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#my mom laughed at this that means i’m a comedian now
kahluamystery97 · 2 years
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SATELLITE CH 3
CHAPTER THREE
 "That was really fucking promising." Liza said, throwing her purse into her Infiniti QX80. She was a tall commanding woman. She decided her car should be the same.
 'I don't want to jinx it but I think they loved the project." Alex sighed relieved. She leaned her back against Liza's beast of an SUV.
 "I mean if we can get this movie made I can die happy." Maggie said and tossed her own purse into her Mercedes convertible.  This film was her baby. A script and a new writer she found. She wanted this project more than she had ever wanted anything before.
 "Let's not die for it yet." Liza laughed. "Yet."
 "I vote we blow off the rest of the day, drink margs and gorge on Mexican." Alex volunteered. It was very un-Alex like of her.
 "Are you feeling okay?" Maggie asked, raising an eyebrow surprised at her sister. The mom of two never suggested getting wild or blowing off the day. If she wasn’t working she was home with her husband and kids.
 Liza chimed in, "Pod people got her. I knew it."
 “Oh you two are just hysterical. Real comedians.” Alex proceeded to flip them off. “ I just don't feel like working or being a mom just now. I would like to be irresponsible," Alex looked down at her Rolex, "at 1pm."
 "Wait for it because it isn't pod people, it’s Freaky Friday. I'm the tired one." Maggie covered her mouth as a yawn escaped.
 Her sister's both looked at her. Alex said,  "Probably because you are up at the ass crack of dawn working out. Let me guess running?"
 "Rowing." Maggie shrugged.  "Also, I was sort of up all night fucking that guy I met at that party."
 Liza's eyes shot up. "Which guy? The bartender?"
 "What party?" Alex asked.
 "That shitty party at Martin Graves house that Liza dragged me to. I was bored out of my mind so I decided to drink five whiskeys apparently."
 “You took her to a Martin Graves party?” Alex gave Liza and accusatory look. “You have heard what happens to pretty young things there, right?”
 “Al, nothing like that happened. I was okay. I agreed to go. Making a move for some last minute funding if this fell through.”
 Liza narrowed her eyes, “I would never let anything happen to her.”
 Alex touched Liza’s arm. “I know. I’m sorry. Liza gave her a smile.
 "Ok so you met a hot bartender? Oh Margaret we need all the dirty deets. See, let's go have drinks and you can tell me everything." Alex pleaded.
 "He's not a bartender. Dirty deets? Seriously, who are you? " Maggie asked.
 "El Coyote. We are going - now.  I'm driving over with Maggie. Sail the yacht over by yourself." Alex mocked Liza's SUV.
 Liza rolled her eyes. " Jesus Christ Al."
 Maggie and Alex got into the convertible and drove out of the parking garage.
 "Why does it kill Liza to be fun now? Remember fun? " Alex sighed.
 "Al are you having some weird mid-life crisis?" Maggie asked as she turned right.
 "Perhaps. Just feeling like an old woman. Maybe I'm a little jealous you’re picking up hot bartenders or not bartenders and having late nights. If my night is late it is because one of the kids won't sleep. I love my life but some days I want to be young and carefree again. I want to have sex without having to plan it like a mission to Mars."
 Maggie reached over and squeezed her sister's hand. "Get Perry to take you out or better yet take you away. Liza and I got the girls, you know that."
 Alex smiled. "I know. You guy -"
 The phone ringing through the Bluetooth cut her off and startled them both. The screen flashed 'H - Hills Party'. Maggie put her fingers to her lips to shush Alex.
 She may have been giddy but Maggie cooly answered, "Hello."
 "So..." Harry said.
 "So?" Maggie asked.
 "You were quite excited about your very important meeting today.  So how did it go? "
 "Good, really good." She said enthusiastically. "I'm not saying another word though because I'm a bit superstitious."
 "Would you like to celebrate or is that bad luck?" He asked.
 Alex was staring hard at her. She started nodding her head and giving her a thumbs up.
 "Actually I'm headed out with my sisters to El Coyote."
 "No shit?" He asked. "I'm over at CBS Studios. Maybe I could meet you afterwards?" CBS was conveniently right around the corner from the famed Mexican restaurant.
 Maggie was afraid Alex was going to sprain her neck. She was nodding so hard.
 "Sure. I'll text you." Maggie offered. Alex silently cheered and then began to make some crude gestures. Maggie nearly burst into laughter watching her grown ass sister act like a twelve year old boy.
 "I'll be here." He said.
 Maggie disconnected the call before finally giving into the hysterics she was holding in.
 "What the fuck?" Alex screeched laughing now too. "I don't care what he looks like. I nearly just nearly made a mess of my pants - that voice. I’ve changed my mind I do care what he looks like. Tell me you have a photo of him? But don't show me if he isn't good looking. In my mind he is amazing.”
 Maggie was laughing so hard now. "Oh my God girl you are a disaster. He is very hot actually."
 “So wait. Sexy British accent. He is hot. No way you had a fucking orgasm? God doesn’t give with both hands Mags.”
“Try three orgasms.” She looked over the top of her sunglasses at Alex who had her mouth wide open in shock.
 “Three? I’m not even sure that’s physically possible. Three?”
 “Three. Do you think I’m making it up?”
 “Course not. Fuck me. I feel like I need a cigarette.”
 “You gave up smoking like a million years ago.”
 “Yeah well if I had three orgasms in one night I would pick it back up quick. Three. My mind is blown.”
 “Mine too.”
 Before they could go on she pulled the car into the parking lot and got her valet ticket. Liza was directly behind them.
 The three walked in and stood in front of the hostess stand.  The Dunne sisters were a stunning trio. Maggie the youngest was also the shortest. All three had piercing blue eyes. Liza, the oldest, had long dark hair, plush eyelashes and high cheekbones. Alex, the middle child was as tall as Liza, full figured, long legs. Blonde and blue eyed like Maggie. Alex had a stylish chin length bob with side swept bangs.
 "Booth in the back?" The hostess asked them. They were regulars.
 "If you have one." Maggie smiled brightly.
 "Of course. Follow me.”
 Once the sisters were settled and margaritas ordered Alex piped up. "Maggie is meeting the guy from last night after this. He is some sort of British sex wizard.”
 Liza looked up from her phone distracted. "The bartender is a wizard? Only in LA I guess.”
 "Oh my God he isn't a bartender. I swear I have said that multiple times. Are you deaf or senile?”
 Liza shot her a look. "Maybe a little bit of both. Or maybe I don't care who you bang as long as you don't end up all over social media and gossip rags because he can't keep his mouth shut."
 "He's a singer. He’s very well known and he doesn't want to be all over the tabloids either. "
 "A singer?" Alex asked. "That makes so much sense. That voice. Wait, what’s his name? I have to Google him."
 "What are you going on about?" Liza asked.
 "He called while I was in the car with Mags. Super sexy British voice. Maggie had THREE orgasms last night!" Alex announced a bit too loudly.
 Maggie flushed bright red as she looked around. “Louder so the kitchen staff can hear it. This is totally going to be on Deuxmoi. Anon pls - Maggie Dunne had three orgasms with a wizard.”
  Alex rolled her eyes and waved her hands. “Oh get over yourself.”
 "I know I met this person but I literally have no memory of him." Liza shrugged. “Seriously, three?” Maggie nodded. Liza smiled and looked down at the menu.
 "Seriously give me his name." Alex was poised to type into her phone. Maggie took a beat longer than what Alex was expecting. "What is his name Maggie?!" She yelped even more loudly than before. Some patrons nearby looked over.
 The waitress appeared with their margaritas at that moment. "Can I get her a second one right away? Sorry it is sort of a margarita emergency." Maggie flashed the pearly whites at the waitress and nodded toward Alex.
 "Sure. I'll be right back."
 “What constitutes a margarita emergency? Liza asked sipping at her drink and trying not to spill. 
  Maggie only raised her eyebrows and gestured at Alex as to say, “This. Her.”
 "Sorry I'm really excitable today." Alex said flushed.
 "No bullshit here - kid are you okay? Need an edible?” Liza asked as she motioned toward her gigantic Prada bag which always had an edible or ten in it.
 "I have no clue what is going on with me. Sorry. Mags diagnosed me with a mid-life crisis earlier."
 "Her initials are MD, not her profession." Liza offered with a smile as she sipped the frozen concoction.
 "She's not wrong. I haven't even played a doctor yet." They all laughed.
 The waitress brought another margarita for Alex and took their order. Unsurprisingly they all ordered the chicken fajita plate. Maggie could pick at the chicken and veggies and not get asked too many questions about what she was and was not eating.
 "OK so I'm going to ask you one more time, calmly. What is his name?" Alex gulped the last of her first margarita and started in on her second.
 Maggie lowered her voice and moved in closer,  "Harry Styles."
 "God that sounds familiar. Isn't he in a boy band? How old is this kid? We don’t need that sort of press." Liza asked as she tapped away at an email on her phone.
 "He was in a band. He’s a fully grown adult thank you very much." Maggie said, sipping her margarita.
 Alex had her head down scrolling through her iPhone. "Oh he sure grew up. Yum that mouth.”
 Maggie looked over with flushed cheeks. “Yeah that mouth.”
  “Full service?
  “Mmm hmm.” 
 Alex offered the phone to Liza. She shrugged.  "Oh that guy."
 They rolled their eyes at Liza. "So do you like him?" Al asked.
 "He's really nice, seems down to earth but I don't really know him. Didn't know if we'd talk again after he left this morning."
 Liza looked Maggie in the eye. "So now he's called you. Are you interested?"
 "You guys know I don't have a lot of time in my life for that. Casual has always worked better for me. I’m not in the market for a relationship."
 Alex was deep into that second margarita. "Can't be casual forever Margaret. Eventually you need your teammate. You deserve some happiness."
 "I have my teammates and you both make me mostly happy. Except you with the judgy eyes." Maggie smiled at Liza.
 "You know what she's saying though." Liza ignored the rib and doubled down on what Alex was expressing.
 "I do. I don't feel lonely and I'm not planning on living a life of solitude or anything.  I just happen to like my life right now."
 Maggie wasn't lying. She did like her life. She answered to no one. She felt safe behind her walls. She felt like she couldn't be hurt or exploited. Feeling safe was everything to her after some of the dark shit that happened in her past. She understood why her sisters might want her to couple up. Liza and Alex married two of the best men ever created. Maggie was so lucky to have them as her brothers. Along with the girls they took such good care of her.
 "I like all of our lives right now. Look at us. We have come a long fucking way." Alex laughed hard. She was definitely on her way to drunk.  "Can we get three more of these?"  She pointed to the empty glasses.
 Liza motioned for two not three. The waitress nodded.
 "He dated Taylor Swift." Alex said seriously looking up from her phone.  "Oh no."
 "Which album? What did he do?" Liza asked seriously.  
 Maggie said. "1989. Style. Wildest Dreams.”
 Liza and Alex looked at each other. "Okay 1989 isn't that bad." Alex said. "I mean it could be worse. Though there is always Clean and Out of the Woods. He’s a bad driver! Be careful.”
 "At least it’s not Dear John. Remember the time I 'accidentally' spilled red wine on John Mayer. That piece of shit." Liza spat angrily.
 "How could I forget?" Maggie cringed remembering John Mayer pulling out all his best lines and Liza dousing him in red wine and pulling Maggie away to a ‘very important call’ at 11pm.
 "Fine but if you go near John Mayer I will have you put down." Liza said.
 Maggie held her palms up. "I am fairly certain he wouldn’t let any of the Dunne’s in a ten mile radius of him after that.”
 When the last fajita was eaten Alex looked up and announced. "I'm totally shitfaced. It is 3 in the afternoon and I'm shitfaced." Then she began to laugh and laid down in the round booth.
 Liza and Maggie exchanged a look, their eyebrows high on their foreheads. "Holy shit." Liza mouthed.
 Maggie was definitely not going to be driving but she wasn't drunk. She should probably let Harry know she was just going to let Liza take her home. When she made that announcement at the table Alex began laughing again even harder.
 "What’s so funny?" Liza asked pulling her upright.  “Get it together woman.”
 Alex put Maggie’s phone down in front of her.  "I texted him. He’s on his way over to pick you up."
 Maggie looked stricken. "You texted who? What? Harry? What? What did you say? What did you do?" She opened her phone quickly.
 'Had a three margarita lunch. Now is probably a good time for you to pick me up.'
 Harry responded, 'On my way now.'
 "I am going to murder you." Maggie said through gritted teeth. This only made Alex laugh harder with a snort.
 Liza looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Christ the two of you. I know you were joking about Deuxmoi earlier but I am definitely going to get a fucking call on Sunday."
 A few minutes later all three of them looked up to see Harry walking toward them. He was in a plain white t-shirt which displayed all his black ink and rippling muscles. Jeans and black Vans to round his look out.  His sunglasses were perched on top of his head keeping his unruly curls back. He smiled a perfectly white, dimpled smile.
 Alex took a sharp breath. Maggie took a sip of water. All the blood in her body rushed directly between her legs. She slid out of the booth.  "Hi. I didn't expect you to come all the way in."
 "Felt sort of rude sitting in the parking lot and texting." He smiled and then looked over to her sisters.  
 Alex drunkenly struggled to navigate her way out of the circular booth. Harry offered her his hand. She smiled up, dazed and took it. "I'm Harry," He introduced himself as he helped her up.
 "I'm married." Alex said with a hiccup. "To Perry. He is very tall. Even taller than you." She looked Harry up and down a few times. "Harry rhymes with Perry." Another hiccup.
 Harry looked puzzled but smiled wider. Maggie was flushed red and worried her armpits might start sweating anytime now.
 Liza stepped in. "This is Alex. She doesn't normally consume four margaritas midday so if you'll excuse her. I'm Liza." She offered Harry her hand.  They shook. Liza then looked him up and down with immediate disapproval just as she had done the first time they met.
 Harry felt her dislike for him. Liza wasn't subtle. He was so used to charming people right out of the gate.  Liza made him uncomfortable and awkward. That people pleaser in him wanted to win her over.
 "Nice to meet you both. Can I offer you ladies a ride?"
 Alex got a big grin on her face. Maggie gave her a death stare. She knew there was definitely a sex joke about to fly out of her sisters mouth. Alex clamped her lips together.
 "I'm the sober sister. Since this one is married to Perry I think I'll take her. I guess you take that blonde one." Liza offered.
 "Only seems appropriate." Harry said.
 Liza led them out. Alex swayed unsure on her Manolos. Harry offered his arm to her. She wrapped her hand around his bicep. Maggie trailed them.
 "I mentioned I'm married to Perry, right?" She asked him.
 "You did mention that. Perry is a very lucky man."  He said amused by Alex's drunk antics.
 "Oh good. He would want me to remember that. And I'm a mom. And I don't really drink. And I'm old."
 "Old? No way." He said.
 "I mean I'm Hollywood old. I'm 39. Tell him Maggie." Alex turned around to her sister.
 "Yes you are Hollywood old. When I'm 39 I'll be playing George Clooney’s mother." Maggie repeated a line she had said many times before.
 "Well I'm not from Hollywood. In the real world you are young. Old people aren't this beautiful day drunk on margaritas." He smiled over at Al as they walked down the few steps and out into the parking lot.
 "I like you even if you aren't a bartender and are likely a terrible driver. Please be careful with my baby sister." Al slurred.  Harry was totally confused. He just continued to smile.
 The valet saw Liza and ran for her SUV. Liza spoke to the other valet about leaving Maggie's car. Liza told Maggie she would make sure the car got to her house.
 "This is me." Harry motioned to the black Range Rover near the front door. "It was so nice to meet you. Both of you."
 "We should do this again sometime." Alex said. "This was so fun. You are fun Harry." Alex gave him a hug. He was laughing now and hugging her back. “Remember what I said about driving safely.”
 Liza's SUV pulled up. "Get in the car Drunkerella." Liza said to Alex.
 "Bye Bubs. I love you. Drink lots of water ok." Maggie hugged Alex and kissed her cheek.
 "Aww I love you my baby. My first baby." Alex kissed her forehead and pulled her in close looking weepy. "Do you know when you were little  -"
 "Fucking hell Al get in the goddamm car before you start crying." Liza yelled from the driver's seat. Maggie helped Alex in.
 "You aren't the boss of me, Liza.  I'm not scared of you. I'll kick your ass."
 "Goodbye you two. Have a pleasant drive all that way together. Sad I'm going to miss it." Maggie laughed as she shut the door.
 Now both Maggie and Alex turned to flip her off.  Then they were pulling out onto Beverly.  
 Harry had tears in his eyes from laughing.  "What the hell was that? Your sisters are fantastic. What does she know about my driving? Did she talk to my mum?”
 Maggie lightly shoved his arm. He led her to his SUV and opened the passenger door. Harry waved a thank you to the valets and then got in the driver's side.
 "So Maggie Dunne, what do you feel like doing?" He asked as he pulled out of the lot.
 "Well Harry Styles I have eaten. I have had margaritas. Not sure there is anything better than that."
 "More margaritas?"
 "And just like that you figured it all out." She smiled over to him.
 "A frozen Casamigos margarita by the pool?"  Harry raised an eyebrow.
 "Yes please."
 "Is my place okay?" Maggie nodded her approval. "So your sisters are hysterical.  Oh my God I might love Alex."
 "Everyone loves Alex. She's the mom. She's not whoever that lady was. I mean not normally. She is going to be mortified tomorrow but I'm glad she had fun today. You have a sister, right? What’s she like?"
 "Really smart. She's sarcastic. Reminds me a lot of Alex when she has had too much to drink. Whiskey not tequila. Like your sisters, she's my best friend."
 "Teller of truths? An ass kicker? And she is in England?"
 "Yes, exactly.  She does live in London. She comes quite a bit to visit me here which is nice. I mean I have to annoy her into it but she gives in."
 "It is nice to have that. You know I moved here alone. Broke. I had this dream that I would be on my favorite soap opera. Maybe go to college. I got my role on the soap and then a few months later I got a part in a Scorcese movie. Once my dreams started to become a reality it was hard to enjoy it without them. So they gave up their lives at home and moved here. All six of us lived in my little house."
 "No way! Your house you live in now?"
 "Yup. It was crazy but still some of my happiest memories were made together there."
 Maggie looked around. "You live near the Strip?" They were on Sunset.
 "Above." Harry pointed up.
 She smiled "Have to be close to the excitement?"
 "I did when I bought it. Now it feels a little silly." He said as he pulled at his bottom lip.
 Maggie pressed her thighs together feeling aroused just by that simple move. He was effortlessly sexy.
 The Range Rover climbed the hills. Harry hit the clicker and a large gate opened. A white three story house with massive windows and glass railed terraces stood before them. He parked just outside of the garage.
 They let themselves out of the car. Harry looked Maggie up and down for what was probably the millionth time in the thirty minutes since he had picked her up. She was in a white lightweight tweed Chanel dress with drop waist and black ribbon trim, black tights and black patent heels. The dress had a Chanel signature brooch pinned over Maggie's heart. Her blonde hair was loose and her lips painted perfectly red.
 He closed the distance between them. "You look really beautiful today." Harry said.
 A small smile danced on Maggie's lips. Harry wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.
 "Thank you. This is my ladylike business meeting look. Hoped I could seal the deal in it."
 Now it was Harry's turn to smile. "Oh you've sealed the deal Miss Dunne."
 She rolled her eyes. "Is that you trying to get in my pants? Ugh, that was tragic." They laughed.
 Harry took Maggie's hand and led her into the house. She looked around at all the dark furniture and tall ceilings. This was an LA bachelor pad for sure. There was some large pieces of art hanging but beyond that not much else said Harry lived there.
 "I feel you judging me. I was 20 when I bought this place." He said a little self-consciously. "And I know it isn’t homey and warm like your place. I just don’t spend enough time here for that.”
 "I'm not judging you. Stop being such a weirdo." She laughed.
 "How about I make us those drinks? Then we can go out by the pool?"
 "I'm in." Maggie followed Harry to the kitchen.
 Harry fussed around making drinks in an oversized frozen margarita maker. Maggie stepped out of her heels. She laid her Chanel bag on the stool of the kitchen island.  
 "Salted rim?" He inquired, looking over as she shimmied out of her black tights.
 Maggie sighed in relief as she was freed. "Yes please. Sorry I have been dying to take those off."
 "Get comfortable. No worries." Harry salted both glasses and poured the drinks.
 Maggie slipped her dress off and put it on the back of the chair. She stood clad in her white boy shorts and matching bra. "I mean I can't wear tweed by the pool." She shrugged accepting the drink.
 Harry swallowed hard. Then he pulled his t-shirt off and then quickly shucked off his jeans. Now he stood in his black boxer briefs. His palms itched with want to touch her.  Maggie let her eyes wander freely.
 "You lead the way."  Her tongue slowly licked a spot of the salt and then sipped the cold margarita.
 Harry's pulse quickened at the sight. He turned and pushed the large wall of glass doors open.
 They made themselves comfortable on a double wide chaise. Maggie leaned back facing the pool. Harry faced her with his legs crossed in front of him pretzel style.
 'What sort of torture devices were you wearing?" He asked, looking at the red angry creases in her feet.
 She smiled looking down.  "Very expensive ones. They're ok."  Harry pulled her foot into his lap and began to gently massage. Maggie's eyes fluttered and she bit down on her bottom lip.
 "Better?" He asked.
 "Are you bad at anything?"
 He thought. 'So many things.’ Instead he laughed and kissed the pad of her foot. Then he started on the second foot.
 Maggie slowly sipped the margarita and watched Harry. Her body was on fire. Normally she wouldn't see someone twice and even so never two days in a row.
 Once Harry kissed the second foot she put her drink down. Then rolled off the chaise and onto her feet. His eyes followed her as she walked to the pool and gracefully dove in.
