#I WAS LITERALLY PRAYING FOR THEM TO WATCH OLD BARBIE

[cabinetduo]

saw this and started seizing

#I WAS LITERALLY PRAYING FOR THEM TO WATCH OLD BARBIE #AND DIAMOND CASTLE #THE BEST ONE #ill cry and explode and #qsmp tag #sunny

[ask-katotter]

I see a lot of people posting about the barbie movie and how its about feminism failed at that and no??? Don't get me wrong, feminism and the patriarchy does feature, but thats not the far and away point of the movie. Plot elements, but not the primary thesis ya dig? See I'd argue the movie is actually about a little girls viewpoint on coming to grips with women's place in society, how she can define her worth within that, a process kicks into high gear during the crisis of a changing body and understanding mortality that is puberty.

Lemme explain. First we see the barbies as they begin. Perfect examples of what a person "could grow up to be" this is a phase where your being built up by your parents hopes and dreams, and all the amazing things you could do with your life. Problem the first in girls this frequently leads to a 'not like other girls phase.' This has two problems, first its prone to making you very judgemental of girls you dont relate to ei weird barbie. It also becomes internally destructive as when you start getting older as you don't just judge other people you judge yourself. If you compare yourself to other more successful people and inevitably find yourself wanting you can't function when challenged..."I'm just stereotypical barbie" is used often as both an excuse not to engage and a method of blaming herself for not being more exceptional.

Now while it seems that the movie has abandoned the theme of little girl growing up when we realize that our protagonist's child is in fact already an adult. But its not. For starters I present Ken. Ken is enamored by the concept of a patriarchy and brings his version of it home to barbie land right? But its a little girls version of the patriarchy. Not a man's. Beer is everywhere yet nebulous and vague, its very much about dressing up manly as Patrick Swayze, and most importantly HORSES. DEAR GOD THE HORSES. So here's the thing, men do think cowboys are manly but often as not they don't give a single shit about the horses. But you know who's obsessed with horses? Little girls. And you know what little girls think is really reeeeeally manly?

Guys who like horses.

This of course is part of the barbies obsessed with Ken phase, where they are what they think ken wants and nothing more. A lot of kids go through solely seeing a relationship as the be all end all goal of growing up, but it really doesn't help you. If you solely are defined by your significant others you are both purposeless without them, and not going to grow at all. The barbies realize this when they figure out that much of their discomfort is from trying to fit this mold. Ultimately barbie convinces Ken that finding who you are through a relationship is impossible, and its not fair to yourself or the other person.

AND SO my theory is this. The movies central thesis is played out through the eyes of a little girl but it is literally "what is an adult?" Its not as barbie first thought to be utterly exceptional and perfect be that in looks or in achievement. Not as Ken thought as a relationship to be obtained. Its about just rolling up yourselves and dealing with things now because well you gotta. And so we end on the final joke. Barbie is going to the gynecologist. What better example of shit you just gotta roll with as an adult.

This is also why barbies human was not a little girl but a mother to a little girl gone on nearly adult. It brings up a lot of feelings to watch someone else go through all the changing understandings you had to. You hope they will figure out how to navigate all the different ways you can define yourself. All you can do is let go of your illusion of control in life and stay in touch with yourself through your own lens. As you vicariously relive that watching the changing in your kid, you see the world as a child once more and pray your daughter figures things out the same way you did, while reexamining it yourself.

Lastly I'd like to get to the old lady barbie tearfully tells "your beautiful" and she says "i know" it's not just a joke comparing the wacky old lady to the blonde 10. Its directly showing that old lady has something barbie still needs, that final stage of growing up. Someone who's confident enough to accept themselves as they are, who likes themselves without comparison to anyone else. Hell Ruth even laughs about her tax evasion issuesm Getting old is rough in a lot of ways but getting to the point where you are just you and fuck what anyone else thinks? stunning. Well and truely beautiful.

#idk i just rambled for a long time but yeah #just getting my thoughts out there #no this movie is not groundbreaking feminism but it is very cool to see a movie from such a female framing of coming of age #we get NONE of that in mainstream usually so its neat to see it at all fam #barbie #shut up ko #also guys this is a huge corperate tie in movie the fact they let barbie movie 23 comment on how mattel barely has women ceos alone is nuts

[missmitchieg]

Julie And The Phantoms: A (Unhelpful) Guide For The Newbies - Part 2

Nick Danforth-Evans:

- Played by: Sacha Carlson

- Julie's friend

- Guitar Boy #2

- Bisexual

- Adopted child of Chad and Ryan Danforth-Evans

- Can. Not. Dance. but it's fine

- Stans Julie And The Phantoms

- Julie used to have a crush on him

- Now he has a crush on her

- Also has a crush on that curly blond boy on the lacrosse team

- Dated a lesbian once, oops

- ✨ Vibes ✨ with her music, though

- Literally everyone likes him

- A respectful King

- Some shit goes down with him in the finale, it wild

Carrie Wilson:

- Played by: Savannah Lee May

- Nicknames: Pink, Demon

- Julie and Flynn's ex friend/'bully'

- Still refers to Julie as 'one of her oldest friends', though

- Her mom is seemingly not around, unclear if divorced or dead

- Lead singer of her group, Dirty Candy

- Is the lesbian Nick dated

- Barbie Girl in a Barbie World

- Could use a hug

- Is in love with Flynn and kinda mad about it

- It's mutual, but neither of them know

- They haven't discussed it

- Stans Julie And The Phantoms

- Compliments Julie

- Is just there at every Julie And The Phantoms performance

- Fashion icon

- HER SOUL IS MADE OF PINK GLITTER

- Her vocals slay tbh

- Baby girl can dance

- Makes everyone say wow

- Saturn necklace

- Always looks good

Bobby Shaw/Trevor Wilson:

- Played by: Taylor Kare (Teen) & Steve Bacic (Adult)

- Former Rhythm guitarist of Sunset Curve

- Current solo artist

- Carrie's dad

- Pretty cool fashion sense

- Lion Necklace

- Is in therapy and meditates

- Needs a nap tbh

- Has a giant thing with his face on it on the wall

- Helicopter with his face on it

- SOMEONE GIVE HIM A HUG

- Red, black and white like Reggie

- Liked to jam with Reggie

- Also flirted with Rose

- However was lowkey jealous of Rose when Reggie was flirting with her

- They never discussed it

- Stole Sunset Curve's music to kickstart his career

- Not on Luke's song writing level, but it's fine

Mitch Patterson:

- Played by: Michael Ryan

- Luke's dad

- Seems like a Christian

- Unclear if unsupportive or indifferent to Luke being in a band

- Reads

- Plaid

- I feel like he watches old black and white shows

Emily Patterson:

- Played by: Jennifer-Juniper Angeli

- Luke's mom

- Sweet lady

- Watches I Love Lucy re-runs

- Bakes cake for Luke's birthday

- Knits

- Definitely Christian

- Loudly unsupportive of Luke being in a band

Mrs. Harrison:

- Played by: Marci T. House

- Julie's music teacher

- Prays for Julie

- Stans Aretha Franklin and Etta James

- Fashion icon

- Nice lady

- Deserves a cookie for being cool

- Has a corgi named Stuart

- Probably wlw

Willie:

- Played by: Booboo Stewart

- Handsome Ghost Boy #4

- Alex's boyfriend/Soulmate

- Gay Sk8er Boi

- *Seductive hair flip*

- Touch starved

- Would stab in retaliation

- Was that kid that takes in strays and nurses them back to health

- An Angel

- Crop tops & cute socks

- Had a shark phase

- Good vibes all around

- Has done nothing wrong ever in his life or afterlife

- Be Gay Do Crimes*

- ACAB

- Used to have an orange lava lamp

- *Confessed to breaking and entering, grand theft auto, kidnapping, and obstruction of justice

- Screams in museums

- Literally crashes into Alex and proceeds to flirt with him

- Falls in love immediately

- Not subtle about that love at all

- Would do anything for Alex

- Good Boy

Caleb Covington:

- Played by: Cheyenne Jackson

- Gay AF

- Evil ghost magician

- Fabulous

- Literal Actual Demon

- Puts on a good show

- Lowkey a cult leader ngl

- Sparkly

- Dramatic AF

- Would stab as a warning

- Terrifying

- Conscience? Is That a spice?

- W O R L D D O M I N A T I O N

- Master manipulator

- Pipes McGee

- Creepy AF

- Would enslave teenage boys for his own benefit

- Would also kill teenage boys for not joining his cult

- Is a little bitch

- Deserves to be sucker punched

#julie and the phantoms #nick danforth evans #carrie wilson #bobby trevor wilson #mitch patterson #emily patterson #mrs. harrison #willie #caleb covington #Unhelpful Guide To JATP

[blueprint-han]

on top of the world ↠ hhj.

genre: royal au; fluff inspired by a fucking barbie movie leave me alone okay

⇥ warnings: if having a ballroom dance with hyunjin is a warning, then <3, district names are randomly chosen, not meant in reference to SKZ !!

wc: 1.5 K

⇥ disclaimer: this fiction does not aim to represent the activities of the real Hwang Hyunjin, nor does it represent JYPE in any form. Events are pure fiction. ♡

type: drabble.

taglist: @stayverse @districtninewriters @inkidz​ @sunoo-luvs 

part of: the url drabble game; requested by @tpwkjerii​ (requests for this are closed now!)

↯ note: dghwey i had literally no idea what to write for your url, so i searched up the full form of “tpwk” and ended up with “treat people with kindness”. I developed it into an idea i already had. Tell me if you like it <33 ⇥ dawn.☀️

↯ note 2: oh... i cannot... write fantasy for the life in me. ⇥ dawn.☀️

“Ladies, all in line.” The instructor clapped her hand, signaling all the princess and lady royals to line up in front of her. You quickly scrambled out of where you were seated, almost doubling over your heels as you tried to wobble your way to the line. 

Oh curse those heels. They were gonna be the reason you crashed headfirst into the floor one day, you were sure. They were those typical pointy, magenta colored pumps that only an expert in poise could pull of properly. Your uniform didn’t help either, layers and layers of clothing — topped of with a jacket, which meant you would be sweating buckets if it weren’t for the air conditioning.

Gosh, you hated being the princess and heir to the next throne. Why couldn’t you just lounge in the courtroom in your sweats and sneakers? They were more fashionable anyway. When your mom had told you that you were gonna attend “Royal Training School”, you’d pictured horse riding in the lush green stables, elegant dinners with rich silverware, and most of all — just having some time away from the royal castle, just having some time for yourself and having fun in that time.

Well, you were in for a huge mess.

It’d been only a week since you attended this place, and you hated it. The place woke you up at 5 a.m., shoved breakfast (which was mostly a piece of “high gluten” bread) to your hands and then took you ballroom dancing. So your day was terrible from the beginning already. There was no horseback riding, no sword fighting, because according to your parents — “princesses didn’t do fights”. Seemed superstitious to you, someone with a forward thinking mind, but what could you do?

Too dazed in your thoughts, your foot slipped and you lurched forward. You yelped loudly, but before you could catch the attention of the class or feel the polished marble against your face, a hand wrapped around your waist, ceasing your fall and holding you mid-air.

“You okay, princess?”

You snapped back into attention, eyes meeting with your classmates, all of them having a shocked look on their faces, and some of them anger. Turning around, you were surprised to gaze into hazel brown eyes that seemed to draw you in without reserve.

“Um..., princess?”

“Ah, yes!” You snapped out of it once again, straightening up as you smoothened the fabric of your shirt. “T-Thank you.” You took once glance at his face, and... wow. He was absolutely ethereal. His golden locks of hair fell perfectly over his temples, he adorned a majestic black suit and by just looking at him, he exuded confidence.

He giggled. “It’s alright, princess. Glad you aren’t hurt.”

“Oh, that-”

“Ahem!” The both of you looked to the side, noticing now how the entire class, along with the instructor were giving you snobby glares. “If you’re done chit chatting, can we start out class, Princess Y/N and Prince Hyunjin?”

Hyunjin. That was a pretty name.

You noticed that there was another line of men, wearing similar attire like Hyunjin, lined up in front of the princesses. “They must be from another academy,” Silent thoughts flooded your mind as you took your place, and your eyes went wide when you found yourself face to face with the Hyunjin guy again, though there was a reasonable distance between the both of you.

“Now, royals.” The instructor chimed, clacking her heels against the surface as she waltzed to the edge of the room. “You’ve been practicing ballroom dancing with yourselves for a while now, so The Head and me decided that it would be a good idea for you to get a little peek of what the actual thing looks like.” She said uninterestedly, picking at the underside of the nails as she started the music.

Immediately, slow, melodious music flooded through the speakers as you looked at one another. and then at the guy in front of you... err, Hyunjin. “You’ve already been partnered up, so get started.”

Your mouth dropped open a bit when you realised what the instructor’s statement meant, almost panicking when all the girls next to you bowed down gracefully, coaxing you to follow the same. Hyunjin did the signature “bow down and lend a hand” pose like his other classmates, and you hesitantly straightened up, lending a hand to him.

Immediately, just like how confident he looked, he pulled you close to himself, settling his hands on your hips as a smirk graced his features.

Ah... so he’d noticed you blushing.

You didn’t know why you were blushing in the first place. You’d never met this person before, but something about him just made the giddy schoolgirl in you bubble up to the surface. You shyly settled your hands on his shoulders, moving along to the beat with his motions... and silently praying your ant’s worth of dancing knowledge would not fuck this up.

“So, should we do the introductions?”

“What?” You asked, almost stumbling on your feet once again. You made a mental reminder to burn the current pair of heels you were sporting.

“Don’t you introduce yourself to the person you’re dancing with?” he heaved a laugh, almost melting at how adorably bashful you were getting in his hold. You were about to mumble a response, but then stopped, gathered your confidence, and smiled sweetly.

“Oh well then, I’m Princess Y/N from District 8; honor to meet you.” You said in a sing song voice, muffling a laugh as Hyunjin twirled you around in his hold and pulled you back. The velvet coat was soft under your touch, and for some odd reason, you wondered how his soft-lookin hair would feel under your palm.

“I’m Prince Hyunjin from District 10; equally honored to meet you,” He tilted his head to the side and you noticed him bite his lip for a second. Brushing it off, you continued swaying to the music, feeling slightly more at ease now.

“How’s school here, princess Y/N? You enjoying?” His tone was respectful, almost like he was talking to a friend he met after many years,

“Nah,” You rolled your eyes, making Hyunjin look at you like a confused puppy, waiting for you to explain. Hyunjin wasn’t used to someone hearing they disliked royal training, especially when he’d found it nothing but enjoying.

“It’s just the same old. “Oh go to ballroom, learn to balance books on your head, walk with grace, eat your food elegantly, dance again. sleep early!” Your voice was a hushed whisper, yet mocking. “You’d think that’s what I should’ve expected, but I wanted to learn sword fighting, horse riding, that kind of stuff. They barely let us outdoors here.” You tsked, watching as Hyunjin bit his lip again.

“What?” You asked, figuring that Hyunjin knew you’d noticed his action.

He chuckled. “Your stepping on my toes.”

“Oh crap I am?” You looed down, pulling your feet farther away from his as an apology crawled up your tongue, but before you could shoot it out, Hyunjin stopped you. “It’s okay.”

“Maybe I’ll step on yours and we’ll get even?” He winked, a smug look on is face as he waited for your reply. The music was basically forgotten at his point, both f you lost in a world where nobody else existed, just you, your thoughts, your words, and your giggles. You mirrored his playful expression. “I’d like to see you try.”

Hyunjin didn’t break eye contact, and you felt a small flutter in your chest when he did so. He lifted his foot, but you were too quick, you moved your foot away the moment he settled his own down, and then for revenge, you stepped on his foot once again.

“Ouch!” Hyunjin shrieked, and thanks to the loud music. no one could hear him. You hadn’t stomped too hard thankfully, but Hyunjin’s cute expression when he crinkled his nose sent you into a spiral of giggles.

“Hey! You’re supposed to treat people with kindness” He pouted, twirling you around once again as he led you to the next spot in the ballroom. Your feet basically slid around at this point, and you didn’t even mind your heels.

“Yeah? That’s what you get for trying to step on a princess’ toes.” You rested your head against his shoulder, muffling your giggles as well as calming your heart at the sudden sprut of confidence.

Hyunjin’s grip on your waist tightened, making you straighten up, faint heat dusting your cheeks. The dance was almost coming to an end, and you wished it could go on forever. You hadn’t had such fun in a while, but unfortunately, Hyunjin didn’t belong to this academy. Sadly, the dance would come to an end.

“Maybe I can teach you horse riding?” Hyunjin inquired, a curious glint in his eyes as he watched your reaction. You gasped in shock.

“Y-you’d be willing to do that?”

“Of course, if you’re up for it.”

“How will we even do that?”

“I mean, you can’t tell me you haven’t sneaked out of the premises at night.”

You remained silent.

“Thought so.” Hyunjin winked again. “So, what do you say?”

You twirled around one more time, moving slightly closer to him when you came back this time. The next moment, the music stopped, and you murmured to him with a smirk pulled at your lips.

“I’d be on top of the world.”

↯ note: 🕯️ ignore me this is just a small prayer that tumblr doesn’t make me battle the tags yet again 🕯️ may the tumblr gods be in my favor atleast this once ;-; 🕯️ ⇥ dawn.☀️

#inkidz #districtninewriters #stayverse #stayhavennet #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz hyunjin fluff #stray kids hyunjin fluff #hyunjin fluff #skz imagines #stray kids imagines #skz scenarios #stray kids scenarios #skz x reader #skz x stay #skz x y/n #skz x you #hwang hyunjin imagines #hwang hyunjin scenarios #t:fluff #t:au #stray kids hyunjin #skz hyunjin #skz #stray kids

[let-the-dream-begin]

In My Daughter’s Eyes Chapter 25: Riding a Bike

Chapter 24

Read on AO3

Jamie was simultaneously in Heaven and in Hell.

The Heaven part was Claire Beauchamp’s hand laced in his, walking from the parking meter to the restaurant on the water, down port in Port Jefferson. If dinner was as long as he’d planned for, the timing would be perfect for them to be walking around just as the sun was setting so that the colors would dance on her skin, in her curls, in her eyes. She was so much more relaxed than she was on that first date, so much more comfortable in the restaurant this time, one by the name of Old Fields. She loved that they could see the water, loved the flowers and wee plants around them at their outdoor table (he knew she would), loved the string of lights crisscrossing back and forth above their heads. She was illuminated like an angel.

The Hell part was what he’d committed to doing after this.

Not that it would be Hell, not at all. Christ, the thought of giving himself to her that way, the thought of her being his first (and only, if he had anything to say about it, though he couldn’t exactly say that this early without sounding like a nutter), the thought of finally giving in to those urges he’d felt since the first time she’d pressed her body against his in that bloody office…

That too, was Heaven.

But the waiting. The anticipation.

Christ, he was nervous.

He wanted to do it right, wanted to please her, wanted her to like it. He wanted her to like it as much as he already knew he would. He didn’t want to lose his head, or lose it too soon. He’d heard his friends ribbing each other as teenagers, how they’d lost it nearly the second they were inside for their first time. Claire deserved better than that.

Then he remembered she hadn’t been pleasured as such in years, and his throat went dry. He couldn’t disappoint her. He just couldn’t. It was not an option.

“Jamie?”

“Hm?”

He was pulled from his whirling thoughts by that reminder of Heaven, her gentle voice, warm, soft fingertips on his wrist; on his pulse, he realized. He looked up into her face when he realized she was not going to say anything else, and saw her gazing softly at him, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“You’re very loud without saying a word,” she said.

Jamie chuckled nervously, feeling himself blush. “Aye, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” she tightened her grip on his wrist. “That’s not why I said that.” He wet his lips, nodding. “Are you…nervous? About…later.”

Throat dry, causing pain when he swallowed, he nodded. “Feels foolish, but aye.”

“It’s not.” Her thumb rubbed calming circles over his pulse, and it felt like she was literally soothing his heartbeat back to a steady rhythm. That was her affect, her healing touch, her magic. “It’s normal. I’m…I am, too.” He watched a beautiful blush begin at her sternum and creep its way up her neck and into her face, like watching flowers bloom up and down a vine.

“But I…” she went on, breathing shakily. “I really, really want to, Jamie.”

Jamie thought he might just die.

Her voice was low and husky in a way he’d never heard, and she did not break eye contact. He nodded, his jaw agape.

“Aye,” he somehow managed to stutter. “I…I do, too.”

She brought his fingers to her lips, and he prayed she would not feel how clammy his hand was.

“Worrying about it now won’t change anything that happens later,” she whispered, causing the hairs on his hand and wrist to stand on end, tickled by her breath. “It’ll be okay.”

And though he still felt like he might vomit, or faint, or keel over, he knew she was right.

He tried to focus instead on the menu, on the bread basket in between them, on watching Claire break the bread into pieces before putting it in her mouth, not biting it. He tried to think of those hands, delicately breaking bread, holding surgical equipment, of those fingers tying stitches, stroking the brow of a frightened child on a stretcher. And then the bread was popped between her lips, and he could think of nothing but those lips, doing…well…

The waiter thankfully interrupted that next train of thought, and they each ordered. Jamie ordered the buttermilk fried chicken, which came with cornbread, coleslaw, and french fries, which he swapped for sweet potato fries. He caught a glint in Claire’s eye when he asked for the substitution, and he immediately knew she’d be having quite a few of those fries. Claire ordered butternut squash ravioli, and Jamie smiled as he handed the waiter their menus. He’d have to make that for her sometime; he wasn’t too bad at ravioli and other pasta dishes if he did say so himself.

The more rounds of drinks they got, the more relaxed they both felt, and the more Jamie could look at the lights dancing on Claire’s skin without thinking of the terror of the rest of her skin being bared to him.

Well, not entirely.

It was always there, in the back of his mind, but Claire’s melodic laugh, her pensive gaze as she stared over the water, the way she jumped when the ferry horn blared, and that damned healing touch of hers always pulled him back out of his head. She talked about patients and incidents at work, about Joe saving her sanity nearly once an hour, about Faith’s new habit of laying out every one of her barbies on the coffee table in the morning and leaving them there untouched until it was bedtime, only to repeat the process every morning, about how Faith arranged the furniture in her dollhouse. Jamie talked about his own clients, about how great Faith was doing with Jessica, and he told a particularly long anecdote about his one client with Down Syndrome, Holly.

