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#Holly assumes he does the same sort of stuff she does (and she's right)
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I watched (¾ of) breakfast at tiffanys for the first time this week and it's such a goofy film purely because Paul's so passive for most of it because Holly keeps involving him in stuff and he's just there like 🧍 damn guess I'm doing this now
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babeyvenus · 3 years
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The Wolf Among Us
Bigby x OC
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Summary: Sonya Blaze, A.K.A. Hell Rider, is a half fable, half mundy girl who comes to Fabletown to learn more about her side of the folktales. She works alongside Sheriff Bigby Wolf's as his newest partner and together they strive to find out who's behind the unexpected murders in Fabletown.
TW: Mentions of death, gore/blood, alcohol, drugs, sex implications, suicide, guns and ofc language.
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Chapter 7: Confrontations
Witching Well Chamber
Bigby, Sonya, and Snow walk up to the large stone pedestal with the body. Sonya was hesitant to get closer but sighed and did anyway.
Bufkin was standing on the end of the pedestal waiting for the three to look over the body. “Jesus… I haven’t seen her face until now.”, Sonya said, letting out a breath.
“Are you gonna be okay?”, Bigby asked, looking at her in concern. “You don’t have to stay.” Snow said. Sonya shook her head. “I want to stay. I’ll be fine, it’s just….a little strange. I didn’t think I’d be looking at my own dead face.”, she weakly jokes.
Bigby frowned at her sadly and shook his head. Snow looks over the body. “The glamour is so effective, it’s invasive. But…just do what you need to do.”, Snow told Bigby.
He looked over the body and noticed a strange brooch on the jacket collar. He pulls it off and looks at it. “I’ve never worn anything like that.”, Sonya said as Bigby handed it to her. “Maybe it really belonged to her….not part of the glamour.”, Bigby said, examining the body.
“Looks like something from the homelands. Bufkin, do you recognize these symbols?”, Snow asked Bufkin, pointing at the brooch. “No, nothing I’ve seen before.”, Bufkin says, shaking his head. Sonya places it in her pocket as Bigby looks at the severed neck of the body. “It looks just like Faith’s did.”, he said, looking back at Snow. “Did Doctor Swineheart ever get back to you about Faith, Snow?”
“No. He said he wanted to run more tests.”, she shook her head. Bigby turns back to the body and sniffs the air around it. “She got your perfume right.”, he says in surprise. “We’ve never met. How the f- how do you know what perfume I wear?”, Sonya looked at him in shock. He smiled. “You can’t fool this nose.”
‘Damn his wolf senses.’, she thought. “If her neck wound was the same, there might be a ribbon in her mouth too.”, she suggested. Bigby opens the head’s mouth and looks inside but doesn’t see anything.
“Anything?”, Snow asked. He shook his head. "Nothing.“ He sets the head back down. "So it’s not exactly the same.” Sonya fidgets, looking at the head. “Could you…close her mouth? Please.” Bigby looks at her worriedly before he closes the head’s mouth. “Thanks.”, she mumbled, crossing her arms.
Bigby moves to the legs of the body. He saw the cuffs of the pant legs rolled up, a hole cut into the thigh of her jeans and noticed the rope marks around her ankles.
He also noticed some marks on the left thigh, right above the knee. “Track marks.”, he says, looking closely at the needle holes. “She used mundy drugs?”, Snow asked him. “Looks that way. Pretty heavily too. I hear they only go for the legs if they’ve used up all the veins in their arms….or if they’re trying to hide the marks.”, Bigby informed. “I always thought that it was just the arms.
That's usually how doctors do blood tests…”, Sonya says. Bigby turned to her. “Anyway, it just means it’s not a perfect match to your leg. Unless….” She narrowed her eyes at him, “Don’t even.” He shrugged, “I’m just saying, maybe she was trying to compensate with that perfume.”, he said, giving her a smile. She shook her head with a small smile.
“Wait. If the glamour is supposed to look like her, shouldn’t it be concealing things like track marks? That brooch too.”, Snow asked. “It’s possible it’s designed not to.”, Bigby says. “Designed not to hide track marks?”, Sonya asked, confused.
“Eh, good point.”, he said. “The witches upstairs know what they’re doing, that’s why they cost so much.”, Snow said. “Unless someone’s making glamours illegally.”, Sonya suggested with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not technically illegal, miss. It’s not encouraged, for sure, but there aren’t any laws specifically forbidding it.”, Bufkin informed.
“So…. there’s some sort of black market for glamours?”, Bigby asked. “One would assume so.”, Bufkin nodded. “I imagine anyone with access to the proper books and training could theoretically produce a glamour.”
“Yet another thing to worry about.”, Snow grumbles. “Black market or not, it’s a pretty good match.”, Sonya said. “Scary, but pretty good.” Bigby examines the rope marks. “These rope marks...”, he mutters. “She was tied up?”, Bufkin asked, with wide eyes. “They tied cinderblocks to her ankles….so she would sink.”, Bigby said.
Suddenly, Crane walks in behind them, scaring Sonya. “Sorry, that, uh, took longer than expected. What have you found out?” Bigby stood up straight, “She was using mundy drugs. Pretty heavily too, judging by the track marks on her legs.”
“Track marks?”, Crane asked, confused. “Isn’t there….there are diseases… ”
“I think that’s the least of her worries now.”, Sonya says, crossing her arms. “Yes...yes, of course.”, Crane said.
All three of them stared at him in confusion before Bigby turned back to the body and saw that the body’s fist was clenched. “Her hand’s in a fist.”, he said. “So she fought back?”, Snow asked. “No. Her knuckles aren’t bruised or anything.”, Sonya said, picking up the body’s hand.
“Maybe she was grabbing something.”, Bufkin suggested. “Maybe….”, Sonya mumbles and starts to pry it open until finally the hand opens. There was a large metal ring in the hand. “What the hell…” Bigby picks it up and examines it. He sets it down and digs into the jacket pockets.
In one of them, he found a bottle of perfume with a small note attached to it that said. “Use this.”
“What is that?”, Crane asked him. “She had the perfume with her. Looks like someone picked it out for her.”, Bigby replied. “So someone gave her instructions?”, Sonya asked. “I wasn’t aware my perfume was that recognizable.” Bigby shrugs and puts the bottle down and digs in the other pocket.
In the other pocket, he found a wooden tube with weird markings around it. “I’ve seen things like this before…”, Snow said as she saw the tube. “It’s definitely magic, though the witches don’t usually craft objects these days.”
“I don’t think it’s wise to fool around with that. It’s some kind of black market magic, who knows what it could do?”, Crane said, nervously.
“Will you keep quiet?”, Bigby growls and Crane glares at him. Sonya narrows her eyes a bit at Crane, “How do you know its black market stuff?” He didn’t say anything.
Bigby brings the tube to his ear and shakes it. It sounded like something was inside of it. “Hmm.”, he hums. “What?”, Crane asked him. “There’s something in here.”, Bigby said, shaking it again in Sonya’s ear. “How do we open it?”, she asked him.
Bigby scanned over the tube again, frowning as he tried figuring it out. Bigby glanced over at Crane. “Might want to stand back if you’re worried, Crane.”, he says, smug. “I’m gonna try to open it. Something to do with these rings here.”
Crane folds his arms as Bigby looks over the tube and saw that it was like a puzzle. He twisted the rings, until he heard a click and the image of a deer on the tube. “A deer? What does that mean?”, Sonya asked.
He pours out the contents on the pedestal, revealing a small bundle of dark auburn hair, almost like a ball of hair coming from a brush, and rolled up paper. He picks up the roll of paper and unravels it to reveal that it was a torn picture of Sonya looking somewhere.
“What the literal hell…!”, she yelled, grabbing her head. “Is that my hair??” Bigby hesitantly handed the picture to her. “Someone was stalking me…”, she says, looking at the picture. Bigby picks up the bundle of hair.
Bigby sniffs it and says, “Yeah, definitely your hair.” Sonya sighed a shaky breath stepping away from the pedestal, covering her face before dragging her hands down her face.
Bigby followed and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, shaken up. “Who did this, Bigby?”, she whimpered.
Before he could reply, they turned their heads to hear a crackling noise and saw a green light brightening the room. The body changed from Sonya to a female troll. She gasped, covering her mouth. “She’s a troll?!” Bufkin exclaimed.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”, Crane whispered, stepping away a bit.
“Holy shit.”, Bigby said, his eyes widened. “Well, that helps explain the glamour. Kind of.”, Snow said.
“W-Who is she?”, Sonya asked. “She kinda looks like Holly.”, Bigby said.
“The owner from the Trip Trap?”, Snow asked him. He nodded and Snow gasped. “It’s her sister, Lily. She was reported missing, but I….I guess it just slipped through the cracks.” Sonya’s neck snapped toward Snow. “How the hell could it have “slipped through the cracks”!? Was this not an important thing or what!?”
“We have to go tell Holly.”, Bigby said, urgently. Sonya frowned at him.
“Right. Who knows, she might know something about this. Who Lily was seeing…”, Snow said until Crane speaks up. “Certainly another troll.”
Sonya narrows her eyes, “How do you know that? She’s dead, we don’t know that for sure.”
“We should go.”, Bigby said, looking at Sonya. “You can’t go out there!”, Crane exclaimed.
“Why the hell not?”, Sonya asked, growling at him. “It’s too dangerous. Someone tried to kill you.” Crane replied quickly, stepping in the way. He looked at Bigby. “Bigby, you can’t let her go out there with you. You’d be putting her life at risk."
"Bigby is not my babysitter! Two fables are dead and we’re gonna get this done with or without you, Deputy Mayor.”, Sonya sneered at Crane. “Bigby is your boss. He’s allowed to set up any investigations for you.”, Crane argued.
“Sonya’s her own woman. If she wants to go, I don’t see why not.”, Bigby says, crossing his arms.
“But–”
“We should leave now. You ready?”, Bigby said as he looked over at Sonya, smiling. “Let’s go.”, she nodded. “I’ll come with you two.”, Snow said, following behind.
TRIP TRAP
“You’re a bar. You’re supposed to have darts.”, a blonde man fussed, pacing around.
“And I normally do, but who knows where the fuck they went to after–” Holly’s voice stopped once she sees Bigby, Snow and Sonya walk in. The bar still a mess from Bigby’s and Gren’s previous fight.
He was still fussing, not aware of the three that walked in. “C'mon, Holly, I need entertainment.” Then he turns and sees the three fables looking at him. “This’ll do.”, he said, smirking, while Gren and Holly looked at each other in fear. Sonya looked around. “What the hell happened?” Bigby grumbled. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
He shook his head. “Holly. You got a minute?”, Bigby asked the bar owner. She crossed her arms. “Why?” Bigby frowned. “Please, Holly. It’s important.”
“Holy shit. You’re the new fable. No one said you were a cutie, though, Miss Sonya.”, Jack said, winking at her. He got close to Sonya, giving her a grin. “Uh, hi?”, Sonya waved, awkwardly. “Heard you had a strange morning.”, he said, smirking.
“It’s been kind of a strange morning for everyone, I think.” , Sonya said, shaking her head. Bigby stepped in front of Sonya, making the guy place his left arm around him.
“Every time I see this guy, he seems to lose weight. It’s amazing, it really is. He loses weight and yet somehow keeps all the muscle.”, he said.
“Jack…” Bigby growled.
“Wolfie, my dear, how are you?”, Jack asked him with a big grin. Bigby shrugs his arm off and walks up the bar but Jack cuts in front of him again. “Because, you know, we were just talking about you. All of us. At the bar, here.”
Bigby huffed, “I just need to talk to Holly. Privately.” Jack raised his hands, “Alright, just give us a second first.” Jack said. “I’m just dying to hear about the dead body that came out of the East River this morning. It was a Fable, right?”
All three of them look at him in surprise but he gives them a smug look. “Oh, everyone knows.”
“Tweedledee was just here.”, Gren mumbled.
“He described it fairly well. Said it looked like you.” Jack said, pointing at Sonya.
“What the hell!”, Bigby shouts, then came to a realization and growls. “Crane.”
“Sorry.”, Snow said as Sonya rolled her eyes at the mention of the man.
“Tweedledee said you arrested him for no earthly reason, kept him locked in the cellar “all fuckin’ night.” He said you tortured him. Which….I dunno, that seems like a breach of your legislative duties.”, Jack shrugs then walks up to Bigby and said. “Bigby, c'mon, you can’t be so dumb as to–”
“Jack. Find the off button! Now!”, Holly shouts.
Jack turned to her and said. “What is it with you two? You and Gren are all, Let’s get a posse together, when there’s no one around, but as soon as the Big Bad Wolf walks in your tails go between your legs. Cat got your nerve? What happened?”
“What happened? I’m tired is what happened.”, Holly says, frowning. “Tired of what?”, Jack asked. “You talk too much. Has anyone told you that personally or does it just go in one ear and out the other?”, Sonya asks, making Jack gape at her.
“Holly.”, Bigby said, trying to get her attention.
“What?”, Holly huffed.
“Bigby….look…two Fables are dead. And shit, Gren’s sister–”
“Holly’s sister.”, Gren corrected Jack, now irritated.
“Holly’s sister has been missing for, what, a few days now? And we haven’t heard word one about it from anyone.”, Jack said. That caught Holly’s attention. “Actually….have there been any updates?”, Holly asked.
“I….don’t know how to say this to you, Holly. The woman we found in the river….”, Bigby says, scratching the back of his neck.
“Who was it?”, Holly asked. “You know who it was.”, Bigby said, sadly.
Holly turns away sadly. “Boy, I sure walked into that one.”, Jack said.
“If you say one more fucking thing, just one more thing….”, Gren growled at him. Jack stares at him, putting his hands up in surrender then walks out of the bar.
“Fucking damn it!”, Gren shouts then he turns to you three and said. “Of course the dear Princess Sonya is all fuckin’ safe and sound!” Sonya flinches at his words, looking down at her feet.
Snow looks at her sadly, as Gren stands up and shouts. “Where were you when we reported this weeks ago, huh? Where are you when we ever fucking need you?!"
In the back, Holly pulls out a glass and a bottle of whiskey and tried to pour herself a glass. "If you’d given one ounce of a shit about her, about any of us, she might’ve been saved! She might’ve been cared for! She might’ve been—” but he stops when the sound of a glass breaks catches everyone’s attention.
Holly had broken both the glass and the bottle with her bare hands. She took heavy breaths, trying to calm herself down. “I’m sorry, Holly. I’m sorry we found your sister this way and I….I wish this had ended up better.” Bigby said, sadly.
Holly looks up at all of them, glaring at Sonya as she goes to sit down at a table. Sonya walked up to her and spoke softly. “Holly?”
“Get the fuck out of my bar.”, Holly growled at her. “I-I just wanted to–”
“It should’ve been you. It should have been you and it wasn’t.”, Holly sneers, making Sonya’s eyes widen. Sonya’s eyes fluttered as she felt oncoming tears. She shook her head, walking over to a table and pulled out a brooch from before and placed it on the table. She steps back, giving her a sad smile, “It was on her. Thought you’d like to have it.”
Holly looks at the brooch, taking it in her hands and looked up as Sonya started walking away.
Bigby grabbed Sonya's shoulder. “Hey, its okay.” Sonya looked up at him with glassy eyes. “I can’t. She was killed because of me…” Bigby started to say something but was cut off by Holly. “I…I didn’t know she still had this. The copper was from a dwarf mine…..it’s very rare….and very old.”
Sonya looked at her. “It’s pretty. I bet it was even prettier on her.”
Bigby smiles, looking down at Sonya. “That was very decent of you.” Holly called, “Gren.”
“Yeah?"
"Take off for a bit, would ya."
"Are you sure?”
Holly looks at Sonya as they make eye contact. Holly turns to Gren and nods at him. Gren makes sure before walking out with Jack. Holly walks back over to the bar and begins to pour herself something to drink.
“I don’t know that much about her life….honestly, we didn’t talk often.”, she said and she took a sip. “She was lost here, in the city. She just got swept away by it.”
“Do you have any idea why she’d be glamoured as Sonya?”, Bigby asked her. “What?!”, Holly said, shocked, looking at her. “Oh God. I’m sorry. That was probably about….she was hooking. To pay down debt. It ate me up to see her that way. Eventually, the only people she owned were at her work, you know, that shithole club. The Pudding ‘n Pie. The owner, Georgie, with all his fuckin’ fees, it’s a crock of shit. It’s how they kept her under their thumb, really.”
“Georgie? What do you know about him?”, Bigby asked her but she shrugs and shakes her head. “We can always just go talk to him.”, Snow said. “We’ve got a lead. Maybe we can take it from here?” You said.
“Thanks for everything, Holly. Is there, um, is there anything we can do to….?”, Bigby asks but Holly shook her head. “No, no, I’m better off dealin’ with things alone. I don’t need sympathy and I don’t need charity.”
“It’s not charity, it’s looking out for our own.”, Snow said, catching Holly’s attention.
“Is she…where is she?”, Holly asked, solemnly. “She’s at the Business Office. She’s taken care of.”, Sonya says. Holly sighs. “I’m gonna have to go down there and get her. Fuck.”
“Please, we can handle the funeral arrangements.”, Snow offered. “No, no it’s– it’s a kind of— it’s a formality with trolls. We burn our dead by sunrise or….I dunno.”, Holly shook her head. “Of course.”, Bigby said.
“Okay. Good.”, Holly said, smiling.
“Let’s go down to the Business Office and start making the necessary preparations, alright?”, Snow said, leading Holly out. “The Puddin’ n’ Pie, huh…”, Sonya says. “I’ll go down there now, see what I can find out from the owner. Do you want to come?”, Bigby asked. Sonya nodded.
She turned to Holly, “Is it okay if I come to the funeral after we get what we need? I feel responsible for this.”
Holly nodded. “I’d appreciate that.” Sonya smiled softly and nodded. She turned to Bigby, “Let’s go.”
Bigby nods, giving her a smile and walks with her to catch a cab.
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emperorforanhour · 3 years
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Meta-Interview 3: Amazing. Never-Before-Seen.
Sophia sits back in the INTERVIEWER seat, still looking very out of place. On the other side, Wayneppoid is far more relaxed in his posture. A sun conure perches on top of his head, a few strands of hair captured in its beak. He seems unbothered by this. Sophia’s gaze drifts to the bird for a moment, before returning to the camera. 
