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meangirlsx · 4 years

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The End You Meant for Me (Part 3)

Pairing: Lydia Deetz x reader

Word count: 2144

Warning(s): None

Request: “Okay so like Lydia and her girlfriend spending a second christmas together and reader gets everyone in the house a gift, even beetlejuice! Lydia sees this as a huge step in their relationship because she sees how much her girlfriend has changed in a year considering she was very nervous, felt bad only getting Lydia a gift. To how shes more open and friendly with Charles and Delia, how she pokes fun at Beetlejuice, and how close she is to Adam and Barbara. Lyds is just head over heels in love.” and “Would you mind doing a Lydia x Reader (or Cady x Reader if you still write for Mean Girls) during the holidays? Christmas perhaps?”

Note: MAJOR thank you shoutout to @sophiascaruso for talking to me endlessly as I threw her questions and ideas while I wrote. This fic is brought to you by my brain that won’t shut up and my now very ready for a break fingers, but also by her unwavering patience and brilliance. She is a blessing.

And a final thank you to @spooky-scary-lesbian for the request! I had no idea it was going to be three parts when she sent it to me. It’s also long enough that it turns out it could’ve been five or six if I split for length instead of content. But I looooooooooved writing this so much! Thank you!

Part 1 Part 2

——

You stepped into Lydia’s room and shut the door behind you. You looked around for a moment. You loved how it was a perfect representation of her younger years as well as a few things from more recent years.

You set your purse on the bed, trying not to draw too much attention to it. You wanted to give her time to focus on her mother’s locket.

“Help me put it on?” she asked, standing in front of the mirror.

You walked up behind her and took the locket from her.

You hadn’t spent much time in her old room with her before. Not enough to really carefully look at everything. Looking at the dresser in front of her, you noticed a photo of her you hadn’t seen before.

She looked younger. Maybe around high school. Not that she looked much older than that, now. She wore a black dress with safety pins along the neckline. Her hair was cut to her chin and, most notably, black. It was a stark contrast from her now: long hair dyed so light blonde it was almost white, with darker roots because she hadn’t touched it up in a few weeks, and the owner of a massive collection of sweaters in a wide variety of colors. She’d told you before that she only wore black for a long time after her mom died, but she had never mentioned her hair.

“You dyed your hair black?” you asked.

“In high school, yeah,” she said. “Right before my mom’s funeral. I made the switch from black to blonde the summer before college. It felt like the right time for a fresh start. A physical change to remind me of the person I was becoming instead of who I was. That me will always be a part of me, but I wanted to focus on…”

She trailed off, so you filled in her words. “Who you wanted to become. I get that.”

She gathered her hair in one hand and lifted it out of the way. Reaching around her and through her arm, you clasped the locket behind her neck, and she let go of her hair. It was the little moments like that, the simplest ones, that you loved most.

She brought her hand up to touch the locket.

“I always thought it looked so elegant on her,” she said.

“I think it looks elegant on you, too.”

That made her smile. “Did my dad tell you what it means to our family?” She sat at the foot of her bed.

You sat beside her. “He said your mom’s father got it from his mom to propose to your grandma. And that she passed it on to him when he and your mom got engaged.”

“My mom said she liked to think of it as our family’s symbol of true love. I thought it sounded kind of dumb when I was younger, but...I like it.” Her eyes were shining just like Charles’s did when he talked about Emily. “He gave it to you at Thanksgiving?”

“He did,” you said, but you drew your eyebrows together, not sure how she knew that.

“I mean, I knew something was going on. But I had no idea it was this.”

You should have known she’d be able to put it together. She was always thinking faster than everyone around her.

You laughed lightly and shook your head. “Of course you knew.”

“Everyone seemed too enthusiastic about Delia’s digestion meditation while you and my dad stayed downstairs. And they’ve all been acting just a little weird since then. I mean, more than their normal amount. I swear, everyone who lives in this house is a horrible liar. Thinking of that and seeing the small jewelry box, I sort of wondered… But I know we both hate public proposals. I expected it to be maybe a necklace or something, but this… This was the best surprise. And we even got each other the same type of gift. Something that sort of...solidifies our future.”

You almost wanted to laugh. “Yeah. We did.”

Then her eyes dropped to something behind you and she seemed very distracted. “You brought your purse.”

You felt your adrenaline spike. You were pretty sure she could’ve figured it out, anyway, but having just mentioned proposals and your future together, her mind was already there. You could see it in her eyes. She didn’t say it, of course. She didn’t need to. You knew there would also be a small part of her that was afraid to say it and make you feel bad if she thought you were proposing and you weren’t.

But you were. And you were ready. “I actually have one more thing I wanted to give you, but I wanted to give it to you in private.”

You knew there was no point in hiding the box, so you took it out of your purse and held it in your lap.

“A small jewelry box,” she said. Her voice was almost a whisper. You weren’t sure she’d even meant to say it out loud.

“You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever known. You’re always ten steps ahead of everyone else because your mind never stops. I’m biased, but I think you have the best sense of humor of anyone I’ve ever met. You’re always ready to offer a solution to a problem or help find one. Your compassion is unparalleled. You don’t let anyone feel bad for being strange and unusual, if you can help it. You give them someone who will listen. You show them how to view their differences and insecurities as strengths. How their individuality makes them special. You see someone hurting and you jump into action. You understand how they feel, and even when you’re not sure how to help them, you don’t stop trying until you’ve figured it out. And you don’t stop fighting there. You get involved in everything you can that helps other people. And animals. And the planet. You inspire the rest of us all the time. You make everyone around you better, and I’m honored to be one of those people. To be the one you choose to love, every day.”

She was crying, now, but she hadn’t stopped smiling.

“Lydia, I love you. I love laughing at the most ridiculous things with you. I love how much we try to look out for each other and protect each other. I love how we push each other to always be the best we can be. I never even imagined I could love someone this much, and I still feel like it gets stronger every day. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you more every day.”

You took a breath, kneeled in front of her, and opened the box. It wasn’t quite a gasp, but she let out an audible breath.

“Will you marry me?”

Everything seemed frozen again. Your heart was still pounding, but you weren’t nervous anymore.

Through her tears came a distinct, gentle, but enthusiastic, “Yes.” She leaned down to kiss you, then enveloped you in a hug.

It felt like an eternity before you broke apart, and you didn’t mind one bit.

She held her hand out between you so you could place the ring on her finger.

You’d done your best to choose something simple, elegant, and her. A silver band. Three little diamonds on either side of a larger black diamond in the shape of an oval.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s black.”

“Black diamond,” you said with a nod. “It’s your favorite color. It’s like your color. And like you said, it will always be a part of you.”

“I love it. I love you.” She pulled you to your feet, gave you another kiss, and another hug. “It’s perfect.”

You leaned your head against hers. You were content to enjoy these moments with her before you went back downstairs.

She began to wipe her tears, then scrunched up her face a bit. “Do you hear that?” she asked.

You listened, but you only heard silence. “I don’t hear anything…”

“Exactly. No talking. No laughing. Not even something on the TV. They knew you were going to propose now?”

“Yeah, they did.”

She got a mischievous smile and took your hand. She opened the door as quietly as possible. Tapping her finger to her lips, she led you out of her room and down the hall.

The second you reached the top of the stairs, you heard quick shuffling in the living room. You observed everyone as you came down the stairs together.

Charles hadn’t moved. Delia was beside him on the couch like she had been before, but she was adjusting herself like she had just sat down, and breathing like she had just run across the room. Barbara and Adam were also in their chairs, but they didn’t seem to notice that they had switched places. Beetlejuice had moved, too, but that wasn’t unusual for him whether or not he’d been attempting to eavesdrop. And they all had their eyes locked on you and Lydia.

“What?” Lydia asked when you hit the bottom of the stairs.

“Uh, we were just…” Delia started but couldn’t finish.

“Playing a game,” Adam said.

“Yes,” Barbara said. “A game where you have to think. In silence. A lot. About...um…”

Lydia laughed and looked at you as she said, “You guys really are the worst liars.”

You laughed, too.

She held up her hand and rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.

Delia and Barbara started squealing, and you were pretty sure Adam was doing something along those lines, too. The entire group rushed over to hug both of you.

You couldn’t even tell who was saying what, there were so many variations of “Congratulations!” and “We’re so happy for you!” flying around.

“We were so worried when you came down like nothing happened!” Delia said. “We couldn’t hear anything from the stairs.”

“You guys should know by now my room is basically sound-proof. BJ helped me set it up in high school so I could play music at whatever volume I wanted to.”

“I tried to tell ‘em,” Beetlejuice said.

Lydia swung your hands and smiled at you, then at the group. “But it was perfect.”

Everyone started talking at once again.

They had questions, but eventually you and Lydia convinced everyone to watch a Christmas movie.

Charles and Delia brought out all the desserts everyone had made to snack on during the movie.

You and Lydia grabbed a blanket and joined Charles and Delia on the couch. You practically only took one spot, Lydia cuddled in so close to you. She let her head rest on your shoulder. She stayed that way the entire movie, holding onto you like her life depended on it. You made sure to hold her as closely and tightly as you could.

When it was time to say goodbye, everyone congratulated you again and asked when you’d be visiting next.

You and Lydia got back into her car, complete with leftovers from Delia, as usual. Before Lydia started the car, you asked if you could drive by your new apartment. She loved the idea.

She had meant it when she said it was close to her family’s house. You didn’t time it, but you thought it took somewhere between five and ten minutes.

She pointed to a window on the third floor and said, “That one’s ours. And there’s an elevator. Don’t worry.”

The building looked really nice. And it looked like a really nice neighborhood, too.

Between the streetlights, house lights still on, and lit decorations in yards further down the block, the street was bathed in light. You knew it wouldn’t always look like that, but it felt warm and inviting.

“It’s going to be our home,” you said, reaching over the console to hold her hand. “It feels like home.”

“Anywhere feels like home with you.” She squeezed your hand. “You’re my home.”

You turned to look at her, ready to respond, but she scrunched up her nose and shut her eyes.

“I think I was temporarily possessed by a Hallmark movie writer,” she said.

You tried not to laugh. You knew what considering you her home meant to her. But her reaction really was funny, and she was laughing, now, so you laughed along with her.

Once you’d both calmed down, you squeezed her hand just enough to prompt her to meet your eyes. “But just for the record, you’re mine, too.”

She pulled your hand so she could hold your arm against her, and you both turned back to the apartment.

“We’re going to live here,” you said. “With our cat.”

Lydia stared down at her ring, then gave you a big smile. “I can’t wait.”

——

Tag list: @mars-bars-stars, @reader-ships, @anxiousankylosaurus, @msmith74, @broadwaymusicaltrash, @you-thinks-wrong-romeo, @theatricalwriter, @be-more-heidi-hansen, @peachy-jolly, @g1ngersp1ce, @trumancheerleadermaui, @dancewyou, @percabeth15, @coral-cat-iris, @madameboxhead, @elaineygrace, @theolwebshooter, @dontgotothenetherworld, @ohsomightykeyboard, @vampireamango

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lesbianperaltas · 5 years

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i used to live alone before i knew you.

pairing: jake/amy rating: n/r word count: 2,398 a/n: this is my @b99fandomevents fic written for @winnietherpooh! happy halloween! i meant to have this out a couple days ago i apologise. i hope you like it! <3 big shoutout to @obsessivelymoody for reading this over for me. <3 summary: They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actually like to be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him.

(or, Jake and Amy, some polish food and hot cider.)

[ AO3 LINK. ]

It’s always the start of October that he feels it. He doesn’t know what it is—the leaves are starting to change colour, New York City is starting to get colder, and it’s starting to get darker. Stores have started putting up Halloween decorations in the windows, there’s new lattes to try and even better sweet treats to eat. It’s his favourite time of year.

(Except, sometimes, when it’s actually Halloween, he’ll be working on a scene and he’ll see the numerous amounts of people with their children in costumes, and he’ll think of the last few Halloweens that he could remember with his father. It doesn’t always get to him, but Amy and Jake have been trying for a kid, and it’s just getting harder and harder to ignore the memories he’s desperately trying to heal from.)

Jake and Charles had been working on a scene for a few hours now, he always hated doing door to door, but it had to be done. The faster they went through it the faster Jake could go home. He had plans.

(Most of his plans were spending time with Amy on the couch, her stroking his hair while he rested his head in her lap watching house hunters and making bets on the couples.)

“I just love this time of year,” Charles says as he touches his pen to a pumpkin head that’s been taped to the door. By the looks of it a kid must have drawn on little doodles. It makes Jake smile despite how tired he was tonight.

“I know Charles,” Jake pats his back and they knock on the door.

A woman answers with a child on her hip, funnily enough he’s wearing an orange shirt. Jake has to remember that there’s so many people that love Halloween for a completely reason that he loves Halloween. He smiles at the baby who’s holding a sippy cup in his hands.

“Hi, we just have a couple of questions,” Charles starts out and he’s squinting his eyes in a gooey way with a big smile that only Charles does towards babies. The baby of course is enthralled with Charles and smiles and giggles.

Damnit that’s cute, Jake thinks, before taking over the questions.

A couple doors later, they’ve done what they could for the night. It’s not quite dark yet but the sun has gone down and the sky is tinted with pink and orange clouds.

Charles drives them back to the precinct. He talks about Nikolaj and how excited he is to take him trick or treating. Jake just smiles, his best friend loves his kid. Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but Jake hopes to be just as overwhelming when he’s a father someday.

He texts Amy that he’s on his way back to the precinct. She had today off, she told him that she had plans on cleaning the apartment and running errands because they ran out of groceries. Most of their conversations today had been asking Jake what he wanted groceries wise since he out of the two of them made the meals given Amy’s track record. He looks back on their conversations and one of Amy’s replies saying, If you make another eggplant dick joke I will hit you with it and it won’t be pretty.

Jake had replied: babe that’s so hot. i’d love to get hit from a dicklike eggplant if it’s from you.

She stopped texting him after that.

When they get to the precinct Amy is waiting for him at her old desk across from him. She’s got one of Jake’s hoodies and jacket with a scarf that Karen had knitted for her last year with matching mittens. It’s not nearly as cold but she always needed to keep warm.