 He took that as his cue to follow her. Harry was not quite as graceful but he launched his long body in.  Making a splash he heard Maggie laugh. It was a lovely sound.  Before he had blinked all the water from his eyes he felt her legs wrap around his middle.
 Maggie pressed her lips to his. He parted them to allow her tongue entry. He had wanted to kiss her from the moment he picked her up today.  He wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pulled her in by the back of her neck. She smiled against his lips.
 Looking down at her now sheer bra and seeing her pink nipples stand at attention made him instantly hard.  Maggie pushed his wet hair back. Her hands slipped down and laid loosely around his neck.
 "Thank you for coming to pick me up."
 "Well thank you for coming over. If I'm honest I was nervous to call. We didn't really establish any ground rules this morning."
 "Ground rules? I think you should know I'm not incredibly fond of rules. I like organization and order. Rules not so much."
 Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh a bad girl, a rule breaker." He let his hands run down her back and squeeze her perfect ass.
 Maggie let out a surprised squeal. "I'm not sure I'm quite a badass. Just not a fan of rules. What sort of ground rules are we talking about?"
 "I guess I just meant when I left this morning we didn't establish if that was a one time thing,  if I should call you or you should call me."
 "Yeah that. This morning I was so focused on the meeting I was going to. I'm happy you called.  I had fun last night." She smiled as she tangled her fingers in the back of his hair.
"You are very easy to have fun with."
 "So are you. So let's not overthink it."  Maggie leaned back into the water to get her hair wet. Harry quietly groaned at the sight of her nipples straining against the sheer white bra. "How about one ground rule?"  
 "I'm listening."
 "We can call or text whenever we want but no pressure. Busy? Not feeling it? No problems. Keep it casual."
 "You have yourself a deal. Should we shake on it?"
 Maggie shook her head. "I don't want to shake your hand. I want you to take me inside and fuck me." She said boldly in his ear thanks to tequila.
 Harry moved swiftly with Maggie still around him to get to the pool stairs. He kissed her one last time before they untangled themselves. Maggie took the hand he offered her as they rushed toward the house.
A few orgasms later …
 “What happened here? Appendix?” Harry asked. He let his finger linger over a small white scar on her lower pelvis as he kissed her shoulder.  He was propped up on his elbow, legs tangled with hers. Maggie gave him a small smile.
 “Uh no. I had a tummy tuck and up here if you look close enough you can see where my arms were done. After I lost all of that weight I just had too much loose skin. Needed a little surgical help.” She shrugged it off.
 “I’m sorry that was rude of me. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t know.” He stuttered, turning a bit red with embarrassment.
 “It’s ok. You didn’t know I was fat or I had cosmetic surgery? Everyone knows I used to be fat. You are a shit google searcher if you completely missed my fat pictures. I mean no matter how many photos are taken of you and your abs in your bikini people will always put them side by side with your fat photos.”
 Maggie reached for the sheets and pulled them up a bit self conscious. Harry pulled her in closer by the waist. He leaned in and kissed her mouth as he gently pulled the sheet back.
 “Don’t do that. I’m sorry I didn’t know. I’m not trying to embarass or hurt you.”
 “Honestly it’s who I am. It’s part of my story.  I just thought you knew.”
 “Do you want to talk about it?” Harry asked unsure if he should drop the topic or not.
 “Not much to talk about. I used to be fat and now I’m not. It isn’t that deep.” Lies. Liar. It’s deep. Really fucking deep. You are never getting close enough for that buddy.
 He nodded sensing he should leave this alone for now. “Would you object to a shower together and a snack?”
 Maggie leaned up and captured his lips between hers. She cocked an eyebrow when she asked, “What sort of snack are we talking about?”
 Harry’s tongue trailed down her body until it reached the scar. He marked her there and it soothed it with his tongue. He made his short descent down her body to between her legs. “I was actually thinking about feeding you but I’ll take mine first.”
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baddieinc · 2 years
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i am gonna try and make this as coherent as possible since i’m still running on the anxious high of my angels at the vmas (should have never opened twitter tho) 💖💖💖😭 but hello friendos! my name’s maya (she&&her pronouns) and i have not rpd in quite awhile so i’m v sorry if it shows! i’m really happy to introduce you to the light of my life, day, better known to the masses as roxy! she’s flora’s main vocal and she also fancies herself a comedian at times but that’s neither here nor there~ there’s a basic little overview under the cut, as well as some plots and connections i think would be fun! pls hit like if you’d like to plot or brainstorm anything with a v scatterbrained person 🥰
if you’d have told dayeon way back when that she’d now be a famous vocalist amongst a group of other fierce women, she’d probably have laughed in your face. she certainly wouldn’t have believed you. sure, her father had a ton of influence in the business world and their family was quite well off, but that didn’t really mean anything when no one was willing to listen.
she always liked those stories about people who had a passion for singing putting on little miniature concerts when they are little for their friends and families. it may have been nothing more than parading through the living room in their mom’s high heels belting out a ballad at the top of their lungs, but there was something special about the whole thing; them carrying music in their heart for their entire lives.
her family wasn’t the type to listen, though. her father was either always locked in his office or away on business. her mother was busy with a large philanthropic foundation for which she was the chairwoman. her older brother was just that — an older brother. he was more interested in teasing her and hanging out with his own friends.
thankfully, day had skin thicker than her familial bonds, and much of the time, she let it roll off her back. if anything, she seemed to have a one-liner for every situation, choosing to find the humor rather than taking any real offense. 
she was a so/so student, especially against the standards set by the private school she attended. she was always more focused on being the class clown than really paying attention, but still, it made her friends. she always sort of felt she needed to bring something to the table, lest people only befriend her for her wealth. the latter could be such a lonely feeling, and she didn’t fancy it one bit.
through sheer determination, she carved out her place in school socially, becoming known around the facility as uneun sae, due to her tendency to burst into song in the hallways between classes. she had a pleasingly light voice, but the randomness of such an act usually elicited laughter rather than applause, which was fine by her.
still though, dayeon had her aspirations. she wanted to do something pertaining to singing, even if she had to peddle her talents to every open mic night in seoul. her mother was rather encouraging to day and her brother about taking part in extracurricular activities (mostly because it got them out of the house) so dayeon joined a local acapella group with her blessing.
she was really able to flex the muscle within her that ached to sing at their rehearsals, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. the group even had a few local performances which set dayeon’s soul alight. it may not have been a stadium, but it felt amazing to at least perform to an audience who was listening.
good times don’t last forever though — especially when the main vocal in your acapella group kicks you out because they “don’t think you fit into things”. in day’s opinion, it was more a move made out of jealousy, but she refused to dwell on it. after all, success was the best revenge.
not that she actually thought she’d be successful with her next endeavor, but she was feeling a bit spiteful and overconfident. she recorded an emotional audition video of her singing her lungs raw, and even still, she never let up on any of the notes. before going to sleep that night, she passively emailed it to a few music companies, not really expecting a response. it was more so just getting it out of her system.
it took about two weeks, but a couple of the companies actually responded to her email with an invitation to audition in person. she was overjoyed, but also, at a loss for what to do. she never even expected to hear back, let alone be invited to an audition. she had this intuitive feeling that asking her parents outright to allow her to accept the opportunity might not pan out, so she conceived another plan.
she'd travel to stay with her aunt, who conveniently lived much closer to her chosen label’s headquarters, but her cover story would be...fictional to say the least. to her parents’ knowledge, day was to attend a highly reputable finishing school. she spun it as a way to discipline out that goofy streak she seemed to have, which had always embarrassed them. they agreed to the idea, with hopes of their daughter transforming into the perfect, proper princess they’d always wanted.
little did they know, she was taking her first steps towards a different life altogether. at her aunt’s place, she felt a sense of peace and normalcy. the woman lived a much more humble life than that of dayeon’s parents, but it was refreshing. she didn’t feel like there was any kind of appearance she had to keep up; she could just let her hair down and be a mess if she wanted to. no one was there to tell her to “behave the way she was raised”. 
a calm place to unwind was about to become more important to day than ever, as she wound up passing the next round of auditions for new star entertainment — the company she’d been eyeing the hardest. she didn’t take too much time for breaks though, as she knew she had to stay on her game and then some to make this a reality. it was one of the hardest times in her life, to say the least. the work was grueling, but the company shaped dayeon into a top tier talent by the end of her trainee period.
not only was she a very polished vocalist, but she’d become a passable dancer as well, able to keep in time with others when it was an area she’d epically failed in before. soon enough, it was time to take that next leap into a world that was only somewhat familiar. there were talks of forming a group named flora, but day didn’t know yet if she’d make the cut. still, it was probably high past time to tell her parents the truth.
one night, while she and her aunt were seated in the living room, she decided to make that dreaded call. she knew they’d be upset, but they were now threatening to come there and force her to go back home. she begged and pleaded with them not to, reminding them that they’d never been willing to listen to her. now that someone was listening, they wanted to take it away from her? this seemed to back them down a bit to at least let her try the experience.
all that squared away, she still had one goal left to achieve — be among the final lineup for flora. even if the group only released one song and then disbanded, she’d have still counted herself lucky for even being apart of it.
when the announcement came, she was indeed made the main vocalist of the group, which was even more than she was hoping for. it actually made her a bit nervous, but she was more than willing to take on the task. as for whether they released one song and disbanded? not exactly.
flora is now in its 8th year, with multiple hit albums behind them and ahead of them. day, better known as roxy these days, has matured and evolved with the group itself, even if she’s still a giant goofball at the end of the day. she’s leaned into the fashion forward nature of being an idol, rather than the casual and simple style that used to adorn her, and now she’s a bit of a shopaholic. it’s something her managers try to limit, since leaving her in a mall with a credit card can prove dangerous, but she’s still happier than ever :)
plot ideas
flora sisterhood - her bestie within flora & her platonic soulmate in a way. they can just sort of communicate across the room with facial expressions, which often leads to other people looking at them like like they’re unhinged. you often can’t find one without the other, that’s just how they roll.
age of aquarius - day’s favorite form of exercise since becoming an idol is 100% swimming, even if it devolves from a workout into simply playing in the pool more than half the time. you enjoy the activity for your own reasons, and every time you go to the pool, you know there’s a good chance day will be there too. hopefully she makes it a bit more fun!
paradise lost - you were day’s first real relationship during her trainee years. she was still figuring out who she was in the crazy world of fame, and you took her by storm with everything that you were. you wound up betraying her in the end, and she’s still left with trust issues because of it. having to see you thriving after ripping her heart out robs even day of her ability to crack a smile.
secret friends - even though our fanbases may not get along and pit our groups against one another, we’ve become friends in all the madness. too bad we can’t actually hang out in public, or it would cause a huge uproar.
baddie influence - when day calls herself a baddie, she’s mostly being facetious, but since coming under the wing of an actual baddie, it may be starting to rub off on her. dayeon is suddenly instilled with a confidence and swagger she didn’t have before every time she hangs out with you and it’s done wonders for her self esteem.
i’d also love things like frenemies, day appeared in your mv when she was a trainee, always rooming together, day’s kinda in love w you and you don’t realize it, you fainted after practice and day took care of you, honestly any lil plot i’d love to do! i’m also happy to brainstorm anything, so yeah! 💖
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ani-soup · 1 year
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The New Velma Series Has Me Going Jinkies!
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When the new animated series Velma launched a few weeks ago, it did something that no other show in the history of entertainment has done: unite everyone on the internet in hatred of it. For the first time, people on both sides of the political aisle expressed their disappointment of the new Scooby-Doo spin-off, which premiered on HBO Max on January 12 in the year of Our Lord 2023. But why is it so?
Well, for starters, it could have something to do with the fact that the teaser trailer, which outright mocked fans for wanting the show to stay true to the source material. Because attacking the people who consume your product always ends well (am I right, G4TV?).
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It could also have to do with the fact that for this “incarnation” of Scooby Doo, the gang’s characters  have all been skewered and butchered and tossed to the wayside. For example,  Daphne Blake, who was the team mom in previous incarnations, is now a vapid high school bully not unlike the type you would see in Mean Girls. This mishandling of such a popular character was such that her OG voice actress, Grey DeLisle, actually made fun of the show using her character’s catchphrase.
Grey DeLisle on Twitter: "JEEPERS!!! #velmadinkley https://t.co/SaPva18G2u" / Twitter
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The butchering doesn’t stop there. Fred, who was commonly depicted as the smart, charismatic leader who was obsessed with traps, is now a rude, spoiled, privileged manchild who is commonly the butt of other people’s jokes. At one point, Velma remarks that Fred is unable to feed himself during a court hearing, and cue a scene where Fred is trying (and failing miserably) to do so, much to the amusement of everyone in the court. He is also something of a misogynist, at point claiming that he can't remember Velma's name because he blatantly thinks that she's unattractive.  This version of Shaggy, now named Norville, meanwhile, is now a beta male who is trying (and failing) to win Velma’s affection and has none of the original counterpart’s charm or cowardice (though his love of snacks remains). I’m fully willing to bet that Norville is not gonna last a minute against Ultra Instinct Shaggy. One common criticism of the new series is that there is virtually no Scooby Doo in this show, despite being a spin-off of the Scooby Doo property.  Well, considering how his human companions have been dragged through the mud, this is probably the best thing to our beloved Great Dane.
Speaking of Velma, I’ve saved the worst for last. From the minute it was announced that she would be brownwashed and voiced by Mindy Kaling, I instantly knew not to expect the best from the franchise. Mindy Kaling is one of those unfunny comedians who relies too much on shock humor, not to mention she’s a raging liberal SJW. The last bit is important because she’s what is commonly referred to as an NPC. Her response to the news that people were not on board with the new South Asian Velma was that “tHeY’rE jUsT rAcIsT!” (Ms. Kaling, I feel the need to inform you that as a fellow South Asian, I also do not like your bastardization of one of my favorite childhood franchises.) Not to mention a clip has recently surfaced of her unashamedly admitting of her giving an improvised kiss to a fellow actor and threatening to have him fired if he told anyone about this. What’s even more disturbing is that the audience was laughing the entire time, as if sexual assault to a man is hilarious. (Imagine if the genders were reversed, would it still be funny then?) As for Velma herself, I can’t say that I really like her, considering how she treats everyone in her vicinity. While her previous incarnations were snarky as well, they were a lot less mean-spirited compared to this version, who is clearly unhinged and more judgmental and bitter towards just about anyone. Who wants to be about such a bundle of positivity and joy all the time?
It's no surprise that so many people have come to despise both the show and the creator. It currently sits at a record 1.3/10 on IMDB, and has been dubbed the worst animated show in modern history. (No, seriously!) There are plenty of ways to make an adult reboot of a children’s franchise. This is not one of them. Whether you’re familiar with Scooby or not, this show isn’t for you. You’re better off watching either Scoobynatural or Mystery Incorporated if you want to see a darker, edgier Scooby Doo done properly.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be watching some What’s New Scooby Doo? as a palate cleanser for whatever the hell this mess is.
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The Outsider From Opulence Chapter 26: Sodapop Curtis x OC
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Chapter 26: I Just Wanted You To Say Something Loving.
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POV: Elliot's  
"Mother, I'm getting released from the hospital for a reason. You don't need to treat me like I'm made of glass." I say with a laugh.  
"Elliot Turner Monroe, your ribs are still bruised, your wrist is broken, and not to mention it looks like your jaw is now permanently the color blue." She scolded. 
"I'm fine," I reply with a roll of my eyes. 
"Oh, you are?" She asked mockingly. 
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say, doubling down on my point. 
"Alright, well, if you're so confident that you're fine. Then you can bend down and pick up that bag full of your clothes then huh?"
 I looked over at her begrudgingly. She laughed at my now sour mood. 
"Don't be mean mom." I grumbled.
"At least I was able to put my jacket on." I add defiantly.  
"It just took you ten minutes." She teased me playfully. 
"It's progress, isn't it?"  
 "I guess so," she said softly, as she came over to my brushing my hair back. "You know for someone who's been groaning for two days saying he wants to get out of here you sure do move slowly." 
I huffed indignantly before abruptly standing up. I bit back the urge to cringe at the pain that blossomed onto my ribs. "I choose to move at my own pace." 
"Uh huh." Mom spoke skeptically. "Let's get out of here already. You need to lay down in your own bed." 
"Mom, I think if I spend another day stuck in bed I may cry." I replied with a forced smile. 
Mom scoffed at my dramatics, shaking her head humorously. "Elliot, your friends and boyfriend came to see you, didn't they?" 
"Yes, but usually when we hang out, I can move." I mutter as we walk toward the front desk.
 "Well Elliot, my energetic social butterfly you are just going to have to slow down a bit." Mom said, pointing a finger at me.  
"I know I do; it just sucks." I complain.
 "I know it does honey, I know it does."  
~~~  
I could help but notice how tense mom seemed as she drove us home. Any humor she once had before was gone. She had hardly left the hospital these past two days. The only times she did was to get a shower or something to eat. And I noticed the times she would leave would be when dad wasn't at the house. But she would have to face him today. Fridays were always his day off.   Mom cleared her throat, her face swimming in reluctance.
"Umm, Elliot. I think that before you go on up to your room that we should talk with your dad." She suggested. 
I knew her suggestion wasn't something I'd have a choice in. 
"Mom, I don't want to deal with him." I sighed out, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. 
"I don't want to deal with him either but, this isn't something we can just let go." Mom spoke as strong as she could. 
"Well, we've let things go like that before."  
"Yeah, and look where that's gotten us." Mom rebutted. 
"Our family ain't doing to hot right now." I sighed out, not replying to her at first. "It hasn't been good for a while." 
“I know it hasn't." Mom spoke, her sentence slightly faltered at the end of it. Her face scrunched slightly. It was always something she did when she tried to keep herself from crying. 
"Don't cry mom." I comfort.  
She sniffled slightly before shaking her head. "I'm not crying," she spoke defiantly. "I'm just angry, god I'm so angry at him." She added tensely. 
I didn't know what to say to her, so I just let her have a moment to rant about whatever she wanted to.  
"I didn't imagine my life with him would end up like this." She spoke sadly. 
"I'm offended mother." I joked in the hopes of making her laugh. Thankfully, she did.  
"Oh, if there's one thing I got from my imagination. It was having a son who's as spirited as you." She replied lovingly. 
"You're a bad liar." I teased her, giving her a smirk.  She stopped at a red light, turning to me. 
"I mean it you little comedian. I always imagined I would have a son."   
"Why a son?" I asked curiously. 
She shrugged her shoulders in reply as she began to drive again. "It was just a dream of mine, I guess. she muttered with a small smile. 
"How did you two react when you both found out about you were pregnant?" I inquire. 
"Well, I was completely thrilled but, we were only 20. So, your dad's first reaction was complete panic if I'm being honest." 
"That's fair." I reply understandingly. 
"But when he got over the initial panic, he got pretty excited too. And let me tell you, your dad was even more elated when you were born." She explained fondly. 
"Really?" I asked skeptically. 
"Of course." She spoke confidently. "He hated spending a minute apart from you." She added humorously.  
That's hard to believe nowadays. 
"We didn't have a dime to our name back then. Grandpa Monroe wasn't too thrilled with him for having a kid so young he cut him off for a while."  
Well, now I know one of the reasons dads act the way he does. Maybe that's why he... 
"So, he dropped dad from the construction business?" 
"Oh, he didn't just do that. He cut the fund he had set up for him too. And he didn't talk to your father for almost a year." Mom explained disapprovingly. 
"He had to be pretty stressed out then." I comment, imagining how much he could've lashed out.
 "Actually, he wasn't too bad. We were pretty darn happy with how we were living." A small smile made its way onto her face.  
I scoffed lightly at her. "I just can't imagine my father being happy without having a dime to his name."
 Mom laughed bitterly before replying. "I could see why; it seems like all he does anymore is obsess over that stuff." She said with a roll of her eyes. "But he really was happy back then and, he loved you to death. He treated you like you could do no wrong." She added humorously. 
"Wish I could've remembered that time in my life." I muttered. "Now it feels like all he ever focuses on was the things I do and could do wrong." 
Mom's smile diminished at once, her lips now pursed in anger. "I know." Her face now adorned with the look of disapproval. "I don't know what happened to him. I mean... I know people change as they get older but, I never expected for him to turn into such a bitter, angry man."  
"I'm used to it, mostly because I got a lot more of the bitterness than the good parts of him." I mumble, a dry laugh following my sentence.  
Mom let out a deep sigh. I noticed that her grip on the steering wheel tightened again. "He really wasn't always like that Elliot." She muttered. "If he was, I don't think I ever would've-" She paused, as she drew her lips into a thin line.  
She didn't have to finish her sentence for me to know what she was going to say. 
"I don't know what happened to him." She muttered.
 We sat in silence; the occasional wiring of a car would pass by. I looked over at my mom's conflicted expression.   
"Ask him then mom." 
She looked at me reluctantly, her eyes flickering back and forth from the road to me.  "I don't know-"  
 "You can't be scared to hurt his feelings." I interrupted gently.  
 "I don't think I could stand up to him like I did before Elliot." She muttered nervously. 
"You don't have to do it like you did before. Just keep cool and talk about anything you need to. I got your back mom." I say reassuringly. 
She didn't verbally respond to me. She instead opted for a quick nod. 
 ~~~  
The rest of the ride was silent. Mom grew more nervous the closer she got to the house. She breathed in a shaky breath once she parked behind dad's car.  
"I'll start the conversation if that'll make you feel better." I speak humorously.  
 "No, you don't have to do that." Mom mumbled before pushing open the car door. I followed suit, watching as she nervously unlocked the front door.  
The familiar stern voice that would usually echo in the house was desolate today. The house seemed uncomfortably silent. 
