#austins flailing is the best thing

[rosecoloreddesire]

The Hold You Have Upon Me

Summary: Your best friend Olivia gets you in on her big role in a new movie and you gladly accept the offer. Little did you know the job had a lot more to offer than it lead on.

Note: I’m so sorry for being so inactive! Please forgive me y’all! Should this be my first Austin series??? But the new pics from behind the scenes??? LORD HAVE MERCY!

Part 2

Warning: FLUFF! Also I only read through this twice so I’m sorry for any errors!!

“Y/N, c’mon! You’re doing great! I’m so proud of you for being here for me.” Olivia wraps her arms around you in a warm embrace.

“You know I wouldn’t have denied being an extra in an Elvis movie,” Olivia rolls her eyes as her makeup finishes,” and wouldn’t have denied seeing my best friend have the role of her life!” She smiles as the finishing touches are applied and twirls around.

“Time to line up, girly!” She takes your hand and leads you to set. The booming echo of the band thumps within your body as you watch Baz record them up close. Olivia tugs on your arm and points at the corner of the set. There he was.

“Holy shit, Liv. He’s Adonis…” you hadn’t had the time to see Austin as Elvis yet. The sight of his tanned skin adorned in black leather pulling the air from your lungs. She laughs and pats your back as a set manager pulls her away from you. You can’t keep your eyes off of him as workers surround him to make sure he looks perfect. That shouldn’t be too hard you think. His cobalt eyes are stoic as he finally catches you staring. His smirk eliciting a squeak from your lips as you go to find the same set manager that stole Olivia away from you.

“Got enough of gawking Mr. Butler in for one day?” Mia asks as you walk up next her. You sigh and rub your hands on your face.

“He saw me and probably thinks I’m a freak.” She cackles as she’s reads the list in front of her. She pulls you along with her.

“Well, this freak is front of stage. Have fun, love.” You whip your head to glare at Mia.

“‘Mia?! Are you kidding me? This is insane! Please, put me closer to the back or something.” Mia shrugged her shoulders and looked through the papers on her clipboard. You try to look over her to no avail.

“They dressed you up just like the girl in the original ‘68 comeback that sits right there! Soooo, no can do, love!” She waves at you as you sit down. He’s going to be dancing right in front of you. You place a hand on the stage and drag your fingers on it softly. This is insane.

“Good luck, Y/N. You got this!” Olivia looks beautiful as she shakes your shoulders.

“Knock ‘em dead, Priscilla.” She smiles and gives you a quick kiss on the cheek. You smooth your skirt down as other extras begin to fill in next to you. Your heart begins to beat out of your chest as Baz calls for action.

“And here he is, Mister Elvis Presley!” The applause sign lights up as you begin to clap. Ignoring the total arousal that seeps through you as you see him begin to bend to grasp his guitar. He sits down and begins to sing and your heart all but melts. You could see he put everything into becoming Elvis and he looked just like him. You could feel tears well in your eyes as you remembered watching Elvis with your grandma when you were younger. Never understanding why she’d get so emotional. Now here you were seeing double. You smile as the song comes to an end and wipe your eyes. Baz calling cut so that he could move things around for a better shot. He smiles at you as he makes his way to Austin. You nod and turn to where Olivia is sitting. She shapes a heart with her hands and you return it as you take a deep breath.

“Quick touch up break!” Makeup artists swarm in as cast members make their ways to chairs. Some stay seated and some grab something to snack on. You watch as Austin sits down panting as staff use towels to lightly dab onto his face. He smiles and his lips curl as he listens to Baz and his flailing hands.

“Hey, why don’t you just try talking to him?” Mia startled you, your hand shooting to your chest. She grabs onto your shoulder as you grasp your surroundings again.

“M-Mia, I’m one of how many extras trying to get to know him? Give me a break! Not gonna happen-“ you choke on your last words as you make eye contact with the aforementioned man. His gaze could pierce stone as you squirm in your seat. He nods to the artist powdering his face and he rises from his chair.

“Welp, I gotta go! Have fun, darling!”

“Hey, you’re Olivia’s friend right,” you nod as your throat dries,” I’ve seen you on her Insta page. You’re uh, you look gorgeous.” Your eyes widen as does his.

“Thank y-“

“ I’m sorry if that was weird, darlin’.” His voice lowering as he rubs the back of his neck. You laugh, shaking your head.

“No,” your voice squeaking, you clear your throat,” no! Um, I think you’re gorgeous too.”

“It’s just the get up, I feel.”

“I mean the get up is a plus-“

“A plus? You really like it that much, doll?” He stepped a little closer to you. You move back a little scared he’ll hear the pounding of your heart. You place a hand on your chest as your cheeks flush.

“Austin,” his hand slips around your waist as his other hand rests tenderly against your cheek. His fingers softly move against the soft skin,” I-I do.” You splutter out meekly.

“Good. ‘Cause I’m really liking the get up you got goin’ on to.” Before you can say your weak attempt at a joke his soft lips are upon yours. His grip slowly tightens as you sigh into the kiss. You rest your hands on his chest as you feel your legs begin to weaken. His entire being yearns to be as close to as possible. He pulls away and uses the hand still on your cheek to move your face to the side. His lips finding solace betwixt your jaw and neck. You begin to giggle as he hums against your skin.

“A-Aus, what are you doing? You’re gonna have to go on soon.” He continues to hum into your skin. Not leaving any marks but leaving a slight tingle in his tracks.

“They can wait, darlin’. I just can’t get enough of you.” His phone buzzes in his pocket as he finishes his rasping speech.

“I don’t think they want to.” You wink as he pulls away from you with a pout. You stand to your tippy toes and lay a chaste kiss to his nose. His skin flushing pink within seconds.

“I’ll find you after, Y/N.” He holds your hand until ultimately he has to let it go. You sigh heavily and lean against the wall as you collect your thoughts.

“That was….adorable!!!” Olivia squeals and wraps her arms around your shoulders. You yelp and she covers your mouth.

“How could you?! Did you see all of that?!” You take her hand off your mouth.

“Hey! I was tasked to come find Elvis and found Elvis I did!” She wiggles her eyebrows as you groan. You both make your way back to set. Your seat open in the front of the stage as he winks at you from it. You take Olivia’s arm.

“I’m not sitting back up there. I just kissed him and I gotta act like that didn’t happen?” You groan once more as Olivia shrugs.

“Hey, at least it’ll help with the fan girl in love look.” She smiles as she leads you back to your seat.

“Liv, I feel like I’m gonna hurl.”

#austin butler #austin butler fic #austin butler drabble #austin butler x reader #austin butler elvis #elvis 2022 #rosecoloreddesire #elvis movie #elvis film

[kiankiwi]

Any toughts on little Austin!Elvis? Perhaps some Headcanons?

I've never done Headcannons before so forgive me if it's not that great please! <3 ill try my best

Austin!E is a HYPER baby boy!

He loves to play chase and hide and seek but even with all the great hiding places in the 18 rooms of Graceland, he chooses the WORST spots, like behind the curtains and is a giggly mess and pokes his feet out of the hiding spot

You learned early on to keep a small bag of all of his little items and right after a show he drops and walks around backstage with a paci in his mouth

Also, you can never really have anyone ever really watch him because he prefers you caring for him so on the instances you have to go out for meetings or something while he's little, he is a grumpy terror or a shy boy to his babysitter because he wants his cg to come back and feels like he's been left behind so there's always a lot of tears

Elvis has a temper when big but when he gets angry when little, He ABSOLUTELY makes sure you know he's mad. He will yell and scream and flail and throw things and get in your face with tears running down his face because when he's little he doesn't have to hold anything back the way he has to when he's big

Austin!E also really has an attitude and I love it because I feel like that's the only time he stands up to the Colonel (during his meltdowns/tantrums

Aus!E is not a great listener because when he's big, obviously he is the boss and whatever E wants E gets but he doesn't when he's little so he as trouble listening because he's so used to getting whatever he wants

This man is a GIGGLY MESS absolute goof

and he loves scaring us, hiding behind doors and corners and jumping out to scare us but then once we do it to him he's pouty and stomps away

He's also very clingy and VERY particular about his little snacks to keep him in his headspace

And he's a terror to get to sleep because he's like nervous about it because the Colonel (the vampire bastard) always needs him to be a machine and work so you always try to get him to go to sleep for long stretches of time in headspace so he can get some genuine rest but he ALWAYS fights it and is whiny because he doesn't want anyone to find out he napped because he doesn't want anyone to get mad that he's not working.

I really hope this was okay! Yay, my first headcannon!

How did I do @mooodyblue ? <3 I hope you enjoyed

#elvis headcanons #littleelvispresley #littlespaceelvis #little!e #austin!elvis fic #kiwiswriting #little!e blurbs

[tenaciouspostfun]

Storiestheater review

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In what is one of the best shows I have seen this season, "A Sign of The Times" at The New World Stages is a rapid fire, feel great musical! Set in Centerville, Ohio, the year is 1965 and on this New Years Eve Matt has asked Cindy to marry him. She questions her life, her parents life and where marriage will take her.

The premise here is that change and courage invites Cindy (Chilina Kennedy) to New York City to pursue her career. She ends up living with a budding singer named Tanya, (Crystal Lucas-Perry) on 149th street. It is rough going for the first three months until she is serendipitous in landing a job at Paulson & Co, an advertising company in which she aspires to be a photographer.

What makes this musical so great is the many reasons that make a wonderful musical. The first is the acting: Chilina Kennedy puts in a performance for the ages! Her facial features and the" business" that she gives us reminds me of Mary Tyler Moore, particularly on the Mary Tyler Moore show... corky and spunky, she suffers no fools and is mentally strong. She is also a talented singer and had full command of the audience whenever she belted out a song. Her grace and charm were matched by her dance prowess.

Lucas- Perry too was as brilliant in her acting as well as her singing; sometimes pop, sometimes soulful, her songs came from the heart and resonated throughout the theater. The two actors fed off of each other brilliantly all performance, we believed that they were great friends because their timing was flawless.

Under the glam lighting (Ken Billington), the warm set design (Evan Adamson), the brilliant projection (Brad Peterson) and the deft choreography (JoAnn M. Hunter), the musical moves in tandem, like silk and Gabriel Barre's direction has the show in top form. Under Joseph Church, the arrangements, the choice of each and every song , the placement of the songs hit the show perfectly.

In the turbulent times that faced America, the show touches on the vast protests that were hitting our country at the time: the Vietnam War, racial tension and equality for women, however, the show thankfully only scratches at it and never makes it the main focus. Richard J. Robin, Lindsey Hope Pearlman and music director Britt Bonney keep the show lite and pure making the two plus hours joyful. Even before the start of the show we are treated to old commercials from that era as well as some of the shows that were on television at that time.

"A Sign of The Times" was well thought out, well created. From the casting to the costumes (Joanna Pan), everything works beautifully. Pan takes us back in time from the chiffon dresses, to the short skirts and go-go boots we get a sense and a feel of 1965. In the book we see what the thinking of the people was back then, what was acceptable and what was not in both mores and attitude. Ryan Silverman as Brian had the opinion that it is a man's world, woman were in the background and never given the credit for anything in the work place. How he conducted himself is quite different way than what would be accepted today in the business world.

In the songs and dance we see the many popular dance styles of the mid 60's. In "These Boots Are Made For Walkin" we get a dance that "Austin Powers" made popular with the hips swinging and the arms flailing. In "Call Me" we get a Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds "Singing In The Rain" type dance movement.

"A Sign of The Times" should not be missed! I cannot say enough good things about this brilliant musical; the attention to every song choice will have you singing the songs leaving the theater as I did.

Broadway Bob, www.vocal.com, Medium, www.nimbusmagazine.org, www.broadwayworld.com, www.triviscompany.com, Tony Awards, Broadway, Obie Awards, A Sign of The Times, Rock and Roll Man, Aladdin, The Lion King, Harry Potter, Neil Diamond, Tommy.

Words: 683

[quarantinegirls]

A wedding reflection

From a bride who's gone through every emotion known and unknown to human beings and still thought she was 'pretty chill'.

#0 Know thyself

Honestly if you're getting married and don't know yourself well, what are you doing?

Wedding planning revealed things about myself I didn't know existed. It also highlighted things I thought I'd long grown out of. Just get real cozy with your emotions and remember there is great power in prayer, like when it starts raining and hailing right before the outdoor ceremony.

#1 Leave town immediately after and maybe bring melatonin

After the wedding, Ben and I went to Steamboat for a few days. Out of sheer momentum, my brain moved at the speed of light, intensely replaying every detail of our wedding day like looped movie clips on multiple browser tabs. If not for the gorgeous scenery at Steamboat, I'm not sure how long it'd take for me to stop that.

On the first night at 2am, eyes wide open, I remember asking myself: did I make a mistake... by having a wedding?

2am thought trains have a pattern: they don't end up at a good place, but they don't stop, either. I nearly thought I'd ruined things for my closest family and friends because of reasons I now can't recall and simply don't matter (if I had to guess, it's probably things like 'I should've worn one more hairpiece' or 'ahhhh but the rain').

Ben slept quietly next to me, like a rock, unmoving.

#2 A wedding is a day but marriage is for life!!

I wasn't questioning marriage - being able to call Ben my husband makes me so happy. Rather, after the wedding, my existence felt like a tightly strung wire that's suddenly let loose and not held on at either end, flailing about in mid-air, struggling to gain shape, and unable to land.

I couldn't give myself an answer that night. But gradually, I came to see our wedding day not as a labor of love and tears over the past seven months, but just a day full of love, celebration, and great people that made it possible.

And by doing that, I made peace with my worst inner critic - my mother's daughter.

#3 See the inherent absurdity of... weddings

Your wedding isn't really for you, it's just about you.

You're welcome!

#4 A good bachelorette party

I didn't think I wanted one, until I had one. Bets that brides prefer Bach parties to wedding days, and if I'm wrong, bets that those brides have awful friends...

One of the things our premarital counselor emphasized was to make sure friendships outside of marriage - either individual or with other couples - have room to thrive. We are complex beings. If you prefer true crime on Tuesdays but documentaries on Thursdays, why expect one single person to meet all your emotional needs? Point being, Nashville or Austin or penis-shaped paraphernalia doesn't make a banger Bach party, quality friends do :') My Bach party consisted of traditional things like mani/pedi, spa, and facials, but also things that felt more personal to me and my friends... like yelling (yes yelling not singing, the only correct way to Karaoke) Chinese pop songs from the 2000s at Karaoke and wielding baseball bats in a smash room to destroy thrift store discards.