He thinks of the last time that she was sitting across from him at her old desk. It had made something inside of him flutter knowing that she was downstairs now. He smiles at her, she looks up from her phone and smiles at him.

“I didn’t know you were here.” Jake said, walking over to her and placing a hand on her arm.

She reaches out and cups his cheek. “I thought I would surprise you. I finished my to do list early.”

Jake laughs, “That doesn’t surprise me.”

Jake doesn’t realise that Charles is just standing there with a big grin. Amy gives Charles a look and he walks quickly and quietly to his desk, and it’s only then that Jake leans in to give Amy a quick peck on the lips.

She sits back down while Jake finishes up paperwork.

It takes him longer than he expected, but Amy is patient, she tells him about her day as he quickly types and he throws in a couple of sentences here and there. They co-exist in a way that he’s never felt with another person, and he knows that they’ve been together long enough but sometimes it just gets him that this was the person that he chose to love. He feels that flutter again, looking up at her, sitting where she used to sit and remembering how different they were back then.

And when he’s done she puts one mitten in her pocket and holds her hand out for him to take.

“Goodnight Charles,” Jake says over his shoulder.

“Goodnight Jakey. Have a good evening with Amy.” Charles says with a happy sigh.

Jake shakes his head with a small smile.

Jake and Amy used to have this tradition that every Friday they would try a new restaurant in their burrow courtesy of Charles’ blog. They would never tell him that they went there, but it had become something that Jake looked forward to. It was Friday, and Jake had been swamped at work and they hadn’t discussed where they wanted to go and it was too late now.

“Soooo,” Jake says, “how do you feel about polish food and house hunters?”

He gives her a second to think about it before adding quickly, “I know that we try something new every Friday but I’m kind of tired and just want to spend the rest of the evening alone with you.” His voice drops at the end, vulnerability was something that he was still working on after all these years of being together.

She just gives him a look that he knows all too well, but it still makes him feel warm every time she does it, and it’s normally followed by her reaching out to his cheek, her thumb caressing the side of his face with a warm smile that was only for him.

She nods, “I would like that.”

They walk to Amy’s car and he gets in the passenger seat putting his work bag in the back. Taylor swift blares through the speakers and he knows that it’s the mix CD that he made for her just because.

The drive is quiet, the volume is turned down low, he looks outside the window at all the shops they pass by and he listens to Amy humming song lyrics.

And then, he thinks, I am the luckiest person alive.

“I saw a really cute baby today.” Jake says after a while.

“I did too.” Amy dives in about the little boy who was helping push the cart with his mommy and the cute outfit he was wearing knowing that Jake would appreciate it because it had Star Wars on the front.

It used to scare him, thinking of his future child. It used to scare him because he didn’t know if he’d be a good dad, but then he looks at Amy, and he sees how her face lights up talking about the little boy and his mom and it just dissolves all of the fears away. He reaches out to take her hand, warming it up with his own.

“Our baby is going to be so cool.” Jake just says with a simple shrug.

That’s all there is too it. Their baby is gonna have two parents who love them and support them and be there for them unconditionally.

“The coolest.” Amy agrees with a smile.

It doesn’t take long for them to find parking, Jake reaches his hand out for her to take and they start walking to the polish place that Amy loves so much. When they first started dating it was like their place to go when they didn’t want to go too far and the owners knew them by now.

They order their food quickly and sit at one of the tables while they wait. They’re holding hands across the table and Amy is going on about her busy day tomorrow and how her mother is already planning Thanksgiving. And Jake just listens, he listens because it’s his favourite thing to do. Jake was loud in a lot of ways, he had something to say about everything, but if there was something that could shut his brain up, shut all his intrusive thoughts and doubts, it was Amy. He watches the way she uses her free hand to talk, and he thinks of how different they are now.

It was one of their first cases together as partners when Amy had took him to this place, it was only once, but they had been working for forty-eight hours on the case with little to no sleep and coffee was no longer strong enough, Jake thinks that he might have only eaten food that came from the vending machine and whatever Amy gave him out of pity. When they finally got a break in the case they didn’t know how to celebrate because it was too late to go to a bar. So, Amy took him to the next best place which was this exact polish place, and she ordered her usual.

This was when they didn’t know a lot of things about each other, Amy was looking at him like she was determining whether this was a good idea or not. Jake, in the middle of eating their food, had grabbed his hot chocolate and raised it in the air like he was about to give a toast before eventually he said, “We did good, Santiago.” Then he paused for a moment, “We make a really good team.”

He had forgotten that memory until they started dating, but that’s what he thinks about, staring at Amy again. His thumb caresses her hand. The bell rings, letting them know that their order is ready.

Amy smiles, jumping up from her seat and walks over to grab the bag.

“I’m so excited.” Amy says.

Jake laughs. It’s hard not to, her happiness is infectious.

Their routine goes like this: change into pajamas, Jake gets the plates out, Amy starts to scoop the food from the boxes onto the plate, Jake reheats the food while Amy turns the television on and finds their channel, Jake gets the tv trays out and sets them up while Amy goes back to the kitchen to grab the plates. They revolve around each other, like they’re doing a dance that they know so well.

When dinner is finished, Jake grabs the plates and does the dishes while Amy puts the leftovers away. She grabs two mugs out of their cabinet and places them on the counter while reaching for a packet of something in their tea cabinet. Jake is almost done with the plates and he turns around to see what Amy is up to. He can still hear the television but it’s low.

He peeks at what she’s doing, turning the kettle that Amy recently bought on. She holds up the pack of hot cider and waves it in Jake’s face.

“Figured we could drink something festive for a change tonight.” She says with a small smile.

Jake grabs one of the packets and opens it up just so he can sniff the cider goodness.

“My grandma used to always make me hot apple cider in the winter time. She always preferred it over hot chocolate. I wasn’t picky. Sugar is sugar.” Jake jokes with a shrug, wrapping his arms around Amy and resting his chin on her shoulder while she pours the hot water.

Amy smells like him and like home. He supposes there isn’t much of a difference. He presses a small kiss to her shoulder, letting her go to grab spoons for them to stir the powder.

Jake thinks of how when they have kids they can have their own traditions. Maybe their kids will prefer hot cider over hot chocolate—either way, he thinks, their kids will come home to a warm house, with a warm drink waiting for them, and endless amount of hugs and ears ready to listen about their day.

They sit back on their couch, Amy getting comfortable, placing her feet in Jake’s lap and he just looks at her—she’s not looking at him—and he thinks of how he’s never really had a person before her. He had always used to come home from a long case with a pack of beer and he’d watch Die Hard alone. It never used to be a problem until everyone slowly started to couple off in his friend group, and even then it never really got to him until he got a glimpse of what it feels like to have someone to hang out with and actually like to be around with. It was like slowly over time his partnership with Amy had started to become something more. They were friends then—friends that hung out sometimes after work, and somewhere Jake wanted more than just being friends. He wanted everything that Amy could give him.

He thinks of how far they’ve come and how Amy had become his person.

He doesn’t tell her this, he doesn’t think that he needs to, she just knows.

Amy turns to him now and giving him a small smile before she brings the mug that Jake bought her for Christmas last year up to her lips and turns back to their show and she laughs. One day, they’ll have their family, one day this space will belong to more people than just them, but right now, he thinks of just how happy he is to be able to come home to Amy everyday. It’s love and it’s warmth, and it’s everything Jake needs.

#peraltiago #peraltiago fic #jake x amy #b99 fic #jake peralta #amy santiago #b99 fall 2019 fic exchange #b99 fandom events #my fics

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artificialqueens · 4 years

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I'll call you when the party's over (Branjie) - hy-jinkx, dreamyunicorngirl

AN: Hi everyone! It’s been a while, but I’m back with a collection of holiday oneshots! Each oneshot is written in collaboration with another wonderful writer, and I’m super excited to share them with you all. You can find all the details on the announcement post I made on my tumblr, @hy-jinkx. I had a lot of fun writing this fic with Pia, who is a literal angel, so I hope you all enjoy it! Shoutout to Meggie for being an incredible beta, and for helping Pia and me pull this fic together. We love you and are super grateful for your help! Title taken from “When The Party’s Over” by Billie Eilish You can also read on AO3.

Sickly sweet wine and pungent clove fill the air. Giggles and laughter bounce off the walls as nervous fingertips brush against each other. Two tipsy figures stand in the doorway, doe eyes glancing to the frame. Stars find their home in her gleaming eyes as she spots the mistletoe dangling above her head, causing her to feel a rush of excitement. Her lips twitch into a smirk before the beauty in front of her catches the little branch of Christmas-induced happiness. Lips interlock as the fireworks explode in her stomach, making her whole world spin. Yet one more turn and the scene is gone - replaced with a blaring alarm right next to her ear.

A throbbing headache replaces the sweet scene in the brunette’s head, the magical night popping like a soap bubble pricked by a child’s fingernail. The desire to turn over and further hide beneath her large blanket gets interrupted by a glance at the clock on the nightstand beside her, telling her it’s time to leave her safe haven and get ready for another day at work. Bright red numbers blinding her eyes, forcing her to squint to even properly identify the time, reminding her that she shouldn’t have had that much to drink last night. With a slight grunt and furrowed brows, Vanessa finally crawls out of her bed and heads to the medicine cabinet first, popping two Advil.

Feet drag a still half-asleep body to the adjacent bathroom, coming to a halt in front of the sink. A set of tired eyes stare at a drained figure. It’ll be a heavy makeup day then, I guess. A stretch and yawn, followed by quickly hopping into the shower. Blow drying her hair, applying makeup, then carefully brushing her teeth. Not any less tired eyes stare at a slightly more human figure, a light slap to the left and then to the right cheek to stay awake and the brunette finally deems herself good enough to go.

The walk to the train station is a journey in itself. Loud teenagers make their way to school as ice cold businessmen hurry down the streets. Vanessa nearly stumbles over a pigeon in her sleepwalking state, cursing loud enough for an elderly lady to comment on her “unacceptable use of language.” Adding to that, gum gets stuck to her heel and somehow in the hurry of it all, she had left her traincard at home - so evasion of fare it is.

Once the exhausted and now also slightly stressed woman collapses on an ever so lightly stained seat, she puts in her headphones and watches the snow stained landscape pass by. Her head dreamily hits the window as she closes her eyes, face hidden behind her oversized scarf - still smelling like wine, oranges and a pinch of ginger. A quiet piano melody enters her consciousness to blend out all of the hassle around her, praying for the advil to kick in soon. As her heartbeat calms down and her mind starts spinning a little less, she remembers. Wavy blonde hair, piercing green eyes, red-stained lips and a cotton candy kiss.

Goosebumps wander up her arms, her breath hitches in her throat as her chest gets warmer with every passing second. A rosey-pink paints her cheeks as memories of the past night play like a movie in her mind. Her own private Christmas romance. With one catch - the leading lady is played by a stranger.

The train comes to a halt abruptly, doe eyes flying open as she nearly hits her head on the seat in front of her. Her heart stopping just as sudden as the conductor hits the brake. The flowers that started to bloom in her chest get covered in frost. Her world frozen for a moment. She doesn’t know her name.

Running through the streets filled with cyclists rushing to work may let the wind play with her hair, but it doesn’t get rid of the memory of the unbelievably stunning woman in her mind. A hungover mind all fogged up with the memories of the previous night. Her kiss still imprinted on her lips, her touch imprinted on her skin. Her being imprinted on her soul.

She prays her boss will forgive her as she rushes into her office, in a daze and way too late for work.

As Vanessa takes a seat at her desk, she’s immediately greeted by Silky asking where the hell she’s been. It’s not the kind of greeting she particularly wants that morning, but she’s resigned to making do with whatever she can get.

She lets her purse drop to the ground beside her rolling desk chair, scooching the chair to the edge of her desk as A’keria echoes Silky’s concern. Vanessa can tell from the massive cup of coffee sitting on Silky’s desk that she isn’t the only one with a hangover that morning, which makes her feel just a little bit better. At least she won’t be suffering through the day alone.

Her friends look at her expectantly, clearly waiting on an answer to their question. In that moment, however, all Vanessa can think about is the blonde from last night, and she knows immediately that she has to ask the two other women for their help. Her memory of the previous night might have been blurry, but hopefully Silky or A’keria remember something she doesn’t.

“Woke up late, not a big deal. How much you two remember from last night?” Vanessa asks her friends, glancing between the two of them. She watches as A’keria rolls her eyes and shrugs, Silky furrowing her eyebrows in an effort to concentrate.

“I am hungover as hell, I don’t remember shit,” Silky declares at last, causing Vanessa to let out a defeated sigh. Of course she doesn’t remember, Vanessa thinks to herself, her eyes darting back over to A’keria as if the other woman is her last hope.

“Girl, you know I was distracted tryin’ to find me a man,” A’keria quips back, raising a single eyebrow at Vanessa. “Why you so curious though?”

“I met a girl, but I ain’t remember her name,” Vanessa replies, watching as Silky nearly hits A’keria the moment her arms start flailing in excitement.

“What the hell you mean you don’t remember her name?” A’keria replies, letting out a disapproving hum as Silky begins scooting her chair across the office floor.

“You remember what she look like?” Silky chimes in. Vanessa lets out a sigh as she shakes her head, bracing herself from another surprised shriek from Silky. Their boss would likely need to have a talk with them if they didn’t shut the hell up soon, but Vanessa can’t bring herself to care about that in the moment. “You don’t even remember what she look like? Bitch, the hell do you remember?”

“Uhhhhh, I kissed her under some mistletoe? And she got blonde hair. That’s it.”

Silky looks as if she’s about to explode, about to let out a third shriek when A’keria lets out a loud cough, signaling that their boss was about to pass by. The three women rush back to their respective desks, falling into comfortable silence and pretending to work diligently. To their boss, it would look like the three were typing away at emails or some report that needed to be submitted soon, but in reality they were opening their work group chat to continue screaming at each other.

