#but sid is very very persuasive when it comes to getting what he wants | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rose-edith · 3 years

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How was your birthday? I hope it was good!

Being a bit of an outsider and not belonging only for the gang to adopt you as a member of their dysfunctional crime solving family (though you’re a bit reluctant at first)

It was thank you, and my apologies for the delay! Hope you like it!

The Kembleford crew adopting you into their dysfunctional crime solving family would include:

-Kembleford is a lovely place, full of lovely little shops, a strong community, surrounded by lots of lovely countryside for outdoor pursuits and a calendar fit to bursting with social activities, clubs and events. But even though that’s the case, and the people are super friendly and welcoming you just don’t seem to fit in any particular place.

-you feel welcome, you feel at home when you’re in your own home. But mostly you just feel a bit like you don’t belong. In the end after lots of trying and failing to feel like you fit in you just give up. You’re happy enough, and that’ll just do.

-but Father Brown notices it instantly. He takes good care of his flock, and so he decides to take you in under his wing to offer you support, comfort and friendship. And he does so rather discreetly. It starts by him asking if you’d like to do the church flowers one week, and he’s so persuasive you find that you can’t say no. He gets talking to you as you sort out the floral arrangements and the next thing you know you’ve been invited for tea at the Presbytery!

-you’re not quite sure what to expect…but whatever you may have imagined it to be certainly wasn’t what actually happened!

-as soon as you arrived Mrs McCarthy got you a plate of cakes and biscuits to help yourself from as well as a steaming hot cup of tea, and then she went straight back to trying to help Father Brown decipher a secret code he’d found tucked into a bible in the church by a fugitive.

-when you saw it and looked over a few ideas and attempts Father Brown had made while trying to decipher it you immediately spotted the pattern that unlocked the whole code. It seemed rather logical and straightforward to you.

-Lady Felicia, Bunty and Sid all arrived just in time to see you unscramble the code, which resulted in cheers all round!

-from that moment on you were always invited round to the Presbytery for tea and cake! You try to resist going, coming up with a few excuses here and there (you just don’t want the heartache of making friends only to lose them when they realise that you don’t fit in) but you’re expertly guided into going regularly- usually by Father Brown who is very good at persuading you to do things!

-Lady Felicia repeatedly invited you (in person and with handwritten invitations no less!) to her soirées, parties, charity events, book readings and signings and so on- some of which were really rather interesting! It took a few attempts and quite a lot of courage on your part to eventually pluck up the courage to go to the evening events, but when you did it turned out to be a lot of fun! Not only was Lady Felicia a great hostess, she was an attentive friend too, always checking in on you and introducing you to amusing guests. And when you wanted to sneak away Sid would see you safely home, insisting that the motor needed a spin anyway.

-Bunty would come to you with all the scandalous gossip, usually dragging Sid along with her so he could tackle one or two maintenance jobs around your house that you either hadn’t noticed or simply can’t do by yourself.

-Father Brown would often call you up or visit or encourage you to go to crime scenes with him if he was stuck. It turns out that the two of you had a perfect skill set together and often solved the crimes that were committed long before the Inspector ever did!

-you became a bit of a nuisance to the Inspector in much the same way as the dear Padre is!

#father brown #father brown headcanons #father brown imagine #father brown x reader #bbc father brown #mrs mccarthy imagine #mrs mccarthy headcanons #mrs mccarthy #lady felicia headcanons #lady felicia imagine #lady felicia #bunty windermere headcanons #bunty windermere imagine #sid carter headcanons #sid carter imagine #sid carter

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alsparaarchive · 3 years

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𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 / Alex & Sid

Date: July 5, 2015 Location: Vancouver Rooftop Bar; The World Cup Celebration

Summary: The first time they ever met.

Date Started: January 31, 2021 Date Completed: still in progress

Sidney He was still somewhere in the middle of getting the confetti that had somehow wedged itself into his right earlobe loose, when Gino had snuck in around him; two girls tucked underneath both his arms, and said something about a party? And, since Sid was still half-deafened by half-an-inch of coloured paper he was forced to lean back in and get the Russian to repeat himself. “Did you say a party?” It was confirmed with a nod and a grin that could’ve taken out the two women still standing beside his friend… “Okay… sure.” The brunette had been hesitant to say yes... First, this was Gino... the Russian had a history of getting the boys to go to parties with him only to find out that once they got there it was just a couple of girls, a couch, and a whole lot of trouble just waiting to happen. Second, his recent break-up with Kathy still felt… raw. Which he knew was why Gino and Kris had him in Vancouver right now watching the Women’s World Cup… distraction was key, right? Not something that either one of them had ever said directly to his face or anything, but the tickets that had presented themselves at exactly that time and to a sport he’d never really had an affinity for, definitely had. And yet… somehow… Gino had kept him from backing out… which was saying a lot of the Russian’s powers of persuasion and probably also a lot about why the Cold War had taken so damn long to come to an end. There was a long line out the restaurant door, but Gino said he had the gold ticket… which had Kris asking if he meant the golden ticket? Gino nodded—making Sidney laugh despite the fact he hated doing the line cut thing, but it wasn’t like they were taking up seats in the restaurant anyway. No, apparently there was some private thing happening on the roof top with their invitees tonight. The deal was, somehow Gino had scored himself an invite to the USA Women’s Soccer Team’s celebratory party via Twitter. Which of course had Sidney from the moment he’d found out till the moment he’d walked up the stairs and sighted a couple of the girls’ he’d seen on the big jumbo screen earlier, doubting. /Sorry Gino/. Suddenly, it was like most eyes in the room were on them as Sidney offered up a big of wave and Gino held out his arms and said USA, USA, USAAAAAA… and okay, it was bad. It was really bad, but at least the atmosphere had cracked, and the bouncers weren’t making any sort of headway towards them… still… Sidney couldn’t help but feel out of place as he walked over to the bar and asked for a drink… bumping shoulders with a girl as he did… “uh, sorry…” he stopped. He recognised her. You didn’t have to be a big soccer fan to recognise the face of Alex Morgan… “maybe I should be buying you a drink…” okay that had come out bad… he internally and externally cringed… “I mean for your big win today…”