Sophia: “Jazz is biting your hair, I believe-”
She is cut off by the bird, Jazz, squawking, which makes her jump back. Wayne reaches up and pets Jazz with one finger.
Wayne: “Jazz! No sexism.”
The bird squawks again, a little quieter, and hops onto Wayne’s shoulder, before crawling into his shirt. Wayne looks down, baby-talking to his bird.
Wayne: “You gonna let us do the interview, buddy?”
Jazz peeps, muffled by the fabric, and Wayne looks back to Sophia.
Wayne: “Alright, should be good now.”
Sophia: “Was there even a point to starting the recording on a timer if we’re going to be interrupted anyway?”
Wayne: “They got Jazz cam, it’s fine.”
Sophia: “Right, I suppose so.”
Sophia reaches for her clipboard again, flipping the pages back to the first.
Sophia: “I didn’t ask Sonic to introduce himself in his interview, but that was primarily because, well, as you’re aware, the audience is probably already well aware of who he is. Not that I mean any offense, but I don’t think you are quite as ubiquitous as him.”
Wayne: “None taken, it’s fucking Sonic. Wayneradiotv may be kinda popular but we aren’t doing Iron Man numbers.”
Sophia: “So… Who are you, then?”
Wayne clears his throat, and his voice shifts, sounding similar but… synthesized, rather than natural.
Wayne: “Have you heard of Hatsune Miku?”
Sophia: “I’m… not very familiar.”
Wayne: “It’s a reference, Sophia.”
Sophia: “Ah, my apologies.”
Wayne: “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, Miku’s a bunch of voice samples, and people use those to make songs without having to sing it themselves. So, I’m like that. But free!”
He coughs again, and his voice returns to normal.
Sophia: “But, that’s not all, yes?”
Wayne: “Well, yeah. I’m like, if Miku was the voice of a Twitch dude.”
Sophia: “Wayneradiotv?”
Wayne: “Yup. If any of you guys have seen the Half Life VR Funny, or that “THERE IS NO FRIDGE” bit? That’s him. He’s got a whole group of friends he streams with, as well, and they all do cool shit on the regular too. I’m basically him but digital, and also Miku.”
Sophia glances down at her clipboard, and looks back up, eyebrow raised.
Sophia: “I suppose you aren’t digital now, are you?”
Wayne: “Guess not. What am I now, a robot or something?” Sophia: “I don’t think it ought to matter too much. Though, isn’t Jazz the physical Wayne’s bird?”
Wayne: “Yeah. I guess he’s a clone? He hates women as much as the original, though.”
He reaches into his shirt to pet Jazz as he speaks. The bird chirps in response.
Sophia: “Right. So, I presume your, or rather his, experience with streaming is what you believe would make you a good interviewer?”
Wayne: “Yeah. I mean, Char’s a dick and Random…”
Sophia: “Is Random, yes.”
Wayne: “And like, no offense to Scratch, he’s a cool dude, but I dunno if he’d be able to handle being the face of something like this.”
Sophia: “Scratch is a DJ, he would be used to crowds.”
Wayne: “Yeah, but there’s a lot less talking going on there. And, uh, I don’t see him around the others much. Does he talk to the contestants?”
Sophia frowns, her gaze flicking to the camera.
Sophia: “I don’t think discussing a friend’s personal business is really fitting behaviour f-for an interviewer.”
Wayne: “Shit, sorry. I’m just kinda worried about him-”
Sophia: “W-We can talk about that afterward.”
Wayne: “Right. Okay. Anyway. Yeah, I mean I’m not actually Wayne or anything like that, but I’m basically him in personality and stuff, so I can… talk good. Some of the actual contestants are, uh, weird dudes, you don’t really want the interviewer to also be out of their goddamn mind, y’know?”
Sophia: “That’s true. I’m familiar with the concept of the ‘straight man’. Judging by your base’s most popular work, I’d say you’d fit that role well.”
Wayne: “Y’know people bitch about Gordon cuz they DON’T get what a straight man is?”
Sophia: “And yet I’m sure they’d complain twice as hard if it was just utter chaos.”
Wayne: “Yeah, exactly!”
Sophia nods, her gaze returning to her papers. Jazz wriggles in Wayne’s shirt in response to him getting louder.
Sophia: “Besides in terms of their potential as interviewers, what do you think of the other bonuses?... Hm. Obviously, besides anything unsuitable for broadcast, as well.”
Wayne: “You make it sound like I’m gonna start talking shit.”
Sophia: “S-Sorry, that’s… you know what I mean, though.”
Wayne: “I guess? Scratch is a cool dude, he’s recommended some absolute bangers. Wish I could get ‘em over to the real Wayne so he could add them to the stream playlist. Shame about his game.”
Sophia doesn’t respond. After a moment, she shakes her head as if remembering something and raises her eyebrow.
Sophia: “Hm?”
Wayne: “Yeah, you’re being weird about it again. I’ll move on, I guess. Sonic… I mean, he’s Sonic the fucking Hedgehog. We both know Miku, so we actually had shit to talk about when we met up for the first time. It’s still surreal to be friends with him, though. I should ask him when they’re bringing Monkey Ball back.”
Sophia: “Char?”
Wayne: “I dunno much about Gundam. That ‘I’ll kill you’ scene from Gundam Wing’s funny, but I don’t know what, like, a Zeon is. And the dude’s just an asshole so I doooooon’t really wanna ask him about it.
Long Furby’s kinda scary to look at, but she’s alright. She kinda reminds me of Holly, I think they’d get along. They’ve got the same powerful chaotic energy. 
Random’s… I mean, it sure says shit. It’s a big question mark, what else am I gonna say about it?”
Wayne shrugs. 
Wayne: “I’m pretty sure it started playing an ad for, like, gamer drugs at me once? The fuck’s up with that?”
Sophia: “It did?” Wayne: “It’s never done that to you?” Sophia: “Honestly, I had assumed it just pulled from the same pool of sounds no matter who was around. If it’s at all aware of who it’s ‘talking’ to...”
Wayne: “That’d mean it’s fucking ALIVE!”
Sophia: “Let’s hope not, then. Because if it is, then that makes its behaviour infinitely more irritating.
A-Anyway, do you have any thoughts on the contestants? It sounds like you’ve gotten to know some of them already.”
Wayne grins.
Wayne: “So, obviously went to go talk to the Spies first. The comic dudes liked Jazz, but the Spy didn’t really want to talk to me at first. But, I mean, I’m sort of a Valve rep, so eventually we wound up getting along. Won’t tell me when Half Life 3’s coming out, though.
That arcade cabinet fucking haaaaates me. I’ve told him I’m not even the actual streamer here, but he tells me I’m still made on a computer and that’s even worse. Says VR’s stealing his gimmick, says I’m promoting the things that killed his medium, says I should stop playing Neil’s music on stream… Dude, Wayne just plays it when someone donates for it. Also, isn’t he literally a Neil song?”
Sophia: “It’s complicated, I believe.”
Wayne: “I guess it has to fucking be.
Uhhh, don’t know Dorime too much, except one time everyone else in the cafeteria started making fun of us for being the only straight people.”
Sophia: “Wha-I’m sorry that happened, I should’ve interv-”
Wayne: “Nah, it’s fine. It was all jokes, aside from Cabinet Man I think. Pix had to punch him in the screen to get him to fuck off.
Oh, speaking of Pix, her and Bit are cool. When their game comes out, I’ll… do something to get Wayne to stream it. Not really sure what, but I’ll figure it out. Wish Jazz didn’t hate women so much, cuz they’ve both asked to pet him so much, and I don’t want them to get bitten.
Baba is a good boy. Another creature here I WISH I could show to Holly, oh my God. He’s softer than I was expecting. Like a pillow.”
Wayne is tearing up just thinking about Baba.
Sophia: “Baba is one of the nicest creatures I’ve ever encountered, to tell you the truth.”
Wayne: “Yeah, same.
Pony is… I mean. It’s a horse, right? Terrifying.” Sophia: “Terrifying?” Wayne: “Yeah! Horses are fucking scary, dude. And this guy’s all glitchy and stuff as well, so it’s even worse.”
Sophia: “I… see. Now, I think we should start wrapping this interview up, so, do you have any final statements to make to the audience?”
Wayne thinks for a moment, and opens his mouth to speak, but Jazz interrupts, peeping up a storm. The bird flies out of his shirt, landing on his head, and then takes off again. Both Wayne and Sophia shout in surprise, as Jazz turns and heads right for the tripod.
Wayne: “Jazz, no!-”
The bird knocks the camera from it’s stand, and the feed cuts out. 
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bl00dgutsgl0ry · 5 years
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The Aftermath Chapter Two
Pairing - Jotaro Kujo x Noriaki Kakyoin
Smut/Fluff/Angst - Angst and eventual slow burn fluff and smut
AU - None
Warnings - Swearing, will get graphic about wounds maybe, smut.
Chapter One Here / Chapter Three Here
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CHAPTER TWO
Recovery
    It’s been about two months since Jotaro’s first visit to the hospital, where Kakyoin laid in a coma and a stitched up hole in his stomach; and with every day that passed, Jotaro could be found sitting next to him. Every single day Jotaro would walk in and talk about his day, as he started going back to school after a couple of weeks of continuous visits when a doctor said something that inspired him.
    “Why don’t you try talking to him? I know he’s in a coma but some say that those in comas can hear the people who are talking around them… Or at least they hope they can; and when a loved one is in a state such as this, hope is all you have… Makes everything just a bit easier to handle.” A gentle hand was placed on Jotaro’s shoulder, and for once Jotaro wasn’t completely blank in the mind. If he was going to talk to Kakyoin, well he should do stuff that gives him things to talk about right? So why not go back to school. And thus started Jotaro’s routine of heading to the hospital right after school to tell Kakyoin about his day; about all the kids that got on his nerves and about the fights he would get into. Eventually around the end of the first month Kakyoin got moved out of the ICU which made Jotaro even happier.
    Holly was overjoyous when she found out that Jotaro was going back to school. Her son was finally becoming himself again. When Polnareff called and asked about him she raved on about how happy she was for about an hour, and even though she couldn’t see it, Polnareff was smiling like an idiot. Joseph would occasionally join Jotaro and even though at first Jotaro was annoyed; he warmed up and started appreciating his grandfather’s presence; and together they would talk to Kakyoin and to each other. Everything was starting to get a bit bright in the Kujo household… That was until Kakyoin woke up.
    Kakyoin woke up on a gloomy rainy cloudy day. He heard the soft tapping of rain against his rooms window as he stared at the ceiling. He felt a familiar pricking sensation behind his eyes right before tears began to well up in them. Why? Why was he awake? Why wasn’t he dead? He didn’t want to live like this. He was a charity case now. Jotaro, Joseph, and Polnareff would never view him the same. He heard his door open and due to him not being able to move his head, only saw a little bit of whom he assumed to be a doctor. When the doctor noticed that he was awake, he heard them verbally gasp.
    “Mr. Kakyoin! You’re awake! This is wonderful news! How do you feel? Is there anywhere specific that hurts? We can get you more morphine if anything hurts too much.” The doctor went on and on, but as they talked they started to sound more muffled as Kakyoin’s mind went elsewhere; to not worry the doctor he would just give occasional quiet yes or no answers. Eventually the doctor left and as the day progressed nurses would come in to occasionally check on him. He remembers hearing voices that sounded familiar when he was out. Oh god wait, how long had he been in a coma? He had forgotten to ask that. How pitifully stupid of him. Once again he heard his door open, and this time he had begun to get annoyed; though that annoyance quickly changed into something else when he heard who had come into his room.
    “Kakyoin, you will never guess what that stupid bitch teacher did today-” Jotaro quickly cut himself off when he noticed Kakyoin’s eyes were open. Holy shit… He’s awake. He woke up! Wait why does he look so… Sad? Kakyoin stared at Jotaro with a sort of distance to his gaze. Jotaro almost sprinted over to Kakyoin’s side, grasping his hand as tears filled his eyes.
    “I thought I lost you Kak…” Jotaro squeezed Kakyoin’s hand, a few tears falling from his eyes and onto his cheeks. Kakyoin looked away, and Jotaro’s happiness faltered. Why did he look away? Was he hoping to see Joseph or Polnareff instead?
    “Kak what’s up? I thought you’d be a bit more happy to see me.” Kakyoin looked back at Jotaro and shook his head.
    “How long was I out for?”
    “Five months.”
    “Why did I have to wake up?” Jotaro’s eyes widened. What the hell did Kakyoin just say? What the fuck was he talking about? Why the fuck is he talking like that?
    “What the hell are you saying Kakyoin?” Jotaro stared down at the red head as Kakyoin smiled sadly and shook his head again. 
    “I’m a charity case for you guys now. I’m never going to be the same as I was before. I’m so weak now. Everything has changed and I think it would’ve been better if I hadn’t woken up, just so I didn’t have to be a burden for so many people.” Kakyoin felt tears beginning to run down his face. They didn’t deserve to have the burden of taking care of him shoved onto them. They defeated DIO he assumed, so they deserve a break; but instead of that, they got a weak crippled Kakyoin. Jotaro sighed before placing his hands on either side of Kakyoin’s face, forcing the boy to look at him.
    “Gimme a break. You never have been and never will be a burden Noriaki. Gigi, and Polnareff have been worried sick about you, wondering when and if you were going to ever wake up. I came here every single day of you being in your coma and talked to you, Gigi came occasionally as well. We thought we lost another member of the Stardust Crusaders. So don’t go around calling yourself a burden.” Kakyoin hearing his first name come out of Jotaro’s mouth shocked him, and as he spoke his eyes only proceeded to get wider. Had they really missed him that much that they visited him every day? The voices must’ve belonged to Jotaro and Joseph then. They came and talked to him…
    “I’m… I apologize. Everything is just going to be so different now, and if I’m going to be honest I’m nervous for the future. Will I ever recover?” Kakyoin felt comfortable letting himself vent all his worries to Jotaro; and Jotaro sat and listened. He understood why Kakyoin was so scared. The kid has always been considerate of others so of course he’s scared of being a burden to those around him.
    “Anyway it sounded like you had something to tell me about some ‘bitch of a teacher’ as you so eloquently put it?” Kakyoin chuckled softly. Of course there were still doubts and worries in his mind but for now he’ll stow them away and enjoy Jotaro’s presence. It’s been five whole months after all. This was going to be a long recovery process; for everyone.
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gatorsnot · 5 years
Text
a bunch of personal warriors headcanons because why tf not
kinda a long post so check them out below the cut!
- “brat cat” is a derogatory term for a kittypet. the kittypet stereotype falls into two categories: the “fat and lazy” types that are most frequently brought up in canon and the “spoiled, holier-than-thou” types that openly denounce clan cats and other ferals because they don’t have the “alliance” with twolegs that allows them to be fed and protected by them. these “brat cat” kittypets are the smug assholes that look down their noses at the clans because their beloved owners chase them off with brooms for being “lowly, unbecoming strays” that have to actually HUNT for their food and FIGHT for their turf while THEY just have the luxury of having it all handed to them. undoubtedly more likely to taunt the clan cats into a fight but they definitely get cold paws and the last minute and fuckin bounce because they’re humongous cowards that just like to talk big
- cinderpelt has the doofiest, purest smile than could brighten anyone’s day. she gets it from her dad lionheart
- whitepaw got teased a lot at her first gathering because the other apprentices found out she was brightheart’s daughter and would LOUDLY and OBNOXIOUSLY shout awful shit like “mutant spawn incoming!!” and “UGH i wouldn’t DARE show MY face at a gathering or even on a PATROL if MY mother looked like THAT” and birchpaw just strolled up and was like “haha yeah and if you keep saying that shit you won’t have to worry about showing your face anywhere because i’LL CLAW IT OFF” 
- darkstripe admired tigerstar so much because he was the only kit in the nursery during his youth and tawnyspots was too sick to spend much time with him. like, he admired tigerclaw a great deal because he was constantly trying to show off how strong and cool he was and while the warriors mostly got annoyed with him and the apprentices always made fun of him, tigerclaw mostly just...tolerated him more than the others (perhaps out of a bit of pity because his father was never around for him either and he was the only kit in the nursery once, though he’d never admit this out loud). once darkpaw became tigerclaw’s apprentice the pitying definitely came to a halt because darkpaw turned out to be a poor fighter and sub par hunter, but was very cocky and just tried waaaay too hard to gain attention and praise in general, and as he gradually got better at things, the arrogance got to his head a lot more. needless to say, tigerclaw was IMMENSELY relieved once darkstripe became a warrior, only to be dismayed that darkstripe would always stick to him like a burr on his haunches regardless.
- runts aren’t necessarily considered helpless by default or lost causes by the clans. in windclan, they’re believed to be able to run much faster than their clanmates on the moor or become the best tunnelers. in thunderclan, they’re lighter on their paws and can sneak up on prey much quieter than their heavier counterparts. in riverclan, they’re very efficient swimmers and fishers that are especially good at diving. in shadowclan, they can chase frogs and rats and can be concealed better in shadowy areas of the marsh. all smaller-than-average cats are also praised in battle for their agility and speed, as their size makes them difficult targets. the only main concerns for them are illnesses being too hard for their bodies to fight off.
- firestar didn’t enjoy the kittypet life at all, but he did secretly miss his twolegs for a time and worried about them until he found out about them adopting hattie. their happiness was the most important thing to him even after he joined thunderclan.
- willowpelt didn’t conceive graystripe with patchpelt, but instead with a kittypet she had a classic summertime romance with. they ended their relationship on good terms after the father decided the kits would fare better as clan cats, and willowpelt raised graystripe alone without naming a father to the clan. everyone silently assumes that whitestorm sired graystripe (i just hate that the patch x willow thing...they’re siblings)
- the grief he felt after silverstream’s death (added on by the additional stress of his whole life catching up to him in his old age) very likely contributed to crookedstar’s death from greencough.
- swiftpaw had a really fantastic and close relationship with bramblekit and tawnykit as their half-brother, he always visited them and their mother in the nursery and played with them or brought them treats whenever he could. the pair were utterly destroyed when they learn that he was killed by the dogs.