S: WE HAVE TO FIND HER S: YOU CAN’T JUST KISS SOME BLONDIE UNDER MISTLETOE AND NOT MARRY THE BITCH V: I KNOW MARY V: Help me find her??? A: girrrrrrrrrrrrrl. mistletoe kiss don’t mean she’s the love of your life S: shut it, we got a mission: find vanjie’s mistletoe dream girl.

Once they hear the click of their boss retreating back into his office, Vanessa pushes her chair across the floor to where Silky and A’keria sit, flashing her friends a shit-eating grin.

“So what’s the plan?”

For the next hour, Vanessa sits huddled together with Silky and A’keria at Silky’s desk as they map out a plan, Silky typing up the details as fast as she can without her fingers stumbling over the keys. A’keria chimes in occasionally, but ultimately just sits back for the majority of their planning session and reminds them how crazy the whole situation is. They’re chasing after some blonde woman Vanessa hardly remembers, what could go wrong?

By the time they finish coming up with their plan, Vanessa feels unstoppable. If everything goes according to plan, she’ll find her mysterious blonde by the end of the day. It’s foolproof, really - or so she thinks. Once the details are finalized, Vanessa makes Silky email her a copy before they can get things underway.

Step 1: Compile a guest list Step 2: Interrogate the guest list Step 3: Ride off into the sunset with mistletoe blondie

The third step is Silky’s doing, earning her an exasperated sigh from A’keria. They each take turns jotting down anyone they remember seeing at the party the night before, afterwards ordering them based on who was most likely to have seen Vanessa with the blonde. One name sticks out at the top of the list, the resident gossip at work: Scarlet.

Sharing a knowing look, Silky circles Scarlet’s name several times for emphasis, and they all know they need to speak to her first.

“First things first, breakfast!” Vanessa loudly announces to the office, hands clasped together as she winks at Silky in the process, indicating her to follow her to the bakery café - fully knowing she has an appointment in half an hour.

“Hoe, you just arrived an hour late. Are you really that desperate to get fired?” Silky hushes the moment the two women leave the office behind. Students slowly filling the halls, rushing to their first lecture of the day.

“Ohh shush it. Mr. Charles could never run this shit show without me!” Vanessa tosses her wavy hair behind her shoulder. “And besides that we can’t miss Scarlet. She gets her second coffee of the day and a chocolate croissant at the bakery at 8:30 every single day, I am not rushing for no reason! So move your ass, bitch!“

Consequences long forgotten, a mysterious blonde dictating her mind.

As the two still slightly hungover women stroll down the halls and bicker back and forth about nothing in particular, they spot their target from far away, already entering the café. Determination written between Vanessa’s brows as her stride gains a bit of speed, electricity flowing through her veins, desperate to find answers.

Ice blonde locks entangled with olive tanned fingertips, sickly sweet promises whispered to tipsy brains. Lipstick smudges and backs arch to the low bass pulsing through their veins.

The bell on the door rings as Vanessa and Silky race into the tiny café. The smell of ground coffee beans and sickly sweet pastries hits the two within a second of entering - making Vanessa’s stomach growl.

Corkscrew curls and a matte red lipstick smile at the cashier, ordering a chocolate croissant and a sugary sweet coffee. Silky daringly cuts in line right behind her - fully living up to her no-fucks-given attitude - earning disapproving looks and growls from caffeine-withdrawn students which she shrugs off with a “got anything to say hoes?”

As the barista prepares the other woman’s order, Silky decides to chat up the woman in question, making use of her brilliant skills of entangling people in random conversations.

“Hey Scarlet babe, how are you doing on this wonderful Monday? Have you started the day right - would you mind adding some Silky magic to spice up your day? Ohh, chocolate and coffee, that combination speaks to my heart - do you come here often?”

As Silky runs her mouth, Vanessa orders a hot chocolate for big-ol’ Silk and a breakfast burrito and a dark black coffee for herself, letting Silky go on for a hot minute, before she decides to save Scarlet from her friend’s tornado of a monologue.

"So how did you find the party yesterday?” The brunette jumps into the conversation, tapping her blood red fingernails against the counter. Head tilted to the side as her heart constricts, nervously awaiting a much-needed revelation.

“Ohh - I actually didn’t make it yesterday. I was busy.” Scarlet dramatically tosses her hair behind her shoulder, sighing deeply as she pulls the bottom of her lip between her teeth. Innocent eyes flicker to the table to her right, glancing at a deeply engrossed Yvie working on her very busy laptop, another quiet sigh escapes her painted lips as she catches the dark skinned woman sucking on a straw. “But Farrah filled me on all the hot gossip,” she mentions after being pulled back into reality by someone accidentally knocking over the tip-jar on the counter, adding a slight cough after catching herself nearly drooling over the other woman.

“Ohh did anything interesting happen?” Vanessa innocently asks before grabbing her coffee and breakfast burrito from the counter. Sweaty palms wipe across her jeans as she struggles to keep her lips from twitching and keeping her cool - obviously failing miserably.

The three women stroll towards the exit, but not before having a brief chat with Yvie, while Vanessa catches Scarlet trying to play off the heart eyes she has for the giggling lady opposite her with ever-so-loving eyerolls.

The walls of the café turn into dirty white halls of the office block of the university. Sleep-deprived students push past them, hurrying to their lectures or trying to still get a spot in the packed library. Multiple sips of coffee are needed before Scarlet finally answers Vanessa’s question: “I mean, there was some tension between Katya and Violet, but I think everyone knows that already. Also, Rajah and Kahanna got real nasty towards each other-"

"I was asking if someone got their cookies, if you know what I mean,” Vanessa pronounces and winks at Scarlet in the process of skipping and twirling through the halls, simply earning a raised eyebrow by the honey blonde beauty. Electricity still pulsing through her veins, itching to be released.

“You know that Christmas romance and shit. Just asking for a friend obviously,” a sarcastic eye roll and the drag of the last syllable to play off her awkward phrasing. “Waiting for someone to spill the tea!” A screech finishes Vanessa’s little rambling, pulse rising as a light blush starts to cover her cheeks.

Vanessa comes to a halt in front of her office, turning around and finding Scarlet eyeing her suspiciously, eyes squinted and brows raised even higher. Definitely not buying any of her bullshit.

“Quit it hoe!” Silky interrupts them - nearly spilling the rest of her hot chocolate as she raises her hands in frustration.

The furrows in Scarlet’s brows get even deeper, the woman way too confused to voice any further questions.

“Vanjie got a little mistletoe action with some pretty blonde, but was too damn drunk to remember,” Silky announces, almost loud enough for the entire office complex to hear.

Vanessa’s mouth falls open in a gasp as she stares wide-eyed at her best friend, lost for words. At least for a second.

“Silky! Bitch, why you always got to run your mouth?” Hands swaying through the air, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

“Ohhh, I haven’t heard about that,” Scarlet simultaneously declares. “But, if you are in desperate need of an answer, I would try asking Ariel about it - she didn’t let go of her Nikon the entire evening.”

By the time Vanessa sits back down at her desk, it’s almost time for her appointment. One glance at the clock tells her she has exactly three minutes before the student she’s meant to meet with should show up. Plenty of time to write an email, she decides, hastily logging back into her computer. She waits impatiently as the screen loads, nails tapping against her desk as the seconds tick by.

Just as she finally gets her email to open up, she hears footsteps approaching her desk, and she hopes more than anything else that her student isn’t here yet.

“Miss Mateo?” Vanessa looks up when she hears the voice, resisting the urge to curse under her breath. Of course her student was here already, and a minute early too. Damn it. “I’m Gigi, I’m here to meet with you?”

Vanessa welcomes the student, reluctantly getting up from her desk to lead the student into the advising office. All through her advising appointment, Vanessa’s mind continues to wander to the blonde from the night before, and she finds herself impatiently tapping her foot as she listens to Gigi rambles endlessly about her confused muddle of academic plans. Most days Vanessa would be eager to jump in and help guide students like Gigi down whatever path seemed like the best fit, but that morning she just can’t find the focus to sort out Gigi’s problems.

She’s too eager to run back to her desk and email Ariel.

Thirty minutes later, Gigi walks out with a smile on her face and a much calmer aura than she walked in with. Vanessa, however, is about to lose her damn mind if she doesn’t get to see Ariel’s photos soon.

The moment she sits back down at her desk, she repeats the process she attempted before Gigi walked in: logs in to her computer, waits as it boots up at a painstakingly slow rate, and opens her email. Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she drafts her message to the university’s Social Media Manager, checking it over once for typos before sending it.

Good Morning Ariel,

Heard you got some photos at the party last night, can you send them my way? Looking for some to put up around the office.

-VM

She doesn’t get a response from Ariel, which only puts her even more on edge. She debates sending the woman another email or calling over to her office as a follow-up to her email, but she ultimately decides against both. If nothing else, she’ll stop by after lunch to get the photos from Ariel.

The last thing Vanessa expects, however, is for Ariel to show up at her office 20 minutes before lunch, laptop in hand.

“Hey girl!” Ariel calls out, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to sit beside Vanessa’s. “I got your email, thought I’d come stop by and show you the pictures instead, since there’s too many to attach in an email.”

At first, Vanessa is excited to have Ariel show her the photos. Five minutes later, her excitement is gone as Ariel drones on and on about photos that have nothing to do with the blonde Vanessa is looking for. Images of Nina making a toast, Asia ducking to avoid being hit by Silky’s flailing arms, and Kameron cheering as Monet dances take up Vanessa’s time, her eyes frantically scanning each picture for any sign of the blonde from Vanessa’s memory.

She’s about to give up hope when Ariel clicks to a group photo of Katya, Nina, and Manila. Upon first glance, she thinks it’s another pointless image, one that holds no clues about the secret identity of the blonde from the night before. But then she notices something in the corner of the image and leans in for a closer look, ignoring Ariel’s words for a minute. A flash of blonde hair, tight red party dress, the side of a face barely visible - just enough for Vanessa to recognize her. This was the blonde she kissed the night before.

“Can you send me this picture?” Vanessa asks abruptly, looking over at Ariel. It doesn’t matter that the Social Media Manager looks confused, Vanessa throws in an almost desperate please , and before she knows it, Ariel is forwarding the photo to her via email.

She was finally making a breakthrough in her hunt to find her mystery girl.

After Ariel sends her the picture, the girl leaves for lunch, promising to share the rest of the photos with Vanessa soon. Not that Vanessa really need to see many more, now that she’s found an image of the woman she kissed, but Vanessa agrees nonetheless. If she ends up being unable to find her mystery girl, maybe she can find a better picture of the woman’s face amongst Ariel’s sea of Christmas party photos.

But for now, she has a lead. She also has a lunch date with Nina and Monet, who can hopefully help her determine who the blonde woman in the photo is.

Getting up, Vanessa grabs her jacket and scurries out of the office to go meet up with Nina and Monet, mentally running over the questions she wants to ask them once she meets up with them in the campus dining hall.

Time passes differently inside a university. Vanessa noticed that the day she stepped into this building and still hasn’t properly adapted to the strange environment. So it’s no surprise that once she reaches the dining hall everyone is seated already, chatting about the exciting weekend they’ve experienced.

With an annoyed sigh, the discouraged and highly exhausted Vanessa slumps down into her usual spot in the dining hall, slamming her plate a bit too hard against the plastic table. Nearly unable to block out the highly enthusiastic conversation that Nina and Monét are having right in front of her. Even slightly envying their chemistry and shamelessly flirtatious undertones, making her even more miserable about still being left in the dark in regards to her mystery lady.

On any other day she would cheerfully join their conversation, gossip about her students and tease them for their very subtle flirting. Yet today, questions and approaches, failed ideas and complex plans swirl around her head, painting a Picasso-like picture in her mind - one that’s way too abstract to properly make sense of. Especially while hungover.

As Vanessa’s head falls into her outstretched hands, blurred memories of the blonde beauty flicker in her mind like a powerpoint playing at high speed. Every inch of her longing to smell her harsh but intoxicating citrus perfume. Craving to revisit the taste of her lips. Her heart sinking with each hour passing, never really getting much closer to the finish line.

With a deep sigh she shifts in her chair, picking up her fork just to swirl it around in her food. Eyes hopelessly flickering around the cafeteria in utter anguish. Desperately waiting to catch sight of golden locks and piercing green eyes. Ariel’s photograph imprinted in her mind.

Stuck in her self loathing, she nearly misses a mention of the ‘tall mysterious blonde’ by one of her fellow colleagues. A jab to her rib - resulting in her sudden, wide awake state. Hairs on her arms raised, the sensation of her blouse on her skin nearly too much to handle. The words finally reaching her consciousness. A’keria silently points out the source in question before Silky even gets a chance to open her brash mouth.

The women in question, Aquaria and Dusty, share knowing looks and giggle while whispering to each other, attracting attention from the trio. Their untouched food abandoned on the table. Nails tapping against the surface, punctuating each sentence whispered by Aquaria. Chairs scooted close together, creating their own little bubble.

A pointed look from A’keria lands in Vanessa’s direction, silently urging her to finally say something - tired of just watching. Before another elbow can land in her ribcage, she decides to raise her voice and hollers across the small table, gaining attention from Monét and Nina as well. “Hey, Mary! Are you spilling the tea from the party last night?” Hands clasped together as she expectantly eyes the two.

“Ohh we just talked about Blair, finally saw her again last night after not talking for a while,” Dusty tries to brush her off, turning towards the raven haired girl by her side.

“The tall blonde?”

“Uhh yes. What about her?” Aquaria voices, confusion written between her furrowed brows. Eyes judgingly fixated on the brunette as she twirls her hair around her finger.

“Did she maybe-”

“Did she drunkenly make out with Vanjie?” Silky bursts into the conversation, sick of Vanessa tiptoeing around the topic every single time. Leave it to Silky to confidently take the lead.

“Silk! We’ve talked about this!” Vanessa hisses, so furious she nearly knocks over a glass of water as her arms flair around her, hands tightly balled into fists.

“Yes. You are incapable of properly investigating people, so I am taking over. Thank me later!”

Vanessa looks expectantly at A’keria, silently begging her to say something. Suddenly incapable of sticking up for herself. Within a moment embarrassment overtakes her, letting her shoulders slump down, getting smaller and smaller as rose petals paint her cheeks bright red.