It was actually the best memory from wedding week.

#5 what do you mean "do whatever"..?

One of the things that bothered me most is something every vendor would say: it's YOUR wedding, you can do whatever, we will accommodate you.

Well guess what, the only thing I wanted was for every single guest to have the best time, which is kind of impossible, so good luck.

....

In all seriousness, all I needed were 'industry standard' pointers as references, largely because my own wedding would be the second Western wedding I'd ever been to. Expectations were so hard to grasp (what is a charger? linen does not mean the fabric? why are beverage packages written in a way impossible to understand?). So even though vendors had good intentions when they say 'you do you', you kind of need to know yourself really well (hello, point 0) to do you.

Otherwise, consult Wedtok/Weddit/Wedding Pinterest! It is 2023, after all.

#6 how much money are we talking about???

My immigrant blood would boil thinking people are out there spending down payments on a single day (we did not, because I would die from blood overheating...), but something Ben said early on slowly changed my perspective - "it's not about the value, it's about the impact."

Some people want to save the money and elope, and they're happy with that. Others spend that amount of money cosplaying vikings on the set of GOT and have one hell of a time, and they're happy with that, too (a real example, this was our home inspector).

Pretty soon, life got better altogether because 99% of what other people do, don't affect you.

#7 so like... are there any positives?

It's now been almost a month since our wedding day, and I can look back and confidently say, YES, so many:

when Ben and I paid homage to my culture and did a Chinese tea ceremony wearing traditional clothes with our parents;

when I walked in through the side door before walking down the aisle, and saw my former boss/now friend looking my way with the biggest smile on her face;

when Alice asked me every 10 minutes if I needed water or snacks as I was getting makeup and hair done;

when Waterworks City went from my emotional tears to literal thunderstorms outside, and the wedding party rushed in to comfort us and find a solution;

when I learned that not everybody was drenched and on their way to get sick(!) and were actually in pretty good spirits;

when I realized the bridal suite clock was not telling me we were 45min late, it is just ALWAYS at 4:45;

when I told my dad to walk slower because he was SPEEDIN' down the aisle and I could barely keep up;

when I changed out of my 137-inch wedding heels and back to my hobbit form;

and best time of the day - when we sat at the head table with our best friends, and watched all of our guests happily chatting away.

#8 make peace with the incredibly, ridiculously uneven input-output ratio of labor-to-wedding-day

Wedding days are famously one day. Unless you're from certain cultures that make weddings really cool, it's 8 hours of guests' time and 12-15 hours of your time. There is no math that can make all the planning hours 'make sense'.

So instead of trying to be the most efficient person and racing against time, just enjoy it. Enjoy designing and ordering and mailing out invitations, enjoy envisioning beautiful plates and linens and flowers and guests in one place, enjoy completely justified shopping sprees, enjoy accepting people's delighted responses when they learn that you're engaged and are so happy to be invited, enjoy adding personal touches to make your wedding, your wedding, every time you catch yourself in wedding planning confusion, just quietly say 'F that' and enjoy it, as much as you can.

Either way, it's a time in your life that you're not getting back. Sooooo might as well do it with a beer and smiles (or soft serve and fries, whatever floats your boat, but both very good options).

Weddings are counterintuitive. Anything else in life, we get a second chance in. And to be any good at anything, we need the 200th or 2000th or 200000th chance. Weddings carry the biggest oxymoron in life: be perfect, but only do it once.

It's honestly time for a rebrand - weddings are perfect, period.

-R

#wedding #thought vomit

[index-wwe-gifs]

Dexter being brutal with others vs gentle with Indi

#I forgot how scary he can be in the ring #austins flailing is the best thing #InDex #he's so gentle with her its the cutest thing #indi hartwell #dexter lumis #wwe #wwe nxt #nxt #austin theory #johnny gargano #cute af #colour grading this was fun

[wearevillaneve]

The Snubbing of Jodie Comer.

Any hopes that Jodie Comer's incandescent performance in Ridley Scott's epic, The Last Duel might garner some serious award consideration died yesterday. Those hopes were first dashed by the announcement of the 2022 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations, where Comer's Killing Eve partner's name, Sandra Oh for The Chair, was called, but hers was not. The Hollywood Reporter included Comer as one of the surprise omissions for best actress in a drama and then delivered this ominous declaration. "...in the 27 years in which the SAG Awards have preceded the Oscars, no performance which wasn’t even nominated for a SAG Award went on to win a best actress Oscar." While it's possible the Academy Awards could go their own way and still select Comer, the odds are stacked against that happening without so much as even a nomination from the SAG Awards as well as the disgraced Golden Globes. That was bad, but things got worse for Comer when the BAFTAs announced their 2022 longlist of the 15 best performances by an actress that will be considered for the final cut, and shockingly, Comer didn't make that list either. It's almost as though The Last Duel never happened at all. Maybe it didn't. It lost money at the box office and it was in-and-out of some theaters so quickly audiences had to move fast to see it at all. I went to Rotten Tomatoes and read a bunch of reviews for The Last Duel to answer one question: Was Jodie Comer the best thing about the movie? It's not a consensus, but it's pretty damn close.

Comer is incandescent as our persecuted hero, fighting to survive in a world that treats women as literal property, and the film springs to life whenever she's on-screen. --- Radio Times

The standout is Jodie Comer. One of the central figures in the TV series Killing Eve (she was also in this year’s Free Guy), she has full command of Marguerite and makes her the moral and narrative focal point. --- Reel Views.net

Comer, who’s best known for her virtuoso assassin on the BBC series “Killing Eve,” had her own movie earlier this summer, “Free Guy.” It’s a tribute to her range that Lady Marguerite is so different from those three characters (three since in “Free Guy” she plays two). Comer doesn’t really look like anyone else in movies right now: the deep-set eyes and big cheeks, that oval face and, milky complexion. Certainly, no one can match her stare. By necessity, the third chapter, Lady Marguerite’s story, gets even more talky and expository than the first two, and that’s saying a lot. But at its heart is that stare, and that counts for a great deal. The concluding duel goes on — and on — and on. It’s also extremely violent. Yet all the sword thrusting and ax swinging and horse galloping put together are less forceful than Comer’s stare. --- The Boston Globe

…then there's Comer, a talented actress on the rise who navigates her character through an era where misogyny was ingrained in society and issues with women were "matters of property." Comer brings a quiet strength and resiliency to Marguerite, and while not every scene in her chapter rings true, the performance always does. --- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

…Marguerite transforms from a girlish bride to a savvy seductress, to a far more complicated figure, rich with aches and awareness. Comer, who has transformed over and over in her hit TV show, makes these moves with the ease of a master ballerina, holding her own against actors who’ve got much more acclaim and many more movies under their belt. --- Mashable.com

Comer gets to stretch out as an intelligent person flailing against time-forged chains. If the film had been a little more warmly received on its premiere, she would surely be guaranteed an Oscar nomination. --- The Irish Times

…rather than get lost between three big performances, Comer proves her small-screen success was no fluke, offering perhaps the most naturalistic and impactful performance in the final film. --- Austin Chronicle

Comer is the obvious star of the show, cementing herself as a true contender among her peers in bringing Marguerite's story to life. --- Looper

The key to the movie, though, is Comer, who became famous as a jaunty psychopath on AMC’s “Killing Eve” and who here plays a woman made tragically aware of how constricted life is for even the literate, high-born wife of a knight — of how Marguerite is not seen, never heard, but merely owned. (The only witness to her version of events is us.) In Comer’s subtly measured performance, what could be a didactic fable becomes flesh. --- Ty Burr’s Watch List

Comer brings nuance and complexity to a character who has a bitter fight for justice on her hands. This is a time when rape was not a crime against a woman — as she was a man’s property, it was a crime against him — and as her mother-in-law (Harriet Walter) tells her, you’re raped, you put up with it, you shut up, happened to me, happens to us all. That women have no power in this world is, perhaps, spelled out too much — can’t believe I just said that — but Comer is sensational. Her Marguerite is vulnerable yet strong, frightened but won’t be quietened. (‘I will not be silent.’) --- The Spectator

The film is set up for Comer to steal: alternately frisky, watchful and luminous, hers is the most internalised performance, and the one that most draws you in. -- Sunday Times (UK)

Comer’s performance is piercing and selfless, a crucial counterpoint to the gross self-importance of the male ensemble. Her motivation in the brutal feudal society that Scott depicts is little more than survival; even in her landed position, her freedom is limited and Jacques’ rape is viewed as a crime only because it’s considered an assault on Jean’s property. But Comer still manages to imbue Marguerite with wit and a little sauciness, making her much more than a mute victim; only when the events in question are seen through her eyes does the full weight of the story become clear. --- The Atlantic

Comer is next-level great in the film’s home stretch, with her meek exterior melting away to showcase a fiery independence and an iron-willed refusal to be silenced by the patriarchy. While Damon and Driver modulate their performances throughout the film to reflect the viewpoint of different narrators, Comer’s characterization of Marguerite is largely consistent, with each new chapter introducing additional layers and complexity. It’s truly exceptional stuff, and among the most captivating work I’ve seen this year — Damon and Driver are great, but they can’t hold a candle to Comer…despite the thrilling climax, the Rashomon-inspired storytelling and a career-best performance from Comer prove to be far more enthralling than the events that play out on the battlefield. --- The Lamplight

…the movie wouldn't be what it is without Comer: the Emmy-winning Killing Eve actress takes what could have been a bland damsel role and makes her furiously, incandescently real. Rape back then, tellingly, was considered not a sexual offense against the victim but a property crime done to her husband. "There is no right," one character admonishes early on, "only the power of men." Duel is a sprawling, lavish testament to that, and all the things done in the name of ego, king, and country. But it's a woman who brings it home. --- Entertainment Weekly

Jodie Comer makes her mark, holding the screen with a calm fire. --- Variety

The disgusting and horrific nature of the film’s rape scene is deeply affecting and will leave one incredibly disturbed way beyond the film’s end credits. This is a testament to Jodie Comer’s extraordinarily sensitive performance; she brings her all and she deserves recognition for it. For Comer, it’s all in her eyes. She says so much without even uttering a word, but when she talks, Marguerite comes across as primarily kind and smart with some added fierceness when going against the archetypal norms of medieval society. It’s undoubtedly through Comer’s performance that the film comes across as this emotionally affecting. After all, it is Marguerite’s story…Comer is the true standout. --- Movie Marker (UK)

This was a performance unworthy of award consideration? Somebody else will have to make that argument. Mine has already been made. Jodie Comer was snubbed.

#jodie comer #the last duel #marguerite de carrouges #she was robbed #strong arms #sag awards #bafta awards #this is a damn disgrace #sick joke #jodie comer snubbed

[poguesrforlife]

Young and Beautiful | Rudy Pankow - Part 3

Okay first of all I’m sorry it took me so long but here is part three finally. Honestly I don’t know how to feel about this because at first I wanted it to be a filler chapter and then I thought I couldn't let you hang like this so I just poured it all out. I still have some more ideas about where this might go but you guys tell me if this feels already finished to you. AND AS ALWAYS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! for all the love and support you give, I see you all and couldn't be more thankful xxx

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Trigger warning: alcohol, swearing, nothing too smutty, a little angst and a lot of jealousy

Word count: 3,741 word (god this is so long I’m sorry)

Y/N just got the role of her lifetime, starring beside the cast of Outer Banks in the second season as JJ’s love interest. It’s a dream come true and gets even dreamier when she meets Rudy Pankow her alleged love interest. Lines start to blur between reality and film and Y/N is left wondering if taking a leap of faith is worth risking her career.

[GIF not mine credits to owner]

Days passed and filming never stopped, neither did the thought of Rudy in your mind. It was constant, the sun rose and so did your thoughts of him, the night came and so did he in your dreams. By now you were convinced that this feeling would not go away anytime soon.

Maybe some distraction would do you good. 

“How about we go out tonight?” You proposed to the girls as you were lounging in your living room, painting toe-nails, scrolling through instagram and what-not. 

“Like out out?” Madelyne’s face lit up as she looked up from her bright yellow nail polish and passed the same expression to Madison. You nodded with a smile.

“I’d be down,” Madison agreed and sprang up from the couch in a matter of seconds.

“Oh, this is exciting! Let me call the boys,” Madelyne exclaimed and got up, waddling weirdly with her still wet toe nails to her phone on the kitchen bar.

Your face fell for a second. That was not exactly what you had in mind. You wanted a distraction from Rudy and him dancing in a sweaty club with beautiful women wouldn’t really help your current state of emotions. But you couldn’t let the girls know that. After shooting the other day they wouldn’t shut up about how one could feel the sexual tension between the two of you and you were just happy they hadn’t seen the sex scene.

“You good?” Bailey inquired as she noticed your sour face. You were quick to plaster a fake smile on your lips.

“Yeah, I’m just tired of sitting around all the time. This will do us some good!” You headed towards the bathroom to get a shower before going out and also to have a moment to yourself to prepare for tonight.

“The boys are down as well!” You heard Maddie scream from the kitchen and then she passed by you as fast as she could to look through her wardrobe. 

“Somebody is excited,” Bailey muttered beside you but joined her friend with a grin and helped her pick out something to wear. 

A couple hours later you were dressed to kill and ready to go. Even though you loved the Outer Banks clothing style, it reminded you of your hometown, it was nice to doll-up every now and then. Madison was taking pictures of you three in the big mirror besides the entry when you heard a knock on the door.

Madelyn was quick to open it and you were met with five handsome men staring back at you.

Chase escaped a whistle when he took all three of you in but you noticed how his eyes stayed on Madelyn just a bit too long. You made sure to remember asking him about it later. 

“Well, hot damn,” Rudy exclaimed as he entered the apartment and his eyes landed on the short dresses you were wearing.

“Eyes up here,” Madison warned him with a smile and pointed to her own brown ones.

“Not fair,” Austin gasped, clearly thinking you were playing with their feelings. Maybe you were. When Bailey had proposed to impress some folks tonight you at least had a special someone in mind. Who was to say the others didn’t have too?