Alex The aftermath of winning the World Cup was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, not only for Alex but all her teammates it seemed and almost none of them were on the same ride all ebbing and flowing at different times. There was the high of winning sure but coming to terms with the fact that it was over and finally being able to breathe a sigh of relief after how emotionally and physically taxing the journey had been made for a very strange experience the forward couldn't have possibly prepared herself for. She didn't know what she wanted to do more, party or sleep — for days! "Oh no, baby horse, you're coming!" Her teammate, mentor, and current roommate insisted when Alex even so much as hinted at the idea. She knew she would ultimately end up going but damn was that bed calling her name. "Yeah, yeah," was all she replied with while giving the blonde a smirk Abby could only see through the younger girl's reflection in the mirror as she brushed out her damp hair after showering a little bit earlier to get all the beer and champagne from the celebration in the locker room out of her hair. One of Alex's favorite part about being on the USWNT was how completely badass all the women were and how they could go from being a sweaty mess on the pitch to looking like a million dollars at the drop of a hat. Everyone looked stunning, dressed to the nines as they rolled up to the five star Vancouver rooftop bar that promised to be the perfect backdrop to a crazy evening. She was only on her second French martini when she heard some ruckus going on by the entrance, a man's voice cheering them on but she barely paid it half a mind as she was too busy being amused by Kelley challenging one of the bartenders to a game of beer pong. Only she could somehow finesse her way into getting him to push two tables together and craft the perfect makeshift set up. The defender would go on and on about how she could take out all the guys at the frat parties she went to back in college and now was her time to shine to prove (mostly to herself) that she still had it. Alex only stayed because she somehow got roped into being Kelley's partner while Chaney paired with the bartender. She wanted a chill night, no competitions, but when faced with one there was no way she was going to back down, she WAS Alex Morgan after all. To no surprise they won the first round and in a desperate attempt to get out of playing the second she grabbed their teammate Sidney who just happened to be walking by. "You play, I need to pee," was her lame excuse but at least it worked. It was that time of night where everyone was still on their way to getting drunk so no one was too crazy yet but Alex knew the line would be crossed very soon and she was making bets in her mind on who would be the first to get there as she waited for the bartender from the bar at the other end of the place to make her drink. "Oh —" was her original reaction to being bumped, bringing her mind back from wherever it had managed to go off to. An eyebrow cocked at his words as she tried but failed to let the smirk take over her features. "How very generous of you to offer to pay for me at an open bar," the striker chuckled playfully. It took her a moment in the dim lighting but she finally recognized him and while it was a nice surprise she had no idea how he managed to get himself here, to this party of all places but she figured he was Canadian and must be a fan or something. Who was going to say no to letting Sidney Crosby in the door? He was probably even more of a big deal here then in the states so it made sense, at least in her mind. "Thank you, though... for the sentiment anyway." Her hand was soon occupied by her martini glass and she wasted no time in taking a sip. "So tell me, what's the great Sidney Crosby's poison of choice?"

Sidney For those who knew him, Sidney Crosby was a bit of an anomaly. Unlike most who’d come up through the usual college/junior league pipeline at such a young age to only later be spat out by either the league or themselves for ‘poor’ behaviour choices, the twenty-eight-year-old had remained tied to his past and the straight and narrow upbringing that had come along with it. A lot of journalists had it pinned down to growing up in Nova Scotia, where the population never quite teetered pass 30,000. Or even his father—who’d had his own history with the league. What they all eventually worked out though was Sidney just wasn’t what they’d expected him to be. Young, talented … sure… but the guy that was also going to give them all some sort of titillating headline… no. What Sidney was… was hockey. There wasn’t a moment on or off the ice he wasn’t thinking or breathing hockey. So, when he’d been forced into a bit of a set-up by a couple of friends and met Kathy… things had unexpectedly taken a turn for the young brunette. It was just… one minute there was a hockey and then there was… hockey and her and it had been a lot. His sister Taylor had told him ‘that’s love,’ which was pretty weird because he was almost certain it wasn’t love… at least not yet, but she’d always been a little weird. A comment that had earned him a hit by one of his mother’s handstitched patch work pillows… thanks Taylor. It had taken Sidney a whole year to work out that she was probably right. The words escaping him one night across the dinner table while the two had been picking olives out of a garden salad the two had just ordered with a family size pizza. His stomach had done something that someone less logical might’ve compared to a somersault when Kathy eyes had widened, and her hand had found his neck and pulled him towards her… and for a moment there Sidney had honestly thought that would be it. That would be everything he’d ever need in life, Kathy and hockey… but as the years started to go by and his friends, teammates and family started to expand their families, Sidney realised he wanted more. Kids had never really been a topic of discussion for the two… they’d been young and busy and maybe it was wrong to assume that Kathy would just want them whenever he did. First, she’d pointed out that they weren’t even married yet... which Sidney hadn’t quite got, because wasn’t that all implied with the question? That marriage was part of the package too. Which had really upset her, because after nearly nine years this was how he was going to propose. It was all down here from there and before Sidney even realised what had happened it was just hockey and no Kathy again. There had been a few attempts to make amends and even a couple of goes at trying again... but in the end it was over. All nine years of it. Which is a lot in numbers. One hundred and eight months, four hundred and sixty-nine weeks, three thousand and eighty-five days… it’s a lot and despite Geno and Kris’ best efforts to cheer him up, Sidney was still not-quite feeling it… At least until he found himself next to FIFA World Cup champion Alex Morgan and suddenly there was something to smile about, because right of course the bar was an open one tonight… despite it… Sidney leaned forward, getting the barkeeper’s attention and ordering whatever Alex appeared to be drinking tonight… his hand reaching into his pocket to pull out a twenty and slipping it into the ‘tip jar.’ A smile on his face as he let it fall out of his fingers… “drink bought…” Her question had him debating a little. He’d originally slid up ready to order ‘just’ a beer, but now that he was here and consciously aware that this was a celebration, he settled with a whiskey straight, “what did you have me pegged as? An Apple Martini kind of guy?” He knew a lot of shit got talked about him. He was emotional… passionate... which had its critics. Some of it got to him… most of it didn’t. “What’s got you so hooked on those…” Whatever she was drinking gave off a fruity aroma. Definitely not something he’d usually drink, but the night was a warm one and something about the whole thing was mildly tempting… though thinking about it, if Gino saw him drinking up some pink cocktail… he’d never live it down. He could hear the Russian’s loud laughs echoing across the patio, but where the giant’s exact location was amongst everyone else was still a mystery… besides Sidney wasn’t exactly thinking of leaving his spot at the bar anytime soon. Though, maybe he’d trapped Alex here with his lame gesture to ‘buy’ her drink and all these questions about fruit cocktails when where all she really wanted to be was out there with her teammates on the makeshift dance floor. “Hey, sorry… if you need to go…”

Alex The brunette tilted her head in gratitude with a smile once the second drink was on the bar in front of her and the twenty had fallen into the tip jar. She didn't really know how to take it but she figured just accepting it and not making a big deal was the best way to go. Alex sat there, taking another sip of her martini, silently berating the butterflies in her stomach that she hadn't felt if not since college then honestly, never. She was married, newly, freshly married, the instantaneous spark and magnetism to the man next to her was completely inappropriate and yet there she was taking a step closer to him, closing what seemed to be too big of a gap for two people engaged in conversation. She had never been one to stray from any relationship but especially not the one she was eight years deep and now fully committed to. The striker had gone through what felt like everything with Servando by her side; He saw her career grow from the very beginning of when she started to become a big deal in college. He spent countless nights helping her study before a big test or running drills before a big game. It was easy to do life with him, she enjoyed it, but even at their most passionate she never felt that SPARK everyone talked about and chalked it up to being nothing but superficial and fictional anyway. Love was about friendship, the kind of bond you didn't want to let go of, (right?) and Servando fulfilled those requirements to a T. Alex had her passion and it was soccer, in her mind that's really all she needed, finding that in a man had never been a priority. "Are you making fun of my martini?" she teased after he mocked being an apple martini kind of guy. "No... whiskey. You have yet to surprise me, Crosby." Even she could barely recognize the flirty tone in her voice, which caused yet another sip of her drink. Hopefully he'd just think she was eager to celebrate her win, not that she was someone who drank her alcohol a bit too fast. "Oh, these? My sister got me hooked on them a few years ago, they're great for when you're out and want to pace yourself but still have something delicious. I was tempted to stick to the champagne but I refuse to be the first one wasted and miss out on all the amusement of watching everyone else get there first." The soccer player laughed a little at her own words. Her eyes scanned the crowd for a moment before her green-blue hues were right back on him. "No, don't worry. You're actually saving me from a very grueling game of beer pong. Kel's over there trying to relive her glory days. I think your friend might've taken over the poor bartender's spot." This team was nothing if not a good time, she was sure he would discover that in no time. "Not your thing either? Or am I the one keeping you? Either way..." Alex sat her glass back down on the bar and carefully slid it over in his direction, "you're not getting away without trying it." Her head motioned to the drink waiting to see if he would take the bait.

