#and yes Matt is wearing Dan’s number

[henreyettah]

Foxhole 🦊🦊 🦊 🦊🦊 🦊🦊 🦊 🦊

[the-firebird69]

There's a few more things happening in Charlotte county

-these two have warrants on them yes your place there this morning they have warrants in a lot of people but special warrants in these two and they're going to keep renewing until they brought in and all day all week if needed but people are the lookout for him including minority morlok

-they plan on firing another 3 or 4% of the government workers in Charlotte county and doing it in Florida too tons of walk around like it is and after that there will be only 3% left roughly

-there are 2400 higher-ups they're going to try and bring it to 2100 today and we said it earlier but they're trying already for real and that's about $2,300

-Private industry they're down to about 12% you want to bring it to 5% today it's a huge number most of the people still working are in factory jobs or retail wholesale etc and they are firing now you probably have 2% out and it's a huge number of people it's in the high millions somewhere around 200 million maybe

-there are about 50 million people an hour trying to get into Charlotte county 50 million and it's a lot and our son says this if you stop these idiots you repel them the clones and the other Max warlock and I get funding usually it represents less people coming here so they are thinking about it.

-there are three great wars going on right now and one minor War they are attacking the four planetoids and they are attacking the tunnels and where the ships are and they're attacking the deserts where the empire is and it's mostly Max morlock they are also trying to invade the USA again with large forces and we were saying it a little but they weren't doing that that much but now they're going to try to do that as they evacuate and it will be a minor War by comparison it's still going to be very big numbers today we expect 30 to 40 trillion to die trying to get here on land and by sea and the numbers are going up

-there's a new method that they Max are making their ships out of and right now and they're making a lot of 1 mi ships the new methods are going to make 5 mi ships and when we think would be the other way and it takes very little time to make the hull. It's a perfect atmosphere for it because the sand will not catch on fire and it's going on now.

-along with the orders to pick these people up the city orders to get them the hell out of here they don't want them in town or in Charlotte there's a whole bunch of things I can do and Matt could suggesting it and they're trying to figure out which one to do Trump has several court cases going on as does Dan and they're both ridiculous about it and they want free stuff because they're in trouble and of course we say no. And they don't get any and they're getting hit because of their comments and lots of times too and there are a few more things happening but they could really leave and go to court or other people so desired and take it elsewhere bring them down somewhere else

-Charlotte county has issued a warning to anyone wearing a sidearm if they're wanted felon they're telling you that the government is shooting you dead if you have a sidearm on. Now John Reed Mallard looked it up and he said look it's accurate and there's 10 cases and they told them get down on the ground if you're wanted felon remove the gun with the tips of your finger and thumb and they did not in each case one case he just sat there and said no and he shot him so it's going on and he told his people this guy then for those people never to bow to anyone and they're getting killed a lot today they're getting shot up already this morning and not many people feel bad.

-there's a lot of people who are evacuating Florida right now these morlock Mack are leaving fast and the numbers dropping again and they came in and said this place is very inhospitable to us they don't want to see it all it's not enough of us here so the evacuate again and everyone's sick and tired of it okay they don't want them here so the coming down the highway a little and people are trying to weed them out and can't seem to do it so they're going to have to have a system and people are trying to figure out what that would be and that's the hard part so there's a lot of stuff going on but this is a big issue cuz you can't have a border crossing in your own country so there's only another way to do it is to crowd them out and people figured it out and it's working and last night tons of morning minority warlock rolled in and tons of foreigners and lots of us and lots of Acts and we are crowding out clothes and Macklemore there's not needed here to bother people and that's what they doing and they look at it as a job and they get hurt and they won't stop doing it.

-there's a couple more things happening and one of them is everybody's looking at Stan and wondering why you can't get these idiots out of there and her son said it it's still pretty big to give a hard time already and it's just not allowing him to kick them out so a lot of people try to help him do that a lot of people he's grateful for it too because in the east Eastern hemisphere and losing ships and it's down to probably 1.8 million chips it's because of these losers and he says it too anything can do to get him out would be appreciated. And there's more too they're going forward with paperwork with the court and they're going to evict them and it's weird is the share full enforce it and will end up fighting each other and Stan sees that and he is going to court today to file papers no he's going Monday

-if you want things happening one of them is that the house are sending is in and needs some minor repairs and a roof and spend that way for a while and the idiots are in the way and a few companies are trying to get it done and they're not being allowed and minority morllock are trying to get done. And they're making a lot of attempts at it and they have given a couple quotes at least one company has minority and they're holding on to them and they think they need one more quote for the insurance company and so other companies will probably come forward and probably go ahead sometime this week once they get that and it will be nice and other things might change.

-the two or three appeared as total retard outside of Oceanside and it was a library it was an incident there where they were picking on her son it went outside and you thought that they were going to try and shoot you so I threw rocks and big ones and hit him and they were a good 50 yards away it had trouble seeing what they're doing but they were making like they had weapons they know they're doing it and they died and the rocks are sent through with the ones that were in the septic so that's why they're sitting here is it going to take them out and hit our son with them to kidnap him. Someone put it there to heat the place up and it's so hot everybody is just terrible here and so these guys instigated it and yeah deserved it I couldn't see so I just had to hit you. The Trump is laughing but Dan is a huge b**** and Terry cheesman is a huge fish and she was shrunken he says he says well your compadre is one of them started this stupid s*** and out loud okay and what am I going to do I'm not going to get shot so all of a sudden he looks ago it was you Dan we remember you doing it and they said you suck and holy s*** what an arm said well I have super powers and I was charged up with adrenaline like the fact that at Walmart and they started getting mad it was this morning and said you f****** loser you f****** massive loser need you out of here is going everyone's kind of yelling at me it's the same way he says a stupid s*** so they said if you keep saying that s*** we're going to beat you to death right now and he said everyone says that too so they start getting ready to beat him up and then I'm trying to push him out and they really have to the guys are huge idiot but we're going to published now

Thor Freya

Zues Hera

Olympus

[stargirlwnchstr]

I have a visual to share with y'all. Say welcome to my long ass 'The Foxes + tiktok' headcanon

@ nickythefox_es (part 1???)

Basically Nicky gets tiktok but all of the foxes show up eventually and just use his profile.

• Most of the videos are with nicky and allison, also matt and dan and occasionally neil.

• Allison and nicky learn so many dances.

• Their duet of make his pockets hurt with Mariah and Zane from the vlog squad is the first one to go v i r a l.

• Yeah most of their followers know them but some and a lot of the comments are non exy fans that just watch them because they're cool

• So many of the "what is exy" "stickball game??" "dont even bother explaining to me what is the sport they play I dont care I'm just here for neil." And related comments get a liked from creator (andrew told nicky to like them)

•The "Oh my god she's coming." "I'm so afraid of her." Audio are the twinyards and nicky shows up, he had to bribe them to be a part of that one.

• They post another version but it's Kevin that enters and Allison and Nicky talking

• So many comments thirsting over them and calling matt and dan parents

• "the real bisexual struggle is simping for matt and dan in the same tiktok." -> liked from creator nickythefox_es commented/replied: ASDGFKSSDWADKWB

• Someone makes a 'put a finger down: Neil Josten edition' and nicky drags him to do it. They both smile as they listen to the prompts and Neil obviously puts all his fingers down but they're like "put a finger down if you clapbacked/if you bad mouthed someone (bonus points if it was on national tv)" "put a finger down if you're under 6 feet" "put a finger down if you love exy" and the last one just says "put a finger down if andrew minyard." Neil does and smiles at someone off camera. Needless to say it goes viral as well. A few weeks after nicky gets verified.

• Allison becomes friends with thenavarose and wisdom sorry I dont make the rules (they're fashion tiktokers)

• They make a series of rating each of the foxes throughout the day, including one of Wymack.

• They do receive bad comments, from bitter ravens fans or just recalling their pasts and nicky sits down and makes a video telling everyone about how they do this videos for fun they dont need hate and negative comments on their videos and all that

• Then another one posted minutes after, neil comes in and nicky says "okay neil you have one minute. Rant off." And neil goes on this rant like how they already hit Rock bottom a single comment is not gonna hurt them and "do you get how insignificant and meaningless your lives must be? You took the time to write and post a comment that you thought was gonna cause an impact and failed. Also thanks for the comments though it helps nicky stay on the algorithm." NICKY SCREECHES AND THE VIDEO ENDS WITH THEM SMILING

• Allison vlogs neil and her going shopping or thrifting also cutting Neil's hair

• *neil walks into the room wearing his orange bandana* *camera moves and zooms on Andrew's face* he doesnt lip sync but the song sings "oh noo I think I'm catching feelings" andrew tells him to delete it "but it already has thousands of likes andrew"

• They post some of their work out routines per request

• One of them is the fast and "I'm spinning like a ballerina" chill of neil just running on the treadmill and doing sprints and squats and leg stuff while it cuts to allison doing a bit of everything but looking like a queen on a matching set.

• A fun one that goes viral for "vine energy" is: it's very quiet on the court and Kevin, very in the zone, throws the ball to the goal, which Andre's catches easily and almost without moving. The camera goes back to kevin as he screeches and let's himself fall on the ground. Neil is standing beside him shaking his head and looking at the goal with a smile on his face.

• They try to teach neil the dances but while filming one of them he just leaves. They post it either way.

• They're in the bus, nicky is on selfie mode and says "it is game day my dudes" he turns and shows the whole bus S C R E A M S, in the corner Wymack is covering his face.

• The iconic "they say drunk thoughts are sober words" or something like that and it cuts to a series of videos of the foxes drunk af. Example: Nicky grabbing Allison's face and saying 'Remember. Bread. Head. Leave.' And allison nodding.

• Nicky films kevin standing up and put the "do you ever wonder what is going on inside their head?" And it cuts to pictures of racquets and exy and Jeremy Knox and one that says history stuff.

• Another one that goes viral is kevin very seriously and p e r f o r m i n g, rapping Jefferson's side of the cabinet battle #1 from Hamilton then towards the end andrew stands up in front of him and with his iconic bored expression he starts rapping Hamilton's part. Behind the camera there's a soft "...oh my gOD" and kevin is shocked eyes widen open and then the camera zooms on Neil who's mouth is open in shock but GRINNING and ~impressed~

• Dan and matt do The challenge, you know the one that like has to flip them over and all that and they ace it, nicky points the camera to where andrew and neil are stating and Andrew says no.

• A few minutes later another video of the challenge is posted only this time is matt and neil.

• Nicky and allison are in full gear filming a dance video (maybe savage or captain hook) on the court and someone films them filming that and then Wymack looking at them SO disappointed cut to Wymack with nicky's phone, having confiscated it and nicky besides him "coach, it's cardio!"

• Hours spent trying trick shots

• Foxes: "get back! Move!" Ravens: "Let me in! I be the I g g y!" Trojans: "Oh my God do no let her in" Foxes: "I am trying!"

• Nicky lying down: "okay but someone needs to tell me how old is the shirtless pottery guy. I can't be part of another controversy. It's for science c'mon. *debby Ryan's*"

• Someone comments "he's eighteen. Simp away, nicky." And he makes a video with his feet swinging and smiling. Aaron gets on the frame and says "we are deeply in need of some bowls." The caption: hi @ papapots

• They are verified so obviously he gains a couple of thousands followers and he duets smiling and with a package in his arms. Text: thanks for the support (and hi new followers from sport side of tiktok hope you enjoy my pots) caption: hi @ nickthefox_es I got you aaron.

• After the package comes they duet it with nicky screaming and showing off the goods and then he moves stop show andrew eating ice cream out of one of them. Caption: AJSNEPWLDKSS THANK YOU DAX

• Allison and nicky do the "I love you!" "No you dont topper! You love the idea of me. You love being seen with me but you dont love me." But nicky is Sarah and allison is topper. Next day the obx ig page reposted it "we stan the psu foxes pogues for life." And chase stokes posts it on Twitter saying "yoo the palmetto foxes watch??? my show???" Nicky takes a screenshot and on green screen he says "hi chase!! We do! The whole team binged it. Currently we've been debating who of us is going to dress up as pogues for Halloween." A lot of voices start arguing and as nicky is gonna enter the debate the video cuts.

• Allison does the facetime *deep male voice says hey* prank on them. Neil doesnt react. Nicky doesnt look up from his phone but does the finger thing and says "get that d, allison!" Dan and renee look at each other and then at allison and she bursts out laughing.

• aaron studying to be a doctor: *two plus two is four etc sound* andrew (eating pretzels from the bag while watching a game show lying down in a bean bag) and his eiditic memory [basically not needing to study]: *three is a magic number sound*

• Nicky runs through the court and enters the lounge beside the photo wall there's a poster he shows the camera as the sounds says it "alive ahaha fuck"

• Somehow they convince all of them to show up and do the wipe it down trend that ends up with wymack throwing the towel at the mirror.

• Comment: so how many members of the team listen to girl in red or sweater weather? Nicky stands there with the color filter: 👁👄👁👉👈 caption: yes❤

• He gets neil to duet to the whole "british people be like". "Neil I'm not british." "Part of you is so just read the tweets." He does and the comments are all thirst and simping

• Comment: raise your hand if you've been victimized by neil josten. Where my fellow Simps at? (The comment gets hundreds of thousands of likes) they make a video, everyone on the team except aaron who walks out raises their hand as the sound says "welcome to simp nation" kevin rolls his eyes but raises his, says something that nicky captions "i simp over his exy skills". andrew doesn't at first, but next to him neil whispers something and after andrew says yes, neil grabs Andrew's forearm and raises it. Andrew looks away and neil smiles.

• Nicky lying down: okay but what if Jean moreau traded places with the french guy from here you know who, david.

• Comment "ugh your mind nicky" reply video: right? Big brain, many thoughts, head full all the time. But like actually the idea of david playing exy and Jean hanging out with ducks and making viral tiktoks just-

• Comment "i feel you and @ austincantdrive would make the best chaotic duo" reply: we would be too powerful together. Austin replies too: agree.

• Allison makes a sports jersey/comfy wear but make it fashion and she styles herself. Everyone on the comments d i e s for her.

• Comment "okay but what about the boys. help allison." She makes a video too with matt and nicky and at the end neil wears an orange crop top and the internet b r e a k s

• Comment "allison do you listen to girl in red?" video reply: her winking at the camera and lip syncing as sweater weather plays. The comments a lot of them liked by creator: a win for the girls (and the boys)

• Upperclassmen Back in 2003: okay but hey do we always have to be involved? Can we do normal stuff that normal people do, like, go for brunch? Us (aaron, andrew, kevin and me): what the fuck is brunch?

• Of course they do the mr blue sky trend. Nicky: drunkenly goes to flirt with a guy. Aaron: drunkenly follows to get away from kevin. Kevin: drunk on pure vodka reminds us we have practice in the morning.

• Or another one all of them. Neil: ready to insult a reporter. Dan: tries not to laugh on camera. Matt: gets ready to hug him afterwards Allison and Nicky: Filming everything. Wymack: the only one trying to stop it from happening and failing.

• Dan and matt duet their reactions to every video edit of them, smiling and saying "your parents love you guys!".

• Comment "literally what is wrong with the ravens/ravens fans?The foxes are such a nice group of people and they're doing great in the sport y'all worship just shut up you cult-y athletic hype house." video reply: "ladies and gentlemen. The volume inside of this bus is A S T R O N O M I C A L."

• comment video reply: okay so we're not gonna talk about nicky at the gym?? Bc C A K E. nicky lip syncing "I'm glad you brung it up because I've been dying to talk about this for a fucking hot minute. First of all-"

• Colin uses one of Neil's or Andrew's interviews replies as one of his sounds and nicky fanboys a lot

• Allison and nicky do the Kardashian sound compilation.

• Nicky with a picture of Erik on green screen: "hi I just wanna say if you look anything like this please contact me. Thank you." Caption: miss u baby. And Erik watches his tiktoks and he facetimes him immediately. Nicky takes a screenshot and duets his own video crying with the screenshot caption: SKALSBSKAJSL Erik comments: stop making tiktoks and answer the phone, hemmick. Nicky replies: yessir everyone below comments keyboard smashes and you got a good one. Goals. Lmao kids that's what we call bottom panic. We stan one healthy long distance relationship and after that a bunch of long distance relationship questions that he makes another video on.

• A video of Katelyn and neil chatting and it pans to the twins watching them with the *when worlds collide sound*

• He reposts a snippet of one of his interviews post game where he grabs the mic from the reporter and nicky: can I say something? Reporter: sure, go ahead. Nicky: thank you. *looks straight into the camera* all the birds died in 1986 due to Reagan killing them and replacing them with spies that are now watching us. The birds work for the bourgeoisie. Thank you." And leaves. IT GOES VIRAL INSTANTLY.

• Comment "is everyone else gonna forget that tiktok where he said he was already part of a controversy? We stan a problematic icon?" Video reply: guys I might have been part of a whole Twitter beef thing against my little hoodie and Bruce hallway but c'mon, like, c'mon you can't blame me.

