#also. Richard white saying he's gonna be in her head

[crokitheloki]

sorry I'm losing my shit right now her outfit is so hot she's so hot I need her biblically it's not even fucking funny I need her so bad 😭

[thestrangesthell]

"Let's get married on your favourite holiday."

"Will you marry me on Halloween?"

"That's in two days!"

I re-watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (casually, this time) and ended up slowly descending down another theory stairwell.

Rory's pathetic proposal uncovers a previously-unknown (though unsurprising) fact about Lydia:

Halloween is her favourite holiday.

While this detail comes as a shock to absolutely no one, it triggered a brand-new headcanon to emergency land straight into my brain.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice could have been set at literally any time of year. The season has very little impact on the plot (with the exception of adding to the overall atmosphere and aesthetic). The main driving force is a few comedic gags with the Shrink Heads, Trick-or-Treaters and sets up the plot device for Astrid to fall head-first into Jeremy's trap.

Why does that matter?

Well, let's talk "psychic" connections.

Now, whether you believe Betelgeuse truly has a "psychic connection" with Lydia or not, it's fair to say the man is 100% spying on her.

Black and white motifs appear throughout the movie, insinuating a persistent presence of Betelgeuse. The first time we see this is during the Ghost House footage. A painting can be seen on the back wall and, in the night-vision camera, appears to be black and white stripes (or wiggles - if we're going to get really specific).

Again, we see black and white stripes on the man in the audience (whom Lydia "mistakes" for Betelgeuse) and later with the clown costume kid at Astrid's school.

Lydia also outrightly says:

"I feel this [his] presence."

There's not much more I can say here to convince you that Betelgeuse is an omni-present false protagonist.

The long and short of this point is that Betelgeuse is constantly checking up on Lydia. Whether it's to make her see him, sense him, miss him - it's all a part of his plan. The key thing is that he is able to do it.

Now, let's jump back to Rory's shit attempt at a proposal.

In this scene, Rory specifies Halloween is Lydia's favourite holiday. If we consider that fact that Betelgeuse is omni-present, he learns this too (although I'd place a lot of money on the fact he already knew and/or assumed this).

Now, let's jump in the line again, but this time, to the scene where Lydia summons Betelgeuse.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..."

After confirming that Lydia's daughter "is screwed," Betelgeuse bargains with Lydia for something in return in exchange for his help.

No where in this scene does Betelgeuse suggest or directly insinuate marriage. He simply asks for a way "to get away from her [Delores] permanently."

This could range from any number of things from Lydia's help putting a stop to Delores' plans to an outright exorcism.

It's Lydia who assumes that marriage is what he is after.

But look at him. He isn't going to complain. The man is delighted.

Anyway.

My point is that Betelgeuse must know that Lydia is engaged. Rather than make it awkward for her, he lets her make the call as to whether or not marriage is on the table.

Although I'm sure he also knows she's not exactly enthralled by the prospect of marrying Rory.

Now, let's cut to the wedding itself.

"If I don't do it now, I'm never gonna do it!"

I can't help but wonder, was Lydia talking about marriage in general, her marriage to Rory, or her marriage to Betelgeuse here.

(Side note: I headcanon that Lydia never got married. Not even to Richard. But that's a post for another day...)

After making make Rory make a fool of himself (say that three times fast), Betelgeuse sets the scene. He knows time isn't on their side, (yet still sings 90% of MacArthur Park like a lovesick idiot) and does some very specific things that round off my entire point:

He changes Lydia's original dress to something more of Lydia's taste. We know he was present while Lydia and Rory talked wedding plans in Charle's study, so we can assume he also saw what Rory ordered in from Soho.

He pulls out a lipsynch/floatation number à la Jump In The Line (which Lydia begs the Maitlands to do in the 1988 movie).

He gives her his literal heart.

And (most important to my point), he "crashes" Lydia and Rory's wedding to make sure it still takes place on her favourite holiday.

The wedding in Beetlejuice (1988) is as romantic as it is slow and steadily paced. That is to say, it's a complete shit show.

Betelgeuse is a manic mess of pleaseletmeoutintothelivingworldpleasepleaseplease and rushes everything in order to get his freedom. The idiot even forgets to have a ring at hand...or, ya know...finger.

Another sidenote: While I (personally) DO believe he has some type of strong feeling for Lydia in the first movie, he clearly wants his freedom more than a wife. He's been hurt by love before and literally snorts at the idea that he has to get married in order to get out "for good."

So...why is Halloween so important?

It's a day that's special and meaningful to Lydia.

And Betelgeuse is trying to make the wedding special and meaningful to her.

With a dress she would love, a song, floating in the air with her, calling her "one of the loves of my [his] life", taking it slow, throwing in a cheeky head spin to keep it strange and unusual - doing it all on Halloween.

He pulls out every single stop to make it as perfect as he possibly can.

Plus, if my headcanon that Lydia has never gotten married is true, the least Betelgeuse can do is embarrass Rory even further and make his attempt look even more pathetic.

So...yeah. Halloween was more than just a spooky setting. In my heart, anyway.

Happy Halloween 🎃

[hawkcoyote]

Let’s talk Tennis

Now this is the tennis fan in me taking things a little too seriously. But as I continue to think about Challengers and I have rewatched the film again, I’m kinda looking at Tashi a little bit side ways. One thing people always talk about is how Tashi coulda/shoulda/woulda been this amazing player had she not been injured. And it’s not to say she wouldn’t have been. But she’s never actually had to put her money where her mouth is. And her being a great tennis coach for Art does not mean she could have been a major contender in her own career. I mean how good of a player was Richard Williams? Honestly, most of these coaches don’t have anything to their name. It’s a little convenient she got injured right before she actually had to make the transition. We never actually get to see whether or not Tashi had what it takes. We are all supposed to believe that because someone she beat in the junior league means she would have been on top. That’s not how tennis works. But she can forever believe that she was robbed of greatness based on her results in the junior league and college. Like okay…. And it’s like sis could have been proven herself. She wants to be the goat, but the goats were out there winning slams or at least coming close at her age. While she was playing against players she can easily crush.

So my theory is that Tashi prioritized attention over tennis. She liked being the big fish in a small pond. She liked being seen as special. That’s why her fight with Patrick rattled her so much. The idea that she’s not special affected her so much it breaks her knee and ends her tennis career. Does she really have the mental toughness to actually be a good tennis player? Idk. Cuz to me, she prioritized her ego over tennis. It cost her dearly, which is why I feel like she can’t feel satisfaction over what she’s actually accomplished. Because when she was playing tennis, her main focus wasn’t really tennis. She didn’t want her only skill in life to be tennis. She chose going to college over her tennis career because of education and branding!! To me her commitment to the sport only really showed its head after her accident. She was even being dodgy about going pro when she was playing at Stanford. Tashi is too stuck on what’s she’s lost, and she allows it to overshadow the fact that she did want other things. There were other things that were important to her and might have even been more important than tennis.

Also as much as what happened to Tashi breaks my heart, I wished folks stopped downplaying what she was able to accomplish. Only Tashi is allowed to do that, and it is very much a character flaw of hers. Because as a tennis fan, I don’t think y’all understanding why Tashi can be right alongside Art in the Aston Martin campaign. Because you have this 20-something year old girl coaching her boyfriend into winning titles and slams?!? Are you kidding me?!? Women don’t even be having female coaches like that! Please!!! A young biracial/black woman coaching her white husband into being one greatest American male tennis player’s we’ve seen since Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi?!? The last American man to win a grand slam was Andy Roddick! Especially when you factor in her story. You think folks wouldn’t eat that up? Hollywood would be making a movie about her!!! She’s gonna be the one making book deals!! She would be the reason why the GP would even know or talk about Art. And the best thing about it is that Art would completely feed into it and hype it up.

And folks be disrespecting Art too much. Calling that man a mediocre player. First off, he was a finalist in the junior grand slam alongside Patrick. There’s also nothing mediocre about winning six grand slams guys. And who even knows how many titles he has. So why folks acting like he wasn’t a great tennis player is crazy to me. Only Art gets to believe that he’s not as talented as Tashi and Patrick. This is very much a character flaw. He is a great tennis player, he just struggles to believe it because he has such a low self esteem. Tashi from the jump thought he was a good player. Art just didn’t have the confidence because he’s bisexual and hates himself. He just assumes people are better than him because they have what he lacks within himself. The idea that he couldn’t be a big tennis star without Tashi’s coaching is silly to me. Congratulations, he has a great tennis coach! Most athletes need great coaching to get them where they need to go especially when performing at that high level. I don’t think Tashi is so singular that Art couldn’t find someone else to coach him to grand slams, the only reason why he couldn’t win is because he needs Tashi in order to give a damn. So all folks are really saying is that man was able to win all those titles just to please his wife. Y’all that’s absolutely nuts. Seriously imagine the monster Art would be if he did care? So in conclusion, we are kinda feeding into both Tashi’s and Art’s delusions. We have no way of determining if Tashi would have been a great professional player. Just because her junior league rival is a tennis star four years after the fact does not mean Tashi would have been huge. We are being a little bit delusional. And Art is not a mediocre player. Because even if we like to pretend that the junior league is a measure of talent, Art was literally right along side Patrick. Like he was the second best player in that tournament, that’s not mediocrity…. Art just deludes himself into thinking he’s not great because he hates himself.

[matthewsgreybubbles]

hey babe i noticed your anons have been kinda negative / mean lately so i'm gonna spice it up a bit!!

what are your top three favorite music artists?? and are there any artists that you like that you think your fav cm characters would like too?

Hiii sweetie! Thank you that's so nice of you. This actually made me think about it for a bit.

I love so many bands that it was hard to choose, but I'm going to say that so we can have a little bit of everything. Various genres.

Motionless in white

She past away

Maneskin

And for the CM characters, I have so many ideas

Emily was goth during her teen years so I'm pretty sure she still listens to goth stuff like she wants revenge or she past away, the 69 eyes, etc.

Garcia is a big Lady Gaga enthusiastic. You cannot change my mind. I kinda see her following 2ne1 too. She's screaming "naega jeil jal naga" on her way to work every morning. To finish she also has a whimsical vibe with her, she might listen to goth stuff sometimes with Emily. Classic stuff like The Cure, Bauhaus or even Depeche Mode you know.

Rossi listen to Eros Ramazzotti. You cannot change my mind. He thinks he is the Italian lover Eros is, but he's not and that's cute.

JJ is quite a pretty preppy girlie so she might listen to Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter or Olivia Rodrigo.

Morgan plays big tough dude so I think he might listen to rap music, stuff like that, but I don't know anything about it sooo. In France, I would have told you that he listens to La Fouine. But I guess it's unknown here. That being said sometimes he secretly listens to what Garcia likes so he can sing in the car with her.

I would like Hotch to listen to 50's / 60's music like Little Richard. I like it in my head.

And Spencer probably used to listen to classical music with Gideon so he still does it. But baby is a troubled baby and I think he would listen to La Dispute sometimes. Helps him to deal with his fucked up life. Post-hardcore emo king.

Okay, that ended up being super long but I loved it.

[dickfuckk]

A list of season 2 cast and crew members, confirmed and speculated

I will try and keep this updated

Not counting the obvious ones

Please note that this is a list of both cast and crew members, so PAs and such are also included and not just actors

sorry in advance that 90% of my sources come from instagram

A

Aaron Morton (Camera) - he’s listed on the very last picture as the camera-man

Adam Stein (Writer)

Alan F. (English solider)

Alexandria S.

