#the family had it confirmed by a fucking news article

[hhughes]

♯ 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎◞ 𝑴𝑩¹³

✰ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⤫ leclerc!sister x mat barzal

✰ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ⤫ in which the paddock’s favourite sister arrives at the Monaco GP with a new guest

✰ 𝐜𝐰 ⤫ none.

✰ 𝐚/𝐧 ⤫ ngl. . . this is very self indulgent 🤷‍♀️ but I hope you enjoy anyway <3

f1wags

f1wags: our favourite girl has returned to the paddock; and this time it’s with a guest! Y/N leclerc shows up to the monaco track with who I presume to be her bf, and sits down for lunch with her brothers. the first time we’ve seen the entire leclerc family together in a while since Y/N has been in New York for work.

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user15: family reunion🥺

user19: my royal family of Monaco fr

user77: I’m so happy to see them all together again. I just know Charles missed her so much🥲

user66: I read an article that said Y/N came straight from the airport so this is the first interaction they’ve had in months!

f1wags: he hugged her for a good ten minutes before he let anyone else get a chance

user51: um- are we gonna skip over the bf part??

user16: how do we know it’s her bf tho…

f1wags: they were very affectionate since the moment they got out of the together. the car that arrived from the airport, so assume he’s american and flew with her. they also kissed and it looked like he was meeting her family (charles, arthur, lozenzo, pascal) I mean we won’t know 100% until she confirms it but it sure looks like they’re together. . .

user77: nooo… my wife is taken 😔

user11: I really wanna know who her bf is tho cause I’m sorry but he’s fineeeee

user62: I expected nothing less from a leclerc sibling. they always bag the prettiest people

lando.jpg

liked by charlesleclerc, ynleclerc, matbarzal and others.

lando.jpg: boat day with the bestie(s?) 🛥️

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user23: DID HE JUST—

user65: HE DID😭😭

user21: did lando just hard launch Y/N’s relationship?

user57: yep. tagged the guy and everything💀

user66: he’s such a little menace

user22: I’m not complaining I’ve been trying to figure out who it is for days🙏 thank you lando

ynleclerc: oh lando🫤

landonorris: don’t “oh lando” me, you didn’t say it was a secret????

ynleclerc: what do you think the words NOT PUBLIC means??

landonorris: the lad had his hands ALL over you in the paddock, it was gonna be public news by the end of the weekend… at least this way it came from a reliable source🤷‍♂️

user62: don’t let the fact that Y/N is dating some hot hockey player from New York distract you from the fact that the besties are reunited!!! I’ve been missing this duo so much

user90: and they’re causing chaos as usual🥲

ynleclerc

liked by charlesleclerc, matbarzal, and others.

ynleclerc: since we were little, I’ve always been your biggest supporter and that will never change charlie. watching you achieve a dream you’ve worked your whole life to achieve is something so magical and all I could ever wish for you as a sibling. congratulations C! I love you endlessly❤️💌

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user13: “watching you achieve a dream you’ve worked your whole life to achieve is something so magical and all I could ever wish for you as a sibling” UM— EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SOB😭😭

charlesleclerc: I couldn’t possibly do any of this without your love and support. my lucky charm, always. je t'aime❤️❤️❤️

ynleclerc: ❤️

user76: he finally did it😭🙏

user66: these are so beautiful… did you take them?? @.ynleclerc

ynleclerc: I did! I’ve never been so grateful that I carry my camera with me EVERYWHERE. I feel so honoured that I got to capture this entire weekend. I’ll cherish it forever😚

matbarzal

liked by charlesleclerc, jackhughes, and others.

matbarzal: starting the off-season right ❤️

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noahdobson: just casually posts a picture with charles leclerc and lando norris 🧍‍♂️

matbarzal: I’ll still remember you when I’m famous😘

user72: what. the. fuck.

user77: all of us rn cause this is the wildest crossover I could ever imagine between F1 and hockey😭

user11: they’re both so hot it’s kind of unfair

ynleclerc: ❤️

matbarzal: je t'aime❤️

user55: I wonder if she made fun of Mat’s awful canadian french 😭😭

mattymarts: you expect us to believe you did laundry? I don’t think you even know how

charlesleclerc: I won. guess you’re gonna have to come to every race now 🤷‍♂️

matbarzal: should’ve never told you about superstitions 😔you don’t need them, that win was all you bro😉

charlesleclerc: miss you guys already. gonna have to come to a hockey game next season

matbarzal: you should! we’d be honoured to have you

user77: did someone say bromance??

user19: someone check on beau

ynleclerc

liked by charlesleclerc, matbarzal, and others.

ynleclerc: monaco❤️

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matbarzal: red is definitely your colour baby❤️🥵

scuderiaferrari: we agree😌🏎️

charlesleclerc: thanks for coming sis❤️

arthurleclerc: miss you already🥺❤️

sydneymartin: so iconic😍

ynleclerc: says the ms. iconic herself 🥰

user21: UM— Mat looks so good OMFG

user72: she definitely dressed him

user62: YN please keep the Mat content coming🙏

user14: if I was YN leclerc all my life problems would be solved

ynleclerc: If I had your lashes all my problems would be solved. you’re stunning 😚

user16: you know those couples that just make sense? they’re definitely one of those

user88: can’t wait to see her at games and stuff

#── ❛ 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐢’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐮’𝐬 ✗ MB13 #mat barzal x reader #mat barzal x you #mat barzal x y/n #mat barzal x oc #mat barzal fic #mat barzal fanfiction #mat barzal smau #f1 smau #f1 x reader #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader

[batwynn]

Sooo I’m watching an entire facebook group full of trump and cop dick suckers lose their entire minds right now.

Everyone in my very red area just went from “blue lives matter” circle jerking to “maybe we should not have given the local police 7 billion dollars” veeeery quickly when it came out that one of them just straight up killed a guy everyone liked and almost got away with it. 🤔 Wild how fast the opinion changes when it’s them murdering a likable white guy who didn’t qualify for the “oh he’s just a druggie” apathy special. It sure feels like something.

#to be fair I hate everyone around here with my entire heart and soul #but it’s funny to see them all turn on one another and the cops #for once #ACAB #tw: police #tw: police brutality #tw: murder #tw: trump #but also jfc #JESUS FUCKING CHRIST #they don’t care about anyone #cops in my state regularly murder people #they don’t usually pretend the guy just vanished and plant evidence etx #but still #no one ever cares #but this facebook group went from red hot cop fuckers to #wait this is bad maybe we shouldn’t have given them loads of money #anyway it’s even worse because they didn’t even tell the family they found him #the family had it confirmed by a fucking news article #tw: drugs #tw: ableism #bc this is the piss on poor site #I do not use the term ‘druggie’ or agree with that language #this is how THOSE people talk about it #it’s genuinly a direct quote from these fucking people #tw: racism

[spurgie-cousin]

i wonder what jinger thinks reading free jinger.

I've heard in a few interviews that Jinger has been aware of the Free Jinger* thing for quite a while but has only recently understood what it means lol. She said it was confusing to her at first, but now she gets why people felt like she was one of the ones who'd 'break out' eventually (and they were right).

*For those who aren't aware of the "Free Jinger" history: during the Kids and Counting years, Jinger kind of stood out amongst her siblings because of her personality and her interests (fashion, traveling, photography, etc) which were comparatively normal. And she was the only one that said she not only enjoyed being in big cities, but wanted to live in one eventually unlike all of her siblings who dutifully said they hated them lol, and all of that made her super relatable to the Duggars mainstream viewers. So she became the fan favorite for 'escaping' her family and it kind of became a meme in the fundie snark community, so much so that "Free Jinger" also became the name of a super popular fundie-watching forum (more popular than reddit at one time if you can believe it lol).

#learning about just how much anxiety the outside world gave her from the buzzfeed article puts the city thing in a whole new perspective #bc i'm sure her siblings had similar anxieties so the fear of cities makes sense #idk i know everyone knew they were all unprepared for outside life but hearing it confirmed like yea. i couldnt even meet up with a woman #from church for lunch without having a panic attack #holy fucking moley #jinger vuolo #the duggar family #becoming free indeed

[shutuprichie]

Also, if I see one more “I’m straight. Do I get an article??” comment on another post about Noah’s coming out, I’m going to commit a crime.

Like this 18 year old teenager comes out on TIKTOK of all places(true Noah fashion lbr) knowing how many people are going to see it. He made this coming out his own and we are all HERE for it.

But it’s not just that. He just came out during a time when congress has been trying to overturn gay marriage, people. This famous actor chose to be brave in a time when being brave is hard. He stated that he has been in the closet and scared. He did this for HIMSELF. He didn’t do this so he could trend or have articles written about him. It is not his fault that people have chosen to spread the news. And it’s not his fault some people see coming out publicly as a trend.

Noah Schnapp did this because he felt comfortable enough with his friends and family and chose when and how he wanted to and I am so fucking HAPPY he had that choice.

In regards to those who are making jokes about how they’re straight and they want to have articles written about them or saying no one cares, EVERY SINGLE DAY is straight pride day. Get the fuck over yourselves.

Will Byers is a gay closeted kid in the 80’s who is scared and not accepted by most in his small minded town.

Noah Schnapp is a gay and out kid in the year 2023 who was scared and is STILL not accepted by most in this small minded world.

It makes me want to cry knowing Noah not only got to see the outpouring of love for Will as the speculation and confirmation of Will being gay came to light but he also had to see people being ugly and hateful about the character knowing he, in some form and fashion, was putting genuine emotion into this character.

Things may be different, but some things are also the same. And I think now more than ever is when Noah needs our love and support.

Noah Schnapp, you will ALWAYS be loved and supported.

#noah schnapp #stranger things #noah schnapp you will always be famous #will byers #we love you #we support you #byler #byeler

[darthstitch]

the professor wet cat fandom

Imagine that you're a Rose Walker fan.

You remember the first time you saw her book Into the Night on the shelves of your favorite bookstore. Let's face it - the intriguing cover art and the title caught your attention. The synopsis on the book jacket and a quick skim of the first chapter made you bring that book to the counter. Something about the story just resonates with you, the aching sense of loss and grief that Briar, the main character, had felt, the headlong rush into adventure that was a means to escape that sorrow, beckoned by the enigmatic King of All Night's Dreaming.

You read that book in two days. And then you read it all over again. Rose has just opened up a universe that you don't want to leave.

Then the audiobook is released. The voice who did the reading is incredible, a voice that's deep and resonant, like the voice inside your head, seducing you into the very heart of Night.

Everyone thinks it's an actor like Richard Armitage or that other guy with the cheekbones whose name everyone just loves to mangle, Betadyne Carrotene or whatever but he's not credited at all. Either way, you're all in agreement about this.

It's the voice of the King of All Night's Dreaming, the voice of the Prince of Stories.

Fine, you and everyone else just fell in love with the antagonist of Rose's novel. He's not really evil, more a neutral entity than anything else. But he was a bit of a bastard to poor Briar, even though you can understand the reasoning behind his manipulations. He's described as beautiful and mysterious and very charismatic.

Of fucking course he'll be internet catnip. Edward Cullen whomst? Tumblr and Twitter are fighting over their new precious blorbo. There's meta and fan art based off Rose's description of him in the novel and yes, you're among those who check AO3 every day for brand new fan fiction.

You end up trying to find all the articles about Rose Walker. She's a lovely young woman who looks around your age and she talks about going back to university and continuing her studies. She's all mysterious about her voice actor, only saying that "he wants to stay anonymous and really, I got him to promise that he'll read the next book for me!"

And everyone in the fandom rejoices because Rose just officially confirms that there's a sequel.

You're among the first to hit the bookstores when the sequel The Prince of Stories comes out. The cover art is gorgeous, somewhat reminiscent of Yoshitaka Amano or Ayami Kojima, a rendering of the Prince in glorious detail - the fantastic costume in black and gold, the wild black hair, the pale skin, the fine features and the brilliant blue eyes.

On second look, the Prince looks strangely familiar.

Rose Walker doesn't disappoint. The sequel is just as good as the original, expanding a little more on the character of the Prince of Stories. There's also a new character joining Briar and her brother in their adventures all over the Land of Night's Dreaming. He's something of a rogue and adventurer straight out of medieval England, charming, mischievous but ultimately quite noble and kind.

You start chortling at his scenes with the Prince, which are so obviously charged with UST. Everybody to kingdom come is going to start shipping those two. You hit Tumblr and already, there's a goddamn ship name. Oh, this is going to be fun.

You scroll through the blog posts, enjoying the fan art, the fan fiction and the meta and then you see this post:

Is the Prince of Stories based on a real person?

And there's a screenshot of a dedication on Rose Walker's book:

For Uncle Dream, our Prince of Stories.

Oh, come on.

So out of curiosity, you do a little more digging. Rose Walker also has a blog, in which she entertainingly talks about the writing process, answers asks with humor and wit and occasionally, she talks about her family. The antics of her little brother are hilarious. There are also stories about her great-grandmother Unity, who she had tragically only known for a short time, and then stories about her recently found "Uncle Dream."

You can see why the other blog poster had started to blur fiction with reality. Rose's descriptions of her Uncle Dream oddly matches up to the King of All Night's Dreaming, with some added extras, because obviously, magical anthropomorphic personifications of dreams and nightmares do not wander around in Real Life.