Your eyes wandered over the boys outfits, all dressed up and looking incredibly handsome. Rudy sported a cream sweater and a cute little beige hat. You didn’t know why he would wear a hat to go clubbing but you knew he loved them. 

“Are you ready to head out then?” Drew smiled at you in his bright yellow shirt and motioned towards the door.

You piled out the door and headed downstairs to get an uber to your favourite club.

“I’m not sure if I like you in heels, Y/N. You’re almost as tall as me,” Chase pointed out as he walked behind you and took in your much taller figure.

“You’ll just have to deal with it, I guess,” You laughed and did an immaculate pirouette on your heels, something you had practiced a thousand times in your room back home.

“Would you look at her,” Madison squealed with joy as she watched your boost of confidence and joined you by linking your hands together and strutting down the sidewalk like it was a runway. 

It felt good to really feel yourself again after your uncertain emotions. Even though you noticed how a certain male’s eyes kept looking at your and your friend’s long legs, you didn’t care at the moment. You were having fun and you deserved it. 

All of you split up into several cars and then you were on your way to La Push, a vibrating ambient establishment the cast had dug out last year while filming in Charleston. The girls swore that you would have the best night out ever at that particular club.

You were not disappointed as you took in the colourful lights shining on the rustic open brick walls and the retro bar in the corner. The ages of the people were mixed all through but you could clearly see that everybody was enjoying themselves.

“Drinks?” Deion asked and nodded towards an empty table next to the bar and you all headed in the direction through the crowded area of dancing bodies.

“Milady.” Rudy offered you his hand with a posh English accent as you were about to try mastering a step in your heels. 

“Thank you, kind sir,” You smiled at him and put your hand in his and let him help you down. You couldn’t keep yourself from curtsying as he laughed at you playing along. His hand held yours tight in his as he led you to some barstools. 

“Gin Tonic with a lemon slice for the lady?” He ordered with a questioning look in your direction once the bartender got your attention. You couldn’t believe he memorised your go-to drink, as you nodded thankfully. “And a Corona for me please,” He finished and watched the bartender tend to your order.

After he payed for both of your drinks you thanked him, almost having to scream as the music was too loud, and he grabbed your hand back in his to help you down from the stool.

“Sure thing, sugar.” He gave you that unmistakable Rudy smile and once again the butterflies in your stomach began soaring. 

You had to pull yourself together. You were here to distract yourself from him not fall deeper for his charm. Although you had to admit he was not making it easy for you. 

Your other friends had ordered at the table and were ready to clink glasses once you joined them. 

“To a great night,” JD proposed and raised his glass.

“And to great friends,” You joined in and held up your own Gin Tonic.

“Hear, hear,” Austin agreed and the whole group cheered in joyous laughter as you brought your drinks to the middle. You greeted the familiar taste of the alcohol with open arms and enjoyed the light burning you were quite used to by now. 

Once you set your glass back on the table, Bailey raised a brow at your already half empty glass and you simply shrugged your shoulders. You needed to let loose tonight. 

“Dance with me,” You screamed over the music and grabbed her hand and your drink and made your way towards the dance floor.

Madison was the best dancer you knew and she proved it to you once again after some R&B music started playing. Your hips were shaking, your arms wildly flailing around and your feet shuffling over the floor as you downed your glass quickly. You already felt slightly buzzed, maybe you should have eaten more before going out. 

Jonathan joined the two of you quickly, just as good a dancer as your dear curly friend, and together they stole the show. You watched in awe as they moved to the music so carelessly and were a bit jealous at their easy-going nature. 

“C’mon Y/N, show me what you got!” Drew encouraged you suddenly from beside you with an outstretched hand. You slipped closer to him and swayed your hips as he twirled you around in his arms and laughed as he dipped you back. Maybe the distraction would work after all. You didn’t know for how long the both of you danced but you felt absolutely weightless. 

“I’m impressed Starkey,” You admitted as he flew with you over the dance floor, not once missing the beat. 

“Could say the same about you Y/L/N but I had a feeling you would be a good dancer,” He smirked and turned you around so your back was pressed against his chest and let his hands wander to your hips. 

At this point you were on your third drink, a bit too intoxicated, and not quite sure if this scenario would play out well. Drew was the perfect gentleman and absolutely sweet and handsome. You liked him a lot but… But he wasn’t Rudy. His hands on your body didn’t feel like a wildfire and his scent didn’t drive you crazy and his smile did not make your head spin. You cursed yourself for these thoughts. 

You looked up, your eyes roaming the club for a certain blond head of hair. You noticed Chase and Maddy dancing intimately with each other in one corner but chose to ignore it, you had a different mission. 

“I’ll be right back,” You told Drew with an apologetic smile as you turned to look at him and he looked confused for a second. “I’m just going to the bathroom.”

“Be careful in here, it’s better if you don’t go by yourself,” He reminded you, always the protective type, and looked out over the club probably searching for Bailey.

“I’ll be fine,” You reassured him with a pad on the chest and slipped out of his embrace towards the restrooms.

On your way there you finally found your man of the hour. To your amusement Rudy was dancing with an elderly woman to some pop song and looked like he was having the time of his life. You felt the corners of your mouth lifting as you took in the scene. 

You slipped into the restroom to freshen up as your eyes met the mirror. The carefully applied makeup from Madison was smeared under your eyes, your lipstick long gone and your hair was basically a mess. But despite all you looked happy, you looked alive. You quickly touched up your appearance and rejoined the others. 

As soon as you stepped out however you were met with quite the unpleasant sight. There was a beautiful woman next to Rudy, one arm on his biceps as she leaned forwards to say something to him. It shouldn’t bother you, you knew that he was an attractive man with many qualities. But as his hand rested on her waist your throat tightened and you felt embarrassment deep in your bones. Of course he didn’t want you the same way you did. It was just acting and you were friends, it didn’t mean anything. But it had meant something, to you anyways. And that’s what you got for giving into your feelings. You watched them laughing together, inching closer to each other each second and your heart burned in pain. 

You turned around stumbling to your table as you tried to suppress the tears welling in your eyes. How could you have been so stupid? It was a stupid crush nothing more. 

Drew’s eyes lit up as you made your way towards his sitting figure at the table next to some of your friends. You had two choices here: Going home now and giving in to your stupid irrational feelings and ruining your night. Or doing what you were here for and distract yourself with a fucking good time. The answer came to you immediately.

“I don’t know about you guys but I was thinking about some tequila!” You proposed with a big fake smile as you looked at your friends and the others cheered in chorus.

“A round of tequila shots for the table please,” Chase told the waiter and soon enough salt, limes and shot glasses filled to the brim with the transparent liquid were brought to you.

“Cheers bitches!” You clinked glasses, licked up the salt on your hand, downed the shot of the devil’s brew and bit in the sour lime and laughed at the faces the others made after finishing their own shots.

You were having a good time tonight, even if it took killing your mind to do so. Which seemed to be the only option after another round of shots and some more Gin Tonics and you still felt like shit every time your eyes met Rudy’s figure. The girl from before was long gone but you couldn’t help but feel betrayed. How did he not see that you were obviously hooked on him? 

He came back to your table were everybody was laughing and having a good time, everyone except you it seemed.

“Are you alright?” He asked and plopped down beside you, throwing his arm over the couch behind you.

“Just peachy,” You heard the slurring in your voice yourself not as clear as you wanted it to be and cringed a bit. But just because you were drunk that didn’t mean you had a problem. You were fine.

“How much did you have to drink?” He inquired concerned and you saw his forehead wrinkle. Your hand automatically reached out to brush his worry away.

“What’s it to you, sugar?” You deliberately used the nickname he had given you before and you actually saw a smirk on his face as you drew your hand away from his forehead, the sour expression gone.

“I think it’s better if I take you home,” He laughed when you fell back against the couch trying to look mad at him.

“I can take myself home, thank you very much,” You argued, your words still a bit slurred. He could take the fucking girl from before home for all you cared. He hadn’t spoken to you all night and suddenly he wanted to take care of you. That’s not how that shit worked.

“Besides,” You interrupted him as he was about to say something else, “You didn’t dance with me all night. I really wanted to dance with you,” You pouted and cursed yourself a second after you registered what slipped out your mouth. Your eyes widened and you sat back up. Maybe you had an alcohol problem after all.

“Then dance with me, sugar.” Your head whipped around as soon as you heard him. He leaned back against the couch, an easy smirk playing on his lips as he eyed your figure. He never looked sexier to you.

“Let’s go then!” You jumped from the table, a bit too fast and swaying a bit, but you had to prove something to yourself. You could easily be friends with Rudy without any sexual tension. You just had to separate him from your roles in your head.

His arm sneaked around your waist seconds after and he pulled you down towards the dance floor, making sure you didn’t miss any steps like before. The feeling of his hand around you drove you insane so you grabbed it and shove it away with a grin. You were perfectly capable of walking by yourself. He just laughed and shook his head at your swaying figure. You were not sure what exactly was so funny to him in this moment. 

His hands however found yours again quickly as he held them and twirled you around carefully, pushing and pulling you every which way. You absolutely adored him but you needed distance. God, why had you willingly agreed to dance with him? Well, it had been your idea but anyways. 

You were glad when a faster song by Lizzo started and you entangled yourself from him to sway your hips on your own. Not many knew it but you danced a lot better when you were drunk for some reason. You were a lot less uptight and celebrated every body part of yours with free flowing moves. Rudy obviously enjoyed your newfound confidence as he mirrored your carelessness to the beat and cheered for you. The both of you were singing along to the music, jumping up and down and shimmying back and forth, having the time of your life. At one point you stole his head and put it on yourself, convinced that you looked irresistible with it but Rudy just laughed and got it back before throwing to your table where Austin caught it with a grin.

“Have I told you how good you look tonight?” He screamed over the music as he pushed himself closer to your body. His scent invaded your space and you immediately forgot why you had wanted distance from him in the first place.

“Tell me again,” You giggled and got closer to him as well. The songs changed again, something more sultry and slower, maybe the Weeknd or Miguel you weren’t sure as your attention was directed at yet another man.

“You look absolutely radiant,” He breathed and his alcoholic breath mingled with yours that’s how close you were.

Rudy’s hands found your waist again and this time you didn’t push him away. The opposite, you rested your hands on his broad chest, feeling his fast beating heart under your right hand. He pulled you closer as you were obviously giving in to him and swayed his hips against yours, the movement making your head spin.

“Are you drunk?” You asked him. You needed him to be sober so at least one of you would remember this moment tomorrow after everything else faded away. You needed him to remember how your bodies felt pressed together in this moment. How your hearts were beating in synch to the bass rocking through you. 

“Absolutely intoxicated,” He answered with a straight, sexy voice. He didn’t sound drunk to you but his words proved you different. 

“Maybe we should-“ You stopped mid sentence as you pulled back and saw his hungry eyes directed at your lips. Whatever you wanted to say left your senses in that very second.

“…stop?” Rudy finished your sentence questioning but not making any moves to stop any of this, whatever this was. “I don’t ever want to stop. I just wanna spend forever getting high off what it feels like to be around you.”

Your breath caught at his words and your eyes slipped from his lips to his blue eyes, illuminated by the club lights occasionally. You saw the hunger in them, the unmistakable lust that was a hundred percent mirrored in your own y/e/c eyes.

He described perfectly what if felt like to be around him, like you were high, intoxicated by him. And that feeling, you never wanted it to end. 

“I’m drunk…” You told him but let out the ‘on you’ part that definitely was a part of this sentence.

“I know, me too. And I know we shouldn’t do anything that we might regret tomorrow,” He took a deep breath and one of his hands cupped your face. “But I can’t stay away from you any longer.”

“I feel the same,” You admitted and bit your lip to keep a smile from showing on your face. But it didn’t matter as Rudy’s lips moved into a grin.

“If two people can’t stay away from each other, maybe they aren’t supposed to.” You nearly groaned at his annoying habit of always being able to say the perfect thing at the right time. 

You moved closer to him, your arms slung around his neck and your hips still slowly moving to the music. Your eyelids dropped as your mouth longed for his, feeling his breath on your lips.

Unexpectedly soft his mouth landed on yours, so different from the kisses you shared on set. His lips slowly moved with yours, taking his time to get used to the feeling. And even though the heat from the other times lacked it was no less passionate. You poured every fibre of your being into kissing him and really feeling him. He tasted like tequila and forbidden dreams and if you weren’t drunk before, you definitely were now.

Rudy became more needy as the kiss went on, his lips moving faster and his hands pulling you closer against him. When his teeth caught your lower lip you were done for. Without any regard for reason you gave into him. His tongue slipped into your mouth battling with yours for dominance. Your mouths bumped clumsily against each other as you were smiling into the kiss, teeth biting here and there occasionally but you couldn’t care less. You had waited for this for too long to show any signs of hesitation. After what felt like an eternity you pulled apart, breathing heavily. Your eyes locked and it felt like ecstasy was coursing through your veins.

“There you are! We’ve been looking for you for at least an hour.” You were thrown into ice-cold water as JD’s voice pulled you back into reality. You looked at him, the rest of your friends heading towards the door. Rudy and you shuffled apart awkwardly and fixed yourself a little. Your short dress had ridden up and his hair was all over the place.

“C’mon guys, we’re leaving!” Chase shouted from afar.

Your eyes wandered to Rudy, a content smile lying on his swollen lips as he stared at the floor. His hand slipped around yours and he pulled you after him, walking backwards so he could look at you.

“Our little secret,” He said with a wink and cupped your cheek in his other hand, before pecking your lips once again secretly and then following the others outside and to the Ubers taking you back to your flats.

You were still not fully understanding what had just happened, if it was all a feverish dream caused by the alcohol. But every time you thought that this could only be in your imagination Rudy’s hand on your thigh or around your waist pulled you back into reality. This was no longer part of a role, this was real life. And you would enjoy every second of it.

