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mirkwoodshewolf · 5 years ago

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Time travel rescue crossover fic; 11th Doctor x teen reader ft. Queen

*Author’s note*

Well guys this is it. After tomorrow I will be HOME FREE OF SCHOOL AND THEN GRADUATE AND LEAVE COLLEGE FOREVER NEXT THURS. So now that I FINALLY completed my assignments save for my final tomorrow, I can finally start posting some more stuff up. Now this series came from a wattpad request, and not only that but I’ve seen several time travel fic regarding Queen but this one is a little different, welcome to my 2nd crossover series and this one is based around.

DOCTOR WHO!!! Yep and as mentioned in the title it takes place during the 11th gen. of the Raggedy Doctor. So in this fic it’s the ACTUAL band Queen, not the BoRhap boys being Queen. So some facts I’m pulling based off people posting facts through here and some knowledge I began to find myself. I hope you all enjoy the first few chapters of this series and give it a shot :) Happy reading the next few parts I’ve got. And if you’d like to be tagged in this series, just leave a comment below.

Taglist (this series open):

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@platawnic

@bensrhapsody

@geek-and-proud

@queendeakyy

@kairosfreddie

_______________________________________________________

*December 20th, 2019*

I was riding my bike through the streets of London which was packed with Christmas decorations. Everyone scrambling around trying to do last minute shopping, I however had a different agenda. I was going to meet a friend of mine that I promised I would meet.

I arrived off the corner of Kensington street and there I saw the famed blue police box. I parked my bike just across from it and looked around to make sure no one was watching or coming towards this direction before finally hopping on in.

And once I stepped inside, I found myself in a place that looked bigger on the inside. For you see this wasn’t any ordinary police box, this was the TARDIS, a time machine in English that was owned by none other than…..

“Ahh so good to see you’ve arrived on time (y/n).” Well speak of the devil.

“Don’t I always when it comes to you?” I said as I walked towards the raggedy old fool and hugged him. A man known as The Doctor.

“How’s your nan doing?”

“She’s better.”

“I know she is, now that she don’t have to worry about you hanging around with those no gooders. Aren’t you glad I found you when I did?” To make a long story short, after both my parents were thrown in prison on various charges, my nana was the only legal guardian to take care of me.

Well by the time I reached 13, I was starting to follow down the same path as my parents. A life of petty crime, mostly gang banging and some drugs. That was until the Doctor came into my life when I was turned 14. After a few time adventures with him, it got me to see that life really is too short. So I left the gang life and tried to make things up with my nana and I’ve been clean and good for 2 years now.

It’s hard I’ll admit, especially trying to get away from the violence that I had been known in my gang. Back with them they called me the ‘Tigress’ cause I showed no mercy when it comes to fighting, I could literally become a savage animal at the snap of a finger.

We hugged each other and he said.

“So what shall it be today?”

“Well…..” I pulled out my phone and opened up my Youtube playlist and went to the first channel that was labeled QUEEN concerts and I clicked the first link. “Could I maybe tempt you into taking me back to a Queen concert? Specifically their Christmas Eve concert they did after the release of a Night at the Opera in 1975. I think next to the Live Aid performance, that’s my favorite concert of theirs.”

“Well as I once said I didn’t ever want to tamper with actual history. But it’s Christmas, the time for miracles. Maybe I could overlook this just once. Plus who could refuse a Queen concert?”

“Apparently most kids my age.”

“Alright so Christmas week 1975.” The Doctor went over to the control and flipped some switches and soon we were off.

However as we were traveling through time and space, there was a sudden jolt. The lights flickered and I was knocked over towards the railing.

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know. We shouldn’t have hit something.” He activated a few buttons and turned on the monitors. The look on his face turned pale with horror.

“What is it Doctor?”

“We picked up a straggler.” The TARDIS jolted again.

“Is there any way to shake it off? I mean what exactly has us?”

“I’m still trying to read into it’s vital signs but it’s cloaked itself good, even from this old girl.” Suddenly the doors opened and soon coming in was this figure.

It sorta looked human as it did have a human form but it’s skin was like a dolphin or a sharks, it had long claw-like nails with webbing between each finger. It hissed at us and the Doctor quickly improvised and directed the TARDIS in a sudden right jolt.

The creature went towards the wall but it kept its eyes locked right on us.

“Doctor the doors!” I cried out. He looked towards the doors to still see them open.

