeak of delight that you hope he didn’t hear inadvertently leaving you as you puff up with both his term of endearment and your ever-growing customer service confidence.

You check whether he’d still like the other items he’d brought to the counter, and apart from the duct tape (“You really can’t have too much of this stuff!”), he allows you to reshelve the rest.

He watches, enthralled, as you wrap his new tools in the store-issue brown paper reverently and carefully, as though you were wrapping an expensive gift in a fancy department store, the pair of you sharing bashful looks and half smiles as you work.

As he hands over the now-unsurprising crumpled bills and takes his change his hand drifts closer to yours, glancing his fingers over your palm and lingering for just a moment. There’s a little hitch in your inhale, and you think you see his ears redden a little.

He gathers up his purchases in his arms carefully and gently, and he backs away from your counter slowly.

“I guess I’ll head out then. Uh, I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, I guess you will, uhh-”

“Eddie. My name’s Eddie.”

“Okay, I guess so, Eddie.” You say his name slowly, like you’re testing out the syllables in your mouth.

You continue speaking, offering your name in reciprocation.

“Yeah, yeah I know your name, it’s kinda on your little badge there.” A tiny nod indicates the plastic rectangle pinned on your apron strap near your left shoulder.

Your cheeks heat again. “Right, of course. Ha!” You inwardly cringe. Well, that could’ve gone better.

He’s still backing away, getting dangerously close to an intricately balanced display of colourful children’s watering cans. You’re about to say something, but he turns just in time, ambling towards the illuminated exit with a mumbled, “Okay, bye then. Thanks again for these…” lifting the packages in his arms, and turning to look over his shoulder a couple more times before he finally reaches the door and disappears into the parking lot.

“Hey, d’you know anything about wood chippers?”

It’s been a week since you’ve seen The Stranger Eddie, and you turn abruptly to find him walking towards your counter.

His question throws you out of your stocktaking zone (you’d been focussing on ordering enough plastic pumpkin-shaped buckets for all of Hawkins’ kids this Halloween), but you quickly slip into customer service mode and ask for more details.

Eddie explains, using mostly his arms, that he needs one that, “throws everything everywhere”. You finally work out that he means the type where you feed stuff into a hopper on one side and the shredded debris is forced out of a raised chute on the other (as opposed to the more gravity-based ones where stuff is fed into the top and simply falls out the bottom).

He’s passing it off as being involved in some avant garde student art project, a performance piece involving feeding a load of wood and, uh, paint, yeah, paint into a wood chipper and having it spray out the other side. He blusters that the students are trying to make a point about climate change, or maybe it’s deforestation, he can’t seem to decide.

He explains that the piece is to be performed indoors, that there’ll be quite a few people present, and that he also needs a large quantity of tarp and coveralls because it was likely to make a huge mess.

This is the clincher. You’re absolutely convinced there is no art project, and what’s go through that chipper is more likely to be a human body. Or, given the amount of effort being gone to, and Eddie’s flair for theatrics, probably more than one.

“What size branches?”

He looks at you, confused. “Huh?”

“The, uh, limbs. What size will you be shredding? Some of the smaller models won’t cope with thick trunks.”

He swallows. His eyes meet yours, and he licks his lips. You can’t help but stare at those full, pink… Look away! Just look away!!

He subtly smirks, slowly moves his hands across the counter, and, gently taking hold of one of your hands in his, loops his other finger and thumb around your wrist.

“Um, definitely thicker than this…” - he extends your arm towards him, and moves his other hand slowly up your skin until he gets to your upper arm - “…and maybe a little thicker than this, too.”

You hope he can’t feel the burning sensation that’s erupted up your arm. You know he can’t possibly hear your racing heartbeat or detect the adrenaline that’s coursing through your veins, but you’re acutely aware of both just the same. You briefly ponder whether you’ll need to get a fire extinguisher from aisle 7.

“Umm, how about I show you what we’ve got?”

Composing yourself, barely, you take him to the large garden implements section, explaining that for larger trunks and limbs he may need something towable.

Under the guise of working out whether various models would be suitable, you take the opportunity to dig a little and find out what kind of vehicle he drives. It’s a van, so roomy, practical for carrying a lot of equipment that needs to be kept out of sight. Well, this all tracks.

Also, your brain helpfully suggests, it could potentially be romantic, a private little hideaway where you and he could… No! Stay on topic, you’re at work for god’s sake!

As you debate the various choices you find you’re occasionally leaning into each other, shoulders and elbows lightly bumping, you stealing glances at his chiselled jawline when you think he isn’t looking.

Eddie eventually decides on a mid-size towable model, and as you arrange for it to be delivered to the collection bay he bids you goodnight and disappears out to his van.

‘Art project’, huh? I don’t think so…

You don’t see Eddie for a couple of weeks after that, and you begin to wonder whether he doesn’t like you. Maybe you went too far, did you bore him? Did you frighten him off? Did he feel pressured into buying those gadgets or the expensive wood chipper?

Maybe he’s finally realised you’re a weirdo, like everyone at school eventually did?

Trying to get out of your funk you steel yourself and ask your department manager, Keith, whether he’d seen an odd, metal-looking guy in the store at all.

“Nah, not recently, but someone like that did come in a few weeks back, asking about when you’d be working. Something about your product knowledge helping him with a job, or whatever. I told him your schedule, I hope that’s ok.”

So you haven’t missed him, and maybe he’s not avoiding you. Good, that’s good. Exhibit E: He’s been asking about you?? Oh fu-

You’re startled out of your reverie by the sound of someone slapping two plastic packets down onto the counter.

“Oh, hi Mrs Wheeler, let me ring those up for you…”

On his next visit it’s clear Eddie is restocking his cleaning supplies, and he’s even deigned to use a small trolley this time to transport the heavy and bulky items.

As well as multi-surface cleaner, mops, cloths and some heavy duty gloves, you notice his trolley also contains numerous bottles of chlorine bleach.

“Big clean-up job tonight, huh?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I guess so. I need to leave the place without any trace of the, uh, performance this time.”

“Depends what you need to clean up, I guess. Y’know, chlorine bleach doesn’t necessarily get rid of everything.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, it’s fascinating, common misconception by the way. Chlorine bleach gets rid of visible stains, so that’s great if your main concern is aesthetics. But you can still detect haemoglobin, if you have access to the right tools and solutions.”

Eddie looks bath engaged and confused.

“A-heema-whatnow?”

You snicker.

“Haemo-, y’know what, never mind. Blood, basically. So actually, oxygen bleach is your best bet if your biggest concern removing all traces of, let’s say, blood and DNA. Whilst it doesn’t necessarily remove all the marks, it does degrade everything biological to the point where it’s undetectable. At least, with the tests we currently have.”

Eddie leans his elbows on the counter, giving you his full attention, resting his cheeks on his knuckles and pushing his dimpled grin up even further. Emboldened, you talk at length about haemoglobin, DNA degradation, specialist chemical solutions and alternative light sources.

He stays there, rapt, until you come to a natural stop. Just before he straightens up he quietly mumbles, still smiling, “Fucking incredible”.

With a deep breath he returns to the aisles to procure both types of bleach, pays and heads out into the night with a cheery, “Wish me luck!”

The cleanup must’ve gone well, because Eddie’s back a few days later and is making conversation.

“Hey, um, I remember reading once about some guy in England, years ago, who, like, melted people. You ever heard of that?”

You contemplate for a moment.

“Oh, d’you mean the Acid Bath Murderer, John Haigh?”

“Acid bath? Yeah, that sounds familiar.”

“Y’know, that’s actually one of my favourite case studies! It was one of the stories that first got me interested in true crime. 1940s England, dude thought he could get away with it if there was no body. Nope, sorry! When I first heard about it I thought it was really inventive, though he actually took the idea from a French guy who’d already done similar. Makes you wonder how many undiscovered dissolved bodies there might’ve been before and since, huh?”

You wax lyrical for a little while on the relative merits and disadvantages of the dissolving of human bodies in acid, even relating an anecdote about how your lab partner once chose the wrong combination of acid and beaker type, finishing with, “Hoo-boy, that was a mess!”

You become a little awkward, aware of how long you’ve been talking and the possibly-disturbingly-creepy level of detail you’ve gone into, though Eddie doesn’t seem to mind and presents somewhat like he’s paying attention in a chem class. Regardless, you decide to change the subject.

“I meant to ask last time, how did that wood chipping project go?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, really good, thanks. Y’know that advice you gave me about the chipper came in real handy. It was quite the show!” He looks gleefully at you, flashing that brilliant smile. A few small fireworks quietly explode in your innards.

“I’m so glad! Did the client like it?”

