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shadysadie · 11 months

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Hot take: the Wittebanes were not Puritans

So since Hollow Mind came out there have been a lot of jokes about how the Belos is a crusty old Puritan. And while he is certainly crusty and old, I don’t think he was a Puritan.

I understand why everyone jumps there, when we think of Witch Hunts in Colonial America the very first thing that comes to mind is the Salem Witchcraft Trials. However, the Salem Witchcraft Trials began in 1692, that is 80 years after Masha says the Wittebros showed up in Gravesfield, and 30 years after the events of Elsewhere and Elsewhen.

If Masha’s information is correct, (which it might not be but we’ll get to that) then Caleb and Philip arrived in Gravesfield in 1613, which is closer in time to the settlement of Jamestown (1607) than the Salem Witchcraft Trials.

The Pilgrims didn’t even land at pride rock until 1620, seven years after the Wittebros arrived in Gravesfield. The Mayflower Pilgrims were really the group responsible for creating the idea of religious charters. They specifically wanted to leave England to create their own religious society. Many other groups followed, (notably the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which later became the home of the aforementioned Salem Witchcraft Trials) but the Mayflower Pilgrims were the first group of religious extremists who came to America looking for their Zion.

Prior to that, the motivation to settle the “New World” was mainly financial. Ships were chartered through the Virginia Company. Which as we all remember from our favorite wildly inaccurate and problematic 90s Disney movie, the Virginia Company was in it for the money. The New World had resources and Britian wanted them, damnit, Glory, God, and Gold and the Virginia Company.

That meant, if Caleb and Philip really did arrive in Gravesfield in 1613, their family likely made the trip for financial gain, not religion. If that’s the case they were less likely a member of an obscure group of religious extremists, and more likely to be either Protestant like King James and Queen Elizabeth. (They could have also been Roman Catholic, evidence for that comes later).

“But”, you say, “weren’t Puritans the ones persecuting witches at the time?”

Yes and no.

In the Americas, Witch Hunts will forever be linked to Puritans, but in Witch Hunting long outdates the Puritans. King James himself, was a witch hunting fanatic, he personally oversaw hundreds of witchtrials. He wrote books about finding witches, and it was specifically the King James endorse translation of the Bible that features the infamous “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (in many prior translations the word witch is something more along the line of “sinner” or “evil doer”). By many estimates, upwards of 1500 people were executed for witchcraft as a result of his reign. If we are going with Masha’s 1613 timeline, the brothers would have left England smack dab in the middle of his reign, right after the King James Bible was published.

(^this GIF has nothing to do with the Owl House, I just love sassy Gay King James in his bird mask, look at this cocky ass bastard, you know him and Belos would have been genocide buddies)

However, I can’t pretend to be focused on some semblance of historical accuracy and take Masha’s information at face value, even in the context of the show it wouldn’t add up because according to the sign we see in Yesterday’s Lie, Gravesfield was established in 1635.

(Granted there is a difference between a settlement and a town, it is possible that 1635 was when Gravesfield was officially acknowledged as a town and the boys just lived there pre-establishment).

However, in the name of historical accuracy, I have to assume Masha got the date wrong, because the English didn’t even settle in Conneticut until the 1630s. The Conneticut Witch Trials began in the 1640s. By this timeline and demographic, the likelihood of Caleb and Philip being Puritans goes up by a lot.

However, if we look at Philip’s clothes an his goals, there are still signs that don’t point to Puritanism. First look at the clothes Caleb and Philip wear as children:

Philip’s pants are red and Calebs are green. While it is a myth that Puritans could only wear black, the colors that they were allowed to incorporate into their wardrobe were typically still neutrals (dark yellows and beiges). Green would be pushing it, and red would be unbelievably bold.

Additionally, the ruffles on Philip’s shirt in the journal and Jacob’s book, would have been seen as incredibly vain.

The blue/black coat that Caleb wore in the puppet show, and Philip later wears in Elsewhere and Elsewhen and King’s Tide has gold buttons and gold embroidery. Gold and Silver accessories of any kind would have been considered incredibly sinful and conceited.

Which would also make it really weird for a Puritan to choose gold to represent himself. Infact his whole emperor authentic is much more reminiscent of the Catholic Pope. His own role as the messenger of the Titan’s will is also very papal in nature.

Finally there is the term he uses, “Witch Hunter General” is an illusion to “Witch Finder General” which was a rank made up and used by Protestant Matthew Hopkins and not really used by any Puritans. Such a title would also probably have seemed pretty vain.

Now you might say, “It’s a fictional story, why does any of this matter?”

The answer is: It does not, but I am high and have ADHD and this was the rabbit hole I fell down.

#the owl house #owl house #toh #wittebros #wittebane brothers #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #witch trials #witch hunts #history #belos #emperor belos

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fryingtoilet · 6 days

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Hello Everyone! I'm super excited to announce my new sketch collection Artbook: ✿Halcyon Days✿

I decided to go the pre-order route this time to make the process smoother, since I've got a great system for fulfilling orders through my own shop, and I have some funds to start the production right away!

In order to secure the rest of the production funding, and to allow myself more time to work on Gloamingvale's Chapter 1, I am hoping to get as many preorders as possible quickly, and offering a big early-bird discount for the new book, as well as a big spring sale on the rest of my shop items! There will also be a couple of bundle-options available, with a big discount as well.

Let me tell you more about the book: I've been putting it together for the past couple of months, and ended up with a lot more pages than I anticipated. It's brimming with a huge variety of sketches! I included a ton of sketchbook scans, digital doodles, and all the fanarts that didn't make it into my previous artbooks. Here are the book details:

7' x 10' Inches - Softcover perfect bound, with Gold Foiling and soft touch Matte lamination - 104 Pages full Colour on premium munken paper with a matte finish

I have already begun production and the estimated preorder ship-out date is: Early-Mid AUGUST 2024

So only a few months of wait-time, much quicker than most Kickstarters!

I hope you will help me make the production of this book go smoothly by getting a copy early on and taking advantage of the reduced pricing! There will also be a brand new bookplate sticker design for this release, and an art print of the full cover illustration.

Your support is, as always, SO appreciated!

#illustration #artbook #sketchbook #sketches #sketchcollection #cosmicspectrum #gloamingvale #comicartist #characterdesign

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hockpock · 7 months

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Glasses Review - Firmoo

Hello vision impaired friends, I bring you the gospel of Ordering Your Damn Glasses Online

I have previously ordered from EyeBuyDirect (luxotica/lenscrafters'/America's Best in disguise, sorry.) and Zenni Optical ( most well known online provider, A+ would recommend) and have seen lots of ads for free pairs from a competitor, Firmoo. I have too much prescription for the free pair offers to ever work out from ANY provider, but their fun designs put them on my list.

When my current glasses broke, I was dinking around and saw their current promotion is Buy One Get One Free PLUS 20% off lenses and as lenses are the real $$$ I jumped on that like tigger on crack. I am VERY nearsighted with astigmatism and the average pair of glasses from lenscrafters used to cost me $300 minimum.

After much deliberation with a million tabs open and a poll I ignored the results of for Reasons, I ordered a pair of clear frames and a pair of purple steampunk-y wireframes . Two pairs of HIGH PRESCRIPTION glasses for $87 shipped. I could cry, y'all.

Note: I have an up to date prescription and a nifty app that measures Pupillary Distance or 'PD'. you will need both these things accurate to have the best experience buying your glasses online.

I ordered them 9/22, they shipped 9/25, I received them 9/29 with regular shipping. They came well packed - each pair was in a bag made of cleaning cloth material inside a sturdy plastic case and they come in a foil bubble mailer.

Both pairs feel well made, with lots of attention to detail-

however I did not pay attention to detail or pay extra money for the Re-he-heaaallly thin lenses. So the clear ones are slightly too big and I hate the way the nose pieces sit, while the purple ones are a wee bit small across the temple and heavy to boot. I haven't had dents in my nose like this since I was 12.

the website lists their exchange policy as 30 days, the pamphlet that came with the glasses says 60. Either way it was pretty painless to go into my order history and select "exchange". The form I filled out with my reasons for dissatisfaction promised me I would be contacted within 24 hours.

My 'personal Firmoo consultant', 'Karen', emailed me with a code for the full price before discount of both pairs + standard shipping, as well as the usual customer service canned answers about checking the sizing information and did I know I could upgrade the lenses?

Also I could keep the failed pairs 'FOR NOW', here are some places that accept glasses as donations. (mixed messages, Karen, but sweet!)

