#amanda is watching the olympics

[tenrose]

We fucking outqueered the game

[theanticool]

So you watched #PaulTyson, saw Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor, and now you want to watch more women's boxing? Here's a quick guide!

I have been beating the drum of women's boxing for over a decade at this point, so I feel uniquely qualified to help people who might want to get deeper into their women's boxing bag. So here are a handful of fights to help you jump into the sport!

(I've kept it to recent examples because these fighters are still active)

Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 1 - April 30, 2022

I'm sure most people who saw Taylor-Serrano 2 on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul card did not get to see the first fight. And they should. The 2nd fight picked up right where the first one left off, with these two getting in the phonebooth and getting to work at a torrent pace. Absolutely fantastic fight. Worthy of the Fight of the Year honors it got from Sports Illustrated. Was lucky enough to be there in person and it is one of my favorite memories as a combat sports fan.

2. Claressa Shields vs Savannah Marshall - October 15, 2022

If there is any woman who has claim to the title of best ever outside of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, it is the 'GWOAT' Claressa Shields. She is a 5 division champion who was also the undisputed champion at 154lbs. She's a two time Olympic gold medalist, winning her first one at the age of 16 year old. And through her pro and amateur career, only one woman had ever beat her (on the amateur circuit) - knockout artist Savannah Marshall. Marshall has a claim to being the biggest puncher women's boxing has ever seen and has a style unlike any ever seen in women's pro boxing. So a professional meeting between the two was always going to make for a fun clash.

3. Alycia Baumgardner vs Mikaela Mayer - October 15, 2022

Of the fights on the list, this is probably the least exciting but it carried significant weight and I still found it incredibly entertaining. Mayer is a former Olympian who was on her way to unifying all the belts at 130lbs to become undisputed champion. She had marched her way through the pros, earning a 17-0 record at the time and taking out former champions like Maïva Hamadouche, Erica Farias, and Jennifer Han. Alycia Baumgardner was not that. She was a pro boxer who was in the wilds, trying to cut her teeth at a time when no American promoter was investing in women's boxing. It wasn't until Matchroom (UK promotion) gave her a shot against a different super featherweight champion Terri Harper did Baumgardner finally breakthrough, knocking the champ out in an upset victory. That set these two on a collision course for unification

4. Gabriela Fundora vs Celeste Alaniz - November 2, 2024

This one is a little different. It was less a great, competitive fight than the ascension of the next great women's boxer. Gabriela Fundora comes from a boxing family. Her brother Sebastian is a world champion up at 154lbs. So her winning a world title at only 22 years old isn't too crazy. But fighting for the undisputed (all four belts) kind of is. Celeste Alaniz is a fellow young up and coming boxer who had just knocked off former two division champion and Olympic bronze medalist Marlen Esparza. The fight between these two was fun, while it lasted. Keep an eye out on the winner here. They're going places. Like the top of the P4P list.

5. Yesica Nery Plata vs Kim Clavel - January 13, 2023

Felt wrong not putting any Mexican boxers on this one so I'm going with the light flyweight champion, Yesica Nery Plata. At 30-2, Plata has built up an impressive run as a pro. She is the WBA and WBC light flyweight champion. Sadly, the fight I most want to see from her is a rematch with Kenia Enriquez and with Enriquez up a weight class, that ship has sailed. That said, would love to see her in there with a Yokasta Valle.

[idk-i-want-mcl-content]

my candy's profile 💗🦇

first of all, I want to thank @eldaryasharbinger @queenkamisama and @candysweetposts because they had inspired me to do this with my oc and I completely credit them with the template ideas and everything 💗 I really enjoy reading about your candys!

credit to @cafekitsune for the dividers 💗 (also, I'm going to make a spanish version of this post, but later)

As a warning, this is a REALLY long post, i'm not joking lol I've yapped a lot and there's still a lot of info left xd

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 24 years old (she's turning 25 the year the game takes place)

Birthday: December 8th

Nationality: Salvadorian.

Languages: Spanish, English and French.

Sexuality: Panromantic Demisexual.

Appearance details: She has little dimples that are visible every time she laughs or smiles, has a lot of bruises on her knees and stretch marks on her hips. Most of the time she has eye bags and she straightens her hair, but naturally it has more of a wavy texture. She has body hair.

Outfits

Work - Every day - At the beach - Formal/Date

Relationships dynamics

Devon, main romantic interest: When she first arrived at Devenementiel she was a bit intimidated by Devon, because she wanted to do things right and give a good impression. As time passed, his charisma and kindness made her feel a lot more comfortable and after he helped her in her first solo project, she felt like they were on really good terms. Candy definitely feels attracted to him, but questions if it would be a good idea after what happened last time (she hasn't told anyone on the team about it) - When she had to start looking for apartments and Devon helped her with the interview (he volunteered after seeing how stress she was about it), it was the first time in MONTHS she saw Devon nervous around her. Ironically, he seemed to be enjoying the situation more than her, and the shine in his eyes when he called her "my wife" would be something difficult to forget. ("Didn't you say this would be difficult?" "idk, it was easy to think about you as my wife" "... you said WHAT NOW?") - On Devon's part, there's a lot of qualities of her that he likes, after all he hired her, but he specially likes how passionate and dedicated she is with her work and hobbys, but sometimes she can get way too carried with details and it stresses him lol they're working on it tho.

- Both are ambitious and so, I can see them having constant problems with making time to be together. They sort of mirror each other in the things they value the most and their biggest flaw, so finding a balance it's going to be harder than confessing to each other lol - Candy was quite disappointed with Devon's behavior when Thomas told everyone Roy's habit. She kept herself out of the jokes and everything but when they were deciding whether or not to spy on Roy and she told him how inappropriate it would be (for a THIRD time) for a moment she could tell he was hesitant, but proceded with everyone else except her and Amanda. Days after, when the topic came up again (because Roy did prank them and told them Amanda and Candy warned him): "I should've know you were planning something." "I'll give credit to Roy for the prank, but I was actually concerned for him. " "Candy, we are friends, nothing was going to happen to him" "Devon, believe me, you don't want to go on that hill with me again. I think you know Roy's boundaries, but this is one of mine's" and if bro didn't noticed he was fucking up, it was clear by her tone and glare: It reminded him of her "conversation" with Jason. Roy, coworker and friend: Roy and Candy had good chemistry since the start, mainly because of how easy going Roy is and as time passed they ended up being friends. They like to talk about Roy's swimming competitions and you can BET they were following some Paris 2024 Olympics events.

- They liked talking about TV shows Roy watches and every once in a blue moon when their schedules are free they like to go to the movies with other friends. Wouldn't say their friendship is perfect, because sometimes they but heads when Roy's being way too impulsive but at the end of the day they balance it out. Thomas, coworker: Candy didn't knew how to approach Thomas at first, he and Amanda seemed to her like they were just going to be on co-worker terms, feeling like they didn't have anything in common. Now that she has been working at Devenementiel for some time, she enjoys debating with Thomas A LOT to the point that if Amanda or Elenda see them talking they will literally leave xd.

- They are the type of friends where one ask a seemingly insignificant question and the other answers the most serious way, trying to think logically about it, and the conversation ends up being an hour long lol. In my canon, them and Amanda are like, the moon to Devenementiel's team Sun¿

- Their relationship sometimes can be unpredictable, because they disagree on really important topics and as i've mentioned my Candy heavily dislikes gossips and Thomas isn't as bothered with boundaries as she is, so when in ep 04 Thomas started to talk about Jason's personal life she started to dislike that part of his personality, even arguing with him "How is it that you feel comfortable sharing the personal information of others, but never talk about yourself and when people ask, you ignore them? Isn't it unfair?" And Thomas just gave a half-ass answer. Amanda, coworker: Now, with Amanda it's really funny, because even thought they work in the same department of the company and both have similar work styles she didn't like her from the start.

- She thought Amanda would be the type of person to put others down to lift her own accomplishments, and at the time she didn't really bother talking with her outside of work-related things. After all, she had plenty of coworkers like that in EPMC and even ballet.