Apparently, he's also an adorkable wet cat of a man who unfailingly helped her with the writing process, giggled with her brother over his superhero comics and was completely gone on his husband the history professor.

Hang on a minute. Some of the details sound really familiar.

"Uncle Dream" also teaches on occasion at university, keeps a raven as a companion and is known to talk to him like they really understand each other, outrageously flirts with his husband the history professor in Middle English, in iambic pentameter and in Shakespearean quotations, even if said history professor loathes Shakespeare...

You suddenly raise your head up from your phone because your literature professor just walks in, holding on to a copy of Rose Walker's newest book.

Holy shit. No way.

"Professor Murphy, we didn't know you were a fan of Rose Walker," one of your classmates say.

Professor Murphy has a proud smile on his face. "My niece has quite the story to tell. I've been looking forward to reading her next book."

You can't help it and now, hearing his Voice, you're also suddenly dead sure who Rose Walker's audiobook reader is too. "You're Rose Walker's Uncle Dream?!"

Eventually, you all get to explain to Professor Murphy why you want his autograph as well as his niece's on your books. He's still a little confused about that but he's fairly gracious about it.

He's amused and is barely able to contain his laughter when everyone starts asking if the dashing rogue "Captain Gadlen" is based on Professor Robert Gadling. For once, Professor Murphy neither confirms or denies anything.

-end-

#dreamling #rose walker #dream of the endless #hob gadling #professor mysterious and professor wet cat #in which rose inadvertently launches dreamling in universe #i crack what i want #the professor cryptid wet cat fandom totally becomes a Thing #but they're all protective over their professor dream so it becomes an in campus thing #shhh nobody tell neil

[houseofbrat]

They should have never let Catherine take the blame for the photo altering. Even if she did alter it herself, it only adds to everyone’s suspicion. I think she felt the need to put a photo out quickly and it backfired. Why didn’t the RP cover for her photo blunder?

Right. Literally anything would’ve been better than her of all people personally taking the fall for this! William would’ve been better, a random, unnamed intern would’ve been better, one of the kids fucking with the computer lmao idk. Just such a strange strange tweet to send out.

Someone should call KP and tell them we’re on mega thread #4 over here and we can’t have our mods getting sick from the “stress and fallout”, so just trot her out for a second or an audio message or even just a true statement sans doctored photos. And if she’s too unwell for that well gee maybe a smidge of transparency would gain them public support back . Nobody wants her medical info , just them to stop acting shady and disrespectful.  She can have her privacy and also stop the shiftiness and theatrics.  Unlike Reddit mods, the BRF gets paid. 

I think Kate is refusing to play ball. It's entirely possible she's had setbacks in her recovery or drew a line in the sand and said "I'm out until x/y/z date, so quit pushing," but this is a woman who's been in the public eye for 20 years. She knows how the media vultures and gossip mill operate. The speculation has now turned dark. We're getting everything from she's passed and they're covering it up, to she was injured in an 'incident.' Papers are running articles on William's rage issues. Kate could easily clear this up but she's choosing not to. It leads me to believe she's pissed at her husband and is enjoying watching him squirm. 

Just found out my best friend has independently fallen down the rabbit hole—which just illustrates how out of control this has gotten.

we’re both thinking it’s just a series of ‘own goals’ but are seriously hoping Catherine makes an appearance at Easter. If not, I think KP will have to make yet another announcement, and given how inept they’ve been, it’ll probably just make things even worse.

I’m just hoping she’s chilling with her kiddos, and is either not paying attention to the whole debacle or is highly amused by the shenanigans.

I would think that she is making an appearance at Easter but then wonder why KP wanted it to be known that she isn’t confirmed the attend Trooping of the Colour? Which was stupid on their part tbh

Princess Diana’s former private secretary on the matter from a CNN interview.

He’s kinda repetitious but still clear enough. He comes out critical of William for poor communications. Williams’s office created the vacuum of information which fueled the interest which fueled the out sized interest and the conspiracy theories.)

They definitely mishandled this situation. Supposedly Prince William just got a new private secretary. Hopefully they get a proper PR team again soon. While I’m not on team conspiracy theories and believe what has happened is exactly what we heard (Catherine had major surgery and is now recovering), they were way in over their heads in how they handled this.

Crazily, her secretary, Patrick Jephson, was my neighbor 8 years ago, super nice and very genuine guy. I definitely put stock in his POV.

This has been extremely poorly managed by KP. They’ve done irreparable harm to their image. The pressure they are now under for the next step/stage/messaging is immense. This is a defining moment for the royal family. Charles is not well, to what extent is not known. Kate is MIA and now three very questionable ‘proof of life’ photos have been released. The state of Will and Kate’s marriage is under a serious spotlight. It’s an information black hole. VERY rocky overall.

Charles and Kate are unwell. That is all. Kate is obsessed with her looks and image and she doesn’t want to be pictured looking anything but perfect that’s all. She will be back once she is looking like her old self. I honestly don’t believe the marriage in trouble stuff. Kate will never leave William that too so close to becoming the Queen? No chance.

Is it possible, in light of everything that has occurred so far, that Charles is letting Will have enough rope so Charles can use this PR disaster as his excuse to shutdown Kensington Palace office so everyone falls under his office at BP? Get rid of Will's staff and his vanity projects so he has to get on with the everyday drudgery that being a royal entails? It's not just film premieres and photo ops. It's hands on in the community at events with little or no fanfare. Service rather than PR grandstanding.

With no more competing offices, Charles can have his people oversee everything. That at least might get some consistency.

I kind of doubt it. William has the duchy money now. He can spend it however he wants.

I believe the most significant thing is that - at the very beginning of this whole story- the surgery wasn’t planned at all… she had the agenda full of duties, included a trip to Italy…  The narrative from the Palace was inconsistent from the first day. 

Reposting, because I think my comment got removed.

My takeaway from all the conspiracy theories floating around out there is that no matter what the truth is, look at what the main themes have become. Essentially, there are several theories about Will's behaviour and being a less than stellar husband. Also, the feeling that KP cannot be trusted. No matter what the truth is, the fact that these are the themes that have emerged is interesting.

William has based his entire reputation on being a nice protective family man. He doesn’t really have any other accomplishments or character traits that the public cares about. He put all his eggs were in the good dad/husband basket. Somehow, the Harry & Meghan crisis only bolstered that image. Now Stephen Colbert is doing bits about his alleged affairs, and all the normies know about his anger issues. Now personally, I’m the kind of person who thinks where there’s smoke, there’s fire. But even if there aren’t any flames here, Kategate has done some massive damage to Will’s reputation.

KP PR team is giving toxic boymom energy. Anything to protect their precious son.

Is anybody else getting annoyed at all the normies acting like Rose is William’s Camilla? I mean, maybe she is. Maybe they never even slept together. We don’t really know. But the assumption is getting on my nerves. Not every side chick is a Camilla!!

My mum calls my dads best friend (another straight male) his Camilla.

I was filling in my husband about this mess, and his comment was that he thinks maybe the PR team WANTS this drama unfolding because it keeps the royals in the news. Like essentially, "all press is good press." What does this community think? I was inclined to think that as the figurehead of a political state and a future king, Charles and William really can't afford this type of bad press, especially about DV. Obviously, the royal family do bring in money and tourism for the country, and part of that has always been an uneasy relationship with paparazzi and gossip rags, but given that QE II is gone and there are a lot of people who find them irrelevant and an unfair state subsidy, I think this would be a terrible PR move. Thoughts? Could their PR team be milking this?

Their PR team are likely pulling their hair out. "All press is good press" applies to celebrities who need to keep their names front and center to remain celebrities. The Palaces never want bad press. I think the issue is that William is incredibly stubborn and won't listen to their advice.

I've never been the type of girl to need closure when things come to an end, but if the season finale to this saga doesn’t answer every single question and include some bombshells I’d never even consider, I’m going to cry.

“She deserves her privacy, though!” Shut up, we’re all here for the same reason.

I just find it hilarious that the most interesting thing Kate has ever done in her life is disappear.

The whole ''she went shopping and we saw it, trust me bro'' thing is bad for them any way you look at it.

Either she wasn't really seen shopping and the story was completely fabricated with colaboration from the media, which would be pretty sinister and in line with everything else we've been getting lately, and at the least it would be a very North Korean-esque way of deceiving the public.

or

She actually did went shopping, was in ''public'' no matter how limited and controlled the public was, which means that she's physically capable + her face isn't bad or disfigured or whatever, as some people have suggested. Which portrays her as very irresponsible and weirdly uninterested in keeping up her image and popularity. Amidst all those very damaging rumors that could directly influence and traumatize even her children (forget about adults and public), she has time and will for shopping but not for a 10 second video, which is everything needed to dispell all the rumors once and for all?

All in all, terrible PR one way or another. The clusterfuck continues.

Do they actually think it’s a good look that she went shopping on St Paddy’s Day? She’s involved with the Irish guards and cancelled her appearance at their annual event… so she can’t work but she can pop out to the shops with Willy? Sure, Jan. Just fuck the Irish guards then right?! I mean, not that I remotely believe she went shopping. But another terrible PR bungle. These KP PR people are fucking idiots and I don’t understand why they still have jobs when they’re so clearly incompetent.

Even if she wasn't capable of attending a quick video message expressing her good wishes for the Irish guards etc etc would have worked wonders in terms of restoring good feeling towards them from the public and simultaneously would have quieted the conspiracy theorists. I don't buy she wasn't well enough to do a simple 1 minute video but was perfectly happy with a trip to the shops and watching sports with the kids where she would have been seen and possibly photographed. My personal view is that the trip to the shop didn't happen. There's no way that there's not a SINGLE snap taken on a mobile phone that's made it's way to social media.

I'm continually amazed at how badly the Waleses are botching all of this.

To be clear, I've been a royal watcher since they got engaged in 2010, and I'd definitely fall into more into the "fan" camp than not.

I've thought the conspiracy theories about all of this are nonsense. And even now after "Photogate", I STILL think they're nonsense and that what is happening is what they said - Catherine had serious surgery and needs time to recover.

But the artificially constructed Mother's Day photo is such a huge unforced error, made worse by Catherine then taking the fall for it.

Catherine's clearly not ready to show her actual face as it looks right now, and that's fine.

But then don't fake a picture! Post a quick video of William and the kids making breakfast in bed for Catherine for Mother's Day, or making cards or something. It'd still have the conspiracy theorists buzzing about why we're not seeing her, but it'd have been SO much better received by the general public than what they did.

She's absolutely entitled to her privacy, especially while she recovers. But the deal that the Royal Family has had with the press for decades now is that they get privacy most of the time in exchange for occasional, official, REAL pictures. It's clueless at best - and outright deceptive at worst - to do something like this and think no one will notice or care.

With the farmer’s market story, I’m even more convinced that Kate’s story is a red herring and there is something else happening they don’t want people to notice or know about.

This is still so odd. Either something is up (and I have no knowledge and make no inferences as to what or why) or a lot of people are profoundly bad at their jobs. Ok, the photoshop happens. Then they lie about it, even when they are trying to apologize for it. Why not put out a quick official and genuine photo of just her. If she isn't ready for camera's yet, put out a voice recorded statement saying, "I appreciate everyone's interest in my well being. Rest assured I am recovering well and I look forward to returning to my royal duties as soon as I am able". They could so easily kill all of this speculation and non-sense if things are as they say they are (she is taking car rides and shopping and up out and about). It would literally take 1 hour of her time at most, and instead KP's continued silence invites more speculation. You know what happens in physics why you make a vacuum? It gets filled. The same happens in the media/press. So again I say, either something is up (and I have no grounds with which to speculate what it might be) or this is the absolute worst PR advice and self-made crisis in recent memory.

Edit: Grammar

I joked about this in one of the earlier megathreads, but what if the *plot twist* in all of this is that Kate handles her own PR. I just remember when they got married how one of the little factoids that came out was that Kate did her own makeup for the wedding day. Like, royals! They're just like us!

Can someone answer why Royal Rota media are publishing these pics if there is a deal that they don't publish unauthorized photographs or was this a planned pap walk LOL? Is there a thread somewhere talking about this. I was listening to the Times (UK) Radio on YouTube today and the Assistant Editor for the paper (Kate Mansey) was unfairly criticizing listeners as strange people who are conspiracy theorists and says there isn't a pact or agreement that the family has with the media...yeah right LOL (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIKUvQB2Z_M). Have these people read about the Royal Rota and the unprecedented-in-the-modern-era pacts the royal family has made with the British media.

If the British media are posting it its because they got the ok to do so.

Their PR team needs to pick a lane. On one hand they're selling that Kate is healthy enough to be out and about twice in one weekend, walking around a farmer's market, watching her kids play sports, but on the other she's unwell to the point she had to fake a Mother's Day pic and pull out of an event in June? Which is it? Their messaging is all over the place. 