New friends are April006, round anodized wireframes with a cute dingly gem thing, and Sandy020 , literal tortoiseshell cat eye frames.

This time I used the site's search terms to cut the temple width and earpiece length options down and double checked the weight of the base frames. (14g vs 24g for the round wireframes before my coke-bottle lenses. RIP my nose. )

New order was placed 10/5 and they arrived 10/17 . (last time I checked the tracking estimated arrival had creeped from the 19th up to the 23rd so grain of salt. This may be a tactic to make the order feel like it got here faster or legit delays. In my case there was a federal holiday involved.)

Complete disclosure I'm gonna grab a pair of pliers and take the little dangly off the wireframes. It makes a noise when I move my head and if I don't fold the frames in the right order when I take them off it'll scratch up the lenses. I ain't gonna remember to avoid that, so off it goes.

The Good:

Large selection, Good Quality, Good Communication. Lots of Off the Beaten Path options for internet weirdos. Firmoo p much always has a promotion going.

My wallet is so happy. SO HAPPY. Frames run $20-30ish to start. lenses will vary with your prescription and options.

If y'all want 50% off your first frames and to give me a $10 credit they have a referral program and my code is T4Z8I2. BOGO20 is a better value but it expires 11/01/23.

The Bad:

Not flexible about lens options- you go down one track and pick your options within that. If there was a way to put tinting on a pair of glasses other than blue light blocking I couldn't find it. (in contrast I believe Zenni lets you choose a range of colors and tint depth on any pair, designed as sunnies or not)

You Will Get Emails. Firmoo REALLY wants you to buy more glasses and post about it and tell your friends and HERE THIS CODE IS ONLY GOOD FOR 3 DAYS, GO BUY NEW GLASSES. They are marketing themselves to fashionable young influencers who change styles every month. Unsubscribe with impunity.

like Zenni, this is a company with the majority of it's functionality based overseas. It's cheaper because you're ordering directly from a factory and not paying Luxotica's markups to itself. Customer service is mostly English as Second Language speakers and there may be delays.

Not For Emergencies. I was able to coast on a pair of glasses from a prescription or 2 ago but it's gonna take time for your order to be made and shipped.

Overall I'm very happy with them and will probably order again.

Next time I have spare money I'm aiming at Wherelight because y'all. they are next down on the list of reputable to shady AF but they have the most amazing WTF designs.

#glasses #low vision #review #pock posts a thing #firmoo.com #vision impaired #long post

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toms-cherry-trees · 1 year

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Story Of Us|| John Shelby x Reader

Summary: Love is not always ideal. It comes hand on hand with grief

Word Count: 4000

Warnings: Infant/maternal death, grief, teen pregnancy, angst

Author’s note: Nothin to see here, move forward to the story. This took me 2 hours to write and I didn’t proofread one bit

John had always lived in a dilemma. Ever since his dad walked out on them, he tried to get approval from his family, the one thing he never received as a child.. But he only ended up being scolded. When he had to crack the news that he had knocked up Martha, both being just fifteen years of age, Polly hit him across the head with a wooden spoon, and Arthur had to hide him from Martha’s father, who had come for him with a musket.

John and Martha knew they were too young, but they were in love the way only teenagers can be, and the only way they would be allowed together was this. With a baby and the obligation to marry to preserve Martha’s honour. They were wed three months after the musket incident, Martha dressed in a borrowed white dress which did little to hide her rounded bump, and John stuffed in one of his father’s old suits, hastily tailored by Polly. Only the groom’s family was in attendance, since Martha’s father had kicked her out of the house.

Four months later a boy had been born in John’s own bed; a squirming, chubby thing with the most powerful lungs in the whole of Birmingham. Two more babies came in quick succession, another boy and another girl.

And then came the war.

In the time between their rushed marriage and 1914, John had managed to make more or less a living for himself. He had gotten his own home, being able at last to move Martha and the kids out of the cramped quarters of the family home. And they had a young girl from the area helping Martha rear the kids. Life seemed as perfect as it could get until the war struck and the war office came looking for them. Even though the conscription was voluntary at first, it would only be a matter of time before they came and dragged them out of their homes by their feet. John tested his luck as much as he could, even after Tommy and Arthur had already joined the front. But he had started to get dirty looks whenever he left the house, and one morning he woke up to his doorstep filled with chicken feathers. So he went, and left Martha with the kids and the nanny to hold up the fort in his absence.

None of them could know for certain how long they would be away, and it was worrisome to think it could be years before they returned, if they ever did, while the women in their lives were left to fend for themselves. Being granted leave to go home was a privilege mostly reserved for officers, and with John’s explosive nature and cockiness, he spent many months penalised without leave. The first time he managed to go home, in the second half of 1915, Martha and the kids had thrown themselves at his legs and his neck, unwilling to let him go.

In the two weeks he spent in Birmingham, he left Martha with child yet again. The news arrived with delay, as they do when you receive mail in the battlefield, and even more when said letters are heavily monitored by the officers. The letter had been sent a month and a day before it made it into his hands, but the news were not any less joyous, although tinted with a pang of guilt of not being there to support his wife. But John played his part, behaving like a good soldier for once in order to receive leave in time to see his newborn. They estimated the date for the first half of May 1916, a glorious spring.

But the thing is, letters carrying bad news move just as slow and delayed as the good ones. Even slower so, since the war office ordered anything that could tamper with the soldiers’ morale and spirits to be suppressed. John made the entire journey home, on truck, ship and train, only to find Martha had passed 4 weeks before his arrival, alongside their newborn girl. Polly had intercepted him on the train station, having seen him descend from the platform on her way from the market. The toothy grin tugging on his lips slowly fell into a frown as Pol grabbed his arm and practically tugged him into an alley to give him a resumed version of the events, but John didn’t want to hear. He didn’t care how, or why, or when. He only knew, as the ground swayed beneath his feet, that his sweet, lovely wife had left this world without him by his side, and had taken their babe with her to not be alone. Leaving John, aged 22, with a broken heart and 3 young children in the middle of a never ending war.

Polly and Tommy, who also happened to be on leave at that time, had made arrangements for everything after Martha’s passing. Polly had wanted to take in the children herself, to keep them under her wing. But when she even tried to take them out of the house, they clung to their nanny’s skirts like a lifeline, refusing to even step an inch away. Pol understood quickly that having just lost their mother and being in permanent threat of also losing their father, she couldn’t rip them away from the only stable person in their lives. So the girl, having grown deeply fond of her wards, moved into the home full time to look after them in every way a mother would, since the children had grown to love her like one.

When John returned home, he expected to find a gloomy and deserted place, with the hearth cold and empty and lamps out, much like he felt inside his own head. But of course reality rarely matches the expectations, whether good or bad. The children were laughing, playing with some wooden figurines on the carpet. Aged seven, five and three, they were already a force to be reckoned with, being able to mess a room in the blink of an eye. Yet here they were, playing happily under the caring gaze of their nanny. The four of them were startled by his arrival, with the kids scrambling over each other to jump into his arms, knocking over a chair and a side table, sending a vase with daisies crashing down. Home sweet home.

That night, after the kids were put to bed, John sat near the fireplace, nursing a glass of whiskey in his hands. Martha always warned him when the drinks began piling up on the table and his head; her voice whispering in his mind kept him from bringing the liquid to his lips, no matter how desperately he craved the numbness only spirits can provide.

You walked out of the kitchen, untying the apron from your waist. Most of the house chores were neglected during the day, since every waking hour was filled with rearing the little Shelbys. The oldest, David, would be starting school very soon, but you didn’t see how that would come to be, since he refused to be away from you for long. The youngest, Sarah, spent most of her day perched on your hip, although at 2 years of age she was already getting too heavy to carry. Theo, who had just turned five, acted as middle children often do, keeping mostly to himself and showing himself to be independent.

You hadn’t noticed John sitting there, since he was slumped on the floor, his head propped on the sofa and his legs splayed before him. His boots were nowhere to be found and his shirt discarded aside, leaving him only in undershirt. You would have just walked past him if he hadn’t called your name.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yes Mr. Shelby?”

“Sit here for a little bit”

Perplexity was not quite the word to describe what you felt, but it came close enough. You had never been afraid of your boss; he and Martha had offered you a job when you most needed it, and they even treated you as a friend, since you were only a year younger than them. You were the one who mediated between them when things got tense, as often happened when very young people were thrusted abruptly into adult life; resentment inevitably building up on the grave of robbed childhood and dreams. And you were the one who took the kids out of the house when they inevitably made peace with each other.