Alistair Gregory - from this tweet so uncertain, but followed me back on my bts instagram account so seems to have some interest in ofmd

Amy Tunnicliffe

Amanda M. (Wedding guest)

Andrew DeYoung (Director) - I don't remember if there was any other reason than the fact that he was in Aotearoa during filming

Andy Rydzewksi (Cinematographer)

B

Brian Badie (Hairstylist)

Bronson Pinchot ("Torturer")

Bryn Seager - I don't remember why but I follow him

Bryony Matthew (Food stylist)

C

Cora Montalban (Makeup and/or hairstylist) - I believe she was tagged in an instagram story once, and she's followed by a ton of cast and crew members

D

Daniel Fernandez (Spanish priest)

David G. (Stand in)

Dennis Bailey (Hairstylist) - Leslie revealed that he's there.

Don A. (Swampy Town folk)

E

Eliza Cossio (Writer)

Erroll Shand (Prince Ricky)

F

Fernando Frias (Director)

G

Grant Lobban

Gypsy Taylor (Costume designer)

H

Haroun Barazanchi - I'm gonna be honest, I have no memory of why I suspect this guy will be working on season 2, but I follow him hgjfdks

I-J

Jaden McLeod

Jason Samoa, possibly spotted on location

Jemaine Clement, pretty sure this is only based on his friendship with Rhys and Taika tbh

Jes Tom (Writer)

Jessica Lee Hunt (Makeup artist) - followed by a ton of crew and cast members and I believe she's been tagged in instagram stories and such

John Mahone (Writer)

Jono Capel-Baker (Groom)

Jonno Roberts didn't get the role from his audition, but could still have gotten a different role - hung out with Ruibo

K

Karl L. (Action extra)

Kate Fu

Kathleen Zyka Smith ("Red Flag")

Kosuke Iijima (Fabricator/Sculptor?) - due to interaction on this post

Kris Gillan (Fabricator/Sculptor)

Kura Forrester - followed by quite a few cast and crew members, but I don't remember if there was anything else to it

L

Laura Stables (SFX makeup artist)

Leanne - followed by cast and crew

Lee Tuson

Leslie Jones (Spanish Jackie) - she's spoiled this so many times, but gjfhdks

Leyla - followed by a lot of cast and crew members, don't remember if there was more to it than that

Luke V. (Stand in)

M

Ma Christina C. ("Red Flag")

Madeleine Sami (Archie)

Maddie Roche (PA) - read the tags idk lmao

Maddy Powell - this double rainbow photo is for sure from the first day of filming and nathan commented on her post

Maggie Philips (Music supervisor)

Mark Black (Henchman)

Mark Mitchinson (Hornigold)

Martin D. (Wedding guest)

Megan Vertelle (Set decorator)

Mike Berlucchi (Cinematographer)

N

Nareemun S. (Stand in)

Nat Van Halle - Has been hanging out on set with crew and cast

Natalie Torres (Writer)

Nathan Foad (Lucius)

Nathaniel Goodman - listed as camera-man

Nicola Dove (Photographer) - I'm guessing she'll be the season 2 version of Aaron Epstein

O-P

Paul Murphy (Director)

Q-R

Ra Vincent (Production designer) - He's the one in a white t-shirt and sunglasses or smth on his head

Rachel Forman - followed by a lot of cast and crew (including taika, nathan, madeleine, alex etc.) and Fernando made a post saying goodbye to Aoteroa, and she commented and he said he would miss her

Rachel House - Suspected due to her hanging out with cast and crew, but could be nothing

Richard B. ("Republic of Pirates")

Ringo R. ("Republic of Pirates")

Rory Davis - followed by cast and crew

Ruibo Qian

S

Sha M. ("Republic of Pirates")

Simone Nathan (Writer)

T

Tammy Davis - pretty sure it's just based off of this post which could be nothing

Tara Lauren (Makeup artist)

Tenesse Murfitt (Hairstylist) - followed by a ton of cast and crew members, and I believe she's been tagged in instagram stories

Tino L. (Stand in)

Toa Paranihi - I honestly don't remember why this was speculated or possibly confirmed, but I follow him on instagram and so do a couple of the cast and crew members

Ty Evander

U-V

Vanessa Vandy (Cinematopgrapher) - don't remember why i suspect her, but i follow her

W

Will Giles (Set designer)

X-Z

Zach Douglas

Zackery Alexander Stephans (Writer)

Zak Enayat - he has just been very openly working on the show, and is followed by cast and crew members

Zayre Ferrer (Writer)

[screamingaboutaceattorney]

which culprits were executed?

disclaimer i know nothing about actual law and did no research for this post which i feel fits the spirit of the franchise so i will not apologize for it. also i did not include perjury charges because no one has ever been charged for that in these fucking games

ideas under the cut because spoilers or whatever and also there's so many of these bitches oh my fucking god

frank sahwit: no, i don't think so. he killed one person in a panic, and aside from that he was just a petty burglar. probably a decade or two in jail, but he's getting out eventually (plus, we did see him in the imprisoned turnabout, and he seemed to be doing just fine)

redd white: unfortunately, no. blackmailing most of la and killing mia is probably not an executionable offense :( i'd imagine life in prison, if not 50 years or so. depends on his lawyer, honestly

dee vasquez: i'd say no. yes, she blackmailed people and had mafia connections, but she killed hammer in self defense. a good few decades behind bars, and then she'll be back to producing movies with the same dramatics as always (someone is probably going to keep a closer eye on that, though)

yanni yogi: prooooobably not? he killed hammond, yeah, but was at least slightly coerced into it, and based on his confession in turnabout goodbyes, probably plead guilty this time! fairly certain he'll just get a life sentence

manfred von karma: hell yes. he killed a man in cold blood over what most people would consider an inconvenience, covered it up for fifteen years, assaulted maya and phoenix (which they probably pressed charges for), and probably forged evidence (he definitely got jeff master's confession under duress, at least, even if it was orchestrated by blaise). even beyond all that, though, we know he's dead by bridge to the turnabout (maybe earlier, i don't remember off the top of my head)

damon gant: yuuuup. he killed two people, forged loooooots of evidence, blackmailed the chief prosecutor, and did so all as the chief of police (except the first murder, i guess). he's gonna hang for that

richard wellington: nah. similar to sahwit, he was a petty criminal who killed someone in a panic to keep his other crimes a secret. he'll be out of prison in like 25 years

mimi miney: this one's tough, but i think no. did she kill thirteen people? yes, she did. however, the first twelve were because she was overworked and exhausted and made a mistake, while the last one was something she did out of desperation to keep her secret from getting out. she's probably got a good 20-30 years behind bars, but she'll get out eventually

acro: nope, nope, no way is he being executed. he intended to kill regina, sure, but definitely not russell. i'd imagine the rest of the circus vouched for him at his trial, too. on top of that, he's already disabled. probably got a solid 20 or so years in prison, but that's it

matt engarde: shockingly (maybe), no! he's an all-around godawful person, but kidnapping a girl and hiring an assassin (and then blackmailing said assassin) probably doesn't warrant the death penalty. i imagine he would've asked for life in prison, too, given the... situation he was in regarding de killer

dahlia hawthorne: canonically executed, which is a big plot point. don't think i need to elaborate here

luke atmey: no? he killed bullard because he was being blackmailed, blackmailed ron delite because he was being blackmailed, and then was also a phantom thief. don't think he's gonna die for any of that

furio tigre: i'm gonna say no. he killed glen elg, was a loan shark, had ties with the mob, and assaulted phoenix, but i imagine that just got him a hefty prison sentence

godot: absolutely not. he's canonically disabled and only killed misty to protect maya. if anyone's getting out of this with just a fine, it's him

kristoph gavin: empathetically yes. forging evidence, killing two people, attempting to kill a third... he's getting the noose, no questions asked

alita tiala: don't think so. she killed meraktis, but he did try to kill her first. also had ties to the mob, but the kitakis openly hate her now, so i don't think that matters as much. three decades in prison, tops

daryan crescend: HARD maybe. he killed letouse, blackmailed machi, and smuggled the cocoons, but he's also a celebrity and a police officer and was being kinda blackmailed about the cocoons. depends on his lawyer and how hard interpol pushes for his execution. i could see it going either way

ted tonate: no, but he probably is getting a life sentence for killing arme, assaulting apollo, and setting off a bomb in an occupied courtroom while a trial was in session

florent l'belle: i don't think so, no. he can only be charged with killing kyubi since perjury isn't a thing in ace attorney, so he's probably got 50 years to a life sentence, since he did kill the mayor of a village and also caused environmental damage with all the fucking perfume (he did get sued for that one, though).

aristotle means: gonna say no here. just because he accepted bribes and instilled his students with shit values doesn't mean any of that is necessarily a crime (the bribes thing might be but hell if i'm gonna check), so it's really just killing one person that he's being charged with. his sentence might be longer depending on klavier, though, since he was expressly close with constance courte and is well respected in the legal system (as well as an actual fucking celebrity)

the phantom: if simon blackquill was gonna hang for killing metis and stealing a psychological profile while pleading guilty, there's no fucking way this guy's escaping the noose

marlon rimes: canonically, no! that death was a full-on accident, and phoenix argued for him to receive help instead of conviction. he'll be fine

pees'lubn andistan'dhin: given that they were going to execute a nine-year-old for this crime, yeah he's gonna die

roger retinz: don't think so, no. troupe gramarye was fucked up, and he continued the trend, but i don't think he'll die for it. depends on who prosecutes his trial though, since he framed trucy for it and she is the little darling of the legal system (who is not very involved in the legal system)

geiru toneido: probably not. she killed taifu on purpose, sure, but over a misunderstanding. i'd imagine she'll be fine and out of jail in a few decades

paul atishon: god i wish, but no. being a politician an asshole isn't a crime, and i don't think archie buff's death is something he'll get the death penalty for

ga'ran sigatar khura'in: i have NO IDEA if she'll be executed or not. she's responsible for countless deaths (and lots of treason), yes, but she IS still royalty. i'd like to say yes, but that's not something i'm super confident in

pierce nichody: probably not, given that gloomsbury's death was an accident and he didn't succeed with killing ellen. depends on if the sprockets press charges, given that they're pretty rich and influential

jacques portsman: don't think so. i'm fairly certain that faith's murder and his involvement in the smuggling ring don't add up to the death penalty

cammy meele: nahhh. she's involved with the smuggling ring again, but she killed hicks in a panic. she'll probably be fine

lance amano/ernest amano: you have no idea how desperately i wish i could say these fuckers got the noose, but i unfortunately can't. organized crime + a fake kidnapping + involvement in the smuggling ring + a few deaths =/= execution

calisto yew: yeah i'd say so. she killed at least two people, was involved in the smuggling ring, was a member of a vigilante group, and attempted to shoot kay. lang and edgeworth are getting her in the noose if it kills them

quercus alba: yuuup. part of the smuggling ring, killed people, abused his diplomatic immunity, had a cross examination that lasted too long... he's gonna hang for that last offense alone /j

horace knightley: i would not think so, but i could be wrong! i think the biggest thing in regards to his execution would be if "di-jun huang" pushed for it, but roland killed him so it's a moot point anyways

patricia roland: yeah. everyone involved in the ss-5 plot is gonna hang, no questions asked

dane gustavia: i'm going to tentatively say yes? given that he caused the is-7 incident, which led to the dl-6 incident, which led to... many things, plus the fact that he fled the country for a while, he's probably gonna hang for that. could be wrong, though!

blaise debeste: dear god yes. not only did he kill jill crane, he was involved in ss-5, forged a shitload of evidence, has made many people "disappear" (they're probably all dead), and not to mention sebastian :( he's gonna hang and i'm gonna enjoy it

simon keyes: probably not? given that he's only directly responsible for one death and was a victim of circumstances, i imagine he'll get a life sentence, but nothing more

[she-karev]

Reuniting with Andrew (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev's Sister Angst)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Two

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy/Station 19

Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

Canon Episode: Season 16 Episode 19/Season 3 Episode 15

Summary: Amber runs into Andrew in the surgical floor where he goes to visit Richard. While she is at the pit, she meets a paramedic who she has an instant connection with.