Sidney He laughed at her accusation. His hand lifting up in apology as he took a sip from his glass, only lowering it once she’d pointed out just how unoriginal he was for his own drink of choice tonight. It was weird but he was slightly mad at himself now, for not going against the grain earlier and ordering one of whatever she was having. Somehow ‘surprising’ Alex Morgan seemed appealing right now. Which was weird because he’d only been standing there beside her for less than ten minutes and it seemed strange to care so much about something like that… He supposed it had been years since he’d slid up next to a pretty girl at a bar and allowed himself to look… and it wasn’t even like he was doing that, right? Right. It was just— he was at a party (somewhat uninvited) and he was being friendly. That’s what this was. “Sorry to disappoint…” his smile twitched up as he watched her start talking about the drink her fingers were currently wrapped around. He heard a few buzz words that would’ve allowed him to stitch together a proper reply if she’d expected it once she was finished, but really, he’d just been watching her talk and get excited about something like a drink and he couldn’t help but think it was all kind of cute really. Here was ‘the’ Alex Morgan the girl he’d just watched own it on the soccer pitch and here she also was rambling about some drink she’d come accustom to ordering… yeah, champagne has a way of getting you to do some pretty outrageous things too…” he thought about the first time he’d filled the Stanley cup with it and drunk more than he’d ever had in his life. That had been a night. His head getting cloudy just thinking about it—though maybe that was less about the champagne and more about the fact that Alex had just said that he, Sidney Crosby, was saving the USA superstar from some game of beer pong? He looked across to where she’d mentioned it was going on... seeing not just Gino, but Kris there and two teammates from Alex’s team on either side of them and the table… of course. The twenty-eight-year-old was about as interested in the commotion happening over there as he was in the weather back home in Nova Scotia… turning his attention back to Alex instead and smiling when she passed her drink along the bar towards him. It didn’t have to travel very far, somehow without even realising he’d been doing it, he’d closed a lot of the previous space that had once existed between them… “well since you’ve had a few drinks now… I know you’re not secretly moonlighting as a Philly fan with the goal to poison me tonight, so…” he scooped it up. The glass dwarfing in his hands as he did… “mmm…” he could’ve avoided the lipstick and drank from the other side, but instead he stuck his mouth on top and took his sip. The hit was instant. The fruity taste covering most of his tongue, but the hint of her lipstick was there too… “yeah, so that’s not too bad…” he lowered the glass, sliding it back over towards her, before doing the same with his own glass… “your turn.” The thing about whiskey if you got the expensive stuff the taste had different notes to it. Something Alex might not have realised and something he decided to add to convince her, “I’m sure you’ve tried whiskey, but this one… this one is really good…” The thing was, he was pretty sure he just wanted her to drink from his glass in order to leave that tell-tale sign of lipstick behind that went ahead and reminded him with every next sip he had coming his way that she’d been there… which was insane. He knew that. He wasn’t crazy. He just… didn’t care.

#( Alex & Sid: 001. )

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learningrendezvous · 3 years

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Leadership

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Based on Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince'

34 famous international leaders and marketing experts within: Business, Politics, Art, Sport, Organized Crime, Philanthropy, and Health Care are united in a timeless and u universal film s series about marketing, leadership, ethics and visions. The topics discussed in each chapter of The Mind of a Leader are closely related to the issues raised in the 26 chapters of Niccolo Machiavelli's controversial strategic masterpiece 'The Prince' (Italy, 1513). The Mind of a Leader presents each chapter of 'The Prince' in 26 episodes, each 26 minutes. The modern documentaries consist of interviews with influential leaders from all over the world based on modern interpretations of Machiavelli's controversial thoughts. The projects reveals the involved participants' personal views, and not their knowledge in terms of Machiavelli.

The multi-cultural documentary series examines different aspects of modern leadership and encourages future leaders to be responsible and create an efficient, dynamic, and humane environment, while achieving ambitious goals. The Mind of a Leader offers general advice in regards to both individual and organizational success, global co-operations, human values, human resource issues such as motivation, implementation of changes, personal ambitions, etc. But The Mind of a Leader also aims to reveal some of the more sensitive issues an ambitious leader has to deal with in regard to the above. Questions such as, whether it is better to be loved or feared as a leader, or if it is ever acceptable to practice deceit or make human sacrifices for a greater good?

The Mind of a Leader is an outstanding training and development tool. Each chapter features questions, conclusions and practical hands-on advice in regards to both individual and organizational success. A fascinating journey to the inside of successful modern organizations and leadership minds.

4 DVDs / 728 minutes

TEAMS AND LEADERS: GETTING A GROUP TO WORK AS A TEAM

To ensure managers and team members understand how teams can perform more productively.

This insightful drama draws a parallel between the teamwork required on a hiking expedition and a manager's need to make his team function more effectively at work. It clearly demonstrates the need for a strong team with common purpose if the enterprise is to succeed.

The programme conveys simple, organisation-focused learning points and is a versatile teamwork, management and motivation tool. It can be shown either as part of management training, for a session on motivation, to give people an understanding of team building or for existing teams as an insight in how to behave.

The key outcomes Ensures teams are working efficiently and maximising their productivity Focuses individual team members on a common purpose.

DVD / 22 minutes

WHERE THERE'S A WILL: LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION

Featuring Patrick Barlow and the voice of Emma Thompson

To give managers the leadership skills to enable their employees to work more effectively as part of a team.

There are three steps managers should take to inspire their teams: give them confidence in the value of their job, value as individuals and value as part of the team.

Being in charge doesn't mean having all the answers, but means involving the team and using their skills, experience and initiative to find them.

The key outcomes Helps managers to motivate all team members and ensure they feel valued Enables managers to get the best out of their employees

DVD / 29 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Leadership_202010.html

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izzy-b-hands · 4 years

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Hey, I was wondering if you could do more sledgefu with the au where they adopted a baby, that fic was so cute!

Of course, and thank you sending this in!!! Tbh, I’ve been wanting to write some sort of continuance to that for awhile now, so this is the perfect opportunity!

Link to the fic mentioned, for those who may not have read it yet: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/188375810681/fictober-2019-oct-16th-listen-no-really

A quick note that I’m bringing all the pets over to this AU (cats: Gunner, Queen, Little Sid, Delilah, and Deacon; dog: Ack Ack) though there’s enough that I can never seem to mention them all by name! But this is just here for reference so if I mention all the animals being in one room, y’all know how many we’re talking lol, especially if I write more for this AU after this piece (and I think I just might have to plan for that!)

Also I jumped ahead a bit so this fic puts their lil guy at about a year or so (aka guess who had to google what one year olds are capable of? This guy!) This also brought back some great memories of helping teach my lil cousins stuff when they were just teensy, so that was cool (because now they’re old and their older cousin aka me is boring to them lol.)

Baby Steps is below the cut! (even tho the cut doesn’t seem to want to work at this time, idk why, my apologies if it doesn’t work again, I’m working on figuring it out!)

“Armand, let Ack Ack go,” Snafu said. “You wanna walk, you gotta do it on your own. You been so close to it lately, too!”