“I dinna ken what to do about that one,” Jamie said, shaking his head. “She’s making braw progress, just great. Her fine motor is getting so much better, her strength is improving, she communicates great wi’ the horse and wi’ us. But she…Christ, how do I say it…”

“She has a crush on you,” Claire said, putting her chin in her hands and smiling.

“Aye! How d’ye know?”

“I’ve seen her at the events. She’s the sweetest thing, but she’s especially sweet to you,” Claire said, her eyes bright with mirth. “How old is she again?”

“Eleven,” Jamie said. “The problem is, she does so well wi’ me, right? But I dinna ken if it’s just because she’s, well, sweet on me. And is that ethical? For her to progress so well because she’s sweet on a grown man more’n twice her age?”

Claire laughed. “Well, it isn’t your fault. You do what you can for her and you keep it professional. She’ll outgrow it, I’m sure.”

“I’m no’ so sure,” Jamie said. “Doesna help that her mam encourages her.”

“Perhaps she has her own crush and she’s living vicariously through Holly.” Claire took a cheeky sip of wine, and Jamie barked with laughter.

“Shameless, Sassenach.”

“What? It’s quite difficult for a woman to resist someone like you. And good with kids, and animals?” She put down her wine glass. “You’re a dreamboat, darling. I’m quite aware how lucky I am. And I would be even if the other moms weren’t constantly reminding me.”

The thought made Jamie blush; all the mothers ogling at him from where he couldn’t see, telling Claire about said ogling.

Claire suddenly shook her head, mouth and eyes wide with disbelief.

“What?”

“It’s like…you don’t even know.” She rested an arm on the table, leaning her chin in her other hand.

“Dinna ken what?”

She bit her lip, perhaps stifling a laugh, or trying to stop herself from saying it. “I’ll…I’ll tell you later.”

His stomach flipped.

When dinner arrived, Claire did steal quite a few of his sweet potato fries, and he didn’t have it in him to tease her for it. She thoroughly enjoyed her own meal, and he catalogued that knowledge away, along with the knowledge of her love of sweet potato. They skipped dessert, Jamie promising her well-priced ice cream instead.

Said ice cream was obtained at a little shop tucked away at the corner of a narrow pedestrian cobblestone walkway. Claire was completely enamored with every little shop and cafe they passed, remarking how “sweet” or how “darling” everything looked, and Jamie wanted to kiss her senseless.

He ordered moose-tracks, which Claire had apparently never had, and Claire got her usual soft-serve vanilla with rainbow sprinkles on a cone. Jamie gave her a bite of his, and she nodded in approval, saying she might actually get that next time.

Next time.

The thought of an endless future of holding Claire’s hand at sunset with ice cream on her tongue was making him dizzy.

They strolled closer and closer to the water, chatting and eating. Claire insisted Jamie have a lick of her ice cream since she’d tried his, but Jamie was certain she just wanted to watch him make a mess of his face with the quickly melting mess. She got her wish, if that was her intention.

When they reached the beach, Jamie asked Claire to hand him her shoes; the wedges she was wearing were not conducive to walking in the sand. She obliged, and they walked on. They walked along the shoreline, passing groups of young people with grilles, families or couples with dogs. There was even a lone swimmer, stroking valiantly in the near still water.

Claire was looking out over the harbor, at the boats, the birds, the colors in the sky. “This really is so beautiful, Jamie.”

“I’m glad ye like it,” he said. “I used to come here by myself just to think. I come wi’ Toni to get food and people watch. It’s very fine to have you here.”

She bit into her cone, and he smiled, finally giving into the urge to kiss her cheek, even as she chewed.

They eventually found their way to a dock, and they sat on the edge, dangling their feet, Claire’s shoes sitting behind them. The sun was mere minutes from setting now, and Jamie’s heart could have burst. He’d calculated the timing just right; he’d gotten to see all of nature’s glowing colors in various states of sunset reflected on Claire’s skin, her hair, her eyes. He could swear that her eyes literally changed color depending on the color of the light around them. She was truly ethereal, so much so that his stomach settled for the first time all night.

They sat swinging their feet, Claire resting her head on Jamie’s shoulder, Jamie holding her against him. It was perfect. The scent of her was driving him mad, that sweet perfume, lemongrass, and that deep herbal essence that always permeated her, likely from her garden. Then they were kissing, madly and deeply, and someone could have docked their boat right next to them and Jamie wouldn’t have noticed.

——

When Jamie opened the back door of his car to retrieve Claire’s overnight bag for her, she noticed that he wiped his hands on his trousers before actually picking up the bag.

He was sweating.

She wanted to tell him that it was going to be alright, that it was not going to be as terrifying as he dreaded, that she’d be happy no matter how he performed.

Not that she wasn’t thinking about how he would perform.

It was perhaps a bit unfair to place such high expectations on him. He was virginal after all. But God, there was something about him that had Claire convinced that she wouldn’t be able to walk tomorrow. And she eagerly awaited it.

She’d wanted him, very badly, for a long, long time. Longer than she cared to admit. And she very well might finish at the first contact and then he’d have nothing to worry about.

Before Claire could reveal her horrendously mortifying train of thought, Jamie was unlocking the front door. He lived on the bottom floor of his building, and there were outdoor entrances like there were at her building.

“It’s no’ much,” he said sheepishly, turning on the lights. “Bachelor pad, after all.”

Claire looked around the living room they stepped into, her chest warming. “It’s lovely.”

There was a gray couch facing a not-too-big tellie, a coffee table in the center of a woven blue area rug that matched the tartan blanket draped over the back of the couch. There were burgundy-red throw pillows that matched the red on the tartan.

“Fraser tartan,” Claire said, rubbing the fabric between her fingers. “Right?”

“Aye,” Jamie said eagerly, beaming. “Ye remembered.”

“Remembered?” Claire snorted. “I have been entirely unable to forget the sight.”

She moved on to examine photos on the wall behind the couch, and she saw him blush out of the corner of her eye. She recognized Jenny and Ian from pictures on Jamie’s phone; there were photos from their wedding with Jamie in them, photos of the children, with and without Jamie. There was a photo of three cheesy grins on eager children, two of them redheaded little boys. The one in the middle leaned heavily on his sister and brother, grinning the brightest of all. Willie.

Above them was a photo of them with their parents. Ellen was beautiful. Like a Goddess or an Amazon. Her jawline could cut ice, and her high cheekbones gave way to cat-like eyes.

“You look so much like her,” Claire said softly. She felt him come up closer behind her.

“Thank you.”

She turned to offer him a sad but loving smile, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes wandered over Ellen and Brian’s wedding photo, both of them elegant and regal, Brian in his full Fraser regalia, Ellen in a gorgeous, very eighties gown.

“Your family is so beautiful, Jamie.” Claire gave him a squeeze. “Just looking at these I can tell how much love there is between all of you.”

Claire had always wondered what it was like to have family like that. Of course Lamb had been her family, and she loved him endlessly. She always would. But family like this, family to fill a wall with and look at similarities between…she’d never had such a thing. So she always wondered.

“I can’t wait to meet them someday.”

She said it softly, so softly that she might be able to take it back if she needed. But Jamie squeezed her back and kissed the top of her head.

“I canna wait either, mo ghraidh.”

They took off their shoes and moved into the kitchen, the counters empty and spotless save his coffee maker and a blender, quite unlike the ever-present mess in her kitchen. There were white roses in the center of the table, and Claire got the distinct feeling that he didn’t always have such a thing.

“For you, Milady.” He gallantly offered her a rose from the bunch, and she deeply inhaled its fresh scent, looking up at him through her lashes. The whisky came next, and then they were on the couch, glasses in hand, rose tucked behind Claire’s ear. They would go back and forth between talking animatedly, laughing, teasing, and then utter silence, sipping their glasses uncomfortably, sweat pooling at the base of Claire’s back. And probably under her arms. This went on for far too long before Claire decided to say something.

“So — ”

“Listen, I —”

They both snapped their mouths shut, blushing fiercely. They stumbled apologies over each other, but then Claire stopped it all.

“You first,” she insisted.

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “I was ehm…gonna…well…” He ran a hand through his hair, and Claire’s heart strained to see it was trembling. “I dinna ken what to do right about now. I mean, I ken what to do!” he corrected quickly, but he hadn’t needed to. Claire knew what he meant. “It’s just — ”

“No, I know. I know what you mean.” Claire took another sip of her drink. “I don’t…know what’s next either.”

Jamie laughed, a shaky, nervous sound. Claire wanted to take him in her arms and soothe him, kiss away all his fear. Yet she also wanted to pounce him right there, make him spill his whisky all over that beautiful carpet and drag him to the bed and leave it there until morning.

Though that didn’t seem very productive.

“I was going to say that you don’t have to worry about condoms,” Claire said, nodding curtly. “I mean, I know you don’t have anything, and I don’t. Unless you want — ”

He shook his head. “I trust ye.”

Claire nodded. “And well, I’m on the pill. So.”

He nodded thoughtfully, sipping his drink again. She saw the unasked question in his eye. She didn’t need to prove to him that she wasn’t just ready to start sleeping around at any given moment, but she wanted to.

“I took it even before I started having sex,” she explained. “Bad periods. Really bad.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright,” Claire waved it off. “It was convenient when I started having sex. Then Frank wanted kids right after getting married even though I was still in medical school, so I went off it. Went right back on it as soon as I could after Faith was born.”

“Frank wanted kids?”

She saw the regret as soon as he said it, flashing in his eyes like a storm.

“Exactly,” Claire said. “I don’t need to tell you of all people that Faith is my joy and blessing and…everything to me,” she said, her chest aching. “But…I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to even start trying until the age I am now. Pregnancy and infancy during med school was really hard.”

“I canna imagine.” He put a hand on her knee, squeezing. “Ye’re brave, Claire. And strong.”

She smiled weakly. “I didn’t feel like it at the time. I couldn’t even say no to him. Even though I knew why he was doing it.”

He didn’t want to ask, she could tell. He squeezed her knee harder and rubbed his thumb over her kneecap.

“He thought I’d give it up,” she said simply, shrugging. “Being a doctor. If I had children. Thought I’d resign myself to barefoot and pregnant.”

Jamie’s every feature darkened. Claire covered his hand with hers on her knee.

“I’m sorry we got into that tonight. I didn’t mean…at all…”

Unprompted and unexpectedly, Jamie’s lips met hers, harder than they had all night. He pulled away, and Claire felt breathless.

“What was that for…? I didn’t exactly set the mood…” Claire rolled her eyes in admonishment of herself.

“I admire the hell out of you, Sassenach.”

Overwhelmed with affection, Claire kissed him back.

When they pulled apart, Claire took note of the time from the digital clock on the cable box.

“I need to call Gail, get the updates, make sure Faith went down okay,” Claire said, reaching for her phone. Gail and Delia were spending the whole night at the apartment rather than Faith sleeping at their house; Claire had been worried that Faith would panic if nighttime routine was not at home.

“Do you want to…” Claire put her drink down on the coffee table as she pulled out her phone. “Meet me in the bedroom?”

She thought he might drop his drink; she almost jerked her hand forward to catch it.

“Ah — yes, aye, that’s fine,” he stammered. He set his glass down beside hers and stood up. “I’ll just…do that.”

She covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. If she hadn't already had three overtly sexual encounters with this man, these interactions would convince her that she was in for a rough night.

Gail gave a glowing report for Faith’s behavior and informed Claire that she and Delia were fast asleep, Delia in her sleeping bag next to Faith’s bed. Claire thanked her for the millionth time in just that one phone call, and then she hung up. She suddenly got the urge to wipe her palms on her dress. Now she was sweaty.

Christ.

She took a deep breath, in the nose, and out the mouth.

It’s just sex, Beauchamp. It’s like riding a bike.

Just sex…

It couldn’t ever be just sex with someone like Jamie. Not when she was his first, not when she felt…the way she did about him.

Christ.

She forced herself off the couch, swaying only slightly when she stood, and not from the alcohol.

She made sure she was breathing as she headed in the direction that Jamie had gone and into the room. His head popped up from his task. He was turning down the comforter, having already put the throw pillows on the floor in the corner.

“Yer bag is on the dresser,” he gestured to the dresser where there was, indeed, her overnight bag. She briefly wondered if she’d even bother sleeping in pajamas, then the image of her naked body pressed tightly against his seared her mind, and she thought she might fall over.

“Faith alright?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, she’s asleep, Gail said she was great. Stubborn about dinner, wanted to eat Delia’s food instead of her own, but Gail was able to get it straightened.”

Please, do keep drawling on about your five year old while Jamie Fucking Fraser turns down his bed to fuck you in.

“Good, glad to hear it.” He flashed her a grin, then straightened up. “The bathroom is an ensuite. Right through there.” He gestured, and Claire nodded in acknowledgement.

Then there they stood, six feet apart from one another, no excuses left. Jamie wiped his palms on his pants, and Claire fought the urge to do the same on her dress. It was yellow, another high-low dress with flowing cap sleeves. How she hadn’t managed to sweat through it yet was beyond her.

Jamie took a step forward, hesitantly. “I’d like to kiss ye now, Sassenach. If that’s alright.”

Claire inhaled on a gasp, then exhaled tremulously. She nodded without words, taking her own step forward.

Like riding a bike.

He closed the gap between them, cupping her face sweetly.

Like riding a bike with someone that makes your heart feel like it’s going to explode from  beneath your sternum.

He dipped down and kissed her, gentle as ever. In the back of her mind, in a place that she wished would shut up, she prayed that he wouldn’t be that gentle all night.

She could feel the sweat on his palms that he’d tried so desperately to be rid of, clammy on her face, but she focused instead on the feel of his lips, on the gentle probing of his tongue, mingling with hers. Her hands had been resting absently on his chest, but she snaked them up now, wrapping them around his neck. She wanted to be closer, needed to be. Her heartbeat was erratic, and she wanted to feel his thrumming in desperate time with hers, right up against her.

His hands moved too, threading through her hair, tugging gently so he could tip her back for better access. She sighed with contentment, smiling against him and reaching her hands under his collar to scratch his neck. He groaned as she raked her nails down, tugging harder on her hair. She’d apparently unleashed something, because he redoubled his efforts, flipping them around so he could push her to the bed. They crashed down together, and before Claire could blink, Jamie was lying perpendicular to the headboard, legs dangling off the bed, and she was hovering over him, kissing him senseless.

Something that had been simmering in her all night began rising, steaming. If she was sweaty before, she was melting now. She ran her hands all over his chest, his arms; he peppered kisses all over her neck and collarbones and even the swell of her breasts. His hands alternated between running up and down her back and squeezing her arse over her dress. She needed more. Nerves were gone, and she was ready to throw a leg over him and straddle him now. Hell, if she finished fully clothed she could still be ready for more. She moaned loudly as Jamie bit her bottom lip, sinking her nails into his neck. She was about to throw her leg over him, but then he abruptly sat up, digging his own nails into her shoulders and clawing down her arms, no doubt leaving already fading streaks of red. Claire began kissing his neck, biting, nibbling, licking, then —

“What were ye gonna say?”

She barely registered that he’d even talked. She picked up her head and looked at him blearily, her chest heaving.

“What…?”

“At dinner…when ye said, ‘I’ll yell ye later’…”

“Oh.” It came flooding back, the way he’d looked when she mentioned all the mothers lusting after him, what that look did to her.

She smiled widely at him, at first genuine and sweet, and then it morphed into something wickeder. No, she would not straddle him just yet.

She slowly, torturously slowly, ran her tongue along his bottom lip, and then nipped at it with her teeth. “You don’t even know…” She trailed her fingers down his neck, stopping at the buttons of his shirt to start undoing them. “How God damn,” another button, “bloody,” another button, “beautiful you are.” She pushed the fabric of his shirt apart, four buttons open now, and kissed his sternum. “How…” another button, another kiss, “fucking…” another button, another kiss, “hot you are, Jamie.”

His shirt was entirely undone now, and she yanked it out of his pants and over his shoulders. She moaned in appreciation of his body, beautiful indeed, sculpted from fine marble. She ran her hands down his chest, his stomach, then back up.

“God, Jamie…” She was completely breathless, and he was barely even touching her. “The first time I saw these muscles, under that wet t-shirt…I was ready to bloody have you on that counter.”

He growled then, finally moving, capturing her lips with his with an aggression she didn’t know he was capable of. She whimpered in surprised appreciation, running her hands back up his perfect torso to thread her arms around his neck as his snaked around her waist.

“Christ, Sassenach,” Jamie groaned, kissing her neck fiercely. “I wanted ye…I wanted ye so badly that day I could scarcely breathe…”

She laughed, a throaty, wanton sound. “I know you did…” She ran a hand down the planes of his torso again and then walked her fingers down, down, down…until Jamie cried out, jerking into her hand. “I could feel it.” She palmed him gently over his pants, and Jamie sounded like he was choking on something. Claire chuckled darkly and continued kissing him sloppily as she rubbed him, becoming less and less gentle.

“What did you do?” she panted, nibbling his earlobe. “That day? What did you do with…this?” She gave a particularly hard squeeze, and he cried out again against her neck, latching his teeth there, and she whimpered.

“I…” She felt him swallow, hard. “I tried not to, Sassenach, I didna…” He hissed; she did not stop touching him, “want to dishonor ye.”

“Tell me, Jamie,” she breathed. “And I’ll tell you what I did.”

He let out a soft moan at that, a beautiful, endlessly endearing sound. “Oh, Christ…” His voice was gravelly in a way that made Claire’s stomach turn to liquid. “I…I took myself in my hand, and I…” Claire was unable to suppress a moan at the thought of her sweet, shy lad touching himself for her. “I imagined this. Only it’s…” He kissed her deeply, lapping at her mouth with his tongue like he was desperately hungry. “It’s better than I could ever imagine.”

And we’re just getting started, my lad.

Claire kissed him back, finally letting her hand leave him so she could grasp both of his shoulders. “I…” she panted. “God, I touched myself too, Jamie.” She pushed his shoulders down. “I couldn’t help it.” She straddled him, and he hissed at the contact, gripping her hips. God, he felt huge under her like this, and it sent a shudder through her entire body at the thought of taking him inside her.

“Then I…” She braced herself on his shoulders and began rocking her hips, just as she’d done that night. “I did this, on a…a pillow.” She laughed through the words, even as she ground down harder on him. “And I imagined this.”

His grip on her hips tightened, and his hands moved under her dress, under her underwear to grab the flesh of her arse. She groaned as he dug his fingers into that flesh, continuing to seek her pleasure with her thrusts.

Not enough. More. More.

Claire stilled her hips and removed her hands from his shoulders so she could find the edge of her dress. Jamie’s grip on her arse became impossibly tighter; his whole body seemed to freeze up and stiffen beneath her. She smirked, feeling herself flush at the thought of letting him see her. And then the dress was off and discarded, leaving her in the lacy white matching set she’d worn just for the occasion. He raked his eyes over her frantically, as if he didn’t know where to look, where to settle his gaze. His eyes were practically bugging out of his head, and he looked like he might lose consciousness. Claire flipped her hair to one side and leaned down to kiss him, gently gripping both sides of his face. She did not move her hips again, just kissed him gently, sweetly.

It’s okay. Take your time.

After a few lingering, deep kisses, Jamie finally moved his hands away from her arse and up the length of her back, bracing her against him. He flipped her onto her back and began peppering kisses on her neck, the crook of her shoulder, her jawline, all while sculpting his fingertips over the length of her collarbones. Claire kept her fingers threaded through his curls, tugging gently on occasion. He latched onto that spot, just above her collarbone where her neck began, and Claire cried out, the pooling heat within her rising to a boiling point. His hand snaked down the length of her torso, sliding over her bra, her waist, then resting on the small of her back. She felt his lips curl into a smile against her skin, and he softly kissed the spot he'd just assaulted, before trailing his tongue up the length of her neck and her jawline before finally coming home to her mouth.

She moaned greedily into his mouth, sucking hard on his tongue, combining it with hers. She moved her hands to the sides of his face, as if to pull him impossibly closer. He kissed her urgently, and she could feel the hard proof of his arousal on her thigh, but his hands remained still. Picking up on his shyness, Claire removed a hand from his face and took hold of the hand that was still stationary on the small of her back. He either didn't notice or didn't care, far too occupied with devouring her lips and tongue, tasting her teeth. She brought his hand back up the length of her torso, stopping on the left cup of her bra. She flattened his hand and firmly pressed his palm into the soft flesh.

He stopped kissing her then, and she felt him grow even harder, if that were even possible. He looked into her eyes, the bright blue almost gone, darkened with desire. His lips were hanging open in aroused shock, and the sight of them, swollen and red from her own assault made her squirm.

She gave him a wicked grin and pressed his hand harder onto her breast, groaning through her teeth, her jaw jutting forward. Despite how obvious it was that this was enjoyable for her, and him for that matter, Jamie still hesitated to squeeze on his own, floundering when her hand left his.

"Jamie..." She somehow found enough breath to pant out his name. "Touch me, Jamie, please."

Jamie gulped, and she watched as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, having to bite her lip to stifle the moan it elicited from her. God, everything he did made her simply melt.

He repositioned himself slightly so that he could bring a second hand, trembling like mad, to her other, neglected breast. He took them in his hands with bated breath, and the sight of him, in awe of her like this was nearly enough to make her come without any stimulation at all. He ran his thumbs back and forth over the lacy material of her bra, and she groaned at the contact to her nipples, even through the fabric.

Still, he was hesitant.

"Don't be gentle," she blurted out, unable to stop herself. "Touch me, Jamie. Please."

Something finally seemed to click; something unleashed from within him. His hands roughly squeezed her breasts, and Claire arched her back as a strangled cry ripped through her.

"Yes, Jamie..." He reached one of his hands under the cup, and she gasped at the flesh-on-flesh contact. "Yes..."

Like a man possessed, he tugged at the straps of her bra, and without even thinking twice, she slipped her arms out of the straps as he reached underneath her to unhook it. Claire couldn't help but giggle; his fingers were practically vibrating with how fiercely he trembled; it took him far longer than it should have for him to unhook the bloody thing.