“Oh yeah, baby, they were thrilled!”

Baby. That’s new. You like it, and you add it to your growing mental filing system labelled ‘Evidence that Eddie might like me’. You can’t even remember what letter you’re up to now, you’re just enjoying stuffing it fuller every time he graces you with another morsel.

“They even gave me a nice bonus, for my ‘theatricality’.” He begins to lift his arms, but stops himself, resisting doing the jazz hands things again, reasoning there’s only so many times he can do an impersonation of a court jester before it puts someone off. “Said they’re gonna recommend me to their buddies too.”

More softly, and a little bashful, looking through his lashes he adds, “Kinda wish you could’ve been there, actually.”

Oh my, is he blushing again?

“Yeah, me too. I’d love to see you work sometime…”

“You would?”

Okay, he’s definitely blushing.

He leans in over your counter, close, so he can say in a low voice,

“Uh, just so we’re on the same page, you know what I do has nothing to do with art projects, right?”

Holding his gaze, and with your voice surprisingly steady, you swallow before confirming, “Yes, Eddie. I know.”

He huffs out a stuttering breath, and the air between you seems to heat.

He lifts one hand and rubs the back of his neck nervously.

“Hey listen, uh, I dunno if this is a little too forward, or weird, or y’know, whatever,” He’s rambling now. It’s adorable.

“I was kinda gonna ask you if you wanted to get milkshakes sometime, but, uh, maybe you’d actually wanna come out on a job with me? I’ve got one coming up on Sunday that I could really use an extra pair of hands on. I could pay you of course, y’know, for your time.”

You want to blurt out that, for him, you’d willingly burn the world and everyone in it for free. Instead, you smile wide, and settle for,

“Well, my tutors are always encouraging us to get real world experience…”

“Great, so I’ll pick you up at the end of your shift?”

“Sure, Eddie. I’ll look forward to it.”

You’re both grinning, stuttering messes.

“Great! Great. Uh, okay then, I guess I’ll see you Sunday?”

As he turns to leave, you stop him with one final question.

“Just one more thing Eddie. Should I bring my own coveralls..?”

If you got this far, thanks so much for reading!!

Comments and reblogs make my world spin, do let me know what you think.

#eddie munson #stranger things #Halloween #Halloween fic #Halloween Eddie Munson fic #Eddie munson x reader #Eddie munson x you #dark fic #Halloween fic prompts #hardware store fic #Catt writes #my writing #my first long fic pls be kind #Eddie munson fluff #Eddie munson x gn!reader #Halloween fluff #forensics fic #writing prompt challenge #stranger #hello stranger #mob cleaner fic #mob cleaner!Eddie Munson #gn!reader #niche fic #weird and owning it #some of these things are true #Halloween writing prompt #dark!Eddie Munson

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Silver Lining 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, speech impediment, bullying and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: silverfox!Bucky Barnes

Summary: You have an unpleasant encounter with an older man.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

"So your sister will be coming by next week with the little ones," your mother declares as you stand at the sink, scrubbing away the remnants of roast beef and potato. "You'll get to play auntie for the day."

"Mhmm," you nod, "what about Justin?"

"Oh, your brother's down visiting with his fiance's family. He said he'd try to make if for Christmas Eve but you know how her family is."

You sniff and pretend to know. You really don't. It's all hearsay to you. You don't hear much from either siblings; they have lives, you just happen to be related.

"S-sounds great," you utter as you put another plate in the rack.

"Oh, honey, you should just use the dishwasher," she says.

"It's f-f-fine, this works," you insist.

"Well, what about you? What are you up to?" She leans on the counter.

"I..." you don't know what to say. You need a lie, anything to appease her. Your brother's engaged, your sister has the white picket fence and you have nothing, "oh, I h-have a job interview."

"You do?" She sounds thoroughly disbelieving.

"Uh, yeah, w-well," you stammer through, trying not to give away your deceit, "since n-no one wants to h-hire me in my f-field, I f-found something new."

"That's exciting," she chimes, "what is it?"

"Uh, I w-want to see i-if it turns out b-before I say," you give a tight-lipped smile, "don't want to d-disappoint you again."

"Sweetie, you're not a disappointment," she hums, "I'm always happy to see you trying."

You look down at the sink and shrug. Behind that comment is the inference that you weren't trying before. That you haven't been. The long nights with vivid nightmares don't exactly motivate you and you've been all but blacklisted as an executive assistant. Even admin roles aren't responding. Even if you do get a bite, the job market is drawn out and tedious.

"Thanks, mom."

"Just... try not to mope around the kids," she chides, "it's Christmas."

You flutter your lashes, "sure, mom."

That's what you are to everyone; weak, pathetic, useless. No, don't do that. You'll make another appointment with Lisa, she always knows what to do.

☕️

Well, this is it. A last resort. One of those freelancing websites that pays pennies. It's better than nothing and will keep you from having too big a gap on your resume. You could easily do the writing gigs, easy money for transcription. You apply to a few of those and scroll on.

You sit up as you see a particular posting that interest you. Oddly enough, the pay isn't half bad. It's also labeled as 'may lead to ongoing work'. Well, well, well, now that's something.

You click into the posting for 'Podcast Script Writer' and review the details. A sample is required for application and lucky enough, you have lots of those hanging around. If it wasn't for your stammer, you'd have an episode done by now. You deleted enough recordings to the point of giving up. Well, this is a solution. You can get your work out there without having to embarrass yourself.

You go through the application, putting in your info and editing a draft before attaching it to the application. You just hope it's thorough enough. You never really let anyone else see and hitting submit makes your stomach flip. With the final click, you close your laptop and quickly get up. Alright, you're not going to dwell on it. If you hear anything, you'll worry then.

You try to read but can't focus. It just makes you think of the posting and your application. Oh jeez, imagine you're rejected but worse, they tell you you've done everything wrong.

Appointment! You can't forget that. You login to the app and put in a request for a Zoom appointment that week. Alright, you're getting things done, you can't say you've done nothing.

You put a video on your phone and lean it on the pop out grip, propping it up on your mattress to watch the compilation of sitcom moments cut together on Youtube. Your mind wanders and your eyes begin to sag as the day shrouds you in fatigue. You slip into a shallow doze as the glare of the screen flickers over you.

The distant clack of keyboards and clicking of mouses needles behind your ears. It's as if you're trapped in a bubble of silence, all colours and noised dampened by the unseen wall. You shudder as you hear his voice, the only thing that's clear. Your name crawls up behind the shell of your ear with his breath as his hands settle on your hips. Your body aches as every muscles tightens and your bones lock in place. Please, no, not again...

"Sir..." you try to speak but nothing comes out. He's always tugging your skirt up, his hand is around your throat. You close your eyes as tears stain your cheeks.

You wake with a start, your phone black as the battery's drained from neglect. You sit up and pant, looking around your dark bedroom, the moonlight limning shadows sinisterly. You gulp and fall back, watching the ceiling as the tears rise in reality and sting your eyes.

If you'd just said no. A simple word. Even you can manage that.

You lay for a while until your restlessness boils over. You get up and plug in your phone. The screen lights up as you rub your eye socket and yawn. There's an email notification in the taskbar. Probably more ads for things you can't afford.

You pull down the menu but find ‘Application Update’ emblazoned across the notification. Oh wow, that was fast. You keep yourself from tapping on the email.

You don't know if you can handle another rejection. You'd rather languish in the uncertainty. You've been doing so for so long, it almost feels safe.

#dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #drabble #series #au #silverfox #silver lining #mcu #marvel #avengers #winter soldier

[writingbyshiloh]

Part 6

Parts 1-5

CW: Reader gets injured on the job!,(TBH it could be either hand as long as you have a weird handshake),Making out in a closet. Flashbacks to when Ressler walked in on R and Red having sex (part 2) and Liz and the earring (part 3)

WC: 2.3 (!!!!)

AN: Reader did work with a mob team, Flashback to when Ressler slept with Samar in season 4. I’ve never broken a bone so I tried to google as best as I could :) It ends a but abrutly, but I tried for an hour to work out a better ending and nada

Thank you to everyone who read the series, esp those who provided kind comments/feedback/let me bounce ideas off of them!! Whether you read just half of a chapter or all 6 I truly appreciate it. 7 months later we are done!!! 

“And how is the happy couple doing?” Reddington asks, sliding up next to you at the bar. 

“Oh, you know. Hopefully going to get into a huge argument in 10 minutes,” you reply. 

The task force was undercover at a cocktail party, to which a known member of the Blacklist was invited. Red and Liz are paired up, same with you and Ressler, while Samar and Aram are in the van, monitoring everyone. 