• Comment "for neil: does the carpet match the drapes 👅😍?" Video reply: neil on selfie mode. "Allison gave me her phone, told me to answer this and ran away so umm." He reads the box on the screen and frowns he walks and stands next to the window, where Andrew is sitting down and is barely seen on frame. "uhmm, the internet is confusing. Our carpet is like this" he turns the phone and shows the floor (grayish carpet) and then back at him "but we don't have drapes so, technically they don't match, I dont know." Andrew's head goes up and simply says "Neil." Neil turns "what?" And the video ends.

• of course nicky and allison do the WAP dance, on the court, when they should be running drills.

[willowbird]

Aah I need more smiling and laughing Andrew from you now please!!! I'll be happy with anything you want to do with that! 💜💜

We ALL need more smiling and laughing Andrew in our lives. It's just too purr. 😉

I hope you enjoy!

(Also, I’m like -- SUPER sorry this took so long to finish even though it’s just a lil drabble. I hope it was worth the wait!!)

-----

Dan checked her watch for the third time and frowned. "Jesus, where the hell are those two? We're gonna miss our reservation if we have to wait for them much longer."

Their family had been spread to the winds for years at this point, but they still managed to get together once a year for some sort of a reunion. This year they were back in Palmetto the week before Christmas (something they tried to do every other year around the holidays). Half of them had arrived in town last night and the rest only this morning, but they’d spent most of the day itself imposing on Wymack and Abby (who had finally moved in together). 

It had been a good time and though Abby had offered to cook for them, Dan had insisted that the whole team treat Abby and Wymack to dinner at a nice restaurant. Considering how many of them there were, the celebratory nature of the visit, and the general rowdiness of their group, it had been decided that the lot of them would carpool with Neil, Renee, and Kevin as the DDs. 

Renee and Kevin had already driven off with their allotted passengers, so now Dan and Matt were left waiting for Andrew and Neil to finish getting ready or whatever the fuck they were doing. 

“We won’t miss our reservation,” Matt assured with a chuckle, nudging her. “Miss out on the breadsticks? Well, that’s more likely...”

“Fuck that.” Dan was not missing out on breadsticks so that Andrew and Neil could get in a quickie before dinner. With that decided, she whirled on her heel and charged back into the house. She instinctively angled for the hallway that lead down to the guest bedrooms, intending to make as much noise as possible as she tromped down the hallway so as to alert them of her approach. She was less concerned about getting stabbed these days as she was about seeing parts of her friends that she really, really did not need to see. 

Not that Andrew and Neil were grossly all over each other now or anything, but the years seemed to have softened the both of them. It was no longer shocking to see them holding hands or leaning casually against each other. They traded easy, casual kisses in greeting and simple affection just like the rest of the couples -- though there was still this... weight to every interaction between Andrew and Neil that spoke of how hard-earned those simple, casual expressions of affection were for the pair. 

Dan didn’t begrudge them that. On the contrary, it warmed her heart every single time she caught one of those tiny actions of easy love and affection out of the corner of her eye. 

Accidentally walking into the wrong guest room and catching Andrew pinning Neil against the wall, both of them barely dressed, was an entirely other matter and Dan was never going to be able to scrub that image or the sound of the way Neil was fucking moaning out of her damn mind. 

Yeah. She was officially scarred for life. 

So, while she was done waiting for them she was also not willing to add more trauma to her already considerable payload. She took a deep breath and prepared to start shouting and stomping when soft sounds coming from the den caught her attention. Now, if it had only been the little meows and scrabbles of kittens playing that would not have made her pause. After all -- the whole team had spent about four hours straight this afternoon going positively gaga over the adorable little fuzzballs. Nancy, Abby and Wymack’s recent rescue cat turned out to be pregnant when they adopted her -- which they hadn’t realized at the time. Now they had a little bundle of kittens taking up space in the living room. Wymack had already tried to pass them out like candy to the rest of the team but no one had bitten. 

Well, that wasn’t true -- Nicky had wanted to take the whole litter, but Erik had kindly and calmly told him ‘no’ in such an effective way Nicky had dropped the subject with little more than a bit of pouting. 

So if it were just that, she wouldn’t have paused. 

No, it was the quiet murmuring that bubbled over the kitten sounds that drew her attention. Dan cut off her shout before she could utter it and pivoted smoothly, heading instead for the den. She slowed her steps as she approached, holding her breath so the sound of her breathing wouldn’t smother what she could now make out to be words.

“We have plenty of space.”

“Drew, while you aren’t wrong -- I don’t think that five kittens is the best way to start a family.”

“Because you are such an expert.”

“Drew.”

A sigh. “Three then.”

“What, not going to try for four?”

Andrew -- because it had to be Andrew, even though Dan was struggling to compute this particular conversation with Andrew ‘The Monster’ Minyard -- snorted in affront. “And leave just one all by itself? Don’t be stupid.”

Neil, because again -- it had to be Neil -- chuckled. “We are not taking three kittens home with us, Drew.”

There was a long silence and Dan risked peaking around the edge of the doorframe. Andrew Minyard was sitting on the floor with his back against the armchair, mostly facing away from the door and absolutely covered with kittens. One was on his shoulder, two were wrestling between his folded legs, and he was holding the other two against his chest, his face turned down as he nuzzled the little fuzzballs, all while glaring at Neil over the top of their furry heads. Well, Dan assumed he was glaring. She couldn’t actually see enough of his face to gauge his expression, but even covered with kittens this was still Andrew ‘I Wear Fucking Knives Everywhere’ Minyard, so she felt it was a safe enough assumption. 

Then again, she could see most of Neil’s face, and he was looking at Andrew with an expression that Dan had no other description for other than “abject adoration”. So who knew, maybe Andrew was smiling gently and...

Yeah, no probably not.

Neil sighed, and Dan knew that sound. It was the sound of a man too much in love to say ‘no’ to whatever his partner wanted. Of a person too much in love to say ‘no’ to their love’s request, actually -- because she knew that she’d made that sound more than once regarding Matt. 

“Alright, fine. But not three. Two. Two kittens. That way they won’t be alone and might be somewhat manageable.”

Dan thought that Neil was in for a rude awakening if he really thought that any number of cats were ‘manageable’, but she’d let him figure that out for himself. She could tell that Andrew was debating an argument, but he ultimately shrugged -- which she supposed was an agreement. Then he handed one of the kittens in his hands to Neil and gently scooped the one off his shoulder and added it to the squirming fluff-pile in his lap. 

Neil held up the kitten and studied it, then his face broke into a wide, bright smile as the little black poof reached out and batted at his nose with the sweetest little squeak. The sound must have drawn the attention of the other kittens because they suddenly all turned their attention to Neil and launched a less-than-coordinated assault, even the one in Andrew’s hands squirming free to jump onto Neil. Neil barked out a laugh in surprise and jumped, ending up on his back as the kittens overran him and took him for their own. 

With a sound that Dan didn’t really understand, Andrew pushed up to his knees and crawled around to be able to lean over Neil’s head as the kittens tussled and romped all over his partner. This change in angle allowed Dan to see Andrew’s face, and then her brain sort of caught up with her ears and she realized that she did know that sound -- because Andrew was making it again. He was laughing. It wasn’t a big laugh, not bright or rapid or voluminous. It was small, and soft, but there was a rich, deep quality to it that sang with genuine affection as he smiled down at Neil. 

“See? I still say we should take all five. They are already a well-formed strike team.” Andrew. It was Andrew ‘I Eat Strikers For Breakfast’ Minyard saying those words. Smiling softly down at Neil. Chuckling as he reached out and brushed just his thumb over the tiny head of a fuzzy black and gray kitten. 

“Two,” Neil said again, but Dan wondered exactly how firm he was going to be able to remain on that point with the way he was looking up at Andrew. “We can convince Aaron to take the other three then set up play-dates.”

Andrew laughed again, a quiet dance of sound between barely-curved lips. His eyes were still on the kittens. “Aaron would not know what to do with a cat.”

“Neither do I.”

Andrew looked down at Neil then and his expression lost the smile but became... so much more intimate that Dan almost looked away. “No,” he said. “But you have me.”

Dan’s chest tightened and she had to physically lift a hand to cover her mouth. She could feel the imprint of her own smile against her fingertips.

“Yes or no, Drew?”

“Yes.”

Dan turned away as Andrew leaned down to kiss Neil, slipping quietly down the hall to rejoin Matt. Maybe they could afford to be a little late to dinner.

[pocketsedition]

aftg as cliche high school au

i got bored and was wondering how the foxes would work in american high school stereotypes and now i’m here so. yeah ignore it if it sucks <3

neil would of course be the popular-kid-who-doesn’t-wanna-be-popular

depending on who you are he could either be really nice to you or the biggest fucking asshole

he’s on the cross country team as well as soccer w kevin (duh)

he mainly hangs out w other ‘popular kids’ like matt allison seth dan and occasionally the vixens but like only because his group knows them

he also vibes with renee occasionally

andrew would be the quiet kid who’s actually an asshole especially to teachers and reads during class is that a stereotype? i think so

he’s also probably a gamer kid and he wears a bunch of rings yes youll see

i’ll get more about him later

aaron is that kid in biology who’s got an A+ throughout the whole class and it annoys the shit out of everyone because that shouldn’t be possible

kevin is a jock. yes he is

he plays soccer and does cross country (can you do those both at the same time) (i’m not a sports person)

(let’s say yes for the sake of this)

he’s also one of those history nerd kids 

you know who i’m talking about

nicky is a theater kid and he can actually sing really well

he just never stops

he knows he’s good at singing but it’s annoying walking out of math every day hearing a random song

seth and matt are both jocks and best friends (besides neil) but there are significant differences about them

yes they both were highlighters during middle school but that’s besides the point

seth is one of those kids who during gym is always like “dOnT bE a sOrE LoSeR” whenever your team loses but when his team loses he’s a pissbaby talking about how you cheated and just e w 

he also has pot brownies in the middle of class

he probably asks you for answers for the homework too

matt just vibes and probably accidentally hits the volleyball too hard but everyone loves him anyway

he absolutely sucks at most classes and will absolutely be like “ohHHH thank youu :D” when you help him like literally the puppy eyes give you no choice but to help him

allison is the regina. fuckin george of school

but like if you guys end up sitting together during chemistry and you aren’t a complete dickhead to her she’ll probably give you candy or just whatever she has on her

renee is quiet girl whos actually got good grades and popular girl (allison) highkey has a crush on her

dan is like middle ground like shes a sports girl

but shell willingly hang out with both quiet kids and popular kids

overall really nice

OKAYOKAY NOW

neil ended up getting set up with one of the vixens marisa

(i think that was that girl who neil took to the banquet and was like "why do i need your number" to ?)

anyways he keeps trying to be like "no." over and over but she simply Wont Have It

and then next thing you know hes running for homecoming king and hes this close to breaking his own arm to get out of it

so now. he has to find an outfit

meanwhile Quiet Goth™ andrew minyard and his twin brother aaron have their dad who has a fashion business (mom died in a catastrophic car crash)

and everyone knows this so theyre always asking for like. help and discounts and shit

he says no to all of them

except neil whos in need of an outfit and

very very pretty

like uhh who gave you the r i g h t to have that awkward smile ???

and those t h i g h s ?

so andrews like "eh whatever sure"

yes yes yes yes

and. they end up getting kind of close ?

it kind of astounds everyone

aaron hates it he has calculus with neil and neil has the audacity to be so good at math and just so happens to be the only person andrew helps ?

seth is confused because andrews the only person he cant beat in a good one v one of exy

but also andrew buys a bunch of pot brownies from him and ???? he doesnt know why bc he doesnt even look high most of the time

he gives them to security guards as bribery so he can keep his knives on him during school

and now neils just friends w him ????

and its going well

"so you don't wanna be popular" "...yeah" "then dont"

neil retorts with:

"so your telling me your dad runs a fashion business and you wear all black"

they go back and forth for like half an hour

andrew starts trying to teach neil how to play videogames

neil fucking sucks but he doesnt really care because andrews nice

and actually helping neil pick out his outfit is a fucking pain because he so pretty picky

andrew dies

anyways

neil starts opening up about how he doesnt actually like marisa and andrews like "tell her"

"i hav she just doesnt. listen >:("

andrew offers to but neil knows about the frog knives (yes the frog knives) and hes like hah nice try

they still have nights on the roof and cigarettes and secrets shared

so everything happens and it finally gets to marisas head that neil doesnt wanna go to homecoming (with her. that is)

its like 4 days before homecoming and he jsut snaps

"yaknow i get it—"

she ends up crying but neil doesnt care at this point shes finally off his back

lets face it he would not care that man has zero morals

and so its homecoming night and neils this close to simply Not Going

but matt and seth are on the football team and they have their game and he spent hours looking for a suit

so he goes to the game and he hangs out with the upperclassmen

deliberately avoids the team because theres ways vixens nearby and he cant deal with marisa rn

so he hangs out

he sees aaron in the stands and asks if andrews around aaron just shrugs

useless

and the games over matts team wins yay !!!

everyones happy

now its time for the dance

neils dreading it

he goes and tries to avoid the general public because Ew People

and he sees andrew hiding from the noise in a hallway with no people

theyre quiet until neil follows andrew out to the back of the school and to the middle of the empty soccer field

"you werent at the game"

andrew shrugs "i didnt care about the game"

"and you care about the dance?"

"aaron doesnt have his own car"

"mhm"

andrew rolls his eyes

its quiet and neils just looking at andrew

he kinda had a realization the other night with matts help

andrew simply stares back

"yes or no"

"yes"

kith :)

the school doesnt notice they’re a thing until andrew shows up to school one day wearing what may or may not be one of those wrist. sweatband thingies

im dumb i forgot what theyre called

and neil always has one of andrews rings on him and hes always fidgeting with it

anyways i might write a fic who knows not me❤️

[mitskihost]

Kevin Day and his Punk Girlfriend

(now has a pt 2)

we all talk about bi!kevin with a cute boyfriend BUT consider kevin w a punk gf and he just loves her Alot. yes this is inspired by bluesey no i will not be taking questions

- the first time he sees her, it's at eden. she's wearing a leather skirt and a band shirt, and she's sitting alone by the bar until some jackass comes to disturb her. kevin watches from a distance as she pours her drink down his pants after several minutes of conversation and she only flips him off as he walks away angrily. he doesn't go up to her, partly because he fears she'll spill a drink on him too, and partly because he can't find the courage too (he knows he's free now, but it's still takes times to adjust)

- he thinks it'll be easy not to think about the girl, between games and classes and his wild team, he's barely got time to think about himself. he only thinks about her once though, when jean says that he's dating jeremy and he's proud of himself; he thinks of her fierce eyes and imagines what they would look like staring at him. and then he tries to never think about her again.

- except she turns up everywhere. she's sitting on the campus lawns with her guitar and a notepad (kevin sees a tattoo along her calf and finds himself thinking about it for days). she's cheering her vixen friends on during one of the games (kevin thinks he imagines her looking his way at one point). he runs into her in the library one monday morning, reading the only copy of a book he was searching for (nicky would've screamed at him for not taking the opportunity, but what nicky doesn't know, doesn't harm him)

- the first time she sees him, it's at a diner the foxes chose to eat at one night. she's two booths down, he thinks she didn't notice him. but she did, she recognized the queen tattoo and the straight nose and the shy mouth. she only waved at him before he left.

- the first time they spoke, it was at an after game party. he's only there because dan demands it and she's only there because she's allowed to chose the music. it takes four drinks and some breathing exercises before kevin gathers the strength to talk to her. it goes terribly. but she laughs, and then clutches his elbow as she laughs louder at his next comment. the night starts with them talking about the game and ends with her number scribbled on a paper that he shoves in his wallet.

- it takes more time for kevin to actually open up to her. they meet often, she drags him to art events across campus and in return he drags her to exy games. she sneaks him into her dorm room and teaches him how to strum her guitar, he gets her into irish folklore.

- he doesn't invite her on a date. a lingering fear from his past reminds him that girls are a distraction. but he can't think of anything that's still holding him back. neil survived, and he has andrew. jean survived, and now he has jeremy. kevin won't admit it, but it feels bitter and almost like defeat when he sees them move on.

- opportunity presents itself when kevin least expects it. spring banquet is around the corner, the foxes all have dates and nicky finally intervenes and forces kevin to ask her out.

- she wears a grey croptop and a blazer with long pants, ears and fingers lined with silver jewelry. andrew has to knock kevin's mouth shut with a finger.

- she's funnier than he remembers. a dead pan humor with a side of that fox like sarcasm makes her excellent company. kevin keeps her by his side throughout the night, and only lets her go when he talks to jean.