When he finally succeeded, and her breasts were free, she sighed with contentment. He unceremoniously discarded it behind him and returned to his former position, fueled even further by the full sight of them now. She swore she heard him growl as he took hold of her breasts again, and Claire moaned at the sensation. He kneaded roughly, pushing them together and apart, trapping her nipples between his fingers. He dipped his head to kiss her sternum, and Claire blushed, knowing full well there was a pool of sweat gathered there. He didn't seem to mind, however, as his lips and tongue devoured her there, and then trailed kisses up the mound of her breast.

Claire gasped raggedly as his lips latched onto the nipple, kissing it over and over before firmly sucking and circling his tongue around it rapidly, all while still kneading the other breast. Claire was becoming feral: her hands were pushing into his head with a force that was surely uncomfortable for him, her heavy panting had quickly morphed into repeated, loud keening noises, and she was bucking her hips into thin air. She briefly wondered if it was possible to come just from this, with her lower extremities completely untouched. She certainly felt like it was possible.

Evidently, she'd never get to find out.

He switched his mouth to her other breast and trailed his hand, flat, down the expanse of her stomach, and Claire groaned in anticipation of the oncoming sensation. He slid his hand over her underwear and palmed her, his hand completely covering the entire surface area. Claire moaned loudly; his hand was so warm and large, the heat pressing into her almost made her come undone on its own. Noticing how enthusiastically she responded to this, Jamie kept his hand flat and large as he could on her, kneading and squeezing almost like he had done to her breasts, only gentler. She rolled her hips, keening incessantly as he carried on. After a while, he slowed his hand to a stop and kept his fingers still, then began grinding the heel of his hand into her, pressing directly into that bundle of nerves that had so been craving his touch.

She loudly cried out at the sensation, but he only let it last briefly. He had other plans. All the while, his mouth had not left her breast, kissing the skin, the nipple, licking, sucking. Now, his mouth hovered over hers as his fingers tantalizingly teased the top of her underwear. He inched them underneath, slowly, so fucking slowly.

"Please, Jamie," she cried out, not even having the mental capacity to consider how wanton she sounded.

He chuckled against her mouth, kissing her hard again. She groaned into him as his fingers teased her entrance to gather her natural lubricant, and he chuckled again, his chest rumbling.

He's laughing at how you're dripping wet already, you sex-fiend.

Not wasting any more time, he began rubbing, up and down, side to side, circling…

“Jamie…Jamie…fuck…”

Claire was completely lost.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, her back completely arched, her fingers threaded in his hair again. He knew exactly when he spent too long in a certain spot, and he moved, he knew exactly when he needed to slow down, when he needed to speed up. He was watching her face intently, listening to her body, and of course to those noises.

Claire had no concept of how loud she was being now; she couldn't even hear herself anymore. The only thing she could hear was his panting in her ear, the purring in his throat, the chuckling growls in his chest. The world narrowed down to his fingers, taking up a pace with a quickness she had never felt before. Every breath she inhaled was a ragged gasp, every breath she released was a tortured moan.

Jamie latched teeth onto her nipple, and she was undone.

She came with a ferocity she hadn’t thought possible, her mouth hanging open, as screams, practically sobs, erupted from her.

His fingers slowed, gently stroking her down from her high. She was seeing stars as he kissed her lips again, and she kissed him back with a fervor she didn’t even know she could muster after the numbing orgasm he’d just given her. She kissed him until she was sure she would faint, only pulling away to ensure she didn’t drop dead for lack of air. She panted heavily, her walls still clenching inside her, her thighs still twitching. His hand left her, gently stroking up and down her ribcage. He was grinning down at her like a fool, clearly quite pleased with himself.

“Where the bloody hell did you learn how to do that?” Claire panted, her eyes hardly able to focus her vision.

He smirked at her, cocking an eyebrow. “I said I was a virgin, Sassenach.” He chuckled lightly and kissed her again. “No’ a monk.”

Claire shook her head in disbelief, completely dumbfounded. Would he ever cease to amaze her?

“Was it really all that good?”

She could tell that he was trying to play it off as a joke, attempting sarcasm, playing up his cockiness. But she could see right through it, could tell that he needed the reassurance from her verbally.

To answer him, Claire firmly took hold of both sides of his face and kissed him hard. When she pulled away she looked into his eyes, whispering: “Unbelievable.”

His grin widened again, and he kissed her back, threading his fingers through her hair. They pulled apart again and settled in to lay down, facing each other, foreheads pressed together.

“Ye’re beautiful when ye fall apart, Claire,” he whispered reverently, pushing a stray curl out of her sweaty face. 

She felt her face get hot, but not from arousal this time. “Really…? I found myself resembling nothing short of a wanton slut.”

She’d meant it as a joke, and looked at him as such, smiling sheepishly. But his eyes had darkened again, and his face was almost gravely serious.

“No, Sassenach,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Ye’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Watching ye in the throes of yer passion is…is beyond description, Claire. I dinna want to ever forget it.”

Claire felt tears stinging her eyes, and she felt ridiculous. Am I really about to cry because my boyfriend thinks I’m pretty when I come…?

But it wasn’t as simple as that. Not really.

The truth of his words, the depth of their meaning sank in, and Claire felt her heart being pulled to his. She was unable to stop herself from kissing him again, overcome with tenderness. The kiss gradually deepened, and it wasn’t long before Claire found herself burning, wanting again. She moved her hands down the expanse of his bare chest as he continued kissing her, stopping at his hips, where his pants began. She tugged on his belt until she got it undone, and Jamie smirked against her lips as she pulled it through the belt loops, discarding it over her shoulder.

“You…” she breathed out between kisses. “Are wearing…” She undid his fly. “Far too much clothing.”

He growled in response, deepening the kiss even as he tugged on his slacks, breaking away only to get them over his knees and heels, finally kicking them onto the floor. He laid back down beside her again, thrusting his tongue back into her mouth with an urgency that made her moan. His hardness was pressing firmly into her as they continued their exploration of each other’s mouths, and Claire found herself unable to resist rocking her hips against him. He mirrored her actions, grinding against her thigh. Claire draped her leg over his hips to increase her own friction, and slid her other thigh between both of his to increase friction for him, pressing the top of her thigh into his erection.

He let out a shuddering groan, a sound that sent heat shooting to her center. They began madly rocking together, their lips never leaving one another’s. Claire groaned and grunted as she fought to maintain a steady rhythm that stimulated her just right on him, the ever-present reminder of his arousal on her thigh driving her mad. Jamie was panting and groaning, his thrusts becoming frantic.

“Claire…” Jamie choked out, finally releasing her mouth. “I canna…I’m gonnae…”

“No.” Claire immediately stopped rocking. “Not like this.”

Every vein in his face was popping out, and he was dripping with sweat. Claire unthreaded herself from him and tugged on his briefs, and he obliged, sitting up and sliding them all the way off. Claire gasped raggedly as he was unsheathed. She’d guessed the relative size of him through clothing far earlier in their friendship than she’d have liked to admit, but to fully see it was another matter entirely.

She had to have him. Now.

She sat up, reached out and grabbed him, and he cried out. She squeezed and stroked oh-so-gently, not wanting to accidentally set him off this way, but wanting very badly to feel him in her hands first. He let his head fall backward, his mouth stuck open, his eyes looking up to the ceiling.

“Christ, Sassenach…” he hissed.

Claire chuckled softly, enjoying her turn to have power over him. “Are you ready, Jamie?

Ready for me to take your virginity?

The thought sent another jet of heat to her center, and she felt herself growing impossibly wet.

“Are you?” he asked.

She smirked and made a show of removing her underwear, exposing that arse that she knew he adored, wiggling them down torturously slowly. She could feel her own wetness trailing down her thigh without the barrier to stop it from doing so. When they were finally discarded, she rose up on her knees and took his hand in hers, bringing it between her legs. They both gasped, she from the sensation, and he from the arousal of feeling how ready she really was.

Claire held his hand there, letting him soak in the moment. She looked him directly in the eye. “What do you think?” she said breathily.

He growled again and kissed her hungrily, both of them kneeling in the center of the bed.

Yes, they were both quite ready.

They kissed and kissed and kissed, and Claire didn’t even notice that Jamie was gradually, gently, pushing her back. She sat back and untucked her legs from beneath her, spreading them, until she was laying on the pillows, Jamie braced above her. Jamie stared into her face, eyes wide, mouth agape. Claire had to stifle the urge to laugh. But God, was he beautiful.

“I…” he stammered. “I’m sorry if I…”

Claire silenced him with a kiss, gripping both sides of his face. “It’s alright.” She kissed him again, dragging her teeth along his bottom lip until it popped out. “Do what you must.”

Jamie let out a shuddering groan that had Claire arching her back, raising her hips for him. He took hold of himself, lining himself up. Claire could feel him, grazing every inch of sensitive flesh that he’d already given his attentions to, and then he was there, right against her.

Do it, Jamie. God, do it!

She wanted to scream.

Instead, she took in the question in his eyes, the bob of his Adam’s apple, still holding his face, and she nodded.

Then she did scream, or something akin to it at least. It was loud, whatever it was.

Her first thought was that she’d never been so completely filled by any other man she’d slept with. Her second thought was that that was a horrible thought to have. Her third thought was that she didn’t give a fuck.

He wasn’t moving; he was just staring at her with his hands braced on either side of her head. Claire was still catching her breath from his initial thrust, and she realized embarrassingly that she was white-knuckling the poor lad’s face. She eased her grip and brought his face down to hers, kissing him, swirling her tongue with his. She rose her hips up, thrusting against him herself, then he took the hint, beginning to move. Claire keened against his lips as he stirred inside her, and then she cried out again when he pulled back and slammed back in. Jamie made his own noise, choked and strangled. God, he was so fucking endearing, even as he hammered inside her.

He gave another thrust, and then he set a rhythm. Claire threaded an arm around his neck, pressing his head into the crook of her neck. He clearly didn’t have the brain capacity to do anything there but breathe, but that was enough. His panting, hot breath on her skin and his noises directly in her ear were a lovely sensation. With her other hand, she reached down to take purchase on his arse, smooth and firm. She held onto it as if for dear life, as if she could push him even deeper into her if she tried.

After not long at all, he began to speed up, and Claire knew he wouldn’t last much longer. She also knew she was going to die if she didn’t finish with him inside her. So she removed her hand from his arse and brought it between them, rubbing herself relentlessly. Eventually, she thought to herself, she’d bring his hand there while they fucked. For now, the lad could barely keep himself from crushing her. She didn’t blame him.

A new surge of pleasure coursed through her, an electric height only achieved by combining both pleasure points on her body, heightened further still when one was far larger than a few fingers. Claire’s moaning was unrestrained now; every thrust elicited yet another high-pitched cry. She tightened her arm around his neck, threading her fingers in his thick red curls. He began moaning against her skin with every breath, and Claire increased the pace of her fingers.

So close.

And then Jamie yelled against her, biting down on her shoulder. His body went rigid, freezing inside her. She felt the familiar warm rush of his seed filling her, and she kept rubbing herself.

“Jamie!”

A plea, a demand…it was anyone’s guess.

Whether he knew what she meant or not, he gave one final thrust, and it was enough. She screamed again, louder than she had all night, clenching tightly around him, yanking her hand away from herself out of pure overstimulation and then braced her hand on his arse again, squeezing tightly.

He remained still as she continued to grasp him tightly, pulse around him, spasm her hips erratically, shivering. He’d collapsed onto his elbows, and sweat dripped from his hair onto her forehead, disappearing into her own hair. They were both gasping for air, panting desperately against each other’s skin. Claire could taste her own sweat on her upper lip, could see and feel the sheen of sweat all over his body as well as hers. For a moment they stayed like that, panting and gasping, and then Jamie collapsed to the right, surely unable to hold himself up anymore. He slid out of her, collapsing onto his back, still breathing heavily.

Claire stared at the ceiling for a moment, feeling far too much like jell-o to be able to move, but before long, she missed his warmth above her, around her. She flopped over onto her stomach, landing bodily on his chest. The sound it made was rather horrid, and Claire snorted. Jamie had no reaction, and Claire propped her head on her hands atop his chest. She found him with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

“Don’t die on me now,” she said.

Jamie groaned unintelligibly, his eyes still closed.

“Well,” Claire said haughtily, folding her arms over his chest and laying her head on them. “At least you didn’t die a virgin.”

A loud slap filled the air, followed by a sharp sting, simultaneous with a loud shriek. Claire jolted, sitting up.

“You little bastard!”

Jamie was literally howling with laughter.

“I’m sorry lass!” he wheezed. “I didna realize it would be so loud!”

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ!” she cried, swatting at his arm. Both of them had done this while they were fully clothed, teasing. But evidently, Jamie had never smacked a naked arse before. Which would make sense.

She erupted into giggles right with him, collapsing onto his chest again, where he readily wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

“Oh, Christ…” He was still laughing, rubbing her back.

“That’s what you get for almost falling asleep on me!” Claire said, still sputtering herself.

They calmed themselves down, still teasing and shuddering with laughter, Jamie rocking her in his arms unintentionally. They quieted, and a sense of contentment filled the air.

“Ye…ye liked it, then?”

Claire was unable to stifle another laugh. “I’m sorry, it’s not funny…” She giggled again, then kissed his sternum. “I did. I did like it, Jamie. A lot.”

She could feel as well as hear his sigh of relief, his chest deflating, taking her with it. He kissed her head again. “So did I, Sassenach.”

She picked her head up, resting her chin on her hands again. “Was it like you thought it would be?”

Jamie grinned crookedly, and Claire was shocked by her desire to kiss every inch of that mouth, so soon after. “Better.”

She was unable to stop herself then, kissing him soundly. He kissed back with equal fervor until they were both breathless. Then he pulled away, and Claire looked at him questioningly.

“Would ye…” He gulped, blinking. “Maybe…would ye want to do it again?”

Claire cocked a brow at him, smiling wickedly and maintaining eye contact as her hand traveled further down until she found him, already hard.

“Hm,” she hummed, impressed. “Ready already.”

Before he could push her into the pillows again, she threw a leg over his hips to straddle him. She leaned down to kiss him, and he raked his nails down her back, then kneaded her arse roughly. She could feel a hot rush, and then he chuckled darkly.

“So are you.”

Proving him right, she lowered herself onto him with effortless ease, and Jamie’s face looked like he might explode in this new position. She sighed with ecstasy, biting her lip. God, he felt good.

“For the record,” Claire began before she could stop herself. “I didn’t…hate it.”

His brow furrowed, gulping, trying to maintain focus while he was inside her. “What…?”

She took one of his hands, previously kneading her breasts, and brought it down to her arse. Hard. Loud.

Jamie’s eyes blew impossibly wide, his mouth falling open. Claire almost regretted it, almost felt like a slut bringing a kink, even a mild one, into the equation on the first night. But then his eyes darkened, and he smacked the other side of her arse with his free hand, and she let out a gasp that ended with a groan. Claire bit her lip, smiling wickedly down at him.

“Fast learner.”

[randomrichards]

BEST MOVIES OF 2020

10)          BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM

It’s a miracle Sacha Baron Cohen could pull off his guerilla comedy style considering how iconic his character is (especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic). Just as surprising is how uncompromising it is with its political commentary and how it never backs away from its deliciously inappropriate humour.

As everyone’s favourite anti-Semitic, misogynist dim bulb reporter (Sacha Baron Cohen) becomes a pariah in his home country, Borat tries to sell his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) to Michael Pence (then later Rudy Giuliani). The result is an endless array of side splitting, cringy moments from convincing a baker to write an anti-Semitic slogan on a cake to Borat attempted disguises to avoid detection.

Not since Buster Keaton has a comic actor pulled such dangerous stunts for a laugh. Cohen puts himself in such risky situations for the sake of his comedy when he hangs around with Qanon nutjobs or barges into a Republican convention dressed as “McDonald Trump.” [1] Well, it’s not just for laughs. As with his earlier works, Cohen uses his guerilla comedy style to expose the ugly side of humanity and America’s complicity in said ugly behavior. A notable theme is the consequences of misinformation. Borat is an instigator and willful idiot for his home country’s propaganda, which makes him an easy target for conspiracy theories. It all comes to a hilarious head when his daughter becomes a rightwing pundit and breaks his heart with holocaust denial.

Maria Bakalova is the film’s breakout star. An unknown actress from Bulgaria, Bakalova matches him every step of the way as the gullible, degraded young woman. She shines in her own hilarious moments when she’s ballroom dancing with a bloody dress or cheering about the joys of masturbating in front of a Republican Meeting.  She also gives the movie a heart as Borat bonds with his daughter and forces him to reevaluate his beliefs.

It’s impossible for the film to reach the same level of impact as the first Borat considering what a surprise phenomenon the original was. But it’s still surprising the sequel was as good as it was without sacrificing its inappropriate humour.

9)            HIS HOUSE

Writer/Director Remi Weekes brings another great addition to the metaphorror genre with His House; a creepy horror flick about a Sudanese refugee couple who find their lives in Britain threatened by the literal demons of their past.

Dilapidated rooms with peeling wallpaper, decaying floors, and malfunctioning lights are a perfect atmosphere for horror, Weekes and his cinematographer Jo Willems takes full advantage of this environment to unsettle the audience. Bol Majur (Sope Dirisu) and his wife Rial Majur (Wunmi Mosaku) find themselves tormented by voices in the walls, and mysterious figures peaking through the crawl spaces. It’s clear these supernatural figures are the manifestations of their trauma.

Weeks contrast the supernatural horror with the real horror they face, which takes the form of an uncaring bureaucracy that sticks them in a dilapidated home in a crumbling neighbourhood with some hostile, indifferent neighbours. It shows how finding a doctor’s office in an unfamiliar land can be as scary as facing ghosts.

You care a lot about these two thanks to Dirisu and Mosaku, who bring a lot of quiet humanity and heart to their characters. You pray for them as they fight for their right to live with dignity after what they’ve been put through.

8)            WOLFWALKERS

British girl/wannabee warrior) Robyn (voiced by Honor Kneafsey) joins her father (Sean Bean) on a trip to a remote Irish village where she encounters Mebh (Evan Whittaker), a wild red-haired girl with the ability to control a pack of wolves. With her father tasked with killing Mebh’s pack, Robyn must find Mebh’s mother and protect the pack from the tyrannical religious fanatic Lord Protector (Simon McBurney) in Tomm Moore’s conclusion to his Irish Folklore trilogy.

The animation is just as gorgeous as Moore’s earlier films The Secret of Kells and The Song of the Sea with his trademark storybook-like animation style. A noticeable difference between the earlier is how deliberately rough the animation looks. There are moments you can see lines and circles that are usually erased when drawing characters. It fits with the wild energy of the characters.

There’re the clear environmental themes of humans encroaching on animal lives and the need to respect nature. Lord Protector believes he needs to dominate the wilderness and the wolves. The villagers in contrast have more respect for the environment but can’t do much under Protector’s rule. So, the wolves are forced to find a new home.

Another theme of this film is the importance of questioning authority and not blindly conforming to social norms. Robyn’s father expects her to train to be a chambermaid while he’s blindly follows Lord Protector’s orders. They keep saying it’s “for the greater good,” but that “greater good” involves the destruction of a wilderness and a denial of one’s true self. It just leaves everyone miserable. And all for a religious fanatic.

It’s a shame Moore’s films don’t get more attention because they have that rare sense of wonder.

7)            NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS & UNPREGNANT (tie)

I’m putting these two films together on the list because they have the same premise of two teen girls travelling across state lines so one of them can get an abortion. What sets them apart is how different they are in styles.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a grounded drama about Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) a teenage girl from Pennsylvania who secretly travels with her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder) to New York to get an abortion without their parents knowing. Writer/director Eliza Hittman avoids melodrama in favour of grounded realism. Flanigan and Ryder keep their performances at a lowkey level to reinforce the realism. Hittman also avoids political moralizing in favour of just presenting a slice of life showcase as the cousins travel to New York, try to find the appropriate procedure for her circumstance, then tries to find the money to get back home. In a way, it makes the little moments more meaningful when Autumn is forced to watch anti-abortion propaganda or when she and Skylar plays at an arcade.

While the former goes for grounded drama, Haley Lu Richardson’s Unpregnant bears a closer resemblance to comedic road movies like National Lampoon’s Vacation and Planes, Trains & Automobiles. This time, popular teen Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson) enlists the help (and the car) of social outcast/former friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) to drive from Missouri to Albuquerque to get the procedure without her parents knowing. The result is a chaotic road trip with the two crashing a few cars and meeting a few colourful characters along the way. This film has quite a set of cameos including Breckin Meyer, Betty Who and Giancarlo Esposito. This film has the John Hughes blend of broad humour and recognizable heart. This film gets its point across by showcasing the absurdity of how teen girls are treated. One notable example is Veronica’s boyfriend; a stage 5 clinger who lives under the “nice guy” mindset.

Both films celebrate teen girls helping each other out.

6)            THE VAST OF NIGHT

Switchboard operator (Sierra McCormick) and DJ Everett Sloan (Jake Horowitz) search for the source of a mysterious sound in The Vast of Night; a gripping and visual dazzling sci fi flick that captures the feel of the Twilight Zone.

Director Andrew Patterson and co-writer Craig W. Sanger wrote a tightly knit story the follows our heroes over the course of a night as they play detective in a 1950s New Mexico town. Never does a second feel wasted. Plus, it’s fun to see stereotypical 1950s nerds being the heroes in a story like this.

What truly makes this film stand out is its visual styles. From the Twilight Zone-esque opens plays on an old tv, cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz has you under his spell. His camerawork is always gorgeous in both the way he is zooming into a 1950s high school basketball game and shining omniscient light from the night sky. There are also some unusual moments when the film will suddenly play on 1950s tv. This may either further the intrigue or take some viewers out of the movie.

The result is a unique experience for sci-fi fans.

5)            KAJILLIONNAIRE

Emotionally distant young woman Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) and her small-time con artist parents (Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins) find their lives turned upside down when a perky stranger named Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) joins in their schemes.

Some audiences may be put off by July’s stylized approach to filmmaking, especially Wood’s unusual deep voice. But for those into lighthearted, quirky comedies will be enchanted by the little visual oddities of the family stooping (or in Old Dolio’s case, leaning back) to avoid their landlord or the pink suds always flowing down their apartment walls.