“You think that’s gonna inspire him?” Eugene smiled as Armand let go of Ack Ack’s fur and pouted while Ack Ack walked over to settle on the couch. “Think you just pissed him off.”

Armand dropped onto his bottom and let out a huff of breath. “Pa!”

“Oh yeah, you did,” Eugene laughed. “He’s right though, your papa. You got standin’ down pat, and you can walk holdin’ onto things real good, but eventually you’re gonna be taller than Ack Ack and he won’t be able to help you walk round here. What’re you gonna do then?”

Another huff of breath and a little pouted lip left them both laughing.

“You just gonna live there now, waitin’ till one of us picks you up?” Snafu snickered as he walked over to sit in the chair by Eugene’s. “You can walk to one of us, c’mon. Try for us.”

Armand shook his head, his dark curls bouncing.

“Now, we ain’t raised you to act like that! You gotta at least try once, then you can get carried again. But I want you to keep tryin’, least once a day,” Snafu said, and held up a finger.

Armand mimicked him, then promptly stuck his finger in his mouth and huffed again.

“How the hell is he this sassy already? I thought they didn’t get like this till they were teenagers?” Snafu said, a hand out gesturing to Armand. “He can’t even tell me to fuck off and go runnin’ out with his friends, and here he is, little master of sass ceremonies, grumpy as can be.”

Eugene tried and failed to bite back his laughter. “I think he did tell you that, actually, just in his own way.”

“Probably,” Snafu sighed and shook his head. “Gimme one good try, okay buddy?”

Armand whined and shook his head again, slapping the hardwood floor with his hands.

“I don’t know if it’s gonna happen right now,” Eugene said, and started to stand to go pick him up.

“No, let him try first! He’s pissed, yeah, but maybe he’s just angry enough, ya know?”

Eugene sat back down and nodded. “Okay. So you think he’ll get so mad neither of us are comin’ to get him, that he’s just gonna up and walk all the way over?”

“No, course not,” Snafu replied. “But I bet he’ll get mad enough to stand, and maybe take a good few first steps all on his own, then one of us can go pick him up and we celebrate his doin’ that.”

“...I could see that,” Eugene said. “What do you think, lil man? Got it in ya?”

Armand almost growled, a tiny little screech of frustration, and slapped the floor again.

“I think you can do it,” Snafu said, and the whining quieted some.

“I think you can too,” Eugene added. “All you gotta do is try. Stand up, and I bet you’ll do it.”

Armand’s face was a mix of emotions, confusion and fear and frustration as he slowly used his hands to push himself to standing, unsteady enough that Eugene edged to the end of his seat as Snafu did the same, both ready to run over and catch him.

“That’s my boy! Now get those feet movin’. Don’t gotta be fast, or make it all the way over here, we’ll get to that later,” Snafu said softly. “Just a few good steps.”

Armand whined and let out the softest little sobs as he took one shaky step towards them, then another, before starting to wobble face-first towards the floor.

But they were there in a flash, each holding onto him before he could hit the floor.

“I told you! Didn’t I tell you? I did!” Snafu was ecstatic as he picked Armand up and kissed his cheek. “My boy! Gonna be runnin’ all over the place before you know it!”

Armand’s smile was sweet to see, his giggling even better as he babbled happily.

“We told you,” Eugene smiled, and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Armand’s curls. “And it was fun, wasn’t it? You get better at it, and soon you’ll be raisin’ hell makin’ us chase after you every day.”

“Yah,” Armand grinned, and they both laughed.

“Alright, I said you’d be carried now, and I won’t break a promise to ya,” Snafu said, and started to walk back to his chair.

But Armand kicked his little legs and fussed, and Snafu turned back to Eugene with a grin of his own.

“You wanna try again? Maybe we can help you this time, hm?”

That was their afternoon from there, taking turns letting Armand walk by holding onto their hands, staying close as he tried again and again to take a few shaky steps all on his own. He might not actually be running around like Flash any time soon, but he’d certainly get there, with practice like this.

“The backache is worth it,” Snafu said later, as they put Armand down for the night. “Look at how tuckered out he is.”

It was a good hour earlier than Armand usually went down, but all the walking and standing and stumbling seemed to have worn him right out. He didn’t wake even as Eugene put him into his crib in the corner of their room, only sighed as his head rested on the soft crib mattress.

“He is, and so am I,” Eugene yawned. “Dunno how, but I am.”

“Hard work, convincin’ a little man he can do whatever he sets his mind to,” Snafu murmured and put his hand around Eugene’s waist, his head resting on Eugene’s shoulder. “Plus, the bending over...”

“Oh my god, the middle of my back is just...numb, it hurts so damn bad,” Eugene sighed in exasperation. “I mean I’ll do it all again in a heartbeat for him tomorrow if he wants, anything to help him get a better grasp on walkin’, but lord have mercy.”

“I know,” Snafu replied. “Actually why I’m just stayin’ like this...can kinda lean, we can keep each other up.”

“We gotta move now though,” Eugene said. “Gotta finish cleanin’ up the house before we can go to bed...”

Snafu lifted his head and nodded. “Could do. Or, hear me out, we leave all those chores for the morning, finish the dishes and wipin’ down the counters and whatever else tomorrow, and for now we go to bed before our backs decide we aren’t allowed to stay upright anymore?”

A cramp hit Eugene’s back and he groaned quietly, not wanting to wake the baby. “Okay, yeah, you’ve won me over. Very persuasive today, you are.”

“Think the pain might be doin’ more persuadin’, but I’ll take the compliment,” Snafu smiled as he helped Eugene over to the bed. “You stay put, I’ll go make sure the lights are off downstairs, the furry kids are all settled in the guest room, and when I come back I’ll help you outta those clothes.”

“Snaf, he might wake up...”

“Not like that! I mean, unless you think you can stay up long enough for that, in which case, hell yeah. But I meant more because I could feel that cramp in your back, and I know your ass can’t get undressed without help right now,” Snafu smirked.

Eugene just laughed as Snafu walked out of the room, and he let himself flop back on their bed while he waited for Snafu to return. It was quiet now, just the sound of Armand’s soft breathing and his own muffled mutters of pain as his back twinged.

He’d never trade anything for it though, the moment or his life as it was now, despite the pains big and small that he’d gone through to get there. It was perfect and unique and utterly his and Snafu’s and Armand’s, and that was exactly how he liked it.

#text post #LeeH writes #Sledgefu #ask box things #this is a bit shorter than I was intending when I started #but I hope you still like it!#I'll have to make up for it and write some more snippets of this AU in the future!#funky-little-twinket

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wolvesandfoxes25 · 7 years

Text

My thoughts on 7x04

So instead of posting photos, and giving my thoughts, and a run down on what they conveyed, I’m just gonna do a text post.

First of all, this season is sooo rushed, like, ridiculously so.

So, we get the meetup of SansaxArya, to be honest, I expected a little more. If I had met my sister after years of not seeing her, and our family had been near massacred, I’d be hugging her for days. Their banter was cute though. :)

Bran and Meera scene, that was heartbreaking. Bran just doesn’t get it. His last coherent emotion was watching Hodor die. Which is wrenching enough. Meera tells him that her brother died for him, as did summer, as did Hodor. She cried, then left. I hope we see her again..

Sansa/Arya/Bran scene: It was so heart warming to see them together, all that is missing is Jon. Get back home Jon! Bran and Arya exchanged hugs, Bran tells her he saw her at the crossroads. Arya explains her list a little bit. Making Sansa smile. Lol. Bran then takes the Catspaw dagger and gives it to Arya. Now, I think he did this because he knows she has a purpose with it. He can see the future, so he probably knows what will happen with the dagger.