“Hang on and don’t let go whatever you do! Just hang on tight to the railing!” I nodded and he tried as best as he could through the wind of the time vortex we were still spinning through. I kept my eyes on the Doctor unaware that the creature was slowly crawling up towards me.

Suddenly I felt this painful grip on my forearm and slowly claw down it. I let out a cry and I turned to see the creature standing right before me. It hissed at me revealing razor sharp teeth, it’s black soulless eyes staring deeply into mine.

“Doctor!” I cried out. Then without warning, the creature dug its claws into the back of my hands and pushed me outward forcing me to fly out of the TARDIS, barely hearing the Doctor calling out my name. Then I guess I must’ve blacked out because I couldn’t remember anything after that.

When I finally came back around, the first thing I felt was cold and something wet. When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw nothing but white powder in front of me, as well as flakes falling onto my face.

Slowly I got up and found myself in London, or at least I hoped it was.

“Doctor? Doctor!?” I called out. I looked down at my hands to see they had indented claw marks and were bleeding. As a wind chill blew across me, I began shivering and I walked out of the alleyway to see people walking along the streets with shopping bags.

‘Okay so I know I’m on Earth, or at least I think I am. But when exactly am I?’ I thought to myself. I thought if I kept walking then maybe I could find a store or something to shed some light on where and when I am.

I walked along and I could see Big Ben as well as the London eye, okay so I am in London. And based on the fashion choices that I saw people walk by in, I could be in the 70’s. Finally I reached a newspaper stand and I quickly grabbed a newspaper and read the date.

December 19th, 1975. Okay so I was one day and 44 years into the past, thank god for that at least. I mean I could’ve landed somewhere far worse. But what happened to the Doctor? And just what was that thing that attacked us? As I went to turn around I bumped into someone.

“Sorry I—I was looking where I was…..”

“No problem love, it was an accident.” That voice it—it couldn’t be. I looked up and the first thing I see are those entrancing blue eyes and long golden hair that shined like the sun.

“You’re—you’re……” I was completely starstruck because standing right before me was none other than Roger Taylor.

“Roger Taylor? Yes, I’m going to assume you’re a fan of Queen?” I softly nodded. Oh my god I can’t believe that I’m standing in front of the Roger Taylor.

I mean—it was because of him I became interested in the drums. Shortly after I left the gang life behind; since I had always been a Queen fan since childhood, my nana bought me my first ever drumkit after my six months of being clean of the violent outbursts. She thought I could do have a better outlook banging the drums instead of banging with another gang.

His style of drumming has always fascinated me and sometimes I would try to copy some of his solos as best I could, and I’ll say that I’m a pretty decent drummer but I’ll never be up to his level of drumming.

“Well since you seem to know my name, may I know yours?”

“Uhh (y)—(y/n).”

“It’s nice to meet you (y/n).” he held out his hand for me to take. I was nervous to take his hand but I didn’t want him to think that I was a bitch. Hopefully the bleeding has stopped, so I reached out and I took his hand. Unfortunately he immediately noticed the blood. “(Y/n)….what happened to your hand?”

“Oh well I—I was…..a cat scratched me.”

“These don’t look like any cat scratches I know. And believe me Freddie has over 7 and I’ve been scratched by almost all of them at some point in time.” He then tucked some hair away from my face and he continued, “Be honest love, I won’t judge you but I need to know. Did—did some arsehole…..assault you?” Well to a degree but not in the way he was implying, but how do you tell your idol that? So to kinda put him at ease I whipped up a quick excuse.

“Well…..I—they just came out of nowhere…. I-I-I tried to stop them but they…..”

“Ohh you poor thing,” he cooed as he gently embraced me. “Come with me. I can help heal those scratches and make you a warm cuppa, eh?” I nodded and he then guided me towards the Hammersmith Odeon.

When we got there, I’ll be honest that I couldn’t believe that I was in the actual Hammersmith Odeon theater. Cause back—well forward in my time it’s called the Hammersmith Apollo and it’s mostly shown dance acts, and live performances for comedians.

“First aid’s in the dressing room. That’s the last known place I know it was at when Fred was dealing with some blisters the other day.” He guided me towards backstage and I saw dozens of roadies and other volunteers and workers getting ready for sound checks, probably for a rehearsal. “Here we are.”

Roger opened the door and guided me inside. Already I saw four sections of the big dressing room where each band member got ready. I saw from the photo of Veronica holding baby Robert that the section I was standing near was Deacy’s corner.