Kajillionnaire fits into July’s celebration of the timid and the outsiders. But July surprises us with a dark side to the outsider. The parents reject the unfulfilling, debt filled conventional life, but they aren’t particularly good at their cons and struggle to make ends meet. It has also made their daughter emotionally distant and with severe trust issues. It takes Melanie to give Old Dolio the human connection she never had.

I can’t say much beyond that because it takes many unexpected twists and turns. What I can say is this colourful dramedy offers an assurance of human connection.

4)             SMALL AXE

Ok, I may be cheating on this one since it’s five films (two of them just barely over an hour), but director Steve McQueen’s anthology complement each other perfectly with their unflinching examinations of systemic racism inflicted on lives of West Indie Brits during 1960s and the 1980s. The films are also connected by their celebration of people who celebrate life despite overwhelming odds stacked against them.

MANGROVE centers on the title Caribbean restaurant in Notting Hill. Owner Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes) just wants to serve customers and be left alone, but his business is a constant target of harassment by racist cops. It all comes to a head with a 1970 protest, which leads to Frank and 8 others falsely accused of inciting a riot.

The trial demonstrates how Police can brutalize protesters, then turn around and accuse the protesters of inciting violence. It also shows how the justice system is complicity by blindly taking the word of the police over civilians. Not helping is a prosecuting attorney who peddles in racist dog whistles, a defense attorney naïve about the justice system’s treatment of black people and an indifferent judge. But the defendants stand strong as they use the trial as a platform to expose racial profiling while poking holes in cop’s testimony.

The two standouts in the film are Parkes and Letitia Wright as British Black Panther Co-Founder Altheia Jones. Parkes brings a lot of sympathy as a desperate man who just wants to live his life but grows to become an activist due to circumstances outside of his control. In contrast, Wright is a powerhouse of righteous anger as she fights for dignity.

LOVERS ROCK takes us through a night at a house party, where two strangers (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn and Micheal Ward) fall in love. There’s isn’t much plot in this one, its mostly just people dancing and playing music. But as the camera lingers on the DJ playing records and the guests dancing and enjoying each other’s company, this film enchants you with its celebration of music, dancing, and the joy of company. It feels like a much-needed break from the uncomfortable racism we see in the other movies.

RED, WHITE, AND BLUE Is probably the most heartbreaking. John Boyega portrays Leroy Logan, a young man who enrolls in the Metropolitan Police in hopes of reforming it from the inside. He underestimates the racism he’ll face during training or how the system enables the racism. What makes it worst is how his own community would turn against him, especially his father (Steve Toussaint).

Boyega gives a powerful performance as a determined and smart guy who fails to understand how in over his head he is. You feel his fury when Leroy berates his fellow officers for putting his life in danger by not answering his call for backup. Toussaint is just as powerful as a man who feels betrayed when his son joins the very people who have brutalized him for years.

ALEX WHEATIE tells the true-life story of a young man (Sheyi Cole) who would go on to become an award-winning writer after being jailed during the Brixton Uprising of 1981. We follow him from his childhood growing up in uncaring white institutional care homes to finding a sense of community in Brixton, where he develops a passion for music. Through his attempts to pursue a DJing career and his run ins with the law that he confronts his past and begins a journey to healing.

We conclude with Education, a coming-of-age story of Kingsley (Kenyah Sandy), a 12-year-old boy who was singled out as “disruptive” and sent to special classes for the “subnormal”. This film looks at an unofficial segregated system that dismissed black kids and discarded them in classes for people with mental disability. It’s clear Kingsley is a smart kid with interest in rockets and space, but he shows signs of dyslexia. But neither his headmaster nor are the special classes helpful, especially when the teacher cares more about play his guitar and teaching the kids anything useful. His parents are even less helpful when they dismiss his concerns (when they’re not working two jobs.) It leads to a sad moment when Kingsley hides inside a bus to avoid seeing his friends.

This film also shows the power of black women. You see it through Kingsley’s sister Stephanie (Tamara Lawrence) whose empathy makes her realize somethings up. You see through Lydia Thomas (Josette Simon) activism as she investigates these school conditions. You especially see it through Kingsley’s mom (Sharlene Whyte), not just from working to jobs to provide for her family but her ability to grow and learn. She goes through a journey as Lydia teaches her about the systemic racism in the education system, forcing her to realize how she’s dismissed her son’s concerns. Near the end, we see how children like Kingsley can be helped by those willing to understand his problem.

3)            FIRST COW

Timid forager Cookie (John Magaro) feels out of place among the hunters and fur traders in the Oregon Territory. Then along comes King-Lu (Orion Lee), a Chinese immigrant with big dreams. Together, they swipe milk from the only cow in the area to cook and sell pastries to the locals in the area. As their little business grows, so does the bond between these outsiders. But their success comes under threat when they attract the attention of a wealthy landowner (Toby Jones) who owns the cow.

A premise like this does not sound like the type of film that attracts major audience attention, especially with Co-writer/Director Kelly Reichart’s minimalist style. But when it comes to Reichart, less is more. Reichart takes her time to take in the muted colours and natural beauty of Christopher Blauvelt’s cinematography and allow the relationships to develop naturally. It’s helped by the low-key yet engaging performances. Lee showcased the enthusiastic determination of a born entrepreneur. But it’s Magaro who shines brightest with the most nuanced performance of the year, revealing Cookie’s humanity through the subtlest gestures.

Reichart’s subtle, patient storytelling isn’t for everyone, but through her gentlest touch she enchants the audience with a haunting tale of unlikely friendships and the achievements of outsiders.

2)            UNCUT GEMS

I know this is a film was released in 2019, but It didn’t come to our theatre until 2020 and It’s too damn good not to talk about.

This film is a cinematic panic attack. Never once do the Safdie brothers give you a moment to relax as fast-talking Jeweler Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) dodges pissed off debt collectors while plotting for the biggest bet he can get. The result is an experience that keeps you on edge from opening credits to end credits. In lesser hands this would be an unpleasant experience, but the Safdie brothers uses this to create a compelling, intense portrayal of a man who gets off on standing on the edge of a cliff.

One reason it works is because beauty and ugliness make strange bedfellows in their movies. Nowhere is this more perfectly summed up than in the opening scenes where cinematographer Darius Khondji travels through an inside of a gem. The colours and lights make you feel like you’ve ascended to a magical world, but this scene happens in between scenes of African Miners being exploited and the inside of Howard’s colon. Just as beautiful is Daniel Lopatin’s new wave musical score. On its own, the music lulls you into a beautiful sense of peace. But this music often plays over uncomfortable scenes of characters screaming over each other. Somehow these two elevate the cinematic experience.

But the true strength of the film is Howard himself, which is astounding considering how unlikeable the character is. Throughout the film, he keeps digging himself into a deeper hole as he gambles even more recklessly, which makes it worst when he starts putting other’s people lives at risk. But he’s too complicated to hate. He shares a close bond with his kids and his coworkers. The film makes it clear he’s excellent at predicting Basketball games with near perfect accuracy, which gives you hope he will win. But then again, you don’t end up with over a hundred thousand dollars in debt without making terrible life decisions. He would be impossible to watch without Adam Sandler’s performance. He blends a smooth-talking charm and panic desperation to his character every time he tries to fast talk his way out of his circumstance. You can see why people like having him around.

When the credits roll, you’re relieved it’s over and were glad to experience the thrill.

1)            THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO SEVEN

The real-life trial of seven protesters and Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale feels more like an SNL skit than a courtroom drama. From the Merry Prankster duo Abby Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong)’s tweaking the nose at the buffoon judge Hoffman (Frank Langella) to the Judge bounding and gagging Seale, this trial was so contrived it can only come from real life. And writer/director Aaron Sorkin exposes the absurdity of this story in The Trial of the Chicago Seven.

It’s funny how a film about a trial from the late 60s can capture the mood of 2020. But with brutal images of Police attacking protesters and Judge Hoffman’s horrific treatment of Seale, this film feels like it came at the perfect time.[2] The trial itself showcases how the Justice system works to silence discourse and smears protestors. Sorkin further emphasizes how the system attacks anyone by showcasing the contrasting beliefs of the protestors from the radical anarchism of Hoffman and quiet dignity of Seale to the moderate ideals of student protestor Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and the unapologetic pacifism of suburban dad David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch).

Sorkin does all this while keeping the film gripping and entertaining from start to finish. He brings his sharp wit to his dialogue whether it’s Hoffman’s political speeches or the Marx-brother’s esque exchanges between the Judge and the increasingly frustrated defense attorney William Kunstler. Matching his writing are the endless great performances from the actors including Joseph Gordon-Levitt as reluctant prosecuting attorney Richard Schultz and Strong bringing out his inner Tommy Chong. But it’s Cohen who steals the whole film bringing out the uncompromising radicalism of Hoffman, who seems to have a better understanding of the situation than most of the protestors.

The result is a film that perfectly captures the political feel of 2020.

[1] At one point, he was almost attacked by protesters.

[2] Which is ironic considering it took Sorkin over a decade to get the film made.

#best movies of 2020 #random richards #random richards reviews #best of 2020 #borat subsequent moviefilm #the trial of the chicago 7 #the trial of the chicago seven #uncut gems #first cow #kajillionaire #his house #wolfwalkers #never rarely sometimes always #unpregnant #the vast of night #small axe #mangrove #lovers rock #red white and blue #alex wheatle #education

[phoenix-manga]

[DCA Event] - Six Queens Event Part 3

[Aragon - No Way]

When it was Evonie who had the spotlight, she let all the frustration of the ghost take over but still kept a steady pace with it so she doesn’t entirely lose herself. Remembering Professor Faustus’ warning to NOT let them take over you even if you sympathize with their pain and frustrations. 

With a confident stride she played the part of the wife who has had enough of B.S. from his highness, King Henry.

Vil is impressed, the golden shine of her costume along with the way she carried herself, truly resembled a queen. He did the “Z” snap whenever Evonie made statements on why the king was an old wrinkled disaster who didn’t know what the HELL he was doing.

Evonie: So far, I’ve been shat on by fate! But I did my best to keep my composure, was supposed to marry Prince Arthur but he died? Okay fine, whatever! Got engaged to Prince Henry even though he was my dead husband’s brother? Okay, whatever! 

....

Sleep around with women all the time while making B.S. excuses? OKAY! Fine by me! But trying to replace me with a side chick in MY palace and dump me into a nunnery? NO WAY!

Vil: Tell him sister!

Some of the audience nodded or made grunts to signify the fact that they’ve been there, sister.

When she started singing, her eyes started to glow but it wasn’t noticeable by the audience due to the lights. Every verse, she sang with a frustrated voice sang in a rhythmic defiance.

Somewhere in the song, people started to dance along to the chorus. And then came the part where she sang softly

Evonie: You got me down on my knees, please tell me what you think I’ve done wrong? Been humble, been loyal I’ve tried to swallow my pride all along... If you could just explain a single thing I've done to cause you pain...

I’ll go~

(Awkward Silence)

Jack and Deuce both thought that the king wasn’t a good man to be a husband, let alone a father. (Respect women juice)

The audience chuckles when she stares blankly as if waiting for a reply, and they laugh when she pretends to check on her nonexistent watch.

Then when she sang the chorus loudly, she can feel the ghost’s possession fading a bit but it wasn’t entirely gone. Though it just means that she’ll be less likely to act differently now.

At the end of the song the crowd cheered.

But then, it was time to introduce another queen...

[Boleyn - Don't Lose Your Head]

As the queens do their introduction of Allison’s character. Allison felt the ghost send feelings of conceit and she felt like being bratty. She can tango with the ghost, it takes two to dance. She puts on a smug face as the queens parted ways to reveal her.  Her green eyes started to glow brighter.

Riddle was fiddling in his seat, his impression of Allison was more on an immature image so he’s having thoughts on how she’ll pull off the role.

When they revealed her with a phone, he just crosses his arms with an unsure expression. But when she signaled the music to start and acted like some conceited mean girl he was VERY shook.

Who knew Allison could pull of the act well. Cater whistled on how much she resembled a proud barbie character. Trey thought how fitting this act was for Allison, but also the dorm cause he knows very well the students wouldn’t want to “lose their head”.

Ace was losing it, his mouth hung open in an amused way. Deuce, bless him, tried to take in all the info just in case Professor Trein wanted an essay on the play. (Boi better not include the edited persona bits, the actual queens did NOT act like that XD)

When she got to the part that roasted the king about not getting it up, Ace and Cater both said, “Oof! burn!”

But what stole the tart was this part...

Queens: What was she meant to do-

Allison: Oh my god, you guys he seriously wants to chop my head off!

Audience: *Chuckles*

Allison: I mean... I guess he just really liked my head.

Riddle and Deuce: 

Trey just had his eyes wide while Ace and Cater covered their mouths, their elementary brain cells giggling at the dirty joke.

Even a good amount of the audience screamed at the unexpected dirty joke. Epel glances to he side and sees Vil with a disgusted look on his face. Jack nervously glances at Ortho and hoped that Idia-senpai won’t send him to the underworld for something he couldn’t control.

Divus chuckled at the bold choice of writing the scenario. Crowley had his image of the DCA student body shattered. (Chill out bird brain, it was a character!)

Allison let her energy out with a sporadic dance. The ghost’s possession lessened but not entirely, two down, four to go.

The song ends with the light on Allison’s head to signify her beheading.

[Extra]

Epel laughed loudly at that it startled Vil. But he recovered and bonked Epel on his lavender head.

Allison: What a weekend... I’m like literally dead!

Cerule: Umm, did you actually die?

Allison: Yeah and it was so extra! So I’m obvs the winner so I think I’m gonna sing another solo.

This was when I found out that Catherine of Aragon had tragically died, *Snort* it’s called wearing yellow to a funeral. 

Catherine was a MASSIVE CU-

Rozeline and Vidya: NO! STOP!

Ace laughed loudly with no consequences, Trey is trying to stop Riddle from collaring him. Cater’s camera was shaking cause he was laughing too.

Jack thanks that there’s censorship for Ortho. Silently praying for his and the boy’s soul.

Floyd was laughing so much that Jade and Azul had to cover his mouth because his teeth and laugh scared a teenager sitting nearby.

#phnx #dca #diamond crown academy #dca events #dca headcanons #headcanon #twst oc #twst #twisted wonderland oc #six queens event #six

[pagingevilspawn]

Loving You Is A Losing Game- chapter four

hii! okay, before this chapter begins, i wanna say i’m actually pretty proud of it? idk why, but i am. and also, this book probably won’t be updated for about 2-4 weeks. 

i really wanted to focus this past week on writing, but i had finals to study for and everything so it took up a lot of time (i say as i watch criminal minds) but yeah, i’m hoping to get a lot of writing done in the next two weeks since today was my last day of school. yay! 

without further ado, chapter four of loving you is a losing game! 

~*~

"i'm afraid of what i am, my mind feels like a foreign land"

~*~

alex walked with robbins down the hallway, the blonde reciting her speech for the third time that day, looking to the resident for approval, her eyes silently asking him for any feedback he might have. she wasn't normally nervous about these kinds of things, but she felt that the fact that she was speaking to med students held a greater responsibility. these students were the future of medicine. they hadn't experienced the loss of a patient yet, or the crying sobs of parents when they had to be told that their child didn't make it.

the med students were... bright and shiny. they saw everybody in a higher place in their careers as practical gods. so, while she still had the chance, she wanted to root into all of these young minds that no matter what anyone said, peds was hardcore. it wasn't 'babysitting' like she had heard so many of the residents and interns call it.

peds was undoubtedly the hardest specialty. maybe not skill wise, but definitely emotionally. only the people with grit could survive peds. they worked on kids. maybe that meant that there was an everlasting sea of hope surrounding the patients, where they still were able to believe that the magic the doctors gave them could make them better.

but, it was known for a fact that losing a kid was worse than losing any grown adult.

a young life, taken from the word much too soon. it was cruel. so, so cruel. what had this young person done to have its life taken away? what about all the horrible people in the world who walked around free, living their lives? the rapists, the killers... why did they get to still be on the earth while a tiny human wasn't. it was messed up.

but that's why peds was tough.

because, while losing a kid was probably the worst feeling for a surgeon to go through, a success was so much more appreciated when it was one. the fact that they saved a person who had barely even got to live their life yet was the reason why arizona became a pediatric surgeon. because of what she was able to do, this person would get to grow up, fall in love, make bad choices, do things they knew for a fact they would regret later on. and that was truly all she could really ask for.

she was starting to see it in alex too, the peds glow. she didn't want to admit it out loud, for she knew that he would let the cocky part of him show and give her a well thought out retort. but lately, she'd been watching him, realizing that he was indeed serious about peds, that it wasn't just a lame middle school dare that he arranged with his fellow residents.

she saw the way his face would light up when a kid would say 'dr. alex!' so excitedly as he entered a room. she watched how he would spend time getting to know his patients, so that way they would have something to talk about later on if it was necessary. she was starting to see that maybe, just maybe, alex would make a fine peds surgeon.

"so..." she trails off, looking at the man expectantly, not missing the way he looked distracted as he kept his gaze on his feet.

he looks up, giving her a reassuring nod. "it's great robbins." he said sincerely, making her let out a relieved breath. she knew how honest karev could be, it was both a strength and a fault. he always told things as they were and didn't sugarcoat anything. if he thought something was crappy, he would literally tell you, "it's crappy," and that was something she appreciated.

she casts a worrying glance over him, his head hung low as the look in his eyes seemed to show that he was somewhere else. "you okay?" she asks.

he nods, snapping back to reality "yeah. just thinking."

"well, you know what you need to do right? you're like my assistant alex. click the computer's button when i need the next slide, interject when i ask you to..." she trails off, praying that he wouldn't mess this up.

alex gives her a signature glare, a bit offended that the blonde was doubting his abilities. "of course i can. a twelve year old could do it." he retorts.

she gives in, "fine." she walks down the hall faster, not even waiting for the man to catch up to her before she enters through the auditorium's doors, settling in the wings backstage.

it was a few minutes later when arizona is introduced, him trailing behind her like an obedient little puppy as she stands by the podium and microphone.

"hi everyone! i'm dr. arizona robbins from seattle grace hospital," she starts in a chipper voice, already managing to wake up most of the somehow tired students. "and this," says, pointing over to the man at her right, "is my mentee, dr. alex karev."

the man grins at the words, a sense of pride coming over him. the blonde and never used that term on him before and he wasn't going to lie, he really liked the sound of it.

"alex?" she nods towards him, telling him to introduce himself. he makes his way up to the mic, adjusting it slightly so it would reach him better, since the blonde was much shorter than him.

he takes a breath, trying to calm the nerves building in his stomach. he'd always been too cocky and arrogant for his own good, though it was all just an act. talking in front of all these wide eyed med students was honestly a bit terrifying. he pulls himself together quickly, mustering up one of his famous smirks as he looks into the crowd. "hey, i'm  dr. alex karev, third year surgical resident at seattle grace, interested in pediatrics. i train under dr. robbins." he explains (incredibly) lamely, but was glad it seemed to be enough, since all the students looked satisfied with his answer.

arizona takes the mic again, starting a speech that he had heard a few times by now, but it had never failed to give his heart another strong tug towards specializing in pediatrics. "peds is hardcore." she starts, using the phrase he had heard so many times in the last three months. "don't let anyone tell you otherwise." she smiles, looking back towards alex with a knowing look in her eyes.

"to most of the people in this room, when you think of peds, you think of kids with runny noses and cuts on their forehead because they fell off the slide at the park. am i right?" she asks, making most of the students in the audience nod.

"you see yourselves as being babysitters, babysitters for tiny humans. well let me tell you, you can't be further from the truth."

"in peds, we save the lives of children. we help kids grow up, achieve their dreams. sure along the way there's the added bits of magic and joy, but it's not always sunshine and rainbows." she says, not missing how some students look down guiltily. "some people immediately want to go into peds when they start their internship. they think that working with cute little kids would be so amazing and working with them would be a breeze, well, they're wrong.

"peds is only for the hardcore. the elites. many people aren't strong enough for peds. some can't deal with losing kids as easily as they thought they could. losing kids takes a major toll on you. we ask ourselves all the time -when we see stuff in the news or online- what did these kids do to deserve the hand they got? they're just kids. why did they get shot the jerk of a man who lives next door?"

it was only the start of her speech -that had multiple parts-, but alex knew she already had everyone hooked.

"losing kids is something you never get over. don't think that losing a kid gets easier every time it happens. in fact, sometimes it's just worse. because you feel guilty. you feel guilty at the fact that you couldn't save this child. you feel guilty at the fact that you couldn't save their life..." she pauses for a second, looking over at alex, letting him know it was his turn to speak. "and now i'm going to hand it over to doctor karev." he was still a bit newer to the world of surgery, so he remembered better what it was like to be a med student than she did.

alex takes a breath, going over the speech in his head. "losing a kid is nothing like losing an adult." he starts

"some of you think that it's the same, some of you think that it's drastically different. but the only real similarity is that someone didn't make it."

he scanned the crowd, proud at the fact that the audience seemed entranced by what he was saying.

"the first kid i lost i was in my fourth month of my internship. i had been on my third peds rotation, but hadn't had a loss yet, which is a bit surprising." he lets the memories flood through him, reliving it, feeling that pain in his heart.

"i remember the day like it was yesterday. i had a couple of free minutes -a major rare as an intern- so i lied down on a gurney, and started eating a bag of chips. a few minutes later i got paged to the trauma bay. it was a three car pile- up freeway. the first ambulance unloaded a woman, emily smith, a thirty three year old female, the second, james smith, a thirty five year old male, and the third was the one i took with my attending, four year old melissa smith."

he bites his bottom lip, knowing he had to be in control in his emotions. even three years later it still affected him the same way it did that day.

"melissa was a little chatter box, talking my ear off as we rolled her into a trauma room. talked about her dog named fluffy, her favorite barbie movie, -princess and the pauper-, and even told me about her new toy horse 'shiny sparkles mchoof the third'. don't know where she got "the third" from but..." he trials off, earning some laughs from the audience.

he smiles his crooked grin, feeling a little bit more at ease. "melissa was strong. real strong. she had a broken arm and leg, not to mention, a lot of internal bleeding, and yet she only shed a couple tears. she was too excited to talk about fluffy and how she taught him how to roll over earlier that week."