Words: 2657

After rolling the patient from the PRT into the burn unit while Jackson is back at the truck in the ambulance bay treating another patient’s burns. She hands them the chart and walks down the hall to head to the resident’s lounge. After Richard Webber’s public meltdown in LA Jackson opted to work at the PRT while Amber worked to help with Webber and text him with updates. Amber quickly agreed knowing how much he means to Jackson. It’s been three weeks since Andrew’s breakdown so it’s safe to say the gossip has died down and she can feel safe back at work. She walks inside the resident’s lounge where the others are shocked to see her after so long.

“Amber oh my god hi!” Taryn exclaims in joy as she stands by her locker and Dahlia Qadri notices as well smiling.

“You came out of hiding yay!”

“I haven’t been in hiding.” Dahlia raises an eyebrow at her, “Okay I’ve been in hiding.”

Casey Parker chuckles and gingerly approaches her with a supportive grin, “Hey glad to see your here.” He then moves to hug her.

Amber is taken back but lets him and pats his back for thanks, he pulls back, “Pity hugs my favorite.”

Qadri chuckles and gives her a quick hug too, “So what are you doing here? I thought you said you were gonna be at the station until you finish your trauma hours.”

Amber stirs the coffee she made by Keurig’s standing in front of them, “I was but then the conference happened and Avery had to pull a shift today and he wanted me here to update him. He wanted a resident he can trust with Webber and he trusts all of you as far as he can throw you.”

“So how was life as a firefighter?” Qadri asks as Amber pulls her jumpsuit off, “Did you put out any fires?”

“No, I didn’t I assisted Warren and Avery with patients on calls giving them the O.R. treatment right at the scene.” Amber puts her scrubs on, “It was cathartic and therapeutic like a spa while I’m working. Now I am back and better than ever, yes people you can’t knock me down. Now where is our number one patient?”

“He’s in route from LA.” Qadri tells Amber who walks out of the lounge putting her lab coat on with Qadri, Casey, Helm and Levi following her, “So how are you? Are you okay? Is DeLuca, okay?”

“Don’t know don’t care.” Amber coldly tells her, “He hasn’t called back and I’ve stopped trying to call a stubborn brick wall who will only crush my skull. It’s not my main focus today, my main focus is Dr. Webber and figuring out what the hell is wrong with him.”

Later

The five of them stand in the skills lab with all of the chiefs and Catherine Fox present to explain the situation, “We've got a 65-year-old male suffering from memory lapses, tremors, depression and mood swings, and erratic behavior. Yes, I am talking about Richard Webber, but today, he is not the Richard Webber you know and love. He is our number-one patient. Two days ago, he suffered a public…episode at a medical conference. Patient's history includes an appendectomy, a hip replacement, surgery for a brain tumor pressing on his optic nerve. He was also electrocuted several years ago, which led to surgery for a pancreatic pseudocyst.”

Levi whispers to Taryn next to him with Amber on the other side clearly hearing, “Jo did that surgery for the pseudocyst. Oh, sorry. Uh, Dr. Jo.”

“You're crashing with two attendings. We get it.”

Amber rolls her eyes at the reminder of Jo taking pity on Levi and letting him crash at the loft with her and Alex. Both she and Alex find it troublesome, “Who are also my brother and sister so I win.”

Bailey points to the white board, “This is a list of possible diagnoses. Some, we have already ruled out. This, we still need to. Meredith.”

“Uh, we'll run all the labs. We'll do the blood cultures, vitamin levels, check the thyroid function, and we'll check the urine for heavy metals.”

Maggie steps in, “Prepare yourselves. He's not himself.”

“We saw the video.” Taryn states bluntly causing the interns to wince at her bad timing as the attendings look at her offended. Amber sighs and looks at them with an irritable grin.

“I got this.” She then slaps the back of Helm’s head hard causing her to yell out in pain while Casey and Qadri grin to themselves.

Bailey clears her throat and they turn back to her, “Okay Karev, Qadri and Parker triage the pit there’s still a massive trauma. Helm and Schmitt check the results and report back, this is your job for today unless your called in for something emergent.” Amber, Dahlia and Casey leave to do their tasks.

Later

After discharging three firefighters from her assigned beds Amber quickly moves to the next bed where she has a black woman lying in bed holding her wrist looking restless. She is wearing a paramedic outfit and looks ready to leave. Amber clears the tablet and pulls up a new chart for the next patient.

“Wren Jones?”

“That’s me and look I know your gonna have a look at my wrist but I’ll save you the trouble.” Amber looks up taken back by Wren’s assertiveness, “It’s a colles fracture I got it like five minutes ago when I was bringing a patient into trauma 2. The damn gurney collided with another and I was holding the side of impact. If you could just reduce it, dress it and clock me out as soon as you can I’d really appreciate it.”

“Okay Wren first I need to assess the injury so I can see if it is a colles fracture and what kind and what treatment is best. Can I look?” Wren groans but holds her wrist out for Amber. Amber looks at the purple tissue and feels around Wren winces loudly at Amber pressing down, “You feel that when I press there?”

“Yeah, I might not be a doctor but I know anatomy and I know you just pressed on my distal radius. So, when are you gonna pop it back in?”

“We’ll pop it back when we get images back.”

Wren sighs, “Seriously? I am fine I just want to get back there my team are down a man and you’re not a first responder so you don’t know how deadly that can be for my brothers.”

“I’ve been around firefighters enough to know how bullheaded your people can be about taking the pain but, in this case, you dragging someone out of a burning people could do more harm than good.” Wren chuckles and grins causing Amber to look at her confused, “What’s so funny?”

“You say firefighters are stubborn and do more harm but last I checked I just cleared my mom’s outstanding hospital bills your people left for a surgery that even I could do with the right tools and a sterile truck.” Amber nods fully in agreement, “Appendectomy that put her 10 grand in the hole when I was 13. I think it was in that moment I decided to go down the righteous path instead of the health care cog evil doers. She had to work 2 jobs just to pay for half until I went to the academy after high school and paid the other half.”

“I’m sorry that must have been hard.”

“Yeah, but you know she’s my mom at least one of us shouldn’t work ourselves to death.” Amber takes the tablet to order images. Wren narrows her eyes looking at Amber intensely, “Do I know you from somewhere? You just look really familiar.”

Amber looks up at Wren’s face and after a few seconds shakes her head, “Nope sorry I don’t recognize you.”

“Did you go to Reagen High School in LA?”

“I’m from Iowa.”

Wren tsks, “Never mind. Did we sleep together?”

Amber widens her eyes at Wren’s question before chuckling, “No I would remember you; you seem like someone I wouldn’t forget easily.”

Wren grins, “Is that a compliment to my good looks or insult to my stark personality?”

Amber smiles setting up the portable X-Ray, “Both you seem like somebody I wouldn’t know how to say no to if we met at a bar not that I would say no because even covered in soot your very beautiful.” Amber presses her lips together and clears her throat while Wren chuckles, “Sorry please do not sue me for harassment I promise my very doctor like hands will only touch the injured hand.”

Wren chuckles, “It’s okay it’s actually very sweet coming from you.” Amber lays Wren’s hand flat under the X-Ray, “When I was a probie I endured constant catcalls and whistles from the firefighters I worked with. They said a lot of things that were less crude than what you just said. It’s the downfall of being the only female in your academy class.”

Amber groans at that, “I had a coworker intern year who had the personality of a whole frat house. He would tell people what he would do to me if I was single and call me Barbie to my face.”

Wren purses her lips in disgust, “It’s a good thing I got you instead of him.”

“He got fired for leaving a patient with a nosebleed and letting him die.” Amber bluntly recaps Roy’s firing to Wren, “I do not miss him at all.” The scans show on the screen, “Yep you were right on the dot it’s a colles fracture.”

“I told you.”

“Okay we’re gonna pop it back in place and then put in a cast so the break can heal. Unfortunately, you have to stay a little longer for that.” Wren groans, “Yeah I know but you can choose your own cast color, we got red, blue, purple, green, black and white what do you want?”

Wren thinks on it, “Red.”

Amber snaps her gloves off, “Good choice, okay I am gonna quickly access the next three beds for smoke inhalation and after I am gonna get the supplies so we can fit you. I’m gonna give you a little morphine for the pain until I get back.”

“No morphine I don’t want to be high on the job when I get back just some Tylenol I can handle the pain.”

Amber sighs but relents, “Okay I’ll get a nurse to give you amphetamine and I’ll be right back.” Amber leaves Wren to a nurse to check the other patients.

Later

Amber walks down the hall carrying supplies for Wren’s casting when something stops her in the middle of the hallway. She sees Andrew DeLuca outside Dr. Webber’s patient room talking to Dr. Bailey who does not look happy to see him. The shock she feels at that moment is temporary as it morphs into rage that instead of seeing her the first person, he sees is Richard Webber. She knows this is true because Carina would have told her he was coming which means he didn’t come for the people who love him and are concerned about him he came for the latest case to obsess over.

As soon as Bailey walks away Amber growls under her breath, puts the supplies on the station and stomps toward Andrew who doesn’t notice her until she practically drags him away from outside the room by his arm.

“Amber what are you-”

“Shut up.” Amber commands him without even looking at him and opens a supply closet door pushing him inside and closing the door behind her to face him after a week of no calls or texts. She turns to him with a face that is a mix of rage and disappointment, “You are unbelievable!” Andrew looks scared by her sudden need to yell, “You ran out with your tail between your legs after the public meltdown of the century, kicking me out of our apartment, and bullying me like everybody in my life has. And despite all of that I was worried about you when I came to your place the next day and they told me you ran! You ran out!”

Andrew looks agitated and groans, “I don’t have to explain myself to you we broke up!”

“Explain what?! How you ignored my calls and texts when I thought you were dead! And now you think you can waltz back in here like nothing happened like you haven’t made my life hell pretending-”

Andrew speaks in defense, “I don’t have time I am at work!”

Amber continues, “Pretending like you’re okay! Because this all of this is not how a stable person behaves DeLuca!”

DeLuca’s face grows furious, “And leaving a voicemail telling me you wished I was dead is stable in your book!” Amber looks shocked that he listened to all of her messages, “Yeah I listened to it, it makes Alec Baldwin’s voicemail to his daughter tame.”

“No, don’t you dare make me the bad guy here! You did this to us not me you!”

Andrew inhales, “You know I may have said some hurtful things but I was angry and-”

“Angry right well my father was angry too before he gave my mother whiplash after punching her in the face.” Amber chuckles darkly at the cruel similarity, “Verbal abuse is your schtick right? What was it you said last time? Oh, right how I might be crazy like my mother before that it was how I would end up like my dead junkie dad, I can’t wait to see what else you’ve come up with since you ran away like a coward.”

“Maybe I would have reacted better if you didn’t compare me to my dad.” Andrew points out in fury.

“I apologized for that! I said sorry and I did that because I was scared of you! Just like the night my brother attacked me! I was scared to go through this mindfuck again and I was right to because you are acting exactly how you told me your dad acted towards your mom.”

Andrew looks hurt by that accusation, “You take that back.”

“Why you never did!” Amber points out with a furious frown, “You never apologized for telling me I was gonna end up like my father or telling me I was crazy like my mom or using the time I was almost murdered by my brother against me. I am tired of being involved in someone else’s problems I have done that my whole life and I am done! Congratulations Andrew, you have made me reach my limit.”

Andrew inhales and exhales looking down and smirks at her cruelly, "Wow, Amber dramatic much?"

Amber is taken back by this cruel statement that undermines her pain. However instead of feeling bad about herself or him she feels numb inside. As if overexposure to this has exhausted every bad feeling she has felt. She looks at the men that she loved with contempt that surprises him as this isn't the reaction he was expecting.