The first part of the plan was for Reddington and you to point out the mob member - Sonny Someone or other. Raymond knew them through business, while you knew him from trying to take him down while on a mob squad. 

Part two was you and your “husband” of the evening get into a fight, giving a reasonable excuse to not be mingling with others hoping to let Ressler bond with some of the other criminals. 

Currently, it's part three. You’re slinking around the halls of the event while not being outed as an FBI agent. Your bigger task is making sure you and Reddington are safe from any mob-connected individuals who may want him dead.

You’re both out of sight, being tucked into a storage room with your back uncomfortable against a shelf with a first aid kit next to you, while his hands gently squeeze your hips.

“We shouldn’t. Everyone here is suspicious!” you hiss, weakly protesting his advances, knowing you’re going to give in. He looks too good and you haven’t spent any time with him in the past two weeks outside of work.  

“Personally, I’ve always found the threat of death an aphrodisiac. Don’t you?” 

You rest your forehead on his shoulder, trying to hide your smile. What do you possibly say to that? You let out a small snort of laughter.

His lips dropped to your neck, kissing any exposed skin. You sigh, not daring to make a louder noise. Your arms, however, pulled him closer. 

Dipping your head, you tried to catch his lips with your own. He understands and brings his lips to yours, gently tugging your bottom lip with his teeth as a suggestion of you opening your mouth.

The squeaking of hurried dress shoes caused you to break apart, both leaning closer to the door to hear what's happening. 

You can hear Ressler's voice, strained as if he is jogging, saying, “They said they’re going down this hall, I just don’t see them!” 

On instinct, you flinch back, knocking the first aid kit off the shelf. You wince hearing the dull smack of the kit hitting the floor, then wince harder at the steps before the door. 

You barely hear the end of Donald's phone call, the opening of the door distracting you. Raymond positions his body in front of you, in case of the possibility that it's not Ressler on the other side of the door, but an attacker. 

“What the fuck.” is the only thing Donald can manage. 

You understand how bad the situation looks, Raymond Reddington looking flushed, and you standing behind. You see emotions flit across his face, not quite sure what to say. You squeeze past Reddington to go closer to Ressler. 

Your motion spurs Ressler into action. 

“Are you out of your mind? He's a criminal!” Ressler hisses at you, trying to keep his voice down. 

Reddington wants to correct him, pointing out that he is one of the most wanted criminals but the look you shoot at him makes him close his mouth. 

“It's not that bad!” you protest trying to save face. 

“It is!” 

“It's not!” 

“Does Cooper know?” Ressler lets out a small huff of a laugh “Does Liz know?”

“NO! You’re the first to know. But you can’t tell anyone. Please.” you beg.

“What's stopping me?” 

“I never told a soul about you sleeping with a subordinate! I planned to take that shit to the grave!” 

“A subordinate? I never knew you had it in you, Donald.” Reddington chimes in from behind.

A new voice around the corner makes you all freeze. You’re certain it's Sonny from listening to his voice through surveillance plans. 

Ressler’s comments and discovery have your nerves set ablaze but you still have enough sense to get your work weapon out and ready. You see Ressler do the same. 

Catching Reddington's eye, you jerk your head to the side, trying to get him to go behind you and Donald. He returns with a bewildered look as if you thought he’d willingly place you in danger. 

All three of you are pressed against the wall, trying to figure out what to do next. Ressler is in front of you, Reddington close behind. 

The voice is nearer, talking but no one is answering. Ressler uses his free hand to make the sign of a phone using his thumb and pinky. You nod in agreement. 

Your stress-addled brain tells you this is the best time to get your man. 

Rounding the l-shaped corner you smack into Sonny, trying to come across as a distracted and drunk partygoer, not an FBI agent on the verge of losing their job. 

“I’m sorry! I should watch where I’m going.” You apologize, trying to buy some time for Ressler and Reddington to understand your plan. 

“It is okay. Sonny.” He introduces himself. His hand is extended for a handshake but you would know him without the introduction. You spent months trying to get a lead on the racketeering he's done. 

You take his hand without thinking, glad he doesn’t recognize you. His left hand is on your right, patting your hand. You want to pull your arm away but can’t, wanting to stay in partygoer character. 

It's too fast for you to react until your index and middle fingers are bent back and you're gasping out in pain. 

Your surprise shouting alerts the two men behind you. With your half-baked plan ruined, they round the corner to come and find you and Sonny. 

With the mob member gone, you hold your hand in shock, telling Ressler to go after the mob guy. Instead of following your order, Ressler communicates with Samar and Aram in the van, telling them that Sonny ran towards the exit. 

The combined adrenaline of undercover, being found out, and having at least one finger broken is what keeps you from crying. Or at least what you tell yourself. 

 ----

Hospitals are never your favourite place, but it's exceptionally awkward now. Reddington is off doing something (he sent someone from his team to pay the leftover medical bills) to save some face. You have two broken fingers and want nothing more than to go home. 

Ressler is keeping you company (you suspect he's also the reason a nurse has checked in on you twice in the past 15 minutes). He only left briefly for Cooper to call you to say you’re not fired, but one out of the three weeks off (suggested by the doctor) was a suspension. Inappropriate relationship with a CI. But with the black site, nothing will stay on your file. 

Outside the room, you hear the voices from your team, most of them hushed, one angry. 

Aram being on the verge of tears is not what you expected to see when. You expected anger, or arguing, but not this level of upset from your close friend. Knowing Aram’s tendency to talk when nervous you’re sure he's going to tell you what's going on. 

“Why would you cheat on Dembe with Mr. Reddington?” The hurt in his voice is obvious. 

You can't control the way your jaw drops in shock or the way that your eyes widen. The doctor only gave you regular painkillers, but now you’re wondering if they’re making you loopy. You make eye contact with Ressler, who slowly shakes his head, not wanting to be part of this. 

“Cheat? On Dembe! What does Dembe have to do with this?” you can only hope that no one else can hear the conversation. 

“Dembe! Your boyfriend?” Aram fills you in.

“My who?”

“You’re dating Dembe. The evidence adds up.” Samar chips in. 

“What evidence do you even have?” 

“What about the earrings you left at the safe house? You and Dembe kept looking at each other and the earrings.” Liz supplies.

“Who remembers things like that?” Fucking profilers apparently. 

“What about how you light up when Dembe comes into the post office?” 

Okay. Maybe you’re not as subtle as you think you are. In your defence, however, that would be because he walks in with Raymond. 

“It's even more messed up that it’s with his boss!” 

You suppose it is a good thing your coworkers are so sharp, trying to tease information from your personal life to fit into their theory. 

“What if I told you I’m not actually dating Dembe. So your theory sucks.” 

Maybe you are getting a bit worked up. You watch the wheels spin in their head, trying to figure out. 

Aram is the first to put the pieces together “Mr. Reddington? He's like 60!” 

“That's why you dropped your coffee when Aram asked how things are with Mr. Right! You heard Mr. R and jumped to the conclusion. ” Liz supplies. It takes everything in you not to ask if this is the hospital where her ex-fiancé works. 

You meet Samar’s eye and she frowns in a way that says not too bad. You make a mental note to ask her what the fuck that means. 

“Does Cooper know?” 

“Do I know what?” The man himself asks, entering your hospital room, a bottle of juice from the vending machine for you tucked under his arm. 

If it didn't make you want to crawl into a hole, his timing would be comedic. His appearance still makes you pleased, he can't be that mad if he is visiting you, and bringing you a gift.

“Yes! Can we stop talking about it now?” you plead. 

Your idea is shot down to a chorus of “no!”s. 

“Hand me my drink, I will answer one question each. Choose wisely.” You say. Might as well get something out of this situation. 

---

“If you clench your jaw any harder we'll have to turn back.” you joke to Ressler, his knuckles white with how hard he is gripping the steering wheel. It was nice of him to drive you home, but his anger for you is coming and going in waves.

“You know, it's a shame how you never managed to catch Reddington before the task force started.” you notice his back stiffen at the mention of the FBI most wanted. You pretend to study your splint before continuing. “And do you remember when you wanted to drop off the files at my apartment? At literally the worst possible time?” 

For the first time since being in the car, he looks at you. 

“I bet you're the first FBI agent to walk in on the most wanted having s-” 

“Stop talking.”

---

It's a rarity to see Reddington unsure of himself. Even when you’re alone with him, he carries himself with confidence. Now he looks torn between making sure you’re okay and leaving you alone. 

“You can ask, you know,” you say, putting down your phone. The news about your fingers has spread to non-FBI friends, but typing with one hand is getting exhausting. 

“How did it go?” He’s sitting next to you, as close as he dared reading his newspaper. 

“Better than expected. No more broken limbs, everyone still talking to me, I’m still employed.” 