Arya/Brienne sparring: That was a little tense for me. Sansa watching was a little sad as well. She has one sibling that is cold, and cut off now. And the other that is very secretive about what happened to her, and has turned into a killer. There are Starks in Winterfell, but the family is broken, the inhabitants no longer who they once were. I think that really upsets her.

Bran/Littlefinger: “Chaos...is a ladder.�� Enough said, and the look on LF’s face said it all!

Dragonstone:

Jon/Dany cave: Hmph. I didn’t get the cave drawing stuff, I was half expecting Manny, Sid, and Diego to pop up. You know...cause they saw cave drawings too, but theirs acutally made sense. Lol. Then, the tension. Tension that just doesn’t give me anything. It’s just forced in my opinion. Then she tells him to bend the knee, and I rolled my eyes. Typical.

Beach scene with Tyrion/Dany/Jon: Dany is pissed because Highgarden was taken. She brushes Tyron off rudely, then turns to Jon and asks his opinion. He tells her if she burns castles, strongholds, then she’s not different. I guess Lannister soldiers are fair game though? ‘Rolls eyes.’ Dany proceeds to down Tyrion and chastise him for her losing. The problem here is they underestimated Cersei and Jamie, and their powers of persuasion. Guess they regret that now.

Davos/Jon scene: Davos basically tells Jon that he has seen Jon looking at Dany’s chest. Now, what bothers me about this is...it’s cheesy. And ooc for Davos. And real chemistry doesn’t need to be pointed out. Jon just waved it off and kept on about the night king.

Missandei scene: Alright, someone needs to tell her to jump of Dany’s vagina, cause she honestly doesn’t know WHAT Dany would let her do. I doubt she would let her go though. Wouldn’t that be seen as a betrayal in Dany’s eyes? Dany gave her a chance to choose a different path, she decided not to take it.

Jon/Theon scene: OH MY GOSHHHH. So angsty. Jon letting Theon live ONLY for Sansa. Because her life was more important then his vengeance. I loved that. Then, Davos face! A face of confusion, and perplexity. What does it mean?

The battle of the Lannisters and Drogon/Dany and the Dothraki: Oh boy. It was an awesome scene, but also a horrific scene. Also, why did Dany burn the food she needed for her own army? Whatever. Dany went full Dracarys mode. Tyrion stood from the hill and watched in horror as she lit up his families army. Oh Tyrion...

The ominous music in the background really gave this scene life. This attack wasn’t for her food, apparently, since she set fire to ALL OF IT. It was for vengeance, because the Lannister forces weren’t even ready. Also, the Dothraki can ride through fire now? Ugh.

Dickon and his father, I think survived. We’ll see them roast in episode 5. As the promo hinted.

Bronn/Dany/Drogon: Okay Dany, when big arrows are flying at you, you don’t continue to fly at them. ?. Lol, whatever though. Bronn has some damn good aim. Shooting twice, he finally got an arrow in Drogon’s wing, making him freefall for a couple of seconds, before he righted himself and landed, taking out the Scorpion.

Jamie/Dany/Bronn scene: Ending: Jamie is pissed, watching his soldiers burn to death, or getting slaughtered by the Dothraki. He picks up a spear and charges Daenerys. Why didn’t he throw it? Bow anybody? Drogon turns at the last second, of course, and lets out a gust of fire. Bronn, out of nowhere lunges at Jamie, knocking him off his horse, and into the lake. Bronn and Jamie sink as the episode comes to an end.

This episode felt so rushed to me. Just everything about it was rushed, they really want this series done with. No matter how sloppy it is.

Also: Arya says a line in this episode, that really SHOWS how sloppy they've gotten. When she’s at the gates of Winterfell, which is a callback to her entering the gates of Kingslanding, and the guards stopping her there. She is talking to the guards, and they say Lady Stark is in charge. Arya says...”Which Lady Stark?” Well Arya, there are only two now, you and your sister, so you tell me who. I guess that was a booboo?

I give this episode a 4 out of 10.

Thoughts?

#jonsa #jon and sansa #sansa stark #fighting #wars #fire #got7 #spoilers

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icosahedonist · 7 years

Note

Imagine the team following sid one night because they all want to know who they're being ditched for on the regular. They find sid at the bar before the set, huddled up close to geno by the bar and all the players are just like !!

“He’s hiding something.”

“Of course he is,” Flower said absently, undoing the backs of his pads. “Who would tell you anything?”

Tanger groans and kicks at Flower’s skate. Flower looks up and sees his friend standing there in his nice suit, his arms folded across his chest and looking far more serious than the situation probably warrants. It’s probably the fact his neck is still recuperating that he’s turned into this busybody, Flower figures. He doesn’t do well idle. Hockey-less. Very similar to someone else they know.

“I mean it, Marc-Andre.” Oh, using the first name now, it must be serious. “He hasn’t been out with the team in ages. You know how he feels about ‘team unity bonding time,’“ he says in English in the sort of voice used to ridicule opponents. “He’s being squirrelly.”

“He’s a squirrelly guy.”

“No he’s not, which is my point. What sort of secret would he hide from us, for this long? If he’s getting laid regularly he can tell us.”

Flower thinks about adulthood, and the nature of the locker room, and the fact that while he himself is a nosy person when it comes to their captain, there are some things that should be left alone until the person in question brings them up. But this is a conversation better suited outside the locker room, because being in here turns grown men into gossipy little boys, and Flower is really no better.

“So what do you plan to do?”

Tanger smiles. He turns and calls across the room. “Sid!”

The man in question looks up from undressing, having just finished his media obligations. He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t stop moving.

“You’re coming out with us tonight. No excuses.”

Laughing, Sid shakes his head. “Sorry Tanger, I’ve got other plans tonight. Maybe another night.” The way he says it borders on being his speaking-to-the-press voice, which is likely just bleed from before, but it piques Flower’s interest nonetheless.

The locker room really does affect a man’s brain.

“C’mon, we miss you. Just a couple of drinks and then you’re free to retreat back to your Friends marathon, or whatever your plans are.” Tanger glances over at Flower as if to say, aren’t I clever?, and Flower restrains an eye roll.

But Sid won’t be swayed. “Sorry Tanger,” he repeats, “another time.” And off he goes to the showers without a hitch or a stitch.

“I told you,” Tanger mutters. Flower lets out a breathy laugh.

“Oh yes, real persuasive. You’ve a gift, my friend.”

Tanger kicks at Flower’s now-bare foot. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and you’re going to help me. Get clean. I don’t want Sid to catch wind of your stink.”

Just for that, Flower gives him a face wash before he goes for his own shower. After, when Flower is dressed and the rest of the team has scattered and Dana and his equipment guys come in to do their magic, he meets Tanger at Tanger’s car.

“If this ends badly I’m blaming you,” he says once he’s got his seat belt on. “I’ll tell him this was coercion from the start.”

Tanger snorts. They drive through downtown in silence, broken only by the occasional mutter from Tanger as he pokes at his dash-mounted phone. They don’t go too far, however, and once they’re parked in another garage, Tanger leads them to the front of a little bar.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside: it’s got some posters plastered on the glass of past and upcoming events, mostly jazz or blues, but nothing else about it really stands out. Once inside, the place is much more inviting. The bar lines the right wall, and cozy tables dotted with patrons fill the rest of the main area. At the back is the stage, and a couple of people–musicians, Flower figures–are setting things up for a performance.