“You know I came here because maybe just maybe I could get a glimpse of the man I fell in love with, the man who would never do what he did to me because he was too good for that…but he’s not here. Instead, I see a broken, cruel shell of a man I knew…and I don’t want to be around him. I’m done we’re done.”

Amber sniffles and continues, "I'm done trying to save you, I'm done worrying, I'm done caring about you just like your done caring about me. So if you want to run away and drive your motorcycle away from reality then go ahead and if you kill someone like your dad or die...I won't feel guilty because I gave you every chance. So if your here to save Webber that bad then save him. Stay awake all hours, put patients at risk. I can't stop you from killing yourself if that's what you want. I used to love you so much it hurt but now...loving you has hurt me so much that I don't care what happens to you as long as you stay away from me and I don't expose myself to this crap anymore."

Andrew looks up with a glimmer of sadness in his eyes but it doesn’t move Amber as she moves to the door and grips the handle before saying one last thing, “If you ever get help, if you ever go back to some form as the Andrew, I knew I am telling you right now don’t coming crawling back begging for my forgiveness. You are not gonna get it because you ruined us with your inability to see what was wrong and because of that you destroyed the only pure and good thing I have ever been in.” Andrew looks shocked by her statement but says nothing, “When I come to work I don't want you around me. Just ignore me like everybody else in my life has it shouldn't be hard for you.” Amber opens the door and slams it closed on her way out.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

5, 16, 20?

Linking the original ask post cause it took some digging to find it again lol

Something you see in fics a lot and love:

B-boysss... kissing :3

lol okay uh the overwhelming majority of what I read is jaytim that's rated Explicit, so there's, ya'know, a lot of patterns in there that I've self selected for, but attempting to get into a more meaningful answer, I really like the way that fanfic repeatedly digs up old shit and uses it as a catalyst for characters to gain greater intimacy with each other. The constant reinvention and re-contextualization of Jason and Tim's various fights is neat to me

A tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate:

Oooh I'm gonna throw up the post I already made about the guy Jason manipulated into playing puppet for him

But that feels like cheating so I also want people to appreciate the asymmetrical aspects of the OG spoiler outfit, because I adore it so. I am a SUCKER for shoulder pads/spikes and 80s asymmetrical outfits.

Your very first fandom:

That's... actually pretty hard to answer.

The first online community I truly got involved with is City of Heroes. Loved playing the game when it was live, and I role played in the Homecoming servers for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, for about five years. I still play every once in a while too! If you see Dread Captain Bones, David Drakal, or Cowboy Cline around, those are me :3 The only issue I have with saying it's this one is that I'm not entirely sure this counts as a fandom?? It really is more a role playing community than anything like a fandom for the game itself, most people only very lightly engage with the setting and it's considered a tad crass to get any of the named canonical characters involved with your character's story lines.

We could very technically count Naruto simply because that was the first one I ever tried to find fanfic for but uhhhhh... I started with ff.net with a super dark E rated fic because I thought E meant for Everyone and bounced off it so hard. I'm very sorry geisha AU naru-sasu fic I read when I was like thirteen, I tried so hard to like you, but my PTSD was not having it lmao

There's also half decent arguments to be made for Marvel comics, Doctor Who, or Vampire the Masquerade simply because my parents are/were such massive nerds lmao

Both of them did a lot of LARP and one of my favorite pictures of my mom is her as either the Sheriff or the Prince of our city ripping someone's heart out via a sponge soaked with fake blood :3 so yeah I def grew up learning about the clans and the lore and such

And this is very much a Marvel household lol My parents used to do story time with me about the X-men, and like they are completely accepting of my metal head and queer stuff, but I feel like it hurts my dad's soul just a little bit that I ended up being so into DC and so uninterested in Marvel. Whenever we talk about some of my (not romance related) plotlines for my DC fics he'll substitute in vaguely equivalent Marvel characters because he simply cannot be asked to dedicate braincells to DC characters lmao

Me: "I'm really looking forwards to writing out how the super geniuses and stuff push the limits of what Jason and Tim did to the diseases."

My Dad, knowing FULL WELL that I am not including any Marvel characters in this fic: "Oh yeah, Reed Richards would go nuts trying to figure that shit out."

My dad also collected Doctor Who episodes, like the ones from 1963 all the way to modernity, I grew up watching the black and white stuff, and for sure tumblr did expose me to Superwholock, through I never felt like I was a part of that.

It might actually be DC comics itself that's my first fandom! I just never really interacted with any sort of online or fandom space directly until Boostle dragged me into DC fandom's sphere of influence.

Anyhow I hope my ramblings were interesting/entertaining and thank you muchly for the ask! :3

[blindrapture]

THURSDAY JUNE 28TH, 2011 (THE FOURTH RAKE OF THE APOCALYPSE)

6:49 AM I slept. Donnie wants to come with me to meet with Bill.

7:22 AM We’re at the pharmacy. Nobody’s here. We’ll wait it out.

8:05 AM Donnie doesn’t think anyone’s coming. I think she’s right. We’re heading back.

8:30 AM MOTHERUCKf BASH rfh WHATI oh my god eyes

1:56 PM in my bed oh god its eyes were like hell It was like I had a soul and it was staring into it. It was the Rake. It was a fourth Rake. I think I backed my head into the wall too fast.

1:59 PM Donnie’s in here now.

2:01 PM Fuck. Donnie says Bill’s dead. He was torn to shreds. The Rake got him. Fuck fuck fuck. Bill had some papers for me. I’m getting out of bed.

2:07 PM Oh god I haven’t thrown up in a while. That’s a lot of.. I mean, that looks nothing like Bill anymore. It’s all blood and torn flesh, scattered all over the room. What’s left of Bill is scattered all over the walls and floor and ceiling. ..the wall. THE WHITE JESTER IS NEXT djushgusdfigjfdg FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE WHY ARE YOU SUCH A DICK I HATE YOU YOU COCKSUCKING FUCKING PIECE OF DICK SHIT FUCK

5:49 PM The Rake wants to fuck with me, does he? Well, I’ll fucking give the fucker something to fucking fuck with. Tiger Stripes, we’ve got one more Rake to kill. Let’s do this. For Bill, for that Asian dude, and for all the people who the Rake has terrified and/or maimed. Now if only I knew where the fuck the Rake was.

7:23 PM Someone said they saw it outside. C’mon, Tiger Stripes. Batter up. I dunno. Let’s just do this. I’m putting my sunglasses on. It’s nearly half-past, and I’m putting my sunglasses on. I want the Rake to know I’m not fucking around.

7:32 PM On second thought, maybe wearing sunglasses at night isn’t the best way to convey the message “I don’t fuck around.” Fuck it, taking ‘em off.

7:34 PM SAW THE FUCKER Where you running off to?

7:37 PM WAIT ..fffffffff This didn’t go the way I had planned. How am I gonna break the news to them?

8:05 PM I told ‘em it straight-out. The Rake ran into the Exodus. Now we have a bit of a panic on our hands.

9:45 PM We had a meeting and a headcount. To sum it up, - There are twenty-five of us left. - The trip on the Exodus will take six days if we’re lucky. - There’s a goddamn Rake somewhere on the Exodus. - We have five members of the Exodus crew, plus two doctors. - We have one sick person. She wasn’t here for the meeting, but she was counted in the headcount. - We have six children, four of whom (including Donnie and I) are teenagers. - We have twelve adult passengers, including the innkeeper and the sick lady, as well as Richard and Meredith. - Worth noting: This is just us who have been headcounted. Not that I think we’ll find any legitimate stowaways, but you never know. So. Six days, twenty-five people, one boat, one Rake hiding away. Why do I get th

10:10 PM Motherfucker, this is insane. - We have twenty-four people. A young child, a kid named Jeremy, was just found with his head cleanly cut off. That’s the modus operandi of the Masked Massacrer. But Rake’s already killed Masky; he was Bill. Which was shocking, yes, but still.

10:15 PM So let me get this straight. Twenty-four people on the Exodus for six days straight. One of us might be the Masked Massacrer, or it might be a stowaway. There is also a Rake hiding away somewhere. Tiger Stripes, give me strength.

(Attached: “Ah, the sea, greatest mystery of the Earth. Older than the species that conceptualized Time, and we owe our past to her. Yet no one knows much about her depths, no one except Salmacis, and it has this tendency to not want to share her information with the rest of us. Salmacis is another odd case altogether, though I’ll have to prepare if I want to tell you about her. There’s a lot to say, and no easy way to say it.”)

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[macaqueisbestmonkie]

LEGO MONKIE KID AU/MAIN AU

this is a slendytubbies x Lego Monkie Kid

Roles:

tinky winky- season 4 mask guy

Dipsy/no head- mei

Laa Laa- macaque

Po- MK

guardian/white tubby- Sun Wukong

shadow tubby- The Mayor

Noo Noo- Lady Bone Demon

newborns- Flower Fruit Mountain Monkeys

cave tubby- spider queen

yeti tubby- scorpion queen

arrow tubby-huntsman

SGT. Miles- redson

Ron- Meis parents

Richard/military captain- Azure Lion

Dutch- YellowTusk

Finn- Golden-Winged Peng

((GOREY PICTURES DOWN BELOW the art is not mine but I will possibly get banned if I show the actual designs))

Laa Laa has great hearing but it blind because of getting attack please read the story if confused. So that why macaque is her role

Part about this au story- the main four (tinky winky Dipsy Laa Laa Po) have been there before anyone else so has walten/guardian. So in the story wukong (saviour basically) sees the last infected by Noo Noo. Guardian ofc or should I say crawler tubby who looks like.. this. ((OLD AND NEW))

Crawler tubby is somewhat comforted by Sun Wukong so he doesn’t attack basically joining the journey but can easily get trigger by loud noises he gets aggressive AND WILL ATTACK.

The other tubbys look abit off but I’ll show anyways

((Tinky winky/purple one and Dipsy Green one.))

((Laa Laa yellow one yeti tubby cave tubby arrow tubby and po red one))

So it’s based of the kids show teletubbies but turned it into a horror game.. the main antagonist is Noo Noo (evil robot) and in the beginning you are po (red one and youngest) you start of all happy and cute but when you talk to Laa Laa (yellow one) she says she had a nightmare. With shadow tubby (antagonist in the episodes and gameplay) she explains that this thing said that they were all gonna die and get killed by tinky winky (purple one) po comforts Laa Laa. And they went on to their day until po had to make tubby custard (thing that makes them go insane.) she feeds it to Dipsy (green one) tinky winky Laa Laa and herself at nighttime po couldn’t sleep and tinky winky woke up. He got up and broke the tubby custard machine before running off (you have a choice to like wake up the others and chase after him only Laa Laa wakes up because Dipsy is to lazy../j or let them sleep and chase after tinky winky yourself let’s just say u chose woke up Laa Laa) when po wake up Laa Laa they grab giant ass flashlights and go into the woods chasing after tinky they had to separate at some point after looking everywhere she found tinky winky at the beach. But (TRIGGER WARNING MAJOR TRIGGER WARJIJG: blood and death.) Laa Laa was dead under a pine tree with eyes ripped out because tinky winky went fucking insane his skin went pale and pure black eyes with black shit coming down it you run to house to find also Dipsy dead (deception so no head) po runs other way to only get corner and (TRIGGER WARNING ANOTHER TRIGGER WARNING: more death and hanging.!) and po gets h@nged by tinky winky. This is where you come along the guardian the one who watches over everyone you have to go collect custards and see what’s wrong with them but you also stumble across dead bodies and during some time tinky winky comes along when you grab one more custard he consumes it and turns into GIANT ass hulk thing and the guardian/walten runs (you can either run to the mountains where you meet yeti tubby another evil infected or if you go into cave you meet cave tubby. ALSO INFECTED everybody’s monster.) in the cave after you do some maze you see Laa Laa as a hideous monster being having giant claws and scratched out eyes so she’s blind but she has incredible hearing like macaque sorta so you have to be quiet while collecting custards. When you grab the last custard Laa Laa is blocking entrance you have to distract her- so you throw a rock at a pillar which causes Laa Laa to attack the pillars making it collapse on her which you can decide to kill her by (trigger warning) bashing her head with a rock or just leaving her to die slowly you make it to the desserts (where you meet Dipsy in a station to contact the military.) you go into the station and meet a guy named ron a blue/indigo tubby (he dies by Dipsy chainsaw) he explains that you need to find a keycard from somebody’s dead body and also explains about Dipsy. He has no head (ofc i said that) and a chainsaw are started to kill everybody when you grab keycard from a (TRIGGER WARNING) dead corpse you see Ron get (TRIGGER WARNING.) sliced into pieces by Dipsy chainsaw you soon yk start to hallucinate about the tubbys saying ‘come play with us!!!’ And crap and you follow them while seeing them you see one of Dipsy and knock out of it and boom chase theme. Dipsy falls over a laser which kills him and how you optain his chainsaw you use keycard to go to the other room. But meet TADADADAAA Noo Noo. He explains that he is just fixing them and making them stronger you two can argue but then he uses a giant robot which you fight with chainsaw. And you won you contact military and go outside to see Noo Noo again talking about his plans and you can choose to die and became a evil infected (you lose your legs.) or be weak and get killed (dw you fight po and win) after you win pos fight you kill Noo Noo. Of course the military shows up so your of course JOINING THE ARMY YIPPEEEE and the story goes along by there.

