#henry that he was in love with gus that he wasn’t surprised at all. and gus never heard this story before and shawn was feigning annoyance

[mamabear-elinor]

Ill Tidings Brought -> [Elinor + the Charmings]

In which Elinor gets a surprise visitor on her door who warns her of what is to come...[takes place: June 18]

@charmed-henry

[tw -- discussion of violence and kind of abuse; Order shenanigans]

AUGUSTA: The final straw, it turned out, was being asked to spy on her brother.

It wasn’t the awkward forced dates with men she knew she would never love. It wasn’t even the horrible things they did to magical creatures, or the dangerous attitudes about Magicks that had taken Augusta years to unlearn. All of that cognitive dissonance, Augusta could take. She had lived a double life for long enough.

But she had always believed that, despite the numerous fucked-up things about her family, they would always stick together. It was always family first, Order second, everything else third. Until now, apparently. Until Henry had become a risk. 

On some level, Augusta understood why her parents were worried he would turn on them. He was distant lately, and the few times Gus had spoken to him on FaceTime, he seemed distracted. And she’d heard about what happened at the trial…

The thought made her shudder.

So when she got to Swynlake, instead of gathering information on Henry quietly, Augusta revealed everything. She showed him the messages. And then she asked if there was someone here she could speak to, someone who was organizing forces against the Order.

And that was how they wound up on the doorstep of Best Castle. Augusta knocked and pulled her cardigan tighter around her. It wasn’t cold, but the werewolf thing kind of freaked her out.

ELINOR: Elinor had been reading in the study, when the great knocker for the front door echoed through the ground floor. There were not many people that wandered this far out and Elinor had made it a rule (for safety!) that the girls needed to tell her if they were having anyone over. No one had been reported. Which meant this was a surprise visit. 

Once upon a time, Elinor had loved unexpected visitors. They were stressful, yes, but Elinor was in her element when under a little bit of stress. She liked being a hostess. It was the role she was bred for and she’d always been better at that than being a wife, or even a mother. 

Since coming to Swynlake, however, unexpected visitors had gotten rather perilous. 

Still, Elinor got up, folded the page down in her book, and moved towards the door. When she pulled it open, she was surprised to see her nephew, and even more surprised to see her niece. This was very ominous indeed, but Elinor couldn’t help the way she smiled. It had been so long since she’d seen her nieces. 

“Augusta!” Elinor said. “What a surprise. Please, children, come in. Come in. I’ll set the kettle on.” She drew Augusta into the house with a hand on her shoulder, leaning in to kiss her cheek before turning to move towards the kitchen. 

AUGUSTA/HENRY: Augusta smiled back, but already, she could feel that familiar twinge of anxiety that came with family gatherings. Not that this was a family gathering, and Aunt Elinor hadn’t even been present at the last couple of them. But that feeling never really went away. 

She couldn’t wait until she was done with all of this, honestly. She had an exit strategy. She wasn’t brave or idealistic like Henry was; the only reason she was here was because she wanted to protect Henry. And the second she did what she came to do, she was packing up her stuff, moving into her girlfriend’s place in Birmingham, starting her new job, and getting out of this messed-up world of the Order. 

When Aunt Elinor went to put the tea on, Augusta glanced at her brother. He seemed like he was on the verge of tears. He always did, nowadays. It made Augusta angry– how could any of this possibly be worth it? She wanted to convince him to come to Birmingham with her, to get away from all of this. But she knew he wouldn’t. He was too stubborn. And he had a more personal stake in this than Augusta did.

The Charmings followed Aunt Elinor into the kitchen, Augusta settling into a seat, Henry hovering anxiously.

“It’s quite pretty, what you’ve done with the place,” Augusta said politely, even though she really did not want to do small talk. 

ELINOR: Elinor knew that there was something on the horizon. Augusta would not have shown up without it. She didn’t know in what capacity it would come: Augusta, leaving the Order and needing help. Augusta, sent as a spy. As a warning. There were a great many ways that the Order could use a woman as a weapon or a toy or whatever they wanted. Elinor had known this while in the Order, and now that she was out, she saw it for both the strength and horrible, horrible weakness that it was. 

But before darkness settled again, Elinor wanted a moment with her niece and nephew as just that: her niece and nephew. Elinor had always loved her family. She missed them dreadfully. Even her bratty younger sister. And especially Shannon’s children. They were her only blood nieces and nephews, after all. 

“Thank you, darling,” Elinor said. “It was horrid when I arrived, but I think I am beginning to bring some life to it. Henry, sit down.” She said it as a command, but a kind one. 

He was making her nervous. She was nervous. Her brain was firing on all cylinders, trying to uncover what new plan the Order had before anyone had to say it. She moved to the cabinet, pulling down mugs and plates, silverware. There was some leftover tea cakes from lunch yesterday that she could get out for them to eat. 

“How are your studies going, Augusta?” Elinor smiled over her shoulder at her niece as she moved to the sink to wash her hands. 

AUGUSTA: Augusta shot Henry a very older-sister-type look (nowhere near as effective as one of Jacqueline’s looks, but it would do) and he reluctantly sat down, though his leg was now jiggling nervously. Augusta turned her attention back toward her aunt. Henry was also making her nervous. 

She smiled placidly. “Just about finished up. Finally,” she chuckled, though there was no real humor to her tone. It was the same thing she always told her relatives, who asked why she was still in school when she could be doing so many other things. Like getting married, was the implicit part.

She didn’t know if that was where Aunt Elinor was going with the question— because she did wonder how much she had changed since leaving Uncle Fergus— but that didn’t really matter. That wasn’t what they were here to talk about. 

“But I actually was here to talk to you about something else, if you don’t mind. Erm…” She took out her phone and set it on the table. “My brother thought you should know. It’s about the Order. They’re… planning on attacking the castle, we think.” She unlocked her phone. “I have proof. Texts from my family. They’re not going to be a part of it, but they know what’s happening and they’re not going to stop it. I’m… so sorry, Aunt Elinor…”

ELINOR: The question had been genuine. When Elinor had first gotten married, she had wanted to go back to school, get her masters. She thought it would help her feel more equipped for running a castle, considering the first few months, even years, had been rather difficult. But, Fergus hadn’t been keen on the idea and she’d found out she was pregnant with Merida not long after she had moved in. It had always been something she regretted, so she had been happy when she’d heard Augusta was going back for another degree. She’d been very proud.

But, clearly, her niece wasn’t here to ask about school or for her advice. 

She was here with a warning.

Elinor nearly dropped the tea mugs as she set them down in front of her niece and nephew. Of course the Order were coming here. After what had happened with the king. This was to be nearly expected, though Elinor had thought they might be safe, the Order not wanting to come full force into a magical town. She felt her stomach twist as she took the phone and read through the messages, disgusted at her sister’s behavior, unsurprised by her brother-in-law’s. There was a lot she could say about Fergus, but at least he was no coward. He would face his actions, even if it meant meeting with a sword at the end of it. 

The phone slid back across the table and Elinor looked up at Henry and Augusta, her eyes filled with tears. Not for herself, but for all the children caught in the middle of this. Not just Opal, Aidan, and Bellamy, but Merida, the triplets, Augusta, Henry, and even Jacquline. 

“You donnae need to apologize, darlings. This isn’t your fault.” She came around the table, so that she was nearer to them and she kissed at Augusta’s hair, squeezing her shoulders. “I am sorry that your parents have put you in the middle of all of this.” Her other hand came up to touch Henry’s cheek, then his hair, brushing it back gently. “This isn’t your responsibility anymore. I will take care of all of it. Do you know when they are coming?” 

AUGUSTA: Augusta closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. She had never really been close with any of her extended family. She assumed they were all the same– judgmental gossips who would spring at any opportunity to embarrass her family. Not to be trusted. The only person she had ever really trusted with her deepest fears and secrets was Jacqueline, but now…

Now everything was different. And, strangely, it was her aunt reassuring her. Augusta had assumed she would finally have to stand on her own here. Henry was on her side, but Henry needed her to be there for him, not the other way around. In her family, Gus had never really had to take on this role before. It was nice to realize that she had Aunt Elinor– that she wasn’t going to do it alone. 

Or maybe she wouldn’t have to do it at all. Maybe she could disappear into her new life, the one she’d always wanted. There was only one thing giving her pause…

Her brother, who now looked like he was trying to burn a hole into the table by the pure intensity of his stare.

She scrolled back up in the texts. “Mid July. So… it could be any day now,” Augusta explained. “They’re, erm, they’re getting on a boat, I think. I was sent here to collect Henry, but– I’m not going. I’ve got a job in another city, and, erm, someone to live with.” She didn’t think she should be more specific than that, even if she wanted to trust Aunt Elinor. “So I wanted to use the opportunity to warn Henry. I’m sorry there isn’t more notice, I… it’s all happening very quickly.” She looked up at Aunt Elinor nervously. “Will you all be okay here? It might be best to leave, hide for a bit…”

ELINOR: “Donnae worry about me,” Elinor told Augusta with a smile, squeezing her shoulders again. 

No, they wouldn’t run. Merida wouldn’t leave. Elinor knew that without even having to ask. Her daughter was stubborn and this was her home. Elinor understood. She had been sold from one home to another. And then forced to leave that home too, which had been more of a home than the first. This was her home now. And more importantly: it was Merida’s home. They would defend it. 

Besides, they’d started this fight. They’d killed the King. It wasn’t shocking to Elinor that the violence of the Order was falling on two women. Hadn’t it always? 

“We will be alright now, thanks to you. Do you need anything? Money?” she asked. She did not have much of it herself, but if her niece needed it to get set up in a new life away from all of this—she would gladly give it. 

“What about you, Henry?” She looked over at her nephew, who had been stony and quiet this whole time. Elinor knew that he had struggled with the Order in the past. With his loyalties. And while she wanted to trust them both, she was cautious and she doubted she’d say anything about her plans to either of them. To keep them out of a situation where they would have to choose. 

AUGUSTA/HENRY: Gus shook her head. She already had everything planned out. Never, in her life, before now, had she been a planner. But these strange times were making strangers of everyone. It helped that she had Mo to stay with, who was highly pragmatic and had helped Gus figure things out (and, in some cases, figured things out for her– Gus really had the best girlfriend ever). 

But she wanted Aunt Elinor to keep an eye on Henry, who valiantly (stupidly) refused to flee. Gus still thought there was a difference between her own form of self-preservationism and her family’s. She wasn’t fleeing the country, for one thing. Henry seemed to have no sense of either, though. He wanted to stay and fight. The Order had, it seemed, trained him a little too well.

Henry looked up from his concentrated stare at the table, looking briefly confused before his expression settled, once again, on a stony determination. “I’m going to help defend the castle,” Henry said in a low voice. “If the authorities won’t let me pay for what I’ve done, I’ve got to find my own way. The only thing I need is for you to let me do that.”

Augusta sighed, as though she had already had this argument with Henry, and looked at Elinor imploringly. “I’ve tried to tell him–”

“It isn’t your concern, Augusta–”

“It is my concern, you’re my brother and you’re clearly–”

“I am an adult, Gus, just let me make my own decisions for once in my life!” Henry’s eyes flashed with more emotion than he had shown the entire conversation, and they both went silent. Augusta shot her aunt another look.

“Just… take care of him, please.” 

ELINOR: Elinor frowned. 

And she thought of her own children. Merida and the boys tiffed, of course, but there was ten years between them, so there wasn’t really anything for them to truly have ever fought over. Merida was just as bad as the three of them. A prank for a prank was usually how debts had been settled between all of them. But she was thinking about her boys, left behind in the clutches of the Order. Elinor regretted that as much as she regretted pretty much every other decision she’d made in the last few years.

Maybe, her whole life.

She just looked at Henry and saw her boys. Saw them just as scared. Just as lost. 

Her hand squeezed Augusta’s shoulder. “Donnae worry. I will. We all will.” Herself, Merida, Tom, Phil, and John. She knew the boys would certainly watch over him. They all cared about him too. Elinor just…wished she had tried to do more for him before all of this. Maybe she could have stopped it. Or lessened the blow. 

“If you need anything, Augusta, please, do not hesitate to reach out to me. If you are--leaving your parents, let me help, when I can.” She squeezed her niece’s shoulder.

AUGUSTA/HENRY: Augusta nodded, feeling strangely relieved. She hadn’t really walked into this conversation expecting much. She had a lot of assumptions about her aunt, most of them just based on the faceless entity that her entire extended family was. And now she was entrusting Henry to her (though she knew Henry would firmly oppose this framing). And she… felt good about it?

Maybe there was more to her family than she realized. Maybe there was a way, at the end of this, for Augusta to come away from it with a family. Not the same one she’d always had, but a family still.

If there was one thing that coming out, first to herself, then her uni friends, then Jacq and Henry, had taught Augusta– it was that being queer often meant you built your own family. So Augusta had made peace with the idea of doing that, and she hadn’t expected any of her blood relatives to be a part of it. But now they were here surprising her. And she was surprising herself.

“I’ll be okay. I’ve been planning for this– even before all of this happened. I dunno if I would’ve been brave enough to actually do it if not for, erm, all of this.” Augusta gestured vaguely. “But thank you. I’ll… stay in touch.” She smiled nervously.

Henry nodded, his eyes trained on the table again, his expression once again stony and impassive. In his opinion, the sooner Gus got out of here to safety the better. The less she involved herself, the less of a target she made herself. And he knew this was the last time he may see his sister, if she did have to go deep into hiding– but he was avoiding that truth. He didn’t say anything.

“I have to say,” Augusta added, smiling at her aunt gently. “I… didn’t expect this. But I hope our paths will cross again. And… I’ll be thinking of you all. Be careful.”

ELINOR: Now that Elinor’s family was fracturing like this: her boys somewhere--she didn’t even know; Fergus hating her; her coward of a sister fleeing; Henry here, but distant and tortured; Augusta feeling trapped and needing to run herself--Elinor regretted everything.

She looked back on her life and wished that she had spent more time at her sister’s. Maybe, it would have made her and Shannon grow closer. Or maybe, it would have been horrid, but at least she would have a better relationship with her nieces and nephew. She had been so busy with Fergus’ family. The children on that side…it had been easy to fall into that family and leave behind the Briars. Her sister had always been so snooty. Elinor had fit right in with the DunBrochs, by not fitting in much anywhere else. It had been easy…but she hadn’t thought about the children.

She should have thought about the children. 

That was what she was doing now. And it felt like she was the only one who was. She worried about all of them. Merida--what her purpose was now, how the world would treat her. Her sons, what they were learning, how it would shape them. Thomas and his son--two generations touched by the sins of their fathers. Phillip and John. Henry and his twisted honor. 

It made her feel as if her heart was being rent into warped metal. 

“You be safe too,” Elinor told her. “And I’m proud of you. For having a plan, for having your own mind. I wish I was more like you when I was younger.” She smiled fondly at Augusta and it was only this exchange that kept her from crying. This hope for a better future for all these children who were escaping those same sins of their parents. 

“You’ll be fine, but check in anyway. We will take care of things here.” 

AUGUSTA/HENRY: Augusta looked up at her aunt, and for a brief moment, she thought about telling her everything. Aunt Elinor hadn’t said anything outright that made Augusta believe this, but her hopeful smile made Augusta think maybe she would be a safe person to tell… and that did make a difference, when Augusta felt like she couldn’t trust anyone in her family at all.

But she couldn’t take that risk. Everything was already decided, and Augusta couldn’t put Mo at risk like that. This wasn’t just about her. 

Maybe someday, though.

So she smiled sadly and nodded. “I’ll be okay. And Henry knows how to find me. He always has a place to stay, if he needs it.”

Henry knew this, but he wasn’t going to accept his sister’s offer. In his eyes, she was innocent. She deserved to get out of here before the black hole that was the Order had a chance to suck her in too. Going with her was cowardly, in Henry’s opinion– and it was also dangerous. 

So he didn’t look up, just stared at the table and nodded, resigned to his fate. He was going to protect the castle. It was more than his duty, it was his destiny.

#swynhenry #helinor #ill tidings brought #the fall of rome #featuring augusta #<3

[captainsjack]

@asoulofstars !!!!! i cry about it all the time 😭😭 just.

shawn’s bike is in the shop so they have to get around with just the blueberry - which, normally isn’t that big of a deal. but gus has appointments all day in different places, and shawn’s in the middle of a case and needs to visit witnesses.

so shawn pulls up to dr whatever’s office - he’s supposed to pick gus up for lunch & then they’ll go back to the office. except... shawn’s been waiting in the car for a good 7 mins. where’s gus? then shawn hears a gunshot.

he runs in and sees gus looking shocked - hand over his chest, knees about to buckle. in front of him is dr whatever, gun still drawn. the dr sees shawn and makes a break for it - he jumps out the window, glass flies everywhere. except shawn doesn’t care at all, because gus is falling to his knees, and shawn makes it over to his husband just in time to catch him before he falls completely.

shawn’s freaking out, holding gus, he takes off his jacket and presses it tightly to gus’s chest. (“gus? gus stay with me ok? gus? gus! don’t close your eyes! please stay awake okay? please.” gus’s head is resting on shawn’s shoulder, and he’s breathless as he closes his eyes and whispers quietly, “i love you.” shawn can feel his breathing stop, his heartbeat begins to fade, and shawn made a call to 911 a while ago, and why aren’t they here yet? “gus? gus!”)

lassie and jules are at the station when someone calls in hearing gunshots. they drive to the location. “oh come on!” “what?” “we just got the call and they’re already here?” lassie glances at the blueberry. “unbelievable.” they enter the room. lassiter’s face falls when he sees shawn, kneeling on the ground, holding gus to his chest.

the paramedics arrive, shawn’s in a daze, shirt covered in gus’s blood. “there’s no hearbeat” one of the doctors says to the other. “well get it back!” shawn all but yells at them. he tries to follow them but jules tells them the doctors need room to work. she drives shawn to the hospital - closely following the ambulance. lassiter stays at the scene, but there’s no sign of where the shooter went.

shawn barely waits for the car to stop before he’s out and running over to the stretcher - to gus. he follows behind, answering questions about gus’s medical history, asking questions, making them promise to save him. jules is close behind - already calling henry.

they rush gus up to the or, shawn’s in a daze, trying to follow. “sir you can’t go through this door.” “i need to be with gus.” “are you okay? are you hurt?” “no. it’s not my blood.” jules finds shawn and coaxes him to the waiting room. she makes him go to the bathroom and wash the blood from his hands and face.

henry gets there, jules told him to bring an extra shirt (the least she could do for him was make sure he didn’t have to sit around covered in his husbands blood). “what the hell happened?” juliet’s scared, she doesn’t know if gus will make it, everything seems to be in slow motion. “gus.. we got a call. about gunshots. we didn’t know it was gus until we got there.” “where is he?” “or. they don’t know how long it’ll take.” “where’s shawn?” “bathroom.”

henry enters the bathroom. it takes a couple of times, a couple calls of shawn’s name, and it’s not until henry puts a hand on his shoulder that shawn registers anyone is there. the sink is stained red. a few marks of blood are still on shawn’s face. henry can tell he’s tried to scrub it all off - but there’s red around his fingernails, some on his jawline. his flannel is crumbled on the counter - a grey fabric now turned red. shawn looks up. his eyes, they’re red too - but not from blood. henry holds him for a second - but shawn’s just numb. nothings registering, he can’t feel anything. he changes his shirt, and they go back to the waiting room.

the clock keeps ticking - it’s an awful sound really. each faint click, tick, strike grows louder. shawn doesn’t know how long they sit there. it could be minutes, hours, days - it feels like a lifetime. all he can do is stare at his hands. hands that held gus as he bled out, cradled his face, pressed his jacket to his wound, begging it to stop, cease, spare his life. hands that used to touch gus in more ways than just to fight against an injury. to hold his hands, face, to brush against his shoulder, waist. there’s a ring of crimson around his wedding band. shawn can’t stop staring at it.

“we should call his parents,” henry says quietly.

“not until i know what to tell them.” shawn puts his head in his hands. he can still feel the warmth of gus’s blood seeping through his shirt, down his chest. not until i know if he’s gonna make it.

hours later, the doctors come out. “mr. spencer?” shawn looks up. “your husband is okay. he made it.” shawn doesn’t hear anything after that. the doctors say more to him, but henrys the one who responds, who registers the words. all shawn can think about is what if.

the doctors show them to gus’s room. shawn vaguely hears something about not knowing when he’ll wake up. we lost him twice in the or. not to mention he was down for a while before we got to him. it may be a while before he wakes up. if he does. shawn doesn’t hear it - can’t hear it. gus is there, breathing before him, and that’s all shawn can focus on. henry goes to the hallway to call gus’s family, to update juliet who had gone back to lassiter. it’s just shawn, and it’s just gus - together, alone, how it should be. like normal. something shawn had almost lost. and he knows there’s still a chance he might.

shawn stays by gus’s side until the end of the day when he’s (gently) kicked out. he thinks it’s stupid visiting hours have limits. it’s probably the dumbest rule he can think of - and he knows of a lot. when he’s not with gus, he’s doing everything he can to find the son of a bitch who shot his husband. he breaks a window, shoves priceless items off the stupid doctor’s desk, puts himself in danger one too many times. when he finally finds the guy, he’s calm and steady as he raises the gun. “you’re coming with me.” the guy reaches for his own gun. “drop it.” shawn’s voice is ice cold. he doesn’t break his stare. “that’s my gun.” the man says surprised. “then you know it works.” his finger dances over the trigger. “shawn?” juliet’s voice rings behind him. “shawn, we’ve got this. put the gun down.” her voice snaps shawn out of his trance. he slowly lowers the gun, not breaking eye contact with the man. juliet carefully takes the gun from his hands, and shawn watches as lassiter puts the doctor in cuffs. “have fun,” shawn says coldly. “rotting in prison for the rest of your life.” lassiter leads the man out of the room.

shawn’s quiet as juliet drives him back to the hospital. he thought he would feel better once they caught the guy. he doesn’t. he can’t - nothing will feel better until he hears gus’s voice again. “i wasn’t going to do it.” he says quietly. juliet looks over at him, sympathy & pity on her face. “i know.” shawn doesn’t say anything for the rest of the ride.

shawn takes his place by gus’s side again. it’s been two days. two, whole, gus-less days. shawn doesn’t know how much longer he can do this. especially now that he doesn’t have the case to distract himself with. all he can do is look at gus, think about gus, pray to any god that may exist for him to wake up. a part of him, deep in the back of his mind, understands what’s happening. but another part, the one that’s winning in the tug of war, doesn’t get it. gus is right here, breathing, with a heartbeat - that must mean he’s alive. regardless of whatever the doctors are saying about his brain. so shawn counts gus’s breaths, focuses on the steady rhythm of his heartbeats on the monitor, and convinces himself that gus is just sleeping.

it takes a whole other day. a whole 24 hours of shawn not sleeping, barely eating, refusing to leave gus’s side. but on wednesday, shawn’s watching phineas & ferb on the not-quite-broken tv in gus’s hospital room, his hand resting on gus’s, two cups of coffee forgotten on the table, when he feels gus squeeze his hand. shawn looks over at gus, and just as he’s convinced himself he’d made it up - that gus hadn’t moved - gus opens his eyes a little and smiles softly at shawn. “is this the episode with the giant jukebox?” gus’s voice is quiet - hoarse - but it’s there and it’s gus. shawn let’s out a shaky laugh. “yeah i think so.” he smiles at gus, and he can feel the tears fall as gus squeezes his hand again. “i like this one.” gus brings his other hand to rub at his eyes. shawn laughs quietly again. “i know.”

as shawn shifts his chair closer to gus, as he presses a soft kiss to his cheek, rests his head in the crook of gus’s neck and shoulder, everything in him that had built up over the past couple of days, finally releases. gus is here, and he’s safe. they’re going to be okay.