You shift the bag of frozen strawberries on your hand to get more of the cold. 

“Cooper called me on the way to the hospital, I was slapped with inappropriate relationships with a CI, much better than with a wanted criminal.” You smile, trying to lighten the mood. “Cooper also said he wouldn’t tell the team if he didn't want me to.” 

“But you did. Liz called, and let's just say your friends care about you.” 

Your chest feels warm at the idea of your friends fighting on your behalf. 

“I didn’t, they figured it out. I think all Ressler told them was he found us in a closet. It's whatever. I don’t think I could figure out another reason why it's so funny when he offs to beat up the mystery man.” 

“Yes, he always is a real go-getter, isn't he?” Raymond agrees. 

You press your lips together to hide your guilty expression. Reddington notices and his hand creeps up to the back of your neck, trying to be reassuring. You lean your body weight into him trying to get comfortable. 

“The next time you see Ressler one-on-one” at least you hope he respects you enough to not talk about your sex life with everyone “he's going to have some choice words.” 

You twist your head to look at Reddington's face, eyebrows raised slightly, tongue between his teeth as he tries to understand what you’re going to say. 

“I may have brought up how he, um, interrupted us one time,” you say. Now is not the time to bring up what other sexy details you shared with the team while he was unnamed. 

“Is that why he ran as soon as your door opened?” 

“Yeah, I think I traumatized him in the car.” 

 “He’s a strong man, he’ll live.” 

#raymond reddington x reader #raymond reddington fan fic #raymond reddington x you #the blacklist x reader #the blacklist fanfic #5+1

[totaldramararepairweek2023]

The official date has been decided- Total Drama Rarepair Week will be taking place from August 13 to August 19th, with late submissions being accepted until September 10th!

The official prompts for each day as decided by participant voting are:

Day 1: Post-Competition / Roommates / Double Date

Day 2: Behind the Scenes / Nightmares / Fake Dating

Day 3: Playa Des Losers / Fresh Starts / Hiding Secrets

Day 4: During Competition / Opposites Attract / Hurt+Comfort

Day 5: Alliances / Domestic / Confessions

Day 6: Enemies to Lovers / Trust / Gossip (And/Or Paparazzi)

Day 7: First Kiss (And/Or First Date) / The Future / Injury

Please remember that the guidelines are not strict rules but suggestions! If you have other ideas you don’t need to only follow the prompts!

QPRs and Polyamorous couples are allowed but please remember that NSFW content is not allowed under any circumstances!

Posting your content elsewhere is allowed, but please make sure you share it to tumblr and either tag me in the post or tag the post with ‘Total Drama Rarepair Week’ so it can be added here!

Make sure you also check the Blacklist so that you know which ships are not allowed!: https://www.tumblr.com/totaldramararepairweek2023/723669429724020736/what-pairings-arent-rarepairs

Reblogging this post is very appreciated! I’m excited to see what you all make for the event!

- Mod Zoey

#total drama #total drama rarepair week

[avocadoraisin]

Hey there! My name is Jenna and this is my art blog!

My main, @jennilah is used for personal posts, occasional WIPs, headcanons and other fandom memes, and reblogging things. Check it out if you're into that!

But if you just want the art, you're in the right place! Welcome!

Info for you:

What program & brushes do you use? I use Clip Studio Paint, and most of my art is done with a simple round brush with pen pressure only on the opacity. The rest is done with a variety of random texture or pattern brushes and blending tools.

Can I repost your art on [website]? I'd rather you didn't repost my art at all, but if you still want to, please ask me! If it is a website I use, no. If it is one I don't, then maybe. (With credit.)

Can I use your art for my profile picture/header? Yes! I'd be so flattered! If you can credit me somewhere, that would be appreciated ❤

Can I write fic/draw more fanart based on your art, or edit it into a fanvid? Are u asking if I want to melt into a sappy puddle of happiness?? Absolutely, PLEASE tag me!! (If I reblog, it will be on main tho, just to keep this space curated. Nothing personal!)

Can I make a request? Sure! I can't guarantee I'll draw it, but I love hearing people's ideas and I often keep them in my askbox for when I need inspiration :)

Can I ask you something else? Absolutely!! My askbox is almost always open! And if for whatever reason you're too shy to ask on my art blog, you are welcome to ask on my personal blog

Tags for sorting and blacklisting purposes:

[Fandoms and ships will always simply be tagged as their respective fandom titles and main ship names]

#jenna shut up - my non-art posts

#jenna answers - answering asks

#timelapse - time lapse videos of some of my drawings

#jenna self reblogs - for when I reblog myself and share the same art/post again

#drawing - the definitive tag for all of my art and none of my text posts

#doodle - low effort work, sometimes it does have effort, idk using this tag depends on my mood sometimes

I also try to tag spoilers for at least a few weeks after a new media's release, usually as "#[title] spoilers"

#jenna shut up #drawing

[cheerycherrycandy-resurrected]

Ghoulette Appreciation Week 6

Week 6: Murder Ghoulettes and self-care

Aurora wakes up thirsty. Cumulus taking Aurora out on her first hunt, followed by a tiny bit of self-care with Cirrus afterwards.

Rating: M Content: murder ghoulettes, kinda vampire au, blood/violence/murder Words: 1270

In my mind Aurora is a huge Twilight-girlie, so you can't tell me she doesn't try and recreate Bella's first hunt to cope with learning what her topside diet includes...

Read below or on AO3! where this almost got named "good soup"

Aurora wakes up thirsty. She’s been topside for a few months by now, and while she’s mostly on top of this strangely fragile Vessel’s needs, she’s never felt a thirst quite like this. Her mouth feels drier than it does after a band rehearsal without water, like her throat is burning.

She delicately untangles herself from the arms of the ghoulettes around her and makes her way to the kitchen to get a drink. Grabbing the largest glass she can find, she fills it and gulps it down, immediately refilling it. Nothing. In fact her thirst seems to be worse than ever. Too cold some instinct screams at her. She puts the glass in the microwave, and takes another sip of the gently steaming liquid. Wrong. Aurora lets out a small growl which reverberates around the darkened kitchen, mocking her in her frustration. The lights flicker to life as Cirrus joins her in the kitchen, yawning widely.

“What’cha doing, Rory? ‘S too early to be up yet.”

Aurora turns to her with frantic eyes, gesturing to the half full glass of warm water, “I’m so thirsty Cir, but water just makes it worse!”

Cirrus seemed to wake up fully at that, blinking sleep from her quickly darkening eyes. “Ah. I thought you were overdue a feed. Lus is going on a trip soon, she’ll take you later.”

A feed? What sort of trip? Aurora rakes her fingers through her hair in frustration at Cirrus’s cryptic behaviour. With a tilt of her head at Aurora's confusion, Cirrus turns abruptly to head back to the dorms.

“Come on, you'll want to be sitting down for this.”

Aurora took the news well. Almost too well. Instead of the abject horror most ghouls displayed at having to hunt in their weak humanoid forms to survive topside, she seemed almost excited at the prospect.

"So we're like vampires up here?” There was a disconcerting gleam to her eyes. "That's so cool!”

Cirrus and Cumulus shared a glance. Oh dear. They recalled Aurora's current obsession with 2000s chick-flicks. She watched Twilight last week. Cumulus nodded sheepishly; at least this reaction was better than the hysterics from Sunny.

“Sure thing Starburst, just like Vampires.” Cumulus didn't specify that she meant the non-glittery-variety. “Go get changed, we'll head out this morning before the boys decide to join us. Rain always makes such a mess.”

Aurora practically skipped across the hall to her room.

"Good luck with that.” Cirrus remarked to Cumulus, “I'll have a hot bath ready when you get back.”

“Thanks love.” Cumulus rolled her eyes good-naturedly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I'll bring the little bloodsucker back in once piece.”

“I'm ready!” chirps Aurora from the doorway. She's met with stunned silence for a second.

"Sweetie,” Cirrus starts hesitantly, “What are you wearing?”

A short while later, once Aurora has been convinced that while yes, she definitely can wear that tiny silk dress, she really does have to put proper shoes on, Cumulus leads the way to the edge of the forest surrounding the Abbey. As she does, she makes a mental note of other movies to blacklist.

The pair trek through miles and miles of forest, well beyond the invisible perimeter wards of the Abbey. There is an agreement with the Clergy that although ghouls definitely need to feed, they should do so as far from the Abbey as possible, and not in the same region too often. After her initial excitement, Aurora now feels her mouth getting drier and drier with each step.

After what feels like hours, Cumulus stops, sniffing the air around them and smiling.

“Alright Rory, you're good to go.”

