#Nicky not fully up to date on the Step situation: And that's bad? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jtl-fics · 1 year

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Fluent Freshman - Part 07

The thing about Nicky knowing that FF knows Russian and therefore understands every single excruciatingly sweet, ear-reddingly spicy, or shockingly mundane thing that Andrew and Neil say to one another is that he is objectively the 3rd worst person to know this secret.

First place is, of course, Andrew Minyard the man who has now asked him about his family 3 times in the last week and a half. FF doesn’t really care if Andrew goes after the majority of his ‘family’ since it’s just his step brothers and step dad but Andrew might go after his Grandma too so he just says “We don’t talk” every time it comes up and deletes his entire chat history with his grandma that way Andrew won’t know how close they are. If that means that Andrew thinks that no one would look for him if he happened to disappear into a shallow grave FF doesn’t know. He’s already doomed so the least he can do is save his gran.

Second place is, of course, Captain Neil. Captain has mentioned quite a few times that a lot of people stay with friends or people they’re close with over Thanksgiving break. It’s meaner than Captain Neil usually would be off of the Court reminding FF that he has friends but none close enough who would want to spend a holiday with him. He plans to go see his Gran for Thanksgiving and she plans to feed him a truly ridiculous amount of food. It’s the same plan he’s had pretty much every year since he was 13.

Third place is Nicky Hemmick. Nicky is a very nice guy who got him a paperboy to hyperventilate into a couple times and would absolutely never intentionally OUT somebody and compromise their safety! Nicky’s talked with FF about some of his background so FF has full confidence that it’s never going to be something that Nicky intentionally outs to anyone. But there are two main reasons why Nicky is the third worst person to find out about this secret.

The first reason is that Nicky Hemmick just unabashedly loves gossip. FF has heard that with the graduation of the girls the previous year had gone Allison Reynolds who had multiple running bets on multiple teammates and a whole cache of gossip. Now Nicky has access to the ultimate accidental gossip magnet in the man who no one notices, who knows any language the Foxes speak and is too awkward to get up and leave when they start talking.

Nicky will never tell another soul his secret but he also HAS to know what Neil and Andrew are saying to one another and when Nicky lies to cover for him the charge is one free conversation translation.

He’s absolutely hooked on getting translations the since the first time he had asked what Andrew and Neil are hissing at one another one morning practice.

FF translated it awkwardly feeling like a creep and like he’s invading their privacy but Nicky had helped him eat the four slavic letter flashcards he had made up to help a friend study the language when Captain Neil and Andrew had come back early from a weekend alone in Columbia.

Nicky had even assured him afterwards that the ink was probably non-toxic and given him floss so he could get the flashcard wedged between his molars out.

So….

“Andrew’s mad that Captain Neil skipped breakfast because they’re working to make him eat something for every meal. Captain Neil’s mad because Andrew’s the one that kept him in bed so long that he didn’t have time to make anything.”

Nicky squeals in delight

The second reason, which is just compounded by the first, is the fact that Nicky had promised not to tell another Soul. However Nicky Hemmick, the romantic that he is, believes that he and his Fiancé Erik share one soul since they are soulmates. Therefore Nicky Hemmic had barely even registered FF’s tears of gratitude before he was calling Erik to tell him about FF.

The sheer number of close calls that have happened because Nicky HAS to tell Erik about something Andrew and Neil said to one another or something someone else is saying is the reason FF started getting ulcers.

Watching Nicky talk to Erik about him knowing Russian is like watching a member of the three stooges walk through a construction site blindfolded. FF nearly kills himself stopping Nicky from outing him numerous times and at the end Nicky’s smiling, unscathed and unaware of the sheer number of close calls he had sauntered through.

FF can’t wait to go home and bury his face in his grandma’s lap, stress eat two apple pies, and tell her about how he thinks he might just become an electrician or a plumber or an underwater welder because one of his language professors wants him to come and speak to a lower level class (a gen-ed with over a hundred people in it) about the usefulness of LATIN for all their majors since they can parse the meaning via root word and he had panicked and said ’Sure’.

***

The thing about being the only person on the team that knows that FF speaks Russian and is riddled with social anxiety is that it’s absolutely hilarious most of the time.

Every once in a while he has to step in to help the guy.

So sometimes he’ll eat flashcards. Sometimes he’ll distract his cousin with a salacious comment so FF can escape a dangerous conversation with his drunk friend. Sometimes he pushes FF to go talk to Abby about his tummy troubles. Sometimes he’ll hand over one of the brown paper bags he keeps in his backpack nowadays so FF can wheeze into it and sometimes he’ll assure his cousin that FF’s passing out after he offered to teach him how to use a knife was probably because of his stomach ulcers not because FF is terrified of Andrew stabbing him.