- dan and matt love her immediately, nicky follows suit when he realizes she can shut kevin up without trying, allison and neil are just surprised someone like her is willing to try with someone like kevin (it's all a joke, they reassure when kevin frowns). andrew and aaron don't talk to her, but kevin hopes they aren't far behind.

- they first time they touch, it's her kissing his queen tattoo the day after the banquet when they drop her off. andrew knocks his mouth shut again, but saves him from misery and doesn't make a comment about it.

- the kisses get more frequent- she kisses him next on the side of his mouth the next time they step out. he kisses her forehead after a tough yet victorious match. she kisses his shoulder after he fires at someone for making a very misogynistic remark about dan at an after game party. he kissed her nose when she's too exhausted to reach his face. she kisses him after their first actual date, and he kisses her back until they're both kind of breathless.

- kevin still has a hard time accepting that she's interested in being more, and that isn't just a stress-induced attraction that he was so used to. she was patient, never demanded more or less. he has once asked her how long she would wait, she only smiled and told him that there was no waiting. "i'm happy with whatever i get of you"

- they become official months later. the team is delighted to say the least, not only because they absolutely adored her but also because she was the only one who could pull the stick out of kevin's ass.

- she tells andrew that she thinks his all-black outfits are "killer", and andrew learns to tolerate her. aaron comes around only because she knows katelyn too.

- dates!! kevin on dates!! them, driving around aimlessly after midnight practice and she introduces him to queen (she's shocked when she learns he doesn't already listen to their music). (kevin's favorite song is don't stop me now, but he says killer queen just to see her smile) them, making breakfast together at her dorm after a particularly hard hitting week. them, falling asleep on the floor, her sprawled on his chest and him with an arm around her waist to keep her there.

- they go out for dinner with wymack one night (he sees him staring at her when she isn't looking and he sees her hooking a hand by his elbow when he's thinking far away and realizes that she makes his son happy, so she's worth keeping around)

- they go to eden together for the first time, she kisses him silly at the end of the night and it's all he can think about for weeks. he returns the favor weeks later, and she takes whatever piece of himself he can willingly gives to her, until he can give her everything entirely.

- he's happy with her, and it satisfies andrew to see him like that, though he'd never admit it.

- lemme have this PLS i just wanna see him with a loud, happy girl by his side who makes him smile and realize that he has a chance to grow again, to be loved again. :') i can dream

[jemej3m]

For the mobster/cop au more interactions between Neil and the rest of the foxes. It could be when they already know he's Andrews husband or when they haven't found out yet Btw, your fics are amazing, thank you!!

okay here’s a real short one but i loved this so here u go:

(tw: descriptions of murdered prostitutes)

*

Dan slowly put her head in her hands, staring at the three photographs in front of her. This had been tormenting her for days already - it was beyond ridiculous at this point. Matt insisted that someone else should take the case, but Dan just couldn’t let that happen. 

Before she’d gone to college, and then the police academy, Dan had worked at a club on the edge of the city. The nightclub was probably one of the seediest Dan had ever investigated (she’d pulled it to shreds when she finally became a detective, mostly out of spite) and sometimes she laid awake at night, wondering how on earth she made it out alive. She’d grabbed a fake ID in high school to work there, having felt like she was out of other options. 

This case hit a little too close to home. 

She was black, her hair matted and bloodied. Her face had become so bloated with death and violence that she was hardly recognisable, but what was even more horrid was the state in which she was found. It was in the middle of a parking lot - she’d been moved there postmortem - splayed on her front with her legs spread, her dress in tatters. Across her lower back were three X’s, two healed, one fresh. She’d been strangled to death. 

There were no prints. No weapon. No fluids. No cameras, no witnesses, even the person who’d called 911 had ducked and run. Dan hated it when bodies were found outside of the scene of death: it made the case that much harder, and removed them from their context. She owed it to this poor girl, who was still wearing one of her clear dancing heels, to find out who had done this to her. 

With another aggravated sigh, she leant back in her chair and pressed the heels of her hands into her eye-sockets. She needed a coffee. She needed to go home and pick Hannah up from school to make sure she was safe and watch Bridget Jones’ Baby together with Chinese takeout and have Matt braid her hair whilst Hannah painted her nails. 

A small scuffle to her left was enough to drag her attention away from the abysmally small file. Across the room, Andrew was leaning back in his chair, a new figure leaning against his desk. Dan watched as Neil handed Andrew a brown paper bag - his lunch - and smile at whatever remark Andrew made. 

“How the hell did he get in here?” Dan inquired, exhausted. Matt looked up from his desk and grinned: he’d come to rather enjoy Neil’s company, in spite of the fact that Neil was definitely a seasoned murderer and letting him go was against everything they’d ever learned about corruption and loyalty. 

Though, Dan thought, watching Matt clap Neil on the back. Their height differences were rather amusing. 

“No personal crap in the bullpen, Andrew,” Kevin groused, glaring at Neil. He still wasn’t over it. He probably would never be over it. 

“Did you just call me personal crap?” Neil echoed. At Kevin’s narrowed eyes, he held up his hands in surrender. “I was just heading out anyway. Just dropping off lunch.”  He shook Matt’s hand goodbye, saluted Wymack good day and chanced a kiss to the crown of Andrew’s head, very narrowly avoiding his husband’s swatting. He shoved his pockets and walked animatedly down the desk aisle. 

His gaze drifted over to Dan’s desk, and his eyebrows furrowed. “Not again.” 

Dan’s instinctive reaction was to cover up the photos. Instead, she swivelled her chair to face him, eyebrow arched. 

Neil came closer, leaning against the desk to look at the photos. He made a scathing noise and shook his head. “I don’t understand why Striker thinks that’ll work.”

“Who?” Dan demanded. 

Neil gave her an odd look. “Striker? I mean, I’m not sure of his real name, but he earned the nickname with the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy for his girls. Runs the Catamounts Club.”

“So this has happened before,” Dan managed, fingertips brushing over the photo. 

Neil shrugged. “Usually the bodies are shown off to the girls to scare them, and then obliterated from existence. It’s not like prostitutes are ever put down as missing persons, so he’s never been caught.” Neil leaned over the desk to look at the photographs. “Seems like someone finally wants to do something about it.”

“Catamounts Club,” Dan repeated. “Striker. Repeat offender. You think he’d keep trophies? Some way to track the number of girls he’s murdered?”

“She’s only got one shoe,” Neil affirmed. “He keeps the other hanging up on a string of lights above the booze shelves behind the bar. Though with a body found, he would have taken them down. He won’t throw them out, though. They’re reminders for the girls to behave.”

For a moment, Dan just stared. It took a little while for her to process all Neil was saying - which was a lot. It was a lot. Abruptly, she stood up, snatching the photographs and holding them to her chest. 

“You know,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Letting you walk goes against our oaths as a police force. I should lock you up in max security and never let you see the light of day again.” Her breath shuddered. “But - if you can give us information like that - whenever we ask - I’ll be willing to put it aside.”

Neil gave her a quizzical look. “I’ve been informing your cases for years. How else would I have convinced Andrew to marry me?”

Dan had to grin at her colleague. “How did you manage to wrestle him into a ring?”

Neil snorted. “I said that I could be his CI forever. He wasn’t amused. Anyway - yes, Wilds, I will help you out, to keep my ass out of jail. If that’s what it takes.” He gave her a little wave, leaning off her desk and walking towards the exit. 

Dan glanced to Andrew, who was still glaring at the elevator, long after his husband had left. She shook her head and sat down, switching on her computer monitor. 

She had the Catamounts to bust. 

*

hey psst neil’s a hopeless romantic pass it on

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 38 Review: Of Zombies and Men

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 | 3 }

{ Full Synopses/Recaps: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

Damn, Jacques is hot in that scene! There. I just had to say that before starting this review.

Hello and welcome again to my Garden of Evil, which I have once again been neglecting. Long story short: the past month has been both terrifying (for what should be obvious reasons) and very, very busy, and I’ve been spending more of my free time offline than usual focusing on things like starting vegetables for my real-life garden. I don’t foresee things getting better for at least another month, so most likely either I won’t be very active or my muse will be more active than ever. If the latter, it may mean more reviews or it may mean more silliness like the Desmond Hall personality quiz from earlier this week. We shall see.

But, for right now, shall we jump into our exploration of Episode 38?

Wait! Quito didn’t leave the chandelier hanging on the table before!

The table (post-séance) from Episode 36, for comparison.

Another night has passed on Maljardin (as indicated by Jean Paul Desmond's change in clothing) and now someone has hung the chandelier on the side of the broken séance table where it wasn't in either of the previous two episodes. "Keeping this here as a souvenir, Jean Paul?" the Reverend Matthew Dawson, who is still wearing the same outfit as two episodes ago, asks.

"No, Reverend," Jean Paul corrects him, but forgets to tell him who put the chandelier back on the table and why. Instead, he tells him that there will be another séance.

Matt accuses him of playing with their lives and he responds with what sounds like a veiled threat: "Come now, Reverend, this is no game. Surely, superstitions and fears are not going to blacken your learned convictions. All of our days are numbered." Yes, Jean Paul's in pissy passive-aggressive mode and he will remain there for most of the next three weeks. This is one of the reasons why I prefer Jacques Eloi des Mondes. He may be THE DEVIL and he certainly has his own nasty, passive-aggressive side, but he doesn't go around glowering like his descendant and he takes himself less seriously. His death threats are also way funnier than Jean Paul’s. On top of that, he has that stunning cape that he once wore to the main island, which I miss horribly. I can’t see Jean Paul moping around on Maljardin while wearing that gorgeous number, which is a pity because it looked so good on him.

Just noticed while re-watching the episode that Matt has a pompadour now. I'm going to go ahead and guess the reason based on evidence from Episode 7: he's trying to level with the groovy swingers and keep up with what's happenin', but he's too square to realize the hairstyle he's adopted in his efforts to be happenin' is ten years out of date. (I’m sure I used at least two of these outdated slang terms incorrectly. Forgive me.)

Jean Paul lying to cover up Jacques’ attempted murder. Also, a pretty shot of Fox-C’s eyes!

To no viewers’ surprise, Jean Paul is planning on holding another séance, and another, and another, until he finally establishes contact with his late wife Erica. This angers Matt, who has been a loose cannon since Episode 35 and is due to fire again soon. “You forget the medium said death points only to me!” the lovesick, grieving billionaire shouts and storms away before Matt gets another chance to air his grievances against him.

We next see him in the crypt, telling Quito to have the table and the chandelier repaired ASAP. And then he gets a moment alone with Erica’s cryonics capsule and he says this interesting, cryptic aside:

Is he only saying that because of Jacques’ frequent possessions, or does he have another reason to mistrust himself? Lines like this one make me think that maybe Dan’s suspicions are correct and he did murder Erica.

Matt grows bored waiting for Jean Paul to return, so he visits Alison in the lab. Wearing a stylish blue labcoat, she is reading through Dr. Menkin’s notes on her sister Erica and confides in Matt about her despair that she has found so few of them.

Alison and Matt in the lab.

Their conversation in this scene is quite interesting. First, she reveals that Dr. Menkin has been researching cellular reconstruction and that, using his notes (especially the missing parts), it might actually be possible to bring Erica back to life. This means that there’s a chance that it was reasonable from an in-universe scientific standpoint--if still somewhat ethically questionable--for Jean Paul to freeze Erica.

Second, she denies Matt’s accusation that Jean Paul is treating them like chattel, replying, "What you forget is his love for Erica, his need for her is what drives him, not purposeful harm to others." Has she developed Stockholm Syndrome towards Jacques/Jean Paul during her time on the island? This line makes me wonder.

Their conversation drifts to Vangie’s accident, which reminds Alison to check on her! They find Vangie in the Great Hall, walking down the stairs in her Conjure Woman robes, her arms stretched out before her in standard zombie fashion. Because she isn’t watching where she’s going and is just staring blankly, Alison guides her down the stairs and onto the couch to prevent any further injuries. At the end of the scene, Quito comes to check on her and lets out a silent scream before covering his face: most likely as a subtle cue to new audience members that the silent servant in the earlier scene in the crypt is, like Vangie, a zombie.

Alison guiding Vangie to the couch.

But can we really compare Vangie’s state to Quito’s? In book canon, Quito was one of Jacques’ slaves, whom he killed and then had resurrected to punish Raxl for disobedience. The show canon never states how Quito became a zombie, but we do know that he is undead based on his lack of a pulse in Episode 33 and Jean Paul’s reference to “a soulless corpse” in Episode 16. Vangie, in contrast, is still alive, but behaves like a zombie (allegedly) because of a brain injury caused by the crashing chandelier. Oddly enough, her body language and behavior are more in line with a stereotypical Hollywood zombie than Quito, which makes me wonder how the hell she was able to put her Conjure Woman robes back on while in a cataleptic trance. (I bet it’s just another continuity error, like the chandelier hanging off the side of the table.)

There’s a brief scene here where Matt opens one of the cabinet drawers in the lab and pulls out one of Alison’s scalpels. I don’t understand why she doesn’t keep that drawer locked on such a dangerous island.

In his and Raxl’s bedroom, Quito mixes Vangie a potion using herbs from the island to attempt to bring her out of her catatonic state. He tastes the potion and nods as though to say, "Yes, it tastes right.” Even so, it doesn't appear to have any effect on him after he tastes it, which is strange. I don’t know how to interpret this scene. It could mean anything from “the antidote only works on living people” to “the antidote only works on people who were turned into zombies the way Vangie was (and Quito was not)” to “Quito drank this same potion years ago, and that’s why he can move around, think, and feel and isn’t stuck in a catatonic state like Vangie.”

The ambiguity makes this yet another unexplained plot point in a show overflowing with them, thanks to the change in writers and producer. I want to give Robert Costello and the team of writers who wrapped up Maljardin the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps they ignored this plot hole because Ian Martin’s notes were partially missing like Dr. Menkin’s, but most of the evidence suggests that they consciously chose to go in a different direction than the one that Martin originally intended. We know that, from Episode 30 onward, executive meddling forced him to change and rearrange events in his episodes. There is that one line from Episode 54 that reminds me of what I believe were his original intended revelations about Erica, but I suspect that I’m over-analyzing a line for which Cornelius Crane probably intended a different, less unusual interpretation than mine.

Anyway, while Quito is downstairs, Jean Paul and Jacques have this amusing exchange:

Jean Paul: "You were the disrupting influence at that séance." Jacques: "I? Do I resemble a part of the chandelier that came crashing down?"

I think you can guess where this leads. Jacques possesses him, and this time the resulting scene is the most deliciously evil one we’ve seen yet of his character:

Just after possession, zombie Vangie identifies Jacques as Lucifer, and he confirms this. Since the first episode, we have heard Raxl say repeatedly that Jacques Eloi des Mondes was THE DEVIL, but at last we have confirmation that Ian Martin’s Jacques is, even after the beginning of executive meddling.

“Devil he is. Devil he will remain till I can exorcise and destroy him,” she adds, still in a trance and still with her eyes fixed forward.

“But aren’t you finding him too powerful for all of us?” Jacques replies.

“In the end, it is we who will be too strong for him.”

“But you are already losing all the battles.” Jacques smirks and leans closer to Vangie, as my heart--and the hearts of half the original audience--skips a beat. “Look at you now, Vangie. Look at you now, able to talk only with me because, like Quito, you are living in his...half-world.” (Does this mean that Quito can speak to him, too, when they are alone and Jacques allows it?) “Who put you there?”

“Fear not. He cannot kill me. My death is ordained.”

“He hasn’t killed you,” Jacques grins. “Who knows? Maybe in your present state, you will be able to reach Erica.”

“I didn’t want to reach her for myself, but for you, Jean Paul.” (Why does she identify him as Jean Paul now, when she called him Lucifer a minute ago? Jacques hasn’t de-possessed Jean Paul yet.)

Quietly, Alison and Matt enter undetected, as she continues. “The demon Jacques Eloi des Mondes, his evil was at the table. It was his alien presence that destroyed the séance.”

She lies back down on the couch, Jacques yells her name and grabs her, and Alison breaks her silence. “Jean Paul!” she shouts, rushing over to Vangie. “Leave her be!” Jacques demands that she bring her out of the trance, but Alison says that she doesn’t know how. He shoots down her suggestion that she take her to the mainland for treatment.

“It’s mystifying to hear her talk as though you were that man, an ancestor three hundred years dead,” Matt comments, pointing to Jacques’ portrait.

“The islanders are very superstitious with strange fancies,” Jacques gaslights him. “You’re not joining that group, are you, Reverend?”

“I may join them, too,” says Alison.

“Perhaps you all need therapy, or some other kind of treatment,” Jacques says as the camera zooms into his face. He starts off with a fairly neutral Jean Paul expression--he’s been getting better at imitating his descendant--but then widens his eyes in that way only Jacques does. It's not quite Bissits Face���, but it is a very Jacques expression nonetheless.

After the commercial break, Matt asks for some clarification as to what he meant by treatment. “Relief of tension, as at a séance,” he responds with a smile.