- appledusk looked remarkably similar to crookedstar, hence why mapleshade targeted him specifically (tho it WOULD be interesting to wonder if she haunted reedshine’s kits and / or shellheart or at least attempted to...hmm)
- cloudtail’s kittypet name was “cotton” during the time he was sneaking to twolegplace for food as an apprentice (after his super fluffy white fur), pinestar’s was “dusty” after he left thunderclan (i know he refers to himself as “pine” at the end of his novella but i honestly doubt his owners called him that lmao; they named him that because he was dirty all the time), and graystripe’s was “pouncer” when he was captured (because of his numerous escape attempts and stuff)
- reena undoubtedly had a crush on talltail and wanted to be his mate, but she was perfectly fine after she put two and two together and realized that he loved jake and didn’t want to interfere with their happiness
- snowfur was completely and utterly disgusted by thistleclaw’s actions toward spottedpaw, and the first thing she does when spottedleaf dies and comes to starclan is apologize profusely for her former mate’s despicable behavior. spottedleaf tells her not to apologize for his atrocity and the two become quite good friends
- sunfall / sunstar had romantic feelings for moonflower and the two of them had always been close friends, but he ultimately respected her decision to be with stormtail. however, he did quietly disapprove of how emotionally distant he was towards his mate and daughters, as he never seemed to interact with them much or even seem to care that he had a family. after moonflower’s death and stonepelt’s early retirement, sunfall directly asked pinestar if he could have bluepaw, feeling that he owed it to the late moonflower to ensure that her kit had the best education. pinestar likely knew about his loyalty to the fallen warrior and his interest in her, so he agreed.
- brambleberry and echomist [nudge nudge lesbians in my stormstar au nudge nudge] DEFINITELY took on the roles of being crookedstar’s adoptive mothers after rainflower disowned him
- breezepelt is a very good daddy to smokehaze, brindlewing, woodkit/paw, and applekit/paw as he always had the desire to be a better parent than crowfeather ever was to him [yes...i read crowfeather’s trial and know all that went on, but still]. his relationship with heathertail is ridiculously dorky in private, since he’s always had a soft spot for her
- sometimes cats with some kind of plant in their name [stuff like “leaf”, “flower”, “stem”, “branch”, “petal”, and so on you get the drill] try to have a piece of whatever plant from their namesake in their fur somewhere [ex: hollyleaf had a holly berry and leaf tucked in by her ear, goldenflower had the stem and flower of something woven around her tail, so on and so forth]. cats with feather or bird prefixes or suffixes try to do the same with feathers
- there’s an old myth that says kits born on the night of a full moon are suspected to grow up and become leaders someday. some cats believe this to be true, while others don’t
- as it is stated that cats must fast during their journeys to the moonstone and moonpool, it is considered a sin to kill prey at both sites. for example, if a cat were to kill a mouse or something in the caves of mothermouth or around the moonpool, their kill is considered to be pollution of the sacred ground and is to be promptly discarded somewhere else, as it would be considered insulting to starclan if they eat it. punishments for breaking this rule depend on the medicine cat or the leader.
- killing a medicine cat is like, one of the WORST atrocities any clan cat could do. it’s as horrific and treasonous as killing a leader, as the medicine cat not only keeps the clan healthy, they also communicate with starclan. imagine someone walking up and killing some sort of religious leader right in front of their congregation. pretty heinous, right? exactly the clans’ point. the only reasons a medicine cat would be killed was if they were intentionally committing treason against their clan [intentionally causing harm through malpractice or intentionally sending false signs from starclan] or if they were gravely ill or injured themselves to the point where they would be better off put out of their misery
- female leaders and deputies can indeed have kits of their own. mothers who happen to be leader usually keep her litters inside the leader’s den instead of moving to the nursery; it’s private, warm, clean, and well-protected. leader mothers can still partake in regular duties such as arranging patrols and hunting parties, addressing the clan, and holding ceremonies, and either has another queen look after her kits should she be absent for some occasion [like a gathering] or leave them with their father if he is involved. deputy mothers, while they most often end up going to the nursery since they usually sleep in the warriors’ den, can also carry out their own duties while another queen looks after her kits in her absence. all that matters is that the kits are loved and properly cared for.
-  as for the unnamed diseases that have killed characters, here’s my takes: tawnyspots died of feline leukemia, pebblefur and shellheart died of stomach cancer, sweetpaw died from complications caused by intestinal parasites (very likely worms that resulted in a blockage), leopardstar died of diabetes (confirmed), ravenpaw died of liver cancer (confirmed), goosefeather died of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain usually caused by infection, confirmed), petalfall died from epilepsy (confirmed), and dandelionkit, mistkit, and nightkit died of fading kitten syndrome (essentially the cat version of failure to thrive). i also think the whitecough is a chest cold, greencough is pneumonia, and that yellowcough could’ve very possibly been feline distemper, but idk
- adoption is considered very noble. i personally really fucking hate the attitude of characters who were adopted finding out and being like “i have been BETRAYED...i can’t believe these ABSOLUTE SCUM loved me, raised me, fed me, protected me, when they were NEVER even related to me by BLOOD? absolutely despicable, i must find my REAL parents and be loved by THEM instead...even if they are total assholes or want nothing to do with me...i can’t believe i was stupid enough to believe these IMPOSTORS were ever really my parents...” it’s just a really stupid mindset?? taking in another’s kits for whatever reason (the mother dies, the parents didn’t want kits, etc.) is considered a great service on the same level as raising their own biological kits. now whether or not said kits grow up and want to confront their birth parents about giving them to someone else or want to know them better is entirely up to them. the clans see adopted kits are better than abandoned ones that could very easily die from exposure or predators, or going through the possibility of them living in an abusive situation because they weren’t wanted or were unable to be cared for correctly.
- speaking of kits, the reason we have the standard “one to four” litter sizes is that overpopulation would be a problem. the average queen in real life can give birth to three to five kittens in a litter, which isn’t too far off from the quantity in the warriorsverse, but also bear in mind real queens can have as many as TEN kittens in a single litter and occasional more. think about it: the mother would need to eat a lot to produce enough milk for numerous mouths; the kits will grow older and want to explore, and there’s a very high risk of one of them slipping out of camp unnoticed and getting into trouble or danger if they’re from a large litter; plus they’ll wean from their mothers and move on to fresh-kill, and a stampede of ten or so hungry kits is going to leave hardly anything for anyone else in the clan, even if they share their food (not to mention, large litters would undoubtedly suffer the greatest during famine, outbreaks of disease, or prey shortages...that’s a lot of bellies to fill and illnesses spread quickly). so tbh i can see where the erins are coming from with the smaller litter sizes in the series, as we all know feral cats are notorious breeding machines
- i do have a few names picked out for kits and apprentices that didn’t live to be warriors, so here’s a few: mosskit would’ve been named mossheart (after her father, oakheart); swiftpaw would’ve been either swiftclaw, swiftstream, swiftwing, or swiftwind; ravenpaw would’ve been ravenflight or ravenswoop (i know he didn’t die but yknow, fun to speculate); sweetpaw would’ve been sweetberry or sweetsong; shrewpaw would’ve been shrewstep; wishkit and hopekit would’ve been wishlight and hopeshine; mistkit and nightkit would’ve been mistfur and nightstone; seedpaw would’ve been seedfern; molepaw would’ve been molenose; gorsepaw would’ve been gorsefire (named after firestar); willowkit and minnowkit (silverstream’s sisters) would’ve been named willoweyes and minnowclaw; snowkit would’ve been snowcloud; finchkit (tallstar’s sister) would’ve been finchfeather; marigoldkit and mintkit would’ve been marigoldleaf and mintfoot; lynxkit would’ve been lynxfang; adderkit would’ve been adderthroat; blossomkit would’ve been blossomsnow; and juniperkit and dandelionkit would’ve been junipertail and dandeliondust.
- darktail was a HUMONGOUS mama’s boy. he loved smoke with all his heart, would’ve done anything for her, and all he wanted in life was to make her proud of him. smoke was also a pretty good mother to him, feeling like she had to make up for her mistake of mating with a clan cat and fawning over darktail because he was the only survivor of the litter. i like to believe that smoke struggled with mental and emotional issues after being rejected by onewhisker/star, and would go off on furious tangents about how horrible clan cats were. darktail grew up watching smoke have these episodes, so he learned to hunt and fight and practiced really hard to she would be happy. needless to say, he was completely crushed when smoke died and mourned her heavily for a long time, and said grief undoubtedly contributed to him pushing so hard to abolish the clans.
- thornclaw and blossomfall were never actually in love, they only had kits together because blossomfall wanted some and thornclaw was getting older and wanted to contribute before he retired to the elders’ den
- brokenstar’s regime was a lot, and i mean a LOT crueler than what the readers were delivered:
she-cats were forced to get pregnant as often as possible, even if they weren’t interested. as soon as their bodies were able to bear more kits after the birth of one litter, brokenstar ensured that they would mate and be impregnated again asap. queens were often overwhelmed by having numerous kits to care for at a time, both older and younger, which led to much neglect the majority of the time. not that brokenstar cared, because to him, more kits meant more warriors. the stolen kits also added to the hoarding. infertile she-cats were often exiled for “not contributing to shadowclan’s destiny of greatness”.
speaking of stolen kits, i like to think that he ordered shadowclan to steal some windclan kits before driving them out of the forest. these kits didn’t fare very well, as they were smaller and skinnier and not as hardy as shadowclan kits, and many of them died save a few. it’s unknown if the stolen kits that did survive brokenstar’s reign ever returned to windclan or spent the rest of their lives in shadowclan since they spent so long there and would struggle to relearn living on the moor.
cats were forbidden from hunting for fresh-kill, as brokenstar believed that all physical and mental energy should be focused on fighting and fighting alone. in the place of prey, they often ate garbage and the carcasses of already-dead animals they found. needless to say, this left everyone prone to illness and nearly all of shadowclan was severely malnourished.
runningnose was forced to present false prophecies and omens to the clan because brokenstar and his main goons forced him to. they were all talk of how shadowclan would rule the forest, all the other clans would fear and serve them and see them as superior in every way. while only brokenstar and his team of muscleheads believed him (and some kits / younger apprentices who were too little to know any better), nearly everyone knew these signs were bullshit. 
fighting among clanmates was nearly constant. most of it was brutal battle practice, while other times it was over pitiful scraps of rotten food or disagreements over how the clan was running. usually cats that tried to leave or go for help were killed or “disappeared”.
- quince went searching for tiny / scourge after she saw that he had run away. she encountered the same two kittypets who warned him not to go into the woods, and explained that he hadn’t listened to them. quince then went into the forest and finally caught scent of her son’s blood and found his bell, and assumed that the clan cats she also smelled in the area had killed him.
- smudge honestly considered following rusty into the forest to join the clans with him despite being terrified of them, as he feared for his best friend’s safety and was heartbroken that he decided to leave. the only reason he didn’t is because he also was worried that his twolegs would miss him and that the clans wouldn’t accept him.
- heathertail and kestrelflight are sister and brother, being born to onestar and whitetail.
- before the whole fire fiasco, ashfur was very, VERY pissed to see that squirrelflight had supposedly gotten pregnant by brambleclaw. when jaykit, hollykit, and lionkit were born and suckled by ferncloud, he ending up straining his relationship with his sister by being very against it, using the whole “brambleclaw’s father killed our mother” thing as a reason why she shouldn’t be caring for them. ferncloud knew that her brother had taken squirrelflight’s rejection very poorly, but she never expected him to take it out on a litter of kits, so she cut ties with him. “those kits should’ve been mine anyway” and “they’ll turn out just like tigerstar” were things often muttered under ashfur’s breath. needless to say, he was less than thrilled to find out he would be mentoring lionpaw, and we all know how their relationship turned out after awhile.
- as stated in canon, daisy and spiderleg’s relationship was never based on the fact that they loved each other; they both felt pressured to supply kits for the clan (daisy because she was tired of some cats thinking she was just there to take up space and made assumptions about her loner roots, and spiderleg because he simply felt that it was his duty). they had a one-night stand, which resulted in toadstep and rosepetal.
- sleekwhisker was like, no doubt trying to force her way to darktail’s side as his main lackey (which she kinda was in canon) and possibly his mate. it was a “love for power” sort of situation rather than her genuinely wanting a life with him, while i don’t think darktail looked at her even as the “boss’s favorite floozy” kind of girl. sleek was more focused on that sweet sense of superiority and control, and darktail likely knew that, so always shot down her advances. they both were pretty much after the same thing, sleekwhisker only kept up a facade of a blushing she-cat wanting a big, strong leader for a mate while darktail was basically more concerned with what he already had going for him, not love or hooking up. 
- bone is barley, violet. hoot / snake, and jumper / ice’s father. though he never actually spoke up about having kits, his sons’ striking resemblance to him and violet’s resemblance to a she-cat bone had been talking to kinda wrapped the question of their parentage among the bloodclan population pretty quickly. their mother fell ill and died unexpectedly, and bone was certainly never active in their lives, so he never stepped up to finish raising them. he didn’t really even care he had children or that his mate died, it was just something that happened. 
- i like to think that berrynose and poppyfrost accidentally ended up falling in love in the midst of helping each other get through the grief of losing honeyfern
- lizardstripe actually ENCOURAGED her kits to bully brokenkit when she wasn’t abusing him herself. she wanted to make it clear to him that he would NEVER be accepted into their family fold, and excused her litter’s behavior as them “toughening him up” since he had to learn to stand up for himself “as he’s got no family outside raggedpelt, it seems”. she was just a shit mother in general, not caring much for her own kits already but she sure as HELL wasn’t going to look after one that wasn’t hers at all. brokenkit was a little burden and pest to lizardstripe, and she wanted to drive that message home as hard as she could, not once stopping to think about the consequences...
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A Question of Terminology
Word count: 2673
AO3
Danny was in the lobby of Amnesty lodge, sitting cross-legged on a plush reclining chair and sketching a vase of flowers that sat on the coffee table in front of her. Jake sat across the room in another plush chair, his legs folded in front of him so that his knees could serve to hold the skateboarding magazine he was reading.
Jake and Danny both looked up when the front door opened to see Aubrey come in holding three heart-shaped boxes in one hand and a bag of, presumably, regular groceries in the other. 
“Yo,” she said with a grin, holding up the three boxes triumphantly, “guess who just got a discount on Valentine’s chocolate because Leo likes me?” 
Jake gave a nod of approval. “Nice.” 
“You really should be wearing a coat,” Danny said, because she always said some variation on this when she saw that Aubrey was outside in the cold wearing nothing but a long-sleeve shirt and a vest. Aubrey had long since stopped trying to answer. She toed off her boots and then went into the kitchen. Jake followed her with his eyes as she put away the groceries.
“So …” he began when it looked like Aubrey was about done. “Are all of those chocolates for Hollis, or were you planning to share some with us?” Aubrey froze, her hand on an open cupboard door. 
Danny tsked. “That’s not fair Jake; don’t try to guilt her into sharing.” 
Jake turned to look at Danny. “I wasn’t -” he said, but then he shook his head. He turned back to Aubrey, who still hadn’t moved. “I mean, sorry. You don’t have to share. I was just asking.” Aubrey shook her head and finished closing the cupboard. 
“No, it’s ok, I bought them to … Why would they be for Hollis? I mean, I guess they could have some if they wanted. There’s no reason they couldn’t. I mean, Hollis likes chocolate, right? I’m sure they do. Do you think I should bring some to Hollis? I could go over tomorrow …” Jake and Danny exchanged a look. “What?” 
“No, it’s nothing,” Danny said, looking at her sketchbook. Jake shrugged. 
“I just thought that people usually bought Valentine’s chocolate for their significant others,” he said. “But you don’t have to give them any; I’m not judging.” He grinned. “More chocolate for me.” Aubrey’s jaw had dropped while Jake was talking. She closed her mouth, opened it, and then closed it again. Then she shook her head slowly and said,
“I don’t … Are you implying that Hollis and I …?” Danny and Jake glanced at one another again. “Because we aren’t,” Aubrey said quickly. “I mean, they’re cool, sure, and attractive I guess, but we’re not, like, together.” Jake tilted his head.
“Huh.” Then, “Are you sure?” Danny and Aubrey both stared at him. Danny said,
“What is that supposed to mean? How could she not be sure?” 
“You’ve been living with her as long as I have. Don’t you think there’s something …” he gestured vaguely, “you know, different about her relationship with Hollis than her relationship with you or me?”
“‘You or I,’” Aubrey interjected. Danny shook her head, still staring at Jake.
“No, he’s right, it’s ‘you or me.’ I mean, yeah, I have noticed that she always smiles when she talks about them, and that she takes longer to get dressed when she’s going to see them, and that she obsesses over things that they say for days-”
“I do not.”
“Yes you do,” Jake and Danny both said at the same time. Aubrey’s eyes narrowed.
“But that doesn’t matter,” Danny continued, finally turning toward Aubrey. “If you say you two aren’t dating, then you aren’t dating. I’m sorry I assumed.” She looked significantly at Jake, who started playing with the zipper on his jacket.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I mean,” he said with a laugh, “obviously you couldn’t be dating someone and not realize it. That’d be wild.” 
“Yeah,” Aubrey said slowly. “Wild.” 
***
Hollis and Bevin had been working on their bikes for a while, moving between periods of silence and meandering conversations about sundry things. 
“I guess Valentine’s Day is pretty soon, huh?” Bevin said, apropos of nothing. “I need to figure out what I’m doing with Tim.” 
“You did romantic homemade dinner last year, right?”
Bevin mhm’d in agreement.
“Gotta up the stakes this year. Can’t let yourself get boring.” 
“Obviously. It’s like an anniversary, each one is more …” Bevin squinted. “I don’t know. It’s just more.” 
“Do you have any ideas?” Hollis asked.
“I don’t know. I’d love to take him somewhere nice, but I just don’t think that’s on the table, you know, financially.”
“Hmm. It’s a shame Valentine’s day is in the winter. It’s a lot easier to do romantic stuff for free in the summer. Picnics, long walks on the beach, starting fires, that sort of thing.” 
“Oh, absolutely. Whoever scheduled it like this was a fucking moron.”
“I think it was the Catholic church - I think they killed a guy and then made a holiday about it?”
“Yep, that makes about as much sense as I expect the Catholic church to make.” They both laughed. 
“On the other hand,” Hollis said slyly, “the cold weather does encourage staying inside and getting close, if you wanna go that route.” 