I hope that if we all take away one thing from this whole ordeal its that no matter how bad at your job you might think you are, you're still probably doing better than the KP PR team over the last couple of weeks so give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done and don't be so harsh on yourself.

what gets me and i know royal fans will call me a conspiracy theorist is that it's kinda obvious there's a story here. the impact or actual matter of it isn't what i'm questioning, but the motivation behind so many blunders. i am a writer/journalist and this entire story feels weirdly on edge of being something, anything.

like yes, let's presume kp was truthful from the beginning and she had abdominal surgery that took too long to recover from. great, but why throw her under the bus? or if all of this is a distraction, overplayed to the nines, what for? 

i am sure any tea is probably regular people tea to the max, like relationship dynamics, family stuff and whatnot. it's not like i believed she was killed and it was hidden, but usually when there's smoke there's fire and i'm curious about what fire, you know? 

i would love to be a fly on the wall and know what they disagree about, their relationship with staff and other royals. 

i find kate stylish and their wedding hype was charming, if a little gauche. i am against royals in general, not specifically them, but they could be great philanthropists if they wanted. 

the thing with Kate's personality (in public) is that it's nonexistent? i suppose that's the ideal, princess-like behavior that's expected from her. but i do wonder what happens behind the scenes with that. how curated it is x how many other blunders happened before.

The story seems to be that Will and Kate are going to find it much, much harder to be the center of the slimmed down monarchy than they realized.  Though if it turned out that they’d never really thought about how that was going to work on practice, I would believe you.  There aren’t as many working royals so the attention is on them, whether they want it to be or not.  The disappearing and the stonewalling isn’t super unusual for Will and Kate, though not previously to this extent, but we’ll see if they make any changes moving forward.  Judging from how this debacle has dragged on, I am guessing they won’t.

Well, I for one am very impressed by Kate's ability to emerge from her grueling 3 month surgical recovery looking like a radiant, bouncy 25 year old yoga instructor who doesn't have a care in the world.

#my gif #reddit #patrick jephson #media #british royal family #William The Prince of OWN GOALS #William The Terrible #William The Weak #prince william #William The Prince of Wales #kate middleton #Catherine The Princess of Wales #kensington palace #palace officials #pr games #strategery #PR fail #MESS!

[spoopydooblr]

My King Will Be Kind Chapter 8 / Kendall Roy x OC

an: helllllllooooooo its living plus time! enjoy!!! i had so much fun with this one. i was gonna write smut but i honestly was so burnt out after writing this tbh.

tw: cursing

Stella was on a plane to Los Angeles when her manager texted her a People Magazine article about herself.  Kendall had been in Norway for the last few days, schmoozing with the creator of GoJo who was wanting to buy Waystar.  He had invited her to go, but obviously, it was just a formality.  Stella would weigh him down there and he wouldn't be able to focus on the deal they were doing.  

Good article about you and new boytoy.  The text read.

Stella wouldn't exactly describe the press as "good" but her manager always told her any romance with someone more famous was beneficial for her career. And Kendall was definitely that.

She took a deep breath before opening the link, cringing from the title alone.

Stella Allen and Kendall Roy Romance: What We Know So Far

When Delirium's it girl was seen at Connor Roy's wedding last month, the internet seemed to explode with opinions about the controversial couple. Follow People as we decode the relationship between the actress and media entrepreneur.

Sources confirm that the two met through mutual friends in August and immediately clicked. Roy, 42, was linked to Pierce heiress, Naomi Pierce, last year, but the romance seemed to have fizzled out. Roy also has two children from his marriage to ex, Rava Roy. The pair divorced in 2019 after 15 years of marriage.

Allen, 26, who hails from Westchester, has kept a relatively low profile since skyrocketing to fame last year with the success of Delirium. The actress was last linked to Damien Brosso, her costar in the indie film, Saving You, but in January, Brosso confirmed to GQ that the pair were not together anymore.

Stella breathed deeply through her nose. Damien meant well, but she really wished he wouldn't talk about her in interviews. Especially now that he was getting his own notoriety, it really wasn't necessary for him to address their relationship.

Though the couple boasts a sixteen year age gap, sources tell People that Allen and Roy are going strong. A Roy family insider even said the pair are "getting serious", with Allen attending Roy's brother's wedding last month and meeting his family.

Who was this insider? And these sources? Stella suddenly felt paranoid. Who were these people giving the press information about her? She whipped her head around, scanning the semi-private jet (that Kendall had put her on) for narcs. It really was just a bunch of rich, old professionals, so she felt a bit more safe. Maybe stupid fucking Roman was the mole.

Stella decided she had enough of the People article. They were scarily accurate about her life and it was weird. She texted her manager back to confirm that she had read it, and yes, everything was fine. 

--------------------------------------

Stella met Kendall in a convention center west of the city.  It was Investor Weekend for Waystar, and the Roys were unveiling a new product.  He had told her to meet her in the back of the theater, which she had a hard time finding, but finally was able to locate it after asking three different security guards.  He greeted her with a giant, almost manic, smile, with a La Croix in his hand.  

"There's my girl."  He hugged her and she could sense the energy radiating off of his form. 

"How was Norway?"

"Fucking fuck party.  Mattsson is a cuck."

"Oh, wow, um--"

"C'mon, me and Rome are going over the script for the big launch."

She took his hand, feeling nervous to meet Roman again.  Last time he had basically ruined her day with a few words and Stella wasn't looking forward to seeing him again.  

They walked into a room with a few couches where Roman and Kendall's assistant, Jess, sat.  

"Oh great, you brought your daughter."  Roman said, not even looking up from the papers he had in his hands.  

"Rome, be nice.  Stella, you remember Jess."  They sat down across from her.

"Yeah, hi Jess."  She gave the woman a small wave.  Jess smiled, but she looked worried.

"Well, something about this all does depress me."  Roman said, looking over to the screen behind them.  It was a slideshow of older people looking happy with the Living+ logo.  

"Oh yeah?"  Kendall asked, "And, uh, do you think it's the speech written specifically for our late father, or the fact we're planning to warehouse the elderly and keep them drunk on content while we suck 'em dollar dry?"

"I think it's the '90s pitch."

"Personalized longevity programs."  Kendall sighed.  

"I see them."  Roman said.

"Is that something?" 

Stella had really no idea what they were talking about, but her ears perked up when Roman mentioned he was going to see Joy Palmer.  She was a big deal in the producing world and Stella really looked up to her as a woman in the industry.  Of course, she worked for Waystar Studios, which wasn't exactly palatable, but nevertheless, she was a woman in entertainment.  

"All right, sprinkle some sugar."  Kendall told him.  

"Yeah. Will do."

"Full confidence. Yeah? Gotta up our velocity, man."

"Yeah. I mean, even she should be able to come up with a mega-hit from a couple extra content bill."  Roman begun to put his jacket on.  

"Just break the log jam, get the franchise pump pumping. Yeah? Pump it up. Pump it."

"Yeah. Fuck yeah.  I'm gonna love-bomb that stuck-up bitch."

Stella gave Kendall a look, but he didn't even flinch.  

"Have fun at take your daughter to work day, Stella."  Roman said.  He then left, asking to himself who was ready for "fuckywood".

"You should talk to Joy, Stell.  She could be good for your career."  Kendall said plainly.  He was offering her the meeting of a lifetime and barely looked up from his papers. 

"Are you serious?"

He looked up, smiling at her.  Again, he had a manic gleam in his eye that worried her.  "Fuck yeah I'm serious.  You're talented."

"Yeah, but Joy Palmer?  She's like royalty, Ken."

"You're acting as if you're not a series regular on Delirium."  He looked to Jess.   "J, tell her she's awesome."

"I'm a big fan."  Jess smiled.  Stella wasn't sure if she was being serious or not.

"Okay, fine, Ken, but let's put that on hold until the launch."

Kendall took her hand.  "Always putting me first.  That's my fucking girl."

"Well, I want you to focus on the company, Mr. CEO, my meeting can wait."  As much as she wanted that meeting, Stella knew that Kendall's launch for Living+ was more important right now.  He was her boyfriend and she had to support him.  

-------------------------------------

Kendall led Stella to the stage where the presentation was going to be.  

"This is my stage."  He said, looking unsure.  "Hey Jade?"  Kendall motioned to two women in pant suits who were overseeing the stage.  "Let's get Lana and Hugo on analyst double check, who's confirmed. And let's get Raj primed to throw some softballs. Okay?"

Jade nodded.  "Okay."

"And I think Shiv can just say, you know, this and this, and... and maybe... maybe this. Give that to Roman. Just let 'em know. Okay?"  Stella stood next to Kendall as he rambled.  Something was definitely wrong.  

He turned to Jade again.  "Could we build a Living Plus house?"

"As in?"

"Small, plywood, basic brickwork, nothing crazy. I could walk through it. ATN on here. Face aging on the wall here. Maybe clouds appear above the house. What do you think, Stell?"

"Oh, um, yeah, I think that could be cool."

"Jade, my girlfriend said it could be cool.  Let's fucking do it."

"We can definitely check with the team...Denny?"

The stagehand walked up to the stage.  "It... it's certainly an exciting vision, but--"

"Don't say no, Denny.  Don't say no."

Stella cringed.  Why was he being so pushy?

"Ken."  She said, touching his arm.  "This is for tomorrow.  They can't do that."

He looked to Denny.  "Hollywood, though, right?  We need a house.  Practical build."  He turned to Jade and the other woman.  "Here's the rule, okay?  No one can say no.  'Yes, Kendall. Thank you, Kendall, for the cool new rule.'"

"Yes, Kendall, thank you for the cool new rule."  Roman appeared from the back of the theater.  Stella was actually relieved he was there to interrupt Kendall's madness.

"Hey!  Good pep talk?"  He looked to Stella.

"Interesting, for sure."  She nodded.  

"Too much?  Sorry baby.  I'm just in my zone."

"It's okay, I just...these are real people, Ken.  They can't just build a house in one day."

A day later, she was sitting in the theater next to Roman, watching Kendall critique the house that was made for him on the stage.  They really had done it.

She hadn't slept a wink since getting to LA, unable to sleep with Kendall typing on his laptop all night.  He was trying to "double the numbers" which made absolutely no sense to her.  He was so focused, they had barely even touched since she had been there.  

"Those...those aren't the clouds."  Kendall said to Jade and Denny.

"What the fuck is he talking about?"  Stella whispered to Roman.

"The clouds he saw in Berlin or something, I don't know."  He sighed.  "Welcome to Kennyland."

"What do you guys think?"  Kendall called to them from on the stage.  

"I think the clouds are nice?"  Stella said.  

"Yeah, uh, great, sure."  Roman added.

"Hey."  A female voice said from behind them.  It was Shiv.  "Who's this?"  She asked Roman, acting as if Stella couldn't hear them.

"I'm Stella."  She held out her hand. 

"Oh."  Shiv seemed surprised, but shook her hand.  "I know you.  You're on that show."

Stella nodded.  Shiv Roy watched Delirium?!  "Yeah, um, Ken invited me here for the launch."

"Rome, when you said Ken was dating an actress, I didn't know you meant her."

"What?"  Stella asked, slightly offended.  

"Aren't you like, I mean, no offense, but aren't you kind of an SJW?"

Roman scoffed.  

"Yeah, I guess."  Stella replied.

"Then my question for you is,"  Shiv looked her right in the eyes.  "Why the fuck are you with Kendall?"

"I like him."

"And you're not using him to get to Waystar Studios or his money?"

"No! I would never, ever--"

"Well then what are you here for?"

"I'm here for Kendall."  Stella insisted.

"Well, I love my brother, but he's an asshole."

"And an addict."  Roman added.  

"And a deadbeat father."  Shiv said.  "You're like, twenty-two.  You're a kid.  Why get into all of this?"

Tears stung Stella's eyes.  

"Aw, Shivvy, you're making her cry."

"I'm just being honest."

"Well,"  Stella stood up.  "I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I like your brother and despite what you may think,"  her voice shook.  "He's a good person."

"Oh, she's feisty, too."  Roman said, barely looking up from the script he was reading.  

"Fuck you both."  Stella waved them goodbye. She pushed past them.

"I don't know Rome, I kind of dig her."  Shiv told Roman after Stella was gone.  "She's got spunk."

"Yeah, because she's like, fucking, twelve."

-----------------------------------

Stella walked into a random hallway.  Her head was spinning from the conversation with Kendall's siblings and she needed a break. This was not how families acted.

"Stell."  Kendall's voice boomed from behind her.  "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, um--"

"My siblings?"

She nodded.  "I shouldn't have sat with them."

"It's okay.  They're fucks.  And I'm pretty sure Shiv is knocked up."

Stella raised her eyebrows.  "Oh shit."

"Yeah, well, her and Tom are like, uh, divorcing or something so."  He scratched his chin.

"That sucks."

"And Rome's just jealous that I have a hot girlfriend and he doesn't."  Kendall held out his arms and she moved into his embrace.  "I love you, Stella girl, you know that."

"I know.  I love you."

Two hours later, Stella was sitting in the crowd, watching Kendall present Living+ in a customized bomber jacket.  

The beginning was rough, but he pulled it together at the end.  Stella gave him multiple thumbs ups, hoping he would look into the crowd and see her.  Though Living+ was kind of weird and creepy, Stella was supportive.

She met him backstage at the end, holding his hand as he entered the green room where his siblings and the rest of Team Roy were sitting.  

"All hail the king!"  Hugo said, clapping Kendall on the shoulder.  Stella's heart swelled with pride.  

