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mldrgrl · 3 years

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The New Addition

by: mldrgrl rating: PG-13 Summary: Hanella welcomes a guest for the weekend

Even more rare than a call from Becca was a FaceTime. Texting was more her style. So, when Hank picked up his phone and saw the incoming video call, he answered immediately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“That’s how you answer your phone?” Becca said. “Why does something have to be wrong?”

“Many apologies, Daughter, but the infrequency with which you grace us with your face from a remote location are rare as natural breasts on a porn star.”

“Do you think that’s an appropriate thing to say to a daughter, Father?”

“Fuck no, but surprise calls make me nervous. What’s up, Kitten?”

“Don’t ever call me that again. Is Stella there?”

“Yeah, I think she was grading some exams or something, hang on.” Hank turned away from the phone and leaned over the sofa to try to see down the hall to the back room she was using as a study. “Stella! Stelllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Oh my god, why are you screaming at her?” Becca said.

“I like to take the opportunity to rehearse my Stanley Kowalski impression when I can. Here she comes.”

Stella came down the hall with her hands on her hips and her brows raised. Hank held his phone up so she could see Becca on the screen and she immediately dropped her hands from her hips and softened her brows, but she quickened her step.

“Becca, darling,” Stella said. “What’s the matter?”

“This is why I only text,” Becca said.

“Well, if you called more, we wouldn’t think shit had hit the fan somewhere.”

Hank opened up his arm as Stella came around to the sofa and sat down. She leaned against him and he adjusted his grip on the phone so they were both in the frame and so that she could also see Becca.

“I have someone I want you to meet,” Becca said.

“How the hell did you meet someone during a pandemic?” Hanks asked. “Oh my god, are you online dating? You know those people usually turn out to be serial killers.”

“Dad!”

“Darling, don’t worry, it’s still statistically a very low probability even if related crimes have been on the rise. Give me his name and social security number and I’ll run a background check.”

“Or her,” Hank interjected. “We’re still holding out hope she’s a lesbian.”

“This is the last time I am ever calling you,” Becca said.

“Does your mother know about this guy?”

“Or girl,” Stella added.

Becca sighed and rolled her eyes. She leaned down and tilted her phone at the same time so the view was of her ceiling and then she came back into frame with a small, brown poodle. “This is Ziggy,” she said. “A friend of a friend of mine was giving away her dog’s puppies and I picked him up this morning.”

“Lovely,” Stella said. “He’s very handsome.”

“I haven’t even met him, but I guarantee this is my favorite guy you’ve ever introduced me to,” Hank added. “Now you’ll be far too busy for online dating.”

“I’m not online dating, but I’m wondering if you can do me a favor?”

“What’s the favor?”

“Next month I have the writer’s retreat scheduled upstate. It’s just for a long weekend, Friday to Monday, can you watch Ziggy for me? He’ll probably be housetrained by then. Maybe. Hopefully.”

“Of course,” Stella answered, as Hank also said “Not a chance.”

Becca grimaced slightly. “It’s just that I’d really rather not have to put him in a kennel. I guess I can call Mom and see if she can pick him up, but it’s so far.”

Stella squeezed Hank’s knee. “You don’t need to call Karen,” she said. “We would love to watch him.”

“Fine,” Hank said.

“Thank you.” Becca smiled and held the dog closer to the phone. “Ziggy says thank you as well.”

Hank ended the call and then turned to look at Stella. She tipped her head back to look at him as well. He tried to scowl and she smiled.

“Why did you say no?” Stella asked.

“Why did you say yes?” he countered.

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

“Because I don’t see a reason to say no.”

“Because I got her a dog once and where do you think that dog is now?”

“I wouldn’t know, where is it?”

“I have no fucking idea, that’s the point. I went through all the trouble to steal the little fucker from the boyfriend of this woman I was...uh, actually it’s irrelevant how I acquired the dog, let’s just say I got a dog for Becca and fuck if I know what happened to the late, great Cat Stevens.”

“What in the world does Cat Stevens have to do with it?”

“That was the dog.”

Stella patted Hank on the knee and then tried to get up from the couch, but Hank pulled her back down. “I have to grade papers,” she said.

“I just wanted to make sure you knew about the naked shower party I’m having tonight.”

“Wouldn’t any shower party be naked by virtue of being a shower party?”

“That’s a very good point, Sherlock. I’d revise the invitation, but I’d rather just be redundant.”

“Mmhm.” She pushed on his knee and this time he let her up. “Text me the details, I need to get back to grading.”

“What, like a dick pic?” he called after her.

She glanced over her shoulder at him with one eyebrow raised. He waited until she was back in the study to unbutton his jeans.

*****

Becca dropped the dog off on a Friday morning, bright and early. Stella was awake to prepare for one of her classes, but Hank was still asleep. He didn’t hear the drop-off, but when he woke up and wandered into the kitchen to make coffee, he tripped over the dog, stubbed his toe, and shouted a ‘motherfucker’ so loud he was pretty sure he was going to get scolded for it later. The dog ran away.

“Yeah, you better run,” Hank mumbled, limping to the coffeemaker. “Fuck.”

Stella startled him not a minute later when she smacked him on the ass. He jumped and rubbed at his stinging backside, turning to her with a pout. She was holding the dog in her arms and it was whimpering and holding on to her neck with its head turned away from him.

“What was that for?” he grumbled.

“First, for shouting expletives whilst I was on a lecture.”

“I’m sorry, Sherlock, I didn’t mean to. Did they hear me?”

“No, fortunately, I was on mute. There are student presentations today. Which I must return to.”

“The damn dog tripped me and I stubbed my toe. It might be broken.” He leaned against the counter and lifted his foot up to show her his foot. “See.”

Stella reached out and took a light hold on his toe. He made a face at her and she gave it a rough tug to which he yelped and pulled his foot back.

“You’re fine,” she said.

“You’re mean.”

“Please don’t make enemies with Becca’s dog for the weekend.”

“He started it.”

Stella handed the dog over to Hank and gave it a scratch on the head before she walked away. “I put the instructions on the refrigerator,” she said. “Give them a read and then make yourself useful and take him for a walk.”

Hank pulled a sheet of instructions out from the magnet on the refrigerator and read through them. They were very detailed. Too detailed. He wanted to crumble them up into a little ball and burn them.

“Ridiculous,” he said to the dog. “When we left Becca with the babysitter the only unwritten rule was just not to kill her. You’re a dog, you should be pretty self-sufficient. Just don’t piss on the rug and don’t shit in any of my shoes and we’ll get along fine. Deal?”

The dog twisted and wriggled in Hank’s arms to be put down and so Hank put him on the floor. The dog sat down and then lifted a paw to scratch at Hank’s knee.

“Make up your mind, Zig. Up or down, what do you want?”

The dog barked once and then sneezed.

“I don’t speak canine.”

Ziggy whined softly and pawed at Hank’s knee again. The coffeemaker beeped behind Hank and he turned around to shut it off. He poured the coffee into a travel mug and left the cap off so it could cool a bit.

“Okay, Stella says you need a walk,” he said. “I need to put some pants on. Don’t lay anywhere where you blend into the floor. I need my toes.”

The dog followed Hank into the bedroom and immediately jumped on the bed. Hank shooed him off and undaunted, he explored from corner to corner, sniffing the walls and the furniture and the clothes on the floor. Hank snatched up the jeans Ziggy was nosing and put them on. He grabbed a fresh t-shirt from the closet and then went to dig through a duffel bag that Becca left for the dog’s leash.

It took Hank several attempts at getting the harness onto the dog. Number one, because he kept stepping out of it as soon as Hank got it on one foot. Number two, because he initially put it on backwards and didn’t know how the clip could possibly work when it was under the dog’s chest. He finally figured it out though and it seemed secure. He grabbed his keys, his wallet, a mask, and the coffee and headed to the elevator.

The half an hour walk with Ziggy made Hank understand the meaning of the term ‘boundless energy.’ If it wasn’t for the coffee, he couldn’t be sure he’d have made it. When they got back, he unclipped the dog from his harness and even though it felt like they’d just run a marathon, Ziggy dashed across the room and hurdled himself onto the sofa where Stella was now sitting. To Hank’s surprise, Stella laughed as she dodged excited kisses from the dog and didn’t scold him at all or tell him to get down.

“I am exhausted,” Hank said, collapsing onto the sofa beside Stella. He grimaced and let out a pained ‘oof’ as the dog stepped on his crotch and up onto his chest. “Fuck me, this dog is trying to kill me.”

“Have a nice walk?” Stella asked.

“That thing had to piss every five feet and terrorize all the squirrels and pigeons in the neighborhood.” Hank pushed Ziggy away when he tried to lick his chin and the dog laid down on his chest, panting hot and heavy in his face.

“How’s your toe?”

“What toe? Oh. Not broken, I guess.”

“Lovely.”

“He is a total chick magnet though,” Hank said, waggling his eyebrows at Stella. “Ladies were flocking to me like flies to honey. Almost got a few numbers.”

“Oh?”

“Don’t worry I told them my wife would kick my ass before she let me take a hot girl’s phone number.”

“I think I might join you for this afternoon’s walk.”

Hank chuckled and nudged Stella’s leg with his knee. “Kidding, Sherlock. Some kid did ask me if Ziggy had an Insta and then had to explain to me that any dog who’s anydog has an Instagram account and we should get on it the sooner the better if we want him to be a doggie influencer.”

“A what?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Looks like you have a new nap partner.” Stella inclined her chin towards the dog, who had dropped his head down to Hank’s shoulder and let out a deep sigh as his eyes closed. She smiled a little and stroked the dog’s back a few times.

“I didn’t know you liked dogs so much,” Hank said.

“More of a cat person, really. I don’t mind them though.”

“Did you read that list Becca left? It’s more complicated than the Treaty of Versailles.”

Stella chuckled. “It is a rather overly complicated schedule. For a dog.”

“I say fuck the list. I kept her ass alive for the requisite 18 years without a list, I can probably handle a dog for a weekend.”

“Tell that to Cat Stevens.”

“Oh yeah. Wherever the fuck he is. Okay, maybe we better stick to the list. Though I would like to point out, Cat was Becca’s dog.”

“Maybe that’s why she made a list this time.”

*****

Ziggy was sound asleep when Hank turned off the lights in the main room. The dog was passed out on his back, in his bed beside the couch, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Hank tiptoed past him into the bedroom and quietly shut the door. Stella was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. He came up behind her and pressed her into the counter with his hips, sneaking his hands up her shirt to massage her breasts.

Stella grunted slightly through her nose and pushed her hips back into Hank’s. She put her hand up to hold her hair back and Hank pulled his hands out from her shirt to do it for her. She leaned over to spit into the sink and he held her hair with one hand and stroked her neck with the other.

“Thank you,” she said.

Hank finger-combed Stella’s hair up into his fist at the top of her head while she wiped her mouth and then he let it go and rubbed her shoulders. She turned around and he held her by the hips.

“Where’s the dog?” she asked.

“Outside smoking a cigarette.”

“Do you think he should go outside once more?”

“He’s dead asleep. He was like…” Hank imitated the dog, rolling his eyes back and sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth.

“You’re the one that was worried about him urinating on the rug.”

Hank pouted his lips and then nodded. “Fine, I’ll take him upstairs. But, you better be naked when I come back, or else I’m sleeping on the couch with the dog.”

“I don’t think that’s the threat you believe it to be.”

Hank narrowed his eyes and pinched Stella’s hip before putting his mouth to her neck and nipping lightly at the back of her jaw. She laughed and pushed at his chest until he let her go. He playfully slapped at her backside on the way out of the bathroom and she swatted his hands away.

The dog was still sleeping when he opened the door, but he whistled softly and Ziggy startled to his feet and then shook himself. “Come on, hairball, we’re going outside.” He snapped his fingers a few times and the dog followed him to the door to the roof.

Ziggy was hesitant on the stairs, taking them slowly and pausing every few steps to get his footing as he hopped up. He ran around the newly landscaped deck, sniffing just about every nook and cranny and lifting his leg on half of them. It had gotten chilly since the sun went down and Hank, in bare feet and a t-shirt, hopped up and down a few times and rubbed his arms as he called the dog back.

Hank was forced to carry the dog down the stairs when he wouldn’t budge from the top. He made a few false starts, but ultimately sat down and wouldn’t move. When he put him down, Ziggy stared up at him and then stayed closed to his legs as he went back to the bedroom.

“You, stay,” Hank said, pointing to the dog bed.

Ziggy sat down next to the bed. Hank closed the door. Stella was sitting up in bed, reading a magazine or journal, which she set down on her lap and took her reading glasses off.

“Did you really think that’s going to work?” she asked.

“He’s fine.”

Before Hank even finished, Ziggy was yelping and scratching at the door. Stella raised her brows and Hank sighed. He opened the door and the dog came flying through, jumped on the bed and leapt onto Stella with his paws on her chest, wagging his tail and kissing her cheek and chin.

“Settle, darling,” Stella said, turning her face away and pushing the dog back. He gave a whining bark as he dropped down.

“Do they make ritalin for dogs?”

“He’s just a baby.”

Hank kicked the dog bed into the bedroom and then pushed it against the wall with his foot. “Go get in your bed,” he said.

Ziggy laid down where he was, next to Stella. He put his head on his paws and lifted his eyes up at Hank.

“Now he’s giving me puppy dog eyes,” Hank said.

“Shockingly, I believe that’s where that term came from.”

“Well, I don’t like it. It’s too effective.”

“Resign yourself to the fact that we have a little guest for the weekend.”

Hank grumbled under his breath as he went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. He stripped to his jockey shorts and snapped off the overhead lights on his way back. Ziggy looked up from beside Stella like Hank was the intruder. He even had the audacity to give a little growl when Hank leaned over to give his wife a kiss. Annoyed, Hank flopped onto his back and the dog scooted closer and rested his head on his arm.

“Oh, now you want to be nice,” Hank said, reaching over to scratch the dog on the head. “I’m surprised Becca hasn’t called.”

“What do you mean?”

“To check up on the dog or let us know she made it to the retreat.”

“She’s been texting me all day.”

“What? What did she want?”

“Checking up on the dog.”

“She doesn’t trust us?”

“You didn’t question her motivations five seconds ago when you were surprised she hadn’t called.”

“I like to be fickle to keep you on your toes.”

Ziggy sighed and squirmed until he was on his back, all four paws limp in the air. Stella chuckled and rubbed his chest before she closed her magazine and tossed it onto the nightstand.

“We’re letting this thing stay up here, then?” Hank asked.

“Yes.”

“I think I’m more of a cat person too.”