“Oh, you better believe we’re gonna follow that route all night long. I’m not planning on being able to walk on the 15th. I was just trying to think of how to lead up to that, you know?” Hollis nodded.
“A romantic day of foreplay.”
“Exactly.” 
After a moment, Bevin asked, “What are you doing with Aubrey?” 
“What do you mean?” 
“I mean for Valentine’s Day. What are you two doing?” Hollis looked away from their bike for the first time to stare at Bevin. 
“Nothing.” 
Bevin also stopped what he was doing to meet their gaze. They just looked at each other for a while, foreheads wrinkled in confusion. Then Bevin’s face smoothed, and he said,
“Oh, is this a Wicca thing? I guess that would make sense, that she does different holidays.” Hollis shook their head.
“No, it’s not - well, maybe that’s a thing, I don’t know; Aubrey’s not Wiccan. Though I guess she does kind of celebrate different holidays. She was telling me about the Winter Solstice … I don’t know, maybe she celebrates Valentine’s Day, maybe she doesn’t. But I don’t see why she would be celebrating with me.” 
“Is that … are you fucking with me?” Hollis still looked confused. “Because you two are dating.” Hollis laughed. 
“If that’s true, this is the first I’m hearing about it.” 
“Are you actually being serious? You and Aubrey aren’t together?” Hollis held out their hands. 
“Yes? Why would you think that we were?” 
“I mean, I’ve known you a while. The way you act with her is not the way you act with your friends. Like, you laugh at all her jokes, even when they’re not funny-”
“Maybe she’s just funnier than you.” Bevin shrugged.
“Maybe. What about the fact that you text her about things you’re doing, or thinking about doing? Why do you feel the need to include her in your life decisions?” 
Hollis rolled their eyes and went back to working on their bike while they spoke.
“So I value her opinions about some stuff, what of it? We have a lot in common when you really get down to it, and I trust her. Doesn’t mean we’re dating.” 
“No,” Bevin said, also returning to his bike, “but it doesn’t mean you’re not.”
“Ok, wow, that’s a real solid argument there, Bevin. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I guess Aubrey and I must be dating, then.” 
“Alright, fine, you’ve made your point - there’s nothing going on between the two of you. But, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe there should be.” Hollis scoffed.
“No, you don’t know, and it’s none of your business. Step down.” 
“Right,” Bevin said quickly. He shook his head. “You’re right. Sorry, boss.” 
They lapsed into silence, then. Bevin worked deliberately, focusing carefully on the task at hand. Hollis worked more slowly. More than once they drifted off, their hands stilling and their face going blank. Then they would shake themself slightly and return to their bike, eyes narrowed. 
***
Hollis and Aubrey were curled up on either side of Hollis’ couch, and they were both laughing, though Aubrey was laughing a lot harder. “Right?” Hollis said, “who says stuff like that?” They reached behind themself to grab their tea, took a few sips, and then put it back. Aubrey was still laughing. “Ok, I don’t know if it was that funny.” Aubrey shook her head.
“No, it’s-” She took a breath. “It’s not that. I’m just-” She started laughing again, and held up a hand with her index finger extended. She took a few more breaths, and her laughter subsided, though she was still grinning. 
“I’m laughing because I just had that exact same conversation with Jake.” Hollis raised both eyebrows. “Yeah,” Aubrey said, “I know. But he literally said the same thing, that apparently you and I act like a couple, and he and Danny both thought we were one.” 
“Damn, I didn’t realize there was a whole conspiracy. How deep does this thing go?” 
Aubrey assumed a serious expression and spoke with a gravelly voice. “‘Mr. President, please, I need to know. Are Hollis and Aubrey …’” Aubrey nodded, and then continued with a different voice, “‘Of course they are. Everyone knows that.’” Hollis was laughing, and Aubrey joined them. 
“Oh, that reminds me,” Aubrey said suddenly. “Do you want some chocolate? I got a bunch because it was on sale - well, it wasn’t on sale, but Leo gave me twenty percent off because I’m a friend or family, and Jake thought I bought it for you, which I didn’t, I bought them to share with everyone, because sharing is caring and all that, and you are part of everyone, so I brought a box over. It’s in my bag.” Hollis smiled.
“I’d love some chocolate.” 
Aubrey pulled out the box and placed it on the empty couch cushion between her and Hollis, taking off the lid as she did so. “Oh, uh, the guide is on the bottom,” she said, one hand holding the lid and the other hovering over the box. 
“The most logical and convenient place for it to be.”
“Well, I guess it’s so you can see what you’re getting when you buy it, which was nice when I was buying it.” She started pointing with her free hand. “Ok, that one is caramel I think, unless it’s the strawberry crème. Uhm, that one is just milk chocolate I’m pretty sure. Uhh …” Hollis raised a hand to stop her.
“It’s fine, Aubrey. You know the great thing about a box of chocolates is that it’s like life - you never know what you’re going to get.” Aubrey pursed her lips. She finally put the lid to the side and then held up a hand, the index finger extended. 
“Ok, one, that quote doesn’t even make sense in the first place because that’s a shitty box of chocolates that doesn’t tell you what’s inside.”
“Maybe it’s a metaphor for a shitty life,” Hollis suggested with a shrug. Aubrey inclined her head slightly, then extended a second finger.
“Two,” she said, making eye contact with Hollis before looking toward the box. After a moment, she took one out, bit it in half, and then nodded. “Two,” she continued, the chocolate still in her mouth, “this one has orange in it, so maybe you should be grateful to me for saving your life instead of waxing philosophical about Forrest Gump quotes or whatever.” Hollis rolled their eyes. 
“Alright, granted. Thank you. But for the record, citrus doesn’t kill me; it just irritates my mouth.”
“You irritate my mouth,” Aubrey said immediately. She and Hollis looked at each other for a beat, and then they both burst out laughing. 
“That made no sense,” Hollis said through their laughter. 
Aubrey nodded once. “Yep.” She popped the other half of the orange chocolate into her mouth, and Hollis did the same with a non-orange chocolate from the box. When their mouth was empty again, they said
“You know, Bevin actually had the audacity to say that I laugh at your jokes even when they aren’t funny.” Aubrey gasped.
“Bullshit! All my jokes are funny.”
“That’s what I said!” Aubrey grabbed another chocolate.
“And that's why he thought we were dating?”
“Yeah, I guess. And because I text you more than I text him or whatever.” They waved a hand dismissively. 
“Hm,” Aubrey said, talking with her mouth full again. “Kinda sounds like he’s jealous.”
“Fuck, maybe. I mean, yeah, I’ve given a lot to the Hornets, and I love them, but I should be allowed to have a life outside of them, right?”
“Yeah, of course. If you wanna spend less time with them to hang out with other friends, that’s your prerogative.” Hollis turned around and had another sip of tea. When they put their cup back down they asked,
“So why did Jake and Danny think we were dating?” Aubrey’s hand, holding another piece of chocolate, froze an inch from her mouth. 
“Oh, uh …” She put the chocolate in her mouth and chewed slowly. Then she swallowed and said, “well, apparently I’m always smiling when I’m talking about you-”
“Aww.”
“Shut up. And I guess I take a while getting ready before I go out to see you, which, yeah. I just know that you have a good fashion sense and I want to look … good … for you. Okay, that sounded more romantic than I meant it.” Hollis shrugged.
“No, that doesn’t have to be romantic. I’ve got to say, though, I’m kind of surprised. I always got the impression that you dressed however you wanted, and fuck what other people thought.” 
“Well, I mean, I am going for a certain kind of look. And so are you, which is why you texted me the other day when you were trying to decide what hair dye to get.” Hollis shrugged and inclined their head. “We just have similar styles and we trust each other’s opinions. Not romantic.” 
“No, not romantic. Not necessarily.” Aubrey tilted her head to the side, and Hollis shrugged. “I mean, it could be. If it were other people. Like, two people who acted like we do could be dating. None of this is inherently unromantic.” Aubrey was just staring. “God, I don’t know, nevermind.” They looked away as they picked up a chocolate at random and threw it in their mouth. 
“No, no, I’m sorry. I wasn’t … I was just thinking. Relationships are pretty weird, huh? Like, we can hang out and eat Valentine’s chocolate together, and that’s maybe traditionally a pretty romantic activity, but it’s not weird because we’re just friends. I was just wondering about other things … like, would it be weird if we held hands? Or would it be fine because we’re just holding hands as friends?” 
“I don’t know,” Hollis said thoughtfully. Then they leaned forward and held out a hand. “Wanna try?” Their pulse had quickened a tiny bit. Aubrey smiled.
“Sure.” She leaned over to take Hollis’ hand, and they both took a moment to reposition themselves so they were sitting closer together. Their hands rested comfortably on the couch between them, just next to the heart-shaped box. Aubrey’s breath was a little shallower than it had been a minute ago. 
“... Good?” Hollis asked, an eyebrow raised. Aubrey nodded.
“Mm, yeah.” Then she smirked. “It’s good for me. Is it good for you?” They both chuckled. Hollis nodded.
“Yeah, this is nice.” Their pulse was visible in their throat. “And not necessarily romantic.” 
“No,” Aubrey said, looking down at their entwined fingers. “Not necessarily.”
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Flat Whites & JJ
Mia: Mum can take four of us, so three of you are still going to need to find your way there, Dad's away on a Golf weekend 🤷 Grace: I'll ask if any of the fam can take the rest of us 🤞💜 Mia: Aw, thanks so much, babe Mia: so you're cool not coming with us then? Grace: there's like 1000s of them so 🤷🙄 someone'll will totally be talked or bribed into doing it 💅 Grace: oh yeah sure, it's like not even a problem, babes Mia: 😂😂😂 for real, got to have some upsides, yeah? Mia: Great 💗 Mia: the rest of you, you can only bring what you can hold on your laps, Dad took the range so we're in the sports, the boot is like non-existent 💁🙄 Grace: ugh IKR?! 😂😂😂 Grace: at least we can take SO MUCH of the stuff whoever's behind the wheel, you're so welcome huns Mia: Love a helpful queen Mia: Asia, are you even coming with us or are you going to ditch us for your boyfriend, again 💅 Asia: Of course I'm coming!!! Asia: Literally just got my hair done 👌👌✂ Asia: [and a million pics that nobody asked for] Jimmy: 😍😍😍😍😍 Grace: WOW! SO CUTE Mia: Yeah, but are you coming with us or coming with us like Maya's party where you left SO early with him instead of having a good time with your besties Ella: 😏🍵 Hollie: wasn't so early she didn't have a good time with ME tho! 💃💘 views to prove it Asia: UM like isn't it LAW that what happens at parties stays there?! 🤫🤫 Asia: & he doesn't even wanna come with soooooooo Jimmy: 💔 Ella: Oh, so we're your 2nd choice? 🤔🤔 Mia: 💔 is right, so rude Asia: ???!! Asia: not even Mia: We all heard you, you can't deny it Mia: at least own it, babe, omg Asia: you asked if he was coming?? Mia: Literally no one is concerned about him but you 😂 Mia: shame he's not, I might need your seat, actually Mia: but that's cool, yeah? seeing as you've got so many options Asia: ?????????? Mia: 🤫🤫 Grace: Why might you need her seat though? Spill on who you're trying to bring, thank you Mia: I'm not trying to make this convo all about me Mia: so cringe Mia: we're meant to be planning, thank you Jimmy: Go on, we're obvs all DYING to know Mia: Have to wait and 👀 Mia: be a nice surprise for you all Janis: How will we ever bear the suspense? Jimmy: there's only one of you who's getting mouth to mouth if you stop breathing, soz Janis: Things are looking up, Asia 🤞 Jimmy: I'm SO not going if Asia's not going, FYI Janis: 💔 Mia: There'll be room in whatever you're showing up in Mia: assuming she doesn't ditch you too, it's her thing rn Jimmy: put her on my lap ✔ you don't mind, do you, babe? Ella: 🤢 Jimmy: green's right Jimmy: no need to be jealous, El Ella: Don't ever call me that Jimmy: Babe 💔 come on Jimmy: this TENSION between us Ella: Repulsive and delusional, cute 🙄 Ella: Why are you even in this chat, though 👏 it's not nice to make fun of Asia, or helpful rn Jimmy: Bit rude to chuck me out of a chat she started Jimmy: but alright we can plan without her Jimmy: Mia* Mia: You aren't funny, new boy Jimmy: is that @ Asia's boyfriend or? Jimmy: he's got a name Janis: You aren't funny, babe Janis: what's to plan anyway, we have tents, we have lifts, sorted Hollie: Is Asia coming? Mia: Grace, can you please explain to your sister how much more there is left to do Mia: and Asia why are you like making people ask after you??? hello, answer a question, would you, silence ain't cute Grace: Janis does lowkey have a point, babes, it is chill Grace: she doesn't need or want to be involved in our outfit planning, obvs 😂😂 Asia: I LITERALLY SAID I'M COMING Ella: 🔉 Ella: Why are you shouting though Asia: why are you the volume police, Ells?? OH MY GOD Mia: Obviously Mia: but there's actually important stuff still to do, thanks, like who's getting the drink, for one Mia: Asia needs to calm down and find herself a seat, and a whole new tent if she's going to bring everyone down with her attitude??? Mia: don't take your relationship drama out on us tbh Jimmy: The unfunny dickhead with the unflattering fake ID, duh 👋 Jimmy: Love me again now, don't you? Mia: Don't get excited Mia: I want 2 bottles of vodka Jimmy: You gonna put me on a timeout, an' all? Cute Mia: El? Ella: Same Janis: You know it's a weekend Janis: you two don't need 4 bottles between you Janis: and you aren't even meant to have glass anyway Mia: You suddenly care about the rules? Mia: We'll pay you now, chill out 😂😂 Jimmy: I was waiting for the #flex Jimmy: can rest easy and count my 💰 now Mia: 🙄 you wanna pay for us Mia: literally none of us will be impressed Jimmy: and live off bread and water for the foreseeable? You're alright Jimmy: So poor, me, you just put the reminder out yourself Mia: 💔 Mia: like we're all SOOOO rich Jimmy: 🙄 Mia: like, bang on about it more, so not boring Mia: is anyone else going to order or are you just going to keep him waiting forever? Mia: what's wrong with you lots, like are you being shy Hollie: you bringing up Maya's party has me 🤔🤔🤔 maybe we should chill out with the 🍾🍾 idk Mia: You make those little videos sober, don't think you need to worry about being any more cringe, babe Mia: why are we going if to not have fun, come on now Hollie: WOW, ILY too babe Mia: it is what we 💗 about you Mia: so funny Hollie: 👌👌👌 Mia: OMG, this MOOD Mia: you're all stressing me out, actually over this Grace: Vodka is like totally fine for all of us, okay? Just get enough to have fun with, like Mia said Grace: without getting CRAZY like Hollie warned Grace: then we can all just move on Jimmy: 👍 Mia: Yeah, this is so much fun Mia: 🙄 Mia: I'm over this convo Jimmy: 💔 Mia: El, be ready in 15, okay? Grace: Is that everything? Mia: 🤷 Mia: Like I'm doing all the work for what? Mia: You wanna be boring, you'll have to work it out yourselves Grace: I'm literally asking so you don't have to do it all yourself, honey Mia: I said, I'm over it Mia: We're going shopping, you can all do what you want Grace: Ugh Grace: everyone stop Ella: The problem is you're doing nothing though? 💁 Grace: Excuse you? Ella: What? 😂 Grace: That's like the opposite of helping Grace: I'm trying to sort everything out Ella: 👌👌👌 Grace: Do you wanna talk to Asia rn? cos I don't think you appreciate how upset she is Grace: That's what I'm doing Ella: Such a saint 🙏 Ella: she's got nothing to be upset about, just like the rest of you, this is such a joke Grace: mhmmm Grace: we all know you wanna call the whole thing off, Ella Grace: but maybe the rest of us wanna go, so like ?? Don't be so rude Ella: That's why me and Mia are the only ones who have made any suggestions in this chat??? Ella: Okay Grace: 4 bottles of vodka isn't a suggestion, it's a shopping list Ella: We all know you can't handle your drink Ella: so why don't you ask for some cocktails in a can and get realistic about it Grace: 🙄🙄🙄 Mia: El, leave it Mia: this chat is so hormonal Grace: Call off your clone please, so over her Ella: Ha, now who's excused Ella: what was that about green? Grace: yeah cos I was so in favour before Grace: okay Grace: I literally don't care, count me out if this is how it's going to be the whole time Ella: The tantrums 😂 Ella: your sister finally invites you to something and this is how you act Grace: my sister isn't the one being a total bitch, you are Grace: eat something, you'll feel better Ella: Seen enough changing room meltdowns to know that's not worked for you, hun 😚 Mia: This is so toxic and we all know why Asia: I don't Mia: 🙄🙄🙄 Mia: God 😂 Mia: she speaks Hollie: stop shading her Mia: And another one Hollie: her and her bf will be done before the tents are set up, like hello? Hollie: it's not worth dragging her over Asia: 😱😱😱 Asia: Hollie! Mia: Wow Mia: it says so much about you that you only pipe up when things get bitchy Mia: both of you, where was this enthusiasm earlier? Damn, say how you really feel, Hols Hollie: I have to do my own dirty work 🤷 Hollie: if Ells had a twin too, I could sit back and get comfy too Mia: No one's asked you to be such a bitch Mia: this is why people don't fuck with you, so uncomfortable 😬 Hollie: yeah cos only you two are allowed, isn't it? Hollie: is it a boy you've invited? Mia: 😂 show me where Hollie: maybe where Ells is about to pull Gracie's weave out? Hollie: or when you uninvited Asia cos you're so salty that she has a bf Mia: Grace is trying to threaten she's not coming and Asia is clearly doing the same since no one uninvited her Mia: like, try to hide your drama behind us some more Mia: we're shopping for outfits, MY mum is driving us, I've paid for my drinks? Mia: sort your lives, honestly Hollie: my drama is you, you're being cringey bitches and I'm so done 👌 Asia: So I can come with you? Ella: Mime to a sad song, you'll feel better Ella: duh, Asia Hollie: I'll feel better when that boy you have a crush on, who I won't name to the entire chat cos I'm not that bitch, slides into my DMs again Hollie: thanks so much though, Ells Ella: It's tragic you think that means anything Ella: as if you've ever made it to the tent being put up Hollie: It's sooooooo funny that you think that's going to get to me Hollie: I don't want a 💍 and you know it Ella: that's lucky Ella: don't think they do engagement rings in man-sized Jimmy: Well I'm fucked then Jimmy: soz babe, the proposal's cancelled Mia: Are you two legit still here? Mia: That's even more pathetic than you three, you're in luck Jimmy: waiting on my shopping invite, no manners, you Mia: You've got your list Jimmy: But how can I join the cult if you don't tell me the dress code Jimmy: Kool-Aid's on order, like Mia: 🦗🦗 Mia: less reaction than your fake proposal bombshell, I am SO sorry, sweetie Jimmy: I proper felt that, you should go to drama school Ella: and Brits are meant to be decent at sarcasm Ella: try harder, new boy Jimmy: What's sarcasm? Please tell us, attack dog #1 Ella: Get Grace to, seeing as she's such a martyr Ella: Asia's stopped blubbing now Grace: Get over yourself and my name out of your mouth, hun Grace: your changing room meltdown atm isn't my problem Ella: OMG, a real-life 👼 Ella: deigning to talk to us commoners for a sec Ella: you wanna talk about names in your mouth, be sure to tell Asia what you said about her after she left Maya's, k 😘 Grace: Jesus loves everyone babes, even you Mia: 💁 so true Mia: make sure your hands are clean before you start pointing the finger, Gracie Grace: Oh please, I was drunk after I left that party cos OBVS I can NEVER handle my drink, DUH Grace: Do we wanna take a moment to talk about what you both said about my sister and her boyfriend after they invited us to this festival or no? Mia: Try on another excuse, see if that one fits Ella: 😏 Ella: doubt it Grace: we for sure don't wanna take any moments to discuss body image, unless of course you really would like to leave the chat and focus on your ootds Ella: 🐢🌵💚 Asia: ??? Asia: what does that even mean?? Ella: She knows Ella: Asia are you at home? Asia: not my home Asia: why? Ella: to pick you up Ella: you still need to get stuff too, right? Asia: OH Asia: I'll get him to drop me off rn Ella: 🙌 we'll wait 💗 Asia: 👌💗 Mia: We'll do nails and tan after, Dad's paying Asia: I can't tan too dark tho it'll clash with 💇 Mia: 'course, babe, that'd be so cringe Mia: you'll look amazing 😘 Asia: 💗💗💗 Mia: k, toodles 👋 Asia: SO excited Ella: Us too 💃🍾 Hollie: 🙄🙄🙄 Ella: Your negative energy is really draining Ella: speak up if you've got a problem, Hols, maybe we can help Hollie: I just can't remember stepping into a time machine and popping out again when we were like 12 tbh Ella: Your backne is acting up again? Ella: Worst timing, the sun will do it wonders though, don't worry Hollie: 😂 Ella: See, that's more like it Ella: positivity, ladies Hollie: Mia, are you really doing this? Mia: Doing what, babe? Hollie: you know Hollie: 🥶🥶🥶🥶 Mia: I really don't, though Mia: sorry 😕 Mia: DM me if you don't want to say it in front of them, yeah Hollie: okay Hollie: be really cool if you could swat Ells off your shoulder first though Hollie: just saying Mia: Why are you being like, jealous Mia: so weird Mia: we're all friends, 'cos we're not 12 😂 Hollie: check your inbox Hollie: you won't be BFFs with her when you read that Ella: Beg an invite harder Hollie: you'll be begging to keep yours, babes Hollie: gonna have to do your own tan, uh oh Ella: You'd know all about that Ella: 🍊🍪😷 Asia: OMG yay! I understood that time Ella: 😂 it'd be hard to miss, right babe Ella: bless Asia: 😂😂
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thesportssoundoff · 5 years
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“A great card on the 4th Of July weekend? Feels good man” UFC 239 Preview
The UFC PPV schedule rarely gives us goodies back to back but we all have to admit that UFC 238 and UFC 239 may be on paper the best back to back cards since December when we got Ortega-Holloway and all the madness under it with a pretty damn good Jones-Gus headlined show. As is becoming the case, the UFC has stacked yet another Jon Jones card as our International Fight Week festivities come to a close with the stupendously intriguing fight card. The headliner pits the greatest fighter of all time vs the most violent fighter of the modern era in a fight that'll be weird and wacky if nothing else, the co-main event could in theory be a fight to determine who the greatest women's mixed martial artist of all time is and while this card clearly has been dinged by losing JDS vs Ngannou, it's hard to argue with Diego Sanchez vs Michael Chiesa, Jan Blachowicz vs Luke Rockhold and even Jorge Masvidal vs Ben Askren should be pretty intriguing. The prelims are neither good nor bad; they feel like a mix of proven veterans (Gil Melendez and Alejandro Perez) testing potential future something's (Song Yadong and Arnold Allen) plus Marlon Vera  fights are never boring. Throw in Randa Markos vs Claudia Gadelha and some intriguing prelim stuff and it's a damn fine card. Let's take a fightin' journey together.