Tags: @lovelymaybankk @sspidermanss @1d5sosddl @arthiriticcricket @teamnick @lieswithoutfairytales @styles-xoxo @normatural @k-k0129 @mileven-reddie @perfektionsmakel @1-800-imagines @http-cherries @golden-eroda @outofstyles13 @jj-maybank-stan @fandom-phaser @hopelesswritingxd @teenwaywardasgardian @poguecollins @jjswhore @xpastel-kawaiix @styles-edward-harry @rollinsstuff @obx-baby @masintahin @floretsoleil @ivebeenthinkingboutu @fandomxreaders @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch @pookie-cleary @kiarascarreras @runway-to-my-aid @saturnspack @sunshinemadds @hucklebaefinn @baileythepenguin @spider6oy @whoreforouterbanks​ @diego-klaus-hargreeves​

(I hope I didn’t miss anyone! If you’re not on here but would like to be send me a quick message xx)

#outer banks #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks netflix #outer banks imagine #rudy pankow #rudy pankow fanfiction #rudy pankow imagine #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow smut #rudy pankow fic #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank fanfiction #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank fic #by poguesrforlife

[adonaimysaviour]

Perfect through suffering - Heb 2:10

Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering.

I heard of a mother who brought into her home as a companion to her own son, a crippled boy who was also a hunchback. She had warned her boy to be very careful in his relations to him, and not to touch the sensitive part of his life but go right on playing with him as if he were an ordinary boy. She listened to her son as they were playing; and after a few minutes he said to his companion: “Do you know what you have got on your back?” The little hunchback was embarrassed, and he hesitated a moment. The boy said: “It is the box in which your wings are; and some day God is going to cut it open, and then you will fly away and be an angel.”

Some day, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and moulding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. —Cortland Myers

Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. … To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation. —Austin Phelps

“By the thorn road and no other is the mount of vision won.”

[outerbankspreferences]

50 Wordless Ways to Say I Love You

Word Count: 2575

MASTERLIST SERIES MASTERLIST

Warnings: TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of sexual assault but I don’t go into detail in case that makes you uncomfortable.

#14 Calming them down when they have a bad dream

 It was like clockwork lately. You would go to bed and then wake up in the middle of the night scared. You were starting to scare you boyfriend Drew, who would always calm you down. Sometime the two of you wouldn’t even go back to bed, you would just stay up talking to each other. He didn’t mind doing that because he knew it would calm you down

It all started when you got a job working as the shows on call medic. Drew didn’t want to spend time away from you, and you were stuck looking for a new job so it would just make sense that you would start working for the show. It was simple, if someone got hurt or injured you would help them out and decided if they needed to go the hospital or not.

 You loved the job at first; you always got to see your boyfriend and his friends, everyone seemed nice. Of course, until you met Daniel. He was a film student from the college getting some experience and he took a liking to you day one. Everyone on set knew you and Drew were dating, and if they didn’t, they knew you guys had a thing for each other.

 It was great because most people would just leave you alone, too afraid of Drew saying something to them. Of course, everyone was nice, but you were shy and had a hard time being outgoing. When you got the job, Drew helped you set your trailer up (that was full of medical supplies) and introduced you to everyone you hadn’t met.

 The first time Daniel tried anything with you, Drew walked in and cut it off. He was subtle about it, not wanting to be too rude in case Daniel didn’t get the memo that you were his girlfriend. He was trying to ask you out on a date, and Drew overheard everything happening. He also knew that you were too nice to turn him down, and that you are probably uncomfortable. Drew came up behind you wrapping his arms around your waist kissing your shoulder. “Nice to see you’ve met my girlfriend Daniel.” Drew spoke looking right at him standing all most a foot taller than the camera man. “Yeah, I did, -uh I was actually just going to get something to eat, I’ll talk to you later Y/N” Daniel stammered out, cringing at the awkward moment. You turn around to look at your boyfriend, “thanks for saving me their babe. I never know what to say I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but there’s something weird about him” You spoke snuggling into Drew as you walk back to his trailer. “Yeah, Maddie uses to go to high school with him, she said he was a total douche.” He explained in hushed tone, so no one could hear him. That was the last time you guys ever spoke about him.

 Everything was going fine, Daniel would flirt with you when Drew wasn’t there, but you never said anything to ether of them not wanting to start something. It started out as subtle, he would injure himself and come see you, which made sense it was your job. Soon enough though he was stopping by all the time, normally when he knew that Drew would be busy filming about couldn’t interrupt you two. It always made you uncomfortable so you would spend more time with other people.

 One time you had to finish some inventory and order more stuff when Daniel stopped by. “Hey Y/N, what’s going on?” He asked walking right in not knocking, even though there was a sign on the door to knock. “Oh, hey I’m just trying to finish up this inventory list.” You say turning the music you were listening to off. “I can help if you want, what needs to be done?” He offers taking the list right out of your hand.

 “That’s okay, I can handle it’s kind of hard to do if you don’t know what the stuff is anyways.” You explain trying to get the list back from him, but he held it above his head. Even though he wasn’t as tall as Drew, he was tall enough that you couldn’t reach the paper.

 “Come Y/N, I know what this stuff is, plus we can get it done faster and then go for lunch together.” He suggested, cornering you into the small desk you had. “I can’t Daniel, I have lunch plans with Drew. He should be coming by anytime.” You say hoping that he takes the hint and leave. You couldn’t believe he couldn’t tell how uncomfortable you were right now. “Oh, come one Y/N/N, why do you stick around with him? Because he got you this job. You deserve someone who is going to treat you right.” He said using your nickname, it made you cringe.

 “I’m not with him because he got me this job. I’m with him because I love him. No if you don’t go, I’m going to call security, and I really don’t want to cause any problems.” You spoke trying to be firm, but it came out shaky.

 Daniel looked down and laughed at you. “Are you kidding me? Go ahead love, see who will hear you. You’re going to wish you hadn’t been such a bitch with me when I’m done with you.” He spoke as he pushed you on the desk, kissing down you neck. You try to scream but he just stuffs his sweaty bandana in your mouth. “Oh, don’t worry about your boyfriend, they’re all out on the boats filming. Dumbasses really thought I got seasick, maybe I should be an actor.” You drowned out everything that was happening. You tried to fight him off, but it was useless. He was much stronger than you.

 When he was done, he left you there laying on the table. You were trying to calm yourself down, you were so embarrassed about what happened. You got into the shower that was attached to your trailer, scrubbing your skin until it turned red. Daniel was smart and didn’t leave any physical marks on you, which you were happy about because you didn’t know how you would hide something like this from Drew. You didn’t want him to think you cheated on him and leave. You decided to keep it a secret but went home early claiming you weren’t feeling well.

 The next couple of days you were quiet, and Drew noticed the change but just brushed it off to you not feeling well. You hadn’t been at work, not even getting out of bed. Once Drew left for work in the morning you would cry until he got home and made sure to shower before he got there so he didn’t know. That’s when the nightmares started. You would wake up in the middle of the night to a cold sweat and your boyfriend sound asleep beside.

 Drew would wake up too. He would feel you jump awake, and then get up to the bathroom. Once you came back to bed, he would try to cuddle you, but you would flinch away. Almost like you feared his touch. He was falling asleep on set a lot and his friends notice. Austin in particular notice that you hadn’t been around much lately, which was extremely unusual and decided to talk to Drew about.

 “Hey, is everything okay man?” Austin asked his best friend as they were walking to film a seen with their characters. “Uh, yeah-yeah why?” Drew responded not looking at Austin. They had been best friends since the start of filming last year and he knew he couldn’t hide anything from him. “Oh no reason. I just notice that you seem tired lately and Y/N hasn’t been at work for almost a week. Is everything okay with you two?” Austin didn’t want to pry if it was something Drew didn’t want to share with him right now.

 “I don’t know man; she says she sick, but she stays home and cries. I don’t know how to talk to her about it. I bring it up and she says everything is fine, and she’s been waking up in the middle of the night. I haven’t gotten a half decent night sleep in over a week. I’m worried about her man.” Drew explained, trying not to get upset.

 “Maybe you should just sit her down and talk to her, you don’t think she cheated, do you?” Austin questioned, though he knew how much you loved Drew, he saw it firsthand being roommates with him. “I don’t think so, we’re always together when would she have time. Plus, Y/N’s too shy to cheat.” Drew defended you. “I think you need to talk to her, why don’t you leave early today, once we’re done filming?” Austin suggested trying to put his friend’s mind at ease.

 That was exactly what Drew did. He left work early, normally they would stay and find out what they were filming tomorrow, but Austin told him he would text him later and give him the information. Drew stopped at your favorite flower shop and got you some sunflowers. He also picked up something to eat on his way home.

 You had decided to try and take a nap considering you hadn’t slept well in over a week. When Drew got home, he called out to you but when he got no answer, he assumed you were laying down. He put everything down in the kitchen and went to the living room to see if you were there. He heard you start to scream from the bedroom. When he rushed in, you were flailing around. “Stop, stop, please leave me alone” He couldn’t understand who you were talking to, but scooped you up in his arms holding you tight to him. You woke up screaming and held onto him tighter. “Shh baby it’s just me. It’s Drew, calm down, you’re okay love. You’re safe. It was just a dream” He spoke quietly, trying to calm you down. Rubbing small circles on your back. He could feel your heart racing against his chest, and he was trying to stay calm for you, but he was terrified. He had never heard someone scream like that.

 Once he was sure you had calmed down, he took your face in his hand, looking you over. “Love, please tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been having these nightmares, and you’ve been crying all the time. I’m worried about you.” He spoke softly not wanting to scare you. You debated lying to him for a minute, telling him it was just a bad dream and you were fine, but he could read you like an open book. “Promise you won’t be mad at me?” You asked, and he shook his head yes. You explained everything that had happened with Daniel. It took a while for you to explain it all having to stop so you could cry and then recollect yourself. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you Drew, I just didn’t want to start any drama, and I didn’t think anyone was going to believe me.” You spoke not able to look him in the eyes. Drew was beyond angry; how could he not know someone took advantage of you. He was seeing red, and all he wanted to do was kill Daniel for ever laying a hand on you. “I would understand if you don’t want to be with me anymore.” You spoke, not even sure if he heard you. He looked down at your broken frame. You looked so tired. “I would never leave you Y/N. This was not your fault. I wish you would have come to me sooner. I would have done something. I am going to do something; I’m going to kill him. I can’t believe he would ever do something like that.” Drew started to ramble on getting up to start pacing. “No please Drew, don’t get yourself in trouble. It’s not worth it, I’m not worth losing your job over or worse going to jail.” You say standing up and rubbing his shoulders. “Will you talk to Shannon or Jonas about it? Maybe they can get him fired, we won’t go to the police if you don’t want too. Even though I think you should.” Drew asked. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He said holding your hands in his kissing them lightly.

 You had reluctantly agreed to talk to Shannon and Jonas if Drew was there with you. They were as angry as him. They felt terrible they ever let Daniel on set. “We’ll bring him in today and let him go. Y/N are you going to the police about this?” Jonas asked you. “I don’t want to make a fuss about things.” You spoke looking down at your hands, rubbing your thumb nail, a nervous habit of yours. Drew took your hands in his pulling them into his lap. “I told she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, as long as she came to you guys.” He spoke up. “Y/N I can’t imagine how hard this is, but if you don’t speak up, he’s going to go somewhere else and do this to some other girl. Some girls that don’t have the support system that you do.” Shannon said looking at you “I really think you should go to the police.”

 You sat there thinking for a moment. She was right. If you didn’t speak up Daniel would just do this again. “I’ll go to the police, but I don’t want to be here when he gets fired.” You spoke quietly looking up at the ceiling blinking away the tears. “We’ll give Drew the rest of the week off, and you guys can go out the back way. We’ll make sure your gone when we give him the news.” Jonas spoke looking at Drew. Before you guys left Shannon gave you a hug and told you if you needed anything to let them know. Drew walked you back to the car opening the door for and the walking to the driver’s side.

 Once he shut his door and you guys were in the safety of the car you broke down. “I’m so sorry Drew, I never met to cause all this drama. Now I’m ruining the film schedule. I never met for all this to happen.” You spoke between sobs and hiccups. Drew pulled you across the console and into his arms. “Oh no baby, none of this is your fault. No one is mad at you. Everyone is here to support you.” He spoke gently rubbing your arm. “I can’t go to the police today Drew. I’ll go tomorrow, but I can’t go today.” You say to him cuddling further into him. “That’s okay love, why don’t we go home and get some sleep, okay?” He says, as you climb back to the passenger seat. “Yes please, I just want to sleep.” You say as he turns on the radio and pulls out of the parking lot. Drew held your hand as he drove, and when he looked over you were already asleep. You guys would go to the police in the morning, but right now his only concern was keeping you safe and never letting someone hurt you ever again.

TAG LIST: @lemur46 @fttayla @drewstarkeysbitchh

#drew starkey #drew outerbanks #drew starkey blurb #drew imagine #drew-starkey-imagine #drew starkey x reader #drew starkey x you #50wordlesswaystosayiloveyou #outer banks #outer banks drew starkey #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron x reader

[i-am-too-sick]

Sick Days, Day 2: Cold

In retrospect, he never should have gone in alone.

Ignoring the fact that he couldn't swim very well, Will's decision had been risky at best.

But he'd seen the camper fall into the lake, and even after a few moments, they hadn't resurfaced for air.

Will tore across the field, not even thinking as he leapt into the water, executing a decent dive.

He paddled across the water, reaching the little girl as she started to sink. She was conscious, flailing her arms wildly as she struggled to stay above the water's surface.

Will grabbed at her, wrapping an arm around her waist so he could paddle them awkwardly to shore.

But the moment the girl realized she was being saved, she panicked. She wrapped her arms and legs around Will, frantically trying to use him to climb above the water's edge.

Will gasped, taking in a huge mouthful of air. He couldn't very well swim and fight off this girl at the same time. He kicked his legs and waved his arms, desperate to keep them both afloat.

The little girl made things difficult. She wanted to live more than she wanted Will to rescue her. In her frenzy, she pushed them both under water.

The struggle went on longer than Will could remember. He couldn't save her if she seemed Hades-bent on drowning them both.

He was sinking fast as a stone, his clothes weighing him down, the girl pushing him down further in her struggle to save herself.

Will got tired of fighting. The water was cold, and he quickly lost feeling in his fingers. He couldn't grasp at the little girl anymore, he couldn't feel as he tried to scoop at the water and propel himself.

At some point he started to go under, slowly, like he was sinking in a pit of molasses. The water was clear and he could see the sunlight shining brightly overhead, rippling over the tops of the waves.