“you can’t scare me like that again,” shawn chokes out, and he buries his face further into gus.

gus leans his head against the top of shawn’s. “i won’t.”

“promise?”

gus squeezes shawn’s hand again. “i promise.”

#I DIDNT MEAN TO DO THIS #YOU GOT ME THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #rip i remeber nothing about santabarbaratown other than like 2 gifs i’ve seen in the past 5 years lol #literally just the gun one and shawn breaking into the house and throwing things lol #anyways!!!!!!! bye i’m crying!!!!!!! #psych #shawn spencer #burton gus guster #burton guster #shus #shawngus #shawn x gus #shawn/gus #my writing #replies

[emachinescat]

The Rich Girl Next Girl (Just Tried to Kill Me)

A Psych Fan-Fiction

By @emachinescat ​

@febuwhump ​ day 7 - poisoning 

Summary: Shawn will never complain about being ‘barely poisoned’ again after he’s ‘fully poisoned’ by a woman he’s investigating - via her poisoned lipstick and an non-consensual kiss.

Characters | Pairings: Shawn, Juliet, Henry, Gus, Lassie | Shawn/Juliet

Words: 3,199

TW: non-consensual kiss

Keep reading here, or on AO3!

If you enjoy, please consider liking, commenting, or re-blogging! :)

It was the beautiful ones you had to watch out for.  

She was tall and dark haired, with green eyes that twinkled like twin emeralds, and high cheekbones and plump lips colored with the most devastating red Shawn Spencer had ever laid eyes on.  She had squeezed into a tiny black dress with an open back and plunging neckline, with legs that seemed like they would go on forever.  She wore closed-toe, diamond-studded, four-inch heels that perfectly matched the color of her lips.  

Somehow Shawn had managed to charm her into asking him to be her date to a charity gala at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and he was very well aware of the many eyes on him as he moved through the crowd with her on his arm.

Well.  It would be more accurate to say that he was on her arm, because she was most definitely in charge, had been from the moment she’d picked him up her limo and she’d already had another, better tux waiting and pressed for him - and had refused to let him in the car until he’d made the switch.

She wasn’t only a total knockout, though - she was also a local celebrity, a socialite, born into enormous wealth but not the heir to the bulk of her late parents’ fortune.  That honor went to her older sister, who had, just a week ago, gotten into a terrible accident on her yacht.  Part of her had been recovered on the deck after the explosion.  The Coast Guard were still looking for the other part in the ocean.  They weren’t optimistic.

So now Aria Thorton, the twenty-seven-year-old millionaire goddess, was Shawn’s date to a high-end charity event, and they were the center of attention.  

Shawn should have been in heaven.

There were three things that dampened the occasion, though - for one, she thought he was a billionaire from two counties over named Chaz Hemsworth (no relation to Chris or Liam, but his rugged good looks and fabulous hair had made many people think he was).  

Then there was the fact that she was the SPBD’s number one suspect in her sister’s supposed-accident-but-Shawn-had-revealed-that-it-was-murder-yet-again case.  Hence, why she thought he was Chaz - he was undercover with the help of the police department, much to the chagrin of Lassie and Jules, because he was the best person for the job.  (Well, he had barged into the case and presented himself as Chaz Hemsworth, and she had been interested, and now he was the best chance they had since he was already on the inside and it was a time-sensitive case - just like he’d planned it).  

Oh, and the third thing was definitely the worst of them all: His actual girlfriend, the aforementioned Jules, was here too, acting as Lassiter’s date and ready to provide backup.  And she was pissed.  

Shawn forced himself to focus on the case, though.  Technically, he’d already solved it, put all the final puzzle pieces together, just half an hour before the gala.  But by that time, she was already at the luxury hotel the SBPD had reluctantly put him in as part of his cover (“Any snacks or room service ordered will be paid for by you, Mr. Spencer, not this department,” Chief Vick had warned with that iconic raised eyebrow of hers.  And no, she wasn’t going to sink funds into a ticket for Mr. Guster - Shawn had thrown himself into this investigation alone, so Gus would just have to sit this one out.  Needless to say, Gus had not been pleased.).  

Now, there were just a few more loose ends to tie, a few more t’s to cross and i’s to dot and little squiggly fancy things to add to capital S’s - namely, he needed to do the reveal.  And since Lassie and Jules would be at the gala anyway, it would be the perfect time to do the reveal (and he’d get to live it up as a male socialite for a few more hours).

He waited until he’d tested all the hors dourves (Why the hell had no one told him caviar was fish eggs and not really fancy boba, and that it did not taste good in even the fanciest of cocktails?), but as soon as the moment was perfect, he called everyone’s attention to him by accidentally-on-purpose smashing his cocktail glass with a knife a la the Princess Diaries, jumped onto the nearest table, and presented his case.

As he revealed the truth of the tragic death of Selena Thornton, and how her sister had taken freaking Skill Share lessons on yacht safety procedures so that she could backwards engineer them to arrange an accident for her sister and swoop up her portion of the inheritance, he noticed something odd - Aria didn’t try to get up, she didn’t argue or yell something like, “That’s ridiculous!” or “You have no proof!” or even “I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you muddling, hunky psychic!”  Instead, she opened her shimmering handbag, calmly applied some sort of thick balm to her lips.  Then she pulled out her lipstick and reapplied it.  Maybe if Shawn hadn’t been so focused on his wrap-up, he would have noticed that the lipstick was the same shade, but that it came from a different tube than when she’d reapplied earlier.  Later, in his hospital bed, he would kick himself for missing that tiny, crucial detail.

He finished by announcing, “And remember, folks - this murder reveal was brought to you by Skill Share.”

And then he was getting off the table, and Jules was preparing the cuffs while Lassie held Aria, and the rest of the rich guests were sitting in stunned silence or otherwise whispering among themselves, already spreading the gossip for the next Tabloid, he was sure.  Then, out of nowhere, the formerly docile homicidal heiress lashed out, slamming the pointed heel of her left shoe - it looked like the heel had been shoved into a pencil sharpener - into the top of Lassie’s foot, buried the elbow of her perfectly tanned right arm into Juliet’s stomach, and broke away from the detectives.

Shawn thought she would turn tail and run, try to escape, but to his shock (and confusion), she lunged straight for him, zooming forward in those ridiculous heels with a speed and grace Shawn couldn’t even achieve with sneakers.  He braced himself for an attack, got ready to defend himself, even as Lassie and Jules recovered and dove for the sabotaging socialite.

They were too late.

What happened next was the literal opposite of what Shawn had anticipated.  She crushed her body into his, grabbed his face the way they do in every rom com ever, and pressed her lips against his in a kind of tender but still somehow aggressive kiss.

For a moment, he stood in shock, trying to process what the hell was happening.  Was she glad he’d caught her?  Did she look forward to being stripped of her wealth and going to prison for life?

Then he realized that as pleasant as her soft lips were against his, he had not authorized this transaction, and even though she was a rich, drop-dead gorgeous socialite, she was also a sister-killer, and his girlfriend whom he loved very much was watching, and he pulled back.  She held on, forcing her lips on his even as he tried to squirm away from her touch.  Her expertly manicured fingernails dug into his skin, and left scratches on the side of his neck when Lassie and Jules dragged her off of him.

Shawn stumbled back, neck stinging where she’d scratched him, lips tingling where she’d kissed him.  He could taste her lipstick - it didn’t taste like cherries like he’d thought.  It didn’t taste good at all.  He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and spun on Aria Thorton, who was now being wrestled into cuffs and passed off to waiting police officers.  “Hey, I know I’m irresistible,” he said, trying to fight off his growing discomfort at the kiss - any other time, he’d probably be thrilled to have a beautiful woman throw herself at him and surprise him with an attack-kiss, “but I’ve got a girlfriend.  And she’s way more hot and bad-ass than a homi-sister like you.”

Jules turned to him and there was a little smile on her face that told him maybe he wasn't as deep in the doghouse as he'd thought.  “Homi-sister?”  

“Yeah,” said Shawn, rubbing absently at his chest.  He needed to change out of this tux.  It was too hot, and it was too tight.  “Sister-murderer.  Like homicide, but for sisters.”

“Sororicide,” Lassiter corrected.  

“I’m sorry, Lassie, when did you take on the role of Scooby Doo?  I can only keep up with one fictional dog at a time, man.”  Beads of sweat popped up on his forehead.  A muscle twitched in his upper arm.

“It’s the actual term for killing one’s sister,” Lassie sneered derisively.

Shawn opened his mouth to retort, but he coughed instead.   And suddenly he couldn't stop coughing, and his chest was being squeezed, and the muscle in his arm jumped again, this time painfully, and he promptly deposited a disgusting mixture of fourteen varieties of hors dourves on Lassiter’s shoes.  A strong hand grabbed his upper arm and kept him semi-upright even as Lassiter groaned, “These are $400 loafers, and they’re rentals!”

“Shawn!”  Juliet’s face had gone white, Shawn noticed through tears and haze as she surged forward and gently lifted his chin with her delicate hand.  

He struggled to answer her, but his chest was so tight, and his left calf muscle contracted then, and all that came out was a strangled cry of pain.

“Call an ambulance - now!”  Lassiter’s voice was far away, though Shawn could have sworn that the head detective was standing right by his side, keeping him from face-planting in his own caviar and cocktail sludge.

Vaguely, over the sound of screams and murmurs and cries of alarm, he heard Juliet’s voice, scarier than he’d ever heard it before - he’d never been so convinced she was about to murder someone before - growl, “What did you do to him?”

He never got the chance to hear if Aria Thornton gave up her dark little secret.  His eyes rolled up into his head, and, muscles twitching and lungs scrambling for air, he passed out.

***

He woke up to pain.

It was a slow process, getting his eyelids to cooperate, but he could feel a soft hand in his, and he would know it anywhere, and someone was crying.

When his vision had cleared enough for him to make out more than just blobs of color, he saw Juliet sitting slumped in a hard plastic chair by his bedside.  Sure enough, it was her hand in his.  But she was fast asleep, her neck crooked back at an awkward angle and small, adorable snores wafting out of her slightly parted lips.  So it wasn’t her who was crying.

His gaze dragged languidly to the right, and everything made sense.  Gus was in the chair next to her, quietly sobbing into his hands.  Poor bastard.  

Shawn spoke, his voice raw and trembling and the effort seemed to squeeze every bit of air out of his already starved lungs.  “G-Gus?”

Gus’s head snapped up, he leaped out of his chair, and in a loud voice reminiscent to an all-black hallelujah choir, he exclaimed, “Shawn!”

Juliet startled awake, her hand instinctively squeezing his, and he saw the worry in her stormy blue eyes as soon as they landed on him.  She smoothed his sweaty hair from his forehead.  “Thank God you’re awake.  How are you feeling?”

Shawn didn’t answer immediately, but let his eyes wander around the room, confirming what he already knew.  He was in a hospital - a private room - and there was a heart monitor beeping above him and an IV lead ran from his hand to a pole, where two different bags were feeding his veins with who knew what.  He took a moment to remember what had happened and shuddered internally when he thought of the kiss of death.  

It took everything he had in him to speak again, but he had to know where he stood, “S-so, more than b-barely poisoned this time?”

Juliet laughed, a short, manic sound of mingled relief and exasperation.  “Yeah, a lot more than barely,” she agreed.

Shawn didn’t get to enjoy his moment of validation, because his left pectoral muscle spasmed, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending bolts of agony through his chest.  It was like the muscle was twisting itself into the most complex pretzel known to man.  An agonized guuuh burst from his mouth and he grasped at his chest, as if trying to tear the pain away.

Gus was panicking now, tears still streaming down his face, and Jules looked stricken.  Shawn was certain he was actively dying now and tried to call for help.  The door to his room burst open and distantly, beneath the mound of pain that had erupted in his muscle, he heard his father’s voice.

“Jules - it looks like it’s his chest.  Massage it.  Remember, small, gentle circles.  Gus, pull it together, you’re just making him panic.”  And then he could feel Jules gently massaging the screaming muscle, and Gus hiccuped into relative silence, and his father was there, seated in a chair on the other side of the bed.  He grabbed Shawn’s hand - the one with the IV - and for a wild moment, Shawn was convinced his father was going to rip it out like he had the last time his son had been poisoned.

But instead, he held on firmly to Shawn’s hand and said, “Squeeze as hard as you need to, pal.  Ride it out.  It’ll be over soon.”

The heart monitor was screeching now, and a nurse ran in just as the spasm was beginning to ebb, leaving the entire muscle feeling weak and squishy like play-doh.  She injected something into one of Shawn’s IV bags and checked his temperature and fed him ice chips and told him to try to rest and be patient, that it wouldn’t be long until the spasms would stop.  She might have told him her name at some point, but he didn’t hear.

Whatever she’d given him made him sleepy, and he felt his twitching, tense muscles relax the tiniest of fractions, and the last thing he saw before falling asleep was his father’s face leaning over him.  He must have been hallucinating, because he could have sworn that his father’s eyes were red and puffy and that there were tear-tracks down his face.

***

The next time Shawn woke up, he was still sore, and his muscles still gave the occasional, defiant twitch, but he wasn’t in blood-curdling agony anymore, so it was a definite improvement.  This time when he woke, no one was crying, and his dad had washed his face, but his eyes were still rimmed with red.

“What happened to me?” Shawn asked, his voice weaker than he could ever remember.  “What the hell was in that lipstick?”

His dad chuckled humorlessly, not because anything was funny but because it wasn’t crying.  “You figured out it was the lipstick, then?”

“I’m psychic, dad, remember?”  Shawn had put the pieces together the first time he’d woken up, but he’d been too out of it to realize he’d made the connection.

Henry didn’t dignify that with a response.

“I can’t believe you went to a millionaire’s gala and almost died, Shawn!” Gus chided irritably.  “If I had been there -”

“You would have hyperventilated and passed out on your plate of hor dourves,” Henry finished dryly, and Shawn couldn’t help but grin.

Juliet was the one who brought the conversation back around to his question.  “She refused to talk, so we took her purse and had her fingernail polish, lip balm, and lipstick tested for toxins,” she informed him.  “We thought that she might have done it when she scratched you, but it was the lipstick that was poisoned.  The lip balm was actually a protective buffer between her lips and the lipstick so that the poison wouldn’t reach her skin.”  With a heavy sigh, Juliet revealed, “It was VX poison.”

“What’s that?” Shawn asked.  “It sounds like something from a spy thriller.”

“It’s a nerve agent,” Gus supplied.  “It can be made into gas, but it’s base form is about the consistency of gasoline.  It’s super fast-acting, especially when inhaled or ingested, even in small amounts like with you, and it causes muscle spasms, respiratory issues, nausea, headaches, fever, and a whole lot of other nasty symptoms.”

“But there’s a cure?”

“Atropine and pralidoxime,” Gus answered promptly, and Shawn resisted the very strong urge to tell his best friend to, for the love of every 80s movie they’d ever loved, get a hobby.  “Both were administered the second the results came back.  It was a close call, but thankfully they were administered on time - though it was touch and go for a bit.  The nurse gave you another dose of a muscle relaxer the first time you woke up.  The other drip is saline.”

“I guess the real question is how the psychotic rich girl next door got ahold of poison like that in the first place,” Shawn muttered, head swimming and eyes burning and body feeling like it had been run over by a monster truck.

Juliet answered promptly: “Lassiter was finally able to crack her.  Turns out she’s also got some contacts in the black market.  She had that tube of lipstick custom-made and infused with VX two years ago in case any of her many boyfriends cheated on her.  Surprisingly, she hadn’t used it until you came along, but when you exposed the truth, it was her way of getting revenge.   She knew there was no way she was going to be able to escape, so she decided to take you down with her.”

“Damn,” said Shawn, faintly.  He was drifting off again, but he was so happy to be alive, to see his friends - even his dad, imagine that! 

“Go back to sleep, Shawn,” Henry ordered.  “It’s going to take a while for you to heal, and you’ll need all the rest you can get.”

Not knowing what had come over him, blaming the poison and trauma for the words that spilled unbidden from his lips, he found himself asking, “And you guys will be here?  Next time I wake up?”  

Gus grinned and leaned over to give Shawn a one-sided fist bump, and Juliet kissed him delicately on the forehead.  His dad ruffled his hair in a manner that could almost be construed as affectionate if he wasn’t careful.

“You bet your ass we will.”

Overall, Shawn reflected as he allowed sleep to claim him, being fully poisoned fully sucked, but it was kind of nice getting a glimpse of just how much his friends and family cared. 

They could find other opportunities to show their love in the future though. Shawn had had enough of poison, barely, fully, or otherwise, for a lifetime. 

#febuwhump #febuwhumpday7 #shules #psych usa #psych #psychfic #fanfiction #shawn spencer #juliet o'hara #burton guster #henry spencer #carlton lassiter #mystery #case reveal #whump fic #whump #shawn whump #hurt/comfort #noncon kiss #tw noncon kiss #poisoning #febuwhump 2021 #post season 5

[galaxietm]

          @burglarlotus​ sent:   BIRTHDAYS HAVE A SENSE OF MELANCHOLY for the former servant. Back with the Tremains, whenever it was the birthday of Madame Tremaine or one of her daughters, she would spend the entire day following them around and doing their bidding ( basically, just like any other day, except they were more demanding because it was a birthday ). If it was her own birthday, Cinderella was never granted a day off just because of the day; ‘That would be preposterous’ she remembered Madame Tremaine telling her once years ago when this matter first came up. It was futile to argue otherwise, so Cindy did what she could on her own with little private parties way after hours, with only her company and that of the mice and birds, who would always make little gifts for her somehow. 

      This would be the first time in years she’d actually be able to properly celebrate someone else’s birthday… And it was so nerve-wracking to think about. This wasn’t just anyone. This was Henry’s, her true love and the royal prince. Doing anything lesser for the prince would be shameful, especially since she was a princess consort now. Surely his father had already prepared a big party or ball for his son, so what can she do that won’t overstep…

      The mice and birds, especially Jaq and Gus, reassured her that he would love anything she did and to just be herself. That was enough of a boost for Cinderella to give it a try. She went to the royal kitchen early in the morning, pleading to the head chef to let her use his equipment for a surprise for the prince, and got to work like the old times. Well, this was much better than the old times, no one was nagging her to speed up. 

      The end product was worth it: a very lovely set of biscuits and cookies as well as warm tea ready to go. Then, right on cue, Cinderella carried the tray with all of the goodies to Henry’s bedroom, getting a few odd looks in the process but paying no mind to them at this moment. She felt confident, she was being herself... Her little friends were absolutely right. 

      Knocking gently on the door, Cinderella pushed it with her lower back ( old habits die hard ) and smiled warmly at the love of her love, the man who made her feel loved despite her background. “Good morning, Henry. I imagine your father already has the entire day planned out for you but I still wished to do a little something…” She approached the bed, gently placing the tray on her lap as she sat on a nearby chair and then proceeded to serve tea. “I got up early to prepare all of these myself for you. I… I know it’s not much… And probably not what is expected of me as a princess consort… But it felt right to me. So… I hope you enjoy it, and happy birthday.”

happy belated birthday, charming!

      HENRY, PERSONALLY; HAD NEVER BEEN ONE FOR LARGE FANFARE like his father was. Perhaps that was something he had gotten from his mother? He didn’t know for sure. But he DID know that what he was looking forward the most that morning was spending it with Cinderella. 

      His wife. 

      Really, he felt joy telling that to himself; she was his WIFE. It had been several months now, and he still held nothing but love and adoration towards the woman. She had her own way of doing things and he loved it. Henry had begun his own surprise for her, to unveil at a later time; he and his father had been working closely to change things in the palace to allow her more freedom, to try new things without being reprimanded. He would one day find himself in charge, so he wanted to change things- beginning with the way things worked in the palace. But that was a surprise for a later time. 

      When she had walked into the room, Henry found a smile immediately making it’s way onto his face. She had already brightened his day, despite it just starting. Whenever he saw her smile, he felt the need to smile back at her. Was this what true love had felt like? He had only heard stories about it for the longest time from his father and the staff since his mother had passed when he was young. Fairy tales and old storybooks were what he had known; maybe that was why he had been so hopeful to find someone he connected with. And then, the moment he saw Cinderella at that ball, he just KNEW.