[justforbooks]

In 2010, Paul O’Grady broke his nose after losing his footing at his friend Cilla Black’s house in Barbados. “My nose was out to here and I had a black eye, but I said: ‘I’m not ruining my holiday,’” he recalled. “So we went out every night and were the talk of the island.” The story was typical of O’Grady, who loved to dramatise his indomitability and had an unquenchable desire to be in the public eye.

The comedian and chat show host, who has died aged 67, was once called “the Edith Piaf of day-time television” and, given its connotations of a drama-filled life, he loved the epithet.

His defiant unshakeability and desire to perform came together in his first stage persona, the foul-mouthed Lily Savage, who sported a platinum blond beehive wig, vast quantities of makeup, white stilettos, a leopard skin miniskirt and a matching fake-fur coat. Born in the 1980s in the gay pubs of south London, as a sideline to O’Grady’s day job as a care worker, Savage thrived on insulting audiences and made no effort to conceal a streak of hard-headed lawlessness (“You need two things in a riot – flat shoes and a pram”).

She also hinted at a lurid past as a down-at-heel sex worker and made the work of previous British female impersonators, such as Danny La Rue and Dick Emery, seem tame.

Savage was inspired, in part, by O’Grady’s Aunt Chrissie, a bus conductor. “She had a hard life, but she used to suck her cheeks in and fancy herself as Marlene Dietrich,” he said.

His alter ego acted as a kind of avenging angel, giving voice to the anger O’Grady was otherwise unable to express.

Savage eventually became a phenomenon, appearing on the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. She presented the BBC celebrity game show Blankety Blank (1997–99) and the ITV comedy show Lily Live! (2000-01). She even returned in triumph to her native Merseyside, and became a regular on This Morning with Richard and Judy.

But O’Grady killed off Savage in 2005, claiming Lily had “seen the light, taken the veil and packed herself off to a convent in France”. Thereafter he took centre stage as himself. As the host of the Paul O’Grady Show and Paul O’Grady Live he could be just as caustic as Savage.

In 2010 he provoked complaints to Ofcom for attacking the new coalition government during Paul O’Grady Live. “Do you know what got my back up?” he told his ITV audience. “Those Tories hooping and hollering when they heard about the cuts. Gonna scrap the pensions – yeah! – no more wheelchairs – yeah! ... I bet when they were children they laughed at Bambi when the mother got shot.”

O’Grady was born in Birkenhead to Catholic parents, an Irish father, Paddy, and English mother, Molly (nee Savage). “I was born late – what my mother calls the last kick of a dying horse,” he said in his 2009 autobiography At My Mother’s Knee … And Other Low Joints.

“There’s three of us children, but I’m 13 or 14 years younger than my brother and sister. When I look back on my childhood I have no bad memories. Our family was loving and full of affection. I never knew what divorce was until I moved to London. I was an indulged child and completely protected from anything bad.” Not quite true: he was sent by his parents to a school run by the Christian Brothers. “They were wicked, wicked,” he told an interviewer.

O’Grady left school at 16 to work for the DHSS (Department of Health and Social Security) in Liverpool, and then went on to a string of jobs – hotel skivvy, office worker at an abattoir, and clerk at a magistrates court.

In the 70s he worked for Camden council in north London as a peripatetic carer. “If a single mother had to go to hospital, I’d move in and look after her kids so they didn’t have to go into care,” he once explained. “Often there’d be a drunken father turning up at 2am, wanting to know who I was, and I’d say, mincing slightly: ‘I’m from Camden council!’ and he’d smack me. So I’d be going around with a black eye and nits from the kids.” He cited this period of his life as part inspiration, along with his Birkenhead female relations, for the Lily Savage character.

In the 80s, Savage had a solo residency at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London that ran for eight years. Each night his waspish patter spared no one, not even the boys in blue. One night in 1987, his performance was rudely interrupted by a police raid, one that many of the gay club’s punters took to be a homophobic attempt to intimidate them.

Thirty-five officers burst in wearing rubber gloves – this being the height of the Aids epidemic, they feared touching those they arrested. According to the veteran LGBTQ+ campaigner Peter Tatchell, O’Grady at first thought they were strippers and part of the show.

In 2021, O’Grady described what happened next: “I was doing the late show and within seconds the place was heaving with coppers, all wearing rubber gloves. I remember saying something like, ‘Well well, it looks like we’ve got help with the washing up.’” He was handcuffed and taken to the police station before being released without charge. “They made many arrests but we were a stoic lot and it was business as usual the next night.”

While working as a court clerk, he had an affair with a colleague, Diane Jansen, who became pregnant with their daughter, Sharyn. In 1977 he married Teresa Fernandes, a Portuguese woman, in order to prevent her deportation from the UK. The couple divorced in 2005.

O’Grady claimed there was always an unspoken understanding in his family that he was gay. “It was no big deal. I never stood up in the front room and said, ‘I have something to tell you!’ – but I wasn’t hiding anything.”

During the mid-80s he met Brendan Murphy, the manager of a sauna in south London. They were a couple until Murphy’s death from brain cancer in 2005.

By then O’Grady was a popular household name, and in 2008 he was appointed MBE. Three years later, the Museum of Liverpool staged an exhibition of his alter ego’s frocks. In 2011 he quit Paul O’Grady Live after becoming exasperated with his role as a chat- show host: “I felt part of the PR machine. They’d want this guest or that guest. Every question had to go through the lawyers. I was just another plug for someone’s book.”

He went on to make shows such as ITV’s For the Love of Dogs, Me and My Guide Dog, a documentary about the burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, and a series for the BBC, Paul O’Grady’s Working Britain. A two-part eulogy to the British working class, broadcast in 2013, it prompted press scepticism – not least because O’Grady told viewers he still considered himself working class despite being a millionaire who owned a generous plot of land in Kent.

He lived there with 14 sheep, three dogs, two pigs, hundreds of rescued chickens, ducks, a goat and barn owls. After Murphy’s death he had a long-term relationship with the former ballet dancer Andre Portasio, whom he married in 2017.

Lily Savage returned from her French convent to perform as Widow Twankey in pantomime in Southampton in 2011 and London in 2012. In 2017, O’Grady hosted a Channel 5 reboot of Blind Date; and in 2021 the ITV celebrity game show Paul O’Grady’s Saturday Night Line Up.

During lockdown, he wrote a children’s book, Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang (2021). Last year he made a special one-off episode of For the Love of Dogs to mark 160 years of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, for which he was an ambassador. In August 2022, he presented his last show on BBC Radio 2 after 14 years on the airwaves.

Tatchell said of O’Grady: “Paul wasn’t just a brilliant comedian and broadcast personality but a much admired campaigner for LGBT+ equality and animal rights … Paul was planning to lead our forthcoming campaign for the police to apologise for their historic persecution of the LGBT+ community.” His fellow TV presenter Lorraine Kelly said that O’Grady was “the kindest, funniest man … Dogs are the best judge of character and they loved him.”

He is survived by Andre, Sharyn, and two grandchildren, Abel and Halo, and by his brother, Ben, and sister, Sheila.

🔔 Paul James O’Grady, comedian and chat-show host, born 14 June 1955; died 28 March 2023

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[witchyfoxelf]

[movie review] dungeons & dragons (2000)

… fuck, i have so much more to say about this than i expected to. i expected to basically be like, “yeah, it’s bad, but what are you gonna do?”

write several pages about it, i guess. is what i’m gonna do.

i mean, yeah, it’s bad! i’m reasonably sure i’m not breaking that news to anyone. but i think my memory did actually kind of underestimate how bad it is.

don’t get me wrong, it is still solidly in the “enjoyably bad” zone rather than boringly bad. there are at least two entirely distinct actors in this who know exactly what kind of movie they’re in and are just bringing that paul freeman in power rangers, ewan mcgreggor in revenge of the sith, raul julia in street fighter “i will make this bullshit watchable by myself if i have to” energy. jeremy irons is the one everyone (rightly) calls out, but i think richard o’brien also deserves a shout-out for some similarly fine scenery chewing!

but yeah, other than that… yeesh.

you know what really kept hitting me over the head the entire time we were watching this? this movie came out one year before fellowship of the ring. one year. one. a single year. just, yikes? and while fellowship was beholden to books that had been called “unadaptable” on more than one occasion prior to jackson’s landmark trilogy, dungeons & dragons by its very nature is designed to offer a storyteller nearly limitless potential as far as what kind of story they can tell.

and what they came up with was… this.

and like… there’s truly no reason a cookie cutter story like this has to be a death sentence for a movie. usually the idea of having a story this basic is it gives you plenty of room to flesh out the characters and the world and all the little details in the margin that make a lot of scifi/fantasy yarns so beloved. so it probably wouldn’t have been the worst idea to… have?... some of those details? like, any of them? at all?

… one good character?

