#liz attempts to cook

[edenfalling]

I signed up to bring snacks to coffee hour tomorrow morning.

Someone please tell me to go bake brownies?

#liz asks for advice and/or help #liz attempts to cook

[eksvaized]

[ Previous ┃ Next ] part 11

A month has passed since your first date with Simon. In the span of those thirty days, a lot had changed. Although some of these changes were positive, a significant majority were negative.

As time went on, you found yourself spending more and more time with Simon. It reached a point where you barely left each other’s side. At first, you were primarily hanging out at your house. When you didn’t need to get up early to go to work, sometimes even if you did, he would stay over. The two of you would spend the evenings sprawled out on the sofa in the living room, watching cringy TV shows. Curled under a large soft blanket, you would laugh and poke fun at the absurdities unfolding on the screen.

One dull weekend, when both of you had grown tired of ordering takeout, you declared you would cook something from scratch. Simon was supportive and kept commenting about how he was dying to taste your food.

“If you cook as good as you look, I think tonight’s dinner will be amazing,” he said, grinning as he leaned against the open window and smoked.

But as soon as you entered the kitchen, it was as if you were cursed. Everything seemed to go awry. While chopping the vegetables, you knocked the pot full of water onto the floor. The water spilled all across the tiles, and when you moved to clean it up, you slipped in the slick puddle and fell flat on your ass. Simon couldn’t help but chuckle as he helped you stand up and clean up the mess.

After the accident, you became flustered. No matter how hard you tried to shake off the embarrassment, you couldn’t get rid of the annoying feeling. This led you to burn all the food.

“I think it’s all ruined,” Simon mumbled under his breath when he opened one of the lids and a thick black smoke hit his face.

You dropped the wooden spoon you were holding onto the counter. You could see he wanted to poke fun at you, but when he realised, this wasn’t funny to you, he ended up comforting you instead.

Once or thrice, you even managed to convince Simon to go with you to the club. He initially resisted the idea. However, you knew what to say to change his mind, and after a bit of persuasion, he caved in.

Each time you left the club, you were a giggling mess, tripping over your feet and attempting to entice Simon to share his cigarettes. Although, he never gave you one; after one time when you snatched one from his grasp, he stopped smoking around you when you drank.

There was one week, however, when you didn’t see Simon at all. He explained he was needed at work because he had forgotten to handle some papers before going on a break. You were curious to know more, but you knew you had to keep your questions to yourself. He didn’t like talking about the military when he was with you. He told you how he didn’t want to fill your pretty little head with useless information. So, instead of bothering him with your questions, you made him promise to text and call you whenever he could.

The first day without Simon was awful. You never knew you could miss someone so much. It was strange to wake up and know that you wouldn’t see him. You spent the entire morning sulking in bed, refusing to get up. However, you couldn’t do this for the rest of the week. You decided you had to keep yourself busy, so the time would fly by faster, which is why you reached out to Mindy and Liz, whom you hadn’t seen in a while.

First, you texted them, letting them know you had missed them and that you had some news you were really aching to share. Neither Mindy nor Liz knew that you were seeing Simon. However, despite you sending them countless messages, your friends didn’t respond. You thought they were busy and will reply to you, eventually. However, after sending another dozen texts and attempting to call them without any response, you realised they were ignoring you.

What have you done to make them act this way? You had no idea. But it felt awful to know that your friends were avoiding you. Their silence was deafening, and because you wanted to talk with someone about this, your thoughts turned to Simon. He had once assured you that you could rely on him for anything, even if it was something as silly as wanting to rant about your friends. However, just as you were about to call him, you set your phone down. He was busy with work, and you didn’t want to burden him with your stupid troubles, regardless of how significant they seemed to you.

Longing for some form of familiar comfort, you found yourself standing in front of Matt’s house. He had been avoiding everyone for quite some time. However, you noticed Matt’s car parked in the garage, so you knew he was inside.

You spent ten long minutes staring at the front door, nervously fidgeting with your fingers and wrestling with your thoughts. When clarity hit you, you realised you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t stoop so low. If Matt, just like Mindy and Liz, was determined to ignore you, then you should not degrade yourself by begging for his attention... You left without ringing the doorbell, and without Matt ever knowing you had come to see him: you would not crawl back to him — he made it clear that he didn’t want to see you.

The days leading up to the weekend seemed to drag on, each second ticking agonisingly slowly. When Sunday came, once again you found yourself slumped on the couch, lazily flicking through the TV channels with your eyes glued to the screen, as you cradled a bowl of instant ramen in your hands.

The buzzing of your phone interrupted your monotony. Simon sent you a message saying he was back home and would love to see you.

The thought of inviting him over to your place crossed your mind, but you had grown sick of the four walls surrounding you and wanted a change of scenery. You had never been to Simon’s home, so when he called you, you gathered the courage to ask if you could come over. After the question slipped past your lips, there was a moment of pause as he hesitated to answer. However, when you spoke up and your voice cracked and stuttered as you stumbled over your words, he agreed to it, texting you his address after the conversation ended.

As you stepped out of the cab, your eyes scanned the house in front of you. Simon’s home was impressively big, far larger than anything you had ever lived in. The front yard was well kept, adorned with neatly cut grass. There were no flowers growing, which seemed like a deliberate choice; Simon preferred simplicity, and it was hard to imagine him spending his days on dreary tasks like tending to overgrown flower bushes.

When you heard the cab pull out of the driveway, its engine’s hum fading into the distance, you walked towards the tall front door. As a shaky breath escaped your lungs, you pressed the doorbell. You were anxiously gnawing at your thumb, trying to suppress the sea of emotions within you that threatened to spill out. However, as soon as the door opened and you saw Simon, your composure shattered into a million pieces. With a choked sob, you fell into his embrace as tears spilled down your cheeks.

You have never seen Simon so worried. An expression of deep concern replaced his usual calm and composed demeanour. After wrapping his arm around your shoulders, he guided you to the living room, urging you to sit down on the couch. He did his best to soothe you, but you were sobbing uncontrollably, choking on your own tears as your body shook with each breath you took. Your vision was blurred, your eyes stung, and your chest hurt. You tried to talk, but each time you parted your lips, your words seemed to tangle with one another, leaving your mouth in a jumbled mess.

You cried and cried and cried.

As the evening wore on, the tears ceased to stream down your face and dried on your cheeks, leaving a salty residue that you could taste on the tip of your tongue. Simon made you a cup of tea, sweetening it with a spoonful of sugar and a generous splash of milk. While you slowly sipped it, he held you in his lap. His fingers caressed your hair, the warmth of his body calming you down.

He didn’t press you to speak anymore. However, your mind was in a turmoil of thoughts, which you needed to voice, so you told him what had got you so worked up.

You confessed you wanted to call him the whole time he was gone; you wanted to convey the feeling of everything unravelling in your life, leaving you lost. For some reason, you couldn’t fathom, your friends had turned their backs on you, leaving you feeling isolated and hurt. However, you didn’t want to burden him with your troubles and add to his worries.

You didn’t notice it, but there was a subtle shift in Simon’s demeanour. His muscles tensed, and his expression went blank. For a moment, he ceased breathing. It was as if he was biting on his own tongue, trying to swallow the words that dared to slip past his lips. The silence crept in, causing you to glance over your shoulder. As soon as your teary eyes settled on him, he quickly composed himself.

“I’m sorry. Truly,” He uttered, keeping his voice low; his thumb tracing gentle circles on your cheek. Your skin was still damp from your dried tears. “I don’t know why they are behaving like a bunch of fools.” His lips softly pressed to your forehead, causing you to close your eyes. “But I will never abandon you. I promise. From now on, you have me, and as long as I breathe, I won’t leave your side.”

After he planted another kiss on your forehead, he sunk into the couch, bringing you down with him. You laid your head on his shoulder, feeling as his arms coiled tighter around your waist.

“But... I told you this once, and I will say this again,” he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. “You should never feel the need to hide anything from me because I’m here for you. Always.”

Enveloped in his warm embrace, you nodded your head. His touch continued to soothe you, lulling you into a sleep. Without you realising it, the pain in your chest faded. Your eyes closed and your consciousness slipped away. You fell asleep in the arms of the man who made you feel safe and cared for. 

#PO2 #ghost call of duty #simon ghost riley #ghost #call of duty #ghost cod #cod ghost #simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #ghost x y/n #ghost x you #ghost x reader #writing #cod #cod x reader

[letlizsayfuck]

Can the Gallagher Girls cook?

Bex: Oh lord, where to start? As the only child of two highly active field agents, Bex is everything a good spy must be. Stunning, wickedly smart, charismatic, etc. She's also painfully British. Her kitchen skills are limited to boiling potatoes and putting the kettle on for tea. Sure, she knows what good cooking tastes like. She's surrounded by it all year long. But when she's not at school or tagging along with her parents on international ops, Bex sustains herself primarily through protein shakes and Indian takeaway.

Cammie: Cooking abilities (or lack thereof) run matrilineally in her family. No further explanation needed.

Liz: She's a chemistry genius. Liz can take any household item and turn it into an improvised explosive. She's worked out how to transform the entire contents of Macey's makeup bag into a lethal poison. What she can't figure out is how to make a decent pot of rice. See, cooking is an art and Liz is a scientist. Recipe instructions like "cook until just right" or "season to taste" just don't make sense to her. How is she supposed to "add a pinch" of salt when there's no precise metric measurement for a pinch? How can she cook something over "medium heat" when she has no idea exactly how many kelvins "medium heat" is? Her poor, sweet Alabama Nana has firmly banned Liz from the kitchen after her last attempt at chicken casserole resulted in a hole melted straight through the stovetop.

Macey: No way the mid-2000s, "I only eat 800 calories a day" heiress would know her way around a kitchen, right? Wrong. For the first 15 years of her life, Macey McHenry would not be caught dead in a kitchen. Starving socialites had no business hanging around "unnecessary calories". Her relationship with cooking develops over the first winter break back from Gallagher. A desire for coffee after pulling an all-nighter puts her in the kitchen at the exact same time as the family chef. Her newfound interest in learning keeps her perched on a barstool, observing as the chef starts to prepare their breakfasts. It becomes a routine, and soon enough she's dicing onions and flipping omelets right next to them. By the time she returns for the spring semester, Macey not only enjoys eating but knows how to make most of her favorite foods without help.