      All the fairy tales and storybooks he had digested had made sense. Everything had made sense. The moment he saw her. 

      “Oh nonsense about it not being much. It’s perfect. It’s from you, and that’s what matters to me. I love anything you give me, and this is no different.”   Henry adjusted how he was sitting in bed, smiling with nothing but pure ADORATION in his eyes. In reality, she could give him even something as small as a rock and he would treasure it. Was he exaggerating? Maybe; but to him, what mattered was the thought and heart that went into the gift. He reached out to take her hand in his and lightly squeezed it.   “I want nothing more than to spend the morning with you and only you. Thank you, my love.”

#burglarlotus #;; ‘questions & concerns.’ ( inbox tag.) #;; ☆ ( in chara. / prince charming.) #// hi im soft for them #// u said that urs made u emotional?? #// here's this goodb ye

[someonefantastic]

I'm Gonna Give You All My Heart Can Give

Welcome one and all to the first day of psychmas! Find the prompts here. I had fun writing this one, I always love doing narratives and especially ones on Juliet. Hope y'all enjoy! Summary: Juliet O'Hara has spent four Christmases with Shawn and Gus since moving to San Fransisco. Each one is memorable for different reasons. Prompt: Gifts also on ao3 ___

The first Christmas since moving to San Francisco is quiet and calm. It’s just her, Shawn, and Gus. All three of them had traveled to Santa Barbara a few days before to have a Christmas party with the Lassiter’s and Henry and as much fun as that was, she’s thankful to be spending Christmas alone with her fiancé and his best friend.

She’s the last one to get her gift. Gus had gone first, receiving noise-canceling headphones from her and pretending not to see Shawn’s smug face or hear his comments about needing them later. Shawn had given him a detailed map of all the best food places in San Francisco along with the promise that he’d drop anything and go with him whenever he asked.

Shawn had absolutely loved the shiny wrapping paper that she used, spending more time playing with that than actually opening up the present but she didn’t mind. The look on his face as he unwrapped a black hoodie with the words “psychphrancisco” written in red was more than enough to make up for it. And he nearly cried at Gus’ gift, a signed certificate from both Chief Vick and Chief Lassiter thanking them for their consulting services over the past eight years.

Finally, it’s her turn. Gus hands her a small red wrapped box and she bursts into a huge grin upon opening it. It’s a small framed photo of the three of them, plus Carlton, taken during one of their first post case celebratory hangouts. Their faces are younger, less worn by time and stress but the signs of friendship and that underlying bond is very prevalent.

And then Shawn silently slides her another box. The wrapping screams “Gus”. It’s blue with white snowflakes, a gold ribbon down the middle, tied into a bow. The edges are neat and straight and she can barely see the small bits of tape holding the package together. But the gift inside is clearly from Shawn.

It’s two pictures, side by side on one sheet of paper, she and Shawn drawn out in beautiful detail and adorned with watercolor. In one they’re standing in front of their old house in Santa Barbara and the other in front of their loft’s entrance in San Francisco. Her hair is longer in the second picture, a sign of time past but their smiles are all the same, just happy to be together. Below in beautiful letters, swooping and scrawling- a skill that she knows he picked up from his dad- is written: “Home is Wherever You Are”.

Her breath catches in her throat, tears pricking in the corner of her eyes and they threaten to spill over when she notices the glinting ring on her left hand in the second picture. It’s a little artist’s touch- after all the real ring had been stolen- but it makes her heart swell with emotion.

Shawn places his hand on her knee, squeezing slightly and she beams at him. He gives her a lopsided grin and she notes just how cute he is. She’s so glad to be engaged to him.

The second Christmas in San Francisco is a little larger and a little crazier. The Lassiters, Vicks, and Henry all cram into their loft, Christmas music playing and conversation ringing throughout. She loves having a big Christmas, after all, it’s what she grew up with, but a small part of her mourns the loss of it being just the three of them. She also wishes she was actually married this Christmas but that’s something she’ll never tell anyone.

The gift exchange is hectic, with multiple people scrambling and opening their boxes. There’s a lot that she can’t quite recall but she will never forget the look on Iris’ face as she unwraps Juliet’s gift. A soccer ball. It’s white with pink and black stripes and nearly takes out a lamp or two but Iris makes her pinky swear that she’ll take her to go play a match sometime.

This time, Shawn’s gift to her is wrinkled, the wrapping paper sticking out on the edges and massive pieces of tape holding the whole thing together. He clearly wrapped it and the image of him wrestling with paper and tape is enough to make her smile. It’s a small heater for her office as she’d been complaining about the cold atmosphere for weeks now. She’s touched that he would think of something to make her life a little better but that’s just who Shawn is, always listening and meeting her needs. (She’s a little disappointed, however, that it’s not an engagement ring.)

Juliet would never consider herself a resentful person but by the time the third Christmas rolls around, she’s a bit peeved. Her and Shawn are no closer to being married. In fact, he seems to actually be going backwards in their relationship. She’s caught him a few times slipping and calling her his “girlfriend” instead of “fiancée” and she’s spent way too much time wondering if he’ll ever actually be ready to be married. She loves him regardless and thinks that if he ever decides that he doesn’t want to get married, she’ll stay but it’s exhausting having no clue what he’s thinking.

They go to Santa Barbara for this Christmas, spending it in the Lassiter’s house along with Henry and Gus. (The Vick’s decided to spend Christmas in Detroit with Karen’s family.) Shawn makes a joke about sneaking off into his old bedroom and she has to gently remind him that that’s now Lily’s room and there will be no sneaking off tonight.

He pouts for a minute and then Carlton announces that they’re opening up gifts and his attention is elsewhere. She loves it when his eyes light up like that.

He bagged his gift this year. It’s a plain red bag with way too much tissue paper but he’s smiling so big that she’s very distracted from the packaging anyways.

Inside is a hair dryer. The exact make and model as the one on her Christmas list. It’s sweet and practical and exactly what she wanted. And yet… there’s a small part of her that is a little sad. She’d grown so accustomed to his thoughtful gifts that were slightly out of the box in his own quirky way. But she later reprimands herself for thinking that way. At least she got a gift from him. At least he was so kind as to get her something she wanted. At least she has him. It’s not too bad, and sure it’s no engagement ring or mindful gift but having him should be enough. So why does she feel like she’s nearing her breaking point?

Their fourth Christmas together is much, much different. It’s just the three of them again but this time… this time there’s a silver band on her left hand, the diamond glinting every time it catches a stream of light.

She had worried for weeks leading up to December that this Christmas was going to be just like the last ones, another year of engagement with no ring, no sign of commitment from Shawn. But he had surprised her, like he always did, with the best gift of all. They had done it, actually gotten married, standing on that pier. She was bruised and battered, they hadn’t slept in hours and their officiant was a criminal. It was unconventional all right but she wouldn’t change it for the world.

This Christmas she was spending it with her husband. The word still made her giddy and she didn’t know if she’d ever grow tired of referring to Shawn as that. She certainly hoped she wouldn’t.

They’re huddled around the Christmas tree, all three of them decked out in matching red flannel pajamas- Shawn’s idea. Gus comments for the third time that day (and probably the twentieth time since they got married) that he’s going to move out soon, give the newlyweds some space but she just shakes her head, placing a hand on his knee and telling him that he can stay as long as he needs. He is family after all.

Shawn nearly chucks his gift at Gus who in turn shoots him a dirty look. The expression quickly falls, however, when he unwraps it. It’s a beautiful portrait of the three of them sitting on the couch and laughing at a movie. Shawn grins, nudging Gus’ arm, and tells him how even when he moves out, he’ll always be family and more than welcome. She wholeheartedly agrees.

He grabs her gift next, it’s small and flat but a grin bursts across his face as he opens it. A Wonder Woman comic sits in his hands- the first comic they ever bought together- its cover signed by Gal Godot herself. She doesn’t tell him that she waited three hours in line to get that signed or went to 18 different comic book shops to find that specific issue. Inside is a note card from Juliet telling him how much she appreciates his friendship and Shawn has to gingerly take the comic book away from him before he bursts into tears.

And when he hugs them both, she doesn’t mind his sobbing or the slight awkwardness of the embrace. Instead, she thinks that part of her is going to miss living with her husband’s best friend- no- her brother-in-law.

Gus’s gift to her is equally as sweet. It’s a coin, carved with the words Detective Juliet O’Hara-Spencer, and she wonders when he had time to add that last bit or if he had known all along. Regardless, she’s just thankful to share something so special with him.

Shawn slides her his gift after she finishes thanking Gus, a small dopey smile on his face. The wrapping is neater this year but it still points out at the occasional odd angle and too much tape was involved. She gasps as she unwraps it, revealing a green snuggie- the perfect excuse for warm cuddles. It’s soft against her skin and she immediately slips her arms into it, allowing the fabric to encase her small frame. It’s a bit large and he waggles his eyebrows as he tells her it’s made for two. Even if it wasn’t, they’d surely find a way to share it.

Hours later, when they’re all piled onto the couch watching Gremlins, the snuggie wrapped around her and Shawn, she thinks this is the best Christmas in San Francisco yet.

#psychmas2020 #psych #psych fanfic #juliet o'hara #burton guster #shawn spencer #shules #and they were roommates #fanfic #christmas

[connordavidscamera]

Back When Diner | Connor Brashier

A/n: I based this off a small place in my town and I thought it would be cute. 

Summary: you take the boys to one of your favorite places and it soon becomes your and Connor’s place. 

Warnings: fluff

Word count: 2.8k

***

“So, y/n, where are you taking us?” Brian asks, slipping in the backseat next to Shawn.

“To this diner I’ve been going to since I was little.”

He nods, putting his seatbelt on and then tugging on it.

“What are you doing?” I laugh, slipping on my sunglasses.

“Just making sure I’m strapped in. I’ve never been in the car with you driving before. I don’t know how you drive. Gotta take the extra precautions.”

Connor snorts next to me and I hit his arm. “Connor, tell him, I’m a good driver.”

“I’m gonna let him make up his own mind about this one.”

I scoff, “I should brake check all of you for being asses.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!” Shawn protests. “I trust you to get us from point A to point B safely.”

“Thank you, Shawn. At least somebody trusts me.” I check my rearview mirror and start to back out of the parking spot (which I’ll be honest, backing out is probably the thing I’m worst at when it comes to driving).

“And if we almost die, I’ll just drive us back,” he says under his breath. I hit the brakes, causing all three boys to lurch forward.

“Fuck!”

“Oops,” I stifle my laughter and put the car in drive. “Sorry.” They don’t talk about my driving the rest of the way there, but Brian does keep holding tightly to his seatbelt – even though, if you ask me, there was no need for that because sorry, but I am a great driver.

“Back When Diner,” Shawn says when he gets out of the car. “This is the cutest place I’ve ever seen.”

I smile as Connor wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Just wait until you guys see inside. Come on,” I lead them to the door that has the smallest, yet somehow loudest bell above it.

“Okay, yeah, this is the cutest place I’ve ever seen,” Brian said, looking around at the mostly full diner, but there’s a few tables open.

“You guys cool with a booth?” I ask, turning to look at the boys behind me who are taking in the posters that cover the walls. Connor is looking at the small rack near the register that holds all of these Little Golden Books for the kids. “Those have been here since before I was born. And if memory serves me right, my name should be written on the first page of the Beauty and the Beast one.”

He raises a brow at me and spins the rack until he finds it. It’s falling apart and that’s partially because of me. It was the only book I would read while I was here and I would come weekly, sometimes twice. He smiles and lets out a small laugh at my scribbly writing.

“Don’t laugh! I was six!” I say into his shoulder, but I’m laughing too.

“It’s cute,” he says and takes his phone from his pocket to snap a picture of my god awful handwriting. “So,” he said as he put the book back. “Where are we sitting.”

“Well that’s what I was asking. Are you guys okay with a booth?”

“Booth is great,” he says and takes my hand. “Lead the way. Come on, guys.” Shawn and Brian follow behind us. We end up in the farthest booth from the door, which conveniently has always been my favorite spot to sit when I wasn’t at the counter. We’re barely settling in when our waitress comes to the table with menus. “Well I’ll be damned. This can’t be our beautiful y/n, she’s too grown!”

I laugh and push myself out of the seat to give her a big hug. “It’s me, Velma. How’ve you been?”

She doesn’t let me out of her grasp for a minute, just pulls away enough for her to grab my face. “I’ve been just fine, honeybunch. I’m glad you’re back. How’s that darling momma of yours?”

“Busy with the grandkids.”

“Yours?!”

“No!” I shake my head quickly. “Come on, Velma. You know me better than that! I’m finishing up college. I have no time to be popping out kids right now.”

She points a stern finger at me, “You better not be. Now, who are these lovely gentlemen you have with you?” she turns her attention to the boys who look oddly amused by the interaction they just witnessed.

“Velma,” I say with a smile. “This are my friends, Brian and Shawn.” They both slide out of the booth to greet her with a proper handshake. “Shawn is a musician and Brian is his long time best friend and he helps when Shawn’s on tour.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Velma,” Shawn says with that signature smile that could charm anyone.

“Well the pleasure is all mine, handsome.”

I can’t help but blush. Velma is only forty-three. She’s been working here since she was nineteen years old. And even though she isn’t old, she talks like she’s in her seventies. She blames it on all the old folks that come in here daily. They’ve rubbed off on her, but honestly? I think it’s just her soul. She’s always been older than she really is. She grew up too fast, but she’s happy with her three kids – which I babysat when I needed the extra money in middle and high school – and her husband, Henry, who she met here one night when she was working a late shift and he came stumbling in with a few of his friends from a night of partying.

“And who, Miss y/n, is this handsome man behind you?”

I look down at my feet. “Connor, ma’am,” he reaches around me and shakes Velma’s hand. “I’m y/n’s boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” She asks, the look on her face can only be read as shocked.

“Is it that hard to believe?” I ask with a wince. “Wow, thank you for that, Vel. I feel so loved.”

“Oh no!” She pats my arm. “You’ve just – you’ve never brought anyone here before.”

I groan, “Please, don’t make a big deal out of this,” I beg.

“Of course not. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. Now you sit, and what can I get you all to drink?”

---

“So, how often did you come here?” Brian asks, running his finger over the condensation of his glass.

“This was basically a second home. I would work the afternoon shift for a couple summers. It’s pretty good tips.”

Connor takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, “What’s your favorite thing about this place?”

I don’t have to even think about it to answer. “You see that fountain area?” I motion toward the counter where they had the fountain drinks and ice cream machines. “I used to sit on that middle stool with a milkshake bigger than my head and I told Velma that when I grew up, I was gonna have something just like that in my house. I wanted the whole thing. The drinks, the ice cream machine, the counter with the stools. Everything. I wanted it. Why I wanted it in my house? I don’t know, but I liked the idea. I thought it was cool.”

“You still want it?” He asks, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“We’re gonna make it happen,” he whispers in my ear.

“No, Con, don’t worry about it. I don’t need it.”

“But you want it. If you don’t want it in the kitchen, we can put it in the back with the pool.”

“Oh, we’re gonna have a pool?”

“We can have whatever you want. You want a pool? You want it on the beach? You want it in the countryside? You tell me what you want and you’ve got it.”

“That’s a lot of promises you’re making there, Brashier.”

“You’re worth it.”

“Hot stuff coming in, sweet peas.”

“Velma, don’t you dare say you’re not talking about the food.”

“Hey!” she protests, setting down our plates. “That’s my bit. It’s always a crowd pleaser. You think I’m gonna steal that pretty boyfriend of yours?” She jokes.

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” I say with an eyeroll.

She hums, looking from me to Connor and then she smiles wide, “I don’t think he’s going anywhere, honey. Y’all enjoy your food. Give me a holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Vel.”

I don’t know how long we’re there just talking and having a good time. The guys keep asking questions about what it was like growing up here, and when Velma is on break, she comes and sits with us for a minute before her husband comes to eat with her. It’s sweet seeing them together, I feel like I’m a huge part of their love story. I watched them fall in love in this very place and I was there as the youngest bridesmaid in their wedding. I babysat each of their kids. They’re like my second parents and I love them dearly.

“Is that gonna be you two one day?” Shawn nudges mine and Connor’s hands which are clasped on the table.

I look down, embarrassed that he caught me staring.

“Yeah it is,” Connor says, and when I look at him, he’s already looking at me.

“Hey babes, before you leave Gus asked if I could take a picture of you guys. He wants to put it on the wall.” Velma says, placing her hand on my shoulder when she comes back after her break.

“Wait, Gus is here?” I ask.

“Mmhmm… in the bag being a pain in Joe’s you know what.”

I laugh, “And he doesn’t want to come say hi to me?”

“I think I can manage to get him out here. But what do you say to a picture?”

“Guys?” I look back to them. “Is that okay?”

“I’m cool with it,” Shawn nods. And I’m grateful because he’s really the one I was asking. With him getting his picture taken all the time, I want to make sure it’s still okay.

“We’ll take one if Gus comes out.”

Velma laughs, “You drive a hard bargain, y/n. We’ll be back.”

“What wall are they gonna put it on?” Brian asks.

I point behind them to the register. “They’ve been adding to it for years. I’m surprised you didn’t see it when you walked in.”

“Are there any other pictures of you up there?”

“A few. There’s one from Velma’s wedding. And another one from my eighth birthday party. I have ice cream all over my face from where Henry dunked my head in my ice cream cake.”

Connor chuckles, “You’ll have to show me on our way out, yeah?”

I nod, “Of course.”

---

FIVE YEARS LATER

The bell dings above the door and I take in the almost overwhelming smell of burgers. “You want the booth?” Connor asks, taking my hand in his.

“Booth is good,” I smile at him and let him lead me to the back of the diner.

“Y/n! Connor!” Velma exclaims before we can even sit down. She envelops us both in a big hug. “Oh, let me look at you!” She takes my face in her hands. “Yep, still as beautiful as ever. Looking a little glowy.”

“Yeah, I hear that’s what happens when you’re having a baby,” I say nonchalantly.

She gasps. “You’re not!”

“We are,” Connor stands behind me and places his hands on my stomach which is just barely starting to show.

“Oh my gosh! I think I’m gonna cry. How far along are you? Do you know what you’re having?”

I shake my head, “Just hit four months. Our appointment’s next week. We just came down to give the news to everyone.”

“Oh, your parents must be so excited!” She placed her hand over her heart. “A new grandbaby.”

I laugh and slide into the booth, Connor sits in front of me. “They’re definitely excited. Shocked too considering how many times I told them I was never having kids when I was a teenager.”

“Oh, they knew. It’s always the ones that say they won’t have them. I told my parents the same thing and look at me now. Three kids and just as many grandbabies.”

I hum, “Well we’ll see how one works out for us first before we discuss having anymore.”

She nods, “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

“But we didn’t order.”

“You think I don’t already know your order by heart?” She sasses me and then turns on her heels to get our drinks.

“How are you feeling?” Connor asks once she’s gone. His hand is palm up on the table, ready for mine to lock with it. I don’t take his hand, but I run my finger gently over his wedding ring as I talk.

“I’m okay, bub.”

“You’re not feeling sick or anything, right?”

“Not right now. But I’ll let you know.”

He nods, his eyes never leaving mine. “Have I told you yet today how beautiful you are?”

“Only twelve times since we left the hotel,” I tease.

“Well I just need to make sure you know.” He’s been telling me that more and more since we found out about the baby. I don’t know what it is that this baby is doing to his mind, but it’s cute. He’s so attentive, so caring, so loving. Not that he wasn’t before, but it’s more now and while some part of me adores this side of him, the other part wants him to calm a little before he stops taking care of himself because he’s busy taking care of me.

When we’re finished and paid, I stay at the cash register for a minute, looking at all the pictures on the wall. “What are you looking for love?”

“The picture of us from the last time.”

He glances over the wall too. “it’s right here,” he slides from behind me and points to the photo just below the one of Gus and his wife outside the building when they bought the place.

My smile widens when I see it. Shawn, Brian and I are all smiling, laughing at something stupid Brian said before the shutter went off. But Connor, he’s looking at me. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen his smile so genuine before. Even from here, you can see the love radiating from his gaze.

“You know, that was the day I told the guys for sure that I was gonna marry you. You were up here talking to Gus and I just blurted it out. I said the second we touch down in LA we were going to look for rings. I knew then, baby. And I’m so lucky you said yes.”

I lean back and press a soft kiss to his cheek, “I told Velma that day too. She asked me about you. How long we’d been together. If I thought you were the one. I told her that I couldn’t see myself being with anyone else ever.”

“Well isn’t life funny.” He presses a kiss to the side of my neck. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, bub.”

---

THREE YEARS LATER

“You see that picture right there, Reid?”

“Uncle Shawn and Uncle Brian!” he says excitedly.

“Yeah,” Connor holds our three-year-old on his hip. “This was the day that daddy knew he wanted to marry your momma.”

Reid giggles. “More!”

“Well you see this one?” I point to one just a little farther down the wall.

“That’s you,” he exclaims.

“Yeah it is, baby. And it’s you too. See that little bump that momma has? That’s you. Right before we found out that you were a boy.”

“And when we come back again in a few years, we’ll see one of all of us. And little baby P in momma’s stomach,” Connor says with a smile, placing his free hand on my protruding stomach.

“And then there will be more?” he asks, looking between me and his father. “Maybe so, buddy. You gonna want to come back here again?”

“Yeah! Can we come – come tomorrow?”

Con nods, “Yeah we can. Maybe we can bring Grandma and Grandpa? How’s that sound?”

“Good!”

We’re in the car, Reid’s asleep in his car seat. The radio is low. Connor and I are holding hands over the console. “You know, I think the Back When Diner is my favorite place to go.” He says softly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Because there’s no other place that I’ve been that gives you that homey feeling. But it does there. And I like going and seeing all the things you did when you were little and making all these memories with you there. I like having a home away from home. And I’m glad the kids are gonna have that too.”

I bring his hand up to my lips. “I love you, Connor Brashier.”

He smiles widely, glancing at me only for a second before he stares back at the road. “I love you too, y/n Brashier.”