"Go sit down," Mom said as we walked into the empty living room. "I'm going to go find him." Before I could reply to her, she walked off. Leaving me in an unusually quiet room.
 As I sat waiting for the inevitable conversation, we would all have. The urge to hurry back up into my room got stronger. But I knew I couldn't; mom was right; we would have to face this whole mess eventually.   
Who knows, maybe mom would finally wake something up in him...  
"Where the hell have you been in the past two days!" My father's voice suddenly called out.  
 Or not...  
 "You have the nerve to ask me where I've been, really? I've been with your son in the hospital for the past two days that's where!" Mom rebutted back with ease. 
I guess her nerves didn't last for too long.  
"Well, where is he at?" He questioned tensely. 
"He's in the living room." I could then hear stomping footsteps coming closer toward me. Mom followed after him quickly. "And don't you dare walk in there and yell at him!"  
"Don't tell me what to do when dealing with my son." Dad grumbled, his voice growing louder by the second.  
"Oliver-"  I shot up as quickly as I could off the couch. The fire that rested in my father's dark eyes made me feel uncomfortable. He seemed furious, but when he went to speak, he seemed like he didn't know what to say. 
"What do you want, sir?" I ask, starting off the conversation.  
He didn't reply to me. His eyes merely pierced through me. 
"Go on, Oliver. Talk to your son." Mom added, her arms now crossed tensely.   
 "D-don't you two start ganging up on me." He spat, collapsing in his armchair.  
"Why not?" Mom started with a bitter smirk. "You had no problem doing that to him before."  
Dad glared over at mom but surprisingly, his icy stare faltered once he saw her icier eyes. He huffed and turned back around to me. 
"Look, I never wanted you to get hurt Elliot, really, I didn't. But that doesn't mean that what you're doing isn't wrong still." 
"That almost sounded like an apology sir." I reply, carefully, sitting back down onto the couch. 
"Elliot, I admitted that I was partially wrong here, what else do you want me to do?" Dad asked testily. 
"Oliver-" Mom spoke in a warning tone. 
"Mom, I don't mean to interrupt here but I do have something I want for him to do." I replied calmly. 
"What do you want me to do, get on my hands and knees and beg for your forgiveness?" He mocked.  
"No, I want you to admit that you're treating me the same way Grandpa Monroe treated you." 
Dad seemed to suddenly get a lost look on his face. I turned to see my mother staring at me with slightly wide eyes.  "I don't know what you're talking about."  
 "Yes, you do. Mom told me he cut you off the second you did something he didn't agree with. So that probably means that he put an absorbent amount of pressure on your back before then, right?"
"It was pressure I needed. It kept me out of trouble and taught me a lesson when I fought against." He spoke lowly, a finger pointing crookedly at me.  
 "That pressure pissed you off, sir. Don't lie to me. You kissed his ass, all your life probably too then huh?"  
"I had respect for my father, something you should have yourself." He spat.
I ignored his statement and instead continued on with my rant. "A-and the second you for once did something for yourself instead of him. He treated you more badly than he ever had before." 
"He did not." Dad replied tensely.
"Yes, he did, Oliver." Mom jumped in. 
" It had to sting. I'm sure it did. But you would think that sting would make you break the cycle he started then. But after a while of independence, you probably crawled back to him, telling him how sorry you were for disrespecting him." I sneered.  
"I did what I had to do, Elliot." 
"But that doesn't mean you had to treat me like he treated you." I replied, I could feel some insurmountable number of emotions bubbling to the surface.  
 "Hey!" Dad yelled, jumping from his seat. "I've treated you good Elliot, how dare you-" 
"Oliver, Elliot is not here to get interrupted with a lecture every five seconds. So, for once in your life sit down and listen to what your son has to say!" Mom ordered. 
"I won't take away the good moments I've had with you. But if you're going to sit there and tell me that you haven't been treating me like shit for most of my life then you are more delusional than I thought." 
Dad went to speak, but mom gave him a look.  
"I mean, my god dad I felt like I couldn't tell you about anything!" I start taking a deep breath. "If I did something wrong, you'd rip my head off. If I did something good, you'd still rip my head off. You'd guilt the hell out of me so many times I felt like I wanted to puke whenever you wanted to talk to me."  
Dad scoffed at me. "I never-" 
"Elliot, if you don't take over the family business you could make your mother and I lose everything I've worked for. Elliot, I didn't mean to get so tough on you. You just force me to act that way sometimes." I begin. 
"Okay I might've said some brash things sometimes." He brushed off. 
"Why don't you ever listen to me? Don't you love your mother and I? Just do this one thing for me, I do so many things for you!" I ranted. I could feel my nerves begin to heighten. 
"Let me tell you dad. I didn't want to do things you told me to do because they were completely ridiculous. And I did listen to you back then dad. I bent to your every whim. I'd just smile and nod even though most of the crap you said was completely moronic!"   
Dad looked at me as though I had slapped him across the face. 
"But what pushed me over the edge was pressure you were starting to put on me. You'd... hammer it in my head the things I needed to do and be when I got older. But I didn't need pressure I just needed your support." My voice wavered at the end of my sentence.  
Mom looked over at me in concern before speaking up. "Elliot, calm down, okay? Don't stress yourself out."  
"I'm fine mom, I'm fine." I reassure shakily.  
"You needed the pressure Elliot, if I just let you go around doing whatever you wanted to do. You'd be completely lost." 
"There's a difference between a little bit of pressure and putting 10 tons of metal on my back. I felt like I never got the chance to think for myself. And if I did, you'd make me feel like a complete joke." I admitted bitterly.  
"Because some of the stuff you wanted to do was a complete joke!"  
 I scoffed angrily, huffing out a breath of frustration. "Oh my god... you always wondered why I didn't tell you anything! Your mouth is what caused me to not trust you with anything that was going on in my life. You felt more like a boss to me than a father. I didn't love and support from you, I got a cold shoulder and orders."  
"Elliot, please-" Dad started with a roll of his eyes.
"You've been trying to turn me into you for as long as I could remember. But it's never going to happen, so give it up already!" I yelled. I ignored the screams of protest my ribs gave me. 
"I swear to God I will never be you! I will never act like you! I will never treat anyone the way you do. And if I ever have kids, I will never make them feel the hate that you inflicted on me!" 
"Elliot, go upstairs, please go upstairs." Mom jumped in, probably worried I was straining myself. When I didn't move, she began to gently guide me out of the living room. "Please, just go relax, okay? I need to talk to your father." She spoke softly. 
"Okay." I reply hoarse before clearing my throat.  As I walked into my room and slammed my door shut. I began to feel some sort of strange relief. Like some of the pressure I had on my back began to lighten up a little. Even though my ribs stung intensely, I couldn't help but feel like I could breathe a little clearer again.  
I guess It was about time I let out all the things I was taught to hold onto for all these years... 
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du-warstmeinkompass · 5 months
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Idk I feel like there are some funny jokes about dropping soap and a comedian on a podcast was joking about “if you’re gonna kill yourself do something really fun with it like fight a bear or something just to be like “sorry mom I had to see if I could do it”” and as someone who’s thought about it before a lot that cracked me up. Just imagining myself fighting a bear. I think it’s really common now adays for people to joke about ways to donit to themselves tbh. It’s kinda overplayed in that way but still
Yeah I mean I get what you’re mean, I love laughing about my own misery and and I’m fan of dark humor - but I think there are things that nobody needs to joke about anymore. But that’s just my personal view and I guess some of it just hits too close to home :)
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annqennel · 3 years
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Ranboo on a hanger what will he do?
My mom laughed at this I’ve reached peak comedy
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katsukisilkbonnet · 2 years
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Bookworm
Hello my girls, gals, and non-binary pals! I cannot thank you guys enough for all of your patience and kindness. I’m happy to release part 2 of Bookworm for all of you to read! Please continue to like, reblog, and leave comments and feedback!
Minors Do Not Engage please and thank you. 
                                               ______________
Paiing: DIlf!Kirishima x LIbrarian!Reader
Word Count: 1.4K
Warnings: Kiri is aged up, Age gap, Kissing, Kiri is completely whipped for the reader.
Here’s the links for the Drabble & Part 1
                                              ______________
“Wow, I swear you get prettier each time we see each other. What are you, some magical entity?” He asks, leaning on the door for support. 
You giggle at the cheesy compliment and shake your head no in response. 
“No, actually I’m a vampire, now invite me into your home.” You say back with an awful Dracula voice. 
“Ah and she’s funny too! I’m just super lucky today huh?” He steps to the side and let’s you in. 
You look around as you walk through the door and take in your new surroundings. The living room is much bigger than any living room you’ve stepped foot in. 
“Your living room is the size of my bedroom and bathroom combined, I can only imagine how big that is” You comment once you’ve settled in on the couch
If this goes well you’ll get to see and be in bed before the night ends. 
Kiri thinks to himself while he watches you get settled on the sofa, he fills the space next to you and gets comfortable as well. 
“I mean it’s not anything too impressive, just a bed, some extra furniture. Y’know nothing too impressive” He shrugs his shoulders and looks over at you. 
“What does your bedroom look like?” He raises an eyebrow and waits for you to give him an answer.
“It’s nothing impressive, just a bed and some furniture. Kind of like someone else that I know.” You giggle when he rolls his eyes at your answer.
“So you’re a comedian now too? You’re just an all rounder aren’t you?” He teases, causing you to quickly shake your head.
“I’m actually far from it, the most amazing thing I can do is cook and that’s only so impressive.” Kiri perks up quickly at the mention of food. 
“Wait, you can cook! I don’t think you realize how lovely that is to hear.” He says excitedly, emitting a laugh from you.
“Really now, so you’re one of those single dads that can’t cook huh?” You raise an eyebrow and the older man nods his head in shame.
“I can cook basic things like noodles, toast, y’know the basic stuff.” You try to stop yourself from laughing, but can’t help to let out a giggle.
“You’re too fucking cute. Come on, I'll whip something up for us, and maybe even give you a lesson too.” You stand up from your spot on the couch and make your way into the large kitchen.
Ejirou feels his heart swell when you offer to cook for him, it’s been a long time since he’s had a nice home cooked meal. 
“Y/N, you’re doing too much! You don’t have to cook for me, you’re my guest. I should be doing this for you if anything.” He says, standing up to follow behind you.
“Oh please, I need to get back to cooking anyway. I have a degree in culinary and only do so much with it anyways.” You grab the apron off the hook in the kitchen and look around the kitchen for ingredients.
“Woah woah, hold on now, you’re telling me that you’ve got a culinary degree?! How come you work in the library then?” He pulls down the pans that you can’t reach and starts to boil some water for pasta noodles.
“Well my mom opened it up when I was younger so I helped her take care of it until she couldn’t anymore, it’s a bit of a hassle and I wish I opened up my own restaurant instead some days, but the library is like my second home.” You say as you begin to prep the food.
The older man leans on the counter right next to you and smiles as you continue to talk and cook without missing a beat. 
“Don’t let that dream die, like ever, I mean that Y/N. You’re a beautiful and talented girl, you’re going to have that restaurant you want” Kiri says, the smile on his face growing the longer he looks down at you. 
“Oh yeah? What makes you say that, you a psychic now or something?” You ask as you move over to the stove 
“I’m a believer is all, and I believe that you’ve got the potential to have this restaurant. I’ll even help you set it up and everything!” He blurts out excitedly. 
His smile quickly turns into a small frown when you laugh and shake your head at him. 
“Nuh uh! Kiri I love your enthusiasm and encouragement, but baby I can’t just start up a restaurant out of nowhere. Then I’d have to find someone to run the library when I’m not there and someone to be ahead of cooks”
“My friend Katsuki is head chef at this restaurant he’s been at for a few years! And then my friends MoMo and Ochako could definitely take over for you!” He offers excitedly, resting a head on your shoulder.
You turn your head and raise an eyebrow at the man next to you, all you have to do is lean in an inch and your lips would be touching. 
“You’ve just got all the answers don’t you Eji?”
The taller man gently rubs your hips in his hand, giving them a light squeeze at the nickname. 
“Yeah I guess I do.” He replies back to you, still not taking his eyes off of you. 
“I’ll have to think about it of course.” You can’t help but look between his lips and gentle eyes. 
“Does this help convince you a little bit?” 
He turns you to face him directly and cups your cheeks in his large hands, ever so gently attaching your lips together. You drop the spoon in your hand and hold onto his large arms for support.
A whimper falls from your lips and into his mouth when he pulls you in by the belt loops on your jeans.
“E-eji” You mumble against his lips, voice shaking along with your hands as they trail up and down his large muscles.
“You sound so pretty saying my name like that.” He moves his kisses down to your neck and collarbone.
You bite your lip to hold back another moan, and pull away from his urgent affection, letting a chuckle lip past your lips.
“First of all, you’ve partially convinced me! Second of all, as much as I want to see what you’ve got down below, I didn’t eat all day.” You rest a finger on his chest and he slaps a hand over his blushing face.
“I-i’m sorry about that, it’s been a while since i’ve been with someone. And your lips are much softer than I imagined. Fuck I just told you i’ve thought aboout how soft your face is.” He rambles on in embarrassment, but you can’t help but be flattered.
“Don’t be ashamed baby, I’d be lying if i said I didn’t have certain thoughts and feelings about you too,” 
He stops pacing and scratches the back of his neck, his cheeks still holding a tint of red in them.
“I swear you’ve got some magical trance on me Y/N.” He confesses to you and you feel your own cheeks warm at his words.
You turn yourself back towards the stove and attempt to reach for the plates in his cabinet, not even your tiptoes helped.
“Here, let me help you.” 
Your heart skips a beat and you stop breathing when his tall and muscular body is pressed up against your backside. You don’t realize how hard you’re gripping the counter until he backs away, and your knuckles go back to their warm brown color. 
“Two plates as you requested, one for me and another for you. I’ll go set up the table and pour us two glasses of wine.” He rubs a hand up and down your back before he disappears into the dining room.
You silently nod your head with a bright smile before letting out a large puff of air, placing a hand on your chest as you try get your heart rate back to a normal pace. 
As you’re making plates for the you both, you realize that you’re most likely not going back to your house tonight.
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reinerispretty · 3 years
Text
reminiscence. (? x f!reader) pt10
hello!!!!!! we r back with another edition of this fic hehe. thank u all for ur support, i appreciate u so much! it’s also five am and i am not even tired so rip. 
also!! who do u think reader should end up with? i have it decided but i’m willing to hear reasoning and perhaps be persuaded ;)
pt1
pt9
pt11
“So, where do we find this Iroh guy?” Mako asked.
“You think he has any relation to General Iroh?” Bolin questioned. “I mean, how many Iroh’s can there really be, y’know?”
“He’s Iroh as in, Zuko and Iroh,” Korra informed them, and Bolin let out a shocked gasp. While she was nervous about getting her memories back, (Y/N) would definitely be grateful not to be absolutely lost when things were discussed.
A Republic City winter was nothing compared to a South Pole winter. (Y/N) was cold while she slept, cold while she moved, cold while she stood still! Korra’s mom had her wrapped up in so many different coats, furs, and blankets that she waddled while she walked. “How are you okay right now?” She asked Korra as they walked to breakfast together. “I feel like my nose is going to fall off.” 
Korra looked back and flashed her a smile. “It’s all I’ve ever known! You just kind of get used to it.” (Y/N) frowned. She couldn’t imagine ever getting used to weather like this. 
As they sat and ate their breakfast--(Y/N) tried to eat, but the layers made it hard to bend her elbows--they discussed their plan for the day. Led by Tonraq, they would travel by snowmobile to the Spirit World Portal. It was a long trip, so they would have to camp for the night, but the next day they would be trekking through the Spirit World looking for answers. “It’s warm there,” Korra said, nudging (Y/N) with her elbow. She smiled gratefully. 
She decided to ride on the back of Korra’s snowmobile. Bolin would be on the back of Asami’s and while Mako also had his own, (Y/N) wasn’t sure if she wanted to have her arms wrapped around him for the entire trip, especially when they hadn’t discussed the things that happened between them. Her and Mako hadn’t discussed things at all, really. She knew they were on better terms since the first time they met, but he was so guarded and she was so scared that anything Mako had to say to her, she might not want to hear. 
So, she waddled over to Korra’s snowmobile. “Mind if I ride with you?” She asked as Korra secured their supplies. 
“Not at all!” Korra said, her face lighting up. Then she cleared her throat and turned her eyes back to tying knots. “Just be sure you hold on tight, okay?” (Y/N) nodded, managing a joking salute. 
She wrapped her arms around Korra’s middle as tightly as she could, but it must not have been enough because as soon as Korra hit the gas, (Y/N) was flung off, landing on her back in the snow. She let out a shout of surprise, followed by a groan as she opened her eyes and saw Korra staring down at her. She wore a humored smile on her face. “I told you to hold on tight!” 
“I was!” (Y/N) insisted as Korra helped her get back to her feet. She pulled some rope from their side pouch and wrapped it around (Y/N’s) waist, then tied it to her own.
“We do this for little kids sometimes, so they don’t get lost in the snow.” (Y/N) narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her. Korra laughed at the childishness and helped her get back on the snowmobile. Then they were off, (Y/N) much more secured this time around. 
As they rode through the snowy hills, (Y/N) leaned her head on Korra’s back, taking in the sights of the Southern Water Tribe. Far out where the sea was, icy glaciers poked through the inky waters, shimmering against the sunlight. Everything was rather sparkly; if (Y/N) looked at the snow for too long her eyes felt sore. She turned her head and waved a gloved hand at Bolin, who gave her a thumbs up from his position behind Asami. 
Sometimes, when she looked at Bolin, it physically hurt her heart. She knew it was some sort of physical reaction, something her body remembered that her head didn’t. The feeling increased when he had referred to them as being friends. There was nothing wrong with being friends, in fact she supposed that was better than any other alternative, but even now she had always thought there was something more between them. Perhaps she had interpreted everything wrong. There was a giant piece of her memory missing, after all, and all she knew was that she had really messed up Bolin when she had left. It was probably better if they were just friends. Bolin was great and she didn’t want to lose him a second time. 
Their ride was so long that (Y/N) had eventually fallen asleep against Korra’s back, only to be awoken by the snowmobile coming to a jolted stop. She awoke and squeaked in fear, gripping on tighter to Korra. 
“Sorry!” She said. “I’ve never been really good at breaking.” 
“You’re going to tell me that after I spent hours on a giant metal deathtrap with you?” (Y/N) huffed. 
“It wasn’t that bad considering you were snoring into my back,” Korra quipped, quickly turning herself around so she could untie them. “You sounded like a lion turtle.” 
“I don’t even know what that is, but I’m sure you’re wrong.” (Y/N) slid off the snowmobile and began untying the packs. 
“Lion turtles used to carry cities on their backs and bestow the gift of bending to humans occasionally.” 
“Think we’ll find one in the Spirit World to grant me some powers?” (Y/N) asked. “What element do you think I’d bend? I think fire’s pretty cool but-” 
“Oh, you’d be an airbender for sure,” Korra said as she hoisted two packs onto her back. (Y/N’s) face lit up.
“Really! Why do you think that? Is it because of my calm and collected nature?” 
“It’s because you talk so much,” Korra explained. “You’re constantly bending air with your mouth.” She booped (Y/N) on the nose before making her way to the rest of the group. 
“You’re hilarious! (Y/N) called after her, gathering her own packs onto her back. “Why don’t you stop being the Avatar and become a comedian instead!” 
They set up their tents and made fire, which was easy work considering two out of the six people in the party were firebenders. As soon as (Y/N) finished her tasks she sat in front of the fire. She was probably too close, but she didn’t care. It’s warmth, albeit small, made her feel just a smidge less cold than she had been, and she’d take it. The rest of their group soon joined her, Asami sitting on one side and Korra sitting on the other. She appreciated the girls protecting her from any awkwardness that could potentially ensue from being near the boys. 
“I’m thinking when we get to the Spirit World, we’ll try our luck at finding Iroh,” Korra explained. “He’s always got spirits around him, maybe one of them will know who took (Y/N’s) memories.”
“And if they don’t?” Mako questioned. “We can’t just wander around the Spirit World hoping for some clue.” 
“Maybe I’ll start remembering again,” (Y/N) suggested. “Like when Bolin took me to the spot where we met. I got that memory back.” 
“You also threw up and passed out from that,” Asami reminded her. (Y/N) pursed her lips. 
“I can handle it,” (Y/N) reassured them. “At this point, I’ll do whatever it takes to get my memories back.” 
“The Spirit World is magnificent, but it’s also dangerous,” Tonraq said. Night had fallen, and his face was illuminated only by the fire. “They might not be happy to see humans there, especially after what happened last time.” 
“I’m the Avatar,” Korra said. “They have to at least listen to me.” 
“I just want you all to be careful. Whatever took (Y/N’s) memories has to be powerful. Maybe dangerous.” 
“We’ll be careful, Dad,” Korra reassured her father. Tonraq trusted his daughter’s abilities, that was obvious, but the worry he held for her was still evident on his features. (Y/N) swallowed, her mouth feeling dry. She hadn’t really considered that this could be a dangerous mission. If she was being honest, she had never really thought this far ahead. She had spent every day maneuvering around the different dynamics of the four friends, making sure that she didn’t overstep her boundaries or create unnecessary problems. She hadn’t considered what would be waiting for them on the other side of the Spirit Portal, or that the people she had grown to cherish would be put in danger for her sake. 
Asami passed around their food and (Y/N) ate silently, considering this information. Her friends talked around her, but she was so distracted that their comments went in one ear and out the other. Once she finally zoned back in, it was just her, Korra, and Mako sitting around the fire. 
Korra let out a big yawn, stretching her arms. “I’m absolutely beat,” She said. “I think I’m gonna turn in. You coming?” (Y/N) shook her head.