But the situation had changed; the wife dead, the husband away, and you had basically become owner and lady of the home in the meantime, forced to step up for the babies you had known nearly since the cradle. Perhaps taking attributions that didn’t belong to you, but everything done with the best intentions in your heart.

You sat in the armchair farthest away from him, your body perched on the very edge of the seat and your legs laced at the ankles.

John doubted his words, still swirling the whiskey in the glass. Not a tear had left track on his cheeks, but the corners of his eyes were reddened, like those of a man who had learned, either willingly or by force, to hold back emotions.

“Were you here when…when Martha…” The phrase was left hanging in the air

“Yes I was. I had been staying full time already, in case the baby came at night”

Silence. Words slowly dawning on his mind fogged by barely contained grief.

He swallowed thickly “What happened?”

You closed your eyes and breathed in slowly. You knew he would eventually ask, but you hoped he wouldn’t ask you. The desire to know something could turn almost morbid the longer the answer was denied, but you didn’t want to give the grisly details with the wound so fresh, so you hoped he would content with the shortened version.

“The baby came too early, more than a month. And then it got stuck, and the labour dragged on for too long. The girl was….born sleeping. She named her Katie. And then Mrs Shelby caught an infection” You stopped there, hoping the vague narration would be enough explanation so you could avoid the more sensible details.

John nodded slowly, his gaze only fixated in his whiskey glass “Did she…did she say anything? Before she…”

“Mr. Shelby…” You protested, not believing him ready to hear it all

“Just say it!” The words came a lot more harshly than he intended, but they had been dropped and couldn’t be taken back.

You nodded and looked down at your lap, fidgeting with your apron “She told me to look after her babies. And to look after you. She told me we should not be sad for long, because she hated sad faces and life was sad enough as it was and her loved ones had to live happy lives on her behalf. She only asked…she asked that we made sure her kids never forgot about her” Your lower lip trembled. Holding her hand as life slipped away from her had been traumatic for you as well; like watching your own older sister die under your watch.

Your last words broke something inside John. At first, barely perceptible, his lower lip trembled and his eyes glazed while he pondered over his wife’s last words. Then all of a sudden the floodgates opened, tears coursing freely down his cheeks as sobs racked his body. The glass fell and shattered, and you, always acting on maternal instinct, tried to pull him away from the carpet so he wouldn’t land his hand on the shards. But in the brief second your hands touched him, John clung to your waist in the same fashion his eldest son did when he had a nightmare. The force of his embrace pulled you down on the floor, his head burrowed on your lap and his fingers digging on the fabric of your blouse. You had no words to console him, for sometimes, there is no real consolation. So you did the best you could, which was letting him cry out his sorrow and anger in the same apron that had wiped his children’s tears; while you rubbed soothing circles in his back. John cried it all out until his tears had run dry and his frantic heartbeat stilled. Crying is usually followed by drowsiness, and before you knew it your boss had fallen asleep on your lap, soothed by the faint scent of lavender on your clothes. You didn’t want to move him and disrupt the feeble stillness of peace, so you sat there all night, your head perched on the sofa and your hand on his back, dwelling on the creaking of the fire in the hearth.

It couldn’t be helped, the way the bond you and John had of mere friendship morphed into something else. Ever since Martha’s passing, John had managed to squeeze pity out of the war office, being granted leave more often than others to see his children. In the meantime, you took marvellous care of them, and they loved you maybe even more than they loved him.

The way he became drawn to you may seem rushed, but it came from a place of grief. A man with his heart in tatters, finding comfort in the arms that hugged and cuddled his children. Every time he returned home on leave, his barely retained sorrow spilled out the second he crossed the threshold of his home and the memories came crashing like an avalanche. Instead of getting better, he seemed to slowly grow worse. Could it be the grief, could it be the war, seeing his children more grown and mature every time he came, or a mixture of everything, but each leave it became harder to enter his home, and at the end it became harder to return to the front.

John spent many hours of his day locked in his bedroom, splayed on his bed accompanied by a whiskey, inhaling the fading scent of lotion on Martha’s nightgown. More than once you had to threaten to break in through the window in order to coax John into coming out and eating. The children barely noticed his behaviour, far too accustomed to his absence by now, but it pained you to see him miss out on every precious second he could spend with his family, knowing well it could be the last. Not wanting to be mindless of his pain, you gave him a few days to settle and then forced him out of the shell. No one would be called to dine until he came to sit with you all; you would go out to shop alone, making him watch the kids; if one of them had a nightmare at night, you knocked on his door and made him go and lull them back to sleep. You knew it was hard for him, but this is what Martha would have wanted. She wanted John to carry on living, and that he would do, with you behind to support him.

But you never expected to catch feelings in the process. Never had you thought about him as any more than your boss and friend, not before Martha and certainly not after. But looking after him, being his strength at home, even more so than his blood family, it is hard for feelings to not get tangled in the middle. You were the one who saw him sob his eyes out over a picture in the middle of the night: the one who bandaged his hands when he beat the wall in a fit of rage over the unfairness of life, and the one who kept that little family up and running.

On one of his last leaves, in October of 1918, he had, for the first time, sat with all of you for dinner on his first back home without threats or begging. As you served the stew, John cleared his throat to call attention “Tomorrow we are going out. It is a little surprise, but I promise we will have fun”

The children jumped in excitement. It had been far too long since they had all gone out as family, and the prospect of a day out with dad was the best outlook ever. You smiled as you poured a glass for John “What time do you need the kids ready, Mr Shelby?”

“Everyone ready at 10, and I mean everyone. You are coming with us of course, it is a family day”

Your breath hitched in your throat and heat rose to your cheeks, but you just nodded, hiding your shyness behind your glass. The next day the five of you went to an apple orchard, right on time as the sweetest fruits were being harvested. The children ran rampant across the field with wicker baskets, collecting dropped fruits which they would be able to exchange at the end of the day for candy. John and you followed closely behind, both in silence but enjoying the sounds of nature and the laughter of the kids. The autumn leaves crunched beneath your feet making a most delicious sound. For a day, you could all pretend that war had never happened and life was more or less normal. At the end, the children dropped the apples in big wooden troughs, and in exchange were given toffee apples. John bought you two pints of cider which you drank together, sitting under a tree while watching the children play with other kids and trying to sneak more candied apples from the stand

“Look at that, David stole an apple” Far from being outraged, you found the situation amusing “He is your son alright”

John chuckled “Are you insinuating I am a thief, Miss (Y/N)”

“Martha told me all the tales of your youth, Mr. Shelby. Stealing candy is one thing, but stealing liquor from a bar is an extraordinary prowess” You smirked

John’s demeanour dropped ever so slightly at the name, but he was quick to pick himself up “I miss her. She should be here watching the children grow. There should be a toddler here with us, and another baby on the way”

“Missing is part of grieving” You patted his hand “It means you lived and loved. Even if you stop grieving you’ll never stop missing”

John pondered over your words, staring at the bottom of his pint “Thank you for being here…if you hadn’t been here, we would all have fallen apart. I would have fallen apart but you glued me back together out of your pure stubbornness so I would be there for me kids” John squeezed your hand “You have saved us all”

You chuckled “Saviour is a bit too far I’d say. But I am glad I could be of help. You are a good man John, and you deserve good things” It dawned on you a second too late that you had called him by his first name. The apologies were already piling in your tongue but John laughed it out “Seven bloody years it took you to call me John”

You could only join in on his infectious laughter, feeling the worries flutter away. It had been a while since he last laughed, and you took it as a sign of his healing. The rest of the evening went in a blissful blur, with you two sharing bites of an apple while he picked fallen leaves off your hair, and having to haul all three kids home in your arms, them too tired to walk. John surprised you with having stuffed his coat’s wide pockets with apples, and you surprised him in return with a homemade apple pie.

You enjoyed every day of his leave, dreading the moment he would once more part. The children had, now that they were older, come to resent his absences, and it always broke them a little to have him return only to leave, perhaps forever, over and over and over again. But one the last day, right before being due to leave, John arrived back after being out all morning, loaded with parcels and gifts. He had received news from the war office to not return to his post, for truce would be called in less than a week. The men would return home and the nightmare would be over.

“Tonight we celebrate like never before!”

Everyone received presents that day. The children received toys, John sent gifts for his aunt and siblings, and he even bought you a new dress. That night you feasted like you had never before, the evening topped with a marvellous store bought cake and the children falling asleep earlier than usual, stuffed with turkey and cake. After they were put to bed, it was only John and you before the fire, passing back and forth a bottle of champagne. The day was for joy and celebration and all boundaries had been torn down. You two were laughing just for the sake of laughter and the relief of having survived hell.