Nicky is the only member of the Foxes that FF regularly seeks out on his own to hang out with and Nicky just loves how hard Andrew and Neil are trying not to be jealous about it.

“I want to ask Smith if he wants to come spend Thanksgiving Break with us.” Andrew says out of the blue a week before the aforementioned break when it’s just Aaron, Neil, Nicky and himself in Nicky’s dorm room.

Nicky thinks about FF talking about going back to his hometown in Washington State and how he waxed poetic about spending Thanksgiving Break with his Grandma and how he was going to eat his weight in pie and Macaroni and Cheese.

“He’s planning on going and seeing his grandma. He won’t shut up about it.” Nicky says still glad that FF has a family member like his grandma.

Everyone else in the room look at him.

“He won’t shut up about it?” Aaron asks with an eyebrow raised. Aaron likes FF just fine and appreciates how FF has helped Katelyn start to grasp the fundamentals of the German language so quickly so she can understand what’s being said. “So what he said it twice?” He continues.

Nicky remembers FF’s ability for catastrophizing every conversation with the Foxes into one where it comes out that he speaks Russian and Andrew stabs him. As far as the other Foxes are concerned he’s a man of few words.

“He’s been talking about it all month. If I hear about his grandma’s apple pie recipe one more time I might demand he sneak a slice back for me through TSA.” Nicky loves stoking the flames, especially when the fire is harmless. He watches Aaron shrug and the skin around both Neil and Andrew’s mouths tightens. “You can ask him, the worst he can say is No.” Nicky shrugs.

Nicky is there when Andrew does ask him and he can see the prolonged internal scream of terror on the utterly blank face (or maybe he just imagines it.) and in a way Nicky is a little sad when FF shakes his head and says “No, I have plans with my Grandma.” In an utterly blank voice that means he has functionally blue-screened before turning and walking towards the nearest door so he can reboot in solitude.

“The offer stands if you change your mind.” Neil says and Nicky is impressed with the seemingly very casual thumbs up FF gives as he power walks away.

A little less than a week later Nicky finds Andrew next to FF and FF looking down at a cancelled flight notification after coming in from a truly monumental storm.

Andrew offers Thanksgiving in Columbia again.

Nicky tries to stop it from happening he can see that FF is a little lost in his disappointment over not being able to see his grandma and not thinking clearly but before he can snap him out of it.

“Sure.”

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings @blep-23 @dreamerking27 @andreilsmyreligion @belodensetdust @rainbowpineapplebottle @yarn-ace @iwouldlikesometea @lily-s-world @obscureshipsandchips @booklover242

#Fluent Freshman AU #Andrew internally: I was able to help out someone. Bee's gonna be proud.#FF: HE WAITED UNTIL I WAS AT MY WEAKEST TO ENSNARE ME. I'M GOING TO WAKE UP IN A REVERSE BEAR TRAP.#FF spends the next 12 hours watching Saw movies to prepare himself mentally on escaping from any and all torture devices #Nicky: Can't you just reschedule your flight?#FF: No it was the only day she could borrow a car to pick me up from the airport #FF: Any other day my step fam would find out that I was back in the state :(#Nicky not fully up to date on the Step situation: And that's bad?#FF: And that's bad.#FF: Please cremate me so that my granny doesn't have to see my mangled remains #FF: Give her my ashes and let her know my last thoughts were of her.#Nicky: I really gotta find you a girlfriend.#Fluent Freshman #Nicky Hemmick #Andrew Minyard #Neil Josten #AFTG #AFTG AU #AFTG Shitpost #AFTG OC #AFTG Fic #My Fics #FF - Pt. 07

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the-chicken-or-the-banana · 3 years

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part 1 of the andreil coming out thing here

ok, so andrew and neil aren't the most openly affectionate

there's no hints to the public that they could possibly be together, considering their little... rivalry

however, with andrew out now, a few people like to believe that andrew and neil could have an "enemies-to-lovers" situation

some people even think that they're already together

nevertheless, this is a very small population in the grand scheme of exy, and most of this is indulging in fantasies anyways — few people really believe in these theories

and as months pass after andrew's coming out, people stop pestering him every 0.2 seconds about who his boyfriend is

andrew and neil think they're finally free of all the annoying paparazzi and slightly overbearing fans

and it's under this false sense of security that shit hits the roof

it's a random september night when it happens, nothing terribly significant

but the whole week, andrew had been craving a closeness with neil, the kind that comes with not seeing your person for weeks

so he booked a flight to where neil was, realizing that had this occurred a few years back, andrew probably wouldn't have even acknowledged that he missed neil, let alone made steps to actually see him again

on a flight.