***

I hope you enjoyed! Like, reblog, and leave feedback!!

Tag: @loveat2am @anamariel2301 @shawns-badreputation @bbellbagel @turtoix @ivegotparticulartaste @tomshufflepuff @dino-16-avocado @sleepybesson @lifeoftheparty74 @shawnssongs @luvluvxx @foreveralone19588 @shawnandconnor @5-seconds-of-mendes @emma-manuhpe @nedthegay @shawnsblue @curiouslycryptic @adelaidestreets @vinylmendes

Connor Tag: @shawnm521 @divinginfearlessly @enchantingbrowneyedgirl @bettroff @myyohmyuohmyy @madison-malfoy @shawnieeboyy @mutuallynotmutual @tinycertain @rockstarshawnmendes @lostinmendess @sunrisebrashx @alinaxxshawn @heart-struck @ilsolee @daisyangei

#connor brashier #connor brashier imagines #connor brashier x y/n #connor brashier x reader #connor brashier imagine #connor brashier fanfiction #connor brashier blurb

[dewgossip]

Hello there my little gossiping ducks! Gather ‘round Mother Goose here to learn all about how you ranked the other members of your town — and what everyone thinks of you! The superlatives are in... and I’m ready to share. 

Who is ... in their flop era?

The town voted that HENRY DESAI is in his flop era! After his failed business venture, I can’t quite say I’m surprised. As delicious as his cookies and cakes may be, the valley just wasn’t ready for its own bake shop ... or maybe the fates just had a big old flop in store for poor Henry! Is something burning? Oh, well, it’s not a cake — Just Henry’s hopes and dreams! 

Who has ... the worst hair?

In a unanimous vote ( boring! where’s the drama! ) the town voted KOA ROXAS for worst hair ... when he doesn’t even have any. Boring! Where’s the drama? Sometimes, I suppose bad hair is better than no hair at all. At least you all seem to think so. I wonder if he burned it off... remind him to never get a cheap wig. Synthetic fibers would smell worse than Henry’s dreams! 

Who is ... most likely to break your heart?

I would certainly let my heart be broken by someone as dashing as FINLEY MARTIN — who you all decided was most likely to do it. Now, my heart would never be broken by anyone, because I am always the one who does the breaking ... but this next person, evidently, does not share my (or Finley’s!) prowess...

Who is ... most likely to get their heart broken?

Perhaps there’s some trouble stewing in the General Store, because the person voted most likely to get their heart broken was JILLIAN MERCER. We should have held this back when the store was closing ... talk about kicking them while they’re down! You know I love a good rumor, so if there is any hype around canoodling with either of our heart-break/heart-breaker candidates... someone let Gossip Elder know if it turns out to be true!

 Who is ... most likely to embarrass themselves on national TV? 

Another win... or really, another loss is in the bag for Mr. KOA ROXAS. After a close race, you all decided that Koa was most likely to embarrass himself on national television. Nevermind what he’d be on TV for, if not complaints of arson... how would he embarrass himself? Perhaps the glint of the aforementioned bald head blinds the cameraman?

Who is ... most likely to be a CEO (derogatory)? 

So much for respecting the dead ... you all voted ISMAIL HAQ for most likely to become a CEO. I have several complaints with this one — first of all, it’s not fun to insult people when they aren’t around to hear it and get upset! Second of all, I think him not being a CEO might have been what made him so tense... if he couldn’t keep a Joja open in Stardew Valley, how is he supposed to be a billionaire? 

Who is ... the worst chef in America The Ferngill Republic?

More in cooking and fire failures... the people have chosen MATEO MORENO for not only the Valley’s worst chef, but the worst chef in the country! That’s quite a high honor to place on Matty. His multiple nominations for this award made this an easy win, but there were other people nominated. Mateo, if you’re disappointed it wasn’t unanimous, just imagine how the rest of us feel when we try your cooking! Let’s hope for Ben’s sake you don’t try to improve your knife skills...

Who should ... get out of the Valley NOW?

It is despicable to me that we’ve moved on from bullying the youths of this town to the distinguished elders of it such as myself, and who you all said should leave, BILL “SOCQUES” MERCER. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we already tried to kick the Mercer clan out of town once, and it didn’t work on the other half of Socques’ family! His brother might be younger, taller, married-er and better at singing Journey songs than Socques is... but he also didn’t win this award! 

Who should ... be cancelled by cancel culture? 

Another despicable result, though at least this time the nomination of one of the town’s elders did not result in a win ... how dare any of you try to ‘cancel’ me! The real winner of this prize is SASHA FIORINI, the only one of you with enough relevancy to be cancelled by cancel culture! Let’s all hope a rabid fanbase doesn’t come into town to defend her from this, or, Yoba forbid, start Tweeting with little @ call signs like fiorinisgirl! If this little pop-star (what happened to real music!) gets my blog taken down, I’ll fight her on that beach too — and I’ll win!

Who is ... most likely to stage a coup on Mayor Lewis?

Another day, another win for JILLIAN MERCER! Or should I say, another loss. I imagine that any kind of coup she’d stage would be about as successful as her family’s business, or her fight with Sasha, or her relationships with most people in town, or her skating career... Mayor Lewis would probably have to take pity on her and sign over the documents just to get her to stop yelling at him! 

Who did ... not kill Ismail, but definitely killed someone?

Another murder mystery on our hands might send my poor old soul into an early grave, but luckily — the killer on this front is not one we have to solve! ARCHIE TAYLOR was most likely to have killed. I only hope that if she’s reading this, she won’t kill again. Maybe it’s her glares, maybe it’s the fact that no one is that obsessed with ghosts unless they’ve created one... or a few! Spare me, Archie! 

Who is ... most likely to have a secret famous Twitter? 

It’s hard to believe that this blabber mouth could have a secret famous Twitter — or be committed enough to it for her following to grow. Nevertheless, you all decided that LIZZIE JOHNSON-PHAN was winning the popularity contest ... on the internet, at least, and not in town after that whole Miami debacle. I wonder if we can find any buzzy Twitter users that went on a vay-cay last October, and see if there’s any truth to this!

Who is ... the biggest himbo?

Our first and only stalemate ... and if these two gentlemen don’t know what that means, it means you’ve tied! KOA ROXAS and ARTHUR PENA were voted the sweetest, strongest ... and dumbest of the whole bunch. Which, considering how few of you take my blog as gospel, is saying something — I don’t see many braincells bopping around the crowd. 

Who is ... the biggest bimbo? 

In a unanimous vote is proof in the pudding that intelligence and knowledge are not the same thing — the town’s biggest bimbo is a second-time winner LIZZIE JOHNSON-PHAN! Maybe we should have been looking for dumb Twitter users instead of ones who travel around the world. Let’s just hope she has spell check turned on to make her a little harder to find! 

Who is ... most likely to peak by being nominated for this list? 

In our most contested category, with the most individual nominations and most split votes, it looks to me like this person isn’t even peaking in their own category! It’s a good thing FINLEY MARTIN was nominated for something else on this list, or else they’d be branded peaked by ... barely peaking! A rather unexciting finish in this race with for our favorite runner... or, second favorite, if you go based on the fact that Malia wasn’t even nominated! 

Who is ... most likely to steal the bus to go to Zuzu City?

It wasn’t hard for ARTHUR PENA and LIZZIE JOHNSON-PHAN to win the category of them being most likely to steal the bus into Zuzu City... it’s just hard to tell if they’ll have enough loyalty to the town to bring it back! Maybe this time with no murderer on the lose, these local farmers will go for a joyride instead of an escape plan. Do you think they’ll get me a souvenir? Knowing their status as himbo and bimbo, I’d doubt it’d be any good...

 Who has ... the biggest tab at the Stardrop Saloon? 

What’s another win for this list is another loss for her liver, everyone put your hands together for ... JILLIAN MERCER! I’ve already gone through the painstaking process of listing out all her sorrows, but I’m sure Gus will appreciate her picking up this week’s bill once she’s done drowning them! 

 Who would ... win in a Stardew Valley fight club?

While the Valley’s participants in some of the physical violence we’ve seen were nominated for this category, and took half the vote to themselves — the winner of this ring was ELAINE CARTER! While she seems calm, I agree with the rest of you that she can probably pack a punch... or at least pack her chainsaw with her when she goes to fight, and ward off anyone else who tried to take her title! 

And so is the end of this round of Stardew Valley superlatives... remember that all my silly little jabs are in good fun, and that your gossip grandma loves you dearly. Love and kisses, until next time!

xoxo

Gossip Elder  

#superlatives. #will not spoil surprise by tagging all the charas :)

[swanqueeneverafter]

The Once & Future Queen Pt.25

Forest of Essetir. Night. (Isolde tends to her wounded arm. Ella and Henry pass her, carrying some blankets. They see Tristan give Isolde a bouquet of flowers.) Isolde: “What’s this for?” (Tristan shrugs as if to say ‘Just because’ and walks away. Isolde catches Ella and Henry watching her and walks over to join them.) Ella: “He truly loves you.” Isolde: “I’m always amazed at his softness. When we first met he was a nobleman who washed up on the beach of my father’s kingdom.” Henry: “You were a princess?” Isolde: (Nods:) “I was angry at my father who had arranged my marriage to a cruel man in an attempt to unite their two kingdoms. I had run away from home when I found Tristan. For days I refused to give my name in fear of him finding out who I was. Eventually we confessed our love for each other and we’ve never looked back. He gave up his title and his lands and I disobeyed my father, and haven’t returned since.” Ella: “That sounds magical.” Isolde: “Every day is better than the last. There have been bad days, but all tempered by our love for each other. If our time together has taught me anything it’s this: Never give up hope. Love is stronger than anything. (Ella gives a small smile:) Believe me.” (Isolde nods to Henry, then leaves to rejoin Tristan.) (Merlin stands alone, his eyes closed, listening to the many conversations that surround him.) Maleficent: (Walking towards him:) “You all right?” Merlin: (Opens his eyes and smiles:) “Yes. Thank you.” Maleficent: “I realised something. You and I have shared similar fates. (Merlin looks at her curiously:) We’ve both been trapped for years with no hope of escape.” Merlin: “That’s true. And yet we now both roam free.” Maleficent: “Do you think there are too many of them?” Merlin: (Shakes his head:) “It’s hard to say.” Maleficent: “Soldiers are one thing. Merely men who can be fought and defeated. But Morgana… Her power is so great that we’ve got nothing to answer it with.” Merlin: “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Maleficent: “I would. I can sense her energy from here. I know you can too. After being in her presence, I’ve felt her power growing stronger ever since. Her magic is ancient and is unrivaled in its ferocity. Our only saving grace is that I do not believe even Morgana knows how formidable she is.” Merlin: (Considers her words and then has an idea:) “Thank you, Maleficent. I think I now know what must be done.”

Storybrooke. The Dragon's Lair. (Emma, Zelena and Regina share a drink at the bar.) Zelena: "'Verify my story' I mean honestly, the nerve of some people?" Emma: "Don't take it personally, all good journalists have to do research on every story they print." Zelena: "Yeah, well everything I said was true. Robin will back me up. (Takes a drink:) Mm, speaking of backing things up, a little bird told me you two were having some fun while out shopping today." Regina: "Alice. Just when you think you can trust someone. I don't see why we need journalists when everyone in this town is a gossip mongerer." Zelena: "Woah, easy. It wasn't Alice who told me. It was Madam Mim. She and I go way back." Emma: "You do?" Zelena: "Yeah, she gives me some great deals on my silks. She's no fan of Merlin either." Regina: "Is that so?" Zelena: "The world's most powerful bungler, she calls him. Mim says she has more magic in her little finger than Merlin does in his whole body." Regina: "I can see why you two get along so well." (Emma and Regina smile at each other.) Zelena: "Oh har har. Merlin might be the one fated to stop Morgana, but until he shows me he can do something on his own, I'm not impressed." Camelot. Night. (Merlin hides while soldiers patrol outside the city. He crosses over to a tunnel grate and raises a hand to it.) Merlin: “Tospringe.” (The lock bursts and the gate swings open.) Castle Corridors. (Merlin walks down the corridor.) Morgana: “You must send emissaries to Lot’s kingdom. Offer a reward for Lancelot’s capture. (Morgana turns a corner and stops in her tracks when she catches a glimpse of Merlin before he runs off:) It’s him! It’s Merlin, he’s here!” Helios: “Guards!” (Helios and the soldiers pursue Merlin while Morgana stands there terrified. The warning bell sounds as Merlin sneaks around the palace. A guard steps out of an alcove behind Merlin and he takes out the guard with a flick of his hand without even turning to look.) Morgana’s Chambers. (Merlin enchants an effigy.) Merlin: “Ontende eallne þæs drycræftes hire awæge!” (The poppet’s head bursts into flames and Merlin smiles as the spell whispers magic.) Castle Corridor. (Merlin unbuckles the belt of the soldier he knocked out.) Wrought Iron Stairway. (Helios and his men run down toward the dungeons as another hooded figure walks up the stairs. Disguised, Merlin heads out of the castle.)

Morgana’s Chambers. (Helios and Morgana enter her chambers.) Helios: “We’ve searched everywhere. He fled Morgana; he trembled at the sight of you.” Morgana: (Panicked:) “Then why was he here? Why does he choose to taunt me like this?!” Helios: “We must hold our nerve. Maybe you should get some sleep.” (Morgana nods and walks towards the bed.) Morgana: “Make sure there are guards on the door.” (Helios nods and exits. Still unsettled, Morgana lies down. She relaxes and falls asleep, Merlin’s effigy whispering magic as it hangs under the bed.) Forest of Essetir. Morning. (Lancelot gives orders to Leon and Bedivere, then sees Tristan and Isolde trying to catch his eye and approaches them.) Lancelot: “This is where we say goodbye.” Tristan: “Lancelot, for the longest time, I’ve shied away from other people’s wars, and despised the power and wealth that royalty and nobility can buy with the lives of men, but you’ve shown yourself to be different.” Isolde: “You’ve shown us that you fight for what is right and fair, and for that reason, we would like to fight at your side.” (Lancelot is speechless in surprise.) Lancelot: “I’d be honoured to have you at my side. (Isolde nods:) We’ll stand together as equals.” Storybrooke. Granny's Diner. (Sharing a booth, Emma and Regina take turns feeding Maria.) Emma: "I can’t believe how much she can eat, and she's still going!" Regina: (Chuckles:) "I know. Henry was completely the opposite at this age. I would pull my hair out trying to get him to eat something." Emma: "Maybe you should've put cinnamon on everything." Regina: (Laughs:) "Maybe. (To Maria:) But you're not a Fussy Gus, are you? No you're not." Emma: "A Fussy Gus?" Regina: "Oh, quiet."

(At that moment, the newspaper is dropped onto the table between them.) Granny: "Do you believe this?" Regina: (Annoyed:) "Your rudeness? Yes, I can." Granny: "No, this." (Granny leans over and points toward an article titled 'Is this the most adorable couple in Storybrooke?'.) Emma: "Hey, it's Robin and Alice." Regina: (Looking over her shoulder:) "Aw, well they do look adorable together." Granny: "Well sure, but the most adorable couple in Storybrooke? Ruby and Mulan put them both to shame." Regina: (While Emma continues to read:) "Don't you think you're a little biased?" Granny: "Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em." (Granny walks away as Regina shakes her head.) Emma: "What the hell?" Regina: "I know, it's ridiculous. (Emma stands, putting on her jacket:) But, it's not something to get upset about. (Smiling up at her:) Clearly we're the most adorable couple in-" Emma: "I’m not talking about that, Goober. Zelena's interview! Come on, I'll explain on the way." (Emma picks up Maria in the carrier and heads for the door. Leaving a bemused looking Regina to stare after her.) Regina: "I'll get the check then, shall I?"

Forest of Essetir. (The knights of Camelot, warriors from Dun Broch and everyone else arm themselves. Lancelot lifts his sword and swings it forward, signalling them to move out.) Camelot. (A flurry of red capes rush towards the castle walls. Sir Leon leads one group, taking out the sentries on the wall with crossbows and head inside. Sir Bedivere, Tristan, and Isolde take out another set of guards on another gate and wave in more knights. Lancelot fights a third set of soldiers and Henry and Ella make sure they’re dead after they roll down the hill.) Main Courtyard. (Sir Bedivere separates from Tristan and Isolde.) Castle Corridor. (Warning bells sound as Sir Leon leads knights through the palace. Lancelot charges through the palace tunnels while Leon’s party charges up the staircase. Lancelot takes out a guard in the corridor, then continues on.) Morgana’s Chambers. (Helios bursts into Morgana’s chambers and she rises out of bed.) Helios: “It seems we have company.” Morgana: “Merlin?” Helios: “Lancelot.” (Morgana relaxes and smiles.) Morgana: “Then we must welcome him home.” (Helios smirks.) Helios: “Shall we?” (Morgana smirks and they exit. The effigy continues to whisper magic from beneath Morgana’s bed.) Castle Corridor. (Tristan and Isolde hide behind columns. They jump out and attack some soldiers together.) Council Chamber. (Morgana and Helios wait in the council chamber while the mercenaries file out into the corridors.) Helios: “It is as we expected; he is making his way here. He should be with us soon.” Morgana: “And we’ll be waiting.” Castle Dungeons. (Sir Bedivere’s party fights their way through the dungeons. Sir Leon leads another party, Lancelot makes his way through the palace on his own.)

(Leaning against the stone walls, Merlin, Ruby and Hook await their moment to strike amongst all the fighting.) Merlin: (To Hook:) “At least it should be easier than last time, my magic is much more contemporary these days. (Hook merely gives him a confused nod. Listening as the sound of fighting fades:) Let’s go!” (Xena, Gabrielle and Elyan stand at the bars when they hear the commotion from their cell. Mulan and Sir Bedivere arrive.) Sir Elyan: “Come on, now. What’s taking you so long?” (Sir Leon tosses Bedivere the keys and he opens the cell. Bedivere and Elyan grasp arms.) Mulan: (To Xena:) “You all right?” Xena: “I’ve been better.” (Gabrielle supports Xena out of the cell while Mulan goes to the old man, who’s lying weakly on the bed.)

Storybrooke. The Dragon's Lair. (Emma and Regina enter the restaurant to find Zelena putting napkins on tables.) Emma: "How could you not tell us about this?" (Emma tosses the newspaper onto the table, while Regina places Maria’s carrier on one of the chairs in the seating area.) Zelena: (Rolling her eyes:) "Are your egos really that delicate? So Robin and Alice are a cuter couple than you, what's the big deal?" Regina: "Not that, you idiot. (Turns the newspaper over to Zelena's interview:) This!" Zelena: "I told you everything last night." Regina: "No, you didn't." Emma: "Why didn't you tell us that Mordred was looking for a way to get to Maria?" Zelena: "Oh, that." Regina: "And why the hell didn't you mention the fact that Maria has magic?!" Zelena: "What? You're kidding, right? (Looks back and forth between them:) Are you telling me you didn't know?" Emma: "And you did?" Zelena: "Well, not for certain. But you had to know it was a distinct possibility. (As Emma and Regina look to each other:) Oh, come on! Two of the most powerful witches the world has ever known have a child together and you didn't think she'd have magic?" Regina: "Of course we considered the possibility." Emma: "But we didn't think she'd develop her powers so soon." Zelena: (Scoffs:) "I saved the people who found me on the roadside from a falling tree branch mere hours after being born. The way Mordred described it, Maria's powers were responsible for charging the portal that sent you back in time." Regina: "How?" Zelena: (Shrugs:) "I don't know, I wasn't there and neither was Mordred. He only heard it from Morgana who told him what Morgause told her." Emma: "Then it could all be a lie. Something Morgana made up just to mess with us?" Regina: (Shakes her head:) "I don't think so." Zelena: "Ask your parents if you want to know what really happened. They were there." (At this revelation, Emma stares at Regina who now has a dark expression on her face.) Camelot. Corridor. (Lancelot rounds the corner with Tristan, Isolde, Henry, and Ella to find five soldiers standing guard.) Lancelot: “One each. Pick your man. On me!” (Lancelot charges the lead man, and strikes him. The mercenary stumbles towards Ella and she knocks him out with her sword.) Council Chamber. (Morgana and Helios wait by the throne, listening to the fighting outside.) Morgana: “I’m going to enjoy this.”

#sq #swanqueen #swan queen

[dragonnan]

16, 17 and 19 for the most recent ask thingy, should you feel the mood sway you. 😁

The mood will ALWAYS sway me lol!

16. Describe your WIP that currently has the highest word count.

Simon and Simon and Psych (Psych/Simon & Simon) Word count: 24,323

So this one, in spite of not being updated in YEARS, is a story I’m still absolutely on fire to resume because I’m just thrilled af about the concept. It’s a crossover between 2 series I love - Psych and Simon & Simon (an 80s Private Detective series).  What excites me most about it was the reimagining of Simon & Simon for the modern era while still retaining all of the things that made the characters what they were.  

A little back story on Simon & Simon as I feel more people will be less familiar with that series of the two.  The series is about 2 brothers who decided to open a detective agency together after the younger brother, AJ (Andrew Jackson), left the larger detective agency where he had been working for several years.  

AJ is blond, surfed a great deal as a younger man, attended law school, and was considered the “golden child” growing up somewhat sheltered and cherished and maybe a tad innocent of the world.  When his brother went to Viet Nam, AJ took part in the peace protests - primarily because he was terrified for his brother and wanted to do anything he could to make the fighting stop.  AJ tends to be the more mature of the brothers - nearly always wearing a suit and usually takes lead in dealing with clients (assuming Rick doesn’t interrupt him).  

Rick, the older brother, left home after they father died and bounced around from various interests, including being a biker for a time, before going to Viet Nam.  He would come back from the war with a boatload of PTSD and a very fierce drive to protect his younger brother (probably far more so than he’d even felt prior to Viet Nam but to be clear - Rick is VERY protective of AJ).  All of that, however, might take the casual observer by surprise as Rick is incredibly irresponsible (on the surface) and nearly always in a good mood or quick with a joke.  Just don’t threaten baby bro other their mother.  Really, just do not.   