*****

Hank was surprised that the dog was no trouble during the night. He woke briefly when Stella, always an early riser, got up and said she was going to take Ziggy for his morning walk and when she got back, would be entering in project results into her electronic gradebook for a bit. He grunted in response and mumbled a reminder to leave him some coffee.

When he finally woke fully, left the bedroom far more cautiously than he had the previous morning. Ziggy was nowhere to be found, but as soon as he started puttering in the kitchen, the dog appeared. Hank crouched down and gave him a few scratches.

“What were you up to, hm?” he asked. “Getting into trouble?”

Ziggy followed Hank as he went to the bedroom, most likely interested in the piece of toast in his hand. Hank held the toast between his teeth, wiped his hands on his jeans, and picked up his phone from the nightstand to text Becca.

Morning sweetheart. The furball is good. Not to worry. Haven’t shipped him off to a kennel yet and probably won’t. Have a good time at the retreat.

Hank took a bite of his toast and then tore a piece off and tossed it to the dog. Ziggy caught it mid-air. About thirty seconds later, he heard Stella calling his name and he snapped his fingers at the dog to get him to follow him out of the bedroom.

“What’s up?” Hank asked, and shoved the rest of the toast into his mouth.

“What did you say to Becca?”

“Hm?” he mumbled, mouth full.

“She just texted me and said you’ve implied the dog has been sent to a kennel and wants proof of life.”

“No I didn’t,” he said. “I said I haven’t sent the dog to a kennel so she doesn’t need to worry.”

“Why would you say that to her?”

“So she wouldn’t worry.”

“Well, she’s worried.”

“That’s not my fault.”

“I’ll send her a photo. Ziggy, come here, darling.”

Stella kissed the air a few times, but Ziggy thought trying to be caught was a game. He bounded away from Stella and then stopped and bowed down, his hind end in the air and tail wagging. She patted her knee for him to come, but he just jumped a few feet to the left and went back into the same pose.

“I’ll get him.” Hank started towards the dog and Ziggy barked and then ran to the kitchen. Hank ended up chasing him around the butcher’s block several times before he was able to catch him, but keeping hold of him was difficult. “Stay still, Zig.”

Stella knelt down and quickly opened the camera on her phone.

“What’re you doing?” Hank asked.

“Taking a photo.”

“A selfie?”

“Do you have another suggestion?”

“I don’t know, I don’t do selfies. Unless they’re dick pics.”

“Yes, I am aware, but we won’t be sending your daughter a photo of your penis.”

“Well hurry up, this guy is a bitch to hold onto.”

“Smile, darling.” Both Stella and Hank smiled as she held down the photo button, but Ziggy wriggled and squirmed.

“Anything usable?” Hank asked, setting the dog free.

“A little blurry, but they should suffice.” Stella got up and texted the photos to Becca. “She says thank you, and for you to never fucking text her again.”

“Brat.”

“You started it.”

*****

The day passed. They took the dog to the park. He napped when they got back. Hank worked on his book. Stella worked on a report for her class. In the evening, they lit a fire in the new firepit on the roof and cuddled up on the daybed with the dog between them.

“Should we get a cat?” Hank asked.

“Do you want a cat?” Stella countered.

“Not really.”

“Me neither.”

“It is kind of nice having this little hairball around though. Not that I want him to stay. He’s also annoying as fuck. But, nice to have around. For an hour or two. When he’s asleep.”

“Kind of like you.”

“Hey!”

Stella laughed and Hank pushed her down onto the bed, rising to his knees to lean over and nuzzle her neck. It was a ticklish spot for her, especially when caressed lightly, and it made her laugh harder. Ziggy barked from where he was wedged beside Stella and under Hank. He wiggled out from under them and then jumped on Hank’s back with his front paws, barking and growling.

“Relax, man,” Hank said, rolling to one hip off of Stella.

“He’s being a good protector,” Stella said, laughing when Ziggy nipped at the blanket over their legs and tried to pull it away.

“He’s being a cockblocker.” Hank wrestled the blanket back from the dog and then grabbed him under the chin, giving him a few firm scratches. “You know what, Zig? You be a cockblocker. You be the best cockblocker you can be, at Becca’s place. Cockblock the shit out of Becca, okay?”

Ziggy barked and wagged his tail.

“Good boy,” Hank said. “Good little cockblocker.”

“Don’t say that to him,” Stella said.

“Why not?”

“One day you will need to face the fact that your daughter is a grown woman who deserves a healthy sex life.”

“Oh my god, I’m going to throw up.” Hank groaned and flopped down onto the bed with his arm over his eyes. “Consider me officially cockblocked.”

Stella moved up onto her hip this time and put her arm over Hank’s chest. She kissed his chin and then pulled his bottom lip between her teeth. He grabbed her around the waist and grunted softly into her mouth. Ziggy trampled the both of them and stuck his cold nose into Hank’s cheek.

“Gah!” Hank groaned.

The licked furiously at the both of them and Stella released Hank’s lip with a laugh and a scrunched face. She buried her head down into Hank’s neck while curling into his side and Ziggy tried to wedge his snout down to keep licking her face.

“We are officially never, ever, ever, ever getting a dog,” Hank said.

“No argument from me,” Stella answered, sliding away from the dog and Hank and stepping off the bed. “Meet me downstairs and I guarantee you won’t be cockblocked.”

“Oh?”

“Naked shower party for two in ten minutes.”

“The naked is redundant!” he called after her as she walked away. He waited until she had started down the stairs to take Ziggy’s face in his hands. “Listen. This is a cockblock free zone, you got that? Keep it up and you just may end up like Cat Stevens. We good?”

Ziggy gave a short, gruff bark and then lifted his paw. Hank nodded and they shook on it. He got up and let Ziggy explore the roof for a few minutes while he folded the blanket up and put out the fire. Not for long though. He had a naked party to get to and he didn’t want to be late.

The End

#i wrote this #hanella #humor #DOGS #hank moody #stella gibson

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

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The Voyage So Far: Wano (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

shirahoshi seeing the sun for the first time is really a relatively minor and understated thing, among all the chaos and revelations of reverie, but it strikes me as one of the most meaningful little moments in the arc.

i LOVE the luffy fanclub. i love that a meeting of the world leaders winds up being a who’s-who with assorted friends of one of the world’s most notorious criminals, and it brings me SO much joy to see them meeting each other and being able to connect. i feel the same way about coby and rebecca meeting.

in general, and i think i said this at marineford too, i love that the one piece world is developed and interconnected and alive enough to allow for these sorts of interactions.

fucked up that this was almost a hundred chapters ago and we still have no clue what the fuck was up with this, isn’t it?

i do find the introduction of im fascinating. up until this point we’ve had two presumed final villains- blackbeard and akainu- who were first established pretty far back at jaya and enies lobby (in robin’s flashback) respectively. meanwhile, im isn’t even seen until chapter nine hundred and something. it feels very late-game, but at the same time, their existence doesn’t contradict anything previously established, and in fact jives pretty well with a lot of information more recently revealed in dressrosa.

in any case, when in doubt i do trust oda knows what he’s doing when handling his story, and i’m very excited to see what he does with this.

wano is SO PRETTY. i mentioned this before in fishman island, but i think wano is definitely the prettiest setting in the series to date. i think it’s obvious oda was both very excited to draw it and put a lot of work and research into his depiction of it, and wow does it pay off. wano is so bursting with life and detail, and frequently looks like an ukiyo-e painting come to life, and just- wow wow wow.

i love zoro and luffy’s reunion so much... i love how happy they are to see each other. it’s only been, what, a couple weeks in-universe? but luffy is pulling the full tackle-hug like he did for sabo at dressrosa. i love them.

i really like the outfits in wano, too!! zoro’s ronin look in particular i think suits him very well, and i also love luffy’s patchy yukata and robin’s geisha getup and they’re just very cool. this also applies to the non-strawhat wano characters, for the record, and kind of ties back to what i was just saying about wano being so full of detail. it has a very specific look, and everything from the outfits to the way things like the fire and the waves are drawn folds very neatly into that aesthetic.

as i’m writing this i just finished on the paramount war posts, so with that fresh on my mind, i have to say i really like the way ace (or rather, his memory) is incorporated into wano. he’s not really a major presence- that is, the fact that he was there before luffy has no real bearing on the plot. but there are people who knew and cared about him and remember him fondly, tama and yamato, and it just really helps add to this feeling that ace was a person and his life and death had real and lasting affects.

and it adds, too, to the fact that even if it took ace way too long to realize it, he was so thoroughly loved everywhere he went.

i have a lot of thoughts on the intersection of food and heroism in one piece (i keep trying to compile a coherent meta post on the subject and mostly failing). but i’ll settle for saying that in wano luffy is a hero by his own definition, as someone who shares food with others, and i doubt he realizes that, but i think it’s really interesting.

i know luffy’s fight with kaidou is kind of controversial in fandom but i love it, personally. it feels like a logical outcome for luffy to get his ass kicked the first time he tries to go up against a yonkou singlehandedly! he got wrecked when he tried to throw down with a shichibukai the first time, too, and this is just the next logical step from that.

luffy’s always been an underdog starting from nowhere and working his way up and up and up, and i love that for him. of course he’s going to get messed up the first time he tries punching an entire order of magnitude above his weight class. and then he’s going to get up and try again, and again, and again until he wins.

the act structure of wano is really neat, i think. it helps such a long and complicated arc feel a lot more structured and less interminable than it might otherwise, and it also gives specific breaks where we can cut away to the story happening on the outside world.

honestly i really like the whole udon prison segment. it’s fun! i like it for similar reasons i like the colosseum mini-arc in dressrosa, honestly, which is that there’s no real stress because we know luffy is the scariest person there by a country mile so we can just watch him go ham, and that’s fun. it consistently cracks me up that absolutely nobody is worried luffy’s in jail. they’re all just like “yeah, he’ll be fine.” and they’re right! he’s having the time of his life!

wano’s cast is fascinating, because almost nobody is who they first appear to be. almost everyone is wearing masks, whether literal or not- fitting, for an arc structured after a kabuki play. everyone is playing roles, from hiyori to denjirou to kanjurou to yasuie, and everyone lies.

this entire sequence at orochi’s party is one of my favorites in the whole arc- in fact, it was my favorite, until we reached a certain part i’ll get to in the next post. everything from komurasaki standing up for toko and slapping orochi to denjirou “killing” her to robin getting caught by the oniwabanshu and dissolving into petals to nami calling down a massive lightning bolt to cover their escape- it’s really good.

i’ve written extensively before about the smile fruits and the themes of smile and laughter in one piece and how important the freedom to feel and express emotion is. suffice it to say that for all the atrocities orochi commits against the people of wano, it’s feeding the smile fruits to the people of ebisu town that is his greatest crime, and the revelation of just what happened to those poor people ratchets up the tragedy of wano tenfold.

i do think it’s interesting to think about how if denjirou had been just a little less committed to his role, zoro would’ve killed orochi right here. it really drives home that orochi is nothing- he’s weak, he’s cowardly, he’s just lucky and clever and cruel enough to be able to get much more powerful people to do his work for him.

it’s infuriating that someone like him has been able to hold such power over the lives of the people of wano and ruin them so thoroughly, and that’s exactly the point.

wano is the arc where oda says you Will care about the supernovas and i’m like yeah

hey, another of my all-time favorite luffy panels!! i honestly just think this one sums him up as a character in a line more than almost any other- “i’m always free.”

just look at the detail on kidd’s metal hand holy shit holy shit. on occasion certain panels jump out at me that remind me that oda really is just, a genius at drawing on a technical level, even setting aside his writing and storytelling chops, and this is one of them.

oda is really, really good at creating the sense of a darkest hour- a time when all hope seems lost. the other best example in the series is in water seven, when the crew seems to be falling to pieces, merry is marked for death, robin’s gone, and the aqua laguna is coming. here, too- nobody comes to meet the akazaya nine, and the one chance they’ve waited twenty years and staked their lives on seems in danger of slipping through their fingers-

but the point of making it so all seems lost is so that when hope does appear, it shines all the brighter, and feels all the more triumphant. it’s always darkest before the dawn, and we all know how wano has been waiting for the dawn.

#the voyage so far #arc: reverie #arc: wano kuni #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #long post

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astra-musings · 4 years

Text

catch a break, part 2

requested? yep, continuation of a request by @faithiebrock01

this fic includes: owen grady x ready, fluff(?), ooc? kinda? lots of question marks today

warnings: some graphic imagery, the indom kinda uh eats a person so there’s that, but i don’t think i got too much into the details so,, also im pretty sure my grammar and tenses are all over the place in this lmao

summary: chaos. that’s... kinda it. a lack of understanding and a great deal more of underestimating a genetically-engineered animal’s intelligence and abilities definitely creates a mess that you can’t even begin to clean up.

a/n: so... my last update was... apparently a month ago... im SO sorry... covid really fucked me up, it got IB exams cancelled and idk how to feel! im sorry! but uh i will definitely try to be more consistent (ahem) with updates, i feel so bad oh no but 🥺please still give this lots of loveee

word count: 1.8k+ (oops)

part 1 // part 1.5

masterlist

Your body involuntarily tensed upon entering the Indominus's enclosure. You were looking for an entire dinosaur (which, when you think about it, was weird; how did something that enormous go missing?), and yet couldn't help serenity that bubbled inside you from being in a forest and submerged in nature's sounds. Talk about conflict.

Owen immediately walks over to the claw marks, hands reaching out to trace over the whitened cement. If you didn't actually know him, you might've called him excited to be here. You knew he wasn't.

You'd only been standing in the heat for a few minutes but could already feel your clothes gradually dampening with the sweat that started to gather. "How the hell would that thing have gotten out, anyway? Not like it could've walked out without anyone seeing it."

Barely a second passes before the too-familiar sound of rustling leaves comes from behind you. Too far to be something on the ground. Too crisp to be just a few leaves you stepped on. And much too loud to be just the wind. Owen's shoulders tense visibly before he turns back to you, already trying to make sure you were close by.

Your eyes meet his in silent confirmation. It's still here.

Right before the warning signals from your brain can reach your limbs, a roar rips through the jungle-like enclosure, so deep and so loud that it vibrates in your ribcage, as though you stood too close to the speakers at a party and someone was playing bass-boosted hits.

Owen reacts before you do, grabbing your wrist and turning the other way. Your legs move on their own accord, stepping into a sprint before your brain actually registers what's happening.

The security guard that was frozen stiff in the control room must've been keeping an eye on the two of you with the cameras while you were in the enclosure, because the reinforced gates a few feet away from you started sliding open. You only hoped you had enough time to slip through the opening before the Indominus did.

But just as you and Owen closed in on the gates, they started to close again. Owen throws the briefest glance back towards the control room, as if the guard could hear the nearly audible 'what the hell?' his face was giving off. You push the wrist he was holding towards him. Keep moving.