Just ahead where the red special was and what appeared to be an astronomy book was Brian’s place. And of course the one where dozens of cat pictures along with the beautiful Mary Austin’s picture was Freddie’s.

“Okay let’s see; first aid, first aid, first aid.” Roger muttered as he went through Freddie’s side. Lifting up various music sheets, journals and drawers. “Damnit Fred where the bloody hell did you put it—Ah-ha there you are!” He then pulled out an old school style first aid kit. “Right have a seat over here love.”

“I—I don’t know. I mean am I even allowed to be in here?”

“No not really but this is an emergency. So come on, sit. I don’t bite.” Cautiously I walked further in the dressing room and sat down in Freddie’s seat. “Okay let’s see here, we’ll need antiseptic cream, and…bandages.” He took out the cream first and he told me to show him my hands.

He then began to doctor up both my hands, but just before he put the first aid kit away, he noticed that my right sleeve was stained with blood. He carefully rolled it up and that’s when I saw the four long scratches that went from just an inch or two below my elbow to my wrist.

“Oh my god love. I—I’ve never seen a weapon do something like this, what did they use?”

“I—I couldn’t see what it was. Is it bad?”

“I don’t think so. But let me go a bowl of water, and a couple of towels to see what we’re dealing with here. Blood always makes things seem worse than what they are. Just stay here for a moment okay?” I nodded and he smiled at me before exiting the dressing room.

Once he came back with items, he set them down on the table and gently guided my arm over the bowl and dipped one of the towel into the water. He wrung it out and slowly began dabbing away the blood. I hissed on occasion and with each hissed, he apologized. Once the blood was cleared away, he dabbed the dry towel over my wet forearm before carefully observing it.

“Well they don’t look too deep for stitches, otherwise we’d need to call the hospital.”

“Yeah, thank god.” I was grateful for that because I won’t even be born until 30 years from now so there’s no way any hospital would have my records.

“Hey (y/n), if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened?”

“It—it’s honestly a blur to me Roger. I was—just minding my business with a friend of mine then next thing I knew we got jumped and….oh shit my friend he….he doesn’t know where I am! I-I have to find him!”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey (y/n), (y/n) calm down. Deep breaths for me.” He gently calmed me down and got me to take a few deep breaths. Man, who would’ve thought the Roger Taylor would be the one comforting me during a freak out episode.

“Sorry.” I muttered.

“No, no don’t apologize at all. Look let’s get you healed up first, and then we can think about finding your friend, alright?” I nodded and he said as he gently cupped the side of my face and gingerly thumbed across my cheek “Atta girl.” Suddenly the door opened and a voice said.

“Whoa were we interrupting anything here my darlings?” Oh my god—no way. It was him, it was really him. Freddie Fucking Mercury. Vibrant and young Freddie Mercury. Alongside him I saw Brian May to his left and John Deacon was to the right.

“No not at all guys.”

“Whose this?” asked Brian.

“This is (y/n). I found her—well actually she ran into me while I was at the newsstand. Shortly after she got jumped by some thugs.”

“Oh you poor darling!” Freddie cooed as he raced up towards me. “Who were the bastards that did this to you? You give me descriptions and I’ll fucking murder them!”

Aww, I can’t believe that after just meeting me not even 10 seconds, Freddie’s already wanting to defend my honor and beat up the fake thugs that did this to me. All those interviews of people calling Freddie nice, seeing it with my own eyes, they weren’t even close to describing Freddie’s kindness and loyalty.

“It’s alright Freddie, there’s no need for you to go to jail for assault.”

“Well fuck that! Anyone who gangs up on a girl like that deserves to have their arses beaten.” Can’t argue with him on that. Suddenly I felt the stinging sensation of the antiseptic cream go onto my scratches.

“Sorry love.” Roger apologized.

“It’s—alright.”

“Roger give the girl fair warning next time!” Freddie exclaimed.

“Would you like anything to drink (y/n)? Water? Tea?” asked Deacy.

“Well Roger was gonna offer me a warm cuppa.”

“How about a hot chocolate instead. After a night that you had, why not take something a little warmer. Plus nothing cures trauma better than chocolate.” Deacy offered.

“Okay, I can go for a hot chocolate.”

“Coming right up.”

“Lucky duckie. Deacy dear makes the best cup of hot chocolate ever.” Freddie told me.

“Sneaky bastard won’t let us in on how he makes it!” Roger called out.

“Because you lot don’t deserve to know!” Deacy called back as he peeked back in the room before heading back down the hallway to make my hot chocolate.