“So what happens now, once the Shelbys are back on track?” You inquired curiously “Business as usual?”

“I reckon men will be eager to vent off steam and enjoy the things they missed out. I promise the den will be up to the beams with patrons. Future is looking bright” He took a swing of the bottle, foam trickling down the side of his lip. You reached up to wipe the liquid with the back of your hand. John eyed you curiously before bringing up a far different topic.

“Have you thought about getting married?”

You did very poorly in hiding your surprise “Me? Married? Why do you ask?”

He simply shrugged “You are a lovely young lady, in the prime of your life. Surely don’t you plan on spending the rest of your days taking care of other people’s kiddos?”

A smirk tugged on your lips “Are you planning on firing me, Mr. Shelby?”

“Wouldn’t dare to, love. Just wanting to know if someone is knocking at your heart”

Oh someone was knocking at your heart at the very moment. Your heartbeat hammered your ribs, ready to escape off your chest out of your mouth. “No one is, Mr. Shelby”

Those words had barely made it out when his lips came crashing into yours, his warm hand cradling your jaw, the other placed in the middle of your back and pulling you close. His lips were soft and gentle, and his hands kept a firm grip on you. Your own hands came to lay on his chest, feeling his fluttering heartbeat under your touch. The kiss seemed to last forever and nothing at the same time. When he pulled away you were out of breath, but also wanted to keep going until time ended. When John broke the kiss, he remained close enough to lean his forehead on yours.

“I didn’t screw it up, did I?” A boyish grin played on his lips.

“Not one bit, not at all” Your index traced the side of his jaw, feeling the muscles tense as his smile widened

“So you won’t mind it I test my luck again” And just like that, his lips once more came onto yours, this time both hands on your waist as your arms came around his neck. It was funny, but in that moment you knew, after just one kiss, that you never wanted to kiss any other lips but his, nor feel any other hands’ on your waist or your hair.

You knew his grieving had not come to an end, and he would continue to love his first wife to the end of his days. But that did not mean he did not have space in his heart for you, nor that he would feel for you any less. It only meant he had lived, and would continue to do so with you.

#john shelby #john shelby x reader #john shelby x you #john shelby and reader #john shelby and you #shelby reader #reader insert #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x you #john shelby one shot #john shelby fanfic #john shelby imagine #john shelby fic #marsie writes

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allastoredeer · 3 months

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I read the new chapter of Holy Suffering as soon as it came out and I love the way u write Lucifer. For the past few days I have been reading Radio apple fanfic and I hate how lucifer is portrayed in most of them, shy , innocent with Alastor after the fight, and kinda out of character for the both of them, cause they suddenly like each other, and I don’t see it in them. They like to piss each other off, that’s the whole ship point.

Ur Lucifer is so sassy, Hits all the Good Characterization checks in my brain, he’s such a delight to read, same for Alastor. U had me going speechless most of the time Alastor spoke, cause I honestly didn’t know what he was gonna say next. Writing Alastor it’s probably hard, cause he is misterious and always hides his emotions but You totally nailed it. Right now he is probably angry at Lucifer cause he ratted him out lol

Al be like the audacity of this man after he forced him to do this.🙄

Anywhizzle I just wanted to ask, for the overload meeting, is Charlie gonna send Lucifer with Alastor? Maybe as a snake or something, to make sure is he okay. Cause she really sounded mortified that she didn’t notice that Alastor was suffering and man Al definitely didn’t like that, but it’s not like he can say no to Charlie so

A nd is there like a schedule for next updates? I am really invested in this story and I honestly can’t wait to read more of it.

Thank you ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ Hahah Lucifer's got bite to him, for sure. He doesn't come off as the shy type to me. Awkward as hell, certainly. In the throes of depression, absolutely. And he cares about Charlie's opinion of him to a fault. But when it comes to someone throwing their weight around--or, more accurately, getting involved with Charlie (cough Alastor helping Charlie with the hotel, couch Adam fighting/hurting Charlie cough) he isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty.

Alastor is hard to write ಥ_ಥ I love him so much, but sometimes, I want to cut open his head and properly study his brain because f;knslnjsbj out of all the characters, he's the hardest for me to pin down, in terms of both dialogue and actions. He has such a way of talking, and such a distinct voice (his radio filter) that it's simultaneously easy to imagine his voice, but hard to put it to dialogue. So, I really appreciate hearing that I nailed it (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) Seriously, it's so appreciated to hear.

Nah, Alastor is going to be going to that one alone :3 It's going to be set in his POV, so we'll get some insight in his thoughts on the whole thing, and how he's handling his current affliction. I'm both excited to and nervous to get into it, because writing him in someone else's POV is hard, so writing him in his OWN POV is a little intimidating, but I'm mostly excited. I have a lot of thoughts for this series, and it's gonna be fun to explore them.

As for a schedule, I used to try to keep myself to one, and I've found that I have both a love/hate relationship with it. One the one hand, keeping a writing schedule is nice because it gives me a clear view of what I want to work on and an goal date to get it done, which is very nice for my ADHD brain.

BUT, on the other hand, when I start putting that pressure on myself to get it down, and I fail to actually reach that goal, it hits me pretty hard and it can take away my motivation and joy in writing the fic. It starts to feel more like a chore than a fun hobby I can do in my downtime.

Thankfully, I am DEEP in Hazbin Hotel hyperfixation, and the amazing feedback I've gotten from my fic's is certainly fueling my motivation. So thanks to everyone leaving kudos and comments! It's seriously so helpful and I cherish ever single one of them.

If I had to give an estimate for when the next installment of the series will drop, I'd say either at the end of this week, or the beginning/middle of next week. I have an unrelated AppleRadio one-shot I want to bust out before I work on the next installment, and that one I'm going to try and post by Thursday or Friday.

To quote out favorite Radio Demon,

~Stay Tuned

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kitthepurplepotato · 2 months

Text

Bakugou Katsuki’s daily shenanigans!

(Bakugou x reader)

Master List

(Sorry, I ran out of link options on main 😂)

For the main Master List with more stories and ships, click here!

Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life, Enemies to lovers, Eventual Romance

Summary: When Katsuki’s old assistant goes on a parental leave he’s already heartbroken but it only gets worse when he sees who the new one is. You are a fucking menace and he would rather die than to work with you.

Long story short, Katsuki falls in love with the “most annoying person the world has ever seen.”

Estimated chapters: 16 chapters (18 parts) for Season One, 17 chapters + 2 bonus chapters (20 parts) for Season 2!

Other background relationships: Midoriya Izuku x Shouto Todoroki, Kaminari Denki x Kyouka Jirou

Warnings (S1): Swear words, drinking, a bit of angst at the end, suggestive (only the last chapter, really)

This story is completed!

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Season One!

Part 1: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of the leaving secretary

Part 2: Meet the Menace!

Part 3: Bakugou Katsuki and the dancing pigeons

Part 4: "Dynadick" and the case of the heartbroken Chargebolt

Part 5/1: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of the unconscious secretary (double chapter)

Part 5/2: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of the unconscious secretary part 2

Part 6: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of an unexpected team up mission (feat.Deku&Todoroki)

Part 7: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of a missing secretary

Part 8: The Menace and the case of the pajama party in the alternative universe.

Part 9: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of the Number One

Part 10: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of the Future Teller

Part 11: This wedding sucks.

Part 12: Steven!!! 🐦

Part 13: Bakugou Katsuki and the case of a furious mother.

Part 14 (1/2): Fake it till you make it!

Part 14 (2/2): A date?!

Part 15: Last Resort.

Part 16: Be my fucking girlfriend,

Menace! (The End)

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Season Two!

Genre: Romantic comedy, established relationship, fluff

Warnings: Swear words, suggestive, one and a half chapters worth of smut (skippable), NSFW

Chapter 1: Relationship 101 with Bakugou Katsuki.

Chapter 2: Meet my Menace, you old hag!

Chapter 3: "Pillow Talk".

Chapter 4: It's okay to say no. (18+, skippable)

Chapter 5: The Aftermath

Chapter 6: Bakugou is bad at feelings.

Chapter 7: Let me take care of you.

Chapter 8: Is this the famous honeymoon phase?!

Chapter 9: A bubbly experience O (16+)

Chapter 10: Auntie Ink's chili-chocolate muffins

Chapter 11: Katsuki has shitty feelings (again.)