… an interesting location?

seriously, anything?

like, really, tell me any detail about any character or setting in this movie. go ahead! i’ll wait.

i mean, there’s the magic school. its deal is that it’s… a magic school. oh! or there’s the empress. her deal is that, um, she’s… the empress. oh but she has this old guy advising her! his deal is that, uh, he’s… her… advisor.

oh wait, there’s some dragons! heck yeah, that’s one of the things that’s literally in the name of the franchise, there we go! their deal is that, um… they’re… that they’re dragons. (and that they’re really bad cgi, even by the standards of the time.)

wait, there’s also some dungeons in this! that’s the other thing that’s in the name of the thing! they’re, um. well. they sure are… there! my favorite is the underground maze that a second act secondary antagonist just has like in his basement that he just takes the main white bread thief guy to and is like, “well! here you go! here’s a maze for you to do some fun thief stuff in!” and nobody mcprotagonist just kinda jumps around dodging traps & being a rueful underdog and the secondary antagonist and his minions mug for the camera a bunch while commenting on his progress and as the audience you’re sitting there going, “why is any of this happening???”

it’s kind of a perfect visual shorthand for the entire movie, actually.

similarly, in theory opting not to use any of the many extremely popular d&d campaign settings is fair enough. d&d is certainly designed to let you do something new if that’s what you want to do. but the “new” thing they opted to do is just the fantasy worldbuilding equivalent of forgetting to change the name of your paper from “new document.” like, what is even the point of having an “original” setting when you clearly have no actual interest in making something of your own? is it literally just so they didn't actually have to crack open any d&d books to look anything up? (... shit, that’s exactly it, isn’t it?)

i know that every single character in this movie is the most cookie-cutter version of the kind of character they are, but the character this jumped out the most with for me was the dwarf, whose name i am just not going to look up. like, okay, i guess someone decided the movie needed a grumpy dwarf that eats & drinks a lot, that’s a totally valid fantasy trope. but the way he’s introduced is the party just kinda stumbles into him, and he ends up caught up in a fight… and then he kinda just starts tagging along with them and acting like he’s been part of their party the whole time? like, in literally the next scene the party is deciding what to do next, and he says something along the lines of “it seems we have no choice,” and like, hey broseph? you know who definitely, absolutely has a choice from what i can tell?

like, seriously, a line of dialogue could make this make sense. i mean, you have everyone else in this movie telling you what their entire deal is in basically their first few lines of dialogue. this movie is overburdened with exposition even though it doesn’t really have anything it needs to exposit about??? but you can’t spare a single line of dialogue to establish why this random dwarf is suddenly their ride or die companion? or what his deal is at all? seriously?

also, like, i love how both me & my partner remembered two completely different things about marlon wayans’ character that would’ve made him less insultingly written, and both of us were wrong. i remembered him being revealed to still be alive before the final battle and helping out rather than, you know, the only person in the party who wasn’t white being killed halfway through the movie, holy shit.

my partner, on the other hand, remembered him being revealed to have been an elf the whole time out of nowhere, which i 100% believed when he said it btw? like, my memory of this movie was so foggy that i was literally like “yeah, i’m pretty sure that’s true!” and nah, they just killed the one black guy halfway through the movie, and then at the end of the movie they were like “guys, he’s totally still alive, we promise” but figured they’d get to, y’know, showing us that he was still alive in the big budget sequel this was obviously getting. which it was obviously getting! it definitely wasn’t going to be a scifi original movie where the only returning actor was the antagonist’s toadie, don’t be silly!

look. this movie would be inoffensively bad if it weren’t the first attempt at making a movie out of a world that literally exists so people can craft stories where the only limit is their imagination. it kind of still is inoffensively bad? like, i certainly enjoyed watching it and ripping to to shreds with my partners. but just…

fuck, guys!! you were adapting dungeons & dragons!! the game whose entire deal is, “hey, let’s tell a story!” there were so many wonderful stories being told at tables around the world on a budget of “hey guys, can everyone chip in for a pizza?” and the way you brought that to life with the weight of a hollywood budget behind it was… this? this is what you gave us? honestly, that’s just sad.

d-rank

[ntshastark]

Wednesday lb on a Friday

IM #4 and USM #13

Iron Man #4

OH THE RASPUTIN ERA IS FINALLY OVER THANK GOD

==

who's this white woman

==

THEY DID THIS FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

MY TWO FAV MARVEL CHARACTERS GREETING EACH OTHER WITH A KISS NEAR THE CHEEK BC THE ARTIST IS BRAZILIAN AND THAT'S HOW WE DO IT HERE HELLOOOOOOOOO

i'm soo recolouring wanda in this later to use it everywhere, i'm making this panel my fucking brand, be forewarned

==

oh wait nvm julius ohta isn't the artist in this issue. i still love the panel tho

==

oh the double spread is SO pretty

i'm also making this my brand

==

ETA: ironically, turns out the spread is by a brazilian artist lol (rod reis). we're taking over!

==

wanda is so pale in this, it's so distracting

==

NOT DARCY BEING DARKER THAN HER

==

is this all there was to wanda in this issue? i'd usually be disappointed but i don't really trust spencer with her, so i'm actually hoping that's it tbh 😬

==

oh i miss him.............

==

here goes my last doubts about spencer being an aos fan

==

oh she looks nothing like the tv version

==

hmm

==

i have no idea who that is, but i appreciate that the villainesses keep on coming

==

oh someone pointed out on discord (yes i check the wednesday-spoilers channel right after reading every issue shh) that this was him not remembering his time as dos bc of the brain delete!! much like marvel, i keep forgetting this is still canon. such a nice detail

==

oh spencer did an AMA on locg!!!! hold on

==

THE SWORD HAS A NAME!!!!!!!!! it's totally gonna be something arthurian isn't it. either excalibur or some deep cut (also, thank you julius ohta for my life)

==

i love him

==

🥹

==

THANK YOU MR ACKERMAN FOR MY LIFE!!!!!!

==

i'm sorry this is too funny. he just kept saying it.

==

oooo nice, i was already mourning the sword today bc i thought it'd be gone as soon as they could fix his shit

==

three rumiko questions, she truly is the people's princess

==

oh my god he'd get sooo political writing ollie, i need to see it

==

He Is The Chosen One

but also

🤨🤔

==

Ultimate Spider-Man #13

oh they're keeping the month skip thing even after a year... sigh. it's literally the only thing i don't like about this run

==

OH SHIT?????

==

oh wait, peter planned the suit replacing him???? dude wtf

==

NULTS SAVAGE LAND!!!!!!!

==

"boys".... hmmm

==

i was so ready to treat this universe's parksborn as an entirely different beast, but hickman managed to adapt it so well... they haven't known each other for that long, they haven't yet gone through as many things together, and harry is absolutely keeping shit from peter and not to be fully trusted. but they're comrades in arms, they're partners in crime, they have a deep bond and trust forged not by time and friendship but by putting their lives in each other's hands. and harry... this harry is handsome, smart, successful, married to an amazing woman who's also a hot babe, he's even a superhero... and there's still one glaring way in which he could never compare to peter. and i have no doubt that, despite this universe's norman having died without ever meeting peter, harry is still going to feel like the least favourite son at some point. probably something to do with the suit AI.

==

this panel is just. so perfect. he's a dangerous bastard. he loves his family. he would, in fact, kill you for touching them. i love him so much. welcome back peter parker.

==

the contrast between peter and harry here is so fucking delicious, thank you mr hickman for my life

==

THIS IS SO GOOD!!!!!!

==

wait, how old is felicia supposed to be in this? bc i thought she was peter's age but she's actually not looking much older than richard tbh... and the framing here... is this heading where i think it is...

not sure how i feel about it tbh... not the romance per se, i'm surprisingly fine with the idea, but this positioning of richard as peter's "heir" over may(day)...

even the wraparound suit logo looks similar... not a fan. richard has actually been my bet for series death from day one, exactly bc he's such an outlier. everyone else in this series is an iconic spider-man character (even those who are iconic for their deaths), but richard? who's ever heard the tale of richard parker, spider-boy? no one. if anything, peter's male successor is miles.

this spiderling subplot should be may's. hell, i'd love to see her dating a young felicia (who, iirc, was first canonised as bisexual in a spider-girl issue). yeah, this may is too young, but making her the younger sibling was a conscious choice. if they're really having richard get into superheroing even after peter comes back, i highly doubt it wasn't planned from the start.

[seancekitsch]

punk rock girl: an eddie munson x reader fic

this is a shortie, spot the slc punk quote, just kinda fluffy, smot poking activities, punk shit, you take eddie to a punk show, punk metal solidarity love, fem!reader

“Eddie c’mon, you’ve gotta celebrate getting into community college in style!” you call over your shoulder, about to turn another block. He’s been following you for a two town drive, and a walk half a mile now. Through a municipal park, through several parking lots. You said you were bringing him into ‘your world’. 

“Everyone gets into community college, you just sign up,” he laughs, and jogs to catch up with you. His calloused fingers meet the material of your vest; not so different than his, but vastly different still. 

When he met you, post Vecna and pre-graduation, you were a recent transplant. When Robin introduced her cousin from Illinois to the party and now extended party, Eddie thought he was in love. Another metalhead? And a smoking hot chick at that?

Only, he was dead wrong. You were a punk, through and through. Your vest was adorned with sewn patches, like his, but also scraps of lace fabric that he would later find out were ripped lingerie, studs you had hammered in by hand, spikes you’d done something similar with, and chains dangling from the shoulders like epaulettes. Your patches were hand painted: the stooges, dead kennedys, richard hell, x-ray spex, a white axe, one that just read’ taxi driver’, and the cramps. He figured out then in that moment you were his dream girl, he’d follow you anywhere, which led him to now.

“But thank you. Now, is this where you plan on murdering me?” Maybe he shouldn’t be joking about murder after being accused of it, but really, you were approaching a parking garage near the edge of a forest. If anythings going to happen its here.

“Nope,” you say, popping the ‘p’. “Up there.”

He follows where you point, up to the top of the parking garage. 

“Oh, no no no no no, I think I’ve seen this one before,” he shakes his head violently, hair thrashing back and forth with his movements. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t slice and dice,” your voice is like honey, “Thats where were going to see Naked Raygun. Show begins at sunset and I wanna make sure we establish dominance.”

Naked Raygun. He only knows that name because you…

“Yeah I mean, I like All Rise, but I think Throb Throb was their best album.”

You let the smoke drift from your lips as you speak, spread out on your back on Eddie’s bed with a joint for two between your fingers. 

“Naked Raygun,” he tests the name out on his lips, “You think those exist?”

Its a high question, but one you still answer.

“I dunno, maybe? Why, do you wish you had one?” You chuckle and take another drag.

“”I dunno, Maybe,” he mimics your tone, voice rising in pitch and everything, and you snort and choke on the smoke, slapping his denim clad thigh.

“Who’d you use it on?” you ask between coughs, “Me? Your secret harem?”

He chuckles, and fuck you drive him crazy. 

“You first,” he confirms, “and then all the ladies lining up outside that trailer door to fuck the freak.”

You smile at him, something dark in your expression, but then in a second its gone again. 

“But anyway, Eds. They’re playing around here soon. Real underground shit, you wanna go?”

“How underground we talking? Is the whole punk thing actually a cover for cult shit, my lady?” he asks, and fuck, he wants to kiss you. You look so kissable. You always look so kissable. 

You roll your eyes, but smile widely up at him. 

“Like, abandoned property secret show shit., c’mon dude.”

He was in. 

“Establish dominance?” he’s brought back into the moment by that phrase. 

“Oh we’re gonna party, baby.”

He didn’t think metalheads were more tame than punks. He was wrong. The moment a band started playing, you threw yourself into a mosh pit, kicking and shoving, and amidst all the noise he can still hear your laughter. You’ve been at it for the whole set, 

“Fuck it, roll for initiative,” he whispers, finishing his solo cup of swill shitty beer, and flings it over his shoulder and throws himself willingly into the pit as well. He thrashes amongst the other bodies, likeminded punks like you all angry, but jovial. Thats what all this was, he realizes; punk is people angry about the state of their world, coming together to express and enjoy each other. Not unlike how the metal scene is filled with people like him, fantasy nerds who enjoy a complex guitar riff. 

The orbit of the pit brings him back to you, first in passing, where you throw your body into his side, he steadies you and you bounce off of each other. The next time he catches your gravity he holds onto you the way the Earth holds the Moon. He swings you off the path of the crowd, pulling the two of you out and to the periphery. You laugh heartily as you hand onto him, arms around his neck as you catch your breath.

“Having fun?” you pant, and he pulls you upright, his hands never leaving your hips.

“I do believe this is the most insane shit I’ve ever willingly participated in,” he huffs, leaning against you.

“What can I say?” you tighten your hold on his neck, pulling him into a hug, “We punks do it with love!”

You laugh, eyes not leaving his, and then before either of you can think, he’s pressing his lips to yours, crashing together. Has he fucked this all up? Who knows. He didn't even register what he was doing, his body on autopilot. Both of you almost fall over, dizzy from the beer and the kiss. 

When he finally pulls back, both of you are breathless all over again.

“You mean to do that, Eds?”

He presses his sweaty forehead against your own.

“Yeah, I think I did.”