#kendall roy x oc #kendall roy #succession #kendall succession #kendall roy x reader

[masterthespianduchovny]

Any “Ted Lasso” fans looking for something to tide them over until the new season premieres? And “the bear” fans looking a dynamic where two people have an unexplainable connection, tension, and palpable chemistry as we wait for season 2?

Well, you should watch Pitch!

If you haven’t seen Pitch, it’s this phenomenal and magical show that premiered in 2016 and only lasted one season. It’s a fictional show about the first female baseball player in the MLB and it was a show way ahead of it’s time.

Like, chef’s kiss shippers, y’all know how we spiral about how Sydney was a fan of Carmy’s, but didn’t want to let it show. And he like…becomes a fan of hers??? Well, that’s Ginny and Mike for you. As a kid, Ginny idolized Mike, and then gets to work with him (he’s a catcher and the captain of the team and she’s the pitcher.) Still carries his rookie card and had his poster on his wall when she was younger.

And Mike becomes a fan of her!

Both of them try to play it cool because they truly admire each other professionally and it shows, but their chemistry pops off the screen.

And Ginny is so damn good at all of this (and both not!). She’s a really good pitcher and is charming and knows how to juggle many thing, but we see what the pressure does to get and how it manifests and why it does. And we get it. She’s so smart and funny, but real! She doesn’t feel like a character, but a person with real flaws.

And you see how layered Mike is behind all of the bravado. He’s a walking human disaster, but you love him because he does try his best and is so supportive of Ginny!

Like I’m not going to even touch on everything because you have to experience this firsthand to get it!

(Ginny/Mike are called bawson. This isn’t confirmation as to whether or not the show hints at them or that they’re canon, but rather, the chemistry was just there and you’ll ship it regardless of the show’s stance. Lol)

And ted lasso fans, if you like tedbecca, you’ll like love bawson. But that’s not my sell to you guys, it’s about the relationships in this show. About how it’s not all or nothing and people are allowed to grow, change, and redeem themselves. How people work to get over past trauma and that everyone isn’t secretly out to get you—sometimes if you give them a chance, they can surprise you. It’s about mental health and the toll it takes. How we juggle responsibilities and deal with controversies. The old v the new and whether they have to work against one another or can work together.

The seasoned veteran and the hot shot new guy. Your allies at work and found family. The things we carry ourselves either because we have to or we feel that we’d burdened others.

And there’s more sports play here, but in a way that won’t bore you. Mike and Ginny talking on the pitcher’s mound and Mike giving her speeches. Or ginny taking control of shit because she can save herself.

Think of the strong badass women we see in Sydney, Rebecca, and Keeley and you have that in Ginny. Mike isn’t as grumpy as Roy, but he’s like a mix of Roy and Jamie. Lol.

If you’re one of my followers or mutuals and you trust my taste, DEFINITELY check this out. There are some shows I’m unsure of how people will receive, but almost everyone who has seen this show fucking loves it and are still heartbroken about it’s cancellation, including myself. People still literally reference this show for best shows cancelled too early, one of the best sports shows despite one season, and articles have been written yearly about how great and ahead of it’s time “pitch” was.

Check out the ten glorious eps on Hulu and tell me if I’ve steered you wrong or not.

#ted lasso #the bear #pitch #ginny baker #bawson #chefs kiss #tedbecca #it’s very obvious that I have ulterior motives…no?

[yeenybeanies]

Smallest Cyber Specialist (pt. 9)

if you found out that your dead partner's ex-wife was trying to contact you, would you give her a call? this is the question pip contemplates after receiving some of the worst news of her life. i apologize––i know my stuff tends to be pretty dialogue heavy, but this one is thick with dialogue --w--" first • previous • next call of duty | john mactavish/soap, simon riley/ghost, & pip lagomorph/lag (oc) 4,221 words strong language warning reblogs > likes!! thanks for reading!! patreon ✨ ko-fi ✨ ao3

Pip woke up with a gasp, her limbs flailing, tangling in the fabric around her. Where was she? When has she fallen asleep? What—? 

With a frustrated grunt, she kicked the fabric off and sat upright. 

The barracks. She was in the barracks, in a nest of blankets on someone’s bunk. It smelled like Soap’s. 

Soap, asleep and snoring softly to her left, confirmed that it was, in fact, his bunk. The sergeant was lying on his stomach with his arms hugging his pillow to his chest and his head turned towards her. His face was soft and relaxed. Her stirring hadn’t disturbed him, it seemed. Good. 

The adjacent bunk—Ghost’s—was empty. With Soap blocking her view of the other side, she couldn’t tell if Gaz was in his either. Many of the other bunks were occupied, though. It must have been night time. That would explain why the lights were out.

Gods above, she’d slept that long? 

Passed out for that long, more like. Pip could taste the lingering notes of whiskey on her tongue. At least she didn’t have a headache…

Unconsciously, she reached to the side for her glove, but paused when her fingers met the coarse fabric. 

The glove. 

Heat rose in her cheeks. This was Ghost’s glove. And, in her half-drunk, grief-stricken stupor, she’d humped the damn thing. 

A fucking glove. How embarrassing. 

Worse still, she could see herself doing it again. 

Pip dropped her head into her hands and bit back a groan. Alcohol and humping spare articles of clothing was not how she wanted to mourn the loss of her best friend. She scrubbed down her face and stared off into the darkness, brows pinched. 

Laswell had mentioned that Dana was trying to contact her. For reasons she couldn’t begin to comprehend, Looker’s ex-wife was looking for Pip. And, against her better judgment,  Pip was coming around to the idea of obliging her. She already had Dana’s number—an in-case-of-emergencies bit of information Looker had given her to use in case no one else was able to inform his family of his death. 

She never told him that she’d found Dana’s contact information and run a thorough background check on her long before that. The point was: one way or another, she had Dana’s number.  

Pip reached past the glove for her backpack and the computer within. She glanced at the time on the screen. Three thirty-seven AM. That would make it six thirty-seven PM back in Texas, where Dana lived. That wasn’t too late to call. 

But did Pip actually want to call? Of course she didn’t. Why was she even entertaining this idea? It was stupid! 

She pulled up her SMS app and scrolled to Ghost’s contact. 

>> it’s lag. where are you?

His response came only a minute later—admittedly, much faster than she’d expected. 

How did you get this number &lt;<

Pip rolled her eyes. 

>> i have everyone’s number. even the secret ones. you’re not in your bunk.

Observant of you. &lt;<

He was being annoying. To use his own words, a right wanker. Pip clenched her jaw and took a breath. She was trying to figure out how to rephrase what she wanted to say to him without all of the nasty words, when he started typing again. 

I’m talking with Price. What do you need? &lt;<

>> i need to make a call. need to go somewhere private.

Get Soap to take you. &lt;<

Ugh. Why was he like this? One minute, he was compassionate—in his own weird, Ghost-y way—and the next he was being an ass. Or, in Soap’s words, a bawbag. 

Human insults were so… dissatisfying.

A part of her welcomed the banter as a distraction. But most of her just found it frustrating. She typed back:

>> he’s asleep. assuming gaz is too. don’t want to wake them. >> if you don’t want to help, fine. i’ll jump down, hope i don’t break my other leg, and find somewhere to go on my own.

Sounds dramatic. Be there in a minute. &lt;<

Yes, it was dramatic. But it worked. Pip snapped her laptop shut and dug her fingers into her hair. Soap stirred next to her, drawing Pip’s attention to him. He adjusted his hold on the pillow, and nuzzled further into it. His chest heaved in a heavy sigh, the warmth of his breath washing over Pip. The pink of his tongue flashed momentarily between his lips. 

Pip shivered. Gods, she missed Looker. 

And then she silently looked away and berated herself for that thought. Pull yourself together. You’re probably about to talk to his ex-wife.  

“Lag?” Soap’s voice made Pip jump. Her head whipped around to face Soap again. He still looked half asleep, his eyes half-lidded. He breathed out sharply through his nose. “Spooky. You’ve got those glowy eyes.” 

Pip blinked. It was true; in low light, hideling eyes did shine red. 

“Go back to sleep, Soap,” she said. 

A soft smile shaped his lips, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came. He shifted to lie on his side. “You okay?” 

Pip’s expression fell. She looked away and fidgeted idly with her hands. “No, I’m really not,” she said honestly, “but I’m going to have to be.” 

Soap reached for her, his knuckle lightly brushing her shoulder. “Rough week, hm?” 

She snorted humorlessly. “You have no idea.” 

“I might—” he paused mid-sentence, eyes darting up. Pip followed his gaze to see Ghost’s silhouetted figure approaching. The lieutenant stopped at Soap’s bedside, his arms crossed over his chest. Even through the dark and his mask, Pip could see his raised brow. 

“‘Soap’s asleep,’ huh? ‘Didn’t want to wake him’?” 

Pip scowled up at him. “He was asleep,” she said tersely. 

“‘M still asleep, LT,” Soap said with a lazy grin. “Sleep talking.” 

Ghost rolled his eyes. Pip was tempted to do the same. “Shut up, Johnny,” he growled, but there was no real bite in his words. There never was, when it came to Soap. “Shut your eyes too, while you're at it.” 

Pip put her hand to Soap’s knuckle. “I’ll be alright,” she said softly. “Thank you.” 

Whether or not he believed her, Soap nodded, and pulled his hand away. He exchanged a quick glance with Ghost, then rolled over onto his other side and pulled his blanket up to his shoulders. 

Ghost’s hand came down next to Pip, silently inviting her on. She grabbed her backpack, her crutches, and her glove, then climbed into his palm. A faint smell of cigar smoke clung to him, his clothes. Pip inhaled slowly, subtly, drinking in the smoky-sweet aroma. Price must have lit one up while he and Ghost were having their late night chat. 

She wouldn’t mind a few second-hand puffs, if she was honest.

“Where to?” Ghost asked once they were out in the hall, well out of earshot of any sleeping operators. “Price’s stash room again?”

Pip thought for a moment. She didn’t need the temptation of liquor again so soon. Ghost didn’t need to enable her either. “No,” she said. “No one’s in the mess hall, right? I can work on my pelt when I’m done with the call.” Doing so would probably distract her from some of the grief, at least. And it was a more productive distraction than anything else she could see herself doing. 

“Should be quiet in there,” Ghost said. He turned down a corridor, headed towards the mess hall. 

“I still don’t want to talk about it,” Pip added. Just in case Ghost was curious. 

The lieutenant shrugged. “Still wasn’t gonna ask,” he said. “How much longer until your pelt’s ready?” 

“I’ll finish it today.” 

“Good. Then you won’t have to defile my glove anymore.” 

Pip froze, her mind coming to a momentary standstill. Fuck. Did he know? How had he found out? Heat rose in her cheeks, but she refused to give him a reaction. She wouldn’t even acknowledge his comment. It could mean anything, right? Absolutely.

“Why are you and Price still up?” she asked, pointedly changing the topic. “It’s almost four in the morning.” 

“Woke up. Couldn’t go back to sleep. Not sure if Price ever went to bed.” 

Of all her handlers, Pip was the least familiar with Price’s sleeping habits. Gaz slept pretty solidly, but he did tend to toss a bit. Soap, for the most part, was dead to the world when he slept, though he had woken up once in a startle. Scared the shit out of Pip that time. Ghost was more tumultuous. He didn’t move too much, but he was easy to wake, like his sleep cycle was on a hair trigger. 

But Captain John Price? Pip had never been around Price while he was asleep. 

She hummed a thoughtful note. 

“Who are you callin’ at almost four in the morning?” Ghost asked. 

She hesitated to answer, deciding how much she wanted to tell him. A part of her wanted to tell him everything in hopes that he would talk her out of this very, very stupid idea; another part of her wanted to tell him to fuck off and mind his own damn business. 

Ultimately, she settled on a vague middle ground: “It’s not four AM in America.” 

Ghost eyed her through his peripherals, but didn’t ask for any further elaboration. “Just don’t compromise us, yeah?”

Indignation flared in her chest, hot and fast. Pip whipped her head around to glare at the lieutenant, her lip curled. “Fuck off, Riley,” she snarled. She was pulling out the last name for this scolding. “Me? Of everyone here, I am the least likely to compromise anything.” Asshole.  

Ghost snorted. “‘Riley,’” he repeated. “Sounds like I’m back in Basic getting an ass-chewing.” 

“Probably deserved it then, too,” she grumbled. 

“Probably.” 

The mess hall was dark when they entered. Of course it was dark. It was four in the morning, as they’d established, and no one was in here. Ghost moved to flip on a light switch, but Pip stopped him. 

“I don’t need the light,” she said. “You can leave it off.” 

“All fine and well,” he replied, “but I can’t see shite, and I’m the one carrying you to your pelt.” 

“I’ll guide you. Sidestep to your left, turn to eleven o’ clock, and start walking.” When Ghost didn’t move, Pip tipped her head back in exasperation. In doing so, she locked eyes with Ghost. “We’ve done this already, Lieutenant. A week ago.”

“Same day you got blown up, yeah. I remember.”

She grimaced, none too appreciative of that little reminder. “Just walk,” she said sternly. 

And he did. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much of a change in his gait. His steps were a bit more careful, but he largely walked the same way he normally did, and followed Pip’s direction like a good soldier. When he was one step away from the table, Pip instructed him to stop, and he did. He felt out with his free hand for the table’s surface, finding it with ease. 

