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bebepac · 4 years ago

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The Double Date Mistake?

I am participating in @wackydrabbles prompt # 92 “I don’t think that was meant to go there.” will appear in bold.

This is also chapter 2 of The Meet: To catch up on what you’ve been missing of the Meet so far Please click: The Meet Masterlist

Original Post Date: 05/01/2021 at 3:15PM

The Book: TRR

The Pairing: Liam x F!OC (Liam x Jilian)

Word Count: 1948

Summary: Jilian goes on a double date with Bebe and meets Leo for the very first time. Jilian and Bebe share how they first met each other to the guys.

Warnings: Sexual innuendos. Profanity.

Leo and Liam belong to pixelberry, Jilian belongs to @queenjilian borrowed for the duration of this series. All others are my own to help us tell the story.

“And done. He has your number now Jili. Now fly my little birdies fly.”

She thought he would text right away but he didn’t. The whole way to Bebe’s apartment the twenty minute drive Jili’s phone was silent.

Bebe looked at Jili as she glanced at her phone. What the actual hell?

She texted Jilian.

“Bebe why the hell are you texting me? I’m sitting right next to you?”

“I was just making sure your phone was on.”

“I mean he’s still working Bebe. He can’t just drop everything and just start texting away.”

“The hell he can’t. What in the actual fuck is wrong with you bruh?” Bebe grumbled as she angrily typed on her phone.

“Wing Woman are you trying to crash this plane?”

“The mother hasn’t even taken off yet with you two trying to pilot it. I’m gonna need you to get your life together Jili.”

The driver pulled to a stop. “Damn I really wanted to see how this turned out.”

Bebe got out of the car in a huff.

“I’ll let you know.” Jili called out the window to her.

Jilian wasn’t going to let it stress her out. He was still at work. She knew her job got busy at times, and she couldn’t just sit on her phone and do nothing. As she was walking up the stairs to scan her door key fob, the phone rang.

It was a local number she didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Jilian. It’s Liam.”

“Hi Liam.”

“I apologize for not texting or calling sooner. Things got busy at work.”

“Oh I figured that was what happened.”

"Bebe is something else. I feel a little attacked. I can tell it's from a place of love though."

"She's my best friend Liam. My true sister from another mister."

"So it's safe to assume you are single?" Liam inquired.

"I am, and for you the same?"

"Yes Jilian I am. Is it forward of me to say maybe we can change that for each other. I would really like to see you again. I'm off next Friday would you be free then?"

Jilian sighed.

"Friday is my date night."

"Oh. I just assumed you being single you weren’t seeing anybody even casually."

"With Bebe. We restaurant hop. We're self proclaimed foodies.

Do you have any friends maybe we could double?”

“My brother, both him and Bebe have big personalities, I think they’d really get along. Think she would be okay with that?”

“Yeah I think I could convince her.”

They continued to talk, and about everything under the sun. Liam was funny and witty and kept her attention.

She began to realize how much she had in common with the charming Liam Rys.

She had cuddled into her bed under her covers laughing and chatting with him. She finally rolled over realizing it was almost dawn.

“Oh my God! Is that the sun?!?!?!” she shrieked, surprised into the phone.

“I’m so sorry Jilian I completely lost track of time.”

“I have to go, I have to be at work in forty five minutes!!!”

Jilian said her goodbyes to Liam and hurried to work.

Right when Jilian was sitting in her office reading over her chart for her first patient’s checkup, there was a delivery.

A large coffee drink had been delivered to her with a sweet gooey cinnamon bun.

“Gift for you Jilian Winchester.”

Liam was really sweet.

She texted him thank you.

He had let her know he had an extra espresso shot added to her coffee.

Liam was a lifesaver.

*^*^*^*^* The Double Date *^**^*^*^*

When Jili and Bebe got to the restaurant Liam and Leo were already seated at the table both stood to greet them.

Liam softly kissed Jili’s cheek.

Bebe glanced at Leo. He was cute, but he was probably about five inches shorter than Bebe, not to mention Bebe was wearing heels making her tower over Leo.

Liam changed the subject breaking the ice between everyone, and the conversation between the couples started flowing.

Jilian slipped in the subject of Liam and Leo honestly not looking much like each other.

“We’re half brothers, we have different mothers. But don’t get it twisted Bebe. I can scale you like Mount Everest. Taller women don’t intimidate me one bit.”

“Um….thank you for that blatant honesty…. Jili will you accompany me to the restroom please?”

“Excuse us for a moment.” Jili smiled politely.

“Absolutely not Jili!!!!!” Bebe was adamant when the door to the bathroom closed.

“Bebe I didn’t know! I swear when he said older brother, I was thinking he looked like him. You would think older brothers are taller, bigger, and wiser. He is funny though. You two do have similar personalities. Maybe try to focus on that Bee. Let’s just try to have a fun time. You don’t have to see Leo again. But I know I want to see Liam again. I like him.”

“You owe me big for this!!!”

Both women come back to the table. Their drink orders had arrived. Bebe takes a long sip on her drink.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Leo smiled. “A girl after my own heart.”

“How did you and Bebe meet Jilian?”

“We actually met in NOLA. We were both presenting at a medical conference. Bebe for the Pharma side, because she’s a pharmacist, and me for medical for being a nurse practitioner focused in the at risk population.”

Leo eyes flit to Bebe.

“So you’re a drug dealer?”

Bebe smiled. “ Legal Drug Dealer. Yep, that’s what I call myself. I’m slinging pills to pay the bills.”

“I can dig it.”

“We met the night before our conference began, in a bar.”

When Jilian walked into the bar she noticed her right away. There was a woman at the bar, drinking her drink telling what appeared to be a funny story that had multiple people’s attention. All were laughing with her. She had to be a local. Jili thought.

She had strings of beads around her neck.

“What can I get ya?” the bartender asked.

She looked at Bebe. “I want whatever she’s having.” Bebe was the life of the party.

“Well I did a little pre-gaming at the drive through daiquiri shop though.

But mostly Hurricanes. Get her a Hurricane Sal.”

The bartender winked at Bebe.

“Don’t skimp on the good stuff either!” She yelled out.

Jilian’s eyes widened when the bartender brought her the drink.

Bebe held up her glass to clink with Jilian’s glass.

“Laissez le bon temps rouler!!!!!” The crowd screamed in agreement at Bebe’s declaration.

“What?”

“LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!!!”

Jilian took a long drink of the cocktail. No wonder.

“Yep! You like it. I’m Bebe, what’s your name?”

“Jilian.”

“I’m gonna call you Jili. What brings you to NOLA?”

“Work, a conference.”

“Bleh you said the “W.” word. That’s not existing in my life right now. We’re here, we’re alive, no regrets Jili. Let your hair down and enjoy yourself. I mean literally. That bun is a buzz kill.”

Jili pulled the pins out of her hair shaking out her locks.

“So much better!!!! You’re a babe!!! See they’re already looking at you differently. We’re not interested though. Unless they’re buying more drinks.”

Jili glanced at the guys that were now looking in her direction.

“You’ve got a lot of bead necklaces going on.” Jili commented.

“There are two ways to get beads in NOLA. Buy them or earn them.”

Jili looked at Bebe and raised her eyebrow with a smile.

“Let me guess, your ass hasn’t spent a dime tonight.”

Bebe took a long sip of her hurricane.

“Nope. Not a single dime. Including alcohol. I'll tell you what Jili. Life’s too short. I’m not going to regret any of my choices. I spent a year in Costa Rica, living my life Pura Vida.”

“Pure Life.” Jilian smiled. Bebe was a carefree spirit, and people gravitated to her.

“We’re only here for a blink Jili. How do you want your story to be told?”

She decided to throw caution to the wind and party the night away with Bebe.

Jilian’s alarm went off the next morning. She was incredibly hung over as she tried to pull herself together.

She had a random memory of her and Bebe walking down Bourbon Street singing “Lean on Me” while they were linked arm and arm. The drunk leading the more drunk back to the hotel.

She smiled, straightening her black business suit. She was about to pull her hair up into her signature bun but decided to let her tresses fall free instead.

As she was getting checked into the convention she slipped her ID badge and program of speakers, herself among the list.

She heard her laugh. Jili whipped her head around and saw Bebe at the back of the line with two others. Bebe was wearing a bright pink business suit, and her shoes and clutch had the print of medications on it.

“The legal drug dealers have arrived!!!! Big Pharma in da house!!!!!!”

Jili laughed, shaking her head.

“That’s how we met Liam.”

“We found out later we lived near each other, and made plans to meet up. Been friends ever since. That was like six years ago.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t ask us how we met.” Leo asked.

“I assume you are brothers…. You met… at birth?”

Bebe shook her head at Leo.

Everyone was calm after not to mention the alcohol free flowing. They headed to a lounge after dinner, called Blue Notes. The music there was full of soul and blues.

The drinks continued. The music there stirred the soul.

“May I have this dance?” Jili nodded, taking Liam’s hand. He held her close.

Leo eyed Bebe. “You know, I have always been one to have a huge case of FOMO. So you and me let’s hit the dance floor too.”

Bebe downed her drink in one swallow. “Why the hell not.”

They walked out to the dance floor. With Bebe’s high heels Leo was chest level to her. He pulled her close resting his head on her bosom.

“Um….so we’re doing this… okay…” Bebe looked surprised but she was smiling.

Liam laughed softly when he glanced in their direction.

“I don’t think that was meant to go there.”

“The height difference honestly never crossed my mind Jilian. Things seemed really awkward for them for a bit, for more so Bebe. Not so awkward now.”

Bebe and Leo were looking at each other laughing.

“You know this is never going to happen Leo Rys.”

“A man can dream. Well….It could happen for the night. I can tell you’re curious. Let me tickle your fancy tonight.”

Bebe laughed harder at him. “You don’t give up do you Leo?”

“Nope because I get what I want.”

“If nothing else Jilian, I think they will at least be friends from this, if nothing romantic happens.”

The next morning Liam was cooking breakfast when Bebe walked out of Leo’s room. Leo’s sweatpants looked like capris on Bebe.

“Good Morning Bebe. Would you like some breakfast?”

“Sure.”

Leo walked out of the room a few minutes later.

Liam smiled looking at the two of them.

“Breakfast Leo?”

“I already ate.” Leo winked at Bebe.

Bebe choked on her orange juice.

“Oh you were talking about bacon and eggs, sure.”

Nope not at all awkward at all. Liam thought as he fixed plates for himself Leo and Bebe.

Bebe was climbing in her ride share when her phone rang.

“Bebe… Liam just told me you had breakfast with him and Leo… at his apartment. You spent the night with Leo?”

“Leo was right, Jili. Not all of him is fun sized.”

Tags in the comments !!!!

#bebepac writes #the meet #before the greek meat #trr au #trr liam #trr jilian #trr bebe #trr leo #wacky drabbles #choices fic writers creations

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matrixaffiliate · 4 years ago

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Surreptitious

New Story! FFN and AO3

Lily doesn't think it will be that hard to hide she's been dating James for two years, and friends with him for five, but when she and James end up working together as temps every day, she finds out how intertwined with her boyfriend she really is.

@thisismegz shared this Tumblr post with me (thank you, darling!) from @women-inthe-sequel and it felt so very Jily =) So obviously, I had to write it for Jilytober! Enjoy!

Surreptitious

Lily chucked her bag down on the table in a rage. The fact that the order had been misdelivered was not her fault, but that didn't change she'd been thrown under the bus and blamed for it, not that this wasn't the first time she'd been framed for something that went wrong. It also didn't change that she'd been fired over it either.

Her phone buzzed and she sighed as she saw James' picture on her phone.

"Feel like cheering me up?"

"Always," James laughed. "What can I do for you today, Evans?"

"Slowly pull out the bowels of Rosier and Yaxley with a white-hot hook?" Lily fell down onto her bed and kicked off her shoes.

"Vicious," James' chuckle was throaty and Lily wished he was with her where she could feel it rumble through his chest.

"Well, they managed to finally get me fired, so it feels justified at the moment."

"They what?!" All laughter and teasing had gone out of his voice.

"They blamed another misdelivery on me, and I found out they'd been filing complaints against me that I didn't know about, and I swear that Riddle was in on it with them because he showed me documents stating that he'd notified me of those complaints and strikes against me, but I know he didn't." Lily took a deep breath to try and calm down, "None of that matters now though, they got me out and that was what they wanted. They won."

"No!" James almost shouted. "I'll talk to Dad, I'm sure his solicitor will take your case! We'll sue them for everything they own!"

Lily smiled, knowing James was on her side always made her feel better.

"No, they aren't worth it. I'll report them, sure, but I'm not going to sue them over it."

"Lils, look," he went to say more, but Lily cut him off.

"No, James. I'm not going to waste my mental energy on them anymore. I'm going to take a day to calm down and then I'm going to get on to trying to find a new job."

James let out a long breath. "Love, I know you don't want to waste the mental energy on them, but wrong is wrong. Would you let me just mention it to Dad?"

Lily rolled to her side and shifted her phone, "I guess that would be fine, but I'm not personally taking them to small claims, alright?"

"Right," James sounded relieved. "I promise you won't be involved at all."

"Thanks, darling," Lily felt her stomach grumble and she groaned. "Needing a new job aside, I need to find something to eat."

"I'll call Mum, I'm sure she'll be happy to cheer you up with food."

Lily's stomach grumbled again, "Are you sure that she wouldn't mind cooking for us?"

James laughed, "Lils, my dear mother always tells me I'm not home often enough, and then immediately asks when I'm going to settle down and give her grandchildren."

Lily grinned, "See she never says anything about you settling down to me."

"Yes, because she wants to keep you around. Trust me, if she didn't like you, she'd be doing everything in her power to push you to marry me tomorrow." James paused, "So am I calling Mum or not?"

Lily pushed up off her bed. "Yeah, call your parents and ask if she'd make me some daal makhani to drown my sorrows in."

"You can count on it," James' smile was evident in his voice as they disconnected the call, and Lily internally admitted that she was looking forward to seeing it after the nightmare of a day she'd endured.

So, when Lily pulled up to the Potters' large home thirty minutes later, she couldn't stop the excitement bubbling in her chest, and even with the awful day, she smiled as she pushed open their front door.

"James?"

"You're here!" James came nearly running around the corner into the entryway, sweeping her into a tight embrace.

Lily took in a deep breath as she held him close. The smell of James mixed with the smells coming from Mia's kitchen were pulling all of the stress out of her and replacing it with warmth and happiness.

"Come eat while it's still hot!" Mia called from the kitchen.

Lily laughed and kicked off her shoes before taking James' hand to walk into the kitchen.

"Laadli," Mia hugged her, "Eat up, and there are jalebis too. A little sugar will make everything better."

"Thank you, Mia," Lily held on to this wonderful woman who had stepped in when her mum had passed on.

The family dinner was exactly what she needed. Lily finally felt calm, and while she still didn't know what she was going to do about a new job, she at least felt like life was going to get better, for no other reason than she was surrounded by these wonderful people.

"James," Monty handed him his plate as James cleared the table. "The new client at the agency finalized their paperwork for their trial run."

"You're taking on another company at the temp agency?" Lily asked.

James nodded, "Yep, which means 90 days of me pretending I'm not a part-owner."

Lily laughed. After they'd finished university, Monty brought James and Sirius on to the temp agency he started decades ago, but part of the deal was they would be guinea pigs to each new client to be sure the real temps would be treated well. Since they'd just signed a company a month ago and Sirius was currently being their guinea pig, James would need to take this new one.

"What does this company do?" Mia picked up her glass and drained it before handing it to Lily as she helped James clear the table.

"They're a paint manufacturer," Monty said, "But they want the temps for their customer service department."

"You told them they'd only get one, right Dad?" James looked over from the kitchen sink.

"I did," Monty nodded, "they asked me to try my best to get them two."

Mia looked at Lily for a moment and then smiled. "You should be the second temp!"

It took Lily a full ten seconds to realize what Mia was implying, but James beat her to a response as he shut off the water.

"No, Mum, Lily's an industrial engineer who deserves to find a job that will actually utilize her and not pin her to arranging low-level deliveries. She doesn't need to be working customer service while I evaluate this client."

"And why not, chotu?" Mia turned on him. "This way she gets a paycheck while she looks for something new and when she does find it, she can leave; no one expects a temp to stay forever."

"Mum," James' hand went straight for his hair.

"Mia, that's really sweet of you," Lily cut in but then Mia turned her mom-eyes on her.

"Laadli," she cupped Lily's face in her hands, "This will be good for you, give you something to think about other than that awful place that didn't appreciate your work. And you'd be with James so you'd have fun. Learn from an old woman, Lily, have more fun in your life."