“I think I’ll stay near the warmth just a little longer.” Korra nodded and gave them a sloppy salute as she waded through the snow and to the tent she shared with Asami and (Y/N). It was just her and Mako now. 
She stared at the flames of the fire and how they danced in the cold night air. Should she say something to Mako? This was the first time they had been alone together and neither of them had immediately made up somewhere else they needed to be. They’d be heading to the Spirit World tomorrow, so if there was any time for them to communicate, it should be now. 
(Y/N) adjusted her coat, huddling further inside it. “Want me to make it bigger?” Mako asked, and (Y/N) nearly jumped, surprised to hear him talking to her. She looked at him, eyes wide and not quite understanding what he was talking about. “The fire, you want me to make it bigger?” 
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” She said. Mako stared at her for a moment before making the fire larger and while she had said she hadn’t wanted that, (Y/N) was grateful. It was so hard to be straightforward with Mako sometimes, because of the way he jumbled her brain. It was like she didn’t even recognize herself when she was around him anymore. Before, only one emotion accompanied being around Mako, and that was anger. Now, (Y/N) felt a whole range of emotions when she looked at his amber eyes. “I think we should talk,” She said finally, wincing at how small her voice sounded. 
“I think so too,” And he gave her a half smile. (Y/N) nodded, but both of them remained silent. How should she start? How did people even communicate properly? Perhaps the thing (Y/N) was most excited about getting her memories back was how to talk to people normally. She felt so awkward! 
“Why’d you kiss me?” She asked suddenly, her face heating from embarrassment. Mako’s eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead. 
“Oh,” He coughed. “I mean, well, it’s a little--it’s like--” (Y/N) couldn’t help giggling. “What’s so funny?” 
“Nothing!” She insisted, biting down her smile. “You just...you seem so tough and confident and aloof sometimes that it’s funny to see you act so...” 
“Embarrassing?” He guessed. (Y/N) shook her head. 
“Normal?” She tilted her head and shrugged. “You don’t always have to wear this tough guy act, you know.” 
“It’s not an act,” Mako insisted, but he and (Y/N) exchanged a look that had them both stifling back their laughter. “Maybe sometimes. People believe you’re tough if you act like it. Keeps you from getting your stuff stolen when you’re sleeping in a gutter.” 
“You grew up on the streets?” (Y/N) guessed. Mako nodded. 
“Sometimes I forget what you know and what you don’t.” 
“Me too, if we’re being honest.” They paused into a silence that wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, just full of anticipation. “They teach you how to dodge questions on the streets, too?” 
Mako sighed, running a hand through his black hair. “It’s not easy for me to explain stuff like this. Bolin’s the one that can talk about emotions and feelings.” 
(Y/N) smiled. “Bolin can talk about anything.” 
“When we were arguing on that balcony, I wasn’t just angry at you for being here. You hurt Bolin a long time ago, but watching you be with my brother and knowing that I could never be with you...that hurt, too. You were so close to me that night and something inside of me said I should kiss you and once the idea popped into my head, I couldn’t get it out. I think I hoped that once I did it, it’d be some sort of release. Like a way to get it all out so I’d stop feeling like that.” 
“Was it?” 
Mako looked directly into her eyes. Normally, his gaze would make (Y/N) feel weird and she would have to look away. She couldn’t bring herself to do that tonight. 
“Not at all,” He admitted. “I thought I had gotten over you once you disappeared, but once you came back it all hit me full force.” 
(Y/N) thought for a moment about what she wanted to say. Then, she took a deep breath. “I don’t have any memories to base my feelings off of. But there are certain things, feelings, that I remember that I can’t place. They’re just there.” She placed a hand over her heart. “It happens when I look at Bolin. I remember feelings, like sadness and regret, but I don’t know why. It’s overwhelming sometimes, discerning emotions. The things that I feel for Bolin, they’re like past feelings that I’m remembering. Kind of.” She squinted her eyes shut. She wasn’t sure if she was explaining this right, but she was trying her best. “But when I look at you, now that the anger has subsided, I feel things now. Being around you feels nice and when you talk to me, I feel very...light and relieved. I can barely hold your gaze without blushing, and--and I think about you. A lot more than a friend should, I think.” 
“But,” She continued. “I don’t have all of my memories back. I don’t know how or why I left and I don’t know if things will change once I do.” 
“I get it,” Mako said. “As much as someone with memories can.” (Y/N) gave him a small smile. “And I don’t want to confuse you even more, because I’m sure being around Bolin is confusing enough as it is.” 
“You have no idea,” (Y/N) breathed. 
“I’m glad I told you. Almost two years and I finally admitted to my brother’s ex-girlfriend that I had a crush on her the whole time. This is a big day for me.” 
“The whole time?” (Y/N) questioned. “When did you realize that you liked me?” 
“I think Kya told us that we couldn’t share too much about the past with you, or else you might lose your memories forever?” (Y/N) pouted. “Fine, but if you can’t get your memories back, don’t blame me.” The wind picked up over them and he scooted closer to her so that he wouldn’t have to shout over it.
“Aye-aye, Captain,” (Y/N) said, giving a small salute. She rested her chin in the palm of her glove in order to pay attention. 
“There was this one time when you got to our place. Bolin wasn’t there yet, I think he was out performing tricks with Pabu. It was cold outside, one of the coldest days Republic City had had in a while. You came in and you were like an icicle. You were shaking and had forgotten your coat and decided to walk halfway across the city to our place. I gave you a blanket and one of Bolin’s coats, but your hands were still like ice, so I used a little firebending to warm them up.” Mako remembered the feeling of your hands completely encased in his. “I held your hands for a while, until they were warm enough. I got up to leave for work and you grabbed my hand and pulled me back down onto the couch. You said, ‘Stay, Mako! I love having you around.’ So, I stayed. We talked all day until Bolin got home, and I ended up losing that job, but spending that time with you made it all worth it.” 
(Y/N) sat silently for a long while before saying, “I’m sorry for making you lose your job.” 
Mako laughed. “It’s cool,” He said. “I wasn’t a very good delivery boy anyway.” 
(Y/N) pulled off her gloves, exposing her hands to the cold winter air. “Do you think you could...?” She offered her hands to Mako. He gave her a small smile and nodded, removing his own gloves and taking her hands in his. (Y/N) let out a happy sigh of relief at the feeling of warmth that emanated from his skin. 
“I’m sorry for being so mean to you at first,” Mako said. “I just didn’t want Bolin to get hurt again.” 
“I understand,” She said quietly. “I’d probably do the same if I were you.” Cautiously, she leaned her head on Mako’s shoulder. They sat like that for a long while, staring at the fire as Mako held her hands in his. While she was probably even more confused about her emotions than before, part of her hoped that whatever happened in the Spirit World wouldn’t change how she was feeling right now. She wanted to see where this could go. 
---
Once the cold became too much for either of them to bear, Mako and (Y/N) parted ways. Korra and Asami were fast asleep when she entered their tent and slid into her sleeping bag. She fell asleep quickly, her hands still warm, but it felt like she was asleep for only moments when Korra shook her awake in the morning. 
“One more hour,” (Y/N) grumbled, rolling over to avoid Korra’s gaze. The Avatar scoffed. 
“I already let you sleep in as late as possible!” She gently kicked (Y/N’s) butt. “Up! Spirit World today, woohoo!” A very groggy (Y/N) reluctantly left the warmth of her sleeping bag. The early morning sun was absolutely blinding as she walked out of the tent. (Y/N) let out an unhappy grumble. 
“Tea?” Asami offered, handing (Y/N) a thermos. (Y/N) smiled gratefully at her and took a long sip of the beverage, feeling it warm her from the inside out. 
“Thank you so much!” (Y/N) said. “I needed that.” 
“You were up pretty late,” Asami said, giving her a knowing smile. “Any particular reason?” (Y/N) shrugged playfully as she loaded her sleeping bag onto Korra’s snowmobile. 
“Mako and I finally talked.” 
“And? How’d that go?” Asami glanced over at Mako’s who sleepily nodded at whatever Bolin was excitedly saying to him. (Y/N) lightly slapped her friend’s arm. 
“Don’t stare!” She laughed. “It went fine. We talked about our feelings, actually.” Asami’s eyes widened in excitement and she opened her mouth to say something, but (Y/N) cut her off. “And while there are some feelings there, I told him how until I got my memories back, nothing could be certain.” 
Asami hummed in approval. “Seems like a good resolution.” 
“What’s a good resolution?” Korra came over to tie her own belongings to the snowmobile. 
“Mako and (Y/N) finally talked about their kiss.” 
“Woah!” Korra exclaimed. “Are you guys dating now?” 
“I’m missing like seventy-five percent of my memories and you think we’d be dating?” (Y/N) snipped. Korra shrugged. 
“I don’t know what goes on in your head!” 
“Like I told Asami, it was a good conversation. We talked about our feelings but I said that until I got my memories back, nothing could be done. I mean, what if I get them back and there was actually a non-Spirit World reason for why I was so awful to Bolin?” (Y/N) shook her head. “I was honest about how I felt and I think that’s good progress.”
“You know Korra,” Asami started. “Weren’t you telling me yesterday how much your bag hurt from having (Y/N) hold onto you?” 
“What? No?” Korra said, furrowing her dark brows. Asami elbowed her sharply in the side. 
“Remember? You said she held on too tight? Don’t you think that today you should ride on the snowmobile by yourself, since you’ll need to be at your best Avatar abilities in the Spirit World?” 
“I know what you guys are doing and I’m having absolutely none of it!” (Y/N) insisted. “I’m riding with Korra, end of story.” 
“Oh, I see what’s happening here,” Korra said. She placed her hands on her lower back. “Oh, yep, there’s definitely a tough knot there and it’s all (Y/N’s) fault. I don’t think I can ride on a snowmobile with you anymore.” 
“I thought the Avatar was supposed to bring peace, but all you’re causing is chaos,” (Y/N) hissed. 
“Hey, Mako!” Asami called out. Mako looked over to them, raising a questioning eyebrow as (Y/N) banged her head against the snowmobile. “Do you think (Y/N) can ride with you for today? Korra’s back is absolutely killing her.” 
“Ow~!” Korra drawled dramatically. 
“Uh, sure?” Mako questioned. He walked over to Korra’s vehicle and untied (Y/N’s) pack from it. “I think Tonraq said we were leaving in a few minutes, so I’ll be over there.” 
“Sounds great, she’ll be right there,” Asami said. 
“I’m not going,” (Y/N) said with a shake of her head. 
“I thought you said it was a good conversation?” Korra questioned. 
“You guys are so lucky I’m not a bender and I’m not very good at hand-to-hand combat because--” She shook her fist at both of them. “You’d be getting it!” She stomped over to Mako, a frown etched on her face. 
“Everything alright?” He asked. She let the frown fade from her face. 
“Everything’s fine,” She said with a sigh. “Korra and Asami are just being big pains.” 
“Don’t I know it.” Mako strapped his helmet and placed (Y/N’s) on top of her head, buckling it underneath her chin. He then tied a rope that connected the two of them, as Korra had done yesterday. “Safety first,” He said with a smile. (Y/N) felt her face flush as he helped her onto the snowmobile. Shyly, she wrapped her arms around his middle, and then they were off toward the Spirit World Portal. 
This trip was much shorter than the previous day’s. The portal was only an hour or two away from where they had camped. While (Y/N) was surprised that they had arrived so soon, there was no doubt that they were there, as the portal was a beam of warm yellow light that shot into the sky. It lay in the middle of the woods, only accessible by foot. 
They parked their snowmobiles on the outskirts of the woods. Tonraq began setting up his tent; they had agreed that someone should stay behind with a radio just in case anything went wrong and they needed backup. But to (Y/N’s) surprise, Asami was setting up her own tent as well. 
“You’re not coming with us?” She asked. Asami raised an eyebrow and shook her head. 
“We agreed before you woke up this morning that someone else should stay behind with Korra’s dad to help keep watch. You obviously need to go, as does Korra, and I knew Bolin and Mako would be absolutely horrible if they had no idea what was going on inside. So, I decided to stay.” 
(Y/N) frowned. While the reasoning was sound, it still made her sad that Asami wouldn’t be accompanying them on their journey. She and (Y/N) had developed a real friendship over the last few weeks. They had spent nearly all of their time together. It would be strange, not having her around. 
“Be safe, okay?” (Y/N) asked, throwing her arms around Asami and squeezing her into a hug. 
“You’re going into a completely new dimension and you’re telling me to be safe?” Asami laughed, but she wrapped her arms around (Y/N’s) frame and hugged tightly. “I can’t wait to hear all about your memories.” The two friends parted and (Y/N) lifted her pack onto her back. 
“Ready?” Korra asked, and she, Bolin, and Mako nodded. Their group said their goodbyes to Tonraq and Asami before Korra led them into the woods. 
“The last time I was here, I was frozen into a block of ice by an ex-girlfriend,” Bolin said. (Y/N) raised an eyebrow at him. “It wasn’t you! It was Korra’s cousin from the Northern Water Tribe.” 
“The one with the evil dad?” (Y/N) asked. 
“That’s the one!” Bolin nodded. 
“This is it,” Korra said as they stopped in front of the Spirit World Portal. (Y/N) could feel its energy radiating from outside the forest, but now it was even more prominent. “Next stop, Spirit World.” She turned around to look at (Y/N), whose face looked as if she had seen a ghost. “Everything alright?” 
(Y/N) nodded, gulping. “I’m okay,” She nodded again, trying to convince herself that she was speaking the truth. What if getting her memories back wasn’t necessarily a good thing? Something had blocked them out. Perhaps they had done it for her own benefit. But they had come this far, so she remained silent as she stepped through the threshold and into the Spirit World. 
It was an odd feeling, transitioning between two planes. It felt like each particle of (Y/N’s) body was buzzing, until suddenly she was on the other side and staring at so many colors, some that she was sure she had never seen before. She released the breath she had been holding as she stepped through. 
Indescribable beings flew overhead, cawing and cooing at them. Korra had been right: the Spirit World was significantly warmer than the South Pole. The group removed their jackets as (Y/N) took in her surroundings. Currently, they stood in the middle of a rocky wasteland, but patches of flowers and grass popped up here and there. In the middle stood a gnarled tree with a hollowed out middle. 
“That’s the Tree of Time,” Korra explained. “That’s where the first Avatar had imprisoned Vaatu, the dark spirit that I defeated a month ago. His energy made this part of the Spirit World a wasteland, but it’s healing.” 
“It’s beautiful,” (Y/N) breathed, and Korra smiled. Their group walked across the barren land to the greener parts of the Spirit World. Butterfly-like animals flittered around them as they walked and Korra explained her many trips to this place. Mako and Bolin had been here as well, although they had never been further than the Tree of Time. That helped (Y/N) feel less out of place. 
“So, where do we find this Iroh guy?” Mako asked. 
“You think he has any relation to General Iroh?” Bolin questioned. “I mean, how many Iroh’s can there really be, y’know?” 
“He’s Iroh as in, Zuko and Iroh,” Korra informed them, and Bolin let out a shocked gasp. While she was nervous about getting her memories back, (Y/N) would definitely be grateful not to be absolutely lost when things were discussed. 
“There it is!” Korra exclaimed, and then she started running. The others dashed behind her, not quite sure of where she was going, until a small house appeared seemingly out of nowhere and they were right in front of it. A small tea party of spirits and one human sat at a table in the garden. 
“Korra!” The old man exclaimed. “Welcome back! We were just about to start afternoon tea.” He peaked behind her at her friends. “And you brought company! The more the better, I think I have some extra teacups in the house.” 
“Hi, Iroh,” Korra said. “We really appreciate it, but we don’t really have time--” But the old man was already headed inside his house. When he returned, he held four additional teacups and a bright smile on his face. 
“Sit, sit,” He insisted. Korra looked to (Y/N), who shrugged, and dropped her backpack to the ground and took a seat. If having tea was what she needed to do in order to get her memories back, then she would do it. “You!” Iroh said as he placed (Y/N’s) teacup in front of her. “I’ve heard many things about you. Welcome back.” 
“Back?” (Y/N) questioned, looking at her friends. “I’ve been here before?” 
“You are (Y/N), yes?” She nodded. “When Korra first visited me to ask about you, I did not know much.” He placed a hand to the side of his mouth. “Spirits are horrible gossips sometimes, and I did not want to lead the Avatar on a path different from the one you must take. But I have asked many a visitor about you and they have all said the same thing: you were here, not too long ago, but you were here for a while.” 
“Why was she here?” Mako questioned before (Y/N) could. Iroh sighed as he poured their tea. 
“Whatever the reason, it was not good. Many of my friends say they saw her enter the dark part of our realm and she did not leave for a long time.” 
“It’s true!” One of the spirits interjected, an oddly blue wolf. “I saw you months ago with my own four eyes. You looked nothing like you do now. You came through the portals, yeah? Last time, someone brought you here the other way.” 
“You mean through meditation?” Korra asked. The spirit nodded. 
“Whatever it was, something powerful had to do it. I couldn’t do nothing like that.” 
“So, powerful spirit in the dark parts of the Spirit World. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t sound like something a good spirit would do.” (Y/N) looked to Iroh to confirm her suspicions. 
“Spirits are neither good nor bad, unless we are discussing Vaatu and Raava. But there are some spirits whose motives become skewed.” 
(Y/N) deflated in her seat. The spirit who had taken her memories was powerful and most likely dangerous. And if they found it, she would be leading her friends right to them. 
They finished their tea with Iroh before continuing on their journey. Bolin had talked excitedly with him about his adventures with Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko, whoever those people were, and Iroh gave him a Jasmine Dragon teacup to take back to the mortal realm. The entire time that they talked, (Y/N) was incredibly distracted by what Iroh had told them. 
“We should go back,” (Y/N) said suddenly. All three of her friends stopped and looked at her as if she were insane. 
“But, you need to get your memories back,” Bolin said. 
“I’ll just start over,” She insisted. “I can start fresh. Whatever this spirit is, it isn’t good, and I don’t want to hand you guys to it on a silver platter. We’ll go back and I’ll just learn to live without my memories.” 
“There are pieces of you you’ll never get back. Important memories that might have meant a lot to you. You deserve answers, (Y/N), for everything that’s happened to you.” Bolin grabbed her hands and she felt that same shock of electricity run through her body every time he touched her. 
“It’s not worth it if it means you guys will get hurt.” 
“Stop trying to play hero,” Mako said suddenly, his voice much harsher than it had been the night before. “If we didn’t want to be here to help you, we wouldn’t be.” 
“You shouldn’t be helping me. You guys fight every day for the greater good, for the people of the world. I’m one person. You can’t get yourselves hurt over one person. This,” She gestured to the entirety of the Spirit World, but referred to their mission. “Isn’t as important than whatever is going on back in the mortal world.” 
“But you’re important,” Korra said suddenly. “You’re important to Bolin and Mako and you’ve become important to Asami and I. The Avatar fights for the greater good, but as your friend, I’ll do whatever it takes so that you can feel like yourself again.” 
(Y/N) felt her eyes watering. Why weren’t they getting it? “If anything happened to you guys while we’re here, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” 
“And if we gave up on you, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself,” Bolin said. She looked up at him through watery eyes. “No matter what we’ve been through, we care about you. I care about you. And we’re going to get that dumb spirit to give your memories back.” 
(Y/N) looked from him to Korra to Mako, whose head immediately turned as soon as her eyes landed on him. “Okay,” she said. “But I think this is a horrible idea.” 
“I find that horrible ideas make the best stories,” Bolin said with a smile.
---
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gubler-me-up · 4 years
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Big, Open Arms (MGG request)
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Request: Hi, a MGG request for you.  You're a famous comedian and are cast as the new agent for CM. The cast/crew all love you, even before you come on set as you're hilarious, especially Matthew which EVERYONE knows about. As a huge fan of the show you're nervous, but you get welcomed into the CM family pretty quickly, and adore them all. You become best friends with Matthew, and after a while he asks you out on a date, and you say yes then after the media get involved, Matthew asks you to be his gf.
A/N: Thanks for the request, anon! This was a fully loaded request, so I hope I encompassed every aspect to your liking! Hope you enjoy!!
Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader
Category: Fluff
Content warning: None
Word count: 2.5k
——————–
You were rehearsing your lines before you had to go on set for the day. You had to admit you sucked at memorizing lines, so there were a lot of blooper reals of you stumbling over your words. You hadn’t even been part of the Criminal Minds cast for a whole year yet. Good thing the cast and crew understood how hard it was to memorize masses of technical dialogue.
Your character was named Bianca Johnson, an SSA with a background in technology. She was basically Garcia, but could kick ass instead of petting cute animals. A lot of your lines were heavy technical geek talk, which was hard to say in a scene, let alone the whole episode. Whenever you messed up you’d joked around and said Shemar’s biceps were distracting you from actually getting your lines right.
Your favourite scenes were with Matthew though. He was such a great actor and hilarious as well. When you first introduced yourself to him he told you he thought you were such a hilarious comedian. One of his favourites actually. You told him your greatest joke of all time was landing the role of such a smart character when you only had two functioning brain cells. He let out a hardy laugh before agreeing with you by saying he also had barely functioning brain cells.
Everyone was full of the same excited energy when they met you. It was like having a family gathering every time you were on set. AJ was the sweetest, coolest person you’ve ever met, Shemar was charming, Paget was completely down to earth and Kirsten was such a character. Matthew was the standout cast member for you though. His portrayal of Dr. Spencer Reid was amazing to watch on T.V., but was even more amazing to watch in real life.
He would just spur out lines on lines of facts without messing up once. When he did though it was funny and adorable. You’d try to cover your laugh every time, but he would automatically turn to look at you with a goofy smile. Your laugh would escape immediately and then everyone else would join along.