“Right, time for the bandages.” Roger said.

“Here Rog, I’ll take care of that.” Brian stepped forward and took over the doctoring. My god if you had told me three years ago that I would be getting doctored by Brian May and Roger Taylor, be served hot chocolate handmade by John Deacon and having Freddie Mercury rub your back comfortingly as your being doctored by the.

I would’ve told you, you were crazy.

As Brian began wrapping my arm up, he looked up at me and asked.

“Too tight?”

“No, no it’s fine.” I assured him. He softly smiled and kept wrapping my arm up till it covered up the last of my scratches.

“There all done.”

“Thank you Brian.”

“You’re welcome (y/n).” he said with that warm smile of his. It was then Deacy came walking in with a cup of hot chocolate.

“Here you go (y/n), I just took it out of the microwave so be careful.” I took the cup between my hands and allowed the hot mug to warm up my cold, numbing hands. I blew on it before taking a light sip.

Holy shit the guys weren’t kidding. I mean at first my nana’s hot chocolate was always the best but now I’m starting to think Deacy’s overpowers my nana’s special recipe.

“Oh my god, this is so good.”

“Glad you like it dear.”

“I mean—I think you just kicked my nana’s famed recipe out the window.”

“Well I mean no disrespect to your nana.” Deacy said apologetically.

“No, no, no hell if she were here, she’d be wanting to get your recipe herself.” Deacy smiled that sweet, eye crinkled smile as he softly chuckled.

“Not only the best bass player we could find but also the best hot chocolate maker we could ask for.” Freddie praised as he placed an arm around Deacy’s neck. Aww my god I can’t believe I’m witnessing firsthand of the bond these two shared. No wonder why Deacy left after Freddie died.

“Oh stop it you old tart.”

“Ahh Brian! Deacy’s using those dirty words again!” Freddie whined out.

“Hey lads, the manager’s closing up the stadium for the night if you all are done for the night.” Queen’s future manager Jim Beach came into the dressing room.

“Thank you Miami.” Freddie said.

“Do you have a place to stay tonight (y/n)?” asked Brian.

“Uhh well I—”

“Yes. As we were on our way here I told her that she could stay with me for tonight. Just in case those thugs try and find her again.” Roger spoke as he wrapped an arm around me. I looked to Roger and he looked down at me assuringly and winked at me.

“Well then let’s get a move on. I’d rather not be locked up in here over night.” Deacy said.

“Well said Deacy. Not like back in Atlanta eh?” Freddie teased.

“I thought we vowed to never talk about that!” Deacy snapped. As the guys walked on ahead, Roger and I lagged behind and I asked him.

“You sure it’s okay for me to stay with you?”

“Yeah. I’ve got an extra bed in my room. Plus I don’t want you to be out in the streets in the middle of winter.”

“Thanks Roger. But what will I do about clothes?”

“I’ll let you borrow some small clothes as pajamas for tonight. Then tomorrow Freddie and I can help you shop for some clothes. Maybe we can also find that friend of yours.” I smiled softly and said.

“I—don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing, c’mon let’s get back to the hotel and into bed. You’ve had a long night and look like you could use some rest.” We then got into the car and the driver drove the five of us back to the hotel. Roger guided me towards his room and using his key, he allowed me in first.

It was a pretty big sized room with two beds as he said, a small telly and a closet. Roger went inside and muttered to himself before finally pulling out a plain black t-shirt and some sweats.

“Here, these are too small for me, hopefully they’ll do you some good. The loo’s just over there.” He pointed towards the jointed room beside the bed farthest from the window. I walked inside of it and changed out of my clothes and into Roger’s old stuff.

The pants were obviously a little too long but the shirt fit snug around me. I then went over to the mirror and looked down at my bandaged arm.

“Oh Doctor, I hope you’re alright. Where—whenever you are.” I don’t know what that thing was that attacked but I prayed that he was alright and somehow managed to lose it.

“(Y/n)? You okay in there?” I heard Roger’s voice say.

“Yeah, yeah Roger I’m good.” I then stepped out of the loo and Roger looked me over.

“Not bad, I’ll give the pants a trim so that they’re not dragging across the floor tomorrow. Then tomorrow when Freddie and I take you out, we’ll get you some clothes that will fit you.”

“Do you think he’ll want to join us?” I asked

“Absolutely. Besides he looks for any excuse to shop and he’s better at picking clothes than me. I just pick what matches based off of fabric, damn eyesight.” That I did know for a fact. But I chose to act like I didn’t know that fact.

