It is hard — re: "when you look out the window or when you’re out in your N95 and see 99% of the population going about things as if there’s no pandemic."
It is hard.
It helps me to remember that what we see outside is factually not 99%, just our own anecdotal sample. Some larger than others: I live in one of the most populated, traveled-to cities in the world and see a royal shit-ton of people every time I go outside — yet another reason I join the few masking.
(I get it that in other, less crowded places things look different; that's a contributor to confusion online. My city problems may not make sense to someone in the suburbs, but we're in the same discussion without any context.)
OTOH, I look at the data and know that outside, I won't see the invisible others. Those who are IC, have LC, etc. Of course they/we group online, since that's the only place to safely be and discuss.
I also know that people, even those who are informed, value social norms. E.g. Dr. Fauci going to some event and removing his mask because others were, then getting covid. And here's a good thread: https://twitter.com/Helenreflects/status/1641003804584972289
So I think a combination of a few factors contribute to those still masking; any single one may not be enough:
being closer to the nonconformist end of the spectrum to begin with (i.e. "I care about people; less so what they think.")
being informed, scientifically-literate
cultural (conforming, but to a different group)
those who've experienced chronic illness (not just the physical aspects but also how others react short and long-term...
and the resulting distrust built up from that: lack of, or lack of trust in the strength of safety nets — social and financial
likewise, those who've experienced gaslighting (this term is overused lately, but having experience with that can lead to personal high valuation of fact-checking and record-keeping, and again a lower regard for what some others are doing or saying)
privilege / circumstances (e.g. it may be harder for someone with kids; they might be more likely to be more fatalistic if it seems insurmountable. or e.g. this person's BF who probably felt high pressure due to this mandatory work event: https://www.reddit.com/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy/comments/11h3ciu/comment/jart4aj/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
about this guy you all know him, he had me scared as hell! / he comes to me at night after i crawl into bed / he's burnt up like a weenie and his name is fred!
horror aus part trois. part one can be found here, and two, here. all warnings and disclaimers still apply--as does the love.
do you dare dare journey below the cut...?
it’s a long way down, a long way down - a holy hell au inspired by the creep series
there are stories are stories on stories on stories about matches made in heaven. about two pure souls destined for the other, finally reaching a ‘happily ever after’ after going through trials and tribulations that, honestly, are played out and boring.
that’s exactly what fergus macleod would tell you, anway.
he’s been inhabiting his mortal coil for a few decades now, engaging in his favorite activity--serial murder.
but lately, something has--gone out.
he’s lost his light. his passion for killing.
so he gets an idea, and puts out an ad for a videographer.
he’ll make a documentary, he decides. a magnum opus to relight the blood and the violence that had brought him so much joy over the years.
what he didn’t expect was andi.
not her beauty. not her courage. not her wit, sharp enough to make a god bleed.
and not her fangs, and a thirst to rival his--even if her moral compass was a bit more lawful.
enough of stories about matches made in heaven.
talk to me about a match made in hell.
(these--particular films are not easy watches, though i personally enjoy them. the sequel is my favorite, but remember when i said ‘explicit sexuality’ in the first warning post? the especially applies to creep 2. when i imagined this au it was less in-line with the main narrative of the movies and more, say, a meet-cute story you’d overhear at an addams’ family function.)
mini soundtrack sampler includes: lovelytheband, ‘buzz cut’ + catfish & the bottlemen, ‘longshot’ + albert natural, ‘sara loves her juicy fruit’
red sun rises like an early warning - an ancient cares au inspired by sleepy hollow
sleepy hollow was often called a “sleepy” village, in the way that meant that nothing ever happened there. marie van tassel, daughter of the richest man in town--and immediately intrigued by the arrival of one police constable walter vaughn, sent all the way from new york city--would disagree. especially in recent years.
the headless horseman had returned.
and marie, for all the occult studying she’d done far from the gaze of her father’s watchful eyes, still so haunted after her mother’s brutal and untimely passing--couldn’t figure out why.
she knew exactly who he was. what he was. but why had he returned? what had woken him?
and could see really be that mournful, when it had sprung start the machinations of fate that brought walter right to her doorstep?