A'keria simply clicks her tongue as she shakes her head at the girl to her left side, properly setting down her cutlery before making her point. “Ohh no honey, don’t look at me like that. Silky is right and both of us know that.”

Aquaria and Dusty glance at each other, signs of confusion written all over their faces. Both shrugging their shoulders at the scene, not necessarily knowing when or how to interfere.

The two women continue to bicker back and forth, blaming the other for their failure. Frustration leaking out of their souls, extended claws and fiery spirits, while voices aren’t the only thing being raised. After silently watching this train wreck happening, Dusty finally attempts to cut the tension. A loud cough gains the others’ attention before she simply mentions that Blair has a boyfriend, trying to distract the women from their on-going feud.

“That doesn’t mean anything bitch. That one time I dated a guy, we were pretty serious, and I still somehow ended up in bed with a kitten after a long night of partying!“

“This isn’t relevant right now Silky!” Vanessa interferes, still annoyed by the whole ordeal.

“Anyways. I set my bet on this Blair bitch!"

A’keria simply shakes her head, apologizing to Aquaria and Dusty for taking up their time and tries to come up with an intervention for the two frustrated women, still going at each other like wild chicken.

“Let’s get some dessert, hoes. Maybe your future wife loves chocolate mousse.”

At the mention of dessert Silky and Vanessa suddenly forget what they were arguing about, eyes widening at the mention of sweets - now dreaming about the colorful and sickening dessert selection of the cafeteria. With new found elation they grab their plates and return them to the dirty dishes collection, before making their way over to the dessert section.

“Aren’t they talking about Brooke?” Monét voices her thoughts after the trio was finally out of sight. Her voice dripping with genuine curiosity. Head rested on her right hand, elbow supported by the table.

“They probably are,” Nina chuckles. Still not over what she just witnessed.

“Should we let them known?” Monét wonders, for once not sure if she can find any enjoyment in having to deal with a frustrated Vanjie. Her almond eyes trailing over the seats they just sat in.

“I don’t know, it’s more fun watching them try to figure it out.”

The rest of the table nods in agreement, before erupting into giggles, seemingly enjoying the show. But as the trio makes their way across the room, the laughter coming from the table is completely lost in the bustle of the dining hall, hidden in a sea of students and employees.

“Blair isn’t the mysterious blond,” Vanjie simply mentions once stood in front of the chocolate desserts, staring down the selection of sweets with utter concentration.

"How do you know?” Silky asks in a way too challenging tone for A'keria’s liking, the silent woman already mentally preparing for another fight.

“I met her at a seminar a few months ago. She is really nice - but not my mistletoe lady.” The brunette sighs deeply, too exhausted to give into the temptation of once again letting out her frustration on her best friend.

"Damn it! I genuinely thought we had a breakthrough."

Their motivation shrinks with each passing second as the dream of success seems even farther away. All three women slowly but surely accepting defeat as they run out of ideas, lost minds running in circles, grasping at straws that are no more.

Maybe it simply isn’t meant to be.

"So what are you planning on doing now?” A'keria asks, ready to get back to the front desk, longing to spend the rest of the day in peace, already tired of her friends’ shenanigans.

"I don’t know. Our lunch break will be over soon, so-” Vanessa rubs the back of her neck as she looks around, as if the mysterious blond could pop up out of nowhere all of a sudden.

Silently, all three grab a cup filled with mousse au chocolat, before they slowly make their way back to the office complex. Tired feet drag across the ground as disappointed figures move through the halls, avoiding conversations with students like the plague. Each of them keeping to themselves while the brunette falls behind, observing the crowd around her.

As Silky licks her spoon clean, Kameron and Asia turn the corner of the hallway, right in front of Silky’s and Vanessa’s shared office, finally catching the women they’ve been looking for.

“There you bitches are! I’ve heard you’re looking for Vanjie’s drunken hookup?” Asia asks with a smirk and raised brows. Hand on her hips, prepared to be a part of this spectacle.

“Silkyyyyy!” Vanessa’s voice nothing more than a childish whine at this point. Pained doe eyes stare down her best friends as she rolls up the sleeves of her shirt, shifting her leg from side to side.

“It wasn’t me,” Silky swears, fist raised above her heart.

A’keria rolls her eyes before she raises her voice. “I actually told them, couldn’t you hear you complain anymore.” She waves them off with a quick hand movement.

“Anyway, I am pretty sure I know who you are talking about,” Kameron voices, keeping her tone as mysterious as she can without breaking into a knowing smile.

“Biiiiitch! You better not be playing,” Vanessa hollers excitedly, dragging out the first syllable as a grin stretches across her lips.

Asia’s lips curl up into a shit-eating grin as she briefly glances over at Kameron, then looks back at Vanessa. “Mysterious, tall blonde who gives off serious cold-hearted bitch vibes?” Asia asks, her arms crossing over her chest as her gaze flits between the three women opposite her.

Vanessa eagerly nods in response, almost perfectly in sync with Silky. A’keria looks vaguely interested, her eyebrow raised, despite Vanessa knowing she really doesn’t care all that much about the wild goose hunt they were on.

Kameron lets out a short laugh before speaking, clearly amused by the whole situation. “Sounds like Detox if you ask me.”

From the way Asia’s face quickly contorts with confusion, Vanessa can tell that the two are very much not on the same page about who her mystery girl might be.

“Detox?” Asia repeats, her voice higher than before, riddled with disbelief. “Bitch, Detox left early for her dick appointment. Ain’t no way in hell it was her!”

“You can’t tell me it doesn’t sound like D to make out with someone under some mistletoe before leaving to go hook up with someone,” Kameron counters, rolling her eyes at her friends. “Besides, who the hell else would it be? Detox is the only tall bitchy-looking blonde I know of on this damn campus.”

Despite the fact that Kameron and Asia can’t seem to make up their minds about Detox, Vanessa feels hopeful. Something about Kameron’s words excite her, make her feel like maybe they’re finally onto something. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll find her mystery blonde by the end of the day after all.

While Kameron and Asia are still bickering, Vanessa yells out a quick thank you to them both, then takes off toward her office without any further hesitation. Her mind reeling with possibilities, but all of them coming back to the idea that maybe Detox was her mistletoe blonde from the previous night.

She has to find out, which is exactly why she plans to look Detox up in the directory and call her the moment she sits back down at her desk.

Before she gets to relish in the glory of being one step closer to finally getting to know her Christmas lady, she is met with her not so impressed boss leaning against her desk. Blue suit, black dress shoes and a bored look plastered on his face.

The brunette abruptly comes to a halt the moment she steps through the door - a quiet “shit” leaving her lips, before she attempts to pull off her best professional smile.

“Ms. Mateo?” Mr. Charles’s voice is nearly as serious as his appearance as he pushes himself off the desk, moving closer to her.

“Yes?” Vanessa hurriedly replies as she rushes into the room, dropping her purse onto her desk and setting down her still untouched mousse au chocolat before turning around to face her boss again.

Nervously awaiting a lecture of some sort, she mentally runs over all the ways she had fucked up - not only today, but all the mischief she managed the entire last month. Showing up late, gossiping with Silky for hours on end instead of working on her reports, jokingly telling a student that “C’s get degrees” and not to worry about a failed exam, calling in sick so she could visit Disneyland with A’keria and Silky, recommending a student reconsider if college was the best option for them, and other obscure things she was currently unable to recall. Blood red fingernails drum against her desk as she expectantly stares at her boss, holding back from apologizing immediately.

“It has come to my attention that a lot of students have taken up your offer to join the mental well being week. This actually kept me thinking. So I was wondering if you would feel confident in organising such a week twice a semester?”

The brunette’s mouth slightly falls open while she silently stares at her counterpart, simply blinking for a second before she even has the chance of gathering her thoughts.

“Uhh-ooh. Yes sir. Definitely, no problem at all - would loved to.” Words pouring out of her mouth without any filter, her mind stuck like a record playing on loop.

“Good to hear. This will of course include a raise, to further discuss this I would like to see you Monday in my office, 10 a.m. sharp.”

Vanessa simply nodded along, desperately trying not scream her excitement.

“I’ll see you Monday, then. Have a good day, Ms. Mateo.”

The man in the blue tux moves towards exit in a fast stride, never looking back.

“You too, Mr. Charles!” Vanessa adds the moment her boss turns the corner, not even catching the brunette’s reply.

With a relieved chuckle Vanessa lets herself fall into her office chair once her boss is completely out of sight. She spins around in her chair - once, twice - before she logs into her computer with a slight smile, seriously unable to believe her luck.

She needs three attempts before she gets her password right, struggling to keep the combination of nervous and excited energy from getting to her. Her eyes impatiently stare at the loading sign in front of her as shaky hands reach for her phone - craving any distraction from her restless mind. No - she needs to focus.

The rush of a promised raise and the prosperity of finally talking to her mistletoe lady again makes her heart sore, flying to cloud nine while her stomach keeps turning like a merry go around.

The moment her desktop comes back to life she swiftly opens a browser, while her fingers dash across the keyboard as she opens the directory, looking for a certain Detox. Eyes scanning the site for a search bar. Another three attempts before she spells her potential mistletoe lady’s name right.

Within a second of hitting enter, the contact information turns up. A few seconds later and the phone in her hand is already ringing, her fingertips working on their own accord, waiting for who she hopes is her mysterious blonde to finally pick up on the other side of the line.

Her mind not fully processing what is happening - as if her brain has been stuck on the first episode of some trashy competition show while her body is already preparing for the season finale.

The moment the ringing stops, both Vanessa and the woman on the other side of the line hold their breath for a second. Neither knowing what to say.

“Hello?” the woman in question finally raises her voice, seemingly confused.

“Ohh, yes. This is Vanessa, am I talking to Detox?” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth as she picks up a random pen on her desk, twirling it between her fingertips. She can feel her heart pounding, as if she had just run a marathon.

“Yes. Do I know you?”

“Uhhh - well, yes. We met at the employee christmas party yesterday!”

The brunette subconsciously drawing hearts into her notebook while she tries to anything in her her prower to prevent her heart from jumping out of her chest.

“Did we? I don’t remember meeting a Vanessa if I remember correctly.”

There they go, all of her hopes jumping right out of the window. Her stomach sinks, and she tries to fight off the feeling of disappointment threatening to consume her.

“I mean we got pretty wasted before we kissed under the mistletoe, boo so-”

“Babe, I am pretty sure you are at the wrong address. I left the party pretty sober and fairly early for a dick appointment.” Vanessa hears a slight chuckle coming from the other end of the line, one that only confuses her, her eyebrows furrowing together.

“Ohh shit, that can’t be true, Mary! Are you sure?”

Vanessa slams down her fist in frustration, hissing slightly as her hand collides with the hard wood of her desk.

“One hundred percent certain, love. But why did you think it is me?”

“Well, I talked to some people and Kameron insisted, quote unquote, you are the only tall bitchy-looking blonde she knows of on this damn campus, soo, I had hoped, you know…”

“Tall, bitchy-looking blonde kissing someone under the mistletoe and never telling them her name? Kinda sounds like Brooke if you ask me.”

“Huh?”

“Brooke Lynn Hytes. She is one of my colleagues, a fabulous researcher and quite frankly a bitch who I adore way too much. So she might be your best bet, ‘cause it seriously sounds like something she would do. Would love to tell you more about her but I need to prepare for a study, but don’t hesitate to look for her! Bye.”

Before Vanessa can even get another word in the line falls dead, leaving Vanessa even more confused than she was before. Her head falls into her hands, phone dropping onto her marked up desk.

Brooke Lynn Hytes, researcher. Brooke Lynn Hytes, researcher.

Where has she heard that name before?

All of a sudden her head snaps back up, eyes wide open, finally remembering.

Nina. She remembers hearing Nina talk about her friend Brooke, and knows immediately that if anyone would know how to find Brooke, it would be Nina.

Without a second thought, she raises from her armchair, pushing it back and letting it crash into the heater, and rushes out of her office complex. Her heels click against the floor in a hurried pace, darting through the halls while attempting not to collide with anyone. She’s on a mission, with only one thought running through her brain.

Once the brunette leaves her building behind, she completely accepts her fate as a mad woman and starts running across campus. Wavy hair carried by the wind, as her heart isn’t the only thing that leaps forward. Expectations spin around her head, creating a movie-like scene in her head. The woman reaches her destination within 15 minutes - a new record, stopping for a second outside the research complex, slightly panting.

Now all she needs to do is find Nina’s office - not that she’s ever been there before.

Luckily the lady at the frontdesk hasn’t gone home just yet. Like a cat eyeing its prey, Vanessa stalks towards the woman, greeting her with a cheshire cat grin.

“Excuse me, could you maybe tell me where Nina West’s office is?”

“It’s on the second floor, but that won’t help much since she left over an hour ago already,” the redhead replies, her voice lower than Vanessa had expected. Boredom dripping out of her figure.

“Fuck!” Vanessa curses, before slurrying a thank you to the woman and slowly backing out of the complex.

It’s nearly five p.m., almost time to go home for the day, and Vanessa feels defeated as she shuffles down the sidewalk. Her whole day feels like a waste, chasing down dead-end leads only to still not find her damn mystery woman. What good does it do if she has a name, but can’t put a face to the name? For all she knows, finding Brooke could be just like her phone call with Detox - another name crossed off the list with no end in sight.

Sure, she could call Nina to ask about Brooke, but it feels pointless to think about. Everything feels pointless. She’s tired, her feet hurt, and more than anything else, she just wants to go home.

She sighs as she makes her way back across campus, the cold air nipping at her face. After a couple minutes, she mumbles a soft fuck it under her breath and pauses to take her heels off. She’s given up on wearing shoes, deciding she would rather walk barefoot than finish her trek across campus in heels.

It’s getting dark out, a fact that makes Vanessa want to curse out loud as the sidewalk lights begin to turn on all around campus. Around her, students briskly walk past on their way home, finished with classes for the day. It’s a Friday, so she won’t see any of them again until the following Monday when finals week begins.

It’s a bittersweet moment for her.