“This is good. Thanks,” Pip said as he set her down. 

“Let me know when you need me to come get you,” Ghost said, pulling his hand back once she disembarked. 

“I’ll be fine here tonight,” she replied. “You should rest.” 

“You sure?” 

She gave him an annoyed look, her wide pupils catching that red glow in the low light. “Am I sure that you should rest?”

She knew that wasn’t what he was asking about, but she turned it on him nevertheless. Her handlers needed their rest if they were to keep her safe. That was the only reason she cared. Absolutely. 

Ghost put his hands up. “Lucky I can’t pull rank on you for that attitude,” he said, his voice halfway to a growl. Damn right, too. Technically, none of them could pull rank on her—not even Price.  She didn’t actually work for the 141; she was just here to help on Laswell’s request. 

She also had half a mind to mention that Soap was regularly insubordinate—in how he spoke to Ghost in particular—but she kept that to herself. 

“Good night, Ghost,” Pip said with a dismissive wave. She turned away from him and pretended to examine her pelt, at least until she heard his soft footfalls recede into the hall and beyond. 

Gods, for such a massive human, he could be scarily quiet. 

Once she was sure he was gone, she released a heavy exhale. So, she was really doing this. She was going to call Dana. 

Why? She didn’t know. Closure, maybe? But what closure would this bring her? Was it guilt? These questions rattled around in her mind as she opened her computer and pulled up Dana’s contact information again. Before she could have any more second thoughts, she hit the call button. 

And it rang. 

Nervous energy drove her to fidget. She adjusted her headset. Adjusted her scarf. Adjusted her computer. Adjusted her headset again. Audio only to her? Yep. Voice modulator still working? Of course. 

The line rang twice more. Hope bubbled in Pip’s chest. Maybe Dana was busy. Maybe she wouldn’t answer. She wouldn’t be able to call this number back—

“Hello?” Dana. 

Fuck!  

Pip couldn’t find her voice. 

“Hello…?” 

If she didn’t say anything now, Dana was going to hang up. Pip muted her mic, cleared her throat, and forced herself to speak. Mic back on, she said, “Miss Ortega?” 

Dana Ortega. Formerly Mrs. Dana Ortega-Looker. She’d dropped his name when they’d gotten divorced. 

“Yes? Who is this?” 

Pip’s mouth felt dry. Swallowing didn’t help any. She cleared her throat again. “This is Agent Lagomorph. I was told that—” 

“Lag? You’re Lag?” 

She stammered for a moment. “Uh—I’m—yes, I’m Lag. Miss Ortega, I was told that you—”

Again, Dana interrupted, “You sound different than I imagined.” Pip didn’t know how to respond to that. Dana continued, “I imagined you sounding more like a stupid bimbo bitch from California.” 

Damn. Pip stared at the screen with brows furrowed, a little taken aback. The sudden hostility was simultaneously a surprise, and not surprising at all. “...Did he say I was from California?” 

“No. He never told me anything about you. Not even your real fucking name. A part of me thought you weren’t even real, but, with how tight-lipped he was about you, and how much time you two spent together…” She trailed off with a sigh. She sounded frustrated. Angry. 

“We were partners,” Pip said, keeping her voice even, “and our line of work requires the utmost secrecy…” 

“Shut up,” Dana snapped, making Pip flinch. “I don’t want to hear it. You say you two were partners, huh?”

“Yes—”

“Then why is my husband dead, Lag?”

The question hit her like a punch to the chest, dead center. It felt like it could have knocked the air from her lungs. “He—you—” she paused to take a breath, eyes closed. Calm. Steady. “He was your ex-husband. And he was KIA.” 

Dana scoffed. Pip tried to imagine her body language. Human nonverbal communication was still an enigma to her, but she’d been noticing some things since her introduction to the 141. Balled fists when frustrated. Raised heads. Puffed chests. Clenched jaws. Narrowed eyes. Some things were similar to hideling behavior; others were very different. 

“‘Partner,’” she spat the word like it was a curse, laced with venom. “Don’t partners protect each other? Have each other’s back? So why is Dominic dead?” 

His first name was less like a punch to the chest and more like a knife slotted between her ribs. Pip grimaced and dragged her hands down her face. She tried to keep her voice from breaking, but couldn’t completely mask the strain as she spoke. “I wasn’t near Dom when he was killed. I was performing my duties elsewhere at the time. There was nothing I could have done to protect or save him.”

Nothing at all. And that hurt to know. 

Even if she had been there, what could she have done? The “protection” in their partnership was largely one-sided, as it always was with hideling-human dynamics. 

She hadn’t even been able to see him before he was sent back home in a body bag… The last time she’d seen his face was right after he’d discreetly let her out of his backpack near the server room. He’d wished her luck with a thumbs up, then rushed off to rejoin Ghost’s squad. Fearless Looker...

“So you’re kinda useless as a partner, huh?” Dana cut in. Pip felt her nose crinkle, but she said nothing. She wouldn’t acknowledge that. “You’re the reason he and I divorced, and you got him killed.”

Well, so much for holding her tongue. “I had no part in your divorce,” she snarled. “You left him because of your own insecurities. That is not on me.” 

“Tell me, Lag, were you fucking him? Huh? Did you two fuck?” 

Pip nearly choked on her own spit. The audacity of this woman! “Wha—that’s none of your business.” 

“Anything other than a resounding ‘no’ is a ‘yes,’” Dana said. Pip could hear the cruel smile in her voice, which only pissed her off more. 

Who did this woman think she was? Why was Pip even talking to her? This had been an enormously terrible idea. 

“So he was cheating on me,” Dana continued. 

“No,” Pip said quickly. Defensively. She took a pause to breathe in through her nose, out through her mouth. Calm. “No. He wasn’t. Never did. He loved you, Dana.” Another pause. “We only ever had sex after your divorce.” 

That was unnecessary. It really was none of Dana’s business who Pip—or Looker, for that matter—hooked up with. Pip didn’t know why she’d said that.

“Whore,” Dana spat. 

Childish. Petty insults wouldn’t hurt her. 

“Why didn’t you come to his funeral?” Dana asked. It sounded more like an accusation.

“I couldn’t attend,” Pip said simply. It wasn’t a lie. “I’m still on mission. Our mission. I’d like to send flowers, though, if you tell me where he’s b—” 

“Keep your goddamn flowers.” 

Pip pressed her lips together, a little frustrated, a little confused. Humans liked to place flowers on the graves of the dead, right? Americans, at least… 

“You really are the worst fucking person to be paired up with.” Dana said. “First you let Dominic die, and then you don’t even have the decency to take off work and lay him to rest? Did the CIA give you a new partner yet, hm? Another poor bastard for you to get killed?” 

Pip was starting to see red. She clenched her jaw. Balled her fist. Dana had to be intentionally ignoring what she was saying. 

Breathe in… breathe out… Disregard the comment about her new partner… 

Partners. Plural. Pip stole a glance at her cast, and the four signatures scrawled across it. She felt a pang in her chest.

This was a woman lashing out in her grief, Pip reminded herself. But fuck! Pip was grieving too! 

“You have no idea what we were involved in—what I’m still involved in.”

“Because Dominic would never tell me any—”

“Because you are not authorized to know,” she interrupted. If Dana wanted to act childish, then Pip would speak to her like a child. “Don’t get mad at me because you’re in the dark; it is not my decision. It wasn’t Dom’s decision to withhold things from you, either—about his job or about me. It comes with the territory. You agreed to this when you married him, Dana. When you first started dating him!” 

Gods, she remembered that day—the day Looker told her that he’d met someone that he really liked. Someone he really wanted to pursue. 

Pip had been skeptical from the get-go, but she wanted Looker to be happy.

“It isn’t my fault that you couldn’t handle it—that you couldn’t trust him—and chose to divorce him. As soon as you signed those papers, you lost all right to what little information you were allowed. Even this conversation—I am calling you as a courtesy, because I cared about Dom, and I know he cared about you.” 

“Fuck you,” Dana spat. 

Fuck you too, you hollow bat. Rot in the sun. “I think that’s enough. Good night, Miss Ortega. We—”

“He has a child.” 

Pip froze. She went silent for nearly a minute. Had she misheard? “...What?”

“He has a child,” Dana repeated, sounding smug. “Almost two years old. Born not long after our divorce.” 

Looker never told her about a child. And Looker told her damn near everything. She knew that man inside and out. She knew him better than Dana ever could. He would have told her if he had a kid. Which means that either Dana never told him, or that she was lying. 

She hunched over and started to type on her computer. “You never told him that he was a father?” It was her turn to sound accusatory. 

“Why would I?” Dana said. “It wasn’t like he’d have time for a family. He was always too busy gallivanting off with you.” 

Pip started a search. She could comb through hospital records of births in Dana’s area in the general time frame of a human pregnancy, but that net was too wide. She could do better. She felt no obligation to operate within human legal channels, either. Her whole job revolved around ignoring human privacy laws. 

It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. Pip’s typing slowed. She narrowed her eyes. 

“You’re a liar,” she said dryly. 

“Excuse me?” 

“I said you’re a liar, Miss Ortega.” Dana waffled, but Pip didn’t let her gather her bearings. “There is absolutely no record anywhere of a child born under your name. And believe me, Miss, I am very thorough when it comes to looking through records.” 

“I—what—how could you possibly—”

“What’s the child’s name?” Pip asked. She was no longer interested in playing nice. “When is its birthday? What is its favorite toy?”

Dana had no answers. She could only sputter and stammer. 

“Why would you try to lie to me about something like this, Dana?” Pip leaned back onto the heels of her palms and turned her head to the ceiling. Her energy was spent, and her patience along with it. “Even if there was a kid, telling me this is a disservice to Dom, more than anything. Not me. I’m done talking to you. We will never speak to each other again.” That was a promise. “Have a good evening, Miss Ortega.”

“You bitch! If I ever find out—” 

“You won’t.” Click.  

Pip breathed out a heavy sigh, her shoulders sagging under the weight of… of everything, really. She shouldn’t have done that. She should not have called Looker’s ex-wife. Nothing was gained from their conversation; it only served to reopen still very fresh wounds. 

“Fucking pile of rotten coyote’s guts,” Pip muttered in Hidespeak. Her native insults always felt so much better than English ones. Calling someone a female dog? A sex worker? A body part? Please.  

Telling someone that not even the hungriest vultures would touch their corpse—now that was an insult. 

Regardless, Pip once again found herself questioning why Looker had ever married that gutpile. She’d never liked Dana, and Dana hated that Looker had a secret work partner. Looker knew of this animosity. But it was never Pip’s place to intervene in his relationships. He was a grown man, after all. 

When Dana presented Looker with the ultimatum: her or Pip, their marriage or his career, Pip remembered his heartbreak. He’d taken emergency leave to try and work things out with her. Pip remembered the anxiety she’d felt, waiting at their HQ, not knowing whether or not Looker would come back, wondering if she'd have to be assigned another new handler… But he’d returned. 

Now that she thought about it, she couldn't recall Looker ever explicitly telling her that he’d chosen the CIA over Dana. He’d only said that she was divorcing him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

And now, here she was two years later. Looker was dead, and Pip was stuck with not one, but four untrained handlers, on the most dangerous mission she’d ever been assigned. 

This had been the single-most stressful week of her life. However… not that she'd ever tell them, but these four rough-n-tough soldiers were growing on her. Even Price. 

Ugh. She didn't want to think about that. 

Pip rolled her head to the side, looking at her pelt. It was dried and treated. Now it just needed to be shaped. She glanced quickly at her computer screen, noting the time. Quarter past four. 

Damn, she’d suffered a conversation with Dana for more than ten minutes? How miserable. 

The 141 would be waking up soon. Hopefully Price and Ghost could manage to get some sleep. In the meantime, Pip had a pelt to work on. She could try to distract herself from her woes with the prospect of finally having a proper disguise again. 

A sidelong look to Ghost’s glove gave her pause. She considered it for a long moment, then snorted softly to herself. It was a shit replacement for a pelt in almost every way. 

She wasn’t done with it, though. Ghost was just going to have to make do with his mismatched gloves for the foreseeable future.

#g/t #g/t fiction #g/t writing #call of duty #cod #cod mwii #cod mw2 #g/t cod #john mactavish #simon riley #pip lagomorph #poor gal's really goin' thru it :') #hyena writes #hyena ocs

[cheiyunn]

Kimisute main story [4部] Part 5

Side: EpsilonΦ

[Sharehouse]

Reiji: This is….!

Kanata: Whats this~?? 「Reasoning behind SkyFox Record’s resuscitation」 ?

Kanata: Isn’t this like, super late by now? Why’s it getting posted on music gossip sites at a time like this?

Haruka: …who knows

Kanata: The stuff written is just about the previous director and stuff, like who gives a damn~

Reiji: Don’t just take people’s stuff, give it back…!

Kanata: Whoa, Karasuma-senpai, what’s with the scary face?

--[Door opens]--

Shu: Fwah~ (yawn).... Good morning

Reiji: Shu. Do you know anything about this news?

Shu: First thing in the morning…. what, a gossip article? Oh~ it’s about my label isn’t it

Reiji: ….So you weren’t the one who did this then?