Chapter 12: Shopping date

Chapter 13: You are my Number One

Chapter 14 (1/2): The Big Day

Chapter 14 (2/2): Show me how much you love me

(18+)

Chapter 15: The First Fight

Chapter 16: FIGHT!

Chapter 17 (The End): Forever and After.

Bonus chapter 1/2: A trip to another universe!

Bonus chapter 2/2: Drum contest!

#ShenanigansbyPurplePotato #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou x reader #pro hero dynamight x reader #dynamight x reader #bakugou x self insert #bakugo x you #purplepotatomasterlist

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flappyhappystim · 1 year

Text

This was unfortunately our first business notice of the new year. And I am feeling beyond crushed about it. Besides the fact the bank takes the money back from us, we are also out the shipping costs (this order even qualified for free shipping) and we get charged a fee. The customer waited until the order was delivered to place this and it is honestly really sad. No part of me feels angry. I honestly just feel sad.

While we will try and submit evidence and fight it, usually these cases favour the customer. I’m hoping this works out but it also takes months to resolve. (It’s about 90 estimated days after the Feb 9th date).

This stuff is really sad honestly and it is crushing for small businesses. I realize this message won’t likely change the minds of people doing this but I still wanted to share it. We try so hard to make products affordable and this stuff is really hard.

Please, in 2023, consider the real impacts this has on small businesses. This money is automatically deducted from our personal accounts and since any profits have gone into new products to try and expand our range to have affordable products, it completely comes out of our personal finances.

I feel so fortunate that for the few notifications we get like this, that the majority of customers are supportive and wonderful. But this is still really sad and it wasn’t the notification I wanted to read.

#tw negative #personal

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mayakern · 7 months

Note

I just have to say, I love how fast you work to get new products in. Whenever I see a new design show up, I usually think "well its probably going to be a long wait for that" and I'm surprised when I check back a short while later to see it's already on the site and already sold out 😂

LOL well part of this is because we only take product photos, at most, 1-2 weeks before they hit the store. the actual art was made weeks earlier

here’s how a production cycle goes:

a new design is made by me or a collab artist

it gets put into the production schedule, usually in the next available production batch unless that’s already filled. very rarely that means it goes into production that week, but usually it takes 2-4 weeks before it goes to print

we send the files to the factory to do test prints, which they then mail to us for approval

prints are approved or rejected. the designs that are approved go into production immediately, while the ones that need tweaking get revised and are moved to the end of the print queue

the production cycle itself usually takes 8-12 weeks

we get an estimated shipping date so we know which week the skirts will arrive and we pick a tentative launch day

we get the skirts in our office

we take photos and videos within a week of receiving the products. ariel and i usually shoot separately, but in a pinch we can shoot on the same day and can even direct each other in shoots (this is what happened in the most recent shoot)

once photo shoots are scheduled we 100% finalize our product launch day

ash gets me 1 edited photo of each design within 1-2 days of each shoot. i start posting to socials and the newsletter with proper photos instead of mockups

ash does some post processing on the videos, basically just runs them thru some premiere presets and gets them back to me in 2ish days so i can start drafting up tiktoks

ash gets the rest of the photos edited within a week. sometimes i get them a few days before launch, sometimes i get them literally the night before

devin or ash makes the new product listings once we have all the photos. i add photos, product tags, double check the URLs, etc. ash or devin adds inventory and we make the listings visible with a countdown timer for launch. this is usually doable 1-2 days before launch but sometimes happens the night before.

the skirts go live in the store

#ask #store #faq #long post

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izukuwus · 10 months

Text

Boiling Point 2: A Watched Pot - Miguel O'Hara/Reader (NSFW)

First - Next - M.list - Ao3

A/N: yeehaw I didn't forget

Summary: The game is on, and you begin your very important training.

Warnings: masturbation, strong language

Word count: ~3400 words

It is the evening you have decided to re-train your discipline, with or without a dominant partner, and you need to figure out what the fuck you're thinking.

I mean, sure, it's perfectly fine to tell yourself that you'll get your discipline back and posture in the general direction of the source of your recent car crash into hornytown, but you do need to ask yourself what any of that actually means. Yeah, you were disciplined before. If the guy you were with told you not to touch yourself, you didn't touch yourself. But you had no problems doing that because—and this part is key—you really didn't feel like it all that much.

So, really, the issue was never that you were disciplined and now you're not, it's that you never needed to be disciplined before and now you don't know what the fuck to do with yourself.

The obvious answer is this: set ground rules. Set some sort of challenge for yourself so that you know where to begin and what to do to train yourself so you stop wrecking your shit and doing stupid things, like overheating your entire vibrator collection and letting some totally original asswipe of a villain punch you through a wall just to feel something.

So you sit down with a pen and a notebook and you brainstorm until you come away with a list of restrictions and a purpose. You debate on keeping the list itself with you, as a reminder, and eventually decide that, no, you’ll write it up on your whiteboard. A nice little reminder. You need to be able to see what you’re doing, after all. Wouldn’t very well do if you forgot, would it?

When it’s written up, you step back and give it a glance-over, nodding to yourself in satisfaction.

Estimated delivery date for new toy: ??? end of next week? The site said 7-10 days from date of shipping, but it doesn’t ship immediately. We’ll go two weeks from today’s date to be safe.

- no orgasms until the new vibe arrives

- touching, playing, thinking, etc. allowed IF not to completion

- you do NOT need a dom to discipline you. literally just stop being so fucking horny.

- suffer.

For good measure, you add a line a few inches down and sign your name in big, flourishing swoops, as though that's sealing a contract with yourself. Stupid, there's no witnesses. This would never hold up in a court of law.

...actually, the exhibitionist in you kind of wants to know how that would work out.

Besides, from time to time you like to think that the spider that made you is carried with you. She's done enough for you, anyway. Probably definitely died by now. You don't think spiders live that long. Either way, she’s your witness.

So you cap your dry erase marker and close up your notebook and neatly slide it back into its place on your bookshelf. Luckily, you don't ever have people over, so it's not like anyone will be seeing your totally innocent contract. Maybe you should have worded it in such a way that you can spin a different web about it, just in case.

...nah. You'll leave it just like that. When you get your toy and emerge triumphant from two weeks of self-imposed orgasm denial knowing that you do NOT need any extra discipline, thank you very much Mister Miguel O'Hara, middle manager of worlds, you'll take it down and put some over-inspiring quote up in its place or something.

You scroll down the tab opened to a new toy shop you're trying out, seeing as your previous go-to sold you a nearly two hundred dollar vibrator that barely made it through one rough month with you (you should really follow up with them on a refund or a replacement or something, actually) and take your pick of their wares. Maybe this site will have vibrators that aren't made for weak vanilla bitches who only need to cum once to the thought of their boss before they're satisfied. Couldn't be you.

Hey, maybe you'll call in sick to work and have a marathon once you've kicked this challenge's ass!

...nah. Better not. Miguel would catch word that you're off work and somehow find an anomaly to sic you on. Not to mention, you’d probably fucking break the new one again at that rate.

Once you've placed your order, you update the contract with estimated delivery dates, and settle in for a nice night in.

Let the games begin.

It is day one of your new lease on your sex life, and this shit's easy.

Who ever thought this would be difficult? Just don't masturbate. Do something else instead. Scroll social media or something. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, you're so fucking disciplined it's unreal. Who needs to prove anything to anyone? You certainly don't.

This morning, you took out the trash and said farewell to the final remnants of your last toy lost to Miguel O'Hara's unfair physiology. You went to work, did your job perfectly fine, and went out to patrol the streets. When you returned, you returned to find that the garbage pickers had come and taken the bags away. Good riddance.

(You didn't hear this from me, but you only checked your email twice today for a shipping confirmation from the shop. You're so fucking good at this.)

It is day two of enacting a contract with yourself to be more disciplined and less horny, and your toy still has not shipped.

I mean, it's not really a big deal. You've got shit to do and all. It's now the weekend, but crime doesn't actually stop regardless of when you clock in and out of work, a fact which you're honestly very happy with. I mean, imagine if you never got to close down shop for an hour while someone beat the shit out of some comic book wannabe in the streets outside your office? Unsustainable, to say the least. And sometimes, you get to go beat someone up directly after a really obnoxious phone call, and honestly? That may be the only reason you haven't been fired yet.

So, you spend the morning chilling out, get lunch, and just as you've finished getting ready to head out for a neat little patrol, someone drawn in a suspiciously out-of-place art style launches past your window.