He surprises himself by admitting that, but with the way you’re looking at him, he doesn’t regret it. 

“Was hoping you did.”

[flusteredloser]

sugar sweet

richie tozier x fem reader

category: fluff, fluff, literally just fluff

word count: 3,3k

content warnings: swearing, stealing, slight nsfw (sexual innuendos... bc it’s richie tozier), a driving scene written by a bitch who can't drive, overbearing fluff, sonia

a/n: hello here’s a lil soft fic i wrote in a hyper state today <3 i had ‘beverly’ by ben wallfisch from the it 2017 soundtrack stuck in my head while i wrote the ending so !! enjoy

🎡

"sweetheart, if you don't put your head back in, i'm afraid i'm gonna have to marie antoinette you."

you laughed dismissively at his empty threat, feeling a grin take over. you let the wind crash against your face and through your hair, the scent of sea salt softly filling your nose. if richie thought that you were going to give this feeling up, oh, was he wrong.

despite what he was saying, the sight of morning sunlight streaking through your flying hair and your torso poking out the passengers' window was one richie wished he could get used to. despite his nagging for the past half hour, ranting about the dangers of vehicular manslaughter and mishaps, he couldn't help but beam at your laughter. 

he almost hit himself in the head for getting all worked up about safety like eddie always did, but it was something he found himself doing often with you. keeping you safe and sound was one of the few things that kept him from staying up all night. besides, you guys were going to see eddie and the rest of the losers in a bit anyways. the designated role of the pedantic worrier would soon be shrugged off richie's shoulders.

keeping one hand on the wheel, richie’s free hand never left the edge of your knee, not once in the hour-long drive. no matter how far you reached your body out his car's window, his fingers stayed glued around you. you never said anything about the gesture apart from placing your hand over his. being his was something you never got used to, but you were far from complaining.

"richierichierichie i think we're here!" you exclaim, ducking your head back inside the car.

"you sure, dummy? the massive ferris wheel and circus tent means we're close to the carnival?"

your hand leaves his to go shove his temple, "fuck off, rich."

"i know i know, you're really excited," he taps your knee, "so am i."

he pulls into the parking lot, expertly navigating his way through the crowded area before finding a space. an empty space which was coincidentally beside a sketchy beat-up minivan painted with "URIS," in fat letters.

richie laughs, "what are the fucking odds.”

his hand moves from the skin on your knee to the back of your seat, his body shifting to face the rear. you subtly eye your boyfriend sitting in the driver's seat and tried not to physically express any of the thoughts firing in your mind right then. dear god, did he look good today. you end up shamelessly staring at him as he strains his neck to squeeze his way through tight space. his knuckles turn to this ghostly shade of white when he flexed them against the wheel, his rings glinting under the sunlight.

once he finally put the car in park and shifted his weight back to you, he catches your gaze. throwing a wink, he pulls out the keys and stuffs his belongings into his jean pockets. 

you’re sure he has zero clue about the effect any of this had on you. sure, he was your boyfriend but sometimes you found yourself feeling scared at how much you liked him. this boy has you wrapped around his finger and he barely knows half of it.

you reach over and run your fingers through his unruly hair a couple more times, enjoying the way the curls bounce back. “you look so good, rich.”

he rolls his eyes at your remark, but you don’t miss the way a small blush reaches tips of his ears. “enjoy it while it lasts, i can’t let the guards recognise me again.” 

“i still can’t believe you got fired and banned on the same day, rich. that’s genuinely so impressive, you know that?"

richie rolls his eyes but you see the hint of a grin on his face, “you going soft on me, sweets?”

“could never.” you ruffle his hair, letting your nails glide along his scalp and you laugh at the way his head naturally tips back. richie had no clue why the feeling of your hands in his hair that made him short-circuit, but he wasn’t complaining.

“do we really have to go see them...” richie groans, grabbing your hand and placing it back onto his head when you pulled away.

“richard tozier. i did not pester you to drive us an hour away just so you could fold at me playing with your hair.”

he side-eyes you. “why did i agree to this again?”

“because every day for the last month you wouldn’t shut up about ‘taking eddie’s slushee v-”

“ed’s slushee virginity, riiiight,” he breaks out in a smile, “jesus, can you believe sonia never let him near one in his entire life?”

you tug his fringe towards you and the rest of his head followed, “well, now that he’s all alone there, someone’s got to be there to guide him through his first time, right?” 

he faux-pouts back at you, the mischievous glint in his eye sparkling brighter. “fine.”

finally, you let go of his hair and he pecks a kiss against your cheek before putting on his sunglasses and tipping his cap further down his face. opening his car door, you sit there dumbfounded as you watch the 6'2 disguised dork clamber out of his side with your tote bag on his shoulder.

he glances back, offering a hand as if you were going to climb out on his side as well, “c’mon, we don’t have all day.” and richie made sure you knew that by dragging you through the park, evading the guards left and right in under a minute. it was only so long before you spotted a group of idiots wandering aimlessly. bev’s bright red hair was the instant identifier, and watching this bill’s lanky frame grab a fistful of stan’s curls to yank it about sealed the deal. 

“stanley, darling,” richie yelled through the crowd, “if you wanted someone to pull your hair that badly you could’ve asked me nicely.”  “shut the fuck up, trashmouth!” stan yelled back. “wait. rich?”

you walk over and sling your arm around bev, “you guys haven’t been waiting long, have you?”  she grins at the sight of you, “no, but if i have to hear mike argue one more time that the high striker is apparently ‘broken’ i’m going to kill somebody.”

“do me a favour and kill me, bev!” stan’s voice cuts through, followed by a shriek when richie too grabs a handful of his hair. 

bev’s hand leaves yours to go smack both boys upside the head. “y’all better stop acting like children before i get fucking fired. i’m not going out like dumbass richie here did.” she eyes the rest of them, who all halt in their tracks.

“yes, ma’am,” the chorus sighed.

🎡

"ed's, i swear on your mother's smokin’ bod that blue is the. best. flavour. there's literally nothing wrong with it."

"you just called blue a flavour, richie-”

"because it can be. it doesn’t matter if blue and red colouring are the same, you can feel the difference.”

"no, i really can't. i don't understand how the colour blue could possibly be-"

richie groans, "fine, eat your mommy's packed lunch like the big boy you are." he teasingly starts to wave his cup in front of eddie's eyes.

"quit it, rich. if eddie doesn’t want toxins in his body, leave him be." ben interjects before sipping his own neon drink.

the boys huddled together around a picnic table they had managed to snatch before the carnival’s lunch rush swept over. richie and bev used to work in the carnival last summer, the two-week period spent with one another supposedly being “worse than the devil’s asscrack.” the comment itself earned richie five slaps, one each from the boys, and a high-five from bev. that was until richie got permanently banned (which you still don’t know how) and now bev carried on by herself whenever they roll back into derry. 

currently, you and bev were on your way back from the concession stands, attempting not to spill anything. you each held at least four bags of carnival foods and drinks in your arms, bev also balancing the few candy bars she stashed under her shirt. teeter-tottering your way back to the boys, richie burst out in laughter at the sight of you struggling. 

“as graceful as a job you’re doing with that, sweets, do you want some help?” he smirks, already swinging his leg over the chair.

“nope, nothing to see here,” you groan at richie’s smug grin. “rich, i swear to god if you come near me i am going to-”

“hurt me, hit me, murder me, mmhm. i’m sure you’ll do a whole lot of damage.” he winks, swiping the bags from your arms.

“freaky.” stan muttered, churning his slushee with the straw. you grumble at richie’s endearing irritating act of heroism and plop yourself next to stan empty-handed. 

“here, you want some?” stan raises an eyebrow, offering his blue slushee towards you.

“thanks stan, but he’s got my...” you glance towards richie, half-expecting to see him distributing the snacks, only to see him aggressively nudge the slushees in eddie’s face. “you know what, i’ll take it.” 

stan scoffed, “what, you thought i was offering this from the depths of my generous heart? i thought you knew me better-"

the sound of plastic crinkling and eddie’s yelp cut through stan’s sentence. 

you look back at the sight of richie threatening to pour the ice into eddie’s hair, eddie shrieking and wildly missing punches at richie. dear god, your boyfriend was such a menace. richie and eddie never spent a day where they weren’t at eachother’s throats though, but anyone with a pair of eyes could see that they deeply loved one another. rich had that effect on people, you think. he was rarely overtly loving, but it’s not like he needed to be. you guys just knew.

ben smiles sweetly between you and your gaze on richie. “you’re staring again, y/n.”

you immediately snap out of it and go to slug ben in the shoulder. “was not.”

“was too.”

"was. not."

"was too!"

you narrow your eyes at ben who sheepishly smiles in innocence. he reaches over to grab a couple onion rings from your bag to which you lightly slap the back of his hand. he groans, trying again from another angle, “just because i pointed out your goo-goo eyes at trashmouth?”

bev snatched a couple rings from across you and threw them at ben. he chuckles gleefully at the perfect catch. “you know, he’s not wrong,” she points out.

“for the last time, i wasn’t staring,” you groan.

“not about that, genius. the way you’re absolutely whipped for that dick.” she smiles. “i mean,” you barely conceal your smirk, “the dick is pretty g-”

"not what i meant," bev sighs while the rest of them groan at your words.

“seriously though,” bill asks with genuine curiosity, “how did you even end up together? how do you even like someone that much?” bev tuts from the other side, “tread lightly there, denbrough.” 

“shut up, you know what i mean. it’s trashmouth we’re talking ’bout here.” bill grins, “it’s a mystery how someone can shut him up so quick.”

you laugh to yourself, thinking about the few times you get to see richie completely speechless. “it’s not that hard, you know?” you shrug softly at the way the losers nod. you may all pretend to hate the life out of him but he always had a special place in each of your hearts. “he cares with everything he’s got, no matter what. he’s always there for you even if you don’t want him to be. i just...i don’t think he’s been anything less than...” 

“-if you say ‘perfect’, i’m going to hit you.” stan says.

you roll your eyes at stan, “fuck off, but... but yeah. it’s so easy to love him and i honestly owe you guys an apology for being so annoyingly whipped for that dork,” you joke.

aside from the distant bickering coming from richie and eddie in their own little world, a silence hung over the six of you. it was too quiet. wondering if you said something wrong, you scan over them, only to be met with six variations of a smirk. more than confused, you chuckle nervously. “i was joking about the apology thing but if you really want-”

“you said ‘love.’” bev laughed.

“what?”

“you said ‘love,’” she repeated. “that you loved him.”

“i... of course i love him, he’s..” not trusting any more of the words coming out of your mouth, you cut yourself off and gather your thoughts.

of course you loved richie. each and every one of you loved your resident trashmouth, he was one of your best friends. the two of you were the closest of friends, an insufferable duo for years before you began dating. it might have only been a few weeks since he asked you out, but it’s not like too much changed from when you were friends. 

there was only more love, more affection, only slightly more sexual innuendos (majority of them were solely just to piss off stan). 

so of course you loved him. more than you did when you were friends. which he’s gotta know... right?

“fuck, maybe i do owe you guys an apology.” you joke.

“don’t think twice about it, this is nothing compared to him. if i took a shot for every time he went on some sort of love ramble about you, i’d be fucking dead.” bev replies, “and then he would carry on.”

you laugh, shaking your head in denial, “c’mon, he does not do that.”

“are you blind?” mike speaks up. “you’ve had him since the first day you joined us at the barrens. i can still see fourteen-year-old richie ogling you clear as day.”

you stammered at your response, tripping over your words. “mike, i think you broke her. she’s become bill,” stan teases.

you go to shove stan again and sorely miss. “anyways, my point is...” 

you avoid their eye contact and go back to churning stan’s slushee. “he has my heart, fuck, he’s got all of our hearts. like, is he an asshole? sure. does he get on my nerves every other day? definitely. will he be the death of me? probably. but i l-”

“i sure hope you’re winding up to something there, sweets.” 

you snap your head up from your dreamy rambling to see richie smirking next to you and eddie squeezing himself next to bill. you feel yourself go bright red at the realisation that he had been listening. 