Shu: Why would I do something like this. At this points there’s nothing too it anymore

--[Door opens]--

Tadaomi: Good morning. Everyone’s all riled up this morning, seems like you’re all having fun

Kanata: Kurama-senpai, take a lookie at this

Tadaomi: Hm~ It seems our label got on the news

Tadaomi: Since there are people with eyes on us, should we take it as a sign and be happy��

Reiji: NO FUCKING WAY

Kanata: God that scared me~ It’s rare to see you so angry Karasuma-senpai

Reiji: …shu. I’m going to make a visit to Sosui-san.

Shu: Sure. Today was a scheduled off-day after all, feel free to do so

Haruka: …do you have an appointment reserved

Reiji: …thats… I’m doing that NOW.

--[He runs off into his room]--

Kanata: Karasuma-senpai looked so panicked ~~

Haruka: If you poked around someone when they wanted to be left alone of course they'd snap

Haruka: You sure You didn’t do this

Shu: Both you and Reiji… why would you think I’d do something like this this far in. Morons, both of you.

Shu: I’d rather instead of you being so concerned about Reiji, to maybe be a little more concerned about your songwriting~

Shu: You making progress?

Haruka: …a bit

Tadaomi: We’re working on it while consulting each other right

Kanata: It’s unfair that you get him all to yourself Kurama-senpai. I wanna talk to aniki as well~~

[SkyFox Records office]

Reiji: I deeply apologize for making a sudden appointment.

Sosui: No, I’d say the same here. I didn’t expect that this far in there’d suddenly be talk Fushimi family either

Reiji: I just want to confirm but… this.. Is not your work is it

Sosui: No.

Sosui: To me, the previous director of SkyFox Records ; your actual father, was someone I deeply respected

Sosui: Even if I had thoughts of raising the popularity of SkyFox Records, I would never have resorted to these methods

Sosui: Or maybe, you can’t trust my words?

Reiji: …ah no. To start the suspicion I had was quite small but just in case, I had to confirm first hand

Reiji: This article, who do you think is possibly responsible for it

Sosui: …To be honest, I can’t think up any person who would target us at this time either…

Sosui: The timing isn’t right. If maybe it was when we first started, or during your debut live, I would see as to why but this time is…

Sosui: I can’t seem to pinpoint the reason as to ‘why now’

Reiji: …The possibility of it being from ‘Duck River’ is zero?

Sosui: If this was really the work of ‘that man’, then he would have chosen a more fragile time

Sosui: In the time I worked as his secretary, I understood his methods and reasoning

Reiji: is that so…

Sosui: I’ll also continue looking into this news as well

Sosui: On that topic, are you in contact with your family– your birth family ?

Reiji: ………

Sosui: ….I see. I’m sorry for asking a hard question…

Reiji: …the people of the Fushimi family, have already suffered enough everyday…

Reiji: I can’t have outsiders chase them around anymore either.

Reiji: I never want to ever see my mother, father…. brother, to be cornered again

Reiji: I’ll get to the bottom of who pulled this

Sosui: …I understand your feelings. I’ll help out too. That being said, having you take direct action right now is not recommended.

Reiji: So you’re telling me to Stay Put and Not Do Anything… !?

Sosui: I said 「right now」. In regards to your family, I’ll follow up on them

Reiji: …i …. i understand….

#fromargonavis #epsilon phi

[quinseparable]

Dammit, between that last post about "sustainable harvesting" and my friend making a post about white sage, I am all fired up (in agreement with both just so we're clear) about a variety of things in the pagan/new age/spirituality movement that are so damn problematic.

And, for complete and total transparency, I am white AS FUCK. Like completely (a quarter German, a quarter French, and then the rest scattered throughout Wales/Europe/and other Nordic ethnicities)

So obviously I cannot speak on behalf of any community other than my own. That said, I listen to what these other communities do say and try to make sure I do everything possible to not appropriate. I am also non-binary/lesbian/queer. I am also neurodivergent. There are so many things in modern witchcraft/spiritualism/etc that also conflict with those identities of mine.

So, let's just go down the fucking list (in no particular order):

1.) There are over 900 species of Sage. Stop buying White Sage. Stop using it. There are literally hundreds of other varieties that are probably native to your area. White California White Sage is NOT listed as endangered let's be completely clear on that, but Indigenous groups are still concerned about the overharvesting due to the increase in new age spirituality. You have fucking Walmart and Amazon selling "smudging kits" with White Sage bundles in them. And let's be real, we know that these places do not fucking care about "ethical harvesting" or about purchasing directly from Indigenous folks who cultivate it with care. In fact I just saw that in 2018 4 people were arrested for harvesting White Sage illegally. At first you might shrug your shoulders...'eh it's just 4 people'. No. It was 400 lbs of white sage. This site/article here had some good info about white sage as well.

It's been my experience that working with plant life local to your area is going to be FAR more affective then buying something from across the country. For instance, Juniper is so super common here. And you know what? It cleanses my space amazingly. No need for White Sage. Why use a plant or a crystal or a mineral that you have absolutely no connection with? How is that going to help you?

2.) And speaking of 'Smudging'...unless you are Indigenous, what you are probably doing is "smoke cleansing". Y'all those terms aren't interchangeable. Smudging is a sacred, closed practice of various different Indigenous tribes - one of which is the Anishinaabe peoples whom I live in close proximity with. In fact, my best friend is Indigenous. Many of his family members are also friends of mine. Now while my friend doesn't actively participate in his Indigenous culture, some of his family do and we've spoken here and there about this exact thing.

Not only is Smudging not the same as just smoke cleansing, and the overharvesting of white sage making many indigenous folks worried about the plant becoming extinct, you have to remember, it was illegal for many Indigenous folks in the USA to participate in the culture and sacred practices until 1978 when Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. They were not allowed to participate in their cultural beliefs and faith and spirituality until just 10 years before I was fucking born. I'm only 36. LET THAT SINK IN. Then like 20 years later here comes a bunch of white people who then try to immediately 'participate' and take over this practice. It's fucking gross.

This is coming from me, who lives smack dab in between Harbor Springs and Petoskey, Michigan...the home to one of the last Boarding Schools to close in the USA. This is Holy Childhood (which actually may be the last to close in the US)- the fucking boarding school I live less than 6 miles away from. There are still human remains under the FUCKING ROAD that passes in front of that building the Catholic Church still owns. (And it was confirmed in 1997 there were bodies found on the property - but they didn't extensively search and many in the tribe believe there are bodies underneath Main Street in Harbor Springs - and I am more likely to side with them then the fucking Catholic community who wants to pretend this was all so long ago).

You want to know when Holy Childhood was finally closed? Fucking 1983 - only 5 years before I was fucking born. (Though some folks that have spoken about the horrors they faced there say they attended as long as 1986.) And yes, there have been a few survivors of these native boarding schools who are willing to speak on their experiences there. Let me tell you, hearing from these survivors, in person, about the horrors that they dealt with - with the forced assimilation and inability to use their language and participate in their customs - has brought me to tears ever fucking time.

And I didn't learn about this at all until I went to work at the DV Shelter I now work at. And to reiterate - I ONLY LIVE 6 MILES AWAY FROM WHERE THE SCHOOL WAS (it's since been torn down I do believe)

One of our local news stations did a 2 part investigation into the history of Holy Childhood (which you can see here ) which is so swept under the rug that the DV/SA organization (we partner with the local tribe often to share resources) has actually included it into their training so we can be more well informed when working with Indigenous survivors in our area.

(Sorry for the length of that point, this is a topic I am very passionate about and also have quite a bit of knowledge behind me)

3.) Hoodoo is a close practices (as is Voodoo but I know even less about that spirituality so I won't speak much on it. Just that Hoodoo and Voodoo are not interchangeable and that they are 2 separate practices). Now, I am not going to speak on this at length because, again, I'm white as fuck but also because I don't have the history and knowledge to really even speak on it. But I will say it is closed - it is not something that someone with my complexation really should be messing with anyway because, y'know, it was created within the enslaved, black populations in the US. But I will say that both Voodoo and Hoodoo have both been demonized by white folks, Christians especially, that many had to practice their faith and beliefs in secret - much like the Indigenous folks did. So we don't get to come in and take over that either.

4.) We have to get away from the goddamn heteronormative gender binary. Now this one I can speak of. Gender non-conforming folks like myself and non-hetero folks have always existed. In fact, I would hazard a guess that there were many queer folks engaging in witchcraft because witchcraft has always been an "outsider" type of practice. So now when we separate men and women, or say women have this ability or magic while men have this type you have alienated some of the more vulnerable people.

Also the idea that this thing has "masculine" energy while this one has "feminine" energy kind of confuses me. Masculine and feminine according to who? To which culture? To which faiths? Or are we just defaulting to us white folks again? Many of us having either a Christian upbringing or are immersed in a more Christian environment. So masculine and feminine according to Christianity? I don't know maybe this is my non-binary ass coming out. Maybe its because my personal beliefs focus a lot on balance.

Perhaps this is less noticeable for us solo practioners but lets be real here, a lot of us GNC folks avoid groups or covens or what have you because where the fuck do we fit in if everything is gendered into 2?

And remember, most cultures had a concept of a third (or more) gender. So they would have had spiritual beliefs that incorporated that person with the duality. Yet in many of the new age spirituality I see now really ignores that fact.

5.) There is no one-way to do anything. Seriously, before I had an official ADHD diagnosis, I wondered why in the fuck I couldn't meditate in the traditional ways. But everyone in the witchcraft community preached about how you have to meditate if you want to be close to your dieties/spiritual guides/etc. Not all brains function in the same way. You know what I found allowed me to get into a more meditative space? Sitting out on the back porch at night. No phone, no music, just listening to the sounds of nature around me (I am fortunate enough to live across from a nature preserve). Sometimes, yes, I do smoke (recreational MJ is legal in Michigan btw). Some people need to walk in the woods to meditate. Some people just can't do any of it. That's fucking FINE.

I am not Wiccan. I do not believe in the three-fold law. And that's ok. I also practice baneful magic sometimes. Other people do not. That's fucking OKAY. Some people do shadow work, others aren't ready. Maybe they'll never be ready. THAT'S OK. Some people have daily rituals or prayers or practices. Others like me wing it at every opportunity. THAT'S OK.

Not everyone has money to buy things. Not everyone is neurotypical. Not everyone is able bodied. Not everyone has access to a local community. Not everyone can openly practice. You get the idea.

And with that this post is getting long and I am getting tired. So I'm gonna end it here, but I may have a part 2 post coming up sometime later.

#witchcraft #witchblr #witch community #pagan #paganism #new age spirituality #witchy shit

[disregardcanon]

okay, so a brief history of my headcanon for rava and kendall’s relationship

 i think that kendall and rava probably met at harvard. while he and stewy WERE partying pretty hardcore, i think that hero-complex kendall was also trying (and mainly failing) to do some social justice work and in a very hardcore “i hate my dad” phase. rava, who was from a moderately wealthy family and studying to be an attorney, saw him and was kinda entranced by how passionate he was.

they wrote articles together for the harvard lampoon that were some biting and sometimes insightful social commentary. kendall, at the time, was very against working for waystar and they spent a lot of time spitballing with stewy about what they could do. stewy was very profit minded so he ended up noping out of the project before he and ken had even graduated.

she and kendall got married right after graduation from undergrad half because they were very in love and half because they wanted to upset their respective families. rava continues grad school and kendall flails his way through a few different corporate jobs, trying to pitch ideas that seemed ethical but weren’t really practical and then getting into fights with people about not understanding his “vision”. that ended with him being fired from each when business bosses received confirmation that logan roy wouldn’t come for their heads if they fired his son.

when it became clear that employment elsewhere... wasn’t really going to work out for him, kendall sunk deeper and deeper into addiction as rava had her back turned with her last semester of law school and studying for the bar.

he makes a habit of using big, showy gestures of affection whenever she’s getting too frustrated by his behavior. it works well for a while.

halfway through rava’s semester of studying for the bar, kendall had an incident bad enough that she had to cart him off to rehab and it set her back a semester before she could take the bar. (which she did pass! yay!)  after he got back from rehab, they decided that he’d take his dad up on the offer of a job at waystar to “get him back on his feet”, and they started turning their attentions towards having kids instead.

kendall’s new big project, immediately, became kids. they decided that they like BOTH the options of adoption and having their own bio kids, so they started trying for bio kids a lot, but also doing research on good ways to adopt kids.

kendall did about half of that, with jess helping him stay focused and actually doing most of it. with his white savior complex, a transracial adoptee from india was a pretty obvious choice. a few months after sophie’s adoption was finalized they got sophie and kendall, for a while, put all his efforts into being The Best Dad TM.

it’s great while it lasts, but the increase in kendall’s time off work with waystar led to some pretty harsh criticism from his dad including “what have you got a wife for, anyway, if you’re doing all the raising? mister mom gotta go home and take care of the baby? pa-fucking-thetic” so he tries to focus more on work, which stresses him out, and he’s pulled between wanting to be an awesome dad and make rava happy but also Oh God My Dad Thinks I’m a Loser and i want to stick it to him but also make him proud of me, and it leads to a lot of him not doing anything that makes him happy or proud and just slipping back into alcohol.

this period does result in them getting a consistent nanny instead of babysitters, though, so at least the kids are a bit better cared for.