Perfectly punctual! This is great! You slide out your fire escape and give chase, launching yourself anomaly-ways with a hoot. It's only after you're already face-to-face with the guy that you think to let someone know what's up, but then you're being launched backwards so you don't really have the chance. Dammit.

Anyways, you've got this, so you really just need Miguel to take him back once you've kicked his ass, and—

Oh, speak of the devil. There he is launching through a portal directly at the guy, and there's you following up to join him.

It's practically a dance by now—you swing to catch up, use a web to pull this abstract motherfucker up and prevent him from causing issues with traffic. It takes precious little time to deal with him, and once he's sent back, you resign yourself to being dragged back to HQ to report in and probably hear something about how you should have called HQ to let them know about the anomaly.

"Did you plan on calling in the anomaly, or were you just going to try to handle everything yourself?" Miguel asks you the second the problem is dealt with.

Fucking called it.

"I literally had my hand on my wristband when you showed up."

"I didn't see it." He shrugs.

You can't help but roll your eyes. Part of you wants to be a brat. You gently remind yourself that being a brat only works if you're actually with a brat tamer, and you have no confirmation that Miguel would. You know, as if you had a chance with him anyway. He's married to his screens. (It’s a really good setup, so you don’t blame him.) "I did, though. He just kind of showed up outside my apartment, so I followed. Best to reduce collateral first, right?"

He sighs. He does that around you a lot. "Right."

See, this shit's easy. He's right in front of you, and you're telling him about the two minutes you had with the villain before he showed up, and your mind is on the topic at hand. You are present, and you are disciplined. You took no stupid hits during that fight. You're fucking fantastic.

...he's really pretty, though. Effortlessly, even. You think it’s the way he carries himself.

"So, hey, I already ate, but do you want me to bring you something to eat? I know that was like, more sunlight than you've gotten in the past month."

He raises an eyebrow at you. He does that around you a lot. "I do eat on occasion, you know."

"I do know! That's why I'm offering to bring you something. You're busy a lot and should probably eat more than you do."

"I'm fine," he says finally.

You quirk a little smile and turn to leave. "Fine, fine. I'll surprise you, then. See you in a few! Thanks for the assist!"

Okay, so maybe bringing him food is, among other things, an excuse to leave the room right now immediately and also a reason to come back, once you've wound down from the adrenaline of the fight.

But, consider this: shut up.

You return with a box of food for him, quietly leave it on his desk just out of his immediate line of sight, and sneak out of the room before he can tell you no.

When you're home, you decide that you owe it to yourself to chill out a little more. You did good! You got the guy! You did a nice thing for the very attractive person at HQ! Your mind only wandered a little! You didn't even let your voice kink take over your brain when he spoke to you!

So, you scroll mindlessly. A nice, restorative pastime that only has positive effects on your mental health.

And goddammit, your mutual put porn on your dash again.

You sigh, you stare at it too long, and you try to keep your mind off it. You really, really do.

It is day four of the contract, and your new vibrator has finally shipped.

Great, too, because it was definitely not starting to get difficult. You usually hang around HQ on Sundays, if nothing's going on in your own dimension. You like being helpful, so you keep yourself on standby.

Standby is a nice thing to be on. You get to hang out with other Spiders, learn from the others at HQ. Sometimes they've got cool tricks to show you, or you run into less experienced Spiders and get to teach them something fucked up they can do with their webs. Rarely, Miguel actually leaves his little Spider-cave for food or to track someone down. More rarely, you actually catch glimpses of him when he does, which is how you find yourself chilling out with one of your favored Peters and pretending like you're not looking at his ass.

What? It's a nice ass.

...you wonder what he'd do if you just grabbed his ass one day. You're kind of tempted to try.

(Probably have to punish you. Probably growl a little bit. Probably bend you over and—)

Anyway, this shit's easy. Looking at a hot guy's ass does not break your rules, so you let yourself peek when he walks by and play it off when you get called out on it by a teasing Peter. I mean, it doesn't exactly work, but at least playing it off looks better than openly staring at your collective boss's ass and not even pretending you weren't.

Keep telling yourself that, anyway.

It is day five of your quest to be more horny and less disciplined, and—wait, that's not right.

It is day five of your quest to be more disciplined and less horny, and your dreaming brain has fucking betrayed you.

You dreamed that you actually grabbed his ass. You dreamed that he turned on you.

You dreamed of Miguel taking you back to his cave with him, and demanding answers for your behavior, and you dreamed of pushing him over the edge until he yanked you over with a well-placed web and spanked you back into your place. You’re not usually that into spanking, but that did not stop you from waking up with a damp heat between your legs and the urge to do something about it. You indulged yourself, in the time it took you to wake up, and then, by the time you were really conscious, you had to rip your hand out of your sleep shorts, lest you prove Miguel right. And you’ll be fucked if you ever prove Miguel right.

…wait.

Okay, so look. You stopped. You didn’t cum. You’re doing a good job. You wash your hands, get ready for work, carefully adjust your suit underneath your work clothes, and get through the day.

It is day seven of this bullshit, and you are starting to get tired of this story format.

More than that, you’re tired of this story. You tried to distract yourself with reading, only all your books are about vampires, so that only got you thinking even more because the POV character got bit by a vampire and it was so well-described and so horny and you’re very horny and moderately-described now.

You get called in, because of course you do, and you see his stupid face, because of course you do, and you’re desperately torn between pissing him off to get him to flash his fangs your way and being relieved that he’s not angry enough to speak clearly.

You are decidedly not relieved. The knowledge that they are there is enough, and you have every intent to hump your pillow when you get home like some fucking teenager, knowing damn well that it’s never enough for you.

Sleep-deprived, and you move to leave, but no, it never works that way, does it?

“[name]. A moment.”

Fuck.

You dally a bit with a sigh. “You’ve got to have better things to do with your time than badger me for details I already gave you.”

“You’re going to be off for the next few days.”

That’s worse, actually. Your hackles raise on instinct, and you turn to glare at him. “What? No! I’ve been doing a good job, haven’t I?”

You hate the stern way he looks at you. He’s an enigma, one you’re still trying to learn when you’re not too busy being infatuated with him on every other front. It’s difficult to tell what’s stern and what’s just his beautiful resting bitch face, but you’re leaning more towards stern. “You’re doing too good. It’s concerning.”

You are floored. You are aghast. You are fucking flabbergasted.

“You told me to be more disciplined?”

“Is this discipline?”

He’s hard to piss off. Not for anyone else—he has firm opinions and knows what’s best, and you never really want to piss him off for any reason beyond seeing him go a little feral at you, so you take extra care to actually just listen to him, aside from the small quips and quibbles of the day-to-day. Right now, though, you want to piss him off. You are vibrating with horny energy and affronted energy and genuinely just Energy, so with your fists clenched, you turn up your nose at him. "I don't know, you tell me." Okay, that's good. It's mildly flirty. You are winning at Being a Brat.

"I'm sure you do know. Discipline is not what I would call throwing a fit at being ordered to take care of yourself. It's definitely not stomping your feet at being told no."

"I am taking care of myself! I am balancing work, sleep, eating regularly, bouncing around the multiverse and my own dimension, and I'm not even complaining about anything!"

"You are actively complaining. To me. Right now."

"Because I don't understand why you're punishing me for doing a good job!"

"Trust me, you don't want to know what an actual punishment would look like from me."

Oh.

You quite do, actually.

You are grateful for the dim lighting Miguel keeps, grateful that he's not likely to notice the sudden flush to your cheeks. If he does, he's more likely to take it as anger, anyhow.

"Go home. Get some rest. It's obvious you haven't been sleeping enough."

"T-that is really rich, coming from you!"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that the only proof I have that you ever eat or leave this room is sometimes I bring you food and it gets eaten. You take care of yourself, and I'll gladly take care of myself."

"Are you trying to strike up a deal with me?"

"Is it working?"

"No."

You hum, feeling the thrill of gaining ground. He's turned away from you, proving that you're right.

"Look, Miguel, we'll both get dinner and get some sleep, and tomorrow morning, the multiverse will still be here, intact, because you are not the only person who can handle yourself and I am not the only person who can handle mine, and—"

"If you would please shut up, I will go eat food."

"Good."

He scoffs. "Already blowing it."

Infuriated, you open your mouth in retort, then slam it shut. You turn, and you leave, and try not to let his voice echo around inside your empty head like a Windows screensaver.