Vanessa can’t seem to shake the upset feeling that forms a lump in her stomach, disappointed that Brooke had been nowhere to be found when she booked it across campus to the lab she worked in. She nearly allows her disappointment to overshadow the fact that the Secret Santa gift exchange her coworkers organized is happening soon, the thought long forgotten throughout the day.

This is the first year they had all decided to hold the gift exchange the day after their holiday party. It made more sense, really, since the holiday party is just an excuse for most people to eat, dance, and drink without a care in the world.

Lucky for Vanessa, she had drawn Silky’s name a few weeks ago when they announced the Secret Santa for the year. All she has to do once she gets back to the office is grab the gift she has stashed in the locked drawer of her desk and give it to her friend, then she’s done for the day. Whoever her Secret Santa is has probably given up on trying to catch her during the day, Vanessa having spent too much time running around the campus to stay in one spot long enough to receive her gift.

Except when Vanessa walks back into her office just before five, she’s surprised to see someone perched upon the edge of her desk. Blonde hair falls around the woman’s face in effortless waves, blocking her face from Vanessa’s view. Her legs are crossed, hands folded in her lap as she glances over at the clock above A’keria��s desk. Vanessa’s eyes dart to that side of the room, and she swears she’s never been so grateful for her friends leaving work early on a Friday.

When the blonde looks over at Vanessa, she swears her heart nearly stops beating. She immediately recognizes the woman from the night before, green eyes luring her in the same way they had when she spotted her by the mistletoe. This couldn’t be possible.

Except it is. Vanessa’s mistletoe mystery woman is right in front of her, a small box wrapped in sparkly gold paper sitting beside her on Vanessa’s desk.

Their eyes lock, and Vanessa feels weak in her knees as the blonde flashes her a smile.

“And here I was worried you’d already left for the day,” the blonde states, letting out a soft laugh as she pushes herself up from the desk. “Detox told me you were looking for me; figured I’d swing by before you went home, but you weren’t here. Your friends were though, one of them wouldn’t stop screaming when I told her who I was.”

Damn it, Silky, Vanessa thinks to herself. But the thought passes as quickly as it pops into her head, instead the realization hits her that this is Brooke, who is also her Secret Santa from the looks of things. Could this day get any better?

“Hello? Everything alright?” Brooke asks after a minute, her eyebrows furrowing together in concern. Vanessa quickly snaps herself out of her train of thought, taking a couple steps towards Brooke as she nods her head.

“Mhm. Been looking for you all damn day,” Vanessa replies, flashing her a smile. She’s still in a state of disbelief, shocked that after running all over campus, Brooke is finally standing in front of her, looking just as beautiful as she had the night before.

“I could say the same about you,” Brooke quips back, smiling back at Vanessa in a way that makes Vanessa’s heart start pounding in her chest. More than ever, she’s grateful her friends aren’t around, knowing how much they would tease her over this. “I pulled your name for Secret Santa, I’ve been trying to give you your gift all day.”

“Well, I’m here now.” Vanessa watches in anticipation as Brooke picks up the gold box, carefully handing it over to Vanessa, sending a jolt of electricity up her arm as their hands brush against each other lightly.

She wants to curse at herself for acting like some lovesick puppy, but she can’t help it. Even though she had been drunk the night before and forgot to ask her name, there was no denying the instant connection she had felt with Brooke. There was no denying the sparks that were ignited when they kissed.

Vanessa bites her bottom lip lightly, doing her best to hide her nerves, as she carefully tears the wrapping paper and opens the box. Inside is a little sprig of mistletoe, and upon seeing it, Vanessa immediately glances up at Brooke in confusion. Could this mean what she thinks it means?

Vanessa can see the way Brooke’s cheeks redden a bit as she picks up the mistletoe, holding it up over their heads, and she swears she could die happy right then and there. She takes another step toward Brooke, closing some of the distance between them as the blonde grins at her.

“Oh, more mistletoe,” Brooke whispers, leaning in slowly. “I guess I’ll just-” Her words are cut off by an impatient Vanessa, who surges up onto her tiptoes to press her lips against Brooke’s eagerly.

If the kiss the previous night sent sparks flying, this one feels more like a symphony of fireworks being ignited. Her body feels light, the world around her fades away and all she can focus on is Brooke, who inevitably drops the mistletoe to wrap her arms securely around Vanessa’s waist. Brooke’s touch is delicate but strong, enough to make Vanessa’s head spin, and she has to grip Brooke’s shoulders to keep herself from feeling like she might float away at any given moment. The kiss is soft, gentle - a stark contrast to the messy, heated one they shared the night before.

Vanessa knows immediately that this kiss is worth all the insanity she had to deal with during the day. All the walking she did and all the interrogations Silky helped her with lead up to this moment, one Vanessa knew she would never forget.

She isn’t sure which one of them breaks the kiss, both of them slowly pulling back at the same time to catch their breath. Vanessa’s heart skips a beat as Brooke grins at her once more, her arms not leaving Vanessa’s waist.

“You know,” Vanessa starts, looking up at her with a cheeky smile. “You could’ve at least taken me out on a date first.” This earns her a laugh from Brooke, a laugh that makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She could get used to the sound of Brooke’s laugh, she thinks to herself.

“How about we get dinner, say, now?” Brooke suggests, her eyes scanning Vanessa’s face as she bites at her bottom lip nervously. It’s Vanessa’s turn to laugh now, nodding her head as she does so, trying to ease Brooke’s nerves.

“I’d like that,” Vanessa murmurs, finally removing herself from Brooke’s grasp to grab her jacket and purse off the back of her chair. “Let’s go.”

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #silky nutmeg ganache #akeria davenport #nina west #monet x change #branjie #fluff #lesbian au #holiday #christmas #hy jinkx #dreamyunicorngirl #concrit welcome #submission #s11

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thetorreediary · 5 years

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The June 27th Post | A homage to Houston rap culture One Time For The Homie DJ Screw | A brief history of Chopped & Screwed music A pioneer of Houston rap music but also the creator and godfather of Chopped and Screwed music. Robert Earl Davis, Jr. aka DJ Screw started slowing down records in the early 90s. He began the Screwed Up Click (SUC) on the Southside of Houston, TX in 1990. The group consist of but is not limited to Big Moe, Lil Keke, Lil Flip, Big Pokey, Mike D, H.A.W.K., Lil-O, Clay Doe, 3-2 and Trae. The notable rap duo UGK (Underground Kings), formed in 1987 and consisting of Chris “Pimp C” Butler & Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, were SUC Affiliated. The click put out over 100 tapes, all produced by Screw, in 1998 alone. Purple Drank is a popular substance cocktail, popularized by Houston rappers in the 90s. The drink consists of Promethazine and/or Codeine cough syrup mixed with alcohol and/or soda and/or juice. DJ Screw and SUC were avid users of the fusion drink. Unfortunately, the drink comes with lethal side effects such as rapid weight gain, slowed heart rate, loss of balance and addiction. The effects took a toll on Screws life and resulted in an overdose and ultimately his demise. Subsequently, Kenneth “Big Moe” Moore and Pimp C, died within months of each other due to sipping syrup combined with their own individual pre-existing conditions. Since Screwed Up Records, DJ Screw’s recording studio and record shop were on the Southside the Northside felt the need to compete. So in 1997, Michael “5000” Watts and Ronald “OG Ron C” Coleman established Swishahouse, a record label. Watts was already picking up the slack right before Screw died because Screw had semi paused production due to his constant use of syrup. So naturally, Watts was up next for the Chopped and Screwed scene. Later, in 2011 OG Ron C & the ChopStars would go on to create Chop Not Slop where they essentially do what their predecessors did, make remixes of popular songs and albums where the tempo is slowed tremendously. Swishahouse consists of but is not limited to Slim Thug, Lil Mario, JDawg, Big Tiger, Big Pic, Lester Roy, Archie Lee, Mike Jones, and Lil Keke. If you notice, Lil Keke repped SUC but officially signed with Swishahouse after DJ Screw died. A very political yet sensible move. Big Moe | City of Syrup & Z-RO | Mo City Don My mom played City of Syrup the Chopped version so much when I was a child that I was under the impression that Big Moe was the only artist who sung in a low tone and occasionally would restart his songs by accident. Thankfully my family corrected me. Thus beginning my interest in Chopped and Screwed. City of Syrup was Big Moe’s debut album and featured hits like “Barre Baby”, “Maan!” and “Freestyle (June 27)”. It featured many artists from Screwed Up Click such as Big Pokey, H.A.W.K., Lil-O, Tate Eyez, Mike D, DJ Screw and Z-RO. The distance between Alexandria, LA, where my family is from, and Houston, TX is only a little over 200 miles. Most of Alexandria’s music, even to this day, is heavily influenced by Houston artists. So it’s very plausible that my mom’s music taste is influenced a lot by Houston because of where she grew up. For the year of 2017, I lived in Houston and in more ways than one it was eye opening. I gained a whole new appreciation for music. I made a lot of forever connections so much so that my good friend Sarah, whom I met at work, ended up asking me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I humbly agreed. Fast forward to the wedding day and the entire wedding party is being transported to the reception via party bus. The groom has the AUX cord and he began to play a familiar tune. The whole bus began to sing in unison the lyrics to “Mo City Don” by Z-RO. I awed in wonder, wishing I too knew the lyrics. And then, just as the song is about to end, he shoutouts Lake Charles, Lafayette then my hometown of Alexandria. I had such a sense of pride in Alex at that moment. Houston Up-and-Coming Artists Spotlight | Megan Thee Stallion | Tobe Nwige | Té Allen | The H Town Hottie | Megan Thee Stallion Megan was born and raised in Houston, TX and she is the hottest female rapper out right now. The self-proclaimed “H Town Hottie” is hitting airwaves with her woman empowerment mantras and sexually liberating rhymes. At only 23 years old Megan is already topping charts all while being enrolled at Texas Southern University. My favorites of hers so far are as follows: “Running Up Freestyle”, “Big Poppa Freestyle”, “Big Ole Freak”, “Sex Talk”, “Shake That”, “Best You Ever Had” and “Stalli Freestyle”. ALL STREAMING SERVICES: Megan Thee Stallion ALL SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES | @theestallion #GetTwistedSundays | Tobe Nwigwe Actually hailing from Alief, TX, a subsection of Houston, Tobe Nwigwe is ahead of his time. With songs like “MURDER.”, where he flips Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam” into a song all his own, and “RĖÂŁITY” where he flips Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” into a song about his reality growing up and present day. Tobe has a series on Youtube called Get Twisted Sunday’s. On the series, every week he recorded himself getting his hair either twisted or braided by his wife whilst premiering a new song. EVERY WEEK for months straight. His sound reminds me of the great Andre 3000, with his futuristic sound and originality. ALL STREAMING SERVICES & SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLE | @TobeNwigwe Birthday Cake | Té Allen Té Allen is an all-around star. Being born and raised in the south, his musical influences can be heard throughout his music. His first mixtape, Smooth Vibes (2015), was his breakthrough into the world of music. Since then, he has released a series of songs and an EP, Birthday Cake (2018). Interesting enough, the promo for Birthday Cake went viral. Té decided to put a rather embarrassing picture of himself as a child as the cover art and offered his audience $100 for the best roast of the picture. Needless to say, the cover was not only shared for laughs but was a genius way to promote his project. He is currently prepping for the release of his next project. The first single off his upcoming project, AIM Blue is accompanied with crisp visuals as per usual for Té. ALL STREAMING SERVICES |Té Allen Instagram|Twitter| teallen3 Snapchat| lavonteallen3

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lyayayaya · 5 years

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!UPDATE: This post was worded poorly so I decided to reupload it with better wording + edited my theory after other informations were brought to my attention!

I found myself wondering lately about the character of Finn, because there was such little information about him and he appeared for such short time (and I’m thirsty for episode 3), so I tried to find out as much as I could through basic internet research. Please note that this is just a theory and don’t forget to check out the people who inspired me and I mentioned!

Also feel free to add to the theory, agree or disagree!

This might be a mess but bARE WITH ME:

TL;DR: Finn was abused by his alcoholic father which caused him to run away from home and as Sean, we will be able to discuss this with him. There might be a possibility that Finn and Cassidy are siblings, so she might have been abused too.

Also, Finn’s face tattoo indicates that he is a kind-hearted leader and has a friendly, generous personality but can be violent, if needed.

We know that Dontnod has been big on name references, giving a deeper meaning to main characters’ first names.

On the wiki it is noted that Finn’s name might originate from Huckleberry Finn. I thought this is a clever idea, so I rolled with it.

Huckleberry Finn is a boy who runs away from his abusive alcoholic father and later lives a vagabond lifestyle. The vagabond lifestyle is clearly a similarity between the two characters.

Dontnod mentioned in several interviews regarding The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit that it is an introduction to the themes and mechanics of Life is Strange 2. One of the main themes of Captain Spirit was already featured in Life is Strange 2: the loss of a parent. While another important theme hasn’t appeared before which is family abuse.

While in Captain Spirit we got to know that Charles has drinking problems and both verbally and physically abuses Chris, showing that Dontnod doesnt shy away from talking about such subject, in the second episode of Life is Strange 2 no one discusses directly Charles’ problems or that Chris is abused. It might be the fault of short screen time but it might be because Dontod didn’t want such theme to appear repetitive and cheap after using it twice.

And what did Chris do after experiencing abuse from his father in Captain Spirit? He ran away, out of the house.

Another clue is Finn’s dialogue at the christmas market. In his and Cassidy’s case, they didn’t have too much time to introduce themselves, so Dontnod needed to showcase a very brief summary of them in few minutes to get the players interested . They thought it was necessary for Finn to mention that [their group] went through a lot. And when he said it, he looked sad, lost in thought for a second. Probably because this is an important part of his arc.

An amazing person I got to know on Discord, @mikeyisstrange (BIG SHOUTOUT TO HIM!!!) looked at the model of Cassidy and Finn, and while doing so, he discovered they have similar face structure, also the same height. This could mean they are siblings but I (and him) personally believe they are twins. If this is the case, Cassidy probbaly went through the abuse herself. Here is his post with the proof to this theory.