- Her perception of Amanda changed with the events of episode 08 and after sitting with her and talking, she found out Amanda thought the same of her, plus she thought Candy didn't took things seriously enough sometimes. But instead of making her angry or offended Candy just laughed because for the longest time they were both concerned about something false, finding it ironic. Amanda was quite puzzled with her reaction but at the end they agreed to try and be friends, which ended up being easier after that first bad impression.

- Candy takes a lot of fashion advice from Amanda and she considers Candy a safe person to talk a little more about her own sexuality, since she mentioned she has dated women before. Since Amanda likes dancing, she's the only one of the team who Candy has show some of her performances (Even thought she has years of experience Candy's really shy of her abilities since she compares herself A LOT with others). All of this trust, of course, has taken them some time to build up but they've become more closed than what people think.

Jason, work rival: Can I just say, that I think this Candy on paper, would have fitted better in Goldreamz rather than Devenementiel? but what's done it's done yk. (in my mind there's an au where she is working at goldreamz but that's a story for another day) - When she first met Jason on ep 02, he didn't necessarily impressed her but she didn't thought he wasn't as bad as Roy mentioned, however, the things she assumed about Amanda ended up becoming true with Jason: His arrogance and constant remarks about him being better than Devenemetiel and Devon in everything annoyed her quickly, and interally she was trying not to take it personally and ignored Jason's attempts to provoke her, something he didn't quite appreciated. "How interesting, Devon, it seems like your new employee is the most professional out of you three." "Better say of the four of us, Jason. Or would you say arrogancy is a desirable quality in a bussiness partner?" "You can interpret it as arrogancy, but I'm prideful of the services my company can offer to our clients" "If you were so confident, at least in my opinion, there wouldn't be such a need to remark it every time you speak. After all, actions are worth more than words, isn't it?" - In general, she doesn't find Jason to be incompetent or anything like that, but she despise that facade of his. If it's canon that Jason searched for Candy's number and contacted her, he would promptly get ignored, not because she doesn't want to answer but knows that's exactly what he wants. - In ep 06 when Goldreamz and Devenementiel's team are arguing, I imagine she wouldn't say anything and just dedicate to analyze and contrast information, retaining a laugh because she finds it so funny when Devon, Thomas and Jason are being sarcastic.

Elenda coworkers, friends: Elenda reminds Candy SO MUCH of her best friend so it's not a surprise they got along pretty quickly, as she did with Roy. She has a soft spot for Elenda tbh, similar to Brune. They are wholesome and Elenda makes her laugh a lot. Even if she has insisted to see at least a video of any of her ballet performances, Candy isn't revealing anything lol. I can 100% imagine them going to a karaoke and BLASTING Crowstorm's songs (picture them not being able to talk the next day at work xddd) either that or pop songs. I imagine they just found each other in a karaoke as a coincidence once, since both were with their own friends, but now they go together.

Brune, coworkers, on good terms: In my headcanons, Brune can speak spanish as her second language so when Candy is burned OUT of speaking french she would exclusively talk spanish to Brune lol They are not as closed as with Elenda, but they do joke around and appreciate the other's sincerity.

um hello hi and thank u for reading all of this? like wow xd I'm going to continue adding info and as i've mentioned before i'm going to make a spanish version of this post, just for the funsies yk, but that's going to be on another time. Also, I would have been infuriated if I wrote this before episode 08 because my perception of Thomas, who I've had considered my main route, change in an awful way :c Devon too did things I don't like, but for the sake of completing this I chose him (believe me I thought about it a lot of time xddd)

[mondfahrt]

"Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning" is a documentary by women and queer people about women and queer people in sports, specifically running.

SYNOPSIS: If history is written by the victors, where does that leave those who were never allowed to be part of the game? A collective of queer athletes enters the Olympic Stadium in Athens and sets out to honour those who were excluded from standing on the winners’ podium. They meet Amanda Reiter, a trans* marathon runner who has to struggle with the prejudices of sports organisers and Annet Negesa, a 800m runner who was urged by the international sports federations to undergo hormone-altering surgery. Together they create a radical utopia far from the rigid gender rules in competitive sports.

I had the opportunity to watch this movie and it's really really good, dealing with very heavy subjects but never letting pain and suffering overtake the story the protagonists want to tell.

[hoohoobeanie]

oooooh buddy! 🥀, 🍒,🔥, and 🫐 <3333 - katie

🥀: favorite angst quote from a published work

' Tommy still can't forget the look in Spencer's eyes before he closed the door behind himself - as if he was watching the last scene of his favourite TV show before the credits started rolling. '

- bad idea right?

🍒: favorite sweet quote from a wip

' Amanda's hand comes up to his hair, caressing it comfortingly. She really does fall into the nurturing mother role too easily. '

- gold rush

��: wild card: dealer’s choice of quote from a wip

' Tommy is no longer grateful for hair and makeup. He curses them for making Spencer look so good that Tommy's heart does Olympic style acrobatics at the sight of him. '

- gold rush

🫐: a line from a published work that you’re proud of, but no one’s mentioned yet - or if you can’t think of one, an underrated line in general

' This tiny glimpse of the other man's life, so outside from the little bubble that Tommy was used to with Spencer, just makes him want him more. He wants to know Spencer's friends, wants to have to impress them and make inside jokes with them. He wants to be in a framed photo on Spencer's bookcase. '

- bad idea right?

[juurensha]

Tag game!

Thank you @bittermoonswrites for tagging me!

Rules: answer + tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better and/or like to catch up with; as always, no pressure to do this

Favourite color: perwinkle blue

Last song you listened to: "Von dutch" by charli xcx

Currently reading: Rereading All of Our Demise by Amanda Foody and C. L. Herman (the one time the gay ship I thought was a long-shot actually went canon), and The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan (on the one hand, I do like the romance; but on the other, sometimes the main characters grate because they are pretty self-righteous)

Currently watching: Shadow of the Erdtree let's play, and a rewatch of the BBC And Then There Were None

Currently craving: end of hurricane season

Coffee or tea: Tea

Any hobby you'd like to try?: For some reason, I always think quilting would be fun.

Any discipline you'll follow during the Olympics?: Mostly gymnastics, although some track and field this time for the Yu-Gi-Oh rep, and apparently I should have been watching sharpshooting all along for the swag :DDD

Any AU/Alternate Universe you've been plotting for?: I've got a modern AU Labru fic that I'm in the middle of writing (they keep sidetracking me with food talk) and I hope I can get that done maybe this month or next month!

Going to tag @moontls @miririri @jalimeylimey @thyandrawrites @mistystarshine @draphrawrites

[itspdameronthings]

Cousins

Summary: Here is my thought about if Jake Milles was the Millers cousin. Jake milles is a character on Deadfall. good movie need to watch it. Also read the fic that@laurfilijames wrote about him. My fic is Jakes's background . Also there is a preview of the next chapter of never letting you go. Enjoy!t

“ Ya sure ya want to learn to box Willy Jack? Never was interested in the sport before? “ Kicking up gravel while him ,and his cousin, William Millerwalk along a gravel country road leading to an old barn near the Miller’s house. These two were two peas in a pod. Jake is two years older than his cousin. Always doing stuff together. Also a big brother to Benny. Which is a good thing. Benny is a firecracker   Always getting into stuff. Three of them are always doing stuff together. Even included Sunshine in their plans. Like a baby sister he ever had. Jake’s family lives on the left side of the Miller's property. Both of their dads farm the huge land. Sally, the boys’ aunt Sally is something else. Heart of gold. Love taking care of her family. Including her baby sister Diane. Always dreamed of raising their families together. Dream came true . Both of them married their soulmates. Jake Riley. Full of energy from the word go. Good at almost everything he tried. He got interested in boxing. Lives and breathe it. Practice after his chores were done. His dad took him to the gym in town. Will usually comes with him. 