It’s not hard at all to spot Sid at the bar. Flower makes to go to him, but Tanger steers him instead to an empty table. It gives them a better view of Sid, who looks to be talking to the man next to him.

Flower studies them. They’re bent toward each other, tangibly in each other’s space but not touching. Whatever the man is saying has Sid smiling, and Flower is pleased to see it’s the one he uses for people he likes. The man turns to look at the stage–his face is long and a bit reminiscent of a basset hound with his soft eyes–and then stands. He’s tall, and thin, and when he looks back at Sid his expression is gentle. He lingers a moment longer before putting his hand on Sid’s shoulder. Sid is still smiling, saying something too quiet to hear. The man lets his hand trail down Sid’s arm as he backs away and heads for the stage.

Tanger leans in, a terribly self-satisfied expression on his face; Flower shoves him back. “Fine,” Flower says before Tanger can get a word in. “It looks like you might be right.”

“Might be right–”

“Yes, might be. We don’t know for sure.” Tanger scoffs. “So go ahead and ask him.”

But Tanger shakes his head. “Not yet. I have to know if this guy is any good first.”

For an absurd moment Flower thinks he’s talking about in bed. But then he watches the man on the stage tune his upright bass, and, well. Flower’s curious too. He still says, “What does that matter?” Because even if this guy is a hack, if he makes Sid happy, that’s the important part.

“It just does,” Tanger intones gravely, and Flower knows he’s full of shit but he doesn’t press. Like Tanger has some hidden musical talent that’ll give him special insight into this guy’s abilities.

So they sit back and take in the show. Enjoy it too (at least on Flower’s part). The bassist, as far as Flower can tell, has solid rhythm, and does well no matter how slow or fast the song of the moment is. He breaks out a bow for one piece, the horsehair gliding over the strings in low, mournful tones that, at some signal from the band, become sweet like molasses as the song brightens gently. The band takes a break after one especially rollicking number, so when the man goes back to Sid (who’s grinning from ear to ear), Flower decides it’s time.

He grabs hold of a protesting Tanger and guides them to the bar. Upon seeing them, Sid’s eyes grow wide for just a second before his expression smooths back down to what Flower would call his “I’m upset at you but I can’t show it right now” face. Flower knows they’re in for it, but it’s too late to back out now. He puts on his most charming smile.

“Hey Sid! Small world, huh? Guess we can get those drinks together after all. Hey, you were really great up there,” he adds, turning toward the musician, who looks a little lost but perks up at the compliment.

“Thank you.”

“I’m Marc-Andre, by the way, and this is Kris. We’re friends of Sid’s.”

The man glances at Sid, who nods curtly. “Flower and Tanger. You know.”

Understanding eases into his expression. “Goalie and d-man, yes. Sid tell me about you. I’m Geno.”

Tanger earns himself a sharp elbow to the side when he says, “That’s weird, Sid’s never mentioned you.”

Sid’s face goes tight at that. Taking a measured breath, he says, “I think I’ll step outside, it’s a little warm in here.” He gives Flower and Tanger each a significant look, then softens when he looks back at Geno. “I’ll be in before you go back on.”

Geno searches Sid’s face a moment before nodding. “Okay,” he murmurs. He heads toward the stage, and the three of them exit the building.

Outside, Sid rounds on them almost immediately. “Did you fucking follow me? What the hell guys?”

Flower and Tanger try to speak at the same time.

“We just wanted to know–”

“You had your location turned on–”

Sid breaks in. “My location? That’s for if I get lost, not for spying on me.”

Tanger has the sense to at least look chagrined. “Okay, that was wrong of me. I’m sorry. But Sid, man, you’ve been avoiding the team for weeks now.”

He scoffs. “I have not–”

Gently, Flower interrupts, “You have, Sid. You wouldn’t tell us anything. We were getting a little worried.”

“You know we don’t mind, right? If you’re dating him or whatever,” Tanger adds.

Sid scrubs at his face and sighs. “It’s really new. We’ve only been seeing each other for, like, a week now. I’ve been coming to the bar longer,” he says. “I wanted to try something different so I started coming here. It’s… been good. I guess I wanted to wait until things were a little more solid before saying anything, but.” He looks at them wryly. “You two couldn’t wait.”

“Sorry Sid.”

“Uh huh.” Yet Sid smiles when he says, a little louder, “I should have Horny fine you both.”

“But then you’d have to tell him the reason,” Flower points out with a grin.

Sid grins back. “Well.” He says nothing else, but Flower knows what he means.

Sid makes for the door but pauses before opening it. “Do you want to stay? They’ll play for at least another thirty minutes.”

Tanger and Flower look at each other. As if this is a legit question. “Yeah, let’s go watch your boy play,” Flower says.

“He’s not ‘my boy’,” Sid mutters, color high on his cheeks.

“He’s your boy,” Tanger sing-songs. Flower laughs, and they go inside, the warm glow of the bar inviting them in.

#fanfiction #my fanfiction #sidgeno #rpf #musician au #Anonymous

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midnightcindy · 7 years

Text

Long Day

Albert mafia au! Fluffy fluffy floof.

Albert slumped in his office chair, swiveling back and forth lazily as he sank into the plush leather. He blew out a harsh breath, tossing the brass knuckles onto his sleek, black desk. He didn’t even bother to watch for the blood that coated the metal item to skitter across the table; instead he leaned his head back in his seat and tore off his glasses. He peeled off his black leather gloves- now ruined from the unsuccessful interrogation that he had just returned from- and tossed them beside the brass knuckles. His cool, clammy palms met his eyes, and he pressed them against the ache that was forming in his skull.

The door to his office swung open. Sid strolled in quietly, and Albert did not turn. Silence ensued, until Albert sighed. “Taken care of, then?”

Sid nodded. “Yeah. We dragged the body out to the pier. The twins are taking him to the middle of the ocean by now.”

Albert dragged his hands down his face, and slammed one fist on the table. “You said he would talk.”

Sid ducked his head, his voice low. “Sorry, boss. I heard him say it with my own ears just a few days ago. He said he was embezzling money from our business. I swear.”

“Well until you find any other, convincing evidence that Louis Howard was a lying bastard,” Albert said, swiveling to face Sid, his eyes pointed and dark, “consider yourself on probation.”

Sid took a deep breath. “Boss, I know that he was-”

“I don’t give a righteous damn what you know,” Albert said, standing menacingly as he seethed. “Because of you, I just lost one of my best account trackers. Do you know how much profit we could lose if you were wrong?”

Albert snatched his glasses from his desk, and slipped them up his nose with a flash. “Find me that information Sid. Good luck doing it with Howard dead.” Albert buttoned his jacket as he walked past Sid, heading for the door. “Now get out of my office.”

Sid hurriedly shuffled out, speeding down the hall until he was out of sight. Albert cracked his knuckles, trying to stretch his sore wrists. He shifted his glasses up again, and turned to walk down the long hall to the elevators.

Before he had walked two steps, another voice called out to him. “Mr. Burckhardt, I need you to take a look at these contracts.”

Albert breathed sharply through his nose, closing his eyes slowly as he turned toward the other man. “Nico,” Albert said. “It can wait until tomorrow.”

“I understand Mr. Burckhardt, but it’s something urgent with the Stein shipment. Mr. Wagner wants the product increased.”