Fights: 12
Debuts: Julia Avila
Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (Sean O'Malley OUT, Neholin Hernandez in vs Marlon Vera/Francis Ngannou vs Junior Dos Santos MOVED/Melissa Gatto OUT, Pannie Kianzad IN vs Julia Avila)
Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 12 (Jon Jones, Thiago Santos, Holly Holm, Amanda Nunes, Jorge Masvidal, Jan Blachowicz, Luke Rockhold, Diego Sanchez, Michael Chiesa, Gilbert Melendez, Randa Markos, Claudia Gadelha)
Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 1) (Gilbert Melendez)
Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 7 (Jon Jones, Diego Sanchez, Thiago Santos, Edmen Shahbazian, Arnold Allen, Yadong Song, Amanda Nunes)
Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC): 26-12
Jon Jones- 2-0 Thiago Santos- 8-1 (!!!!!!!) Amanda Nunes- 3-0 Holly Holm- 2-2 Jorge Masvidal- 2-2 Ben Askren- 1-0 Jan Blachowicz- 4-2 Luke Rockhold- 1-1 Michael Chiesa- 1-2 Diego Sanchez- 2-2
Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):
Welterweight- 3 (38) Light Heavyweight- 2 (27) Women’s Bantamweight- 2 (10) Bantamweight-  2 (33) Women’s Strawweight- 1 (18) Middleweight-  1 (21) Featherweight- 1 (30)
Lightweight- (42) Heavyweight- (18) Flyweight- (8) Women’s Flyweight-  (18) Women’s Featherweight- (6)
2019 Number Tracker
Debuting Fighters (17-39)- Julia Avila, Nohelin Hernandez
Short Notice Fighters (16-23)- Nohelin Hernandez, Pannie Kianzad
Second Fight (38-12)- Ismail Naurdiev, Pannie Kianzad, Ben Askren
Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (12-23)- Holly Holm, Luke Rockhold, Gilbert Melendez
Undefeated Fighters (24-26)- Ben Askren, Edmen Shahbazyan
Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (9-8)-
Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (17-13)- Holly Holm, Luke Rockhold, Pannie Kianzad
Twelve Precarious Ponderings
1- Two of the UFC's biggest title fight "upsets" on paper happened on the big July PPV with DC KO-ing Stipe and Weidman KO-ing Silva. That's not even to account for Nunes finishing Meisha where Nunes was a slim underdog on paper. Can Santos or Holm find some magic in those numbers?
2- So how fun does Jon Jones want this to be necessarily? Make no mistake the path to victory for Jon Jones is versatile but the easiest one involves Jones wrestling Santos against the fence, making him pay with dirty boxing, taking him down, getting to mount and going for the rear naked choke or hellbows. The reality though is that Jones is not the same super explosive freak of nature athlete and while he may have slowed somewhat, he's probably never been more cerebral and calculated in the cage. He doesn't have those big offensive explosions anymore and he has decided to take things slowly and pick his shots. Removing the DC head kick KO where Jones had a fair bit of trouble and had to adapt in a grueling fight, all of Jones' fights since 2014 or so have been paced so much better where he allows his range and reflexes to shut down an opponent's offense while relying on a long jab and some of MMA's best footwork to punish them from a safety zone. HE chooses to operate methodically and force an opponent to will him out of that. So how fun does Jones want this to be? Will he take his time or will he try to be flashy?
3- One of the weirder knocks I've read recently about Jones is the idea that he's not exciting anymore. While I can agree he's more methodical, I find it hard to believe people could assume he's "boring" now. Either way I wonder if the UFC picked Santos over other fighters (Dom Reyes namely) because they figure Santos win or lose will bring a fight to Jones and they'll have something to talk about.
4- Holly Holm vs Amanda Nunes is interesting in large part due to the dueling narratives at play. If you're a Holly fan, so much of Nunes' vulnerability (cardio, the ability to fight with tempo deep into a fight, her adaptability) will be tested by Holly Holm. Holly always comes in with a pretty solid gameplan and I'd imagine they have plenty of Amanda's tendencies down pat heading into this fight. A win over Nunes and Holly Holm If you're a Nunes fan, Amanda Nunes could in theory be the first woman in the UFC to KO Holly Holm which would only cement her legacy further. Finish victories over Holly Holm, Cyborg Santos, Germaine De Randamie and Meisha Tate would pretty much make her in the running for greatest mixed martial artists ever and as previously discussed elsewhere, she'd have wins over six former UFC champs (Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko, Holly Holm, Ronda Rouse, GDR and Meisha Tate) with a win over Holm.  It has the makings of a kinda blegh fight on paper since Holm tends to be in those kinda fights but it's such a significant fight for both women.
5- I feel like so much of this fight revolves around who does what first; how quickly does Holm start to circle aimlessly because she has no entrance offensively vs how quickly is Nunes fading back against the fence looking for counter opportunities because she's flummoxed/hurt/stunned?
6- Is Luke Rockhold under more pressure than any other fighter here on this card? A win and Rockhold is probably the #1 contender since Dominick Reyes is MIA currently, Jones just dusted off Anthony Smith and Corey Anderson is never going to get a title shot by virtue of being the decisionator. If Rockhold beats Jan then he's probably got a clear runway lane for a title shot. Conversely if he loses, Rockhold would be 1-3 in his last four fights with soul crushing losses in back to back fashion in TWO weight classes. That's the end of the line for a dude who can go be a model, right?
7- I know it's exciting for a lot of people but you can't convince me Askren vs Masvidal isn't going to be like Maia vs Masvidal aka a very long way to go for a 29-28 split decision where Jorge Masvidal feels like he was robbed.
8- Michael Chiesa looked really good at 170 lbs and it's a bit of a shame he didn't get a really important step up in competition for his encore performance. Instead Chiesa gets Diego Sanchez who is coming off two wins BUT both of those wins were pretty limited in terms of opposition. This is still the same guy who gets smelted by any sort of striker with frequent-ish regularity so I'm imagining that Chiesa has a round or two to find Diego's chin and pick up a big time win on the biggest show of the year thus far.
9- The ESPN prelims have two fights with some intriguing upside potential on paper if you're the rambler gambler type. Claudia Gadelha is a healthy favorite over Randa Markos but there's two factors at play that I'd be concerned about; 1) Claudia Gadelha's rapid decline and 2) Randa Markos' weird ability to win fights she shouldn't win. On the other hand as good as Yadong Song has looked in his fights, he did struggle somewhat down the stretch vs Vince Morales when Morales began to go to the body more often. Alejandro Perez is one of those dudes who stays just active enough to be a high profile spoiler and this has some spoiler potential on it.
10- CHITO VERA IS BACK!
11- Is this the last time we ever see Gilbert Melendez in the UFC? I'd imagine Coker would happily do Chandler vs Melendez, right?
12- Ismail Naurdiev is the guy who basically survived the Michel Prezares clusterfuck and lived to tell the tale about it. He's back vs Chance Recountre in what HAS to be a showcase fight.
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serenagaywaterford · 5 years
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#5 - Oh man, reading your latest chapter, lots of tension, I caught myself mouthing, ‘don’t do it! Don’t do it! Don’t do it!’. ...Aaaaand, she’s done it. Fuck! No idea where it’s going at all, good stuff! Anyway, this also made me think, how much blame do the refugees place on Serena individually? Everyone is at least okay sitting in the same room with her, begrudgingly, of course, but still. They don’t know how cruel she was to June, and if they don’t think she’s directly responsible for
the rise of Gilead, I guess they can tolerate to a degree. I am still not clear on how involved she was, either. She was the face of SOJ in the beginning, then got pushed aside eventually. We know she was pushing for “fulfilling one’s biological destiny”, to be honest, in the face of extinction, it’s not really an outrageous stance(I’d let the human race die out, but surely I am in the minority). And she did help write the law to take away women’s right to read and write. So that’s reallyfucked up, but what exactly is “help”, that could go a lot of different ways, I think. Anything else? Which happened first, the theater scene where they found out the bombing of 3 branches? Or when she was about to give her speech, and was told by Fred they said no thanks. That’ll determine whether she was part of the planning, maybe? Anyway, I am planning a rewatch before season 3 premiere, hopefully I learn something new...
------------
>:DDDDD 
Heh. I’m glad it came out like that cos that’s what I felt writing it!!! I was hoping it came across the way I wanted. Like, you just really don’t want this dumbass to pull her usual shit... but alas...
You know, I’ve wondered that myself--just in general, even in canon. Cos the only thing we really see is 2x09 and none of the Osborne crew seem to particularly notice Serena whatsoever. They’re focused on Fred and his demonself. Luke and Moira are specifically targeting him and sort of just... ignore Serena. So, I would assume there’s sort of “Well, she’s just his wife.” But then when you think about Moira, she was way more informed than Luke and you’d think she’d know Serena was the face of the movement at the beginning at least. Hanging out with activists and feminists like Holly, you’d think Moira would be well aware of Serena’s famous “domestic feminist” book and her role in the whole movement that eventually led to Gilead down the line. Even in my most basic feminist philosophy courses, we read pieces and books by anti-feminist writers. 
So Moira staying completely schtum over Serena was interesting. Either she doesn’t know, or doesn’t think Serena contributions were that influential, or she doesn’t care cos Fred is the worse of the two. She is strictly focused on Fred. I think Moira could reasonably assume that June’s suffered because of Serena, as any Handmaid will undoubtedly suffer as a Wife just stands idly by--at best, and aggressively participates in her abuse at worst. Moira has no way of knowing which Serena was without speaking to June about it. I think she could assume Serena’s not just a meek wallflower but regardless, in canon, Moira seems to not really care about Serena one way or the other. She’s a nonentity.
I’m also unsure exactly what the Canadians (esp. the govt) know. They seem to know about what happens in Gilead but how much of Serena’s specific contributions? Like there are 3 people who hint at things towards Serena: Tuello, the Foreign Affairs minister, and the lady with the kid at the elevator. The latter two could easily be talking merely about Serena being an active perpetrator of terrible things against women, someone who maintains the status quo.
Tuello’s the only one who mentions that she’s betrayed her country, and he’s “read a lot about her”. But what any of that really means and more importantly, whether he was being honest about her reward for flipping on Gilead is debateable. He seemed genuine in giving her the offer of freedom, writing a book, Hawaii, and a baby. They clearly don’t think she’s a terrible war criminal if they’re gonna let her off the hook that easily. The propaganda and intel she could give them is apparently worth way more than holding a criminal accountable. So to me, iff he’s not lying just to get her onto American soil where they can put her on trial and execute her, that would imply that either the US government doesn’t know how involved she was in the bombing of DC, or they don’t care cos she’s worth more as a tool rather than an example, or she wasn’t actually that involved and they know it. 
Cos, really, all we know is she and Fred talked about bombing DC--somehow--but again, by that point it seemed Serena was out of the important discussions anyway cos Fred was bitching about how the SOJ don’t have any balls and he was waiting on them for approval. And that was also before she wrote a second book (that she would never end up needing to write). So, really how much did Serena participate in the overthrow? Did she at all other than chatting about it with Fred? Was it her idea that he ran up the flagpole to the committee bigwigs? (I suspect this option was the case. She seems much more certain about it than he does, and he says “we proposed”. This would also explain why no one really knows her full involvement cos it was all done via Fred, like everything). We already know she wasn’t involved in anything related to Handmaids, or the Colonies, or basically any of the actual working reality of Gilead. She just maintains it and profits from it.
Anyway, in my fic/headcanon, I have Moira knowing more details about Serena’s behaviour than she seems to in canon but possibly not the worst bits because June would have to share those, and while I think she would open up about a lot of her experience, I feel like she wouldn’t rehash everything. So Moira would know that Serena basically represents everything she’s against, and, someone who has directly hurt June. But I think she’d still see Fred as the ultimate evil. And honestly, June is the most important person to Moira so she’d put up with shit she doesn’t agree with for her best friend’s sake. She doesn’t strike me as someone who gives ultimatums to her friends. Personally, that rarely works out well for the person giving them and at this stage, with all their experiences, I don’t think either of them would want to put the other in a position that would strain their friendship at all. It’s too precious.
We know she was pushing for “fulfilling one’s biological destiny”, to be honest, in the face of extinction, it’s not really an outrageous stance(I’d let the human race die out, but surely I am in the minority).
(Shhh... I’m with you. I’d rather we all just die out if it came down to that.) And also, I have to agree that Serena’s stance is actually not all that outrageous if healthy birthrates/infant survival rates fell by 60% in a single year and humanity was facing extinction. Would I advocate for forced pregnancies? No, of course not. But insisting women take seriously their “biological destinies” is actually not radical at all. I have this rant in my drafts about this whole issue and how what Serena is saying is not that different from what I argue the majority of people on this planet already believe. It’s a huge discussion but as someone who refuses to have children even though I’m perfectly capable of it, I’m constantly bombarded with the exact same sentiment, just put in more “polite”/less aggressive terms. But it’s the same damn idea. Ugh. It’s presented to me more like, “Isn’t it time you started thinking about having kids?”, “Don’t you want kids?”, “I want grandchildren.”, “Children are what’s important. Don’t you think?” etc. etc. Just guilt trip after judgement after criticism after guilt trip again.