#gallagher girls #gallagher academy #cooking #ally carter #cammie morgan #bex baxter #rachel morgan #macey mchenry #liz sutton #Britain invaded half the world for spices #Then proceeded to not use any of them in their cooking #spy school

[not-a-space-alien]

Has Valen ever tried human food in an attempt to see of he could consume something other than blood? I'm imagining him trying a a steak and just spitting it out.

Not in canon, but this actually happened in a crossover RP that @whumpsday and I did, where Valen tried a piece of cake. Here's a lil excerpt under the cut 4 u >:)

Instead he goes to the table, sitting in front of the cake that Laken has brought. "Laken, I barely ever see human food. What is this, exactly? It looks delightful." It looks delightful in the way an oil painting looks delightful, with the icing shaped into flowers, and it smells about as appetizing to eat as an oil painting as well.

"Baking's kind of a science. You're into that stuff, right? If you get a bunch of chicken eggs, flour- that's from wheat- butter, milk, sugar, and baking power together, and you mix up the right amounts and cook 'em at the right temperature, you get this. I actually dunno what's in baking powder." Laken says.

"I've never been good at that stuff. Jim always cooked for me, and now I mostly do just the easiest stuff. I tried to make a birthday cake for Jim when I was 14 and it did not go well." Liz laughs.

"What are you guys talking about over there? Don't let her in my kitchen!" Jim calls.

He listens to Laken's explanation with fascination. "I would never have guessed. The artistry behind it is commendable. Humans are so clever." He taps a fork. "I know this is unconventional, but I'm...very curious as to what actually happens if I try to eat human food. I've never done it before. May I try some?" He knows he's probably really, really going to regrets this, but he's always had a hard time stamping out his curiosity. And they all look like they're enjoying it so much. This must be one of the more delicious human foods.

"Fuck yeah, I wanna know too! I already know blood tastes like copper. Tell me, too." Laken pushes their plate toward Valen. "Hope it doesn't make you sick, though."

"I don't think vampires get sick." Liz says with a shrug.

Valen cautiously takes a fork and cuts off a small piece. The texture looks like it would be interesting in his mouth, far more solid than anything he's ever eaten, and the icing is creamy. It looks like it should taste very good, but it smells just about like paint thinner. His nose warns him with increasing urgency to abort the mission as it gets closer to his mouth.

If vampires don't get sick, this must be as close to feeling sick as they do get. Valen immediately spits it out, unable to even keep it in his mouth long enough to swallow. "Oh--oh my," is all he's able to say.

Kane looks over. "Did you just eat human food?" he asks incredulously.

Laken laughs. "Yeah."

"No, he spit it out." Liz corrects. "You okay?"

"Physically, yes," he says. "Emotionally, I may be compromised from hereon out at the sight of cake."

#MMSS #my writing

[the-forest-library]

November 2022 Reads

Longshadow - Olivia Atwater

Marmee - Sarah Miller

Dracula - Bram Stoker

Red, White, & Royal Blue: Collector’s Edition - Casey McQuiston

Scattered Showers - Rainbow Rowell

Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade

Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail - Ashley Herring Blake

The Man I Never Met - Elle Cook

Kiss Her Once for Me - Alison Cochran

Before I Do - Sophie Cousens

A Cosmic Kind of Love - Samantha Young

When in Rome - Sarah Adams

How to Excavate a Heart - Jake Maia Allow

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory - Martha Wells

Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett

Maybe an Artist - Liz Montague

Ride On - Faith Erin Hicks

The Sea in Winter - Christine Day

So Much Snow - Hyunmin Park

Fry Bread - Kevin Noble Maillard

The Electricity of Every Living Thing - Katherine May

All the Living and the Dead - Hayley Campbell

It Didn’t Start with You - Mark Wolynn

Dickens and Prince - Nick Hornsby

The Future is Disabled - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen - Sean Sherman

Waxing On - Ralph Macchio

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry

We Were Dreamers - Simu Liu

Have I Told You this Already? - Lauren Graham 

Surrender - Bono

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts:

So, obviously the standout this month was Dracula - nothing could compare to reading this novel through Dracula Daily and the entire tumblr experience of it all. What an absolute treat. 

This was a much better reading month than I remember it being. Although, I do remember absolutely loving Marmee. Little Women is my favorite book and hearing the story through the matriarch’s tender recollections was just lovely. 

Also, if you haven’t read Olivia Atwater yet, make that a goal for next year. Longshadow has been my favorite read of hers so far, but they are all so comforting and cozy. 

Goodreads Goal: 377/400 (this is a silly number - do not attempt this)

2017 Reads | 2018 Reads | 2019 Reads | 2020 Reads | 2021 Reads |

2022 Reads

#2022 reads #book reviews #book recommendations #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

[callsign-magnolia]

Lost in Translation/ / Fuck Feelings

Warning: Angst, cursing, & smut

Collaboration w/: @alltimereverie

Bradley Bradshaw as Noah

Bob Floyd as Harrison

Old Feelings | Masterlist

I picked up the soft cotton dress from the rack, holding it in my hands as I admired it. “You’d look beautiful in that one.” I giggled as Noah wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back into his chest as his mustache tickled my cheek from his kiss. “You think?” He hummed, taking it from my hands before setting it down in the bag the associate gave me. “I know so. Now, I got you pretzel bites, because I know you can’t come into the mall and not get some.” He handed me the cup of pretzel bites, and held up another cup. “And I got you a large lemonade.” I grinned at him, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek. “You’re so sweet.” He chuckled, stealing a pretzel bite. “Only for you. Now come on, you said you were out of mascara and I know you’ll kick yourself in the ass if you forget it.” He took my hand as he led me to the register. We argued over who was going to pay, him going as far as snatching my wallet and tossing it behind him, making me chase after it as he paid. 

I glared at him as we walked over to the sephora, purchasing my mascara and even some lipstick Noah suggested would look good. “Okay, it’s six-thirty. What do you want for dinner?” I chuckled as we walked out to the bronco, him taking my bags and setting them in the back seat. “I think we’ve spent enough money today. Why don’t I cook up something?” He shook his head as I leaned against the bronco, him caging me in with an arm on either side of me. “You’ve been cooking for us a lot lately, let me take you to dinner.” My heart sped up. The last few weeks we’ve been inseparable. Kissing, holding each other, sleeping in each other's beds, he’s attempted to sleep with me once or twice but I’ve told him no each time. I had hoped that me sleeping with him would help me forget Harrison, but in reality it made me miss him more. But us spending time together, going out and doing things has helped and I feel the best I’ve felt since Harrison and I split. But the way he insisted on taking me to dinner, it almost sounded like it should be a date. My heart sped up and it felt like my skin was lighting up. I was itching to ask him if it was a date, but I knew, with one word it would crush all the hope I have. “Come on,” He said, his thumb hooking under my chin to make me look at him. “Why don’t I take you to that expensive sushi place you love.” He grinned at me and I was putty in his hands. “Okay.” I giggled out, him leaning down and kissing my cheek before opening my door for me.

When we arrived he helped me out of the bronco, intertwining our fingers as we walked in. “Table for two?” The host looked down, before looking back at us. “It’ll be a forty-five minute wait.” I didn’t want to make Noah wait, but when I went to speak up, he beat me. “That’s fine.” With that, he led us over to a bench. It was crowded so he sat down, pulling me into his lap. “You’re really okay waiting for that long?” He gets hangry easily and we haven’t eaten since eleven a.m. “I promise, I’m okay baby.” He kissed my cheek, making a heat flood them. We waited and soon our table was ready. Noah held my hand as we walked back to our table but we were stopped when a familiar figure stepped out from the restrooms. “Oh, hi guys.” Katy stood before us, in her work attire and a shocked look on her face. “Hi, Katy.” Noah seemed caught off guard a little by her presence. “Um, what are you guys up to?” She asked, wringing her hands together. “Just getting dinner. What about you?” I watched as Noah stared at her, eyes raking over her body, and my heart dropped. “Just a work dinner.” Noah perked up a little at her words. “Oh, so not a date or anything?” I barely managed to contain the eye roll as she nodded, glancing to me. “Hi Liz.” She gave me a small smile, and I just gave her a small nod as I pursed my lips. “I’ll leave you guys be, I’m gonna go sit at our table.” I let go of Noah’s hand, walking to where our waiter stopped. I had hoped he’d follow me, but when he stayed with Katy I knew. 

I feel so confused about our relationship more than ever now. Soon the waiter came and took drink orders and I ordered water for Noah and I, seeing as he still wasn’t over here. By the time he came over I had already decided on what to eat and told the waiter we weren’t ready for food yet. “Sorry, we were catching up.” He had this big grin on his face. “Anything interesting?” He placed his hands in his lap as he pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. “No, nothing.” I gave a small nod as the waiter came back. We had a pretty quiet dinner before Noah paid and we left. He didn’t hold my hand to the car, or in it, he barely looked at me after he closed my door. We made small talk on the way home, nothing like our normal conversations. Once he pulled into my driveway, we got out and he helped me get all the shopping bags out, carrying them to the door. Once I unlocked the door and walked in, he set the bags down just inside the door before standing there, hands in his pockets. “Do you wanna come in and watch a movie?” I asked. Normally he’d come in for a drink, a movie, or just snuggle on the couch before we went to bed. “No, um I’m actually gonna hit the gym. Haven’t been in a few days.” I nodded. We've been together a lot, and he does have to maintain a certain physique to be in the Navy. “Okay, well, see you tomorrow?” He nodded as I stepped forward, hugging him tightly. I leaned up, kissing his cheek before he pulled away and walked out to his bronco. “See you later.” With that he got into his car and backed out of the driveway. 

I walked to the door, feeling a little defeated as I closed it behind me. Since we saw Katy he’s been distant, and I hope she doesn’t attempt to come between us again. I huffed as I unpacked all my stuff before stripping out of my dress and taking a shower. Afterwards I curled up on the couch, turning on a true crime documentary as I wrapped myself in a fuzzy blanket. I stared at the tv until my phone buzzed. I picked it up, smiling when I saw Harrison’s name appear on my screen. I opened the text to see it was some funny pet videos, making me giggle as I watched them. I felt a little better as I texted him back, telling him it was funny. I wanted to tell him I missed him, but I didn’t want to make it awkward. With that I laid my phone down next to me, slowly drifting off to sleep in the tv light. 