Looking into Mia's wise umber eyes and feeling her small warm palms on her cheeks, Lily felt almost like she was under a magic spell.

"Well, if Monty thinks it's alright."

Mia held her eyes and kept her face in her hands. "Of course, it's alright, Monty will see to it."

A part of Lily's brain was sure that Mia was exercising some force of will over her, but there was something so comforting about it that she decided to ignore how much this felt like a magic spell.

"Then, I think it'd be fine. It'd give me time to find a position that I really like instead of settling for the first thing that pops up."

"There, see," Mia pulled her hands away from Lily's face with a smile, "We can always find blessings in disguise if we're willing to look for them."

"Lils," James stepped between her and his mum. "If you want to do this, we can make it happen, but don't feel pressured into it. You don't have to."

Mia tsked loudly behind him.

Lily gave him a small smile. "If you're alright with it, then it would really help me out."

James' returning smile lit up his face. "Eh, I guess I can handle it. At least I'll have someone to talk to, yeah?"

"And I suppose I could handle having to talk to you every day." She smirked up at him.

"Well then, that's settled." Monty chuckled, "James, I'll put you in charge of the paperwork and arrangements for all of this."

James shot his dad a grin, "I'll have it all settled by tomorrow evening. You're looking at the two newest temps for Royal Paint."

It wasn't a week later that Lily was pulling up to her new place of work - at least until she could find a new position in her field if expertise.

She saw James step out of his car and she waved him over. There was one thing that she wanted to clarify with him before they started this.

"Morning Evans," James moved to kiss her but she put her hand on his chest and stopped him.

"Does this place know you're one of the owners of the temp agency?"

James shook his head, "No, everything Sirius and I do is on the back end except for this, so no one knows we aren't real temps when we show up."

Lily nodded, "Alright, in that case, I think it would be a good idea for us not to broadcast our relationship while we're here for these three months."

"Really?"

"I don't want to cause any drama, and Sirius isn't available to switch with you if they have a problem with us being together. I think it would make everything easier and safer if we kept our relationship between us."

James sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Please, James," Lily smiled up at him. "I promise when we aren't here, I'll be the best girlfriend in the world."

James laughed down at her and laced his fingers with hers. "You already are but if it'll make you happy, then sure, while we're working with this client, we're just two temps, not a couple."

"Thank you," Lily looked around the parking lot and upon finding it empty, quickly pressed up and kissed him. "I suppose we should get this show on the road then, eh?"

"Yeah," James stole one more kiss, "We don't want to be late on our first day."

Lily and James walked into the grey cement brick building and were welcomed by the receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Amy, you must be our new temps."

"That's us," James nodded and Lily forced her down chuckle as she watched James start scanning the office. He may be wearing the badge of temp for the next three months, but James would never be able to stop being the shrewd businessman that helped his dad's company thrive.

"Just a minute and I'll fetch Scott, he's our manager." She clicked a couple of times on her computer before grabbing her desk phone. "Scott, they're here." She set the phone down and turned back to Lily and James with a happy smile.

"He'll be right out."

Not a moment later a man came walking around the corner.

"Welcome! Welcome to your new home away from home! Welcome to Royal Paint!"

"Thank you," James stepped forward and shook Scott's hand. "I'm James Potter."

"And I'm Lily Evans," Lily stepped forward as she watched James turn to introduce her. That was her first hint that hiding their relationship was going to be harder than she initially thought.

"James and Lily!" Scott shook her hand. "I can't wait to get to know you. I'm Scott and I hope you'll view me as your mentor and friend while you're here."

Lily nearly balked at the difference between Scott and Riddle. At least Scott didn't seem to be out to fire her from the get-go.

"Thank you," she pulled her bag higher up on her shoulder and smiled up at James.

"Look at you two," Scott stepped back and looked at the two of them, "You look like you could be on the cover of one of my wife's romance books. Don't you think so, Amy?" He turned to the receptionist.

Amy laughed, "You're a hopeless romantic, Scott."

"And I'm usually right about this sort of thing."

Lily felt something akin to panic gripping her stomach. "I'm sure that Mr. Potter and I can keep things professional."

James covered his laugh with a forced clearing of his throat and Lily fought the urge to glare at him.

"Don't be ridiculous," Scott laughed. "Royal Paint was started by a husband and wife team. We have no policy against workplace relationships. But let's get the two of you settled in and then you can get to know one another before you make decisions about first dates and whatnot."

He turned and led them down the corridor.

"Mr. Potter?" James whispered as he smirked down at her.

"I panicked!" Lily glared at him.

Before James could comment further, Scott had led them into the next room.

"This will be your launching pad!" Then he gestured to the two women sitting at desks that faced each other. "And these lovelies are the crew that will take you into the stars! Gladys and Arabella, this is James Potter, and here is Lily Evans. James, Lily, this is Gladys Vance and Arabella Figg."

The women smiled at them but before either could say anything, Scott had moved to the single desk to the left of Gladys and Arabella's workstations.

"This is where the two of you will be set up. I'm sorry but we couldn't get a second desk in here soon enough. You'll only need to share for a wee bit, but we'll get you your own desks in a jiffy. The two computers seem to fit alright, though, so shouldn't be a problem. Let's get you logged into those computers and Gladys and Arabella will train you up on what you need to do."

"Scott, slow down, you're spinning like a top." Gladys chuckled. "We'll take care of these two, you go do the manager things you do."

"Off you go," Arabella stood and made a shooing motion with her hands.

"I'll leave you in their capable hands then," Scott bowed awkwardly. "And if you need anything at all just step right into my office. My door is always open."

"Thank you, Scott." James chuckled.

Arabella shooed Scott again and he saluted before stepping out of the room.

"Well, you survived our fearless leader," Arabella chuckled. "We run things a bit more down to earth here in customer service."

"He's very enthusiastic, isn't he?" Lily laughed.

"Don't you two look cute standing like that?" Gladys smiled at them.

Lily looked over and realized she and James had gravitated towards each other, standing so close they were nearly touching.

"Oh, sorry," she stepped away from James, "I didn't mean to crowd you."

James' hand shot to his hair, "No problem, barely noticed."

Gladys and Arabella shared a long look but didn't say anything more. They helped James and Lily get logged into their computers and showed them how to respond to online inquiries from the website and how to find the answers. The job was so simple that by lunch Lily felt not only like she knew what she was doing, but that she'd been doing it for ages.

"Did the two of you bring lunch?" Gladys came to stand at their desk. "Because either way, Arabella and I are taking you out."

Lily laughed, "I brought a can of soup, but I have a hunch it'll keep till tomorrow."

"Are you sure about that?" James laughed, "Storing things in metal, who knows what could happen."

Lily laughed in spite of herself but stopped just before she went to playfully shove him.

"You two are cute," Arabella grinned at them. "Did either of you ever watch the American version of The Office? You two could be Jim and Pam."

"Oh, yes!" Glady exclaimed, "Lily's got red hair like Pam, and James instead of Jim!"

Lily looked at James and laughed, "I don't suppose you want to be called Jim?"

James rolled his eyes, "Do you know I threaten my brother with roasting him over a low fire for it?"

Lily grinned, she did know. "Oh, but it could be fun, couldn't it?"

James adjusted his glasses and leant across the desk, "Depends on your definition of the word fun, Lilian."

"Do you know that isn't my name?" Lily rolled her eyes. He did know.

"And now you know that Jim isn't mine," James countered with a smirk.

"I like them better than Jim and Pam," Arabella's voice brought Lily back to the present and she silently kicked herself for slipping into the banter she and James had built their relationship on.

Trying to avoid the habits that had formed from two years of dating plus another three years of friendship before that might just prove impossible.

And that premonition proved to be exactly right. She couldn't stop herself from the unconscious part of her brain that reached across their desk to touch his hand or his thigh. She could never keep herself from standing directly next to him. And she definitely couldn't stop the way her eyes would seek him out naturally. It was just so much a part of her to be connected to James.

How did she ever think she could hide this?

"Hey," she whispered across the desk three weeks after they'd started with Royal Paint. "I have to take my car in to have it serviced tonight, can you give me a ride tomorrow?"

"Of course, do you need a ride back from the service station too?" James nodded.

"I was going to request an Uber but if you want, we can make a night of it."

"Sure," James grinned at her. "We could make something at yours and watch a film or something."

"Sounds perfect," Lily moved to grab his hand but caught herself, opting to take a sticky note from the stack instead.

"How is the job hunt going?" James smirked at her.

Lily rolled her eyes at his smirk even as she grinned at him.

"I had a firm call for an interview and my references."

"That's amazing!" James' whisper went loud and Lily giggled.

"Riveting conversation over there dears?" Gladys smiled over at them.

"Just wondering when you're going to invite The Pips over and finally admit that your last name is really Knight." James smiled over at Gladys and Arabella.

Lily trained her gaze back on her computer and the mind-numbing work of answering customer questions.

"I'll be at yours at half six to go drop your car," James whispered and knocked her foot with his.

She looked up to see that smile that still made her stomach flutter.

"Thanks."

But James bringing her to work the next morning ended up being more of a to-do than Lily had expected it to be.

"Well, hello there!" Arabella stepped out of her car as Lily and James stepped out of his.

"Hi Arabella," Lily tried not to groan.

"Is your car alright dear?" Arabella looked as pleased as one of her cats might look had it caught a mouse.

"It just needed to be serviced. James was nice enough to bring me to work this morning."

Arabella nodded understandingly but her smile seemed to grow wider. "What a nice thing to do."

"What was a nice thing to do?" Scott walked up behind Arabella and Lily thought she might die.

"Lily's car needed to be serviced and James was kind enough to bring her to work today."

"A proper gentleman," Scott walked up and patted James on the back. "Well done, my boy!"

"Lily ought to take him to lunch to thank him," Arabella looked at Scott, "Don't you agree? They've proven they're hard workers, I think they could do with a long lunch today."

"Capital idea, Arabella! Yes!" He turned to James and Lily, "I agree, take a long lunch the both of you!"

Lily looked at James who was putting a great deal of effort into not laughing.

"Alright, then," Lily looked at Scott and Arabella helplessly.

Clearly, she'd need to rethink her original plan of hiding their relationship, seeing as everyone wanted them to have one.

"This whole thing has gone pear-shaped!" Lily huffed as she got into James' car for their enforced lunch date.

"Hey," James leant over and pulled her in for a slow kiss. "It'll be fine." He smiled as he pulled away. "You're going to go to your interview next week and they're going to wonder how they've ever managed without you. Then they'll hire you, and you'll be working for an amazing firm before you know it."

Lily kissed him again and let the warmth that had always been James ease some of the stress away.

"You know," James put the car in gear. "We could play this to our advantage."

"Play what to our advantage?" Lily fiddled with the radio.

"We could be the new office romance." James knocked her hand away from the radio as she tried to skip over a song he liked that she didn't.

"The new office romance?"

"Sure," James slapped her hand away again. "We could stop trying to hide the way that we're practically an old married couple, to quote my mum, and just be us."

"You're mum calls us an old married couple?" Lily laughed.

"Of course, she does."

"Why, of course?"

"Because she's my mum," James shrugged.

Lily grinned as the idea started to form in her mind. "We could sneak around like we did our last week of university."

James looked over at her with a smirk. "That poor custodian, I'm pretty sure we nearly gave him a heart attack."

Lily giggled, "I think you're right; this could be fun."

"Yes, and then I can stop smacking myself every time I go to touch you as well." James reached over and grabbed her hand.

"I know right? It's like I'm in love with you or something." She teased.

James parked in front of the restaurant and leant over to kiss her again. "That makes one of us, then."

Lily smacked his chest and pulled away but James caught her around the neck and kissed her passionately.

"I love you," he murmured as he slowed their pace.

"You better," Lily laughed and pulled back. "So, we're doing this? We're going to be Royal Paint's new office romance?"

"Yeah, let's have a bit of fun."

And they did. Lily didn't stop herself from making faces at him across their desk when she got bored. She didn't stop herself from asking James about their plans for the weekend. She didn't stop herself from walking out of the office with him after work. She didn't panic when Gladys mentioned how sweet it was that she was hitting it off so well with James. When Scott stepped in to tell them he'd managed to secure another desk for them if they wanted it, she agreed with James' insistence that they didn't need it.

The one thing Lily did still stop herself from bringing up at work when they were around their coworkers was her efforts to find a real job, and how things were going for James in his real job. Just because he was playing temp didn't mean he didn't still have his real job and everything that went with helping his dad run the temp agency.

She was trying to discreetly check her email on her phone to see if the company that had interviewed her and called all three of her references had made a decision on hiring her yet or not when she was spooked by James swearing under his breath.

Lily glanced quickly over at Arabella and Gladys before whispering to James.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a problem at the office. One of our temps went rogue." James' hands went to his hair before they immediately dropped to his phone to type.

"Is it going to be alright?" Lily leant closer.

"If Sirius and I get there in the next hour then probably." He looked up at her. "I've got to go. Do you want me to make something up for you to get Scott to let you out early too?"

Lily shook her head. "I don't want to make him suspicious of why you're leaving and then not let you go. I'll stay and finish the workday."

James grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before coming around the desk to kiss her. "Thank you, I'll text you once this is resolved."

Lily kissed him once more before he slipped out the door.

"They're already kissing goodbye," Arabella commented with a grin.

"They're meant to be," Gladys laughed, "Where is your prince off to?"

Lily rolled her eyes at them, "His brother needs him, he's going to see if Scott will let him out early."

"Oh, Scott is a pushover for that sort of thing. He probably would have let you go too if you'd asked." Arabella pulled a cat hair off her jumper.

"I wouldn't have been much help," Lily shrugged.

"So, how's having a new boyfriend been?" Gladys pulled her coffee cup to her lips and smirked at Lily.

"I'm rather enjoying it," Lily laughed and turned from her computer. It was becoming apparent that the two wanted to talk more than they wanted to work right now, probably because James wasn't there.

"I can imagine," Arabella winked at her. "Have you spent much time together over the last month and a half?"

"I guess we have," Lily tried to think of what sort of pace a regular couple would take, a couple that didn't have the history she and James had.

They'd been at odds in their first year of university, but when everything had happened with Severus and the Marauders at the end of first year, well, Lily realized that she'd been dead wrong about who her friends were. Thankfully, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were more than happy to put that year behind them and welcome her into their friendship. She and James had been friends for the last three years of their time at university; his parents were who she relied on when her mum passed away, joining her dad on the other side and leaving her with just Petunia and Vernon for living family members; James introduced her to Marlene and Emmeline and Mary and Bridget; the Marauders and everyone attached to them had become her family.

It was the last day of exams their final year at university that James had found her alone and somehow the two of them had finally stopped dancing around their feelings for one another and snogged the daylights out of each other.

They'd been inseparable for the last two years.

But how did one act like they hadn't been in love with the man they were with for years?

"You look unsure? Is everything alright?" Arabella frowned at her and Lily silently cursed herself for not having better control over her emotions playing out over her face.

"Oh, er, yes, I just, I, er, I'm waiting on an email." Lily reasoned she was a temp; she probably didn't need to hide that she was looking for something permanent; it was just James' position that she needed to keep to herself.

"A good email or a bad one?"

"I suppose I'm hoping it's a good one, but it could be a bad one."

Gladys narrowed her gaze. "Lily, what sort of email is this?"

"The sort of email that could get me a position with an engineering firm," Lily watched the two women carefully and sighed in relief when they both cried out exuberantly.

"That's wonderful," Arabella laughed, "but won't you miss working with James?"

"I'll miss it," Lily nodded because truthfully, she would miss it.

Working with James this way had been exactly what she needed after the fiasco at her last position. It had been healing to be with him day in and day out. It had made her realize how much she needed him, how much she relied on him.

"Well, most people don't work with their partners; you'd be joining the ranks of the rest of us." Gladys chuckled. "I love my husband, but I wouldn't work with him for all the money in the world. We weren't meant to be business partners."

"Amen, to that," Arabella rolled her eyes.

It was a couple of hours later that James texted her that he and Sirius had sorted out whatever had happened with the rogue temp. He followed that text up with the sort of response that helped Lily see why Mia called them an old married couple.

James: Meet me at mine, I'm bringing dinner.

Lily smiled down at her phone and then jumped when Gladys' voice spooked her.

"Email or boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend," Lily chuckled. "He managed to sort out whatever was happening with his brother."

"And…"

"We're having dinner tonight," Lily looked up at the clock and sighed; it was still an hour before she could leave.

Gladys looked over at Arabella and something passed between the two.

"Pack up your things, deary, Arabella and I are going to bully Scott into letting you leave early."

"No, that's alright," Lily shook her head, "I can wait."

Arabella laughed, "No isn't an option I'm afraid. We're rather fond of you and James there, so I think we're going to get our way and get you on your way."