"i thought melissa was gonna be okay. i thought 'she's talking, she's laughing, she'll make it'. i learned that day that you can't assume things." he says, glancing down towards the podium for a quick second.

"melissa didn't survive surgery. my attending had me break the news to the parents, which i found stupid because i was just the intern who was supposed to send them updates, but i did it anyways."

alex lets out a shuddering breath, the students in the seats sitting at the edge of them, feeling the hurt of the story as if they were there themselves.

"telling family member's that their brother or mom or dad or whatever didn't survive already sucks. but telling a parent that their kid... their child didn't make it? it's terrifying." it still hurt him to this day. these children were their flesh and blood, products of their love for one another, how do you just simply tell them that the person they loved most in this world was gone?

"melissa fought during surgery. she fought tooth and nail, but unfortunately, it just wasn't enough. but how are you supposed to tell that to a parent? it's hard, because as a part of peds, you need to be good with parents as well."

he inhales sharply through his nose, letting a thin breath through his nose. "the cries i heard from the parents that day made me want to quit." he tells the crowd honestly, making them widen their eyes. "i'd lost patients before that and it hurt like hell. but the day i told the smith's that we lost melissa... it seriously made me question my idea of being a surgeon."

"losing a child is something you never get over, whether you're a parent like the smith's, or just a doctor like me and dr. robbins, losing a kid is not something you aren't able to just move on from, even if -like i said- you're just their doctor."

his eyes glance over the crowd, surprised to see tears in a few of the student eyes. 'that's a bit weird', he thinks. "i wasn't lying when i said that i questioned my career as a surgeon after melissa. i was seriously considering quitting."

"but after a while of brooding, i decided that i wasn't going to quit. if anything, i was going to try my hardest to make sure that kids like melissa wouldn't have to go through the same thing, that's when i got interested in peds actually, but the attending i had at the time was..." he makes a face, trying to refrain himself was saying 'dick', "not my favorite. so, it wasn't until more recently when i got the opportunity to explore pediatrics again."

he sucks in a breath, "all of you guys right now look terrified." he says, speaking the truth, everyone in their seats looked like a cross between they'd just seen a ghost and someone told them their dog had died. "and you're probably wondering why the hell i just said thing that would make you want to do the exact opposite then go into peds." alex says, causing the crowd to nod.

he chuckles softly, "well, all of you guys should be upset, you should be terrified, because that's what peds is. you're terrified every second of every day. but only the best, like dr. robbins, are truly able to handle that kind of pressure."

alex cracks a small grin, " so long story short... if you're a wuss, don't go into peds."  the audience laughs and starts to clap as arizona makes her way back to the podium, going into the next part of her speech.

____

they can feel their eyes on each other, the fires in their stomachs growing from the stolen, forbidden glances. it was so wrong of them to be thinking about the night before. wrong to feel like it was what they had been waiting their whole lives for.

how he touched her...

how she touched him...

they way their bodies melded so perfectly together, like two puzzle pieces seemingly snapping into place.

somehow along the way they had inched closer to each other, going from opposite sides of the room to a mere ten feet away. she sipped her nearly full vodka tonic slowly, a large comparison to the night before.

he drank his beer smoothly, only on his first bottle and not even halfway through it.

before they knew it their eyes were communicating, what could only be described as lust, desire, and wanting burning so intensely in them they could set a man on fire.

she reads his dark brown orbs, not even needing to look into them long before she knows what he's thinking, and she knows her eyes are reading the same thing too.

they can feel the guilt through their stares. they were trying so hard not to, resisting so fiercely. tugging themselves away from the pull that was trying to bring them together. they tried to put last night behind them, convince themselves it wasn't as breathtaking as they remembered. they tried to push it into their brains, tucking into a small sealed box in the corner to never be seen again.

lust

passion

romance

they feel it oozing from their bodies, pouring out of single a stare, no matter how hard they try not to. they try to tear their eyes away from each other, oh i promise you, they try to peel their eyes away, they try not to think about it.

he doesn't try to think of her silky skin and the way it smelled like vanilla.

she doesn't try to think of  the vibration he sent through her body then he groaned into her mouth.

but they just do.

he can't help the way he thought of her lips and how they tasted like a cherry red lollipop.

she can't help the way she thought about how his lips tasted like spearmint gum... so fresh, so god damn sexy.

they knew that they couldn't, that they shouldn't.

but the heart wants what the heart wants. and their heart? all their hearts wanted was for them to let the waves of pleasure flow through their body again, which only came from each other, nobody else.

nobody has made him feel the way she did. not the countless number of nurses, interns, coworkers, and previous classmates. not even his own wife.

nobody had ever made her feel the way he did. not any previous ex-boyfriends, not a couple random hot-as-fuck one night stands. not even her own husband.

so, somehow, without even knowing it, they ended up where they were now, an abandoned hallway on the seventh floor where he was staying, lips locked in the fiery throes of passion.

gasps escaped her lips heavily as she feels a wave of ecstasy roll over her, even more so than the night before. turns out kissing each other was even better sober than drunk.  

he tries his hardest to keep his groans at bay, but the way her hands are roaming his chest, just barely skimming his pants, makes it more than difficult.

before they are about to step into the room she pulls back unexpectedly, giving him a perfect view of her red swollen lips and slightly disheveled hair. "we shouldn't" she whispers softly, her eyes telling a completely different story than the words coming out of her mouth.

"we shouldn't" he agrees, his voice the same as hers.

"it's wrong."

"really wrong."

her eyes bore into his, trying so hard to pull away, but she can't, like some magnetic force is keeping her gaze from wandering anywhere but his deep brown and green eyes.

"we're married." she speaks, sigh falling from her lips heavily as she licks them, savoring the taste of them. they tasted like him.

"we're married." he repeats.

"to other people."

"to other people." he breathes, just the sound of his voice making her heart rate pick up.  

she lets out a loud sigh, fighting every internal battle. her head telling her it was wrong. but her heart telling her that nothing was more right. "screw it." she says so softly he almost misses it.

he doesn't even have time to comprehend her words before he feels her lips of his.

and that's how they came together for the second time, it being even more earth shattering than the last.

the first time they could blame it on the alcohol.

but the second time...?

the second time was all them.

#jo wilson #alex karev #jo wilson karev #jo karev #au #greys anatomy #grey's anatomy #grey's abc #grey's anatomy fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #jolex #jolex fic #jolex fanfic #jolex fanfiction #brooke stadler #alternate universe #grey's anatomy au #greys anatomy fanfiction #camilla luddington #justin chambers #arizona robbins #med school #affair #loving you is a losing game #grey's #jolex au #jo x alex #alex x jo

[artificialqueens]

Off Limits, Chapter 1 (Bitney, Willaska) - Veronica/Albatross

A/N: Hey guys! This is the companion story to “No Strings Attached.” We’re tagging them both as “Just Friends” so that it’ll be easy to read the chapters in order, but once it gets complicated, I might include a guide. Both ships are in both stories, but generally, “No Strings Attached” is Willaska-focused and this one is Bitney-focused. (Link to all chapters in order, which so far is just 2.)

Summary: When Bianca meets her new roommates, she’s especially captivated by one of them. Worse, the feeling seems to be mutual.

***

Bianca hated being fucking late. It was bad enough that she’d had to drive all the way from New Orleans to California, praying that her 7-year-old Kia wouldn’t break down. But for the last leg of her trip, which should have been 45 minutes, she got caught in an accident on the freeway that turned what should have been a short, pleasant zip up the freeway into a torturous 4-hour crawl.

By the time she reached the dorms, she was fuming--not to mention exhausted. And having to lug her shit from possibly the worst parking spot in the garage did nothing to improve her shitty mood. By the time she’d achieved some semblance of order in her room, she was hot and thirsty and as cranky as she’d ever been.

She chugged about a gallon of water and then collapsed on the sofa, arm over her eyes, trying to summon the energy to think about a shower.

It was then when the front door swung open and a trio of laughing, chattering girls poured inside.

Bianca looked up. At first glance, all she saw was Blonde, Blonde, Blonde. A bunch of perfect, plastic sorority girls, exactly the type of girl she couldn’t stand. (And, if she was honest, exactly the type of girl that she always feared a little bit.) She groaned inwardly, sitting up and giving them a withering glare.

Unable to help herself, she announced, “Great...I’m living with a bunch of bottle blonde bitches.” As the words left her mouth, she realized that she was perhaps not making the best first impression. But instead of taking it back, she doubled down with, “So whose hideous leopard duvet is that?”

The Littlest Blonde burst into delighted giggles, before glancing at the (Bianca assumed) Duvet-Owning Blonde beside her and pressing her lips together contritely.

Slutty Blonde slung an arm around Duvet Blonde and said, “Calm down, bitch. Some of us are garbage pails with hideous taste. We’re still people.”

Bianca pursed her lips, determined to continue hating them all.

With that, Little Blonde skipped forward, flinging herself onto the sofa and offering a bright smile.

“Hi, I’m Courtney. You must be our fourth roommate,” she said.

She had an accent--a cute accent. Shit. Do not let the accent fool you. This Barbie doll bitch isn’t your friend.  

“Wow...what gave that away, detective?” Bianca asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Well…” she leaned in conspiratorially, speaking in a low voice. “It would be a little weird for you to be here, if you weren’t. So...” She finished with a flutter of lashes and another dazzling smile, green eyes dancing with amusement.

Well, fuck. Bianca was not planning to be this charmed, this quickly. The plan was to be grumpy and sulk for awhile. Foiled by a pretty face...not the first time, but still annoying.

“Genius.” Bianca tried to suppress her smile, but dimples poked through anyway.

“I knooow, right?”

Australian. Bianca winced. Surely this was some kind of karmic justice for a terrible deed she’d done as a child. After all, there was no way in hell that Bianca would get involved with one of her roommates. She was many things, but she was not that messy.

“So, are you gonna tell us your name?” Courtney asked.

“Yeah, sorry. Bianca. Hi.”

“Hi, Bianca, nice to meet you.”

God, even the way she said her name was sexy. Bee-aaaahn-cah. Ugh. Bianca was well and truly fucked.

“Hey, I’m Willam,” Slutty Blonde said, perching on the arm of the sofa. “And that’s Alaska...your roommate. You should be nicer to her; she’s cool.”

Duvet Blonde gave a halfhearted wave.

“Hi, Alaska,” Bianca said, slightly chagrined, “I’m sorry...about your lack of taste. We’ll work on it.”

Courtney giggled again, tossing her hair, still watching Bianca closely. And as much as she wanted to look away, to dismiss her as some airhead, she had to admit that something in her eyes was captivating.

“So, Bianca...where are you from?” Courtney asked.

“New Orleans,” Bianca told her.

“Oooh, have you ever been to Mardi Gras?!” she asked, eyes lighting up.

“Uhh. Yeah.”

“Did you bring us any beads?”

“Why not get out your tits and see, Court?” Willam suggested.

Courtney started to lift the edge of her shirt, and Bianca’s eyes went wide--this girl was turning out to be a lot more than she’d bargained for. Courtney glanced at her surprised face and burst out laughing again.

“Just kidding.”

“Good one,” Bianca offered, a little ashamed at the flash of disappointment she felt. Of course she was kidding; Bianca needed a cold shower.  

“So, are you a new student here?” Courtney asked.

“Yeah.” Bianca cleared her throat. “I transferred from LSU.”

“Where’s that?”

“Louisiana...State...University,” Bianca explained slowly, as if she was talking to a child. Her tone was intentionally condescending, but Courtney continued her rapid-fire questions undeterred.

“Ah! Brilliant. And have you-”

“You ask a lot of questions,” Bianca said. She’d never experienced that many questions in a row, and considering her gigantic nosy-ass family, that was saying a lot. If she wasn’t so cute, Bianca would be thoroughly irritated.  

“Sure does,” Willam added with an eye roll.

“Oh yeah. I know. Is it annoying you?” Courtney bit her lip, head tilted cutely.

“That’s another question,” Bianca declared stonily, pretending once again not to be charmed. And doing a piss-poor job of it, if the glimmer in Courtney’s eyes was any indication.

“Hmm, I guess it is,” Courtney said, tone lilting and gently mocking. “Sorry, I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“Maybe I should ask you some questions.”  

“Maybe you should!” Courtney replied brightly. She stretched her legs--long, tan, killer legs--placing them on the coffee table and folding them delicately at the ankles. “What would you like to know?”

Do you moan in an Australian accent?

Bianca coughed, mind blanking for a moment, before admitting with a shrug, “I guess...I’m not very curious.”

“Pity. ‘Cause I’m an open book.”

“Uh. Good to know.” After a beat, Bianca offered, “So. I had kind of a shitty morning.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Courtney sat up straighter, the teasing smirk replaced with an expression of genuine concern. “Are you okay?”

“It’s fine, I just...I was actually about to jump in the shower. I’ll probably be in a better mood after that.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” said Willam, and Alaska let out a clipped laugh.

“I deserved that,” Bianca said with a nod and wry smile. “So I guess I’ll go...do that.”

With one last glance at the group, Bianca got up and walked towards her bedroom to get her things.

“What a cunt,” Willam said loudly--loud enough that Bianca knew it was for her benefit. She chuckled to herself.

“Bill!” Courtney scolded, then added, “I like her.”

“Clearly. Why don’t you go make my bed?”

“Make your own bed, dickhead!” Courtney shrieked.

The shower was much needed. Bianca could feel the stress of the day literally rinsing away, muscles relaxing in the steamy water. When she re-entered her bedroom, Alaska was lounging on the bed, flipping through a magazine. She sat down at her desk, pulling over a light-up mirror.

She took her time blow-drying her hair. Even put on some makeup. No reason not to look nice for a relaxing afternoon of getting to know her roommates, right? She pulled on a casual summer dress and sandals and then began to put everything away in its spot...blow dryer in the stackable basket with her curling iron, makeup in the case, brushes in the cup.

She turned around to Alaska, who gave her a smile.

“I like your bins,” Alaska commented, gesturing to Bianca’s compulsively organized and labeled plastic bins, lined up under her bed and stacked on the dresser.

“Thanks. And I like your...uh…” Bianca surveyed the mess on Alaska’s side of the room before settling on the word, “...piles.”

Alaska let out a loud cackle. The most Bianca had seen her laugh yet. She grinned wryly.

“I’m a little bit messy, sorry,” Alaska said.

“It’s cool,” Bianca shrugged. “To each their own.”

“I’ll keep it contained, I swear. And on my side of the room.”

“You fucking better!” Bianca exclaimed, and was rewarded with another laugh from her roommate.

***

Courtney didn’t like to admit it, but she’d had a bit of a lonely summer. She’d decided with her parents that, since she wanted to come home for Christmas again this year, it made more sense for her to stay at school, taking a few classes and working at an internship.

It usually wasn’t hard for Courtney to make friends, but somehow, she hadn’t connected with anyone. Her classmates seemed lovely, and her coworkers were nice enough too, but she missed the late-night gossiping with Willam, the chance to let loose and be silly. The girls she attempted to hang out with over the summer just weren’t the kind of unpredictable fun that Willam was. And her summer roommate was a reclusive Belgian girl who spent all of her time buried in her laptop wearing headphones.

But today, she was thrilled. Willam was finally back, and even better, she had two new fantastically wonderful roommates.

Alaska was great. A little reserved, maybe, but that was alright with Courtney. She had a great sense of humor and a genuinely kind soul that Courtney adored right away. Plus, she seemed to get along really well with Willam, which was a relief. (Courtney loved her BFF, but she knew that getting her seal of approval could be difficult.)

And then there was Bianca. Blunt and a bit abrasive, but Courtney found herself thoroughly enchanted almost immediately, reveling in her sharp wit and acid tongue. Her dark, flashing eyes. She was unlike anyone Courtney had ever met before, truth be told.

As Courtney helped Willam stuff her clothes into the closet and dresser and arrange her shoes and bags under the bed, she sighed happily, grateful to be surrounded by people with whom she could really let down her hair.

It took ages before Willam was satisfied. Well, not so much satisfied as much as resigned to accept the confines of their limited space. She turned to Courtney with a sigh, saying, “Well, it is what it is, I guess.”

Courtney laughed and suggested that they check on the others, skipping happily over to Bianca and Alaska’s open door. She pushed it in further, asking, “How are you ladies doing? Bonding?”

“Oh yeah,” Bianca said, turning around in her desk chair, large curling iron in hand. “Our periods are already in sync.”

Alaska laughed, and Courtney was glad to see that some of her earlier tension had melted away.

“How disgustingly primal,” Willam said, collapsing on the bed next to Alaska, who moved over to give her space.

Courtney settled on the floor nearby. She watched as Bianca carefully styled her hair, admiring the color—a rich, reddish mahogany brown—and wondering how she got it so shiny.

“Is your room bigger than ours?” Willa asked, pulling Courtney out of her thoughts as she looked around suspiciously.

“I don’t know. Is it?” Bianca asked.

“Bill’s pretty pissed about the closet space,” Courtney explained. “I gave her one of my drawers, but…” She shrugged, pulling affectionately on one of Willam’s bare feet, “Some people are just never satisfied.”

“I have an extra drawer, too,” Alaska offered, and Bianca’s eyebrows shot up.

“You sure you don’t want to use that for some of the stuff that’s…” she gestured to the top of Alaska’s dresser.

Looking at their spaces, Courtney could see a clear clash of styles. Bianca’s things were almost obsessively organized, lined up in containers with p-touch labels. Alaska’s side of the room was more haphazard, similar to Courtney’s space.

“Nah, she can have it,” Alaska said with a sweet smile, and Bianca responded by sticking out her tongue briefly.

Courtney giggled, seeing them tease each other, happy that they already seemed to be friends. She relaxed against Alaska’s desk chair, finally content to just let the conversation drift as it were, taking a break from her usual Oprah mode.

“So...not to be a wet blanket on all this delightful female bonding, but...where can a bitch find some decent vegetarian food around here?” Bianca asked, putting away her hairstyling tools and turning around.

“You’re hungry?” Courtney looked up at her.

“No, just thought I’d buy some food and throw it at seagulls. Yes, I’m fucking hungry.”

Through Courtney’s immediate laughter, Willam muttered, “Decent shit is mostly downtown...but edible? There’s the cafeteria next door, the salad bar over by the biology building, food court in the quad, the-”

“No, Bill,” Courtney giggled out with a weak swat at Willam’s leg. “Let’s get something different. Something better.” She decided not to add ‘for Bianca.’

Willam rolled her eyes and huffed out, “Fine then, cunt. Where do you suggest we eat?”

There was a moment’s pause as Courtney pondered over the question before thoughtfully looking up at Bianca, asking, “Do you like burritos?”

“Wow. That’s racist.”

“No, it’s not because you’re--I didn’t mean--it’s just that they’re really good and you said-” Courtney tripped all over herself to explain, flustered, cheeks growing hot. Shit, she hoped she hadn’t been offensive.

After a beat, Bianca burst out laughing.

“I was kidding, calm down. Burritos sound good.”

“Courtney, are you talking about that hole in the wall on Fair Oaks? We’ll have to take a car.”

“It’s good, and they have tons of veggie options, and you love driving,” Courtney insisted. “Plus, everything on campus will be chockers right now.”

“‘Chockers’?!” Willam repeated. “That’s so Aussie!”

“Packed, full, whatever, you know I’m right.”

“Ugh. Alright,” Willam groaned, then asked, “Alaska? You in?”

“Uh, I’m not really all that hungry,” Alaska said. “You guys should go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m getting a little bit of a headache.”

“Oh no!” Courtney leapt to her feet. “Do you need something? I have magnesium supplements. Or, vitamin b-complex. That’s great for headaches!”

“Or, if you want something that actually works, I got Tylenol and Advil…” Bianca gestured to one of her boxes.

“I’ve got Vicodin,” Willam added. “And weed.”

“Thanks guys, but I think I just need to lay down for awhile.”

“Okay, we’ll leave you alone. Let us know if you want us to bring you back any food,” Courtney offered.

“Thanks.”

As the group trooped out of the room, Bianca grabbed her purse and then slung an arm around Courtney’s shoulder, asking, “Magnesium supplements?”

“My dad’s a doctor of alternative medicine,” Courtney giggled.

“Well, that tracks…”

***

By the time they perched on the rickety stools at the burrito place, Bianca was beyond starving. She dug into her food with a passion as Courtney resumed her questioning from earlier.

“Sooo,” she began, drawing out the word in that infuriatingly adorable Australian way, “You said that you transferred from Louisiana, right? What brings you out here?”

“Well, I’m majoring in marketing and international relations, and they have this scholarship that combines-”

“You’re an Ashford Scholar?!” Courtney exclaimed, eyes widening dramatically.

Bianca couldn’t help be a bit pleased with herself, happy that the prestigious scholarship was known even beyond the business school. Courtney was clearly impressed, and so she gave a small shrug of faux modesty.

“That’s amazing, that’s really...you know only 1 person a year gets that, right?” Courtney asked.

Bianca nodded and swallowed, then said, “Can’t wait to meet last year’s bitch. I assume they’re extraordinary too.”

Courtney giggled, resting her cheek on her hand. “So I guess that means you’re gonna have a lot of work to do. I heard those Ashford internships are seriously intense.”

“I’ll manage…”

Though her answer sounded nonchalant, she was enjoying Courtney’s obvious respect for her accomplishment. Her eyes practically glimmered in admiration.

“What about you, dollface?” Bianca asked. “What’s your major? Psychology?”

“No...although actually I did consider that!” Courtney said.

“Shocking.”

Courtney giggled, crunching down on a chip and saying, “I’m doing PoliSci.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yeah…” she leaned in and stage whispered, “Your political system here is absolutely up the shit.”

Bianca laughed, not entirely familiar with that expression but getting the gist. She was about to agree when Willam interrupted her thoughts.

“That’s so Aussie!” Willam said, mouth muffled with food.

She assumed that was some kind of inside joke, but found herself unconcerned with being left out. What was more troubling was that until that moment, she’d temporarily forgotten that Willam was even there. She could already tell that it was a problem...how enchanting her new roommate was. Not to mention beautiful. The more Bianca looked into Courtney’s face, the more captivated she became. She cleared her throat, forcing her attention to Willam, who was working her way through a steak burrito bowl. Bianca nudged her foot.