So, to me, I don’t think a lot of people would actually have much of a problem with Serena’s stance when faced with a birth crisis like that... scarily. The whole concept of no babies makes people freak the fuck out and go completely NUTS. (I think a lot about Children of Men when these sorts of discussions come up, and compare that with what countries do or have done to counteract falling populations.) I don’t think it’s much of a stretch. The whole Gileadean Handmaid system is a totally different monster (and completely ridiculous and ineffective and stupid, besides being horrific. It’s just... dumb.) but Serena’s assertions that women needed to have more babies seems fairly reasonable for someone to say and believe in the face of extinction. How they get people to do that is the thing I don’t think she really thought through??? 
That’s partly why I don’t really understand why she was so hated. From what I know about life even when there is no birth crisis, most people do think women should have children, especially after a certain age--whether they themselves want them or not. We owe it to other people (whether its a spouse, family, or humanity in general) in our lives to have children, apparently. My father actually mentioned something along those lines once. I apparently was a bad daughter because babies give people hope when they’re sad, and society needs hope therefore I should have all the babies I can??????? 
From Yvonne’s perspective she assumes Serena wanted women to save humanity. Which sounds rather noble really, and yes, it’s very much maternal feminism. “The world needs the work and help of the women, and the women must work, if the race will survive.”
[An interesting sidenote about first-wave domestic/maternal feminism is that it did not diminish the role of the woman. It actually held women had important, distinctive roles in society, the household, and politics. (Many of the original maternal feminists were also suffragettes...) Being a mother and housewife was a “natural occupation” for women. In contrast, pure domestic feminism at it’s core basically didn’t want women’s participation in politics, but wanted them to have more autonomy in their households. There is a distinction between them, but maternal incorporates domestic feminism and combines it with social feminism of the late-19th and early 20th century. Sometimes what Serena seems to promote is more maternal feminism than core domestic feminism. I mean, maternal feminism’s main maxim was that motherhood was the be all and end all of womanhood which sounds mighty familiar... and that women were biologically superior to men, lol.
Also, as a Canadian, most of our most venerated women in early-modern history (Famous 5) were, as it turns out, maternal feminists--amongst other problematic typically white feminist things lol. I always find the title of Serena’s book to be a reference to Nellie McClung, a maternal feminist who said, “A woman's place is in the home; and out of it whenever she is called to guard those she loves and to improve conditions for them.” That second bit is often left out, but I suspect Serena would have been aware of it as well.]
I also don’t think people generally take domestic/maternal feminists very seriously either. So for people to be so outraged by Serena’s book to attempt assassination? Either she did/said a BUNCH of terrible shit we haven’t seen nor heard about, or it was just a clunky plot device to make us believe Serena is Very Evil and Bad. Like, lbr, domestic feminism doesn’t cause that much of a fuss even on university campuses and as far as we’re told, the book is only about that. Nothing else. It’s about how women should stay at home, raise children, take care of their husbands, etc. Outdated, idiotic thinking? Yes. Worthy of a violent riot? Um. No. (And this is backed up by Yvonne’s take that Serena was NOT thinking about women being stripped of all rights, or Handmaids, etc. So, what exactly was she saying that made the kids so angry as to call her a Nazi cunt?) It’s all very nonsensical imo. I assume there was a bunch of anti-abortion stuff, cos that follows from her line of thinking. And I suppose that could enrage people... But what else? There are loads of pro-life activists everywhere all the time and none of them are getting shot at.
[I suppose a lot of maternal feminists have historically been proponents of eugenics (in the sense of forced sterilisation of the “mentally deficient”, not race based) so... yeah. That would make people get really angry, and justifiably so. They also have been nativists. I don’t put it past Serena to subscribe to that ideology tbh. But if she’s a true domestic feminist, that wouldn’t really be part of her core beliefs. If she’s a maternal feminist, it probably has more change of being in there. However, we don’t really see any evidence of what Serena actually believes other than women should have more babies and their place is in the home raising their children, not in politics. Assuming that’s what the Mexican ambassador is referring to when she calls “A Woman’s Place” domestic feminism. I think we can assume she probably had some pro-eugenics ideas, an strict anti-abortion ones too. And considering the real woman Atwood based Serena on, it makes sense she’d hold these views too. Although we don’t see her actively talking about them.]
“but what exactly is “help””
I also wondered about this. A lot. Like what does “help” mean in the context? Comparing 1x06 and 1x10 is just... ??? (But I yapped about that crap in my other rant haha. I still don’t get it.) 
Which happened first, the theater scene where they found out the bombing of 3 branches? Or when she was about to give her speech, and was told by Fred they said no thanks.
The way I see it, based on Serena’s wardrobe going more and more plain and conservative, I’d line it up with 
1st: Serena’s book speech at the university, 
2nd: Serena getting locked out of the meeting, 
3rd: the movie theatre bit. 
My reasoning other than Serena’s changing wardrobe (going from pants & styled hair & makeup, to plain ugly “modest” dress and plain LDS type hair style) is that by the movie theatre bit Serena’s at home doing flower arranging, and by the way she’s talking, it’s been a while since she wrote her first book. She’s just considering writing a second one about fertility as a natural resource. Also, the college speech/gunshot gave no indication that they were part of any organised terrorist group yet. It seemed to be just her and Fred--although clearly by the time Fred murders the gunman and his girlfriend, there’s some sort of militia group he’s in cahoots with. The only reason I place the meeting lockout in between is cos Serena still seems to believe she has some involvement with the committee but by the movie theatre time, she seems resigned that it’s only Fred who participates. Also, again, her wardrobe is halfway between the college scene and the cinema one, and it seems to be the final time Serena attempts to be directly involved and Warren makes that pretty clear.
Also, by the pre-cinema scene, they’re being followed by the FBI. I feel like the events of the college riot wouldn’t have happened (esp. Fred being able to point blank murder two students in broad daylight if the FBI was tailing him. Or had any suspicions about his violent coup plans at all.)
Serena just seems so much more resigned to playing the housewife role in the theatre scene than she does in the meeting scene. That’s just how it comes off to me. Whether or not I’m right, who knows lol. I also think the committee seems much more robust in the theatre scene than the meeting one. Like if you’re getting a green light for a terrorist attack on DC, I’d assume the committee has defined itself much better than it had in the non-meeting scene when Fred didn’t even seem to know the rules. It seemed like Warren puts the final nail in that coffin for women.
The only flashback scene I can’t figure out is the sex scene. All I can tell is that it’s before the theatre scene. It could be prior to the college riot, prior to the meeting, after either of those?? Who knows. It doesn’t really matter I suppose. The only point to it is that Serena calls the shots, and they’ve been praying and trying for a baby for a while. Meh.
I can sort of see how it could be argued the opposite way though... That the theatre scene happened before the lockout one, but I’m not sure. I dunno, I guess I could even see how you could argue that the college scene is after those. I’m not sure if I totally buy it though.
Honestly, if you figure it out, please do let me know! :D x
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mysticdrabbles · 6 years
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what's everyone in the rfa's favorite christmas songs?
Zen:
He likes the romantic ones
“All I Want for Christmas is you~♡“
He also likes anything that’s a duet he can sing with his sweetheart. 
Even if you say you don’t sing
He’ll find a way to convince you.
And if not, you can always lip sync!
(He can try and sing both parts for you!)
If he has his way it will turn into a whole musical number, complete with choreography and backup dancers.
He likes “Baby It’s Cold Outside” because romantic Christmas duets????
But because of the controversy surrounding it and how it can be interpreted badly, he offers to sing the girl’s part instead if you’re a girl.
(He’ll play it up for you too, acting all delicate and innocent, fluttering his eyelashes up at you as you hold him in your arms, to make you laugh)
It always ends in you two either giggling or kissing.
Or both.
Yoosung:
Punk Goes Christmas.
Not that he doesn’t like classic Christmas carols! He does. 
He loves family Christmas time listening to family Christmas classics.
He just thinks they’re kind of… boring sometimes? He likes them, but he won’t go out of his way to listen to them on his own.
But if his favourite bands have Christmas music, why wouldn’t he listen to it during Christmas? 
His favourite song is “I Don’t Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You” by The Ready Set. 
He dedicates this one to his future s/o~
assuming he’s not going to be alone forever T_T
(You’re just standing there like I’m right here just ask me out already)
Jaehee:
Jaehee likes the default classic Christmas songs.
She doesn’t dance or sing along with them, but she likes having them in the background when she has time to relax.
Or putting them on in the background while she’s working late at home during the holidays (T_T)
It makes her feel like even though she’s working she’s still celebrating the holidays.
She also really likes when popular singers and actors she likes release albums of Christmas covers.
(Low-key dropping hints to Zen that he should release one)
“Haha, yeah, that’d be fun.”
No Zen you don’t understand she really wants this just do it
Jumin:
The Jingle Cats.
If you don’t know what that is, Here’s the Link.
(You’re welcome.)
He’s been a huge fan since the day he saw the first video. 
He’s watched them all.
He even paid the creator to make the same kind of thing with Elizabeth the 3rd. 
It’s his ringtone.
Seven:
He hates Christmas carols. 
He has memories of them just like everyone else does. His memories suck.
He remembers hearing them in the background when he went out as a kid to get food for Saeran, or hearing faint Christmas carols from the windows of neighbours who didn’t notice or care what was going on in their house on this supposedly jolly day.
All his memories of Christmas are feelings of guilt and pain.
He hates Christmas.
Some years he’ll lie just lie on his bed for hours listen to the sadder Christmas songs and wallow in misery
(“Christmas Just Ain’t Christmas Without The One You Love”. “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. Stuff like that.)
When he gets his brother back though, his Christmas angst lightens up almost immediately. 
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” is his favourite now. For meme reasons.
“Santa Baby” is up there too. Also for memes. 
(Saeran can’t even listen to the song anymore without remembering his brother in that dress. Way to ruin a classic for him, Saeyoung.)
Saeran:
Saeran doesn’t know very many.
His experiences with Christmas carols are all very brief and distant 
And he doesn’t really know how he feels about them?
(He always wanted to have a normal, happy Christmas as a kid. 
He still kind of does.
But he never got to have one. So he has mixed feelings.)
He does sort of like the classics though. Mostly the bright, cheery ones.
Not loud in-your-face ones like “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
The gentle ones like “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Winter Wonderland”.
And “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” of course ;)
(Secretly, his favourite Christmas song is “Grown Up Christmas List”.
Don’t tell anyone. He doesn’t want the others to know he’s an emotional cinnamon roll.)
V:
V likes acoustic covers of Christmas songs.
Ones that have that chill indie feeling with soft guitar and vocals.
He likes looking up covers on YouTube. 
He likes them because he feels like they’re more natural and genuine than Christmas songs produced by a studio. 
He has a few artists that he especially likes.
He likes classic religious Christmas songs, because they remind him of going to church with Jumin and his family when they were younger.
They sang Christmas songs in the choir together, so he has a lot of good memories attached to those songs.
(Jumin likes them for the same reason, but he didn’t mention in in his section, because. You know. Jingle Cats. He has priorities.)
Vanderwood:
Fuck Christmas by Eric Idle. 
…what, you’re expecting more? 
Nope. 
They have no positive memories of Christmas
And unlike the twins, they’ve never bothered wishing for a happy Christmas. 
They know there’s no point thinking about such things, so they don’t bother. Christmas isn’t for people like them, whatever, they accept that.
They’re not in denial they swear.
When they’re with you, they’ll still complain about hearing the same six songs over and over again all the damn time, but they secretly start growing on them now that they have positive memories to associate with the songs.
Whatever your favourite is, that’ll probably end up being their favourite just because it makes you smile. 
(They will not tell you this. You can pry this cheesy secret out of their cold dead hands.) 
Want to see more? 
Visit my Masterlist
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aceofstars16 · 6 years
Text
Appreciation Post...of a sort...
Just some thoughts some not as popular Stranger Things characters. Some of them don’t have much screen time at all so some stuff might be more headcanons but...I don’t know, just an appreciation post for some less appreciated characters.
Feel free to add any characters/headcanons/observations!
Kali Prasad
She’s been through a lot just like El, probably subjected to experiments and everything until she managed to get away
Despite being so young, she never forgot about El
When El shows up, she immediately accepts her and try o make El feel at home/fit in with her crew
Despite wanting El to stay with her, she lets El go, even saying early on that El can leave if she wants to
She’s far from perfect, after all she has kind of focused on getting revenge instead of moving on but that’s the only way she sees for her to move on and stay safe
And there was the whole her messing with El’s head about Brenner but I think she just didn’t want El to leave and she wanted to help her heal (or at least how she thought El needed to be healed/helped)
Kali is definitely not good but she’s not all bad either, she’s pretty grey, especially when it comes to El
Terry Ives
We don’t really know why she got tests and everything before she had El, but I have a feeling she was really interested in science and the possibility of finding out how to use more of the brain’s potential
She was so dedicated in getting El back, she never forgot about her daughter, for years! She probably dedicated so much time trying to find her girl again and figure out a way to get her back
In all honestly she didn’t think it through that well, but her determination to get her daughter back is almost a parallel of Joyce trying to get Will back and that gives me feels...
Even after her brain had been seriously messed with, she could still tell El was there, and managed to show her what had happened to her
Becky Ives
After Terry’s brain got all messed with, she took care of her sister, is still taking care of her even though there isn’t really any hope of her getting better
That’s a lot of love, taking care of someone, it would be hard seeing someone you love like that every day
She also probably provides for them somehow (at least I assume so, maybe the state is paying because she always seems to be at the house but that’s a little fuzzy)
When El shows up, she is patient in explaining it all to El (same with her explaining everything to Hopper and Joyce)
Not to mention the fact that she probably had a huge shock when she realized her sister was telling the truth and she does have a niece who is alive and well
She didn’t even hesitate to get El what she needed to talk with Terry, like I’d imagine she’s heard a lot about the mind and it all becomes just silly theories but now it’s right there in front of her like what a shock tbh
Doctor Sam Owens
He tries to make people feel comfortable, though sometimes he tries a little too hard to do so, but you can tell he really wants to make people feel safe
Sometimes this is to cover up what he doesn’t know, which isn’t always good, but it seems to come out of him wanting to protect people from the truth - that he doesn’t entirely know what’s going on
He was put in charge of this lab that a few people really hate and he’s honestly just trying to keep things running smoothly in the only way he knows how
Let’s not forget how he realized he messed up and instead of trying to get himself out of danger first, he stayed behind to try and get Bob and everyone else out alive
And then he goes out of his way to try and help El have a normal life by finding a way to legally make Hopper her guardian/father
Benny Hammond
Let’s be honest, Benny just radiates kindness
He has a lot of friends who come and have lunch with him, he likes to go fishing with friends, and he was probably friends with Hopper when they were in school
He saw El and immediately thought someone was trying to steal from him but then when he sees her he softens up really fast
He literally sends his friends away to try to help El relax and figure out who she is and how he can help
He is patient with her but is also persistent, wanting to at least know a little about her so he knows what to do
Just an over all kind, trusting man who deserved better
Sara Hopper
We don’t know much about her but she is a ball of sunshine
She loves the stars, just imagine her dragging her parents outside to look at the stars, especially if there is a meteorite shower
She is honestly really brave, like facing cancer/some life threatening illness would be hard for anyone, let alone a kid
She loved her dad a lot, like a whole lot...
I just have a lot of feelings about this bright girl who didn’t get to grow up and study the stars
Holly Wheeler
She’s a very quiet girl, but very observant and curious
Like, she sees the lights and doesn’t say anything, she just follows them, intrigued by why they are lighting up
Honestly I just want to know more about her, also with the whole kind of quiet but observant aspect I feel like her and El would really get along?
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jamezvaldes · 6 years
Note
PLEASE RAMBLE ABOUT DESPERATO I LOVE NICKY SO MUCH
I’ve been answering this over the past couple of days because idk what you wanted me to ramble about?? like come on man, give me the rambling direction. and tbh i didn’t know what i wanted to ramble about when I posted. This is actually gonna be under the cut because I ramble about secondary characters a lot.