"Really, it's fine," Lily protested again.

"Oh stop with the propriety and have a little fun, Lily." Gladys stood up. "Let's get you off to that boy of yours."

What could she do? It was as if these two were in cahoots with Mia. Lily packed up her things and tried to hide behind her two bullies as they approached Scott's office.

"Scott, dear Scott," Gladys stuck her head in Scott's office.

Scott looked up and laughed, "Oh dear, the both of you, what am I giving in to today?"

"What a dear he is," Gladys grinned at Arabella before turning back to Scott. "You're going to tell this sweet child to get herself off to her new boyfriend right now."

Scott glanced back at Lily and winked at her.

"I suppose you'll let the entire office know how hard it was to wear me down?"

"Of course," Arabella nodded. "We had to make a fuss about what a wonderful employee she's been these six weeks."

"And we had to point out that it has been slow all day and that it definitely won't pick up to where Arabella and I can't handle in the next hour," Gladys added.

"And don't forget how we're all invested in Lily and James," Scott added absently as he looked at an email on his computer.

"Oh yes, that too," Arabella laughed.

Scott looked back up and blinked, "Lily? Why are you still here?"

Lily shook her head and smiled, "I'm on my way out."

"Give my best to James," Scott called out to her as she walked out the door and to her car.

Lily texted James that she had been forced out early and then drove to his flat. For a moment she thought she saw Monty and Mia in their car on her way, but she was past them before she had a chance to do a double-take.

Walking up to James' flat felt like home. The knowledge that he'd be on the other side of the door when she opened it wrapped her in a blanket of comforting domesticity. Lily wondered if maybe she should forgo renewing her lease when it was up in a couple of months.

She pushed open the door but stopped dead in the doorway.

The lights were turned off, but there were battery votives on the floor making a pathway towards the kitchen.

"James…?"

He didn't answer and Lily resisted the urge in her to turn on the lights. She blamed it on Gladys' and Arabella's and Mia's insistence that she have a little fun. Instead, Lily kicked off her shoes and set down her bag to follow the flickering lights guiding her further into the flat.

Every light was off and the curtains pulled tight over the windows, making the floor look like it was glowing with the little votive lights lined against it. Lily stepped into the kitchen and paused. The lights led to a chair, sitting dead center on the kitchen floor.

"I am not doing a seance with you, Potter," Lily looked around. She nearly screamed when her phone vibrated and sounded in her pocket.

James: Please just sit down Evans

It was followed by at least twenty eye-roll emojis.

Lily rolled her eyes and texted back.

Lily: Fine, but I will kill you if this is some sort of prank…

She included five devil emojis before hitting send and cautiously sitting down in the chair.

"Now what?" Lily called out and looked around.

James stepped quietly into the kitchen and grinned at her.

"You always suspect me," he leant against the doorway, his hand running through his hair.

Lily forced her eyes back to his face. "You've given me plenty of reasons to do so."

James laughed, "You know, I've been thinking about how nice it's been to see you every day, but now I'm wondering what I was thinking."

She rolled her eyes but laughed with him.

"I was actually thinking the same thing after you left today."

James' smile went soft and he moved slowly, purposefully towards her.

"Good," his voice was that low rumble that made Lily want to pull him flush against her.

Then James came to kneel in front of her and Lily suddenly couldn't breathe.

"What do you think we make sure we see each other every day, even after we finish our stint with Royal Paint?"

"James," she laughed, but it came out a breathless sound.

"Lils, will you marry me?" He slid a ring out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"Of course!" Lily couldn't stop laughing, even as James pressed up to kiss her, lifting her from the chair and lifting her feet off the floor.

"We should turn on the lights," James laughed with her.

"Why?" Lily finally started to get a hold of her laughter and was trying to move their kissing a little further forward.

"Mum and Dad should be here any minute. Dad's parents took him and mum out to dinner when he asked her to marry him. I told them we could do dinner, but that I wasn't asking you at a restaurant."

"Oh! I saw them on my way over!" Lily laughed. "Well, I guess we can keep this going when we get back."

James hummed as he kissed her again, "And we can talk about what we're going to do with this darn temp job."

Lily's phone buzzed in her back pocket and she jumped when James reached into her pocket and pulled it free to hand to her.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about it," Lily grinned down at her phone as she looked at the screen.

"Yeah?" James looked down at her phone.

"I got the position!" Lily laughed. "I'm engaged and I got my dream job on the same day!"

"Well," James kissed her, "While we're discussing good news, I have one more thing to add."

"What?"

"Dad and Sirius and I have been working on a surprise for you; we've managed to get Riddle and his cronies into a world of trouble that I don't think they'll be getting out of anytime soon." James' grin was wicked.

Lily narrowed her gaze, "There was no rouge temp, was there?"

"Sirius and I were the rogue temps, we bailed at work and went to make sure our plan went exactly as we wanted it. I doubt that your old place of employment will still have a license to practice business for much longer."

"I love you," Lily linked her arms around his neck and kissed him.

James pulled back to look down at her, one of his hands coming up to trace along her cheek before tangling in her hair.

"I love you too," and he kissed her.

#Surreptious #jilytober #jilytober 2020 #jily #jily fanfiction #jily fanfic #james x lily #james potter x lily evans #james potter #lily evans #muggle au #modern muggle au #jily muggle au #workplace romance #coworkers romance #fluff #romance #from a prompt

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sheerbeautyreigns · 4 years ago

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DESIRE

Part 32

It was almost 12pm when Joe was returning from his run. It was so refreshing running in the countryside. Back home in Tampa, he’d normally run on the beach. It gave him plenty of time to just think about things between him and Paul but one thought he couldn’t shake was his conversation with Drew. He hated that he wouldn’t be able to spend time with him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Paul’s car in the driveway. He thought it’d be another while before he would be back. He unlocked the front door and kicked off his Nikes.

Paul was sat at his laptop in the living room when Joe entered. “Hey.” He said looking up from the screen.

“You’re back early.” Joe said approaching him. “Yeah it didn’t take as long as I thought. Good run?” Paul said eyeing the sheen on Joe skin. “Yeah, great. It’s so nice out here, the greenery. So peaceful.”

Paul smiled “I have some good news for you baby.” He said clasping his hands together on the desk. “What would you say to another run at the Universal Championship?” Joe eyes lit up momentarily “It’d be great but Drew’s feuding with Bray right now? I thought he was set to become the number one contender?”

“Right now yes but I’m talking Summerslam.” Paul said leaning back in his chair.

“That’s only a few weeks away?” Joe was confused. “Creative proposed a triple threat match next Monday night. They want you in the mix.”

“Why? I haven’t done anything to warrant it.” Joe eyes followed Paul’s as he rose to his feet.

“Oh you’ve done plenty.” He said in his gravelly tone, pulling Joe against his body. “Was this your decision?”

“I might’ve pulled a few strings.” An uneasy look crossed Joe face. “What’s the matter? I thought you’d be happy?”

“I am, It’s just…” He started. Paul stepped back and looked him in the eye. “I don’t want to come off as being ungrateful but I just don’t want hand outs just because we’re fucking.”

“So what? Everyone knows how much you bust your ass every week and it’s been almost a year since you had a shot at the title.” Joe pursed his lips. “It’s nothing to do with Drew at all?”

“What are you talking about?” Paul was getting annoyed now. “Well I know you didn’t like things between us two...” Joe hated bringing this up but it seemed too obvious. Drew had been happy with his push and there was a lot of talk saying he was due to become the champion for the first time.

“This is not fucking about Drew!” He said raising his hand to slap him across the cheek only to have Joe block him. The young man was seething, his eyes wide with anger.

“You were gonna hit me! Again!?” Joe backed up and left the room with Paul in hot pursuit. “Baby I’m sorry!” He said following him up into his room. “I let my temper get the best of me!” He watched helplessly as Joe flung open his suitcase and threw his belongings in. “I told you I’d be outta here if you tried that shit again.”

“What was I supposed to do? You were pissing me off!” Paul said grabbing his arm and spinning him around. Joe stumbled, falling onto the bed. Paul immediately pinned him down by the shoulders. “I’m sorry. I love you.” He said firmly “I swear it won’t happen again.”

“Get the fuck off me!” Joe could feel tears forming in his eyes as he struggled to his feet. Paul exhaled heavily as Joe threw the last of his things into his suitcase and zipped it shut. He carried it out of the room and proceeded down the stairs. “Where the hell are you gonna go?”

“Away from you!” Paul could hear the shakiness in his voice now. Quickly he produced his phone and called a local cab company but it just rang out. “Look, let me take you.” Joe stood with his head bowed, a frustrated look on his face. “I’ll take you to the airport if that’s what you want?” Joe nodded, refusing to look at him. Paul grabbed his keys that were on the small table nearby and opened the door wide for him. Joe walked out.

Although the drive to the airport was only around 15 miles, it felt painfully slow. Both men didn’t utter a word. Paul chose to put the radio on to break the uncomfortable silence. Joe was trying his damnedest to hold back his tears. His stomach sank as they pulled into the departures area. He felt he would lose it at any moment. He hoped the airport wouldn’t be too busy for a Monday afternoon. He took out his shades and slid them on as Paul parked. “Thanks,” Joe uttered before getting out of the car. Paul felt so defeated. He looked in the rear view mirror and Joe pulled his suitcase out of the trunk and closed it. The best thing for him to do now was just leave.

Joe spent the next few days working on his place and catching up with his family. He felt heartbroken at how things had changed between him and Paul so quickly but he made himself a promise to get out if it happened again. He hadn’t heard anything from Paul either. Maybe it was the best thing for both of them. Scrolling through Instagram, he saw a post from Drew with his cat which made him smile. Impulsively, he called him.

“Hello?” came Drew’s voice. “Hey” Joe padded around his living room. “I just wanted to call and say sorry about how I acted on Monday. There was no need.”

“S”ok, don’t worry about it.” He was always so laid back. “How you doing?”

“I’m OK. I’m in Tampa now.” He hesitated before going on “I…I ended up leaving Paul’s early…”

“Is everything alright?” The Scot asked cautiously. “You were right about him. I wish I had listened to you.”

“Did he hurt you?” He asked with alarm. “No but he was going to. I left in time.”

“Shit man, sorry to hear but I’m glad you’re OK. Is there anything I can do?” He offered. “I’m OK, I just wanted to call and apologise. Are you working tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I was just packing when you called.” He responded. “Cool well I guess I”ll see you tomorrow.”

“I”ll look forward to it.”

Joe arrived in Phoenix for Smackdown the following afternoon. There were a number of familiar faces when he arrived. He went out to the ring to run things through with the team. Turns out he would interfere in a No Disqualification match between Drew and Bray. He would run in and attack his old foe Bray with a chair leading Drew to get the win. It seemed the story was going towards a triple threat Universal Title match at Summerslam, according to creative.

Joe was surprised it was still happening after what had happened with Paul but he went with it. The crowd loved it and he got a huge pop. Bray was doing a great job being the heel throughout his feud with Babyface Drew and for all they cared, Bray got what was coming to him after his sneak attacks on Drew over the past couple of weeks.

After his match, Joe went to his locker room. He proceeded in getting undressed to quickly shower when Colby walked in. He hadn’t seen him since Raw the week before. He attempted to look at him but he actually felt nervous. Probably because he knew that Colby would ignore him after all the shit they gave each other over the past few weeks. He was opening his locker when Joe finally spoke. Colby was always too stubborn to make the first move. “Hey, you OK?” He actually looked around as he took out his rucksack. “Yeah, good. Haven’t seen you around in a while.”

“I’ve had some time away.” Joe said forcing a small smile. He was just happy that Colby actually answered him. “What are you up to?”

“What, now?” He asked, leading Joe to nod. “Actually gonna chill out. Just tired. You know how busy it gets on the run up to Summerslam…”

For the first time in a long time, Joe felt awkward talking to him. It felt like they could never be friends like they used to be.

“Well I’m gonna head. Good to see you back.” Joe felt so defeated, watching him leave. He wanted to tell him that he was no longer with Paul. Maybe that would help get their friendship back on track. He just had to be patient.

Later after Joe had checked into his hotel, he was answering some emails when his phone rang. He froze, seeing Paul’s photo on the screen. He hesitated before answering.

“Hey,” He said lowly.

“I was hoping I’d catch you before you left the Arena.” Paul started. Joe shifted on the sofa, hearing his voice for the first time in days. It did something to him.

“I just wanted to get back to my hotel room. Didn’t really wanna stick around.” He said rubbing the back of his neck.

“Are you OK? I mean, you looked good out there tonight but…I wanna, talk.” Those three words made Joe stomach sink. “I didn’t think I’d hear from you.” Joe confessed.

“Why not?” Paul questioned. “I was pretty pissed when I left on Monday.” Joe said pulling his knees up to his chest.

“I wanted to give you some time. I was hoping we could talk this through?” Paul sounded hopeful. “Are you staying at the Hilton?”

“Yeah.” Joe answered with hesitation. “So am I if you wanna meet in my room? I just think it’s better in person.”

Joe wanted to be mature about this. “What room are you in?”

“475. End of the hall.” Paul informed him. “OK. I’ll be up soon.” Joe got up and started pacing around the room regretting his answer. He would have to see him in person again at some point so regardless of the outcome, he just wanted to get it over with.

Gingerly, Joe entered Paul’s suite while the older man looked him over. He looked good in his navy suit and crisp white shirt. Joe could feel his eyes on him.

“Would you like a drink?” Paul offered, gesturing for him to have a seat on the sofa. “I’m OK. Thanks.” Paul lowered to the sofa but kept a distance to make sure that Joe was comfortable. “Listen, I’m just going to cut to the chase. I’ve been thinking a lot about us over the past few days. You mean more to me than I could have imagined and I don’t want to lose you. I want you back.”

Joe swallowed at his confession as his eyes met Paul’s. He could see how sincere he was. “I’m not enough for you. We both know that.”

“What do you mean? You are enough. I was so happy when you were at mine. Granted, I didn’t always show it but I was the happiest I’d been for a while.”

“I dunno,” Joe said leaning back a little on the sofa. “Sometimes, you scare me. Your temper…” There was an uneasy look in his eyes. “I know, baby, I know. I’m working on it. After I left you off at the airport, I was so pissed off with myself for losing it again. I don’t wanna be that guy.” Paul said inching closer, placing his hand on Joe leg. The young man could feel his cock stirring at Paul’s touch. He shifted his position trying not to make it obvious.

“What about the dynamic we had?”

“What about it? I was happy with the way things were with you that last day. I was so happy with how you were just going with it. That was what I was working towards.”

“I was trying. Sometimes, I just feel I’m not enough…”

“Believe it or not, that’s how I want you to feel. It sounds strange but It’s good that the submissive doesn’t always feel like they’re good enough. Like, having low self worth.” Paul explained. He felt he was starting to get somewhere. Joe gave him a questioning look. “Why’s that a good thing?”

“Because it gives me, the dominant, more power in the relationship. Look, I know it can be a bit confusing at times and you’re still new to this but I don’t want to do this with anyone else.” Joe hesitated a moment as Paul searched his eyes, waiting for an answer. “OK.” Paul’s face lit up. “On one condition.”

“Just tell me.” Paul leaned in closer to him.

“You lose it again, I want out. You let me go. For good.” This lead Paul to nod in agreement. “I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

#roman reigns #wwe #tribal chief #roman reigns fic #fanfiction #d/s #drew mcintyre #dominance #submission

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cloveroctobers · 4 years ago

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ROBERT “BOBBY” MCKENZIE —

IG info/bio : @/returnofdamckenzie | 426k followers | @/mclitgs2 is my forever boo🤟🏽😍 while @/cardib is my WIFE! She just doesn’t know it yet ❤️ support my work & be part of my family: @/bobbymckcares

24 (25) years young

Born in Dundee, raised in Glasgow, Scotland

Jamaican father named Badrick who is a African studies professor

Caucasian/Scottish mother named Catriona who used to be a au pair but now works as a receptionist in senior living — one eye is honey hazel and the other a dark brown

It was difficult growing up in a school that didn’t accept Bobby being biracial, it resulted in bullying to the point where he needed to switch schools (A lawsuit was also in place) The next school was slightly better but Bobby slowly learned to accept himself as it was not something he could control and not something he would want to in the first place. He was proud of where he came from and never thought he was better or less than anyone else, that wasn’t how he was raised

He’s an only child, his parents thought about adopting (and fostering) but with Bobby they had their hands full and he was just enough for them

His family is very family-oriented so he would never have to feel lonely since they gave him a lot of attention, slightly making him spoiled but he was also around his cousins & spending time with them as well

He’s extremely close to his younger cousin (only by a few months) Femi who he views as his sister. They’ve been through a lot together and are always there for each other so it only makes sense

Most likely an active kid always up to some sort of shenanigans whether it’s by himself or with his group of friends, “why would you do that Bobby?” “Don’t ask why but ask, why not!?”