So that’s a bit of backstory so I can mention my changes for the modern era.  Instead of Viet Nam, Rick is now a veteran of Desert Storm.  They now both carry cell phones instead of relying on pay phones or other land lines.  They have a website.  I’ve updated their cars.  Before, AJ drove a red Camaro T Top so I changed that to a 2008 Chevy Corvette.  Rick, in the series, drove a 1979 Dodge Power Wagon so that one... did not change lol!  I seriously cannot picture Rick in any other vehicle. 

So after ALL OF THAT there’s actually a story in progress...

The plot thus far is that the Simon brothers are in Santa Barbara because AJ is running in the annual Half Marathon (an actual one cause I do like to blend some real events with my fiction lol).  While in town, Rick goes to run an errand - picking up an item his buddy Carlos had shipped but wasn’t able to pick up himself because Carlos is... sketchy (an actual character from the series that we hear about anecdotally from Rick).  Meanwhile, Juliet and Lassiter are at the shipyards as well, having set up a sting on suspicion of drug activity.  So, of course, when Rick goes to collect this item for Carlos, he ends up being stopped by the cops who confiscate the item after finding it filled with drugs and they arrest Rick.  THIS, then, is how the crossover comes into play as Shawn, of course, horns in on the investigation and immediately suspects that Rick is being setup so he volunteers to help out the Simons.  Various things happen which ultimately leads Shawn, Gus, and AJ back to the shipyards and a suspicious warehouse (aren’t ALL warehouses suspicious?) where suspicious men are rapidly emptying it of product.  The 3 men get caught and are bundled off in the back of a suspicious vehicle to a suspicious location.  At about this time Rick is let out on bail (thanks moooom....) and in a panic as he hasn’t heard from his brother.  When he realizes AJ must be in trouble, he ends up tentatively joining up with Juliet and Lassiter who are trying to find Shawn. Nobody is entirely thrilled with being teamed up in either group...

And this is roughly where things stand after the last update!     

So after I’ve subjected you to all of the above, how about a snippet from chapter 1?

___

Shawn Spencer spun slowly in his father's chair – maintaining just enough speed to make a full revolution before kicking himself into another circuit.  Typically he enjoyed his time at the station, provided he wasn't behind bars or being subjected to an interrogation.  Okay, scratch that.  He did enjoy an interrogation provided his hot pants girlfriend with a personal pair of handcuffs was the one dressing him down.  He leered. He didn't even have to try to make that sound dirty.  

Right.  Back on the subject at hand. Naughty cop Jules would, sadly, have to wait until they could have some private time.

If they could have some private time.  Of course, the way things were going lately...

And that brought him back full circle to his original beef.

Dad was being cagey. Like, Nick Cagey complete with diminished mane and sneaky covertness. Sure, he pretended he wasn't being covert but his dad sucked almost as bad as Lassie when he tried to fake acting casual. He was way too sour in the shorts to pull off that level of none chalice.

Like now, the old man was going for coffee. Like anybody with half a badge couldn't see right through that act. Shawn pulled together a mild sneer as his dad returned to his desk.

“Really? You put sugar in that too?”

His dad didn't look at him as he set his coffee on the desk. “Stop glaring at me. And get the hell out of my chair!”

Shawn didn't budge. “I am on to you.” He enunciated with immaculate exaggeration.

“The only thing you're on is my chair. And too many Pop Rocks; I thought Gus had cut you back to one pack a day.”

“I'm allowed two packs on the weekend.”

“It's Wednesday, kiddo. Maybe it's time you invested in a calendar.”

“Well maybe it's time you invested in hair plugs!” Shawn paused as his father crossed his arms. The pointing hand dropping back to his lap. “Too Terence Stamp? Sorry, I was caught up in the moment.”

“What do you want, Shawn?”  Giving up on patience, Henry opted for shoving his son until he toppled out of the chair.  Ignoring the yelp when Shawn flopped to the tile, he scooted closer to the desk so he could pull up the report he'd been working on.  Fingers just coming to rest on his keyboard, he scowled at the active game of Pitfall taking up his screen.  He tapped a button but rather than taking him back to the SBPD mainframe, it caused the character to jump into the green shapes he assumed were meant to be alligators.  Behind him, Shawn gasped.

“You just killed my last guy!”

“Be grateful that's all I've killed.” Slapping a few more keys he finally found the right combination to get back to his report.  

Still sitting on the floor, Shawn drew up his knees up and propped his chin on both fists.  Not even managing to type a single word, Henry sighed and swiveled towards his moping son.

“What, Shawn?”

Now that he had the desired attention, Shawn pushed his lower lip out the tiniest bit.  “Jules is busy and she said I can't help with the stakeout cause it's “super stupid important, Shawn” and Gus won't let me borrow the blueberry so I can follow her cause deep down inside I know she wants me to help cause, please, like I don't always make a stakeout better – I mean, who else is going to remember to bring an extra container of cheese dip for the nachos because one cup is just never enough and believe you me you do not want to short cheese a guy packing tear gas...”

Henry held up a hand to cut off the ramble that could easily go on another five minutes.  With his other hand he rubbed at his aching eyes.  Of course Shawn would find out about the sting.  However, Chief Vick had been adamant about keeping him out of it.  Henry had actually lobbied for including his son on the details – the memory of the last big operation that had temporarily cost him his job was not an easily healing wound.  Rather than even attempt reconstructing the word barrage of bitching, Henry latched on to the least pointless detail.

“Where is Gus anyhow?  I thought you two left an hour ago for dinner.”

Shawn shrugged.  “I don't know for certain...  I mean, by now he could be anywhere.  He's always expressed an interest in touring with Alicia Keys...”

“Shawn.”

“We went to Taco Louie's and he insisted on the deep fried beef and bean mini burrito...”

Henry raised his hand again.  Enough said.

“Well whatever you were thinking, I'm still not talking the Chief out of her decision.  You're bored?  How about you work on the burglary case I gave you.”

“Daaaad... the Redbox robberies?” Groaning, Shawn flopped on his back and sprawled dramatically. Officers passing back and forth shot glances at the display and Henry rubbed his face in embarrassment.

“Dammit, Shawn, get off the floor! You look like an idiot!”

Shawn sat up but didn't stand.  Nor was he ready to let go of his latest complaint.

“Come on!  Dad, Redbox?  That is so... not sexy!”

17. Describe a fic that is still in the ‘ideas’ stage.

This one is an Iron Man character exploration regarding Tony’s relationship with Obie and that, with hindsight, he realizes Obie had been grooming him.  It will never cross that crucial line but the potential leaves Tony reeling.  This will be in the same universe as another short fic titled “Simple Math”.  Here’s the bit of writing I’d put together so far:

_____

He'd thought it was bonding; at the time.  His dad had never been one for just hanging out; shooting the shit; telling tales out of school.  No, Pops, when he bothered to interact, led with questions.  “You keeping your grades up?” “You still seeing that floozy?” “When are you going to pull your head out of your ass and grow the hell up?” “You do realize it's my name you're disgracing every time you go on a bender?”

With Obie it was just, easy.  Obie might ask about school but it was always with approval and pride.  He would discuss Tony's conquests as though Tony had climbed Kilimanjaro wearing nothing but underwear and a cape.    

Obie was there when his father wasn't. Which meant that Obie was always there.  The first time he got astoundingly drunk on his father's scotch, Obie was the one to help him hunch over the toilet and vomit expensive, aged booze into the toilet.  Obie was also the one to replace the depleted bottle to keep Howard in the dark.  For a fourteen year old kid still trying to gain his dad's favor, that had meant everything.

He saw his first porn with Obie; sex education ala Traci Lords, three months shy of his fifteenth birthday.  That was the same time he was introduced to weed.  Obie had cautioned him to use it sparingly; didn't want to fry that genius brain, he'd say, and ruffle his hair.  The porn had made him uncomfortable.  Obie had turned it off and told him they could watch whatever Tony wanted.  They'd ended up changing the station to Knight Rider; smoking and munching Cheetos and laughing over their orange fingers.

It was Obie who was there, arm around his shoulders, after his parents died.  He desperately didn't want to sob in front of the man.  Things were so complicated with his dad that all he felt was blinding guilt... as though some part of him had caused this.  But Obie had filled him with bourbon until the emotions got soft around the edges and he'd sat beside the older man, head tipping gradually to the right until he was held up by Obie's bicep. Obie had just slung and arm around him and let Tony pass out while he rubbed a broad hand up and down his arm.

It was strange, now, looking back with adult perspective.  A perspective that included Afghanistan and his intended execution and Obie's arm around his shoulders while he talked about legacy and responsibility while Tony's lungs slowly seized.  He'd taken the time to sit there – arm around Tony's shoulders while one broad hand traveled up and down Tony's bicep – just like when he was a kid and Obie was the whole world.

He'd tried to remember if it had felt so tainted... at the time.  Or if he'd always believed it was love.

Obie had never quite crossed that line. Though hindsight offered a peek into that possibility with enough clarity Tony had fought with his cramping gut for nearly thirty minutes.  He'd staved off vomiting though he was fairly certain his dignity had still been in tatters what with Bruce wandering in on his misery.

19. What’s your favorite character headcanon?

Gosh... It’s funny that when asked the question the first thing that I ponder is “what head canons?? what are characters??? Do I even watch tv???” So I needed to ponder a bit.

As far as it goes my favorite head canons are not typically ones that I myself have come up with.  And going with that maybe the best one I know is for the series, and character, Sherlock.

I’m am 100% all in on Sherlock being on the autism spectrum.  Yes, I know this is attributed to MANY characters but consider the fact that those reasons have a ton of validity.  Sherlock has very strong indications of being on the spectrum and having read quite a number of essays on the subject, many of which were written by people who are also on the spectrum, I’m completely convinced.  It’s to the point I don’t even like calling it a “head canon” as that implies it’s only a fan concept and therefore has less likelihood.  It just feels so deliberate with that character.  

So going off from that I would say, in a more general sense, my favorite head canons are they type where we can discover neurologically atypical traits in characters - especially heroes.  Too long anyone neurologically divergent is portrayed either as a victim or, FAR FAR worse, as the “crazed villain” and frankly that is disgusting.  So it is beyond refreshing to suddenly have this amazing, brilliant, layered person who also displays autistic traits.  In going back over characters that I’ve loved most there are many who have traits of this sort that, only in hindsight, do I recognize.  Just a few off the top of my head; Malcolm Bright, Shawn Spencer (100% ADHD), Rapunzel, Rick Simon (remember him? lol), Adrien Monk (his OCD was very deliberate), as well as characters who’ve developed trauma after horrific events such as, well, most MCU characters but particularly Tony Stark and Stephen Strange.  Malcolm Bright also very much was built from trauma but I also am convinced there are neurologically atypical traits at play.  

Thank you so much for the great ask!!        

#disappearinginq

[nothingeverlost]

Fic: Cold (Neal/Wendy)

“I thought we’d made plans to meet at the diner.”  Her back was turned to the house.  He made sure that he wasn’t walking too quietly so she wouldn’t be startled when he wrapped his arms around her.  He frowned when he realized that she was only wearing a thin cardigan. “What the hell?  Wen, you’re freezing.”

For @lillysbitchfest who asked for ‘misunderstanding based angst.’  It veered a little to the side but your angst is here.  And non-angst too.  And some smut.  This verse needs a proper name.

Not a pro-Hook fic but he’s mentioned with his usual questionable treatment of women.

________________________________

He waited in the booth for twenty minutes, drinking coke and shaking his head every time Ruby came by.  Twice he called Wendy’s phone, but she still hadn’t quite figured the thing out and it wasn’t a surprise when she didn’t answer.

“Sorry,” he told Ruby on his way out, leaving a ten on the table to cover the drink and her time.  He headed straight for the cottage.  The boys were staying with Emma and Henry for the night; he thought he and Wendy were meeting at the diner but maybe they’d gotten their signal’s crossed.

“Wen?”  He knocked on the door first, giving her a minute to answer before using the key she’d given him.  

“Babe, are you here?”  No, he decided, babe didn’t work very well.  Wendy wasn’t a ‘babe’ type person.  There was a light on in the kitchen, and another in the living room, but she wasn’t in either space.  

“Darling?”  He walked past the back door twice before realizing it was not quite closed.  The french doors opened to the yard and during the summer they’d opened both and let the boys run in and out of the house.  Now, though, the temperature was dropping and they were expecting snow in a couple of days.

“I thought we’d made plans to meet at the diner.”  Her back was turned to the house.  He made sure that he wasn’t walking too quietly so she wouldn’t be startled when he wrapped his arms around her.  He frowned when he realized that she was only wearing a thin cardigan. “What the hell?  Wen, you’re freezing.”

“You can see Orion this time of year.”  It was a perfect cloudless night.  When he’d lived in New York it was rare to notice the stars but there was very little in Storybrooke Maine to block them.  “Second star to the right.”  

“There’s no one there to come for you anymore.”  He shrugged out of his coat to wrap it around her.

“I used to wait for night, in the winter.  Wait for the stars to come out because then at least I could see the faint glow of Neverland.  Sometimes it was as close as I could get to my brothers.  He didn’t let me see them very often.”  She began to shake; he hoped it was because of the body heat seeping back into her.

“The boys are playing with Henry right now.  They’re probably throwing popcorn or begging for pizza.”  They’d adapted well to this world and this century.  He was grateful they hadn’t had to stumble around on their own, like he had.  “They’re safe, and so are you.  Let’s got you inside where it’s warmer, though, or you won’t be safe from a cold.”

“I was early tonight.”  She didn’t move.  “I was about to go in and wait for you but the pirate was there.”

“Hook?”  His stomach sank.  “Did he say something to you?”

“He didn’t even see me, not today.  Sometimes when Pan wanted to see me he would send Hook and his ship.”

“I didn’t realize you knew him before.”  Maybe he hadn’t wanted to think about it, or the implications of so many stories in this world telling of Wendy and Hook knowing each other.

“He was good at listening.  He seemed good at listening.  I thought maybe he was an ally.”  She was still shaking, so he took off his scarf.  He knew she had a story that needed telling but if it lasted much longer he was carrying her inside.

“He wasn’t?”  He didn’t even notice the cold.

“I kissed him once, when we were sailing away from Neverland.  I thought maybe I wouldn’t feel so lonely.”

“Wendy.”  His hand was on her shoulder; he wanted her to look at him.  He needed to look at her.

“It wasn’t right.  I didn’t feel anything for him.  I apologized.  He said we could still have fun.”  Finally she relented and turned.  There was just enough moonlight that he could see the tear falling down her face. “He said I was frigid, when he kissed me again and I wouldn’t do more.  Wondered if Peter had taken my heart.”

“There is nothing wrong with you.”  He had a truce with Killain, because he’d helped rescue Henry, John, and Michael.  The boys, all three of them, were more important than his past and feelings of betrayal.  More important than his papa’s anger.  But they weren’t more important than Wendy.  “Nothing he says is true.  Please tell me you know that.”

“I worked for Pan for a century. Sometimes I wished he had taken my heart, it would have been easier.”  After the first glance she wasn’t looking at him.  He wiped away her tear with his thumb and slid his hand down to her chin, tugging it up gently.  “You did what you had to do to keep your family safe, and you wished to be free of your heart because you felt too much.  Loved so much.”

“I was so lonely, Bae.  The next time Pan sent him for me Hook called me an ice queen.  I almost kissed him again because at least the anger was better than being alone.”  Almost.  He held onto that one word.

“You’re not alone now, Wendy.”  Even her lips were cold, when he kissed her.  “C’mon, we need to get you warmed up.”

“I’m sorry about tonight.”  When he took her hand she followed him into the cottage, eyes cast down.

“The only thing that mattered about tonight was spending time with you.  I love you, Wen.”  He’d never get tired of being able to say it.  He didn’t remember loving his mother, only missing the vague idea of having a mother.  He’d missed and mourned his papa, even under the overwhelming anger the love was stronger.  He’d loved Morraine.  Giving up Emma’s love and knowing she would hate him for it hurt like hell.  But it was being ripped away from Wendy that had hurt the most.  He thought that he’d found his home and then it was gone.

Now he had it back.

“I think a shower would be the best idea.”  He led her down the hall to the only bathroom in the cottage, heading straight for the shower to warm it up.  Wendy didn’t make any move to take off her clothes so he helped her, starting with his own jacket and scarf.  The cardigan was next; under it was a dress of pale green lace.  It hugged her form and dipped down low enough to show just a hint of cleavage.  She’d worn it for him.  “You look amazing.”

“Belle took me shopping for some new things.  She’s very nice.”  The hairs on Wendy’s arms were standing up; fortunately steam was starting to billow out of the shower.

“Yeah, she is.”  He liked Belle.  It was complicated, because any relationship he formed with Belle bound him closer to his father, but he couldn’t fault his papa’s taste.  “Do you want me to go?”

Her hand clasped his forearm, holding him tightly.  It seemed like an answer.  “Tell me what you need, Wen.”

“Cold.”  Her teeth chattered slightly when she opened her mouth.

“The shower’s ready.”  He lowered the zipper once he found it hiding on the side of the dress.  Under there were barely scraps of cream-colored lace; he hoped she could handle those herself because he wanted to do more than take them off.  He wanted to touch.

“You warm me up more than any shower, Neal.  Please?”  She bit her lower lip when she tugged at his shirt, managing to undo a couple of buttons.  

“You get started, okay?  I’ll join you.”  He needed just a second to get himself under control.  Her voice when she spoke of him warming her up and her hands on him were working to make his pants tight.  He needed to take care of her, not himself.

“Better?”  Neal was pretty sure that the work he’d gone to not be aroused was going to last, at best, two minutes.  The warm water had colored her skin pink and her head was tilted back, eyes closed, as she got her hair wet.

“What do you think?”  Her palm flat against his chest was warm.  Her arms, when she shifted to wrap them both around his neck, were warm too.

“You had me worried.  I don’t want anything to happen to you.”  It was early still.  They’d only been together months and the boys were still getting used to this town and this century.  But he had every intention of marrying her, someday.  He was in it for the long haul.

“Whatever I did to deserve you, I hope I find a way to keep doing it.”  Against his chest she shivered again.  He carefully loosened her grip and bent down to turn the hot water on a little higher.

“You saved me, Wen.  That’s what you did.”  He found the soap, using it on his hands so he could rub her skin, making sure she was warm.  It was easy enough when it was her arms, and not bad to caress her back, but then she turned back to face him.  

“You saved me too, Bae.”  When she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him her whole body rubbed against him.  There was absolutely no way to deny how much he wanted her, no matter what his intentions had been for the shower.  “I’m not cold anymore but I wouldn’t mind being hotter.”

“We can’t, not in the… it wouldn’t be safe.”  It had never come up before, not when there was only one bathroom and John and Michael were in the cottage.  But things were slippery and she was tiny, and he couldn’t think of anything that didn’t involve picking her up.  

“We could figure something out.”  Her hand wrapped around his erection, and any argument he had was lost.  She was right, the temperature was rising and it wasn’t about the steam.  It was about fingers and mouths and a perfect rhythm that had him dizzy from her touch.  He made her just as dizzy, his fingers curled inside her and his tongue on her neck until he felt her shudder.  This time it wasn’t from the cold.

“You alright?” he asked when she caught herself with a hand to the tile wall.

“I feel lovely.  And warm.  And hungry.  Someone promised me dinner tonight,” she teased as she reached down to turn off the water.

“Hey, I was there.”  He pulled her to him, kissing the nape of her neck before letting her go and handing her a towel.

“Then I guess I owe you dinner.  I’m afraid I don’t have much more than cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, though.  Michael’s become a bit obsessed with cheese sandwiches.”

“Cheese sandwiches sound perfect.”  They sounded like a feast, which was good because he was suddenly starving.  “And then, just to make sure you don’t catch a cold, we should probably go to bed.”

“What if I’m not tired, though?  Will you tell me a story?”  She stepped out of the shower and bent over to dry her legs.  Dinner, he hoped, would be quick.

“I’m sure I can find a way to make sure you’re entertained,” he promised.

#wenfire #darlingfire #neal/wendy #baelfire/wendy #lillysbitchfest #my fic

[mtvswatches]

Wynonna Earp 1x09 Bury Me with My Guns On

Wynonna Earp 1x07 Walkin’ After Midnight

Spoilers disclaimer (please read before sending messages or writing comments.)

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) Oh, wow…

This definitely reminded me of this…

2) “She is also a distraction I cannot afford right now.” Too late, Doc, you’re officially distracted…

#swoon

3) This is exactly what happened and I cannot be convinced otherwise…

But in all seriousness, it’s quite interesting how Wynonna finds herself chasing any kind of feeling now that she’s done with the rage and revenge. The problem is, no matter how many revenants she puts down, she’s never going to get her family back and she’ll never get the forgiveness she so desperately craves. She needs to come to terms with these facts, and she needs to find a new purpose now.

I also find it interesting how she doesn’t find it hard to open up to Doc. For someone who’s quite closed-off and who puts up all these walls, she opens herself up rather quickly with the people she cares about.

4) Holy shit, she’s not messing around…

5) Oooh, this is gonna be like “When She Was Bad”, right?

6) Wynonna is going to be psychoanalyzed on the day she decides to go bad. This should be interesting.

7) Man, this girl is all tough and shit but she definitely wears her heart on her sleeve…

DOLLS: We need to be careful, alright? You're not even a real deputy, Earp, come on.

WYNONNA: No. I'm just the one with the big-ass gun who sends the fiends of Hell to their deaths.

DOLLS: Technically, it's not the gun that kills them, it's…

WYNONNA: Oh my God! You stupid government lackey, you left me in there with a bureaucratic sadist and I was alone and scared.

DOLLS: You're not alone, Earp.

WYNONNA: Or a murderer.

DOLLS: Okay.

WYNONNA: Just once, I want you to say it. That you care about me. Pussy.