Albert furrowed his brows, the ache returning behind his eyes. “By how much?”

Nico pursed his lips, tucking the stack of papers closer to his chest. “Double.”

Albert clenched his teeth, and knocked the stack of papers out of Nico’s hands. The papers went fluttering around the hall, and Nico quickly scurried to pick them up. “Double,” Albert seethed in disbelief. “That shipment is scheduled to go out in a week. What, does Byron think my production is run by fucking Santa Claus? I can’t produce another 10 kilos of cocaine in three days.”

“I- I’m sorry, Mr. Burckhardt,” said Nico, scrambling to pick up the loose contracts. “Someone called today and all I told them was that I would inform you, I didn’t make any promises!”

Albert pinched the bridge of his nose. At least Nico had done his part correctly. Still, Albert shoved past the younger man hard enough that he toppled back into the wall, nearly spilling the gathered papers once again. “I will deal with Byron tomorrow,” Albert shot as he strode purposefully toward the elevators. “Tell him if he wants anything from me, he can wait to do so in the morning.”

Nico nodded, and flitted off around the corner. Albert pressed the button on the elevator. But before the doors could open with a predictable chime, his pocket began to buzz. Stepping onto the lift, Albert swiped out his phone and raised it to his ear. “Burckhardt.”

“Boss,” a smooth voice said from the other line.

Albert massaged the back of his neck as the metallic elevator began to descend. “Don’t waste my time Leo, you’d better have some good news.”

“Well,” Leo said, a ghost of a laugh in his tone. “I have something like that. Louis isn’t dead yet.”

Albert almost slammed his head against the wall of the elevator. “What.”

“Yeah,” Leo said, the sound of gargled screams in the background. “Turns out your beating took him right to the edge, but as soon as we dropped him in the water he started splashing like crazy. I think we can get some more out of him if you just come-”

“I hired you and your brother for a certain set of skills, Leo,” Albert spat into the phone. “If you have any god damned sense left in your skull, you’ll put your talents in persuasion to use and GET ME MY INFORMATION.”

Leo’s voice shifted after Albert screamed into the phone. “Yes sir. Of course, boss,” he said seriously.

The elevator doors popped open, and Albert walked across the marble floor of the lobby. “Handle this on your own. Tomorrow I expect a very positive report. Now unless you want to join Louis in his current state of business, I suggest you not call me again.”

Albert angrily shoved his phone back into the breast pocket of his coat, and shot a dangerous look at the receptionist. She quickly ducked her head, lowering herself until she was nonexistent in her seat.

It was raining outside, the dark clouds in the late evening sending sheets of harsh rain down to the city streets below. Albert ducked into the rain, jogging to the car that was waiting to take him anywhere he wanted. “Evening, Mr. Burckhardt,” the driver said. “Where to?”

“Home,” Albert sighed, resting his head against the plush seating. He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof. The ache behind his eyes wouldn’t go away, swirling with the hassle of the day.

His key neatly fitted into the security lock in the elevator, Albert pressed the button to take him to the top floor. When the doors opened, he stepped inside, his shoes touching the echoing tile of the penthouse. He tossed his keys onto the side table, and they clattered along the dark wood loudly.

“Al! Quiet,” a voice whispered fiercely.

Albert’s gaze shifted to the living room, where a woman sat holding a bundle in her arms. Baby toys were strung haphazardly throughout the rich living room, a trail of evidence to the messy-haired, spit-covered, exhausted looking woman sitting precariously on the recliner. Her eyes were wide, staring warning signals into her husband’s expression.

She rocked the bundle back and forth gently. “Don’t wake the baby.”

Albert smiled softly, the ache behind his eyes fading to a small buzz. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, slipping off his shoes as quietly as possible. He slinked his sports jacket from his shoulders, and laid it on the couch. Walking to his wife, he crouched next to her chair, meeting her eyes. “Hey Vanessa. How long as she been like this?”

“An hour,” Vanessa replied softly. “An hour of sweet, quiet bliss.”

Albert smiled; suppressing the chuckle he felt bubbling from his chest. “Has she been giving you trouble today?”

As if in response, the baby woke up, and instantly began screaming.

The woman holding the little girl slumped back in her seat, eyes closing tightly. “Yes,” she responded.

“Here,” Albert said, rolling up his sleeves. He reached out and took the bundle from his wife’s arms. “You’ve had a long day. You could use a break.”

Vanessa allowed him, offering only a small protest. “You’ve had a long day too,” she argued.

Albert shushed his daughter’s cries, speaking to her sweetly as he carried her around the living room. “Not at all,” he said, toying with the little girl’s hands, her tiny fingers wrapping around his thumb. “It was actually a pretty slow day.”

“Really,” Vanessa said, breathing steadily as she stretched out her back. “It’s been hell here.”

“I can see the wreckage,” Albert said, stepping on a toy. The baby’s cries declined, and soon she was sound asleep once again.

Albert’s wife tossed her hands in the air, surrendering to the victor of today’s battle for dominance. “Fucking baby whisperer,” she breathed.

Albert chuckled, swaying his way back to his wife’s side. He let go of their daughter with one arm, and encircled Vanessa’s waist with it. He pulled her to his side, and leaned down to press a slow kiss to her lips.

Vanessa pulled back, grabbing onto Albert’s hand. She raised it to her line of vision, and knowingly, pointed to the swelling along his knuckles. “A ‘slow day’, huh?”

Albert tugged his hand away and returned it to the duty of cradling the sleeping baby against his chest. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Give her back.” Vanessa tried taking the baby from her husband, but Albert only shuffled away.

“No, you need rest. You work just as hard as I do.” Albert made his way toward the back of the apartment, walking down the hall toward the baby’s room.

Vanessa followed him. “Al,” she said. “You can’t spend all day dealing with God-knows-what, only to come home and have even more work to do.”

Albert shouldered the door to the nursery open, making his way inside the pale lilac room. He walked to the crib, and made gentle work of laying the baby down on the cushion. The little girl gurgled happily, fidgeted, and quieted back into sleep.

Albert turned to his wife, standing in the doorway. “I told you Ness, I’m fine.”

Vanessa shut the door behind them, following Albert as he once again walked back down the hall and turned toward the kitchen. “Al, you’re working yourself into the ground. Please, let me take care of you.” She reached out and caught Albert’s hand, tugging him back toward her. Raising his coarse hand to her lips, she pressed a light kiss over the bruising skin.

Albert conceded, turning his hand to palm his wife’s cheek. “All right,” he sighed. “It’s been a long day.”

“I know,” she said, pulling him down into her embrace. Vanessa wrapped her arms around Albert’s neck, letting him bury his face into her shoulder.

As Albert sighed against his wife’s thrumming pulse, he felt the tension from his shoulders melt as easily as his arms encircled her waist. He pulled back, heat rising in his chest as their noses touched. Albert closed his eyes, leaning forward in the hopes of a kiss.

Then, another bout of wailing drifted from the end of the hall.

Vanessa banged her head against Albert’s chest. “It never ends,” she said, her words muffled by Albert’s dress shirt, to which she so desperately clung.

“I’ve got her,” said Albert, pulling away from Vanessa.

“No,” she said tiredly, lacing her fingers in Albert’s. She smiled sweetly, bags under her eyes softened by the warm light in her irises. “Together.”