Another argument about séances is about to erupt when Quito walks up holding a cup of his herbal remedy. Jacques identifies this as “a pinch of hope, a dash of witchcraft, a hint of prayer, as harmless as Quito himself is.” Surprisingly, despite knowing that this will take Vangie out of her trance, he lets Alison serve it to her.

When Vangie recovers, she, too, insists--also surprisingly--that they have another séance. “It’s Jean Paul Desmond himself who risks all,” she tells Matt when he accuses her of endangering the guests’ lives. Alison has Matt take her upstairs to rest while she heads to the lab to grab a tranquilizer.

Meanwhile, in the lab...

A secret door behind the cabinet opens and Jacques comes out, carrying more of Dr. Menkin’s notes. When he hears Alison’s footsteps, he shuts the door (but not all the way--oops!) and leaves them on the table. After a brief conversation about Vangie, he leaves through the lab’s main entrance and Alison flips excitedly through the newly discovered notes.

My favorite shot of Alison from this scene.

The Lost Episode summary for this episode from The Newport Daily News mentions the secret door--indicating that it appeared in the original script for the episode--but also that Vangie knows about it and that Jacques will leave her alone during the second séance if she keeps it secret. Another version of the summary from the Minneapolis Star (November 5, 1969) says that the hidden door leads to “a secret passageway,” begging the question of where Jacques has hidden the notes. It must be somewhere between the Great Hall and the lab, but where?

You know, I’m surprised that, for all Raxl and Quito’s searching for the conjure doll and the silver pin and Alison, Dan, and Matt’s searching for the missing cyanide, they haven’t found more of the château’s secret rooms and passages. It’s just as inexplicable as how Jacques still doesn’t know the location of the Temple of the Serpent after three hundred years, hours of spying on people in the crypt, and that failed investigation of it with Holly last episode--and the Temple’s entrance isn’t even well-hidden! On a show set on an absurdly cold tropical island with anachronistic period costumes, 20-year-olds who look 30 but get turned away from the bar without being carded, white Incas, a white voodoo priest and priestesses, and a man with an IQ of 187 knowingly placing a glass table beneath a loose chandelier--and that’s only listing what we’ve seen so far--this stretches my willing suspension of disbelief more than anything else.

Right at the end of the episode, we learn from Jacques that Jean Paul’s will to resist him has become stronger, making possession of him more difficult:

Does Jean Paul’s stronger will explain all the headache faces?

Coming up next: A piece of the Conjure Man’s message reminds Raxl of Jacques’ pirate ship, which gives us the perfect opportunity to explore Jacques’ former career.

{<- Previous: Episode 37   ||   Next: Episode 39 ->}

[nekojitachan]

The Ghost in You peek (this is ch8. yeah, ch8. trying to figure out a scene that doesn’t give away TOO much of what’s happening in it, but... plotty. this is plotty. groundwork and all. and a bit of pining. and humor? i’m delusional, but still writing)

*******

Andrew fought the urge to sleep while Wymack prattled on about some possible certification classes, only because the old bastard would dock his pay each time he was caught with his eyes closed during the monthly staff meeting. Robin and Bee, who sat on opposite sides of him, would ‘help’ out when they noticed his attention drift off (Bee by nudging his foot, Robin by knocking her chair into his), but the meetings were always too long and boring as hell.

It didn’t help that Neil sat across from him, dressed in one of the new tops which Reynolds had bought for him; the soft material of the pale grey top clung a bit more to his upper body than his usual outfits, highlighting the fact that he’d put on a few necessary pounds in the last several weeks with an improved diet. The idiot’s hair was still an overgrown, tousled mess since Reynolds hadn’t worn him down enough to get it properly styled (yet), but Andrew could easily imagine it combed into some semblance of order. Could imagine pale blue eyes peering at him through the thick strands rather than dark brown, framed by lush lashes and-

He jolted when Bee did more than ‘nudge’ his foot that time and gave his adopted mother a narrow look while she smiled on in false innocence before motioning toward the front of the conference room, where Wymack was motioning to some new slide.

“-heard back from the contractors on their estimates for the new electrical and remodeling we need.” Wymack didn’t look happy, which made sense when Andrew noticed the figures being displayed. “We can do it in phases, but it’s best to get it done sooner rather than later before we get hit with a code violation. The problem is, it’s worse than we thought so that’s gonna cost more than we’ve put aside for such situations. Which brings us to our next topic – any idea for fundraisers to meet the budget shortfall?”

The various expressions of surprise, pained grimaces and sympathy changed to contemplation while a grinning Seth raised his left hand into the air. “Yeah, how about a bikini car wash!”

“Wonderful, I’m sure you and rest of the guys will look so cute in them,” Dan drawled as she glared at the moron. “Be sure to wear lots of sunscreen.”

“Aw, I think I can rock a tankini,” Matt joked while Seth glowered back at his girlfriend. “Jeremy, you in?”

“Uhm, sure.” Knox blinked at first then grinned as well. “Maybe not a tankini but some really small boyshorts? How about a candy bikini top?” He gestured to his chest while he glanced at Moreau, who covered his face with his hands as he muttered something that sounded to be a prayer in French; Andrew noticed that Neil had taken to sliding down in his chair as if to make himself unnoticeable, his expression a little too blank.

Of course someone covered with scars and possessed with the ability to read people’s thoughts and memories at a mere touch wouldn’t want to wear a swimsuit.

When Kevin started to go on about matching outfits, Wymack banged his right fist into the wall to get everyone’s attention. “Great, so glad to see everyone all on board, but no.” He glared at Seth as well before he shook his head. “Not quite the image we want to go with, considering what we do. How about some other child-friendly ideas, you brain-dead maggots.”

Oh yes, child-friendly indeed, their fearless leader.

“I suppose… I suppose a bake sale is out?” Robin offered in a quiet voice. “It’s so much money.”

Katelyn gave her a friendly smile while she shook her head. “Even with Renee, Nicky and Erik baking up a storm,” Renee smiled and Nicky preened at the compliment, “we’d have to hold a lot of them to make that much money.”

“That or sell a bunch of ‘medicinal brownies’ or something,” Aaron muttered as he glowered at the projected numbers.

“I’d rather not have anyone end up in jail,” Abby argued, as ever a buzzkill. “Any legal suggestions?”

“Well….” Renee gave Reynolds a considering look. “How about an auction? Allison raised a lot of money for the local woman’s shelter by hosting one.”

“Auctioning off what? A bunch of stuffed animals?” Aaron scoffed, only to duck his head when Katelyn frowned at him.

Reynolds tapped her nails against the table’s top as she considered Renee’s suggestion. “No, you – or more like, Wymack and me – hit up a bunch of corporations and people with more shit than they need for donations, the whole ‘good cause, tax write-off, do it for the children, blah, blah, blah’ spiel.” She waved her right hand through the air in a dismissive gesture. “You’ll be surprised what people will hand over for that tax deduction-slash-bragging rights, and then we turn around and let other people bid on stuff. It gets us the necessary money and a bit of publicity for the donors, win/win all around.”

Wymack glanced at Abby and Bee, both who smiled and nodded in approval, before he gazed at Reynolds while he rubbed along his jaw. “It’ll work?”

“Oh yeah.” Reynolds sounded confident; Andrew was sure she could pull it off, since she wouldn’t lie to Wymack about something so important. “We raised a lot of money for the shelter doing this, though it does involve some work.”

“I don’t think anyone here minds putting in some extra effort for a good cause,” Wymack said, and smiled with disgusting pride when everyone around the room nodded, even Andrew (albeit only slightly). “Great. We’ll meet up later to start working on this.”

Reynolds glanced at Renee, who smiled as well and nodded before leaning over to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Meanwhile, Matt took to pouting. “But I wanted to wear the tankini.”

“Oh honey, you can wear it whenever you want for me,” Dan told him, which made him laugh – at least until Wymack threw a dry eraser at his head and yelled for everyone to pay attention for the rest of the meeting.

Andrew seriously considered a case of food poisoning the day of the next meeting.

[onceinaugust]

Ranking David Rose’s sweaters in Season 2 of Schitt’s Creek

That’s right, I’m not stopping.

 In case you missed it, Click here to see my season 1 rundown of the best in David Rose sweater fashion . And by best of, I mean every sweater he wore, because who can choose only a few? 

But now we’re onto season two, where we’ve increased in number from 14 to 17 (just wait for season 3- it’s probably going to be broken into two posts), the fashion is getting a tiny bit wilder, and my despair at the emptyness of my bank account grows as I covet more and more of these sweaters. 

Onwards to Season 2: Still not sick of black and white sweaters

A recap of the rules:  I only rank each sweater once, even if it shows up in multiple episodes. I only look at what can be loosely described as a sweater- no button-ups, no t-shirts, no jackets. Cardigans count. Unfortunately, this means no amazing leather jacket from the first episode, no Don’t t-shirt, no hunting outfit, no pajamas, no baseball uniform in later seasons. Yes, I know, this hurts me too. But this is about my love for mainly black and white sweaters, so Here. We. Go.

First up, two quick honorable mentions to this jacket and suit because I just really like them, but they’re not sweaters, so they don’t count.

#17

This one was hard to make any of the details out on because it is such a solid matte black, but it has gathered fabric around the neck and all other details just blend in. (S02E05)

#16

I thought that this sweater was kind of unflattering and boxy, and altogether rather unremarkable for a David Rose sweater. (S02E07)

#15

This is probably by a famous designer, but all it looks like to me is the Detroit Tigers logo, and something about the off white of the inset square clashing with the cream of the stripes makes this a little off putting to me. (S02E02)

#14

It’s a poncho. (s02E05)

#13

Just in case you were worried after reading the season 1 post that there wouldn’t be a black sweater with only one part covered in a shiny faux leather (see elbow patch or shoulder patch sweaters), you can breathe easy as this season we have the entire front of the sweater covered in shiny material. It’s a little much, and doesn’t really go with those pants. (S02E10)

#12

I kept tabbing through pages of my spreadsheet swearing that I had seen this sweater in the first season, but it turns out David just has like two short sleeve shirts with stars on them as well. This is just okay. (S02E09)

#11

I must have flipped this shirt with the #10 choice 5 different times making this post. I like them both, but this one ended up just a hair worse just because we only saw David wearing it while riding a bike and I couldn’t get a true sense of fit. (S02E04)

#10

At first I wasn’t sold on this sweater, but then I noticed the subtle pattern on the black neckline portion, and now I want it very badly. (S02E04)

#9

While it reminded me a bit of the white/blue sweater that topped the S1 list, this sweater that closed out the season didn’t leave as lasting of an impression with me. It’s a bit of a Rorschach Test on the eyes- I see a weird cat man in the middle. What do you see? (S02E13)

#8

The length of this is really working for David (and for me). I thought it was going to be near the bottom as I watched the episodes to take screenshots, but it really grew on me, and it’s another one I really want. (S02E06)

#7

I love a fun geometric pattern, although I kind of wish it covered the whole sweater? Or maybe not, that might be too much. I really like it as is though. (S02E03)

#6

Numbers 6 and 5 were also incredibly close, but I ended up putting this tie-dyed sweater just a little bit lower because it reminded me of when tie-dye got cool for roughly six months when I was in high school and then I had about 10 shirts that I never wore again outside of volleyball practice. (S02E06)

#5

This is another say what you see sweater...I can’t stop staring at the eyes in the middle of his chest. But this really works for Dan/David and it looks great on. (S02E12)

#4

Believe it or not, it took until the second season to get to a sweater that has words on the front. I love this a lot (although not enough to pay 160 actual dollars to buy it). Please Dan, bust this back out in the fifth season with Patrick. (S02E01)

#3

I still love a good colorblocked sweater, even if there’s really no color to it. The shiny chevron that leads to two different colored sleeves works and I really hope this one comes back someday (maybe paired with a button up?)  (S02E11)

#2

Much like season one, there is a black/white fuzzy striped sweater right near the top, but couldn’t quite reach number one again. This looks so, so comfortable and got a bonus point for being the sweater in which David learns how to fold in the cheese.  (S02E02)

#1

It’s so ridiculous that it works, and lends itself to one of the most iconic Schitt’s Creek images. (PS, if you haven’t seen the WindowsXP wallpaper that the official twitter account made yesterday with this image, go to their twitter now. I made it my phone wallpaper and it brings me so much joy every time I see it). I know Dan has talked about how this was his dream piece of wardrobe to get onscreen, and you can see why. Who would have thought that you could put a mohawk on a sweater?  Also, I know the sunglasses aren’t a sweater, but they add so much to the look, it’s perfect. While I wouldn’t wear this ever, part of me wants to own it just for the absurdity. (S02E01)

And that’s another season down! What were your favorites? No color to be found at all this season- the flower sweater from the finale is probably the closest to actual color. To be honest, I think I might have liked the group from season 1 better on the whole than the season 2 group, but I can NOT wait for season 3. There are some amazing sweaters coming.

[beckzorz]

Out of Nowhere (3/21)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/OFC Summary: An offhand comment at work draws Jesse Kaplan into the orbit of Bucky Barnes. Bucky’s excited at the prospect of normalcy, but there’s nothing normal about falling in love with the Winter Soldier. Words: 3518 A/N: The awkward duo is at it again 😛 And now that Bucky’s in the picture, the picture is all about Bucky 😉 SPOILER ALERT: henley™. And the song for this chapter is one of my absolute favorite songs to dance to!!! “Bienvenue Dans Ma Vie” by Nikki Yanofsky.

PART 3: “BIENVENUE DANS MA VIE”

     XXX-XXX-XXXX      Yesterday, 8:22 PM

Jesse: Bucky Barnes

     Today, 9:37 AM

Jesse: Hi, this is Jesse Kaplan. Marilyn is at Brooklyn Methodist. Have a nice day! XXX-XXX-XXXX: ok ty

—

On Tuesday morning, Jesse got a call from Marilyn on her way to the printer.

“Marilyn, hi, how are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m hanging in there.” Marilyn sounded reasonably chipper. “I wanted to thank you for going to the Stark benefit for me.”

“Oh, of course,” Jesse said. “I had a nice time. A friend was there, and there was a band, so we got to dance.”

“You met Bucky too,” Marilyn added. “Thank you for letting him know where I am. He brought flowers.”

“Wow,” Jesse said, eyebrows raised. Barnes had already visited? With all his extra abilities and famous connections, she’d hardly expected him to make it to the hospital at all. Wasn’t he busy? Jesse held her phone in place with her shoulder as she sorted the flyers. “That was nice of him.”

“Wasn’t it? Anyway, I wanted to ask a favor. The doctor told me I needed to wait one more day for surgery since my ankle is still so swollen. I left a book in my cube and I was wondering if you could bring it over after work.”

“Uh, sure.” Jesse winced. So much for making that stir fry.

“Thank you so much, Jesse. I’m just insanely bored. TV only distracts me for so long. Every home makeover is basically the same. How many times can I watch them knock down a non-supporting wall?”

Jesse laughed as she finally got all the flyers arranged under one arm. “I get it! I’ll see you later. May your day pass quickly!”

“You too!”

—

Brooklyn Methodist Hospital was closer to BCEI’s office than Jesse’s apartment, but the best stop on the 3 train still left her with a ten minute walk. She slogged through the humid streets, studying the people she passed with mild curiosity, plus a little grin for the few who caught her eye.

By the time Jesse arrived at the front desk, her hair was more frizz than curl. She got directions to Marilyn’s ward. On her way there, she ducked into a bathroom to smooth back her hair and wipe her face.

She studied herself in the mirror with pursed lips, then reapplied her lip balm and pinched some color into her pale cheeks.

A little better.

When she reached the right room, she heard someone else talking with Marilyn before she could see inside.

Jesse paused, curious, but the quiet man’s voice stopped mid-sentence.

It had to be Sergeant Barnes, Jesse realized. He’d heard her come, and he’d heard her stop. Why was he here? He’d come yesterday. Did he have nothing else to do?

Well, no point in lingering at the door. Jesse went in.

Marilyn was sitting up in a bed by the window; the other bed was empty. Barnes was in a chair under the window, elbows on his knees, head framed by a bouquet on the sill. He was frowning at the door, but once she came in he sat up, frown fading. He looked much less severe today. His shoulder-length hair was down and tucked behind one ear, and his jeans and henley shirt were as unthreatening as anything. And—she tried not to stare—he wasn’t wearing gloves. His left hand was black matte metal, shot through with gold.

“Jesse! I’m so glad you could make it,” Marilyn said. Jesse tore her gaze from Barnes. Marilyn’s curly hair was limper than usual and her ankle was elevated and in a cast, but other than that she looked normal.

“Hi,” Jesse said. She went and handed Marilyn her book. Barnes stood up as she approached, but Jesse quickly hopped up onto the other bed before he could offer her his chair. He sat back down slowly, narrowed eyes fixed on her. Jesse did her best to focus on Marilyn. “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m alright,” Marilyn said. “I’ll be better once I can get out of here. At least here I get the good painkillers.”