Sitting on the back porch. Will takes a deep breath,” Yeah, wanna do something different sport wise. Here iam. Lanky as shit. If I want to go to the army . Need to get some muscle.” Jake isn't buying it for a moment. Has to do with a certain girl, Amanda. She lives not far from them. That made Will blush to no end,” No I'm not. It's for me. Want an upcoming Olympic hopeful to help me. Who knows? Might lead to doing something with Benny . Ya know? Hobby?” 

Jake thought it over. Thought it was a good idea. Both of them went to change to head into town. To Will this would be the beginning of his body transformation. 

Flashforward to two years later. Benny comes to the gym. Ready to work out with his cousin and brother. Benny is still tall,but lacks muscle strength . He was ready to bulk up. Hated being teased about that. You didn't care about that. To you at 16 going on 17 he is growing up to be a very handsome young man. Will has become more toned ,and muscles are defined.Helped him a lot when he plays football,and run track. Jake is ready to set off to the Olympic trials. Excited to visit a new country. Ready to coach his cousins. Perfect escape from his dad. Will knew there was some tension there. Goes as far to hear both of them arguing. Never knew what it was about. Then his uncle thought he would coach his son. 

“ Benny boop! Move dem feet! Willy Jack is ready to pounce!” Brothers circles each other which took forever. Annoyed Jake comes between them not before Benny punches him in the face. Nose bleeding . Jake takes over. Jake noticed something after the session. His baby cousin has a gift. Will. See it too. 

Another person Jake looks after is you. Always worried about you . When both his cousins were in the Army. He looked after you when you were home from nursing school. Made a promise, especially Benny. He knew how much he loves you. Benny confides to him that he has special feelings for her. Meaning he was falling in love with you. Even mentioned how you were falling for an older man, named Santiago Garcia. Was torn beyond belief. Wants you to be happy.

After getting out of jail,and that disaster he encountered a hitchhiker named Liza,and her crazy assed brother. He hurt his hand. Managed to arrive at the hospital where you were working that night. Shaking while you tend to him,* Half pint. I'm a failure! Soon I got out of the pin. I hurt someone,and scare my family! “ Looking at him with sad eyes. Took his uninjured hand,” You are not a failure! Have a good heart. Glad you looked after me after all of these years. “ After that . He went to a cabin far from his family. Needed to be by himself. Reflect on what happened. 

That event was years ago. His mom and aunt visit him a lot. Bringing him stuff. Has a steady job to make ends meet. He keeps up with his cousins’ lives. Especially hearing that you married Benny and Santi. How he wished he was there. Actually he was. Watching from afar. Upon hearing about Gemma. Thought it was time to help his cousins. Not just with drama,but with the gym. 

Note: 

Here is a preview for the next chapter for never letting you go: 

*Why now JR! Why are you calling after how many fucking years! Are you that ashamed of us!* Jake knows he screwed up at the family department. Didn't have his cousin yelling at him at the moment. Wants to talk. 

Frankie arrives at the bar. Looked at the surroundings . Few patrons at the bar. Watching TV. While Gemma drinking looks like her third beer. Remember the plan. Recon. Nothing else. See if she gives information that they need. Sitting a few stools down looked at his text from Will. He is at his parents house visiting with Hanna. Thoughts were dashed when Gemma sits next to Frankie,” oh I love young , Latin men. So sexy “ 

The need to clear your head is so much needed.Sounds of  yelling downstairs so deafing. Got out of bed to sneak out to walk to Sam's . She is the only person that can smooth out the tension. So glad she is your sister in law. Opening the door,” oh honey! Come in! Stay awhile. Tell me why you look like shit. Not I already know some of it *

[alexbkrieger13]

I was really impressed with Sweden a few years ago; I began watching Sweden when they began qualifying for tickets to the 2019 World Cup in France, and I continue to watch Sweden in various football matches to this day.

Sweden has a deep squad. Defenders Jonna Andersson, Linda Sembrant, Nathalie Björn, Amanda Ilestedt, Magdalena Eriksson, and Hanna Glas clearly have good height and always join in attacks in predetermined scenarios. Jonna Andersson and Hanna Glas, although being defenders, are in charge of the offensive. Jonna Andersson took corner kicks, something I imagined midfielders would do. I'm quite impressed with the Swedish defenders; they have left and right footed players who can play as defensive or attacking midfielders at times; Nathalie Björn also played as a midfielder in place of Caroline Seger and did an excellent job.

Sweden's midfielders also played very well, with Kosovare Asllani and Caroline Seger's ability to run and distribute the ball, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's dribbling abilities, Filippa Angeldahl's passes, and several plays. Elin Rubensson is an exceptionally effective defensive tackle, while Sweden has both Hanna Bennison and Olivia Schough who have good shooting techniques.

Sweden also boasts exceptional strikers; Stina Blackstenius and Lina Hurtig are typical strikers today, strong in contested situations and speeding when there are long balls to cross the line. Rebecka Blomqvist does not have a great physique, but she is very adept at handling in tight spaces, passing the ball in the penalty area, and her personal technique improved when she joined Wolfsburg. Fridolina Rolfö, Sofia Jakobsson, Madelen Janogy, I am amazed with these three players because they play extremely diversely, they can be an attacking midfielder or striker when needed, and their kicking technique is also very good in any match. I believe a goal will be scored on any ball with the arrival of these three players.

Sweden has been unlucky in important events such as the World Cup, the Olympics, and European women's football, as they have never finished first. However, Sweden's ability to reach the semi-finals of big events demonstrates that they are still a very powerful team. Sweden will undoubtedly achieve excellent success in the future if it continues to preserve and promote women's football.

yea is there such a great team it's just so tragic in a way like just can't get that gold medal

[eternalwritingstudent]

There have been a lot of new people following my blog and it's been, probably years, since I've introduced myself. So, for new people, or people who have forgotten, here you are! My name is Amanda, I write under the penname Aileen Rowe. I'm a pansexual polyamorous spoonie, who lives to write. I write fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal. I also play and DM D&D games. I mostly write books, or I do small online cooperative writing (aka roleplay). I'm considering trying my hand at screen writing and short stories, but being a chronic overwriter, I'm not sure if the latter will work out. I'm currently querying Thief Without Faith but a lot of the agents I had planned to send to are closed to queries till the first of the years, so I'm working on a few other WIPS and nitpicking typos and things in the Thief manuscript. My inbox is open for questions. I'm not currently accepting anon questions since people tend to abuse it and be rude. I'm happy to participate in tag games or if you want me to see something, tag me in it. I'm always happy to read or find new stuff to enjoy. Here's a brief run down of my WIPS. (under the cut)

Thief Without Faith: Genre: High/Epic Fantasy Word count: 140k words Status: Querying

Blurb: Burnt out of her world of shadows and blades, an assassin finds herself tasked with keeping her bosses son alive. Being on the run isn't new to Freedom, but being tasked with taking care of her bosses stubborn, young, foolish son Valric is. The pair run for their lives, being chased by those in power and betrayed from within their own ranks. The betrayal changes the way Freedom views friendship and trust. And she finds herself determined to make it safe for Valric to go home and live his life even if it costs her own. ⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟

Biting Crown: Genre: Post Apoc Word Count: 15k Status: WIP - 1st draft Post-Apoc LGBTQIA+ Robin Hood retelling with an all female cast. When Natalia Prince and her crew The Sheriff’s attack the settlement of Nott, Brie watches her parents cut down in front of her. Distraught, Brie attacks Prince, putting Brie and her group of hunters on the run. Breaking for what remains of the Olympic National Forest, the group puts plans in motion for survival and vengeance, determined not to let Prince enslave their settlement like she has so many others. The forest becomes their sanctuary and their battleground as they fight to save their people and their home.

⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟

The Soul of Iddia:

Genre: Fantasy Word Count: 120kish Status: Rewrite

When a good deed for a little coin goes wrong, Vilanna finds herself thrust into the middle of turmoil that will soon grip all of Iddia itself. Her decisions will decide the fate of the entire world, a responsibility she has no desire to be given. ⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟ Veiled Loyalty:

Genre: Fantasy Word Count: 30k Status: 1st draft

High above the world sits the veil, a cloud shrouded city that is home to the gods. The gods ‘watch over humanity’ from The Veil, guiding, teaching, and blessing their loyal followers. Everyone falls in line, lives the life their god gives them, and rejoices in it.

Or do they? Below the surface of this ideal world lay the godless, a group of rebels who believe the gods are no omnipotent beings at all. They claim to have proof that the gods are simply overpowered mages and magic users who have found a way to use humanity to extend their lives.

The Gods of the Veil send their priestesses out to hunt anyone who would speak against their godhood and their rule. The godless know that the gods can tell when veil cutters remove or damage their god marks, putting them on a list to be hunted and brought to the gods for judgement. Bernie, a priestess of the veil, goes on a hunt for a godless, but it doesn’t go as planned and she is captured. Can the Godless open the eyes of a priestess and get a new weapon in the fight for their freedom, or will Bernie return to her gods and rain fire down up on their ears for blasphemy? ⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟⸟

Road of Choices:

Genre: High Fantasy Word Count: 25k Status: Total rewrite - 1st draft 16 year old Alys’s home is attacked and her parents killed. With help of a family friend and teacher, Alys escapes south with little supplies or funds towards the capital to beseech the king for help taking her home back and avenging her family. Her plan doesn’t go as she expected when she meets the twins Gabrielle and Garrett. The pair convince her to come with them to resupply and prepare for the oncoming winter in Seanoren. Seanoren is hope to the temple of the Goddess Lyota, who is responsible for giving humans their gifts. Gaby and Garrett are destined for the temple to finish their training of their gifts. Most people are tested and trained in their gifts from a young age. Alys tested negative as a child, but surprises await her inside the temple. Surprises that will change her plans, her path, and her future as well as her friends. 

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Buried Faith:

Genre: Fantasy Word Count: 15k Status: 1st Draft/Plantsing

A hunger for power exposes the world to a terror the gods have tried to hide since the start of time. Can Whisper and her fellow students find the answers they need to bury the wolf at their door once more?

[believingispowerfulmagic]

OUATtober2023 Day 13: Fanfic Tribute (Bonus Prompt G)

It was supposed to be Fanfic Friday but real life got in the way. But it doesn't matter - any time is a good time to highlight some of my favorite Outlaw Queen fics. I hope you will go and give them some love!

Finished:

Baker's Dozen by @somewhereapart

Summary: He comes in every day at 8:15, orders the same thing, and flirts with the girl behind the counter. Regina watches him from the kitchen of her bakery -- appreciates, but doesn't approach. But as fall turns into winter, things begin to change. 13 weeks of modern AU Outlaw Queen, set in New York City.

This was one of the first ongoing and AU fics I read for Outlaw Queen. And it gave me the confidence to post my own story.

Happiness Can't Be Arranged by @gray-autumn-sky

Summary: Set during the Regency Period, Henry and Cora arrange a marriage for their daughter in an effort to save their family’s name and estate.

A great story that combined two things I love - Outlaw Queen and historical fiction!

Revival by @audreysl0ve

Summary: Four years after being declared dead, Robin returns home to find his wife engaged to one of his best friends. He struggles to deal with this, while also attempting to reconnect with his two sons.

I've loved this story for a while and I always reread it when I need some angst with a happy ending.

Fire and Ice by ReginaPendragon

Summary: Can old rivals become new partners? In the aftermath of a serious injury, Regina Mills’s dream of going to the Olympics is dashed when her partner leaves her to skate with another girl. Alone and unsure of her future in the sport, Regina resigns herself to finding a new partner. Enter Robin Locksley: talented, handsome, and Regina’s former rival from the junior skating circuit. They meet. They clash. Their coaches think they’re the perfect match. Can these former competitors put aside their differences for a second chance at Olympic glory?

The story is so fun to read and I love Robin and Regina's dynamic in it. And it also helped inspire me to write Better When I'm Dancing.

Unfinished fics

Poor Unfortunate Souls by @glindalovesshoes

Summary: Former prisoner Robin Locksley is released on parole and has to do 9 months of community service at "Mist Haven - Asylum for the Insane". As he grows closer with some of the residents, especially a young disturbed woman named Regina, mysterious incidents happen in the castle - Nothing is as it seems and it soon turns out the residents aren't the insane ones after all.

I absolutely love this story and the world it built. I hope you give it a chance even though it's not finished and likely won't be. It's still worth it.

The Holiday by @suseagull04

Summary: Fed up with her ex, Regina books a vacation over the holidays simply hoping to forget him. But will her spontaneous decision lead to love?

I think The Holiday is perfect for Outlaw Queen, especially the Graham and Amanda storyline, and this story proves it. So check it out!

[tenrose]

Big win for the Lee Scoresby lovers (me) tonight

[theanticool]

Watch Women's Boxing: Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 2!

In 2022, we were treated to the biggest women's boxing match of all time (in the US at least). Ireland's pride and joy Katie Taylor faced off with one of Puerto Rico's greatest fighters of all time Amanda Serrano in front of a sellout Madison Square Garden crowd in NYC. It was a historic night for the sport that has yet to be matched. You can watch the fight on YouTube.

It has taken two years, but we are finally getting a rematch. This Friday (Nov. 15), Taylor and Serrano are set to meet again in Texas as part of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul (stupid ass fight) card on Netflix. And to help emphasize why this is so important, let me lay the careers of both fighters.

Depending on who you ask, Katie Taylor is the reason women's boxing got added to the Olympics in 2012. The Irish star actually participated in the first ever sanctioned women's fight in Ireland at the age of 15. A standout amateur, she was a multiple time European Games, European, and World Champion as well as an Olympic gold medal in 2012. All together, I think she's won 18 amateur gold medals. While her efforts came up short at the 2016 Olympics, she took that drive to the pro ranks. She quickly racked up wins before winning a world title in her 7th fight. She then proceeded to unite all 4 major belts to become the undisputed champion at 135lbs and climbed to P4P #1 in the sport. A last second change of opponent back in 2023 led her up a weight class to 140lbs. There, she faced off with the undisputed champion Chantelle Cameron. The fight was Taylor's first ever as a pro in her home country of Ireland. She would lose but was given a rematch for later in the year where she picked up a controversial decision win. She now has claim to being a two division undisputed champion.

Puerto Rican sensation Amanda Serrano is a long time veteran of the women's pro scene. Her career started in 2009. She has plugged away at this sport methodically for 15 years, picking up an insane 47-2 record. Most impressively, Serrano has been a world champion in 7 divisions. There is only one other boxer in history who has that many divisional crowns, Manny Pacquiao (8). She also is the only Puerto Rican boxer to have the title of undisputed at a weight calss (featherweight) in the four belt era. She is a truly generational talent in women's boxing and it's been incredibly gratifying to see her finally get the big paydays and media recognition she has deserved.

With both Serrano and Taylor getting up there in age, we do not have many chances left to see them compete at a high level. So we shoudl all definitely be tuning in to watch them fight now while we still can. I can honestly say this is arguably the most important women's fight boxing has ever seen and I'm excited to see these two square off again.

[alicentsgf]

I'm not a bitch I don't judge people at the gym... except if they're using the rowing machine wrong bc like babe this is not some obscure piece of equipment have you never watched the Olympics even once or seen the social network or that Amanda bynes movie where Colin firth plays a tory you're telling me you've never seen a person row before?? why are you doing that. for the love of god put your knees down right now

[whileiamdying]

The Untouchable Tina Turner

Some people perform music; some people become music.