Desperato/Blackwell Gals: I don’t think people will expect it to go certain ways in terms of some areas. Like I don’t think it’s what people’ll expect and this inadvertently gives me a number of issues and makes my anxiety a lot worse, because i don’t know if people will like that i just do my own thing sometimes and not have the canon storyline at the forefront of the fic. Nicky’s issues are a major point of the fic. Emmy’s relationship with her mother is another important issue, like Em learning to not care about her and learning to not feel guilty about cutting her out of her life.Also I will fight anyone who says that the relationship between the Blackwell gals isn’t the most important relationship in the whole fic. Like fight me.S2!Nicky is a fun character to play around with because it’s more true to who she actually is, like S1!Nic is sort of an act? like the person she wants to be. In relation to Jacob, I don’t think that Nicky has actually grieved him. Like she lives in the same house, her cabin was his, her car was his, her old motorcycle was his. Like there’s just a constant Jacob presences in her life so has she actually grieved him? and Emmy is so angry that she never got to have a relationship with him but has a relationship with a small select of videos that Nicky took of him. Emmy doesn’t know the real Jacob but a false one because of a small selection of moments that Nicky captured. Jacob wasn’t a good man but he tried his best for Nic and he loved her so much.  There’s a running joke that Jacob haunts the Blackwell home and the cabin.Nicky’s friends are my life line tbh. I love them all so much and they’re just a good group of people. - Nate Jenkins, Holly Mitchell, Quinn Lewis, Dean Murphy - They’re just so good!!!!! And Emmy’s other friends - Scott Bishop and Amber Mitchell - are just the best and this little trio are going to be the best and I’m just so excited to bring in my Amber. Who knows what the ships will be at the end of the three seasons? I sure as fuck don’t, well I have a vague idea but that’s a later problem for a depressed post 3am breakdown Jess to figure out. Nicky’s birthday party/event is probably one of the only times she’ll be truly happy throughout the entire fic tbhSecondary Characters:  if you want to see FC’s check this link and go to Desp on the right (x)▫️ Nate Jenkins - Nicky’s childhood best friend (they were next door neighbours) business partner and the other mechanic. Married to Joseph and are in the final stages of adopting a baby, they’re literally just waiting for it to be born and have all the paperwork finalised. The mom friend, and has been making dad jokes since he was a child. He’s a serpent but on the edge of the gang since he got married because they knew adoption was the only why they’d be able to have children so they have to look like #decent members of society and not knee deep in crime. Just loves pulling cars apart. ▫️ Holly Mitchell - Bartender in the Wrym. Was almost an accountant because why not. But left because of a ~scandal~. Engaged to Quinn Lewis and older sister to Amber Mitchell.  Makes a lot of “i’m engayed” style of jokes . A fun loving gal who takes nothing seriously. Also a serpent. Lost both her parents within the period of a year. Often sarcastic and acts as a therapist for the serpents because that’s sort of part of the job description for bartenders. Loves puns but not Amber’s puns. What is organisation? how was she almost an accountant with all this chaos.▫️ Quinn Lewis - She’s just the best, a nurse who works at the hospital and does nights at a no questions asked walk in clinic in the southside. Getting married so planning that takes up almost any of her free time. Has made Nicky maid of honor but has not told her that, just assumes that Nicky knows. Often very tired, always disgruntled. Patches Nicky up after fights far too often despite knowing she could and probably should lose her job because of it. A good person who loves her friends too much. Probably the most serious of the group and the most adult one. Also pool game is next level with this gal. Serpent as well. Very organised and has a good eye for detail. ▫️ Dean Murphy - A soft serpent  who is one of Nic’s childhood best friends. They shit a lot of illegal stuff together, stole cars and all that jazz. Cleaned himself up, worked a number of odd jobs until he started working in the sheriff’s department. Still a serpent despite this. A sarcastic rugged man who is often done with serpent shit and just wants to sit down and not help cover up a crime. Nic and Dean have a complicated relationship, like are they only friends because Nicky (lovingly and jokingly) threatens to blackmail him? Nah they be actual friends.  ▫️ Amber Mitchell -  My angry and depressed gal who i love and cannot wait to bring her in, see this  ask if you want to know more about her. She’s happy being a wallflower, probably will fight Betty Cooper at some-stage but also fight Jughead as well. ▫️ Scott Bishop - baby boy who i love with my whole cold dead heart, see this ask to see more from him. Sees the best in everyone bar Betty. Despite being a “loner” not friends with Jughead, can’t deal with his over dramatic ass.▫️ Amanda Harrison - Nicky’s mother. left baby Nic on Jacob’s doorstep. She’s an interesting character who I think you’ll hate to begin with but you’ll understand why she did what she did. I don’t think you’ll hate her when she leaves the fic. ▫️ Lucy Fletcher - Emmy’s mother and a complete bitch. A drug addict and she often successfully manipulates Emmy into doing stuff for her. Not a good person to be around, didn’t even tell Jacob that she was pregnant with his child▫️ Jacob Blackwell - lowkey often regret killing him but it had to be done. Nicky and Emmy’s father, didn’t know that Emmy was his child. A good father to Nicky and she was his only weakness. Was the leader of the serpents until his death. Was very violent and if anyone went against his wishes or challenged, fight would always occur, and he would always win. Was meant to be a pro bare knuckle boxer but did too much bad shit outside the ring to be one. ▫️ Tristian Owens - evil tbh.  He’s a drug dealer and a ghoulie who is currently in prison for tracking drugs across state lines. He’s a good five years older than Nicky, so she would have been 14 when they met and him 19. Became her “boyfriend” at age 15, he was 20, so not a boyfriend, there’s clearly a power imbalance from the offset. He introduced nicky to the harder drugs. Nicky never really got justice for what he did to her, he’ll be before the parole board soon.   ▫️ Jordan Naylor - Sweetie and music teacher. How he meets Nicky is cute ish. Comes back to Riverdale because his mother isn’t well.▫️ Simon -  Nicky’s sponsor at her AA meetings, he just wants the best for her. The only one who understands Nicky’s addiction since he was one as well. Like nothing is really known about him, since the sponsor isn’t meant to get personal with the sponsee. ▫️ Joseph Aquinas -  A southsider who isn’t a serpent. He’s a lawyer who works in civil law. Nate’s husband. Often gives Nicky legal advice, and he’s a good name who deserves the world. Cannot wait to start a family. Doesn’t mind that Nate will be dragged into dangerous stuff, but doesn’t like it, he’d rather that Nate didn’t get involved. But he knows that Nate would follow Nicky to hell and back. Joseph can deal with a  husband who comes home late but not a dead husband.
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slamsams-blog · 4 years
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For Your Eyes Only - #24WeeksofBond
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This week we travel back in time to 1981 with “For Your Eyes Only” - also could be known as “When Bond Came Back to Earth”.  Roger Moore’s films had been getting a little cartoony and comical, and then they put Bond in space with “Moonraker”, essentially jumping the shark.  They had taken Bond as far as they could take him, and now they needed to bring the series back down to earth and give it a fresh coat of paint.  “For Your Eyes Only” is a story of two governments vying for the same prize while also being a tale of revenge.  This movie has its moments, and plenty of layers - but in my view, just misses the mark on excitement.
Roger Moore is back in the saddle of Bond, only because they couldn’t find a replacement.  Moore was having his reservations about playing the role due to his age, and after his original contract expired after “The Spy Who Loved Me”, Moore signed a film by film deal, where there were essentially no strings attached.  If they felt that they needed Moore, and if Moore wanted another payday, then we got Moore Bond. (see what I did there?). You definitely start seeing Moore’s age more noticeably starting with this movie - but he’s still not “A View To A Kill” old yet so we are still in the clear. 
What I do like is how they used his age here.  After meeting a young olympic skater in training, she starts smitten with Bond right away, and Moore plays the uncomfortable and awkwardness perfectly.  Moore was an excellent eye actor.  His ability to clue you in on Bond’s inner thoughts by acting with his eyes is something I’ve always appreciated with Roger’s movies.  As they say in comedy, less is Moore...(ok, I’ll stop).  But one of my favorite moments in this film is when the skater Bibi (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is in Moore’s bed inviting him for some good times, Bond says in such a Roger Moore way - “Yes well, you get your clothes on...and I’ll buy you an ice cream.”  That line makes me chuckle literally every time.
Let’s talk about this pre-title sequence shall we?  In one of the more memorable scenes in this rather un-memorable movie is the opening.  Lots to unpack here.  We open up with Bond at Teresa Bond’s grave, his one and only true love.  This is again, one of the rare through lines throughout this franchise.  We know how Bond’s parents died when he was a kid, we know SPECTRE, and we know Bond’s wife was killed.  So here we are with Bond Moore-ning his late wife...(that was the last one).  He is told that MI6 is coming to get him via helicopter.  Bond gets in only for the helicopter to be hijacked by a familiar bald head.  Blofeld makes a random appearance here after not being seen or heard from since “Diamonds are Forever”.  I always found this odd.  But anyway, Blofeld takes over the helicopter by remote control to have some fun at Bond’s expense.  But Bond manages to get to the driver’s seat after hanging on to the side of the chopper as Blofeld is trying to knock him off.  It’s a wonderfully intense scene.
Bond gets to the driver seat, and this is where Blofeld always manages to muck it up.  This is why Blofeld never took care of Bond, because he lets him GET TO THE DAMN DRIVER’S SEAT!  Bond takes control and scoops up Blofeld (who is in a wheel chair with a neck brace for some unknown reason) and dumps him down a huge chimney.  Now story has it, they were not legally able to use Blofeld and SPECTRE anymore because Kevin Mclory (the Thunderball producer who you can read about in my Thunderball blog) owned the rights to them because of his legal victory in obtaining the rights of the Thunderball story.  How annoying is that?  So they never say his name, and this scene was meant to be a statement to Mr. Mclory that they didn’t need those characters anymore and that they were literally dumping them.
I thought maybe this time around, I would discover a connection between that scene and the rest of the film...but no.  That opening is humorous and action packed, but it’s all for nought because it has nothing to do with anything.  The real story begins with a naval fleet that has an “ATAC” being attacked by an unknown source.  This ATAC is an important control unit that is able to fire ballistic missiles where ever you want.  If fallen into the wrong hands, it could be a disaster.  Of course Russia is involved, and they are trying to get it along with England.  
But another layer to the story is that a man in Greece, who was contacted by MI6 to get it, is gunned down with his wife in front of their daughter who ends up being Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet).  They really had an opportunity here with Melina.  She had a dark, and dangerous look and strapped her with a crossbow after she witnessed her parents die.  These were the ingredients for a DC Comics type superhero.  I think they wanted to make her full Green Arrow, but were maybe afraid to go too far away from the damsel in distress type that Bond girls had a reputation for.  She has these moments where she attacks from the shadows, but still cries for James when she’s in trouble.  The balance is just off, and it makes the character weaker than she should be.  Not Carole’s fault, just poor writing.
Bond goes to Greece where he meets Kristatos (Julian Glover) who tells him the man who payed off the guy who killed Melina’s father was is working for a man named Columbo (Topol).  So Bond starts to dig more, but keeps getting hunted down by men trying to stop him from the truth.  Almost everyone Bond comes into contact with in this film ends up dead.  Something is going on and Bond is forced to have eyes in the back of his head.  We get some fun scenes along the way here with a car chase where Bond is driving a ragged Beetle, and a fun ski chase with awesome “Shaft” style music.
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Bond kills Locgue (the man who payed the parent assasin) and is now on the hunt for Columbo.  This movie is like a video game where there are all these different levels, and every level has a boss.  Bond is now ready for the “big boss”; the Bowser or Gannon, if you will.
But Columbo finds him and convinces Bond that Kristatos is the real Bowser.  Topol is great in this movie, he was primarily known for his broadway career, but he is able to bring all that charm to the screen and does a wonderful job of making you love him.  Bond and Columbo are now working together and they go to infiltrate Kristato’s lair.  This scene also gives me the willy’s.  Bond has to be an epic mountain climber, but gets caught and kicked off.  We see Bond free falling like Tom Petty until his rope catches him.  That’s the stuff of nightmares there.  
Anyway, they storm the castle, kill Kristatos, and destroy the ATAC so nobody has it.  Leaving no country to worry about them using it against any other country. Yay.  Feels like a pretty hollow accomplishment at the end.  But at least we get a funny parody of Margaret Thatcher speaking to a parrot who she thinks is Bond.  Not sure how accurate the parody was back then, but I’m sure it got roars of laughter?
To me, while we have a decent amount of action like the yacht scene where Kristatos is pulling Bond and Melina through the shark filled waters - the film falls short of any color what so ever.  This movie is littered with forgettable characters and villains that don’t leave you as the viewer feeling invested.  And while the plot may be deep and layered, the execution of it is just sleepy and un inspired.  This sort of begins the twilight of the Moore Bond films, and little did the producers know that they would get two more films out of him.
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Well that’s it for me this week.  What did you all think?  Let me hear you!
Reviews from Friends:
Jake Benrud
The Blofeld scene is comical. He could have killed Bond so much easier than that. His downfall is he lets him get out of his sight and assume it all goes according to plan. I guess that's the story with any Bond Villain. Similar to Dr. Evil's, "I'm going to leave them alone and not actually witness them dying, I'm just gonna assume it all went to plan. What?" This one I don't understand why the Olympic skater was infatuated with Bond. He's so old in this one. Also, that's possibly the worst car anti-theft system ever.
24 Weeks of Bond will return next Monday with - 
The Man With the Golden Gun
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hollyn4ever · 5 years
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Started With a Crash ch.1
Holly's P.O.V.
"Yo Faith, I'm going to the grocery store. Do you need anything?" I yell to my best friend/roommate as I'm about to walk out the door. "No thanks! I'm about to head to work. Someone called out again and they need me... like always." Faith yells back. "Ew. Hate them. That's why I work from home. Haha, Love you girl. Don't die at work today!"
"I'll try not to bitch. Love you too" I hear Faith say before I walk out the door. Faith is honestly the best friend a person could ask for. She is always here for me when I need a shoulder to cry on. I actually just went through a horrible break up back in Virginia. My whole world was turning upside down and I really needed a fresh start. I packed up all of my stuff and moved to California with Faith. She is helping me find myself again. Honesty, I don't know who I am anymore. My world started turning upside down when I left the job I had back home. A lot of stuff happened that made me not capable of staying in that work environment. I went from a job I had for 2 year to a job that lasted 2 weeks. It was an even worse work environment than the job I left. I couldn't find a full time to save my life. Luckily, my family owns a restaurant, so I can always pick up shifts there. It was definitely not the ideal situation. The only good, consistent thing in my life was my boyfriend, Justin. Not everything was perfect with Justin but at least he had been in my life for 3 years and I knew what to except when it came to him. Looking back, I know it was a toxic relationship, but part of me feels like I don't deserve any better. His love was all I had ever known, but everyone told me our relationship was not love. So I guess I don't know what love is.
I get to the store and grab a small basket because I don't need a lot of stuff. I get my grocery list out and head in to get what I need. I grab a few items that I remembered off the top of my head, then have to look at my list. I continued walking as I gazed over the list. *CRASH* Oh shit I just ran into someone. Fuck... why am I such a klutz. I bend down to help pick up their stuff. "I'm so so sorry. I was looking at my list and I shouldn't have been walking and ugh I'm soooooo sorry!" I say, not looking up at the person in front of me. I am so embarrassed, and I don't want to face someone that is probably pissed at me. My anxiety is out of control at this point. "It's okay, don't worry about it." A guy's voice spoke. "No it's not. I just crashed into you cuz I'm and idiot who doesn't look where they are going" I couldn't help but put myself down. That's kind of what my anxiety does to me. "Hey, calm down. It really is okay." His voice is relaxing. He stands up and reaches his hand down to help me up. I take his hand and stand up. "Thank you" I say quietly before finally looking up at him. My nerves get worse once I see how attractive he is. He looks familiar but I can put my finger on it.... "No problem hun" he says smiling at me. Oh gosh. He's Calum Hood from 5 Seconds of Summer! It makes sense why his hood is up over his head, and why his head is kind of down. It must be so hard for him to live a normal life. I don't want to bring anymore attention towards us. The crash was attention enough. I would feel even worse if he got noticed by anyone. "Well, sorry again" I say as I start to walk away. I walk passed him and then turn back around towards him. "By the way, your music is amazing" I say with a smile on my face before turning back around and walking down the aisle. I'm about to turn into another aisle, but I can't help myself from looking back to see if he was still there. I look over my shoulder to see Calum standing in the same spot just staring at me. I turn back around and smile to myself before walking down the aisle out of view from Calum.
Calum's P.O.V.
*CRASH* Great... so much for going out unnoticed. All I hear is this girl anxiously apologizing. "It's okay, don't worry about it" I say, trying to make her feel like she could walk away and leave me to pick up myself alone. I really don't want to get caught by a crazy fan today. I shouldn't just assume she is a fan but you never know. She continues to apologize and kneels down on the floor to help pick up my stuff that had fallen. I can hear the panic in her voice. I feel so bad that she is so upset over this. I tell her sweetly to calm down. I stand up and reach my hand down to help her up. She grabs my hand and she slowly stands up. "Thank you" she says, shyly looking at the ground. She looks up at me and I lock eyes with this beautiful brunette girl with big brown eyes and a small shy smile that is melting my heart. "No problem hun" I try saying as causal as possible but I can't hide the smile on my face. Part of me is scared that she is going to recognize me, but another part of me doesn't really care if she does. "Well, sorry again" She says walking passed me. I turn around to look at her. She immediately turns back to face me. "By the way, your music is amazing" she turns back around and continues walking. My mouth almost drops to the floor. She knows who I am but didn't freak out? Who is this girl? She's mesmerizing. I watch her as she is turning into a different aisle. She turns back and looks at me. It looks like she giggled a little when she saw me then walked out of view.  I mean in her defense, I am staring at her like I'm some sort of creeper. I have to find out who she is. I walk down to the aisle and turn in the aisle she is in. I see her standing in front of the cracker section. I walk over to her and tap her on the shoulder. She turns around and says "oh I'm glad you are here. Can you help me pick out which Cheese itz I should get? I don't know wether to get regular or white cheddar." I laugh at her. "You seem very intense about picking the right one." I add after I finished laughing. I look over her shoulder and see a girl staring at me and then back down at her phone. My mystery girl looks over her shoulder and then back at me. "Turn around and walk to the next aisle casually. I'll follow you. I have an idea." She says. It seems like she knows what is going on. I listen to what she says. We get to the next aisle to lose the girl that spotted me. Mystery girl pulls out big sunglasses and lipstick. "Put the glasses on. I'll put the lipstick on cuz you're a guy so you'll fuck it up" I do as she says. She pulls my hood down and wraps her scarf around my head. I don't know if this is going to work but it's worth a try. "There's the girl. You have strep and lost your voice" She explains to me. "Um hey I could have sworn I saw this famous guy and I was just wondering if you had seen him?" The girl shows us a picture of me on her phone. "OMG thats is Calum Hood from 5sos!!! I love them soooo much!!! You thought you saw him here?!? Omg we have to look for him. Let's split up and look for him!" My mystery girl says with such enthusiasm I almost feel like she's serious. "Omg yes girl!!! I will check the back. You girls check the front. All of my friends are on their way!" The fan says before heading towards the back end of the store. "Let's get you to your car. Like now!" Mystery girl says leaving all of her groceries behind. We get out to the parking lot and I see people surrounding my car. "Fuck" I sigh. "Guessing that's your car." She says, already knowing the answer to that. "Follow me" she leads me over to this old run down looking red car.
"This is my baby. Get in" She demands. I get in the car because for some reason I feel like I can trust her. "So I really don't want to drive you back to your place because I feel like that would be an invasion of privacy for you and your band mates. And the only other thing I can think of is if we traded cars for the rest of the day so you don't get followed. And when people think it's not actually your car they won't follow me or anything. Then we can just meet up some up somewhere later to trade back cars. And I'm sorry I'm rambling I just feel really bad because I feel like it's my fault that you were spotted." She finally takes a breath. "You'd risk your privacy for mine?" I ask her, not sure why she would do that for me. "I really feel like it's my fault all of this is happening. You would have been fine if I didn't crash into you."
"I'm glad you crashed into me" I smile. "Give me your car keys and your phone please" she puts her hand out. I give her my keys followed by my phone. She hands me her keys in return. She starts to type in my phone. "Alrighty. Here you go. Talk to you later" She says handing back my phone and hopping out of the car. I watch her walk back into the store then look down at my phone. 'Holly' I read. "Her name is Holly" I smile to myself.