"What do I do?” Aurora asks uncertainly. The air here felt thick, and held the same allure as the waft of Mountain's freshly baked bread did.

“Oh you'll see,” Cumulus smirks, "just follow your nose.”

Aurora took a deep sniff before instinctually dropping into a hunting crouch. The scent was stronger down here, sticking to the leaves underfoot. She slinks through the trees, tracking the captivating smell until the air around them is rich with it. A gust of wind blows it even stronger in their direction, and she takes off running in the direction of the mouthwatering aroma. The branches around her tear at the flimsy satin of her dress and Cumulus has to laugh internally at the destruction: what did she expect?

The deer hunter Aurora has tracked never stood a chance. Before he could even link the sounds of branches snapping with danger, the small ghoulette is on top of him, his gun still raised in the direction of a spooked deer that is now bolting away.

She rips and tears at his flesh with vicious fangs and claws, carving through bone and sinew, and devouring blood, viscera, organs. The rush of warmth on her tongue and the sweet, metallic tang finally satiates her unholy thirst. As Aurora begins to return to herself from the red haze of the hunt, Cumulus looks on proudly, with feral eyes of her own. There is blood smeared around Aurora's mouth, her entirely ridiculous dress is hanging onto her by threads, more rip than fabric, and Cumulus can't help but marvel at her terrifying beauty.

She helps Aurora maneuverer the remains of the hunter's lifeless body deeper into the trees. By the time he is found, likely months later, his ghoulish mutilations will be indistinguishable from those caused by a wild animal. Possibly the ghouls will see talk of a bear attack in the newspapers the Siblings of the Abbey read.

Aurora’s thirst may be satisfied but Cumulus’s is only baited, so the pair move on. It isn’t done to share one’s prey with another ghoul if they are not mated, so Cumulus will find another victim, she always does. Sometimes they even come willingly, hypnotised by her unfathomable beauty in the depths of the unforgiving forest.

Eventually returning to the Abbey, Aurora find that the less feral she feels, the more she realises how deeply uncomfortable she is; cold and sticky, covered in mud, blood, and Satan only knows what else. Cumulus tempts her to keep moving quickly, despite the tiredness that is setting back into her bones, by telling her how Cirrus won't be able to resist her after a hunt. She’ll run them a warm bath, meticulously clean her claws for her, and take care of her in every way she knows. Cumulus tells Aurora how she's in for it now, as she looks every inch the terrifying hellbeast that she is.

They enter the ghoul wing with their hair everywhere, wild nests full of twigs and leaves. They are careful to avoid the common areas of the Abbey looking like this. All the ghouls, no matter how reckless they are when hunting, know better that to give any indication to the Siblings of Sin that this side of them exists.

“How'd the little vampire do?” Cirrus asks Cumulus when they tumble into her room, jumping up to begin picking detritus out of her Mate's hair and usher them both towards the cloud of sweet-smelling steam emanating from the bathroom.

Aurora is doing great: she’s preening just inside the door, feigning nonchalance as she picks blood out from under her claws. The dress maybe didn’t survive as well as she expected, the liquid silk slip hanging off her small frame in tatters. She shoots out a delicate tongue to lap up a spot of blood on her arm, her high-pitched purr reverberating around the room with self-satisfaction.

Cumulus smirks, “Oh, she’s gonna be just fine up here Riri.”

#ghoulette appreciation weeks 2024 #ghoulette appreciation weeks #murder ghouls #murder ghoulettes #vampire au #cw blood #cw mild gore #cw death #blood drinking #probably like 5 other things that break the geneva convention #ghost fanfiction #aurora ghoulette #cumulus ghoulette #the band ghost #ghost #ghost bc #nameless ghouls #em writes #ghoulettes #ghoulette fanfiction #ghoulette appreciation

[orionsangel86]

Saz's Sandman Masterpost

Hi there! It's about time I sorted out this blog and put all my Sandman posts in one place. If you're new here, I adore the Sandman in all its forms and my blog has become a bit of a love letter to this masterpiece of media lately. I mostly write meta analysis, love to discuss the work and the characters, and occassionally try my hand at running fandom events. My ask box is always open and I am always happy to answer any questions about Sandman so please do reach out to me if you like my meta :)

I welcome all fans of The Sandman here, though I can occassionally be NSFW so if that's not your jam make sure you have "NSFW" tag blacklisted. I'm a multishipper of the firm believe that Dream of the Endless should be passed around the other characters like a bowl of goth candy. I don't tolerate ship hate. It's all good here my loves.

I have a fairly decent tagging system. I tag all ships, characters, fanart, meta discussions, fanfiction, etc. You can find the list of common tags below.

My Meta Analysis

Masterpost of Dreamling meta - this is an eight part highly detailed analysis of Dreamling in the show and how it differs from the comic and audiobook, with a focus on how queercoding was used to emphasise a deeper relationship between Dream and Hob.

Hob Gadling - A Queer Romantic - a meta about unreliable narrators, Jim/Peggy and Hob's queer potential.

The Problem with Thessaly - an opinion piece on this problematic comic character and how the show could solve this issue.

Lucienne/Lucien - How the Librarian Became the Chief - a thorough analysis of Lucienne's character in the show and how she differs from the comic and makes everything so much more hopeful.

Tales in the Sand/Men of Good Fortune - How a small swap in story placement can drastically change the tone, and foreshadowing.

Dream of the Endless - A Romantic Fool - a deep analysis about Dream and his love of romance

How to Adapt Orpheus - Theories and discussions about how the show can navigate that particular element of the comics.

How to Adapt Orpheus x 2 - definitely worth reading all the discussions on this one as well.

Shipping comic!Morpheus and merging characters in the show - can I hear it for Morpheus/Pharamond PLEASE!

A Collaborative Post about Morpheus as the villain of the story

Could Morpheus ever be content to be single?

Morpheus and Sex - an analytical point of view

Obsessive Desire - Their complex feelings for Dream - an answered ask about the siblings relationship. (I have a draft meta in the works elaborating on this that I can't wait to finish).

Fandom Events

#Death Appreciation Week - To celebrate the release of Dead Boy Detectives which guest stars Death of the Endless, I ran a Death Appreciation Week where anyone could submit fanworks focused on Death. Follow the tag on my blog which also includes a lot of reblogged older works of Death, or follow the main tumblr tag to see just that work created for the event.

#Sandtober2023 - For inktober 2023, I ran a Sandman themed inktober event which was a huge success and inspired hundreds of amazing Sandman art pieces. You can check out the Sandtober2023 main tumblr tag here. I am probably going to run this event again in October 2024 so watch this space nearer the time for that! :)

If you have any ideas for Sandman fandom events you would like to see please send me a DM.

General Blog Tags

I have a relatively consistent tagging system on my blog so to cover the main ones:

#The Sandman - literally every post about the Sandman will include this tag, so if you are a loyal mutual from fandoms past and you want to block this tag you won't see me cluttering up your feed with Sandman stuff (and thank you for still following me even if you're not a Sandman fan!)

#Dreamling - tag for the Morpheus x Hob Gadling fandom ship. I will tag all things Dreamling - fanart, fanfics, fan theories, crack posts, gifsets etc.

#Sandman Meta - any analysis about Sandman will be tagged with this. This includes both my own analysis and reblogged analysis.

#Sandman Comic Spoilers - I tag for any posts that include Sandman story information not yet revealled in the show. In case there is anyone left on Tumblr who hasn't already been spoiled for this 30 year old comic story.

Character Tags - I generally tag for any characters I reblog or post about. So if you ever want to search for posts about a specific character, you can just find the character tag in my blog. For example #Dream of the Endless or #Johanna Constantine

Ship tags - like with character tags, I always tag fandom ships. Usually by the most popular fandom name for them. #morphanna #Gaultienne

Other fandoms - I will also always tag other fandoms. I have a very long running #destiel tag, I also tag for #good omens and #ineffable husbands and I will always tag the show name, abbreviation, and ship names for any other fandoms.

Other tags - I do try to tag for content warnings where I can, but usually only extreme things. Then again, it is rare for me to post about triggering content. Even squicky content is unlikely to be found on my blog. If you ever come across something on my blog that you feel isn't tagged appropriately please just DM me and I will correct that.

A bit about me

If my blog intro hasn't covered it so far let me clarify here. I am an adult, in my 30s and have never stopped being a passionate fan about the things I love. You don't stop loving things when you hit a certain age, you just find you have less time to devote to your hobbies because of work. I am a professional with a full time job, I come here to relax and unwind. I have been in fandom far too long to be remotely interested in fandom drama. Ship wars do not interest me. Weird anti-sex anti-kink purity policing has no power here. I am fiercely anti-censorship. If I hear the word "proship" in a negative sense I will roll my eyes and assume you are a minor who has been horribly mislead by puritanicals. I don't tolerate hate, accusational bullshit, bullying behaviour, cult-like fandom worship, or any form of fandom policing. I have no time for "big name fans" and the culture around them. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt and the trauma. Learn your fandom history lest you be doomed to repeat it.