Over the next few weeks Noah and I have hardly seen each other. He’s been going to the gym a lot more, but he’s been blowing me off to do it. I shouldn’t be upset about it, he’s his own person and he can do as he pleases. I don’t own him, we’re not in a relationship. But it still bothers me. It shouldn’t but it does. “Hey, Noah. I was just calling to see if you wanted to come over for dinner? Haven’t seen you all week and I’m making your favorite. Call me back.” I set my phone on the counter, sighing as I finished dinner. I ate by myself before showering and as I was getting ready for bed my phone buzzed. I stopped putting lotion on my legs and looked at my phone. I had a text from Noah. 

At the gym. Sorry.

That was unlike him. This seems cold and distant. I finished getting ready for bed, crawling under the covers. I became so used to sharing the bed, it just seems big and cold now. I kept thinking about his text. Was he upset with me? Did I do something to upset him? I sniffled as a few tears slipped from my eyes. I wiped them away as I pulled the covers up to my chin. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” I muttered as I drifted off to sleep. The next day at work I made my way out to the hangar, only seeing Natasha and no Noah. “Hey Tasha. Seen Noah?” She nodded. “He’s in the air. He should be done in about… three minutes.” She said as she looked at her watch. “What’s up? How are things with him anyway?” She asked as she nudged my arm with a wink. “Weird. We were fine and then we bumped into Katy a few weeks ago.” She groaned, throwing her head back. “God, she needs to just leave him alone. You don’t get to dump someone, take them back, dump them again and try to get them back again.” I nodded in agreement. “Since then he’s been distant and spending a lot of time in the gym.” She furrowed her brows and opened her mouth, just as Noah walked over. 

“Hey Liz! What’s got you out here?” He asked as he put his red and yellow helmet in his helmet bag. “Came to talk to you. We haven’t seen each other in weeks.” He pursed his lips, nodding his head. “And the text you sent me last night was weird. Kinda thought you were upset with me or something.” He furrowed his brows in confusion as he stared at his bag. “Text?” I nodded. “Ya know. At the gym. Sorry.” His eyes widened in realization. “Oh yeah! Sorry, I was in the middle of a set. Didn’t put too much thought into the reply.” I smiled at him. “Oh, good.” He smiled at me, pulling me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes as I inhaled the scent of his cologne and jet fuel. “Look, how about tonight we go out? I’ll pick you up at seven.” I nodded as I smiled up at him. “I think that’d be great.” He leaned down, kissing my cheek. “We’ve got a briefing. I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed my cheek before walking away with a wink. I could melt into a puddle at that wink. “Hey.” Natasha came over, her hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on, but he hasn’t been to the gym anymore than normal.” My smile fell at her words. “What?” She sighed, before looking at me. “I think he’s lying to you Liz.” 

That night I got ready, a black t-shirt dress and some sandals as I waited. Soon seven rolled around as I sat on the couch waiting. Then seven-thirty, then eight. I called him twice before he finally answered. “Hey Liz! What’s up?” I scoffed. “What’s up? Seriously?! You said you would be here at seven!” I was trying to keep from yelling, but it was hard. “Fuck!” He yelled. “I’m so sorry Liz! I got busy at work, and then they made us stay late and I forgot to call.” My chest was heaving. I could hear the lie in his voice. “Baby. Come back to bed!” My jaw dropped as I heard the familiar voice on the other end. “Whose that?” I asked. “Uh, Natasha.” I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t born yesterday. Natasha doesn’t call you baby.” It was quiet for a beat before I spoke up again. “Don’t bother making any more plans with me.” With that I hung up, slamming my phone down on the coffee table. Of all the fucking things he could’ve done. He lied to me. One thing I can’t stand is lying, and he knows that. 

Why would he lie to me? Katy and I don’t get along, but if he really wants to be with her, I would support him in the end. My support for him has been unwavering our entire lives, he was the same way with me. So why would he lie to me? It bothered me. Ate away at me from the inside out. I stood, pacing around my dining room as I fought hard to keep the tears at bay. But soon they fell, flooding my cheeks as my bottom lip wobbled. I grew angry, slinging my sandals off my feet, launching them across the house as I flung myself face down on the couch. Why not me? I have always been here, never turning my back on him, and he chooses this woman that screams at him for no reason and toys with his emotions. What was so wrong with me? Why couldn’t he see how in love I was with him? Sobs racked my body, my hair splayed out messily around my head as my hands were tucked under my chest. I shouldn’t be upset about this, it feels stupid. But he was treating this like a relationship, like maybe he had feelings. I should’ve known better. Noah has a type and it’s not heavier set women with my hair color. 

I laid like that for a while, crying, so much I almost didn’t notice my phone ringing. I looked up, ready to reject Noah’s call, when I saw Harrison's name on the screen. I sat up, wiping my tears from my cheeks and taking a deep breath before answering. “Hello?” I asked, getting up to grab some water. It was quiet for a second before I heard him sigh, almost dreamily. “Hey, Lizzy.” I bit my lip at the nickname. “Hi Harrison.” My voice was quiet, small almost. “Are you okay?” I sighed, almost telling him no. “Lizzy. Something has you upset. Spill.” I huffed. “Noah and I got into it, is all.” I knew he saw right through me though. “Are you okay?” That question had more tears falling. “You don’t wanna hear about it, and it’s stupid anyway.” He scoffed. “Your feelings aren’t stupid, Lizzy.” I shook my head as I took the water back to the couch. “Let’s talk about something else.” “I miss you.” I froze at his words, not able to move. “What?” I didn’t even realize I asked the question. “I miss you Lizzy. So much.” My breath caught in my throat, not able to respond. “Lizzy.” Finally I snapped out of it. “I miss you too Harrison.” I could practically imagine the grin on his face. “I’m so happy to hear that. Why don’t you tell me how the F/A-19 going? I wanna hear all about how my smart girl is leading the team.” I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped me. “Your girl? I thought we broke up?” He chuckled. “No matter where I go, or what happens, you will always be my girl, Lizzy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist: @dhwanishah09 @wkndwlff

#lost in translation #rooster #rooster top gun #rooster fanfic #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bob floyd #robert bob floyd #harrison knott

[pinkiepiebronie]

Crew Gaming SFW AND NSFW Headcanons P1

Front

SFW

Mans is good at cooking. You can’t convince me otherwise.

He’s got that Gordon Ramsey vibe? Like yells and talks shit to peoples face about how ass they are at cooking, unless it’s actually decent.

Even though he’s super dominant and assertive, this man would be little spoon any damn day. 

His love language would be both physical and verbal affection.

Makes people laugh when they’re sad like the best boy he is.

His favorite is Liz. He’s got that soft spot for the bitch.

Like deadass, I imagine Liz forcing him to watch shit he hates, but he puts up with it cause he knows she enjoys it.

Take that platonically or romantically, I see it both ways.

Oli and Front? They are best of buds🤞

Josh and Front? They are the gayest motherfuckers around.

Joseph and Front? I don’t see it happening with how little they interact, but I could see some potential👀

ANYWAY.

He’s a loyal motherfucker.

Like someone’s talking shit about his friends? Mans will speak and cuss them the hell out.

Don’t even try it.

He’ll cut where he knows it’ll hurt.

Meanwhile, when his friends or S/O are down in the dumps, he’s the most praising bitch alive👏😩

Like mans will hold you and tell you everything amazing about you.

Again, he’s best boy.

NSFW

Him and Liz are certified besties with benefits. 

Once again, no convincing me otherwise. They could pull off no strings attached.

He’s a kinky little shit, but doesn’t mind vanilla.

Goes from hair pulling and bondage one day to praises and missionary another.

Depends on his mood and the surroundings.

He’s a hard dom with everyone.

Joseph, Josh, Oli, or Liz, he’ll always be on top.

Liz or Joseph could attempt at being top, but I feel even if on bottom, Front will be in control.

DEEP👏THROATY👏MOANS👏

And when he’s close to cumming- him whimpering😩🤌

Sign me up any day to get railed or rode by this man👏😭

Aftercare is a natural come with sex with this man.

Wet rag to wipe off cum, water bottle to cool off, and let’s not forget for the ladies, him forcing you to use the bathroom right after cause fuck any infections🫠

Dick energy?

Mans radiates big dick.

Like 8-9 inches with slight girth😳

And to top it off, he knows how to use it too😩

Liz

SFW

Where to begin with mommy- I mean Lizzie😳

First off, she’s SUPER generous.

Ask her for anything, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING, and she’ll help you out.

She’ll go to hell and back for you baby, don’t underestimate the love this girl has for those she cares about.

She’s an anime fangirl from what was said on the podcast so expect her to know random nonsense on just about any anime.

Not only that, do I smell a potential cosplayer?👀

Liz is besties with everyone.

She gets along great and has a natural click with everyone in the group, aside from Josh, that’s her brother you Alabamian whores💀

Liz and Oli? Besties. All the way. They stay up watching movies and anime together, testing shows no one else wants to watch with the occasional appearance of Front.

Front and Liz? Established before, she’s his favorite, and he’s hers.

Joseph and Liz…

I smell something sinisterly pure and devilish at the same time :))

She’s loyal, just like Front and super assertive too!

Isn’t one to back down from shit or doing what she wants, and is upfront about everything.

Even though everyone gives her shit for being idiotic from time to time, Liz is super intelligent!

She is book wise too!

Want a book rec? She’s your girl.

She can’t cook for shit. That was established in a fanfic of mine😂

Burns water and the pot holding it.

Like- your girl can’t cook😭

Aside from that, she’s an absolute goddess to have around. 

NSFW 

MOMMY.

Girl will try ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

Wanna try public?

Done.

Bondage?

Bet.

Choking and breath play?

You had her at choking🤌

As mentioned before, she’s an anime fangirl, meaning roleplay sex is inevitable.

Whatever the scenario, she’ll give it a fair shot, she does probably favor hate sex though😩👀

Like Front, she’s a kinky little bitch to put it simply.

Switch energy.

Oli? She’ll top his ass any day.