It’s kind of refreshing to see this type of portrayal of women, you know? She’s hard as nails but she’s also not afraid to express her feelings and show her vulnerability to others, and that doesn’t make her any less of a badass. You can be both, what do you know?

And not only did Dolls not tell her that he cares about her, but he also took away her badge. Uncool.

8) Oh, that’s a big promise, Wynonna…

That’s like calling bad luck, is all I’m saying.

9) OMG…

She made this poor dude piss himself. Guess the Bad Girl thing is already backfiring.

10) She finally got her way…

11)

What is Drek, other than the witch’s baby/son? Is he a Revenant or is he something else altogether? I’m thinking he’s something else. And what does she mean when she says they “will be gods”? All I can think of is she wants to sing in the meadows…

12) “Lord, girl, you need to blow off that steam.” Please tell me he’s going to bang off the steam out of her. Pretty please?

13) SWEET LORD JEBUS, PRAYER WORKS!

14) So… the Sheriff dismissed Nicole’s report of what she had experienced herself by defining “Purgatory” as quirky. Riiiight. But then, he picked up her report from the trash. So, he’s either waking up and starting to believe there are supernatural forces at work here, or he is the Sheriff because he’s been in the know and assigned precisely to dismiss any type of supernatural claims – a la Snyder in BTVS. Either way, I think it will be an interesting turn of events.

15) They are having two completely different conversations, and I love it…

NICOLE: Um, can we talk?

WAVERLY: Yeah.Yeah. God, we're totally overdue.

NICOLE: I'm not I'm not crazy, right? There's something going on here.

WAVERLY: No. You're not crazy.

NICOLE: Okay.

WAVERLY: I'm not sure I'm ready to get into it.

NICOLE: Why?

WAVERLY: Because it's different for me, right? And it's really personal.

NICOLE: But it's personal for everybody, right? I mean, they must know. People must whisper about it.

WAVERLY: My God, I hope not! No, I kind of only just discovered it. When I met you.

NICOLE: Me?

WAVERLY: Yeah. You're kinda special.

NICOLE: Okay, maybe a little bit more open- minded, but it's not like I have some mystical gift  or something.

WAVERLY: No, I get it. You're a lesbian, not a unicorn, right?

NICOLE: What?

WAVERLY: What?

“You’re a lesbian, not a unicorn” is such an iconic line. Also, there’s no reason you can’t be both, what do you know?

16) I still don’t know what Bobo is looking for, but I guess that’s it for Drek and his brother...

I’m guessing the reason Drek burned to death is that the Stone Witch used one of his brother’s bones to build him up, right? And who was Drek’s father? I wonder if we’ll meet him…

But I keep coming back to this question – what is Bobo after? What is this “lead” the witch promised him?

17) *heart eyes* *fans self*

18) So Doc still wants to kill the witch, even though he now knows it will probably kill him, too. But Wynonna is having none of it…

Get it, boy? She doesn’t want you to die, she wants to keep you around.

19) Why didn’t Wynonna run after Doc? He couldn’t have run that far away in 5 seconds…

20) I really enjoyed the whole conversation between the Sheriff – Randy – and Dolls. I think Dolls is a bit arrogant and he underestimates how useful Randy could be. I also liked how Randy admitted that he figured out the real reason Dolls had set up shop in Purgatory a long time ago, but he’d chosen to turn a blind eye because it didn’t really affect him and he strikes me as the type of guy who just wants to do his job, go home and have a beer. But now his own deputies – and friends – are getting hurt because of all the weird shit that’s been going on in Purgatory, and he won’t have that. So he’s decided to get involved.

Now, I’m not saying that he’s not honest about his intentions, because I’ve totally bought his whole “let’s work together” spiel. But I’m not dismissing but my other theory just yet. There’s still that guy who was a judge or something who had the picture of the seven, so the Sheriff could still be playing lackey to the higher-ups.

21) Waverly just told Nicole that maybe they can be just friends, and I’m like…

22) I LOVE HER…

23) Um, no, I don’t like this!

What the hell is going on? Is this some “I’ll fight my own battles” macho bullshit? Because I expect better than that from Doc. Or is it simply because he doesn’t want her to interfere with him killing the witch?

24) Can… Bobo smell that Doc and Wynonna had sex? That’s so creepy.

25) It’s really smart how Doc put Bobo into a no-win situation. He had to either let Doc go with the Witch or show his minions he wasn’t a man of his word, which would probably turn into a revolt against him. So he obviously chose the lesser of two evils.

26) What does Bobo mean by “I have a very special surprise for you”? What the fuck is he going to do?

27) I really like how supportive Gus is of Waverly, encouraging her to live her own life like she wants and with whom she wants, but I still don’t understand why she would sell the bar? And I’m afraid Bobo’s going to be the new owner. Is that his surprise for Wynonna?

28) Well, considering one of his minions just showed up at Shorty’s asking for Wynonna, I’m guessing that’s going to be the case.

29) I don’t like this…

WYNONNA: Who won't you make a deal with, huh? First a witch, then the Devil himself. You're nothing like… You're just nothing.

DOC: You can judge me all you want. What do I care for some broken woman's evaluation of my character?

There’s so much subtext here is overwhelming. First, there’s Wynonna unfinished line “you’re nothing like...” I think she was going to say something along the lines of “you’re nothing like I thought you’d be.” But that would’ve shown vulnerability at a moment when she didn’t feel Doc deserved it. So she hits him where she knows it will hurt him most. And he pays her back in kind by calling her a “broken woman.” But we know he’s not indifferent to Wynonna’s judgment of his character. On the contrary, it affects him greatly. He’s just probably trying to convince himself otherwise.

30) How many times are they going to point guns at each other in one fucking episode?!

31) So we finally know something about the origin of the Earp curse…

WYNONNA: Tell me about the Earp Curse.

CLOOTIE: The details are hazy, as that was my demon husband. Revenge for the death of our boys. Direct and manly and, quite frankly, boring.

WYNONNA: Not the first word I'd use.

CLOOTIE: Us girls like to take vindictiveness to the next level, don't we, Wynonna? And I wanted my own revenge on Wyatt, so I went after what Wyatt loved most. His best friend.

DOC: You're a liar.

CLOOTIE: I threw it a few juicy morsels like "health" and "longevity," and you were mine.

DOC: You tricked me.

CLOOTIE: When Wyatt found you buried in a whore's muff instead of underground, when he learned of our deal, his heart broke in two. Then I threw you down a well, so that even if Wyatt softened, came looking for you…

DOC: Did he?

CLOOTIE: And you got to spend decades in the dark, knowing your best friend despised you. John Henry. This whole time, you thought it was personal, but it's always been about the alpha dog.

DOC: You shut your lyin' mouth.

CLOOTIE: You're a good sidekick, dear "Doc," but you'll never be a hero. A perpetual second choice. But in the end, everyone chooses the lawman. Everyone.

So the Earp curse and Doc’s curse were two sides of the same coin, one cast by the witch’s husband and the other by the witch herself.

What I find the most interesting, though, is the fact that Doc was Wyatt’s Achilles heel. What did she mean when she said that Doc was what Wyatt loved most? I can’t help but feel gay undertones in that. I mean, why else would Wyatt be so hurt to find Doc buried in a “whore’s muff”? Were they ever romantically involved? I’m going with this theory and I love it.

Also, why did she look pointedly at Wynonna when she said that “in the end, everyone chooses the lawman”? Does this mean Wynonna will choose Dolls over Doc at some point? Because I don’t want that!

32) I love how Wynonna used their previous conversation to talk Doc out of killing the witch right then and there.

33) OMG they’re going to bury her in salt flats!

34) Yes!

WAVERLY: I've always wanted to do things that scared me. But, well, it's not so easy to be brazen when the thing that you want, that scares you to death, is sitting right in front of you. NICOLE: I scare you? WAVERLY:  Yes. Yes, you do. Because I don't wanna be friends. When I think about what I wanna do most in this world it's you. Oh God, that sounded so much more romantic in my head. Just jump in any time, Nicole, because I really, really don't know how to do this. NICOLE: Oh, sure you do. WAVERLY: Maybe I should just stop talking. NICOLE: See, you're getting better at this already. WAVERLY: Maybe you should stop talking too. NICOLE: Maybe you should make me.

I knew they would become a thing, but I really wasn’t expecting to feel so much for them? They’re super sweet together but also super hot, and I definitely got all tingly inside watching them.

35) So… we still don’t know what “the lead” is. We know what it is for, but we don’t what – or who? – it is. But I fear what Bobo might be able to do if he can break himself from the triangle and from Wynonna’s curse…

I really don’t know why they didn’t bury her completely. Oh, wait, is it because if they did, she would die and therefore Doc would die? Yes, that’s probably it.

36) Wynonna basically just asked Doc on a date, and I’m here for it.

37) So, Dolls faked a report of Wynonna passing the deputy exam or something.

38) Called it!

39) I guess that whole “no one’s ever taking anything from us again” thing instantly backfired, huh? What a packed episode, and there are only a few left in the season! I can’t wait where this all leads up to!

40) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

#Wynonna Earp #Melanie Scrofano #Tim Rozon #Doc Holliday #Waverly Earp #Bobo Del Rey #WE recap #WE 1x09 #mine #MTVSwatches

[haughtbreaker]

Wynonna thinks Nicole needs a little bit of socialization, but will a party bring more strife than joy?

Thanks again to @jaybear1701​. Always a rockstar. This chapter gets a bit... much. Sorry. But also not sorry. I like breaking things. I'm horrible. TW: Mention of Suicide; Anxiety; Heavy alcohol use; Abortion

**Companion song: Across the Universe (Fiona Apple Cover)**

 "Are you going to tell him?"

Wynonna stared out the window, watching as the world skimmed by. She hated this town and the town hated her. "No." Unfortunately, it would always be home because it's where Waverly was.

There was a soft sigh as the SUV continued out of town, heading towards Gus's property.

Wynonna reached up to trace a path of water dripping down a window, trying not to think about the cramping, or… "It's better he not know. You know Henry. He'll probably cry or some bullshit like that." She didn't want to think about it. She needed to just lock it away. 

"And you don't think you should have…"

"No." Wynonna looked at Xavier who was behind the wheel. "Telling him would destroy him. It would literally kill him." She'd known as unfair as it was to Xavier, he would help her. He was always the most dependable of her tiny circle. She might even consider him a friend at that point, even if it was just because he was in love with her.

"It's your choice," Xavier finally said, returning his eyes to the road.

"My choice," Wynonna repeated. As they coursed down the road, Wynonna was relieved to finally see the shape of the house they'd lived in since… that night. Choice was such a bullshit word. There was no choice really. Two forms of birth control and fate still felt like fucking with her. 

As the SUV came to a stop, Wynonna put on the smile she'd been practicing, turning to Xavier. "Thanks X, you're a lifesaver." She opened the door and hopped out, turning back to him again. "You should come over Friday night. I'm gonna have a party."

"Do you really think you should?"

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. I just need to drink… a lot."

Xavier nodded. "What time?"

With a snort, Wynonna pulled her phone out of her pocket, swiping away a text from Henry. She was definitely not ready to see him. "I'll text you. It'll probably be 7ish but I need to convince Waves first."

Xavier nodded again. "Ok. Get some rest. Take your antibiotics."

"Thanks, Mom," Wynonna called out before shutting the door. She made sure she had her bag on her as she made her way up the front stairs. Gus was thankfully gone, probably getting supplies to prepare for her upcoming trip.

Waverly's Jeep was parked out front but when Wynonna entered the house, she only saw Nicole, sitting at the dining room table which surprised her. Over the last few weeks, it was rare that Nicole and Waverly were separate, which she found strange. Waverly had never been one to stay home all the time. At first, Wynonna had attributed it to the breakup with Champ and their overlapping circles. It wasn't until that one afternoon she smelt weed coming from downstairs that the sight she was greeted with made her think otherwise.

"Is this really your hair color?"

Wynonna stopped mid-stair at the scene she saw before her. She'd only swung by home to switch shoes when a familiar smell had brought her to the basement door. It was still early afternoon and she did not expect to see her sister sitting on the couch with Nicole's head resting on her thigh as she ran her fingers through auburn hair.

"Unfortunately," Nicole answered slowly, her toes tapping to the soft music that poured from the speakers connected to the record player.

"What in gay shit is going on here?" Wynonna asked as she walked over to the couch.

"Hey Earp," Nicole spoke in a slurred speech, on the verge of passing out.

"Shouldn't you two be in school?"

Waverly chuckled. "She had a panic attack earlier. so I drove her home."

"Man panic attacks are the worst." Wynonna picked the box up, looking at the diminished supplies. "Good choice of strains." A thought occurred to her as she looked at her sister who was way too high and seemed to be studying Nicole's face. It took her a minute to register what Waverly had said. "You drove her home? What about your perfect attendance?"

Waverly shrugged. "It's fine. I mean… I'm sure my college app is padded enough."

Wynonna blinked in disbelief at Waverly's nonchalance. From what Gus had told her, Waverly had kept her attendance spotless and now she was willing to give it up that easily? Just another thing she filed away for later.

"You know what you need, Haught?"

Nicole sighed softly, looking up from her text book. Wynonna had an excited look on her face and one of the things she'd learned over the past few weeks was that when Wynonna was excited about something, it was probably going to be chaos. "What's that, Earp?"

Wynonna slung her arm over Nicole's shoulder, leaning closer and whispering, "A house party."

Nicole sighed again. That was the last thing she wanted. In the past few weeks, school had been… strained to say the least, after her panic attack. While she'd managed to ignore most of the negativity, a party would be inviting that negativity into her after-school life. But parties weren't always bad. She didn't want to be around a lot of people, but she could really use a drink. "Aren't you a little old for house parties?"

"Haha." Wynonna removed her arm before slugging Nicole on the shoulder. "Funny. You're a real riot. Well let me tell you something about Purgatory, Cali-girl. In Purgatory, you're never too old for a house party."

Nicole winced as she rubbed her shoulder. "Sounds…" She wasn't even sure how it sounded.

"You don't have to say it, I can see the excitement in your eyes." Wynonna slapped the top of the table. "Gus is out of town this weekend with her annual tomatuh festival," she mocked Gus's accent. "So we've been tasked with, you know, protecting the house, protecting Waverly's chastity, making sure you don't off yourself…"

"I'm pretty sure Waverly is old enough to watch herself." Nicole refused to be baited.

"You're killin me, Smalls." Wynonna looked up as Waverly entered with her own stack of books. "Help me out here, Waves."

Waverly rose an eyebrow. "Experience tells me I should take Nicole's side on this." She sat down at the table beside Nicole, beginning to spread out her books in preparation for their study session, a habit they'd formed the second week of school together. After all, it made sense. They had almost all the same classes.

"So you don't want a party this weekend?"

Now, Waverly pursed her lips, looking from Nicole to Wynonna.

"See!" Wynonna laughed as she moved over and threw her arm around Waverly's shoulders. "Waverly has the true spirit of an Earp."

"I mean…" Waverly toyed with a pencil between her fingers. "I do feel like since I broke up with Champ, I've been a little isolated."

"Excellent. Hop onboard the hype train, Haught."

Nicole sighed, looking at Waverly who was watching her with an amused look. "I guess."

"Fuck yes." Wynonna yelled as she left the room, heading upstairs without another word.

Waverly seemed to be watching her closely. "Are you sure you're going to be ok?"

Nicole gave her a tight-lipped smile. "Well… I guess we'll see. I really need a drink and the people… well I can just hide in my room if it gets too much." When Waverly began going through her homework, Nicole felt a ball of anxiety beginning to form in her belly.

Nicole looked around the crowded house, trying not to let anxiety get to her. It hadn't worsened, but it hadn't gotten any better.

"What are you doing?" Waverly suddenly popped up, drink in hand.

"Just… observing." Nicole took a sip from the cup in her own hand. It wasn't too bad for a high school party.

"You're brooding."

Nicole rose an eyebrow. "I don't brood." Somehow, Waverly's sunny presence was comforting and Nicole felt herself beginning to relax. "I'm just a fan of watching."

Waverly laughed at that. "Ok. If you want to watch, you can at least be comfortable." She reached down and grabbed Nicole's free hand, beginning to pull her through the crowd.

Looking down at their joint hands, Nicole allowed herself to be pulled forward. She could have easily stood her ground, could have resisted, but she couldn't find a reason to. She was surprised as she was pushed down onto the couch and Waverly sat down beside her.

Nicole noticed that Waverly was like a beacon - a strong light drawing in her friends that appeared one by one, plopping down on the chairs, or on the floor until it seemed like they were surrounded by what felt like half the party.

"All right bitches!" Wynonna kicked a chair over to the coffee table, her hands filled with glasses and a new bottle. "Time to have some fun."

"Oh no." Waverly gave Nicole a look.

Nicole didn't move from her position, instead she took a sip of beer. "What's on your mind, Elder Earp?" She could already feel a light buzz going and she was comfortable.

"I say we play a game." Wynonna plopped down into a chair and began setting out shot glasses. "Nerd, get in here." Wynonna pointed at Jeremy as he was about to run away. "Henry, Bitchy Blonde," Wynonna slid a shot glass over to Stephanie. "Haught pants, Baby Girl." Glasses found homes to as many people could fit around the coffee table.

"Not playing, X?" Waverly called over to Xavier who was lingering always in the background, sipping from a bottle of water.

"Designated driver." Was all he said with a shrug.

Nicole sighed as she turned to face the coffee table. "Okay… what are we playing." So much for staying under the radar.

"Never have I ever," Wynonna declared, getting a round of groans. "Oh believe me, it's a lot safer than truth or dare. Ask Henry." She gave him a wink.

Everyone wanted to ask, but it was Jeremy who broke the silent taboo, "What happened to Henry?"

Wynonna laughed, but didn't answer.

As if he knew just explaining wouldn't do it justice, Henry tugged his shirt up, revealing a silver barbell that went through his right nipple.

"Nope." Waverly shook her head. "Just nope."

Chrissy was about to reach out to touch it until Waverly captured her wrist with a shake of her head and Henry lowered his shirt.

Nicole had to laugh at that. "Not a fan of nipple piercings?"

Waverly shook her head. "Nope. Just nope." She crossed her arms over her chest before freezing, turning to look at Nicole. "Why? Is it something you've…"

Nicole cleared her throat,having learned that Waverly's curiosity was immeasurable and would often take over and drive her crazy. Instead of answering, she turned to Wynonna. "So, Never Have I Ever…"

"Everyone knows the rules, but let's go over them for the nerds." Wynonna poured herself a shot just to have one. "We go around the table. One person says something they've never done, and if anyone else has done it, they take a shot. I'll start." With a smirk, she spoke, "Never have I ever gotten straight A's in a quarter."

"Asshole." Waverly laughed, setting her shot glass on the table. She was joined by Jeremy and Nicole almost laughed at the look Waverly gave her when she set her own glass down.

"What? I used to be a brainiac…" Nicole lifted her glass, mentally preparing herself for the shot. "Until I discovered alcohol and sex," she said before drinking the shot. She tried not to laugh as Waverly began coughing up her shot, her face turning bright red. Nicole reached out and gently pat her on the back.

"Well, this is going to be fun." Wynonna rubbed her hands together as she handed the bottle to Jeremy.

"Oh." He looked around in surprise before his face screwed up seriously. He looked like he was trying to conjure an entire army of dark spirits or something nerdy like that before Wynonna gently kicked him. "Okay okay. Never have I ever…" Jeremy paused, his cheeks coloring a bright red, "kissed a boy."

There was a groan as most of the glasses hit the table. Nicole knew her own glass would have probably been the most surprising if it weren't for Henry's glass sliding towards Jeremy. Jeremy's eyes grew twice as big as he stumbled with the bottle of liquor, beginning to fill the shot glasses.

"Something you wanna tell us, Hank?" Wynonna commented with a smirk.

Henry retrieved his filled shot glass with a shrug. "A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell," he commented before swallowing the shot.

They continued around the group once, each turn getting equal amounts of groans and laughter. They'd each had a sufficient amount of alcohol in their system as they began the second round.

It was her turn again as Waverly hummed softly to herself. She tapped her lips, obviously trying to think of something good that hadn't already been said.

"Never have I ever seen such a bigger waste of time," Wynonna commented, nudging Waverly with the tip of her boot.

"Okay okay." Waverly's eyes came up to meet Nicole's before quickly moving away. "Never have I ever kissed a girl in a more-than-friends way."

"Well fuck me." Wynonna sighed heavily as she set her shot glass on the table.

Nicole set her own down, a small spike of curiosity flowing through her as Waverly's eyes kept darting to her and quickly away.

Henry put his glass down and looked at Jeremy.

"Thankfully not me." Jeremy shook his head. Although he'd only had one shot, being so obviously the most innocent of the group, he was still a little more than buzzed. He didn't drink often.

Chrissy set her shot glass down and everyone looked at her. "What? Shit happens when you drink too much." She chuckled.

"Why Chrissy Nedley... as I live and breathe." Waverly laughed as she dished out the shots.

Nicole couldn't help laughing as she retrieved her glass. She was feeling significantly more relaxed and was starting to enjoy the night.

That is, until it came to Stephanie's turn for a second time.

The night had been going a little too smoothly until Stephanie, who'd obviously drank too much, lifted the bottle and pretended to think. Her smirk was thick with malice as she looked across the table directly at Nicole. "Never have I ever wanted to kill myself"

It was as if time slowed down, everyone at the table frozen in a moment of disbelief.

Surprisingly, Wynonna leaned forward to speak. "What the…" Her voice trailed off as Nicole set her shot glass on the table, one eyebrow twitching up in challenge.

Stephanie seemed to find glee in it as she began to fill up the shot glass.

Another clink made the group jump as a second glass hit the table, sliding towards Nicole's.

Nicole barely heard the gasps that went around the room as she followed the path the glass came from, her eyes locking with Waverly's. She froze, not sure if she should say something, or if Waverly even wanted her to say anything. She'd known for a while there was a sadness behind those eyes, but they'd never talked about it.

After a second, Waverly broke the eye contact and looked at Stephanie who seemed frozen in place. "Well, what are you waiting for? Fill it up."