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upthenorthmountain · 7 years
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Between the Lines - 2
More of whatever this is
Previous chapters
Chapter 2
I mean, Anna hadn’t really thought about it, but if she had, she’d have imagined Kristoff living somewhere - neater. White walls and clear surfaces, minimalist in a Scandi sort of way. But the address she’d been given was clearly a farm cottage, though it didn’t look like it was part of a farm any more. It was old, though, with weathered brickwork and a tangle of roses growing up one wall. She parked on the gravel drive and crunched round to the door.
There was a heavy iron knocker instead of a bell. It made a deep, resonant sound and Anna liked it so much she did it again. Why had she let Elsa talk her into buying that flat? Who cared about good investments when you could have a house with a proper door knocker that made a proper -
The door was wrenched open. “I heard you the first time - oh, hi Anna.”
“I liked the noise it made,” she said, then felt a bit stupid and childish. “And hi. Um. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, sure,” he said. “Let me just lock up. Come in.”
The hall was painted white, but the floorboards were satisfyingly old and worn and there were pictures on the walls. Kristoff had disappeared into a back room, and Anna let herself wander forward after him. To her left there was a doorway through into a living room - a couple of big squidgy armchairs faced a brick fireplace, and bookshelves lined the opposite wall. In front of her there was a kitchen, but she only got a glimpse of the cream Aga and tiled floor before he was coming back towards her carrying his suitcase.
“OK. Let’s go.”
“I love your house!”
“Thanks.” He locked the front door and they went over to her car.
“It’s so cosy.”
“Thanks. Will this fit in the boot with your things?”
“If it doesn’t it’ll go on the back seat - no, I’m sure you can squash it in. Just move my stuff up. There you go. Oh, the handle to adjust the seat is on the left. Did you get the email about the radio thing?”
He pulled a face. “Yes, of course.”
“You don’t like doing radio?”
“Who does? No, wait, you’re about to tell me that you do.”
“It’s just like a lovely chat! And it’s great publicity!”
“They just need to fill up their airtime, and the only person listening will be my mother, after I spent an hour on the phone last night explaining how she could listen to BBC Southern Counties when she’s not actually in said southern counties.”
“On the internet?”
“Yes. Essentially, yes.”
Anna reset her satnav and picked up her ipod, which was connected to the car stereo. “If I’m driving, I choose the music,” she told Kristoff, and he pulled a face. Right, for that he got Walking on Sunshine, full volume, straight off the bat.
-----
“Well, and as promised I’ve been joined by two very different authors who both have new books out, and who are both going to be in Brighton this afternoon - Kristoff Bjorgman, who is best-known for the Detective Olaf Snøvenn series -”
“Hello.”
“- and Anna Rendell, who is responsible for the Sparkle Sisters series -”
“Hello!”
“- that I must say, Anna, my daughter loves.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it!”
And the conversation went from there, and once the interview was over and they were walking to the car Anna realised she’d hardly let Kristoff talk at all. She apologised and he smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Carol will tell me off.”
“I’m sure she won’t. She’s met you, I’m sure she expected this to happen.”
“I don’t talk all the time.”
“The evidence suggests otherwise.”
“I don’t talk when I’m sleeping. Usually. Okay, I’ve been told I sometimes talk when I’m sleeping.”
They reached the car and Kristoff shrugged off his jacket before getting in. Anna watched him, thoughtfully. Carol had asked her if she was okay with touring with one of their male authors, and Anna had said “Only if he’s hot and single.” It had been meant as a joke but maybe she should send Carol a fruit basket or something.
“Anna.”
“Hmm? Oh…” She was meant to be driving. Right. Get in the car, Anna, and stop being ridiculous.
-----
The evening was clear and bright, and they ate fish and chips on the prom and watched the sun set.
“So why did you become a writer?” Anna asked.
“So I can spend all day by myself not talking to anyone.”
“That’s a good thing?”
“Yes. Until I actually write the book and they insist I go out and talk to everyone about it.”
“Well, if you want to sell any…”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry,” Anna said after a moment. “I know I talk a lot. Did you do your last tour by yourself?”
“Pretty much.”
“I like having someone to talk to. I get lonely otherwise. And I don’t like eating by myself.”
“It's not so bad. Usually I take a book.”
“What did you do before? Before you wrote full-time.”
“I worked in IT. Until a year or so ago. When I sold some TV rights.”
“Ooh! They're going to make a TV series?”
“Like a mini-series I think - when they get round to it. ITV.”
“Wow! Well done you.”
“Thanks. What did you do before?”
Anna looked away. “Um, I didn't.”
“What do you mean?”
“I've never had a job. I have a trust fund instead. And my parents died when I was seventeen and left me some money. Quite a lot of money. So yeah.”
“Wow. I mean - I'm sorry. About your parents.”
“Thanks.”
They ate in silence for a moment, then Kristoff said “Does your sister live near you? I'm assuming you have a sister.”
Anna smiled. “Yeah, I do. And no, she lives in NYC. She's not a layabout like me, she works in finance.”
“Best-selling author is hardly a layabout.”
“Well, not now I guess. I was for a while. But it gets boring, I needed something to do, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. I mean, I can imagine.”
“And you have a sister? Any brothers?”
“No, and two sisters. Both older than me. One lives in Leamington Spa and the other in London.”
“Which one has the niece? Daughter. Whatever.”
“The Leamington one. Katja. And my niece is Holly, she's seven.”
“That's so nice! I mean it. My sister is the only family I have. And I only get to see her a couple of times a year.”
They finished their dinner. “I’m glad it’s not a sandy beach,” Kristoff said, folding up his chip paper neatly.
“Why’s that?”
“Because if it was, I have a feeling you’d be trying to persuade me to build a sandcastle right now.”
Anna laughed. “Oh, I would not be trying! I would be succeeding.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“Hmm.” She rolled her paper into a ball and stood to put it in the litter bin. “What now? Fancy the Dodgems?”
“No.”
“Let's go down and throw stones in the sea.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to. Come on.”
“The sea is already full of stones,” he said, but he followed her down the steps and onto the pebbled beach.
“It's okay. I know you're just worried I'll show you up.”
“What?”
“It's fine if you can't throw as far as me, I won't think any less of you.”
He put his hands in his pockets and looked at her. She could tell he was trying not to smile. “Five minutes,” she said. “Then I'll let you go back to the hotel.”
“It'll be dark by then, anyway.”
It was already fairly dark. Dark enough that it was hard to see whose pebbles flew furthest, and in order to see - and to gain a competitive edge - Anna stepped further forward and accidentally put a foot in the sea. She jumped back, shrieking.
“What? What is it?”
“My FOOT is WET.”
“Water will do that.” He picked up another stone, but as he was composing himself to throw it Anna gave him a sharp shove on the back and he stumbled into an incoming wave.
“Right,” he said, and she ran away and up the beach, laughing; but it was harder than she thought to run up the slope of pebbles and eventually she stopped, panting. Kristoff had stopped a couple of feet away, and she wondered what he would have done if he had caught her. “That wasn't fair,” he said. “Now I have two wet feet.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you're not.”
They trudged up the beach together, and along the promenade.
“Seriously, Anna, I didn’t bring any other shoes.”
“I’m sorry. I am, really. I have spare shoes, you could borrow them.”
Her earnest face made him smile. “Look,” he said, and stopped her. He put his foot next to hers and she had to laugh at the size difference. “Is it true,” she asked, “Is it true what they say about men with big feet?”
Kristoff said nothing for a moment and Anna felt herself blushing. Why had she said that? She always said the first thing that popped into her head and made everything awkward. But then he replied as he started walking again.
“Yes,” he said. “It is absolutely true that men with big feet do have to wear big shoes.”
“Which is why they can’t fit a spare pair in their suitcase.”
“Exactly. Why do you need two pairs of shoes to go away overnight?”
“They match my outfit. I had different pairs last week, I’m insulted that you didn’t notice.”
“I wasn’t looking at your feet.”
What were you looking at? she thought, but managed to bite it back this time.
“Portsmouth tomorrow,” she said, “I’ve not been there before.”
“I have, but not for years. It’s not really a seaside town, it’s a port. And a Navy town.”
“Oh, I DO like to be beside the seaside -”
“Please don’t sing, people are staring.”
-----
They didn’t even see the sea again after leaving Brighton.
“Another day, another Waterstones,” Kristoff said as they walked in, but Anna didn’t mind. “Different people,” she said. “That’s why we’re here, for the people.”
“Sometimes it feels like the same people.”
“And we’re only on our second weekend. How many do we have?”
“Seven. How do you not know that?”
“I do, I have it written down, I just didn’t know off the top of my head.”
“Five more after today. Eleven more times I have to read.”
“Is it that bad? Do you want to swap?”
“What?”
“I’ll read yours and you read mine.”
He laughed. “Not yet. Ask me again in a couple of weeks.”
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thesportssoundoff · 7 years
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The Preview: UFC on Fox from Colorado
Joey 
Jan 23rd, 2017
The  UFC's first foray (HA!) on Fox for 2017 is a pretty solid affair all things considered. We're beginning to creep our way out of the winter bad show doldrums (although the Canada card ain't too pretty) with the next two cards being pretty damn solid all things considered and UFC 208 quickly falling into the "So hated it's now underrated" department. Slowly but surely we're emerging from the drek. Just gotta get by that Canadian card, fellas. Compared to the last two Fox cards in January (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Johnson_vs._Bader) and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Gustafsson_vs._Johnson), I'd say this one really holds up pretty well. There's a lot of meaningful stuff on the main card and there's JUST enough meaningful stuff on the prelim slate to not feel like you're wasting your time there either. The headliner is a battle at bantamweight between Julianna Pena and Valentina Shevchenko with the winner almost certainly getting a title shot in the spring or summer time. The co-main event is a pretty damn awesome fight between two guys who are riding hot streaks at 170 lbs with Donald Cerrone fighting Jorge Masvidal. There's a super big heavyweight fight featuring the top prospect and an aging HW hero and the opener is a fucking war and a half with Alex Caceres taking on Jason Knight. Let's get to it then!
Fights: 12
Debuts: 5 (Jordan Johnson, Eric Shelton, Alejandre Pantoja, Bobby Nash and Jeremy Kimball)
Fight Changes/injury cancellations: 3 (Hector Lombard vs Brad Tavares cancelled due to injuries, John Phillips out/Jeremy Kimball in, Yancy Medeiros out/Bobby Nash in)
Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 6 (BJ Penn, Yair Rodriguez, Joe Lauzon, Marcin Held, Court McGee and John Moraga)
Fighters On Losing Streaks: 2 (Andrei Arlovski, Jason Gonzalez)
Fighters On Winning Streaks: 6 (Jorge Masvidal, Andrei Arlovski, Donald Cerrone, Valentina Shevchenko, Nate Marquardt and Alex Caceres)
Stat Monitor for 2017:
Debuting Fighters (Current number: 0-0)- Jordan Johnson, Eric Shelton, Alejandre Pantoja, Bobby Nash and Jeremy Kimball
Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 2-2)- Bobby Nash, Jordan Johnson and Jeremy Kimball
Second Fight (Current number: 1-1)- JC Cottrell
Twelve Precarious Ponderings
-So right away, we have to acknowledge this main event. Shevchenko vs Pena, barring something unforeseen, will be a #1 contender fight given the fact that off the top of my head, these two are the only ones streaking currently in the division. Both represent interesting stylistic challenges for Amanda Nunes and there's stories built in about of that layer. For Shevchenko, she fought Nunes before and lost a very open ended 29-28 decision. Open ended meaning that there's doubt as to whether or not Nunes would've won had the fight been a five round affair. Julianna Pena seems to have a better grasp on fight promotion, even if she annoys plenty of people, and so you'd imagine if this turns into a trash talking feud, Pena would be the better fit. It doesn't make sense to take Nunes from headlining two big PPVs (even if it was as the B-side twice) and then ask her to be on Fox or co-main event a PPV. From a business standpoint, it's a matter of "who should the UFC want to win?" and I'm not quite sure there's a clear answer here just yet.
-This fight is a big challenge for Shevchenko primarily. Julianna Pena for the most part has a style that negates the strengths of her opponents, often turning fights into bully clinch fighting and squirrely exchanges on the mat. Pena has a skill set that probably works regardless of opponent because it's not predicated on anything but her own strengths. Shevchenko's two biggest UFC performances have seen her start slow but build up momentum as she figures out her own path to victory. Against Holly Holm, the five round format allowed her to make adjustments long term that paid off in the end en route to a big decision win. Vs Nunes, she never got in gear until the third round and that was primarily due to how physical Nunes is.
-What will the legacy of Jorge Masvidal be if he wins vs Donald Cerrone? Masvidal theoretically could be riding into this fight on a ridiculous nine fight winning streak across two weight classes. Masvidal's been a victim of some rough judging but also a victim of his own malaise in fights, taking his foot off the gas and coasting to the judges en route to a "WTF happened?" split decision loss. He won't be afforded that luxury here vs Cerrone.
-Assuming Cerrone wins, what would be next? Give in to the assumption that Maia has a guaranteed title shot waiting for him so Woodley/Thompson winner and Maia are both out. What else can Cerrone do? Does Robbie Lawler make sense?
-THREE major challenges for Francis Ngannou on this card. The first is the obvious acknowledgment of the competition jump here. Arlovski is so far and away the best opponent Ngannou  has ever faced that it's almost laughable to try and compare him to anybody on his resume. That said Arlovski's not the same guy he was in his prime so you can sort of kind of negate that. The second  is the altitude in Denver which makes cowards of many a men. Ngannou's not a guy who fights like he's paid by the round either but he's also not somebody who rushes. For a young fighter he's very patient so while the altitude is seriously something to watch, I'm not TOO too concerned I suppose. Lastly, Greg Jackson. Both Anthony Hamilton and Francis Ngannou train with Greg Jackson which is going to represent an interesting quandry I suppose.  Jackson's going to have trained twice for Francis Ngannou with Hamilton basically acting as a test run for Arlovski. Did he learn anything new during Ngannou vs Hamilton?
-Let's say Ngannou breezes through Arlovski. Just runs right through him. When do we start the title talk?
-There's been some scuttlebutt about Aljamain Sterling vs Rafael Assuncao being neither the prelim main event nor the opening fight on the main card. I'd like to offer, I suppose, a few explanations:
1- This fight has been rebooked twice now. Your best ability sometimes is availability and it could be argued or reasoned that the UFC has zero reason to trust either Rafa or Aljamain to make it to a main card fight or a prelim headliner capacity. Injury prone guys get hurt a lot so it's harder to feel like you can commit to them in higher profile engagements.  You can kind of count on Sam Alvey and Nate Marquardt to make it to their commitments.
2- Knight vs Caceres is going to be wild and wacky fun while Sterling vs Assuncao  is for the purists, as one might say.
3- Jason Knight is a guy the UFC thinks has star potential so they're giving him the big push.
-Nate Marquardt's recent wins have me kind of sort of excited. Allow me to explain before y'all bury me under my own words.  Marquardt's chin is a seriously broken one from years of fighting elite competition. Having said that, his hand speed, technique and ground game all looked pretty damn solid vs Tamdan McCrory and he removed CB Dollaway from consciousness before that in a really impressive come from behind win. Sam Alvey is going to really test what Nate has left----but I feel like it's worth pointing out that in the UFC, Alvey recently has only lost to dudes like Elias Theodorou and Derek Brunson. I'm not saying I'm all in on Nate's comeback yet BUT I'm willing to be convinced if he can get by Alvey who is all kinds of wrong for him at this point in his career.
-Of the fights on this prelim slate that I'm most into, Alessio Di Chirico vs Eric Spicely is the one I'm really excited to see. Italy's got a few good middleweight prospects and Di Chirico is one of them; a whirling dervish of offense on the feet with decent-ish grappling chops. Spicely has the ability to shut those guys down as he did vs Thiago Marreta. Big challenge here for Di Chirico.
-We've talked a bit about how the TUF flyweight season is already a bit of a hit given how Tim Elliott vs Mighty Mouse was a great fight and Brandon Moreno has rejuvenated 125 lbs. Alexandre Pantoja vs Eric Shelton is buried way down onto the card but it's a really great fight with two guys who could have long term futures at flyweight in the UFC.
-Li Jingliang fight week! The Leech is getting ready to claim another foe.
-Welcome to the UFC, Jordan Johnson! Your opponent is Henrique da Silva who we all kind of expect to be in the top 15 eventually and you're taking the fight on super short notice. Good luck, dude!
Must Wins:
Julianna Pena
Pena's fighting style and her attitude are not everybody's cup of tea but she has something unique at bantamweight. She can sell a fight, sell herself and she's got the ability to quite possibly be champion. Cringe if you like but seriously, she CAN beat Amanda Nunes. It's not like Nunes hasn't lost time and time again to hyperactive grapple first ground and pound artists before. Shevchenko vs Nunes II would be a darned good fight but Pena vs Nunes might be a bigger fight.
Donald Cerrone
The narrative on Cerrone continues to be and will continue to be a story where every "big fight" he loses, we'll have to hear about how he chokes. Jorge Masvidal is a fighter he should beat in a co-main event slot on big Fox.  Big fight opportunity for Cerrone to shut some people up.
Jason Knight
I was torn between Ngannou and Jason Knight here. I went with Knight because even IF Ngannou loses to Arlovski, it's heavyweight and heavyweights are always one win away from relevancy. Jason Knight fights in a much tougher weight class where you need to string together like four good performances in a row to get an eyebrow raise.
Five Underlying Themes:
1- Whether the winner of the main event can put on a performance worthy of getting people excited about a potential PPV headliner vs Nunes.
2- Whether or not the altitude turns what should be a very good card into a very sloppy card.
3- The on-again/off-again love affair between the UFC and Donald Cerrone as Jorge Masvidal comes to ruin the show.
4- How hard they push Francis Ngannou.
5- If we see more complaining than usual about the commentary with Jon Anik leading the charge on big Fox.
Predicting (Bonus) Winners!
Current record: 8-4
Julianna Pena Donald Cerrone Andrei Arlovski Jason Knight Nate Marquardt Aljamain Sterling Li Jingliang Luiz Henrique da Silva Alessio Di Chirico Jason Gonzalez Marcos Rogerio De Lima Eric Shelton
FOTN: Donald Cerrone vs Jorge Masvidal POTN: Aljamain Sterling and Andrei Arlovski
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