Miguel's voice echoes around inside your empty head like a Windows screensaver, because Miguel’s voice does not care what you are or are not trying to do for your sanity. Every time it hits a corner, you switch between scrolling your phone in frustration, fingering yourself in frustration, and refreshing your package tracker in frustration. Nothing moves or changes, and you are still thinking about his threats to punish you, still thinking about whether he's actually getting good rest, still considering the idea that maybe as part of his you-mandated self care routine tonight, he has gotten food, gone to wherever his bedroom is (likely somewhere hidden in the depths of HQ), and also resorted to lazy masturbation.

You know better to do more than dream, though, so you are stuck with the knowledge that he is not, that, knowing him, he probably waited for you to leave HQ and immediately turned back around to go back to his comfortable dark room, his comfortable monitors, and his comfortable total lack of self-care.

Still, a Spider can dream, and right now, you are dreaming of his cock.

You are rubbing small, slow circles into your clit, two-fingered, and you imagine what he must look like. Healthy fantasies dictate that he's probably only a little above average, so that's what you try to imagine when you think of what he must look like fisting his cock. Your mind conjures the sound of him groaning quietly into a too-large room, the sight of his face, flush with desire that only darkens his handsome features.

It is only a daydream in spite of the late hour, and your imagination can only wander so far, but you allow yourself to think of his fangs flashing as he sighs into the motion, allow yourself to speed up a bit as you imagine him doing the same. He'd be thick, he'd work himself up to an inadvisable pace that you can barely match. He rarely cares for himself, and you imagine that'd translate well—not to desperation, but to desire that bleeds into demand.

It is, after all, quite difficult to tell when a request is an order when it comes to him.

Your body sings as you get close, and then you open your eyes just a little bit, and you see it. The fucking whiteboard.

Mournful, you yank your hand away and slam your face into your pillow.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Tags: @deeplightgarden @idonthaveanameideayet @dusstory @roxannarichie @vegas-writing-den @cooch1ecruncher @bluepeanutharmony @yohoe-hoe

If you’d like to be added to the taglist, shoot me an ask or let me know in the notes what you’d like to be tagged in! (All content, all nsfw content, all content for a specific character, all content for a specific fandom, etc.)

#my fics #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara/reader

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contentment-of-cats · 10 months

Text

Tell me there's no good news without saying "We're looking for bodies."

From CNN:

"They're freezing cold. The water entirely surrounding the ship is at freezing or slightly below. When they exhale, their breath condenses. There's frost on the inside of the parts of the submarine. They're all huddled together trying to conserve their body heat. They're running low on oxygen and they're exhaling carbon dioxide." He told CNN the submersible has a "limited ability" to absorb the exhaled carbon dioxide, which at high levels could trigger headaches, confusion and nausea. "The oxygen and the carbon dioxide and the freezing are what they got to hold onto as long as possible to give the rescuers the time they need," Marquet added.

And then think about this - their air, such s it is, runs out in about 12 hours from now. Then there is this also from CNN:

A US Navy salvage system has arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a Navy official said Wednesday, as crews prepare it for mobilization to the site of the ongoing search for a missing submersible. The Flyaway Deep Ocean Salvage System (FADOSS) is capable of retrieving objects or vessels off the bottom of the ocean floor up to a depth of 20,000 feet, more than enough to reach the wreckage of the Titanic. But before the FADOSS system can be used, it must be welded to the deck of a ship, a process which can take a full day, the official said. “Our estimate is approximately 24 hours of round-the-clock operation to weld it and secure it to the deck of the vessel prior to getting underway,” the official said on a call with reporters. The Navy does not currently have a vessel lined up to carry the FADOSS to the site, but the official said they are trying to contract a vessel soon. “We have a vessel of opportunity that we are looking to put under charter, but it is not currently under charter,” said the official. The FADOSS was most recently used to recover a F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the Mediterranean Sea last July. Its deepest recovery to date was at 19,075 feet, the Navy official said. Asked if it had ever recovered someone alive, the official said, “Usually, we’re recovering objects from the bottom or aircraft from a mishap.”

Yes it is still in port, they can't predict four assholes and a teenaged kid are going to dive to the bottom of the ocean in an overgrown bathtub toy!

They do not have a ship on hand to weld this equipment to. Once they do, it has be welded in place, then get to the site. In other words, a minimum of 72 hours if a ship of the correct class can be found RIGHT THERE for work to start immediately. Otherwise it will be used in recovering the sub (or what's left of it, if it imploded), and the bodies of the crew.

#oceangate #titanic

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fatehbaz · 6 months

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Fencing became a primary mode of seizure of public land and resources for the benefit of individual ranching enterprises in the West. [...] Estimates are that 100,000 bovine animals roamed Texas by 1830. Three decades later, on the eve of the Civil War, that number had increased to an estimated 3.5–5 million. [...] In the boom years of the 1870s and 1880s, the cattle barons enjoyed “near hegemony” over western public lands by declaring a simple right of sovereignty. [...] Thus, part and parcel of the American colonial project was this type of land acquisition – the process of turning the public domain into private property [...]. [E]ntrepreneurs in the new cow towns such as Abilene, Kansas, sought out Texas livestock trails [...]. The most-well-known of the western cattle trails ran from Texas northward to the state of Kansas [...]. From 1867 until 1871, the 1,000-mile-long Chisholm Trail was the main livestock trail from Texas, a trail that ran from San Antonio [...] through Oklahoma and ended at Abilene. [...] They collectively drove 600,000–700,000 [cows] north from Texas during 1871 alone, all eventually bound for abattoirs in St. Louis and Chicago. [...] [Cattle barons] [...] rounded them up, claimed them, branded them, and enclosed them. [...]

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Infrastructural and technological developments at towns such as Abilene [...] at the termini of the cattle trails also represent a singularly important carceral phenomenon of the nineteenth-century United States Innovations in transportation, specifically, the “cattle car” (and by 1869, the refrigerated car that hauled dead animal carcasses) [...].

It was primarily British companies that played a major role in developing the transcontinental railroad in the 1870s and 1880s – the foreign “cattle barons” – and who eventually also shipped refrigerated cow carcasses to Britain in ocean steamers. [...] The first twenty-car shipment of cows from Abilene to Chicago was in September of 1867. [...] This north-south cattle complex expanded in the 1870s, as the demand for beef, tallow, and hides greatly expanded amid postwar [conditions].

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Concomitantly, one of the most significant instruments [...] was the revolutionary invention of wire fencing, which facilitated the enclosure of public pasture land for private use. [...] Netz argues for the critical importance [...] [of] the case of barbed wire [in] the violent enclosure and control of bovine animals during colonization of the American West. Joseph Glidden patented barbed wire in 1874 and opened a small manufacturing plant in DeKalb, Illinois, for its production, with large-scale production and sale eventually located to [...] Massachusetts. More than 350 barbed wire patents were issued between 1875 and 1890, although it was the Glidden patent that came to monopolize the market (and indeed, is the fence still in use today). [...]

One rather infamous early adopter in the Texas Panhandle [...] fenced in over 3 million acres of public range with illegal fences while others followed suit [...]. Also in the Texas Panhandle, [a] Scottish-backed [...] ranch pursued its own 3 million acre fencing project, operating on a grant from the state with an estimated 6,000 miles of fence. [...] Such [...] activities led to what has been called the “Fence Cutting Wars” in the early 1880s [...]. Estimates are that up to 7.3 million acres of public land was fraudulently expropriated by cattle companies in this way in the 1870s and 1880s.

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All text above by: Karen M. Morin. "Bovine Lives and the Making of a Nineteenth Century American Carceral Archipelago". A chapter in Carceral Logics: Human Incarceration and Animal Captivity edited by Lori Gruen and Justin Marceau. Online publication date April 2022. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

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reforgedzine · 10 months

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Production Update!

We got the first photos of the finished pins today! Look at how well they turned out. While they’re not here yet, it’s awesome to at least see a glimpse of what they look like.

Generally, we are busy behind the scenes – finalizing print files to the manufacturers’ requirements, organizing, working with the newly adjusted quotes after the final numbers came in – our work currently isn’t very visible from outside.

All of the items with a long production time are in production, so we are awaiting news as eagerly as you are. After sending in the files, it takes a bit for the items to be finished, and then longer for them to be shipped to us.

Most of the items should arrive within the next few weeks. Some of the items with short production times, such as prints, will be ordered soon and likely arrive at the same time.

Of course, should something go wrong with production, or shipping, things will arrive later.

Our estimate during the preorders was that the shipping would start in June or July – with the production times of course heavily influencing the shipping date. We should be getting updates from the manufacturers soon, and be able to give a better estimate!