The girl was getting higher, or Will was sinking further and further into the depths. It was growing dark, the sunlight getting farther and farther away...

Nico dove into the water, making a beeline towards Will, scooping his arms around him, and propelling them both toward the surface in one fluid motion.

Will was limp in his arms, his body slack even as Nico dragged him to shore. Someone had grabbed the girl too, but if he was being honest, Nico didn't really care right now.

"Come on, Will, come on," Nico said, shaking him.

Will was unresponsive, his head flopping as Nico continued to shake him. He looked—no, Nico wouldn't admit that.

"Will!"

Maybe Nico shook him too hard, or maybe the gods were looking out for them, but suddenly something happened.

Will's shoulders rippled, his chest spasming as he coughed, vomiting a large mouthful of water. He coughed, more water spurting from his lips.

His eyes fluttered open as he choked up the last of the water. His breathing was a little ragged and he was still coughing.

Nico hovered over him, a watery smile on his face. "Thank the gods!" He wanted to scoop him up into a hug, but the blond still looked a little disoriented.

"The girl...?"

"She's been rescued," Nico said. "Austin took her to the infirmary. She's okay." He smiled sympathetically. "How're you doing? Anything hurt?"

Will looked tired, the strain of the last several minutes taking a toll on his body. "'M cold," he sighed, closing his eyes.

Nico chuckled weakly. "I bet you're exhausted." He shook Will's shoulder, afraid the other was going to fall asleep. "Let's get you to the infirmary too, and Kayla can give you a check up."

Will agreed without complaint.

#will solace #nico di angelo #solangleo #percy jackson and the olympians #whump #near drowning #emetophilia #sick days 6 #sick days #my fiction #heroes of olympus

[ocsongthesoulsinger]

Raw Brilliance Media

Let Love Shine is so fitting a song at this time in my life. Stepping outside of your normal habits and movements in your life can be scary and overwhelming.

Reaching out and connecting with other people, and sharing your creative ideas can also be a bit overwhelming. In 2017 I began re-thinking my approach in my music career. A different way as an independent woman in music I mean. After years of flailing around and wondering why I wasn’t moving in the way that I wished, it would seem obvious to some to just quit.

However, I could not quit. This is the breath in my lungs. The beat in my heart. But, I was getting tired and jaded. When I had a conversation with a friend about work and needing money, she invited me to work down in El Paso,Texas.

It was one of the most grueling jobs I’ve ever had. Literally working 15 hours a day not including the 30 min ride to and from the worksite. However, I learned a ton of lessons in that 4 month stint. Here’s at least ten things off the top of my head:

1. Music is part of who I am. No matter where I go music somehow gets involved.

2. Amazing people are everywhere. You have to just speak and listen to them.

3. If you can work 15 hours a day 21 days straight for someone, then you can certainly apply the same energy and time to your dreams and passion, in my case music.

4. If you decide to do it and then just begin, the rest will come.

5. I did not have 15 years experience in the music business, but instead I repeated the same year about 12 times and really only had about 3 solid years experience in the biz. I have a lot to learn.

6. I wasn’t really hustling correctly, I was “burning calories” as a friend of mine once said to me.

7. Not everyone wants to see you succeed.

8. If you believe it will happen, it often does.

9. What is for you NO ONE can block.

10. Never let a person change your spirit.

These lessons and a few others that I learned seem simple and common sense, but that wasn’t the case for me. I am an emotional empath and I move by “feeling”. Often I just want to “feel” good, and therefore would follow what felt good, instead of what was actually good for me. I lacked focus on one initiative, and entertained many ideas long enough to be disappointed by them. I would then go back to whatever I thought was the best course of action.

Throughout my career two things remain true and haven’t changed. One I knew I wanted to write and sing my own lyrics and story. Two I wanted to create high art, not just bubble gum music. Two simple ideas that thrust me into a world of confusion. That is a story for a later date.

Anyway, while I was in El Paso, TX working with the children from South America crossing into America, I met many wonderful people. One of those very special persons I met was Jeremy Johnson AKA Mansa_JK. You would never have known that this young man was a filmmaker in the making by just looking at him. His job was 12 hours of picking up trash in our tent city of 2,000 people. Quite a job! It was July and temperatures started at 98 and went up to 108 for 2 months straight. We chatted many times while I served him coffee and I told him I would shoot my own music videos. He didn’t laugh. He asked me how I planned to do it.

For weeks I told him all of my ideas. Showed him my sample shots my framing etc. And then one day he said I will help you. I was so geeked, and couldn’t wait to contact him when I got back to San Marcos, cause he lives in Austin! It was kizmit!

Here we are 3 years later and he is working on our third video together. Turns out he is UBER talented and has a lot to offer. When he told me the name of his company “Raw Brilliance Media” it seemed ordained by God and the Universe because his talent is RAW and Brilliant.

On this video I let go. I am relinquishing a little of my crazy creative control. Part of my evolution and growth as an artist. I see this next music video as a real beginning to something awesome.

This is my last year in the 40’s. When I was younger I thought 40 was the beginning of the end, and 50 was the end of young life. Now I see 50 as my beginning and the 49 years before as the lessons and stories that have been given to me to tell through music. God willing I will prepare for my 50 th birthday (July 1, 2021) this year by working on me and doing things I would never do. I will

LET LOVE SHINE

Thank you @MansaJK

#OcSong

#Shooting

#JeremyJohnson

#RawBrillianceMedia

#LetLoveShine

#NewBeginnings

#WomenInMusic

#IndieArtist

#SongWilliamson

#ComingSoon

#NewMusicVideo

#DontStop

[soberqueerinthewild]

So you guys all know that @jumbled-nonsense is the best! I just realized it was her birthday today, and had to do something to celebrate! Maura and I first started talking because she posted on discord that she was starting Red, White, and Royal Blue, so I busted into her DMs demanding that she flail at me while she read it. She did and it was the best, and we’ve been flailing about things to each  other ever since! So in honor of her birthday, here is a brief Red, White, and Royal Blue fic I wrote in about two hours this morning (which, if you know me is astounding because usually it takes me like a month to write anything). It has not been beta’d or you know, edited or anything. It’s Liam’s POV of the phone call Alex makes to him as he’s going through his bisexual awakening. Hope you enjoy and don’t get too distracted by typos and grammatical errors! 

***

“Babe, staring at the kitchen door isn’t gonna make your food come any faster. We ordered like five minutes ago. You’re gonna have to have at least a modicum or patience. You will not, in fact, starve to death.” 

Liam groans in agreement and frustration, forced to acknowledge the objective truth of his boyfriend’s statement. The downside to his favorite brunch spot in Austin is that it is annoyingly popular. To avoid the line you had to show up early. He and Spencer had gotten, well, rather enjoyably distracted this morning, meaning that by the time they got there, the line was halfway up the block, and by the time they were seated it was very firmly in the range of lunch time, rather than brunch and Liam is fucking starving. 

To distract himself, he pulls his gaze back to Spencer’s handsome face. It’s no hardship really. It’s been a year, but it still amazes him sometimes that he gets to have this. Not just a hot boyfriend, but one who will grab his hand across the table and press a kiss to his palm. Who gazes at him with open adoration, even when he’s being fidgety and annoying because he’s two seconds away from gnawing off his own hand if they don’t get food soon. He smiles back at Spencer, squeezing his hand across the table. 

There had been a time, in the not so distant past, where he thought he might be facing a grim future of furtive handjobs with “no-homo” disclaimers tossed off as soon as the orgasm glow faded. Fear of his parents’ disapproval had kept him closeted far too long, and he’d found out and proud guys were unlikely to want to step in there with him for long, so he’d played it safe through the first two years of college with guys like him, who were fiercely clinging to denial. 

Of course, denial had been kind of futile for Liam. It was tough to convince himself he was straight when the catalyst for his gay awakening popped up not infrequently on the news and seemed to grace the cover of half the tabloids in the supermarket. 

Though he’d deny it if ever confronted, Liam bought nearly every one he saw during President Claremont’s first year in office. He tried to convince himself it was idle curiosity. His high school best friend was the first son of the United States! It was weird! He just wanted to know what he was up to. Of course, he could’ve answered Alex’s calls instead or responded to his oblivious texts with more than one word if that was what he actually wanted. But nope, embarrassingly enough, he knew he was really searching for any hint, or even the most subtle suggestion of a gay rumor. It was frankly shocking that he hadn’t found one. He’d seen stories intimating drug use, orgies, unexpected pregnancies with movie stars Liam’s fairly certain Alex had never even met, but not even a single tabloid story questioning the first son’s sexuality. 

Liam wasn’t sure why it felt important to him to have some confirmation, however flimsy, that Alex wasn’t entirely straight. Liam knew that there existed mostly straight guys who’d accept a “helping hand” if they were horny enough. Maybe it truly had been experimentation for Alex, quickly cast aside in favor of Nora Halleron’s curves. But Alex hadn’t kissed him like a guy experimenting. A handjob could be explained away, but making out with another guy for an hour? That wasn’t straight guy behavior, no matter what Liam had himself insisted at the time. It just didn’t make sense. 

Liam supposes Alex could be bisexual but closeted. Liam hadn’t come out until roughly two years ago, even though he’d known he was gay for much longer than that. With being in the spotlight and the political ramifications, it was the most obvious explanation for Alex’s behavior, but Alex just didn’t strike him as the closeted type. He was all chaotic energy and fierce moral certitude, a combination that would have made staying closeted for three years all but impossible. Alex was politically savvy no doubt, and would’ve likely created a 25 point plan for managing any political fallout, if his recklessness hadn’t forced the issue first, but Liam can’t imagine him letting fear keep him quiet for that long, especially as Liam is sure his mom would’ve supported him in coming out if he’d really wanted to. It was a conundrum. 

Liam’s not sure why Alex is on his mind today. He had decided long ago that attempting to maintain a friendship with Alex was not conducive to his sanity or from moving forward in a healthy relationship. He hasn’t spoken to him in over a year. Alex seemingly got the hint that Liam didn’t want to maintain contact and hadn’t even reached out via text in nearly that long. When they’d become serious, he’d told Spencer pieces of the story. The emotionally important parts anyways: that Liam and Alex has been best friends and Liam had crushed hard. He hadn’t told the rest until recently, when he’d been sure he could count on his absolute discretion. He certainly doesn’t want to be part of a tabloid story either. Spencer had been sympathetic, “crushing on your likely straight best friend” is practically a right of passage for queer people, but he’d also been kind of hilariously star struck, due to his fierce love of both President Claremont’s policies and her impeccable style. Spencer had commented on both when they had seen a re-election ad last night on TV. Maybe it was that ad that had put Alex back in his thoughts. 

Or, maybe it was some kind of premonition, he thinks as he watches his phone buzzing on the table, frozen in shock as he stares down at the caller ID wondering if he’s actually in some weird fucked up dream.

“Babe, your phone is ringing.” Spencer’s voice breaks through his reverie convincing Liam that this is in fact happening. 

Normally Liam wouldn’t be so rude as to answer his phone at the table, but he has no idea why Alex would be calling him after all this time. Liam is not hung up on him anymore. He loves Spencer, but there is still a weird pull to Alex that he wishes had disappeared completely. 

“I’m gonna grab this real quick, sorry. It’ll just be a minute...it’s just...I’ll explain later.” 

“Go for it.” Spencer replies, unbothered. He’s laid back about most things, and he isn’t like partners Liam’s had in the past who would leap to jealousy if they saw a call or text from another guy on his phone. It’s nice not to have to worry about that with Spencer. He is a little annoyed now that Alex is interrupting their date, but not enough not to answer the phone. For some reason he has to know why he’s calling. 

“Hello?” Liam drawls into the phone, doing his best not to sound too interested.

Alex clears his throat on the other end of the phone before stuttering, more hesitantly than Liam has ever heard him. “Uh, hey, Liam. It’s Alex.” 

Liam’s eyes nearly roll to the back of his head. “I know.” 

“How, um, how have you been?” 

Jesus Christ. They are not doing this. He does fiercely want to know why Alex is calling, but he does not have time for him to make awkward small talk for 20 minutes first. His food will get here at some point and he’s definitely not rude enough to stay long on the phone at a restaurant while on a date. Alex better cut to the damn chase or he’s hanging up the phone. 

“You wanna tell me why you’re really calling, Alex?” Liam catches Spencer’s eyes widen as he utters Alex’s name, but he doesn’t interrupt. 

“Oh.” Alex stutters again, and the nervousness is so out of character for him that Liam can’t imagine what’s got him twisted up like this. “This might sound weird. But, um. Back in high school, did we have, like, a thing? Did I miss that?”

Liam has the overwhelming urge to bang his head on the table repeatedly, but settles for just dropping it on the table once. Are they actually going to rehash this now? Four years later? 

It’s weird, he considered Alex might be closeted but he hadn’t considered full obliviousness. On the one hand it feels ridiculous, for a guy who talks LGBT policies frequently, who had an ex-girlfriend who identifies as “not straight”, who made out and got a hand job from his ex-best friend in high school, to just, not realize for four years that he wasn’t straight? Liam might’ve denied that there was anything gay about the fooling around they did in high school but he had ate least known he was full of shit. But on the other hand, it makes a weird kind of sense. Sometimes when Alex was really focused on something, it was like he had blinders on, and everything else disappeared. He wonders what the hell happened to break through the denial. It shouldn’t, but it kind of bothers Liam that he hadn’t managed to be the catalyst for whatever revelation is happening now. 

His slight annoyance at that seeps through in his tone as he bites out, “Are you seriously calling me right now to talk about this? I’m at lunch with my boyfriend.” He doesn’t know if Alex has heard through the grapevine that he came out or not. Liam’s not really on social media and he can’t think of who Alex hung out with from their high school that he’d have kept up with who would have told him. Oh well, he knows now. 

Alex’s contrite apology softens him a little. Enough to continue the conversation at least. Spencer’s done a remarkable job of not interrupting with the thousand questions he must have, and Liam takes pity on him and covers the phone with one hand to explain. “It’s Alex.” 

“Like Alex, Alex?” Spencer whispers, eyes burning with curiosity. “Your famous ex?” 

Liam rolls his eyes, he’d hardly call him an ex, but Spencer does like to tease him about it sometimes. “Yeah, him.” 