“What’s your major, then?”

She expected a proud, boastful response but instead, there was just further silence. Conversation dropped dead for a few moments before Courtney chimed in softly with, “She doesn’t have a major yet...She’s still undeclared.”

“What?” Bianca exclaimed in amazement as a hint of pink rose to Willam’s cheeks despite her stony expression. “How can you still be undeclared? What year are you in?”

“Third,” Willam answered tensely, “And it's not that unusual. I just haven’t found the right thing yet, okay?”

If it wasn’t clear before that this was a touchy subject, the little huff at the end of her defense made it painfully obvious.

“Okay, well...cool.” Bianca grimaced awkwardly. Served her right for trying her hand at some Courtney-esque interview questions. She racked her brain for a lighter topic of conversation. “So...what do you guys...do for fun?”

“Shop,” Willam answered decisively.

“Oh! You know what we should do!” Courtney exclaimed brightly. “We should go to Cielo Plaza tomorrow!”

“What’s that?” Bianca asked, relieved that the subject change had worked.

“A mall,” Willam answered. “It’s no King of Prussia but there are a few good stores in there.”

Bianca wasn’t sure what the fuck “King of Prussia” was, but Courtney breezed right past it, happily pitching how great the activity would be.

“Yeah! And it’s so cute. We could have lunch, find some more decorations for the apartment, get some new clothes-”

“Should ask Alaska if she wants to come too,” Willam said, continuing to speak through mouthfuls of food.

“Of course!” Courtney enthused. “And then Saturday, we could go to the beach! Do you like the beach?”

Bianca did not like the beach. Sand in her asscrack was the last thing she wanted. But the idea of seeing Courtney in a bathing suit was pretty appealing…

“Love the beach,” she said with a smile.  

“Great!” Courtney leaned back proudly.

“So, uh…what about nighttime fun?” Bianca’s eyes flickered unconsciously to Courtney’s glossy lips, the way her tongue toyed with the straw, before quickly adding, “Any good clubs?”

“We’re underage,” Courtney said sweetly.

“Oh, right.” Bianca turned to Willam. “Come on. I know you’ve got a fake ID. Where do you go?”

A secretive, almost mischievous smile spread across Willam’s lips as her eyes narrowed in on Bianca consideringly. There was a confident, daring tone in her voice as she responded with a simple, “Depends.”

Arching her brow, egging her on, Bianca shot back, “On?”

Willam’s smile grew just a little wider as answered, “On what your type of scene is.”

Fully catching onto the joke that had gone over Courtney’s head, Bianca sat back in her seat, arms crossed with an amused grin of her own and asked, “What do you think it is?”

There was a loaded pause as the two stared one another down. Courtney’s eyes darted back and forth in confusion, looking absolutely lost.

Finally, after what felt like a decade of waiting, Willam broke the silence of the group and replied almost smugly, “I think you'll be right at home in Sierra's.”

“Willam!” Courtney scolded harshly as she gave her friend a firm smack to the arm. Turning a bright shade of pink, she turned to Bianca and apologized, lowing her voice, “I'm sorry, that...that's a gay bar.”

The way her voice had dipped into such a low whisper had Bianca laughing on the spot. As soon as she managed to get ahold of herself, she inquired with amusement, “So? What’s wrong with gay bars?”

Stunned, Courtney blinked several times before finding her voice again. “Nothing! That’s not what I-it’s not that there’s anything wrong, she just shouldn’t assume...I mean, if you’re okay with it, then-”

“Well, it’s probably gonna be my best bet at getting laid,” came the nonchalant answer.

Looking rather pleased with herself, Willam piped back up for affirmation, “So you are...?”

Nodding her head, Bianca confirmed, “Mh-mm...And what about you? Casual observer or part of the family?”

“I mean...if that's what I'm in the mood for, yeah.”

“Makes sense,” Bianca quipped as her brow arched, “You do seem like the ‘take it anywhere you can get it’ type.”

The comment earned a loud laugh, one distinct enough to draw the attention of nearly everyone else in the shop. Despite the onlookers, Willam reassured her with a playful grin, “Trust me bitch, it’s not that hard to get it around here...”

“Sounds promising,” Bianca replied before turning back to Courtney, “You alright, dollface? You’ve been awfully quiet over here.”

Stumbling to collect herself, Courtney found herself mumbling, “Oh...um, no. I mean, yeah, I'm not-I mean-”

“Court is straight,” Willam said, saving her from stammering any longer.  

“You don’t say,” Bianca said, trying to sound like she’d known all along. Secretly though, she was a bit surprised. She could have sworn that the blonde had been giving her vibes all day. Well...too bad. Karmic justice, indeed. With a sly sideways glance at her, Bianca clucked, “Pity.”  

Snorting through her laughter, Willam shook her head and said, “Yeah, you wish, bitch. But that pussy’s a boys club.”

“Bill!” Courtney wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Bianca shook her head sadly, asking, “So...you’ve never even been eaten out by someone who actually knows what the hell they're doing down there?”

“Hey! Men can learn!” Courtney exclaimed defensively, then a tiny conspiratorial grin crept onto her face and she admitted, “I mean...hypothetically.”

Bianca burst into cackling laughter.

“Oh, you poor baby,” she cooed, still giggling, slipping an arm around Courtney’s shoulders. Courtney turned to her with a look of good-natured self-pity, lower lip puffed out, batting her lashes slowly for comedic effect.

The more Bianca thought about it, the more she realized that there was something a bit freeing about Courtney being straight. She was straight. There were lines that would never be crossed, ever. So it meant she was safe to flirt and have fun and it would never make her living situation complicated.

Win win, right?

Bianca looked into Courtney’s sparkling green eyes one last time before removing the arm from her shoulder, chuckles dying down.

***

Bianca suggested a stop at the grocery store on the way home, which Courtney realized was a great idea, since she had barely anything stocked, having chosen to eat most of her meals for the past few days in the cafeteria by their building.

Plus, she didn’t mind at all that they were extending their outing, finding Bianca to be both hilarious and fascinating. While Willam was occupied on her phone, Courtney hopped into the cart, beaming up at Bianca.

“Uh, I’m sorry, are your legs broken?” Bianca asked pointedly.

“Come on, please?! I wanna riiiiide,” she wheedled, and Bianca smirked at her.

“Oh, I can give you a ride.”

Courtney bit her lip, both hating and loving the way her stomach twisted every time she looked into Bianca’s brown eyes. It was thrilling, but also terrifying, like being on a rollercoaster--and Courtney loved rollercoasters. She was still a bit miffed at Willam for so adamantly proclaiming her straightness earlier, though she couldn’t really say why. It was true, of course, she was straight, but the way Willam said it so definitively was annoying, especially since she’d only just found out that Bianca was gay moments before.

All Courtney did know, for sure, was that she was having fun, so she decided just to enjoy herself and not stress about it.

They sped through the store, picking up pantry staples and some produce for the next couple of days, along with a few treats that Courtney insisted on...coconut water, dates, kale chips. Bianca pretended to be disgusted by all of it.

At one point, in the freezer aisle, Courtney found herself gazing up at Bianca, admiring again how thick and shiny her hair was. When Bianca leaned over the cart to toss in a package of frozen peas, Courtney reached up, fingering a lock gently.

“Is that your real hair color?” she asked.

“No,” Bianca said, “Not even close. Why, is that your real hair color?” She reached out, unceremoniously ruffling Courtney’s hair.

Courtney ducked and giggled, saying, “Almost! It’s...slightly enhanced.”

A wicked look passed across Bianca’s face as she said, “You know, there’s a way to check that.”

“Eyebrows?” Courtney asked, lashes fluttering innocently.

Bianca cackled gleefully, dark eyes dancing with joy, and said, “Yeah, eyebrows. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Courtney bit her lip, feeling a surge of pride at making someone as funny as Bianca laugh so hard.

They were almost to the check-out when an employee asked tiredly for her to please get out of the cart.

“Oh yeah, sorry!” she said, scrambling to get up.

“Need a hand?” Bianca asked.

“Thanks.” Courtney let Bianca help her out, one hand holding the cart steady and the other on her waist. A faint blush colored her cheeks as she jumped down and found herself chest to chest with Bianca, close enough to smell her perfume, which was lovely--warm and smoky. It made Courtney want to lean in closer...

“Let’s go!” Willam screeched, slamming the cart into their legs.

“Soz Bill!” Courtney snapped out of her daze and headed for the registers, making sure to snatch a few bars of dark chocolate on the way, chuckling slightly at Willam’s mumbled “that’s so Aussie.”

It was still early when they got back to the apartment, and Courtney was too riled up to sleep, so she suggested opening a bottle of the wine that Bianca bought. Alaska was dozing, so they left her in peace while the three of them sat around Courtney and Willam’s room and chatted for a few more hours. They shared stories about their childhoods and families, generally getting to know each other--at least until Bianca’s eyelids began to look heavy and they sent her off to bed.

As Courtney finally snuggled down into her comforter, lightly buzzed and perfectly content, her last thought was how lucky she was, how wonderful her roommates were, how life-changingly amazing this year promised to be.

#rpdr fanfiction #bitney #willaska #bianca del rio #courtney act #willam belli #alaska thunderfuck #college au #lesbian au #slow burn #kind of #friends to lovers #fluff #off limits #just friends #veronica #albatross

[redslilstories]

The Bunny and the Eggs

Author: lilyme (aka. redslilstories aka. me ;)) Summary: Curiosity about the connection of eggs, bunnies and Easter leads to a little confusion, a fair amount of embarassment and an unexpected talk two parents had secretly hoped for. Characters: Callie/Arizona, Sofia Rating: PG Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Grey's Anatomy". They were created by Shonda Rhimes and belong to her and the ABC network. No copyright infringement intended! All mistakes are mine.

A/N: Happy late Easter! ;)

She stalked her terrain. On the hunt for some treats she just knew lay hidden, waiting to be discovered by her keen eyes.

Her basket was already full to the brim, a clear sign on how successful her raid was.

And with a squeal of joy she realized that she was still not done. "Found one more!" the little girl exclaimed and held up yet another colorfully painted egg for her parents to see.

Her parents, Callie and Arizona, by name, were sitting on a bench nearer to the house, and enjoyed watching their four year-old rascal run around the garden. On the prowl for Easter eggs and other goodies they had stashed away for her for this special day.

Special for two reasons. One it being Easter Sunday of course. And two, it was the first Easter they got to spend in their new house.

They had bought it three months ago. A beautiful one-story home from the mid-seventies. With big windows, a wooden facade in light fawn, a dark roof on the outside. And a spacious kitchen, a dining room, two living rooms, four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the inside.

It was located in one of Seattle's quieter areas, in a small neighborhood community close to Blyth Park.

Arizona had been so over the moon when Callie had agreed to buy this gem. She had feared it would be way harder to convince her wife to move out of her bat cave. By now partly beige-tinted, but still with an appeal a little too edgy for Arizona's taste.

Yes, admittedly, the apartment had its perks. The most obvious one being that it was literally right across the street from the hospital, and therefore allowed for an insanely short commute.

But Arizona had always wanted to someday live somewhere with a little more room, and a lot more green, Callie knew.

And so when they had visited the house and she had seen the over-excited faces of her wife and daughter at the idea of living here – even though it was a good thirty minutes away from work and preschool – the brunette had not hesitated one second. The happiness of her family by far outweighing the sorrow of losing her first real home in Seattle. Her hideout in the basement at Seattle Grace, the time she had stayed with George at Meredith's and the months she had crashed on Cristina's couch not really counting.

They had adapted to their new surroundings nicely, using this new start to really design the inside of the house together. The little squabbles about the wall-colors by now a tradition with her wife Callie held really dear. At least the walls weren't beige anymore, but rather a mix of other... pastel colors. Not really Callie's style, still, but she was getting used to it. She had been able to carry through some of her wishes in furniture, at least. The living room and hallway with the dark mahogany shelves, sideboards and bureaus almost exclusively her idea and a nice contrast to the light walls.

Plus Arizona had allowed her to color their master bedroom's walls in a ruby tone. The blonde willingly admitted that this gave the room a really intimate atmosphere. And that made the room one easily of their favorites.

Sofia's favorite was naturally her own room. Decorated just as pastel-y and brightly as her Mami Arizona would have fashioned the entire house, if one had let her.

The house was their joined project; they were all very proud of it. And as far as space was concerned, they couldn't have done better. The backyard with adjoining garden alone was almost as big as the living room of the apartment had been.

Thus it was clearly a feature little Sofia enjoyed very much about the new habitat. Understandably. It had a swing, a small slide, a little sandbox and in general plenty of room to explore and do fun activities.

Like Easter egg hunting.

"Here!" they heard Sofia's little voice as another egg went into her little container.

"Good, baby," Arizona shouted over. "Come here a sec and show us, how full your basket is, okay?" she proposed and the little girl obliged, spurting over with her yellow and rose summer dress flowing in April's already warm air.

Callie wore a dress quite similar – albeit in light-blue and yellow. Her two girls had given it to her for her last birthday. And despite usually preferring much darker colors herself, the brunette had chosen this day to wear it – knowing Sofia and Arizona would love it.

She took the basket and counted the contents, adding them to the things already laid out on the wooden crate next to the bench. Making sure their daughter had found all things hidden in the garden.

She wasn't too fond of the idea of stumbling across a rotting and smelling egg in a month or so. Or finding one of the other presents overlooked, withered and worn by often unstable spring weather.

"This looks great, sweetie. You found it all," she smiled in satisfaction and hugged her mini-me to her.

"Oh, wait up," Arizona interrupted. Almost unnoticed by the duo she had disappeared into the house. "Mr. and Mrs. Bunny told us that one of their friends is pretty lonely and wants to live with you," she announced and conjured up a medium-sized bunny plushie from behind her back. All equipped with its own bag full of eggs hanging from its shoulder.

Callie looked at her wife in amused disbelief. Actually they had an agreement to cut back on the stuffed animals a little. Seeing as how Sofia's bed was already so full the girl herself hardly fit in with them anymore.

With the four year-old refusing to give away even just one of the animals and demanding they all sleep in her bed, it was starting to become a problem.

Scratch the starting to. It already was a problem.

But apparently Arizona hadn't been able to resist the cuteness of this one. And against better judgment Callie had to agree that it was adorable.

"Oh, thank you!" Sofia rejoiced and hugged her mom before inspecting the bunny.

"Are you happy, baby?" Callie asked as Sofia marched back to the crate to add her new friend to the wild arrangement of candy eggs and real ones, a few toys – including a little space shuttle and a Barbie – and some crayons and colored pencils, so she could live out her artsy nature. Seeing as there wasn't enough room for her plushie, however, she opted to keep hugging it instead.

"Yes!" the girl answered vigorously to the question, but soon her parents noticed her lip protruding in contemplation.

Having had the honor of raising her for four years now, Callie and Arizona knew that some sort of question was growing in the young mind always thirsty for knowledge.

The age of four was the inquisitive one. And Sofia asked a lot of things. Rarely anything unimportant. So the women were keen to know what was going on inside her head her this time.

"What is it?" Arizona decided to address the matter.

The little one thought for a moment if she could find the answer herself. But soon accepted that it was not possible. "Why do we have eggs and bunnies for Easter?" the girl queried and her face portrayed true puzzlement out of lack of logical connection of the three things.

"That's a good question," Arizona agreed, encouraging the four year-old's curious mind. And also stalling, since she was busy thinking about the perfect and most child-oriented explanation.

Her wife was already one step further and began, "Well, you see, they're symbols of fertility."

"What's 'fertly'?" Sofia immediately chimed in and squinted her eyes at the adult, having never heard that difficult word.

Arizona inwardly chuckled at her wife's approach, which seemed better suited for a kid a few years older. At least vocabulary-wise. "It means, like, new life," she decided to help out a little. "You know how in spring everything starts to grow again? All the trees get new leaves and the flowers grow blossoms?" she tried and Sofia nodded.

Callie smiled at the assistance. Picking up Sofia and seating her on her lap, she continued on this more promising route. "And a lot of animals have babies in spring. Like bunnies, for example".

"Oh, okay," Sofia bobbed her little head at her parents' statements.

However, "And the bunny babies grow in eggs?" the connection between the colorful objects and the hippy-hoppy animal was still up for debate, as the clever follow-up of the preschooler reminded them.

Because why else would bunnies have eggs, if they weren't theirs?

"Um," it was Callie who stalled this time. It was getting a little complicated. And technically bunnies in eggs wasn't even all wrong, since that was where the tiny embryos started to develop. "Well, these eggs the bunny gets from some really nice hens, who want to make kids happy. And the bunny paints them, so they look pretty".

"Uh-huh," Sofia agreed, looking down down at her plushie and the plushie eggs in the basket, processing the information. "And the baby bunnies?"

"Oh, right," her mom remembered the question about them growing in eggs. "Um, they sort of grow in eggs too. But a different kind of egg. A lot of babies come from eggs," she concluded, her face growing desperate at her funky explanation of life. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Arizona by now full on stifling a laugh at the truthful, but for a little child likely misleading exchange.

"And human babies? They come from eggs too?" Sofia ruminated further.

And Callie just moved her head in a half-nod-half-shake, glad that Sofia's eyes were focused elsewhere. "From a very special type of egg, yeah," she confirmed and silently prayed to the Easter Bunny that this would be it about this particular topicfor now.

Because this parent was clearly not prepared for The Talk just yet. Having figured it'd be a couple more years.

Of course Sofia's inquisitiveness and her own floundering over the correct way to explain it had brought them here, so she had to blame herself.

To Callie's dismay, Detective Sofia Robbins Sloan Torres was far from done. "But how does the baby get into the egg? Like... like, chicken... not all chicken eggs have babies".

Sofia knew this first hand. Due to Arizona's wish they were considering getting a coop and some chicken. And had recently visited a little chicken farm to see if it was really a thing for them. The farmer had explained a lot about the animals and eggs to her, so Sofia knew that most eggs didn't hold babies. The process of getting the baby chicken into the egg, however, had not been discussed. And right now Callie wished it was different.

She cleared her throat. "I'm sure Mami can explain," she deflected the responsibility of enlightening their daughter and got up, placing Sofia in her previous spot on befuddled Arizona's side. "She's a baby doctor. She knows all about this. I'll be right out with the cake, okay?"

"Yes!" Sofia squealed in anticipation of the cake Mama had promised they'd have after the hunt. And at the prospect of a really good explanation from her Mami Arizona, who was a veritable baby doctor by now. Having started a successful fellowship in fetal medicine almost a year ago. So as Sofia understood it, she was now an expert on tiny unborn babies as well as big kids like herself.

The expert in question stared at her wife in a flight of despair at the obvious attempt to escape and mouthed a 'smooth move' to the the overwhelmed woman, who hastened to get inside.

Sofia failed to catch the exchange, and looked at her "Mami?" expectantly.

"Uh, well, you see...," she cleared her throat, hugging Sofia to her. She met the intense dark eyes that reminded her of Callie every day. "If, um... if two adults... or two chicken love each other very much, they might... cuddle... a lot," she smirked, agreeing with herself that this wasn't too bad of a start. "And a some point that might lead to a baby, because they love babies. Baby's are always great, you know?" she admitted and kissed the girl's head.

"And the cuddling helps make the baby?" Sofia followed and nestled into her mom's arm.

"Uh-huh," Arizona agreed, satisfied with calling the actual process 'adult cuddling' for now. That's all Sofia needed to know at her age. "The grown-ups cuddle and a part of each get into the egg to make a baby. With chicken, the mama lays the eggs early on and the little chicken grow outside the mama. That's why they have this hard shell to protect them. And when they're ready, they break the egg and slip out. With human babies, they start out as eggs too, but then the egg shell gets thinner and thinner, as the baby grows, until there is just a fragile skin left. That's why human babies stay in their mom's belly until they're ready to be born, alright? She protects them that way".

To that Sofia hummed her enthusiastic consent. That human babies grow in the belly, she already knew. Having been to work with Mami a couple of times. And also from some of her parents' friends, who had grown babies in bellies.

"So, humans only lay the egg once the baby wants to come out," Sofia concluded.

"Sort of, yeah," Arizona pinched the bridge of her nose when Sofia wasn't looking. Why, oh, why had Callie started this whole humans and eggs thing? God knows what Sofia really imagined went on inside a pregnant woman, and during birth.

If the time was ripe for a more detailed version of The Talk, she definitely would not let her coward of a wife flee the scene. They would do that one together.

But at least their daughter seemed content enough. As far as the few moments of silence indicated.

"So, Mama and Daddy cuddled a lot and then I got into the egg?" Sofia asked.

"That's right," Arizona returned. Strange how answering this question suddenly felt so easy in comparison to the conversation of the last minutes.

And truth be told, by now she was far past the circumstances of Sofia's conception. As unorthodox as it was, she would not change one bit about her daughter's story. Sofia was growing up in the best family ever, if she was allowed to judge.

"But now only you cuddle Mama, right? And you love her very much?"

"Absolutely," the blonde found herself readily agreeing to the state of their relationship. Her mind ready to dwell on moments of this bliss.

So ready, in fact, that she nearly missed the next mental leap of Sofia's mind. "Can you try to cuddle Mama really tight so she can lay more baby eggs?"

"Can...," Arizona's thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"Can you... Can I... what?!" Callie equally surprised voice sounded from the back door of the house in confusion.

Sofia climbed off the bench and neared Mama to explain. "Mami said that cuddling makes a baby in the egg. Can you lay a baby egg so I can have a baby brother like Bailey?"

"Oh," Callie realized, now caught up to the train of thought. But this didn't mean she wasn't at a loss of what to say. Perplex she looked between her excited daughter, hugging into her side and waiting for an answer, and her flustered wife, who was trying to blend in with the bench she was still occupying. Even though her white shorts and shirt matched the color of said piece of furniture, her beet-red face still made her stick out. "I... uhh, well... maybe," she returned diplomatically. "But, look, cake is ready," she changed the subject and showed Sofia the tray she was holding. With plates, cups and a thermos full of tea. And not to forget Sofia's favorite strawberry cheese cake".