(he thinks bee would be proud)

anyway, he reached neil's apartment with minimal damage and proceeded to be drowned in kisses

it's a good few days.

and then, on that fateful september night, andrew is hit with the urge to take neil out

(not like murder. more like... a date?)

they don't usually go out on those, but it's not like they've never done so before

so andrew books a dinner reservation at a fancy restaurant, fully intending to take his man out on a nice. fancy. relaxing. drama-free. date.

of course, the universe has other plans

andrew and neil arrive at the restaurant (a little late but neil's lips were a good distraction for a few hours, okay? (they may have left the kitchen in disarray from lunch, but that's irrelevant))

their table is a secluded corner where they're pretty much hidden from view, save for one or two tables, and the seemingly solid privacy relaxes andrew and neil

their dinner goes by relatively uneventfully

(excluding when andrew gave a small smile to one of neil's dumb jokes, who proceeded to dump marinara sauce into his water instead of next to his garlic bread while staring dreamily at andrew, and then nearly choked when he took his next sip from the glass)

(also excluding when neil gave a not-so-innocent suck on his fork and andrew, frustrated over laws about public indecency, stabbed his brussel sprouts aggressively, causing one to fly up and hit and burn his eye)

(also also excluding— )

ok, so maybe it was more of a mess than andrew was ready to admit

but andrew dug into his panna cotta feeling lighter than he had in weeks as neil teased him about his sugar addiction and held his hand under the table

it was as andrew leaned over and kissed some cream off the side of neil's lips that he got the feeling of being watched

he whirled around, hair nearly hitting neil's face, as his gaze landed on a cell phone camera pointed at them

he caught the eye of a very guilty looking man, made even more errant when said man proceeded to leap out of his chair and run out of the restaurant

andrew was half-out of his chair to follow him when neil tugged on his shirt sleeve, an instigative glint in his eye

"neil. do you want to see this on every gossip magazine in the next few hours?"

"well no, but that fuckwad is always going to have those pictures. we, however, can make sure he doesn't get the headline he wants"

"... i'm listening"

about 40 minutes later, back at neil's apartment, neil posts a picture of his extremely messy kitchen on twitter

@neil_josten_official: well fuck me 🥴

@03andrewminyard: if you insist

~ 30 minutes later ~

@neil_josten_official: *image attached: andrew is laying his head in the crook of neil's neck as neil kisses him on the top of his head, andrew's fingers running through neil's hair. they both appear to be shirtless*

@neil_josten_official: BREAKING NEWS: just had sex with my (very hot) boyfriend to get revenge on unfulfilled gossip "journalists." life really couldn't be better :)

@neil_josten_official: ok but really, stop trying to out closeted celebrities (and people in general). it's not cool. it's not trendy. our lives aren't a scandal to report on. you're all just assholes and fuck you

@neil_josten_official: but not literally. a metaphorical fuck, if you will

@exykevinday.official: I'm proud of you for coming out and finally ending your ridiculous rivalry @neil_josten_official and @03andrewminyard, but was there really no other way you could have done so without informing me about your sex life?

@03andrewminyard: haha. no.

needless to say, the internet erupts in shock at neil's tweets

theories emerge left and right about how, when, why andrew and neil got together

the two of them get requests for so many interviews, talk shows, panels, magazines, all of which they turn down

of course, there's the occasional question in a post-game or team interview that's hard to avoid, and for the most part, these rare moments provide the only things the public knows about what they affectionately call "andreil"

but apparently when you're in a very public relationship, there are certain expectations fans have about how much of it you disclose

and while andrew doesn't necessarily want to divulge their private life to millions of people, he also can't help but be reminded of how seeing nicky and erik's comfortable relationship in his late teenage years solidified to him that him liking guys wasn't a bad thing

and it's with that in mind that he posts a picture on his instagram from earlier in june of him and neil curled up on the sofa, a massive rainbow flag draped around them with neil kissing his cheek

it's one of the few pictures he posts of the two of them (photos are more of neil's thing (when the hell did he take such model-esque photos of andrew?))

but andrew constantly @'s neil on twitter for literally anything

@03andrewminyard: don't forget the cat food the spoiled idiots take the most expensive stuff @neil_josten_official

@03andrewminyard: hey @neil_josten_official get me the mega stuff oreos from the store ok bye

@03andrewminyard: i- @neil_josten_official. why. is. there. neon. orange. paint. all. over. my. socks.