Front? She’s a whiny bitch on his dick.

Joseph? She’s down to reverse rolls with him. Let him pull the reigns as long as she gets to as well.

WHIMPERER👏

Like, she’s not loud during sex, but go down on her and give her head, OH BOY. 

She’ll be turning to mush in seconds with how whiny and desperate she’ll be.

But this bitch radiates brat energy, meaning she won’t give into any demands too easily😈

Joseph

SFW

Like Front, he’s best boy🥺

But Joseph is EXTRA best boy material👏🥺

He’s a goofball, but he’s so sweet and soft with those he cares about!

Want a drink from sonic?

He’ll get you one with some fries to top it off.

He always goes that extra mile when doing things for other people.

He’s also determined and quite intelligent.

Once his heart is set on a goal, he’s doing everything he can to achieve it in the best way possible.

Loyalty and trust is a must!

Trust is Joseph’s biggest thing.

He seems wise?

I feel like he’s got a lot of life experience and is often the guider of the group? 

Offers advice when needed but listens when wanted.

Trust would definitely be important to him though and that’s why his bonds with people matter the most to him above everything else.

As previously said, best boy👏🥺

Stay tuned for Part 2!

#crewgaming

[doodle-do-wop]

Peppered in Kisses

A Bex x Liz(aka Baxton) dabble

Warning: Cloud-soft fluff and cats

Bex didn’t need to feel the other side to know it was empty. She knew Liz was gone the moment she had tried to move Bex’s arms away from her waist and left to start her day. There was clattering in the kitchen but Bex didn’t worry too much, after all, the stove hadn’t made it’s tell-tale click so whatever Liz was concocting it didn’t require the fire extinguisher. 

Opening her eyes Bex groaned at the morning light. Sure, back at Gallagher, Bex would be up and running a nice jog around the woods by now but as Cammie always says ‘it’s the weekend’. However, as much as Bex would love to smoosh her face back into the pillow she was unfortunately wide awake now, so she sat up. The blankets fell off of her in waves and left her bare skin to brace the brunt of the cold that seeped deep into her bones. 

Bex groaned and threw her feet over the side of the bed, shooting them back off the ground when she missed her slippers and glared at the cold floor as she adjusted her aim. Lizzie must’ve tripped over them this morning which would explain all the shuffling Bex had heard. 

She pulled on a robe, only half-trying to tie the gap close. Pausing as she passed by the mirror Bex reached a hand up to touch her neck, pulling the shoulder of the robe further down as her fingers traced the new décor and then froze a hairs length away from the scar she received way back in the days of the Circle. Her hand began to mindlessly trace the old stitches when there was a bang from the kitchen and Liz’s voice shouting out a very startled ‘Pepper!’

Bex didn’t burst through the door(whatever Liz might say) but she did rush to Liz’s side and the shorter woman was holding up an orange kitten in her arms and looking down at a knocked over bowl full of flour. 

“Well,” Bex spoke and Liz looked over at her, her blue eyes bright with surprise. “I see Pepper tried to help with breakfast.”

Liz sighed and looked at the culprit in her arms who didn’t look the least bit guilty. 

“Yeah, here,” Liz gently passed Pepper from her arms into Bex’s. “I’ll clean up and I’ll just-”

“Liz-” Bex tried but Liz started to ramble. 

“I can try to find some more mix so breakfast might take a little longer so just-”

“Liz-” 

“There’s coffee ready and maybe some of those cookies Eva left so-”

“Lizzie,” Bex finally managed and reached out a hand to rest on Liz’s shoulder. She froze and turned to look at Bex, her blonde hair was a bit of a mess and her face was flushed, possibly from chasing Pepper. 

Bex gestured for Liz to follow her lead as she took a few deep breaths and Liz closed her eyes and tapped her finger along to the count. 

“I’m sorry,” Liz began, running a hand through her hair as they sat on the kitchen floor. “I wanted to make a nice breakfast in bed, like in the movies but Pepper kept running around and I just.” Liz let her arms flop down with a defeated sigh and Bex chuckled softly, gently setting down the kitten who merely walked to the nearest sunny spot and laid down. Bex cupped Liz’s face and wiped away from flour from her cheek with her thumb. 

“We can still have breakfast in bed,” Bex offered and Liz bit down on the corner of her lip. 

“Bex, we’re both out of bed.”

“Then we’ll just sit back down again. Have a good lie in.” Liz lifted her gaze up from off the floor and looked deep into Bex’s eyes. A small smile began to tug at her lips and Bex couldn’t help stealing a quick kiss. 

“Okay,” Liz whispered against Bex’s lips and they cleaned up, moving around each other quietly as they cooked. They didn’t exactly own a good tray for an all-American breakfast but they did have a decent enough cookie tray and that was good enough for them. Through many stolen kisses and sabotage attempts from Pepper, Liz fixed the final details of their tray and smiled. 

Bex wrapped her arms against her waist and Liz leaned against her, admiring their hard work. Bex kissed Liz’s neck and Liz giggled softly at the sensation. She could feel the smile on Bex’s lips as she began to pick up where she had left off the night before. Leaving nothing undiscovered or unloved. 

“You look good in my shirt,” Bex whispered against her skin and Liz turned around in her arms, flushed against her as she tilted her head up to look Bex in the eye. Her mouth moved softly as though she wanted to say something but her brain couldn’t compute words for a moment. Her gaze speaking for her as it trails down from Bex’s eyes to her lips, to her neck and exposed shoulder. Her hands naturally reach up to fix the robe but not before stopping just before covering the scar.

Her fingers were light as they danced around the scar, outlining the old wound and a soft sigh escaped her. 

Bex opened her mouth to speak but she was cut off when Liz leaned forward, kissing beside the scar and then neatly setting the robe properly, her hands smoothed invisible wrinkles. Bex removed a hand from around Liz’s waist and took one of her small hands in her own. Her fingers were thinner than Bex’s, her pale skin stood in contrast to Bex’s natural melanin. 

Brining Liz’s hand to her lip Bex began to kiss her finger tips first, focusing on her task diligently before turning her gaze to meet Liz’s as she quizzes her knuckles next. Taking her time as she moved from one knuckle to the next, turning Liz’s hand over as she then kissed the heel of her palm and finally her wrist. 

She knew she didn’t have to say the words, they were already there but as Bex’s heart began to pound in her ears and she felt her nerve starting to waver, she spoke up. 

“Lizzie I-”

“I love you.” 

#liz sutton #bex baxter #rebecca baxter #elizabeth sutton #baxton #BEX X LIZ #Gallagher Girls

[iscahmckrae]

WIP about Jess and Doula that I may or may not finish. @milothirst recently posted a similar scenario, and this story has been collecting dust since 2018, so I thought I might as well share.

trigger warnings: mentions of suicide attempts and mental illness.

Spilling the Beans

“She ate poison beans.”

“Poison beans?”

“I know it sounds fake and like I’m making it up from Jack in the Beanstalk, but it’s true. The doctors figured out it was poison something, and they finally got her to admit it was beans.”

“Poison beans…”

“I guess she figured poison we wouldn’t know about and wouldn’t be able to figure it out until it was too late, since we took the bar out of her closet.”

“What are you talking about, Liz?”

“Shoot! I wasn’t going to tell you about that.”

"About what?”

“It’s not important now, forget I said anything.”

“Liz,” he growled. “Why did you take the bar out of her closet?”

"Don’t freak out.”

"Please tell me I don’t have to not freak out about what I’m starting to imagine I should completely freak out about!”

“It didn’t work, and I didn’t want to worry you!”

“What didn’t work?”

“God--I knew if you found out I didn’t tell you, you were gonna be mad at me.”

“Liz…” Jess intoned through gritted teeth.

“Don’t be mad.”

Jess let out a heated sigh away from the phone and tried silence.

“It broke.”

“The bar in her closet.”

“It couldn’t take her weight.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“I thought it was a one-off. A teenage drama thing.”

"I swear…”

"She likes science and stuff like April, and I thought that was a good thing. I didn’t think she was trying to kill herself. I mean, with beans! Who would have thought she’d be up to something dangerous when it was just beans?”

“Science and stuff…”

“She said she needed them for a science experiment and not to touch them or cook with them.”

“Yeah, that’d be kind of a bad idea if they’re poison.”

“Exactly! But, I didn’t know about that.”

“Right.”

“I just thought they were beans!”

“Which they were.”

“She’s smart like you, but screwed up like me!”

“Not a good combination.”

"You think I don’t know that?”

--

When he entered the hospital room, Doula was sitting up in bed; and she looked downright chipper, despite the reason she was in said hospital bed, despite her pallor, and in spite of the fact that not a single friend or family member was there at the hospital at the present moment. Well...now there was...one. But, before. Nobody. Then again, realizing that they shared dna, perhaps the reason she was looking more chipper than not was that there wasn’t a single friend or family member there at the hospital. Considering the way her expression fell a few notches when she saw him walking in.

“Mom was not supposed to tell you about this. Mom was not supposed to tell anyone about this. Although I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

"Yeah, Liz never could keep her trap shut,” Jess acknowledged with a grim smile and a quick raise of the eyebrows.

Neither spoke for the space of several seconds. Watching her body language for signs that doing so would be unwelcome or cause discomfort, Jess sat at the end of his sister’s bed.

"So, which was worse?” He leaned forward and spoke lowly, almost conspiratorily.

“Which?” Doula frowned, questioning his meaning, which was clearly expected.

“Yeah, which...having the pole give out and whatever happened with that, or the whole stomach getting flushed out thing?”

“Ugh…” Her head turned to the side involuntarily, and her face greyed at the reminder.

“So...door number two, huh?”

She shrugged. “Both were bad.” Her lips tightened and he waited because he could tell she had more to say. “The worst part of the hanging thing was Mom and Dad.”

Jess tried to keep his expression neutral, but at the word hanging he had difficulty.

"Mom’s face just...I couldn’t… And Dad immediately started scream-crying at me. It was awful.”

Jess nodded, trying not to imagine, frankly. Couldn’t help it, but…

"I thought if I just got sick from something I ate, they wouldn’t have to know.” Her eyebrows raised, and she looked down at the thin, white blanket bunched around her waist. The hospital noises seemed loud for a few moments.