I do not engage in performative social justice. I have my beliefs, my politics, and they generally revolve around the concept that people should be fucking decent human beings and let people be free to live as they choose. Don't come at me for not yelling about the next big world ending event. The world is always ending, people are always dying, there is always a genocide happening, its fucking exhausting. Just do what you can in your actual lives, donate where you can manage, provide support to those in need, and vote out the bastards who fucked it all up.

If you've read this far and are still here welcome! I hope you love my blog and want to be fandom friends. Come send me an ask, a DM, reply to my posts, engage with my meta, and just generally scream at me about Sandman. I always love it when people scream at me about Sandman. :)

#meta masterpost #the sandman #about me #welcome to my blog #blog intro #pinned post #introduction post

[sluttyminghao]

i am so, so thankful for every one of you who has followed me, shown support for me and my blog and checked in on me. i know I haven't been the most active lately and I appreciate everyone still liking and reblogging my posts!

as a small thank you, i am opening up my requests for this celebration only! it will be prompt based, and I will be adding request instructions below.

to request:

pick up to 2 prompts from these posts: link 1 - link 2 - link 3

choose up to 2 svt members

please be clear when requesting! just saying something like "wonwoo and prompt 3" isn't enough for me to go on.

on the topic of requesting, please also put "9k celebration" somewhere in your ask otherwise, it will be deleted

I currently don't have an end date for this, but I will probably have this ongoing for a few weeks :)

please be patient with me while I write these! it takes a lot of time and energy for me to write these kinds of prompt asks

all asks for this celebration will be tagged with #9k celebration so if you don't wish to participate or see these ask you can blacklist the tag

please read my guidelines and what I wont write; if you ask for anything that falls into these the ask will be deleted.

#a's posts #9k celebration

[grey-sorcery]

Here’s an organized list of my planned and published content. If you’d like to see a list of exclusive content for my supporters on Patreon, click here. My patrons of Mystic tier ($10/mo) and higher have access to all articles at least a week before Tumblr.

I put a lot of time and spoons into research and writing these articles, any tips would be greatly appreciated!

71 out of 171 published.

Articles in Queue: 0 (Available on Patreon)

NEW ✨ Articles:

Under Introduction

Under Psychicism

Under Psychicism

Under Spirit Work

Under Spirit work

Under Spirit Work

Under Sigilcraft

All categories are in alphabetical order with the exception of info for beginners, my experiences, & miscellaneous.

Articles that I highly recommend will be separated at the top of each category.

Orange: Published

White/Black: Planned

(Only published articles have descriptions)

This list is optimized for the mobile app!

Find me on other platforms!

Suggest Content

Have a question?

Category: Introduction to Witchcraft

-What is Witchcraft?

An extremely large article that covers all the basics for getting into witchcraft. I am regularly updating it as more related articles are published and/or I have come across new information that is relevant.

-A.I. & Witchcraft: Using ChatGPT in Research

An interview with ChatGPT about how to properly utilize it to research responsibly. I also added notes that I find crucial to this end.

-Altars: Use & Design

A description of Altars and how they can be used in various witchcraft applications.

-Beginner Witch Tips

Tips for those just starting to get into witchcraft and the occult.

-Creating a Spell Log

A guide on how to create and utilize spell logs in order to hone your craft.

-Conceptualization Vs. Visualization

An explanation of why visualization is widely improperly utilized and how Conceptualization is a significantly more useful skill.

-Correspondences: Research, Creation, & Use

A guide on how to research correspondences, how to create them, and how to use them for effective spellwork. Goes over things to avoid when working with correspondences as well as the metaphysics and magical theory of their operation.

-Finding Balance: Spirituality & Critical Thought

An article exploring the complexities of having spiritual experiences and maintaining critical thought.

-Herbology: Correspondences & Medicinal Properties

An extensive guide on how to approach herbology, herbal correspondence, and herbal medicine. Be sure to read the disclaimer at the beginning!

-Intermediate Witch Tips

-List of Closed & Semi-Closed Cultures

An ongoing project to help give beginner witches a frame of reference in order to research and practice respectfully and responsibly.

-Nature Vs. Nature

An exposition on the metaphysical, and practical magic applications of the juxtaposition between two perspectives of nature.

-Personal Narratives

An article about the dangers of people who try to pull others into their UPG. Please read the disclaimer at the beginning.

-Personal Narratives Part II

IN PROGRESS

-Personal Narratives Part III

-Researching Witchcraft

Defining some aspects of typical discussion points in witchcraft.

-Research Tips

Some helpful tips for those who want to delve deep into witchcraft research.

-The Spiritual Aspects of Witchcraft

-Tools for Witchcraft & Their Functions

-Visualization, Reiki, & Fascism

An article about how the trend of visualization is influenced by and can lead into fascist thinking and antisemitism.

-Visualization: Effective Implementation

An articles about how to use visualization to its fullest potential and how to avoid using it improperly. Also a list of some alternatives to Visualization for those who have aphantasia or struggle with visualization.

Category: Community Commentary

-Author Blacklist

A list of authors to avoid until you’ve obtained a solid foundation and understanding of the applications, methods of magic, and sociopolitical movements and morals behind various traditions and schools of magical thought.

-Bias in Witchcraft

A guide on how to identify and manage biases that are common to witchcraft in order to have a more effective craft.

-Content Creation Vs. Personal Practice

An opinion piece about the differences between having a personal practice and how to responsibly discuss it online, as well as how to responsibly frame witchcraft guides.

-Community Interactions

Reblog replies to other content creators on Tumblr.

-Consumerism & Witchcraft

-Content Critiques

Various critiques on witchcraft posts I have found on this platform.

-Examples of Ineffective Witchcraft Guides

Critiques on problematic, inaccurate, misleading, and vague witchcraft guides.

-Gatekeeping: When it is Appropriate and When it is Not

-Inspiration Vs. Appropriation

-Learning to Adapt: New Information & Modifying Practices

-Theosophy: The Heart of New Age Fascism

-The One True Way

-Three Fold Law & Other Magical Conventions

-Wicca, Ceremonial Magic, & Trad Craft: Problematic Practices & History

IN PROGRESS

-Witchcraft Vs. Superstition

An exploration of the differences between witchcraft and superstition.

Category: Divination

-Introduction to Divination

An article about the basic types of divination and the different ways to do them.

-Aeromancy: Divination via Wind

-Cartomancy: Tarot & Oracle Divination

-Cleromancy: Bone & Dice Divination

-Divination Tips

-Inventing Divination Systems

-Oracle Divination & Spreads

-Pendulum Divination & Dowsing

-Scrying: Divination Through Gazing

-Tarot & Tarot Spreads

-Tasseomancy & Palm Reading

Category: Energy Work

-Basics of Energy Work

The foundations needed to practice actual energy work, rather than pseudo energy work that is entirely dependent of imagination.

-Intermediate Energy Work

Covers a basic run down of the subtle body, energetic constructs, and energetic senses. Explains how to control the density and precision of energy.

-Advanced Energy Work Part I

Covers aspects of the subtle body, properties of energy, and how to control multiple energetic constructs simultaneously with acute control.

-Axioms of Energy Work

An explanation of the thought model behind energy work and how energy relates to itself and the world around it.

-Energetic Constructs

An overview of how to design, build, and maintain constructs as well as some possible methods of application in spellwork.

-Energetic Senses

The inherent, non-visual, senses that are the most effective way of energetic awareness

-Energy Work & Spoon Theory

An explanation of how, if done properly and after accurate practice, energy work requires no spoons to perform.

-Introduction to Grounding ✨NEW

An introduction to grounding exorcizes and their applications.

-The Energetic Model & Why it is Redundant

-The Subtle Body

A thorough description of the energetic body.

-The Wellsource

An article about the endless well of energy we all contain. Similar to the idea of The Seat of The Soul.

-Types of Projection

-Wands & Energetic Technique

IN PROGRESS

Category: Magical Theory

- What is Magical Theory?

IN PROGRESS

-Alternative Models of Magic: Why the Classical Models are Obsolete

-Benefits of Modular Witchcraft

-Correspondences & Energetic Properties

-Classical Models of Magic

-Engram Theory

-Magical Experimentation

The current magical experiment. I’m always looking for volunteers!