Adrenaline fuels your bodies, steering you and Owen on autopilot towards the gate that, at this point, seemed like it was moving further away. The gap through which you’d escape wasn't getting any wider either.

Owen reaches his hand out, extending his form, as though he was holding open the doors to an elevator. As if it would stop hundreds of tons' worth of metal and cement.

Your ears ring. Owen's body slips swiftly through the still-narrowing gap of the metal gates as his grip on your hand tightens almost painfully. A reminder that both of you were going to make it out of that enclosure. I've got you. You're with me.

And you do; you nearly crash into him as you push your legs just that much more so that you could catch up to Owen.

You turned back to look at the gates, feet still running on autopilot. Instead of seeing the gates close and finally allowing your body to come to a halt, hooked claws slipped through the seemingly too-small gap, its tips digging into the hard, layered cement as though it was anything but.

"You're fucking kidd–" You barely get the entire sentence out before Owen pulls you to the side, pushing you under an SUV as he followed a second later.

You manage to turn your head to the side, straining your eyes as you tried to gauge what the hell this animal was trying to do. Turns out, it wasn't that hard to figure out – you watched the workers' scrambling feet run across the gravel, trying to get themselves to safety, only to be followed by the too-large and too-scaly feet of the Indominus. You watched as its claws came to a brief halt behind each man and woman, before a distant thud ensued, followed by a headless or torso-less figure dropping onto the ground. You watched as those same claws grow nearer to where you and Owen were.

You gripped his hand. Your breathing was still labored, not having been able to come down off of the adrenaline that still kept you going.

Owen's hand pulls out of yours, prompting you to snap your head towards him in worry. What are you doing? Where are you going?

He seems to read your mind, nodding slightly as a response. He pulls a drop point knife from his back pocket, reached up above him and immediately started to tear apart some of the thicker linings on the underside of the vehicle.

You jab your elbow into him as silently as you could; what the hell was he doing? Was he going to blow up the car while you were still under it?!

He ignores you, continuing his relentless crusade on the wiring. Soon after Owen pulls them and empties its contents over the both of you as you scrunch your nose and eyes up. You're showered with cold liquid – water? No, water didn't stink; this was gasoline. Would this hurt the baby? Now you're really worried. You'd always trusted Owen in making decisions before, especially regarding your raptors, but now you were starting to question him for the first time.

A crunch in the gravel makes you spin your head to face the exterior of the car. It's those claws again. You'd almost forgotten about them in your, what now seems like blissful ignorance, worrying about Owen and his knife work.

Owen's hand grips your outer forearm, swiftly turning your body sideways to face him as he does the same. He didn't want you to keep looking. You feel his hand cradle your head to his chest.

Warmth spreads across your back. No, not from what Owen was doing. It was a literal, physical warmth. Like someone turned a fan on, but it spun out hot air instead of cool air. Like what you'd feel if someone whispered so close to ear that you could feel their breath on you.

It was the Indominus. Didn't take a genius to figure that part out. Except, now that you knew what it was, your nose seemed to involuntarily hone in on the metallic hints of the air that continued to fan across the both of you. Blood.

Your eyes screw shut as you press your forehead farther into Owen as the Indominus lets out a low growl from the base of its throat. It was so close to you, you felt your chest vibrate with the sound.

Almost as quick as it came, the Indominus struts away from the vehicle, away from you. The thumps and vibrations ripple across the ground, fading with the Indominus's continuous, low growls.

The gravel shifts once more, only this time it was right next to you, and the source of the sound was Owen – one you knew and one that was much, much, more comforting than some genetically-engineered beast. Fishing for his phone, he pushes his hips up to reach into his back pocket. His fingers move deftly across the screen, swiping and punching for some currently unknown number. The hand behind your head holds you closer to his chest.

The dull ringing of the phone is interrupted, "Owen! The Indominus esc–"

"Yeah, I fucking know it escaped! You didn't see Y/N and I running for our fucking lives, Claire?!"

So it was Claire on the other end.

"Of course I saw, Owen. I saw everything. Are you okay? How's Y/N?–"

"You don't get to fucking ask how we are, Claire. You put us in that room. You put your workers, your security guards and yourself in danger. You put Y/N in danger," at the mention of your name, you lift your head away from his chest and place a hand in its place. You could tell he was getting a little heated. Ever since you'd gotten together and started working with the raptors, he'd been extra-sensitive about your getting in harm's way.

"Speaking of security guards; the one that was with us in there? Yeah, his head's just making its way down the Indominus's digestive tract. So yeah, we're fuckin’ peachy."

Silence follows on the other end. Owen heaves out a sigh, as though reluctant to be having this conversation.

"Y/N and I are gonna make our way back to you. Keep an eye on that... thing. You need to keep it the hell away from your park guests, otherwise–" Owen pauses. Not a single one of you wanted to say, or even think, about what would happen, otherwise. He hangs up with a huff.

"C'mon, baby, let's get you outta here." He slides himself out from under the car as you begin to do the same, getting to your side just as you're about to get up. He dusts off your shirt, taking your face in his hands with the gentlest cradle.

"Are you okay?" he tilts your head from one side to another, looking for injuries, "Did it getcha? Scratches? Bruises? Does it hurt anywh–"

"I'm fine, Owen," placing your hands on his forearms, you bring his frantic movements to a stop, "this head might just fall off if you move it anymore, though." You try to joke.

He lets out a breath, "S'not funny, baby. I don't know how you're still laughing after that."

"I'm just tryna make you smile, love," you give him a gentle but reassuring grin, "no, but really, I'm okay. Promise. A few scratches, I think, but that was from the gravel."

"Besides," you start, "some 40-feet tall dinosaur could never lay a claw on me." You puff your chest out comically.

Owen laughs heartily. "You're somethin' else, y'know that? God, I dunno what I'd do without you. Too strong for your own good," he pauses briefly to entwine your hands, "c'mon, we still got a long way to go before we get to the control room. We'll take the bike, yeah?"

You let out a small 'mhm' in response, smiling up at him before he turns to lead you to where his motorbike was still, supernaturally, scratch-free except for the fact that it was turned to its side.

Owen turns back to give you one last smile before letting go to pick up and reposition his bike. You take those few seconds to let your smile drop as your mind and hands wander back to your stomach for the nth time that day.

"C'mon, Y/N," he beckons you from the now upright bike, "you alright?" He seemed to notice your sudden change in expression.

"Yeah, I'm good," you bite your tongue, not wanting to add onto his currently growing list of worries, "Let's go."

#owen grady x reader #owen grady imagine #owen grady #jurassic world #jurassic world imagine #chris pratt #chris pratt imagine #chris pratt x reader #owen grady reader insert #chris pratt reader insert #fic #faithiebrock01 #catch a break #astra-musings

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felassanis · 5 years

Text

Everything I love about Assassin’s Creed

1. Ezio da la la la

2. If you idle for long enough in Odyssey Ikaros comes and lands on Alexios’s/Kassandra’s arm and then alexios/Kassandra will greet him.

3. Edward’s outfit is by far my favourite Assassin robe. It looks so fooking cool.

4. Alkibiades

5. The first mission in Assassin’s Creed III. Finding the temple and it coming alive with all the lights and the humming was so fucking cool and the theatre with Haytham was such a good way to start the game, I loved the environment that went with the theatre and the parkour was really good too, everything was good even though I had no idea why we were there in the first place lol.

6. SHAUN HASTINGS

7. Edward’s tattoos being the only reason why I go whaling in AC:Black flag

8. The dynamic between Jacob and Evie, I’ve always wanted a twin duo in a game and Jacob and Evie Frye were awesome and y’all keep sleeping on them.

9. The different colour schemes in Assassin’s Creed 2 for the different cities gave the locations their own feel and vibe and it differentiated them from each other while also ensuring that the landscapes were utterly gorgeous. For example, Venice had cooler colours, very blue and silver while Florence was warmer, with more orange and brown thrown into the mix. It really gave those maps their own identity and it was great.

10. All of Lineage. all of it, it was flipping fantastic and I know it’s not a game but it was brilliant and the other Assassin’s Creed movie will never top it despite Michael Fasbender being in it.

11. That cutscene in Black Flag where Blackbeard lights his beard on fire, I love that historical accuracy because it was very likely true and it’s so SO bad-fucking-ass

12. Alkibiades

13. How quickly I fell in love with Frederico Auditore despite the fella only having about 5 lines.

14. Also just how quickly I came to love the Auditore family, that was how well written they were, that I fell in love after 30 minutes with them.

15. LEONARDO DA VINCI

16. Desmond Miles’s snark.

17. ‘Hey whatta matta with you altair,’

18. SHAUN HASTINGS

19. How buffy Kassandra is

20. The hookblade was actually amazing in Revelations and I’m in full support that it shouldbe brought back. The noise it made was also oddly satisfying too?

21. The Glyphs in AC2 were spooky and ominous and I refused to do the last mission until I had found all of them and uncovered the Truth. Because that entire side quest was full of anticipation and the creepy vibe the Glyphs gave off and how the footage of Adam and Eve was cut up and glitchy was just really interesting and it peaked with a climax.

22. LEONARDO DA VINCI

23. The golden beads in Alexios’s hair.

24. And Alexios just being an overall gorgeous human being who’s face was chiselled by the gods.

25. The flying machine mission in AC2 while really aggravating if you didn’t do it the first time was also really fun and getting to see Leonardo all giddy and happy made it worth it.

26. I don’t know if it’s just me? but Connor’s hair? like I know for a fact that I like men with long hair but something about his hair and the feather intertwined into it was just really appealing? and while I know why Connor shaved his hair I couldn’t help but screech when he did lmao but that’s because it’s obviously not my tradition and it’s abnormal to me. pfft

27. Revelations is one of the best AC games and I’ll fight anyone on this. It was phenomenal given how it finally concluded Ezio’s story (and remember Ezio was the face of the franchise for years and he was fan favourite and still is so there were some pressure and expectations) and how it also concluded Altair’s story.

28. Altair wasn’t that interesting in the original game but Revelations added depth and layers to his characters and made him way more intriguing. The game also gave this character important significance to the lore and I think that’s the perfect way to honour the guy who started it all. As much as we love Ezio, Altair came before and without him, Assassin’s Creed wouldn’t quite be the way it was today. (although it’s up to you if that’s a bad thing or not lmao)

29. And seeing Ezio old and matured, becoming this wise legend of a man was really cool and getting to play as him in his final journey was both heartbreaking but satisfactory.

30. I have to give a massive applause to Ubisoft for making Leonardo gay as well in Brotherhood prominently. I don’t think it was ever proven historically if he was? but it was rumoured? and yet Ubisoft went and made it canon giving that representation while also having Ezio outright say he’s okay with Leonardo dating men?! Like, in that time period if you were gay you could go to prison and the general view of homosexuality was that of disgust and yet Ezio is just here supporting his best friend? hell yes.

31. ALKIBIADES

32. I have certain feelings with Unity, but I won’t lie that the parkour was spot on in that game.

33. Gideon Emery....just Gideon Emery as Reginald Birch. The character’s a massive prick but god...that voice.

34. Connor mentioning his grandfather Edward as he’s sailing the Aquila.

35. Getting to see the wreck of the Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry was gut-wrenching.

36. Finally getting to pet animals in ACIII.

37. Finally getting to feed pigs in a video game ^^

38. SHAUN HASTINGS

39. OKay, I like Shaun because the guy is really entertaining and he’s British like me and I need to see this fucker in future games again...because after Syndicate he just vanishes and we got...Fucking Layla ugh.

40. The Naval combat in Black Flag is unmatched, fighting other ships never felt like a chore and it was fun and thrilling and the rewards felt deserving. And the feeling of taking down your first Man’o War is RIVETING.

41. Rebecca calling the Animus ‘Baby’

42. She’s another character I want to see come back. And she and Shaun better come back and be alive.

43. Lucy being a Templar was a plot twist I never saw coming but I was all for that angst especially when it seemed like they were setting up what I thought was the inevitable Desmond x Lucy romance. But I guessed wrong.

44. Yusuf Tazim being the joy and light of Revelations. fuck you Ubisoft

45. Ezio’s family theme song is the most iconic video game songs ever.

46. The introduction of Alkibiades in Odyssey, what a great way to introduce a character. like seriously, I fell in love with that fucker the moment he started speaking and felt up Kassandra’s arms while being half naked and wasted.

47. Bayek being a breath of fresh air in wonderfully written complex characters whose story was powerful and tragic. He needs a sequel.

48. Assassins Creed Brotherhood’s trailer being iconic.

49. When returning to Florence to retrieve the apple and you bring Ezio back to his old home only to see the ghosts of his entire family waiting for him. I was gobsmacked when that happened and it’s such a beautiful detail.

50. Mary Read/James Kidd being one of the best characters in Black Flag and leader in the ‘did not deserve it’ club. Every minute of her was flipping terrific and her significance in Edward’s story as one of the driving points that turned him into a better man was great.

51. I cried at the end of Black Flag.

52. The little text about Shaun sobbing when you look at the database on Desmond the dog in Syndicate.

53. The lip scar being shared between Desmond, Ezio and Altair was a cool detail.

54. The interchangeable cloaks in ACII.

55. Henry Green was so soft, kind and lovely and I honestly adore him.

56. Cane swords in Syndicate WERE AWESOME

57. NO fall damage in Odyssey. Keep this feature I don’t care how impossible it is for me to survive a jump off of a giant statue of a naked god it’s cool and I want it for every other game about to be released.

58. If you walk through grass in Origins Bayek sticks his hand out like that scene in Gladiator.

59. The scene in ACII Where Ezio uncovers his father’s robes from the chest and holds it up, It’s an incredible scene and the music fits so well with it and if you’ve watched Lineage it’s all the more amazing.

60. Rosa being pretty and terrifying in ACII.

61. The Bleeding effect being that other thing in lore that is SO BLOODY INTRIGUING and I wish it was explored a bit more. Can you actually imagine having the bleeding effect? where you can’t tell the past and the present apart? where you see ghosts from the past and hear voices no one else hears? jesus,..

62. getting answers about Clay/Subject 16. Ever since he left that writing in the wall with his own blood I was hooked on his story and thank god we got answers and a face to the legendary name. I wouldn’t mind more of him though.

63. I’ve always been fascinated with Native Americans and finally getting to explore them a bit more in ACIII proved to be interesting and I hope it was satisfactory representation for Native Americans.

64. finally getting to play in the present day in assassin’s creed brotherhood and 3, like actually getting to run around and explore as Desmond.