Jess lamely attempted a smile. “Yeah, but Liz never would’ve cooked again...which would maybe be a good thing.”

She almost laughed. Her eyes crinkled, anyway. And her lips twisted upward for a second.

After a decent interval, Jess broached it. He placed the question softly but directly. “Can I ask why?”

She looked straight ahead--straight through him. “I don’t like it here.”

“Here...like Stars Hollow here?” he asked, even if the hospital was in the next town over. That wasn’t where she’d been when she made this decision.

“This planet.”

Jess nodded slowly. “What’s wrong with it?”

She shrugged one shoulder...looked at the floor over by the doorway to the bathroom.

Jess spoke around the lump in his throat, which came out as kind of a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” The faraway look was gone and she looked at him again, puzzled and almost amused.

“There’s no way I shouldn’t have known this was going on with you.”

She pssshed a laugh and waved his words away with her hand.

“No, I mean it. You’re my sister, and I should know what is happening in your life, and I don’t.” His eyes pierced in their apology.

"Stop it. Nobody knew about this. Not anyone in the world.” She shrugged and scowled dismissively. “Not even Mom and Dad knew anything. I made them believe it was the music I was listening to before that got me all depressed and gave me the idea of how to do it. They threw away a bunch of my CDs but they thought I was fine after that. You think you know me better than they do?”

“No, and that’s the point. I should.” Jess spoke the words emphatically. “I’m not gullible like TJ and Liz. I’m not gonna buy your crap; and I am gonna actually listen to the things you say and pay attention to the things you do, and know when there’s something wrong, when there’s something going on with you...or at least I would if I wasn’t going out for the worst-brother-of-the-decade award, and actually talked to you once in awhile, came to see you, had you come visit us--"

"Why do you think my depression is your fault?” Doula cut in with such a change in tone that it drew Jess up short. He puffed a deep, short breath and scraped his lower lip across his teeth, slowly.

“I didn’t say that it was--”

She broke in again as if she’d never paused to let him answer, “...like it’s something you can fix--it’s not something you can fix.”

He looked her dead in the eye and sighed through his nostrils. A pause, and a shift in the eyes. Just a half a centimeter or so.

"You’re as bad as Uncle Luke,” she chided, half frustrated, but mostly deadpan.

“Nobody’s as bad as Uncle Luke.”

“That’s what you think.”

Jess looked out the window. He remembered a time when he wasn’t much older than Doula that he tore into Luke for his fixing.

Doula looked at him intently, her eyes squinting, “You know it’s not like I walk around sad and moping all the time. It’s not written all over me. In general, I tend to be happy all the time. I just happen to also be suicidal.”

Jess turned back toward her, a tiredness in his eyes. “Huh.” He shifted on the bed to get out of the way of the IV tube he realized he was partially sitting on. “You call that happy, hm?”

“YES! I DO!” She yelled, a sparkling, though somewhat maniacal smile spread across her face to emphasize her point. “I’m happy right, now, though I’m sure you won’t believe it!”

A singular expression stole into Jess’ eyes and played with his lips as he looked at her. “Well, then I really do need to get to know you better!” They obviously did have matching Danes blood running through both their veins, as both would be damned if they conceded their point.

"Fine! GET to know me! I’d like that just fine--but don’t be surprised when you get the phone call that I tried again, and this time it worked.”

He knew she wanted him to be stunned into walking away. He knew that one from the inside. Instead he just looked at her.

“At this point, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. It would hurt like mad, but it wouldn’t surprise me.” He took a breath and then pulled something out of his pocket. “So, I guess I’d better make the most of whatever time we’ve got.” He pulled the lap tray over between them and opened the deck of cards he held. “Golf or Speed?”

Doula blinked at him for a second. “There’s a card game of golf?”

He raise his eyebrows while looking down at the cards he shuffled, lips bitten together, bobbing a nod at her question.

"Not much skill involved in Speed. Show me Golf.”

Jess nodded again, starting to flip the cards back and forth between them.

“So...beans,” Jess quirked an eyebrow at her while shuffling.

Doula’s eyes widened with a swirling sort of nod that seemed to be the rough equivalent of a yeah, so? eye roll.

"Where’d you come up with that?” Both eyebrows that time.

Doula paused in picking up the cards he dealt her. “You know, there’s a very useful web application, goes by the number-inspired moniker of Google, lots of useful information. You should look into it.”

Jess nodded with his tongue lightly in cheek. “What--it didn’t mention all the fun vomiting and seizures?”

“I figured I’d live through it, or rather…” she tipped him a look for a measured beat.

"Lemme guess, you figured the ride to the hospital would be just long enough.” There was only a little bitterness to his voice as he said it.

“Who knew they’d call an ambulance?”

“You got a point there. I’d have figured they’d be debating how bad it was for awhile, arguing about taking you to the ER vs. scheduling a doctor’s visit, and then only getting you into the car when things got really bad.” Jess arranged his cards in the two rows that the game required as he talked.

"Oh, they were debating all of that...while I puked my guts all over the floor. When the convulsing started, I think that’s where the panic-induced 9-1-1 dialing came into play.”

“Logical.”

Liz and TJ appeared in the doorway. “You came!”

"I said I was on my way.” Jess stood in nonverbal, non demonstrative greeting.

“I know, I know--I told Luke so he would go home and sleep--but, you’re here!” Liz grinned, stepping forward and enveloping him in a hug.

Jess forced a closed-lipped smile, followed momentarily by a raise of the eyebrows and a kind of shoulder pat in return for the hug. “So…”

“We were just down in the cafeteria,” Liz told him, nodding in an explanatory fashion.

“I needed vanilla pudding so my head wouldn’t explode,” TJ added.

Jess nodded with eyebrows drawn.

“He gets these really crazy low-blood sugar attacks,” Liz added sagely, forehead creased.

"I get so I can’t see straight and I go all woobly like my skull is gonna split in two.” He gestured in completely unhelpful illustration.

Because it was TJ, Jess didn’t bother to ask how woobliness related to splitting skulls. It was better just to go with it.

“And, since we were there, we did the dinner thing. Did you eat anything on the way?” Liz asked with sporadically characteristic concern.

"Oh, I’m good.” Jess answered, squelching slightly unreasonable annoyance that his needs were consulted when they had yet to even look in Doula’s direction since stepping into the room. “Just…” eyebrows raised, “kickin’ it with Doula.” The tilt of his head indicated their card game.

The utterance of her name seemed to be all that was needed to set TJ off. His eyes welled with tears and a squeaking noise accompanied biting his own fist and turning to face the wall.

"He’s having a really hard time with this,” Liz explained.

"Clearly.”

TJ talked squeakily, still with his back to the present company. “One minute she’s all sciency and the next she’s twitching on the floor and needing an ambulance!”

“It didn’t happen that fast,” he heard Doula mutter.

"The doctor says the seizures will probably continue. No way of knowing for how long. And there could be permanent damage.” It was strange how collected Liz became in the face of TJ’s disintegration.

Jess had done skimming research and realized this was likely the case. Didn’t make hearing it exactly easier. His head raised and lowered in a slow rhythm.

“Seizures!” TJ reiterated tearfully.

Jess took a deep breath and sat back on the bed to keep Doula from feeling too talked-about-without-anyone-remembering-she-was-in-the-room. “Yeah, well...I may be somehow cosmically responsible,” he joked, without sounding in the slightest as if he were joking. “Sisters having seizures seems to be a theme.”

“What?” TJ squeaked.

“Oh, Jimmy’s kid!” Liz comprehended.

"His step-daughter, Lily,” Jess confirmed.

Liz’s eyebrows furrowed. “I remember Luke telling me about that. How is she?”

Jess licked his lips and drew a card from the pile, contemplating it as he spoke, “Oh, she’s...been in remission for a few years now. So...fine, for all intents and purposes.”

“Did she lose her hair?”

Again...they were here for Doula, right? It just didn’t set well. Jess placed the card face up in the discard pile. “It grew back.” He tilted a look at Doula to indicate it was her turn.

“Can I…?” Doula put a finger on his discard. He tipped her a nod and she picked it up, biting her lip before using it to replace one of her own. “Shoot!” She placed the better card reluctantly into the discard pile.

"Thank you,” he smirked softly, retrieving her discard and placing it in front of him.

She stuck out her tongue, and gloated a moment later when her brother realized he’d just thrown away the exact card he needed.

TJ whimpered, Liz gossiped, and the two of them continued to play.

--

“Why don’t you ever call her ‘mom’?” The question followed prolonged silence, broken only by card flipping. Doula’s voice was softer than it had been before. There was almost none of the wall of apathy in it. This was something she cared about. And that made Jess mentally cringe.

He drew a very quiet, very masked, long breath and swallowed. “Complicated.”

The word came out soft. And it was a word he hated. But, if anything fit…

“Cop out.” Her mouth hardened, the rigid apathy returning, much to his self-pummeling.

His tongue planted itself momentarily into a cavity in one of his molars that he kept intending to get fixed. “She wasn’t…” he bit his lip pensively for half a beat, “a mom to to me, really...when I was a kid.” Deep brown eyes met hazel ones keenly, cautiously. “She had problems,” head nodded forward, “psychological... complicated... problems.”

A caveat, please. One screwed up sibling to another, her problems make ours seem almost nonexistent - multiple suicide attempts notwithstanding.

Her eyes filled up with fear, just below the brim, and holding.

"Pretty well doomed, huh?” A warbling somewhere behind the placid surface.

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

He almost put another card down, but wound up just fiddling with the corners of it. Plunging in. “She didn’t think I was her kid.”

Worried, puzzled eyes.

“That’s…” he shook his head, “she didn’t act like it because she didn’t think it was true.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Jess looked back into his sister’s eyes directly. “I said, she had problems.” His expression flattened, his lips a long line. “By the time she started wholeheartedly pretending I was really her son, it was a little too late.”

“Are you saying you were adopted?”

"I’m saying she didn’t remember being my mother. No morning sickness. No labor. No delivery rooms. Luke remembers, but she doesn’t.”

“That’s really weird.”

"Yes, it is.”

Doula flipped a card with glazed-over eyes.

“She’s your mom. Completely,” rubbed one corner of the card where it was getting soft and thick, “She’s only partly mine.” Glance upward.