-Magical Potency

IN PROGRESS

-Magical Theory & My UPG

-Pop-Culture Magic

-Properties of Magical Design

-Surveys

A list of all the surveys and quizes I have made that I publish the statistics of at intervals of 100 responses.

-Threshold Theory

A unifying theory behind all spell work.

Category: Metaphysics & Philosophy

- Witchcraft & Philosophy: Metaphysics

IN PROGRESS

-Art & Media Within Witchcraft

-Chaos Theory & Game Theory in Witchcraft

-Concepts in STEM That Apply to Witchcraft

-Conceptualizing Sacrifice in Witchcraft

-Gradation & Ethics

-How White Supremacy Has Influenced Contemporary Witchcraft

-Intersectionality & Witchcraft

-Mental Illness & Neurodivergency in Witchcraft

IN PROGRESS

-On Dualities in Witchcraft

An examination of dualities within witchcraft and how their negative impacts on our community. Also goes over some solutions as well.

-Queerness & Witchcraft

IN PROGRESS

-Spectrums of Mystic & Magical Practice

-Witchcraft & Gender

Category: Psychicism

-Introduction to Psychic Abilities

An introductory guide to psychic abilities. This article focuses more on the abilities that are possible.

-Astral Projection, Dreamwalking, & Psychic Abilities

-Energetic Awareness in Psychic Applications

-Psychic Abilities & Their Applications to Spiritwork

-Psychic Abilities, Mental Illness, Personal Narratives, & Reality

A look at the intersections between mental illness and psychic abilities.

-Statistical Probability, Deja Vu, & Future Sight

Category: Safety

-Introductory Safety Practices

IN PROGRESS

-Basics of Warding

An introduction to warding

-Blood Magic: Purpose & Safety

-Crystals & Their Chemical Properties

-Dispelling Myths About Witchcraft

-Riding The Hedge, Poisons, & Entheogenic Practices in Witchcraft

-Intermediate Warding

-Fire Safety

-List of Cleansing Methods in Order of Effectiveness

-Practicing Safe & Consensual Sex Magic

Category: Sigilcraft

-Animated Sigils Project

Animated Sigils designed specifically for tech witches.

-Hypersigils & Sigilchains

-Metasigils

IN PROGRESS

-My Sigils

Sigils made using sigilcrafting methods of my own creation.

-Sigils: How-To

An introduction and overview of sigil magic.

-Spell Circles

An introduction to spell circles, how they can be constructed and used.

-The Mechanics of Sigils; Conceptualizations of Sigilwork and its applications ✨NEW

A comprehensive look at the mechanics of hypersigils and metasigils.

-My Spell Circles

Spell circles from my grimoires.

Category: Spellcraft & Spellcasting

-Basics of Spellcasting

An introduction to effective spell casting.

-How to Cast a Spell

An infographic about the basic principles behind spellcraft.

-A.I. & Tech-Magic

-Anchors

Covering how to most effectively cast lasting spell and work with spiritual entities that have been bound.

-Basics of Binding

How to bind energies, spells, and entities. I recommended reading the article about Anchors after this article.

-Ceremony & Ritual

IN PROGRESS

-Creating a Magical Conlang

-Curses & Consequences

-Designing Spells

Covers how to design a spell for any level of experience.

-Fate Magic

An introduction to the concept of fate magic and how it can be conceptualized and visualized.

-Fate Magic: Binding, Manipulation, & Safety

IN PROGRESS

-Glamours & Enchantments

-Intermediate Binding

-Intermediate Gnosis

Covers phases and types of gnosis and their applications.

-Intermediate Spellcasting

-Introduction to Gesture Magic

-Introduction to Gnosis

Introduces important concepts for entering a state of Gnosis.

-Path of Least Resistance

An introduction on how to cast spells with a higher success rate.

-Sex Magic

-Snap Magic

A guide to a unique energetic casting method.

-Spell Dictation

Covers why spells you find online aren’t reproducible and how that can be changed.

-The Elements: Air

-The Elements: Earth

-The Elements: Fire

An article about a lot of the way fire is utilized and conceptualized writhing witchcraft.

-The Elements: Water

Category: Spells

-A Look at My Grimoire

-A Raven’s Breath

A method of Spellcasting and cleansing.

-Aid in Gender Dysphoria

-Aid in Self-Love

-Curse of Self Doubt

IN PROGRESS

-Invisibility Spell

-Lessen Internalized Homophobia

-Lessen Racist Indoctrination & Increase Self-Awareness

Category: Spirit Work

-First Steps

A guide for just starting out in Spiritwork.

-Advanced Astral Projection

Covers how to create and maintain multiple projections, dreamwalking, and dimensional concepts.

-Basics of Astral Projection

Practice techniques and introduction to astral concepts.

-Basics of Banishing

An introduction on how to banish spellwork, entities, and energy.

-Benevolent Entities

-Communication & Godphoning

-Creating Thoughtforms

-Deities & Pantheons

-Dimensions & Planes: A Comprehensive Look ✨NEW

An in-depth look at the difference between spatial dimensions and spiritual planes and how each are useful in witchcraft.

-Dreamwalking

-Exorcisms: With & Without Christian Influences

-Intermediate Banishing

-Intuitional Spirit Work

-Mediumship & Possession

-Mirrors: Portals & Other Uses ✨NEW

An article about how mirrors are used in witchcraft.

-Ofrendas & Offerings to ancestors & Deities

-Shadow Work Concepts

Prompts for in depth shadow work, inspired by a dark night of the soul.

-Shadow Work: First Steps ✨NEW

A thorough introduction to shadow work in both mundane and magical practices.

-The Fae

Discusses the Fae, the spiritual entities not the cryptids.

-Types of Spiritual Entities

-Spiritual Emanations of The Emotions & The Subconscious

Jungian archetypes and how they can be used for shadow work. Also covers how thoughtforms can accidentally be created through emotions.

-The Veil & The Spirit Plane

-UPG & Verification

Category: My Craft & Experiences

-About Me

My pinned message.

-Exorcism Experiences Part I

My first experience.

-Exorcism Experiences Part II

-Exorcism Experiences Part III

-Experiences With Dreamwalking

-Interesting Spiritual Experiences

-Limpia Experiences Part I

-Limpia Experiences Part II

-Limpia Experiences Part III

-Limpia Experiences Part IV

-My First Experiences With Witchcraft

-My Introduction to Energy Work

-Why Grey? My Personal Philosophy

An explanation of why I consider myself to be a grey witch.

Category: Miscellaneous

-Asks

-Glossary of Terms

IN PROGRESS

-My Art & Graphic Designs

Digital art and graphics

-My Discord Server: The Reliquary of Unique Magics & Their Inventors

My tumblr post that explains our mission and requirements for membership.

-Oil, Corn, & Wine: A Witchcord Server

A discord server for witchcraft that is easier to gain entry to than The Reliquary

-My Services

Divination, sigilcraft, script design, and conlangs.

-My Tiktok

-Digital Templates & Inspiration

From spells logs to ideas.

Last Updated: Oct. 30th, ‘23

See Updated List

If the last update date is two weeks or more, I’d recommended checking out the updated list.

#witchcraft masterpost #masterlist #masterpost #witchcraft resources #witchcraft for beginners

[roxas-and-ventus-week]

Hey Kingdom Hearts fans! Welcome to 2023′s Roxas and Ventus Appreciation week! Let’s celebrate the potential friendship these two can have. Since April didn't work out completely, we're trying again in October! From Sunday, October 8th, to Saturday, October 14th, we'll be releasing daily prompts for Roxas and Ventus fans!

With three prompts to choose from per day, and an optional color pallet for artists and editors, you have a lot of places to draw inspiration from! Feel free to choose just one prompt, or maybe even work all into your piece of writing, art, photo edit, or just about any other form of creative expression. Of course, the final day, October 14th, is meant to be a ‘free-day’, but if you’re having trouble coming up with an idea, you have two quotes and two color pallets to chose from!

This week will be friendship focused, but feel free to create romantic pieces! This tumblr will reblog all pieces submitted under the hashtag #roxandvenweek, whether it be platonic or romantic!

If you create romantic, ship centered writing/artwork/etc, please tag it as both #roxandvenweek as well as #rokuven, so people who do not like the ship can blacklist it.

To keep things fun for everybody, here are some rules:

Please do not create NSFW content for this event

Please do not reference Adult/Minor Ships in your works for this event, even in the background

Please do not create AU situations where Roxas and Ventus are both romantically involved as well as related (ex. brothers, cousins, etc.) in your pieces for this event

Please be respectful to others who mind these rules. For example, if someone follows our rules for this event, but has NSFW content unrelated to the event on their blog, that’s a-okay, and there’s no excuse to bother them about it.