needless to say, neil's retaliation of posting gorgeous photos of andrew always flusters andrew

and if andrew needs to press soft kisses to his lips to stop neil's gleeful laughter and his own flightful smile, well, that's no one's business

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vitalmindandbody · 7 years

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Grammy projections: who will win- and who should

Some categories seem clear-cut while others are impossible to call. Heres our ramshackle of likely conquerors and those who should be recognised

Record of the year

Going for golden: Mark Ronson Photograph: Frank Micelotta/ Rex/ Shutterstock

The distinction between record and song of its first year is currently in the credits; preserve goes to the people responsible for best available musical production of its first year of eligibility( for 2016, that interval flows from 1 October 2014 through 30 September 2015 ), and song is awarded to those people who wrote best available anthem. While Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran all facilitated define pop in their own rooms during that stage, and DAngelos Really Love is the best funk offering in this category, the Mark Ronson/ Bruno Mars adoration to the Minneapolis Sound was the pop offering of early 2015, and will probably be run out at defendants as a room to remember the year of The Dress, Left Shark and Netflix and chill until at the least 2065.

Will prevail: Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars Uptown Funk

Should acquire: DAngelo Really Love

Album of its first year

Country musics brand-new golden son: Chris Stapleton. Image: Rob Kim/ Getty Images

A formidable category this year, even if the harmful Abel Tesfaye is among its campaigners.( Sorry, manufacture kinds; despite your best efforts, he isnt and will probably never be the next Michael Jackson .) Sound& Color lastly captivated the formidable live play that is Alabama Shakes in-concert vitality; 1989 changed Taylor Swift into a platinum-plated pop whiz, her gawky, country teenage dates fully behind her.

This categorys two heaviest hitters have the kind of stories Grammy voters love and their steward albums are excellent as well. Chris Stapleton has knocked all over the music business for years, writing country-chart-topping anthems for the likes of George Strait and Kenny Chesney, and after his whiskey-soaked entry Traveller cleaned up at the Country Music Association accolades last year he became a commercial-grade coerce on his own. Kendrick Lamar, meanwhile, summed up its first year of Black Lives Matter with a dense, exploratory book that entwined the personal and political in such a way that galvanized listeners. The quite-good Traveller is my pick to win this category because of Stapletons formidable manufacture ties, particularly those embedded within Nashville. But I wouldnt be surprised if Lamars tour de force takes it.

Will prevail: Chris Stapleton, Traveller

Should winning: Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp A Butterfly

Song of its first year

Alright on the night: Kendrick Lamar. Photo: Scanpix Denmark/ Reuters

Swifts winking Blank Space, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puths treacle-topped elegy See You Again, Little Big Towns glowering Girl Crush, Ed Sheerans People Get Ready-biting Envisioning Out Loud all big hits, all of which pale in comparison to the political and musical jolt offered by Lamars Alright. Evaluating by this clip of the chant being performed by Lamar and residents of Los Angeles Compton place, the people behind the Grammys would seem to agree.

Will acquire: Kendrick Lamar Alright

Should win: Kendrick Lamar Alright

Best new creator

New teenager on the block: Sam Hunt. Photo: ddp USA/ Rex Shutterstock

As it so often does, this category offers up a hodgepodge of new-ish-comers that straddle from head-scratching( the brazenly retro Meghan Trainor, who sidled in on a detail after being up for chronicle and song of its first year in 2015) to bland( the snoozy James Bay) to perfectly fine( the popping artiste Tori Kelly, the cerebral fuzz-punk of Courtney Barnett ). Among these nominees, the Georgia-born Sam Hunt whose hybridization of country, hip-hop and soul announces back to the rock periods roots while also outlook Nashville for a bright future stands out not just by being better, but by selling a boatload of evidences while doing so.

Will win: Sam Hunt

Should acquire: Sam Hunt

Best popping vocal book

Taylor Swift: hugging the daddy life. Image: Matt Sayles/ Invision/ AP

Barring a mass riot by the voting worlds boomers( and Red Sox devotees) that results in a James Taylor surprise victory, Taylor Swifts magnificent pop announcement is the odds-on favorite for this category even if Florence+ The Machines How Big How Blue How Beautiful is, overall, a less self-conscious, more intricately put together book. Perhaps now that Swift has fully hugged the dad life she wont do the whole Who, me? behave when her epithet goes called.