(I did a post like this on my old blog and I’ve rewrote them on here but I also got some new things, I just like having a post like this on my blog and I like seeing people who also agree with these brilliant features in this franchise, you can pretty much tell which two games are my favourite lol, Black Flag and 2 will always have a special place in my heart,)

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pricryo · 5 years

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All the love asks

“Blush : What do you do when you have a crush on someone?”- i draw art of them and make playlists for them in secret and imagine how cool it would be to hold them… i also try to do whatever i can to make them happy, even if it makes me sad.

“Kiss : What’s the sweetest thing someone has done for you?”- i was once given a series of letters that spanned over the course of december with roughly one letter every day until christmas! it was all good, positivity, lovey-dovey stuff!! i really cherish that. i also really cherish every single time john has drawn something for me!! especially the things that were to cheer me up!!!! 💛💖

“Cuddle : Which one of your mutuals do you really want to hug right now?”- @blondewolfhd come get your hugs, love!! 💛💖

“Heartbeat : What fictional character do you love?”- oh, plenty!! there’s a full list on my carrd under comfort characters, but the main romo comforts are: john laurens (hamilton musical), brightheart (warriors), hollyleaf (warriors), jay merrick (marble hornets), steve rogers (marvel), arthur pendragon (bbc merlin), sir leon (bbc merlin), sir lancelot du lac (bbc merlin), sir gwaine (bbc merlin), and john marston (red dead redemption)! 💛💖

“Romance : Perfect date?”- going to a zoo or an aquarium!!! that would be super fun!!!!! or like… going to a cafe… or really anything!!! like… the perfect part is just being there with my partner honestly…

“Joy : What truly makes you happy?”- being with my partners and just… having fun, goofing off!! or doing things together!!! just being with them and just… loving them… they make me happy.

“Happiness : Who are your kin?”- assuming this means family, i have an older brother and sister, a mother and father, and three nieces and a nephew. not counting my many, many cousins. or my uncles/aunt. however, i don’t really… consider them family, for the most part, other than my older brother and one of my nieces (i call her kidd and she’s got some issues, but she’s pretty chill). in addition, i also co-own one pug (meatball), one blue heeler mix (fluke), one white cat (archimedes), one orange tabby cat (napoleon), one calico cat (mr. meowgi), one albino rabbit (casper), one rabbit with a “wild coat” (acorn), and one rabbit that’s brown with black splotches (berry). i also have… three adoptive dads and four boyfriends!! 💛💖

“Love : Are you, or have you been, in love before?”- yes!! i am deeply in love with my boyfriends!! john and leon are the only two that aren’t in my system, but i love them all the same!! unfortunately, i do have a bad habit of only referring to john, mostly because i typically feel afraid to tell people i’m dating two of my headmates and one of his, and i really wish i could break that. leon, gwaine, lance, john… i love you all equally. 💛💖

“Beloved : What do you love the most about yourself?”- i’m trying harder to learn how to love myself, but i think… my eyes? or better yet, my creative talent. i’m trying really hard to hone my writing ability considering how it’s my special interest and i’m an aspiring author!!

“Sweet: Favorite love song?”- currently, it’s if i killed someone for you by alec benjamin, but other good ones i like include the anchor by bastille, white blood by oh wonder, and i found by amber run!!

“Cute : What’s your aesthetic?”- unfortunately… it changes way too often. over all it’s had a foresty theme for a while, but sometimes it’s also been retro games and pixel art, and sometimes it’s been sunflowers and pastel colors and being gentle, and once it was books and reading and coffee, and once it was pirates back when they were one of my special interests! right now, i don’t really know what it is, and i really wish i did.

“Thoughtful : If you could change your name, what would you call yourself?”- this is also a very hard question! right now, the current name i’m going with is timothy alexander lucas(?) laurens (or technically wright, but then when i marry john, it’ll be laurens)!! but i also like a few of my kin names (merlin, icarus, javier, and bucky namely)! and i’ve probably entertained the thought of a few other names at one point or another, but right now i’m most comfortable with being called tim by most people!

“Charming : Who helps motivate you?”- my partners are my main source of motivation!! 💛💖

“Beautiful : Who is your ideal significant other?”- i’m already with them!!! 💛💖

“Affection : Who do you ship?”- plenty of ships! my biggest ship rn (mostly because of the kin shift) is jovier (john marston/javier escuella)! another one of my major ships is merthur (merlin emrys/arthur pendragon)!! you can ask for a more extended list in a separate ask but rn this is all that comes to mind!!

“Kind : What Pokemon would you be?”- where i kin a lot of pokemon… i have many options, like umbreon, jirachi, pikachu, zorua/zoroark, midnight lycanroc, pyroar, shiny yamask, shiny quilava, the rowlet line, and deoxys! that isn’t even counting my synpaths, either! but right now, i’m feeling mostly like i’d be midnight lycanroc! :0

“Heart Beat : You’re getting coffee with a celebrity, who is it?”- i don’t really know!!;;

“Giggle : Do you believe in love at first sight?”- not exactly!! i believe you can feel attracted to a person, but you can’t fall super deeply into love with them until you know every little detail about what makes them wonderful!! 💛💖

“Laughter : Who can always make you laugh?”- my partners!! 💛💖

“Smile : What do you find attractive?”- i don’t really know!! ;w; i don’t think i have any specific preference, but john says i do, so i’m uncertain!!

“Warmth : What is your happy place?”- a warm bed in colorado curled up with my husbands! 💛💖

“Huggable : What are your favorite flowers?”- mostly sun flowers and tea roses!! there’s plenty of them i like that i can’t remember rn, though!!

“Soul Mate : Who is your best friend?”- without a doubt, my best friends are my partners! 💛💖

“Unique : What qualities do you look for in other people?”- generally, i want the people i’m dating to have similar values to mine (anti-racism, anti-terf, anti-trump, anti-islamophobia, anti-xenophobia, etc!) and be a good person!! nothing else really matters to me!! 💛💖

“Trust : Do you trust people easily?”- i used to trust super easily, but after being put through emotional abuse my one of my best friends at the time and being manipulated after putting all of my trust in her, i find i can’t do that so easily!! however, i’m still slightly easy to trust, from what i’ve noticed recently!!

“Dearest : What item is most dear to you?”- literally anything my partners have ever given me!! like the candles john made!! or the art!! or the letters!!! or the minecraft sheep plushie that i love a whole lot!!! or the blankets!! or the things they’ve taken from the bad house and brought to me!! i love them a lot!!! 💛💖

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mermaidsirennikita · 7 years

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July 2017 Book Roundup

In July, I read eight books--most of which were unfortunately mediocre to poor. However, there were a couple of standouts, and one of them was fantastic. My favorite book of the month was Riley Sager’s Final Girls, a thinky thriller that deconstructs the concept of a final girl, while at the same time embracing the best parts of slasher movies. If you love Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, you have to try this book.

So--below is the good and the (unfortunately, moreso) bad or fair to middling.

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau. 2/5. After the assassination of the king and crown prince, the kingdom of Eden is left in turmoil. The crown would go to the king’s widow, but after she goes mad, that’s not an option anymore. That means that twins Andreus and Carys are left to battle each other for the throne--or else give up their family’s rights to the kingdom and endanger their own lives. Aaaand that’s pretty much it. There are romances thrown in, but the book moves incredibly slow for its length. The assassinations--events that we know occur because that’s the plot--take forever to actually happen, and for that matter once it does happen it’s really fucking nothing. It’s super predictable, the villain can be spotted from a mile away, and that makes Carys and Andreus seem super stupid. Also, Andreus is cursed or something and Carys has a magical drug addiction. The other issue I have with the book is that so much is made of how close the twins are--and a brother-sister twin relationship is such a cool topic to write about--but the fact is that they aren’t close. If they were, they wouldn’t be ready to stab each other in the back at a moment’s notice. Not the smartest book.

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor. 3/5. As a young girl, Maeve was bitten by a shark. The event sparked a lifelong passion for the creatures, and at thirty she’s returning home to her grandmother’s hotel as a successful shark researcher. Recently, she’s sparked the beginnings of a romance with fellow researcher Nicholas--but back home, she runs into former fiance and childhood love Daniel, now the chef at the hotel and the single father of a young girl. Maeve’s feelings for Daniel return as she bonds with his daughter, the situation further complicated by an illegal shark finning operation nearby. This book is well-written, and while it didn’t thrill me in any way, it was pleasant. It’s very much a “finding yourself” story, and I think that a lot of people would like it--you could call it a thinking beach read. At the same time, however, I found certain plot points to be rather predictable. But I appreciated the focus on sharks, animals that I love, and the ongoing threat of finning.

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 3/5. Emma married her high school sweetheart, Jesse, with whom she was madly in love. The day before their first wedding anniversary, he went missing, and was presumed dead. Three and a half years later, Emma is engaged to her new love, Sam, when she receives the news that Jesse has been found alive. Now--who does she really want to be with? I gave this three stars because I read it over the course of a day and it was certainly engaging, and Reid writes romance in a really lovely way and many people have and will love this. But this was no Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It actually kind of infuriated me. It’s painfully obvious what Emma’s choice will be, the first half of the book breezes through each romance in a way that makes it difficult to get attached to either one, and the latter half is largely Emma dithering and treating each guy like shit. The thing that irritated me most is that--well, look, I felt condescended to. The old Emma loved to travel and see the world, and it’s implied that this was all a part of her youth and now she’s more mature and values the Real Things. She’s Mature. And I’m like, bitch you’re just kinda boring now. There’s a scene where she’s basically like “I don’t like to fuck on kitchen counters anymore, I’m not in my twenties anymore I’m in my thirties”. BITCH YOU ARE THIRTY-ONE HE HAS BEEN MISSING FOR 3.5 YEARS NOT TWENTY. Like I respect her moving on and have no issue with that time frame, but Emma acted as if Jesse had been away for decades when he just hadn’t. Sigh.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker. 4/5. Beijing taxi driver Wang begins receiving mysterious letters from a stranger that claims to be connected to him through their past lives. Detailing their different lives together, the stranger clearly also knows a lot about Wang’s current life, including his troubled marriage and his young daughter. Desperate to find out who his “stalker” is, Wang becomes obsessed with the letters, and in the process confronts his own troubled past. This is a dark fucking book, and it isn’t for the faint of heart because it honestly has a little bit of everything--to the point that I couldn’t give it a 5/5 because I did find some points a bit too disturbing. Not in a gratuitous sense--it was the right choice for the book, just not always for me the reader. But it is so well-written, and really original, and interesting in a way that so many reincarnation books aren’t. It goes to some very interesting places, and was incredibly gripping. For that matter, you get to see a number of different periods of Chinese history, which is always fun to read about. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something really different.

Because You Love to Hate Me, edited by Ameriie. 3/5. This anthology--featuring authors like Renee Ahdieh, Marissa Meyer, Susan Dennard, and more--focuses on villains. Each story is actually a response from the author to a challenge given by a different writer; the challenger follows up the story with an essay, reacting to the story and discussing villainy. Many of the stories are takes on classic villains--Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes series, The Little Mermaid’s sea witch, the Erl-King/Queen--while a few others are completely original. As with almost any anthology, this was a bit of a mixed bag. A few of the stories were really excellent. “Marigold” was the first thing I’d read from Samantha Shannon, and now I’d really like to see something else from her. “Jack” was one of the few stories I found actively gruesome, and “Gwen and Art and Lance” was a pleasant, different surprise. “Indigo and Shade” and “The Sea Witch” were also interesting. However, a few of the stories weren’t for me just because of their style or content, and a few more seemed to fail at really being... well, about villains. I felt like I was reading a bit too much about sympathetic villains, you know? And the essays weren’t really for me--they felt like Tumblr posts. But with that being said, it was enjoyable, and I think a lot of people would love it.

Final Girls by Riley Sager. 5/5. At nineteen, Quincy Carpenter survived a massacre at Pine Cottage, during which all of her friends was killed. As the only survivor, Quincy was immortalized by the press as one of the “Final Girls”, the other two being Lisa Milner and Samantha Boyd, who survived similar such massacres. Ten years later, Quincy is shocked when Lisa commits suicide, and the mysterious Samantha shows up on her doorstep immediately after. If you’re a fan of slasher movies, I highly recommend this book, which not only deconstructs the “final girl” archetype but tells a hell of a story. It shifts between the present and what happened to Quincy on the night she survived, and both stories are equally compelling. Quincy is a remarkably complex and flawed character, as is Sam--I was enthralled by both. While I had an inkling about one of the twists, I certainly didn’t predict all of them. It’s not only a great story, but an important one--while few of us experience traumas as horrible as Quincy’s (thankfully) the way she dealt with hers was very familiar to me, and the Sager does an excellent job of examining the difference between being fine on the surface and being fine in reality. A must-read.

Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica. 2/5. Clara, mother to a four-year-old daughter and a newborn boy, has her world shattered when her husband is killed in a car wreck. What is written off as a tragic accident becomes more complicated when their daughter, Maisie--who was in the car with Nick when he died--insists that her father was being chased by a “bad man”. Becoming obsessed with what happened to Nick, Clara begins to trace the last few months of her husband’s life--while, in alternating chapters, we see the truth unveiled from Nick’s perspective. I gave this book two stars instead of one because I do think it portrays grief well--Clara is irrational to the point where she becomes unhinged and obsessive, and this does ring true to me, especially since she’s probably suffering from postpartum depression as well. But the ending. UGH. THE FUCKING ENDING. It ruined the book for me, as did the fact that we were clearly supposed to sympathize with Nick when he was a complete dirtbag. Spoiler alert: Nick wasn’t cheating on Clara like you might initially think (he keeps going on and on about her pregnant body, and I was like wait are you into this or are you resentful of it idek) but he was keeping a million things from her. An ex-girlfriend showing up in his life again, a kid that was possibly fathered by Nick before he met Clara, a malpractice suit, the fact that he’s apparently the worst dentist on Earth and deserved the malpractice suit... God. I should have known that I would hate Nick as soon as I realized he was a dentist. Clara isn’t much better. She idolizes Nick, jumps from one conclusion to the other over the course of a couple pages, and honestly doesn’t seem to have any kind of life outside her husband and kids. Drop this, read Final Girls.

Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo. 3/5. In 1916, the Jersey Shore experienced a series of shark attacks that would really be the first attacks in American history to capture the public’s imagination. They remain pretty distinct, as they occurred in a short period (from July 1 to July 12) across both the ocean and a nearby creek, and four people were killed and one injured by what seemed to be a single shark. I read this in honor of Shark Week and because I’ve always been seriously fascinated by these attacks, ever since I was very young. Capuzzo does a good job of describing the shark’s potential life and the attacks themselves. But he also spent a lot of time fleshing out the lives of people who often weren’t even the attack victims themselves but their loved ones, which like.. fine, I’m sure that worked for a lot of people, but I’m here for the attacks. I also feel like more time should have been spent on discussing theories regarding shark behaviors and what made these attacks so unique--and were they really unique at all? Capuzzo seemed to be very set on the idea that this was a juvenile great white, that it was attacking for these reasons, etc. And not all scientists, at least from what I’ve read, agree with him--even a discussion of outlying, unlikely theories would have been nice. Capuzzo also didn’t seem to explain why he was so set on the great white theory, when a bull shark would be another likely candidate--some would say more likely than a great white, especially during the creek attacks. With that being said, if you’re interested in the topic it’s a quick read and nicely informative. To paraphrase Jon Snow, I like the shark bits.