Returned glance. Shallow.

“Not enough for the word to mean what it should.”

Doula’s eyes skimmed her tray, sliding just next to where the cards were lined up. Her head rose and fell, wobbling like a breeze-stirred rocking chair.

"Okay. I don’t need any more.”

A fear behind the calm; and it reminded him how fragile she could become. He wanted to drop the subject anyway.

He finally discarded the frayed cardboard. “Okay.”

#jess mariano #doula danes #gilmore girls fanfiction #tw: suicide #tw: mental illness #this is an incomplete rough draft #should I flesh it out? #particularly the intro conversation #bare bones dialogue #so long since I looked at this

[durtystars]

i know the show (and george himself) claimed that george was the opposite side of ross but honestly i never saw it. and the more i thought about george's S1 portrayal (the only one i can bear) the more i realized that, sorry folks, he and francis are far more "two sides of the same coin" of a duo than he and ross.

now let me cook. look at both men from the outside. they're weak personality wise (or, to avoid like i'm bashing francis, weakER than ross), have huge daddy issues and because of that are deeply insecure (george out of rejecting his father's love out of shame, francis' from constantly belittled out of his father's favoritism for ross), are constantly trying to show they are strong enough to stand on their own (and failing); heck they even surrounded themselves with "stronger" people to convince themselves of their attempts at strength (francis with george, george with his fake friends group that went in a puff of smoke for no reason).

so where does the contrasts lie? where's the "two sides of the same coin" at? a simple fact: one has the love of ross. you see the more i think of it, francis had more of a chance to become george if it wasn't for his family (but in this case, we'll just say ross). say that ross wasn't his cousin but, seen from afar, unable to be grasped like george's POV. i really think that he would be jealous over his father's favoritism to the point of viewing him as george does: having a hatred and enamoring for him at the same time.

the very idea of them being "friends" at all is such a deeply interesting thing to think about. because if you ask me it was a long time coming. they're just too similar for something not to happen. and as i said the only thing that really prevented francis from becoming "bad" (or george) was that he ross (or in this case, he is synonymous with love now) and george didn't. so what happens if you take ross out of the question? exaaactly. it also makes me think of ross questioning liz on francis and george's "friendship" after he came back. it genuinely surprised him. and of course he would be, since he and francis were inseparable all their lives. it's also interesting to see the dynamic of francis and george by itself as well? the fact that george drew francis away from ross (love) and into his own world of darkness and self pity. and that the only way francis could stand up to him is if he gained security and self worth (i should also add here that, interestingly, the both considered suicide. and while the one became stronger from it, the other became weaker. i would argue that the one who became stronger only had the ability to because he had love, while the other doesn't even know what it is).

for my last comparison i would love to touch on george's seduction of francis, because it is truly so riveting to me. in his preying on francis, george is already coming from a weak mindset. he doesn't know love (in my opinion, he's incapable of it but i believe he can come close to it if pushed that way) and as such has no real interest in francis. and he knows that (1 as an outsider (2 the fact he's not ross will never get his attention, so instead he puts on a facade of a stronger man that will attract him. any normal person would see right through george and know he's faking it, but the vulnerable and equally weak francis falls for it (inevitably imo). notice how verity was never friends with george? nor charles. and liz always had an arms length relationship with him. no, the only person who was ever close with him was francis. and so in this relationship, we see two weak men feeding off of each other's insecurities, insignificant self worth and fathered rejection. francis falls for george's imitation of strength, which in of itself is starkingly weak that he cannot find a shred of himself that is good to use on francis, so he just does what he always does in life, taking parts of actual strong people and applying to it himself in a way of survival, almost. the only way such a deeply messed up could work on anyone is if they were as weak or even weaker than him. thus in comes francis, who happens to be connected to the man he's obsessed about. he must have thought he was blessed from above.

as for george and ross, what can i say? besides that they were rivals (mostly on george's end anyway) both lived in cornwall, i guess? i have tried to make a connection on the yin/yang affect and nothing much came to mind which made me believe the push for it was contrived. i could write even more about francis and george, however, but i'll stop here.

#george warleggan #francis poldark #ross poldark #poldark #text

[codergalsblog]

Fnaf revival au(headcanons):

This one is about Elizabeth and evan again. Why? Because I feel so, so bad for these two. they both deserve much better than what they got in the original timeline.

This is kind of a continuation of my last post:

After the twins got back from their old home(that they will never ever come back to), Elizabeth was just so angry and upset and just wanted to destroy something, anything even. Evan was still calm and collected, but on the inside was too upset and sad to do really anything, so he just decided to sleep for the rest of the day.

Bonus:

The headcanons above are like coping mechanisms for Evan and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, when she's angry/upset about something, he first instinct is to break something. like if she comes home from a bad day, she'll just go to the bathroom and break random stuff in there. Evan is also used to Elizabeth's breakdowns and tantrums because she used to do that ever since they were kids. He'll let her have her breakdown, and after she's done, he'll just grab some ductape/glue and just fix whatever Liz broke(you would not believe how much ductape they have in their house. Yeah, .. her tantrums are that bad), but evan does comfort her after she's done.

When evan is sad/upset, he'll be in his room for most of the day and will mostly just sleep. Other times, he'll be watching TV, but you'll mostly find him sleeping. Whenever he's really upset(for example: if something or someone triggers his memories about the bite), he won't come out of his room at all. It's rare to see him like this, but if something happens to make him this upset, Elizabeth will just leave him alone and would ATTEMPT to cook for Evan if he's not in the mood( I said ATTEMPT because like I said, Liz can't cook for nothing, she'll probably give up and would just order food for her brother). What's also rare when he's this upset is when he's crying. Evan crying is rare, but if something about the bite made him really, REALLY upset, then you'll find him crying.

One day, Elizabeth caught him crying once. She was very concerned because of it and asked Evan what was wrong. He told Liz about the bite and that it made him sad thinking about it. Liz gave him the longest hug ever and ordered both of them some pizza hut to help him feel better. She comforted him and told him, " Tomorrow is another day.".... he felt a lot better after that.

#fnaf #fnaf au #fnaf revival au #evan afton #elizabeth afton #i feel so bad #MY BOY EVAN DON'T DESERVE THIS!!! #neither does Elizabeth #they both deserve so much better

[edenfalling]

Someone tell me to make brownies, please?

#liz asks for advice and/or help #liz attempts to cook

[cosyeveningsandagoodbook]

Howdy! I'm Liz 🦆

I've been a Tumblr user for fair few years, but decided it was time for a fresh start, and thus created a new blog! So here's a little bit about me in the attempt to find new and interesting blogs to follow :)) Please feel free to reach out and say hi too! 😊

Here's some of the things I enjoy:

• D&D (including Critical Role and Dimension 20),

• tabletop games in general (my favourite being Terraforming Mars)

• the Portal games,

• Stardew Valley

• quite a selection of books and films (I'm currently read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I've never watched or read before)

• Death in Paradise

• NCIS

• Captain Marvel

• Lego

• music (including George Ezra, Hozier, Voiceplay, Enya, Elton John, Queen and ELO)

• physics

• cooking

• all things cosy and Autumnal

• Scrubs

• Wynonna Earp

There's probably a number of things I've forgotten but that's the general gist of things :)

I'm also a huge lifetime lover of ducks 🦆

I'm 24, use she/her pronouns and am also asexual homoromantic :) 🏳️‍🌈

#meet new people #death in paradise #d&d #portal #ncis

[altairtalisman]

"If you need help with fiddly stuff, be it physical or digital, just count on me!"

Name: Alyna "Allie" Min-Locken (née Locken)

Age: 30

Height: 162 cm

Birthday: 13 March 1992 (Pisces)

Pronouns: She/Her

Likes: Seafood, iced fruit tea, locks, cats, horror games

Dislikes: Coffee, Hawaiian pizza, spicy food

Hobbies: Lockpicking, cooking, watching the In My Element web series

Clothing Style: Dresses that comfortable and easy to move in

Orientation: Cisgender Lesbian

Personality: Forthcoming and willing to take risks, never shies away from challenges, even if they're dangerous. Also very friendly and can be a huge flirt at times

Background: Growing up in a family of locksmiths, Allie found herself interested in lockpicking and attempted to pick the lock to the school rooftop when she was Primary 5. She was caught by Greta Kingsley, her future best friend, but the latter agreed to not report Allie to the teachers if she was allowed to access the rooftop

Allie agreed, and successfully unlocked the door to the school rooftop. Now that they were accomplices, they spent the next few years hanging out on the rooftop until Greta had to move to the USA due to her parents' jobs

They exchanged contacts, and continued to communicate over the years. When Allie was 24, she received an invitation to visit her best friend in Manhattan. As she had just broken up with her girlfriend of three years, she ironed out the details and sought permission from her maternal aunt, who stayed in Manhattan, to stay with her until it was time for her to leave

Upon arrival in the USA, she encountered Vin, who looked lost. She started a conversation with him and learnt that he had no place to stay. After getting approval from her aunt to let him stay with them, she brought the agent back to her aunt's place where dinner awaited them

After dinner, she was unpacking her luggage but accidentally knocked over the contents in Vin's bag. While picking up his 'passport', she accidentally spilt water on it which broke the booklet's cloaking technology

When Vin discovered that Allie knew about it, he decided to come clean about who he really was. What Allie didn't know at the time was that she would be helping the agent in a series of murder mysteries, one of which her best friend was a suspect in and another involving Liz, her future wife

As she tagged along with Vin in his search, she bonded with Liz over their breakups and helped to bridge the tensions the latter faced with her parents. They both entered a relationship after Vin solved his final mystery in the USA, and after getting the reluctant approval of Liz's family (mainly her parents) two years later, they discussed on whether to live in the USA or the UK

After making their decision, Liz moved to the UK to be with Allie and married in 2020, soon adopting Ross a year after. In 2022, Allie won four tickets to a transatlantic cruise trip and decided to invite Vin along... not knowing that she would soon work together with her friend once more to solve a chilling mystery that was sure to shock the world...

#Alyna Min-Locken #Adorable Home #this OC is unique in the sense that it shares a 'storyline' with OCs from another fandom #Altair draws

[genogenocrazycatman]

Throne Chapter 19

Throne [Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.Net]

Characters:  Original Female Character, Red Haired Shanks, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roo, Yasopp,

***

“I can be very disarming.”