“Oh my god. I thought you hadn’t talked to him in forever? What does he want?” Liam’s grateful that Spencer is keeping his voice low. 

“I don’t know, babe.” 

Spencer gestures for him to get back to his phone call. “Well find out! I’m dying of curiosity over here!” 

Half of Liam is too, but the other half isn’t sure he wants to wade back into Alex’s dramatics when he worked so hard to escape them. But part of what had frustrated him and made it impossible for them to maintain a friendship was what he saw as Alex’s steadfast commitment to ignoring that they’d ever been more than friends, so maybe this is the conversation they need to have. But he’s gonna make Alex work for it a little. 

“What exactly are you asking me?” 

“I mean, like, we messed around, but did it, like, mean something?”

Liam again considers the merits of repeatedly banging his head on the table but settles for raking his fingers through the stubble under his jaw. It’s not like he’s never had a conversation like this. He volunteers at the LGBTQ community center that’s nearby his college and has talked a few questioning teenagers through their feelings, but Alex is an adult and Liam doesn’t have the emotional distance to be quite as patient as he usually is. He gives it a shot anyways, though. “I don’t think I can answer that question for you.” 

“Right,” Alex responds, sounding defeated. “You’re right.”

Liam takes pity on him. He’s obviously going through something and probably has few people he can talk to. Alex is dynamic and people gravitate towards him, but Liam noticed in high school that he rarely let anyone close. He never hears (or reads articles) about any enduring friendships outside of June and Nora, and, apparently long term friendship no one knew about until recently with the Prince of England. Liam is pretty that’s just PR stunt though, after that whole cake debacle, so he’s probably not confiding in Prince Henry either. 

Liam might be his only real option outside his sister and ex/best friend, so he’s willing to give Alex a few more minutes. Besides, maybe if he humors Alex a bit now, he’ll get back some of the karma points he lost when he nearly fell down laughing at the pictures of Alex lying on the floor amidst the ruined cake at the Royal Wedding. But it’s gonna have to be quick since he thinks  he sees their food finally coming out and he’s not delaying his meal or being any rider on his date than he’s already been. Alex has always responded best to bluntness anyways and if Alex really has been oblivious for all these years, a dose of reality is just what he needs. 

“Look, man. I don’t know what kind of sexual crisis you’re having right now, like, four years after it would have been useful, but well. I’m not saying what we did in high school makes you gay or bi or whatever, but I can tell you I’m gay, and that even though I acted like what we were doing wasn’t gay back then, it super was.” 

Liam sighs. He hadn’t necessarily meant for his slight annoyance at not being the catalyst for Alex’s bi awakening slip in, but oh well. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for Alex to understand a little bit about the frustrations Liam went through in high school and the years afterwards when Alex’s random texts would send his head spinning for days. Thankfully the food and drinks have arrived giving him a good reason to wrap up this conversation. 

“Does that help, Alex? My Bloody Mary is here and I need to talk to it about this phone call.” 

“Um, yeah,” Alex says. “I think so. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Liam sighs, relieved in some ways that they’ve brought a few things out in the open, but also that this conversation is over. He prepares to hang up the phone but before he can he hears Alex begin to speak again. 

“And, um. I’m sorry?” 

Liam can practically see the look on Alex’s face. It’s the one he always used to make when Liam was frustrated and annoyed with him and Alex wasn’t quite sure why. The look always made Liam cave just when he’d resolved to create some emotional distance between them in high school for his own sanity. Thank god they’ve had years of physical distance that actually let him move on. Still, the reminder of those days and those feelings of frustration bubble to the surface and he needs to be done with this call. He groans out an exasperated “Jesus Christ” and hangs up the phone before Alex can get another word in. 

Spencer, predictably, but wonderfully, looks both sympathetic and amused. Though it’s clear he’s dying to know about the other half of the conversation, he seems to know Liam needs a minute, so he just wordlessly pushes his Bloody Mary across the table, content to wait until Liam’s ready to share. Liam smiles at him, grateful for Spencer’s laid back energy and caring nature. He’s struck again by how lucky he feels to have come out the other side, to have made it through the confusion and angst of the coming out process, to be confident in who he is, and to have a healthy relationship like this one. He reaches out and covers Spencer’s hand with his own. “I love you, you know.” 

Spencer smiles indulgently. “I know. Now finish your Bloody Mary so you can tell me all about that deliciously dramatic phone call.” Liam squeezes Spencer’s hand, and does just that. 

#rwrb #rwrb fic #liam pov #for maura #not sure what this is #so sorry that i didn't really edit this

[danwhobrowses]

General Discussion: All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Part 2

This is a part 2 of a recent dump of stuff I’m talking about in regards to AEW, if you want to see my critiques and comments in hindsight about AEW Check it out on part 1 -> Here Part 2 is gonna revolve around the future, immediate and long-term, starting with the upcoming All Out PPV

All Out 2020

Criticisms about the Buy In aside, All Out still looks like a heavily stacked card, which is always a positive. I do worry a little that the Tooth and Nail match’s addition will cut into others’ time so hopefully everyone gets a good amount, but if people criticise some matches for being too short remember that fan demand insisted that the same Swole/Baker match be on the paid card rather than having a lot of time to show it for free. And as much as people criticise AEW’s women, the women’s matches are among the top 5 most anticipated matches on the card, probably only behind the tag title and world title match, isn’t that a great thing? Not to mention that the women’s title match encourages AEW/NWA relations, which really would make wrestling better if wrestlers could be more fluid in their appearances. But anyway, All Out is something I look forward to, so let’s break down some predictions? (if you’re wondering why I’m not just doing this on a podcast or something, my voice is not the dulcet flowing river of articulation my writing would imply to be, I like having time and proofing my words, plus if I talk to much my tongue swells and I stutter, stammer and suck at eye contact) So my thoughts for the full card

Predictions

The Buy In

Casino Battle Royale - Eddie Kingston. While I’d be down for Fénix, Pentagon, Archer or even a new or returning face like PAC to win, I think Kingston is the safe bet. The man talks like liquid and his match with Cody brought a lot of eyes to the product. This will continue and start new hostilities, but don’t expect anyone who has faced Moxley before to win, AEW don’t do title rematches so much.

Private Party vs Dark Order (Silver and Reynolds) - this quickly put-together match is going to Private Party, because Silver and Reynolds are enhancement tag teams still, they can win but they won’t win often. Plus the more Silver loses the more bits he’ll have with Brodie on BTE and those are gold.

Main Card

Tooth and Nail - Britt Baker, I expect the cinematic match to have shenanigans but also protect Baker in the midst of her injury recovery. While Swole has been doing the physical lifting of the feud I think having Britt lose on her return could be the wrong choice in the long run.

Dark Order vs The Nightmare Family - Dark Order, Brodie has elevated the tag team to the point where they are a big faction, and they need the big win for this. Cardona, Sky and the Natural Nightmares can take this loss too, but I’d expect QT or Dustin to take the fall for this. Bonus prediction that Tay Conti will indeed join the Dark Order with Anna Jay, leading to them beating down Brandi and Allie at ringside (setting up a women’s tag feud that’d explain why they were kept on other sides of the Deadly Draw bracket)

The Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express - This one I have Jurassic Express, it may be an upset because the Bucks are still reeling from Hangman’s betrayal, this can also lead to the Bucks being more heelish to accompany a Cleaner Kenny Omega. Keep your eye on Jungle Boy, AEW are still hot on him for good reason, this’ll be a huge scalping for Jurassic Express if they pull it off.

Broken Rules - A tough one, but I’m gonna stick with the Multifarious Matt Hardy. I don’t think he wants to end his career just yet and AEW would be foolish to let him go. Plus technically Sami is 2-0 in this feud, so it won’t hurt Sami too much to win in Hardy’s wheelhouse.

Mimosa Mayhem - Another tough one to put down the middle, I am gonna go with Orange Cassidy though. I think Jericho wants to amend the sloppy finish Cassidy’s win had and this’ll make for good comedy to see Jericho (and maybe Hager) flailing around in Mimosa

Women’s Title - I will be happy with either winning, but my heart says Shida. Mainly because I think Britt is the one who should take it from her, their last match was a banger after all. Rosa won’t look weak though, they may even have Shida challenge for the NWA women’s title down the line.

Tag Titles - FTR. That’s it, that’s all you need to know. Hangman’s head is out of the game and Kenny is becoming the Cleaner, it’s time for this schism to start properly, they’ve held it for about a year as well, it’s time.

World Title (Moxley cannot use Paradigm Shift) - It’s easy to say MJF, he is the home breed future and Moxley has had a long run defeating tougher opponents, but I am thinking that Moxley will retain. This is mainly because the odds are so stacked against him, he’ll eke out a win despite MJF’s trickery. The challenger will look fantastic to prove that he will be champion some day, but not today. Instead I think MJF will be thwarted by miscommunication, and as he hinted at during his tag match with Jurassic Express, will split from Wardlow for his ‘fatal error’. Then we’ll get Moxley vs Kingston which can be just as fantastic.

Looking to the Future So ‘looking to the future’ is not gonna all be direct consequences of All Out, some of it is just stuff I’d like to see happen, not all of it has to and my enjoyment isn’t killed from it, but certain things would make AEW better in my opinion. Business Relations So of course it’d be great to have more working relationships with other brands, AEW is already close to OWE and AAA, getting NWA on board would be a good step to establishing good relationships with ROH as well, maybe even NJPW. On the women’s side it’d be nice if they made more solid ties with Cyberfight - which has DDT Pro, TJPW and NOAH, maybe even Stardom, Sendai Girls, EVE and Ice Ribbon. More relationships would offer wrestlers not working Dynamite or Dark to perhaps represent elsewhere. In this representing it’d be great to see more outside titles being shown, it’s free advertising really. Thunder Rosa will for sure be carrying her NWA Women’s title but wouldn’t it be cool if other brand titles could be carried; Kenny carrying his AAA title with the tag titles, Cardona his Internet title, Lucha Bros their HOG and AAA Tag titles, Big Swole her Phoenix of Rise title, Moxley his NJPW US title (though I expect him to lose to KENTA soon), Rosa’s TJPW International Princess title as well and Yuka Sakazaki’s TJPW Princess of Princess Title. It may be me but seeing these titles does add an air of legitimacy to the competitors, showing how successful they are overseas while promoting other promotions. I’d also like to pitch a ‘Locked Down’ mini show or segment where AEW could show what their international talent is doing, Emi Sakura’s ChocoPro could be a light hearted segment, PAC could do some solid promos and like showing the titles, it’d expose the roster as talented. New Signings Someone just has to do good to have people ask for AEW to sign them, but in some cases it would be cool to sign them up. Of the frequent flyers right now AEW would be mad not to sign Ivelisse and Diamante, and I’ve already expressed my hopes that they sign Will Hobbs, Serpentico, Shawn Dean, Brian Pillman Jr, Kilynn King, Tay Conti, Veda Scott, Nicole Savoy/Lil’ Swole and Pineapple Pete, but it’d also be good business to at least call up Renee Paquette/Good/Young and Mauro Ranallo, even if it is for some guest appearances. Signing the likes of Danhausen, Warhorse, ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, Millie McKenzie, Laura Di Matteo, Lana Austin, Jamie Hayter, Chris Brookes, Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Mirio (if he wants to come back into wrestling) and AR Fox. This being said, this should only ease into the Second Show, where we can expose more of the current roster as well. Speaking of Which. (A Few) New Accolades With a bigger division will require more competition. Not all of them need to be titles but something to be fought for. MJF’s Diamond Ring and Cage’s FTW title can help in that matter, but I think a Trios Accolade would be next in line for AEW. This would open the door for more teams to compete; The Elite, Jurassic Express, Best Friends, SCU, Dark Order, Nightmare Family, Death Triangle etc. would still keep it competitive and open the door for more stories of faction warfare. Since this is only my thoughts I would love to see the tag division be intergender too but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. If we do move to this though PLEASE use whoever designed the world and tag belt, not the TNT belt. Faction Bolstering AEW are looking at the NJPW formula or big factions going into war or tensions with one another, which is good since it does make for lines to be written in the sand. But I think the factions can just be a little bit bigger in some places, and some are easy to add in already. Conti joins Dark Order for 2 women there, have Ivelisse and Diamante join the Inner Circle so we have full LAX (plus Ivelisse tagged with Sammy in LU), Statlander can pair with Best Friends and renew BTE’s skits of her and Orange Cassidy’s palpable sexual tension, I would also enjoy the thought of TH2 joining with Kip and Penelope just to be a faction of talented arseholes. May be the crass side of me, but I also seem to want Brian Pillman Jr to join the Gunn Club simply so we can have an entrance theme that starts ‘Someone call 911, Pillman’s got a Gunn’, Vickie Guerrero could grow her managing of Nyla to an all women ‘Las Guerreras’ faction maybe with Kilynn King, Shaul Guerrero, Abadon or someone else would be a decent move in my books but an exciting faction I can see clearly is a Moxley faction with Darby Allin and Lance Archer. Imagine having Jake the Snake taking care of all that, oh yes is that the good stuff. Future Feuds We’ll end with talking about some feuds I hope to see down the line too, even if they’re not set up already. I’ve already expressed my want for Kingston vs Moxley but another Kingston feud I see in the making is against PAC, Kingston is the man with the plan but PAC will want his Death Triangle buddies back. Speaking of, Moxley could use some bangers with Fenix and Pentagon, both are megastars. While the tag division is looking like it’ll lead to FTR vs Bucks, I think the bigger money is FTR vs Bucks vs Hangman and Kenny first, with Kenny having the Elite ties and Hangman with the FTR ties the storytelling would be ridiculously immense. This thought almost made me pick Hangman and Kenny to win at All Out...almost. I would expect a lot of title defenses from Mr. Brodie Lee, particularly from Cardona but I’d love it if Jungle Boy was the one to win it from him, and for JB to face Sammy Guevara, of the 4 Young Prospects of AEW I don’t think Sammy and JB have gone 1-on-1, could be wrong but Sammy usually went for Darby and JB to MJF, Fénix vs JB would be excellent also. Luchasaurus is also due his hoss match with the Butcher, as well as further conflict with Cage and Archer Also I’d like Shida vs Conti, both are very martial arts-like in their wrestling especially the latter so it would be a good physical match. But yeah, that’s out of my system for now, we’ve talked some good, some bad and some middle, don’t think it matters to anyone but I’ve said my piece Bring on All Out!