You looked up from your script as you heard two loud bangs on your door. You looked at the time on your phone and saw it was already 8:55 a.m.
“Y/N, set in five,” you heard the producer yell.
“I’m surprised you’re here early today, Jeff,” you joked.
You heard him laugh. “If Shemar can be early on set anything’s possible, right?”
You gasped. “Shemar’s on set before I am? I have to see this.”
You got up from your chair and rushed towards the door to leave for set. Before you left, you went back to your mirror. You fluffed up your hair and adjusted your breasts. You wanted to make sure you were presentable as possible. For the camera, of course.
As you walked on set you were greeted with a welcoming hug from AJ. She literally gave the most mom-like hugs ever. It was comparable to eating cookies from the cookie jar.
“Happy wrap day,” she said as she let you go.
“I can’t believe we’re wrapping the season already. I feel as if we’ve only been filming for a week,” you said.
“I know, time flies around here. One second you’re in season one and then boom you’re in season 15,” she said.
“If I can look flawlessly good throughout 15 seasons like you I think I can get used to this job.”
She giggled and playfully rolled your eyes. “Are you kidding me? You always look so great. Trust me, a little someone keeps talking about how great you are.”
You looked at her curiously. If she was talking about who you thought she was talking about than you were ecstatic. Shemar, her and some crew members had told you when you first joined that Matthew was a huge fan of yours. Had talked about you quite a few times during the downtime on set.
“More Matthew gossip? I’m in,” you heard Shemar say from behind you.
You turned around and smiled at him. “Well, well, when Jeff said you were early on set I didn’t believe it, but now that I see it with my own eyes I still can’t believe it.”
He chuckled. “Well, baby, here I am in the flesh. If it’s opposite day maybe you’ll have a flawless run with your lines.”
“Good one. Maybe we should trade characters so I can look hot and kick down doors while you talk nerdy to me.”
“You don’t have to kick down doors in your case to look hot, Y/N. I think a certain someone thinks you’re pretty hot as is.”
You gave him a suspicious stare before looking back at AJ. She smiled and looked around the set. You folded your arms as you were waiting for further details to be spilled. They both remained quiet as you stood there waiting. Good thing your attention was soon shifted towards Matthew when you saw him walk on set. You unfolded your arms and softened your face up as you saw how good he looked.
“I guess this is our cue to go, AJ,” Shemar chuckled.
“I agree. See you in the bullpen, Y/N,” AJ said before she left with Shemar.
“Yeah,” you faintly said as you stared at Matthew.
He hadn’t noticed you. He seemed to be looking for someone though as his head continuously darted around the room. When he finally turned your way, his face instantly lit up. He lightly jogged towards you with a big smile on his face. It was as if he was looking for you.
“Hey, Y/N. Happy wrap day,” he said before embracing you in a hug.
You hugged him back. “Happy wrap day, Matt. What adventures are you going to get up to after we wrap?”
“Well, that’s kinda why I was looking for you. I was going to ask you that same exact question.”
“I don’t have anything booked until later next month, so I’m going to be relaxing mostly. Why what’s up?”
“Well, remember when we went to that Arcade Fire concert a few months ago?”
You smiled and nodded. “If you mean the best experience of my life than yes.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you liked it. Vegas always holds the Life Is Beautiful Music and Art Festival and I was wondering if you were free to go.”
You felt your heart pumping with delight at him inviting you to go to his hometown. The last few months of your friendship were situated strictly in California. You had never really explored Vegas outside of a few shows at hotels and theatres on the strip.
“You wanna take me on a Vegas adventure?” You asked.
“Something like that.”
Before you could say your answer, the set bell rang. Sometimes that stupid bell could be so annoying, especially when you had a moment like this with Matthew. You don’t think there had ever been a more intimate moment between you two.
He smiled. “Think about it.”
As he started to walk off towards the bullpen set, you ran up to him to hug him from behind. He was caught off guard by your hug, but grabbed your hands that clung in front of him. You could say it was the first time you two had held hands.
“I’d love to go.”
“Awesome.”
—————
Going to Vegas with Matthew was such a different experience than anything you had ever done before. Everywhere he took you felt as if it were a new chapter in a life you’ve never lived. You always found Vegas cliche in its gimmicks and exaggerated neon lights. However, Matthew made it seem as if it were a faraway land yet to be discovered.
He showed you to little places outside of the flashy hotels and bright neon lights that filled the strip. You two spent a lot of time at ranches nearby. You told him since the first day you two met how much you loved animals, so going to those ranches was a dream come true.
What you weren’t expecting though was going to the ranch his mother owned. When you two were driving there, you felt your heart beating fast. You had never met his mother before but you knew he was a big mama’s boy. Even with all the nerves running through your body, you felt honoured to be meeting his mother. You didn’t even know whether to consider this whole trip a big first date or what, but it was something you weren’t expecting to happen.
You had a feeling Matthew had a crush on you for a while and the feeling had always been mutual. Guess the both of you had been crushing on each other through a screen for all these years. To be together in that moment was borderline unreal and probably long overdue.
“We’re here,” he said as he pulled up to the ranch.
You looked around the area. It was massive. Just a stretch of land with no buildings in sight. It was beautiful. You looked at Matthew with a huge contagious smile. He couldn’t help smiling back.
“Your mom knows beauty,” you said.
He laughed. “Yeah, I guess she does.”
“I mean if she created you she definitely knows what beauty is.”
He grabbed your hand and squeezed it. It was his fifteenth time holding your hand. Not like you were counting or anything. You blushed as he moved your hand closer to his lips and kissed it twice.
“I’m glad you came, Y/N. I’ve been meaning to ask you on a date for the longest time, but I couldn’t think of the perfect date to take you on,” he confessed.
“Matthew, you literally could have taken me to 7/11 for a shitty cup of coffee and I would have had the time of my life,” you said.
He laughed. “Well, even though 7/11’s cool, I thought you might like a trip to Vegas and concert better.”
“I have to say this is probably one of my favourite first dates ever. I just feel as if it’s missing a little je ne sais quoi.”
“A little je ne sais quoi you say.”
You then saw him let go of your hand and reach for the side of your neck. He brought you in closer as his face moved closer to yours. You hated dramatics, so you rushed in and embraced him with an enormous kiss. You grabbed his face to deepen the kiss. You had never been so excited to kiss anyone in your entire life. The way he kissed you was just different.
You two pulled apart from the kiss before anything went any further. You knew you were satisfied with that kiss but the way Matthew beamed made you believe he was even more satisfied. You covered your face with your hand as you couldn’t stop smiling to yourself.
“I didn’t mean to attack you like that,” you joked.
He chuckled. “No, no, it was great. Maybe we could continue this after we go see my mom.”
You smiled ear-to-ear. “I couldn’t dream of anything better.”
The two of you got out of the car to go greet his mom as she walked out to where he had parked his car. Her smile was just as magnetic as his. You were automatically drawn into her. So much so you found yourself approaching her ready to give her the biggest hug ever. She wasn’t shy to embrace you with big, open arms. It felt as if you were already apart of his family.
————
Back in your trailer to film another season of Criminal Minds and you thought you could get better at memorizing your lines. You didn’t. You swore to yourself you would get better over the summer break, but that plan went out the window as soon as Vegas happened. Matthew had turned what was supposed to be a mundane summer into a long-lasting experience. A long-lasting experience with a lot of making out and wandering hands.
You looked at your watch and saw you had a few minutes to kill before you had to go on set. You tossed your script aside and reached for your phone. The lines could wait a minute or several as you indulged in looking through Twitter.
You scrolled down your timeline, liking and retweeting a few things that caught your eye. One thing caught your eye in particular though. It was from TMZ out of all gossip media showing pictures of you and Matthew holding hands and kissing just a few days ago when you two went to the beach. They must have been hidden well because you knew for a fact no one was around the area you two set up.
Your shock was interrupted when a few knocks were made at your door. You put down your phone and picked up your script to pretend you were still trying to memorize your line. You knew if it was Jeff coming in he’d much rather see you trying to memorize your lines than scrolling through Twitter.
“Come in,” you said.
You saw Matthew come in with a sheepish smile on. You looked at him strange as you had never seen him seem so shy. Then you saw a magazine in his hand. You could only guess what it was. He held up the magazine, so you could see it. Right on the front cover was a picture of you on top of Matthew making out with him on the beach.
You smiled. “At least People Magazine finally put some eye candy on the front page.”
“I didn’t even know they were allowed to publish pictures of soft porn,” he chuckled as he handed you the magazine.
You laughed. “In this day and age anything’s possible.”
“Anything huh?”
He took your hand to take you out of your seat. You gladly got up as you tossed the script and magazine on your vanity. He pulled you in close as his hands moved from your hands to your waist. If this was his way of proposing a quickie in your trailer, you weren’t about to turn him down.
“If anything’s possible, how about we make it official?” He asked.
You would have screamed out of delight, but you were worried he might take it back if you did. You did the next best thing that had come to mind and grabbed his face, so you could kiss him. He wrapped his arms around your waist and embraced the kiss even further. The only reason you two broke apart was because you could hear the director calling everyone to set.
“I guess we should go before this ends up being our last season,” you said as you let go of him.
“I think it might be your last season if you can’t remember those lines,” he joked.
You laughed. “If I can still have you at the end of the day I’d be okay with that. Besides, I think Vegas might have an opening for me.”
—–
MASTERLIST
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entertainment · 4 years
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Entertainment Spotlight: Sherry Cola, Good Trouble
You may recognize comedian, actress, and writer Sherry Cola as Alice in Freeform’s Good Trouble. Additional TV credits include jewelry maker Natalie on I Love Dick, special agent Lucy Chen on Claws, and the iconic Lil’ Tasty. On the big screen, she can be seen in the upcoming Endings, Beginnings with Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, and Sebastian Stan, and in the indie Sick Girl with Nina Dobrev and Wendi McLendon-Covey. No stranger to ambition in comedy, Sherry is also a successful stand-up comedian, performing regularly at The Laugh Factory, The Improv, and The Comedy Store. Sherry took a few minutes to chat with us about comedy, Good Trouble, and more. Check it out:
What is your experience of portraying comedy-aspiring first-generation Asian-American Alice? Can you talk about any similarities or differences between you?
I’m grateful to play a character that I never saw on TV when I was growing up. The deeper we get into filming these episodes, the more I realize how much it’s been missing. From speaking Mandarin to her best friend/ex-lover to diving into stand-up as a queer Asian female, Alice’s journey is so specific and overdue. Alice is adorably apologetic and she’s still finding her voice.
I’d say I’m more outspoken than she is, but we’re also similar in people-pleasing to the point of getting us in trouble. I heavily relate to Alice because I also have an immigrant mother who wasn’t well-versed about the LGBTQ+ world at first, but the more we show these stories on the screen, the more we can open minds!
Can you tell us about any funny or wholesome moments on the set of Good Trouble?
The scene in the pool for Malika’s birthday was super fun. It was almost 4 AM, and we’d already been floating in the water for 2 hours. I gotta give it up to our incredible crew for nailing all the messy shots of people jumping/falling in. It was hilarious being in that cloudy, chlorine-less human soup, just splashin’ around like little kids. Our entire cast adores each other so we’re always in good company. It’s a celebration when we have those big group moments.
Do you have a routine before you go up on stage to do stand-up? What is it, and how did you come up with it?
I do lots and lots of breathing because I’m nervous right before I hop on stage, no matter what. I also get very thirsty so I find myself going to the bar last-minute to get water. This happens every single time. I never think ahead and have the water prepared! I look over my jokes to remember which ones I wanna do. Then when I get up there, the throwing-up feeling disappears and I’m on cloud nine!
What is something you wish people knew about being a comedian in the industry as it is today?
Sometimes people take comedians too lightly. We deserve more props! There’s heavy stuff happening behind that microphone. We have the power to educate and touch the audience, in an almost brain-washy fashion, but not in a bad way. I can use jokes to shine a light on something like climate change, and people will walk away with a new perspective. Pretty cool!
If you could give any character on Good Trouble some advice, who would it be and what would you tell them?
This is the first time I’m officially saying this, but I’m team Callie and Gael. Y’all have something special, damn it! The fiery chemistry! It was spicy, but also tender...like a chicken nugget! Please give it another try and make some perfect babies!
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Can you tell us a funny joke?
I saw this on a popsicle stick when I was in elementary school, and I’ll never forget it:
Q: What did the girl melon say to the boy melon after he proposed? 
A: We’re too young, we cantaloupe!
What advice would you give to your ten-year-old self?
STAY TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE! Things that made me self-conscious back then like non-American food that I’d take to school, or the fact that I never wore make-up, and just the general vibe of being unordinary - now I fully embrace it!
Who do you look up to?
I can’t even count on my fingers/toes/teeth/strands of hair how many people I look up to! From Sandra Oh to Lena Waithe… I have respect for all women of color who are pushing the culture forward. They motivate me to keep going so I can make just as strong of an impact.
Who inspires you?
My mom inspires the hell out of me. She came to this country and busted her ass off to make sure I have a comfortable life. Money means nothing compared to the feeling of making her proud. I get all my work ethic from her, from giving 110% to the importance of being on time, so she gets all the credit!
Can you tell us how Lakers-loving, jersey-wearing, Timberland-rocking Lil’ Tasty came about?
Lil’ Tasty is dear to my heart! She was a viral queen in 2016 because she was a breath of fresh air who said the most darn things. My friends Adam Episcopo and Rick Schaberg started a mockumentary-style series on Facebook called “Luber” which showed the lives of drivers who got rejected from Lyft/Uber. They asked me to create a character and naturally, as a lover of hip-hop, I knew this girl had to come equipped with obnoxious freestyle raps. Then I found an old Kobe jersey in my closet (RIP to the GOAT) and the rest was history. We shot these silly videos on a whim. We never expected to hit millions of views. Since then, Lil’ Tasty has built quite a fanbase, and I still have some things up my sleeve, so stay tuned!
If you could wake up as one of your characters tomorrow, who would it be, and why?
Waking up as Nuocki Mum would be dope. She’s an older Vietnamese lady who tries to keep up with the times. She’s completely oblivious but means well. She hits the nightclubs every weekend to stay young. I wouldn’t mind that!
Thanks for taking the time, Sherry! Check out the Good Trouble Tumblr for more.
Photos: Storm Santos
1K notes · View notes
loserholland · 3 years
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𝐀 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 | 𝐁.𝐁
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Pairing ➺ Bucky Barnes x Fem!Stark!Reader ft Morgan Stark (platonic)
Warning ➺ Slight TFATWS spoiler, some angst, pure fluff, Morgan being a comedian 
Word Count ➺ 2.9k
Summary ➺ After the blip and loosing his best friend, you were there to keep Bucky grounded.
A/N ➺ Based off the song “I hear a symphony” by Cody Fry, such an amazing song. I’M ALSO SO SORRY IF I’M A LITTLE RUSTY 
✿ 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓣𝓪𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽 ✿ - @loveyathreethousand @killerqueen-gunpowdergelatine @spideyyypeter @lou-la-lou​@babebenhardy @rivervixenbaby @acklesholland @zabdisamor @keepingupwiththehollands @sweet666pea @sspider-parker @jackiehollanderr @caro0512 @thewinchesterchronicles @cporter003 @kisses-holland @spideysnugget @cryszus @sunflowerharrystyles @peterunderoos @ohbabycal @laucontrerasv​ @spider-mendes​ @jessybellsworld​ @quaksonhehe​
☞  Masterlist  ☜
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Five years.
It had been five years before everyone returned, five years since Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped nearly 50% of the content. Five years of darkness, questioning whether or not those who turned to dust would come back. The thought of those who disappeared never coming back scared everyone, the thought of never seeing your mother, father, daughter, son- your friends and siblings again?
(Y/N) was one of the lucky ones to not turn to dust, but watching those around her slowly disintegrate never failed to bring her to tears every night. She was lucky enough to fight along side everyone, disobeying Tony’s order of staying put and “letting the adults handle it” she instead convinced Rhodey to let her follow, claiming if he let her he’d be her favorite uncle.
That’s where she saw him again, after nearly two years since Berlin. She had of course stuck by her father’s side and when he had gone to Sibera she stood with him. That’s when they had learned the winter soldier had killed her father’s parents. (Y/N) never entirely blamed Bucky, he never did it. It was the Winter Solider, not Bucky.
Tony always said she had her mothers heart and if her mom was still around she’d be proud of her, for always trying to see the best in people whether they’re good or bad.
“Wow, you’ve grown kid.”
𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨
A voice all too familiar spoke slowly she turned on her heels, his hair was still long it grew merely a few inches. He had also grown out his beard, the last time she had saw him it was more over stumble. She chuckled lightly stepping forward but keeping some distance between them, “Kid? I’m twenty-one James, plus we’ve been over this- I hate it when you guys call me kid!”
Bucky let out a small laughter showing off his pearly white teeth, there was always something about Bucky that made (Y/N)’s stomach fill with butterflies. I mean- who wouldn’t? Bucky was a handsome man.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨
“How have you been old-man?”
(Y/N) was the only person who had called Bucky by his first name, of course you had seen his files and even read about him smithsonian exhibit. She just felt she didn’t have the right to call him Bucky due to not knowing him long enough.
“James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes” she read to herself, reading the following description of the man.
That’s when you first saw how handsome this he was. And, when you first met him in Berlin it was amazing to see him up close. Well it’s not so amazing when some dumbass breached the centre and turned him back into the winter solider for a minute causing him to well fight everyone in his path.
After your dad’s ass was handed to him, he surely handed your ass to you he had you in a choke hold against the wall, your feet was a few inches above the ground.
“James, please.”
He’s eyes widened every so slightly tightening his metal hand around your throat, you felt yourself slide down against the wall gasping for air watching as T’Challa and him fought one another.
“I’ve been good, I’ve never felt so- calm an at peace in a while.”
(Y/N) smiled, that was good, it was good to see him happy for once and not afraid he’ll hurt someone again. He was brave and strong, from what she had read in the smithsonian exhibit and what she had seen in the past two years.
“Guys lets go, and kid stop leaving my sight your dad will kill me if anything happens!” (Y/N) groaned and stomped her feet to the ground “Uncle Rhodey! Stop calling me kid!” Bucky only chuckled at her, a sense of warmth filled his body- an uncommon warmth.
𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸
(Y/N) knocked on Bucky’s apartment door, “Why aren’t we at the zoo yet?” Morgan questioned looking up at her older sister in confusion- Pepper was out of town dealing with business so she had to bring Morgan along to her.
When everyone came back, she had grown closer to Bucky. They had both lost someone, she had lost her father and he lost his best friend. Ever since her father’s death, she would dream about him often it started to become a regular thing after she started hanging out with Bucky. Last night’s dream, he had told her that if she got with Barnes he would be okay with it and to also apologize for blasting his arm off. Maybe it was just her subconscious playing tricks on her.
She crouched down slightly to be the same height as her sister, “Babe, remember I told you that my friend James would be coming along?” just then the door opened causing (Y/N) to fall back at the sudden movement. Instead of helping her sister up or asking if she was okay, she laughed and said “You fell on your booty.” oh, she was definitely Tony Starks daughter.
Bucky quickly helped her up apologizing for giving her a small fright, she noticed something different about Bucky he had cut his long hair. Just a few days ago he had it up in a man bun, “You cut your hair?” his brows furrowed, he ran his gloved fingers through his freshly cut hair “Does it look bad?” worry laced his voice.
(Y/N) quickly shook her head, “No! It looks good!” Morgan looked between the two adults standing in front of her before she let out a dramatic sigh, “Can we go now?” with that Bucky locked grabbed his keys and locked the front door as they proceeded towards the elevator.
The Central Park Zoo was in walkable distance, so (Y/N) left he car parked in the garage of Bucky’s apartment. Morgan stared at Bucky gloved hand she tilted her head slightly before asking, “Why are you wearing gloves? Aren’t your hands sweating?” (Y/N) eyes widened looking at the top of Morgan’s head then to Bucky who was laughing.
“Morgan!”
“It’s a serious question.” she shrugged as she kicked her feet awaiting for an answer, “Well because, this arm-” he lifted his left arm “is made out of vibranium.” Morgan looked up at him before saying, “Cool- now swing!” she grabbed his hand causing (Y/N) to look at Bucky. She knew he was a bit touch sensitive, “Mor-” before she could say her sister’s name again Bucky cut her off “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” he took her small hand into his before pulling his arm back then forward.
𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶
Bucky watched as you smiled whenever Morgan would let out a small giggle, he felt the same warmth he did back in Wakanda. The same warmth she could only give him. He was grateful to have her in his life, she gave him the benefit of the doubt seeing the good and accepting the bad. He knew that she knew his history but still befriended him anyways saying, “there’s good in everyone even if you can’t see the good in you, I do.”
“How has therapy been going?” They stood behind the four year old who was admiring the penguins. Bucky shrugged lightly fixing his gaze to his shoes, “‘ts been good.” he mumbled. It had been about two weeks since he started therapy with Dr.Christina Raynor, you knew he had trouble opening up and well at most times never opened up at all. 
Morgan came running back to the two, “I wanna see the red pandas.” she grabbed theirs hands and began to drag them towards her current favorite animal at the moment.
She wondered if he still had nightmares, there were times he’d call her just to talk because he couldn’t go back to sleep. The sound of an old sitcom could be heard in the background anytime he’d call.
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦
Bucky watched as (Y/N) carried Morgan in her arms pointing at the red pandas, red pandas? How are they even pandas? Bucky thought to himself, watching as (Y/N) made Morgan giggle loudly she must have said some kind of joke. He watched as she turned her head slightly catching her eye, he began to notice this twinkle whenever she was smiling or talking about something she’s passionate about or enjoyed.