“Thanks again for all that you’ve done for me tonight.”

“Again love, no thanks are necessary. I just hope your friend didn’t get into the squabble you were in.”

“I hope so too.” I muttered before letting out a long yawn. Roger softly chuckled.

“It’s getting late, why don’t you get some sleep?” I nodded and walked over to the bed that was closest to the radiator. I tucked myself in and almost immediately fell asleep on the old, lumpy mattress.

*Roger’s POV*

Even though she had taken my bed next to the radiator, I didn’t have the heart to move her. After the night she’s been through, she deserved to have as much comfort as possible.

After taking my nightly shower and changing into my pajamas I looked over at (y/n) hoping that we would find her friend in good health, cause if (y/n) managed to get away with scratches like those, then I pray her friend’s not worse.

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sujus-girl · 7 years ago

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Disclaimer: This is just something I did for fun. It’s not an official profile or anything like that.

So, last time I did a guide to the older (for me) members of NCT 2018, and this time I’m back with the younger babies! Let’s start!

PART ONE TO MY NCT GUIDE! Members born from 1994-1998

Members

Wong Yukhei (Cantonese Name)/Huang Xuxi (Mandarin Name) (Lucas)

a whole meme

tbh i thought he was gonna be cool, chic, and shy when he was first introduced, but JOKES ON ME, he’s a hyperactive idiot

a part of nct u

the biggest hypeman, his description of ten and taeyong will go down in nct history as one of the biggest memes

is obsessed with nct dream, and recently got to perform with them in Dubai, and all of us lost our minds

a fake nctzen, smh, he didn’t even know doyoung’s real name

also didn’t know that jaemin’s nickname is nana, or that his family name is na

kinda resembles minho from shinee

this idiot forgot to sing at his AUDITION for SM, so he just modeled instead and got accepted WTF

half chinese and half thai and a whole visual

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Mark Lee

korean name is lee minhyung

from canada, and didn’t tell his friends in canada he was moving to korea, so they freaked out cause they didn’t know what happened to him

is in ALL THREE UNITS RIP

the big question of the fandom is: will mark lee ever get a break, and the answer is still unknown

he’s so cute and adorable that it’s hard to believe him and lucas were born in the same year

“no one wants to be a square”

flexible boy, can do the splits and i want to know HOW

“mark is absolutely fully capable”

kinda like the unofficial leader of dream

tom and jerry with donghyuk, and it’s usually donghyuk annoying mark as mark exhibiting the most patience i’ve ever witnessed in a human being

high school rapper “SING SANG SUNG” and “TAKE IT, TAKE IT”

pls protect at all costs

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Huang RenJun

his nationality is chinese, but his ethnicity is korean

he kinda acted as chenle’s translator in the beginning tbh, it was so cute

a part of dream

is obsessed with moomin, draws him all the time and even uses him in his signature

is a whole savage, refuses to let anyone live

“once jisung becomes an adult, we’re going to go to the roof and fight in the rain while wearing suits”

chenle, when lucas said his korean wasn’t good: “it’s good! even the older brothers say your korean is better than winwin’s!”

renjun, ready to demolish his group mate: “is that even a question! anyone with ears can tell that!”

also renjun, in that same vlive: makes jabs at kun’s age when lucas joked about being old

also ALSO renjun: reminds kun and chenle that isung can’t understand or speak mandarin, so they should speak in korean instead so he doesn’t feel left out

no one lets him live down the legendary voice crack

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Lee Jeno

i honestly just think jeno is such a precious child and i adore him

a part of dream

is said to resemble super junior’s donghae

he said that he wanted to become a singer because of super junior’s sorry sorry and that made me love him even more

jeno x nana, is that still a thing? i think it’s still a thing

a really good dancer

him and jisung danced to baby don’t stop for ten’s birthday and i think that it was just a really cute gift

apparently the only one that listened to doyoung when he took them out while they were all still trainees

he is allergic to cats?? BUT HIS FAMILY HAS CATS???