the slope leads down for a few years until it’s at the point where he can’t get off the couch for sophie’s 2nd grade meet the author day and rava makes him try seeing a therapist. again. it gets worse instead of better as he’s pulled between work, dad, and his wife and kids. logan keeps trying to pressure rava into leaving her job as a civil rights attorney just as he keeps trying to fold shiv into the company, and it causes some additional tension. and this, of course, is on top of kendall now being groomed as logan’s successor.

add in: iverson’s autism diagnosis and kendall absolutely refusing to confront what it means both for iverson AND himself, and he starts slipping back into the hard stuff. he’s erratic and impossible to be around and rava finds bits of coke on iverson’s ipad, which is when she tells kendall he has to move out.

if he can get himself cleaned up and show her that he’s ready to move back in with them, then she’ll let him. (spoiler alert: he never does this, even though he tries)

#succession #succession meta #rava roy #kendall roy

[hermithomebase]

i checked the article (as someone who normally knows nothing abt this kind of stuff), they mentioned that the ex wife was going to EVERY news outlet with the story, and they also mentioned that it had been 2 months since they divorced that ethan and ariana got together? like thats already strange enough for me to doubt her reasoning, if true, then nothing broke up "her family" but ethan himself

correct me if i misunderstood any part of this btw 😭🫶🏻

like listen i’m sure that woman is quite distressed clearly her marriage didnt work out and they now have to co parent a child which is difficult… HOWEVER.

no one is forced to stay with you for any reason even if ur married or if you have a child or Whatever the circumstance is like forcing someone to stay with you is um… Abusive 😭 not saying she is btw i’m just saying that for the people that insist he HAS to stay with her bc they have a baby or smth like it’s up to you to decide if you think leaving someone after u have a child is good/bad whatever but it’s not a fucking moral crime you have to die and go to hell for like holy fuck PEOPLE HAVE FREE WILL

and as for the separated for months thing.. sorry but the way ppl treat relationships is crazy to me but like sorry if you are broken up with/separated from someone what they do after that is their business and it’s not “cheating” if they move on even if legally u aren’t separated yet—now if it comes out confirmed tomorrow from ethan/ariana or the wife with evidence that he was cheating, yeah. that’s shitty. and i think that Is really fucking shit behavior that deserved to be criticized but if not? you just gotta kys and move on

#prompt.input

[utterrandomnesswithlulu]

By The Episode: Infected (TLoU)

Episode two of The Last of Us premiered on January 22nd, and it has us with Ellie, Joel, and Tess the following day after leaving the Boston QZ.

Welcome to a new article type By the Episode! This article is essentially a recap of a show that airs on a weekly basis. This won’t be including shows that can be “binged watched” or full seasons that are currently available on streaming platforms. That will be left to our other article type Midnight Binge.

There won’t be a rating for articles by the episode because I like to rate an entire season rather than an individual episode. However, I give my opinion on if it’s “Worth a Watch,” “Cautiously Optimistic,” “Let’s See Where This is Going,” “I Might Stop Watching,” and finally “Nope, Not Worth the Time.” Instead of being at the end of the article, I will include this opinion at the beginning.

EPISODE GRADE: CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC

SPIOLERS for TLoU episode two, Infected.

BOMB IT ALL

The episode opens up with another flashback, this time in Jakarta, Indonesia, as we see this elderly woman sitting in a cafe before being taken away by two military men. From what was told to us in episode one, we can surmise that Jakarta is where the initial outbreak happened.

The woman Doctor Ratna Pertiwi (Christine Hakim) is taken into a hospital where she’s shown a microscope that has a prepared slide. She quickly announces that it’s a cordyceps fungus on the slide, and the general says that this was found in a human. Obviously, she mentions is completely impossible, as it’s commonly found in insects. The general wastes no time showing Dr. Pertiwi the body of the female factory worker that had been shot in the head. The doctor investigates the body and finds the infection centered around the leg. Cutting open the leg, we see the white fungus growing underneath the skin. What’s a bit more unsettling are the semi-alive writhing tendrils in the woman’s mouth.

The general asks the doctor what they should be doing. As in making vaccines, and figuring out treatment options, but the doctor says that they should be bombing the city. There is nothing available to combat a fungal infection such as this, and she would like to go home and be with her family. Knowing full well that this was the end.

It’s the morning after escaping the Boston QZ and Joel and Tess are fighting about what to do with Ellie. Joel firmly believes that it’s only a matter of time before Ellie turns, but Tess holds onto hope that she could be the real thing. Joel holds fast to his belief, thinking this whole deal is a waste of time and that they should just turn back. But he is begrudgingly convinced by Tess to continue their journey, and they travel through a decimated downtown Boston to get to the State House. According to Tess is a ten-minute walk, but there is a long way, and a short way (or, in Tess’s words, “we’re fucking dead” path). It is very quickly voted that they take the long way, and Tess gives us some exposition about what happened in the twenty years to the city since the infection. Dr. Pertiwi’s advice was followed, and the military bombed many of the major cities in hopes of slowing the infection. In some cases, it helped, but in others, it did not. Boston was one of the cities that was bombed in the early days, which is evident by the massive craters strewn throughout the city.

The longer path has them making their way through a flooded hotel in which we learn Ellie can’t swim (this is also funnily in the game too). The water isn’t high enough to deem that swimming is necessary and they walk the ten floors up so they can use a board to cross over into another building. As they come upon a balcony, we witness our first swarm.

This is where the mechanics of tendrils are explained. If you step or mess with tendrils in one area a mile away, a swarm wakes and descends into the area. They continue into a museum, which seems safe at first after Joel confirms that the tendrils outside have dried out. As they walk in, they see the fungus overgrown and a freshly dead body lying in a corner. Tess and Joel get very tense, whispering that they didn’t “hear” anything when they entered the building. Quietly and carefully, they continue through the museum. As they get upstairs, a part of the roof collapses and that’s where we “hear” them.

Two stage-three infected, or Clickers, screech, and holler as they’re alerted to Tess, Joel, and Ellie entering the room. Ellie accidentally makes a slight noise, and the Clickers pounce. As a gunfight ensues, Ellie tries to hide under some display cases. One Clicker goes for Tess while the other shambles toward Joel. They make it very clear that Clickers are difficult to kill after Joel shoots one several times and Tess cleaves it with an axe.

With the Clickers dead, they continue to the roof and nurse their wounds. Ellie has been bitten for a second time, while Tess has a twisted or broken ankle.

They finally make it to the State House, but there is NO sign of the Fireflies. When they enter the State House, they find dead Fireflies, and it’s evident that someone was infected and turned on the other Fireflies. Tess freaks out, looking for any sign of where they were going to take Ellie. She harshly asks Ellie where they were taking her, but she didn’t have any idea except they were planning on taking her west. Joel tries to convince Tess that this is the end of the road for them and that they should head back to the QZ and let Marlene handle it. However, Tess is angry, frustrated, and upset at this because the QZ isn’t her home, and their luck had to run out at some point. Ellie realizes that Tess is infected, and indeed, she reveals a bite mark on her collarbone.

Tess grabs Ellie’s arm and shows Joel how real and rare Ellie was because, in just a few moments that it took to reach the State House, Tess’s bite looked infected, already changing colors with tendrils growing just beneath the skin. While Ellie’s looked like a bite mark, normal and healing. She pleads with Joel to continue on with Ellie because her immunity is real, staring them right in the face.

The Fireflies that were on the ground are actually infected, biding their time as we get our first glimpse of how tendrils work. The tendrils, which were light green and thin, wrapped around the Fireflies’ hands. Where they spotted the first swarm, the tendrils alert all of them, and they all raised up and charged for the State House. Things become desperate as Tess starts dumping the gasoline onto the floor and she tells Joel to “save as many” as he can. She tells him to take Ellie, and that she was going to try to buy some time. Now the next part is creepy, yet interesting at the same time. As the Runners start streaming into the State House, ignoring Tess, she tries to light a lighter to ignite the gasoline spilled onto the floor. One Runner spots Tess standing against a pillar. He makes his way to her and tendrils are pushing their way out of his mouth. And now the creepy part. The Runner kisses Tess, full on, with tendrils squirming out of his mouth. A reminder, Tess was infected, and she was bitten on her neck near the collarbone area. This close to the brain, it takes minutes to infect an individual. Tess was literally on borrowed time when they reached the State House, and tendrils were one of several ways a person can become infected.

The episode ends with Ellie and Joel running from the State House as it explodes.

CONCLUSION

My cautious optimism is slowly resolving with each episode, because just like the first episode, this one was just as beautiful, thrilling, filled with game Easter egg goodness, and so much sass between Joel and Ellie. A bit of good news though, HBO has picked up The Last of Us for a second season before the drop of episode three.

However, some sad news, the original actress for Tess, Annie Wersching, has passed at the age of 45, after a two-year battle with cancer. Our hearts are with her family and friends in their time of grief.

The Last of Us is streaming weekly on Sundays, at 9pm EST, on HBO Max.

#tlou #the last of us #hbo #hbo max #joel #ellie #episode 2 #infected #tess #clickers #by the episode #tv

[fallershipping]

Gone like the Wind

(A ‘Fuck it I’ll do it mYSELF’ short drabble fanfic)

“So,” Looker was the first to break the silence “...We’re in agreement?”

Anabel- herself leaning back against the wall and pinching the bridge of her nose- raised her head. She gave a heavy sigh as she faced the brightly lit monitor once again.

EXTREME Dimensional Anomaly conditions detected in Nimbasa city, Unova. Potential for breach: Critical -- No UB Activity Confirmed

“... Yes, Looker... I-- There’s no other reason I’d know of that an entire train car vanishes into thin air.”

Looker gives yet another pass at the investigation’s photographs, swiping through them on his tablet with intensely furrowed eyebrows. Residual scalding on surfaces as if hit by lightning. Shrapnel embedded on the tunnel walls. Bit of daylight from the tram exit portal, reflecting off the gnarled, contorted metal rails as if bent by more than just intense heat. The remaining Subway train itself had appeared as if a giant set of jaws have cleaved right through the tail end.

“I just did not want to believe...” Anabel trailed off.

“Three passengers?” Looker finished. 

The two of them met each other’s gaze. Three passengers in one train car. During an odd electrical surge that scrambled the entire city’s supply systems, amidst the chaos of getting the public transit system back online; they were the only things that failed to be accounted for.

One of the company leads, Subway Master Ingo, was amongst them.

“Nimbasa’s police are upturning the stations for answers.” Looker’s professional tone was a bit shaky, “Anabel, I’ve never seen anything like this and we just left them with--”

He cut himself off, tapping to an opened application on his tablet on the consequential news article that was written. A ‘Devastating Accident’ the headline affirmed -- ‘Possibly Pokémon related; newly introduced Electrode and Voltorb swarms could be to blame.’ No vanishment mentioned. Any and all cadavers were thought to be annihilated. The article ends concerned over how this will affect the rest of a Post-Plasma Unova. Co-lead Emmet chose to take temporary leave to mourn over loss of family, having made a promise to reopen the Subway systems after everything has been properly examined.

He shut his eyes hard as if wincing, “We... We should have told them the truth--”

“Looker. No.” Anabel took a step forward in opposition, voice firm, “Extra-Dimensional circumstances like these are sensitive information for a reason...! The public have already suffered enough-- What good can come from us dropping by to pleasantly say ‘Ah no, they might be alive! They are simply stuck in another, undetermined time and space!’ If by a miracle they do not chase us out of Unova, what then??”

“That is not--!! I-- Hmmph--” Looker rubbed a hand down his face in exasperation. He pointed a finger in her direction, “This world we live in is not unfamiliar with several cataclysmic-esch events, first of all.”

Anabel bit her lip. A fair point.

“And-- And I do... I do agree with you. Wholeheartedly. I.. Am aware that...” He set aside his tablet and covered his face with both hands. “It shall either be met with intense disgust over the crazed conspiracy theorists we are rattling off about Ultra Wormholes and parallel universes while the wounds are raw. And, or rather, intense helplessness as they look upon us for guidance and there is...!”

“There is nothing we can hope to do.”

Anabel’s shoulders slumped at his final comment. The man walked forward to her, meeting her face to face. His hardboiled facade was shattered as his eyes drooped with exhaustion and regret.

“I tried. To run away from my own Falling. I live with the mistake that I kept your Falling a secret from you, wanting to keep you safe from the torment... I just want to stop lying, Anabel...” But as he inhaled, he looked off to the side, knowing how that sentence would end.

The woman cursed softly under her breath as the weight of the situation lingered. They both were no stranger to this; after all, Ultra Beasts reports and captures were kept secret from the public. Areas were quarantined as soon as possible. Evacuations were needed to not spur anymore panic as the situation was to be taken under control. The world was already struggling after several recent primordial beings threatening all life on Earth, and they would be adding onto that a fate worse than death.

Vanishing with no hope to return and no memories to your name; the same fear Looker and Anabel live with every waking hour of their lives and haunts them in incomprehensible nightmares. A shared trauma that the both of them cannot help but feel an inseparable bond over, no longer having to face it alone.

Anabel looked deeply into his eyes. Her gaze sorrowful yet tender. “... So this is how you felt... I don’t know what to do, Looker... I don’t know...”