"So, what did you think?” the credits of Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone began to roll in.  As far as Bucky knew, the only wizard he had read about before was Gandalf in the hobbit. Who would’ve thought about writing a book about a 11 year old wizard?
“It was surprisingly good.” He watched as her eyes lit up the corners of her lips tugging upwards.  He loved to see her smile, to see the twinkle in her eye just before she spoke on about how much she loved something.
“I knew you would like it! Gosh it’s amazing- I could go on about the wizarding world but I’m sure you would rather not-”
“I have the time.”
(Y/N) had concluded Bucky would belong in Hufflepuff and basically forced him to take the pottermore test in which she was correct, he was in fact a hufflepuff. She had gone on why he’s in hufflepuff- though he didn’t really care about the reasons he just wanted to hear her talk.
“You have a lovely family.”
The comment caused Bucky to turn his head slightly pulling him from the recent memory, an elderly woman who seemed to be in her late sixties gave him a warm smile. “Uh- she’s actually my-” what is she to me?  Before Bucky could answer (Y/N) had walked over with Morgan still in her arms.
“Hey, ready to go?”
Before Bucky could answer the lady spoke again, “I was just telling your husband you have a lovely family.” (Y/N) eyes widened her mouth slightly agape before responding, “We’re actual friends and, she’s my younger sister.” friends.
“Oh, my apologies. Have a great rest of your day.”
(Y/N) gave the lady a warm smile watching as she walked away, “Well, I think you’ve seen enough animals don’t you think?” Morgan tapped her index finger against her chin pinching her brows together, sometimes she was just a mini version of your dad or sometimes Pepper- but mostly Tony.
“Yeah- I’m hungry.” 
Making their way towards the exit the gift shop had caught Morgan’s eye, specifically a red panda plush she shrieked loudly causing (Y/N) to jump with caution thinking something was wrong with her little sister, while Bucky stood there with his eyes widened.
“I need it!”
(Y/N)’s brows furrowed, “Morgan- you know mom is gonna be mad at me if I get you yet another red panda plush. Remember, you have like a billion of them.” Morgan pouted slightly crossed her arms across her chest and stomped away.
“Dad would’ve gotten it for me!” (Y/N) frowned at the comment, of course he would’ve- he loved seeing the smile on your face anytime he got you something whether you were five or nineteen. 
𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦
“I’ll meet you guys outside- I’m gonna use the restroom.” Bucky spoke, watching as she ran after her little sister. Well- he didn’t actually need to use the restroom- he had gotten the plush Morgan was head over heels for. He waited a couple minutes before finally exiting the zoo spotting (Y/N) holding Morgan in her lap as they sat on a bench not too far from the exit.
He held the plush behind his back, as he drew closer he could hear Morgan sob quietly. He sat down next to (Y/N) leaning his head slightly onto her shoulder, “Hey Morgan.” the five year old pulled back slightly wiping the back of her sleeve across her nose lips still in a pout.
Slowly he pulled the plush that was hidden behind his back into view, watching as Morgan’s eyes widened an a huge smile paint her lips quickly she snatched it from his hand and hugged it turning her body from side to side.
Morgan hopped out of her sister’s lap and onto Bucky’s wrapping her arms around his neck, “Thank you, thank you!” she chanted catching Bucky off guard as he slowly wrapped his arms around her.
“Anytime kid.” 
They walked back to Bucky’s apartment in comfortable silence, Morgan squealing every here and there every time she hugged her new plush. Once they had reached his apartment, Bucky offered for the two to stay for pizza which Morgan quickly agreed to. 
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳
(Y/N) and Bucky situated themselves in the kitchen cross from each other- (Y/N) sat on a stool while Bucky stood. Meanwhile Morgan was in the living room distracted with her new plush, “Thank you for getting her the plush- I- I just didn’t know how to react when she said-” Bucky placed his hand over hers squeezing it reassuringly, she squeezed back giving him a warm smile. They stayed like this for a few minutes before (Y/N) cleared her throat causing Bucky to pull his hand away. 
“You never answered my question earlier, about therapy.” She watched as he tensed at the word therapy, truth be told. He was struggling, he was still having nightmares and he was having trouble opening up to his therapist. He gets annoyed whenever she pulls out her notebook and starts to scribble stuff down.
“I made amends with um- Senator Atwood. No one got hurt.” (Y/N) nodded, “That’s good! Any progress with Dr.Raynor?” Bucky sighed lightly, running his fingers through his hair, “Kind of? I mean every time I tell her I haven’t had a nightmare she gets all aggressive and writes in her notebook.” 
𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦
She frowned slightly, taking his hands into hers “James, you sometimes talk to me about your nightmares right?” he nodded slightly ushering her to continue, “You have to slowly open up- it’s gonna help James. And If you want, I’ll go with you. I’ll wait in the waiting room- whatever it takes to get you to talk.”
She cared so much about him, it made her chest feel heavy. She would do anything for him.
𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨
He had spent nearly seventy years as someone else, he was afraid that after he erased his past it would still catch up to him someday. That he would still become the winter solider even after all this therapy and time away.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨
But you were there to reassure him that would never happen, that he was a good person and no longer the person he use to be. She was there to reassure him that he was James Buchanan Barnes and not the winter solider.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺
You were the light in his darkness, you were there to guide him and to stay by his side. He thought you’d run away after what he had done to your grandparents but you’re there to remind him that he had no choice that HYDRA had control over him but you knew deep down he tried to fight it.
Bucky tugged his hands back quickly pulling away from the counter and walked around to engulf (Y/N) into a hug, he was afraid that if he were to allow himself to love someone they’d only end up hurt. He didn’t want to loose her, he didn’t want to scare you away.
“Please don’t leave.”
(Y/N) quickly shook her head, “Why would I leave? I would never leave you Bucky.” he pulled away slightly, did he hear that right? “Did you just call me Bucky?” her eyes widened, “Oh I’m so-” he cupped her cheeks closing the gap between the two placing capturing her lips. Something he had been waiting to do.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺
It was exactly like how people described sharing a kiss with someone they’ve longed to be with, fireworks and butterflies the way your skin heats up and your cheeks turn into a tomato red.
(Y/N) wrapped her hand around his wrist pulling back slightly for air a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, “Hello? Did you guys not here the door? Someone pay the guy!” Morgan carried the huge box of pizza and placed it onto her sisters lap before turning away to the living room. She quickly fetched her wallet wanting to beat Bucky from paying- but he knocked her wallet out of her hands and quickly rushed to the door.
She had given her sister a slice of pizza and ushered her to go back to the living room, “You make it seem as if I never saw people kiss before.” Morgan stuck her tongue out at her sister before returning to the living room.
“So-” Bucky began leaning against the doorway of the kitchen (Y/N) running up to him to wrap her arms around his neck the impact causing the two to fall to the ground with a loud thud. “You know- know a days people usually go on dates before the first kiss.” (Y/N) joked causing Bucky to smile, “Well in that case. (Y/N) would you like to go out tomorrow?” she quickly pecked his lips.
“I’d love to Bucky.”
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘺
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specialmindz · 3 years
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“Mmm *POMP!* this some good milk, Snas,” said Papyrus, shuffling around in his brother’s makeshift backpack. It wasn’t very comfortable, but as long as he didn’t have to crawl…
“eh, i prefer hot chocolate myself,” replied Sans. “glad you like your milk baby bro, i was worried about how it’d do in the microwave cause’ of all the chemicals, but you’re not dead yet so…”
“Daddy say is okay to put mah super milk in da’ mikeywave…or is I baby guinea pig?” Papyrus narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
“guinea pigs are cute pap!”
“…”
Sans blew on his hot chocolate for what seemed like the sixth time. He didn’t put his drink in the microwave like Papyrus’s, he preferred to use boiled water as the cold weather of Snowdin usually cooled it off without him having to do anything.
Today though, they weren’t going to Snowdin, plans had changed.
Alphys had always had a messy workspace, but the Nursery, according to her, was in worse shape. FAR worse shape. She didn’t mind the broken toys scattered everywhere seeing as it wasn’t her room, but the fact that the toys came from the Dump meant they smelled terrible. Sans and the rest of the family were either nose-blind to it, or simply didn’t care, but Alphys couldn’t stand it. She complained weekly about the stench, claiming it was getting worse and worse, seeping from underneath the Nursery door and distracting her from work, but no one would do anything about it.
Today, SHE took the initiative and decided to spray the Nursery with every air freshener they had, making it impossible and even dangerous to sleep in the room; that meant that not only did they have to find a new place to sleep, but Baby Papyrus also missed his nap.
Not good.      
“You an idiot,” mumbled the cranky infant, unhappy to be a baby guinea pig.
“whatever.”
“Lazy idiot stink head with stupid broke gloves…”
“heh ha! they’re not broke pappy, that’s how they’re SUPPOSED to look. these are fingerless gloves,” explained Sans, hoping to laugh away his irritation. Papyrus wasn’t having it though.
“Your gloves dumb like you.”
“they’re not dumb! i think they make me look cool…”
“They make you look homeless. I half aspect you to be shaking a tin can around, asking for monies.”
“Screw you, Papyrus.”
“Is I your bindle, big Buther? You’s supposed to carry me on a stick…”
“SHUT UP, PAPYRUS.”
“Can you do da’ har-mon-ica? Pay a song for the baby.”
The young comedian quickened his pace towards the Resort Area. “i’ll pay you a beating, you keep mouthing off,” mumbled Sans under his breath.  
“Ooooh, Buther think he tough now cause’ he gots biker gloves! Nyeh heh heh, what gang you from, Snas? Pussies of Anarchy? Renegade Rejects?”
San didn’t reply, he merely pushed open the doors of the Resort and went inside, not wanting to travel all the way to Snowdin’s hotel or teleport whilst carrying his brother in a bag rather than his arms. He knew for a fact that anything touching his body would travel with him, but what about the things that weren’t? Or the things he wasn’t holding on to purposely?
It’s not like I’ve ever lost anything in my pockets when I take my shortcuts, but I still don’t feel comfortable with something so precious in such a flimsy bag…
“Harlem’s Asshats?”
Hm…maybe “precious” isn’t the right word to use for Pap.  
Sans grimaced as Papyrus continued to complain and come up with more insulting gang names. He himself was a complainer when HE didn’t get enough sleep, but Papyrus?
“Big-butted Bums of Bloomington!”
His brother REALLY sucked when he missed his nap. He was loud, angry, and mean. Babies weren’t supposed to miss their daily naps and baby bones already had hot tempers to begin with…
TA-TAP, TA-TAP!
The Receptionist, a monster with a giant hand in place of her head, tapped her red painted nails on the counter impatiently, a strange sight for those who weren’t used to seeing it. “Do you need a room you two?”
TA-TAP, TA-TAP!
“No, I needs a doctor cause’ Snas give me irradiated milk!” Papyrus tried to point his finger accusingly at his brother, but found it next to impossible in his current position, so instead he threw his bottle on the ground.
“NYEH!”
CAP, CAP!
It bounced along the tile floor, empty despite his whining, and rolled to a stop before a janitor, who kindly picked it up. “Ah-hawww, looks like you’ve got a fussy baby on your hands!” chuckled the employee, returning the bottle.
CAP, CAP, CAP!
“HAHAHAHA!”
“PAPYRUS! i’m so sorry sir-”
“Oh, don’t be, it’s what I get paid for after all! It’s best you get that little guy to bed though…”
“NOT TIRED!”
Sans took the bottle from the janitor and put it in his pocket. Even if his brother were telling the truth, he knew the Lying Font was still going to ACT tired, and a tired baby was a cranky baby. For Papyrus, a missed nap was all the excuse in the world to be a douche, and Sans would rather fork over 400g then listen to his crap.
Lucky for us, children get discounts.
TA-TAP, TA-TAP!
“STOP HEADBUTTING DA’ TABLE NAIL LADY! IF AZZY NOT ALLOWED TO, YOU NOT ALLOWED TO!”
“E-excuse me?”
“just ignore him, miss-”
“When Azzy be small like me, he used to headbutt the desk. You not remember Nail-Lady? You was all like, ‘STOP ATTACKING THE DESK GOAT-BABY!’ and Moo-Mom say, ‘HOW DARE YOU YELL AT MAH BABY LIKE DAT!?’ and then Fluffy Buns say ‘settle down now ladies, is not that serious,” said Papyrus, voice acting each line. He’d been doing that a lot as of late, trying to “perfect his mimicry for when he got big” and by extension, he ended up disturbing those unfortunate enough to hear him. Asgore’s loud booming voice coming from such a small baby was…eerie…and it was even worse when he decided to imitate Sans...
The receptionist doesn’t have a face, but I bet she’s as uncomfortable as I am right now.
How do I get bro to stop talking though?
“…Then you got all mad Nail-Lady and say ‘HE DO DIS ERYTIME HE HERE! WHY YOU CAN’T CONTROL YO’ KID? ERYBODY ELSE CONTROL THEIR KID! YOU THINK JUST CAUSE’ YOU THE KING YOU CAN DESTROY? NOT ERYBODY WICH LIKE YOU!”
“…I actually DO remember,” said the receptionist. “Someone, who used to do that. Yes…there was a small child with an entitled mother who used to headbutt and jump atop the furniture…”
Who was that?
“Yep! I’s there too with Chara, so I knows! You and the Moo Lady used to argue about discounts-”
“Oh my goodness, you’re right!” the woman suddenly remembered. “There was a woman who claimed she should only have to pay the regular 400g because you weren’t her child and THEN she got upset when I AGREED and asked you for 200g-”
“HOW YOU GONNA ASK A BABY FOR MONIES? BABIES SHOULD GET IN FREE! YOU DOESN’T EVEN GOTS CWIBS!”  
“That’s EXACTLY how it went, every single time. It was always the same argument.” The monster, who prided herself on her professionalism, could feel herself getting angry all over again, her old forgotten hatred bubbling to the surface. She couldn’t stand the Royal Family. The Entitled Mother, the Spinless Husband, the Destructive Child…and if she recalled, the human they adopted was an actual thief…
“Yep, and Chara was all like ‘don’t be a bitch, bitch’ and da’ Cow Lady say ‘I agwees, but I doesn’t ah-pea-ciate yo’ language my child,’ and Chara go ‘I was talking to youuuu-”
“hey pap-”
“Fluffy Buns smacked them right on the butt! It was funny.”
“Yes…Chara was their name…the thieving human who kept getting in trouble with security. They would go into other people’s rooms and take their things like it was okay and the mother-”
“She say, ‘Oh Chara just curious, you should be more patient wit yo’ customers! Da’ world of monsters be new to them ya’ know? They just a child…!”
“…”
Sans didn’t know how she was doing it, but he could have sworn he heard growling coming from the woman’s direction.
“ha ha…hey uh, bro? let’s just get us a room already, yeah? i’m sure the receptionist here is busy-”
“TWO WOOMS PEAS!” yelled the infant. “One for the baby and one for the Pussy of Anarchy.”
“damnit pap…!”
“Very well, that’ll be 400g then.”
Glaring over his shoulder, Sans forked over the money and headed to their room. “now bro, there are other people in this resort so try not to be a dick, alright? we need to be quiet-”
“WAIT SNAS!” the baby bones picked himself up out of the bag with his wingdings. “I gots to visit the fountain real quick.”
“Oh uh, please don’t urinate in the fountain,” said the receptionist raising a finger. “The rooms have toilets in them.”
“I’s not a gross peepee-baby Nail-Lady, don’t you know a cute widdle skelly when you sees one? I’s looking for coins-”
“Absolutely not!” cried the woman, her tone taking a sudden turn. “This fountain is a memorial to…someone. It is strictly forbidden to gather the coins within, read the sign!” The monster pointed at a sign that said “Stay Out of the Fountain.” Apparently, people were so desperate, they were stealing G from the memorial…
“I NEEDS EM’ TO PAY SNAS BACK!” yelled Papyrus, wondering how much 200g was.
“READ. THE. SIGN. THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!” she replied, shouting just as loud. Clearly theft was a daily problem for her.
“heh heh, you don’t need to pay me back lil’ bro, thanks though.”
That was…unexpectedly sweet.
“I’s not a deadbeat big Buther…also, I can’t reads so dat sign don’t apply to me.”
“THAT’S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!”
“you do too know how to read, quit your lying pap,” said Sans chuckling.
“I’s not lying, I’s a baby and babies don’t read. Erybody knows that! Isn’t that right Nail- Lady?”
“I just told you what it said, get away from that fountain!”
“Babies also have poor memor-ies. I doesn’t remember what you said,” Papyrus used his wingdings to scoop up a handful of coins and deposited them into his onesie to count later. “I’s very sorry for da’ inco-venience.”
“PUT THOSE BACK OR I’LL HAVE TO ASK YOU TWO TO LEAVE!”
“uh, okay pappy this is getting serious, let’s just put the pretty coins back like the nice lady said…”
“Is serious? THEN WE SERIOUSLY WANT OUR MONIES BACK,” said Papyrus, angrily. Here he was being a good bae, paying back his big brother, (something babies did NOT have to do) and this big person wanted to yell at him?
CLEARLY, she was a baby-hater and didn’t deserve to have such cute guests staying at her gaudy hotel.
“We take back our monies and we go somewhere that ah-pea-ciates sweet babies such as ourselves. Your hotel ugly anyway…too bright, right Snas? We leave.”
“no no no, we don’t need to do that!” said Sans quickly in a panic.
“FINE, TAKE IT AND GO!”
WHAP!
The receptionist slammed the money down on the counter.
I’m so sick of serving thieves…
“wha-ho, lady! let’s just calm down alright? *sigh* geeze…” Sans scratched behind his skull. “why don’t we come to a compromise? that sound good?”
I CAN’T take Pappy to that inn in Snowdin again, I didn’t sleep at all last time!
The comedian winced, remembering the night he spent there with Papyrus. The infant didn’t like the snoring from the other guests in the room.
“Nyeh? Com-per-mize…? Waz dat?”
“it’s a negotiation,” explained Sans. “where arguing people get a little bit of what they want, so everyone’s happy…ish.”
TA-TAP! TA-TAP!
“Okay Snas, I do da’ com-per-mize cause’ I’s a good bae,” said Papyrus sweetly. Seemed he was done acting cranky for the day…or so Sans hoped.
“good boy, pappy! GOOD babies compromise allll the time.”
“No they don’t, but Imma make an ah-ception cause’ I doesn’t like the snoring baes in Snowdin. Remember them Snas? The snoring bunny baes?”
“heh heh, yep, iiiii remember.”
“You can’t tell a sweepy baby to shut the fuk up, cause’ they just babies, so we get no sweep and the Inn lady get all our monies for fee! Is a scam, I KNOWS it!”
“Put the coins back please,” said the receptionist, no longer interested in Papyrus’s stories.
“Kay’. Papyrus picked himself up out of the fountain and waddled over to the counter, his onesie jiggling with coins and leaving a wet trail behind him. I gots a good idea for a com-per-mize Nail-Lady.”
“I thought you were going to put the coins back?”
“Slow yo’ roll woman, we makes a commerize first-”
“compromise’ bro.”
Papyrus ignored him. “I’ll put the coins back like you say…and in return for being a good baby bones, I gets a fee room, kay’? Dat sound like a good commercialize?”  
“…No.”
“*pfft!* papyrus-”
“Why not Nail-Lady? It solve both our problems, yes? Why you so unreason-able?”
The receptionist sighed and hung her head, her energy for the day having been completely drained.
I forgot how terrible this infant was, all he does is talk and make things worse. Why is he even here? Doesn’t he have a mother and father to go home to?
Ugh, he’s still going...
“…Good babies get rewards Nail-Lady, is the law. Dat’s how we learns to be good people’s ya’ know? I do something good…then I gets a reward, then I be good again to get another reward. You see where I’s going with dis?”
“There’s a difference between a reward and a bribe, child-”
“I’s not a child, I’s a baby! How you gonna learn if you no listen? BIG people’s get bribes, BABIES get rewards-”
“bro, stop, it’s okay,” said Sans picking up his brother. “i’ll pay your way and if you really want to return the debt, you can pay me back with your OWN mon-”
“Except ugly babies like Snas, they get nothing.”
“…you know what? nevermind, you can sleep out here like the bum you’re destined to be." He put Papyrus back down.
“I can join your gang…?”
“no, we’re full.”
“Bums of Bloomington full?”
“yyyep.”
“Kick someone out.”
CA-CLACK!
The receptionist pressed the security button underneath her desk.
“why should i? you don’t have biker gloves and you’re mean.”
“Baby not mean! Also, I’s family and family comes first. Kick someone out.”
“no.”
CLANK, CLANK, CLANK!
The two boys stopped fighting and grew silent as a giant knight in black armor approached the counter.
“*Yawn* ………Is there a problem ma’am?”
“Yes, there is,” replied the receptionist. “That baby is stealing from the fountain…and apparently the other one is in a gang-”
“what? no i’m not! papyrus is lying!”
“Nope, is true all right. My big Buther a rebel! He drive his motorcycle around at night when is bedtime.”
“no i don’t, shut up papyrus!”
“……...Is this true?”
Sans gave the knight an irritated look, “why don’t you tell me? why don’t you tell me where i can ride a motorbike without filling the underground with carbon dioxide? why don’t you tell me where i can get one whose pedals i can even reach? where i can get one PERIOD-”    
“……...You don’t need to be a smartass.”
“…”
“………Please return the coins.”
“…”
“Why you gots so many ellipses in yo’ text Knight-Lady? You sweepy too?” The baby bones crawled over to the sleepy giant and gave her the coins in his onesie. “Here you go Heavy-Lady, now you can affords to sweep like us!”
“that’s very sweet, pappy-”
Papyrus turned to the receptionist, “NOW baby gets a fee room?”
“*sigh*”
Damnit bro…
“…No.”
“Nyeh? Why not? I WAS GOOD, GOD DAMNS IT!”