“Looks like you’ve been disarmed,” I jabbed, not looking up at him.

Benn let out a loud laugh at that.

Shanks grinned. “You wound me.”

“Clearly, I’m not the only one.”

Hello people. So if you don’t know, what’s going on here then the simple version is that this a Shanks x OC fic.

If you follow me, and the One Piece stuff I write, then you’ve probably heard me talk about this fic. Hey look it’s finally here.

***

“Ha ha! Missed me!”

I swung my foot in a failed attempt to splash Mattie, who was giggling delightedly at my current situation. It was hard to kick with someone’s arm locked in the pit of your knee.

We had just spent the better part of two and a half hours hiking up the side of a mountain through the thick jungle brush. Even in the most ideal conditions, it would’ve been a challenging hike – the dense boscage making the steep incline even more arduous.

But it was still hotter than holy hell outside. The tree canopy above was the only thing saving us from getting absolutely cooked. It was so thick that most of the sun’s rays were blocked, with just enough filtering through for us to see where we were going.

The last fifteen minutes had been spent walking through a cave system, which Shanks assured those of us who hadn’t been brought out here before meant we were in the home stretch.

That had brought some relief… Until I heard running water. I had been operating under the assumption that water wouldn’t be a problem until we actually made it to the falls. Or, more so, I was operating under the assumption that if water were going to be a problem, I would be forewarned.

Wrong. The last 200 feet before the opening we needed to exit through was filled with water.

It wasn’t too deep. It came up just beneath Shanks’ knee, which meant it would’ve been maybe an inch over mine. Enough that I couldn’t use my devil fruit- not that I had reason to, enough for me to feel the drain on my energy, but not high enough to leave me immobilized. It wouldn’t have been my favorite feeling in the world, but I could make it across.

That was, of course, what I thought, being that I was (at least in my own opinion) a rational person. Instead, I ended up being piggybacked for “safety reasons,” as suggested by Mattie. Shanks had offered, a teasing glint in his eye. It quickly disappeared when, in apparent retaliation for his additions to the earlier conversation regarding Benn’s weakness for women, the first mate pointed out that his captain only had 50% of his grip and was clearly a much better choice.

My protests had fallen on deaf ears, save for Shanks, who was still a bit pouty, and here I was draped across Benn’s back, my arms wrapped around his neck, while his were hitched under my knees to keep me above the water below.

The kiddos thought that it was hysterical.

“Liz, how does it feel to be the second girl to ride Beck today?” Mattie teased.

“I don’t know. Ask your mom,” I fired back.

“Weak.”

“I’m gonna-“

“Be helpless if Benn puts you down,” Mattie finished.

I kicked again in another attempt to splash the brat.

“Watch it there, Liz,” he said around his cigarette. “Can’t be dropping you in here.”

“I hate all of you,” I huffed. “Longest 200 feet in fucking existence,” I groaned.

“Now, Miss Elizabeth, it’ll all be worth it once we get to the other side.”

I glared at the back of Shanks’ head. “Better be one hell of a waterfall if it’s gonna make up for me being toted around like a child.”

“Beck’s right. Can’t have you drowning on us,” Yasopp teased, picking up his pace to walk alongside his captain.

“I wouldn’t drown, you asshole, not unless you pushed me. Quit acting like none of you know how devil fruits work.”

“Not personally,” Yasopp chimed.

I rolled my eyes. “You know enough. Unless one of you is planning on actively drowning me, I can walk.”

“Can’t risk it.”

“Precious cargo.”

“You all suck,” I muttered—no point in further fighting about it. We were almost at the end of the tunnel. Once we were through and I was on solid ground, not located beneath the water, I could get my revenge.

Shanks stepped out of the water, near the mouth of the cave, taking a second to slide on his sandals, which he had held in his hand through the water. Once he was secure on the rock, he reached out to me.

I grasped his hand, warm despite the cool water we’d just trekked through, rough calluses at the base of his fingers from his grip on Gryphon. He pulled me up so that I was back on solid ground.

The ease with which the Red-Haired crew could toss me around was still startling. Logically, I knew that they were freakishly strong, but they were just so casual about it. My brothers could, too, some of them, but it wasn’t without some exaggeration.

I squeezed his hand in appreciation, which he returned. His grip loosened, and I thought he was going to let go, something that brought a touch of disappointment, though not unexpected at this point. However, he laced our fingers together instead.

“Can’t have you slipping into the falls. I’m sure you could take the rocks, but the water would get you, and I’m not prepared for my lifeguarding duties yet,” he said.

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to fight the urge to smile, before gesturing for him to lead the way.

The mouth of the cave was hidden from the outside by a layer of foliage, which I pushed out of the way, revealing one of the most stunning views I’d ever seen.

At the center was a large ponytail fall with step falls on either side of the main basin, gradually descending to its edge, where the water lapped gently against the smooth pebbles there.

The water was such a vibrant shade of teal that it didn’t look real. Every color almost felt over-saturated.

The rock faces peeking out from under the thick flora were pitch black, contrasting wildly against the almost fluorescent greens, blues, pinks, purples, oranges, and yellows of the leaves and flowers that grew from every surface.

“How the hell did you find this place?” I asked, unable to pull my eyes away from the beauty before me.

“I didn’t,” Shanks answered. I glanced over to see him. He smiled at the scene in front of him, but it was dampened by something, nostalgia, maybe. “The captain did. He used to bring the crew here.”

I wondered if he thought about King of the Pirates the same way I used to think about the Old Man.

Shanks talked about growing up on the Roger Pirates but rarely went into detail about the bond between him and Roger. Everything that I knew had come from my brothers. I remember Marco telling me about the spats they used to get into and how, once the fight inevitably turned into a party of sorts, the dynamic of captain and apprentice reverted to that of father and son, not unlike the Whitebeard boys.

“My thanks to Roger, then.”

Shanks led us down a path from the edge of the fall to the shore of the central basin. The rock face was coated in a thin layer of algae and moss. I had to admit that it was slippery and appreciated Shanks’s steadfast grip. There, the bulk of the camp was already set up.

Bonk, Limejuice, and Monster sat in lawn chairs. Bonk and Limejuice were both with a drink in hand, while Monster was eating a fruit that looked to have come from one of the surrounding trees.

“Look who finally made it,” Bonk said.

“Is this where you disappeared off to last night?” I asked. The three had been noticeably absent from the tavern.

“No, they went to bed early like a couple of old men.”

“Some of us had to leave early to take the long way up so that you didn’t have to try to carry the cart and the gear,” Lime Juice shot back.

“Your service is much appreciated,” Shanks said, quieting the spat before it could begin.

“There’s another way up?” I asked accusingly.

“Yes,” he answered quickly, “But you have to go to the other side of the island before you even start to ascend. It takes at least twice as long. Those caves cut through the mountainside.”

“How’d that last stretch go?” Bonk asked.

I pulled a face, causing Limejuice to laugh. “That well,” he said. He reached into the cooler closer to him and pulled out a beer, popping the cap off. “For your wounded pride,” he said.

“I’ll take one of those,” Mattie said, joining the group.

“Not until you help finish the setup,” Bonk said, gesturing to the other stuff that had yet to be set up.

“Why does Liz get to start before the rest of us?”

“Because Liz drunk off her ass is still more useful than you stone-cold sober,” Bonk said.

“Plus, we like her better,” Limejuice added.

“If you’re doing real work, I can’t justify hurling you over the falls,” I said, taking a long sip.

“Well, someone needs to help set up if we want to eat before midnight,” Luck said. He was pulling the cart behind him.

“I’ll help Luck,” I offered. “I’ll do my part before I park my ass.”

“Finally, someone who knows what the hell they’re doing,” he said.

Benn clapped, gaining everyone’s attention. “Ground rules,” he started. I gave Shanks’ hand one last squeeze before letting go to join Luck.

Benn gave everyone minimal instructions for the duration of our time here at the falls. The rules primarily consisted of don’t die and don’t annoy him, which was sure to get broken.

Everyone was given some assignment to carry out before they could kick back. While they set up Luck’s grill, I got to work sorting out all the food he had brought based on the instructions he had given me.  

Others set up chairs and tents, while Shanks took special care to make sure that his hammock was set up just right between two trees with a perfect view of his surroundings. Bags were dropped, games were set up, and in seemingly no time at all, the first of the boys took off towards the water.

Fortunately, there wasn’t too much prep work to be done, though it was more than Luck originally intended, seeing that Benn’s tryst had cut into his prep time. But between the two of us, we got him caught up fairly quickly, and Luck banished me from his makeshift kitchen, noting that I had been more of a help in one day than the others had been in his entire stay on the crew.

Monster was truly in his element swinging across the basin from vine to vine, climbing up and down the different rock faces to mess the others.

I found my bag, which had ended up at the trunk of one of the trees next to Shanks’s hammock. I dragged my towel out and laid it out before plopping down on the ground. I first found the edge of the bandages wrapped around my light, lifting it so I could begin unraveling it.

Once I was completely free of the bandages, I took my hair out of its messy bun and yanked the baseball T-shirt I had worn over my head, leaving me in my bikini top.

As much comfort as I found in my many, many layers, it was nice to be free of them for a change.

I put my shades on my head and kicked off my shoes, grabbing one of the remaining lawn chairs and looking for one of the boys who could point me to that shallow pool I was promised.

“Benny,” I said, walking up behind him. He was sitting in a chair, watching over the chaos before him.

Yasopp had launched a rope into one of the treetops, giving them something to swing on. The other clowns were splashing away at each other and hurling themselves from the different ledges into the pristine water or floating closer toward the shallow end.

“Where can I sit and not drown?”

“Now you’re concerned with your own safety?” he teased.

“If you’re concerned about yours, you’ll knock that shit off,” I warned, glaring at him over the tops of my frames.

He raised his hands in surrender. “You have a couple of options,” he said, standing up. “Here-“ he pointed to the edge of the basin. “You have an incline, save for by the stream, where there’s a steep drop-off.”

I nodded, following his hand as he pointed to the right. “Those first two pools are shallow enough; you should be fine. The first one is only a couple of inches. The second is maybe a foot and a half.”