There is another subject I wanted to talk about: I’ve seen many people worrying that he might have an agressive behavior because of his face tattoo.

Which isn’t the case, at all. I can only assume people confused those three triangles with three stars which do indicate an agressive behavior and murder committed.

Triangle tattoos in itselves have many meanings, it’s not so easy to figure out what one could mean. But episode 3 has a certain achievement called “The Dharma Bums” and its icon has a triangle. The Dharma Bums is a book written by Jack Kerouac (who is also mentioned by Brody on his blog!) which has heavy Buddhist themes, the Dharma mentioned is a key concept in many Indian religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism.

Meanings of triangle tattoos what point upward:

– Solar

– Active

– Up

– Masculinity or male

– Father

We also need to note the number (3) of triangles he has, which means: Force, Opening, Wisdom.

After sharing this theory on Reddit too, a nice redditor with username jostarjoe5 left a very useful comment:

“ Another insight that may or may not be useful here....

Force, Opening, Wisdom.

If we are going along with the Sun Symbolism then you are spot on about Wisdom which is one of the main characteristic of Surya-Dev (sun god) in Hinduism. Some other meaningful traits here are being Friendly and heavily worshipped so Finn is basically a leader if these guys have more members in their group.The son of sun-god 'Karna' is the most generous and charitable person to have ever lived in Hindu Mythology.

Now opening and force this could be related to Sun god in the sense that he is the eye of The Cosmic Form of Lord Krishna (link: is a cool video if you are interested to know about hindu mythology, in which Lord Krishna reveals his Vishwaroop/cosmic form to Arjun on the battlefield of Mahabharat enlightening him)

About the Triangle/Trikona, this symbol is also heavily associated with Lord Shiva which you might have missed, it is associated with spiritual enlightenment as well. (jump to number 26 in this link)

Edit: triangle is also sometimes associated with the Trimurti (trinity) that consists of the three main Hindu Gods Bhramma, Vishnu and Shiv (they combine to form the Universe, to understand the Universe which is also a path to attain enlightenment in both Buddhism and Hinduism......) “

Opening the second link, we are able to get more information on the meaning of triangle in Hinduism:

'Trikona,' the triangle, is a symbol of God Shiva which, like the Sivalinga, denotes His Absolute Being. It represents the element fire and portrays the process of spiritual ascent and liberation spoken of in scripture.

Meanings of fire as symbolism: Energy, Power, Passion, Action, Sexuality, Creativity, Authority, Consumption, The Untamed

Power, Action, Authority: could support the theory that he is a leader.

Sexuality: (shit can he be a love interest?? we don’t even know if he is 23 or just a hardcore 16-17 years old. Y’all know we ain’t shipping 16 and 20+ years olds in this household.)

The Untamed: supports the fact that he lives a vagabond lifestyle.

Lord Shiva is the Lord of Lords, the leader of Gods. Lord Shiva treats others equally, is a loving romantic partner, doesn’t tolerate injustice and evil (so much, he destroys evil), is kind-hearted and forgiving and despite being an important God he doesn’t live like a king nor he contains anything precious.

#life is strange #life is strange 2 #life is strange 2 finn #lis 2 finn

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jodyedgarus · 5 years

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Who Didn’t Expect This Final Four?

gfoster (Geoff Foster, sports editor): Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s Final Four chat! After the chalk prevailed in the first weekend, the second weekend finally provided some upsets. In the Elite Eight, three of four underdogs won outright, and the fourth, Purdue, probably should have won — but Virginia’s last-second heroics and overtime win make the Cavs the lone No. 1 seed left in the tournament. What was the biggest surprise of the weekend?

jplanos (Josh Planos, contributor): I think we should just cede the floor to Neil, who can discuss his perfect Final Four choices:

Things are looking pretty good for my bracket in the @FiveThirtyEight office pool… pic.twitter.com/SShnREa7pU

— Neil Paine (@Neil_Paine) March 31, 2019

jakelourim (Jake Lourim, contributor): If you look at last week’s chat, that makes Neil Captain Obvious, right?

neil (Neil Paine, senior sports writer): I wish I could say I had a fancy analytical model to make these picks, but I spent an entire podcast segment saying I was selectively ignoring stats and picking with my gut. The most anti-FiveThirtyEight way to get a perfect Final Four possible.

jplanos: I think the big winner is Under Armour getting two Final Four teams, but Duke (the top overall seed) falling probably takes the cake.

neil: Yeah, Duke losing before the Final Four has to be the headline surprise, I think.

Although one could make an easy case that the Blue Devils were lucky to even make it as far as they did…

gfoster: Were you that surprised by Duke losing? That game had the smallest spread of the last four, and Duke had aggressively flirted with death against Virginia Tech and UCF.

jplanos: I wasn’t because Michael Avenatti called it, but the Blue Devils were the Icarus of the tournament. It felt like they trailed at halftime of nearly every game.

neil: This Duke team was fascinating because, in terms of talent, nobody can match that group. And when Zion was taking over, it was difficult to envision how they could lose. Yet they did not consistently play to their abilities, particularly in this tournament. Even in those close wins, they left you wanting more.

jplanos: Shoutout to Alex O’Connell getting the start and finishing with three total minutes. When was the last time a starter finished with less than five minutes played and wasn’t injured or ejected?

gfoster: The story before the tournament was that Michigan State got handed an awful draw because the Spartans won the Big Ten tourney and still got put in Duke’s region. Now I wonder whether it was Duke that got the bad draw.

Can Cassius Winston one-man-army his way to a title? We’ve seen versatile point guards do this before in March Madness.

jplanos: He’s this season’s Kemba Walker. He started off pretty tepid against Duke and then exploded for 20 points and 10 assists, with four steals and one turnover, which, when you consider the ball is effectively always in his hands and he was lined up against an on-ball hound in Tre Jones, is absurd. I came away extremely impressed.

neil: Winston also got some help when he needed it late against Duke. Xavier Tillman had 19 in the game, and Kenny Goins overcame a horrendous shooting game to make a huge shot in the final minute.

jakelourim: Winston really can do it all. He’s had to do so much since Michigan State lost Joshua Langford in December, and through the Big Ten season, Big Ten tournament and then this weekend, I kept waiting for the Spartans to run out of magic. But they haven’t. It seemed throughout Sunday that Winston always knew the right play to make, and Duke didn’t. What was up with Zion not taking the last shot(s) in the final minute?

jplanos: The RJ Barrett Show seemed like a suboptimal approach down the stretch.

neil: People were really killing Barrett for taking so many of Duke’s final shots.

jakelourim: I did think that Michigan State had the best game plan (outside of Syracuse and the 2-3 zone, which is unique) for slowing down Zion. Tillman was outstanding on defense and made himself a lot of money on Sunday.

neil: Barrett also missed the free throw he was supposed to make, and made the one he was supposed to miss.

Sheesh.

After the VT-Duke game, RJ Barrett joked about Ahmed Hill’s missed chance at the end of the game.

Tonight he had a chance to tie the game at the end, but in his own words “he missed it, sheesh” pic.twitter.com/U3Yn40RwWm

— Matej Sis (@MatejS247) March 31, 2019

gfoster: MSU tends to struggle in the third weekend: eight Final Fours now but just one title for Tom Izzo. Is Michigan State essentially the 1990s Atlanta Braves? Loads of playoff success and the one token title to ward off Geoff making Buffalo Bills comparisons.

^ Third-person alert.

neil: I think Izzo was motivated to take back the “best performance vs. seed expectations” crown from Jim Boeheim.

Izzo’s teams have a long history of exceeding expectations en route to the Final Four, but maybe that’s why they don’t win titles. Overachieving can only get you so far.

jakelourim: It has always seemed to me that the talent differential has caught up to Michigan State in some of those Final Fours. I thought it was interesting that Tom Izzo said privately before the 2009 title game that if the Tyler Hansbrough/Ty Lawson UNC team played well, Michigan State would lose. “There’s just more talent there,” Izzo said. (And MSU did lose.) But if the talent didn’t catch up to the Spartans against Duke, when will it happen?

jplanos: Zion was clearly gassed, but he also was unquestionably the team’s best option on offense. And then he … stopped getting the ball. I was surprised that Coach K didn’t dial up any isolations for him over the final possessions or demand some sort of clear-out.

gfoster: At least Duke has Zion and Barrett for three more years where they can continue to grow as upperclassmen and take home multiple championships…….

neil: LOL

jplanos: My question is: Can we still get a Zion cam? Can we watch the kid ink his shoe deal during the Final Four?

gfoster: It is frustrating we don’t get more college Zion. He’s so entertaining.

jakelourim: It’s fair to wonder if/when we’ll ever see another college player like him again, right, with the NBA apparently set to change the one-and-done rule in 2022?

jplanos: I can’t remember seeing a team win an Elite Eight game (or any NCAA Tournament game) having made just two free throws, like Michigan State did. **cue Sports-Reference search**

neil: It’s actually astonishing when you look at the stats of that game in general that MSU won.

Duke shot better on FGs, 3Ps and FTs and had more rebounds. The turnovers were the only main category where Duke lost, and they lost big.

jplanos: Full transparency: I was ready to call curtains when the Blue Devils had that 21-5 run in the opening half.

jakelourim: What was stunning to me was that Duke turned the ball over 17 times. (Back to the point of “If they play well, they’ll win” — they did not play well.) Michigan State is 342nd in defensive turnover rate at 15 percent, according to Ken Pomeroy, and that’s counting Sunday’s game.

neil: Which just lent more credence to the idea that the only team talented enough to beat Duke was … Duke.

gfoster: Let’s talk about what’s not as entertaining: Texas Tech’s defensive domination. The Red Raiders made Michigan shoot like my JV basketball team when the bench had been emptied in the final minutes. Then did a similar suffocation of Gonzaga, holding the Bulldogs and the nation’s most efficient offense to just 69 points.

jplanos: The Red Raiders indeed smothered Michigan and then turned the second half of their win over Gonzaga into a rock fight. To see the nation’s most efficient offense reduced to 32 second-half points and 16 total turnovers was really something.

neil: According to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, Texas Tech is the nation’s best defensive team. The Red Raiders certainly played like it.

jplanos: If you had told me that Texas Tech would advance to the Final Four on a terrible Jarrett Culver shooting performance (5-of-19 from the field, 2-of-8 from three), I would have laughed in your face.

neil: Or that they would win despite Rui Hachimura having a pretty good game (22 points).

jplanos: It really seemed like the Zags missed the part of the game plan detailing turnovers. Texas Tech ranks 11th in opponent turnover percentage, according to KenPom, and lives by the deflection, especially on entry passes. It seemed like there were 10 bounce passes into the post that were immediate turnovers. YOU CAN’T POCKET PASS THIS TEAM.

jakelourim: (Just finished that sports-reference search, Josh: No team has won an Elite Eight game with two free throws or fewer since at least 2011.)

jplanos: You know who didn’t show up for the Wolverines? Two upperclassmen: Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson.

Simpson finished 0-5 against Texas Tech with one assist and four turnovers. Not exactly what you’re expecting from a second-team all-conference player. And in the final game of his college career, Matthews had a team-high five turnovers and finished 3-9 from the field and 0-4 from 3-point land.

gfoster: Let’s put it this way and move on: Michigan’s performance in the Sweet 16 was the worst I’ve ever seen a basketball team play.

jplanos: LOL

neil: And you watched that UConn-Butler final from a few years back.

gfoster: I generally don’t like to talk about blown calls. But the Tariq Owens block play against Gonzaga was a pretty bad one to miss at a key moment:

Tariq Owens was out of bounds. Wow. pic.twitter.com/6QD8tK8OWi

— Kyle Boone (@Kyle__Boone) March 31, 2019

It was frustrating that it was never reviewed. Isn’t this exactly what replay in basketball is for?

jplanos: Not a great tournament across the board for officiating out-of-bounds calls.

Hmmm. Purdue’s Carsen Edwards was …

Out of bounds

Fouled

An unwitting co-conspirator in Tennessee getting jobbed#Sweet16 #MarchMadness #BoilerUp #GoVols

pic.twitter.com/yfvEF6Zyr4

— SBR Sports Picks (@SBRSportsPicks) March 29, 2019

jakelourim: Michigan’s loss to Texas Tech generated the Wolverines’ seventh-worst offensive efficiency rating of the KenPom era and fourth-worst under John Beilein.

jplanos: I don’t know what being put in a straightjacket feels like, but I imagine it’s similar to playing the Red Raiders.

gfoster: Virginia is now the betting favorite in the tournament at 3-2. Would you have guessed that the Hoos would be the lone ACC No. 1 seed to make it through? It wasn’t long ago when I was momentarily planning how FiveThirtyEight would react to a UVA loss to Gardner-Webb.

jplanos: I certainly wouldn’t have. If we get a Virginia-Texas Tech national title game, will next year’s NCAA Tournament even be televised? And will it set back college basketball 15 years?

gfoster: First one to 50 points wins!

neil: I think Virginia also benefited from a relatively easy path to Minneapolis. According to our power ratings, the rest of the South contained the eighth, 10th and 16th best teams in the Sweet 16.

jplanos: Considering the moment, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more impressive baseball-style pass than the one Kihei Clark (A FRESHMAN) beamed to Mamadi Diakite for Virginia’s buzzer-beater against Purdue. That was a rocket.

What an incredible finish to regulation. Mamadi Diakite sends us to overtime after time expires, and (1) Virginia lives on against (3) Purdue!

(

: @marchmadness) #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1J7YIOJgSI

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 31, 2019

jakelourim: Virginia hasn’t been particularly impressive in any of its four games — not like the Hoos were during the regular season — but it does seem like experience and chemistry won out in the regionals after a chalk-filled first weekend. I keep thinking about the moment at the end of the Michigan State-Duke game when Xavier Tillman motioned for Cassius Winston to hurry down the floor and run out the clock. That’s a savvy move.