Definitely suffered some broken bones, concussions, & sprain injuries but would never show signs of pain...guys got a high pain tolerance that’s for sure

Fan of films/series “stand by me” & “the goonies” & “scooby doo” since he feels they relate to his life??

Hospital caterer and loves making those feel better with food that he’s created. If he can’t put a smile on patients face with words then he feels like he can show them with food

Food is an art to him. He went to school for culinary & it’s very important for him to show how much it is to him. He picked up the craft from of course his family, who always used food for numerous of things: to bring people together is one of them

Perfected Jerk haggis, it is now he favorite dish next to desert & breakfast!

I’m struggling to figure out what sign he maybe? He’s very playful which may come off as childish at times, which makes me think of Leo? (Maybe Gemini?) Only because they usually hold onto their childhood as best as they can, very generous, & give their energy to you but I also don’t see him being a fire sign at all? So maybe very little Leo in his chart. I also feel like he might be a bit of an empath? He knows when situations around him don’t feel right, knows how to read the room, and always wants to help others by lighting things up.

Idk but I’m feeling he’s libra sun + Gemini moon + Leo rising? Who knows

Probably lived in a 2 bed flat with his old uni mate. It was small and a bit shit but it was their shit and they made the best of it

Now lives in a stone cottage or farmhouse with MC that was built in the 1900’s & is slightly haunted. He’s decided to call them Duncan??? But he believes they’re a good spirit, maybe even a friendly ghost!? since he got comfortable with the bizarre happenings in the new flat & it doesn’t seem like they want to hurt them

Lottie offered to bring her ouija board next time she visited—Bobby declined

House is mostly neutral based but three of the rooms in the flat are covered in ridiculous patterned walls or furniture much to MC’s distaste but, “what’s yours is mine” right? No. But Gary approves!

Has two dogs: a terrier & a collie since MC wasn’t down for getting a sheep

They do have chickens to raise their own eggs tho!

Definitely the kind of significant other that will ride on the cart when they’re out grocery shopping, will make you breakfast in bed, & will send you memes while he’s at home and you’re out or even when he’s at work and you’re at home, let’s you put his arm to sleep when you’re laying on it in bed (big ass head gang!), definitely chooses the candles from bath & body works that smell like food items (majority of them suck let’s be honest)

Probably smells like cucumber, melons, lemons, and eucalyptus

Has your wedding date in his IG bio & is proud

Annoys Gary & Lottie with his food pics, “oh, Not this shit again! 😡 looks brilliant, but enough!”

Has zoom/FaceTime movie nights with Marisol & MC who stopped feeling like she was third-wheeling months ago

Talks to hope & Noah (in the background) as much as he can. Feels like they’re his inspiration for love, even tho he’s the only one married out of the villa

He values marriage just like his parents do and often has Sunday dinners with them & MC ofc

Probably has relationship guide books and only reads them out of boredom but finds fascinating facts/advice if he pays attention & tries to apply it to his relationship with mc. If it works, it works! & If it doesn’t, you can’t say he didn’t try!

Works long hours but will still come home to cook for MC or brings leftovers from the events he’s catered (most are for the hospital but occasionally he’ll do other events)

Has a separate IG for his work

When WAP dropped, he almost lost his shit. Even tried to get MC to do the challenge with him, he’s pretty bad but MC eventually learned it just for him 😜

Is thrilled that Cardi made the best decision EVER on divorcing offset, “are you thinking of leaving me now?” “... I might.” “BOBBY!” “Haha, I love you!

Absolutely loves Christmas!!! It’s his favorite holiday and he loves giving back to everyone in his life. Usually he’s working overtime for the holidays & it makes him emotional due to the stories he hears & he puts a little extra love in his food

Goes all out for Christmas. Tries to buy/make everyone something. Even if he doesn’t really care for them...he’ll at least send them a x-mas card, if they keep it or burn it it’s entirely up to them—if he knew about it he’d probably be a little sad not gonna lie...he’s a soft king

Once bought Lottie black crocs with spooky pins , “are you joking Bobby?!” He knows she secretly loved them

Uses salt and peppermint in his dark hot cocoa...

Rather make deserts for Christmas than the food, he feels like it’s his duty

King of giving the thumbs up, especially when situations have gone to shit. He’ll still shoot them up with a smile or a grimace

Always inviting someone somewhere. “Bobby, hun. You’re 4-6 hrs away and it’s 1 am.” Hope groaned after listening to his bright idea, thinking something bad happened. “Ah, you could still make it if you tried, lassie.” “I’m gonna hang up now. Good night, bonkers man.”

Needs constant reminding when to get his locs touched up & moisturized

Either has a trampoline or a funhouse jumper in his backyard (maybe both) “we’ve got the space and this is better than a pool, or almost!”

Wants children, a whole footie team! There’s no specific time frame for him, when it happens, it happens

Used to cool & wet temps & loves vacationing in Greenland. Sure the hot weather he experienced in the villa was awesome & something different than what he’s used to but you can’t take the scot out of the man. So he typically sticks to places that are similar in temps, that way he doesn’t have to change his clothing choices much

Loves a good bath. Bubble baths are better than bath bombs to him, PERIOD!

Loves bubbles so much he put too much laundry detergent in the wash (does this on purpose now) and came back home to the dogs and room covered in it. Do you think he cleaned it up before MC came home? No. He decided to have a bubble party in the room with a Caribbean playlist playing in the background

MC definitely posted about it the first time & joined him for a bit, dreading the work that came with cleaning it all up. Now whenever Bobby needs a bubble party, he knows what to do. MC preferred him to have his little bubble party in the tub but 50% of the time he chooses not to listen & they leave him to pout & clean it himself

Likes to hold hands with fingers interlocked. When it’s cold and if you’re both wearing hoodies, he’ll slide his hand inside the arm of your hoodie to help keep you warm

Canon: His version of a snack is spaghetti hoops on toast & can eat that for the rest of his life & be content

If he didn’t end up marrying MC, probably finds his significant other working as a nurse at one of the hospitals he caters to or a volunteer at a old folks home

Never had a serious relationship, very few hookups, was either always placed in the friend zone or there was one person he wanted to be serious with but they rejected him and continued loving someone else who treated them like shit—so he kinda swore off of relationships and just flirted a bunch and kept his love life non-existent

Fav ice cream? Rocky road ice cream with one scoop of cotton candy & one scoop of cookie butter blue

Doesn’t believe in measuring when it comes to culinary. He uses his eyes as his measurement, could be a bad thing, could be a good thing, that’s up to you

If he’s up at night, he’s eating something sweet. A nice glass of single malt scotch whiskey + a splash of coconut milk (🤢) with a slice of angel food cake & he’s out like a light

Absolutely loves shopping for the kitchen, finds immense joy in doing so. If you lose him in a store, one of the places you’ll most likely find him is in the kitchen decor area

Owns a bagpipe & wants to get better at it, even tho he scared the living shit out of his dogs & chickens

Wears his shades quite a bit even tho the weather is hardly sunny and mainly windy & damp

Will hold the door for strangers even if they don’t say thank you

He’s open when it comes to music. Will listen to anything but feels like the music has to be a purpose for something...Everything he does in his day to day life has to feel like a soundtrack to him since in his mind he’s daydreaming about his life being made into a movie. Who isn’t?

He thinks wentworth Miller should play him in a film and that kid from blackish should play him when he was a wee lad, Marcus Scribner

Always keeps a positive attitude because he knows what it feels like to feel low and he doesn’t want anybody else in the world to feel like that so he wants to uplift and if he can try to be someone’s happiness he’ll gladly be that— which isn’t always the right move, he learned

Listens to: Rotimi, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Skip Marley, H.E.R., Jhene Aiko, Jorja Smith, UMI, The Kooks, The Killers, Cold War kids, Milky chance, Blood Orange, The 1975, Vampire Weekend, Bad Suns, BRYSON TILLER, Kilo Kish, & Ella Eyre (although he misses her old music)

Celeb crushes? Cardi B is his mfkin celeb wife okay?! Nobody else comes above her! He also thinks FKA twigs is pretty & super talented, sevdaliza!, Tia & Tamera, Iman, and brandy from the 90s makes him swoon

Anthem = jaden, “Boys and Girls”

#litg #litg s2 #litg2 #litg Bobby #litg au #litg headcanon #litg headcanons #litg gary #litg lottie #litg marisol #litg mc #litg hope #you asked and you shall receive

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dorkylittleweirdo · 5 years ago

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Just One Night

So here it is y’all, ya boi finally wrote it. Sorry if it’s not great, but I did my best. I’ve never written posted smut before and I haven’t had much practice with it, but y’all can just have this anyways.

Gaius Augustine x MC. Don’t like it, don’t read it.

This was wrong. Everything about this was wrong, yet you couldn’t stop yourself if you tried. As if you were in a trance, you leaned forward, pressing your lips against your enemy’s cheek, letting them linger for a moment before you pulled away. What were you thinking? Were you even thinking at all? You didn’t let your lack of judgement show, and kept a straight face.

Gaius flinched slightly, as if you’d struck him. He whipped his head towards you, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Why?” He asked, his eyes a storm of emotion.

You simply shrugged. “Why not?” You answered. “I’m just showing you that people will still treat you with kindness.” If you were being honest with yourself, you didn’t quite have an answer for him. Hell, you barely knew what you were doing sitting out here alone with him.

He glared at you. “But you hate me.” His eyes held a touch of remorse and guilt, but he still tried to size you up. “Don’t act like you care.”

There it was. The subtle voice crack, the anger in his eyes that was no longer directed at you. This man was broken. You reached for his hand, placing yours on top of his and giving it a gentle squeeze. Something about his gaze seemed to soften as he looked at your hand, then back at you. You detected a new glimmer in his blue eyes, something dark.

“You want something, don’t you?” Gaius formed his question to sound more like a statement. He was hurt and vulnerable, and he knew it. He felt lost. He had no purpose, no drive. He didn’t have a clue what you were planning, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

You huffed. “I don’t have to want something to be nice,” you stated, rolling your eyes. “Some of us are actually decent people.” You gave him a knowing look, earning a scowl from Gaius.

“Whatever you’re trying to do, stop,” he snapped. “I don’t want your pity, and I don’t deserve your kindness.” He was irritated, not only at you, but at himself. Irritated for ever thinking that he mattered to someone, that there was anyone capable of loving him. And here you were, confusing the shit out of him. He hated it, not knowing what you were thinking. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to hate you.

“I never said I pitied you. Kindness, though…” You hesitated for a moment, then moved over, pressing your side against Gaius. You felt him tense, but you leaned your head against his shoulder anyways. “Everyone deserves to be treated well.”

“I’ve done nothing to deserve decent treatment,” he said stiffly, sitting rigid and staring straight ahead. He tried to mask his disappointment when he felt you pull away from him, looking back over at you with a complicated expression.

“It’s not too late to change. Rheya was controlling you, now she’s not. Show me what you’re really like.” Something about Gaius drew you to him. Perhaps it was the helpless look in his eyes, or maybe it was just in your nature to offer second chances. Or it could be something else entirely. But whatever the reason, you remained by his side, staring unflinchingly up at him.

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing,” he warned you, his gaze falling from your eyes to your lips. “Unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences, I suggest you stop now.” The unmistakable look of lust crossed his face as he slowly looked you over before meeting your eyes again.

You were slightly shocked, but you could work with this. “You’re not wrong, I don’t particularly like you,” you told him with a sigh, looking him up and down hungrily, unconsciously leaning forward. “But…”

“But..?”

“But I’m not above sleeping with you.”

Gaius looked startled, his eyes wide as he searched you for any sign of trickery. He detected none, which almost surprised him more. He leaned down, squinting slightly at you in confusion, then looking back down at your lips before catching himself and quickly shooting his gaze back to your eyes.

Without warning, you closed the distance between the two of you, smashing your lips against his. What the hell were you doing? You didn’t know anymore, you were too overcome by the feeling of his chapped lips against yours to think about anything else. You felt Gaius hesitantly kiss back, and climbed into his lap, wrapping your legs around his waist.

He pulled away from you just enough to look into your eyes. He felt your breath against his lips, clouding his brain of any rational thought. “Should we be doing this..?” He asked, his voice quiet.

“God, no,” you breathed your answer, grabbing his face in your hands and pressing your lips against his again, softer this time, but twice as desperate. You couldn’t believe that you were making out with your sworn enemy, the man who killed you and many others so mercilessly. But they weren’t the same person, you tried to reason with yourself. This Gaius was different, and if you were risking your life trying to save everyone, you were at least going to have sex one last time. You were the Bloodkeeper, for fuck’s sake. You could do whatever you wanted with whoever you wanted. And you wanted him.

Gaius grabbed you by your thighs, standing up and effortlessly lifting you with him. He felt you wrap your arms around his neck, not breaking away from him. He carried you into your cabin, throwing you down onto your small bed and stripping himself down. He climbed on top of you, confused when you placed your hands on his chest, pushing him away from you.

“It’s cute that you think you’re going to top me,” you chuckled, a deviant smirk on your face. You quickly and expertly flipped him onto his back, pinning his wrists to the bed. You leaned down, brushing your lips against his ear. “I’m in charge.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” he breathed, not a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he stared at you, watching as you pulled your shirt off before tossing it to the side.

You placed a hand on his chest, slowly moving it down to his stomach, feeling every muscle. “You’re beautiful,” you said suddenly, your facial expression not changing, though you felt your cheeks heating up. You cocked your head, smiling at him as you looked him up and down. “The things I could do to you…”

Gaius wasted no time. “Make me yours,” he requested without hesitation, his eyes pleading. His breath caught in his throat at the pleasantly surprised way your eyes widened, before a dark look crossed your face.

You grinned at him, fangs gleaming in the dim light. “Consider it done.” You leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to his jawbone. You moved down to his neck, just below his jaw, sucking the sensitive area. You slowly made your way down, getting rougher with every new, untouched area. You nipped at his neck, the tips of your fangs teasing his skin as you stuck your tongue out, swirling it in small circles against his neck. You moved down again, leaving love bites along his collarbone and shoulders.

Eventually, Gaius couldn’t handle the powerless feeling any longer. He grabbed your hair, pulling it roughly and yanking you away from his body. He propped himself up on his elbow, sitting up and shoving his face into your exposed neck and biting down, just as rough as you had been. He felt your nails dig into his back, while another one of your hands gripped his hair. He moved his free hand to your back, unclasping your bra and throwing it aside before grabbing the waistband of your pants and struggling to get them off of you.

You moved out of his reach, Gaius releasing his hold on your hair so you could rid yourself of the rest of your clothing. Once you had tossed your clothes behind you, you climbed back into his lap, straddling him. You could feel his bulge better like this, and he buried his fingers deep in your hair, gripping it at the roots and yanking. You let out a low growl when he bit down on your neck again, a pleased grin on your face. “Harder.”

Gaius immediately obeyed your command, his fangs lightly pricking your skin. He relished the way your breath hitched, the way you softly panted as you scraped your nails along his back, then gripped his shoulders. He let out a small groan when you began grinding your hips against his, feeling himself being pushed back against the mattress.

You hovered above him, pushing your hair back when it fell in your face. You stared at the man underneath you, reaching a hand out to place your fingertips on one of the dark bruises, lightly trailing your fingers down to brush over all the marks you had left on his pale skin. What bullshit had you gotten yourself into now? You felt dizzy, whether that be from ecstasy or your horrible decision-making skills. Your inhibition was long gone, faded away into the night, and you were willing to take this as far as you could.

Gaius studied your face, noting the hint of regret etched into your features. He placed his hands on your cheeks, pulling you in for a kiss, less lust-filled than the previous ones. This one was full of passion and tenderness, and you eagerly kissed him back, deepening it.

You pulled away after a few more moments, reaching under the pillow and pulling out a condom. You held back a smile when Gaius quirked a brow at you. “You never know,” you offered in explanation, earning a soft chuckle from Gaius, who shook his head as he removed the condom from its packaging and slid it on. You then took his erect member in your hand and inserted it at your opening, sitting down to slide it the rest of the way in, letting out a sharp exhale.

Gaius immediately began rolling his hips into you from below you, not wanting to waste a second. He guided your hips into him, but you were quick to set your own pace. He let out a soft moan when you began bouncing yourself up and down, starting slow at first, but quickly picking up speed. He bucked his hips in time with you, quickening his tempo as you did. His mind was no more than a haze at this point, and all he wanted was you. It was past feeling wrong, it only felt right, and so, so good.