probably off somewhere messing with haechan

has a very pretty smile, and he probably knows it

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Lee Donghyuck (Haechan)

in charge of bringing up member’s cringe moments and not letting his members live peacefully

especially mark, i feel like mark is his main target

a part of 127 and dream

a master of girl group dances, but also can probably cover any popular dance

tbh, a pretty decent cook, he’s not as bad as some of the other members *coughcoughMARKcoughcough*

tried to give a spoiler for go during a vlive and the rest of the 00 line DEMOLISHED him

this bitch almost set the kitchen on fire smh, him and a few other members were cooking on vlive for this competition thing, and he accidentally held a tissue a little too close to the fire and kun had to put it out

some haters were trying to come after him for something stupid, and, honestly, it was complete bs and he does not deserve this disrespect

if you got a problem with my boy, you gotta get through ME first come AT ME

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Na Jaemin

has the cutest name, and it made me melt the first time i heard it

his nickname is nana, and i joke that jeno’s part in we young is dedicated to him

in nct dream

loves nctzens very much and we love him very much back

he had a back injury, so he sat out of activities for a LONG time

like, literally, he debuted in nct dream with chewing gum, then was inactive for my first and last and we young

he rejoined the group in 2018, and made a comeback with Go, and WE WERE NOT READY

HE LITERALLY WENT FROM CHEWING GUM TO GO AND IT WAS LIKE WHAT

kind of a brat and kind of a meme, but we love him anyways

deadass shoved haechan out of his way on the 00 vlive

he took charge when making desserts with the dreamies, and, no lie, i thought it was kinda cool that he was so serious about it

HAS COUPLE BRACELETS WITH RENJUN

I’M SOFT FOR NA JAEMIN, OKAY? PLEASE GIVE HIM LOTS OF LOVE

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Zhong Chenle

a whole cutie pie, jisung would agree with me

is chinese, if the name didn’t already tell you lol

SHANGHAI, AYYYY

a part of nct dream

there are videos of him predebut in china, like frfr baby chenle, and it’s so adorable

he’s been very talented in singing ever since he was super young, and tbh, he probably has more talent in one fingernail than i have in my entire body

likes to help renjun make fun of kun #prayforkun2018

his korean isn’t perfect yet, but it has improved a lot from debut! renjun used to help translate for him, and sm even gave him this cool translating device during the dreamies nct life

part dolphin apparently, has a very highpitch laugh and i live for it

is close with lucas too, and i just think it’s so adorable when they interact cause they’re just so comfortable with each other

is adored by his members, and you should adore him too, he’s a whole cutie pie

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

Park Jisung

jISunG PWARK

A WHOLE CUTIE, LOOK AT HIM

he kinda reminds me of a baby chick, is that just me? idk?

nct dream

he the baby of the babies, the youngest in nct

a really good dancer! back when sm rookies were still on mickey mouse club house, the other rookies pointed to him when super junior’s eunhyuk was looking for the best dancer

ALSO GOING TO BE A PART OF WHY NOT? THE DANCER WITH SHINEE’S TAEMIN, HIGHLIGHT’S KIKWANG, AND SUPER JUNIOR’S EUNHYUK, AND I AM READY TO SEE ALL MY PUPPIES TOGETHER

i don’t think he can cook, he just kinda stood around while the other members were cooking

mainly just ate the ingredients, he a growing boy

i think he’s like 5′10″ already, and i’m like?!?!?!?!?!!? AHHHHH???

kind of a clumsy kids, would not trust with anything delicate/expensive

should be supervised at all times tbh

Videos to Watch: (1) (2) (3)

WE FINALLY GOT THROUGH ALL THE MEMBERS! That was a trip!

Group Videos to Watch: NCT 2018 Weekly Idol (X) NCT 127 Weekly Idol (X) (X) China Line VLive (X) NCT Life In: Bangkok (X) Seoul (X) Paju (127) (X) Entertainment Retreat (Dreamies) (X) Cooking King (X) Chiang Mai (X) Osaka (127) (X) Kun X Dreamies Cooking VLive (X)

Y’all, there’s a lot of good NCT content out there, but I’m going to stop here, cause that’s hella time. Anyways! Thank you for reading this, and I hoped it help you or made you kinda laugh! Please support NCT and show all the members lots of love! Bye bye!

#nct #nct u #nct 127 #nct dream #nct 2018 #huang xuxi #wong yukhei #lee minhyung #haechan #lee donghyuck #lee jeno #huang renjun #na jaemin #zhong chenle #park jisung #guide #mine #lucas #mark lee

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askmissthunder · 7 years ago

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Happy (Belated) Halloween, everybody!

I've always been honest with you all during my posts and this one will be no exception. When Cassie (Red Rabbit) asked if I wanted to go to the Halloween party on campus this year, I... wanted to say "No."