“i- no. that was it.”  

“you sure? you going off about me... ‘but’...” richie pushes, quoting your words.

“richie, if you genuinely think you have redeeming qualities, i suggest some self-reflection.” stan quipped. “yeah, i was just pointing how much you bother us. no ifs, no buts,” you jokingly agree.

“mean,” richie rolls his eyes, shifting back in his seat next to you.

he’s gotta know... right? 

you wink and stick your tongue out playfully, to which richie raises an eyebrow at. he glances between the blue drink in your hand and your tongue, his gaze on your lips making you nervous. 

“now, what?” you sigh, wiping the ice from your mouth and pretending that you weren’t dying to know what was churning in that brain of his. 

“nothing,” richie shrugs smugly, “just that i’ve always wanted to know how my cock looked blue.”

the comment took you off guard, your instant blush only fuelling richie’s grin. without hesitation, you lean over with a faux-pout, an act that has richie’s eyes wide. “careful there, trashmouth,” you tease loudly. “you keep this up and you’ll see how stan’s looks blue.”

bev immediately gasps with her hand over her mouth, followed by mike’s stifled cackle as he slapped richie’s back. the rest of the group looks frankly stunned, and stan’s face is on a whole different level of red. 

richie doesn’t even look the least bit angry. his jaw is dropped slightly and he runs his hand over his jaw, trying to stop the chuckle that leaves his throat. if anything he looks proud. 

shaking his head with a smile, he slings his arm over your shoulder to pull you closer. “that’s my girl,” he grins.

“yeah, that for sure is tozier’s,” bill says.

there’s no way any of you miss the way richie’s face goes red under that comment and your heart skips a beat when he squeezes your side. when no one’s looking, you lean up and kiss by his ear, absolutely delighted by the deeper shade of red on his face. 

“darl, if you don’t stop that i’m going to go as red as stan,” he whispers into your hair. the both of you look back at the boy who’s trying to concentrate on his slushee and not the blush that’s continued to creep to his neck. “i’m actually getting concerned.”

you giggle, “shh, he’s fine.”

“no really, i give it a couple seconds before eddie pulls out his medical fanny pack,” richie says.

you look up at him as you’re tucked into his side, his arm still slung around your shoulder. his dark hair and eyelashes caught the sunlight, his blue eyes glinting as he glanced back. his lips were tipped into their signature cheeky smile, almost like a cue that he was going to say something out of hand. you felt the swell of your heart grow as he raised his eyebrows, prompting what he knew you were going to say. 

“you know, earlier...” you whisper, looking down to his hand intertwining with yours. “i just... i wanted to say that i... you know... that i-”

“i feel like i should be offended at how hard it is for you to tell me you love me, sweets,” he whispers back, clearly trying to keep a straight face.  fuck.  “oh god please, you know i-” richie shushes you, kissing the crown of your head. “it’s okay, i know.” you can feel the curve of his lips against your hair. “i love you too.”

trying to tame the aggressive blush and stupid smile that reached your face, you follow his gaze over to eddie. just like richie joked, he had this fanny pack laid on the table in front of stan. you weren’t listening to anything they were saying, but you watched the way stan was squirming from eddie, insisting he did not have heatstroke. mike stood right behind stan, pinching his cheeks and periodically wrapping his strong arms around stan to stop him from squirming. bev was leaning across ben and bill’s laps, joining in and poking her fun at eddie and you notice how bill’s hands traces figures along bev’s side. ben gazes at the group of them, chiming in every so often when stan’s quips got too violent. 

it was one of those moments you wish you could freeze. 

after a while, richie whispers into your ear. “do you think they’d even notice if we left for the ferris wheel?”

you break your eye contact from the group to gaze up at him. “nope, not at all. you think you can sneak us some tickets?” 

“please, you think i got kicked out of here for nothing?” he scoffs.

“is this how you’re going to get banned again?” you grin, poking his side, “stealing tickets for your girl?”

with a soft smile, he takes your hand to subtly stand and back away from the group. with stifled giggles, the both of you manage to make it at least twenty feet without the losers even noticing. the second you two were out of earshot, richie wraps his hand around yours and begins to run, “i wouldn't want it any other way."

🎡

[mery-cm99]

In the Stars (Cp. 2)

In the Stars Masterlist

Description: Harper doesn't want any pilot near her, at least as far as possible. But that's really difficult when you work around them. She has managed to keep her “no pilots'' rule to date. That's until Bradley Bradshaw enters the Hard Deck like a great wave, destroying everything in his way and smashing all the walls Harper had built all this years ago.

Pairing: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw x plus size!OC

Warnings: Mention of trauma, blood, crashes and sad stuff in general. There's some spice and mention of sex, but nothing too explicit. English is not my first language, so sorry in advance for any grammar  or spelling errors.

Rating: Teens and up

Chapter 2/11

Word Count: 1,550 words

Harper nearly felt out of her bed when her alarm went off. She was trembling, her heart pounding against her chest like she was a little mouse hiding from a cat. She looked at her hands, still shaken, but there was no blood there. It was just a nightmare, a very real one.

She jumped in the shower, trying to get rid of the feeling, then change into her uniform before eating breakfast. After that, Harper took her bag and left to get to the Naval base where the best pilots were trained, also known as Top Gun. And her workplace for the last three years.

Once there, her first stop was her office, so she could leave her bag and get her new worksheets. Then she headed to the Vice Admiral Simpson's office.

“Good morning, Vice Admiral” she saluted.

“Dr. Richards” Simpson said in response, sitting behind his desk. “The mission candidates start their training today. You have their files'' he continued once he saw the folder in her hand.

“That's right, sir. I'll review them now. I'd like to ask for a medical examination of all of them and the instructor” she requested. She didn't need to, though. Simpson had worked with her for three years, so he knew she was gonna ask.

“Indeed, they will be informed after today’s meeting. then they’ll get to you” 

“Thank you, sir. Is there anything else I need to do?” 

“Nothing. You’re dismissed”

Harper saluted again and headed to her office. It actually was a medical box, with a desk, some chairs, a stretcher and a white screen that divided the room in two. Once there, Harper threw on her white robe and sat on her chair so she could start her work.

Two hours later, someone knocked on the door. Harper told them to come in.

“Come in, sit down and take off your shirt” she told them without looking up, still setting the paper she had to fill with the information of the pilot. She saw from the corner of her eye how he —now she knew it was a he— did as she had told, but lost him on the other side of the screen. Once ready, Harper stood up and followed him to the other side. There was him, she recognized him immediately, with his lovely smile she had seen in millions of photos. However, it didn't shock her because she had read his file in the folder. She knew Maverick was the instructor for the mission.

“Why am I not surprised it's precisely you who I find as the base doctor?” he asked rhetorically, the smile still glowing on his face while he watched the woman leaving the portfolio on the stretcher and taking two blue gloves from the box.

“Let’s say it was inevitable” she answered, shrugging her shoulders. Her father was a Top Gun instructor, that’s why she had grown there, in the base. And this one was the reason everyone knew Harper was gonna work for the Navy. It was everything she had known since she was one and a half years old. But in addition, Ava —the woman who had looked after her while her father was away executing his missions— was the base doctor, so Harper had, literally, grown around white robes, syringes and latex gloves.

She was finishing the medical examination when she talked again.

“I’ve heard everything they say about you, Captain Maverick. I must warn you I won’t be gentle if you show up here because one of your imposible maneuvers”

Maverick laughed while the woman removed the stickers that measured his vital signs and the sleeve of the tension meter.

“I’ve been warned about the doctor’s temperament. Mainly if the wound is due to the pilot’s irresponsability. I’ll keep that in mind” he assured, still smiling.

“In that case, we have finished. You can get dressed again and call the next” she said, removing her gloves to throw them in the bin. She took the portfolio again and returned to her desk to save the documents and prepare the next template.

The next few hours Harper kept examining the pilots, and as they were leaving, Harper feared the moment the next one would come in case it was him. It was a torture, her heart flutter eleven times for nothing. Then there was only one left. While she finished her examination on Lieutenant Jake "Hangman” Seresin, the brunette prepared herself for what was gonna happen next. There was no way to avoid it, she had seen his picture, his sheet. He was the next one.

But even that didn’t prepare her for the moment he entered the room. At least he was in his pilot jumpsuit, so he didn’t stand out from the rest, and his aviators were in his pocket again. Still, as soon as he closed the door behind him, the scent of citrus fruits and leather filled the room and Harper considered opening a window just for her survival. She didn’t think she could concentrate when his presence and aroma filled the room, enveloping her like it was the soft song of a siren, luring her to shore to devour her. In her opinion, his callsign should be Maverick, not Pete’s, because that man was like a great wave, fun to surf on, but extremely dangerous and lethal. Beautiful and scary at the same time. 

Still looking down, Harper told him to sit down on the stretcher and take off his t-shirt, like she had done with the rest of the pilots. But she took her time on her side of the white screen, far from him. She knew that the sooner she started, the sooner she would get away from him, but Harper couldn’t but delay it as much as possible. Then, she took a deep breath and turned around pulling her shoulders back. Shit, she was 38, no longer an hormonal teenager with a crush on a pilot. Besides, this was her job, her element. She had to be professional.

“You must be Bradley Bradhsaw, right?” she asked, walking to him still looking at her portfolio.

Bradley was about to give her an affirmative answer, but the word got stuck on his throat when he saw the doctor standing in front of him. Her brown hair was now in a low bun, not loose like he had seen the night before. Her curvy body was now wrapped in a uniform and a white robe, unlike the day before, when she had a blue blouse and some jean shorts, showing her wide thighs, that Bradley was still trying to shake off his head.

“Wait. You were in the Hard Deck yesterday. You served me a beer “ he said, as if he couldn’t connect both scenes.

“Yeah. I sometimes pour drinks there. But this is my real job “ she answered as if she was talking about the weather while putting on a new pair of gloves and taking her stethoscope again. “I’m gonna listen to your heart” she told him. While she listened to his heartbeat, Harper forbade herself to look anywhere but the instrument’s bell. She knew that if she looked an inch out of it, she would be lost.

Bradley was silent during the examination, only answering the brief questions the woman around him asked. He was confused. He had been in thousands of medical examinations over his years in the Navy, but this was the first doctor who looked tense, as if the mere presence of Bradley felt like an offense to her. Finally, he decided to ask.

“Did I do something to upset you?” he asked, looking down at her while she put the sleeve of the tension meter on his arm.

She looked up at the sound of his voice and her breath stuck on her lungs when she saw his hazel eyes looking at her closely. Bradley saw how her chocolate eyes dilated for a second, but then her gaze hardened again.

“I have nothing against you” she murmured, avoiding him. Bradley didn’t believe her, he knew there was something behind her discomfort, but he didn’t insist on that, didn’t want to make her feel more uncomfortable.

After letting him go, Harper returned to her desk to finish her work, but some time later, she got distracted at the sound of planes flying. She supposed they were in their first class. Harper looked out the window, where the runway  was visible, and watched them for a while, reminiscing about the old days. When she was young, her father was the instructor who flew with the pilots, so Harper used to sneak into the break room, climb onto the sofa and look out the window to see them fly, imagining she was up in the sky with him. While they weren’t flying, the rest of the pilots gathered in that room, listening to the radio comms and playing pool. When Harper was there, they used to keep her secret and joke with her. Those were good memories. At that age, Harper dreamed of following her father’s footsteps, became a pilot. Now, however, there was nothing she wanted less.

With a deep sigh, Harper walked away from the window and went back to work, trying to concentrate again.

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