There was another clink, and Wynonna pushed her glass towards the middle, looking at no one but Stephanie with venom in her gaze.

Suddenly there was a fourth glass, then a fifth, then a sixth and Nicole felt her eyes burning with unshed tears. She looked around to see familiar somber faces, each person willing to bring their demons to the surface at that moment.

To her credit, Stephanie didn't dare say anything as she filled the collection of glasses on the table.

Everyone retrieved theirs before Nicole but didn't drink, as if waiting for her to take the lead, each of their glasses filled with the guilt that was too hard to swallow. Nicole lifted her own glass and stared at Stephanie before quickly knocking the shot back.

Without saying anything else, Nicole set the glass down, stood up, and walked away from the table.

"What the fuck, Stephanie?" Waverly turned to her friend. She couldn't believe the girl would be so cruel.

"What?" Stephanie asked in defense. "It's just a game, Waves."

"If you seriously don't see what you did wrong, you need to get the fuck out of my house." Waverly pushed up from her seat, ignoring the shocked silence around her and walking off in the direction Nicole had disappeared. She went from room to room on the ground floor, regretting inviting as many people as had shown up. She'd thought she'd seen Nicole go into the kitchen but when she got there it was empty.

Turning to leave, she didn't expect to run straight into Wynonna.

Wynonna's eyes scanned the room quickly before settling on Waverly.

"Wynonna, I'm trying to find…" Waverly was cut off as Wynonna pulled her into a hug. She froze.

It seemed like forever until Wynonna pushed back, looking in her eyes. "You're the most important person in the world to me. I just wanted to make sure you know that."

After a long moment, Waverly nodded. "I know, Wynonna."

Shifting uncomfortably, Wynonna quickly kissed Waverly on the forehead and pushed her away. "I need a damn beer."

Watching her walk away, Waverly smiled before returning to her search. Not finding her anywhere downstairs, Waverly wound her way between the people to get upstairs. She was about to head towards Nicole's room when she felt a draft coming from under the closed door. Furrowing her brow, she opened the door to find the room empty. On the wall opposite the door, the window was wide open, letting in a gust from outside. "What the…" Rubbing her arms, she moved across the room. "Nicole?"

Nicole sighed softly as she tucked the bottle of vodka into her pocket, lifting the window open. A gust of cold air poured in and Nicole was glad she was wearing thermals under her clothes and coat. Ever so carefully, she stepped out onto the roof, making sure her boots wouldn't slip on the shingles.

The music from down below seemed to shake the house slightly, but with no neighbors for miles, it didn't matter much. Apparently the Earp girls knew a LOT of people, Nicole mused as she took a seat on the roof and pulled out the bottle of vodka, trying not to think too much about the game before.

Maybe she'd gotten used to the cold a little, but she swore it didn't bother her quite as much anymore. Taking a swig from her bottle, she looked up at the stars. She'd spent many nights under the stars back home and it was so strange for the stars to not be where they were supposed to be. Not only that, but there were so many more stars. Back home, the light pollution made it difficult to see more than the larger stars, even in the desert.

But here, on the roof of Gus's house, she could easily see an endless amount of shining pinpoints of light . She could almost see the ribbons of colors wrapped around and defining galaxies, or maybe she was imagining it. Was Shae somewhere up there, between the earth and infinity?

Her parents hadn't raised her to be religious, so she wasn't sure about the afterlife - if there was an afterlife at all. She couldn't imagine heaven or hell, but she knew her dreams were haunted by Shae's presence. She had to wonder if it was helping or making things worse. Either way, she couldn't imagine her life without Shae, even if it meant just in her dreams.

Swallowing another mouthful of vodka, she looked down at one arm, her hand pulling back the sleeves slowly, revealing marred flesh inch by inch. She could still feel it, the pull that came from within, tempting her with promises of peace. It was a strange feeling, knowing that a handful of pills a few times a day was the only thing helping her resist the voice. But now, it was like the idiotic game played by children was almost enough to break the dam of control she'd maintained.

Nicole's mind took her back to that night, when the grief had taken over. She remembered watching her lifeforce escaping her body. She'd never thought that much blood would look like that, the way the color had flecks of texture, not unlike the way metallic paint shined in the light. It was almost as if she could see the red and white blood cells spreading across the desk, watering down as it began to mix with the bottle of vodka she'd dropped when she lost strength in her hands.

"Nicole?"

Pulling her sleeves back into place, Nicole wiped away the tears she hadn't realized had streaked down her cheeks before looking towards the window.

Waverly's head popped out the window, looking around before curious eyes settled on Nicole. "Oh, you're out here…" She let her voice trail off, whether from not knowing what to say or the cold, Nicole couldn't be sure but she saw the girl wrinkle her nose, beginning to rub at her arms to fight the chill.

Nicole nodded. "Yeah, I just needed to get away from the crowd for a few," she said, as if Waverly hadn't been there, witnessing everything that had happened..

"Oh, okay." Waverly paused for a second before disappearing back into the room.

Waverly was so strange sometimes, Nicole thought as she took a drink. And yet, she wondered if she'd been a bit rude, going over her response. It wasn't rude to want peace was it? Did Waverly think Nicole was trying to get away from her to avoid talking about what had happened? That wasn't it at all.

Nicole sighed. It was just another thing she would probably have to apologize for later. Whenever she saw Waverly again. Which came a lot sooner than she thought as she heard a noise at the window and saw Waverly squirming out, this time dressed in more suitable clothes, a blanket in one hand, and a thermos in the other.

"Here, take this." Waverly didn't give Nicole a chance to protest before she handed her the thermos, shaking out the blanket and taking a seat next to Nicole.

Nicole rose an eyebrow as she handed the thermos back. "Hello."

"Hi," Waverly responded simply, uncapping the thermos and pouring the steaming liquid into the cover before handing it to Nicole, who took it more out of polite habit.

"What's this?" Setting her bottle of vodka aside, Nicole couldn't help but be drawn in by the heat being emitted from the drink.

"Hot chocolate." Waverly answered with a big smile before leaning closer.

"You…" Nicole brought the cup up to smell it, surprised by the chocolate scent. "You made hot chocolate?"

Waverly nodded with a proud smile. "Don't be so surprised. It's vegan… including vegan Bailey's and whipped cream flavored vodka."

Nicole eyed it suspiciously.

"It's not poisonous, Asshole." Waverly nudged Nicole's shoulder before taking a drink straight from the thermos.

With a soft chuckle, Nicole took a small sip. She paused for a moment to let her brain try to catch up with her taste buds. After a few seconds, she took a larger sip.

"Mmm hmm. That's what I thought." Waverly took another sip from the thermos before looking up at the stars.

It wasn't traditional hot chocolate, slightly sharper and actually silker, but Nicole enjoyed it nonetheless. "Thank you." Looking up at the stars, Nicole felt a strange shift in the environment, or maybe it was a shift in herself. She had been thirsting for the silence, away from the crowd of teen obscenity that was happening on the bottom floor of the house.

Away from Stephanie.

And yet she didn't mind Waverly's presence. She didn't take up too much space like people often did when invading your privacy.

Waverly sniffled, rubbing a bit of steam away from her face. "I um... I wanted to…"

"Don't apologize for her," Nicole quickly spoke up. She gave Waverly a tight-lipped smile. "There's enough in life we all have to apologize for. You don't need to take the weight of other people's bullshit."

Waverly paused, a pensive look on her face. "I'm not gonna apologize for her," she said softly, looking down into her thermos as she thought about her response. "Stephanie is a bitch and she shouldn't have said that."

"Oh."

Waverly sighed. "But I do want to say I am extremely sorry… from a completely not in my house kind of way… even though it's not really my house, it's Gus's."

Nicole had to smile at that. "So… is that why you came out here? To apologize for something you didn't do just because it happened in a house that's not yours?"

Canting her head to the side, Waverly shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were okay, which you seem to be. What are you doing out here?"

Finishing the last of her hot chocolate, Nicole set the cup to the side. She leaned back until she was laying on the slant of the roof, feeling the chill of the surface even through her coat. "It's quiet and the view is nice." She pointed up at the sky. "I've never seen this many stars before."

Waverly looked up at the sky and it was quiet for a moment, with the exception of the ever present sound of bass coming from downstairs. "I suppose it would be different for a city girl like you."

Nicole rose an eyebrow as she looked at Waverly, seeing the smile in her side profile. "That's mighty small town of you to say."

"It's not even the best view," Waverly commented as she closed up her thermos, grabbing the cup Nicole had emptied and fastening it to the top. "You should see it from my old house." She sighed softly, seeming to be lost in her own thoughts for a minute. "It's further from town so there's not as much light pollution...Especially in the fall and winter when the skies light up." Her voice was soft and Nicole found herself sitting up to hear better.

"Really?" Nicole could see the emotions in Waverly's face even from the side, a bit of sadness and loss seeming to surface, but when hazel eyes turned her way, it took everything in her not to gasp. With the angle she was sitting at, she could see the glimmer of emotion and an expression she couldn't quite identify - it was like Nicole could see the stars reflected in her eyes.

"Chocolate finally hitting you?" Waverly asked, a smirk spreading across her face and washing away any bit of melancholy that might have been peeking through.

It must have been the alcohol, Nicole told herself as she found herself inspecting the features of Waverly's face. "Yeah." Nicole looked away, her mind spinning. "Must be the chocolate… and all the alcohol."

A comfortable silence fell between them for a minute until Waverly spoke once more.

"You don't really have pierced nipples do you?"

Nicole just laughed.

#wayhaught #wynonna earp #tw: mention of suicide attempt #tw: anxiety #tw: abortion #tw: alcohol #tw: blood #wefanfic #we fanfic #pour me more

[tkmedia]

2021 Fantasy RB Sleepers

With the lack of reliable tight ends in fantasy football, each year will see at least a few breakouts rise from the lower depths of the rankings to claim a top-12 fantasy finish. Last season, Robert Tonyan finished as the TE3 in standard and PPR formats. (Don’t pretend like you knew who Tonyan was coming into the season.) Remember Jared Cook charting a career year (TE5) in ‘18 at 31? If you need more evidence, we can go back further. See none other than Delanie Walker, then a long-time 49ers backup. In 2013, He signed a four-year deal with Tennessee for an average salary of 4.4 million dollars -- chump change for an NFL player. And what did he do with that opportunity? He became a reliable upper-tier fantasy starter for the next five seasons, finishing as high as TE2 in PPR formats. All of these players were barely on the sleeper radar, never mind highlighted on draft cheat sheets. So, now that it’s been established sleeper tight ends emerge every season, it’s important to figure out how to identify them. Sometimes, TEs set to see an expanded role in an offense, perhaps because another TE or key WR left or because a new offensive coordinator is in town, are prime sleeper targets. You could also look at TEs who got a QB upgrade in the offseason. New opportunities can yield new results -- even for old players.This year's list features Irv Smith Jr., Anthony Firkser, and Adam Trautman, all of whom figure to step into a more significant roles in their respective offenses. Blake Jarwin and O.J. Howard, who are more or less afterthoughts due to major injuries sustained last season, also merit watching as they try to bounce back. Someone like Cole Kmet isn't necessarily in a "new situation," but we still expect him to take a big leap forward in his sophomore season and overtake Jimmy Graham as Chicago's primary TE.If you're in a shallow league, most of these guys won't even be on your radar. It's more likely someone like Dallas Goedert, Tyler Higbee, or Jonnu Smith/Hunter Henry would be considered "sleepers," but for most leagues, the tight ends below are the players to target in the middle and late rounds. That's where these types of TEs will be patiently waiting to be claimed.That’s the beauty of the position -- many of these sleepers are still cheap! If they don’t plan out, your season isn’t lost. Even if you take a "good" starter earlier, it's still smart to take a flier on the sleeper tight end late. Remember, there are only a handful of players at the position who can be trusted every week, so giving yourself options makes sense. Javonte Williams, Broncos Williams will be competing with veteran Melvin Gordon for touches, but even if the talented rookie isn't starting in Week 1, he has more long-term potential because of his explosiveness. In his final season at North Carolina, Williams totaled 1,445 yards and 22 TDs while averaging 7.9 yards per touch. The Broncos offense has a lot of talent but also a lot of question marks. Williams can be a stabilizing force if the coaching staff lets him. It would be foolish to completely write off the 28-year-old Gordon, who posted 1,144 total yards, 4.6 yards/carry, and 10 TDs last year, but Denver drafted Williams early in the second round for a reason. Gus Edwards, Ravens Everyone is excited about JK Dobbins this year -- and deservedly so -- but don't sleep on Edwards. He's posted at least 700 yards and averaged at least 5.0 yards/carry in each of his three seasons, so you know he's going to produce on the ground. With Mark Ingram gone, his path to production is even more open. He might not crack double-digit receptions, but it wouldn't be a complete shock if Edwards wound up getting more touches than Dobbins and starred in the Ravens backfield. Either way, he's being undervalued in drafts. Consider Edwards more of a 1B to Dobbins' 1A than merely a traditional handcuff. Michael Carter, Jets Kmet is poised to take over the keys from Jimmy Graham at TE1 in the Bears offense. While Kmet didn't see a ton of volume last year (44 targets), he ranked fourth at the position in true catch rate at 94 percent. True catch rate is the total number of receptions divided by total number of catchable targets. With Andy Dalton or Justin Fields on the field, passing volume and catchable targets are likely to point upward. Chicago traded Anthony Miller to Houston, opening up more potential targets for Kmet. If Fields is as good as the Bears think he can be, Kmet may serve as a reliable target in an emerging offense. Phillip Lindsay, Texans David Johnson had a surprise bounce-back season last year, posting 1,005 total yards and eight TDs while averaging a career-high 4.7 yards/carry in 12 games. Even so, the Texans picked up Lindsay in the offseason, and fantasy owners shouldn't ignore him. Lindsay started his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons before struggling in an injury-plagued 2020. Lindsay still has a career 4.8 yards/carry average, and despite his size (5-8 ,190 pounds), he's a tough inside runner. Johnson might begin the season as Houston's starter, but given his injury history and age (29), Lindsay could wind up outproducing him for the season. Don't let Lindsay fall too far behind Johnson in drafts. Jamaal Williams, Lions Williams was consistently solid in his four years with the Packers, but he rarely starred outside of the occasional good game. Now with Detroit, he'll once again work in a complementary role (behind D'Andre Swift), but the Lions have a strong offensive line and very little going for them in the receiving game. That should open up more opportunities for Williams, both as a runner and a pass-catcher. It will likely take a Swift injury for Williams to really go off, but he's capable of outproducing his ADP and being an every-week flex, at least in PPR formats. AJ Dillon, Packers When a guy is 6-0, 247 pounds and has both "Quadfather" and "Quadzilla" listed on hisPFR pageas nicknames, you want to give him your full attention. Dillon didn't playmuch as a third-string rookie last year, but he did average 5.3 yards/carry in limited action and went off in the one games where he did get significant touches, posting a 21-124-2 line in a Week 16 game against Tennessee. With Jamaal Williams gone, Dillon takes over the primary backup role to Aaron Jones, so he's primed for 120-plus carries. At last year's rate, that would yield around 700 rushing yards and a five-to-six TDs. The potential is there for more with the supremely talented Dillon even in a backup role,and if anything happens to Jones, look out. Dillon would immediately vie for top-10 consideration. Tony Pollard, Cowboys Pollard has played well in his first two seasons, averaging 4.8 yards/carry and showcasing solid receiving skills. When Ezekiel Elliott out in Week 15, Pollard took advantage, running 12 times for 69 yards and two scores against the 49ers. With Elliott coming off a down year, it's fair to wonder if Pollard will see more touches, and in Dallas's high-powered offense, even 10 touches per game would give him flex value. If Elliott gets hurt, Pollard's value would really take off. If you draft Elliott, be prepared to overpay for Pollard because he's the type of backup other owners will draft in the middle rounds, too. Trey Sermon, 49ers Sermon had a decent college career split between Oklahoma and Ohio State, but he saved his best performances for the Big 10 Championship and Sugar Bowl last year, rushing for a combined 524 yards and three TDs while adding another 65 receiving yards on seven catches. The 6-1, 215-pound Sermon ran a 4.57 40-yard dash and doesn't wow with any other measurables, but you know if he gets consistent touches in the 49ers system, he'll be productive. Raheem Mostertwon't stay healthy, and even if he does, we know San Francisco will use multiple ball carriers. Wayne Gallman will probably more involved than any of us want, but Sermon still has major breakout potential. Justin Jackson, Chargers Jackson is just as likely to get cut as he is have a good year, so proceed with caution here. That said, the Chargers need a true "lead back" to complement receiving ace Austin Ekeler, and last year's popular rookie sleeper, Joshua Kelley, repeatedly flopped in his attempts to take over the lead role when Ekeler was hurt (3.2 yards/carry). Perhaps Kelley will bounce back and get first crack at the 1B job, but Jackson outplayed him last year (when he wasn't missing seven games because of toe, quad, and knee injuries). Jackson averaged 4.6 yards/carry (4.9 for his career) and caught 19 passes for 173 yards in a similar campaign as his rookie season. It's tough get too excited about Jackson, but someone figures to emerge in this backfield. If it's not Jackson or Kelley, then you're looking at sixth-round rookie Larry Rountree III, who produced well in his career at Mizzou (5.0 yard/carry, 40 TDs). For now, we'll err on the side of the veteran. Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots The 6-0, 231-pound Stevenson might very well be on the inactive list early in the season (he is a Patriots RB after all), but he has upside if he finds his way into the lineup. The Patriots are notorious for shenanigans with their RBs, and even though Damien Harris looks to be "the guy" in New England, no one would be shocked Stevenson started stealing carries or being used as a goal-line hammer. Sevenson averaged 7.2 yards/carry and scored 13 TDs in 19 career games at Oklahoma, and he even showed some receiving chops with 18 catches and 211 yards in just six games last year. He presents the kind of unique skillset Bill Belichick loves to use, so fantasy owners should have him high on their watchlists. Jake Funk/Xavier Williams, Rams Does anyone really trust Darrell Henderson to last the full season as the Rams' feature back? Maybe he will -- or maybe L.A. will sign a veteran like Le'Veon Bell or Todd Gurley -- but until they pick up someone else, undrafted Jones and seventh-round pick Funk are the most likely candidates to siphon carries. At 5-10, 204 pounds with 4.49 speed, Funk has similar size but more speed than Jones (5-11, 208 pounds, 4.54), but Jones was far more productive in career at SMU than Funk was at Maryland. Neither of these backs really stand out, but they figure to get shots at playing time early in the year. Caleb Huntley/Javian Hawkins, Falcons Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson are currently atop Atlanta's RB depth chart. Anyone trust them to last in those spots all year? After them, you have Qadree Allison, who's had some sleeper buzz of his own at times but totaled just one carry in three games last year. With all that said, we're going off the board for some sleeper picks here and highlighting rookie free agents Huntley and Hawkins. The former is a 5-10, 229-pound bruiser who scored 18 TDs in 15 games his final two seasons at Ball State. Huntley is a 5-9, 196-pound speedster 2,347 rushing yards, 20 catches, 185 receiving yards, and 17 total TDs in two seasons at Louisville. They could form a solid thunder-and-lightning duo if given the chance, but as it stands, Hawkins is a little more interesting due to his versatility and speed. Read the full article

[citygossip-blog1]

it’s your favorite bitches, @pixilated and @laprincessa here and ready to rock your world.  we don’t care if you read it or not, the rest of the world already has. 

The Red Carpet Review with @pixilated 

While some went unnoticed (I can’t tell if those were intentional or not), there were definitely some looks. With every celeb on the red carpet dying to make an impression, some unfortunately are destined to miss the mark-- the Carrington’s Gala was no exception. Now, I present to you last weekend’s best and worst dressed.

WORST: Sarah Park

No one would disagree with us when we say that Sarah looked like absolute literal trash, and sweetie, she can’t even challenge us on this one. We get it, you love the environment. Showing up to the red carpet in a dress made of trash was a power move, Ms. Park. There’s something fishy about this whole demonstration, but I’ll let @laprincessa tell you all about that. This dress didn’t even last the whole night, so structurally it was not sound. We applaud you for having the balls for wearing this as your red carpet look, I don’t think anyone else could have pulled it off.

BEST: Tyler Henry

Not a big surprise here, with all the money this girl has we expected nothing less. We’re almost positive that this dress costs less than the rock on her finger anyways. Henry also wore a stunning shade of green with her tiff toward Ms. Duffy and quite possibly a slightly different shade of green later that night due to her consumption of champagne-- eight or nine glasses would definitely make me sick. Thankfully for Ms. Henry, pink and green are complementary colors, so there’s no need to call the fashion police on this one.

WORST: Drew Koenig

*Yawn* Guess we should have seen this one coming considering the Koenig’s past with their money loss, maybe they are just trying to be more fiscally responsible, who knows. However, we know some better ways to be fiscally responsible-- especially for an underwear model. Showing up in #hiscalvins would have been a look, but instead we’re left with this lackluster appearance.

BEST: Willa Duffy

Time and again, Willa Duffy does not fail to impress-- it’s no wonder she’s continuously at the top of everyone’s radar. She dazzled everyone at the gala with this blue and gold number, Ms. Duffy you truly looked like a princess. Flora and Merryweather probably fought less than @laprincessa and I did on who was best dressed -- pink or blue! We just couldn’t settle on Ms. Duffy or Ms. Henry for the title, we’ll let them settle that in their own time, we just wanted to add a little more fuel to the fire between those two.

WORST: Charlie Carrington

Oh Carrington, it seems like a cop out to just get a handkerchief to match your girl. Maybe Ms. Henry was too indecisive about her look that you settled for something simple. Your name wasn’t even on the invitation, little Charlie, and your suit didn’t make you standout either.

@laprincessa: Que decepción, I honestly expected more of you Carrington, especialmente cuando your fiance is a fashion icon, tsk tsk communication is key darlings!  Let me take this time to express my utter disappointment with men in high society always showing up in the same old somber tones, in the same old boring suits. The fashion world is always moving forward and you have the money to really show up and represent. Explore with colors, patterns and textures! Floral is not just for the ladies, gentlemen-- the more vibrant the color the more impressive you stand out. Stop boring me to tears with the same old suit and tie.