#all elite wrestling #aew #aew all out #casino battle royale #big swole #dr britt baker dmd #britt baker #eddie kingston #pentagon jr #rey fenix #butcher and the blade #lance archer #darby allin #jake hager #best friends #chuck taylor #Trent Barreta #sexy chuckie t #trent? #jurassic express #marko stunt #jungle boy #luchasaurus #mjf #maxwell jacob friedman #jon moxley #wardlow #sammy guevara #chris jericho #santana and ortiz

[ladylillianrose]

Seasons of Love a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction

A/N: I am overwhelmed by the love you guys are showing for this story! Okay next month is when the heart songs will start, I fudged the timeline a bit here, so we will say Zoey got her powers late in March. I based the Clarke's St. Patrick's day celebration off the kind my family does, just something sedate at home with good food and family.

Special thanks to aubreyrichman for not only being my grammar police, but the number one cheerleader for this fic!

As always I'm just playing with Austin Winsberg's wonderful characters.

Summary: St Patrick’s Day Dinner

This month's song is "My Wild Irish Rose," by the Irish Tenors (Listen to it here https://youtu.be/IGE9uuDQvGI)

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

February 14 Valentine’s Day

December 31-January 1 New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day

Until the first time Max had been invited to a St. Patrick's day dinner at the Clarke house, he thought the holiday was just an excuse for everyone to go out and drink shitty green beer at bars. He'd gone once with his roommates in college and that had been a huge mistake.

But Zoey's family treated it like a nice family celebration.

Maggie cooked the traditional corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. They drank real Irish beer and just enjoyed spending time with one another. 

Really it was just an excuse for Maggie to get everyone together for a nice dinner as a family. But no one was going to try and dissuade her from it.

Zoey opened the door to Max's knock. "Well top o’ the morn….no wait it's evening.  Does that work? Is there a top of the evening?"

Max laughed as Zoey rambled. "Umm not sure, since I'm not Irish so I wouldn't know "

Zoey shrugged, "Eh who cares. Come on I'll grab you a beer."

Max followed her dutifully into the living room. She waved him towards the couch where Mitch was sitting, before walking into the kitchen.

"Hey Mitch, how are you?" Max smiled as he sat.

Mitch tried to smile at Max.

Max could feel his heart ache. Mitch was already so different than he had been 2 months ago, as his disease continued its horrific progression. 

He patted Mitch's hand and smiled, "Zoey tell you she's in the running for a promotion at work? Going to keep us all in line and boss us around, so you know business as usual."

Mitch let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, you know how she gets. Don't worry though I'll make sure the success doesn't go to her head."

Mitch's eyes twinkled at Max as he "Hmm’d," in response.

Zoey reappeared with a bottle of Smithwick's in each hand. "Whatcha guys talking about?" She asked, handing one to Max.

"Oh I was just telling your Dad about how you're going to be the boss of us soon." Max took a sip of his beer. 

Zoey shook her head, "Shhh, don't jinx things. Nothing is set in stone yet."

Max rolled his eyes and looked at Mitch. "As if Joan would pick anyone else. You're a shoe-in and you know it."

Mitch jerked his head in agreement.

"See, your dad agrees. So end of discussion."

Zoey blushed as she shook her head and took a large drink of her beer.

She fiddled with the volume on the CD player to distract herself from thoughts of the promotion. Maggie had put several Irish CDs in it to play, to give them a festively appropriate soundtrack.

My wild Irish Rose,

The dearest flow'r that grows,

And some day for my sake,

She may let me take

The bloom from my wild Irish Rose.

They may sing of their roses which, by other names,

Would smell just as sweetly, they say,

But I know that my Rose would never consent

To have that sweet name taken away.

Her glances are shy when e'er I pass by

The bower, where my true love grows;

And my one wish has been that some day I may win

The heart of my wild Irish Rose

She heard Max quietly singing along and smiled. His first St. Patrick's day with them he hadn't known what to expect, but now 5 years later he knew an Irish folk song by heart.

"What?" Max said, stopping as he caught her smiling at him.

"Nothing," she grinned. "Just thinking how different this is from your first St. Patrick's day with us."

Max choked on his beer. "I thought we agreed to never mention that again."

Zoey laughed, "I'm sorry it's not everyday that your best friend shows up entirely decked out entirely in green, complete with a flashing kiss me I’m Irish button. "

Mitch laughed, his eyes twinkling as he watched the two's exchange.

"In my defense, the last time I had done anything for St. Patrick's day was in college and that's what everyone wore and did. How was I supposed to know that it was a much more sedate affair?"

Zoey smiled as Max tried to defend himself.  "I have a gift for you actually," she said, pulling something small out of her pocket.

She reached over and placed it in his open hand.

He glanced down and saw that it was a flashing "Kiss Me I'm Irish," button like he had worn that first time.

He groaned in embarrassment. Zoey laughed, "I'm sorry I saw it at the store and it reminded me of your first celebration, and I couldn't resist."

Max sighed going to hide it in his pocket.

"No no, you've got to wear it," Zoey insisted. "Look, I even got one too. I'll wear mine if you wear your's." She teased.

Max shook his head, knowing he could never deny her anything. He pinned it to his shirt. "Happy?"

Zoey reached over to flick the flashing switch. "Now I am," she grinned, turning on her own pin.

Max laughed at the ridiculousness of it. He clicked his bottle against hers in a toast. "Here's to never being able to live that moment down. "

Zoey laughed and nodded. 

They finished their beers and Zoey went to grab them more. Max followed her into the kitchen to say hello to Maggie.

"Hey Maggie," he said brushing a kiss on her cheek.

"Oh hey, Max," she glanced down at the flashing button and grinned. "Zoey was so excited when she found those."

Max chuckled. Zoey came in from the garage holding a 6 pack of Smithwicks. "Had to break into the stash in the garage," she explained. 

Max took 2 from her and set to opening them. He handed her one, looking around the room and asked, "Where are Emily and David?"

"They had to work late, they'll be here in time for dinner though," Zoey said.

"Mmm," Max said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Well, dinner is almost done and I'm not going to wait forever for them," Maggie said.

Just as she turned off the stove,  David and Emily came through the door.

"Sorry we're late, " Emily said holding her back tenderly as they came into the kitchen.

David grabbed a chair for her and got her settled before grabbing a beer.

He caught sight of Max and Zoey's buttons and laughed. "Where did you find those? They're just like the one…"

Max stopped him, "Believe me, I remember."

David laughed, "It just means you're one of us, we never let each other live things down, right Zo?" He said, turning to ruffle Zoey's hair.

"Ugh, Don't do that David," she flailed ineffectively at him, trying to make him stop.

Maggie asked David to go get Mitch so they could start eating.

Dinner was filled with chatter and delicious food, with everyone eating more than they should but it was too good to resist. 

Zoey and Max volunteered to clean up so that everyone else could relax and visit. 

They managed to get the kitchen clean with only minimal shenanigans. Max accidentally  splashed Zoey with a glass of water, soaking her shirt. He insisted it was an accident but Zoey didn't believe him, so she turned the spray nozzle at him, soaking his shirt in revenge.

"Truce?" Max held up his hands in surrender.

Zoey lowered the nozzle and nodded.

"Probably should take these off so they don't short on us, " Max said, pulling the button off his shirt.

Zoey grabbed hers and placed it next to his on the counter and grinned. 

"I know you think it's an embarrassing memory,  but I think it's adorable. And it was your first Clarke Family celebration with us," Zoey smiled at him. "So, it's an anniversary of sorts."

Max smiled, "I suppose you are right. And it did make your parents laugh which definitely broke the ice with them."

Zoey chuckled, "I think that was the moment they knew that you had to be here for all of them, so they could teach you the 'right' way to celebrate."

Max grinned, "Your parent's celebrations are far superior to any other."

Zoey smiled, "I'm glad you came to that first one. It's when I knew you were my best friend. "

Max smiled softly at her. "Me too, Zo. Me too."

The next day at work, Zoey noticed something new on Max's desk. It was the button she had given him, proudly flashing its lights at her.

#max x zoey fanfiction #zoey x max fanfiction #team max #zoey's extraordinary playlist fanfiction #zep fanfiction #zep #zoey's extraordinary playlist #max richman #zoey clarke #Seasons of Love #fanfiction #Zoeys playlist fanfiction #ZoeysPlaylist #zoeys extraordinary playlist

[thenovelist101]

Wandered

Chapter One

The village was alive and buzzing with town talk. In the village of Founder, there was a huge feast in honor of the burning of all magic beings in the land. It was a grand day to chat, laugh, eat, and perhaps get drunk. Vince however, didn’t care for this day. Not one bit.

He had sweaty brown hair plastered with narrow brown eyes. Your average teen on the verge of manhood. He was normal, which was good. The male came from a heated day of chores and work, all for just a few coins. Vince carried a large basket filled different fruit—that he bought from the market—walking past the village square where people were setting up tables. Children ran around with dolls of stuffed witches.

He saw a boy and a girl pretending to play a magic hunter and witch. Magic Hunters, were certified huntsmen or women who dealt with the extermination of all things magic. “Why do I have to be the witch?” The boy complained. He flailed his arms dramatically. “I’m not a girl!“ he cried. The girl interjected him. “You’ll be a witch because I’m stronger than you! All witches should go bye-bye! And you have no intention of living in this world!” The girl seemed to be in character, because she then jabbed her wooden sword into the side of the boy. “Ahh! I’m dying!” The boy fell and pretended to be dead, sticking his tongue out. The girl giggled and told him to get up. Vince couldn’t help but laugh at it, they were only children that only knew what their parents did.

In Vince’s opinion however, he didn’t understand why people in this society didn’t like magic. No, not just this society. All of the societies in Fraintess didn’t like magic. It was something Vince could never understand. It wasn’t the children’s fault for acting this way, but still. He wondered if there was ever going to be change.

While Vince was walking, people greeted him saying “Happy Burning Day” and “I’ll see you at the feast” All to which Vince smile and nodded. People seemed to know him for no reason. It was an odd thing. Perhaps they know me because I’m supposed to be the lone wolf of this village. Of course he knew many people, since he was an apprentice of the Blacksmith Patis, who was either in a good or bad day. Mostly bad days. His teaching ethics were to drill Vince to do many things that his old apprentice would never let him do.

Vince went up to the gate that led to the outskirts of the woods. There were two guards were keeping watch, each standing on one side of the gate door. Vince knew both of them, Austin on the left snoring away on his spear, drool leaving his mouth. He was skinny and blonde. Cedar was on the right remaining scary and kept a look that he would kill you if you crossed the line. He was big, muscular, and had tan skin.

Just a few feet away, Vince put on his best scared smile and went up to the gate. “Good evening gentlemen.” He said. Austin replied with a snore. Cedar stared at Vince and then at the basket. “You aren’t going to the festival? And what is with a big basket of fruits for only one person.” His voice was hollow and cold, as usual. To the village perspective, Vince lived alone outside of its’ gates. The young male gulped and held the basket tighter. “I’m very faint and quite dizzy at the moment.” He pretended to cough. Cedar continued to glare at him. Vince made up another lie. “I’m quite the eater, if I do say so myself. Never to late to stock up in case of a drought.” Cedar rolled his eyes and opened the gate. “Just go.” “Thank you kind sir.”

Vince held his breath until he was on the other side and the gate was shut. He sighed. It seemed that nothing bad happened when he held his breath, so he would keep that superstition as long as he lived.

He followed the pathway he had made for himself over the past year. After twenty minutes of walking he went over a log and found a small hut that he had somehow built (bless the lords that he was granted enough knowledge to build one). He went inside and closed the door, and made sure the windows were closed. Then he pushed his bed out of the way to reveal a hidden trap door.

The small hut was a kitchen, bed, and couch in one big room. He opened the latch to the trap door and took the basket with him. “Hey, it’s me. I finally got food after a week.” Vince walked down the staircase making a creak on each step. He should really fix that someday. When he got into the cold stone floor he put the basket down and started to untie the lid.

In the middle of the room was a dim candelabra providing light to the whole room.

There was a dark image in the background, watching him and taking a stroll towards him. The person had quiet footsteps towards Vince. She tugged at his shirt and said “Boo.” Out of instinct, Vince whirled around to hit whatever there was behind him. The girl tumbled to the floor. “Ouch.” She said. Once Vince realized who it was, his shoulders slumped back down in relief. “For Pete’s sake, Mirai. Don’t scare me like that.” Vince’s younger sister rubbed her cheek which had a new profound bruise. She shrugged. “Okay okay, I’m sorry. You have a stronger punch now.”

The man rolled his eyes and threw her an apple. “Eat.” He said. Vince was taking out some fruit and placing it on a big cloth from his pocket. Mirai took a bite of the apple. She realized how hungry she was and finished the whole things within a minute. Mirai stood up and looked at the apple core or a moment.

She concentrated on it and tossed it in the air. It levitated. She smiled to herself in victory and let the finished apple glide over Vince and hit his head. She let it poke him a couple of times. Vince flung one of his arms in the air, trying to ward off the fruit like an annoying fly. “No magic.” He said.

Mirai frowned and let the apple fall to the ground. She went up to Vince and sat on the floor. “Its an awful lot boring down here. Can you get me something else to do from the village?” She took another apple from the bin and took a bite of it. “If I bring you many stuff at once people will get suspicious. You know that guard at the gate I was talking ‘bout?” Mirai nodded. “Well he’s on to me. I don’t know how but he is.”

Vince tied the cloth (that held berries and an orange inside) and gave it to Mirai. “For tomorrow” he said. She nodded. “I don’t think Magic Hunters will be coming by anytime soon, though. Can I-“ “No.” Vince said. The girl looked aghast. “But you didn’t even let me finish!” “You can’t get up there. It’s too-“ “Dangerous.” Mirai finished. “Exactly. Why don’t you play with your doll or something?” Mirai rolled her eyes. “I’m twelve. I don’t really play with toys any more.” “Okay sassy pants.”

Her older brother closed the basket together. He leaned his body against it for a moment. His vision blurred and his bones suddenly ached. He felt this feeling before and he simply shook it off. He was fine. Or at least that’s what he told himself.