“Get out.”  
“NYEHHHHAAAAHHHH!!”
“papyrus, you don’t need to scream-”
KA-CHUR-GERGERGER!
Taking out a coin pouch, the knight poured some G onto the receptionist’s counter, “…400g right?”
“You don’t have to do that Knight Knight-”
“Yes, I do,” replied the armored monster, handing over the coins Papyrus gave her. “It’s a knight’s duty to help those in need…and we live in times where money is scarce…” She looked down at the skeletal children. “…Remember these words well…following the rules may make others happy and keep the peace, but if it comes at the cost of your or another person’s survival…ignore them.”
“…”
“…”
And with that, Knight Knight walked back to her post, leaving the receptionist alone with the two brothers.
The hand monster wasn’t angry anymore, in fact, she felt a bit guilty and embarrassed over her previous behavior. It was true that the coins in the fountain were people’s wishes…and it was part of her job to make sure people treated those wishes and the memorial with respect, but when looking at the big picture and thinking about WHY so many thieves were running about, well, it was clear who the bad guy was.
“I apologize for my previous behavior,” said the receptionist bowing low. “I’d forgotten that rules were made to help others, not act as bait for the desperate. There’s no point in a memorial if there’s no one left to honor it.”
How many people have starved to death for my job?
She winced and shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of such thoughts. What was done was done, all she could do now was change so it never happened again.
“Is okay Nail-Lady!” said Papyrus petting her back with his wingdings, “It’s your intentions dat count, not what you do.”
“that’s true. as long as you’re at least TRYING to do the right thing, you’re still a good person. mistakes are mistakes, ya’ know? you shouldn’t be punished for something you didn’t MEAN to do, ain’t that right pap?”
“Daz right big Buther! Now give us da’ key.”
“say please.”
“No.”
The woman handed the baby bones, who had taken the liberty of climbing onto the counter, the key to their room. “Please enjoy your stay.”
“YAAAASS! C’MON SNAS, IS TIME FOR YO’ NAP!”
“you mean it’s time for OUR nap, pappy.”
“NOT TIRED!”
As the boys headed to their room, the receptionist left her post and walked towards the fountain, removing the sign.
It was never put up again.
61 notes · View notes
wild-aloof-rebel · 3 years
Link
In a candid conversation with the Star, Manji said “Schitt’s Creek” producers did not instruct him as to how Ray should sound.
“It is a very slight Indian accent — somebody who was probably raised in Canada, but probably was born in India or Pakistan,” he said from his home in Los Angeles.
“I don’t regret that because I think it actually works for Ray. He wasn’t like everybody else in that town. He was from somewhere else.”
Manji said he’s OK with viewers questioning his choices, but rather than focus on accents, he said, critics could ask why his character didn’t have a more fully developed story, like a relationship or a family.
“If you want to criticize something, do that,” he said. “We need to have three-dimensional characters.”
[full article text below the cut]
At the start of Rizwan Manji’s acting career in the 1990s, the only roles available to him were those playing convenience store clerks and cab drivers. The parts usually required him to fake an Indian accent — just for laughs.
“We would joke about it. ‘This is so offensive, this is so offensive,’” recalls the Toronto native. “It’s not like we didn’t know.”
More than two decades later, Manji’s grin-and-bear-it perseverance has paid off. At 46, Manji now boasts a long — and diverse — list of TV and film credits. In September, he joined castmates from the hit CBC comedy series “Schitt’s Creek” in celebration as the show nabbed a record-breaking nine Emmy Awards.
That doesn’t mean, however, he still doesn’t grapple with questions about his acting choices.
While “Schitt’s Creek,” about a wealthy family that loses its fortune and is forced to move to a backwater town, won raves for its messages of inclusivity and positive queer representation, a segment of viewers took to social media to criticize Manji’s character, Ray Butani, the town’s bumbling jack of all trades — who speaks with an accent.
What irked them was that Ray, one of the few recurring people of colour on the show, seemed like a caricature — a rehash of the stereotypical, emasculated South Asian male. They also complained that Manji’s accent came across as “cringey.”
“Why go to the effort of writing in a character with an Indian name, played by an Indian actor, whose main personality trait is that he is stupid and has an accent?” Rishi Maharaj, a Port Hardy, B.C., engineer and avid TV viewer, wrote on Twitter days after the show’s Emmy sweep.
Across North America’s TV and film industry, there is broad consensus about the need to fight stereotypes and offensive tropes in casting. But the debate among actors of colour over whether they should fake accents remains fraught.
Some Hollywood actors, such as Aziz Ansari and John Cho, have reportedly turned down roles, citing the history of Hollywood playing up accents for laughs. (Think Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in the 1961 romantic comedy “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” complete with taped eyelids, buck teeth and cartoonish accent).
They worry that parts requiring them to speak with accents do nothing to help the cause of minority actors who are often typecast in secondary roles or as sidekicks, and who continue to be under-represented on TV and film.
Others say it’s important to represent linguistic diversity and see no harm portraying characters who speak in broken English, as long as their accent is not the butt of a joke and in keeping with a character’s backstory.
In a candid conversation with the Star, Manji said “Schitt’s Creek” producers did not instruct him as to how Ray should sound.
“It is a very slight Indian accent — somebody who was probably raised in Canada, but probably was born in India or Pakistan,” he said from his home in Los Angeles.
“I don’t regret that because I think it actually works for Ray. He wasn’t like everybody else in that town. He was from somewhere else.”
Manji said he’s OK with viewers questioning his choices, but rather than focus on accents, he said, critics could ask why his character didn’t have a more fully developed story, like a relationship or a family.
“If you want to criticize something, do that,” he said. “We need to have three-dimensional characters.”
The character that has generated one of the most heated debates in recent years when it comes to accents is Apu, the Indian-American shopkeeper on the long-running animated series “The Simpsons.” Until recently, the thick-accented character was voiced by actor Hank Azaria, who is white.
In 2017, American comedian Hari Kondabolu came out with a documentary, “The Problem With Apu,” in which he pressed the case that the show fomented racial stereotypes about Indian people.
In interviews at the time, Kondabolu shared that, as a kid, Apu was “the only Indian we had on TV” and that he was happy for “any representation.” But then on the playground, he had to deal with kids mimicking Apu’s accent.
In the documentary, he gets Dana Gould, a former writer on the show, to admit, “There are accents, that by their nature, to white Americans, sound funny. Period.”
With criticism mounting, Azaria, who had voiced Apu for three decades, announced he was stepping away from the role, telling the New York Times earlier this year: “Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore.”
There is growing sensitivity among artists, writers, directors and producers to avoid stereotypes and invest in “fully humanized, realized characters,” Steven Eng, an actor and voice and speech instructor at New York University, told the Star.
“There’s certainly been a whole history — that I don’t think any of us can deny — in film and television and the theatre where characters were stereotyped,” he said. “I think there’s so much more awareness, so much more determination to not go that route.”
But even “groundbreaking” shows, such as “Kim’s Convenience” and the recently cancelled “Fresh Off the Boat,” which were heralded for elevating Asian-Canadian and Asian-American visibility and immigrant experiences, have not escaped criticism, accused by some viewers of employing storylines and accents that do not ring true.
Cast members, in turn, leapt to the defence of their shows — and their accents.
“Some people are like, ‘Oh, stereotypical accent!’” Constance Wu, lead actress on “Fresh Off the Boat,” told Time magazine regarding her character’s Taiwanese accent. “An accent is an accent. If there were jokes written about the accent, then that would certainly be harmful. But there aren’t jokes written about it. It’s not even talked about. It’s just a fact of life: immigrants have accents.”
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, the lead actor in “Kim’s Convenience” told Maclean’s his character’s Korean accent is “part of who he is, but it isn’t the joke.”
“Yes, we’re in the entertainment field, and we will mine some of that because it is situational humour. You will get a point where we’ll say, ‘Here’s where some fun can be made, playing with the accent, and his inability and people mishearing what he says.’ But at the same time, that’s not all it is,” he said.
Jimmy O. Yang, who starred in the HBO series “Silicon Valley” and whose character spoke with a heavy Chinese accent, told Huffington Post the key is to portray immigrants with humanity.
“It’s maybe a better thought to change the perception of an accent than to avoid it all together,” he said. “I take offence (when people don’t go for parts with accents) ― it’s like saying, ‘I’m better than my immigrant brother with an accent.’”
Yang added he drew inspiration from his mom and relatives in Shanghai to develop his accent for the show. “It’s not just a (lousy) impression of a Cantonese Bruce Lee accent.”
Still, some actors have declared outright they will not do it.
“For me, personally, any time I’ve been asked to do that, I feel like — it feels like it’s making fun of people that have that accent if I do it and don’t have that voice,” comedian Aziz Ansari told NPR in 2015, years before he faced a public allegation of sexual misconduct.
“It feels like you’re doing it so white people can laugh at Indian people,” he said at the time.
That’s kind of how Maharaj felt watching Ray on “Schitt’s Creek.”
“I did find it cringey. The first thought that came to mind was it reminded me of Apu in ‘The Simpsons,’” he told the Star.
In The Problem With Apu, South Asian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his long-standing “nemesis” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon – better known as the Indian convenience store owner on The Simpsons. Creator and star Kondabolu discusses how this controversial caricature was created, burrowed its way into the hearts and minds of Americans, and continues to exist – intact – nearly three decades later. Featuring interviews with Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Whoopi Goldberg, W. Kamau Bell, Aasif Mandvi, Hasan Minhaj, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aparna Nancherla
“To me what it sounds like is what a person from Saskatoon thinks a person from India sounds like. ... I’m sure he could’ve been a funny part of that show without an accent.”
Maharaj wasn’t alone. Arif Silverman, an actor and playwright in New York, posted a lengthy Facebook post in October sharing his conflicted feelings about the show.
“Schitt’s Creek has become one of my all-time favourite shows. But they did their South Asian characters dirty,” he wrote.
“Especially Ray, who plays directly into the racist South Asian trope of being an emasculated, goofy buffoon who no one takes seriously, not least in part because of his accent.”
Silverman told the Star Ray’s accent seemed “part of the joke” and struck him as a “betrayal” from a show that preached inclusivity and whose main romance was a gay love story.
“I’m half South Asian — my mother is from Bangladesh. … And so I think a lot about representation of South Asians in the media,” he said. “If you’re really going to talk about inclusivity it can’t be at anyone’s expense.”
Manji says he faced a lot of struggles as a brown actor at the start of his career.
Back then, he was often pigeonholed into narrow roles, such as the cabbie or 7-Eleven store clerk. One hundred per cent of his roles required him to fake a South Asian accent.
“It was very strictly, like, the joke was on the accent,” he said.
But he accepted the parts because he needed the work.
He did draw a line with one type of role.
“I’m Muslim, so I was more the guy who was like, ‘I’m not being the terrorist.’”
There was one time, however, when he auditioned to play an Islamic Studies professor on the show “24.” He was given limited information about the character. It turned out he was a bomb maker.
But the money was too good to pass up. He took the part.
“I rationalized it in my head, ‘Oh, it’s season 8, and they have good Muslim characters. … I don’t know if I made the right decision,” he said.
“To be clear, I’m OK with being the bad guy. I’d love to play the bad guy. It’s just when it’s this kind of thing where you’re screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ and bombing people.”
In 2010, Manji was cast in the short-lived NBC sitcom “Outsourced” set in an Indian call centre. He and his castmates employed accents, which some critics derided for lack of authenticity.
It’s fine if people want to criticize the quality of the accents, he said, but it wouldn’t have made sense for these characters not to have accents.
“The show was shooting in America about living in India. I don’t know what the other option was,” he said, adding that he channelled his father in developing the accent for that show.
Another thing to keep in mind is that accents have to be understandable to North American audiences, Manji said. For instance, during the filming of the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Manji, who played a Pakistani colonel, said he settled on a “sweet spot” where his accent “sounds foreign” but is “not so thick that it becomes comedic or unintelligible.”
Manji said he did not have to audition for “Schitt’s Creek” but was offered the role of Ray, the town’s real estate agent, travel agent, photographer and Christmas tree salesman.
When he went for his first table read in Toronto, he’d had no prior discussion with the show’s writers or producers about what Ray would sound like.
Because most of his demo tape consisted of his work on “Outsourced,” Manji assumed that was the kind of voice producers were looking for. He went with a slightly toned-down version.
“Afterwards, I went up to Dan (Levy, the show’s co-creator) and said, ‘Hey just want to check in.’ He said, ‘I love what you did. It was funny.’ That ended up being the character for six years.”
Maharaj says he can’t help but feel Manji was selling himself short — playing to what he thought “a white audience might expect or respond more favourably to” to get the job. He likens it to job applicants of Asian descent who anglicize their names on resumes.
“I’m encouraged to hear he had agency, that they weren’t like, ‘We need you to do the accent,’” he said.
“I’d feel better if they were asking him to do a British accent or Brooklyn accent because if you’re doing this Indian accent and the character is comedic, it is nonetheless playing into that trope.”
Levy, who is also from Toronto, declined an interview request. Instead, he released a statement through his publicist.
“Ray was conceived as a character of Indian decent which we cast with Canadian-born actor Rizwan Manji, who is of Indian decent. No accent was called for in the casting or specified in the scripts,” it said.
“The thoughtful choices that Rizwan made in his portrayal in the audition room perfectly encapsulated the warmth and the energy of Ray. All characters on our show were created with love, respect and humanity. It has been gratifying to have these intentions reflected through the overwhelming audience support for these characters. That said, I welcome any perspectives that encourage conversations about diversity, especially in entertainment.”
Despite what critics might think, Manji said he has felt more empowered in recent years to make creative decisions about his characters.
Manji, who had a role in NBC’s musical comedy “Perfect Harmony,” which was cancelled this year, said when he was approached about playing the part of a pastor, he was the one who initiated the idea of giving the character a foreign accent.
Because the character was raised by missionaries, it wouldn’t have made sense for him to not have one.
Conversely, when he was asked a couple years ago to read for a pilot for a dramatic series in which his character was a Muslim father he told the casting director he didn’t want to do an accent.
“I said, ‘You know what? I’d rather not. That’s not going to excite me about this part,’” he said.
“I ended up getting the job. I found my voice.” (The pilot never made it to series).
Manji, who guesses about 60 per cent of his roles in more recent years have involved accent work, says remarks by actors who refuse to do accents are “dangerous” because they could end up limiting the types of roles available to minority actors.
His worry is casting directors will go to India in search of authentic accents, overlooking North American-born actors, like him.
“I’m already marginalized.”
Nobody fusses when Meryl Streep performs with an accent, he adds.
Ishani Nath, a freelance entertainment and lifestyle journalist in Toronto, says anytime she sees an accented character who also provides comedic relief, it raises a bit of a red flag.
But she’s hesitant to criticize actors for taking those roles, knowing that opportunities are not easy to come by.
“I’m way more interested in criticizing writers, producers, (and asking): Why are you asking for these roles to be accented? … Is there an actual reason and backstory?”
Nath says she is starting to notice deeper conversations about how different cultures are represented on screen and what nuances can be added to make characters more complex.
She says a good example of this is the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” whose actors exhibited a range of regional Asian accents.
“It’s important to note that the problem with accent roles isn’t the accents themselves — plenty of characters in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ have accents, but no one has the exaggerated or generic ‘Asian’ accent that has historically been played for laughs in Hollywood,” she wrote in a 2018 article in Flare.
Jhanik Bullard, a writer and member of BIPOC TV & Film, a collective of Black, Indigenous and people of colour working in Canada’s entertainment industry, says it is no longer acceptable for characters to have accents “just because.”
“It should actually have an authentic origin as to why this character sounds the way they sound,” he said.
Audiences are also not as forgiving as they may have been in the 1990s if the accent sounds botched or inauthentic.
What is encouraging, he says, is that more doors are being opened for people of colour to tell their stories and there are more platforms for those stories to be to told.
To that end, Manji says he and his partners have initiated a handful of projects that are in various stages of development. One is a show about a Muslim guy who becomes mayor of a major city. Another is a sitcom about a “normal Muslim family” — something that “resembles me more.”
Does the character he envision for himself speak with an accent?
“Since I want it to be closer to me, then I would say not.”
86 notes · View notes
bebepac · 3 years
Text
Seeing Double
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This is chapter 7 of Just the Way You Are.  To catch up on what you’ve missed please click:  Just the Way You Are Masterlist
Original Post date: 2/24/2021
The Book:  Prerfect Match x TRR
Pairing:  Hayden and Kai /  TRR MC is single-ish
Word Count: 3192
Warnings:  Profanity
Summary: More of Hayden and Liam’s friendship is revealed.  Liam and Riley have breakfast together for the first time... alone.  The squad goes out to dinner.  
Taylor, Sal, Jaiden, and Nico are my own characters.  All others belong to Pixelberry.  
A/N: Working on giving my masterlist a face lift, here’s one of fruits of my labor.  I hope you like it.    I really don’t have a song for this one, so i’m not even going to bother picking one.  
A/2:  In this AU Jaiden is not the older brother, he is the younger brother.  Jason and Ren Brooks after failing to conceive adopted twin girls and seven years later.  Jaiden arrived!
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“You have an identical twin sister?”  
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you mention that?”  
“She’s my sister, and we share the same face.  That's it. Do you mention your sibling that doesn’t?”  
“No.. but…”
“People get so drawn into the fact that we look alike, that they don’t realize that we’re still  completely different people with different personalities.  Yes we share a face… but that’s where the similarities end. People really start asking ten thousand questions when you say, you have an identical twin."
Riley laughed in her direction.
"Being that she's giving you the finger right now, looks like the two of you really hit it off. Come on let's smooth this over. I promise her bark is worse than her bite."
Riley grabbed his hand pulling him over to meet her sister. All Liam could think is that Riley was holding his hand.
Taylor immediately rolled her eyes.
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"C’mon Tay be nice.”
“Why? He has corny jokes Riley. My God!!! They’re horrible.”
“You’re just a comedy snob because Max is a comedian.”  
She smirked at Riley. Riley smirked back identically.
“Liam is a nice guy Taylor, if you give him a chance. I gave Maxwell a chance.”  
“I’m engaged to Maxwell. Are you trying to get engaged to him Riley?”
Liam let out a surprised cough.
“In case you don’t speak in cough, that means no Ri.”
“That means, we just started hanging out and you’re trying to throw us down the aisle Taylor, overbearing much?”    
Riley raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms over her arms over her chest.  Riley tapped her foot impatiently.  
“Finnnnneeeeeee!!!!  You win.  Okay, You win.  Don’t do that thing like Mom does it drives me crazy."
Taylor took a sip of her coffee like she was taking a shot and then smiled sweetly at Liam.
"Hi Liam, I'm Taylor, Riley's sister. Nice to meet you."
Liam was impressed.
"That's all I ask. Thank you Taylor."
She saluted Riley. "Okay Mom."
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"Come on Liam." She grabbed his hand again pulling him away from her.
They went to sit at a table away from Taylor. Liam was  relieved. Though he thought Riley had the situation handled with her sister.
"Sorry I am late. Chance told me at the last second, he couldn't make it then I had to throw something on."
Riley smiled, so did Liam.
He glanced at Riley. If this was her just throwing clothes on, his heart ached to see what she looked like when really tried to look nice.
Riley looked amazing. Her hair and makeup were done. She was wearing a blue retro dress with pink flamingos on it, and her signature pink flip flops.  Riley looked beautiful.
"Well if you rushed, Riley, I can't tell. I think you look beautiful."
Riley smiled biting her lip and her cheeks turned pink. She glanced down at the menu.
Riley was blushing!
"You make sure you let Chance know, I'm sad I couldn't hang out with him today. But I'm glad you're here Riley."
They ordered their food. Another Greek omelet for Riley. Liam ordered a different breakfast sampler.
When the food came he noticed as he ate Riley kept glancing at his plate.  
“Want to try some?”  Liam asked.  
“No.. I’m fine.”  Riley said hesitantly.  They continued talking.  It almost felt like a date to Liam.  
When he glanced up, Riley was eyeing his plate again.
“Riley, you're giving my food the look of lust.”  He slid his plate over to Riley.  
“Well if you insist.”   She said, taking a forkful of  eggs, chopped potatoes, cheese, and sausage breakfast casserole.
“That is soooo good.”
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“Maybe you should get it the next time you have breakfast here….with me…”  
“I’d like that.”  Riley’s cheeks turned a darker shade of pink.  “Us to have breakfast again, and the breakfast casserole is a good idea too.”
“Alright.”  Liam’s smile brightened even more.  
Taylor watched her sister.  She hadn’t seen someone make Riley smile like that in a long time.   Maybe she was finally trying to let someone in.   Taylor was going to give this Liam guy a chance, if he could make her smile like that.  She hadn’t seen her smile that much since Nico.  
“See you at work sis.  See you around Liam.”  
“It’s been interesting meeting you Taylor.”  
Taylor smiled.  “You know what,  I like him a little more now.  He’s honest.”  
Hayden poured a cup of coffee.  Hayden didn’t dislike anything.  But he found that there were some flavorings he added to his coffee he enjoyed more than others.  
“Hey Hayden!”
“What’s up Liam?”
“Nothing much, how are you?”
“I’m really good.”  
Liam put his lunch bag in the fridge.
“I just want to thank you.”  
“For what?”  Hayden asked.
“For setting me up with Riley.  It might not go anywhere, but I feel like I have a chance.  We might have a chance. And I really like being around her.”  
“I thought you two would be a good match for each other.  You two have the same look in your eyes.  The one you try to hide.”  
“And what look is that Hayden?”  
“Pain.  I think the two of you could help each other heal.”  
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“You can see that in the both of us?”  