Will prevail: Taylor Swift 1989

Should acquire: Florence+ The Machine How Big How Blue How Beautiful

Best rock-and-roll book

Muse: on tendency, kind of. Photograph: Thomas Samson/ AFP/ Getty Images

If “youve been” wondered why rock seemed to be in such a bad pop-cultural recognise in the mid-2 010 s, the middling information is proposed by this categorys nominees caters some fine argue to the reasons why. Theres Bay, with his studiously situated hat and retro forces; theres Death Cab For Cutie, a hangover from the period when indie was still considered outside the mainstream; theres Slipknot, who seem to be there as an apology for that whole Jethro Tull mishap a few decades back. The Brooklyn trio Highly Suspect, meanwhile, perform the nifty manoeuvre of summing up their inclusion in this category via their appoint.( Dont be fooled by their being signed to an independent description; that imprint, 300 Entertainment, is run by manufacture lifer Lyor Cohen .) Which leaves us with Muse, whose absurdist libertarian shtick is at least of the moment.

Will acquire: Muse Drones

Should win: At least a dozen preserves that arent selected in this category. Sleater-Kinneys No Cities To Desire? That Father John Misty album? Im personally partial to Faith No Mores Sol Invictus

Best alternative music album

Steady sides: Alabama Shakes. Picture: Sipa/ Rex Shutterstock

X Envoy Jeep-endorsing Renegade was the biggest alt-rock hit of 2015, but the nominees in this field are more festival darlings than radio favourites. Which is an essential split that speaks to the often-confusing fragmentation of this already-pretty-split-up rock subgenre. Alabama Shakes has only one album of the year nomination under their loop for the aesthetic bounce forwards Sound& Color, but dont count out 2005 win Wilco, who have dad-rock call acknowledgment on their side.

Will prevail: Alabama Shakes Sound& Color

Should prevail: Bjork Vulnicura

Best urban contemporary book

Bad vibe merchant: The Weeknd. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/ Getty Images

This relatively new category seems to have been invoked so that the 2013 liturgy could somehow award Frank Ocean, who was one of only three campaigners during its first go-round. This years fuller, if Ocean-free, slate is fairly representing the the most powerful contemporary vocal lines derivative of R& B out there. Pity, then, that the self-loathing bummer known as The Weeknd, the Canadian import whose endless bad vibes got one of 2015s biggest thrusts, is very likely to take the prize over its challengers, all of which are more pleasant and compelling. The Internets Ego Death is splendidly weirder; Lianne La Havass Blood is full of nerve; Kehlanis You Should Be Here has youthful elan; and Miguels Wildheart wears its protagonists insecurities and deep-seated passions on its sleeve.

Will triumph: The Weeknd Beauty Behind The Madness

Should prevail: Miguel Wildheart

Best R& B album

Man most probably: Leon Bridges. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Jazmine Sullivans Reality Show receives the Philadelphia-born belter who racked up her ninth, 10 th and 11 th vocation Grammy nominations this year colonizing a wide array of attributes, all of whom are richly gather and passed extra life by Sullivans potent expres. Its a huge step forward for Sullivan, who took a hiatus from music in 2011, and for R& B, which has been increasingly marginalized as a category thanks to the altering jazzs of radio formatting and retail contraction. Her being up against Leon Bridges, the talented Texan whose entry voices unearthed from a 60 s cache of soul slopes, and DAngelo, the legendarily reclusive funk genius whose Black Messiah should really have been given more gleam in the Big Four categories, means that a win for her is a long shot, but its long overdue.

Will prevail: Leon Bridges, Coming Home

Should triumph: Jazmine Sullivan, Reality Show

Best rap book

Dr Dres daytime: Compton v Compton. Picture: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Drake, Nicki Minaj and J Cole all have star power and Drake has claimed succes in this category before but the best rap album hasten has to boil down to Compton vs Compton. Will the old front Dr Dre, emanating off a year in which he penetrated pops firmament for good, acquire? Or will Lamar, who worshipped the outlaw-rapper-turned-headphone-mogul as small children, solidify his station as chairman of the next generation? I intend, its the Grammys, so possibly the former.( At least Eminem and Macklemore propped off from exhausting anything during the eligibility window .)

Will acquire: Dr Dre Compton

Should win: Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly

Best country album

Country person again: Chris Stapleton. Photograph: Evan Agostini/ Invision/ AP

Having acted so well at the CMA bestows( and in the shopping frenzy following it) and as this years country person in the album of its first year category, this one is probably Stapletons to prevail in a walk. But Ashley Monroes The Blade was one of 2015 s best albums; the Pistol Annies second full-length is full of self-lacerating feeling and instantaneously hummable choruses, and Monroes steely soprano gives her on equivalence with Dolly Parton.

Will acquire: Chris Stapleton, Traveller

Should win: Ashley Monroe, The Blade