You emitted a few soft moans, feeling his hands roughly grab your hips, hard enough that you instantly knew there would be nail marks and bruises by the time you were done. You didn’t care, you couldn’t. You started panting, slowing your tempo. Try as you might, you were unable to hit that certain spot in you, and to your disappointment, needed him on top. You opened your mouth, trying not to sound as pleasure-ridden as you knew you were. “Do you.. do you wanna-” before you could even finish your sentence, you felt yourself being flipped onto your back.

Gaius pounded into you, each thrust faster and harder than the last. He felt your nails digging into his back again, and he let out a low, drawn-out moan. A thin layer of sweat covered him as he continued sliding in and out of you, finally hitting the spot that ripped a moan from your throat. Gaius quickly captured your lips in his, quieting you down.

You arched your back, your body hot as pure pleasure coursed through your veins. Your moans were swallowed by Gaius, who was breathing heavily through his nose, your lips locked together. You were close, and you tossed your head back, panting. “Gaius…” you moaned brazenly, your breath coming in short gasps as he pressed his mouth against yours again. You let out another moan as you came, the noise muffled by his lips.

“MC,” he mumbled, his breath hot on your lips. He never thought your name would leave his lips, not like this. “I’m so close.” A few more thrusts, and he finished, slowing his pace before pulling out of you. He panted, pulling off the condom as you sat up, making room for him on the bed. He leaned heavily against the wall, scooting a bit closer to you to get away from the bed’s edge.

You leaned against him, sweaty and exhausted, but not feeling an ounce of regret. As the intense euphoria faded and the haze lifted from your mind, you wondered how you would explain the marks that littered your body to your friends. That was a problem for tomorrow, you decided, nuzzling your head against Gaius's arm.

He let out a sigh, not looking at you as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. Gaius pulled you into his lap, allowing you to cuddle up to him for a while. He ran a hand up and down your back, you resting your head against his chest. The two of you remained like that for a while, feeling like the whole world had disappeared around you. But it hadn't. Gaius shifted, removing his hand from your back. He hid his disappointment well when you rolled off of his lap and back onto the bed.

You stood up, wincing slightly. You were already sore, bending down to pick up your discarded clothes and putting them back on. You tossed Gaius his clothes as well, both of you silent as you covered your bodies back up. You desperately wanted to say something, anything. But what was there to say? "You, uh… you were really good." Stupid, that sounded so unbelievably stupid.

"You as well," Gaius responded, standing from the bed to put his remaining clothes on. He towered over you, he almost found it hard to believe that you rode him most of the night. He locked eyes with you. There was so much left unsaid between the two of you, so much he wanted to talk to you about, but he was unable to find the words to say anything.

You gazed into his clear, blue eyes. You had so much to say, yet no words. The same problem as him. You only had one thought, one slightly coherent thought. "If we- if we.. survive," you began, struggling to figure out how to word the rest of your sentence, "do you want to make this.. a regular thing..?"

Your proposal made Gaius freeze. He felt himself nodding, which earned a small smile from you. What would this mean for the two of you if everything worked out in the end? What sort of relationship would this be? What were you now? Questions flooded through his consciousness, none of which he dared ask out loud. "If we had met in a different life," Gaius said, his voice barely above a whisper as he gazed longingly into your eyes. "I think things could've been different."

You swallowed thickly, nodding once in agreement. "Another life…" you repeated, biting your bottom lip. "We have more than just this life. We're immortal, after all." You offered him a lopsided smile, which he returned. He approached you, pressing his lips against yours one last time. It was soft and sweet, unlike all your other kisses, and full of an emotion you couldn't quite identify. You watched as he walked out of your cabin without another word, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

Maybe this lifetime wasn't enough to undo all the damage that had already been done. But maybe it didn't have to be undone. Maybe all you needed was time and patience. A tear rolled down your cheek, an empty feeling suddenly eating away at you. Maybe all you needed was him.

#choices #bloodbound #gaius augustine #gaius x mc #gaius augustine x mc #writing #my writing

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thoughts-of-a-stagemanager · 5 years ago

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The day my dream job died

In February I was sitting in a room listening to one my superiors talk about crap that had nothing to do with anything important. I had recently finished a show that wrecked so much havoc on my mental health just the sight of the director of that show made my jaw clench. We had a guest in that room who used to work my dream job. That job, I am not going to say because I don’t want to watch someone else’s dream job die because of me. I’ve always loved theatre and I wanted to pursue Stage Management professionally. At least, that’s what I thought. But as I was sitting in that room, listening to the guest who used to have my dream job talk, I was soon horrified at the stories she told. About how she was treated, how the actors were treated and how crew was treated. As she was talking I felt the metaphorical path of my life I had so carefully paved out crumble beneath my feet and I was falling. I was trying to grasp something. Some sort of hope that I could still get my dream job and be happy doing it. But I had already fallen and landed hard on the rubble of the path. My ASM for my next show looked over at me and saw the perplexed look on my face. She gave me a sheepish smile and just said “it is a big company. Those things happen unfortunately.”

I remember calling my mom that night and telling her everything. I felt so defeated. She simply said “There’s lots of other theatre companies who would want you. You’re really good at your job.”

Call me overdramatic if you must.

But perhaps its because every single show I have worked in my Stage Management career has wrecked havoc on my mental and physical health.

Perhaps its because every single show I have worked during my Stage Management career I only had one director that didn’t treat me and my crew like servants. But with just my luck, during that show I was harassed by an actor.

I remember my first big show I worked, the director was very verbally abusive toward me. Causing me to have a breakdown at least twice a week after rehearsals. It takes a lot to break me. But so quickly, I was beat down to a weak mouse who could barely stand on her own two feet. I remember I went to my boss and asked her multiple times “Why can’t I stand up for myself and the actors/crew because we all know this is wrong?”

She simply said, “It’s not your place. This director is a control freak, get over it.”

This was the biggest slap in the face to me during the whole production. How helpless and silenced I felt because I was new and didn’t know what to do. It was tech week for this show when I started the Tumblr blog. I needed somewhere to vent. During the post mortem for this show the director (who had already directed many shows, but it was their first show at our theatre), said in front of the entire board, designers, everyone, “You know, I was new and (my name here) was new and you know, she’ll be good next time.”

I froze, speechless, tears instantly coming to the back of my eyelids. This director who insulted me, verbally abused me and used me as their scape goat the entire show just wrongfully put me on blast in front of everyone. After I had held up her show on my shoulders with little help from anyone. I looked around the room to see a few designers shaking their head at me in disagreement. However as the ‘new’ stage manager, this absolutely crushed me and made me mad at the same time.

The next show I worked, the director had general ideas of what they wanted, constantly changed things on me (and the designers), then proceeded to use me as their personal assistant while scolding me for being supportive to actors. Yes, you read that right, I was scolded for being a kind and caring stage manager. This director also changed the schedule on me and the actors so many times that it got to the point I just wanted to say, “here is the schedule, you can change it everyday yourself and confuse the actors so they understand its fully you messing up all this work.”

This director would call designers to run throughs then proceed to waste an hour or more of everyone’s time working scenes instead of doing the actual run through causing us to run late. This director would be incredibly rude to my ASM’s and myself right in front of actors. This director threw things like their keys at me. Would respond to me trying to be helpful with “Well duh” or since they changed the schedule so much would respond to the call list for the day with “Uh no, that’s definitely not what we’re doing.” This making it look like to the actors I had no idea what was going on. But I think they [actors] knew. However, shockingly, this director treated me much better than the previous one I had mentioned and now the sight of them doesn’t fill me with dread, because shockingly this show was the best show I’ve ever worked.

I am exhausted. I am so sick of being used as a pin cushion and the scape goat for all the directors and actors I’ve worked with.

I am sick of working with actors who are full of hot air and think they are better than everyone else.

I am sick of working with directors who think so highly of themselves they don’t care who they destroy in their path of building their ‘reputation’.

I’m here to say. I need a break. Stage Management has exhausted me. I am exhausted.

Please, please, please, please do not let this ruin your perception of the theatre world. If you want to be a professional Stage Manager or something else in theatre, go. Pursue that dream. I was simply delt a crappy hand. I worked my ass off yet people continued to treat me like their scape goat, like complete and udder shit and it has not faired well on me. I am still incredibly grateful for the amazing down to earth people I did get to work with and appreciative of the opportunities I had, the things I have learned, the friends I have made and the fun stories I have to tell. I am incredibly grateful for the awesome support team behind me who have helped make stage managing possible while dealing with my chronic illness. I am incredibly thankful for my mom who let me call her and just vent so many countless times. I am incredibly thankful for my fur children who were always a pleasant face to see when I came home. Lastly, I am incredibly grateful for my amazing friends and ASM’s who kept me sane during tech rehearsals and were a witness when things got sticky with vindictive directors.

If I have learned anything from my time as an SM. It’s to speak up for yourself. Call people out (nicely) when they are being rude, vindictive and unfair. Anyone who tells you it’s not okay to speak up for yourself and concerns for your own/crew/actor safety is not someone who you should be working with.

So this is me, signing off. I need a break. I am simply exhausted. I am emotionally, physically and mentally drained.

I am making a career change (hopefully), I got a temp job while tying loose ends in the current city I am living and moving back home next year to pursue a true passion and dream of mine I’ve had since I was six that has nothing to do with theatre. Stage Management has always been a back up plan of mine anyway (ironic, right?). I won’t be gone forever and I’ll check the blog frequently for your asks. I will post funny stories as I remember them or as they are submitted. I’m not abandoning you all. I’m simply stepping down from Stage Management for a while, perhaps permanately if my dream job takes off. I just need some time off from theatre. I need time to heal. I need time to recover.

Thank you all for being the best group of followers I could ever ask for. I’m still here for you. I still look forward to reading your submissions and answering your asks.

Talk soon.

~Admin <3

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mnranger5 · 5 years ago

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Plan E: Fishing Opener 2020, Lake Minnetonka, 5/9/20

Fishing Opener 2020, the opener that almost didn’t happen. In light of the Corona Virus, for weeks, I’ve been holding my breath in hopes that the 2020 Opener would go on without a hitch.

With the Lake of the Ozark’s Big Bass Bash canceled in April, and states all over the country shutting down boat ramps, the “Stay At Home” order issued by our governor was giving me little faith in a traditional Fishing Opener..

In January, I booked a two night stay at the Father Hennepin State Park campsite. My plan was to use this site as base camp for the entire Opener weekend. Located right on Lake Mille Lacs, this would have been my first Opener at Brown Town USA! However, with the governor’s order in February, campsites would remain closed throughout the Corona Virus pandemic. I was hopeful the order would be lifted prior to Opener, but that unfortunately did not happen. The weekend at Mille Lacs had to be canceled.

Plan B: Day trip to Mille Lacs! I really wanted to fish for some big brown fish on opener, so my new plan was to day trip up to the big pond. For a week, I rigged up my gear with jerk baits, drop shots, jigs and crank baits. I was ready for Mille Lacs. The weather was gorgeous on the days leading up to Opener. Sunshine, warmth, with temps in the low 70′s.

And then the cold front blew in the night before Opener. The forecast at Mille Lacs was for snow, a high temp of 36 degrees and winds roaring out of the north from 15-25mph. That is a brutal forecast for that giant body of water. I officially scrapped Mille Lacs as my Opener destination.

Plan C: The morning of Opener, I woke up to this slap in the face.

It’s not like I shouldn’t have expected the cold on Opener. Seems like this weather is par for the course, but it sure does stink fishing in this kind of weather when earlier in the week I was wearing shorts and t-shirts.

With the cold temp, I wasn’t in a hurry as I moseyed around the house. Inadvertently, my slow start would end up prolonging my morning even further.

Around 6:45, I finally left the house. I was bound for Prior Lake. A few detours later, I rolled into the launch around 7:30. I guess I’m not sure why I was expecting to roll on up and launch immediately...after all, it is Fishing Opener and the entire state has been waiting on pins and needles through the Corona Virus Quarantine for this day. As I pulled up to the boat ramp, I could see from the road there wasn’t a single trailer spot remaining, I thought to myself...I lollygagged around the house for way too long this morning.. These anglers show that the early bird gets the worm.

Plan D: So I made a quick trip over to Lake O’Dowd, one of my other favorite lakes in the south metro. As I pulled up to that launch, it was jam packed with trucks and trailers, with several in line waiting for their turn. No way was I going to wait around to get on this lake.

Plan E: Luckily Minnesota has thousands of lakes. What lake do I pick next? I decided on Lake Minnetonka. Mike was already out fishing on Tonka, so it would be fishing finding him and fishing together. So I made the 30 minute trek over to Grey’s Bay in Wayzata and found plenty of parking spaces in the lot. I was on the water shortly after 8AM.

The first area I fished was a sharp ledge just east of Charming Point on Big Island.

In the area highlighted in yellow, there are submerged rocks in 10-25 FOW. On numerous occasions, I’ve had bites and mark many fish in deeper water, however, I don’t think I’ve ever actually caught a fish here. I’d like to think this is a prime spot for the elusive Minnetonka smallmouth bass. I bounced around the rock piles for about an hour drop shotting on several good marks. But other than a couple of bites, I never hooked into a fish. I did see a few guys around me hauling in walleye and pike. So if they aren’t deep...

Maybe they’d be shallow? I moved up on the shoreline and alternated between a spinner bait and Rattletrap. The Rattletrap immediate paid off. A slender two pounder was sitting right under the the first lay-down I cast to.

I picked up another short fish on the Big Island shoreline, but by no means was it gangbusters. I picked up the trolling motor and went searching for better fish.

I fished around Lord Fletcher’s, Seton Lake, Black Lake and Pellican Island without finding a single fish. Finally, I pushed over to Goose Island and started to get back on the pattern. Unfortunately the fish I was patterning were just little squeakers.

By 1PM, I had caught a half dozen fish, with my largest being the first one of the day. Time for a change. Mike and I met at Maynard’s for lunch - but with the restaurant dining room closed due to Corona Virus, we had to do dockside pickup. The food was fabulous.

Our next stop was St. Albans Bay. And the rain began to fall. As chilly as it was with the rain, I didn’t notice much, because the bite started heating up.

I alternated between a wacky rigged senko, spinnerbait and rattle trap as I work the docks of the large marina at the Bay’s entry as well as docks on the eastern shoreline. I hooked into a half dozen bass in this bay, and finally found a good one worth talking about.

As I was fishing the eastern shoreline, I was casting the rattle trap in perfectly flat water. The only movement on the surface were the raindrops falling gently. I approached a very interesting mansion perched on it’s own little island. I was admiring the unique European architecture of this house as I made a long cast to the first dock passed the bridge (leading out to the island). I don’t think I made a full revolution with the crank before a bass slapped at the rattle trap. I Leaned away from the pull of the fish burying the treble hooks deep into the fish. This one obviously had more weight behind him. He made a few valiant efforts at a jail break, but I was able to manage his darting and dashing as I pulled him up to the boat. I boat flipped this big guy for my first quality fish of the day.

While shorter than I expected, this fish was tall and fat. She tipped the scale just north of 3.5 pounds. This fish has obviously learned some lessons lately; 1) don’t eat a rattle trap, and 2) stay away from the muskies.

Mike and I next made a run over to Smith Bay where we fished for about 90 minutes canvassing the bay side-by-side.

Shortly after this picture, the rain was coming down in buckets, so I didn't take any other pictures. But this spot was magical. I am not one to turn a 3lb fish into a 6lb fish story nor do I exaggerate the numbers of fish I catch. So when I say Mike and I caught a combined 20-25 fish in the 90 minutes we were in this spot is dead accurate. None of the fish we caught were huge (I’d guess the biggest was about 3 pounds), but the bite was non-stop on the spinner bait and rattle trap.

Around 5PM, Mike was done and headed home. I on the other hand, had one more spot I wanted to fish. Woolsey Pond.

Woolsey Pond is accessible through a very narrow cut. The pond at the end of the cut actually has two twenty foot holes which make this a prime area for quality fish. I fished the entire cut all the way Into Woolsey. My favorite dock is the first one on the right side, highlighted in yellow. It’s a large wooden dock with old wood posts buried into the Minnetonka mud. I fished this dock methodically with numerous casts, trying to hit each dock piling with my wacky worm. I made one cast to a rear piling. I slowly reeled in the slack. However, as the line became taught, I noted the line was nowhere near the piling I had cast to, it was at in the middle of the boat slip now. Something had it. I set the hook, and a giant bass came rolling up to the surface. Easily my big fish of the day.I hectically fought this fish as it tried its darnedest to wrap around one of the wooden posts, but I was able to successfully get the fish away from the dock. I let the big girl wear herself out as I tried to position myself in the passenger seat of the boat to lip the fish when she came to the surface. And just as she came to the surface, she flipped up and shook the hook. I was really bummed about not getting that big girl in the boat because she was every bit of 4-5lbs. But even though I didn’t get her in the boat, the fight sure was fun.