Jesse snorted. “That’s something.”

“And good company—Bucky came back.” Marilyn smiled at Barnes, but he was still watching Jesse. “He says you dance wonderfully,” Marilyn added, smirking a little.

At that, Barnes jerked in his chair. “Ah,” he started, but said no more. Inwardly, Jesse was giddy at the compliment, but she tried not to show it. Poor guy probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Well, thanks again for the dance,” she said lightly. “It was… nice.” A flush crawled up her face as the memory of it came back to her, and she turned to Marilyn to avoid Barnes’ suddenly suspicious stare. “So… surgery tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan. How’s the fort holding up?”

“Work? Oh, we’re managing.”

Barnes cleared his throat. Jesse reluctantly looked over at him, half afraid she wouldn’t be able to look away.

“What exactly do you do?” he asked her.

“Um, admin stuff,” Jesse said. “I answer phones, print things. You know. And—”

“Jesse helps everyone,” Marilyn interrupted. “She’s the one who suggested we reach out to you.”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrows at Jesse with frank appraisal.

Jesse scooted back on the bed and crossed her legs, a little embarrassed. It had only been an offhand remark; how was she supposed to know Marilyn would take it seriously? Or that the Winter Soldier had a philanthropic streak? “After one old man had to go to the hospital, I figured we should find one more… hardy?”

Barnes snorted. He pressed his lips together in a vain effort to hide a smile, but his amusement was clear. Was he laughing at her?

“Hardy!” he chortled. “I guess that’s true.”

“Yes, well…” Jesse stared at her hands tucked between her legs. She was never going to have a normal interaction with this guy, was she? If they weren’t both being awkward, one or the other was bound to be. The only time that hadn’t happened was when they were dancing, but it wasn’t like the Winter Soldier was going to show up at the weekly dances.

Jesse looked sideways at Barnes as Marilyn asked him about his health. The constant awkwardness was a shame, really. He’d danced so well. As good as dancing with Mike, who was her favorite…

A real shame.

“I’m going to get going,” Jesse said. She hopped down from the hospital bed, wincing—damn, they really knew how to kill backs in hospitals—and gave a little wave.

Barnes stood up. “I should head out too,” he said. “Marilyn, good luck tomorrow.” He shook her hand gently.

“Bye you two! Be good.” Marilyn settled in with her book, though Jesse could have sworn Marilyn winked at her, out of Barnes’ sight. Jesse pursed her lips, half annoyed and half amused. Once Barnes was done holding the door, he’d probably abandon her and stalk away to whatever rock he was living under.

Barnes, however, did not stalk off at the first opportunity. Jesse was already scrounging for her phone when he fell into step beside her.

“So all this is your doing,” he said.

Jesse abandoned the search for her phone. “All what?”

“The work,” he explained, glancing sidelong at her. “Getting me involved. Do you have all the ideas?”

Jesse’s cheeks warmed. “Not all of them,” she said. “I just… make suggestions.”

“Right,” he said.

Once she pushed the down button, Jesse stared up determinedly at the muted television by the elevators. She was not going to stare at Barnes, or his arms. Local news and typo-ridden closed captioning, she could handle.

     [ unusually height end number of break ins have      [ been reported   around the burrough. Be sure      [ to lock your doors and windows when  leaving      [ your home.            Weather tonight—

The elevator dinged. Barnes stepped forward, then paused.

“After you,” he said.

“Why thank you,” Jesse said primly. She led the way in, pushed the lobby button, and leaned against the wall. The metal was cool against her bare arms. Barnes stood against the opposite wall, facing her.

“Do you go dancing a lot?” he asked.

“Once or twice a week,” she said. She smiled wryly. “I don’t know if that’s a lot.”

Barnes whistled low. “Sounds like a lot to me.”

“Well, there are people who go almost every night.”

“Why don’t you?”

“I believe in diversification.” Jesse grinned, and Barnes barked out a laugh as the elevator doors chimed open.

“Smart,” he said, eyes crinkling with a smile.

“I do my best,” Jesse quipped. She pressed her lips together, trying to keep from grinning like a loon as she led the way out. Two compliments from awkward Bucky Barnes in ten minutes? Who wouldn’t be delighted?

They both paused in the shade of the awning. Barnes stared out at the street; Jesse let out a tiny, wistful sigh. What a profile.

A thought struck her as she glanced back at the hospital entrance. If Barnes could afford to visit Marilyn two days straight on such short notice, how busy could he possibly be?

“You should come dancing sometime,” she blurted.

Barnes stiffened, then turned his head to frown at her. Jesse swallowed, suddenly nervous.

“If you want,” she added quickly. What on earth had possessed her?

“When?” His commanding tone was the same he’d used when he’d asked for her phone on Sunday night.

“Oh, um, Thursdays are when I tend to go.”

“Text me the address,” he said brusquely. He looked again up and down the street.

“Okay.” There was no wind, and she was standing quite still, but she felt as though she was standing in the wake of a sudden storm. What had happened to the friendly man of a minute ago? He’d vanished, and all that remained was a shuttered shell. “I… guess I’ll see you around.”

“Mm.” Barnes nodded once in her direction, eyes still elsewhere. He turned on his heel and left.

If he had been a few inches shorter, Jesse would have lost sight of him in half a moment. As it was, she could see his head bobbing away, getting smaller and smaller. Then he turned a corner and was gone.

–

Francisco, Jesse’s roommate, was already eating dinner at their kitchen table by the time she got back to the apartment.

“Hey, Jesse.”

“Hi, Fran,” Jesse said. She slid out of her shoes, left them in the pile by the door, and collapsed in the chair across from Fran with a sigh. “How’re you?”

“Less exhausted than you,” he said, eyebrows raised. “What happened?”

“Oh, god. Nothing bad. Just a long errand. My coworker Marilyn, the one who broke her ankle, asked me to bring her a book from work to the hospital, and—” She cut herself off. Fran wasn’t a gossip, but was it right to tell him about her awkward meetings with Bucky Barnes? Maybe, maybe not. Better to err on the side of caution. “It’s hot, and I’m starving,” she finished with a sheepish grin.

Fran laughed. “Poor Jesse. Good news is that I made enough for you, too.” He pointed his veggie-laden fork towards the counter. A wok full of stir-fry!

“Ooooh, thank you!” Jesse popped to her feet and began putting together a plate. “So how was your day?”

“Fine, just finishing up everything before vacation. One week! I’m so ready for it,” Fran sighed. He pushed his dark bangs back from his eyes. “Do you know my boss was asking me if I’d have wifi?”

“Aren’t you going to Iceland?” Jesse asked. She slid back into her seat and dug in.

“Yes!” Fran laughed. “I told him no.”

“Good call. No, an excellent call.”

Once they’d both finished eating, Jesse took both plates and got to cleaning. Fran had made dinner, so it was her job to clean up. That was their system, and it worked.

Jesse liked Fran. They’d lived together for close to two years without any major conflicts, which was a small miracle considering they had no dishwasher. Jesse’s last roommate had left dishes out overnight at least three times a week even with a dishwasher. Fran was much cleaner. Plus, he didn’t bother her in the evenings, which meant she could shutter herself in her room, flop down onto her indented mattress, and think.

What was up with Bucky Barnes? She didn’t know what to make of him. She could easily understand his awkwardness—who wouldn’t be overwhelmed and underprepared for socializing after all he’d gone through? Being a soldier in active combat was enough to change most people, and Barnes had suffered so much more. On top of losing his arm, he’d lost his autonomy, his sense of self…

She couldn’t imagine surviving all that.

Well, she would probably survive it, but she wouldn’t come out okay.

So how did Barnes manage those brief, wonderful moments? Just the thought of his soft smile and sincere compliments made her cheeks warm. Once her mind jumped from there to the memory of dancing with him, she knew her attempts at serious contemplation was a lost cause.

Jesse pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. She really shouldn’t be thinking about it so much—it was one dance! Just one!—but she couldn’t help it. Bucky Barnes was awkward, occasionally frightening, but there was no escaping the heady intoxication of being held in his arms, not even days later.

She rolled over and grabbed her phone from her bedside table. She still hadn’t added his name into her contact list. He’d only texted her to thank her for Marilyn’s hospital, and there’d been no reason to think she’d ever correspond with him again. But he’d asked her to text him again. She could do it. She could text him where to go for the dancing tomorrow, and maybe he’d come, and maybe they’d dance again.

Or she could… not text him. She could ignore his request, forget her blundering suggestion that he go dancing at all, and move on with her life. Keep the memory of him locked away for quiet moments, immutable and sepia-toned like all old things.

Jesse sighed. Much though that would be easier on her mental state, it wasn’t fair to him. She’d said she would text him, and it wasn’t right to break her word to him. What would that say to him? He wasn’t worth her time? She didn’t follow through? He was a horrible person and she was afraid of him?

She shuddered. No, her feelings were her own to manage.

God help her, she’d do her best to manage them.

—

    XXX-XXX-XXXX     Today, 9:02 PM

Jesse: Thursdays is Frim Fram Jam at 412 8th Ave, 4th Floor, near Penn Station. Jesse: It starts at 9pm, cover is $10

    9:21 PM

Jesse: Hope you can make it!

—

By the time Jesse got to the Thursday dance, she was too nervous to smile. She clutched her bag to her side as she scanned the crowd. But Bucky Barnes was nowhere to be seen.

She sighed. She should have expected this. Of course he wouldn’t show.

Changing into her suede-bottom dance shoes only took a minute, and in another minute she was dancing. Three songs went by where she danced with various acquaintances, but whenever she wasn’t forcing smiles at her partner, she stared across the room with a mix of hope and dread.

Why couldn’t she just relax? She hated being like this. The anxiety made her sick to her stomach. Dancing was all about joy, but she couldn’t manage more than a scrap of happiness tonight.

After she’d sent her text, she’d tried desperately hard not to think about the ramifications of inviting Bucky Barnes dancing. And she’d done a good job of it. No more speculating about what he’d think of her, no worrying about her face or her clothes or her hair… Well, no more worrying than usual. She’d completely avoided thinking about what would happen if he didn’t come.

Maybe she would have been more prepared for the disappointment settling in her gut if she had thought about it.

Jesse smiled absently at her latest partner and went to grab her water bottle. That might help settle her stomach. As she was drinking, Mike ambled over. Jesse quickly put her bottle away and smiled. Dancing with Mike always cheered her up. Hopefully tonight it would work its usual magic.

“Hi, Mike,” she said. “Long time no see.”

“How’s it going?” Mike asked.

“Oh, I’m okay. Nothing…” Jesse trailed off; past Mike, someone had just come in. Someone tall and pale with dark hair and a henley shirt. “Nothing much going on,” she said quickly. “Excuse me!”

She abandoned Mike with a quick smile, heart pounding. As she approached the check-in table, Bucky glanced up. His expression was guarded, but her own face split into a smile.

“You made it!” she exclaimed.

Bucky edged his way into the room. He wasn’t frowning, but he was clearly not yet comfortable. Jesse’s smile faded. She glanced around, wondering what he made of the space. The lighting was more dim than harsh, but there weren’t any dark corners. Just people’s things stuffed on and under chairs lining the edge of the room. Plus full-length mirrors on some of the walls, as in any good dance studio. It seemed entirely safe to her, but she’d grown used to it over the years.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Fine,” he said. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and he let out a breath between his teeth before looking at her full-on for the first time. “It’s crowded.”

“Is it?” Jesse blinked, genuinely startled—there was still plenty of room. People were doing full swingouts, for goodness sake. She thought back to her first forays into swing dancing and winced. Yeah, plenty crowded.

“Compared with outside,” he amended. He shook out his shoulders and rolled his head around on his neck. His tension dissipated somewhat, to Jesse’s relief. “For what it is, it’s not really crowded.”

“I was gonna say,” Jesse said with a grin. She hooked her fingers into her back pocket and tapped her hip in time with the music. The current song was close to ending. She glanced up at Barnes, trying to be discreet. Did she dare ask him to dance? She wanted to dance with him, no question, but what would he make of her? He’d asked her before… Wasn’t that how they’d done it back in the day? Would asking him make her seem strange, overeager? Was she just grasping at straws? Was anxiety getting the better of her?

Probably.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m okay.” Jesse pulled her hands out of her pockets and twined them together behind her back. “‘Nothing new under the sun.’”

“What?” He frowned, confused.

“It’s just a bible quote,” Jesse said quickly. “Kohelet—Ecclesiastes, I guess you might know it by. All nihilistic and so on.” At his raised eyebrow, she added, “Fortunately, I am reasonably satisfied by what is already under the sun.”

Barnes shook his head with a chuckle. “Smart.”

That was the third time he’d called her smart. Was he somehow deprived of intelligent company?

“I mean, there’s this, isn’t there?” Jesse gestured towards the dancers, all of them moving amongst each other in a mass of contentment. The music was upbeat, and best of all, no one had come to bother him yet.

“So there is,” he said.

The song ended, and one of Jesse’s favorites began to play. She instinctively glanced around to look for Mike—she always looked for him when this song began.

“Wanna dance?” Barnes asked, disrupting her search.

“Oh—yes please!” Jesse’s heart leapt, and she took his offered hand with a fresh bounce in her step. “I love this song.”

He kept them to the edge of the dance floor, away from as many eyes as possible. When he drew Jesse in to start off, her eyes slid shut in bliss. They were too close to see each other’s faces. Free from the fear of scrutiny, Jesse could finally relax.

It was as good as their first dance together—his solid arm held her close and secure, his quiet breathing in time with her own. He was wearing a glove over his metal hand again. Aside from the texture of the leather, the hand felt as real as her own. Could he tell if she tightened her grip just a litte?

She opened her eyes once they started dancing more apart, with sendouts and spins and swingouts. Jesse sang under her breath, her smile broad. Barnes was more sedate, but a small smile brushed his lips whenever their eyes met.

The only odd moment that whole song was when Jesse was looking elsewhere and she caught Mike’s eye. She smiled, but all he did was stare, lips parted, at her.

And at Bucky Barnes.

The next time she looked in his direction, Mike was gone.

—

    XXX-XXX-XXXX      Today, 5:43 AM

XXX-XXX-XXXX: ty for the dances

     6:34 AM

Jesse: Thank you too! Jesse: ☺

[superrichlads]

“I always work off the motto of, ‘if you think you’re working hard, there’s always someone else who’s working harder’… there is nothing easy about the sport or music industries, and you have to work so hard to be successful.” - Niall Horan

On The Loose: released official fourth single from Flicker, including a radio edit, lyric video (rip), official video, behind the scenes video, Basic Tape remix, Slenderbodies remix, acoustic version, acoustic video, and vertical video So Long: performed unreleased song on piano throughout Flicker World Tour dates Mirrors EP: released on vinyl for Record Store Day 2018 Seeing Blind: released acoustic video, live video, and radio single in Australia Finally Free: released song for Smallfoot soundtrack and live video recorded at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles Flicker (song): released as a radio single in the Netherlands Flicker featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra: released live album in Ireland, featuring nine songs including an official live version of previously unreleased song So Long

81 tour dates: across Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, playing arenas, amphitheatres, state/regional fairs, and large theatres Featured opening acts & special guests: including Wild Youth (Killarney), Julia Michaels (Europe), RuthAnne (Dublin), Lewis Capaldi (Glasgow), Hailee Steinfeld (London), Maren Morris (NZ, Australia, the Americas), Jayda (Manila), Ming Bridges (Singapore), Sugar Me (Tokyo) Setlist: featured 14-15 original songs and 3-4 covers Regular covers: Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen), Crying in the Club (Camila Cabello), Drag Me Down and Fool’s Gold (One Direction) Covers for select tour dates: Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy - Dublin night 1), Where the Street’s Have No Name (U2 - Dublin night 2), Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty - Greek Theatre LA, Red Rocks & others), New York State of Mind (Billy Joel - Jones Beach Theater, Long Island), Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles - final September tour dates) Filmed Red Rocks show: for potential future release Top 50 worldwide tours of 2018: selling more than 445,000 tickets

BBC Biggest Weekend: played a six-song set on the second day of the festival in Swansea Reputation Tour: special guest for Taylor Swift’s first night at Wembley Stadium, performing Slow Hands together RTÉ Concert Orchestra special: performed nine songs from the Flicker album for broadcast in Ireland, later broadcast in France & South Africa Sounds Like Friday Night: performed acoustic version of On The Loose & interview  New York State Fair: played the headline show on the final day of the fair Official livestream: of Flicker World Tour Amsterdam show, in partnership with Live Nation, for a global streaming audience Late Late Show: performed Slow Hands on London episode Virtual reality concert: made London Flicker Sessions show available on MelodyVR platform