Albert grinned, kissing his wife’s temple. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

#midnightcindy #midnight cinderella #cindy writes for y'all #fluff #fanfiction #albert burckhardt #mafia au

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thebibliomancer · 7 years

Text

100 Days of Comics! 021/100: Weavers #3 of 6 (2016)

Today’s rummage into my box of 100 assorted mystery comics brings me something new. An independent comic through Boom! Studios written by Si Spurrier, who is apparently a guy who does a lot of 2000 AD and X-Men stuff.

Not sure I’ve read any of his stuff but I do think his name came up a lot on Jay and Miles’ podcast.

And arted by Dylan Burnett and colored by Triona Farrell who I’m even less familiar with.

Anyway, Weavers! Seems to be some kind of spider mob story. Not sure except from inference what happened in the first two parts because the recap page is an inconsistently applied technology and fuck me I guess for not picking up the first two issues.

Apparently previously the Russians called the spider mob Harvests to a bar under the pretense of peace but then a bomb exploded killing Beatrice Harvest but missing the boss Harvest. The comic follows the perspective of a new member of the Harvests, Sid.

The Harvests are understandably nettled about the whole thing and have Mr. Silence (a Harvest very persuasive with a tiny whiteboard) interrogate the bar owner. He reveals the location of a Russian safehouse but can’t tell them anything on the bomb. He also starts screaming that the spiders are a cancer that killed the town.

Meanwhile, Sid knows more than he’s telling the others. He saw someone staking out the bar before it blew but he wants to learn who before he tells the others. And he also has a lead on who built the bomb.

A Miss Pneema shows up at Sid’s apartment, apparently battered, and tries hitting on him before collapsing in tears. But he has an appointment with the bomb builder so he leaves her in his apartment so she can freshen up.

Terry, the bomb builder, is about to skip town because she knows the Harvests will find out she built it. And she doesn’t trust Sid not to eventually tell because she’s seen what happens to people new in the web. Eventually he’ll happily turn her over to protect the web. But before she takes off she tells him that it was Beatrice Harvest who commissioned the bomb. Terry doesn’t know why. And she doesn’t know who actually dialed in to the cell phone detonator.

And then Sid has to join the raid on the Russian safehouse. Apparently despite being the newbie, he’s one of their big hitters. And some uncontrollable tendrils do come out of him and start wrecking shit up. One of the Harvest members, Damien, gets killed in the action (possibly because Sid withheld info about where the Russians would punch out) and his spider is collected to infest someone else later?

The safehouse was apparently a lab for the Russians to try to replicate the Harvests. So there’s that.

There’s also this. Sid goes home to his apartment to find that Miss Pneema has slit her wrists in his bathtub. And the issue ends with someone knocking on Sid’s apartment door just as he discovers this.

Clearly a lot going on here. Looking up information on the series, one of the things is that Sid is trying to hold onto his own free will to accomplish his own goals that might be at odds with the Weavers gang and the will of the spiders. Apparently he’s an undercover cop infiltrating the gang? Something that apparently was revealed in issue #1? RECAP PAGE WOULD BE NICE.

Also seems to be a lot of subverting usual superhero tropes about suddenly getting power. The Harvests don’t have an unshakable faith in notions of justice and salvation, only loyalty toward each other. So you end up with a superpowered mob. “Held together by hissing Machiavellian spiders living inside each member.”

Although clearly with the Beatrice bomb thing, there’s some inside agendas and power struggles and schemes. Not exactly a big happy spider powered crime family.

So its an interesting comic. Judging from one issue, some inferences, and five seconds of research.

Geez though. I was not very surprised when I found out that Si Spurrier does a lot of 2000 AD stuff. Sid very much feels like he comes out of the British comic tradition. The angry young punky idiot type of protagonist?

#100 Days of Comics!#Weavers #si spurrier #spoilers #tw suicide #tw abuse

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thegraduatesrp-blog · 7 years

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ARIEL HUNT / 18 YEARS OLD / OPEN / LIANA LIBERATO

People often ask Ariel, usually joking, if she was named after the little mermaid. She laughs, and says that she wasn’t, and makes something up. She was, though, named after the disney princess, because her mother was an idiot. She’s not a mermaid (you can’t have more than a kiddie pool in the trailer park anyway), and she’s definitely no princess, although, sometimes she privately imagines that she is, and the Church is her kingdom, however shitty. No, Ariel isn’t really a princess. If you ask the kids at her high school, she’s ‘the school slut’, although she rejects that term purely on the basis that she never understood exactly what the whole slut thing is supposed to mean, anyway. Sure, she might be classified as ‘easy’, but the way she sees it, she just wants different things than other people.

Sometimes, she thinks about what it would be like if she didn’t live in Church, if she lived in a big city, what people might think of her. All the stigma, and criticism of her, she imagines, is just because it’s small town gossip. But she knows that she doesn’t have the grades to go to a good college, or anything like that. Her plan is to run away, after graduation, or maybe not to graduate at all, but now senior year is getting closer, and all she can do is avoid thinking about it for as long as possible.

PERSONALITY

Ariel is not the person you go to if you want something sugar coated - She’s brutally honest, and while it does bother her that she sometimes upsets people a little, it’s not enough to make her stop. People deserve to know how the world really operates, and she wouldn’t be doing anyone any favors by making it seem better than it actually was. People might call Ariel jaded, but she doesn’t really like that description - She doesn’t like most descriptions people give her, often saying that she doesn’t need labels. She knows herself, and that’s all that really matters.

Positive Traits: Individualistic, persuasive, realist Negative Traits: Resentful, insensitive, rebellious

CONNECTIONS

Sid Gilbert: Sid is Ariel’s closest friend in the world. In fact, she thinks that if she had ever been in love with anyone, it would be him. They understand each other on a level that she doesn’t really think anyone else does. It’s almost like they have some sort of connection, something more than friendship, or a romantic relationship, even. She can be incredibly possessive of him, however, which was always a problem with his relationship. Now that he’s single, and they’ve been hooking up relatively regularly, she’s starting to realize that she is actually in love with him, or something like that. She can’t tell him, though, because there is no way she’s going to break their connection, whatever it is.

Lizzy Fujita: When Sid started dating Lizzy, Ariel told herself she wasn’t going to be judgmental. That, however, lasted all of a few hours. She hates how naive Lizzy is, and the fact that she doesn’t see the world in the same pessimistic way that Ariel does - But mostly her dislike for Lizzy is entirely rooted in her possessiveness over Sid. Now that Lizzy and Sid are broken up, she’s finding herself caring less and less, and at Sid’s behest, has been trying (rather weakly) to ‘befriend’ Lizzy.

Alyssa Newton: Alyssa is Ariel’s ride or die, forever. They’re best friends, normal best friends, sure, but it’s still something. It’s almost like Alyssa is her sister or something. She feels protective of her, especially now that she’s coming back to school, and lot’s of people seem to judge her. She also often calls herself Auntie Ariel, in reference to Alyssa’s daughter. Her real family isn’t great, but Alyssa is a good substitute.

Madison Long: Ariel has hooked up with Bryce Long more than a few times, and so she knows Madison, sort of just by association. She’s not sure what it is, but something about Madison rubs her the wrong way. It’s almost like she thinks she’s better than other people in Church, or special, or something like that, and Ariel is very anti special. No one is better than anyone, because it’s all subjective. But Madison Long has a condescending attitude, and she can feel it whenever they talk. It’s something she wouldn’t expect from someone so intelligent, but everyone has to have flaws.

#lsrpg #rpg #roleplay #bio rpg #lsrp #open #ariel

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