By Amanda Petrusich May 25, 2023

On Wednesday, one of the great American voices—gritty, vehement, tender, and red-hot, containing, somehow, both the entire history and future of rock and roll—went silent. Tina Turner, who was born Anna Mae Bullock, in 1939, in Brownsville, Tennessee, died at her home in Switzerland, at age eighty-three. She was known for her superhuman resilience, and, in a way, I came to believe that she was actually invincible. In 1988, when she was forty-eight years old, she performed to some hundred and eighty thousand fans in Rio de Janeiro, ousting Frank Sinatra from the record books by drawing what was, at that point, the largest-ever ticketed crowd for a solo performer. The show was filmed, thank heavens. The energy is uncanny. Bionic. It’s like watching an Olympic final in Being Badass. Early in the set, wearing a fringed minidress, heeled ankle boots, and a pearl necklace, Turner performs “Better Be Good to Me,” a single from 1984. It’s a song about being in love with someone you don’t entirely trust. “Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion?” she wonders in the first verse. The next bit contains all of her magic. She’s asking a question, but her tone isn’t earnest, it’s incredulous. How dare this person expect her to compromise? “Should I? Should I?” she roars. You will want to holler “NO!” at your screen—but, of course, the question was always rhetorical.

Turner was brought up on a cotton farm and educated in a segregated, one-room schoolhouse. She grew up singing in the choir of the Spring Hill Baptist Church in Nutbush, about sixty miles northeast of Memphis. Her great-great-grandfather, Logan Currie, Sr., had been enslaved in the same region. “I hated the cotton field,” she told Henry Louis Gates, Jr., in a 2007 interview for PBS. “There were those hairy worms crawling, the spiders.” Turner later moved to St. Louis, where she met Ike Turner at the Manhattan Club, a Black bar and venue. She eventually persuaded Ike to let her sing with his band, the Kings of Rhythm. They became romantically involved, and, in 1960, formed the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, becoming hugely popular on the Chitlin’ Circuit, a series of Black-owned night clubs throughout the southeast. In 1971, they had a crossover hit with their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Proud Mary,” and performed the song on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” For the broadcast, Turner wears a gold flapper dress. She bounces around the stage vigorously, so gleeful and open and strong that it feels as though, surely, she must have an extra set of lungs stashed somewhere. There’s a looseness to her performance that’s far funkier and more human than the hyper-choreographed, steel-eyed stylings of her modern counterparts. I don’t know how to describe it. She is simply very, very alive.

It’s still hard to write about the sixteen years she spent in that abusive, ugly relationship with Ike. She escaped the marriage in 1976. She was thirty-seven years old, and in possession of just thirty-six cents and a Mobil gasoline card. “I didn’t fear him killing me when I left, because I was already dead,” she told People, in 1981. It was the first time that she had spoken publicly about the abuse, and she described it as “torture.” Besides the usual subjugations (beating and berating her), Ike had changed her name and assumed control of her career and finances. It’s easy to think of this experience as the defining trauma of Turner’s life and art—to presume that it shaped and informed her music in a deep and irrefutable way—but it feels stupid, even unfair, to give Ike, who died of a cocaine overdose in 2007, any more air in her story. There have been two memoirs, a Broadway musical, a feature film, interviews. Turner was asked to confront and remember her abuse for decades after it ended. It feels proper to free her of it now. “I don’t like to pull out old clothes,” Turner said in “Tina,” an HBO documentary from 2021. “It’s like old memories, you just want to leave that in the past.”

Let us look, then, to the nineteen-eighties, a decade in which Turner, liberated from her marriage, dominated the charts and the national imagination: the voice, the power, the presence, the legs, the wardrobe, the hair. My God, the dancing! How free does a person have to be to move that way? Freer than I have ever felt or been, certainly. Some people perform music; some people become music. If you’re having a miserable day, one foolproof cure is typing “Tina Turner live 1985” into the YouTube search bar, and bearing witness to something virtuosic, if not divinely ordained. At the time, Turner was on tour in support of the multiplatinum “Private Dancer,” her fifth full-length album, and the record that resuscitated and then ignited her solo career. There’s some extraordinary footage of David Bowie joining her onstage at a show in Birmingham, England, for a duet of “Tonight,” a song first released on Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” in 1977. Bowie, who co-wrote the track—it features a repeating Aretha Franklin sample—appears on the original; he went on to record it for an album of his own, in 1984. Turner guested on Bowie’s version (they skipped Pop’s spoken-word intro, which describes a heroin overdose). Watching them do it live is electrifying. Bowie is grinning so much and so wildly that I wonder how he even manages to keep on singing. They slow dance for a bit in the middle, while Tim Cappello plays a shirtless saxophone solo. I would call this section “steamy,” but it feels like too chaste of a word. “This is a privilege,” Bowie says, when it’s all over. Boy, does he mean it.

Turner’s later years were appropriately lavish. After she retired, she lived in Küsnacht, Switzerland, in an estate known as the Château Algonquin, with clear views of Lake Zurich, and, according to a 2019 profile in the Times, “a life-size two-legged horse sculpture suspended from a domed ceiling, a framed rendering of Turner as an Egyptian queen, a room stuffed with gilded Louis XIV style sofas.” A plaque on the gate announces that, of course, no deliveries should be attempted before noon. Who would dare? Turner stopped performing in 2009, freeing herself of a substantial burden: “I was just tired of singing and making everybody happy,” she said. “That’s all I’d ever done in my life.” How glorious that must have felt—having only to worry about her own joy.

I was having lunch in Chinatown with friends when the news was announced. I had ordered a glass of white wine—indulgent for a weekday afternoon, I suppose, but I was feeling a little indulgent. I experienced a quick pang in my gut when one of my companions announced that Turner had died—the sharp, needling ache that comes when someone who you didn’t know personally, but who you understood to have contributed, in a profound and robust way, to the general goodness of the world, had left it. I swallowed the last of my drink. It felt right to be a little unsteady in that moment. “Tina would have had the wine,” the group chat later confirmed. Did Turner even drink? Who cares? The point was that she found a way to tap into some deep wellspring of ease and abandon and self-love, and drew from it when she needed to. And now she has left that for us, in her music, in her voice, in the singular way she occupied a stage. In this sense, she is untouchable, forever. ♦

[scrapsovereign]

That One Time I Got Kidnapped By An Evil Vampire Lord Ch. 8

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57838303/chapters/150566218

Summary:

Astarion learns about Mackenzie's troubled past. Amanda has a surprise visitor at the clinic.

Pairings: past Ascended Astarion x Evil male!Tav, Ascended Astarion x Original Female Character

Trigger warnings/Tags:  Eldest daughter syndrome and parentification meets suspected breeding kink, violence against healthcare workers, bystander apathy, graphic depictions of violence

Downtown Seattle, Washington 

The Fairmont Olympic Hotel

Friday, August 25th

11:30 AM

Mackenzie had planned to bring the car around while Astarion was checking out of the hotel. 

“Had” been the key word, seeing as the old rust bucket was now gone.

She stares blankly at the empty space in front of her where her car had been, glancing at the parking ticket in her hand. 

Had Rob forgotten to lock the car? Maybe. Was there anything in there that was worth stealing? Absolutely not, unless the thieves fancied the half-full pack of Winco brand soda water in the trunk. Was her car itself worth stealing? The answer is a vehement no, but there’s something about not having a car payment when you’re living paycheck to paycheck that can’t be replaced.

She makes her way to the urine scented elevators, wracking her brain with how she was going to explain this to Astarion. The thought of recounting her misfortune to him made the breakfast they had eaten off each other’s bodies do somersaults in her stomach. Checking out early was her idea, after all. He’d asked her what she wanted to do with the rest of the day, and she decided on stopping at her favorite bakery and taking him to the beach she used to frequent as a child. 

Tempting as it was to stay in and be thoroughly debauched by him until the evening, maybe finding out now was a blessing in disguise. She couldn’t imagine how she would have felt if they had left this evening just in time for him to make his flight, only to find her car missing. Hell, they’d just barely left in time for check-out. 

A full body shiver ripples through Mac. Astarion nearly made her black out with how hard she came on the bed for him, covered in maple syrup. He’d then carried her to the bathroom and continued to ravish her as they bathed together. When they’d finally gotten dressed, Mackenzie initiated round three after finding the evidence and confirming he’d hand sewn the dress she wore yesterday evening (while watching Law and Order: SVU reruns). 