#books #book recs #book recommendations #book roundup

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frenchy-and-the-sea · 7 years

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Alex Sheffield

DETAILED APPEARANCE INFO

I got tagged by @stumblingsbalderdash! And since I know you give preferential treatment to one of my OCs in particular, I’ll do her, lmao. I’m basically useless when it comes to describing people though so like...most of this is going to be an incoherent mess.

Alex Sheffield:

HEAD

FACE SHAPE: Oval-ish? CHEEKS: Very slightly sunken. VERY SLIGHTLY CHEEKBONES: Not particularly prominent. LIPS: Thin and drab, perfect for pursing into a line because she’s annoyed, lol SKIN COLOR: Relatively tan, half from the sun and half from the fact that she’s not pale by nature. SKIN TYPE: Average, I guess? Although she tends to be a little freckled from the sun. Just a tiny bit. EYE SHAPE: Small and narrow, good for squinted in annoyance/anger/the sun, lmao EYE COLOR: Dark brown EYEBROW SHAPE: Mostly a very faint arch, fairly thick, usually unshaped/trimmed cause lbr EYEBROW COLOR: Dark brown, a few shades darker than her hair EYELASHES: They’re there, if that’s what you mean. NOSE SHAPE: Fairly prominent but sort of flat to her face in profile. HAIR TEXTURE: Wavy af, and tends to be sort of all over the place. HAIR COLOR: One of those dark browns that tends to look much lighter in full sunlight. HAIR LENGTH: She usually keeps it between shoulder and chin length, though she has gone longer before. EARS: Usually covered but fairly close to the side of her head.

UPPER BODY

SHOULDERS: I wouldn’t say broad because she’s fairly small all over, but comparatively, her shoulders sit a little wider than you might expect. ARMS: Relatively defined, but again...she’s real small. STOMACH AREA: Alex is pretty thin, but she’s not particularly toned there, so she’s mostly got that thin-fat thing going on. So, thin but a little squishy. LOVEHANDLES: Not really. Poor thing doesn’t really eat well/enough to carry much fat there. CHEST/BREASTS: Also pretty flat, although she might still need to bind a little to be totally flat if wearing something that fits her closely. NIPPLES: Yes? I mean, they’re there?? BACK: Gets more definition the higher up you go. Alex particularly likes this part of her. HAND SIZE: Relatively normal, though her fingers are thin and she can get them into particularly narrow places. (I know what you’re thinking and yes, that. But more often I’m talking like...working them behind or under heavy equipment or into spaces between lines.)

LOWER BODY

HIPS: Practically nonexistent, lmao. A little bony, if you’re not careful. BOTTOM: Exists only as much as proportional. THIGHS: Probably one of the few places on her that can carry a little weight. Emphasis on little CALVES: Average at best. LEG LENGTH: Proportional to her, short to everyone else.

OTHER

BODY HAIR: Definitely, and it’s decently thick. Tends to stay mostly away from her face besides in the thickness of her hair and eyebrows, but all of the usual places? Fair game. She shaves when she can, but it’s a bit of a luxury that she can only afford about half of the time. SCENT: Not....great, usually, lmao. Salt and sweat are most common. HAND NAILS: Torn down to the quick, usually. TOENAILS: Same as above. VOICE: Tends to be a little lower, usually a little drawling unless she’s speaking something besides English. Then her pitch tends to go up a little, and she doesn’t drawl the words near as much. ACCENT: I always thought she sounded a lot like James Kidd.

HEIGHT: 5′ 5″ ish

WEIGHT: Somewhere in the ballpark of 120 lbs I’d wager.

PIERCINGS: Both of her ears are pierced.

TATTOOS: None yet, although I can imagine her getting one at some point. BRA SIZE: An A cup if she’s lucky, lol. SHOE SIZE: Probably 6/7 ish. I’ve got no good basis for comparison on this one, sadly. PREFERRED CHOICE OF SHOES: None, more often than not. Boots if needed, with a little bit of wide heel for height. CLOTHING STYLE: Tends to wear a lot of loose clothing that is belted down in places to keep it out of the way without restricting movement. Usually wears neutral tones, but starts adding color once Adelina comes around and helps her with her god awful fashion sense. GENERAL BODYSHAPE: She passes as a boy five years her junior, if that conveys anything at all.

Honestly, it’d be cool for anyone to do this but I’ll tag @villnis, @colonelcupquake, @rufinagertrude, @katievogue, @lesbianbastion, @captainsaku, @amatuskadanvhenan and whoever else seems interested!

#frenchy replies #ask meme #alex sheffield #seven cities

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solaciummeae · 7 years

Text

All Of This I Know Now | Part 10

MOOD MUSIC

“What do you mean you told him?” Adam demands lightly in confusion. Of course, he respected her as his mother and wasn’t about to question her. No matter how young she was at present– it didn’t change the fact that this was the woman who would give him life. He was also well aware of her condition. Just because he was from the future didn’t mean that this part of her had changed.

He can’t hold it against her if it had gotten to be too much to keep to herself. In the end, his father had to find out somehow. There was no way they could remedy the future problem without Jude finding out the truth. The only part that worries him now is that Emma is so obviously drunk.

“Never mind– it doesn’t matter–” He amends, closing the distance between them and pulling her tightly into his arms. “Its okay Mommy, I understand. Its gonna be alright.” He comforts her. His patience was also something he’d inherited from his father and it rivaled the older Kidd’s.

Emma closes her eyes, relaxing into the oddly familiar feeling of Adam’s arms. It was so strange that she’d only known him for a handful of weeks and yet it was so natural to be so close to him. She just has this feeling that where he comes from they’re close– perhaps she’s closer to him than any of her other children to be.

The whole exchange happens within a matter of minutes, just enough time for Jude to realize that someone else is speaking in the living room. Admittedly, he’d needed to process things privately before he could really move forward. He’s still sort of in shock from the intensity of her transmission of information to him. It was a lot to take in even if he couldn’t refute the proof she’d given him. He’s not even sure how to face Adam now. It seemed absolutely silly that he’d even felt so jealous of him.

He snaps from his thoughts, looking to the living room as he hears the voice of the very man he’d been thinking on. For once in his life he’s terrified of what’s to come. He’d always believed that everything was in God’s hands– that part hadn’t changed. It was more the reality that there was such a larger plan for him than he’d ever dreamed. It takes him a few seconds to pry his feet from the floor but slowly, he steps into the open space between the kitchen and the living room. His eyes are glued to the floor, again too frightened to look up. Its as if the moment he sets eyes on Adam, there’s no going back. While the idea of being with Emma for the rest of his life is one thing– he’s not sure he’s ready to be a father yet.

Slowly, his eyes rise– taking in the sight of Adam standing there holding Emma. Its like he’s seeing him for the first time and in a wholly new light. The emotions that run through him are far different than they had been before. With the knowledge he has now, he picks up on things. Adam’s posture is that of his own, his features quite similar as well. However, he has Emma’s dark hair and if he’s not mistaken from previous encounters, he also has her eyes. That same beautiful shade of slate blue the looks almost silver at times. He pushes out a laugh, completely overwhelmed by a sense of pride he didn’t know he was capable of at the sight of them standing there.

At the sound of another presence in the room, Adam opens his eyes and looks over Emma’s head to see his father standing there. He finds that he’s not sure how to even greet him at this point. He releases Emma, who also has caught on that they’re not alone. She jerks her head toward Jude, holding Adam’s gaze for a fraction of a second. The younger man nods, and takes long strides across the room.

When he takes his place just in front of Jude, the two of them just sort of stand there taking one another in. Almost exactly in sync, they both start laughing– except Jude himself is still trying not to cry.

Adam extends a hand to shake, but Jude just closes his eyes and shakes his head slowly. He pulls the taller man into a firm embrace of his own, never one to be self conscious about affection. Adam returns the hug, holding onto him just as securely.

His father had always been his hero, someone he aspired to be like when he got older. Coming from the time he had– having watched him his whole life, there’s no other man he loves more. His parents had always taught him from a young age that family was the most important thing in the world and that love– was the most powerful.

The last time Adam had seen Jude from his own time had been seconds after the hell-hounds had gotten him. He’d watched his mother sob and hold his bloody body to herself– refusing to let him go even though he was already gone. The memory is enough to cause Adam’s eyes to sting with his own tears and he has to pull away just to look at his father again. “You look good Pops,” He laughs, wiping at his eyes.

Jude grins at him with such joy he’s never known. “Yeah?” He pauses. “You’re taller than I expected you to be.” He teases, giving him a playful sideways glance.

“Good genes,” Adam repeats the same words he had to Emma when they’d met for the first time.

The older Kidd can’t help a light chuckle. “How is this even possible?” He asks, astonished that such a miracle could occur.

Adam glances back at his mother. “So you didn’t get that far I take it…” He sighs, returning his eyes to his father. “I’m special– like you guys– except a little different–” He starts. “I’m not just psychic like you and in tune with Heaven and Hell like Mom…–I was born a vessel.” He explains almost sheepishly.

Jude’s eye widen, flashing to Emma who wears an expression as if to say, “Don’t ask me,” with a slow shake of her head. He looks back to Adam expectantly. “Like an angel– vessel…” He more so asks than states.

“That’d be the type.” Adam confirms, his own expression apologetic for the shock of it all.

“For who? I mean– would I even know?” He doesn’t mean to keep asking so many questions, he’s not trying to be so invasive but his curiosity overflows.

Adam huffs a laugh not unlike the way Jude usually does himself. “Come on Dad, you’re one of the biggest Christians I’ve ever met– I’m also pretty sure you’ve memorized more of the Bible than any other living person.” He comments, though it comes out as more of a compliment.

Jude shakes his head, feeling as though this can’t be anything more than a dream. He’s sure he’ll wake up sometime soon and feel remorse that such happiness couldn’t possibly exist for him. “I think that’s stretching it a little. But okay– try me.”

Adam’s chest jumps with a silent laugh. “Well, you see– the one I serve– he’s no ordinary angel–”

“No such thing.” Jude remarks, mimicking the same movement Adam had only seconds before.

“Alright then–…Archangel Uriel.” He tells him, almost challenging.

Jude mouth falls open. Of all the names that came to his mind, that hadn’t been one of them. He’d only assumed it would be some far more obscure angel whose name he couldn’t even pronounce– not one of the counsel of seven archangels. He has to remind himself to close his mouth, and swallows.

“How?” For the second time that night, he find himself completely dumbfound. He’d never been one to understand how vessels were selected, but he knew that not just anyone could be one– let alone one of this magnitude.

“Dunno– guess you and Mom just make a pack a pretty potent punch when combined– Adda’s always been jealous that it was me and not her. She’s been obsessed with angels since she was two.” Adam explains, not even worried anymore about letting slip the details of their future to come.

“That’s so freaking cool.” Jude comments, awe struck by the idea alone. He frowns at the second part– the way he says it, Adam implies this person he speaks of is a sibling. He had to know that they wouldn’t have just one child, but the mention of a name that’s foreign to him tugs on his mind again.

“Tell him who Adda is…” Emma calls softly from behind them both. She’s simply watching them get to know each other the way she had learned about Adam over the past few weeks.

Jude’s eyes go back to Emma again, brows pulled together as the return to his son. Still a little strange, he finds that he’s beginning to fall in love with the idea that the man before him is a part of the legacy he’d leave behind someday.

“Well–” Adam scratches his chin. “I almost don’t want to– you won’t like me nearly as much after. She’s always been your favorite– its not fair really.” He pauses if only to heighten the anticipation he can feel coming from his father. “Adda– or Addison…is one of– my little sisters…as I mentioned you quite favor her. She’s always had that ‘Daddy’s little girl’ complex and you in turn are her favorite person in the world.” He explains as if annoyed by the idea.

“One of?” Jude repeats, his heart swelling so greatly in his chest that he’s sure that soon he won’t even be able to breathe properly.

“Ah!” Emma cries, throwing her hands up. “If you’re going to reveal this part– I’m leaving– I don’t want to know about this– I’ve been through enough for the night. I’m retiring to my room. If anyone needs me– knock first and wait until I answer.” She hurriedly rants, momentarily closing her eyes and waves her hands in front of her. Without further notice, she turns to the stairs and walks up the entire flight faster than she ever has before.

She enters her darkened bedroom, closing the door behind herself. She walks over to her bed, climbing onto it and crawling to her pillows. She pulls them to herself, but can’t help this feeling inside of her that she’s never been more whole that she is now.

They watch her leave, waiting until she’s out of earshot to continue. Jude gestures to the couch that he sleeps on nightly, “Please– sit–” He encourages politely.

Adam throws himself down, his long legs stretching out in front of him lazily. He waits for Jude to join him before clearing his throat as though he were going to give a speech. “Please don’t pass out due to what I’m about to tell you– its quite intense considering you only just found out about me. Deal?”

“Deals are for demons.” Jude quips with a lopsided grin.

Adam snorts, seemingly unimpressed. “Okay, Mom.” He pauses, returning the smirk with one of his own. “You and Mommy–”

“Aren’t you a little old to be calling her that?” Jude can’t help but laugh.

“I swear you two are so infuriatingly similar its really no wonder that you’re real life soulmates.” Adam snarks, his expression conveying the utmost annoyance. “We’re very close– I never outgrew it– its our thing. Now do you want to hear about your kids or are you just gonna make fun of my smaller decisions in life?”

Jude can’t help but chuckle lightly again at Adam’s level of sarcasm. “Well if there’s one thing I don’t need further convincing on– its that you are her son…”

A small smile pulls on the corner of Adam’s lips. “Seven. You and Mommy end up with a grand total a seven children. Myself, Addison, Annabelle, Michael, Casey, Andrew, and Haley.”

Again, Jude’s mouth falls open. He’s not quite sure that Adam can be serious as he begins listing off the names of all of them. “Seven?” He repeats, almost winded by the possibility. Sure, if he ever got married he wanted kids– but that number is a little daunting.

“Yes– you and Mommy were– will be quite productive.” Adam snorts.

“Hey– watch your mouth.” Jude warns, but falters as he realizes what just came out of his own.