“That’s why you’re my favorite,” I said, heading over to the deeper of the two pools. I set up my chair, and it was perfect height, low enough that the water would flow over me while I was reclined but not deep enough to leave me miserable and drained. Plus, the mist of the falls kept me cool despite the blistering heat.

From behind my shades, I took in everything around me, particularly our daredevils, hurling themselves off the cliffs. Based on their movements, it looked like there was one path that branched off to the different ledges. The start of the path was viewable from the basin, but the rest was promptly obscured by the dense jungle. The lowest ledge was only about five feet above the water level. The next one was about fifteen feet up. That seemed to be the go-to. The last one was about 30 feet high, and so far, only one person was brave enough to take the leap.

“What a fucking idiot,” I said, lowering my sunglasses so that I could look up at Shanks, who was currently standing at the ledge of the 30-foot jump, yelling at Yasopp, who was goading him on.

“Yeah,” Gab said, handing me a drink and sitting down in the water beside me.

“What is this?” I asked, looking at the bright red drink in my cup.

“Luck didn’t say. Just said that you’re the only person who will drink this fruity shit with him.”

I shrugged, taking the cup. I had the benefit of being able to burn the booze off if I got a little too tipsy. Turns out that Luck had a taste for some of the sweeter cocktails—brightly colored drinks that mixed fresh fruits and sweet syrups and to mellow out the harsh liquors.

Without Rayne, Gene, or my brothers to show out for and full encouragement from the girls, I realized that I also was a huge fan of a cocktail that was admittedly more sugar than booze.

If my brothers could see me, they would’ve never let me live it down. Being the only girl came with the risk of being stereotyped as “Girl.” Rayne drank whiskey; if Rayne was pouring, you were drinking whatever she felt like. And Gene wasn’t much better than my brothers.

I took a sip. “Not bad.”

“I got the sugar sickness just looking at that,” Gab said with a chuckle.

“More for Luck and I,” I sang, dancing in my seat.

“How’d they get started on this?” I asked, nodding at Shanks and Yasopp.

“How do we get started on any of this?”

“Good point.”

Shanks flipped Yasopp off before taking a few steps back and rushing forward, launching himself off the cliff's edge. He did one complete backflip before tombstoning into the water. He surfaced in the midst of the bubbles, his signature red closer to Carmine to Carnelian.

“I’d give it a five,” Hongo said, sitting on the other side of my chair.

“I don’t know. Good form. I’d say that’s a seven.”

“You were also eye fucking the competitor.”

I swatted at Gab, who just laughed.

“With the splash… I’d give it a six.”

“Six out of ten!” I called across the water.

“A six?!” Shanks cried, swimming over to our side. “That’s gotta be at least an eight.”

“You can take that up with my fellow judges.”

“Oh, I can beat a six!”

“Damn Boss, a six.”

With the promise of a new challenge and Shanks’ six serving as blood in the water, things picked up.

Those risk-takers willing to take the plunge ran up to the top ledge. Grown men behaving like children. Bets were being thrown out in between the challenges, pulling Benn out of his chair to call some order and collect the money.

Shanks made it to the pool's edge and hoisted himself onto the step with the three of us.

He sat on the ledge, feet dangling into the main pool below. He ran his hand through his hair, pushing the red strands back. He leaned back, propping himself up on his arm.

I was blatantly ogling at this point. But who could blame me?

He’d gotten bigger in the past three years, muscles more defined, highlighted by the water droplets traveling in the valleys between them.

“Hey Liz, why don’t you take another sip of that drink there? You look a little-“

“Doc, I will fucking kill you.”

Gab choked on his beer, laughing.

“What’s this six business?” Shanks asked.

“Hey, I gave you a seven,” I defended myself.

“It was sloppy,” Hongo replied, not missing a beat.

“And we are unbiased, unlike our third judge here.”

“I think you two have it out for me.”

“If they had it out for you, there are more effective ways for them to get back at you,” I pointed out.

“What ways?”

“Better hope you don’t find out.”

“YO!” the call brought our attention to the top of the falls, where Yasopp was directing traffic. “Judges, are you ready?”

“I guess,” Hongo called back.

“Great enthusiasm,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “What does the winner get? What’s the prize pool at?”

“We should be feeing for our service.”

“If someone doesn’t jump, they’re not going to stop,” Shanks called back. The three of us stopped just enough to scowl at him.

Yasopp seemingly agreed, stepping aside to let the competition begin. Several flips and flops later, our current leader was surprise entrant Lucky Roux, who had appropriately done a cannonball, the resulting splash drenching Benn, much to his annoyance.

Still, no one had received a ten, and Luck led with a nine.

There had been the expected outcry. Currently, critiques of our judging styles were being hurled across the water. I knew it would be competitive, but this was a bit ridiculous. I had voiced as much and been informed that pride was at stake.

I stood up, tapping Shanks on the shoulder. “I relinquish my judge responsibilities to you.”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To show them how it’s done.”

His brow quirked upwards, but he said nothing further.

I took my empty cup with me as I made my way back to the bank of the central basin. I made a point to get myself a refill, waiting for either the next jump or a rise in the argument before I made my move.

I carefully made my way around, ignoring the knowing look that Benn sent my way. As I neared my target, I set my cup down, making sure to keep my steps light so as not to draw further attention.

See, Mattie was currently leaning against a tree at the edge of the bank, standing behind his buds as they watched the chaos.

‘Perfect.’

I slipped into the tree line. He was utterly relaxed—a rookie mistake. ‘Never let your guard down, kid.’ I reached out and grabbed him, slipping my hand over his mouth to keep him quiet as I dragged him into the bush with me.

I had him locked in an iron grip. I couldn’t let him thrash about and draw attention to us. That would ruin my fun. I had a plan, a vision.

“Ah ah ah,” I whispered in hushed tones as Mattie tried to call out. “Save your breath, kid. You’re gonna need it to scream later.”

I went around the start of the path, rejoining it only when it was no longer in plain sight. It was more well-kept than I had thought. Getting to the top was clear; the overgrown fauna was kept at bay compared to the surrounding area.

Mattie had let it slip after another drinking competition loss that he was afraid of heights—a mistake on his part that was about to bite him in the ass.

The roar of the falls got louder the closer we got to the top.

When the ledge came into sight, I let go of Mattie’s mouth, using my second arm to chickenwing him and lift his feet off the ground.

“Liz, what the FUCK?! Put me down!”

He tried to thrash about, but I overpowered him easily, keeping him in place.

“Oh, you want down?” I jerked my arms as if I were going to drop him, causing him to let out a high-pitched squeal. Music to my fucking ears.

I couldn’t see the reactions of the rest of the crew. I could vaguely hear laughter and Benn telling me to play nice. The closest to us was Yasopp, who was chuckling at Mattie’s misfortune.

“STOP IT!” he yelled.

“I told you I was gonna get you once I was on solid ground,” I said. “What was that you said about me being the second girl to ride Benn today?”

“Liz, come on!”

“Now, who’s helpless?” I asked.

There was a brief moment where he stilled as realization set in. “I’M SORRY! I WAS BEING A DICK AND I’M SORRY!”

“Oh, come on, man, you can hold out longer than that,” Yasopp said.

“Don’t listen to Yasopp,” I said, lowering him so that his feet were on the ground. “Thank you for apologizing.”

He let out a sigh, but before the breath had left his lungs, I sent him off the ledge, flying towards the water. He screamed bloody murder until he hit the water feet first.

Raucous laughter filtered up to where I was standing.

Now that I could see something other than Mattie’s back, I had to admit it looked wild being this high up. Thirty feet didn’t feel like that much from below.

The boys were scattered about the officers laughing or pretending not to in some cases, while the young bloods looked horrified.

Mattie surfaced and glared up at me, flipping me off before swimming over to the edge.

“Well, that oughta teach him,” Yasopp said, standing beside me.

I hummed in agreement before shoving the sniper off, too.

“You can hold out longer than that!” I called down to the water, where he had surfaced.

“TEN!”

I glanced down where Shanks sat in my vacant chair, beaming up at me, Gab laughing to his right. Hongo smirking around his beer bottle to his left.

I bowed dramatically before throwing up the double deuce and making my descent.

***

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[sorry-i-spaced]

Tagged by @maud-gone to answer some questions! Thanks for the tag! I'll tag: @gregorygerwitz / @idontgohereeither / @bipolarhawkeyepierce / and anyone who wants to do it!

What book are you currently reading?

I'm reading a bunch of different fanfics

What do you usually wear?

Jeans and a T-shirt and a sweatshirt

How tall are you?

5ft/5ft1 on a good day

What is your sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or historical event?

Sagittarius! I share a birthday with Owen Teaguen (he played in IT(2017)) and Dwight Howard

Do you go by your name or a nickname?

Online I go by Liz, I've had many nicknames given to me a few are: small fry, fruitbat, and munchkin

Did you grow up to be what you wanted to be as a child?

5yr old me wanted to be a teacher, so no.. but 12yr old me wanted to be an actor and i do background acting as a side hustle so I think she would be proud of us! 16yr old me wanted to be behind the camera, which I'm working on, so I think she would be happy we're attempting something at all.

What is something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

I can't draw to save my life and I'm really good at coming up with stories on the spot.

If you draw/write/create what’s your favorite thing you’ve ever created?

I'm really proud of my diagnosis deja Vu fic. I'm also proud of my really dumb music videos I've made and have posted on Tumblr

Dogs or cats?

Both? Idk I had a cat until I was 8 and he died. But then when I was like 10 my family got a dog and I grew up with her. I really like both tbh

What is something you would like to create content for?

I really want to get back into making music videos for ships and characters.

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

Reading fanfiction (?) Can that count? I don't have wifi at my house so I've been reading a lot

What’s something you were excited for and turned out to be disappointing?

Living on my own. Like I lived in on campus apartments at school, but living on my own (I have roommates but we never see each other cause we have drastically different schedules) is so hard. Like I never know what to cook so my spending money goes to take out and coffee, Im barely there cause I like being out and bout and overall I just want to move to a new place and have a reset and try the whole adulting thing in an apartment all over again

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

I don't think I have one tbh

What’s something you wish you had this moment?

My weighted blanket or one of my soft blankets in general

#thanks for the tag!