Mirai got up and put the tied cloth next to her lousy mattress of hay. Her brother may have been a good house builder, but he was terrible at furniture.

“At least Mother and Father let me walk around.” She mumbled. “Tch, barely. What did we say about talking about them? There erased from our lives for as long as we know. They can’t hurt us. Or rather, you.” Mirai nodded. The thought of being locked isolated in a shed made her shudder.

Vince rubbed his eyes. He gripped onto the basket. He felt his face heat up. Mirai watched him. “You look tired, go to bed big brother.” She said. There was no need to keep her guardian awake. She could only imagine how much stress he endured in the day, and to keep her alive and fed was another ballgame for him. Vince nodded. “Go to bed. Think about something other than home.” He said. “I will.” She lied. Vince went up to her slowly and patted her head. “Night.” He said. “See you later Vincent Rowan.” “Shut up.” He grumbled. He went up the stairs and closed the latch to the trap door.

Vince dropped the basket and fell onto his bed. He never slept this early before and he was utterly exhausted. Was this what being an adult felt like?

Under the hut, Mirai went to her mattress that was in the corner of the cobblestone basement. She hugged at her doll that was waiting for her near her pillow. It was the same one she escaped with. The doll’s faded smile seemed to look at her. Mirai grinned back.

The candelabra that was in the center of the room was still alight with fire. She imagined wind blowing on it and the flames died down.

She sighed to herself. She knew today was Burning day. Vince wouldn’t tell her that, obviously. There was a feast being held any second now. It was a shame Vince didn’t go...he could have got wicked good food for free. That didn’t matter right now. She lied down and stared at the ceiling. She prayed for no dreams, but of course, nightmares were her best friend.

#writing #long reads #authors #i finished it #writers on tumblr

[cowboy-canoodler]

A High Note of Love: Part 8

(prepare for angst and violence in part 9 my dudes, (Y/N) has had a cushy way so far. Until now. ;) )

Master list: http://cowboy-canoodler.tumblr.com/post/183094165570/a-high-note-of-love-master-list

The sky seemed clearer now, birdsong more beautiful, the water vividly clear, a place to call home, friends, and Arthur. You were walking back hand in hand with your new lover, Arthur Morgan,a more handsome man you’d never seen, his hand was tight within your grasp; on the walk back to camp you shared giggles, the smile hadn’t left your faces since you told him you’d accept Hosea’s invite into the gang, you prodded and poked into each other, chiding chuckles and laughs from happy lips.

“Are you sure you wanna join? It’s not an easy life (Y/N)” Arthur was concerned with your decision, for he knew more than anyone what you could lose from this life, the fear of losing you like he’d lost Mary, Elizabeth and Isaac, other gang members he’d been close to; the fear of losing you now would almost consume him.

“Arthur, I would do anything to be around you and you’re family, save maybe Micah” Another snicker between the two of you as you wrapped your arms around each others waists. This was the perfect end to this day and you had never felt happier.

The walk to camp was short and brisk you and Arthur chortling and taunting each other with small jokes and smiles. As the tents came into view you could see gang members gathered around the main table, Hosea, Micah, Bill, and Lenny all there talking, arguing, debating? Who knew, but voices were raised well above over each other.

“What’s going on?” You questioned, grabbing Arthurs hand from your waist, giving it a small squeeze.

“Prob’ly a lead to a job, the usual” Arthur had said this so nonchalantly with naught but a shrug of his shoulders, but of course this life was second nature to him. Stealing and pillaging, these must be things you agree with to be part of the gang.

“Arthur! (Y/N)! Come over here for a second, help us sort this out!” Hosea shouted over at you, prompting you and Arthur to walk over to the scene of the argument. On the table lay a map of New Austin, the cross roads near Emerald Ranch circled with different crosses and movements written then scribbled out. “Which way should we attack a stagecoach coming through here?” Hosea pointed towards the map, this then cued the men to argue over which way they should attack the coach, Micah and Bill insisting on a frontal assault, Lenny, and Hosea arguing an ambush. Arthurs hand abandoned yours and proceeded to try and calm them down, the ambush being his favoured choice. This went on for a couple of minutes, and in this time you took it upon yourself to look at the map, studying the roads and landscape, ‘6 Guards’, ‘at least $3000′ and other crossed out words littered the map.

“I wouldn’t go with either” You muttered, silencing the group, who all stopped and looked at you.

“What the fuck would you know about a stage robbery, prissy?” Bill puffed his chest out and took a step towards you, but you didn’t retreat and instead stood your ground.

“What the fuck would you know about thinking, Bill?“ Bill didn’t like this, he took another step forward and raised his hand to you, but you stared him down, “You need a distraction to take out the guards, an ambush won’t work they’ll be expecting it, so sit your ass down and let the adults do the thinking, you lump of oats” The group emerged in raucous laughter and Bill huffed, his hand lowering and brows crumpling together with clenched jaw.

“Well then, missy” Micah piped up at last, you could see a bruise forming on his jaw from where you had hit him earlier, “seein’ as you and Arthur are fuckin’ now, how would you do it?” Murmurs of agreement, and a dagger of looks from Arthur shot towards Micah. You pointed at a rock on the map.

“Have someone hide here, a woman will be more believable, dishevelled and dirty, the coach will stop and pay attention to her, especially if shes in high class clothing. She creates a distraction, you guys circle around, quietly, take out the guards stealthily and then shoot the rest. Bingo!” You clasped your hands together with an audible clap and brought your face up to meet the gangs eyes who were focused on you, some mouths slightly agape others nodding in agreement.

“That’ll work” Hosea agreed with you, Arthur, and Lenny concurring in agreement.

“I still say an ambush! What does she know? She ain’t one of u-” Bill shouted, visibly distressed at the thought of you winning the rest of them over.

“Actually she is” Arthur interrupted, “(Y/N) is joining the gang” he encircled his arm around your shoulders in a protective manner, shielding you from them.

“That’s wonderful!” Hosea clapped his hands together, a smile wide on his face, a blush rise slightly to your cheeks at his warm welcome. Lenny and Arthur were also smiling at you, but Bill and Micah shared ‘a look’.

“well if shes in The Gang-” Bill started.

“-She just volunteered” Micah finished the sentence, a wicked smile on his face.

“She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to” Hosea interjected, but you raised a hand to shush him.

“I’ll do it.”

“(Y/N) It’s fine they’re jerkin’ to get a reaction from ya” So kind was Arthur to keep you from harms way, but you wanted to prove yourself to the gang, and this was the opportunity.

“I know that, but I’m still going to do it!” You had your resolve, the other members agreed to let you act this role, despite Arthurs protests. An hour later and the plan was all worked out, the horses fed and saddled, your dress covered in mud and your hair in a messy up do, thanks to Miss Grimshaw’s excellent hair care. You sauntered over to Arthur,who was checking the guns on his horse, in your newly ‘distressed woman’ attire and threw your arms out wide, putting on the best American accent you could muster.

“Well, partner, how do I look?” Smile plastered over your face, but Arthur only returned a look of apprehension, “What?”

“You look great, your accent is great but (Y/N) are ya sure you wanna do this? You could get in danger, or hurt. I only just got ya I don-”

“Hey hey hey” you hushed him and placed a hand on his cheek, “I’ll be fine, we’ll do this job, I’ll head back to Saint Denis, pick up my things and then we’re good to go Arthur, I promise” Arthurs baby blue eyes stared into yours and he leaned into your hand, his guard dropping ever so slightly as his hand came to yours delicately pulling it off of his cheek and toward his lips; he planted a soft loving kiss on your palm.

“Alright get yer shit and get goin’ come on!” Bill shouted as he mounted his horse, the others laughing and starting the ride to the ambush site, you were riding with Arthur, sat in front with his arms resting at your sides as he held the reins.

A natural feeling came from riding out with the gang members like this, you belonged here, all the hurt you had previously suffered and the pain you went through to get to America and away from your family had paid off. This is who you were meant to become. A con-woman extraordinaire. Although that may have been taking it a little far. The ride to the ambush site was quiet, you rode in two groups to avoid attention, Bill and Micah Ahead, Lenny alone, and you and Arthur behind them, hardly anyone passed, and if they did there was no more than a sideways glance.

“This is the place” Arthur stopped his horse and checked his pocket watch, “Coach’ll be here soon” You slipped off the horse, and walked over to the rock, although you were a born performer, you were nervous beyond belief. If this somehow went wrong, it would be your fault and this would prove you’d be no more than a hindrance to the Gang. This had to go right. 

“Yes, thank you Arthur” You looked over to him, Arthur was still concerned for you, his brows furrowed and jaw clenched. “I’ll be fine Arthur” you then swapped to your American accent, “I’m supposed to perform, now go on, Git!” You waved your arms around dramatically and Arthur bucked his horse, riding steadily towards the others, who were hiding somewhere around but you could’t tell.

Even though it had been merely minutes, it felt like hours, nervous twitches in your body, your eyes darting around the roads to look for the stagecoach, head jolting at every noise. Your palms were clammy and beads of sweat rolling down your back until you finally heard it, the sounds of the stage coach, you peaked out from the rock and caught it in your eye line, there were 6 guards, and two more on the stagecoach, a couple of deep breaths and you calmed down, waiting for just the right moment until-

“PLEASE! Can someone help me please!?” You ran out from behind the rock, bewildered and crazy, your arms flailing around to catch their attention, and catch their attention you did. “Sirs! Please!” You ran up to the stagecoach as they looked at you with both suspicion and unease.

“What’s wrong lady?” The one in the drivers seat replied, turning all attention fully to you, this was the clincher.

“Please! Mah husband! He was captured! They killed him, I managed to escape. Please! You’ve gotta help me I don’t want them to find me!” Tears welled in your eyes as you grabbed onto the driver, hysterical sobs erupted from you and the air changed immediately.

“Hey its alright now, what’s your name?” The driver let his guard down and released the reins, bending down to place a hand on your shoulder.

“It- Its Marjorie. Marjorie Roberts” You sobbed enthusiastically, all of the men had their attention on you and you were killing this role. As they offered you a ride home you heard the sound of a gun shot, only 3 guards remained plus the drivers.

“What the fuck?” The driver shot up and you bolted to the rock staying down while the men dealt with the rest, flurries of gunfire and men yelling. Just as soon as it started it had finished, you peeked your head out and saw all the men making sure the guards were dead.

“Did it work?” You asked innocently, standing up and admiring the view of an empty stagecoach littered with dead bodies.

“Yeah, we’re all good” Arthur beckoned you towards him and you obliged, a little jog in your step as you had never felt more alive. “You did great darlin”

“Why thank ya darlin’“ a smile tugged your lips and an arm wrapped around Arthur’s waist, Lenny, Bill, and Micah worked on getting the money from the lockbox inside the coach.

“Well look-ee here, this must be closer to seven thousand!” Micah and Bill guffawed at the money as they started splitting it, Bill handed you your share, “Here”

“What?”

“This is your money! Take it godammit!” You took the money and looked over at Arthur who returned a smile.

“You earned it (Y/N), you did a hell of a good job” Lenny grinned at you as he pocketed his money.

“I hate to say it, but the Kid’s right” A surprising turn as Micah had given you a compliment.

“Woah hold on there Micah, people might think you care” You laughed and held your hands up.

“Eat shit, come on we should go” A collective whistle from each person but you and horses came into view from behind the trees, “meet back at camp”. You mounted Arthurs horse, shortly after so did Arthur, and a quick gallop took you away from the crime. Adrenaline still shot through your veins as Arthur pulled the horse to an abrupt halt, many miles away from the robbery.

“Okay we should be alright here” Arthur looked around to make sure no one was following you but you didn’t care, a grin was wide on your face, the rush of it all still within you.

“That was- thrilling!” You let out a shrill laughter and dismounted Arthurs horse pacing backwards and forwards, a way to just let out the energy your body was pumping into you.

“You did real good, I’m proud of ya!” Arthur dismounted, and any worry that had previously been on his face was replaced with smiles, an enveloping hug and he swung you around planting kisses on your cheeks as you giggled into each other.

“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe it! We did that! WE did that!” More giggles and kisses, and as the energy burnt down as quick as it came you stood there breathless and encased in Arthurs arms, your head buried within his chest. By now the sun had set, an evening robbery and a night of success.

“What do you say we go and grab my belongings now? I want to get back to the gang as soon as possible”

“Well if that’s what you want, I’m not gonna stop yo-”

“I could buy myself a gun and some new clothes” Excitement filled your veins once more as you shot out suggestions for uses of the money, Arthur just nodded along with each of them. you were both so enraptured by the atmosphere you couldn’t hear the hooves and footsteps of incoming persons.

“Well well, if it ain’t Van Der Lindes lap dop” an Irish voice bellowed from the nearby woods as the men made them selves known as horses rounded around you and Arthur, at least 13 men all with their guns pointed at the two of you.

“What in the hell do you want O’Driscolls?” Arthur had already reached for his pistol and pointed it at the one who was talking, his other arm pulling you in close to protect you.

“Us? Now why would we want anything boys?” They laughed around you and Arthur, the air was sour and any chance of escape seemed thin. Your eyes darted around looking for any slight opportunity to present it self to you.

“Well well, whats this?” An arm yanked you away from Arthur making you yelp out a shriek, which was quickly silenced with a foreign hand and a gun to your temple, “you wanna shut the fuck up miss or my finger might just slip” the gun was pressed harder to your head you stifled a muffled weep as tears swelled in your eyes.

“Get your hands off of her!” Arthur stepped forward and their guns followed him all cocked and ready to shoot at a moments notice.

“Wait wait” another man spoke up and dismounted, “I’ve seen her before” two brisk steps towards you and he grabbed your face and pulled his within an inch, studying your features, “ohoho your daddies got a bounty for you missy” your eyes widened as they darted around the attackers face, “Leave him, we’ll take her instead”

And in the blink of an eye, Arthur was knocked out on the floor cold, you hogtied on the back of a horse, and O’Driscolls talking about how ‘Her daddy wants her alive, but now how alive’ 

Fuck

#arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan #sean macguire #Hosea Matthews #x reader #red dead redemption 2 #Fanfic #RDR2 Fic #I'm so sorry it took so long #A High Note Of Love