Adam doesn’t seem nearly as bothered by the reaction as his father does. In fact, he’s glad for it. It reminds him of home– where his parents had been much older and more experienced as parents. He almost wants to reach out and hug his father happily, but simply shoots him another knowing grin.

“This is so weird…” Jude comments, beyond flabbergasted.

“You’re telling me– you try meeting your mother when she’s younger than you. I mean– she’s always been beautiful but I didn’t know she was such a babe. Good going Dad.” He congratulates as if its normal to be so comfortable with his own family.

Jude gives him another long warning glance to which Adam raises his hands in surrender. “I’ll tell you what though– Adda wanted to come so badly…” He tells him, suddenly melancholy. “When you died– it was all the rest of us could do to keep her and Mommy together. Even Anna and Haley who are normally allergic to emotion really stepped up– Casey was probably the most disturbing–”

He feels a strong sense of guilt wash over himself at the idea of leaving his family behind like that. ‘How could I be so selfish? I get why I did it– but the consequences seem so much worse.’ His mind works over it all.

“Believe me– it wasn’t selfish. What you did for Mom was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do in my life.” He reassures him. “But you’re right– we’d rather know Mom’s up in Heaven with the G-Man than know that you’re in hell.” The younger man replies casually reading his father’s mind.

Jude can’t helped but smile sadly, looking down at his hands. Normally the only person even allowed to reach him that easily was Emma herself. He wasn’t without his own barriers– but Adam had read him like the page of an open book. He reaches over and puts one of his hands over his son’s. “Thanks. I’m hoping we can avoid the need to resort to such drastic measures. Mainly– Emma’s not going to die. I’m just not going to let that happen.”

Adam looks him over with the deepest empathy. “I believe you. It was kind of an accident really– she got a little too confident and went off on her own. I’m hoping that by being here now. You guys get a second chance at doing it together– or my personal favorite plan of action– not doing it at all.” His words imply a certain nonchalance but his tone is actually quite broken.

“I like that plan too. I want–…your mom– to get out of this life. I’d gladly retire to keeping her safe if she’d let me.” He admits, taking his hand back to run his fingers through his hair.

“I think that’d be the biggest lesson you two could take from me being here. You guys were never anything short of the greatest parents any child could ask for. We never wanted for anything but– you were both always so determined to save the world at the same time.” He explains. “I’m asking you– right here– right now– please just let being parents be enough. You might not be saving the entire world– but you’d be saving ours.” He goes on.

“You’ll always have to protect us from the things that linger from your old lives– but it is possible to lead a normal life. And as you first born son– I am asking you– please know how much that would mean to all of us who love you too much to lose you to evil.” He hesitates again, if only for a second before finishing. “Let being our hero be enough– we already know you are to Mom.”

There’s not a single thing he can say to argue with that. Adam, his son, is right– in every way. He’d never thought he’d get out, he figured he’d die before the age of forty to the very evil that Adam speaks of now. And yet– the boy is proof that he lives on– and what a life he leads. He just watches him for a long time, that same sense of pride now so vibrant and strong within him. “You know– you’re pretty wise for your age.”

Adam’s face brightens again, taking the compliment as a direct comparison to his old man. “I learned from the best…” He shrugs, though the implications of his meaning more than evident.

If he’d ever had any doubts about becoming a father, they’d vanished completely. He finds that its not fair that he can’t meet all of his children like this– he’s also sure he can’t wait to. He glances toward the stairs, thinking about Emma and how now he’s the one who knows more than she does.

“Go on– I just came to check in. Guess you could say I got more than I bargained for.” Adam urges, already sure that large steps have been taken in the process of saving his father’s soul. Without warning, he leans over and wraps his long arms around his father’s torso and lingers for a few seconds. When he pulls away he stands and smiles down at Jude who he couldn’t be more thrilled to have met like this.

“And hey– maybe now you’ll love me almost as much as Adda– almost.” He teases before retreating to the front door and tossing back one more hopeful look.

As soon as he exits through the door, Jude inhales a deep breath and holds it. His eyes close as he exhales. “I already do…” He replies to the empty room.

Without another thought he takes his boots off and makes his way to the downstairs bathroom to change into his pajamas. He’s sure that Emma’s probably already sleeping, but after all of this it seems wrong not to be with her.

He takes the stairs at a jog and enters her dark room without even knocking– even though she’d instructed him to. His bare feet pad over to the empty side of the bed and he climbs onto the mattress. He can tell from the light of the moon that she is definitely already asleep.

He just looks down at her– certain now that aside from his son– she is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He catches himself thinking its no wonder that Adam was a vessel when his mother was already an angel herself. He shifts to lie down and moves up behind her– pulling her into him with an arm firmly around her waist. His chin rests over her shoulder, which his places a chaste kiss on before closing his own eyes.

This was it. This was his life– his destiny, and he’d never been so grateful to God since the day he’d been born.

#indie drabble #spn drabble #spn rp #supernatural drabble #supernatural rp #muse: emma #muse: judah #muse: adam #i cant even call this a starter #drabbles: emma #drabbles: judah #drabbles: adam #series: so this is where the story ends; or have we just begun #verse: supernatural #relationship: could this be out of line; to say youre the only one

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jazzangelslb · 5 years

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October 2019 Newsletter and Events

New Post has been published on https://jazzangels.org/october-2019-newsletter-events/

October 2019 Newsletter and Events

We just sent out a newsletter and a newsletter email. We hope you received it. If not, please go to this page to sign up for all newsletters and events.

Here are the contents of our email:

Greetings Jazz Angels Everywhere:

We want to share the latest and greatest happenings with the Jazz Angels. Below is our fall newsletter in case you did not receive it in the mail or click here for the pretty version.

Check out the calendar page so you can come to our November performances at

Tracy’s

Roscoe’s

Timeless Pints

The Performance Plus Hot Rod Happening Food Drive

and many more.

Veggie Grill Fundraiser

We’re having a food/fun/friend/fundraiser at Veggie Grill in The Marketplace on PCH on Tuesday, 11/26 all day and night.

Here’s the link with more info. Please click the button “COMMIT TO EAT” so that we can have this event.

Veggie Grill has incredible tasty and healthy food and will donate 33% of your tab to the Jazz Angels, enabling us to provide Jazz Angels programs to even more musicians.

IMPORTANT: Make sure to tell the server you’re with the Jazz Angels.

See you there!

Here are the contents of our newsletter in case you couldn’t open the link.

Hello Jazz Angels,

Here are some cool notes and highlights about our happenings so far this year.

A successful summer program at Rising TIDE’s youth summer camp in downtown Long Beach

Our bands played at Bixby Park, Admiral Kidd Park, the SELA festival, LGB as well as our regular performances at Di Piazza’s, Roscoe’s Jazz Lounge, and Roxanne’s Cocktail Lounge & Latin Grill

The newly established Community Performance Fund allowed our bands to perform at 40 different events ranging from Miller Children’s Hospital to MOLAA, to the city of Paramount’s Heritage Parade

Special recognition from council members Al Austin and Roberto Uranga for our performance at the I Matter 2 Anti-Bullying and Suicide Awareness event

The Herb Alpert Foundation became a Jazz Angels supporter

We are now affiliated with Sabian cymbals

Our first field trip to a concert at the Greek Theatre

– Jazz Angels has more employees and mentors than ever before

At the Jazz Angels, we create an environment for young musicians to play and help preserve jazz, while building self-esteem, confidence and leadership skills. In addition, we mentor very talented and awe-inspiring musicians. Jazz Angels alums are now attending North Texas University, Berklee College of Music, LBCC, CSU Long Beach and Fullerton. Three Jazz Angels alumni are in this year’s Disney All American College Band. Every year, close to 30% of the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association’s honor band are Jazz Angels students.

Special note from Lynne Kass & Kristina Shafton about Jazz on the Patio:

Sunday, May 5th was our most successful fundraiser ever! Over 240 guests joined us for an afternoon of fabulous food, craft beer & cocktails, amazing silent & live auction items, and the best jazz in town! In addition to our Jazz Angels students and pros, this year’s event featured Queen Cora, whose multi-genre drumming includes Super Bowl performances with Prince and Beyoncé. What a treat for our guests to see, hear and meet Queen Cora and for the Jazz Angels musicians to share the stage with her!

We raised almost $20,000 to support the

Jazz Angels and our new Community Performance Fund in honor of Dave Werts.

Thank you to all the sponsors, auction donors, committee & attendees for their support.

Save the date: Sunday, 5/17

– Jazz on the Patio 2020 –

No one does what we do!

Our method of teaching, customized arrangements, commitment to performing and improvising puts the Jazz Angels at a level of jazz preservation and education way above other organizations.

Our vision is to become the premier model for jazz preservation and education

We hope to see you at our upcoming spring session performances on 11/2, 11/10, 11/16 & 11/17.

Check our calendar on the website for details and to find out about other community performances.

Volunteer Focus:

Linnea Lenkus

If you follow us on social media, you are familiar with her posts about Jazz Angels. She also completely revamped our website jazzangels.org. She works tirelessly for the Jazz Angels.

Thank you, Linnea! Winter Jazz Angels session begins 1/12/20

Thank YOU for helping us keep jazz alive and provide a safe and nurturing place for ourn young people to express themselves through music.

Jazz Angels – 3258 East Willow St, Signal Hill, CA 90755 – 562.981.8410

The Jazz Angels is a non-profit public benefit corporation Federal Tax Exempt ID number: 84-1686341

Shop at Ralphs and Help us Out!

We are a non-profit, and we are listed with the Ralphs rewards program. Every time you shop there with your rewards card, they’ll donate a percentage of your sale to us.

If you shop at Ralphs, either

go to your account online to add us to your rewards program

OR simply bring this letter to the manager of the store (not the cashiers), usually found near the entrance.

Click on the Newsletter image to view actual size:

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woundtwine39-blog · 5 years

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Dose: The LeBron & Lonzo Show

Saturday’s seven-game slate provided plenty of highlights, including LeBron James and Lonzo Ball becoming the first pair of teammates to record triple-doubles in more than a decade, James Harden posted one of his own, and Russell Westbrook just missed joining the trip-dub festivities.

After recapping the important storylines from Saturday, we’ll wrap up the Dose by taking a quick look at a handful of players that are facing injury issues for Sunday’s games.

However, before we detail the standout individual performances from Saturday evening, let’s first discuss the fallout from the trade between the Suns and Wizards.

After the proposed three-team deal involving the Grizzlies fell apart Friday night due to a baffling misunderstanding over which Brooks (Dillon or MarShon) was included in the trade, Phoenix and Washington consummated the deal themselves on Saturday morning. Trevor Ariza is headed to the Wizards in exchange for Kelly Oubre and Austin Rivers.

Ariza was averaging just under ten points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.9 treys in 34.0 minutes for Phoenix. I’d expect him to post similar numbers in Washington. In fact, he’ll probably get a slight bump in fantasy value playing alongside John Wall, Brad Beal and Otto Porter. Ariza was shooting just 37.9 percent from the floor over 26 games with the Suns, but that should rise in D.C. He posted some of the most efficient shooting stats of his career when he played for the Wiz back in 2012 through 2014, when he camped out in the corner and knocked down 3-pointers off kick-out passes from Wall. Ariza shot a career-high 40.7 percent from 3-point range in 2013-14. In addition, he's now playing for a team committed to making a run at the postseason and will play him as many minutes as he can handle. He won’t get any of those random DNP-rest days in D.C. Ariza has a chance to post top-75 overall numbers in nine-category leagues over the rest of the way.

Oubre is going to be a restricted free agent in July, so the Suns will undoubtedly want to see what he can bring to the table by putting him in a position to succeed. However, he is joining a Phoenix squad that has an overabundance of small forwards. Oubre will have to compete for playing time with Mikal Bridges, Josh Jackson, and T.J. Warren. Still, he was able to post close to top-125 overall numbers while logging 26 minutes a night in Washington and should be in that same neighborhood with the Suns.

Austin Rivers had no fantasy value coming off the bench for the Wizards. However, the Suns are in desperate need of players capable of running the point. While certainly not a true point guard, Rivers will likely be asked to facilitate the offense on occasion for Phoenix. Last season, Rivers logged over 33 minutes a night for the Clippers and finished the year ranked 140th overall in nine-category leagues. The poor field goal and free throws percentages will hurt, but if you can swallow those negatives, he's probably worth taking a flier on in deeper leagues, as there's a decent chance he returns late-round value. Unfortanuley, this trade (and the return of a healthy Devin Booker) means that Suns rookie De'Anthony Melton will likely see his minutes reduced dramatically.

Editor’s Note: If you love Fantasy Basketball, you have to be playing on DRAFT. It's daily fantasy basketball snake drafts instead of salary caps. They take minutes to complete, and there's even auction drafts! No more setting lineups or constantly worrying about pros, just draft and win! Right now DRAFT is giving Rotoworld readers an exclusive FREE entry into a real money draft when you make your first deposit! Here's the link!

Saturday’s Standouts: LeBron James recorded his second triple-double of the season on Saturday, racking up 24 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and three turnovers. However, he wasn’t the only Laker to tally a trip-dub. Lonzo Ball racked up 16 points, ten rebounds, ten assists to go along with five steals, two treys and two turnovers in 35 minutes. This is the type of performance from Ball that Lakers fans and fantasy owners have been pining for. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lonzo and LeBron are the eighth pair of teammates with a triple-double in the same game in NBA history. They are the first since Jason Kidd and Vince Carter did it for the Nets in 2007, and the just second pair of Lakers, joining Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1982.

Nikola Vucevic, whether in the U.S. or south of the border, has been solid all season long. Vooch scored 15 points, grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds and added five assists, one triple, two blocks and two turnovers in the Magic’s victory over the Jazz in Mexico City on Saturday. It was Vucevic’s third game with at least 15 points, 15 boards and five dimes in 2018-19. The only two players with more 15/15/5 games this season are Giannis Antetokounmpo (9) and Anthony Davis (6).

Blake Griffin stuffed the stat sheet once again on Saturday, tallying 27 points (8-of-16 FGs, 10-of-13 FTs) eight rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one 3-pointer in 36 minutes. Griffin has scored at least 26 points in each of his last five games. During this current five-game stretch, he’s averaging 29.8 points (on 51.4% shooting), 8.8 boards, 5.3 dimes and 2.0 treys.

Andre Drummond also played a crucial role in the Pistons’ victory over the Lakers, snapping Detroit's six-game losings kid, while posting a monster double-double: 19 points, 20 rebounds, one assist, three steals, and five blocks. It was the second consecutive contest with five rejections for ‘Dre. The last Pistons player with five-plus blocks in back-to-back games was… Andre Drummond in 2014.