I know that sounds very odd considering how much I love Halloween but...I really didn't want to have to be in the same room with my main tormentors, Samantha Crestfield and her little toadies, Bianca Haywood and Nicki Beltran. As you can probably guess, they're the other flutists in my class and they love to point out how fat I am, about how lazy and stupid I am, about...

*sigh*

Anyway, I deal with them enough everyday at school and when I told Cassie I didn't want to go during one of our lunch breaks, she put on those big sad puppy-dog eyes and frowned.

"But why?", Cassie pouted, "We had a lot of fun last year! You ended up going anyway so why not be there from the start?"

"Yes but...that was kind of an accident. Eli and I never intended to go to the party. You guys moved it to the park because there was no more room here, remember?"

Cassie crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, why don't you want to go?"

I twiddled my fingers nervously, lowering my gaze. "....You know why."

She gave me an irritated look. "No, I don't. What's the matter? Don't say you can't find a costume because you had that cute witch costume last year!"

I only gave a half-hearted mumble.

"Pardon?"

Clearing my throat, I spoke in a louder voice. "....She's going to be there."

Cassie shrugged, "Who's 'she'?"

I could feel my eyes well up. "Y'know.....Samantha..."

Cassie's face softened as she let out a sad sigh. "Oh, Penny."

I could feel myself breathing in quick gasps as my heart started racing. Whatever annoyance I had towards Cassie and the situation in general just spilled out of me. I could envision in my mind Samantha's angry, spiteful eyes, glaring at me. The way her friends laugh in that mocking way. Just that Godawful feeling of having to be trapped in class with them every day and there was nothing I could do about it.

"I don't want to be there with her, all right?! I don't want to hear her stupid voice and her stupid little put downs all night long! I can't...I don't want to, Cass. Bad enough I have to put up with her in school....I can't...."

She walked towards me and wrapped her arms around me as best as she could. "Hey, hey, hey, Penn. Just settle down for a moment, all right?"

I tried my best to calm myself but it was rather hard considering how much effort I was trying not to start sobbing in public.

She took a seat close to my wheelchair and held my hand. "Look, I'm sorry that girl gives you such a hard time. She shouldn't be doing that and I know it really really sucks but.... you can't let her win like this."

I wiped my eyes, a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at what she's making you do: She's made it where you don't want to go out with us because of her. What was it that you said she told you last week? That 'you don't belong here' ?"

I gave a curt nod but hearing that come out of Cassie's mouth felt like a punch to the gut.

"Well, Penny....I'd hate to say this but....you're kinda proving her right. You not coming to the party, where literally EVERYBODY in school is invited. To me, that's basically telling her, 'You're right, I don't belong there.' "

I kept my head down where she couldn't see the stray tear come down my cheek.

Cassie continued, her voice rising in tone as if she were getting outraged for me.

"And I know you don't like being with a ton of people, with big crowds. I'm not asking you to be the belle of the ball, Penny, but....maybe coming out with us can show Samantha that you do belong out there. That she doesn't get to have any say about what you do. She doesn't get to say jack shit about how you want to have fun on your time and dime! And if you just so happen to bump into each other and she starts giving you some bullshit about being in her space? Fuck her! You get in her face and tell her to fuck right off! I mean, what's she gonna do? Slap you? I've seen you take shotgun blasts point blank to the face. Some little asshole trying to throw her weight around shouldn't even phase you!"

I didn't say anything but I knew that Cassie was right but it was hard to explain to her why I haven't come down harder on Samantha. Honestly? It was mainly fear. Not because of what Samantha could do to me but rather, what I could do to her if I lost my temper to the point that I just snap and....

Well, I don't like to think about it.

But not only that, it was also what I've been been taught by my classmates throughout all my school years: that I deserved to be made fun of. I'm fat, I'm a nerd, I like classical music too much. Why shouldn't I be picked on? I'm different, they're not. It's just the Law of the School Jungle, right?

I assume Cassie could probably sense the negative feelings radiating off of me as she lowered her voice again. "Look, just come with us and I'll promise you, Samantha and her little jerk squad won't give you a hard time. If they do, you got me, Eli, Talon and my whole dance team there to chase them off. We'll make sure you have the best time ever, okay?"

I wiped my eyes with my napkin as I looked up at her with a smile. How can I say no to hanging out with such an entourage?

"Okay."

......................................................................................

Now we come to a new dilemma: I had no costume for this year.

Oh, I was lucky last year that I happened to have one of my Nan's black dresses laying around but the rest of her wardrobe she loaned me seemed rather...like something an old lady would wear. (No offense, Nana!) I did have some of her Circus Fat Lady costumes (I use them as pajamas sometimes) but they showed quite a bit more skin that I was comfortable with, especially in public.