"Yay!" the girl shouted, with that her focus on the cuddle-produced babies in eggs seemingly deterred for now.

"Alright. Go wash your hands, sweetie," she ordered and Sofia was already on her way to do as asked.

As soon as she was gone, Callie turned her attention towards her wife. "I was gone for a whole three minutes...," she teased, walking down the few steps of the porch and setting out the table in the garden for them.

"In my defense... I didn't make the egg thing any worse. It's not like you gave me a good start...," the blonde protested.

And the inquiry for a sibling had caught her equally off guard as it must have her wife.

"True," Callie blushed at the playful accusation. "But the cuddles?" she cocked an eyebrow in amusement, "Can you imagine her spreading her new knowledge in preschool?"

"I'd rather not," Arizona grinned as she watched her wife finish up and deposit the tray on the ground. "Maybe we should warn her teacher about it". Before incomplete knowledge leads to total confusion of a young generation of Seattleites.

At this, Callie laughed wholeheartedly. "Oh, God, Mark is gonna love this so much," she said and used the opportunity to sit on Arizona's vacant lap, smiling at the sight and feel of her own legs brushing against the blonde's. Arizona's legs always significantly paler than her naturally tan ones. But the April sun gave them a subtle freckling.

The other woman laughed along, leaning her head against her wife's chest, as Callie draped one arm around her shoulder. Her own arms instinctively moving around Callie's waist. "So true. I can already hear his comments on that. Wonder how he would have gone about this".

Mark was absent for Sofia's first big egg hunt at her mothers' house. Which in any other situation would be a big affront to their daughter.

But he had an excuse.

A really good one.

He was on his honeymoon with Lexie in Curacao. The two of them having gotten married two weeks ago.

They hadn't heard a lot from them since the wedding. God knows what they were doing and how busy he was cuddling Lexie.

His baby mamas were really happy for him. And Sofia was excited to have yet another mom.

And who knows, maybe they were planning on a sibling for Sofia already. Mark definitely open to the idea.

"But, Calliope, honey, could you... um," Arizona bit her lip as she looked up at her woman, trying to gain her attention from where Callie was absently stroking her arm.

The brunette turned her head and Arizona was able to lock eyes with her. Her beautiful wife and mother of her child. She really was her dream come true. A dream that had long not included children. But now that she was experiencing the joy of motherhood, it was something she wouldn't want to miss.

"Could you…," she grasped the strong hand on her arm and entwined their fingers. "Could you imagine laying more baby eggs in the future?" she finally dared to formulate her thought and felt her pulse quickening in expectation of the answer.

The realization that Sofia herself was actually mulling the idea and wanted a sibling was working in the blonde's mind. Not for the first time making her think about this matter.

Callie raised her eyebrows. Not at the wording, which would seriously become an inside joke for their family for all eternity. But at the question itself.

They hadn't talked about this. With so much happening in their lives, their careers right now.

But things were going so great in that respect and they had a really stable relationship. And now they had this amazing house, with a couple of spare rooms they had right now planned out as offices or a play room for Sofia plus a guest room.

Yet of course they could be used in other ways as well.

Callie looked at her wife, who five years ago had been so adamant about not ever wanting kids. But now she seemed serious about this.

Could this really in the future for them? More babies?

It certainly had been her dream growing up. Maybe not ten kids, but something like three or four always having played out in her imagination of her future.

Naturally her little self had not lost too many thoughts on the carrying a baby around in you for a whole long while. She thought back on her pregnancy with Sofia. Remembering the nine and a half months full of hormonal mood swings, swollen feet and stretch marks. Stupid fights over tiny, tiny things her pregnant brain thought up.

Not to mention the grand finale with almost thirty hours of labor.

But there were the good parts too. Arizona caring for her throughout it all with devotion. Talking to their baby in the belly for hours, and content to just hold her tight whenever Callie did not at all feel ready to make love to her – which had often been the case. And then holding her hand straight through the thirty aforementioned hours. Never leaving her side.

It had been a wonderful journey.

And the outcome of it all... This tiny adorable hatchling with the alert mind and beautiful imagination. The girl they had already had so many incredible moments with – from first words and first steps. To the girl drawing pictures for them that were completely adorable and completely unrecognizable. To hours filled with laughter and rarely a moment of quietness in their lives.

With a prospect of having more of that, her decision was clear. "I absolutely want to" she said sincerely and whimpered a little as she noticed Arizona's emotional tears at her reply.

"Really? Oh, God, I love you so much," the blonde whispered and leaned up to kiss Callie in promise of some more babies.

"I love you too," Callie returned and held her wife close to her chest as they both tried to get their tears under control.

Arizona saw their house fill with more Callie-shaped wonders. Wanting this to happen as soon as possible. And who knew, maybe she could even imagine adding a mini-Arizona as well. Callie certainly would not object.

"We're ready," Sofia announced her return, unaware as to what her proposal had lead her mothers' hearts to. They watched their first-born sit at the table with her new friend, the Easter Bunny plushie.

"We're ready too," Mama Callie decided, grabbing Mami Arizona's hand to lead her to the table.

And into an exciting future.

*** END

#Team Calzona #calzona forever #calzona fanfiction #Calzona #calzona always #calzona all ways #callie torres #arizona robbins #sofia robbin sloan torres #grey's anatomy #fluff #humor #embarassment #curiosity #parents #the talk #the birds and the bees #adorable family #love them forever

[lagroupie]

Interview : The Cavemen

The Cavemen outside Voodoo Rhythm Records in Bern, shot with my Olympus Trip.

On a sunny Monday afternoon I took the train to Bern to watch the Cavemen play a free little show at Voodoo Rhythm Records. I had barely arrived in front of the shop that a cocktail appeared in my hand out of nowhere (thank you Reverend Beat-Man!). The atmosphere was very friendly, with nice tunes being played by DJ Junk Wild. The Cavemen were also hanging out outside enjoying the sun- they told me that they had signed the visitors’ book of the church nearby, which I thought was very funny. The band ended up playing on a little platform just under the shop’s roof- they literally had to climb a ladder to get on “stage”!

In this interview, we laugh a lot- don’t take it too seriously. I think it represents the band well nonetheless- a funny, kind and chaotic group of friends who are passionate about what they do.

Many thanks to the Cavemen, Reverend Beat-Man and all the team at Voodoo Rhythm Records for their warm welcome!

What’s your life like in London?

Jake: I sleep all day!

Jack: I usually have to go to work really, really hungover. And have suicidal thoughts.

Paul: I wake up, scream at an inanimate object and then masturbate all day.

Nick: I go to work and I sleep as much as I can get away with at my job without my superiors finding out. And then I go home and stuff my fat fucking face and watch TV every night.

Do your employers know that you’re making music besides your dayjobs?

Jack: Yeah, that’s why none of us have jobs now!

Jake: We’re all unemployed.

Nick: They envy me, but they’re also happy for me you know. But they are jealous, they do get very jealous of my rock and roll lifestyle I might say, yeah.

The Cavemen playing at Voodoo Rhythm, shot with my Olympus Trip.

Tonight you’re going to play in a record shop- how is your set going to be different from usual?

Jack: It’s going to be a lot shorter.

Paul: And we’re going to sit down for a while. Instead of falling down!

Nick: Usually only this fucking bastard gets to sit down!

Jack: Usually we just fall over yeah, but here if we fall over we’re probably going to hurt ourselves quite badly, so..

Nick: I might have to dangle my legs over the side of the fucking roof. I’m terrified somebody’s gonna pull them!

Paul: It’s gonna be like a gig on a pirate trip!

Nick: A little bit yeah! Or like a sea-shanty kind of feeling.

Jake: I think I’m too drugged to get up the ladder now.

Nick: Getting down is out of the fucking question!

I’d like to talk about your album Nuke Earth as well-

Paul: Well, it’s a concept album about the destruction of the whole Earth.

Jack: Which is what we pray for every day.

Haha, I don’t even need to say anything! You guys just go for it. So I wanted to know, how did you record it? It sounds like you guys were all recording in the same room at the same time.

Paul: Well, it was recorded on a cellphone. I’m kidding, it was recorded on tape.

Jack: We did it on an 8-track cassette test kind of thing with a friend of ours, Jimmy. We pretty much did it all live, and then a couple overdubs like vocals. But most of it is just us in a room playing live.

So that’s true! I really liked the energy, it really sounded like it was recorded live.

Paul: We were taking a lot of cocaine when we recorded that album.

Jack: Which is why it’s such an egotistical shitshow.

Who is Janey?

Jack: Um, that’s my auntie.

Paul: I thought it was about your closeted homosexuality, I thought it was originally called “Jamie”!

Jack: Shut up! No, it’s an amalgamation of all our sexual fantasies about women. It was going to be called “Barbie” initially. (ndlr: everyone is dying of laughter at this point).

Jake: That’s all we’ve got. We’ve only got the fantasies. We don’t actually have experience.

Nick: It’s a metaphor for what we think it’s gonna be like when we lose our virginities. I wish Janey was real!

I also wanted to talk about my favorite song on the album, Thug. How did it come to life?

Jack: We were touring in Italy and listening to a lot of Personal and the Pizzas and Thin Lizzy. I thought, “they’re good bands. Let’s rip these assholes off!” So I did.

Nick: In the guitar solo there was actually a lot of influence from an old New Zealand band as well. There’s a bit of a key twist on it. The song is Be Mine Tonight by Th’ Dudes. So we jacked a little bit of that as well.

Jake: And then the lyrics are just really really stupid.

Nick: Yeah. But it’s like a Kiwi-New York amalgamation. The two go hand in hand, yes.

Finally, what can we expect from the Cavemen in the future?

Jake: Not much.

Nick: Death?

Paul: We’re pretty close to death.

Nick: More public shame, more humiliation and scandal.

Jack: A bit more criminal record

Jake: Prison, probably.

Nick: Hopefully. All I see is a bottle of Jack Daniels and a 6-string guitar.

https://www.facebook.com/thecavemennz/

#the cavemen #the cavemen nz #voodoo rhythm #lagroupieenglish

[tiemeupspidey]

The Phone Call

Series: Can’t Help Falling in Love with You

Relationship: Tom Holland x Reader

REQUEST : From @confusedascas -Can you write a Drabble about what happened in CHFILWY when jax interrupted toms phone call? Sorta what happened and who played a part. How jax reacted maybe?

Word Count: 1,500+

A/N: Hope you enjoy this imagine xx

I can’t have kids due to the chemo I received at a young age so that’s why I write so many Tom as a Dad Imagines because I think about having kids but know I can’t. I know it’d have to be a miracle for me to have one..

[Reader’s POV]

“Momma are you okay?” Jaxon asks looking up at you holding his Spider-Man plush toy. His hair has gotten so long but he likes it and won’t let me cut it.

“Yes my little star, I just have to take my medicine is all.. did you finish getting ready?”  Your eyes observe his appearance at what he chose. His suspenders were on backwards making you let out a little laugh.

“I’m done.. but this doesn’t feel right” He tugs at the straps that were tangled over his belly. Kneeling down you unhook them from his trousers.

“Don’t worry you almost have it.. you’ll be a pro in no time” you reassure giving him a kiss on his nose. The giggle he lets out fills the air of the kitchen. Fixing the straps and adjusting them correctly you stand back up.

“I’m going to find daddy, then we can go to the park!” Jay smiles taking off to find his dad. Tessa following right behind him like always. The two of them were inseparable.

“I think he’s in his office” you shout out to Jaxon. Hearing his feet padding against the floor as he changes direction. Tessa’s tags jingling from her running after Jaxon.

“Tessa don’t ju-OOF” A thud fills the air catching you attention. Running towards the hallway you see Tessa on top of your son. 

“Tessa love, you have to be careful.. he’s not as sturdy as daddy” you chasten picking your son up and setting him back on his feet. Tucking in his sweater that got messed up. Brushing his curls out of his face and kissing his head.

“It’s okay Tessie Bear it was an accident” Jaxon smiles giving her a hug and kissing the side of her face.

“Now go on and go and get daddy so we can be off yeah?” Jaxon nods up at you taking off towards Tom’s office.

-

[Tom’s POV]

“So when can we get the results? I need to know before I head off to the states” I say shuffling some papers on my desk. Looking up I see my door open ,which is off cause I had it closed... Maybe Tess nudged her way in somehow.

“We don't know for sure yet Mr. Holland” The doctor replies making me frustrated because I waited on hold for thirty minutes to hear that bullshit?

“Daddy it’s time to go!” Jaxon pops up from the edge of my desk scaring me. Dropping my cell onto the floor I mentally swear. I’ve been trying not to swear around Jaxon as much as I used to.

“Bloody hell.. I’m sorry doctor what did you say?” I ask holding up my hand to Jaxon for him to hold on. Fixing the phone between my shoulder and ear. He goes to explain what he could tell us before then.

“Daddy.. Mumma,Tessa and I are ready.. C’monnn” his little hands grabbing at the edge of my desk. He interrupted the doctor again so I missed the date we would get the results from her tests.

“Excuse me Dr... Jaxon Holland I will be out in a minute, Daddy is on a important phone call stop this behavior at once” My voice stern as I look at my son with a warning look. His eyes widen at my tone making a feeling of regret form in my stomach. Jaxon takes off out of my office with Tess following behind.

“Sorry, when is the date we will expect the call?” I ask grabbing a pen and a sticky note. My eyes glued to the door, heart feeling awful for raising my voice at Jaxon..

[Reader’s POV]

    The sound of crying pierces your ears making you turn around. You see Jaxon heading your way with a sad expression. Tears fall down his rosy cheeks making your mum mode activate. Opening your arms he crashes his little body into yours. His arms trying to wrap around you fully giving you a squeeze.

“Why are you crying baby?” You ask pressing kisses to his head, you hated seeing him cry. 

“D-Daddy raised his voice at me and it was scary mumma..” he explains crying into your chest. Picking him up he holds onto me tightly.

“Alright, I paid the medical bill, found out when we get your test resul-” he stops mid sentence when his eyes see your upset features. You were holding your crying child and glaring at the one who raised his voice.

“Thomas you have be easier on him.. he’s just excited to spend time with you today” your hand rubs Jaxon’s back as you move side to side.

“Don’t Thomas me.. I know I shouldn’t have raised my voice at him but he was interru-” Tom was cut off by Jaxon’s Spider-Man plush toy being thrown in his face. Your eyes widen seeing Tom stumble back looking at his son shocked.

    You couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. Your four year old just threw something at Tom for the first time. Surprised mainly by how good his aim was too. Jaxon had a pout on his lips as he glared at Tom. He’s never looked at Tom that way,ever.

“Now Jaxon.. I’m going to forget you just did that and say I’m sorry buddy, I’m just really stressed is all” Tom explains picking up his toy and bringing it over to Jaxon. He snatches it from Tom’s hand pulling it to his chest.

“Daddy said he was sorry, can you forgive him my little star?” You ask brushing his curls out of his face. Taking the strands and tucking them behind his ear. Tom comes closer beside the two of you,his gaze locked on Jaxon waiting his response.

        Jaxon bonks Tom on the head with the plush toy before nodding his head. You let out a laugh but stop when Tom gives you a look. Tom reaches up on top of the fridge for a container. He pulls out a cooking closing the jar. Looking at Jaxon to see his eyes widen a little smile tugging at his lips.

“I forgive you daddy, can I please have it?” Jaxon’s smile is big as he eyes the cookie. He is just like Tom when it comes to cookies or certain things. Father like son, literally.

    Tom hands him the cookie with a smile on his face. Jaxon grabs it taking a bite out of it.  You press a kiss to his forehead after you set him back on the floor. Tessa sits down by Jaxon wagging her tail looking up at you.

“Of course love you can have a treat too, just don’t go bite daddy’s slippers” you giggle reaching for her treat jar on the counter.  Pulling one out you toss it to her awaiting mouth. 

-

    The cool air felt good against your skin as the wind flew in through the rolled down windows. We were listening to music from Mulan as we drove over to the park. Jaxon has been obsessed with that movie since you showed it to him,he loves quoting Mushu. He would tell Tom he brings dishonor on the family if he doesn’t read to him at night.

     A car was following us which bothered you slightly, you just wanted a peaceful day with your family. Tom every so often would glance in the rearview mirror to check if they were still following us. Jaxon was clueless to it all as he sang to songs. Tom sped up speeding past other cars trying to lose the paparazzi. The speed change startled Tess out of her slumber on the seat next to Jaxon.

    Arriving at the park Tom cuts the engine getting out of the car. Helping Jaxon out of his car seat I set him on the ground. Closing the door behind me Tom locks the car making it beep. Jaxon takes hold of my hand as the four of us walk towards the park.

“Go on love, have fun” you smile down at Jaxon who takes off towards the jungle gym. Tessa walks along side Tom and I as we sit on a park bench. 

    The chilly breeze makes you pull your jacket closer to your body for warmth. Tom lifts his arm putting it behind you pulling you into his body. Resting your head against his shoulder you feel his lips kiss your forehead.The two of you enjoying each others company and watching your son have fun. 

“So.. what did the Doctor say?” you ask watching as your breath could be seen in the air.

“I was told that it looks good darling,the white blood cell count has dropped significantly but he has more to tell us in a few days..” Tom’s left hand plays with your wedding ring that adorned your finger.

“I really want another one” you smile looking over at Jaxon who was sliding down the slide with a smile on his face. His curls blowing back as the wind pushes them as he goes down.

“I do to darling.. Let’s just pray I don’t get his with another toy again, just soft toys like today” he lets out a chuckle at the memory of Jaxon hitting him.

“Who knows you may get hit with a barbie doll next time..” you laugh kissing his jaw,the stubble tickling your lips. Jaxon runs over to you only to get tackled by Tessa for the second time today.

“TESSA!” the both of you shout simultaneously only to stop panicking when Jaxon’s laughter fills the air. Tessa licks all over Jaxon’s face and nudging him with her nose.

“Fuckin’ hell” Tom breathes out sitting back down laughing. Jaxon joins the two of you on the bench once Tessa gets off of her friend. The birds chirping in the background of the peaceful day with your family.

    You smiled at your husband who’s eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled or laughed. His smile warming your soul just at the look of it. The sound of his voice sounding like heaven to your ears. You couldn’t help falling in love with him more and more each day.

#tom holland x reader #imagine #tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom #tom holland imagines #Dad!Tom #Tom Holland Dad Imagines #tiemeupspidey #Spiderman #marvel #marvel imagine #peter parker imagine #peter parker x reader #peter parker #peter parker x you #spiderman homecoming #tom holland fan fiction #tom holland fans #tom holland edit #tom holland edits #QUACKSON #quacksons #ribbit #walking meme #hollanders #i love tom holland #cute #fluff #dad and son

[hannie-dul-set]

aesthetic tag

tagged by: @lunatens luna tysm for tagging me!! :D i love doing these things hehe

rules: bold the aesthetics you relate to and add 20 of your own aesthetic qualities for others to bold :)

[soft] baby pink | iridescent | glitter is always a good option | no bra | minimalistic tattoos | cherry patterns | sweet scented perfumes | wearing generous amounts of blush | doodling hearts | getting excited to pet an animal | fun nails | rewatching old barbie movies | hair sticking to glossed lips | heart shaped sunglasses | taking pictures of the sunset or sunrise | stuffed animals | protecting nature | stickers everywhere | teen movies | the light rain that falls from a clear sky at the beginning of the night

[dark academia] neutral tones | masculine outfits | studying languages | worn down copy of books | grey skies | turtleneck sweaters | loose fitting pants | hair tied with a silk ribbon | trying to remember a cool difficult word you read somewhere to use in a convo | thick belts | minimal makeup | windows fogged by rain | vintage jewelry | blouses with cuffed sleeves | reading a murder mystery and trying to solve it | oxford style shoes | sweater vests | subtitled old movies in a language you don’t speak | leaves crackling as you walk | annotating books to express your emotions about the story

[edgy] closet full of dark clothes | fishnet tights | makeup sweating off | neon signs | searching for unknown songs | chokers | band tees | doodling on old converses | finding smoking aesthetically pleasing but not doing it | weird humor | accidentally very dramatic | dim lights | layered outfits | chain belts | chipped nail polish | messy hair | low quality pics | piercings | combat boots | scribbling on desks

[seventies] colourful wardrobe | doodling flowers | wearing short shorts | using a bikini top or bra as a normal top | listening to ABBA | flowers in your hair | DIYing everything | jamming to songs alone in your room | drunkenly telling your friends you love them | patterned bandanas | mid heeled shoes | messy braids | flared sleeves | walking barefoot on grass or sand | bold sunglasses | the good kind of tired you get after doing something you enjoy for hours | feeding stray animals | fun patterned socks | room decorated with succulents and other plants | likes to go roller skating or skateboarding

[preppy casual] collared clothes | drinking juice out of a champagne glass | getting excited to see the met gala looks | thick headbands | small pastel cardigans | making your friends take your ootd pics | plaid mini skirts | tweed two pieces | watching reality tv to pass time | frilly tops | watching old hollywood movies | academically driven | long manicured nails | new year’s eve fireworks | colorful tights | layered golden jewelry | yearns for luxury brand items | decorating your room with fairy-lights | cursive and neat handwriting | lace details

[parfaitjoon] old book smell | doodles of eyes | stained paint palettes | jewel tones | sleepy eyes and red noses | always blushed cheeks | plushies with sentimental value | keroppi | ever-switching aesthetics | chunky trainers | curvy bodies | blurry vision | analysing movies | shouting when excited | green eye shadow | cool fresh water | tiny frogs | thirst for knowledge | random facts

[dreamiehrs] playing Roblox for 3 hours straight | loud laugh that could probably make someone deaf | listening to music 24/7 | hot chocolate on a chilly day | skirts galore | cat lady | has 2 fans on at all times | hibernates during the summer (not literally) | binge watching tons of anime episodes in one day | dark circles underneath their eyes | is on Tumblr 24/7 | loves buying merch | does online shopping in the middle of class | cannot go 1 day without screaming about their faves | having a dance party in their bathroom while getting ready for the day | has an obsession with buying tiny plants | lowkey never goes outside | wanting to write the day away | has millions of lists for every little thing | cannot stop doing the Chika dance

[yayhei] tarot cards | dark makeup done in the soft styles | eyeliner smears | wearing hoodies unzipped with just a bra | vans | always having bruises | never leaves the house | herbs | staying up staring at the ceiling just because you cant sleep and not doing anything | tons of posters that you have up more for the aesthetic than for the band | shit ton of candles | products that you never use | sleeping during classes | getting detention for tapping on your desk after being asked to stop multiple times

[pastelsicheng] watching sunsets on the roof | rainy days inside | overachieving student though they say they aren’t a try hard | oversized and loose clothes | not knowing your shoe size | cold feet | scrolling through pretty/aesthetic pictures for hours trying to get some serotonin | having several dream jobs | making dumb jokes when youre delirious and tired | worn out clothes | baking on cool/rainy days | sleepless nights | thoughtless showers | short attention spans | shaky legs and fidgeting hands | messy handwriting | scribbled notes | listening to music with earbuds in the dead of night while everyone is sleeping and you can’t | the sound of wind rustling through grass and flowers | drives through the countryside with only trees, cows, horses, and farm houses in sight

[ggulovebot] fruit flavoured alcohol | black glittery eyeshadow | everchanging coloured hair | opening a window when it rains | crisp cold mornings | daydreaming on train rides | longing for a new life in a different country | cups and cups of coffee | chunky black boots with thick heels | sweet essential oils | cringey motivational quotes | a bigass bowl of pasta on a cold day | crying out of nowhere | sweet and tangy candy | trips to disneyworld | old faded polaroid pictures | little black dresses | big gym shorts | staying focused on one task for hours nonstop | doodling interesting words and song lyrics | keeping everything that sparks a memory | gummy bears | laughing at everything when you’re tired | caring too much | feeling the wind go through you | talking to plants | tabasco

[lunatens] orange juice 24/7 | swimming until you’re all wrinkly | lavender essential oil | procrastinating even for things you enjoy doing | late night drives | talking for hours under a cloudless night sky | reaching things on high shelves | sleeping in til the last possible minute | buying plants but never being able to keep them alive | ice cream and a walk by the river | pretty dungeons and dragons dice sets | listening to the waves and crickets on hot summer nights | mismatched socks and sandals | ancient latin | pointing out constellations and celestial objects | cherry chapstick | diy haircuts and colours | constantly lost in daydreams | smiling at strangers | brown sugar roasted milk tea with pearls

[hannie-dul-set] saying i love you every chance you get | multiple rings on both hands | smiling to yourself because of fond memories | staying up until the morning to study | heeled shoes | long flowy skirts | holding the hand of whoever’s beside you | high-pitched squealing  | piles and piles of unused notebooks | liptint every day | concerts in the shower | hyping yourself up in frontof the mirror | constantly pouting | praying before sleeping | covering your face when you laugh | fixing your glasses every minute | ink and paint marks on your hands | painting the day away | excessively sweet words |

this was a lot of fun wahaha, but it was kind difficult to think f aesthetics that weren’t already written :’> tagging @lamarkeu @joshva @starlightshua @sehunniepot @lcveletter but you don’t want to that’s totally fine :>

#dshfjdskfhk #time to studyyyyyy #tagged #lunatens

[jenniferstolzer]

Time to begin a long overdue education

I have never seen Buffy before. I traded @bewareoftrees​ ... I would watch all of Buffy and she would watch all of Babylon 5. So here I am!