“You don’t have to tell me about what happened to you Liam.  Or you can, when you feel like you’re ready to.  Just know you have a friend if you ever need to talk.”
Liam was humbled by Hayden's words. Regardless of what Hayden was or wasn't,  Liam knew one thing. Hayden is a true friend. No one could convince him otherwise.
"Thank you Hayden."
Liam had heard horror stories about the matches.  Especially the one that tried to kill the president.  People that knew what Hayden was, stayed away from him in the office.  Others were intrigued.  All still kept their distance.
Hayden was alone at work a lot, until Liam decided to sit with him one day at lunch.
“Mind if I sit with you?”  Liam asked that day.
“Sure, I guess my days of hoarding seats are now over.”
Both Hayden and Liam laughed.
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Liam liked Hayden immediately.  They talked about everything. Hayden finally asked the question that was on his mind.
“Why did you sit with me?”  
“You looked like you needed a friend.  I need one too.”  
“Jai, do you have your wallet?”  
“Riley you’re worse than Mom.”  
“Well if you want to have a drink, they’re going to card you.  No one will believe my baby faced brother is twenty one without seeing your license.”
She pinched Jaiden's cheek.
"God you are Mom!!!!"
"And don’t be afraid to talk, Jai.  You cared about him too.”  
“Okay Riley.”  
When they arrived at The Ruby Apple, they were the first to arrive.
“Sal, can we get our usual booth?”  
“Sure sweetheart, it only seems like yesterday was the last time all you all were here together.”
Riley slid into the booth  glancing at all the pictures on the wall.  The Ruby Apple had been one of Nico’s favorite places, and their group of friends were regulars there.  They had their own booth.  And there it was, a picture of the group together celebrating Nico’s birthday, the last one he had with the group.   Nico had put on two birthday hats on his chest, and looked like Madonna when she wore that  cone bra in her music video.
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  He was sticking his chest into Riley’s face, and everyone was laughing.  Everyone filed in, that was in town.  Drake, Max, Taylor, Liv, Bert, Savannah, and Kai.
“Where’s Hayden?”  
“He decided he would stay in tonight.”  
"He knew he was welcome right?"
"Oh of course Ri, he knew."
“Sal, can we…..”
“Loaded nachos for the table and your first round?”  
“Yes.”  
“Let me see Super Boy’s id.”  
Taylor laughed.  “That’s funny.”  
Jaiden handed over his driver’s license.  
“I’ll have my waitress bring your stuff over."
A few minutes later a young woman walked over to the table.  Jaiden sat up straight.
Riley raised an eyebrow.  
“Mia!!”  Kai screeched.  “What are you doing here?”
“Working, I pull some shifts here when we’re not on the food truck to make a little extra money.”
Jaiden kept staring at her.  She smiled at him.   She passed out the shots.  It was Nico’s favorite.  Baby Guinness.
“It looks like I have one extra.  I’m sorry, I’ll take it back.”  
“No leave it.  There was supposed to be one more.”  Riley said with a sad look in her eyes.  
Mia left the shot.  “I’ll be back in a few with your loaded nachos for the table.”
“Let’s do this.”  Drake commented. “Everyone hold your glasses up.  Only for you would I drink this weak ass shot for, because you know I’m a whiskey man.  And because of that, I know you are smiling down on all of us.  We fuckin’ miss you, and love you Nico KH. Cheers.”
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Everyone clinked glasses and  downed their drinks.
“That’s not weak!”  Jaiden coughed.  
“Says the twenty-one year old that’s had more cough syrup in his life, than actual liquor.”
“Taylor God! He’s your brother, why do you have to be so ruthless?”  Bert laughed.
“You act like you just met me.  You  know this about me. My sensor is perpetually broken.”
She slid by Jaiden.  “I’ll be right back.”
Sal stopped her.
"Riley, I'm so sorry about the number of shots, I wasn't thinking."
"It's alright Sal."
Riley went into the bathroom to compose herself a little bit.  She wiped her eyes and touched up her makeup.  She felt it a victory she hadn't cried today. She sighed walking out of the bathroom when she saw him.
Liam was sitting in a booth alone, reading a book. Not a kindle, an actual book.  Riley smiled. She didn't know why she found it so endearing that he was reading an actual book, and chuckling to himself.
"Liam?"
He looked up at her.
"Hey!"
"What are you reading?"
"It's called The Greek Meet. It's absolutely hilarious."
"Isn't that a movie?"
"It is, but oftentimes the books are always better than the movie versions. The author was consulted on this one, it's pretty close to the book."
"Good deal! Are you alone Liam?"
"Yeah, but I'm fine Riley." He smiled at her.
"Liam…."
"I'm used to it." He reassured her.
His words stung Riley's heart.
"What happened to you Liam?"
"I was sick a lot as a kid.  I spent a lot of time alone in a hospital room."
"Come sit with us Liam."
He shook his head no.
"It's okay Riley. I'm fine really."
"Please?"
He glanced up at her.
"If you insist."
Liam followed Riley over to the big booth full of people.
"Who's this clown?"  Drake asked.
"Drake don't be a Taylor."
Everyone at the table laughed at Jaiden's comment.
"I resent that. And from all people, my little brother. Really Jai?"
"It's what we do. Broken sensors and sarcasm is a love language we're sure."
Drake and Taylor  high fived each other.
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Riley introduced Liam to the table as her friend.  He sat next to Riley and across from Kai.
Mia showed up with another round of drinks.
"This one is on Sal! Hey about time you showed up! You missed the first round.  Just in time for the second."
"Excuse me?" Liam looked confused.
Mia passed out the shots.
"You said there was supposed to be one more. This is him right?"
Oh God. Liam thought as he looked at Riley. They were here for Nico.
Riley stammered.  No one knew what to say.
Riley's face fell.
"Yeah! I'm always late. You know me." Liam said with a smile at Riley.
"Great! I'll be back with your Nachos."
Drake gave Liam a nod of approval.  He had earned respect at the table.
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"Come on then let's do this before the damn alcohol evaporates. You too Liam."
Everyone held up their drinks.
“You know we got more people in this booth this year without your big ass head in the way?  We still miss you though. Happy birthday in heaven.”  
Everyone drank their shots.
“Softie, your emotions… “  Maxwell nudged Taylor.
“I am NOT SOFT!!!”  You know this about me Max."
“So how was it?”
“Not terrible. Actually, I liked it.”  
Mia came back with the huge plates of Nachos.
“Yasssssssssssss!!!” Maxwell screamed.
Riley looked at Liam.  “Thanks.” she whispered to him.  
He winked at her.  “No problem.”  
Mia refilled the waters on the table.  
“Can I get a coke?”  Jaiden blushed at Mia.
“Sure sweetie, I got ya.”  
“Somebody’s got a crush on the cute waitress.”  
“She’s nineteen.”  
“How do you know that Kai?”  Riley asked.
“She runs my favorite food truck with her dad.  You saw the cute shirts.  Pops on the Go.  That’s Pop’s daughter Mia.”  
“She’s even made her uniform a little spunky.  She stands out from all the other waitresses.
“And not to mention her pink chuck taylors.”  
“Her what?”  Jaiden asked.
“Jaiden her shoes.”  
“They’re converse.”  
“You’re so young. But you know what we’re going to help you.  We’re feeling inspired.  I feel like Nico would help you out. Nico KH was a great wingman. We’re going to be your wing people tonight.”  
“Kai you’re up.”   Drake said.
“Here’s your coke.”   . “Thank you.”  Jaiden’s cheeks were bright red.
“Hey Mia?”  
“Yeah Kai?”
“Between Pops and here, how in the world do you have time for a social life?”
Mia laughed.  “What social life?  The most social I am right now, has media behind it, or talking to my customers.”  
“You mean to tell me as adorable as you are, you’re not seeing anyone currently?”  
“No, not right now.”  
Kai glanced at Jaiden and winked.  
“Can I get you guy’s dinner orders going?”
She paused.  Jaiden was just staring at her in awe saying nothing.  
Riley hit him.  “Jai, she wants your food order!!!”
“OH!!! Can you come back to me, I’m not sure yet.”  
Taylor made the sound of someone crashing and burning.
“You’re going to hell Taylor.” Drake said.
“With the way you drink whiskey, Drake, you're gonna be there first. You can save me a seat in the lake of fire.”  
By the time it was Jaiden’s turn to order he still looked indecisive.
“What’s your favorite thing on the menu?”
“My favorite is the tofu burger with carrot fries.”  
Drake made vomit sounds.
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“Seriously?”  Jaiden asked.  Yeah he wasn’t going to attempt that one for a girl.
“Um no.  Get the Monster bacon burger with loaded fries.”  
“That sounds really good.”  
They enjoyed their dinner.
Mia passed out all the checks.
Riley grabbed Jaiden’s.  
“I owe you dinner.”  
She took his.  She smiled when she opened it.  
“You might want this though.”  
On a little separate piece of paper was Mia’s phone number.  
Jaiden smiled when he looked at the digits written on the piece of paper.  
He picked up his phone.
Drake snatched the paper away.
“Don’t you text her yet!!!!!!”
“Don’t play games with her.”  Savannah  said.  All the women at the table nodded.
“He’s not supposed to text right away. Makes him look over eager.”  
“Um he is eager.  Let’s be real.”  
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“Are you staying with me tonight Jai?”
“Do you mind?”  
“Nope, you’re a little wobbly, you’re coming home with me.”
“If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black.  You too Riley.”  
“I can walk you guys back if you want.”  
“Thank you Liam that would be great.”
Liam waited for Riley and Jaiden outside.  
Drake approached him.
“You know that was really nice what you did for her earlier in there.  None of us knew what to say without hurting her.”  
“Not a big deal,  I was only trying to help make an awkward situation… less awkward you know?”
“Riley is like a sister to me.  She’s been through a lot.  If you break her heart, I will break your face. Am I clear?”  
Liam swallowed thickly.  “Crystal.”  
Drake slapped Liam on the back when Riley came up.
"Nice seeing you Liam. Remember what I said!"
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Liam, Riley, and Jaiden started walking to Riley's apartment in silence.
"My feet hurt." Riley grumbled.
"C'mon Ri."
Jaiden crouched in front of her.
She hopped onto his back.  After a few blocks Jaiden’s pace really slowed.
Jaiden grumbled. "I'm not going to make it."
He put Riley down on a park bench.
"My feet still hurt.”
"Do you trust me?" Liam inquired.
"Within reason, why?"
"This is why."
Liam effortlessly picked Riley up carrying her over the threshold.
Riley wrapped her arms around Liam's neck.
"I feel like a princess." Riley giggled still a little tipsy.
"No Riley, you're a Queen."
"Queen Riley. That's pretty nice."
Riley rested her head on Liam's chest, hearing his heart beat steady in his chest. It lulled Riley right to sleep.
Liam tried to pass some knowledge on to Riley’s younger brother.
"You know Jaiden, I agree with the ladies about Mia. If you want to get to know her better, text her. Don't wait. She seems like a really sweet girl."
"Is Riley snoring?"
Liam glanced down at Riley again. Her head was nestled right next to his heart.
"She's out like a light."
"You like my sister don't you?"
"What's not to like? She's amazing!"
"Riley is not going to forget him, Liam."
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"I'm not asking her to. I'm just hoping she will open her heart to me."
"It's the same thing."
"It isn't. I know I can't replace him. There is a part of her heart that will always be his because of the way she lost him. I'm not asking her for that. I don't want that part of her. What I do want is the chance to make her happy, her to give me a chance to. And we could find a happy place together, her and I ."
He glanced at Riley. She snorted, waking herself up. Jaiden was laughing, Liam was trying hard not to. He just thought she was so damn cute.
"Was I snoring?"
"No, not at all Riley, you just breathe heavy."
"Where's your key? We're at your place."
Liam put Riley down at her door. Riley fished in her purse for her keys.
“Want to say hi to your buddy?”  Riley asked.  
Hell ya I do!”
Chance ran up to Liam once they got inside the apartment.
“He really likes you a lot.”  
“Yeah no one else matters when Liam is around.  Don’t forget who feeds you every day twice a day Chance.”  
“I think it’s forgotten.”  Liam chuckled.  
Liam saw Jaiden get excited as he looked at his phone.
"Mia just texted me back!"
"I'm so glad you didn't listen to Drake."
"Yeah I listened to Liam."
"What about your sisters or all the other women at the table."
"I am the great and powerful Li. Wise beyond his years. " he said with a wink.
Riley rolled her eyes.
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The next morning Riley woke up with a headache.  
“Ri! Where’s your sugar?”  Jaiden called through the door.  
“In the sugar bowl on the table.”
Riley groaned grabbing her head.
“Ugh.. Baby Guinness, you are not my friend.”  
Riley settled back into bed and closed her eyes.  She heard a soft mumble and the bed settled next to her.  
Riley opened her eyes.  She rolled over finding Liam sleeping in the bed next to her shirtless.  
What the Fuck.
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marchtomydrums · 3 years
Text
In the beginning 6
Alex Cabot X Casey Novak X Reader
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Alex’s POV:
Today has been extremely long and I’m ready to go home. Walking into my office I see you sitting on the couch crying.
“Y/n? What’s wrong?” Your headshot up at my voice quickly drying your tears.
“Alex, sorry I thought you’d be in court. I just came in here for privacy.” You stuttered.
“Why are crying?” I ask sitting across from you holding your hands in mine. You shake your head “Jack fucking railed my ass today. He doesn’t think I’m cut out for this.”
Anger spikes in my body. How dare he? Seeing you hurt and crying because of his words pissed me off.
“I’ll kill him.”
“No Alex, I have to deal with this on my own.”
“But he’s wrong. He doesn’t see you every day as I do. You can do this y/n. He’s full of shit.”
You chuckle at my words squeezing my hands.
“Well, I appreciate that Alex but again I have to do this on my own. I just came in here to be alone. They’re vultures out there.”
“Yes, I’m all too aware. Either way, don’t let Jack or anyone else cause you to doubt yourself. Take it in stride and keep fighting. Understand me?”
“Yes. Thank you.” You lean in to hug me and I kiss the top of your head. As you pull back I can’t stop myself from taking your lips into mine. I don’t stop until my lungs burn for air regretfully I pull away. You lean your forehead against mine our breath mingling together. You stayed like that for a while until you calmed down.
“ Sorry.” You mumbled quietly to me as if you were embarrassed.
“It’s okay. We all have bad days.” I tell you.
“What time is it?”
“7:30 why?”
“Shit! I missed the bus. I’ll have to wait for the one at 9.”
“I can take you home or you can come back to the house with me.”
“I would but I have an appointment tomorrow and the office is closer to my apartment.”
“Okay, well I’ll drive you home.”
“It’s out of your way. I’ll be fine.”
“You think I’d leave you here?” I ask you.
“Get your stuff, I’ll drive you home.”
The drive there is quiet. I keep looking between you and the road trying to see if I can read your expressions. As we pull up I notice it’s not a very good neighborhood.
“This is where you live?”
“Yes.”
I put the car in park as you quickly lean over to peck my cheek and try to exit the car.
“Wait!” I say tugging your arm. You stop to look at me.
“Can I come up?”
“Do you want to?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. This place doesn’t really seem like your scene.”
I chuckle “let’s go up.”
Walking into the apartment I notice how small it is. The layout is similar to a studio and I’m sure you pay an arm and a leg for it.
“Well, this is it?”
I take a minute to look around. Even though it’s small you’ve made it cozy. My eyes are drawn to the photos on the wall.
“These are beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
I stop to see the blush across your face.
“Wait. Did you take these?”
“Yeah. “
“Y/n these are really good.”
“It’s just a hobby.”
I smile at you as I continue to look around.
“You have a nice book collection. You read a lot?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too. This your siblings?” I question holding the framed picture.
“Yeah, two sisters and my brother.”
“You close?”
“Yeah. But I don’t really see them much since I moved.” You say sadly.
“Umm, you should go. Casey is probably wondering where you are.”
“Casey’s visiting her mom tonight. I already told her where I was. She said she was going to call you later on.”
“Oh.”
“But if you want me to leave I can.”
“No.! I just I don’t know Alex, I don’t know how to do this with you.”
“Do what?”
“This! I mean one minute your nice and you want to spend time with me and the next you’re tearing my head off. I don’t know what to do here.”
I’m quiet for a minute processing what you just said. Mentally kicking myself for making you feel this way. Why can’t I just open up to you? Why do I feel like I need to be on guard all the time? I look over to see you watching me.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying. That’s why I came up here. I want to know more about you. I want to have what you and Casey have. I keep fucking it up.” I breathe out heavily.
“Alex, you don’t have to try so hard. I get being guarded but like I’ve said before I won’t make Casey choose. You really need to figure out what you want.”
“I want you.”
“Well, your actions speak louder than your words Alex,” you tell me as you're about to walk off. I grab your arm stopping your escape leaning in to kiss you gently on the lips.
“I want you,” I whisper against your lips. I can feel your smile.
“Let's watch a movie. And ill stay the night if that's okay.” I ask you trying to prove to you that I want this to work. You nod your head yes and we do just that. As much as id love to touch you and kiss I refrain. I want you to be ready and sure before we do anything. I want to be able to love you the way Casey loves you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today has been rather quiet around the office much to your surprise. Alex has you copying some documents and running flies from here to there. You're about to head back to your desk when you see Casey standing across the room. You walk up beside her and lean over to see what she's looking at. There's a girl in Alex’s office, she is young and pretty. The two are laughing as they talk oblivious to the world around them.
“Whose that?”
“Emma something, she wants a job here.”
“And flirting with Alex is going to help her to get it?” I ask Casey jealousy evident in my voice.
Casey chuckles “I guess she thinks so.”
“Hmmph.”
“Yup. I'm just watching.”
The two of you watched as Alex and Emma talked. Emma must be a comedian the way Alex is laughing. You roll your eyes at the laughter that rolls out of Alex’s chest. Casey seems indifferent about it until the girl's hand is on Alex’s shoulder. Her body tenses up for a moment.
“You know if she gets this job she’ll be
Alex’s right-hand man. You will answer to both of them. “
“So you're telling me I not only work for the Ice Queen but Malibu Barbie as well?”
Casey laughs “that's a good one! We should call her that.”
You roll your eyes at Casey as Alex and Emma are walking out of the office. You both smile at the girl as she walks by before making a beeline to Alex’s office.
“Can I help you two or do you just like watching me work?” Alex asked looking between the two of you.
“Does she work here now?” you asked sharply. Alex is taken back by your attitude and is quiet for a minute.
“Yes, she does. She starts tomorrow.”
“Hmmph. “
“Is there a problem?”
“Nope. Not at all. Do you need me?”
“Uhh no. You can take lunch if you want. I figured the three of us would go out.” Alex says looking at Casey for some sort of explanation.
“I’m actually meeting my brother he's in the city for two days. So I'll see y'all later,” you say walking out the door. Alex looks over at Casey shocked.
“What the hell was that about?”
“You were flirting with Emma.”
“No, I wasn't!”
“Looked that way to us.”
“So you're mad at me too?”
“Nah, you know better than to cheat on me.”
Casey tells her nonchalantly. Alex chuckled shaking her head as Casey walked out of the office swaying her hips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's been a week since Emma started and she's already on your last nerve. When she's not asking you to go fetch her coffee she's talking to you about how hot Alex is. You've already told Casey to get the bail money ready because you are about to lose it on Emma. Casey assured you that Emma isn't Alex’s type however, Alex hasn't said a word to you about it. All day long they spend talking to each other and laughing. Meanwhile, Alex barely pays you any attention unless it's to run files or get coffee.
It's late in the afternoon and almost everyone has gone for the day. Casey left early to stay with her mom for the night and you are supposed to be riding home with Alex. However, Emma is still in there talking her up. Finally, Emma is leaving but not before talking to you.
“Your still here?”
“Yup, I'm here when Alex is here so.”
“Oh yeah. She's great isn’t she?”
“Yup. She's something alright.”
“Do you know if she's dating anyone?”
“What?!”
“Alex. Is she seeing someone?”
You're looking for the words but it seems that Malibu Barbie has rendered you speechless.
“Umm.”
“I think I might ask her out. She's hot, god I bet she's good in bed too.”
Emma is going on and on and all you can do is just stare at her in disbelief.
“Anyways, I'll see you tomorrow bye. “
You sit there for a minute replaying her words in your head. Jealousy taking over your body. You shot up out of your chair and into the office slamming the door behind you. Alex jumps at the noise looking at you confused. She called your name but you ignore her as you make your way behind her desk. You pull her up on her feet and kiss her. Your tongue demanding access in her mouth. You grab her ass pulling her closer to you Alex moans in your mouth. You pull back with your lungs burning for air. You look up at Alex who still has her eyes closed.
“Your mine,” you tell her pulling her body into yours.
“I never said I wasn't,” Alex says confused.
“Emma wants to ask you out. She thinks you are hot and good in bed.”
“Well, she's not lying.” Alex chuckled.
“Your mine,” you growled.
Alex looks at you with a smile, her eyes are a darker shade of blue.
“I'm yours,” Alex says nodding her head as she leans in to kiss you once more. This kiss is slower this time. Pulling back you rest your forehead onto Alex’s trying to catch your breath.
“I want you, Alex.” you barely whisper.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Y/n if this is about Emma I promise you that was never going to be a thing. I'd never do that to Casey or You. “
“I know that. It just pissed me off that she was thinking about you like that.”
“So we don't have to do this if you aren't ready. I don't want you to feel obligated or regret it.” You smile at Alex’s words seeing just how sweet she could be. Brushing her hair behind her ears you can’t help but stare at her.
“You’re so beautiful.” Alex blushes at your comment.
“I want you and I know that if I changed my mind you’d still hold me tonight. But I want you Alex. I need you.”
Alex leans in to kiss you again grinning from ear to ear.
“Let’s go home.”
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