Although I was relegated to Plan E, Fishing Opener 2020 was a blast. I caught a ton of fish and learned a new lesson. Don’t get to the lake late on Fishing Opener!

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paintrider13-blog · 8 years ago

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Dela de l’espce et du temps (Beyond Space and Time) Part 2

So Huge thanks to @one-shots-supernatural for doing the challenge that wrote pat one. to. @willow580 for helping me start the idea. @atc74 for being my Beta, my spring board, my support, and my drive, and for putting up with me. Hope you like it!

A/N This is my own AU its gonna be hella good.

Warning: talk of death, murder, biting, blood

Pairing: None yet, eventually though.

Word Count: 2392 (its worth it and will just get better!)

Italics are flashbacks, bold is text messages.

You looked out across the crowd in disgust as you were led up onto the dias, your hands cuffed in front of you. You had done nothing to deserve this, save being born with a birth right.

It was a pitch black night, no stars or moon shone; even the world knew the evil that was happening here. People yelling from the crowd pulled you from your thoughts, the revolutionary leading you jerked hard at your hands causing you to slip on the blood soaked planks. You righted yourself, hiking your chin a notch higher. You would not die screaming or begging for mercy as you had watched those before you do. You were raised a lady, and you would die with your dignity intact.

The revolutionaries were standing on the dias around you yelling to the crowd, you had no desire to listen to their lies. You scanned the crowed looking for those eyes. The only ones you cared to see, you knew they would be here. You had begged them not to try and save you, you would rather see them alive then in line behind you being led to their death.

As you were violently shoved forward, you lost your footing and fell to your knees with bruising force. Not that it mattered, no one would care about the state of your battered body. You were drug forward on your knees to meet the Lady Guillotine. As your neck was forced down onto the blood soaked board you finally found them. A set of crystal blue eyes met yours from the crowd and you stared back. There was so much you wished to say still. But even more so to the owner of the emerald green pair that stood by his side. They were both yours, you had loved them both. One, you more than willingly gave your heart and soul to, the other you had grown to adore and love with time.

“Any last words whore?” The revolutionary growled from above you. The disdain he had for you clearly painted on his face, even though he had no idea who you were. You looked back to the faces of your two devoted lovers.

“Nous trois pour toujours,” you said quietly making eye contact first with one man then the other.

“Nous trois pour toujours!” You cried out loud enough to be heard over the screams of the crowd and the sobs of the next victims.

“Nous trois pour toujours!” You cried out one last time, tears finally falling freely from your face as Emile pulled Armand to his chest and you heard the sickening weight of the blade as it dropped.

You woke up in a panic mumbling in French bolting upright in bed. You quickly realized this was not your bed, or Kait’s apartment. You looked around the room. It was quite large, decorated in burgundy and gold. You were laying in an immense and ornate four poster bed. The curtains drawn back and secured at the posts. You lifted the blankets and glanced down realizing that you were in your silk gown, but no corset. You still had your stockings on though so that was a good sign. Your eyes searched the room looking for your corset and shawl.

That's when you heard the angry voices outside the closed door.

“Benjamin! We have talked about this! You are the one who set the ‘no party favor’ rule. I am the reckless one, not you!” A deep voice growled.

“Dean, look at her. That's all I ask. It won't change anything.” Benny begged.

“No, I'm not doing this Benny.” The answer came and then all was silent.

You looked around biting your lip. Do you get up and try to leave without being seen? Ha you had no idea where you were! While tossing an escape around in your head you spotted your shawl and corset hung on the door of the half closed armoire. You started to get up when a soft knock sounded at the door, seconds later Benny peeked in.

“Ah Mon Cher, you're awake.” He drawled opening the door with his foot a smile spreading across his face. He was carrying a large silver serving tray in both hands.

You stared open mouthed at him as he made his way across the room to the side table. You thought he was attractive with the mask framing those piercing blue eyes? Hot damn the man was even more attractive without the mask.

“I wasn't sure what you were partial to, I brought coffee, sugar on the side, Tylenol and water. There are also fresh beignets,” he winked at you stepping away from the table.

You recovered enough to close your mouth as you smiled at him. Damn those eyes, there was something tugging at the back of your mind again, as he stared back at you.

“Thank you, where am I?” You asked looking around.

“I'm sorry Cher! I brought you back to my place, you had a little more than you had planned to drink, I think. You fainted when we were outside and I could not locate Kait. I lived close by, I brought you here hoping you would wake.” He stepped back from the table retreating a few steps.

“Oh my gosh I am sure she is worried sick!” You looked around in a panic for your clutch.

“Your phone,” he gestured toward the side table.

“Thank you!” You turned and snatched it up. Sure enough there were messages from Kait.

Where are you?

Y/N?

Hello?

I hope you're ok!!

Y/N?

You quickly tapped out a response telling her you were fine and you would call her shortly, before looking back up at Benny.

“You are welcome here as long as you need Y/N. I put the corset from your dress in the closet, I tried to make you as comfortable as I could. Do not worry,” his smile turned cheeky. “I did not take advantage of you.”

“Well thank you for your propriety!” You laughed. Even sober the next morning you liked him. He had the same sense of humor.

“Of course Cher. Why don't you eat and we can see what we can do about getting you home.” He smiled again almost shyly before exiting the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

You instantly dialed Kaits number. She picked up on the second ring.

“Oh my god you went home with him?!” She squealed in your ear at a high enough pitch to shatter glass.

“Hello to you too, and not exactly.” You laughed nervously.

“What does that mean? Do I need to come save you? Oh my god! Are you ok?!” Her tone changed instantly.

“Yes I'm fine, no I passed out and he wasn't sure where to take me so he brought me here. God Kait you should see this place.” You swung your legs over the bed dropping down to the step next to the bed before moving around the room.

“That good eh?” Kait asked.

“Yeah, this place is amazing, it is huge I am sure.” You opened the door to the armoire to find your shoes placed neatly in the bottom.

“Well girl you had better get out with a phone number and a date!” Kait cooed at you.

“You're bad,” you laughed. You made your way to the dressing table and sat at the chair. Your hair was still up in its mass of curls and pins.

“You love me. You sure you're safe and I don't need to come hunt him down and kill him?”

“Yes I do, and no I am fine. He brought me breakfast. I will keep you posted and I'll be home soon.” You pulled one pin from your hair placing it on the table.

“Alright girl, let me know.” Kait made a kissy noise at you through the phone before hanging up.

You shook your head and laughed. You set to work pulling the mass of pins from your hair. As you let the curls fall you noticed something red on the side of your neck.

You leaned closer to the mirror tilting your head to see better

There is no way, you thought to yourself leaning closer. You slid your fingers against your skin yelping at the tenderness you found there. You gently probed with your fingers, your brain registered quite quickly that you you're touching a bite. A bite, with two puncture wounds. You yelped again leaping off the chair sending it crashing to the floor behind you. Your hands clasped over your mouth, your eyes wide in horror staring back at you in the mirror.

Suddenly the door burst open. You spun around to meet a pair of startled emerald green eyes.

“Vivienne?” He pulled up short staring at you.

“Excuse me?” You asked, your hands still covering your mouth.

“Holy shit!” He breathed staring open mouthed at you.

You stood there and stared back horror still on your face.

“I apologize for bursting in, I heard a crash, are you ok?” He asked recovering. His voice was gravely, and sent chills over your skin pushing your fear to the back of your mind. His voice was like a warm familiar touch. He was tall, broad and devilishly good looking. He was wearing jeans and a fitted t shirt that hugged the planes of his broad chest.

“Sweetheart?” He asked approaching you slowly, his eyes still wide trying to process what ever had startled him.

“No, I, no I'm not okay. What the hell did he do to me?!” You gestured wildly at the bite on your neck.

“Shit!” The man growled leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

“Well that was helpful!” You snapped at the closed door.

“Benny,” Dean ran into Benny outside the bedroom door. “You bit her.” Dean stated looking at him.

“I did. It would do you best to remember who bit you in the beginning. I turned you to save you, to save what I could of her. Then I find Y/N. Dean, it’s her, I know it is.” Benny roughly grabbed Dean’s shoulder. Even though they had been together for over 220 years and had become equals, Benny was still the elder. Benny did what he could not to exercise his hand over Dean, however sometimes the boy needed to be reminded who was in charge.

“How can you be so sure Benny? You only just met her.” Dean looked back and Benny, this was dangerous and greatly out of character for Benny. There truly must have been something.

“Dean, you saw her. What was the first thing you thought?” Benny removed his hand from his shoulder.

“Vivenne.” Dean said quietly looking down. “Benny, just because she looks like her does not make it her.” Dean met Benny’s blue eyes.

“Dean, I tasted her, smelled her. She was intoxicating.” Benny looked longingly towards the bedroom door.

“We have to let her go, Vivenne is dead and gone.” Dean squeezed Benny’s shoulder as he strode past him.

“Y/N?”

You spun around to see Benny in the doorway.

“What did you do to me?” You asked taking a step back.

“It was all part of the night. I did not realize that the teeth were so sharp. I apologize.” Benny bowed his head to you.

“What do you mean?” You questioned him.

“It was all part of the evening. Part of the allure of the night. However, I did not realize that the fake teeth I had purchased for the evening were so sharp. I did not expect them to break the skin. I do apologize for the pain I caused you.” Benny moved across the room to you. You watched him as he stopped in front of you gently reaching out to cup your face.

“I did very much enjoy the evening. If you would grant me the pleasure cher, I would enjoy seeing you again.” He smiled, stroking your cheek with his thumb.

“I would like that.” You smiled up at him falling into those blue eyes. He leaned forward and gently placed a kiss to your lips.

“Come, I’ll take you home.” He whispered, his breath fanning across your face.

“Thank you,” you answered keeping your eyes closed, leaning to place your lips against his again. You had no idea why you were being so bold, but there was something about this strange man that drew you towards him. You had never been this drawn to someone before. You slid your tongue along his lips asking for entrance that he willingly granted. You quietly moan, your tongue sweeping against his. You lean into the front him, his arms enveloping you.

“If you continue that cher you will not be going home.” Benny quietly says after you pull away.

“I'm sorry,” you smiled sheepishly up at him before moving towards the wardrobe.

Benny made small talk while you hooked your corset and as he led you through the overly large house to the foyer. That is where you ran into the other man, whom you assumed was Dean. You had heard them arguing earlier and caught his name.

“Y/N, this is Dean, you two haven't been properly introduced.” Benny stepped aside so that you could see Dean. He was leaned against the doorway into a cavernous living room.

“Sorry about earlier. You surprised me, you look like someone I used to know.” His smile was cocky, but warm. His green eyes danced as he looked you over. You could only imagine how this looked.

“You're fine. It's nice to meet you.” You smiled back at him. He really was just as attractive or more attractive than Benny. He was over 6 feet tall and broad. His green eyes held a look of wicked promises. You looked back and forth between the two men. Something tugged at the back of your mind, almost like deja vu, seeing the two of them standing there looking at each other and then at you.

“It was a pleasure to meet you.” He winked at you before he retreated into the room behind him sharing another glance with Benny.

“Come Y/N let me take you home.” He placed his hand on your lower back and guided you through the kitchen into the garage.

Want on the tag list? Want off? want to be tagged only in certain stuff? send me an ask!

Forever Tags:

@atc74 @willow580 @lovebelieve97 @mysteriouslyme81 @chelsea072498 @just-a-touch-of-sass-and-fandoms @marygracewinchester @deandoesthingstome @supernatural-jackles @deanscherrypie @torn-and-frayed @d-s-winchester @littlegreenplasticsoldier @impalapossible @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog @nichelle-my-belle @lipstickandwhiskey @kakdhaoan919 @avasmommy224 @mogaruke @tankcupcakes @death2thevirgin

Dean:

@perpetualabsurdity

Beyond Space and Time:

@hunters-hiraeth @ijustfriggen @kitchenwitchsuperwhovian

Reader insert only:

@jensen-jarpad

#supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #benny x reader #benny x dean #benny x you #benny lafitte #benny x reader x dean #supernatural reader insert

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mettamour · 8 years ago

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Mettaton’s Glambots: a subversive subculture

This semester, I had the pleasure of taking a class at my university called “Subversive Cultures and Performance” that allowed me to explore and create a new subversive subculture. Of course, with the opportunity to choose ANYTHING, I chose Mettaton, and centered around his “Glambots.” Below you will find an in-depth analysis of what Mettaton’s subculture would be like in today’s society. Enjoy! If you have any further questions or would like to exchange ideas, please message me!

Have you ever wished you could be a part of the world of glitz and glamour? Wearing every shade of pink on the spectrum and looking fabulous while doing it? Well that’s what the “glambot” subculture does. The name of Mettaton’s subculture, “Glambot” is a cross between the word “glamour” and “robot.” Mettaton is a robot from the game Undertale by Toby Fox. He is a robot that was built by Dr. Alphys, a monster scientist in the underground. But being glamorous isn’t the only goal of the glambot subculture. Bringing joy, happiness, and equality is a main component of their aspirations.

Mettaton is a robot performer in the Underground world of Undertale. The monsters in the Underground only have one source of entertainment, and that is Mettaton, the Underground’s #1 Idol. He works incredibly hard to perform for them and bring the Underground as much excitement and drama as possible. In one scene, a lion is seen wearing a dress that Mettaton wore in one of his in-game performances. He tells the protagonist that Mettaton recognized him, and gave him the dress. This act of kindness just starts to demonstrate what kind of personality Mettaton had.

And as it turns out, Mettaton wasn’t ALWAYS a robot. In fact, he was a ghost who had his body transferred into the body that Alphys built. As a ghost, Mettaton was “never really happy with his body.” However when Alphys granted this opportunity, he was able to be truly happy. For this reason, many transgender people rally around him and celebrate the experience described in the game, which was described much like gender dysphoria. The subculture of glambots is kind and giving, but is sure to look fabulous while doing it. They celebrate being happy in your own skin. Their political goal is to bring equality to all, and you can often see them frequenting equality rallies, dressed head to toe in bright pink heels and boas. Often, many of them dress up as Mettaton. They show their support of marginalized groups by parading as their favorite character. The glambots have protested at Congress by leaving rows and rows of hot pink heels on the steps of the Capitol Building. They held signs up that said “WE JUST WANTED A PLACE TO CHANGE INTO OUR HEELS” in solidarity with the transgender community when they had their rights to use their bathrooms of choice challenged. The photos were splashed all over the news, and the eye catching pink heels brought attention to their movement.

Not all members of the glambot community are transgender or suffer from gender dysphoria or body dysmorphia. To be a glambot, you just have to support equality, have the desire to be glamourous in each and every endeavor, and to love Mettaton unconditionally. However there is definitely a level of competition within the glambot community. There is constantly a push for bigger and better costumes. The consistent distinctiveness of glambots is their outrageous Mettaton inspired outfits. Often times you can see them wearing hot pink boots, even when not at rallies or events. They often wear sparkly eyeshadow, usually hot pink in nature. A common hairstyle is long bangs over one side, dyed black, with pink undertones. Glambots can be as subtle as wearing all baby pinks or as obnoxious as wearing a full feather boa, heels, a full face of makeup, and even a Mettaton cosplay. They aren’t afraid to make a statement, and if you see a glambot, you’ll probably know that they’re a part of the subculture.

(Source: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Undertale-Mettaton-Neo-Cosplay-589574265)

More lights, more drama, more hard work always means more respect in the community. If you spend more money on your cosplays, you will have more cultural capital. Wearing these advanced costumes are almost like a status symbol. Most of the leaders in the community have been cosplaying Mettaton since the game’s release on September 15, 2015. Since the game’s release, many rallied around Mettaton as a beacon of hope, and to them, he was their hero. These cosplayers then realized that many of them had the same interests, and decided to expand the group to include other goals.

There are a few symbols in the glambot community that are particularly important. Of course, Mettaton is the most important symbol in their community. They worship and look up to him. He is what they aspire to be and anyone who disses him is immediately shunned and ignored. You can expect ANY glambot to have his entire character analysis memorized, front and back. If you try to diss their “god,” you will certainly receive an earful from them. They recognize that he has flaws like any other character, but they’ll definitely explain to you exactly why that is necessary to his character. This is one symbol people should definitely avoid talking poorly about.