Looker glanced at the open article at his tablet off to the side once more. As all the others, every Ultra Wormhole opening was safely explained away as some other phenomena.

Neither of them could ever know for certain that the passengers even made it out of Inter-Dimensional space alive. It is even more doubtful to think they would be in a suitable environment if they even made a landing. On top of it all, it is virtually impossible to track down someone once they have breached out of their known reality. Looker and Anabel are still castaways. No one has come for them in over a decade and believing otherwise is the false hope they must spare from others.

Without another word, the detective gingerly wrapped his arms around his partner, pulling her into a firm, gentle embrace. She reciprocated, gripping onto him tightly as if teetering on the edge of a sharp drop. The tablet remained on the faces of those lost in the accident.

#looker #anabel #pokemon #/eh whatever i'll tag it

[theglitterypages]

Fly High

Chapter 5: Longing

Fly High Masterlist --- Haikyu Masterlist

Prev - Next

You were busy trying to arrange Kenma's messy schedule when you heard a knock on the door. "Mommy!" you saw Haruto and Aiya hopping towards your table while Bokuto Koutaro follows behind them closely. "Please tell me you didn't buy them all of that…" you told him as you point the paper bags that he's holding, even the twins were also holding one paper bag each.

Bokuto just smiled innocently, ever since you became close of the MSBY team, the boys were too obsessed of your twins. Kaori is their manager and that led you to meet men who acts like children most of the times but you were thankful that the twins do not feel that they lack something because they have lots of men to look up to as their father figure.

It's been 3 years since you gave birth and during these three years you attempted to contact their father but every time you try to do so, something just came up and stops you from doing so. And he seems like he's doing fine overseas, you even saw an article of him. Rumors has it that he's dating an Argentinian model, good for him. Maybe they're still dating, honestly you just stopped looking up anything about him and that model.

It destroyed you, the fucking article came out after you gave birth. There were photos of her in front of his apartment and photos of them in his matches. Good for him, really but you cried a river the moment you saw it.

Flashback

You were busy looking at the photos Kenma had taken, Aiya and Haruto looked like angels. They just came into this world and they've been receiving lots of love from your friends, even your family was crazy about them too. After looking at the photos of the twins you decided to scroll through your newsfeed in facebook and you saw the cursed Article. The headline was clear…

"Rising Star Oikawa Toru and Sofia Silva is confirmed to be dating!"

You didn't know when did you start crying, but you found gasping for air, your chest tightened and your vision became blurry yet the photos you saw in the article were etched on your mind. They have photos together, they can be seen together in parties after matches, Sofia talking so fondly of Oikawa and an official confirmation about their status from her manager.

It was a pain in the heart that was mixed by the physical pain you were feeling because of giving birth, all you could do was cry and scream in agony, your phone fell on the ground and its screen cracked but your mind and heart was filled with nothing but pain and sorrow for you to care about it.

"YN!"

Kenma ran into you, he heard you screamed and he saw you holding onto your chest as you gasp for air. "YN, look at me, calm down…please, I'm here, I'm right here…" he whispered as he hugged you close, his hands brushing your hair as his eyes landed on the phone on the floor, he saw a picture of Oikawa and another girl flashed on its cracked screen before it all turned black.

End of Flashback

Kenma was so strict about you being on social media since then, he knew how stressful it could be after giving birth so he told you to stay away from social media or in anything about your ex for the mean time. Kenma had to shut everyone up that talks about that news or anything about Oikawa. You were thankful, of course, Kenma took you in and became a father figure to your children even after you moved out. He's the best friend that everyone needs.

You, on the other hand when it comes to dating, you couldn't find the time to look at men in a romantic manner, every time you tried, the kids will be on your mind, you just knew you have to focus in raising them. And you always have to explain about the twins and you don't want being pursued by someone who just feel bad for you being a single mother.

You've had some of those guys approach you before, saying they can provide for you and be the man to help you raise your children. Money is not a problem, being Kenma's secretary is enough and with his generous pay, you were able to have your own business, a restaurant and a café may not sound much but most of its profits go to your children's savings for the future.

And when it comes to father figure, a whole volleyball team is getting the job done quite fantastically. The twins never asked or forced you to say anything about their dad, but you promised them that you will let them see their father in the right time once they're older.

Bokuto sat down at the chair near your table as he carried the twins in his lap. "Sorry, they're just too hard to resist." Bokuto apologized and you sighed before looking at the twins, they are fond of Bokuto because they knew the man is not strong enough to decline their requests. It's not like any other MSBY men are different, all of them are too generous when it comes to the twins.

"I know but I want them to grow up knowing that money is hard to earn, Bo. Toys are fine but with moderation, I don't want them to become spoiled brats." you told him before you stood up to carry Aiya. "Have you guys eaten already? I haven't had lunch yet, shall we all go?" Bokuto nods and stood up, still carrying your son. Honestly, he knows you're just the type of person who nags at them for spoiling the kids, but you're still a sweet person. He just loves spending time with the twins because they're such a great stress relievers after the tiring training and he also feel bad to see them with no father and he has no idea why the twins' father is now out of the picture.

The whole MSBY actually asked Kuro and Kenma about it but the two says you do not wish for the twins' father to be in the picture at the moment because he's too busy to deal with other things than this situation. Bokuto had always been fond of kids but at the same time, because he grew up with women, he feels bad seeing you deal with work and your duty as a mother. The least he could do and the other boys in MSBY is to help you look after the kids when you are busy.

3 year olds are too energetic, and Bokuto was lucky that his stamina was able to keep up with your children.

Bokuto was the one to order the foods after he guided you and the twins in the table near the counter, you were left talking to the twins about what they did with the MSBY squad for today. They look so happy while sharing their little adventures with the boys. "Mom, Uncle Omi-Omi brought us ice cream! He even carried Aiya when she fell ashleep." Haruto said as he smiles brightly, Aiya giggled and clapped her hands, "Daddy Kou promised to take us to amshment park, what is Amshmen park, Mommy?" you laughed before wiping their sweats, they talk well but of course they still have those mispronunciation moments and you honestly find it cute.

"It's Amusement Park, Aiya. It's a place full of rides and games, and Daddy Kou told me that he'll go with us in the amusement park. Shall we go with him on my day off?"

"Yupsie!" they answered in unison.

Bokuto came back with the food and the twins were excited to dig in and so are you. They almost jumped off of their seats but you calm them down. "Okay, okay…Mom's gonna feed you both but behave first." you told them as you pick up the spoon and fork and started feeding the twins but Bokuto gently took the utensils from you with a warm smile. "You eat first, I'll take care of the twins, you're probably famished." he's damn sure that you haven't eaten anything, he's not really hungry because of the snacks he had earlier, so you should prioritize your lunch now, you looked up and smiled back at him before you started digging in, honestly you are so damn thankful that you met the MSBY squad through Kaori, they made your situation quite bearable because of their help.

"Thanks, Bo. And stop looking at me like that, don't you feel bad for me."

"Sorry, I'm just worried okay? You should try dating, Atsumu and I know some great pals and you know that a lot of our colleagues are attracted to you. Why don't you give it a try?"

Bokuto knows that you are an independent woman and even if he never asked, he knows that the twins' father and you have broken up before they were even born. He's just thinking that you should try and see potential partners, especially the twins are growing up and they will be needing more than uncles.

You sighed and rolled your eyes as you sip onto your orange juice, "Bo, do I look like I have time to date? Aiya and Haruto are enough for me, boys to me are now just…meh." you made a face and Bokuto laughed, shaking his head as he wipes some ketchup off of Aiya's lips using the napkin.

"Are we going to have a daddy?" Aiya asked Bokuto innocently.

Bokuto's eyes snapped up to meet yours as if silently sending a call for help and you just shrugged your shoulders, he's the one who brought up this topic, he should deal with the questions too.

"Well, it depends on your Mom…" Bokuto answered simply but Haruto frowned at him, obviously not pleased of that statement. "But we-we want our real daddy, not a new one." stab, you felt like you were stabbed on your chest multiple times upon hearing Haruto's words. Aiya is not the one to care much about the daddy issue maybe because Atsumu and the MSBY squad is already there, but Haruto is sensitive to the Daddy related questions, he looks for Oikawa, he asks why their hair is brown when yours is not, he asks where he got his nose, he's just so curious about a lot of things related to his biological father.

You don't have the heart to answer him, not yet but maybe soon, once you have the courage to face their father.

Bokuto noticed the tears threatening to fall and he immediately distracted the two. "Okay, let's eat quickly and then we'll watch cartoons later!" Bokuto said as he feeds Haruto, he sent you an apologetic look before he proceeds in feeding the twins.

---

"Mommy, are we old enough now?" Haruto asked you after you closed the book that you were reading for them before they sleep. Aiya fell asleep first as usual while her brother stayed awake. "You're still quite young, why are you asking me that?" you combed his brown locks and smiled down at him, he closed his eyes and hugged you with his small arms. "So we're not old enough to meet Dad? I..I want Daddy, not Dada Tsum Tsum, not Papa Kenma and not Dada Tetsu. I love them but I want Dad…" you let out a deep breath and stare at his brown eyes, they look so much like his father's and you kept on reminding yourself not to break down.

"Just give Mommy some time, alright? Your Dad and I are facing some difficulties, love. I promise, once we're both fine you will meet him, you and Aiya. Alright? Now you need to sleep, want me to sing for you?" you asked and he smiled as he nods, you kissed his forehead and hummed his favorite lullaby.

Just like what you've expected, it didn't take him that long to drift off to sleep. You gently stood up from the bed and pull the blanket over their tiny bodies, you kissed both of them and turn off the lamp near their bed before you exit their room and you went straight in the kitchen.

You found yourself opening a can of beer as you hold your phone in your left hand. You're currently looking at Oikawa's Twitter account where he's most active. It was mostly his pictures in training, some are pictures that he took while travelling and you find yourself smiling seeing how he's doing now. He looks happy and he's where he wants to be. And he's probably happy with Sofia, anyway…

You immediately wiped the tears forming at the corner of your eyes. You almost clicked the button to send him a message but you stopped yourself, you can't say it yet, just not yet.

----

Iwaizumi was scrolling through his phone when he heard his name being shouted. "Iwa-chaaaan!!" Oikawa Freaking Toru was walking towards him with his cocky smile, the brunette was waving to the press and to his fans as he walks, Iwaizumi rolled his eyes because of the diva and he walked to meet him halfway, giving him a tap in his shoulder before looking away from the cameras.

"Welcome Back, Shittykawa."

Oikawa smiled as he breathe in deeply, "I miss Japan." he whispered. Iwaizumi smirked before nudging his shoulders, "Did you miss Japan or the one who lives here?" Oikawa almost froze but he managed to smile, "I saw her…I'm damn sure the kids are mine." Oikawa told him and Iwaizumi sighed.

"Their ages made sense. But why didn't you approach her?"

"I stopped stalking her, I thought I should give her the freedom that she gave to me. And the rumors, I had to fix it but it was too big I couldn't. Sofia's manager was a tough one, she really thought I took advantage of Sofia."

It was hard for Oikawa to resist the urge to explain to you even if he knew that you probably need it,  but he knows that his way of letting go should start with him doing his best to reach his dreams, because that's what you wanted. But months before he went back to Japan, he gathered enough courage to check up your social media profiles and he saw the pictures of the twins.

They're both brunettes.

You looked like Aiya and he saw his face features in Haruto, he couldn't sleep a wink when he saw the pictures but he didn't want to rush and talk to you over the phone, he promised himself to do this properly. He didn't let himself get out of control, instead he watches you and the twins by stalking your accounts.

He hasn’t met the twin yet but he saw how Haruto got your personality, composed, mature and smart and he saw himself in Aiya, carefree, silly and witty. He's not telling himself that he's the father just because he wants to make himself feel better, he feels it, every time that he'll stare into their eyes on those pictures, it feels like he's staring at his own.

Oikawa is proud of the woman you've become, if you will ask him years ago if he regrets the break up, he would said yes but now he's not so sure about it anymore, he realizes that with the time you spend while apart from each other, you took that time to heal yourself and bloom, you used that time to fly in your own sky and chase your dreams, something you couldn't do when you were with him because you were busy adjusting yourself for him.

The only thing that he regrets was the fact that you went through the pregnancy without him, he couldn't imagine what you've gone through but he's proud seeing the twins grow healthily even without his help, you did a great job. You've always been like that after all, you would never want to trouble anyone else so you will take all of the responsibility.

But now that he's back, he wants to share the hardships, the pain, the responsibilities and even if he knows it won't be easy, he will do what it takes to have you and the twins back.

#oikawa fic #oikawa x reader #haikyu oikawa #haikyuu oikawa #oikawa toru x reader #oikawa toru #oikawa x you #oikawa tōru #hq oikawa #oikawa torū #oikawa x y/n #oikawa scenarios #oikawa toru x you #oikawa toru x y/n #toru oikawa #oikawa toru angst #oikawa angst #oikawa fluff #oikawa toru fluff #oikawa imagine #oikawa #haikyu x reader #haikyuu fanfiction #oikawa tooru x reader #oikawa tooru #oikawa tooru x you #oikawa tooru x y/n #oikawa tooru fanfiction #oikawa tooru fluff #oikawa tooru angst