BEST: Jared Caldwell

That brings me to the best dressed guy, which goes to New Money Caldwell. Let me just fangirl about this this man for a second, can you tell that I just absolutely love him. Sure no one really knows who he is and he’s just a nerdy guy who made the hottest app, but if he ghosted me I would be heartbroken. I can see why Martha was all over this man, look at that t e x t u r e. Boys, you need to take a few notes in your book from him. THIS is how you rock a gala look.  

WORST: Victoria Sparks

There’s nothing awful about this look, in fact the only one who really swung and missed was Ms. Park, but there’s nothing that really stands out either. I think we were all on the edge of our seats to see if your date would be your mother. I wonder if you’re feeling well, with your dreamy, far-off look and your nose stuck in a book-- what a puzzle to the rest of us is well, Ms. Sparks. I should have expected this from New York’s Sweetheart who has been flying under the radar, but we’re dying to know why your personality is still missing when you are back in the big apple with mommy dearest.

BEST: Juniper Winslow

Such a classic look from Ms. Winslow, it brings me back to the Juni: Princess of the Galaxy days! You really were a star. Thank goodness you didn’t have a fashion disaster tonight, but it’s such a shame your ex-mans was at the gala too. You really seemed on edge, Juni. The class the dress brought definitely compensated for the mess that followed.

BEST: Sarah Park

Hats off to you Ms. Park for not only receiving worst dressed, but also receiving the best dressed. While it wasn’t your red carpet look, you definitely turned some heads with this one too. Your transition from the trash in our ocean to your sandy sparkly look was not only touching, but inspiring. Congrats from your two faves-- oh and tell your bestie that #TimesUp on the fashion trend she tried to bring to the gala.

No Me Digas! con @laprincessa

Now you all know we love our fashion opinions, but what we thirst is more than what our fellow socialites were wearing. We thirst for the knowledge of what they are doing and subsequently hiding. Good thing is... we know all, we see all and my, my, my! What juicy content do we have to share.

While so many of you flew under the radar, stuck to the walls or hidden in the corners, some of you truly saved this gala from being a total snoozefest. I for one, was ready to post some secrets just to have a reaction from all those in attendance, but early on it was easy to spot that things were bound to get interesting.

Let me start with the ever so fabulous Tyler Henry. Mija, you were a total mess. The woman who has everything-- the wealth, good genes, the rock on her finger with the handsome man at her side-- started guzzling down champagne like it was water. What could possibly warrant Ms. Henry to act impulsively on the night of her soon-to-be family’s gala?  My sources say that daddy dearest broke a promise and the Henry’s wholesome family unit was minus one. The night just kept getting better as Ms. Henry decided to up the ante and get into not one but two major confrontations.

The First: #theAutocrat vs #theVisionary

While we agree that Ms. Sarah Park was a total eyesore in that, for lack of a better term-- trashy dress, was it really necessary to ruin it? Now before all you Tyler-stans get all defensive here are the facts. The two ladies were spotted having a quarrel, it wouldn’t surprise me if the camera crew got all the juicy details of what was said. All I know is that the back-and-forth reached the point where Ms. Henry was seen pulling in the Carrington’s guest speaker real close, and not for the steamy reasons we’re all hoping for,  and as Ms. Park pulled away... oops! Her dress was falling apart and Tyler was left with plastic in her hands. Seems pretty incriminating to me. In the end I feel like I should thank Tyler, Sarah was forced to change and I ended up getting a delectable view of her banging body.   

@pixilated: Hey! #TeamTyler over here and I wouldn’t say that miss-horny-for-change can get away without pointing a few fingers at her. No one would believe it, but rumor has it Ms. Park could have had a few tricks up her sleeve and wanted Ms. Henry to rip her dress all along. Hell, I’d want that dis-gus-ting thing off of me too. Tyler did warn her never to call her by that godforsaken nickname. Seems like she was set-up to have the perfect alibi, but that’s just my cup of tea.

Since @pixilated has already revealed herself to be in #TeamTyler I guess I can go ahead and reveal that while I’m not on any teams yet,  I do have a soft spot for Sarah Park. She had the guts to embarrass herself in front of all the who’s who of New York because her love of activism ran stronger than the need to look good. She’s constantly using her privilege for the greater good and I can’t help but admire that. Not even a wardrobe malfunction could slow her down. Ms. Park was right on time to perform her speech and the outpouring of support confirmed what we all know, this girl is on fire. Was it just me or did any of you notice how her speech even used her dress falling apart to her advantage? Ms. Park is one smart cookie, good thing she seems like she wants to help the world and not ruin it. And as Selena Gomez always said, “everything is not what it seems.” *queue theme song here*

The Second: #theAutocrat vs #theModel

You’d think I would be so over the drama between these two, but I can’t help it! They are my guilty pleasure and they always indulge me. I wonder whatever compelled Tyler Henry to approach Willa Duffy in the first place? Was Willa enchanting too many guests? Was she taking too much of the spotlight? Or was it because Willa was looking a little too cute laughing up a storm with Charles Carrington himself? Whatever the reason was, Ms. Henry was seven drinks too many in and confronting Willa Duffy in front of the whole gala!! Scandalous! I know I felt a shiver of excitement when I saw that showdown happening. These queens of New York were both so formidable with their consistent, calculated clapbacks, but it was apparent that the Queen Bee, Ms. Henry, stung Ms. Duffy one too many times. It's amazing to imagine how they could rule the whole city if they only joined forces once again. I know, I know, never gonna happen! It's the dreamer in me I can’t help it. Anyways, much like Tyler’s first confrontation, Willa left the scene first and while in many instances that would be a win. Is it really a win to act like a drunken fool in front of all your fiance’s family and esteemed guests? So who’s the real winner here? We are of course! We would like to thank Charlie for quite literally making the whole Tyler drama sweeter by removing her from the premise to grab a scoop to forget her stand-up dad.

So much time spent on Ms. Henry it’s safe to say she’s our Scandal of the Week. But there are so many who also caught our interest never fear!

Ms. Duffy where is your shadow? Consider us shocked at not seeing the Duffy twins attached at the hip. We know he was there or did he bail out before the party even got started? Perhaps it’s a good thing, we can’t imagine you would have charmed as many guests with your demon of a brother at your side.

Drew Koenig, your foolish, misogynistic attempts to win over Bella De La Rosa Lopez did not go unnoticed. You might like your women like you like your drinks, “sweet and a little spicy,” but I’ve heard Bella likes her men how most people like their wine. Luck for us, Ms. De La Rosa ended her night dancing with Ms. Duffy and not with the likes of you.

@pixilated: Some advice for Charlie Carrington, if you want people to respect your relationship with Tyler Henry, you best not be seen chatting it up and getting comfortable with her sworn enemy. Maybe he’s just trying to keep their enemies close.

My girl here has a point, we’ve been told that the Duffy’s and the Carrington’s have been friends for years but there is such a thing as loyalty to your loved one no? On the other hand there is something so cute seeing two friends laughing up a storm. The real truth here is that I’m a messy bitch and I live for this drama.

@pixilated: And one final word to the wise-- the Marthas of the world better throw caution to the wind and watch their back, I’m tryna steal your mans <3

I don’t know pixie, Jared seems pretty enamored with the one, the only, Willa Duffy, are the Marthas of the world the real threat here?

@pixilated: I don’t care who you are, if you have heart eyes for Jared Caldwell, I suggest wearing shades so I can’t pick you out of a crowd.

This concludes our honest review. If you didn’t see yourself mentioned don’t get comfortable, either you didn’t do anything worthy of a mention which *yawn* or we’re biding our time to comment on all the messy things you do. Both options make me want to spill all your deep dark secrets but my partner says waiting is key to ultimate satisfaction.

Until next time, 

xoxo

#carrington gala. #an honest review. #review. #sarah. #tyler. #drew. #willa. #charlie. #jared. #victoria. #juniper. #bella. #i spent more time on this than i have for any of my assignments all semester tbh #AND WE WORKED SO HARD #WE HOPE YOU LIKE IT

[avatoh]

omg i found this OTP prompt for shassie and i am CACKLING -Persons A and B of your OTP are in space. A kisses B and then says “It’s not gay if it’s on the moon.” B tells them that they’re on another planet, not a moon. A realises they done fucked up. PERSON A IS TOTALLY SHAWN.

Omg I’m so sorry that this took so long and the quality is so so bad but like….things happened in my life and I also really wasn’t feeling this prompt??? Yikes i’m terrible! (love your username by the way) This was a challenge! I did it anyway! It’s bad!

Anyway, Trash:

AO3

Carlton Lassiter was made commander of his unit at the age of 37, which was no small feat; indeed, it was quite spectacular. His whole life he trained, studied, and worked his ass off to get to where he was now: a young commander of Earth’s fairly new space program.

Space exploration had entered a golden age. New technology was invented that made space travel easier, faster, and better. Everything was going well for him within his first few months of the job. Everything was going his way; and then came along a young cadet by the name of Shawn Spencer. Shawn’s father, Henry, was a pioneer in the program and an inspiration to Lassiter. He had trained Lassiter himself but had never mentioned his son the whole time they knew each other, which was strange.

Meeting Shawn had been one of the biggest mistakes of his life. The man was a delinquent in every sense. Everything was a joke to him and he couldn’t take anything seriously. Their job and mission, on the other hand, was very serious. One uncertain step by one member and the whole unit could easily be wiped out. Lassiter was surprised Shawn had made it as far as he did in the program.

Shawn and Lassiter didn’t run into each other until a few years later when they both had a few more missions under their belt and tons of more experience. Lassiter still disliked the son of Henry as much as he did the first time they met.

All was well and good, and their interactions were slim, but a few years later after their first encounter, Mr. Shawn Spencer was assigned to his team.

Fortunately for Lassiter, Shawn didn’t pay all that much attention to him or mess up their missions much. He and his unit partner & best friend, Burton Guster, tended to work alone from the rest of the team most of the time, which Lassiter allowed because it got Shawn out of his hair. Sometimes they even turned up good results. Lassiter’s dislike of the man softened a bit. Shawn was incredibly talented and clever it seemed, but it was something he tried to hide from everyone else as if it were shameful.

It was then announced by Chief Vic that everyone in Lassiter’s unit would be going on a long term reconnaissance mission. In total, they would be gone from Earth for a total of three years, give-or-take.

This had been the moment he had been waiting for, the chance to explore space and be trusted with a big mission such as this.

The plan was that they would have to collect samples and perform experiments on a few nearby planets from as well as transport fuel and supplies to other units who were already well out into outer space.

On day one, Shawn was already annoying him. He ate loudly, blew air on the back of his neck, and overall had the attitude of an excited Kindergartener. It was completely unprofessional! Lassiter brushed it off as well as he could.

The crew of this mission was forced to be interacting with one another quite often in confined spaces. They ate together, slept together, exercised together and did everything together. It was boring and monotonous. The only thing in the ship that became unpredictable was Shawn and his antics. True, sometimes it got to be annoying, but often a small crack of a smile would form on Lassiter’s face.

Lassiter secretly grew to genuinely like the annoying man. Sure, he was annoying, but his annoyingness was almost like a facade. There was something to him that seemed almost familiar and sad. Despite what he wanted others to think, Shawn really did seem to care deep down and he did try his hardest to make his missions successful despite his seeming aloof attitude and demeanor. His friend, Gus, wasn’t too bad of a person either. He could keep Shawn grounded if he started bugging Lassiter too much.

It seemed like Shawn was keen to put on a display every time he saw Lassiter enter the room. He was showing off, Lassiter figured out.

They were set to explore a planet in which only 29 humans had even seen before.

It seemed that the soil of the planet secreted a liquid that ate through spacesuits and other synthetic gear and was highly dangerous if trampled upon. Unfortunately for them, they were sent there to retrieve a mineral that formed near the marshlands. A moon buggy that was supposedly resistant to the liquid was provided to them, but it was still dangerous, nonetheless.

Lassiter was sure that he’d have to go at it alone, but when he asked for any other volunteers on the mission, Shawn raised his hand. His behavior probably shouldn’t have been a surprise to him, in hindsight.

The planet was beautiful. From the color of the soil, to the visible atmosphere itself, it was breathtaking. Lassiter and Shawn turned to each other, breathless as the passed a glittery waterfall nearly 300 feet high. Water seemed to tumble off the sky. Both men were shocked and arrested by feelings of euphoria caused by the sight before their eyes. Lassiter almost felt like crying. Before he knew it, Shawn reached over his side of the seat and kissed him on the lips.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s not gay if it’s on the moon,” Shawn responded.

“We aren’t on the moon.”

“It’s just so beautiful,” Shawn sighed, leaning in again with hooded eyes.

This time Lassiter dodged him.

It was then that Shawn realized that he done fucked up the situation.

The continued the rest of the mission in uncomfortable silence or even more uncomfortable awkward chatter now and then.

They returned shortly thereafter, the mission a triumphant success. In the days that followed, Shawn started avoiding Lassiter like the plague. It took three days for him to realize that he really missed that man.

“Shawn,” Lassiter spoke outside his barracks. “I need to talk to you.”

The door opened up about 20 seconds of silence later. “What.”

“Can I talk to you, privately?” Lassiter inquired. Shawn quietly turned his back and he followed closely behind him.

“Come here to make fun of me?”

“No, you just caught me by surprise, that’s all,”Lassiter said.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Look,” Shawn explained. “It was just really pretty and I got caught up in the moment because I’ve liked you for awhile now, if that hasn’t been obvious.”

“I never knew-”

“You’re incredibly dense sometimes for a commander whose supposed to know everything,” Shawn laughed.

“I’m sorry. And I’d like to make it you to you.”

“How?”

“Do over?” Lassiter said and she lightly grabbed Shawn’s arms and directed his body towards his.

“Do over,” Shawn agreed.

#shassie #psych #honestly this is the least good ive felt about a fic in years #im not a scifi/space person ??? #it was a cute prompt but i was so damn lost #editing? wahts that #carlton lassiter #shawn spencer #im not a good writer to begin with but thatnk you for the prompt! #practce makes perfect?/ #prompt #fanfic #myfic #my fic

[preciousmetals0]

Deflation at the Disco; Atomic Datadog; Musk the Martyr

Deflation at the Disco; Atomic Datadog; Musk the Martyr:

Wall Street Spins Records

This year is all about spinning records.

Now, I love to drop vinyl on the turntable as much as the next guy. OK, probably more. There’s just a warm, nostalgic sound with records that you don’t get in today’s sanitized, digital world.

But the U.S. economy hasn’t exactly dropped the decade’s hottest albums this year. So far, we’ve seen record job losses, record unemployment rate, record declines in manufacturing … yada yada yada.

We haven’t seen this many bad records hit the airwaves since disco was popular … which is ironic with a lot of us working hard at just stayin’ alive.

Today, the economy dropped its latest album, and it’s a doozy. Consumer prices logged their biggest decline ever in April. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell 0.4%. For those keeping track, that’s the core reading, which excludes food and energy.

The latest CPI offering includes such hits as a 4.7% decline in apparel and transportation services prices, a 0.7% fall in commodities, a 0.4% decline in auto prices and double-digit declines in auto rentals, airfares and men’s suits.

We all know how important men’s suits are to the economy… (Seriously, the Bureau breaks out men’s suits?)

However, food prices rose 2.6% in April. But we don’t include that in the core reading because people don’t really need to eat, right?

The silver lining here is that April core CPI rose just 1.4% year over year, staying below the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate of 2%.

But many economists are starting to say that inflation isn’t the real problem here, despite the Fed cutting interest rates and printing money hand over fist. The real concern is the dreaded “d” word: deflation.

“The Federal Reserve should be more worried about deflation … If deflation becomes embedded in the economy, it can be difficult to uproot,” says Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC.

You read that right, dear reader. Economists now hint at the need for interest rate hikes — the Fed’s main tool for fighting deflation.

The Takeaway:

Before you get all hot and bothered by the thought of interest rate hikes amid this economic disaster, let me fill you in on a little secret.

Those hikes won’t happen anytime soon.

The Federal Reserve, the U.S. government and countless corporations all have too much debt to even consider such a notion right now.

After all, higher interest rates mean higher minimum debt payments. And no one wants that right now.

But the alternative is equally unappealing. Continued deflation leads both consumers and businesses to delay purchases as they wait for lower prices. This leads to economic stagnation.

Anyone ever hear of the Lost Decade?

It was a period of stagnant growth in Japan, when consumers racked up savings and delayed purchases out of fears that the economy would worsen.

I don’t predict anything of the sort here. We just don’t have enough data at this point.

What I do predict is that deflation’s growing threat will cause increased market volatility. Remember, Wall Street hates uncertainty more than anything else. And with all the records the U.S. economy is dropping lately, we certainly have an abundance of uncertainty.

That uncertainty translates directly into sharper asset price movements — aka, volatility.

But never fear! There are ways to deal with market volatility that don’t involve sticking your head in the sand or stuffing your mattress with cash.

Call me crazy, but what if…

Instead of worrying about market volatility and the COVID-19 havoc, what if you made that volatility work for you?

That’s exactly how Adam O’Dell — Banyan Hill’s volatility expert — rolls. He turns volatility on its head.

Give Adam just a fraction of your time and you, too, can learn how to potentially build your portfolio 10 times over — without buying or selling a single stock, option or bond!

You too can learn how to make market volatility work for you, but you have to act now.

Today is your last chance to reserve your free spot for Adam O’Dell’s 10X Switch presentation.

Don’t wait, click here to reserve your spot now for free!

The Good: Atomic Datadog

Why must I chase the cloud? Ain’t nothing but the Datadog Inc. (Nasdaq: DDOG) in me.

The cloud-services upstart shines in the pandemic market, swinging to a first-quarter profit of $0.06 per share. Revenue surged 87% to $131.2 million, so both figures easily topped Wall Street’s expectations.

What’s more, Datadog said current-quarter earnings would come in flat at $0.02 per share on revenue of $135 million … also besting the consensus estimate.

Yes, that’s a beat-and-raise quarter for Datadog — a company that just went public last September. It’s no surprise that this rarified quarterly performance sent DDOG shares more than 20% higher today.

If you’re looking to rid this dog higher, wait for a pullback. There’s sure to be some profit-taking later this week once the earnings euphoria dies down.

Who says the initial public offering (IPO) market is dead? You just aren’t looking in the right spots.

No one knows the IPO market like Paul Mampilly … so why not have his team hunt down the IPO greatness for you? Click here to learn more.

The Bad: Pinching Pot Profits

You’d think that cannabis would be the perfect product for an economy where no one leaves their house. You’d think that, but you’d be wrong…

Despite higher cannabis sales due to the pandemic, Tilray Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRY) still couldn’t turn a profit. Last night, the company reported a loss of $1.73 per share, nearly quadrupling Wall Street’s expectations for a loss of just $0.44 per share.

Revenue was a bright spot, soaring more than 100% to $52.1 million, but it wasn’t enough to offset profitability concerns.

Tilray attempted to mitigate the damage: “To date, the company has not experienced any material COVID-19 impacts related to its ability to serve patients and consumers around the world.”

In other words, Tilray’s loss is not attributable to the pandemic. That’s not very comforting at all for investors, and it speaks to more serious concerns with the company’s costs and overhead.

The Ugly: Short of the Day

Let’s be upfront with this: Novavax Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) itself isn’t “ugly.” In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

The biotech just trounced Wall Street’s first-quarter expectations, reporting a narrower-than-expected loss of $0.58 per share on revenue of $3.4 million. Analysts anticipated a loss of $0.69 per share and sales of $1.9 million.

Novavax also said it received $384 million in funding to develop its COVID-19 vaccine. The company will start the vaccine’s phase 1 and phase 2 trials this month in Australia.

So why is Novavax “ugly?”

Because the stock rallied more than 70% today. That’s extreme vaccine and cure hype if I’ve ever seen it. If you already own NVAX, take profits now.

If you don’t already own NVAX, do not chase the rally. In fact, if you have the risk tolerance, shorting NVAX or buying a June or July put option might not be a bad idea following this insane, vaccine-hype driven rally.

It’s time for your daily Elon Musk check-in — er, today’s Quote of the Week!

I know my grasp on the passing of time is iffy at best right now, but it seems like only yesterday when the “techie turned freedom fighter” threatened to relocate Tesla Inc.’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) factories to avoid staying closed.

Let’s see what Elon Musk was up to last night. Oh no…

I have to say: One thought that crept across my mind, as Elon Musk almost goes into full Henry Rollins mode, is whether or not the Tesla chief’s new “rah rah freedom!” rhetoric has a deeper purpose.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Elon was trying to gain interest from an anti-Big Government demographic … one that typically wouldn’t otherwise pay mind to Tesla and electric vehicles.

But maybe that’s my mistake for thinking that Elon Musk gives a shh … about public relations.

So, in today’s Elon Musk check-in, is the man a mass-production maniac or a manufacturing martyr? Only time and Twitter will tell.

Great Stuff: We’re All Ears

You “Marco,” I “Polo.” Your chance has come once again to feed the Great Stuff beast!

We’re just two days away from this week’s edition of Reader Feedback, and if you’re in the mood for rambling, the whole team here is in the mood to listen.

Drop us a line at [email protected] anytime. We love to hear from each and every one of you!

Here are some hot-button issues to get you started:

What do you think about COVID-19 cases spiking in newly reopened countries?

What’s your favorite way to keep sane during quarantine?

Have we seen the end of the “post-crash” rally? (This bear market’s got legs!)

What’s the earnings season story that no one’s talking about?

If you’re driving a car at the speed of light and turn your headlights on, do they do anything?

Before I sign off today, I want to give you a hearty “Thanks!” for reading Great Stuff through our rip-roaring ride through the pandemic. Stick with us, and we’ll keep the Great Stuff flowing your way.

Until next time, be Great!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Editor, Great Stuff