The second symbol is glitter. Glambots love putting glitter on everything. Whether it’s their hat or in their hair, on their clothes or on their shoes. They’ll get spray glitter for their skin and even paint their nails with glitter. For glambots, glitter is a staple. Some of the most devout glambots have gone as far as to even add glitter to things like smoothies, parfaits milkshakes, and even cereal. (The shakes with glitter in them are fondly called “Starfaits,” named after an in-game item you can purchase at Mettaton’s Resort.) These fans usually have thousands of followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. Social media presence is very important to Glambot subculture. Being able to get the Glambot message out to thousands of people is imperative to the encouraging more people to join. Even if it’s something as silly as posting a glittery smoothie, it catches the attention of people. And even if people are originally drawn in by their outrageous stunts, it might draw people in to learn about their cause.

The third symbol is hearts. This may seem obvious, but you can usually find Glambots with at least one heart somewhere on their clothing. This is to obviously symbolize love, but it is also a symbol of solidarity. If you see someone with a small pink heart pin, you can be sure that they are a safe person to talk to and help get you out of a bad situation. Glambots encourage all of their followers to wear a heart somewhere in some form or fashion. Glambot fan sites often sell pins or buttons that people can wear, even if you aren’t specifically a Glambot.

Creating music in the Glambot scene is HUGE because Mettaton is a musical performer! His in-game theme, “Death By Glamour” has been remixed so many times within the subculture. Many cross this theme over with electro-swing songs, electronica, dubstep, and even metal. It is a common idea to try to come up with the best remix of the song. However, most of the time, the subculture is seen rallying around electro-swing music, which is a mix of electronic beats and swing/jazz type music. Some of the top songs that people listen to are “Lone Digger” by Caravan Palace, “Looking like This” by Lyre le Temps, and Jamie Berry and Octavia Rose’s, “Delight.” The subculture is also fond of the Studio Killers, enjoying songs like “In Tokyo.” Lyrics of this song include:

“In a strictly guarded industrial facility In the outskirts of the city Where future is made of iron and plastic I experienced something fantastic Down in Tokyo I made out with a robot It felt gentle, but robust”

With lyrics like this, it’s no wonder that the Glambots rally around artists like the Studio Killers.

Being such a niche group, the group really has to create content for themselves. There are artists in the community that create MTT “fanzines” such as this one: mtt-fanzine.tumblr.com. These artists come together to create artwork of their favorite character. Fans can then purchase these fanzines and the proceeds go towards the artists and towards a fund specifically targeted to help transgender people get hormones, sex reassignment surgery, and any other help they may need. The group prides itself on helping queer people in need, while also fighting for the equality of these people. An important part of their mission is to be intersectional, focusing on how color, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and a variety of other factors can impact the experience of a person. The group has a fansite called “glambots.com” where they share fanart, fanfiction, photography, music, and art mediums of any kind on the site. The website is a place for planning rallies, events, and the main event of the year, METTACON. METTACON is a convention where glambots of all kinds rally together from all over the world. This convention takes place in Washington, DC. They celebrate Mettaton, and every cosplayer cosplays from the game Undertale, however most end up cosplaying some form of Mettaton. There are different versions, outfits, etc that people decide to dress up as. At this convention people sell art, music, and merchandise all dedicated to Mettaton.

In conclusion, my subculture could probably never be a real thing. Although it’s a good cause, there just aren’t enough people who love Mettaton to realistically be able to create a movement this large. I think there is definitely a space for a group of cosplayers that would love to use their work to help others, but I don’t think that there are enough Mettaton fans in particular that would be able to rally around him to create a social movement. Undertale has been out for almost 2 years now, and the fandom has severely slowed down on content. While it hasn’t completely died out, there just aren’t as many people who are interested as there were before. My subculture has an important place in my heart, as I absolutely love Mettaton and would love to be a part of a subculture of like minded individuals like myself. Wearing cosplay, supporting a good cause, making good music, and loving Mettaton all sound like an amazing thing to be a part of. For now I’m content with being a part of other subcultures that have the different aspects that I described in the glambot subculture. Through glitz, glamour, kindness, and awareness, the glambot subculture would make an amazing impact on the world, and look fabulous while doing it.

#mettaton ex #mettaton analysis #mettaton #undertale #subversive culture #subcultures #nonfmprg #ooc #transgender rights #gender equality

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gethealthy18-blog · 6 years ago

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Signs of Frostbite + Tips to Keep Kids Warm

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/signs-of-frostbite-tips-to-keep-kids-warm/

Signs of Frostbite + Tips to Keep Kids Warm

Extreme cold weather is nothing to mess with! This Southern girl got quite the education in winter weather safety while touring Tero Isokauppila’s beautiful (+ extremely snowy and cold) homeland in Finland. As you can imagine, knowing the signs of frostbite and how to stay warm in the snow is extremely serious business there.

With the record-breaking cold sweeping the U.S. right now, I thought it might help to share some of the cold weather tips I learned. While many of you from cold climates will already know a lot of this, with shifting weather patterns and extreme cold in unusual places it’s good to have a refresher.

I also consulted with mom friends who do a lot of winter sports or live in very cold climates to compile these tips.

Here’s what the experts (moms included!) have to say about enjoying the great outdoors in the winter, and how to judge if it’s safe for kids to be outside.

Kids & Cold Weather: The Risks (& Benefits)

We all know kids are naturally drawn to snow and will play in it for hours on end! From sledding to ice skating to just building a snowman, there are plenty of fun winter activities to keep kids busy and active all winter.

Many also seem to have their own internal heaters (probably something to do with all that extra energy) and view zipped coats and hats and gloves as a huge nuisance that get in the way of play. As any recess monitor at school will tell you, kids need some extra nagging training when it comes to staying safe in the snow.

There are health benefits to being cold, but overexposure is no joke. In certain conditions, only a short time of exposure can result in:

frostnip

frostbite

mild to severe hypothermia

Because kids are smaller, there’s a higher risk of frostbite or overexposure to the cold. Those little fingers/hands/noses are especially vulnerable to frostbite, which can occur in only minutes in colder temperatures and high wind.

In this post, we’ll focus on the signs and symptoms of frostbite, and how to avoid it.

What Is Frostbite?

According to the Mayo Clinic, frostbite is when skin freezes, causing sometime permanent damage to skin tissues. The risk of frostbite greatly increases when skin is exposed to combination of wind and/or water in cold temperatures.

Why does this happen?

When your body gets cold it responds by tightening blood vessels in the hands, arms, legs, feet, and other extremities to direct blood flow into essential organs and keep up your core temperature. This is one reasons the nose, ears, cheeks, fingers, and toes are usually the first areas to suffer frostbite.

Due to their smaller size, children are even more vulnerable than adults. They’re also more likely to be too young (or too caught up in the fun of being outdoors) to verbalize or notice the warning signs.

Signs and Symptoms of Frostbite (& What to Do)

So what to do… stay indoors all winter? Far from it. Kids can still enjoy snow sports and time outside even in very cold weather, but they need the right gear and a watchful eye.

There are three stages of frostbite and the signs:

First-Degree Frostbite (Frostnip)

Often called “frostnip,” this beginning stage of frostbite doesn’t permanently damage tissue, which can usually return to normal with some basic first-aid measures.

What to look for:

exposed skin turning red

complaining of being cold

Ask kids if they’re feeling:

a pins-and-needles (“prickly”) feeling

cold or painful skin

What to do:

Cover all exposed skin.

Get them someplace warm and dry immediately.

Soak the area in warm (104-108°) water for 15-30 minutes. Do NOT use hot water!

If water not available, cover affected skin with warm hands and hold on skin to warm up.

Skin should return to normal, but child may feel some tingling, pain, or burning as it warms up.

Second-Degree Frostbite (Superficial)

At this stage, frostbite starts to affect more layers of the skin.

What to look for:

skin tissue turns from red to a paler color

skin begins to feel warm to the person but cold to the touch (a sign of damage)

clumsiness in walking or loss of dexterity

Ask kids if they’re feeling:

a warm feeling in face, fingers, toes, etc. (although skin feels cold to touch)

any numbness or trouble walking or moving hands

What to do:

Repeats steps 1 & 2 above.

Check for signs of hypothermia or low core temperature (intense shivering, slowed speech, drowsiness).

See medical attention – most sources don’t recommend self-treatment at this stage.

Blisters (chillblains) may form as the skin tries to heal.

Third-Degree Frostbite (Deep)

The most severe stage and one hopefully none of us ever experience. Severe frostbite penetrates all layers of the skin. The skin at this stage is literally frozen and later turns black. It requires immediate emergency medical treatment.

What to look for:

skin turning yellow-gray or blueish-yellow

skin feels cold and hard or waxy to the touch

Ask kids if they’re feeling:

numbness or loss of feeling

difficulty moving or bending joints

What to do:

Repeats steps 1 & 2.

Splint or wrap the affected area as moving may cause further damage to tissue.

Seek emergency medical attention immediately.

This is a very helpful visual of the frostbite stages from the Mayo Clinic for a quick illustration. (Don’t worry, it’s not too graphic.)

When Is It Too Cold for Kids to Play Outside?

The answer to this question is a bit relative depending on where you live. My kids think a “snow day” equals temps under 35°F and a few flurries hitting the ground (if we’re lucky)! In other, colder climates, people go about their lives in daily average temperatures in the single digits!

The key is how knowledgeable and prepared you are for the weather.

So when is cold weather classified as “dangerous”? School policies vary widely (often because children come without the right gear).

Important note: Cold weather endurance varies greatly depending on climate, age, health conditions, how you’re dressed, etc., so you will need to make the best judgment for your family.

Safe Winter Play Guidelines

All of the sources I consulted agreed on three cardinal rules of safe winter play for children:

Make sure kids bundle up and come in often to warm up in temperatures lower than 32 degrees.

Always base judgments on the windchill, not just the air temperature.

Even when cold is not extreme, winter gear must be water resistant or water proof and very dry to keep kids safe.

6 Steps to Keep Kids Warm in the Snow

As I said, Finland was a real crash course in how to bundle up for the cold! Here’s what I learned about bundling up and choosing the right snow gear to keep you comfortable.

Also, a note that it’s possible to dress a child to warmly. Judge your needs and adjust the following suggestions based on your climate. You may not need anything fancy where you live… or, if you have #snowgoals and want to take up a new family activity this winter, you may want to invest in some quality cold gear!

1. Always wear a base layer.

This layer wicks away sweat and is a key part of staying dry! This is one of the few times synthetic fabric may be a better choice than natural as it will dry faster. If you plan to spend a significant amount of time in the cold, many moms I asked said UnderArmor’s ColdGear is the ultimate in insulating technology. (There are also cheaper options.)

2. A wool or fleece layer over the base layer.

For the next layer, choose something insulating and quick-drying like wool or fleece. This layer shouldn’t be too tight, as looser clothing will trap insulated air and keep you warmer. Our site editor from the Midwest buys this brand of wool leggings for kids in a larger size so they last for two seasons.

3. A wind and water-resistant coat with vents.

Moisture + cold = a recipe for frostbite or hypothermia (or just being too cold to have fun!). Choose an outer shell with wind and water resistant seams and vents to release perspiration. (January is a great time to shop for discounted outdoor gear for next year at a quality ski or outdoor gear shop.) My friend in Michigan loves these Roxy coats for a good blend of style and function.

4. Warm, insulating wool or synthetic socks (just one pair!).

I never knew this until my trip to Finland, but it’s actually very important to leave some room in boots (think warm, insulated air). Instead of doubling or wearing very thick socks, try a high quality pair of thermal socks instead. Bonus: they also last forever and work great for preventing blisters during summer hiking!

5. Warm, dry gloves, and boots (and face mask in very cold weather).

Moms rave about these Head gloves (I’ve seen them at a great price at Costco) or these mittens with side zipper to make them easier to get on toddlers.

Kids’ fingers are especially vulnerable. One mom whose kids ski competitively loves this glove dryer as a quick way to dry out kids’ gloves and get them back out in the snow.

Well-insulated and waterproof boots (with enough room for toes to wiggle even with socks!). These Khombu boots are well-loved by moms in cold places.

I had never heard of these before, but if temps are cold enough that noses and cheeks need to be covered, try a balaclava. (Hopefully kids will think it looks like a ninja and want to wear it!)

Bottom Line: Keep Frostbite Away While Kids Play

I’m glad it’s not my everyday life, but I am loving my time in Finland and learning so much about how have fun in the snow (and keep all my fingers and toes!). Hopefully some of these tips help, and wherever you are I hope you’re safe and warm!

Sources:

https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/conditions/frostbite

https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=frostbite-in-children-90-P02820

Flatt AE. Frostbite. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2010;23(3):261-2.

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/400865/frostbite/

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josephkitchen0 · 7 years ago

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Grease Zerk Fittings to Keep Things Running Smoothly

When and how to grease Zerk fittings is something many of us don’t think of often, but regular greasing is a crucial part of routine maintenance for your tractor and other critical equipment. Homesteading today still requires us to do lots of things ourselves, including the mundane tasks of greasing the squeaky wheels around the farm. I’ve been greasing equipment for longer than I care to remember, and I’ve learned a few things about these elusive little fittings, but first let’s explain exactly what is a Zerk fitting.

What’s a Zerk?

Zerk fittings are found wherever grease is required. It could be a needle bearing in a universal joint, a ball joint, a pin that allows parts to rotate or an area that has two hard surfaces that slide upon each other. There are Zerks on your tractor, your car, truck, bush hog, log splitter and even some wheelbarrows. They’re everywhere, especially on old tractors like in our compact tractor comparison article.

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In a nutshell, the actual Zerk fitting is a small nipple that threads into a hole. That nipple has a ball bearing in the tip that keeps grease in and keeps contaminants out, but its design allows grease guns to push fresh grease into the fitting. When you grease Zerk fittings it allows you to deliver lubrication to the hard-to-reach component where it’s installed.

This universal joint has a threaded hole to screw the Zerk fitting into (pictured above)

Different Zerks for Different Applications

Most Zerks are in a precarious position, and access may not be easily gained. To compensate for weird angles and obstructions when you grease Zerk fittings, they come in different angles such as 90°, 45°, 22° and straight fittings so that, if needed, you can install an angled fitting to make your life easier.

Not only are there angled fittings, but there are also remote fittings which are a fantastic thing to have. Remote grease fittings are usually found clustered together, many times in the back of a tractor or other equipment. You may find a plate with five or six Zerks attached. When you grease Zerk fittings like these, you’re actually pushing grease down a long hose or tube, possibly several feet long, which leads to the area that needs to be greased. New tractors are employing these more and more so that farmers don’t have to crawl under the tractor as much to perform basic maintenance.

This Zerk fitting is recessed into the loader arm

Where to Look

Like I’ve said, Zerk fittings can be elusive little buggers. First, check owner or maintenance manuals to see if their locations are designated. If you don’t have a manual to reference, you can hunt them down. Here are a few places to check.

Steering Components: Ball joints, tie rod ends and other steering components need to be greased if you want them to perform smoothly or stay operational. Your steering column may also have a Zerk.

Drive Shaft Joints: Drive shafts and PTO shafts usually have Zerks in the body of the joints. The typical universal joint (AKA U-Joint) has a Zerk near the center of its body. When you push grease into the fitting, the grease gets delivered to the ends of the body where the spindle bearings reside.

Loader Arms: Your tractor’s loader arms rotate on pins. Without grease, these metal on metal connections will creak, groan, grind and seize. On a tractor, these are usually the most vocal when they run dry, but avoid the squeaky wheel syndrome by keeping them greased. Be aware that it’s commonplace for some Zerks to be recessed into the loader arms, so check holes to see if they’re actually access points for greasing Zerk fittings.

Hydraulic Pistons: Hydraulic pistons or cylinders are on all sorts of things. Your loader arms are moved by them, your log splitter has one and every modern backhoe has them. Either end of these pistons rides on a pin, and that rotating surface needs to be greased.

3-Point Hitch: Your top link, adjustable hitch arms and various other joints in the area of your 3-point hitch should have Zerk grease points. Greasing these and working them regularly will ensure that you can adjust them when you need to without an inordinate amount of effort.

This mini pistol grip grease gun is my favorite tool for a quick 1 or 2 fittings

Tools of the Trade

The concept of greasing Zerk fittings is simple, the action of reaching them can be difficult. There are a few tools I’ve found to be quite useful, and a few that are more hype than help.

Standard Size Grease Guns: Every mechanic in America has one of these lurking in their shop. These tools hold a full tube of grease and offer enough leverage to make it easy to produce pressure when pushing grease into stubborn fittings. Unfortunately, they are unwieldy when crawling under things and almost require three hands to operate. These are great when they have a long hose and a swivel or 90° head. I’ll use these when I need to thread the hose into a tight spot when I grease Zerk fittings.

Mini Pistol Grip Guns: These small and agile grease guns are great for crawling around and under equipment, but they run out faster because they hold much less grease. I like having two of these; one with a short non-flexible head and another with a 12” hose with a straight head. These two conquer most of what I encounter on the farm really well, just be sure to stock up on refill tubes.