“i have shed my tears for boom... and yet my heart is not broken. do you think me wicked?”
“no... but perhaps there is a little bit of witch in you, marie.”
“walter, why do you say that?”
“because you have bewitched me.”
mini soundtrack sampler includes: frank sinatra, ‘witchcraft’ + creedence clearwater revival, ‘i put a spell on you’ + the rolling stones, ‘sympathy for the devil’
drunk and driven by a devil’s hunger - a safety nets au inspired by apostle, co-starring @agent-thorn
it was only five years into the birth of an entirely new century, and her twin brother had been taken; her father, lost in his grief, was utterly useless.
it was all up to parker jensen.
she found a fake pass easy enough, slyly dancing her way through conversations with began with “you know, i don’t remember seeing you at any of the prayer meetings...” until finally, finally, they reached that accursed island.
she’d never been to wales before.
she had no idea what to expect.
what are you supposed to expect, when you’re all alone on a solo rescue mission going toe-to-toe with what can only be described as a cult?
but ivar--son of the enigmatic priest of the island, malcolm--was a nice surprise.
the only nice surprise that she’d find.
it wasn’t until she caught jeremy, sneaking home after what she could only guess had something to do with ffion, that she got her first flash of what would be a more and more grisly truth.
this island had its own god.
and something much more sinister than genesis had happened on this soil.
mini soundtrack sampler includes: bakar, ‘hell n back’ + mumford & sons, ‘little lion man’ + neil reid, ‘mother of mine’
let that fever make the water rise - a grace & choice au inspired by the ritual
it was supposed to be like a vacation. diana hadn’t had one in at least fifteen years. vida, even longer.
so why not hiking? why not the kungsleden--the king’s trail--in northern sweden?
the first two days were bliss. nothing but rolling hills, clear skies. up until:
“ah fuck!”
“vida--shit, vida, are you okay?”
“yeah, i’m--urk!”
“all right, that was not a reassuring noise, let’s have a look at that--”
vida’s left knee went from pink to a swollen blue to an agonized, deep purple tinged with green over the course of next day. diana couldn’t bear to watch her struggle to keep up, especially when this was supposed to be a romantic break, nothing as taxing as the fieldwork happening back home.
by the light of a campfire, diana studied their map, humming. “what if we just cut through the forest?” she asked. “if we just went as the crow flies... it cuts the time in half. and you need medical attention, vida, we can’t keep going on like this.”
“has the battalion cleared this area?” vida returned her question with one of her own, eyes shining. the reflection of the fire made them look like stones polished by a river. “we wouldn’t run into anything, would we?”
diana smiled. “nothing we couldn’t handle, love, i’m sure.”
and diana didn’t change her mind when they set off the next morning... up until they found the disembowled carcass of an elk, placed up high in a tree like a religious icon.
she thought of morgan.
“diana, what--what put that up there? something had to have put that up there!”
mini soundtrack sampler includes: billie eilish, ‘bury a friend’ + two feet, ‘i feel like i’m drowning’ + coldplay, ‘paradise’
you can hear the river from my burial bed - a secret gardens au inspired by the legends of slenderman & mercy black, co-starring @agent-hood
she wouldn’t say she wouldn’t remember. she did.
it was just that caroline janson had been in therapy for so long... she was no longer sure what of shards of her memories were real, and what would be, as dr. ward would say, hallucinations.
but she knew one thing: she was glad to be coming home.
“i hope chicken’s okay for your first night back,” parker began gently. “i’m just now realizing i forgot to ask--”
caroline smiled at her, “chicken would be great.”
she watched parker’s profile, as she opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. finally, she inhaled, then began, “you know... carter’s missed you since you’ve been gone...”
caroline rolled her eyes. “parker. it’s been a decade and a half. i seriously doubt it.”
“hey, who knows my brother better right now, me or you?”
that earned a huff... and a grin. subdued, but still there. “... okay. fine. but... maybe not tonight.” parker glanced at her once, and nodded.