Watch Xavier give a quick nod to Cassius to "go" before the final in-bounds play. pic.twitter.com/eJciDOIhYb

— Eric Pratt (@MessengerSports) March 31, 2019

neil: (And we can really talk savvy when we discuss Auburn’s Jared Harper…)

jakelourim: Mike Krzyzewski talked all weekend about how minor injuries disrupted the continuity of his freshman-led team, and I could feel eyes rolling out of heads. But does a freshman core that’s only played a handful of games together have the ability to do that? I’m not sure.

neil: Right. It seems like a big legacy of this one-and-done era will be of mostly unmet expectations for these freshman-star-laden teams.

gfoster: We joke about how boring the Cavs are (and make no mistake, they are mostly drying paint basketball), but the Purdue-Virginia game might have been my favorite of the tournament. Before overtime, Carsen Edwards’s game was unreal. It must be discouraging to get that type of performance from your star in the Elite Eight and still lose.

jplanos: Edwards was a one-man wrecking ball the entire tourney and, frankly, it feels unfair that he had to lose. I think there’s a sound argument to be made that it’s less than optimal to have one player responsible for nearly all of your offensive production, but man was it entertaining.

In arguably the two biggest games of his life, Edwards put up 71 points on 47 percent shooting from the field and went 15-33 from 3-point land. The degree of difficulty on most of those shots was superhuman.

Also, long live Ryan Cline. That performance against Tennessee will get washed over because of Carsen and the excitement of the Elite Eight slate, but man…

jakelourim: It really was unfortunate that one of those teams had to lose. Because on the other side, you have Tony Bennett trying to exorcise his Final Four demons and erase the memory of last year. He has made a tremendously successful career out of coaching the pack-line defense and forcing opponents to take shots like the ones Purdue took Saturday night. And then Carsen Edwards goes and does that.

gfoster: Kyle Guy stepped up. If he doesn’t repeatedly answer Edwards’s threes with ones of his own, UVA is gone.

neil: It was unfortunate that Edwards started to run out of gas at the end of OT. He missed a heat check late — which he’d earned the right to take, given the previous bombs — and had a tough turnover on a pass out of bounds in the final seconds. He’d been so brilliant that you expected him to keep making the superhuman look routine.

jplanos: I usually abide by a never-trust-a-man-with-two-first-names mantra, but I’m willing to make an exception for Kyle Guy.

No other Boilermaker had more than 7 points in that game. Yikes.

jakelourim: Good point, Josh. Nobody else even took more than seven shots! And that’s including five extra OT minutes.

neil: Edwards personally scored 56 percent of Purdue’s total — which was the second-most points UVA gave up in a game all season.

jakelourim: He also scored more points than Coppin State and William & Mary did as TEAMS against Virginia.

gfoster: The last team in the Final Four is Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers, who are the lowest remaining seed. A lot of people wrote off their chances of beating UK when Chuma Okeke when down. How do you think they will fare against UVA?

jplanos: I’d like to take this time to apologize for openly scoffing at Geoff picking Auburn to advance out of the Sweet 16. I even wrote it down in my diary and laughed!

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jakelourim: This thought stuck in my head all of Friday night and Sunday afternoon: Remember how much of a spectacular mess Auburn was in the final seconds of its first-round game against New Mexico State? I did not watch that team and think, “Yeah, they’ll probably get to the Final Four.”

jplanos: This weekend was a big one for the EVERYBODY COUNTED US OUT crowd. I count all four teams citing it, which means, yep, that slogan remains undefeated.

jakelourim: Yes, we’re deep into “Why Not Us?” season.

neil: To your question Geoff, Bryce Brown and Jared Harper are going to have to keep scoring! The backcourt duo combined for 50 points against UK, with each taking turns taking over the game.

Special props to Auburn, btw, for avenging its 27-point loss at Kentucky from a few weeks earlier.

jplanos: I love that Virginia has to go through Auburn, a team with a style that must be anathema to the Hoos.

gfoster: Also this game served as a PSA against making banners where you openly mock injuries.

jplanos: If only we had known beforehand that Kentucky’s fan base has no limits…

jakelourim: Enjoyed that Bruce Pearl actually admitted to the popular strategy of “We’re going to get the ball to Jared and Bryce, and everyone else get the fuck out of the way.”

neil: It made sense. I am totally enamored with Harper in particular. He just has a sense of where everyone is on the court and what is the right play to make. Such a smart player.

jplanos: I think I fell in love with Auburn’s style this weekend. There was a slow-motion replay in the second half that captured an Auburn player swatting a Kentucky player’s shot at the rim while clearly mouthing “GIVE ME THAT SHIT,” and it was wonderful and emblematic of how the Tigers approach the game on both ends. Every play is a highlight to be made.

jakelourim: I also think this draw continues to favor Virginia. I don’t think Auburn is going to be the team to speed up Virginia in the semifinals, and in the final, neither Michigan State nor Texas Tech is going to bombard Virginia with unmatched athleticism, as Duke did in both of their regular-season meetings.

gfoster: So is that your prediction Jake?

jakelourim: Yes, my champion pick is still alive, so I’m sticking with Virginia.

jplanos: I like Virginia to advance and play Texas Tech, which will be … a game of basketball.

neil: I must keep my original predictions, so I’m taking UVA and MSU, with the Cavs winning it all.

gfoster: I’m riding Auburn!!!!! … for one more game. I think they do shoot their way past Virginia’s defense. And then lose to Michigan State in the final. And we all get our dream fulfilled of seeing more Tom Izzo dancing videos like this:

Tom Izzo… #FinalFour MOOD!@MSU_Basketball

#MarchMadnesspic.twitter.com/kvfGs8WOlO

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 1, 2019

Check out our latest March Madness predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/who-didnt-expect-this-final-four/

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unfair-sports · 6 years

Text

The OSG Fantasy Report

Special shoutout to our OSG for these fantasy tips:

Pittsburgh -5.5 at Cleveland (46.5) I’m always a fan of stacking Big Ben and Antonio Brown. But do not confuse Cleveland’s record last season with having a bad defense. The Steelers have not gone into Cleveland and hung big numbers on their division rival. So the price you have to pay for the combo doesn’t come at a low price. However they are so good that they can break any matchup any week. ✅. So Antonio Brown is an excellent play and I can’t talk you off of him✅. They have years of a working relationship and will have very little kinks to work out. If Antonio is priced too high, pivot to JuJu Smith-Schuster. ✅James Connor✅ in the backfield can be some value with Bell missing week 1. Again, Cleveland was one of the best run defenses last season although they struggled with pass catching backs. So if he is a plug and play in Bell’s role with the price and machine that Pittsburgh is, he could present some value. There are other value backs gaining traction so he could go over looked as I usually do not enjoy playing offenses in division games. They know each other well. Cleveland is a mystery to me for week 1. Yes Josh Gordon can go wild. Yes Jarvis Landry can get 8-10 targets. I just think they are a little risky which sets up for great tournament plays of course. ✅With a new QB in place I always approach these week 1s with caution. Though I love David Njoku ✅at tight end. Mainly because of their new QB whom loved to throw to Charles Clay in Buffalo. Tyrod Taylor ✅checks in as an excellent play in all formats. His ability to throw with better weapons than he’s ever had mixed with his run ablilty has had him consistently hitting value for his price. Although I hate division games this isn’t the Steel Curtain he’s facing. Add him to your player pool. Cincinnati at Indy -3 (46.5) If there is one team I’ve stacked too much it’s the Cincinnati Bengals. How long can Andy Dalton play with a guy like AJ Green and be mediocre? I guess I should say I play Green too much. It’s not him that has failed me. It’s Dalton’s inability to get him the ball downfield. With that said any combo of AJ Green with Dalton or second year WR John Ross should be ok against one of the worst secondaries from a year ago inside of a dome. However I prefer AJ Green without the Dalton stack ✅. If Joe Mixon✅ is going to be a bell cow he too can be depended on to be in a position to run for 80-100 yards and see the end zone. If you a PPR site player Gio Bernard can add some value and a potential pass catching TD for a running back. If Andrew Luck is healthy and gets blocked for, TY Hilton ✅could enjoy success Sunday. 8-10 targets. A potential 100 yard game, and maybe 2TDs inside of his home dome where he is so much more effective. While I believe Marlon Mack is the guy, you could see a committee out of the backfield. This is a stay away from me. —both tight ends here can be of value. Tyler Eifert while he is still healthy. And Jack Doyle. ✅He played almost all of Lucks snaps in the preseason. And can be forgotten about. SF at Minn-6 (46) Finally some Jimmy G in my life again. However he comes out of the gate as a road dog against one of the better pass defenses from last season. Again, however this game is in a dome and once Jimmy G took over last season, the 49ers were at the top each week in plays per game. They moved at face pace and the game could shoot out. Jimmy G to Goodwin ✅can be a boom or bust stack but I’m thinking boom this week. Throw in Garçon ✅whom looked good last year with below average quarterbacks. Pairing him with George Kittle ✅for red zone TDS could pay off as well. I’m not a fan of Carlos Hyde and Matt Breida. But this is a well coached team with an excellent old school player and analyst turn GM. They will run the ball inside the 5. If you guess right between the two then kudos. But I am fading that situation. Minnesota will probably gain more ownership being 6 point favorites at home. And rightfully so. The faster SF plays the more chances Minnesota gets. My only hesitation is Kirk Cousins still needing to work on timing with Diggs and Thielen. Cousins enjoys pushing the ball up field. And this is usually only a week 1-2 issue for me. New QBs in a new system with new weapons. It just takes time. If you’re not worried about that then a full stack across multiple lineups are recommended.✅ Cousins-Diggs. Cousins-Diggs. Kyle Rudolph on his own to fill in TE. Even Dalvin Cook who was off to a great start before tearing his ACL last season. But Latavius Murray may split carries with him. Maybe even goal line work to ease Cook back. Splits are hard to roster. You’re guessing 50/50 Houston at New England -7 (51) Finally a 50 over/under. Deshaun Watson was lights out and I expect that to continue week 1. Can he be that efficient? Probably not. But I’m going to take a chance. ✅Deandre Hopkins can have a college QB and he still gets 10-12 targets or more and I will have Watson-Hopkins stacks ✅. Will fuller is a boom or bust play. But the biggest surprise is how much Lamar Miller was so much more effective with Watson in. He should see goal line work IF and that’s a big if Houston moves the ball upfield. New England’s pass defense grades out much better than their run D. New England is the for the first time in a long time bringing off season drama into week 1. That could fire up Tom Brady in a fast pace 50 over game. He’s priced high but “guaranteed” to have success. I just always see this with New England. They come out slow in September. ✅Everybody downs them and then they pick it up as the season progresses and eases into the top of a weak AFC East. Buffalo. The jets. Miami. Easy street. I would normally love Rex Burkhead as New England runs the ball inside the 5 and is an excellent value play. ✅ Chris Hogan is WR1 and is dirt cheap. He could see 10-12 targets.✅ Gronk is priced high and is like a WR. He went 8/89, 1TD here last season so by all means play Gronk✅. I’m not into the fringe play of Sony Michel this week as he is banged up. But it is Billichek. Anybody can catch or run a TD. Anytime. Tennessee -1 at Miami (45.5) Maybe I’m wrong but I’m fading Tennessee as I frequently did last season. I will say this however. They have a new coach. New pass catching back with Dion Lewis and with no Demarco Murray, Derrick Henry steps in as a RB1. But I’m not sure how they split these two backs. Until Mariotta shows me something in week 1 I’m off of this offense until I can figure them out. We should note that Mariotta is efficient once in the red zone and can get it done on the ground and get in the end zone. That’s why I would rather have him alone as oppose to a stack. But give my Tyrod Taylor over him all day. Miami is almost as unappealing. There’s always a butt. There was some weeks that But-Cutler was relevant to fantasy. And if you can work with cutler you can work with Ryan Tannehill. Landry is gone and Parker may miss week 1 which would firmly place a cheap Danny Amendola✅ high on the list in cash games and tournaments. He’s determined to make a statement after leaving New England. And could be placed in a large role and Tennessee’s pass defense is not the best although not the worst. For the price and volume you can take a chance if you believe Miami can move the ball and score 2-3 touchdowns. And if you believe that you can say the same argument for Kenyan Drake ✅who is being touted in the Pre season and was very usable in fantasy last season. I will have shares of Drake. But I don’t see a reason to chance it with Tannehill. Tampa Bay at New Orleans -9.5 (49.5) It would be hard for me to roster Evans and Godwin even with Famous Jameis. Now he’s suspended for the first four games. And we add a true back up. They will be playing from behind and could lead to some garbage time touchdowns. New Orleans is the spot to target starting with Drew Brees. He could spread the ball around and you have to place Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn, Jr. for the Big play capability. “They” say Alvin Kamara is due for negative regression when it comes to effiency. But sometimes “they” are wrong. If they get a lead, Mike Gillislee (while Mark Ingram is suspended) could take some carries. But the reason for the lead is going to be Brees-Kamara-Thomas-Gin✅ somehow. They are on a positive side of a 49 over under in the dome at home where they have been explosive. Jax -3 at NYG (44) This game has a low total. The cheap WR for Jacksonville may be chalk. I would rather take the guaranteed load of Leonard Fournette as oppose to the pass game. I’ve lived and died on Blake Bortles more than I would like to admit. This game is one of the lower totals. But I could see myself taking a shot on Dede Westbrook over Keenan Cole. While the Giants prospect may be better this year. I will not jump on that train vs The Jax defense. While I like the Barkley addition and Evan Engram to get better this is not an ideal offense to target. From a game theory perspective however, Jalen Ramsey may shadow Odell Beckham which could funnel targets to the tight as happened last season. My exposure will not go past Engram and Barkley. Buffalo at Baltimore -7 (41) If you can name the starting QB in Buffalo here then you can play him. The total is very low here. Long term we may have interest in Crabteee and John Brown in the future but maybe not here. But we do love Alex Collins✅. He is at a great price point to garner 100 yards and a touchdown or two. He’s a touchdown favorite at home vs. a bad team. KC at LA Chargers -3.5 (47.5) I’m very excited about the Chiefs this year. Hunt and Hill should be targets for big plays all season. Hill is risky this week vs a very very good Chargers secondary. He does feel that Mahomes can hit him in strides and this makes for the big play. One 80 yard TD strike along with 2-4 catches for 20 a more yards is decent. But if that’s what you’re banking on then maybe not. We want efficiency in fantasy and this is a defense you do not want to target. Hunt could also see plenty of work and is my preferred target here this week. The Chargers on the other hand we can target. KC projects to be one of the worst defenses this season and will be a target spot all year. ✅Play Melvin Gordon here while he is healthy for sure. He will get pass work. Goal line work and in between the 20 work. 20-25 touches. 1-2 touchdown upside is what we search for and this could be a prime spot for it. I’m less excited about Phillip Rivers as I never get him right. Kills me in excellent matchups, thrives when I fade him in tough spots. Regardless he to Keenan Cole is an excellent stack. -speaking of stacking. ✅ Sometimes you want to run a stack back with an opposing team. If you think the chargers have a lead maybe it forces mahomes to throw more. So you either target him and hill or hunt for garbage TDS or the Chargers defense for Turnovers if he throws too much. Im siding with the Chargers defense. ✅ Seattle at Denver -2.5 (42) Seattle is still not a team I like to target. I used to do the Wilson Baldwin connection. But until they show me something I’m off of this team. Especially as road dogs in the altitude vs a good defense. I may enjoy Denver’s long term success but with a very low over of 42 this isn’t ideal. If you’re forced into it on an afternoon slate Emanuel Sanders was a target monster with well below average QB play. So with an upgrade in QB with Case Keenum, whom also loves to target the slot, you can make a case for their stack. I would avoid the split RB situation until we see definite results. Washington at Arizona (even) (44) Don’t you just love games with no favorite. That’s Vegas saying “I give up” Washington got check down Charlie I mean Alex Smith in the off-season. I’m interested in seeing how this offense shakes out. I targeted Washington a lot the past two years. I successfully placed in tournaments with Kirk Cousins and Jordan Reed. With smith there who loves to check down, this week could be a Jordan Reed week ✅. If he’s fully healthy, and can find a connection with Smith, he has 80 yard 1-2 TD upside similar to Gronk but with a lighter price. I’m also interested to see if Adrian Peterson can cut thru holes behind a decent offensive line. But he will split with Chris Thompson and Fat Rob Kelley. I’m not interested in AZ much more. Always a butt. Larry Fitzgerald will have a plus matchup in the slot with Sam Bradford back in our lives. If you want to target older players you do it early in the season while everybody is healthy and fresh. David Johnson however is young and back and is an excellent play in all formats✅. He runs. He catches. He scores! Dallas at Carolina Dallas used to be a favorite target of mine with Dak and Zeek. This is because we know where the offense is coming from. I would not target any pass catchers here. Dak is playable but this will be a slow paced game. Dallas plays slow and run the ball. Carolina plays slow. Probably so Cam won’t have to throw so much 🤔. However Ezekiel Elliott is playable in all formats ✅week in and week out until further notice. Rumors say he is expected to get more pass game work. Which is now more than ever needed without Dez or Whitten. Carolina will be appealing for two things this week. Legs. The legs of Cam should provide fantasy upside ✅and is a great tournament play this week. Christian McCaffrey is expected to be more of a runner this year and not just a pass catching player. The likely chance that McCaffrey catches a TD pass and runs one could make the Cam-McCaffrey stack viable✅. Funchess or Olsen is more likely to catch a TD from Cam than Allen Hurns. But Cam is the kind of WB you don’t have to stack.