Electric Grease Guns: This is the cat’s meow when you grease Zerk fittings. Use a cordless grease gun when you’re going to be greasing a lot of fittings, or when your hands just don’t work like they used to work. They’re far more expensive than a $10 mini pistol grip, but they save you so much hand fatigue and make it easy to maintain your equipment.

Rejuvenator: Sometimes neglected Zerk fittings seize or plug up. There are tools meant to clear these fittings usually called “grease fitting tools” or “fitting rejuvenators.” Typically they are two piece affairs that require you to load them with grease or diesel fuel, place them on the fitting and then strike them with a hammer to produce lots of pressure to clear the blockage. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Good ones are not cheap, and cheap ones are not good, generally speaking. If the Zerk is in a bear of a spot, then a rejuvenator may be your best bet.

Replacement Zerks: Your local auto parts store, tractor dealer or farm store will likely offer an assortment pack of Zerk grease fittings. When fittings get smashed, rubbed, snapped, seized or plugged, I simply replace them and call it a day. They are cheaper than buying a rejuvenator and unless I can’t access the fitting, it’s easy to replace a Zerk.

Even my wheelbarrow has Zerks in the axle’s pillow blocks

Tips for Greasing Zerk Fittings

Listen for the Crack: When you grease Zerk fittings, listen for the crack. Once you have filled a void full of grease, the seals on either end usually make a crackling sound as they give way to let the overabundance of grease exit the joint. Stop before you blow out the seal.

Use Just Enough: Don’t overfill when you grease Zerk fittings. Usually three or four pumps of grease is enough and over-greasing a joint pushes grease out the aforementioned seals, which attracts dust, sand, and dirt. Contaminated grease can damage moving parts, so avoid having excess squish out the seals.

Keep them Clean: Carry a rag to clean off the Zerk after you grease. Again, exposed grease attracts dust, sand, and dirt. Avoid pushing contaminated grease into your fitting next time by cleaning it off when you grease.

Choose the Right Product: Not all greases are created equal. Find which kind of grease is recommended by the manufacturer for that fitting. Does it need a low-temp or high-temp grease? Crude base or synthetic? When in doubt, check.

Consider Compatibility: Not all greases are compatible. Don’t mix greases because they don’t all play well together. Be sure to stay consistent since mixing the wrong greases can cause reactions that result in more harm than good.

Wear Gloves: Disposable exam or mechanic’s gloves are perfect for greasing Zerk fittings, because you’re bound to get your hands covered in grease. I may change gloves two or three times while I’m greasing Zerk fittings on a machine just because it gets hard to grab tools. It’s far better than a rag or scrubbing your hands.

The Simple Act of Greasing

It really is as simple as pushing the grease gun’s fitting onto the Zerk (firmly), giving it a few pumps and pulling it back off. Done! Clean up and move on. It’s even easier than adding tractor tire fluids or hooking up your implements.

Did you find these tips helpful? Do you have a few tips of your own? Share in the comments below!

Grease Zerk Fittings to Keep Things Running Smoothly was originally posted by All About Chickens

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inspectorgorgeous · 7 years ago

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Thanks to Avery Road Products for sponsoring this post and providing this product to review. Rest assured, all opinions are my own and my opinion is, they’re awesome.

Healthy Cereal? Yep. And It’s Dino-mite.

This is *part two* of the two parter recipe! If you missed part one, it was the Blueberry Almond Granola that you see floating around in this prehistoric dish of deliciousness. Check it out, PIN IT, then come back over here and pin this one so you can bake and make healthy, low carb cereal. Deal?

Learning to love (cereal) again.

I have to admit, I’ve been missing cereal lately. It really comes and goes and currently, it won’t go. SO when Avery Road Products said they had a new Dinosaur Gummy Mold for me to test, I wanted to go off script and make something *other than* another yummy gummy.

Skip to me re-watching Vampire Diaries for the hundredth time and thinking about how good a bowl of Captain Crunch OOPS! All Berries would taste and it hit me! A healthy, low carb, high flavor Dinosaur shaped cereal with Dried Blueberries!?!?!

YES.

SO I found out if the molds could withstand my oven temps and got the OK to heat ’em up…and well here we are. Embarking on this journey of healthy (filling) cereal with the best brand of molds out there, so clean up as a literal breeze, and not one bit of cereal will ever get stuck because SILICONE.

No dino left behind!

You can buy the molds *HERE* for gummy making and/or cereal making.

Low Carb Blueberry Almond Dino Cereal

Crispy & sweet cookie-like bits of Dinosaurs to make being an adult a little less painful.

Kids love them too.

To achieve the perfect, crunchy yet firm and filling cookie dinosaur-eal, I had to test (and taste) a lot of versions of this recipe.

I’m going to walk you through what WORKED and what DIDN’T…

just in case you try to go rogue with substitutions in the final recipe.

Trial One: Using Coconut Flour & Extra Liquid/Egg

Produces a crisp from the oven but ultimately chewy, yet somehow hard to swallow, dino.

*Thanks, coconut flour. You never cease to ruin baked goods.

Trial Two: Using A Flax/Hemp Egg and Coconut Oil

Produces a dense, muffin like dino that gets a weird texture after day one.

Trial Three: See the recipe at the bottom because it’s PERFECT.

So the KEY to getting the dinos to look like dinos is all in the filling process.

Make sure to only fill the wells of the mold *half full* and tap them gently to allow all of the mixture to settle into the crevices.

↓Here’s a picture of my better batch, where I had finally gotten the shape right.↓

And the dinos in the cup to the right ↓ are the ones that were GREAT out of the oven but not as good second day.

Luckily, I didn’t stop until I was certain that the cereal was perfect. Unluckily, I didn’t take pictures of the perfect batch because they looked pretty much the same, just more golden.

Kind of like my Low Carb Snickerdoodle Cereal.

Let’s just be clear on one thing, I ate Every. Single. Batch.

Because they were “good” but not “great”.

Especially fresh, which is when I inhaled this bowl ↓

It was so crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

OH! And this cereal (while baking) smells like a cinnamon-y vanilla heaven on earth.

AND THEN BLUEBERRIES.

Yes, I mixed in my Blueberry Almond Granola and handful more of dehydrated blueberries.

It’s like when Captain Crunch added crunch berries to the mix.

Just the absolute best idea *ever*

Crunchy, berry crisp that turns your milk a fantastic shade of purple.

Can I just say that this is about *the cutest* shape to eat cereal in?

I mean, other than unicorn shapes…

if Avery Road wants to manufacture those, I will buy them all.

SO follow this recipe and I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll love it because it’s been tried and tested and tasted.

Low Carb Blueberry Almond Dino Cereal

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Inspector Gorgeous

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4 cups

Sweet and crispy Dinosaur Cereal to bring you back to your childhood, but healthier and NOT by means of shredded wheat…

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 tbsp Almond Flour

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 cup Granulated Zero Cal Sweetener *

2 tbsp Butter, soft but not melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp Vanilla

1 cup Blueberry Almond Granola**

Instructions

Heat oven to 350.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (not including the sugar) and whisk together. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

Combine the wet with the dry and stir until a batter forms.

Scoop the batter into a large piping bag and cut the tip at about 1/2 inch.

Fill each well of the mold about halfway to allow for expansion and tap the molds well to ensure the batter fills each crevice.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops begin to brown.

Once cool, pop the cereal from the molds. For additional crunch, return the cereal to the oven for 5 more minutes on a baking sheet to crisp.

Notes

*This amount of sweetener makes a very sweet cereal. Reduce by 1 tbsp if you are sensitive to sweet. [br]**Blueberry granola recipe is linked at the beginning of this post! In a pinch, regular freeze dried fruit is a fine substitute!

3.5.3229

Low Carb Blueberry Almond Dino Cereal! Thanks to Avery Road Products for sponsoring this post and providing this product to review. Rest assured, all opinions are my own and my opinion is, they’re awesome.

#Almond Flour #blog #blueberry #breakfast #brunch #cereal #CLEAN EATING #cooking #food #gluten free #granola #healthy #homemade cereal #keto #low carb #recipe #vegetarian #weight loss

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redlipsfortheguillotine · 7 years ago

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Dr Took My Appendix or: How I Learned to Stop Searching and Love the Iron, Part II

Part II Appendixgate

Now I’m not someone who believes things happen for a reason. Not at all. I think things happen, some of which as a result of our own actions, for better or worse, some as a result of the actions of others, and some just randomly. But I think every time something happens, we have choices. Bad breakup, fail an exam, have a drinking problem, get robbed, anything really – we choose what to do with it, if we can. Sort of like when people say depression happens for a reason. Yeah, the reason is usually being born with mental illness, developing them in life or as a result of another illness, medication etc. It’s not that deep, and it’s a shitty deal. Likewise, I believe freak medical emergencies happen for the reason that, well, they just do. Disease, accident or in this case, standard appendix ticking time bomb gone awry.

On July 31st I went to bed feeling totally fine. Well, still bored and insufferable. But fine. August 1st, I woke up at 4am with stabbing pains in my gut. Sort of similar at that point to the pain you get when you have food poisoning or a bad GI bug. I got up, had some quick and horrendous toilet action, and couldn’t get back to sleep. I called in sick to my practicum (which I only did because I couldn’t stand up straight because of the pain). Mid morning, I took a taxi to the ER, because it was much worse. Appendicitis vaguely occurred to me since right lower quadrant pain is a hallmark of the condition. I was given an ultrasound by the bedside – note, bedside ultrasounds are less reliable, and ultrasounds in general are unreliable when performed on someone with abdominal fat as the visibility is bad. The Dr said it “probably” wasn’t appendicitis so he wasn’t going to do a CT, and that it would either get better or worse. He said he’d get me some Advil (seriously, on behalf of the entire medical establishment I’m sorry we think an Advil is helpful for anything that brought you to the ER). He forgot, and I went home. I took Advil every 4 hours, which took the pain from a 9 down to a 7, so that was the routine. My pain level of 10 up to this point in my life was my first IUD insertion about 9 years ago, just for reference. At this point my practicum instructor called me and reassured me that when I got in on Tuesday we’d sort out a way for her to test my skills and we’d figure out the missed hours.

On August 2nd, I woke up feeling still shitty, but hoped I could get a lost of rest. Around lunchtime I started feeling a bit weird and nauseous. I turned off the fan and curled up on the couch with a blanket. I was freezing, which is obvs weird as I am always sweaty. Suddenly I realized I was going to puke, and walked to the bathroom, noting that I was walking into furniture on the way. I went to throw up, didn’t, and sat down on the bathroom floor. I noticed my toes and feet were super pale and blueish, stood up and saw my face was too, and my lips were purple. Now I may just be in the beginning of LPN school but I know that these are bad things. I said out loud to my reflection, “this is bad, I’m scared.” Then I stumbled on back to the living room to call my mum, and as I leaned over the couch my fingers smartly dialed 911. I explained my situation and was told not to eat or drink in case I threw up, and that there were no ambulances available but they’d send one when they had one. Yeah. That’s a thing. Probably worth its own blog post. I took my temp which was 38.5, so that got me thinking, well maybe this IS appendicitis. But what’s with the weird feeling? I called my mum, who called Al on her cell while talking to me on her house phone (and tried at one point to put the phones together so Al and I could hear each other – useless, but cute!). I asked her to help me time my pulse, which I discovered was 160. Um, shit, I thought. It’s normally 76, so this is an issue.

55 minutes later the ambulance showed up, at the same time as Allan arrived from work. I got into the bus and the paramedic and I agreed that I was super sweaty, and my pulse was nuts. I told him the Dr had said maybe it was the stomach flu, and he gave me the paramedic face that says “this is definitely not the stomach flu it’s obviously an infection but I don’t diagnosis so I’m not saying that.” Got to the ER, where we all learned together that getting an IV into a sweaty arm is very hard. No IV Gravol for me! A bed became available, and as soon as I stood up nausea gave way to me telling the paramedic I needed to poop. Yep that’s what I said, at age 34 to a paramedic “I need to poop.” Allan came in with me to make sure I didn’t pass out, and then we both quickly decided we weren’t ready for same room pooping, so he stood outside. While, I might add, another patient screamed that she was dying. Hospitals are awesome. Anyway, I got to the bed, and thankfully saw a smart and pro Dr, who said “this is going to hurt,” poked me in the gut hard and whipped his hand away. (Rebound pain is a fairly definitive mark of appendicitis, it’s the removal of pressure that really hurts). I scream-moaned and he said “K! Appendicitis I think, let’s get you some morphine and a CT scan.” Morphine is awesome, just for the record, and I went from pain that was now a 10 to a nice fuzzy 5. The CT showed my appendix was 3 times its normal size, with probable fluid collection which could indicate rupture, and p.s. I have 3 accessory spleens (called splenules!) that are maybe useful and probably cute. Got scheduled for emergency surgery 45 minutes later.

Woke up and discovered what a 10 on the pain scale REALLY feels like. Yuck. What I thought was 15 minutes in the recovery room was actually 2 hours of Al feeding me ice chips until they could get my pain down. Two 5mg doses of fentanyl later and a lot more ice chips (and Allan asking me questions about North Korea for his own amusement) and I got wheeled to my room. Nb: fentanyl gets shit-talked but medically it’s epic, it’s just only great in a medically supervised environment where you can be reminded to breathe and the dose is exact. Though you’ll do stuff like text your friend and have no recollection of doing so. But I digress. I soon discovered I had a drain extending from my belly, to collect what was in fact a ton of fluid from the ruptured appendix and the large abscess that caused said rupture. The next couple of days involved a lot of pain (a new 10! Post surgical pain after fentanyl wears off), a lot of Dilaudid (aka hydromorphone - also gets shit-talked, also great in a medical setting), a bunch of crying, me trying to convince my surgeon that I had to get out and go to my practicum, and a lot of help from nurses, my mum and my husband. We nurses are obsessed with whether post-surgical patients are passing gas. This is because we need to ensure bowel paralysis is not an issue. No exception here, I had someone asked me if I had passed gas every couple of hours. All I wanted to do was lie in bed, but I know walking helps gas passing, and I now completely understand how hard it is to get post-surgical patients to walk around. But I did. I’d walk up and down the hallway with Allan and my IV pole as support, ensuring my drain was securely pinned to my gown so it didn’t pull on that incision. I had low BP so lots of potassium IV, I had about 5 bags of IV antibiotics a day, and Heparin shots to prevent blood clots. On the day I was released I had my surgical drain removed. This involves a friendly nurse pulling a couple of feet of tubing out of you, followed by a 12-inch piece of plastic, while you make alien noises and try to breathe out enough for your ab muscles to stop trying to pull the tubing back in. You guessed it – new 10 on the pain scale. Luckily, I can’t remember that pain, cause my mind was like NOPE block that shit out. I got home, and thank Odin for Allan, who fed me healthy food and toweled me off after showers (and made fun of me for making him carefully dry between my toes), gave me meds because I was too high to correctly dose myself, and carried my pillows to and from the couch/bed every day. It took about 3 weeks of inactivity and my formerly unshakable quad muscles atrophied to nothing.

For the first time in my life, I felt an overwhelming need to go to the gym. More specifically, I wanted to lift weights. I felt weak. After surgery, the drain and what turned out to be sepsis, I was wrecked (thank you Dr idiot for sending me home instead of getting me a CT scan, thank you me for following my intuition when I knew there that my body was screaming at me that something really bad was happening). I’m fine, but sepsis kills people, and as I know now it takes about a month to recover from. Then some recovery from all the antibiotics themselves. But honestly, I’m so grateful for antibiotics and for the paramedics and for that second Dr for quickly and correctly diagnosing me. I could have done without knowing what sepsis felt like but I’m glad I now do, for my own benefit and the benefit of my future patients. I went through a lot of feelings (even more than usual!) over those weeks, from being angry I couldn’t finish my practicum or continue onto the next term with my friends, to feeling lucky to be alive, from feeling good that I had a break from the school work I had not been handling well. Eventually, I settled somewhere in between all of those feelings. I enjoyed the food Al made for me (including actual vegetables for the first time in months). I gave up coffee, which my Dr had been suggesting for oh, several years. (I suggest trying to quit coffee while immobile, without responsibility, and hopped up on drugs, it’s much easier). I watched several seasons of RuPauls’ Drag Race, and eventually, I started watching CrossFit documentaries on Netflix. This was the first sign that something was very different. I was choosing to watch fit people on tv, and I wasn’t crying that I was out of shape and they were better than me – I was feeling inspired. Needless to say, I’m not sure if I found it stranger or if Allan did, but it was clear that post-surgery Rachel was perhaps some sort of Rachel 2.0.

Part III coming soon

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