“i understand. besides, maybe i want you all to myself for the first few days, anybody think about that?”
and caroline laughed.
and she wished that it felt like she wasn’t still being haunted.
mini soundtrack sampler includes: oingo boingo, ‘dead man’s party’ + shaed, ‘trampoline’ + corrina repp, ‘only a beat’
don’t let it shake your steady thread-cutting hand - a royals & robots au inspired by kristy
it was hardly tilde’s idea to spend thanksgiving alone harvard. but between the pandemic, the weather, and her own growing agitation at her father’s behavior...
it just seemed easier.
and it wasn’t all bad. she still had prudence, who opted to stay with her out of love (and perhaps a lack of family--but she didn’t ask). and they had run of essentially the entire campus--there were several buildings that stayed opened, even over the holiday. the library being one.
but it wasn’t until one night, when they made a late night trip to a convenience store not far from tilde’s housing that things became... strange.
“pru. ... pru!” she whispered, snacks in one hand, the other on pru’s elbow. “... i think she’s following us.”
“she?” pru asked, lowly, careful to keep her eyes down, as if they were just having a very, very difficult time decided on what kind of poptarts they wanted.
tilde, face oddly blanched, couldn’t find her voice, so she just nodded.
at the end of the aisle, a figure in dark hoodie and skinny jeans passed out of view.
one of pru’s arms went around tilde’s waist. “don’t worry. i’m sure she’s just here at the same time as us. it’s a small store.”
tilde would remember that when she got home in time to find a snuff film loaded onto her laptop.
“oh shit--oh shit, oh god--!”
this is why she preferred halloween.
mini soundtrack sampler includes: yeah yeah yeahs, ‘heads will roll’ + rihanna, ‘disturbia’ + nonono, ‘pumpin’ blood’
Her phone rang out from her pocket and Parker grunted and struggled to reach it. Once she had it in hand however she was pleased to see it was Agent Arizona FaceTiming her.
“Cass,” She started brightly, ensuring her grip on both her phone and the load she was carrying. “I was hoping you’d call. How’s Tucson?”
“Strangely rainy, but that’s why we’re here. Ahead of schedule I might add, all thanks to your boy. Seriously Park, where’ve you been keeping him? I’ve never had a mission go so smooth before.”
Parker smiled, which widened further at the sounds of Ivar’s voice in the background asking if that was Parker and shouting ‘hi’ before he got a response. She laughed as she could see him attempt to fight his way into the screen, only to be pushed aside Cass, her snapping that if he wanted to talk to Parker then he could call her his own damn self.
“I take it all back, he’s a nightmare and smells like wet dog. Seriously though, it has been relatively easy, so by all projections we should only be out here two more nights at the most.”
“That’s wonderful, and Al is going to be thrilled to hear it. He’s been a giant mope since you left. It would have been adorable if some of the technical officers hadn’t decided to show him some Disney movies in an attempt to distract him.”
“Oh no, is he okay?” Parker just moved the camera over to show that she was currently carrying his unconscious body before moving back to her face.
“It took all the beer in my fridge to get him to stop crying and agree to go to bed. Why anyone thinks watching ‘Toy Story 3’ when you’re sad is a good idea is beyond me.”
“Well you let me know who and I’ll make sure they’re appropriately sorry.”
“Nah could’ve been worse. They could’ve put on ‘Milo and Otis’ and let him loose in an animal shelter.”
“Oh gods,” she laughed, only stopping when someone off screen said something to her. “Alright well, thank you for taking care of my big baby.”
“Well thank you for looking after mine. Makes sure you both get home in one piece and I’ll do my best to try and get Al in a better mood for when you come back.”
“Will do, give my love. Bye~”
“Bye.” Parker sang, using Alaric’s unconscious hand to wave before hanging up. Finally registering something was going on, he mumbled and snorted a bit as she hiked him further up on her back.
“Alright, come on now, if you can make it all the way to your room without puking then I’ll let you sleep with Hampton tonight.” She smiled as she got a very dazed ‘yay’ in response.
concept: a paranormal investigation!au featuring agents hood, thorn and cherub, along with technical officer rook, inspired the events of the film malevolent.