Sounds Like Friday Night: interview on BBC RTE: interview with Eoghan McDermott, as part of RTE Concert Orchestra Special The Project: interview on Australian TV The Voice Australia: guest mentor with Delta Goodrem Today Show: interview on Australian TV Sunrise: interview on Australian TV Studio 10: interview on Australian TV Late Late Show: guest on London show, brief appearance on show in October

TalkSport: co-hosted breakfast radio show in January & September Dubai Desert Classic: played in Pro-Am with Rory McIlroy and a competition winner, and participated in a golf clinic, helping two of his Modest! Golf clients gain entry to the pro event US Golf Masters: ambassador for Drive, Chip & Putt competition Ladies golf: signed Maguire sisters to Modest! Golf, announced Ladies event for NI Open in 2019 Ryder Cup: played in celebrity match & Team Europe ambassador BMW PGA Championship: played in Pro-Am with the winner of a BBC Children in Need charity auction Sky Sports British Masters: played in Pro-Am Interviews: ESPN, SkySports, BBC Radio 5, Golf Channel, Bunkered, Ladies European Tour, The Irish Times, Golf Magic, among others LUFC: provoked an infamous Twitter clapback from Leeds United Modest! Golf: supported four players who have secured tour cards for 2019

Irish referendum: supported the yes vote to legalise abortion March for Our Lives: supported cousin’s participation in march for gun control US politics: publicly denounced Trump (again) US mid-term elections: urged US citizens to vote

Horan & Rose: hosted the second edition of the charity gala & golf event, upping the total money raised for charity to £1.5 million to date Charity t-shirt: released second charity t-shirt raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Rays of Sunshine: hosted teens at Flicker World Tour London soundcheck & show, donated Jingle Bell Ball Santa shirt for charity raffle Charity auctions: donated items for multiple fundraisers, including a signed guitar & VIP concert experience for a Grammy auction raising $4,500 for Musicares Foundation; signed boots to a Small Steps charity auction, raising £1,130; signed artwork; signed guitar to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation auction, raising €4,000 Anti-bullying Week: supported efforts to stop cyber-bullying on Twitter Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr: supported Brazilian football superstar’s work providing education for kids in Praia Grande, Brazil World Cancer Day: supported Cancer Research UK’s Unity Band initiative LauraLynn Hospice: spent time with kids in hospice care before Flicker World Tour Dublin show

BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw: how real are these Niall Horan ‘facts’?, can Niall Horan remember his own lyrics? BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend: when Niall Horan met Shawn Mendes BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend with Matt & Mollie: Niall Horan answers questions he’s never been asked before EW: Niall Horan listens to Dua Lipa, Springsteen and more on tour - check out his exclusive playlist Billboard Pop Shop podcast: Niall Horan on new song 'Finally Free,' 'disappearing' after tour to work on next album & 8 Years of One Direction MORE FM: Niall Horan talks about his “intimate” connection with NZ The Edge afternoons with Jono, Ben & Sharon: Niall Horan talks about being mates with Dan Carter The Edge 30: Niall Horan says NZ is his favourite country to perform in Nova 969 Smallzy’s Surgery: could new Niall Horan music be on the way? Nova 969 Smallzy's Surgery: Smallzy’s backstage tour with Niall Horan Nova 969 Fitzy & Wippa: exclusive chat On Air with Ryan Seacrest: Niall Horan recalls best Flicker World Tour moments so far FUN 107 The Michael Rock Show: Niall Horan surprising secret to great hair Walk 97.5 Christina Kay: interview Coup de Main: interview - Niall Horan on his upcoming NZ show, recording live, and honesty in writing ‘Flicker’  Coup de Main cover story: interview - eye to eye with Niall Horan GQ Italia cover story: Niall Horan: my life after One Direction George Ezra & Friends the podcast: Series 2, Episode 1 Zeit Leo: "I get restless very quickly." Singer Niall Horan has a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder. How music helps him, he tells here.

GQ Italia: Music Issue cover shoot Paul Smith: guest at Paris fashion show and spent time with the designer in his studio Revista GQ: Niall Horan is, right now, the only person who knows how to wear a shirt with undershirt as it’s done in 2018 Fashion Bean: best-dressed men of the week

US RIAA certifications: Slow Hands 3 x platinum, This Town 2 x platinum UK Official Charts certifications: Flicker x gold Australia ARIA certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Flicker x gold Canada Gold/Platinum certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Too Much To Ask x platinum Chile certification: Flicker x platinum Songwriting awards: BMI London Pop Awards Song for Slow Hands, BMI Los Angeles Award Winning Songs for Slow Hands & This Town  Spotify milestone: Flicker surpassed 1 billion streams in June 2018 Billboard #1s: achieved his 9th solo Billboard chart number 1, with Too Much To Ask reaching #1 on the Dance Club Songs Chart Billboard Year-End 2018: achieved album, song, radio, social and artist entries on the year-end charts US radio: On the Loose became Niall's fourth Top 20 single on Hot AC radio, and fourth single to chart on Mainstream Pop, Hot AC & AC radio formats, reaching #22 on pop radio Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Finally Free nominated for Original Song - Animated Film RTE Choice Music Prize: Slow Hands nominated for Irish Song of the Year iHeartRadio Awards 2018: winner of Best New Pop Artist & Best Lyrics (Slow Hands)

April: using soundchecks to come up with ideas October: wrote a tune on the piano November: ‘3 days into making tunes and it’s feeling good !!!!!’, ‘exciting watching ideas come to life in the studio’, in the studio with Julian Bunetta & John Ryan in Los Angeles I / II / III / IV, RuthAnne Cunningham tells CelebMix she will be writing with Niall for NH2 December: ‘exciting week of writing’, writing session with Jamie Scott, Mike Needle & Dan Bryer in London, ‘very much in writing mode’

Everyone loved Niall: and Niall loved everyone, but especially Hailee Steinfeld, whom he quietly dated while avoiding the media circus which often surrounds celeb relationships.

Soundcheck Q&A and Meet & Greets: made fan engagement a central part of his Flicker World Tour experience Golf events: made time for fans who came out to see him play at pro-am events Maintained boundaries: called out fans for taking creep shots & obnoxious behaviour Calmed audiences: and looked out for the wellbeing of fans at his shows, especially in Latin America Twitter & Instagram: read and responded to fan tweets and questions with a mixture of sincerity, gratitude, brutal honesty, and humour Jade: made one young fan’s night (/life) by inviting her up on stage to dance at the Allentown Fair show

Baby Marit: melted hearts everywhere offering reassurance to two new dads

[maren-reads-books]

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

With the Foxes having been hit with a major loss at the very beginning of the season, they have to learn how to cope with one less teammate while preparing for a perilous season. As they familiarize themselves with a less than ideal lineup they prepare themselves as best they can for their first ever game against the Edgar Allen Ravens. With pasts starting to come back to haunt the team they work their way though and try to push past it. As they work hard to succeed they grow closer than ever before and reveal things that never would have come to light if Neil wasn't on the team to stir things up and break boundaries. As they struggle and conquer together on the court and in their lives, the start to become a united front only for the events of the Christmas banquet finally force them apart. Will the team be able to survive or will they crumble under the pressure of their pasts?

--SPOILERS--

This review is a bit long so bear with me. I feel like this book is where the story finally starts to pick up and get interesting, more so later in the book but this book is definitely it. First off, i can't imagine the way the team is feeling after Seth’s death, they all have so many emotional problems (I’m looking at you Neil) that it must've been hard even if they weren't grieving. And I get it, Seth was an asshole and nobody really liked him but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't care about his death, I especially felt bad for Allison, she didn't deserve that. But I think in the long run (not to sound mean) Seth’s death helped bring the team closer together. And then in the midst of all this chaos, Andrew gets a call, the fateful call that will pretty much set up the entire book. It was great to learn more about the twins and their rivalry, but realizing that they’ve really only known each other for a couple of years was crazy, I can't imagine living most of your life not knowing someone was out there wearing your face. And yet they were both destined for crappy childhoods, like how much was fate messing with them huh? And then the decision to let Andrew be off his meds and play for an entire game comes along, that surprised me, but of course my crazy short blond son is willing to play along. And it works, but I'm sure Andrew felt horrible, but they won and that's what really matters, kind of. I know its not super important to the story but this part is important to me, they take Neil shopping. Finally! It seems crazy to me that he’s so resistant to people buying him anything, even something as simple as clothes, which is something that really needed to happen cause jorts? Really Neil? And the Andrew buys them matching phones?! So cute, also foreshadowing. Then the fated fall banquet arrives, where Neil starts to dig his grave deeper and deeper. First we find out that Dan used to be a stripper, but I’m so proud that she’s not ashamed fo what she did and isn’t going to let any stupid Raven get under her skin. And then we meet Jean, who of course goes on to list some of Neil’s other identities and therefore scare the shit out of him. I hated that Neil and subsequently Kevin found out that they knew who he was with all those people around, I can't imagine how that made him feel. And then after a little bit of antagonization from Riko, Neil snaps and gives his iconic, “You know, I get it” speech, like damn. One side of me is like ‘do you want to make things a little bit worse for yourself hunny?’ and the other side of me is like ‘yas go off on this abusive chauvinist asshole’ and then they tell Neil that really all along he wasn't running from his dad, he was running from Riko’s family and it's just like *boom* mic dropped. Again I can't imagine how truly afraid Neil was for his life at that very moment. His conversation about it with Kevin hit me hard, Neil’s been on the run for years, having someone know who he truly is must be the worst feeling ever, but he chooses to stay anyway, my boy has immense courage and probably a death wish but I'm so glad that that's what he chose. One thing I love the most about this book is the fact that Neil starts to form friendships, actual genuine bonds with real good people. It's crazy that he's never had real friends before but I’m glad that he's friends with these people, they're great in a messed up family dynamic kind of way. Learning the rest of the twins story from Nicky made me appalled, what kind of mother, let alone person could give up her kids change her mind but not have enough love or decenty in her heart to take both? Their story hurt my heart like you could not believe. And then Nicky implying that Andrew killed their mother(which he did but whatever) like damn, another mic drop. And then the topic completely changes form murder to ‘hey Nicky why are you gay?’ and Nicky’s answer is just hilariously on point for his character, the way he talks about Erik is just so adorable, I wish we got to see more of Erik in this series. But Nicky’s backstory is so sad! His parents are awful and I can't imagine what he went through before he truly started to love himself. Then their first game against the Ravens arrives. I was so nervous, I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat during this game. And even though they lost I was very proud of them, but I really just wanted to slit Riko’s throat. I hate him with all of my five foot one self. And then its Halloween and Neil (my magical boy) convinces the entire team to go out for drinks together, what an absolute miracle. But it's not all rainbows and sunshine, quite yet. Remember that call that Andrew got at the beginning of the book, well turns out the cop has come for a visit, how wonderful. But it's a very vague scene which again, is vital later in the book. But then we learn about Matt’s backstory. Like wow, lots of tragic backstories in this book amiraight? After Halloween Neil and Renee finally have in my opinion, a much needed heart to heart, or as close to it as two severely damaged people can get. And we get another backstory, wow, I think we're checking pretty much everyone off the list. Also I want to meet Kevin's girlfriend! I want to meet her now! Then another phone call that will set up the rest of this book. Nicky’s parents call to invite them over for Thanksgiving. What a mess, but Andrew, Kevin, Aaron, Nicky, and Neil all pile into the car and take a ride down to see the parents. But not before stopping by the Exy store to get Neil a new racket, which is also another crazy important detail. This book flows so nicely, even if the events that occur aren't nice, everything connects so seamlessly, it's perfect. And then we meet the parents, right off the bat I knew I would hate them and that they were only going to cause problems. Religion is okay, like Nicky says, it is an interpretation of faith, but people like Nicky's parents aren't willing to view it like that and that makes them dangerous, turns out I was right. Luring Andrew to Drake was cruel and horrifying. I hope they get sent away. The way Aaron defended his brother though, that kind of passion for someone you barely know is something that runs in the twins blood and that's the connection that will be vital to repairing their brotherhood. The way Neil tried to comfort Andrew, all that boy wants is to protect him. The description of Andrew being too high to even really process what had just happened to him, and the description of his laugh, it was enough to make me feel nauseous, it was such a descriptive and visceral scene. I don't agree with Aaron being arrested but whatever. But the fact that, after Andrew found out he was being sent away, he had enough trust in Neil to give Kevins care to him, like wow. That's such a big step in the right direction for their relationship. And I'm so gosh dang happy that Andrew is being taken off his meds, if they'd left him on them after what he went through I would have a serious problem. But Neil honey, your racket was used as a murder weapon and you want it back?! Like seriously? My boy needs some help, but he gets a new one so it's fine. Neil’s mission to fix Aaron and Andrew’s relationship? Such pure intentions for a boy with such a broken heart but it really shows how much he cares for these people, he has such a caring heart and has never deserved anything that he's gotten. The scene on page 269, yes I put the page number in there because it's important, when Neil asks the team if they are actually friends. Ugh, my heart did a little song and dance, I’m so happy that my broken boy has friends, and I’m glad that Aaron gets to keep Katelyn around, I like her, she's good for him. But the Christmas banquet arrives and doesn't bring any yuletide cheer with it. First things first, Riko admitted to being the cause of Seth's death, like wow didn't think that was going to happen but he's a cocky asshole so I really should have expected it. Second, he admits to setting up the thing with Drake and then tells Neil that he can have Andrew tortured/raped at his rehabilitation center if Neil doesn't cooperate. And so Neil sets off to Evermore for Christmas break, pretty much sealing his fate meanwhile the only one that knows is Kevin and Kevin can’t say a thing to stop him. I was literally screaming at my book by this point begging him not to go, but he's a stubborn little asshole. Okay, the fact that Riko put him in Kevin's place, was super symbolic of Riko’s insane personality. Then we find out that Kevin’s dad is Wymack? Like, uh, definitely didn't see that one coming, like never in a million years would I have expected that. I can't believe that they beat Neil to a pulp and then expected him to play? They're literally torturing this boy just to get him to play a sport, then Riko pulls out his knife and gets to work, and like Neil says Riko is “one seriously fucked up individual.” And then he’s home, honestly I think it works well that his time at Evermore wasn’t in the book, it makes it feel more real, I don't know how to describe it but it makes it feel like Neil tried to block everything out and then everything comes rushing back once he’s home. The fact that Wymack dropped everything to come and get him really goes to how how much he cares for these kids, they’re his family. Then coach offered to patch him up which was really nice of him but when Neil saw his tattoo and was literally ready to carve it of his face with a kitchen knife, you really get a peek into how much damage they truly did to him and how much he really cares for this team, that he's willing to put himself in danger just in order to stay with them. He's willing to fight his instincts to stay with his family, and that's what bravery looks like in my opinion. As I’ve said before and will say again, I love this series so much and would highly recommend it everyone.

-maren

[fuzzballsheltiepants]

Falling

If you haven’t read the whole All For the Game trilogy, don’t read this fic until you have (and seriously, what are you waiting for?!?!).  It’s a scene from The King’s Men from Andrew’s point of view, inspired in part by an ask Nora answered.  @catastrophicallyinlovewithbooks @wayfaringbibliophile @snaps7  I think you guys were interested in this one

“Thank you.  You were amazing.”

The words were innocent and mundane enough to not merit a second thought, despite Allison’s idiotically gleeful reaction.  It was the bleak finality in the tone, the soft good-bye in Neil’s eyes, that set Andrew’s teeth on edge.  Why now, why here?

Before he could push Neil against the wall, before he could force the answers out of him, the security guard turned and Wymack gestured for them to follow.  Andrew lined up right behind Neil, training his eyes on the back of his head.  He could get what he needed on the bus.

The rowdy crowd barely registered, until a bottle came winging over.  Andrew tracked it in his peripheral vision as it hit Aaron in the shoulder; at his brother’s curse he glared into the crowd, daring whoever threw it to try again.  More debris followed, all narrowly missing the team before the pigs appeared, yelling at the crowd and starting to muscle their way between the fans and the Foxes. Then a cooler flew over Dan and knocked down a Palmetto State fan and all hell broke loose.

The surge of bodies forced the team apart, the Binghamton and Palmetto State fans throwing wild punches and not caring who was caught in the crossfire.  Andrew was nearly swept under by several larger men, and he punched and kicked his way free, deciding against pulling his knives as he didn’t want the jail time.  Kevin, he had to find Kevin; the man could brawl on the court but was useless off of it.  Finally, he ducked under a swinging arm and saw Kevin, standing white-faced on the fringes of the fray as usual, no doubt cataloguing his teammates’ injuries.  Abby was next to him, but nobody else Andrew recognized.  He turned back to the brewing riot.

Matt’s head appeared briefly before snapping back as a punch landed on his jaw; he shook it off and ducked back in.  Andrew stood up on his toes trying to find Aaron or Neil, but neither was visible.  Landing a blow to the kidney of someone in a Bearcats shirt, he pushed his way through flailing bodies.  He heard Allison’s indignant shriek echo above the noise, and caught a glimpse of her being yanked sideways before a flash of bright hair indicated Renee lighting into the fool who grabbed her.  