James Harden, fresh off a 50-point triple-double, had “only” 32 points (9-of-14 FG, 11-of-13 FT), 12 rebounds and ten assists on Saturday night. The Beard was remarkably efficient in this one, shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. So, that’s a total of 82 points, 22 rebounds and 21 assists in 76 minutes over Houston’s last two games. That seems pretty good.

Russell Westbrook was just one 1-of-13 on 2-pointers but knocked down three of his four 3-point attempts and just barely missed yet another triple-double in Saturday’s win. Russ registered 13 points, nine boards, 16 assists and, as a sweet cherry on top, six steals… Not to be outdone, Paul George posted some impressive numbers as well: 33 points (11-19 FGs), seven boards, six assists, one steal, one blocks and five treys.

Devin Booker (hamstring), who had been sidelined since December 2nd, returned to the lineup on Saturday and looked terrific. He poured in 28 points (on 10-of-16 shooting) and tacked on three 3-pointers, seven rebounds, seven assists and two turnovers. Best of all, Book logged 36 minutes and didn’t appear to suffer any setback with his hamstring issue. The Suns play four games next week, so make sure he’s in all starting lineups.

Editor's Note: Looking for an edge when it comes to fantasy hoops? Our new NBA DFS Toolkit has a Lineup Optimizer, Customizable Projections, Next Man Up tool and more for FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo! And for season-long, the NBA Season Pass provides weekly projections, rankings, Pickups of the Day and more.

On The Radar: Kemba Walker has come crashing back down to earth this month and landed with a thud on Saturday. He scored just four points on 2-of-13 shooting in a blowout loss to the Lakers, adding one rebound, three assists and three turnovers in 25 minutes. Over the Hornets first 16 games, Kemba averaged 29.6 points (second in the NBA) and 4.1 treys, while shooting 46.5 percent from the floor and 38.9 from downtown. In the 13 games since, he’s averaging 19.2 points and 2.1 triples, while shooting 35.1% from the floor and 27.% from 3-point range… Malik Monk scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting Saturday, to go with two 3-pointers, five rebounds, one assist, but much of that came in garbage time.

Evan Fournier scored a team-high 24 points (on 7-of-15 shooting) on Saturday and tacked on two 3-pointers, seven rebounds, one steal and one turnover in 33 minutes. Fournier has struggled with his shot all season, so hopefully, he can use this encouraging performance to build some momentum… Aaron Gordon was disappointingly quiet, finishing with just eight points, two 3-pointers, two rebounds, three assists and one steal in 28 minutes… Jonathan Isaac was held scoreless, missing all three of his shots but was able to record seven boards, one assist, one steal and three blocks across 34 scoreless minutes.

Derrick Favors started and scored 21 points (on 8-of-16 shooting) with eight rebounds, two assists and three turnovers in a loss to the Magic... Donovan Mitchell also scored 21 points, but it was mostly empty calories. He shot just 8-of-21 from the field and had one rebound, one assist and one steal… Ricky Rubio also struggled with his shot, missing 11 of his 14 FG attempts. He finished with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two turnovers… Rudy Gobert registered six points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals, two blocks and one turnover across 33 minutes.

Kyle Kuzma entered Saturday on fire but cooled off a little bit in the Lakers blowout victory over the Hornets. He tallied 14 points, two 3-pointers, three rebounds, three assists, one block and four turnovers in 28 minutes… JaVale McGee (illness) was questionable but ended up playing and played well, finishing with 19 points (on 9-of-10 shooting), six boards and three swats in just 18 minutes… Josh Hart had only five points on 2-of-8 shooting with three rebounds, one assist, one steal and two turnovers across his 26 minutes.

Reggie Bullock (left ankle sprain) returned from a five-game absence on Saturday and didn’t look the least bit rusty. He scored 15 points (5-of-11 FGs, 1-of-2 FTs) with three rebounds, one assist, and four 3-pointers in 30 minutes… Reggie Jackson had 12 points, two rebounds, four assists, one block, and three turnovers in 24 minutes.

Kyrie Irving struggled with his shot (11-of-25 FGs) but did more than enough to keep fantasy owners happy. He finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two 3-pointers in 33 minutes… Gordon Hayward (6/2/2) had a dud and was just 3-of-11 from the field… Marcus Smart stellar: 21 points, eight boards, three dimes, five triples, and three steals.

Clint Capela banged out another double-double with 26 efficient points (10-of-14 FG, 6-of-7 FT), ten rebounds and two blocked shots in 35 minutes on Saturday… Chris Paul was erratic from the field (3-10 FGs) and finished with ten points, ten assists, two steals, one rebound and two 3-pointers in 34 minutes… Gerald Green scored 17 points (5-of-6 FG, 3-of-3 FT) with one rebound and four 3-pointers in 22 minutes off the bench.

Mike Conley topped the 20-point plateau again on Saturday. He poured in 22 points (8-of-17 FG, 5-of-5 FT) to go along with six assists, two rebounds and one three-pointer in 37 minutes. He was dealing with a hamstring issue and a finger injury earlier the week but looks perfectly healthy at the moment. This is just the second time in his career he’s had more than 20 points and more than five assists in three consecutive contests… Marc Gasol stuffed the stat sheet: 17 points (7-of-12 FG, 2-of-2 FT), nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and one three-pointer in 32 minutes… Jaren Jackson Jr. logged 31 minutes and finished with nine points, seven boards, three assists, one steal and three blocks.

Kris Dunn helped carry the Bulls to a shocking comeback victory over the Spurs in San Antonio on Saturday. Chicago was down 21 at one point but came all the way back. Dunn was huge down the stretch, scoring the Bulls final two buckets to secure the victory. He finished with 24 points (11-of-19 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs) seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 36 minutes. His minutes restriction is a thing of the past, and his buy-low window has probably already slammed shut, but I’d throw an offer out there… Lauri Markkanen scored 23 points (9-of-18 FGs, 2-of-2 FTs) with seven rebounds, one assist, two steals, two blocks, and three 3-pointers in 37 minutes. With Zach LaVine (ankle) sidelined (see below), Dunn and Markkanen will be the focal points of the offense… Wendell Carter Jr. (8/2/0) fouled out in 21 minutes… Jabari Parker was a DNP-CD. He is out of the rotation and can be sent to the waiver wire.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 29 points (on 10-of-16 shooting) and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds… Rudy Gay had 12/6/4 in 26 minutes… DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points but needed 23 shots to do so (8-of-23 from the field). He also added five boards and three dimes… Spurs starters Derrick White and Bryn Forbes were a combined 0-of-7 from the floor.

Danilo Gallinari was excellent on Saturday, finishing with 28 points (on 10-of-16 shooting), seven boards, two assists, and four treys. The only blemish on his nightly resume was committing seven turnovers… Tobias Harris had 22 points (9-of-14 FGs), nine rebounds, one assist and three triples… It was good to see Montrezl Harrell snap out of a mini-slump. ‘Trez tallied 21 points (8-14 FGs), six rebounds and three dimes in 26 minutes off the pine.

Deandre Ayton (18 points, 12 boards) recorded another strong double-double during Saturday's win over the Timberwolves. He also added two assists and one block across 26 minutes… Mikal Bridges needed 12 shots to scored 12 points (4-of-12 shooting) but did tack on five rebounds, two 3-pointers, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, three blocks and one turnover in 40 minutes. However, with Kelly Oubre on the way to town, Bridges will have increased competition for minutes… T.J. Warren did his thing: 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting, three 3-pointers, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

Karl-Anthony Towns came up big with 28 points, 12 rebounds, one 3-pointer, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 38 minutes… Dario Saric started in place of Taj Gibson (personal) and delivered 15 points, 11 rebounds, two 3-pointers, two assists, one steal and one turnover in 35 minutes… Robert Covington (knee) was able to suit up, but he did struggle, shooting 1-of-8 from the field four points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals, one block in 26 minutes.

Injury Tracker: Zach LaVine (ankle) did not play Saturday vs. the Spurs, as he returned to Chicago to have his left ankle injury further examined. Lavine initially injured the ankle late in Thursday's game vs. the Magic. He downplayed the severity of the damage on Thursday night, and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that the injury was "not serious." However, KC Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "LaVine may need to rest the injury for a couple of weeks." Yet, it is believed that surgery won’t be required. LaVine will miss at least one more game, Monday’s matchup vs. OKC, and may not be able to play in their upcoming two-game homestand either.

Al Horford (sore left knee) did not play Saturday vs. Detroit. It was Big Al’s fifth straight game on the shelf. Earlier this week, coach Brad Stevens said that Horford would miss at least a few games and that the Celtics would err on the side of caution after he was diagnosed with patellar tendinitis.

Kyle Anderson (left ankle sprain) did not play Saturday against the Rockets. Anderson turned his ankle in the second half of Friday's loss to the Heat and was able to only play 16 minutes in that contest.

Zaza Pachulia (illness) missed his first game of the season Saturday night. Jon Leuer logged 14 minutes off the bench behind Andre Drummond.

Injury Notes for Sunday’s Games: Jimmy Butler (strained groin) is questionable for Sunday's game in Cleveland. Butler injured himself Monday vs. the Pistons and has been sidelined for each of the Sixers previous two contests. Furkan Korkmaz is averaging 33 minutes a night starting in place of Jimmy Buckets.

Nikola Mirotic (sore right ankle) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Heat. Mirotic has been fighting through the pain in his right ankle since November. The Pels sat him down on Wednesday and will likely do so again on Sunday. Hopefully, the rest allows him to heal. Julius Randle and Cheick Diallo will continue to see increased playing time in his absence.

E'Twaun Moore (left leg strain) is listed as questionable for Sunday. Moore has sat out each of New Orleans previous two contests. After a red-hot start to the season, he’s shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and 26.3% from downtown over his last seven appearances.

Otto Porter (knee) was unable to practice on Saturday and will be a game-time decision for Sunday's matchup vs. the Lakers. Otto was hurt on Monday has missed each of the Pistons last two games due to his nagging knee issue. If Porter is unable to play, the Wiz will be shorthanded on the wing as both Austin Rivers and Kelly Oubre are in the process of being traded to Phoenix. Markieff Morris, Jeff Green, Tomas Satoransky, and Sam Dekker would all be asked to log extended minutes if Porter is ruled out.

Frank Ntilikina (ankle) and Trey Burke (right MCL sprain) are both listed as probable for Sunday’s game vs. the Pacers. The Knicks were shorthanded, with only eight healthy bodies in the second half of Friday night’s game in Charlotte, which enabled Emmanuel Mudiay to eat up minutes and pour in a career-high 34 points. However, it looks like New York will have their full complement of point guards available on Sunday. This likely means that we are looking at an ugly timeshare situation at PG, limiting the fantasy value of all three players. Burke may be on the outside of the rotation looking in.

Damyean Dotson (sore right shoulder) and Lance Thomas (knee) are questionable to play Sunday against the Pacers. Dotson missed his first game of the season on Friday. With the three point guards healthy and Courtney Lee back in the mix, New York’s backcourt is getting crowded… Thomas has been out since Nov. 5 and will not see consistent minutes even when he’s healthy.

Mitchell Robinson (left ankle) has been ruled out. Mitch Rob turned his ankle when he landed on Frank Kaminsky after grabbing a rebound in the third quarter of Saturday’s game vs. the Hornets. X-Rays came back negative, but it would not be surprising if he missed multiple games. Luke Kornet stepped in and played the entire fourth quarter and all of overtime in Friday's impressive comeback win over the Hornets. The Uni-Kornet scored a season-high 13 points with six rebounds, two steals, three blocks and three 3-pointers in 24 minutes. He likely earned a chance to see minutes backing up Enes Kanter on Sunday.

Allen Crabbe (right knee) is listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Hawks. Rodions Kurucs started in place of Crabbe on Friday and registered 15 points, six rebounds, one assist and one triple. He’d be an intriguing dart-throw in DFS is Crabbe is out again.

Pascal Siakam (back stiffness) and Kyle Lowry (left thigh contusion) are questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Nuggets. Fred VanVleet started in place of Lowry vs. Portland on Friday and scored a season-high 21 points, adding eight assists, four rebounds, three triples and four turnovers in 38 minutes… Siakam injured his back in a scary fall Friday night and did not return to the contest. However, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted that tests on Siakam came back clean and that he was day-to-day. Fortunately, getting the questionable tag, as opposed to being ruled out, seems to support the belief that Siakam is only dealing with a minor injury. If he is unable to play Sunday, O.G. Anunoby and C.J. Miles will divvy up extra minutes.

Dennis Smith Jr. (wrist) and Dirk Nowitzki (ankle) are probable to play Sunday vs. the Kings. DSJ returned from a four-game absence on Thursday and finished with four points, eight rebounds, one assist, three steals, five turnovers and two fouls in 27 minutes against the Suns. Dirk made his season debut on Thursday, scoring two points with one rebound in six minutes.

J.J. Barea (ankle) is questionable for Sunday's game. Barea injured the ankle on Wednesday night and did not return. The X-rays came back negative, but JJ sat out Thursday's game against Pheonix. Jalen Brunson will soak up additional playing time if Barea is sidelined.

Tyreke Evans (bruised right knee) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Knicks. ‘Reke has been a major disappointment this season, even when he was starting in place of Victor Oladipo. Now that ‘Dipo is healthy, Evans belongs on waivers in standard leagues.

Dwyane Wade (general soreness) is questionable to play Sunday. Wade was ruled out of Friday’s game due to the same illness.

Goran Dragic (knee) is being listed as "out" for Sunday's game in New Orleans. This will be Dragic’s third straight game on the sidelines and his 12th game missed over the last month. Tyler Johnson (hip) is probable to play Sunday and should continue to soak up extra minutes.

Omari Spellman (hip) and Alex Poythress (ankle) will not play on Sunday vs. the Nets. No fantasy impact to note from either or these two.

Iman Shumpert (left hip contusion) is questionable for Sunday's game against the Mavericks. Shumpert slipped and fell late in the third quarter on Friday, went to the locker room, and did not return. If Shumpert is ruled out on Sunday, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Buddy Hield, and Justin Jackson will see extra time.

Brandon Ingram (ankle) and Rajon Rondo (fractured right hand) will both miss at least the two games for the Lakers. Rondo has been cleared to resume basketball activities but will not join the Lakers on their current road trip. Ingram was re-evaluated on Saturday, and while he's making solid progress and is being listed as day-to-day, he will also not join the team until they return to Los Angeles. The earliest these two would be able to play would be Friday at home vs. New Orleans.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/dose-lebron-lonzo-show-123700238--spt.html?src=rss

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trilotechcorp · 7 years

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New Post has been published on PBA-Live

New Post has been published on http://pba-live.com/introducing-dennis-smith-jr-the-future-face-of-the-mavs-franchise/

Introducing Dennis Smith Jr., the future face of the Mavs franchise

LAS VEGAS — Dennis Smith Jr. didn’t play cards with his teammates, put on a pair of Beats by Dre headphones or catch a nap during the first team flight of his NBA career. He wanted to work, not that he had much choice in the matter.

Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle sat side by side with Smith and spent the two and a half hours it took to fly to Las Vegas putting the No. 9 pick in the draft through a video tutorial. They watched a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder last season, with Carlisle particularly emphasizing details of the Dallas point guards’ defense against MVP Russell Westbrook.

They studied some of the Mavs’ offensive sets and discussed Smith’s responsibilities, how he’d fit and situations he should expect to see, the rookie impressing Carlisle with his intellectual curiosity for the game.

“His eyes light up when you turn on NBA film,” Carlisle said proudly a couple of days later, fresh off watching Smith light up the Phoenix Suns’ summer league team for 25 efficient points in 27 minutes, driving and finishing in electrifying fashion for several buckets.

“I like your point guard,” a Western Conference coach told Carlisle as they greeted each other after the game.

The Mavs, whose draft room erupted with glee when the New York Knicks selected Frank Ntilikina with the previous pick and left Smith on the board for Dallas, really like their point guard. So much so that Carlisle, without prompting, declared on draft night that he projected Smith as an instant starter and impact player.

“I appreciated it,” Smith said. “That’s one of the great minds in basketball. He’s one of the best coaches in the league, if not the best. When he said that, it’s high praise, but that means I’ve got to come in and put in the work, if he’s got that much faith in me.”

There is a buzz around the Mavs, who haven’t had a draft pick develop into a long-term starter in Dallas for more than a decade, that the 19-year-old Smith might be the franchise player they so desperately need with Dirk Nowitzki (the No. 9 pick in 1998) entering his 20th season and in the midst of his twilight.

“I think that he has amazing ability that needs to be brought along the right way,” Carlisle said. “That’s on all of us. That’s on Mark [Cuban], on me, on our coaching staff, our training staff, our strength and conditioning staff. You don’t just declare a guy a franchise cornerstone player. You help put him in the position to get there. That’s going to be our plan.”

Smith says he sees the glass as half full when asked about slipping to No. 9 in the draft, stressing that he’s ecstatic with his situation, landing with a franchise that features one of the NBA’s premier coaches and respected, unselfish veterans to help groom him. However, he can’t deny that he felt it was a slap in the face to see eight players picked before him, including four point guards.

“You could say that, because I believe that I’m the best player, as should everybody else,” Smith said. “They do their work, but I definitely took it as an insult.”

It’s never wise to come to grand conclusions during the first week of summer league, but Smith certainly looked like a Rookie of the Year candidate while leading the Mavs to wins in the first two games, averaging 19.5 points on 50 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Everyone in the league knew that Smith, whose vertical leap measured at 48 inches, possessed elite athleticism. He has impressed in Vegas with a rare blend of aggressiveness, poise and discipline.

“He’s strong, plays with force, but he also plays with great vision and good discipline,” Carlisle said. “That’s a really unusual thing for a young guy like that.”

The Mavs, who have had 14 players start at point guard in the five seasons since Jason Kidd’s Dallas departure, identified the position as their primary need early in the draft preparation process. Carlisle, who started studying for the draft in March with the Mavs out of playoff contention, instantly fell in love with Smith’s game.

“The one thing that I remember thinking to myself right off the bat is, there’s no way this guy’s going to be there at No. 9,” Carlisle said, chuckling at the Mavs’ luck. “I thought he was a top-five talent for sure.”

Some questions about Smith’s character might have contributed to the Mavs’ good fortune. North Carolina State went 15-17 in Smith’s lone season, with coach Mark Gottfried getting fired in February, and frustration was frequently evident in Smith’s body language. He got a bad rap for being a lazy, unwilling defender and there were whispers about him being a bad teammate.

Smith never fell out of the top five on Dallas’ board, and the Mavs did extensive homework on his character when it appeared that he could be available when they picked. Their findings reinforced that he was a player they wanted, according to Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

Cuban had Don Kalkstein, the Mavs’ sports psychologist, interview Smith and expected to get a mixed review afterward. Kalkstein instead told Cuban that Smith was one of the best interviews he had ever done.

Smith never visited Dallas before the draft, but Carlisle, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and team executive Michael Finley asked him several pointed questions during a 30-minute FaceTime conversation days before the draft. Smith struck them as “a kid that was very confident but had an appropriate level of humility,” as Carlisle put it.

“It was perception over reality,” Cuban said. “We talked to people around him, talked to people he had played with, people who had worked with him. None of those [negative] things came out. It was the exact opposite — great teammate, tough situation with the coach getting [fired late in the season]. The perception wasn’t reality. We just had to find out for ourselves.”

A perception of Carlisle is that the coach is particularly tough on rookies and on point guards.

“I’m both,” Smith said with a big smile. “It’s cool, though.”

Carlisle scoffs at his reputation regarding point guards and rookies: “I think if you ask Yogi Ferrell, he’d say that it was a pretty good situation meeting up with me.” Ferrell, a midseason call-up from the D-League, was a second-team All-Rookie selection last season.

Smith says he’s fine with being coached hard, pointing to his background as a football player, a cornerback who had a scholarship offer from Wake Forest and interest from many other programs before deciding to focus on basketball after his sophomore year of high school. He’s eager to learn and is grateful that Carlisle’s commitment to him is strong enough that they’ve had individual sessions in the gym every day that Smith has been in Dallas.

Smith also readily admits that he needs to be taught how to play defense. He believes that. He also understands that orchestrating the offense to make sure that established players like Nowitzki, Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews are getting the ball when and where they want it is the key on-court factor in determining how impactful he can be as a rookie.

“I don’t have to hunt for buckets,” Smith said, figuring he’ll score plenty within the flow of Carlisle’s pick-and-roll-intensive system. “They’re going to come naturally. I’m going to get to the rack. That’s a given.”

Carlisle has butted heads with point guards over playcalling in the past, most notably Rajon Rondo, and has perhaps the thickest playbook in the league. But, as he did for Ferrell, Carlisle plans to scale things back significantly this season. He wants Smith to operate within a simple structure that allows him to focus more on making plays than running plays.

If Smith coasts, Carlisle won’t hesitate to start Ferrell or veteran J.J. Barea at point guard and make the rookie earn the job. But the reality is that the Mavs are in the early stages of a rebuilding process, and the development of their prized lottery pick is as important as anything this season. Carlisle insists he can deal with Smith’s anticipated rookie growing pains because the potential short- and long-term gains are so promising.

“He’s got a unique skill set and unique ability level athletically that we haven’t had at that position in my nine years,” Carlisle said. “Fans are going to see a different element to our game because of him. There’s no question about that. It’s a different kind of force that he brings to the game at the point guard position. We’re excited.

“This is great for our franchise. I’m a loyal franchise guy, and this is something that we desperately need.”

Source: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19958324/nba-dennis-smith-jr-future-dallas-mavericks

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readbookywooks · 7 years

Text

THERE was a great rush of feet across the deck. I could hear people tumbling up from the cabin and the forecastle, and slipping in an instant outside my barrel, I dived behind the fore-sail, made a double towards the stern, and came out upon the open deck in time to join Hunter and Dr. Livesey in the rush for the weather bow. There all hands were already congregated. A belt of fog had lifted almost simultaneously with the appearance of the moon. Away to the south-west of us we saw two low hills, about a couple of miles apart, and rising behind one of them a third and higher hill, whose peak was still buried in the fog. All three seemed sharp and conical in figure. So much I saw, almost in a dream, for I had not yet recovered from my horrid fear of a minute or two before. And then I heard the voice of Captain Smollett issuing orders. The HISPANIOLA was laid a couple of points nearer the wind and now sailed a course that would just clear the island on the east. "And now, men," said the captain, when all was sheeted home, "has any one of you ever seen that land ahead?" "I have, sir," said Silver. "I've watered there with a trader I was cook in." "The anchorage is on the south, behind an islet, I fancy?" asked the captain. "Yes, sir; Skeleton Island they calls it. It were a main place for pirates once, and a hand we had on board knowed all their names for it. That hill to the nor'ard they calls the Fore-mast Hill; there are three hills in a row running south'ard - fore, main, and mizzen, sir. But the main - that's the big un, with the cloud on it - they usually calls the Spy-glass, by reason of a lookout they kept when they was in the anchorage cleaning, for it's there they cleaned their ships, sir, asking your pardon." "I have a chart here," says Captain Smollett. "See if that's the place." Long John's eyes burned in his head as he took the chart, but by the fresh look of the paper I knew he was doomed to disappointment. This was not the map we found in Billy Bones's chest, but an accurate copy, complete in all things - names and heights and soundings - with the single exception of the red crosses and the written notes. Sharp as must have been his annoyance, Silver had the strength of mind to hide it. "Yes, sir," said he, "this is the spot, to be sure, and very prettily drawed out. Who might have done that, I wonder? The pirates were too ignorant, I reckon. Aye, here it is: 'Capt. Kidd's Anchorage' - just the name my shipmate called it. There's a strong current runs along the south, and then away nor'ard up the west coast. Right you was, sir," says he, "to haul your wind and keep the weather of the island. Leastways, if such was your intention as to enter and careen, and there ain't no better place for that in these waters." "Thank you, my man," says Captain Smollett. "I'll ask you later on to give us a help. You may go." I was surprised at the coolness with which John avowed his knowledge of the island, and I own I was halffrightened when I saw him drawing nearer to myself. He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm. "Ah," says he, "this here is a sweet spot, this island-a sweet spot for a lad to get ashore on. You'll bathe, and you'll climb trees, and you'll hunt goats, you will; and you'll get aloft on them hills like a goat yourself. Why, it makes me young again. I was going to forget my timber leg, I was. It's a pleasant thing to be young and have ten toes, and you may lay to that. When you want to go a bit of exploring, you just ask old John, and he'll put up a snack for you to take along." And clapping me in the friendliest way upon the shoulder, he hobbled off forward and went below. Captain Smollett, the squire, and Dr. Livesey were talking together on the quarter-deck, and anxious as I was to tell them my story, I durst not interrupt them openly. While I was still casting about in my thoughts to find some probable excuse, Dr. Livesey called me to his side. He had left his pipe below, and being a slave to tobacco, had meant that I should fetch it; but as soon as I was near enough to speak and not to be overheard, I broke immediately, "Doctor, let me speak. Get the captain and squire down to the cabin, and then make some pretence to send for me. I have terrible news." The doctor changed countenance a little, but next moment he was master of himself. "Thank you, Jim," said he quite loudly, "that was all I wanted to know," as if he had asked me a question. And with that he turned on his heel and rejoined the other two. They spoke together for a little, and though none of them started, or raised his voice, or so much as whistled, it was plain enough that Dr. Livesey had communicated my request, for the next thing that I heard was the captain giving an order to Job Anderson, and all hands were piped on deck. "My lads," said Captain Smollett, "I've a word to say to you. This land that we have sighted is the place we have been sailing for. Mr. Trelawney, being a very open-handed gentleman, as we all know, has just asked me a word or two, and as I was able to tell him that every man on board had done his duty, alow and aloft, as I never ask to see it done better, why, he and I and the doctor are going below to the cabin to drink YOUR health and luck, and you'll have grog served out for you to drink OUR health and luck. I'll tell you what I think of this: I think it handsome. And if you think as I do, you'll give a good sea-cheer for the gentleman that does it." The cheer followed - that was a matter of course; but it rang out so full and hearty that I confess I could hardly believe these same men were plotting for our blood. "One more cheer for Cap'n Smollett," cried Long John when the first had subsided. And this also was given with a will. On the top of that the three gentlemen went below, and not long after, word was sent forward that Jim Hawkins was wanted in the cabin. I found them all three seated round the table, a bottle of Spanish wine and some raisins before them, and the doctor smoking away, with his wig on his lap, and that, I knew, was a sign that he was agitated. The stern window was open, for it was a warm night, and you could see the moon shining behind on the ship's wake. "Now, Hawkins," said the squire, "you have something to say. Speak up." I did as I was bid, and as short as I could make it, told the whole details of Silver's conversation. Nobody interrupted me till I was done, nor did any one of the three of them make so much as a movement, but they kept their eyes upon my face from first to last. "Jim," said Dr. Livesey, "take a seat." And they made me sit down at table beside them, poured me out a glass of wine, filled my hands with raisins, and all three, one after the other, and each with a bow, drank my good health, and their service to me, for my luck and courage. "Now, captain," said the squire, "you were right, and I was wrong. I own myself an ass, and I await your orders." "No more an ass than I, sir," returned the captain. "I never heard of a crew that meant to mutiny but what showed signs before, for any man that had an eye in his head to see the mischief and take steps according. But this crew," he added, "beats me." "Captain," said the doctor, "with your permission, that's Silver. A very remarkable man." "He'd look remarkably well from a yard-arm, sir," returned the captain. "But this is talk; this don't lead to anything. I see three or four points, and with Mr. Trelawney's permission, I'll name them." "You, sir, are the captain. It is for you to speak," says Mr. Trelawney grandly. "First point," began Mr. Smollett. "We must go on, because we can't turn back. If I gave the word to go about, they would rise at once. Second point, we have time before us - at least until this treasure's found. Third point, there are faithful hands. Now, sir, it's got to come to blows sooner or later, and what I propose is to take time by the forelock, as the saying is, and come to blows some fine day when they least expect it. We can count, I take it, on your own home servants, Mr. Trelawney?" "As upon myself," declared the squire. "Three," reckoned the captain; "ourselves make seven, counting Hawkins here. Now, about the honest hands?" "Most likely Trelawney's own men," said the doctor; "those he had picked up for himself before he lit on Silver." "Nay," replied the squire. "Hands was one of mine." "I did think I could have trusted Hands," added the captain. "And to think that they're all Englishmen!" broke out the squire. "Sir, I could find it in my heart to blow the ship up." "Well, gentlemen," said the captain, "the best that I can say is not much. We must lay to, if you please, and keep a bright lookout. It's trying on a man, I know. It would be pleasanter to come to blows. But there's no help for it till we know our men. Lay to, and whistle for a wind, that's my view." "Jim here," said the doctor, "can help us more than anyone. The men are not shy with him, and Jim is a noticing lad." "Hawkins, I put prodigious faith in you," added the squire. I began to feel pretty desperate at this, for I felt altogether helpless; and yet, by an odd train of circumstances, it was indeed through me that safety came. In the meantime, talk as we pleased, there were only seven out of the twenty-six on whom we knew we could rely; and out of these seven one was a boy, so that the grown men on our side were six to their nineteen.

#TreasureIsland

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