Currently, it looks like shipping will start during August.

As more merch gets finished, we will finally have things to share again – we are also fans and super excited to see all the beautiful things!

#update #winteriron #zine #buckytony #fanzine #tonybucky #bucky x tony #bucky barnes #tony stark #marvel fanzine #ironwinter

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claypigeonpottery · 4 months

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CLAY PIGEON COMMISSION DETAILS

Commission Slot List

Please see my price list for approximate prices, as well as examples of the shapes/sizes of pieces I can make

Commissions are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis

I reserve the right to refuse any commission

Please send me a private message to arrange a commission—not an Ask (you can also email me at [email protected] but I am more responsive here)

and I’m still accepting dibs on my unfired original pieces

I will make copies of my existing pieces, or work with you to create something new

I can make a close copy of my own work, or I can change the colour and carving choices

If it’s a new work, I will send you pictures of the sketch for your approval

Large scale revisions can only be made during the sketching phase. Literally. Once it’s carved, there’s very little I can do to change it.

Small additions or adjustments can be done right after the piece is carved, when I send you pictures, that is the time to mention anything you want changed.

Please be detailed in your description and send reference pictures if possible

I don’t charge extra for original pieces, despite sketching time

WAITLIST

If you ask for a commission when the slot is closed, I have one waitlist slot for each type of commission. If the waitlist slot is open, I can put you on it after getting some details about your commission to confirm that it’s one I would be willing to take.

If you ask for a commission when the waitlist is closed, I'll ask you to message me again once the slot is open again.

I will do my best to give you an accurate timeline for when I will start your commission and when it will be completed.

PAYMENT, ETC

I take 20% of the cost of the piece before starting

You are responsible for shipping cost, on top of the cost of the piece (I can estimate shipping cost for you, but it won’t be exact until the piece is ready to ship)

I do all my transactions through Paypal invoices

All my prices are in CAD

Prices vary depending on size of the piece, the style of decorating, and the amount of detail

Commissions can take as long as six months, depending on piece size and kiln schedules

I will do my best to keep you updated about your piece’s status and approximate timeline, but if you have questions feel free to message me

If there’s a problem with the piece (warping, a flaw in the glaze, no longer food-safe, etc), I will either lower the price or remake it, if you choose

I reserve the right to refuse to remake a broken or flawed piece, but I will refund your deposit

Once the piece is finished, you have two weeks to arrange payment and shipping. If you communicate with me about needing longer and give me a specific date, I will hold it for you until that date. After that (and a couple reminders) I will make it available for other people to buy. I can’t hold pottery for people indefinitely

If you want a piece by a specific date, I will charge an extra $20 if I successfully get it to you on time, since it’ll mean juggling kiln time with other potters and coordinating with the studio’s kiln tech. I cannot guarantee that it will be done by a specific date, I work with a shared kiln and don’t always have access. The farther out you order it, the better.

I WILL

make portraits of people or animals

make prose or poetry into pottery

make memes into pottery

depict nudity or sex

depict blood, death, or gore

I MIGHT

depict original characters

depict fan art

I WON’T

copy another artist’s work without the permission of that artist

ONCE I'VE ACCEPTED

I will keep you updated with an approximate timeline and do my absolute best to get it to you in a reasonable timeframe, but…

Please remember that pottery is a slow process.

Once I build the piece, it has to dry for a few days up to a couple weeks before it’s ready to carve. And once it’s been carved, it can take a couple months to be fully dry, especially if it’s a large piece or a mug.

Drying pottery slowly prevents warping and cracking, so it can’t be rushed, and if a piece goes into the kiln before it’s fully dry, it will explode. Any moisture in the clay will rapidly expand as it turns to steam and literally blow the piece apart.

And, unfortunately, with a shared kiln, sometimes the schedule just doesn’t allow me to fire for a couple weeks.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it!

#commissions

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dmitryanya · 9 months

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NEWSIES WOODEN PINS PRESALE IS LIVE!

Each pin is printed on wood and will be an inch and a half tall. Features new, revised artwork for Jack and Katherine since my last pins were made, and introducing Davey's design too!

This preorder listing will be up until September 4th. After that date I will place the order for the pins and once they arrive to me, I will immediately start shipping them out. This presale is to cement how many of each design I need to stock, and to fund their manufacturing. The estimated shipping time is late September/early October. I'll update this as things go along.

They are individual listed in the drop down, to get a pair or full set, add each one individually to your cart.

#newsies #newsies musical #newsies broadway #newsies bway #livesies #jack kelly #katherine plumber #katherine pulitzer #davey jacobs #david jacobs #please share and spread it around !!

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dandelionrevolution · 17 days

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Good News - April 8-14

(Actually 8-12 due to irl obligations)

Like these weekly compilations? Support me on Ko-fi! Also, if you tip me on here or Ko-fi, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week - almost double the content! (I'm new to taking tips on here; if it doesn't show me your username or if you have DM's turned off, please send me a screenshot of your payment)

1. Interior Department Finalizes Action to Strengthen Endangered Species Act

“These revisions, which will increase efficiency by reducing the time and cost to develop and negotiate permit applications, will encourage more individuals and companies to engage in conservation benefit agreements and habitat conservation plans, generating greater conservation results overall.”

2. Young Puerto Ricans Restore Habitat Damaged by Hurricane While Launching Conservation Careers

“Corps members help restore the island’s environmental and cultural assets and volunteer in hard-hit local communities. They also gain valuable paid work experience and connections to possible future employers, something many young Puerto Ricans struggle to find.”

3. Australian-born cheetah released in Africa for the first time ever. Watch the heart-warming moment Edie is set free

““The Metapopulation Initiative will bring in appropriate males, probably two initially, to breed with Edie,” King says. “It’s those future cubs, and their cubs, that will ensure the legacy of spreading Edie’s genetics across the southern African metapopulation. And we will have also provided Edie – a wild animal, let’s not forget – with a chance of a life in the wild.””

4. Baby Bald Eagles Confirmed in 2 of 4 Nests in Will County Forest Preserves

“A pair of fuzzy eaglet heads were spotted popping up out of one of the nests this week, officials said. Two weeks ago, monitors noticed adult eagles feeding an unseen hatchling (or hatchlings) in a different nest.”

5. New Hope for Love for Japanese Children Needing Families

“The new system, established by a 2022 law, offers private childcare institutions financing to transform their business model into “Foster Care Support Centers” that recruit, train, select, and support foster parents, and assist the independence of children living in foster families. If a childcare institution becomes a Foster Care Support Center, the government will fund full-time staff members based on the number of foster households they cater to.”

6. Nexamp nabs $520M to build community solar across the US

“Nexamp, a community solar developer and project owner, has secured a whopping $520million to install solar arrays around the nation in one of the largest capital raises to date for this growing sector. Community solar gives renters, small businesses and organizations the chance to benefit from local solar power even if they can’t put panels on their own roofs.”

7. A natural touch for coastal defense: Hybrid solutions which combine nature with common “hard” coastal protection measures may offer more benefits in lower-risk areas

“Common “hard” coastal defenses, like concrete sea walls, might struggle to keep up with increasing climate risks. A new study shows that combining them with nature-based solutions could, in some contexts, create defenses which are better able to adapt.”

8. Rewilding program ships eggs around the world to restore Raja Ampat zebra sharks

“A survey estimated the zebra shark had a population of 20 spread throughout the Raja Ampat archipelago, making the animal functionally extinct in the region. […] Researchers hope to release 500 zebra sharks into the wild within 10 years in an effort to support a large, genetically diverse breeding population.”

9. Forest Loss Plummets in Brazil and Colombia

“New data reveals a decline in primary forest loss in Brazil and Colombia, highlighting the significant impact of environmental reforms in curbing deforestation. According to 2022-2023 data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab and World Resource’s Institute (WRI), primary forests in Brazil experienced a 36 per cent decrease in deforestation under President Inácio Lula da Silva’s leadership, reaching its lowest level since 2015. Colombia nearly halved (by 49 per cent) its forest loss under the administration of President Gustavo Petro Urrego, who has prioritised rural and environmental reform.”

10. New Agreement Paves the Way for Ocelot Reintroduction on Private Lands

“With the safe harbor agreement in place, partners plan to begin developing a source stock of ocelots for reintroduction. Over the next year, they plan to construct an ocelot conservation facility in Kingsville to breed and raise ocelots. Producing the first offspring is expected to take a few years.”

April 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

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