Then there were sirens blaring and more lights flashing red and white, as ambulances and more pigs descended upon the scene.  Just as Andrew heard police dogs begin to bark, there was a blinding blow to the side of his head that nearly took him off his feet.  He reflexively grabbed the arm that had hit him and twisted up and back; as the torso dropped in front of him he swept out with his heel, hooking the ankles and dropping the grunting man to his knees.  A fist to the back of the neck had the man sprawling, and Andrew stepped over him, blinking against the white spots in the side of his vision.  There was a crashing of batons against shields, then the unmistakable whiff of pepper spray followed by wailing from whatever idiot got in the line of the spray.

As the cops began to get a handle on the chaos, Andrew heard his name being yelled and turned to see Nicky waving an arm over the simmering crowd.  He began elbowing his way towards him.  The density of people thinned and he heard Nicky yell, “Neil!  Hey, Coach, have you seen Neil?”  He moved faster.

The team was clustered near where the fight had started.  A cop stood on the fringe talking to Wymack.  Matt looked the worst for wear; Renee, cradling her arm against her body, wasn’t far behind him.  Kevin appeared untouched, and Dan, Nicky and Aaron weren’t too bad off.  Nicky looked like he wanted to pull Andrew into a hug but refrained.  “Andrew, where’s Neil?”

Andrew shook his head and turned to start searching but Abby blocked his path.  “Andrew, let me look at you.”

“No.”  

He pushed past her, and heard Wymack mutter, “Let him go, Abby.”  Footsteps sounded just behind him; he didn’t turn to see who it was.  The crowd had thinned out drastically but there were still enough people to block one smallish man from easy view.  Andrew turned to see if at least it was one of the taller people who had followed; it was Kevin.  

“Do you see him?” Andrew asked.

Kevin paused from craning to see over the people around them to shake his head.  They wove through the parking lot surrounding the stadium in a loose serpentine like hunting dogs but the only flash of red hair Andrew saw belonged to a young girl.  Kevin let out a strangled noise and lunged forward; there was a brief surge of something in Andrew’s chest that promptly died when he spotted the racquet Kevin had picked up.  Fucking Kevin.  Fucking Exy.  But it was Neil’s racquet, of course it was Neil’s.  The stupid-ass orange and white heavy racquet that only Kevin and Neil would care so goddamn much about.

He’s gone.

Andrew gritted his teeth against that voice in his head.  They walked another hundred yards before a flash of orange caught his eye, in the hands of some assholes who were decidedly not entitled to it.  He caught them up, Kevin hanging back like the coward he was, and just the flash of one of the knives in his bands had them dropping the bag and running off.

He’s gone.

Kevin came over and knelt next to him as he unzipped the bag.  Just Neil’s sweaty uniform and shoes and pads in the main compartment.  Andrew looked at the net pocket at the end; there was a flash of silver and the slight jingle of metal.  Neil’s phone and his keys.

Andrew pulled the keys out first.  He found himself tracing the edge of the key to the house in Columbia as he always saw Neil do and forced himself to stop. The phone, the phone had something, had to have something.

He flipped it open and checked the texts, all from the team except one, the most recent one, from an unknown number.  It just read “0”.  Nothing else, just the number.  He scrolled further but there was no other oddity.  The call log only contained his number, Wymack’s from the end of December, and then one from tonight from a 443 area code, an incoming call of 67 seconds and a call out that didn’t connect.  He pressed “send” and it went straight to a mailbox that was not set up.  Shit.

He’s gone.

“We should get back,” Kevin said.  Andrew gave him the finger and stood up, hefting the bag over his shoulder and turning to continue his circuit.  By the time they rounded the far end of the stadium and headed back around the long way, the lot was emptying out and there was no sign of Neil, no flash of red other than the Coke signs on the food stands.  They finished their lap, spotting the PSU bus but still no Neil.  There was relief on Wymack’s and Abby’s faces when they reappeared; it disappeared when Andrew slung the bag onto the pavement.

“You didn’t find him?”

Andrew gave Wymack a flat look in response.  Kevin shook his head.  “I think he must’ve run,” he says, glancing at Andrew.

“But why?” Abby asked.  “Why would he do that after all this time?”

Kevin looked like he was going to say something, like he knew something, but he stopped and shook his head again instead.  “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit,” Andrew said, and Kevin took a step back as Andrew turned to him.  Yes, Kevin definitely knew something; Andrew could read it in every line of his body, in the flat panic in his eyes.  “He wouldn’t have run without these.”  He held up the keys he’d found in the duffel.  Without his keys he couldn’t get into the dorm; without getting into the dorm he couldn’t get his binder with what was left of his money.  

Andrew pocketed the keys and the phone and turned back, noting as he did so that Matt and Renee were missing as well.  Sent to the hospital, no doubt, but that didn’t matter.  He made another circuit of the stadium and this time nobody followed him.  Still no sign of him, and Andrew could feel it then, feel the fire burning in his veins, the fire that his damn medication had damped for so long.  

If we don’t find him I will burn this place to the ground.

This time when he made it back around Abby wasn’t taking no for an answer.  When he waved her off, she promised him that Wymack would get security to open up the stadium for them to search.  She did a concussion test and felt gently along his cheekbone and he forced himself to stay still, to not flinch, to not give her any reason to take him from here.  The light she shone in his eye was too bright and he blinked back against it.

“Andrew,” she said in her stupidly calm medical professional voice, “I need to take you to the hospital.”

“No.”  He started to walk away and she reached for him, stopping at the look he leveled at her.  

“You have some bleeding in your eye.  You could have detached your retina.  We need to get it checked out, if it’s not treated you could lose vision.”

“Fuck off, Abby.”  He ignored Nicky’s indignant reaction and turned to Wymack.  “I let her examine me, now get me into the stadium.”

Wymack threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.  “Damnit, Andrew, you need to listen to her.  If Neil’s somehow in the stadium, he’s okay.”  Andrew started walking towards the gate; as he approached he spotted a rent-a-cop standing near it.  

The man shrugged when Andrew told him he’d left something behind, and let him in without protest.  He checked the stands first, running the steps as if he hadn’t just played the damn sport, as if it wasn’t past eleven at night.  There was nothing, no sign of Neil, and the fire in his veins flared higher.  He went below, to the visitors’ locker room but it was empty, even the trash cans had been dumped.  The showers were still damp but there was no other evidence they had ever been there.  He paused on his way back out, picturing Neil’s stricken face, hearing again the farewell in his words.  

Damn you, Neil.

When he emerged, Wymack was waiting for him.  “Andrew, you have to go with Abby and get checked out.  I’ll stay here in case he comes back.”

“Call the police.”

“I already talked to the campus police.  He’s an adult, Andrew.  They won’t do anything, not yet.”

“Call the police.”

Cursing, Wymack pulled out his cell phone and dialed. 9-1-1.  Andrew listened as Wymack explained the situation, about one of his players going missing in the riot that had just taken place at Binghamton.  Listened as Wymack described him: 5’3”, 135 pounds, red hair, blue eyes, tattooed number four on his left cheekbone.  Distilled to his barest essentials, missing all that made him Neil.

Andrew turned away from that useless thought as Wymack hit End on his phone and walked over to Abby.  “You can take me now.”  

The hospital was crowded with the fools who had been caught in the riot, and an hour passed before he was taken to a bed that sat in a hallway.  They didn’t even bother with curtains around it, the nurse took his vitals and a few minutes later the harried doctor came by with some fancy equipment.  Andrew didn’t speak to any of them as they dilated his eye and looked carefully at the internal structures, just hopped off the bed and walked away when they reported no damage to the retina and discharged him with some sort of drops to put in every four hours.

Abby took the bottle from him before he could drop it in the trash can, and they met up with Renee in the waiting room.  Andrew grabbed her chin and studied her black eye for a second. Despite the splint on her wrist she seemed acceptably okay, and she nodded to him with her slow smile when he released her face.  Then they had to wait around for Matt.

Andrew was ready to call a cab to get back to the stadium by the time Matt was discharged, even though he knew Wymack or Kevin or Nicky would’ve texted him if there had been any sign of Neil.  When the bus pulled back into the lot of course it was just as they had left it, a parking lot full of trash and the rest of the team.

He’s gone.

Andrew followed Abby off the bus and listened to her give Wymack a status update on the three of them.  Dan and Allison went onto the bus to check on Matt and Renee; Nicky and Kevin sidled closer to Andrew.  Aaron was sitting on a bench a little ways off and he was just staring at Andrew.  He wanted to go over and make him stop but it wasn’t worth it.  

Instead he started walking again, then jogging, lapping the stadium again, and there was still no sign of him, still nothing but the burning hollowness growing in his gut.  He wanted to start dismantling the stadium, tearing it apart bolt by bolt with his bare hands until they found some sign, some answer.  He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked again at the “0”, looked again at the number he already knew by heart.  Who was this?  Who dared to call his Neil?  Who were they who were they who were they -

“Andrew.”  It was Wymack again, and this time he handed him a cigarette.  It had been hours since he’d had one and he took a long drag, letting the nicotine settle in just a little bit.

“We need to think about heading back,” Wymack said, carefully not looking at him.  

“No.”  It was Dan who spoke for him, who spared him the necessity of putting a knife in Wymack’s gut.  “Not until we know more, Coach.  We can sleep on the bus or something, but we can’t leave yet.”

Nicky and Matt nodded in agreement, and Wymack and Abby exchanged long looks.  In the end, everybody but Andrew filed onto the bus to sleep.  He stretched out on the bench Aaron had vacated, using Neil’s duffel as a pillow.  Not that he could sleep, when every time he closed his eyes he could hear a door clicking shut, the groan of a mattress as weight settled on it.  Not when eyes open or shut he could feel himself falling, falling, even as the ridges of the bench dug into his back.

Hours passed, and he didn’t know how long he had been shivering in the damp chill before dawn when he heard the bus doors open and Wymack emerged, phone held to his ear.  

“Yes, this is David Wymack,” he was saying as his feet hit the pavement.  “What?  Who- oh!  He’s where?”  His hand came up to cover his eyes and Andrew sat up and blinked to clear his eyes.  He could see a faint tremor in that hand in the bright lights of the parking lot, and suddenly he was at Wymack’s elbow without being aware he had moved.  “How the hell- okay, okay, I understand.  Yes.  Yes.  Damnit, I said yes.  We’ll be there as soon as we can, text me the address.”  He pulled the phone away from his ear and swore softly at the blank screen that stared back at him.

“Where is he.”

There was exhaustion and grief in every line of Wymack’s face when he turned to Andrew.  “Get on the bus, Andrew.”

“Where is he.”  The wind was whistling past his ears as he fell.  he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone

“Just get on the bus.”

Wymack turned and climbed the stairs and Andrew followed, so close he was almost stepping on him.  Abby was awake, and nodded at whatever Wymack muttered in her ear, but everybody else was passed out on the seats.  Everyone but Kevin.  Kevin, who could sleep anywhere.  Kevin, who was impossible to wake up, but who was looking at them now with eyes like burned-out holes.  Andrew went down the bus to sit behind him.

Abby got behind the wheel and the engine turned over with a throaty rumble.  The bus’s vibrations startled Dan and Renee into wakefulness, and at a gesture from Wymack they woke the rest of the team.  As Abby pulled out onto the stadium street, Wymack cleared his throat.

“I just got a call from the FBI,” Wymack said.  The team looked at each other in surprise and confusion - all but Kevin.  Andrew noticed the way he curled into himself.  “Neil has been found.  He’s in Baltimore.”

“Is he alive?” Kevin asked hoarsely.

“Jesus, Kevin,” Nicky said, startled.

“Really, Kevin, that’s…” Abby trailed off.

“Is he?” Andrew demanded, as Wymack hadn’t answered yet.

“Yes.”  Wymack rubbed the back of his neck.  “He’s alive, but he’s been badly injured.”  He raised his voice to be heard over the resulting exclamations.  “No, I don’t know how badly, I just know he was admitted to the hospital.  I don’t know what happened, or how he ended up there, just that he was taken in a raid on his father’s house.  They’re asking us to come down there so they can ask us some questions.”  

The bus was a cacophony of sounds, of voices, of questions and shouts and the creaking of vinyl seats.  Yet it went silent when Andrew turned to Kevin and said, “You know.”  Kevin’s green eyes were wide with fear and something else as he looked up at Andrew, but he didn’t reply beyond a quick shake of his head.  “You know something, and you’re going to tell me, right now.”

Kevin looked down, too cowardly to hold Andrew’s gaze.  With a quick lunge, Andrew got his right hand around his throat and shoved him up against the window.  “Tell me, now.”  There were more yells and the stomping of feet but when Kevin didn’t even try to answer, Andrew just squeezed, increasing pressure until Kevin was choking, until his face was purple and he was opening his mouth soundlessly, his hands slapping ineffectually against Andrew’s armbands.  He held on until an arm wrapped around Andrew’s own neck and more hands were yanking on him, twisting his left arm back and around, until slender fingers dug into the pressure points on his wrist and his hand went numb.  He was pulled back against a large body, and another was crowding him, shoving him by sheer force of mass up the aisle.

Kevin was gasping and coughing, Nicky and Dan were crowding around him, Abby yelling something from the front.  Wymack was still holding him, Matt still pushing him back, ready to fight even with the bruises and torn skin on his hands.  Renee was watching with her unfathomable eyes, and he knew she would stop him again, would do whatever she had to, would turn the blades she had given him against him if necessary.  Andrew didn’t give a shit about any of this, all he cared about was getting the truth, finally the truth.

It took a long time, too long, before Dan and Wymack would get out of his face; before they would stop yelling enough to hear him.  “He knows,” Andrew kept saying, and he couldn’t understand why they didn’t seem to see the urgency.  “He knows something about Neil, and he hasn’t told us, and now Neil is in some hospital because of it.”

Finally they stopped, and Kevin started.  Andrew watched him the whole time, watched every word leave his lips as he talked about Neil who was really Nathaniel, whose father was a hit man - the hit man - for the main branch of the Moriyamas.  Nathaniel, who had been sold to Tetsuji, who should have been like the useless Jean or Kevin or dead.  Nathaniel, whose mother had taken him and fled, who had never told him what they were running from, who had taught him to lie and hide and do whatever he could to survive but nothing about how to live.

And then the story was over and the sky was lightening and they were driving through New Jersey, and there was nothing to do but wait.  Years in juvie had taught him all about waiting, about finding that quiet place where the buzzing disappears.  Yet he kept finding himself playing with Neil’s phone, with his keys, with these pieces of him that might have been truth or might have been lies.  He should have known better, should have known when Neil asked him to let him go… but he had asked, and Andrew had agreed, and he didn’t know what scraps of him they were going to find when they got to Baltimore.  So he watched the bland scenery and fought back against the fall, against the dawning realization that Neil had done what he always had said he would on the roof; he had dragged Andrew with him, I am falling -  

The FBI had put them up in some cheap-ass motel with a pool that it was too cold to use.  They were herded into one room with double beds and not enough space, and there was some prick in a suit who kept fingering his gun and trying to act like he was tough.  

“What hospital is he at?” Andrew asked Wymack, who looked at him blankly.  “What hospital?” he asked the prick in the suit.

“It doesn’t matter,” was the answer, and Andrew debated pulling one of his knives.

“It matters,” said Wymack, staring down at the man.  

Another man and a woman showed up then, asking questions but refusing to answer any.  They hadn’t taken into account who they were dealing with, evidently, and when they refused to disclose Neil’s location they were met with stony silence from the Foxes.  Even Nicky kept his mouth shut by some miracle.  

Andrew had had enough, it didn’t matter what they said or what they brought for food or the fact that he knew nothing about Baltimore and had no clue where they were.  He found a map in the motel’s information book and began studying it, marking where they were and the three closest hospitals.  If they wouldn’t bring him to Neil, he’d go there himself.

An agent blocked the door when they saw where he was going.  He gave her a bored look that she met with an impressive one of her own.  “Coach, control your players,” drawled the big man who had been there first.  

“Andrew,” Wymack said, “you don’t want to make this more difficult for Neil.”

“We don’t even know for sure that they have Neil,” Andrew retorted.  “We’re going by their word.”

“Oh, we have Nathaniel,” the female agent said.  “But we don’t need to prove anything to you.  We need you to give us your statements, and then we’ll be on our way and you can go back to Palmetto State.”

Andrew tapped his lip twice, then pointed at her.  “Fuck that.  I’ll give you my statement after I see Neil.”

There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of them, and the female agent rolled her eyes and left.  Andrew tried to follow her - almost managed to - but the fat agent blocked him and pulled out his handcuffs.

“Coach, if you can’t control him I’m going to have to take him into custody.”

Wymack bristled, but he turned to Andrew, defeat written across his face.  “Just…just cuff him to me, I’ll keep track of him.”