As she walks across the street back to the hotel, she’s surprised she has use of her legs at all. The magical concoction he had given her earlier had been incredible in restoring her to a state of health she could only remember feeling as a teen. Perhaps this was why she could keep up with that “appetite” of his as well? 

Speaking of the devil. Mac spots him handing an envelope over to the concierge as she walks into the lobby, turning around to face her direction. 

Good lord, he’s handsome. Mac almost pinches the back of her arm to remind herself he’s real. He’s wearing the same white linen and black lightweight woolen trousers (which Mackenzie is shocked they are as clean as they appear to be). The brightly colored go bag of Mac’s looks completely out of place, slung over his shoulders. So does her work purse in his hands. 

Mackenzie doesn’t fit his aesthetic at all. As such, she doesn’t know why he looks at her the way he does in the hotel lobby, like she’s the one who hung the stars in his sky. He looks like old money and she could be a Torrid ad from last fall with her linen skirt she thought was shorts, Star Trek T-shirt (cursive script that says “There’s Coffee in That Nebula”), jean jacket, and ugly tennis shoes. 

She fears that she’ll completely ruin his dreamy mood with what she has to say. Her shoulders tense and raise to counter the weight she feels crushing them as he glides over to kiss her, his perfect brow furrowing when she doesn’t return his affections with equal enthusiasm.

“Something the matter, darling?” Astarion inquires, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, a gesture so gentle it makes her want to burst into tears.

“Soooo, about my car. It’s gone. I think someone stole it,” she says with a trembling voice, bracing for the impact of his displeasure.

Astarion’s jaw twitches, forcing an exhale out of his nose.

“Bloody hells,” he huffs indignantly under his breath. He turns on his heels toward the front desk, ramping up to unleash a fury that she always dreads receiving from her patients. Mac’s grandfather always used to say you can catch more flies with honey, and in this town? A little kindness goes a long way.

“Wait-“ She catches the linen off his sleeve before he storms forth, “Let me do the talking. Trust me.”

Astarion pauses, his eyes flashing a dangerous red. “But of course. Anything for you.” 

Mackenzie smiles faintly in gratitude, taking his hand in hers to squeeze it. “Thank you,” she mumbles to him, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. 

She cracks her wrists, calling upon her work persona to aid her before she approaches the front desk. 

“May I help you?” The well-dressed gentleman about her age asks smoothly, as if he’s said the same phrase hundreds of times. Mac squints as she clocks the name tag- “Jason Y”. 

“Hi! Hope your day is going well. Soooo, I have an unfortunate situation. I was parked in the garage across the street overnight and my car wasn’t there just now. I think it was stolen,” she says in a smooth, neutral voice, sliding the parking ticket between them.

Jason pets his beard as he considers Mackenzie’s words. “You look familiar…aren’t you Kenz from Ari the Mighty’s YouTube channel?” He asks, a wry smile spreading on his face.

Mac’s lips press into a tight smile. “Yep…that’s me.”

Jason leans in slightly, his dark eyes scanning the lobby around them as he brings out his phone. “So, his Twitter said this morning that he had his car stolen, and he ‘found’ it in the garage across the street earlier this morning before he went to PAX. Here, take a look.” 

Mac accepts the device to look at said tweets. Lo and behold, Jason isn’t kidding. It’s a selfie of Ari leaning out her driver’s side window with the parking attendant. Her stomach twists into knots as she hands back the phone. “That’s…yeah. That’s it. Jesus Christ.”

Jason continues. “Did you see he tagged the parking company for helping him out? All I have to say is, wow. Just wow. Fucking shameless.”

Mac’s blue eyes widen at Jason’s very candid comments. 

Jason clears his throat and adjusts his tie as he straightens up, setting his shoulders back. “So now he’s not just a dirtbag, he’s a car thief too? What a piece of shit. Don’t worry, I believe you. I’m sorry this is happening to you. I can’t forgive him for what he did to my little sister. I can only imagine what he’s put you through is worse.”

Jason cranes his head around a stunned Mac to smile reassuringly at Astarion, who watches them closely with a displeased and haughty demeanor. “But hopefully that’s all behind you now? Hell of an upgrade you got there. Please know that I mean this respectfully - would. Anyway. Let me see what I can do for you. I’ll be right back,” he excuses himself, disappearing behind a partition at the front.

Mackenzie turns around to give Astarion a thumbs up. 

Astarion quirks up a single eyebrow in response.

Jason returns with a sticky note, words scribbled on it in blue ink. “Manager says we can’t do anything, unfortunately, because of your car being off hotel property. However, concierge can always set you up with a rental, or a second and slightly less expensive option…”

“Which is?” Mackenzie asks, craning her head to see the information he has before him.

“Okay, so my Appa retired for the second time in March. We just convinced him to rent out the Tesla he bought, so he doesn’t go back for round three. His diabetes can’t take another round of the stress. If you’d like, I’ll give you the name of the app and his info. Usually it’s a $70 fee to bring to the hotel, but he can waive it for you,” Jason explains excitedly, handing Mac the sticky note. 

Mac takes the note to look at it, her mouth drawn in a line, leaning on the counter supporting her head with her elbow.

Mackenzie has very specific feelings about these cars, the company, their origins, and not all of them are happy. The people who drove them were about as bad as BMW SUV drivers. They had as much life in them as a toaster oven, and she didn’t trust the idea of a car that could drive itself if needed. Last but not least, when she’d seen the cars mentioned on the front page of Reddit, the news wasn’t all that good.

That being said, they’re about as ubiquitous in Seattle as her bucket of bolts used to be back in the day and they are fun to drive. Mac remembers Amanda had test driven a model X out of Issaquah earlier this year. She can still hear Amanda’s peal of laughter as they rocketed up Snoqualmie Pass at 100 mph, the g-forces nearly turning her stomach inside out.

But…technically if she’s helping someone…and none of the money goes directly to the car’s manufacturer…and she’s getting a discount…

She takes the sticky note from Jason, giving him a single nod. 

“I would like option two, please.”

West Seattle, Washington 

Friday, August 25th

12:30 PM

Getting used to the brakes and accelerator coming out of downtown and through the West Seattle Junction (to hit up the PCC and her favorite bakery) was a nightmare. However, as they cruise down California Ave, Mac thinks she’s finally got it under control. The car is, at least. Keeping Astarion’s hands off the dash display so she can drive the thing is another story. 

“Fascinating machine this is,” he mutters to himself, his eyes flitting about the screen, poking and prodding at the icons on the center console. It reminds Mackenzie of what a cat would do if it were stuck inside a room with a mirror ball.

“Hey…Astarion? Can you uhm…I don’t mind if you play with that when we’re parked, but I kinda need it to go back to the main screen while I’m driving,” she asks timidly, feeling proud of herself for speaking up. If Ari were in the car, she would have bitten her tongue and just let him poke and prod at whatever his heart desired to avoid a fight.

Astarion sighs, running his hands through his hair as he leans back in his seat. “I suppose I can leave it be, if I must.”

He crosses his ankle over his knee, his foot bouncing impatiently. “Remind me where you’re taking us?”

“Lincoln Park, by the Vashon Ferry Dock. There’s a nice stretch of beach that has a great view of the sound,” she says wistfully. “It’s not like the beaches in Britain or Nor Cal, but it’s different and the view’s gorgeous.”

Mackenzie rolls to a careful stop at the red light on Fauntleroy, the hand closest to Astarion taken into his own and raised to his lips. 

“The view is already gorgeous, my sweet,” he purrs against the back of her hand. Mac is so enchanted by him she doesn’t notice the light turning green. She gasps when Astarion peppers kisses up her arm, tracing a path of fire up the extremity that sets her core alight.

Their lips are about to touch when the brand-new, shiny Dodge Ram in back of them lays on the horn. Its bald, geriatric driver flashes its brights at them and leans out the window to holler, “Get a room, you dykes!” The truck speeds around them, nearly running over a clueless hipster couple and their goldendoodle while they try to cross the street.