We hope fans of Roxas and Ventus will participate! These two boys need all the love this fandom can give them~!

Since this is just for fun, there’s no minimum or limit to how much you write, draw, etc. Just choose your prompts and have fun!

#roxandvenweek #roxas #ventus #rokuven #kh #ship week #character week #art prompts #writing prompts #miles morales voice: ok lets do this one more time

[borderlinereminders]

Oh great here we go again with you giving a free pass for people with bpd to abuse and manipulate people.

Oh great. Here we go again with anons taking my posts in bad faith and being ableist at the same time.

Nowhere in my post did I specify people with BPD. I just said that it’s okay to grow and move on from mistakes. That’s drastically different than giving anyone a “free pass” to abuse people.

Edit: I always inevitably get asks afterwards telling me to ignore hate anons. And if I’m being honest, I get several hate anons a week. Sometimes I reply to them because it makes me feel a bit better. I ignore most of them. I appreciate the sentiment but it helps me cope with hate to acknowledge it sometimes. I do trigger tag my hate anons, so if you don’t want to see them, you can blacklist them. But it does help me cope to respond to some.

#tw hate #tw ableism

[creepyjirachi]

okay time for a rare moment of vulnerability. i don’t talk about it much on here but i went through Big Trauma like 4 years ago and i’ve been really struggling to put myself back out there. i used to be really extroverted and proud of my appearance, but since things got derailed i’ve been kinda no lifeing it.

as a step towards recovery, i want to start dressing in a way that makes me happy again, so i’ll be more motivated to go out in public. i’ve been really self conscious lately because i’ve gained some weight and neglected my hair. but i think it would help to just start showing off again, even just for me.

i’m gonna try to get dressed up and post some selfies every week or so. if you don’t want to see that, you can blacklist my selfie tag “#snelfie” And it’s kinda cringe but I always really appreciate my friends and mutuals hyping me up, because I am truly out here freaking it sensitive style

#not that i was ever skinny or conventionally ‘’pretty’’ #but i loved being myself and showing myself off in intentional ways. i miss that

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 67 - Late Night Venting

After another day of recovery, Ophelia is suddenly woken up by a call from Hilary. Xander had told her that Hilary and Hector were spending that day settling things for the divorce, so why would Hilary call to chat at 1 AM? If it were an emergency, wouldn't she call Xander?

Ophelia keeps her voice down, but Xander sleeps like a rock.

Ophelia: Hilary? Is-

Hilary: Ophelia, can you… can you please come to the restaurant? I need to talk and you're the only one who'd understand.

Hilary sounds on the verge of tears.

Ophelia: I'll be right there.

Ophelia throws on some sweats, leaves a note for Xander and teleports as fast as she can to the restaurant. She finds Hilary upstairs at the bar.

Ophelia: Hilary? It's me. Are you alright?

Hilary: I'm wearing a base game sweater. Clearly I am not alright.

Hilary downs her nectar like she thinks someone will snatch it from her.

Ophelia: I didn’t mean to start all this.

Hilary: You didn’t start anything, Hector did.

Ophelia: I could have left.

Hilary: Don't let that man place the blame at your feet.

Hilary finishes her drink.

Hilary tries to make another drink, but a cocktail is much more complicated than pouring a glass of nectar.

Hilary: Watcher damn it! Xander makes this look so easy!

Ophelia: Forget the drink. Let's sit down and talk.

Ophelia: I’m really sorry.

Hilary: You didn’t-

Ophelia: I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I do, deep down. You didn’t either, though. I’m just… I’m sorry this happened to both of us. It sucks.

Hilary: …I’m sorry this happened to both of us too.

Hilary: I do owe you an apology. I didn’t step in as soon as I heard what he was saying to you. I’ve always considered myself a feminist, and yet I just stood there and let that man treat you like trash. It's one of the most cowardly things I've ever done.

Ophelia: Xander told me you were in shock and, after the week you've had, I believe it. Your body was probably just focusing on keeping you from completely losing it. For what it’s worth, if you interrupting meant I didn’t get to slap that jerk, then I’m glad you didn’t.

Hilary genuinely smiles for the first time in days.

Hilary: You know, when we first met, I wasn’t sure what to make of you, Ophelia, but you’ve proven to me time and time again that you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and an even better heart. I’m so happy Xander has you.

Ophelia: That means a lot. Xander's told me lots about you. Like that time you told his bully you were an undercover cop that was going to arrest him cuz being a little jerk is illegal!

Hilary: I can’t believe he remembers that!

Ophelia: The kid peed himself! Pretty memorable!

Hilary certainly appreciates the distraction, but a question Ophelia asks catches her off-guard.

Ophelia: Any chance you’re hiring? I’m kind of out of a job right now.

It’s lighthearted in nature, but just reminds Hilary why she was trying to drink her woes away.

Hilary: You don’t need to worry about being blacklisted, dear. Any ounce of credibility Hector has is going out the window when the news spreads through the Grapevine Gossip interaction. People won't care about his opinion on the weather, let alone you.

Ophelia: Are you sure? I mean, it’s my word versus his and he’s a big deal around here. I know a divorce doesn’t look good for a man in the wedding business, but people get divorced all the time.

Hilary: Trust me, proof of his true nature will be made public soon enough.

Hilary: I’m sure Xander told you I spent today settling the divorce with Hector.

Ophelia nods.

Hilary: He finally confessed something to me. Do you want to know why he did what he did?

Ophelia: Uh, because he’s a slimeball?

Hilary: Yes, that too. But he told me that he had nothing left to lose, he considered it his ‘last hurrah’ before his life changed forever.

Ophelia: What the hell does that mean?

Hilary sits in silence. It looks like the thought of whatever she’s trying to say makes her physically ill. Ophelia allows her the time she needs to tell her.

Hilary: The day the kids and I left for the funeral… Tiff told Hector she’s pregnant.

He wouldn't… Would he?

Ophelia: I… She could be lying to get back at you for firing her. Maybe her garbage husband is the father!

Hilary: Ty is infertile. He can’t be the father… Even if she was lying, Hector admitted to sleeping with her. The pregnancy just worsens it.

Hilary: He's going to marry her, make 'an honest woman' of her. Maybe he's doing it because it looks better to the public than having a baby mama. Maybe he really does love her. That's what he told me, at least. That I basically pushed him into her arms.

Ophelia: What a douche. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine, but you know what? Those two deserve each other. This probably isn't what you want to hear right now, but you're so much better off without him. You didn't push him away, you threw out the trash.

Hilary: Deep down, I know this divorce is for the best, but… I’ve never been so scared in my life. I have to take over my parents’ restaurant, which just lost a good chunk of catering gigs from La Coppia Serena, and now I have to be a single mother? I don’t know how I’ll do it.

Ophelia doesn't know what to say but tries her best.

Ophelia: I know how. You’ll do it because you’re a strong, brave, amazing woman. Taste of Tartosa is already the best restaurant in town. Now that nothing's holding you back, you can focus on making it even better. If you need help, you know Xander and I will do what we can. We love spending time with the kids, so if you ever need anyone to keep an eye on them, call us. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.

Hilary can’t put her gratitude into words, so she doesn't try. She just lets Ophelia hug her. The two silently hold each other, trying their best to let the hug heal some of the pain they've gone through.

For the first time in a while, things feel like they're going to be okay.

By the time Ophelia gets home, the sun is out. Xander is waiting for her on the couch, having found her note. He wants to know what Hilary said, but she doesn't tell him much before falling asleep on his shoulder.

He pulls her closer and allows her to rest. She earned it.

#The Sims #The Sims 4 #The Sims 4 Legacy #The Lemon Legacy #TS4 #The Sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 #generation 1 #ophelia #xander #hilary

[gabessquishytum]

Hi! Hope you are having an absolutely wonderful week! SO sorry to do this, because I don't go here (as in, your fandom), but I wanted to request if you could be a pinch more diligent in tagging pregnancy and mpreg in your content? We have some common mutuals and your posts often come into my dash organically, but don't get filtered out very frequently despite blacklisting your related tags. Thank you so much! Once again, very sorry, but it's just !winces! that's my triggers. Hope you have a lovely time and good luck on hitting 100 works!

Hey, thanks for your message! I'm sorry that you're getting my content. Hopefully this doesn't come out as defensive but - 99% of my posts are tagged appropriately. I am extremely diligent about it. Could I suggest that you blacklist my username entirely? Then you won't be in danger of seeing any of my posts whatsoever.

Thank you for being nice about it, I do appreciate that. And I am sorry that you're seeing content that's triggering for you, I appreciate that it's less than ideal. Of course I'll make sure to be extra aware when tagging in the future.