I won’t liveblog summaries, but I will give jokes and guesses and observations so if you want to come along (or not) the tag is going to be #jen watches.

ep1 Welcome to Hellmouth

I like that this is picking up where the movie left off, although I believe these people are 16 like I believe this “authentic teenage slang speech.” Ah the late 90s...

Tony Head! My bro! My favorite Night Surgeon. I was biased from the start but I’m gonna guess he will PROBABLY by my favorite character. This will be cemented if he ends up knocked out at any point.

I do come with some knowledge of this show, unfortunately as much as I like Willow already, I’m gonna brace myself for impact. Joss has slain my heart before. 

David Boreanaz is still hot but I’m sorry dude, you are way too puppy dog to be menacing and your dialog is atrocious. All the vampire dialog is atrocious. I’m gonna believe this is b/c it set a standard. Can’t forget this show is a milestone for modern fiction writers. 

oh crap this dvd is old enough yo have to pick episodes individually. The past sucks. 

2, The Harvest

Angel starts what I’m gonna guess is an illustrious career as a sad, cryptic puppy. 

Was 90s fashion ever attractive?

Holy crap the show just used the “jumpscare” sound from Illbleed and everywhere else. I’m recognizing all these sound effects. Someone bought the classic horror kit I think. 

a dudebro who can’t close his mouth swings in from the side in computer lab and I laugh and laugh. 

I didn’t see Jesse becoming a vampire coming, perhaps I should be paying closer attention. He of course gets super sexual assaulty when he’s a vampire and Cordelia is totally into unhealthy relationships so she’ll let him touch her hips and inhale hissing breaths in her ear. No problem. 

“Bring me the first” says Luke. //other vampires bring out an innocent black man. Me: uncool.

“Jesse is dead. You have to remember, when you see him you are not looking at your friend, you’re looking at the thing that killed him.” - Giles

Willow saved him from a vampire! These two are the best. Tag team it awkward booknerds.

The Vampire growl sounds like they’re burping really loud. Glad to know the evil vampires are still stupid enough to get faked out. 

3 Witch

Giles is so offended that Buffy wants to be a cheerleader. How is it that he is more accurate to me in highschool than anyone else. Good news... as a grownup I’m totally on Buffy’s side. Let her cheer. She’ll be a smash at the gymnastics. 

AND we begin with body shaming. Cordelia is talking to Willow now which is weird. And Willow herself I think either got skinnier between episodes or they were dressing her in liek 10 layers of clothes in the two opening eps. Then this other girl comes in and Willow is like “You lost a lot of weight” and the first girl is like “Had to.” Ugh. How about I just grate my spare tire off with an industrial file. 

Hooray for Buffy putting out the fire and saving the girl :) Doing something is so against the teen girl stereotype. 

Amy just exposition barfed all over Buffy about the huge crush she has on her own mom. I’m glad they’re highlighting this body weight thing as an unnatural fixation but that’s just for the crazy witch mom, not for the universe which is who is usually concerned with how girls look in cheerleading costumes. (forgive me, I have a stink about body standards)

“It’s so cool! You’re like a guy! My guy friend who knows about girls stuff!”

I like barbies as voodoo dolls. And I love the twist that Amy is super totally evil.

Ah! Xanders “you’re a guy” got turned around on him. Hurray!

OMG BODY SWAP! It’s the worst Freaky Friday but I approve of them surprising me with it. Great job Buffy!

You punched Willow out you bitch! Oh and Xander too but You PUNCHED her OUT. She’s so evil! OH CRAP NOW SHE HAS AN AXE!

So cute shy Giles so embarrassed about his first spell casting. Then Willow runs in with a bat. Yeah, I’m going to like this show I think. 

and ep ends with psychological horror

4, Teacher’s Pet

Xander is struggling with his toxic masculinity standards. Apparently how many times he’s scored is up for debate so he has to go pretend to threeway to regain status in his alpha male society. Gag. 

Meanwhile Angel is over here being perfect boyfriend material, super hot, wearing a white tank with blood all over his arms. He gives her his coat. Gag again! Lol. We’re hitting a very wide gamut here. 

Xander falls for a woman who looks weirdly like the mom from the last episode. 

Blane just sexually harassed his substitute teacher. I’m convinced now that last ep was fatshame episode, this ep is sexual aggression the episode. 

“I’m gonna carb up for my one on one with Ms French this afternoon.” Ick gross much?

Evil sexy woman ate Dr. Gregory’s head b/c she’s a preying mantis. Being sexually attractive is a weapon women possess against men so desperate to fork a fertile woman that one of the characters is literally called the “fork guy” in this episode. 

Someone give an emmy to the random bum. 

Giles is not immune to sexy substitute, but he’s got enough sense to appreciate without turning into a blithering idiot. 

Oh wait, Cordelia is still here for the body image hangups I see. 

By the way, all this crit about alpha male/ femme fatale nonsense is not a crit on these characters, it’s a writing hangup. Plots, tropes, and cliches are those things b/c they’re over used and this is the late 90s after all.

“I understand, I met someone and you’re jealous.” Xander is projecting so hard as he’s on his way to fork his teacher, just saying. 

Even if she wasn’t a praying mantis this woman needs to be arrested. She’s sexually harassing the hell out of this 16 year old boy as he stumbles all over himself trying to prove his societal preconception of masculinity. He was a half second away from doing the right thing and saying no to the hot woman b/c it’s bad touch 101 but then he got drugged and passed out. Close but no cigar, X.

Willow has had a crush on him this whole time. It wasn’t subtle at all. 

I’m glad that Blaine is rightfully horrified by the concept of being raped and murdered. That’s the correct response. Write men who can think with more than their dicks. Men are well-rounded people too. 

Mantis affects are “awesome” lol. Looks like someone I know. 

(apparently it’s more than just a joke. That’s the same costume used for both shows. I snarked about it looking like Na’Grath and it actually IS Na’Grath. And the actress was in B5 as well... omg the blending of universes is starting. @bewareoftrees did I give you Babylon 5 or did you give ME Babylon 5? HAAAAH)

Willow talks about how nice it is that the boys are being conscious with their bodies and continue to proves that she’s the best. Also Dr. Gregory was a virgin I guess. Thank you, show, for not making a joke out of that. 

Disk 1 Summary

It’s a fun show. It’s got some kinks to work out still but I can def see the promise. Will def keep watching.

#buffy the vampire slayer #jen watches #ep summaries #long post

[the-record-newspaper]

My 20 years at The Record have seen many life changes

(Note: this column is the conclusion of the story of my 20 years at The Record and Thursday Printing.)

 By JERRY LANKFORD

Record Editor

Much has happened in my life since I began working for The Record 20 years ago.

In my previous columns related to my two decades of work for the paper, I have mainly focused on the professional aspects of the passing of these years.

Personally, I have experienced some harsh losses, but, more than anything, I have received some of my life’s greatest blessings.

In 1999, when I came home from working at a daily newspaper in Sanford (just south of Raleigh), I was finally able to spend more time with my aging mother, Willa Mae Lankford, and my daughters, Jennifer (born in 1982) and Anna (born in 1988). Jennifer, Anna and me would go everywhere together – mostly concerts and other musical events and also theatrical productions – some of which we became part of as members of the cast and crew.

We had great fun at MerleFest, spending every available moment there we could. It was kind of like a family vacation for us. My friends there, mostly musicians, became their friends. I particularly remember Kurt and Maria Stadlin of Switzerland bringing them chocolate bars from their home country.

Anna was into music, like me, and we performed at many venues together. It was then I realized that playing music with one of your children creates a line of communication like no other that exists.

Jennifer’s talents have always been in the visual arts, which she apparently inherited from her grandfather, Sigurd Schmidt, a career artist. Jennifer has created some incredible works over the years, stuff I can’t even began to understand how she was able to accomplish. She even had a one-person show of her works sponsored by the Cultural Arts Council of Wilkes, which was held at Wilkesboro Town Hall.

My daughter Gabriella (Gabby), was born on Aug. 19, 2002. She has been a wonderful, sweet and smart child since she, as a baby, started showing the first faint signs of her angelic personality. This talented young lady held the record for many years as being the youngest singer to perform on The Sammy Lankford Stage at The Record Park. She was 4 years old.

Since that first appearance, Gabby has stood on that stage next to me countless times during various ChickenFest and Americana Day events. She has also appeared in many local stage productions in which she both sang and acted.

Gabby is beautiful, compassionate, thoughtful and brilliant. She has attended Wilkes Early College High School and graduates this May at age 16. She plans to follow in my sister, Ellen’s, footsteps and work as a laboratory scientist.

I know she will do well.

It was in February of 2009, when I experienced my greatest loss – the death of my mother, Willa Mae Lankford. She was 82.

I was so very lucky to be able to spend an enormous amount of time with her in the months prior to her passing. During that time I got to know my mother in much more than a maternal way – we became best friends. What I wouldn’t give to have five more minutes to talk with her, hear her voice and see her smile.

During my Momma’s time of sickness I learned much. Perhaps the most important thing she taught me is to pray. When I was struggling through this period, Ed McKinney, who was then pastor at my home church, Arbor Grove Methodist in Purlear, spent many hours with Momma and me. He and I also spent a lot of time talking, just the two of us.

A fledgling at prayer, I asked Ed one afternoon in the hospital canteen, “How exactly is the right way to pray?”

Ed smiled and simply said, “Paul said, ‘Pray without ceasing.’”

I’ve never forgotten that.

Then, in 2013, my life changed forever — I became grandfather to two adorable boys.

Sammie, Jennifer’s son (named after my father), was born on Jan. 24.

Charlie, Anna’s son, was born on June 19.

Don’t get me wrong. My daughters have made me extremely happy over the years – despite the fact that I spent half my life standing in the Barbie doll aisle at Walmart. But, those two little boys have taught me more about love than I could have received from any doctorate degree program.

And, now I get to buy toy trucks and cars, balls, army men, Nerf guns and the like.

I can just look at either one of those boys and cry tears of joys – like I often say, I’ve become an old woman in my later years. To quote a Goose Creek Symphony song, “I love them much more than minds could say.”

Now I must tell of one more huge loss – that is the death of my brother, Michael Grayden Lankford. I was just getting ready to leave work on Aug. 17, 2015, when my sister, Ellen, called me inconsolably upset. At the time Ellen and Mike lived together in Greensboro. She told me she found Mike dead in his chair. He was 63.

Mike was a good man. He worked hard his entire life, his last working years having been spent at Tyson Food’s Fabrication center where he was a welder among other things.

Mike was the kind of man who, like my daddy, Sammie Lankford, who died in 1977, could do anything — build an engine or a bridge, work endless hours and never complain. We had become very close since I had come back home from Sanford and went to work for The Record. He’d moved to Greensboro to watch over our sister. Really, they looked out for each other.

I was able to convince Ellen to move back to Wilkes after Mike’s passing. And Ellen, my dear sister, has been my guardian angel. She has literally saved this old boy’s life due to some health problems in recent months. And, as it turns out, we now live together. It’s a wonderful arrangement, at least from my standpoint.

Two other notable things have happened since Mike’s death. I have been able become closer to his daughter, Renee – Mike’s youngest, who is as sweet as can be but tough as nails. And Eva, his oldest daughter, has moved back to Wilkes.

Eva is yet another blessing and true angel on this Earth – never hesitating to help her old uncle in times of need or just call and check on me or come visit. I now consider Eva as being my fourth daughter. Sometimes I see her grin when she looks at me since I grew my beard.

“You just remind me of Daddy,” she says.

I’d be remiss not to mention the blessings of the many friendships I’ve acquired over the years, particularly that of my boss, Ken Welborn. At times, it seems, he’s the only person I have been able to turn to. And there have been many times over the years he could have turned his back, but he never has.

I’m mighty glad that I came to work for The Record. It’s good be here in Wilkes – where I was born and raised — where I belong.

I kind of started this series of columns about my time here with a quote from one of my favorite movies, the 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson. I’m going back to that source to close with, using the lyrics from one of the original songs in the movie:

 The way that you wander

Is the way that you choose,

The day that you tarry

Is the day that you lose.

Sunshine or thunder

A man will always wonder

Where the fair wind blows.

 I no longer feel the need to wander. And, as for where the fair wind blows, I don’t wonder, I know the answer – right here at home.

[unrealitea]

I wasn't able to follow the writing schedule I made for myself because I went to Japan. And that actually isn't a good excuse, because I'd known about the trip for at least six months now. I, however, did not take into consideration how much preparation and coordination I'd need to do beforehand, since my (deeply beloved) travel buddies are EVEN. MORE. FICKLE. THAN I.

I do plan on updating soon and finishing my self-challenge once and for all, but before that, I wanted to jot the details of one part of my trip, because I don't think we'll get video of it, sadly. So, the thing is, I'd never seen Arashi or Sexy Zone live before - I've only seen V6, and only once. My mind was blown, of course, but my thinking going into it had been that it would be one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. (I somehow skipped over HSJ when I developed affection for all these volleyball support groups. Sucks because I’m closer to their age range than the other groups, lol.)

My trip this time around was sorely lacking V6 - I spotted Okada a bunch of times on the subway/TV, but Inocchi is my fave and I never saw him once :| But! I am infinitely consoled by the fact that I got to catch Waku Waku Gakkou in Tokyo Dome <3 Caution: disjointed bullet points ahead.

7/9/17, 17:00

* Kento overexerting on the race and hurting his Sexy Zone, not to mention destroying the track quite a bit in the process. After his dramatic finish, Fuma wouldn't stop pointing out how ridiculous his shinme is because that’s what you do when you’re Fuma * Nino consistently picking on Aiba at every turn - like, their friendship is my favorite, but even I thought 'dial it down a notch' (except that's a lie because I would never think that) But for real, NinoAi is audibly popular with the Japanese fans. Every time they had any interaction, the place went wild

* Sho's lovestruck pose when Aiba did some fanservice-y cutesy action, while in the middle of demonstrating the cycle of digestion and subsequent expelling * Kento getting beaten up by Yoshida Saori (!!!) after getting turned into poop... Wish fulfillment from Arashi?? JK Nino seems to genuinely like Kento. He laughs OTT hard every single time Kento busted out some permutation of "sexy" + anything, thanked him sincerely at the end of their bit, and even patted his chair whenever he passed by him. They were my favorite pair - it isn't often I see Nino's big bro side / Kento's little bro side. Bonus: they were in charge of my personal favorite topic (poop is important and totally natural, guys!) * Using a jazzy version of Leann Rimes' How Do I Live as they do a striptease-type dance for Yoshida Saori (!!!) Just. Marius doing a striptease-y dance. For that matter, Ohno and Nino doing it. If it weren’t so hilarious I’d be scarred for life

* Matsumiya’s biological make-up being so similar that Matsumiya > actual brothers. And Yama-pair also syncing up to some extent. But this all means that those two ships are basically incestuous. So Aiba's happy to conclude that he's compatible with everyone "if he were a girl" * Double Sho[ri]! Opportunist Sho using his (and Shori's) initials to promote 24H with [K]oyama [K]eiichiro and [K]amenashi [K]azuya * How weird is it to see Shori next to Sho and remember that Shori isn't actually tiny (lengthwise) anymore? SZ were pretty much all taller than their Arashi counterparts, except for Jun and Sou which you just know had to be a deliberate move on Matsujun’s part (”Sou’s the one who gets nervous the most” pffft)

* The two reds only seem to have chemistry with the greens of their respective groups, haha. I’m exaggerating, obvs. It's not as if they weren't interacting or anything, but Sho mostly used Shori as a glorified barbie doll in their section. I think Shori had the bittiest part in the whole thing. It did make me laugh that Shori's Adams apple is more visible than Ohno's, lol * The Aiba-Fuma pair made more sense that I initially thought. Technically they were paired to be their respective groups' Sporty Spice, but they're also both popular (in a friend context) because they can get along with pretty much anyone. Plus, they aren’t as on-the-nose similar as an Aiba-Sou pair would have been. I liked that they seemed very natural together, and they shared responsibilities / divided their segment nicely * I loved that one sport where they show people in North America competitively picking things up while sitting/kneeling on a chair or that one with English folks hitting each other's padded knees while hugging. But I wish I took notes here, because they showed how these kids were able to run faster by doing a few specific exercises for a couple of weeks * Fuma's hilarious inability to skip - dude looked like he was hurting himself. Sho called him out on his “regular” skipping, which is suspect because I doubt Sho would've done any better. Can't we have the Keio men do a skip-off next time? * Sou was surprisingly good at princess-carrying Shori through the track. Sorry I doubted you, Sou. Haha I can’t help it, he's so little and he failed a bit of a lot in the sporty SekuChan episodes, so his prowess in that wife game surprised me as much as it surprised Arashi. Aiba also rocked carrying Nino like an upside-down full-body knapsack (or like tuna, iirc?) - left Fuma in the dust in the beginning, in fact - but then failed at handing him off to Sho oop it was Ohno. Ohno was the cutest little thing heigh-hoing forward to the best of his ability. Although Parental!FumaKen encouraging Mari (in sync, of course) all the way to the finish line might have been just as cute, maaaaaybe * No, but Sou was the absolute cutest when he was encouraging Sho on that elevating platform. He actually looked like he was praying to him :)) In return for his lovely kouhai support, he got bullied in the end and dragged into the foam pit with Sho. He got Sho's fans' sympathy, at least. Kento got some sympathy earlier, too - the girls behind me were all ~poor guy~ when he was dressed as literal shit, though he was clearly hamming it up and enjoying every second, lol * Speaking of FumaKen. Fuma cozying up to Kento during the few times they stood next to each other / when no one was looking (ex. when they got out of their seats to watch Sho try not to shit his pants while playing a recorder - totally romantic moment btw). Shippers gonna ship, sorry not sorry * The girls behind me calling MJ a devil when he was torturing Sho on that platform. Honestly, the fans were far more sadistic :D * The Waku Waku routine for managing your nerves, as demonstrated by Sou: jump jump (substitute with shoulder nudge X2 if the situation calls for it), breathe deeply, look straight ahead, and Arashi! Arashi! for dream (you can do this with either the open palm or pointer finger for discretion... Sho improvised it once with the Sexy Zone pointing choreo - how's that for group shuffling?)

* Marius never letting Arashi forget how old they are. The fans around me laughed at Ohno looking like Mari's grandpa, which of course they found to be adorable. Visually, Ohno-Marius has to be my favorite pair hands down, lmao * Of course Marius can cry on cue watching Titanic. Of course. * At the end of it, Fuma had some wise words to share about Arashi-niisan pushing them up from behind vs. pulling them up from the top, and earning that applause - that's our (other) Keio boy * They sang Furusato (qt) and we got to wave to them! Well, only half of them in my case, since the other cart didn't make it to my section... lol but I got to see Aiba, Sho, MJ, Kento, and Marius up close, at least <3

And now that I’ve properly reminisced... what do we have to do for a DVD release???

#coherency sacrificed for the sake of chronicling a memory #the last time I did this I'd just seen V6 live! #waku waku gakkou #more arashi + sexy zone collab please #actually give me any subset of v6 + arashi + sexy zone and I'm all set