“Well! That was certainly uncalled for!” Astarion complains, crossing his arms. “And he’s just moving along like he didn’t nearly damage our vehicle and murder those people over there! Where are the city’s guards?! Why isn’t he being arrested?”

Mackenzie’s so rattled by what just happened she doesn’t register his unusual choice of words. She waits to turn the corner after the couple makes it safely to their destination. “Don’t get me started on the SPD. One of ‘em actually mowed down a grad student in South Lake Union in January of this year and killed her. They don’t care.”

“Unbelievable,” Astarion tuts, looking out the window for a moment before resuming his questioning. “And what of the responsible parties? Surely someone has made an example of them?” 

She tips her head back and barks out an ugly laugh. “Hah! Oh. Oh no. I haven’t read the article in a while, but the SPD either suspended them with pay or they’re still working. It’s a mess.”

Mackenzie catches him licking his lips out of the corner of her eye, the motion reminding her of the events of this morning. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat as she feels a chill travel down her spine and straight to her core. Sneaking another look at him, she’s so enticed by the memory of his pink tongue between her legs that she almost misses the turn…and the one spot available in a completely full parking lot. 

She puts her hands on top of the steering wheel to steady herself, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. 

“Welp! This is the spot. Let’s get going,” she prompts, her hands fumbling around to find the right button to open the car door.

Mackenzie makes a clumsy, hasty exit from the car, nearly tripping over her own feet. She goes to open the storage compartment in the hood, frowning at what she finds there. “Did you take the extra towels from the room?”

“Darling, you were the one who suggested we go to the beach,” he reminds her with a chuckle, crowding her from behind. “I thought they’d come in handy in case we got…a little wet.” 

When Astarion utters an innuendo at her earlobe, it does more than just make her a little wet - she is fairly sure that the flimsy cotton panties she is wearing are completely ruined. 

She hastily collects their provisions, locking the car with the app on her phone. 

Mac takes the lead as they start down the path to the beach, the gravel crunching under their feet. The screams of children playing nearby pierce through the wood and startle her, setting a long-forgotten instinct on high alert that doesn’t go unnoticed by Astarion.

“Have you considered having children?” He inquires, the intensity behind his words clashing with how he sounds almost bored with his question. 

Mackenzie stops dead in her tracks. “No,” she replies, barely looking over her shoulder as she answers him. She turns to face the field, feeling as though she’s staring directly in the face of years of unspoken resentment. 

Astarion embraces her from behind, pressing a kiss to the back of her head. “A simple no is always an appropriate answer, but I gather there’s a story, isn’t there?”

The re-usable bag she carries sags near the ground and Mac melts against him. “Do you want the short one or the long one?”

“I want whatever version of your tale that you have to tell,” he murmurs to her, giving her a brief, reassuring squeeze.

“It all started when I was a child,” she jokes, an imitation of the long-winded anecdotes her patients would launch into when she’d ask them the simple question of how long they’ve had symptoms for. 

Astarion doesn’t seem to understand her humor. Mac decides not to take it personally and moves on.

“But seriously, I raised my little brother when I was a child myself. He was only a few months old when he had his first seizure,” Mac explains with a far-away look in her eyes. “And when I was ten, he was diagnosed with autism. The pediatric neurologist teased it out when my parents thought his epilepsy symptoms were getting worse.”

Mackenzie turns around and leans her head against Astarion’s chest, taking in a deep breath to savor the citrus and herb notes of his cologne. “Both of my parents worked, and I did what I could to help. I was running the house by the time I was 13. I cooked, I cleaned, gave my brother his epilepsy meds...”

She swallows before she continues, hoping it clears the lump in her throat. “My mom used to say she was glad God gave me to her so I could help her, and my dad would tell me I was a better wife than my mom.”

“Eugh! I do hope you know those aren't normal things that one says to their child,” Astarion exclaims with a guttural noise of disgust.

Mac chuckles at his reaction. “Yeah, my therapist gagged when I told her the same thing. Oh well. They ended up shooting themselves in the foot in the end,” she sighs, pulling away from him to start down the well-traveled dirt path. 

“How so?” Astarion prompts, feeling her hand being taken in his to lead him to their destination. 

Astarion and Mackenzie reach a bench that overlooks the impossibly blue waters of Puget Sound, sparkling in the late summer sunlight.

“They kicked me out right before I turned 19, I got caught by the pastor kissing his daughter in the tech closet at Easter service,” she flushes, tightening her hand around his. “It was a pretty big deal. They’re the type of Christian that isn’t real tolerant of that kind of thing.”

“The pastor’s daughter? My, my…that’s rather naughty of you, but I cannot see how a simple kiss is worth evicting you from your home,” Astarion drawls with a hint of amusement in his voice that makes her shiver. “Did they at least hire a maid, a chef, and a nurse to replace you when you left?”

Mac shakes her head, huffing a weak laugh at the list of roles she used to fulfill. “I hadn’t been gone for a week when they called crying and begging for me to come back,” she starts down the path leading to the beach, walking hand in hand with Astarion, side by side. “I told them to take their apologies and shove it right up their family values.”

“Standing up to them must have been an impressive feat for you after years of childhood slave labor. Bravo, darling,” he congratulates her, pressing a quick kiss again to the top of her head.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit,” Mackenzie clarifies with a bashful smile. “It’s actually a variation on something Rob’s hippie parents said the night I showed up at his place. His mom’s a hoot. She made me a rainbow-colored cake for my birthday a week later that said ‘Happy Birth-Gay’ on it. All organic, non-GMO, free range ingredients, of course.” 

Mackenzie continues on with her tale as they journey down the hillside. “I stayed in the spare yurt at their commune for a while and moved out when I finally got my medical assistant associate’s. Those few years bumming around with them were some of my happiest memories.”

“Right before the pandemic, I reconnected with my family briefly. My little brother’s a fan of Ari’s and they wanted to meet up with the two of us. I cut them off again before we could settle on a time and a place,” she winces as they emerge from the shade, holding her hand aloft to shield her eyes from the offensive late summer sun. 

“Whatever for?” Astarion asks, as if he knows exactly where this was going. 

Mac’s eyes flicker over to him with a quick sideways glance. “They refused to get vaccinated. It all went downhill when I tried to explain why it’s important to me.” Mac didn’t want to elaborate further, the pain from her past still fresh. She focuses instead on the present moment- on the warm, soft hand belonging to Astarion as she leads him along the rocky beach.

“I suppose after practically raising yourself their absence isn’t a terrible loss, but it still hurts to get your hopes up, no?” He reflects at her with a soft, buttery rumble. 

Mackenzie swallows to clear the lump in her throat. “It did. Maybe when they reach out in another few years, I’ll have learned my lesson and ignore it. Ah-hah! Here we are,” she announces, motioning over a spot shaded by a structure made of driftwood. 

Mac ignores the amused smirk on Astarion’s beautiful face as he aids her in setting up their temporary shelter. She plops down on the large, luxurious bath towel they spread out, leaning her head on Astarion’s shoulder when he takes his place next to her. 

“Hey…I didn’t mean to go off like that. You asked me a simple question, and I ended up trauma dumping all over you,” she sighs as she stares out over the waves undulating towards them, placing her palm in his.

Astarion lifts her hand and brings it to his lips with a warm, genuine smile. “There’s nothing to forgive. I delight in every detail I can gather from you. If we could re-visit our earlier topic, would you ever consider it? It being having children, of course.”

“Only under certain conditions,” she brandishes a finger in front of her. “If I could afford it, if I had help, and if I was with someone who I could depend on. Right now? I have none of those things, so it’s out of the question.”

“And what if you did?” Astarion’s hand tightens around Mac’s with his inquiry.

Mac should feel uneasy with this tenacious pursuit of the subject, but she forgets her misgivings as her stomach growls and gnaws at her. She rummages through the bag, producing the massive caprese sandwich purchased from the bakery.