#fantasyfootball #fantasy #football #nfl #yahoofantasy #espnfantasy #espn

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lynestvstoriesblr · 7 years

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GERIJAH: A TRAGIC LOVE STORY?

Now as a Valentine gift for all of you, a brief look into Gerijah! Happy Valentine’s Day and a special shoutout to @selene-yoshi-chan, @cartoonobsessionsyndrome, @welcome-to-cobblepothell, @multi-villain-imagines and @jokesterwrites

Despite the fact that they share no airtime, she never mentions him and he’s only in 2 episodes, I believe that I can prove that Gertrud Kapelput and Elijah Van Dahl is one of the deepest, loving and complex couples in the history of FOX’s Gotham, using only examples from the show and well-formed thoughts.

For me, Gerijah first became a thing in the middle of Elijah’s first episode. There is a scene where Elijah is serving Oswald a meal and telling his son about his past with Gertrud where is his body language, the way he stared off into the distance as he called Gertrud ‘so beautiful’, and he broke down at the thought of his parents separated them that it first dawned on me. This wasn’t just a guy recalling good times, this was a man telling a story about a woman he was still very much in love with. This seems even truer when Elijah tells how he meets his wife, Grace, in a much more matter-of-fact, less emotional way than his Gertrud story. In fact, proof that Elijah loves Gertrud comes with his very first entrance. He appeared as edger and nervous as a schoolboy going on a date, when he comes to put flowers on her grave. Old flowers are already there, suggesting that he has already been there before, (or the flowers could be put there by Ed, as per Oswald’s request) and it’s unusual for a rich man to place flowers on a servant’s grave or for a married man to do so for a ex-girlfriend, unless, of course, the dead still meant something very special. With the line, ‘Gertrud was a cook that worked for my parents,’ not ‘for us’ or ‘for the family’, it is possible that Elijah never saw Gertrud as a servant but more as a equal, a friend, a lover, a girlfriend or even a wife. Granted, we never got a timeframe for Gertrud and Elijah’s relationship but there’s one more clue that points it to being extremely serious. When Elijah meets Oswald for the first time, all he needs to know is 2 things, only 2 pieces of information, that his mother is Gertrud and that he’s 32, that’s it. Elijah never even questions that Oswald is not his son, again. This certainty and the intensity of his feelings for Gertrud prove that it wasn’t a one-night stand or a casual fling. These were 2 people in love and were sexually faithful to one other. But if Elijah loved Gertrud so much, why didn’t he go after her? I’m not so sure he didn’t. Yes, Elijah tearfully admitted he was ashamed that he didn’t at least try to contact Gertrud when his parents forced Gertrud to flee the mansion but earlier in that same show, Elijah said that he ‘only found her in death, I afriad’, that quote implies that he HAD tried to find her in life but was unsuccessful. Regardless, by his own admission, life without Gertrud is pretty bleak for Elijah. His father commits suicide in his office, leaving deep mental scars on Elijah, leading to behavior such as sleepwalking and sometime later, his mother also dies. Elijah said that after his mother’s death he barely got out of bed for months at a time. This is classic behavior for someone who has depression and after losing both his parents along with Gertrud, why shouldn’t poor Elijah be depressed? In such a state, a lonely, depressed, heartbroken, single millionaire would be quite easy prey for a gold digger, enter Grace. We know next to nothing about Grace and her children’s lives before they met Elijah. It is mentioned that Grace’s first husband was abusive. (Given that Grace is a skilled liar and the fact the woman never acts like a victim, the abusive husband could be a tall tale meant to gain sympathy from a compassionate Elijah. But as this is a one-time comment it’s impossible to prove one way or the other.) Something we do for a fact is that Grace is not born one of Gotham’s upper crust. When she met Elijah, Grace was a waitress. She had the same kind of blue-collar life that Gertrud had. Despite the fact that Elijah said that ‘love blossomed’ between him and Grace after he took her and her kids into his home, there is no proof that Grace ever liked, loved or even respected her husband. Make no mistake, my friends, there is no great love story between Elijah and Grace. Still, there had to be something between the two at some point right? After all, they got all the way to the altar, so they had to have some kind of deep connection? Well, yes and no. As someone who has given this a lot of (okay, maybe too much) thought, I came up with 3 possible reasons as for why Elijah would marry Grace. As I’ve already mentioned, Grace was a waitress when she and Elijah first met. A waitress is similar to Gertrud’s profession as a cook, leading me to believe that Elijah’s feelings for Grace could had been a transference of the love he still had for Gertrud, playing up the parallels between the 2 women and ignoring the many differences. Another school of thoughts is shortly after being taken into the mansion to get away from her abusive ex, Grace sets out to seduce Elijah, (i.e. sex). Elijah doesn’t seem like the love ‘em and leave ‘em type, so after sleeping together, Elijah develops a crush on Grace, which he mistakes for real love. Or perhaps the attraction is not Grace or rather not Grace alone. It could be her children. Elijah did say that after the kids moved in, ‘this halls heard laughter once again.’ The prospect of becoming a family unit with Grace, Sasha and Charles would be alluring to a lonely bachelor like Elijah. The fact that Sasha and Charles carry the Van Dahl surnames rather than real father’s supports this theory. If Elijah’s motives for marrying Grace are unclear, Grace’s are crystal: his money. Whatever got them to the wedding, at some point; the marriage breaks down (if it ever worked at all). Maybe Elijah finally realizes it takes more than sex to make a marriage or it finally dawns on him that Grace isn’t Gertrud or perhaps when the kids got older, Elijah finds there’s not much between him and Grace as a couple. Elijah goes back to his memories of Gertrud. By the time Oswald appears, the marriage is dead. The terms of affection like ‘dear’ now seems like forced polite conversation and they sleep in different rooms.

So I think I proved that Elijah loves Gertrud but did Gertrud love Elijah? I believe she did, but if Elijah’s love is proved in words, Gertrud’s are proved by actions. Elijah tells Oswald that all he was told that his parents and Gertrud ‘came to an arrangement.’ This almost always means that Gertrud was offered a large amount of money to stay away from Elijah. But given her faded clothes and tiny apartment that we saw in season 1 plus Oswald saying that ‘they didn’t have much’ when he was growing up, it’s pretty safe to say that she didn’t take the money, proving that she wasn’t the gold digger the Van Dahls thought she was and that she truly loved Elijah. While she didn’t take the money, she did agree to go away. Why? First off, she was probably worried about Elijah himself

We are never told when Elijah got his bad heart but if he was sickly in his youth as he is later on plus his lack of experience with the city, he was home-schooled after all, Gertrud was likely worried if Elijah left the mansion, his health would get worse. By this time, Gertrud was pregnant. The fact that Oswald was the same age as when Gertrud left the mansion leads me to believe that she was a few months along. Elijah’s health could also be the reason Gertrud never told him about the pregnancy. He has already threatened to run away with her even without a baby in the picture, if he knew about the baby, there would be no way he would leave Gertrud’s side. A lesser woman would have viewed a pregnancy as an answer to prayer. She could of used the baby to trap Elijah into marriage. Gotham producers have always described Gerturd ‘as a proud but faded beauty’. It’s the proud part that interests me. No proud woman in love would want a shotgun wedding with disapproving in-laws. I believe that Gertrud didn’t tell her employers for a different reason, she doesn’t trust them. After all, this is the couple that tried to buy her off, believe she is good enough for their son, so why would she be good enough for their grandchild? So Gertrud left the mansion and Elijah with her secret intact. So Gertrud is unmarried, pregnant, jobless, and if her job was live-in, homeless. Gertrud probably moved in to a poor neighborhood into the city and works at a new job. Gertrud was just as heartbroken as Elijah but unlike Elijah who has nothing to do but mope around the mansion and wonder what went wrong, Gertrud is busy trying to build a new life for herself and for her unborn child. As we all know, Gertrud carried her baby to term and untimely gave birth to a son, who looked a lot like his father. Oswald becomes his mother’s entire world. By all accounts, Gertrud is an outstanding mother. Yes, she does lie and tell Oswald his father was dead but I don’t think she did it out of spite or bitterness but out of a need to protect a little boy against the idea that his own family might not think him good enough. As an awkward and bullied boy, the only place that Oswald feels completely safe, secured and loved was with his mother. The bond between mother and son is so strong that after Gertrud’s death, Oswald often finds himself lost without her. If lovingly tending to their son is not enough to convince you that Gertrud loved Elijah, how about the fact that is likely that Gertrud NEVER married. This is not canon, no one on the show said Gertrud never married, but all the pieces are there. Yes, she was the widow of Oswald’s dead father, which makes Oswald (and her) look better. Since he is not the type to do something without his parent’s permission, it’s unlikely that people address her as Mrs. Kapelput or Cobblepot, but this could be that she told people Gertrud and Elijah were ever legally married and Oswald recalls his youth often but has never once mentioned a stepfather. The bond between mother and son wouldn’t be as strong if there had been a husband/ boyfriend in the picture vying for Gertrud’s time and attention. It’s not hard at all to see Gertrud as a working, single mother who had no time or will to date. Also, Kapelput was the only name on her tombstone leading me to believe that Gertrud simply put Mrs. in front of her own maiden name. If Gertrud never truly got over Elijah, then it must of hurt a lot when she heard that he married and seemingly move on. And since they all live in the same area, it’s likely she did know about Grace and the kids. At the start of Gotham, Gertrud comes off as an overprotective and overbearing mother and in a way, she is. The older Oswald gets, the less and less control Gertrud has over where he goes. I believe Gertrud is terrified of losing Oswald, but not to a hussy, as she claims. No, she is afraid that one day Oswald is going to bump into his father or stepfamily, exposing the lies that she had told him his whole life, causing her son to reject her. When Oswald and Elijah do meet, it’s in a graveyard and where both are grieving for the recently deceased Gertrud. By taking in and caring for Oswald, Elijah may be trying to redeem himself. By embracing their son with open arms, Elijah might be trying to prove his love for Gertrud, to show he’s worthy of a 2nd chance, if only to their child. As Oswald (and Gertrud) come to the forefront of Elijah’s mind, Grace and the kids are pushed to the side, a little. It’s ironic that Grace’s cruelest deed turns out to be kindness. For only by dying, can Elijah be reunited with Gertrud.

What makes Elijah and Gertrud a tragic couple is that their parting was completely avoidable! Both are equally to blame. If Elijah had simply stood up to his parents, he could have raised his son. If Gertrud trusted Elijah with the news of her pregnancy, she could have her baby and the man she loved. Still, even in death, Gerijah has a small justice. If the Van Dahl dynasty continued, it will have to be by Elijah’s ‘only living relative’ Oswald…and Gertrud’s bloodline.

Do you agree? Disagree? Have I missed something? Comment!

#gotham #gertrud kapelput #elijah van dahl #oswald cobblepot #Valentine day

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