The click of the handcuffs was familiar, as was the boredom of the confinement.  The others all found stuff to keep them occupied, the television or a book or just pacing up and down.  Andrew sat cross-legged on the bed and waited, counting breaths until everything around faded, but he couldn’t stop that sense of falling.

Just as Abby had broken out her kit to work on Allison and Renee and Matt, the female agent returned some time later looking irritated.  She handed her phone to Wymack, who glanced at Andrew then turned away as much as the cuff would allow while he pressed the phone to his ear.  “No, of course not.  Why would we?”  There was a long pause and Andrew could hear angry buzzing through the phone.  “Sure.  Sure.  Okay, I’ll move it.”  He handed the phone back to the agent and turned to Andrew.  “Get up.”

“What?  No.”  

Wymack ignored him and stood up.  Everyone’s eyes turned to him. “They’re going to bring Neil by when he’s discharged from the hospital,” he said.  “I need to go move the bus, they won’t come here until I do.”

“Why not?” Matt asked.

“Press,” guessed Allison, and Wymack nodded.  He looked at Andrew, a patient question in his eyes, and Andrew unfolded himself and got to his feet.  He scanned the parking lot when they reached it, memorizing the cars, the nondescript black and gray and blue sedans and SUVs that dotted the lot.  There were men dotting the lounging area in catalog-ready polo shirts and khakis, all obviously feds; same with the women who were settling onto lounges around the pool despite the temperature barely reaching the 60s.  Andrew wondered if anyone actually fell for this bullshit.

Wymack opened up the bus but waited for Andrew to be ready before he climbed up.  Andrew had to stand and brace himself while they moved to a lot behind an office building about half a mile away, the cuff not allowing him to reach a seat.  As soon as the ignition was off he was moving, Wymack cursing behind him and finally using his weight to plant Andrew long enough to secure the bus.

The walk back earned them more than a couple of looks, though Wymack tried to look casual about the fact that he was handcuffed to Andrew.  The difference in their heights made it impossible for Andrew’s hand to dangle naturally but he didn’t care.  Wymack accepted the silence until they reached the parking lot and there was a new SUV there.  “Andrew,” he warned, bracing himself against Andrew’s lunge forward.  “Be careful.  These are federal agents, and I have no idea what happened, why Neil is in their custody.”  Andrew ignored him, plowing ahead up the stairs.  “Andrew, they are giving us a gift -”

The sound Wymack’s body made as he hit the side of the motel would have been satisfying in another situation.  It was the understanding in his eyes that was unforgivable.  But Andrew didn’t have time to deal with that, so he let it go and pushed into the door, shoving the fed out of the way.  

Neil was there, he was saying “don’t,” but he was crumpling and his voice was cracked with pain and Andrew had to reach him.  Wymack helped whether he meant to or not and then Andrew was touching Neil, had his hand on his neck, was pushing him down before he fell down.  He knelt in front of Neil, and as his knees dug into the dingy carpet, his fingers still on Neil’s skin, he stopped.  The falling - stopped.  Neil was here, he was alive, he was broken in ways Andrew didn’t want to consider - but he was here.  He was the net that stopped the fall and Andrew knew then that he was done, he was lost and found all in this one moment when those blue eyes lifted to his.

[danieledorazi]

Sustainable Fashion Practices / The Uniform

‘Colacello, who worked at Interview for years and was among Warhol’s inner circle, says his 60s look of “silvery white wig, dark wraparound sunglasses, black turtleneck under black leather jacket, black boots and, yes, blue jeans – was calculated to create a cool, hip, rebellious, even a bit sinister image. And it succeeded.” By the time Colacello met him in 1970, only the jeans remained. The rest had been replaced with Oxford shirts, conservative ties, clear-framed glasses and cord jackets. “The suit-jacket-and-jeans look became the Factory look, preppy and businesslike but more edgy than corporate,” he says. “We all found this combination comfortable because we could go from an uptown dinner party to a downtown loft party and fit in, while also being a bit different.”’

‘'Hip, rebellious, even a bit sinister': how Andy Warhol made pop art fashion’ - The Guardian

Black & White

Want to be sustainable & fashionable? Dress in black (or navy, or even white, or olive green, orange, too, why not?). Easy. Although we say “green fashion”, colours are related to season and the moment. Today is all about salmon and mustard, tomorrow it will be flaming hot whatever, and you’ll dump that mustard jersey. Stick to black, it will be forever cool and en vogue, it’s easier to keep it clean than other colours (think about white!), it makes you look good, serious, smart (and thinner).

The uniform is the game

Many great creative forces of the fashion universe dress always the same - check this article on Fashionista: ‘15 DESIGNERS WHO ALWAYS WEAR THE SAME THING’, featuring:

Carolina Herrera

Yohji

Prabal Gurung

Vera Wang

Alber Elbaz

Olivier Rousteing

Riccardo Tisci

Michael Kors

Karl Lagerfeld

Giorgione Armani

Jason Wu

Thom Browne

Raf Simons

Tom Ford

Alexander Wang

A uniform is travel-friendly

An interesting read on the topic: Jason’s ‘Travel Essentials: The Uniform’.

‘Packing light

Choosing to wear a uniform eliminates options, which reduces the number of items needed to put outfits together.

One less decision

Additionally, the simplicity removes a decision from my morning. And while I’m not making hundreds of critical decisions every day, I do want to cut down on decision fatigue as much as possible to leave that mental space available for the decisions I actually care about.

Keep it simple

The entire goal of a uniform is to simplify your wardrobe, not add a bunch of extra work to it. I should be looking at what I already wear most of the time, and putting my uniform together from there.

Keep It Flexible

Since I won’t be traveling with a full closet, my uniform needs to be appropriate for any situation I find myself in. Can I wear it to a fancy steak dinner at an upscale restaurant? A dive bar? A business meeting?

When you start putting together your uniform, consider three factors:

What do I actually feel comfortable wearing?

What type(s) of weather should I be expecting?

What kind(s) of events, venues, and situations will I find myself in?’

It’s also a branding exercise

From Forbes: ‘Steve Jobs Always Dressed Exactly the Same. Here's Who Else Does’.

‘William Arruda, a personal branding guru and author of Ditch. Dare. Do!, says this practice can be part of personal branding. “They wear what they wear because that's what they feel comfortable wearing,” he says. “When you wear something that just feels right, you are confident. And it is also great to have a trademark look. It makes you memorable and distinctive.”

“Famous business people and politicians are known to be consistent with their wardrobe because it's their brand identity,” says Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of Me 2.0. “It's who they are, how they want to represent themselves and make a statement. It's not about what you wear, but what you accomplish. [Mark] Zuckerberg, for instance, wears casual clothing because he represents the entire generation of young people who don't want to wear suits to work.”

This week, the Facebook CEO told NBC's TODAY host Matt Lauer that he owns "maybe about 20" identical grey T-shirts. Zuckerberg said, "I mean, I wear the same thing every day, right? I mean, it's literally, if you could see my closet at home."

We also found a number of notable people who wear all black, all white—or a combo of the two—all the time.

Author and journalist Tom Wolfe began wearing his trademark white suits in 1962, while Johnny Cash’s all-black dress earned him the nickname “The Man In Black,” around the same time.

“Consistency of all kinds is what builds brands,” Schawbel says. “People who wear the same thing, have a catch phrase or two, and associate with the same people are more memorable than those who don't. It says this is who I am and this is what I enjoy. I think it's a rather positive thing that helps people identify with them and allows them to just be themselves.”’

Uniform vs Conspicuous consumption

We now live in sober times, where bragging is for the uncool and the nouveau riche - get a uniform, and you won’t be victim of conspicuous consumption, i.e. ‘the spending of money on and the acquiring of luxury goods and services to publicly display economic power—of the income or of the accumulated wealth of the buyer. To the conspicuous consumer, such a public display of discretionary economic power is a means of either attaining or maintaining a given social status.

The development of Thorstein Veblen's sociology of conspicuous consumption produced the term invidious consumption, the ostentatious consumption of goods that is meant to provoke the envy of other people; and the term conspicuous compassion, the deliberate use of charitable donations of money in order to enhance the social prestige of the donor, with a display of superior socio-economic status.’

Read more here.

Dystopian Fashion is lit

According to Hollywood, TV series and Netflix, zombies are coming for us - wearing stiletto shoes won’t save you, techwear will.

From Stone Island to Y-3, via Rick Owens, many brands offer a stylish yet sporty-esque approach to fashion. Some of them are blatantly into uniforms, ant the related concepts.

Kiko Kostadinov

“I want to do things that help me live in the city. You go to meetings and you need a bag that can hold a charger for your phone, headphones, a notebook et cetera. I’m not saying you need to have a hundred pockets as that’s fictional function, but it needs to be really comfortable and interesting.”

“It’s all about the cut and finishing — I hate decoration,” says Kostadinov, whose own uniform consists of Yohji Yamamoto workwear. “There’s nothing worse than finding a pair of trousers that are cut great but covered in straps and buttons that don’t do anything.”

Craig Green

“I remember at school when you had a non-uniform day, the poorer kids would feel really self-conscious because they’d have to wear normal clothes all of a sudden, compared to the rich kids who had flashy Nike trainers. I remember my mom saying it gets rid of that idea of what you have or how much money you have and it makes you as one. It can be seen as a negative thing because it’s anti-expression, maybe, but then it can be seen as a protective thing emotionally, as well.”

From Grailed: ‘Given his upbringing and personal attraction to the idea of a “uniform,” it’s no surprise that workwear and uniforms have become another recurring theme in his collections. This includes a literal take on the idea of “uniforms,” like Fall/Winter 2016’s references to hazmat suits, and Fall/Winter 2017’s riffs on uniforms of various seafaring folk. Working outside of the typical fashion cycle, Green even designed many of the military uniforms used in the filming of Alien: Covenant. If you look closely enough while watching, you can even see his now-signature vertical quilting.

There’s another, albeit more abstract sense of “uniforms” that flows throughout his collections. It’s a uniformity of humanistic bent—one that’s concerned with the democratic ideas associated with work and a shared human experience. The specifics often shift from collection to collection, while retaining a running theme. According to Green, Spring/Summer 2017 was “initially based around the Scout scarf...That symbolism of ‘belonging’ to something”.

Think back to Spring/Summer 2015 too, with its barefoot models and pure, effortless designs, takes on not-so-subtle religious undertones. Pause on that for a moment: religious officials wear codified uniforms too. It may be difficult to tackle appropriately, but season after season, Craig Green takes them on in effortless fashion, producing collections that always seem to go beyond “just clothes.”’

The uniform: a life changer?

According to this article on StyleCaster, it is - ‘6 Ways Uniform Dressing Changed My Life’.

‘Here are the six biggest ways uniform dressing has changed my life for the better.

Never Being Late

Extra Closet Space

More Free Mental Space

No Longer a Slave to Trends

Becoming a Smarter Shopper

Packing is a Breeze

Last but not least - David Lynch.

MODS MODS MODS!

Great article on mods and fashion: ‘The Mod Suit: How a Uniform Defined a Subculture’.

“In his essay “Noonday Underground,” Tom Wolfe noted, “these kids have found a way to drop out almost totally from class-job system into a world they control.”“

[yeetyeet2121yeet]

All. Of. Them.

Oh god who are you? It's 1:30am! I'll do 100 questions for you, Anon1: 6 of the songs you listen to most?•The Curse of Curves - Cute is What We Aim For•Bang Bang - Green Day•Revolution Radio - Green Day• Family - Mother Mother• Summer Dress - July Talk• If U Seek Amy - Britney Spears2: If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?Probably Dan/Phil3: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.'I am constantly torn between killing myself and killing everyone around me'-page 22 of Will Grayson Will Grayson bc page 21 only had 16 lines4: What do you think about most?How people see me 5: What does your latest text message from someone else say? Gn - the wise words of Ryley6: Do you sleep with or without clothes on?Depends lol7: What’s your strangest talent?well, for being 14 I can talk people out of suicide pretty well8: Girls… (finish the sentence); Boys… (finish the sentence)GIRLS LOVE GIRLS AND BOYSBoys can wear makeup too9: Ever had a poem or song written about you?yeah, multiple times, both songs and poems10: When is the last time you played the air guitar?like, a week ago11: Do you have any strange phobias?I bloody hate having my window exposed at night 12: Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?yeah13: What’s your religion?I'm not religious 14: If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?probably making flower crowns15: Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?It depends16: Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?OH GOD NO I CAN'T17: What was the last lie you told?I told someone I was okay18: Do you believe in karma?sort of19: What does your URL mean?It's my preferred name and the year I was born20: What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?I think my forgiveness is both21: Who is your celebrity crush?hmmm,,,,, I don't really have one22: Have you ever gone skinny dipping?yeah23: How do you vent your anger?I text a friend and rant 24: Do you have a collection of anything?yes25: Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?Video chats26: Are you happy with the person you’ve become?Well, the real me, yes. The me I present at home and school, no. 27: What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?My mother's voiceMy friends' voices28: What’s your biggest “what if”?What if everyone is just pretending to like me?29: Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?I'm not sure about ghosts, but aliens have to exist. 30: Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.R- A wallL- my bookshelf31: Smell the air. What do you smell?Me. I smell me. I smell my room. 32: What’s the worst place you have ever been to?Home. 33: Choose: East Coast or West Coast?West because British Columbia 34: Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?OHGOD I CANT35: To you, what is the meaning of life?To be true to yourself36: Define Art.Anything you create37: Do you believe in luck?Yes38: What’s the weather like right now?Dark af, but mosty cool39: What time is it?1:36am40: Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?nah and nah 41: What was the last book you read?Carrie • Stephen King 42: Do you like the smell of gasoline?HELL YEAH43: Do you have any nicknames?Yep! Annie, Bean Stalk, Ann, Jo, Twinkie Jo, Daddy (my guy friends are wierd shush), Master (once again, my guy friends hate me) and Hoe44: What was the last film you saw?Rocky Horror Picture Show 45: What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?Well, I had a soft palate cleft as a baby, but it wasn't as bad as the stuff you see on TV. Mine was just in the roof of my mouth46: Have you ever caught a butterfly?Yeppo47: Do you have any obsessions right now?nah48: What’s your sexual orientation?I don't label that. I like who I like when I like them.49: Ever had a rumour spread about you?oh hell yeah50: Do you believe in magic?Yes51: Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?For a week or 2, then I get over it52: What is your astrological sign?Libra 53: Do you save money or spend it?Save54: What’s the last thing you purchased?Three Days Grace • Three Days Grace (CD)55: Love or lust?Love56: In a relationship?Nope57: How many relationships have you had?One, and he was a douche58: Can you touch your nose with your tongue?nah59: Where were you yesterday?In my room. 60: Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?nope61: Are you wearing socks right now?its 1:43 am hell no62: What’s your favourite animal?cat63: What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?Listen to them. Pay attention to them64: Where is your best friend?Calgary or like, some hard to spell state ( @unbuttered-toast help) 65: Give me your top 5 favourite blogs on Tumblr.@unbuttered-toast@nocturnal-spleen@dennys@psych2go@accio-shitpost66: What is your heritage?Uhm, like Ukrainian, Irish, English, round them parts67: What were you doing last night at 12AM?Talking to Roan68: What do you think is Satan’s last name?McBitch69: Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?..yeah..70: Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?yes, ofc71: You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?SAVE THE PUPPO 72: You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?a) yea ofcb) I'd be 100% mec) maybe. I don't know73: You can only have one of these things; trust or love.Love, bc trust is a part of love 74: What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?The Danny Phantom theme. Shut up. 75: What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?451476: In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?TRuST and COMMuNICATION77: How can I win your heart?Be a decent human, ffs. 78: Can insanity bring on more creativity?Maybe. 79: What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?Reaching out to people on here, bc ive made so many friends 80: What size shoes do you wear?Like, 5?81: What would you want to be written on your tombstone?You got what you wanted. Don't you dare cry now. 82: What is your favourite word?Trust83: Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word; heart.Love84: What is a saying you say a lot?SUck My ASs85: What’s the last song you listened to?The Curse of Curves • Cute is What We Aim For 86: Basic question; what’s your favourite colour/colours?Black, purple, silver, gold87: What is your current desktop picture?Literally its just black. Nothing else. Just black. 88: If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?Matt/Jaxon89: What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?Who I really am, but only around my school peeps and relatives90: One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?Fucking kill myself before they can91: You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?Mind reading92: You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?That half hour at camp where we were all watching Up, and Roan and I were cuddling, Ty had my hand, and Lily was lying on my legs. That was a good half hour. 93: You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?All the bad things that happen at home94: You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?No one, they're all WAY older than me 95: You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?America to see my friends 96: Do you have any relatives in jail?Probably, its my fucking relatives97: Have you ever thrown up in the car?Yep98: Ever been on a plane?Nope99: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?FOR FUCKS SAKE LOVE EACH OTHER