“I think I’d consider it. You hungry?”

Astarion’s answer to her is an odd, intense look in his eyes that Mackenzie’s never seen before, his lips tugging up to one side of his mouth in a toothy grin.

She feels a bead of sweat drip down her back as she realizes their picnic lunch isn't the only thing on the menu.

Downtown Seattle, Washington 

Mercy West Medical Group Primary Care Clinic

Thursday, August 24th

12:58 PM

Amanda flops over her keyboard with a whiny, petulant groan. Lunch is almost over. She hadn’t been out of meeting hell for 10 minutes and there’s already some shenanigans brewing in the lobby. Charlinda, the newly hired southern transplant working the front desk, messaged her moments ago to say that Prince Charming just walked in and took a wrong turn at the Mason-Dixon line (if he was looking for Disney World). She needed him to go on and git so the 1pm crowd could get checked in, but bless his heart, he can’t take no for an answer!

Amanda checks her drawers to scavenge for an energy bar or a piece of candy to fuel the impending confrontation and damn it all, they’ve all disappeared. Dr. Calloway’s likely to blame for this one. Amanda caught him raiding her desk for treats in the past when his lovely wife has put him on a diet…just like she did a week ago.

Amanda grabs her wallet. Maybe after she deals with his royal highness, she can hit up the food trucks two or three blocks away. 

Amanda feels her hunger turn to nausea as she steps out into the lobby, recognizing the mysterious man in armor.

Ari’s mouth falls open like a carp gasping for air as he stares back at her. Amanda’s never seen him dressed up like this before. He looks good. His appearance is a far cry from the bum she knows him to be. She hates to admit it, but for a fraction of a second she might understand what Mac saw in him. He’s the very image of a storybook prince: custom made plate armor in silver and gold, a battle worn blue velvet cloak, a longsword slung across his back.

The gaudy bouquet of blood-red roses he holds enhances the illusion, while the crumpled up envelope held in the other breaks it. He makes his way over to Amanda with a sideways smile, his wintry blue eyes sparkling with hope. 

“Hey Amanda! Kenz here today?” Ari greets her as if he had not just been nasty with her and threatened to un-alive himself less than a day ago.

“Nope,” Amanda answers simply, shaking her head. “Sorry, my dude, she’s not in.”

Ari’s fist tightens around the bouquet, snapping some stems off. An intentionally loud “SIR” that Charlinda projects across the lobby arrests the aggressive display.

“Yes you, mister knight. If you’re fixin’ to leave those for someone, I can make sure they’re in some water for the lovely lady you’re leaving them for,” she drawls with an accent sweet as honey, power-walking her petite frame over to him.

“Oh…uh, sure,” he assents in confusion, handing the bouquet over to the small woman’s outstretched arms. 

Charlinda gives Amanda a cheeky wink with the massive bouquet in her arms, returning to her workstation to check one more patient in.

Tears well up in Ari’s eyes as he turns to face Amanda. “Do you know where she is? I’m so worried about her, I don’t even know if she’s okay, I keep sending messages- “

Amanda finds she cannot tolerate his bullshit any longer. She’s reached a critical boiling point. After years of Ari mistreating one of the few friends she has, calling her clinic and disturbing her peace, and now this- impeding Amanda’s path to lunch?

Ari has found Amanda’s last nerve with remarkable accuracy and stomped all over it.

 “Look. You can’t walk in whenever you want and demand to see her. When she’s here, she’s working. She’s busy with patient care. And today, when she’s not here, you barge in and expect me to tell you what she’s up to?! No. She’s a grown-ass adult. If Mac doesn’t want to talk to you, I don’t know what to tell you other than you earned her silence. You did it to yourself,” Amanda rants, throwing her hands up in the air. 

“How dare you,” Ari snarls, opening his mouth to hurl more insults Amanda’s way. 

Amanda beats him to it. “No, nonono, how dare YOU. Walking into the clinic, causing a scene like this. You need to leave. This is your official verbal warning.”

“No, not while you’re keeping her away from me,” Ari refuses, his icy eyes narrowing in defiance.

“Ari, unless you have an appointment with the providers, you need to vacate the premises. Immediately. Before I call security.” Amanda dictates, lowering the pitch of her voice to assert dominance.

Ari laughs, an ugly, villainous sound that gives Amanda the shivers. “You have no power over me. Tell me where she is and I’ll consider sparing you from my wrath.”

“Your wrath? Please. For the last time- I don’t know. And if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Not over my dead body,” Amanda hisses, her hanger taking full control of her mouth.

“That can be arranged,” he announces coldly, reaching for the hilt of his blade strapped to his back.

Amanda doesn’t have time to flick her eyes to the ceiling in contempt of him, feeling a brief, excruciating pain of something sharp piercing her middle. She sinks to the ground, thinking it’s just a nasty hunger pang until she sees the very life spilling from her, coating the freshly washed carpets in her crimson. 

Her field of vision darkens, her eyes fight to stay open. She hears Ari’s armor clanking away from her, the thud of the clinic’s front doors, the shrill screeching of Charlinda calling out for help as she rushes to Amanda’s side. 

Amanda has enough energy to chuckle in irony at the last thing she sees before her sight fades to black: a lobby full of patients recording what could be her last living moments on their cell phones. 

What a Seattle way to go.

[technoregression]

an email I received from woolies.

"Dear [consumer],

I am writing to thank you for shopping at Woolworths and to update you on the cost of groceries.

It has been my privilege as CEO to work together with our team to serve you over the past 8+ years. Supermarkets are an amazing place to work, as they are part of all of our everyday lives and we get feedback in real time - from customers, friends and family. We then have the opportunity to act on this feedback to try and make the grocery shopping experience better.

In terms of being better, we recognise that our customers continue to be under material cost of living pressures, with rising housing and energy costs. We know we need to do more to help, especially as we go into Spring, Summer and the Christmas festive season. 

We understand the importance of managing the cost of your grocery basket and I’m pleased to be able to report that food inflation is now on average less than 2% at Woolworths. Over the past 3 months, the price of a typical shopping basket has declined by ~1%. Here’s how we’re providing increased value when you shop with us:

Expanding our range of Everyday Low Price products and making it even easier to see the Cost Per Unit to enable easy price comparisons

Continuing our Seasonal Prices Dropped (with 400+ price reductions for Spring) and Weekly Specials (with around 6000 on special every week)

An important new initiative - we are starting to reduce Shelf Prices - look out for our new Lower Shelf Price tickets and expect this program to grow over time. 

It's one thing to have good prices but you need to be able to find them and we have an increasing range of new tools and services including:• 

Best Unit Price search filter and the ability to add your favourite products to your Watch List in the Woolworths app to be alerted when they are on special

Everyday Extra, with 10% off your shop once per month and 2x points every time you shop

Our Own brands, on average 30% cheaper than the equivalent branded product [- this is literally just called economies of scale and leads to Woolworths being an even bigger monopoly (/duopoly with Coles).]

And (if you can’t find what you are looking for), you can always “Ask Olive” when using the Woolworths app. 

Outside of working hard to provide you greater value, we’re proud to be the official fresh food partner of the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams. It’s been wonderful to see the support across the community for our athletes and we’d like to thank you for helping us raise more than $850,000 for our Paralympic team. 

As we reach our 100 Year milestone, many things have changed since the first Woolworths store was opened in Pitt Street Mall in Sydney on 5 December 1924. However the importance of service has stayed the same. [- yea a basket of goods (bread, milk, sugar, butter, potatoes, tea) around 1924 was between $14 and $41 (in 2023 value) and now in 2024 it's $100.12. And that's excluding sugar in the 2024 price because the amount (e.g., 1kg, 2lbs, 3 bags) wasn't given in the source material (https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/whatitcost/groceries)]

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you together with our amazing team. As this is my last week as the CEO of Woolworths, I would like to introduce you to Amanda Bardwell, our new CEO. Please provide her with the same support, feedback and opportunity to serve you better. 

With gratitude

Brad Banducci"