And I'm pretty sure that I don't have to tell you that they don't exactly make, well, anything for a girl my size. I couldn't just go to the costume store and pick something off the shelf.

I was in bit of a mental pickle as Cassie and I lounged around on the carpet of her flat a week and a half before Halloween, doing some homework. Eli was also hanging out with us, having just gotten out of training and skimming through one of my X-Factor comics while lounging against my right hip.

As we wrapped up one last algebra problem, Cassie chirped up, "So, any ideas for a costume yet?"

I plopped my head on the floor and groaned.

She giggled, "I take it that's a 'no' then."

I looked back towards Eli as best as I could, "Sweetie, what do you want to be for Halloween?"

"Hmm? Me?", he asked, a surprised tone to his voice.

He tapped his chin, "Well, I'd like to be something where I could let my tail out in public again. Maybe we can be puppy dogs?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of the two of us dressed up in fuzzy pajamas with our noses painted, yipping at passersby. "I'm not sure about that, E. Cute idea, though."

He bounced the back of his head against my fat as he pondered. "Hmm...What was that movie we watched the other day? 'Bride of Frankanstan'? Maybe we can go as those two monsters."

Cassie let out a loud gasp, grinning like she won the lottery. "That's it! You two should go as a couple!"

Eli tilted his head at her, "We already are going as a couple. Going as a random boyfriend and girlfriend seems kind of against the whole point of wearing a spooky costume."

"No, no, no! I mean going as a costume couple like Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein or Bonnie and Clyde or Romeo and Juliet!"

I could feel Eli's tail wag against me as he sat up. "Oh! Like if Penny and me went dressed up like Robin Hood and Marian?"

Cassie nodded excitedly, "Yes! Exactly that!"

The thought of dressing up as a couple did seem pretty neat. It brought up one idea to mind as I spoke up, "There is one couple I kinda wanted to dress up as..."

"Who?", Eli and Cassie both asked in unison.

"...Beauty and the Beast."

Cassie let out an even sharper gasp as she clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God! That would be so, so CUTE! I love it!"

I blushed and lowered my gaze, 'Well, I don't know. It was just an idea. I'm pretty sure I'd look like a giant banana in a yellow gown."

"Are you kidding?! You'd look gorgeous! I can see it in my mind right now! You as Belle in the sparkling gown, Eli, looking dashing in a blue coat and fake horns on his head! Oh, you two would look so adorable!"

"I'd like to be the Beast!", Eli chimed in with a smile, "He looked pretty cool how he fought off those wolves and Gaston!"

I sighed, knowing that there was no backing out now. "That'd be lovely and all but where am I gonna get a dress like that in my size?"

With a grin like a Cheshire Cat, Cassie replied, "Oh, you leave that to me! I've got somebody in mind."

True to her word, the next day, Cassie brought Joanie, one of her dance mates and aspiring fashion designer, to my flat. When we showed her the dress we wanted to make for me, I was afraid that she might balk at the idea of making a costume for someone my size. Instead, she rubbed her hands and chuckled, "Ooh! You know how I love a challenge, Cass!"

As we talked about the design of Belle's dress, I was getting a bit nervous as I knew that Joanie would have to take my measurements. I've tried to avoid knowing exactly just how large I've become since getting my powers but there would be no getting around this.

"Okay, Penny", Joanie stated, pulling out several measuring tapes from her purse, "Let me get your numbers so I can see how much fabric I'm gonna be working with."

I let her and Cassie "help" me up to my feet. Despite seeing just how enormous I was in front of her, Joanie barely batted an eye as she dutifully went about her business, orbiting around me like a moon to a planet. Thankfully, she didn't say the numbers aloud, instead writing them down on a small notepad. After she was done, morbid curiosity got the better of me as I couldn't help but sneak a peek at what she wrote down while Cassie had her distracted with dancing to a new song on the radio. I could literally feel the blood drain from my face as I gazed at the numbers. I won't repeat them here but my bust-waist-hips measurements were all in the triple digits.

It wouldn't be until a few days before the party before Cassie and I saw Joanie again as she practically spent day and night working on the dress. She arrived at my door, looked rather haggard with her hair unbrushed and circles under her eyes but she had the biggest grin on her face as she hauled in a large box nearly too big for my doorway.

"It's done!", she said almost manically as she pushed the box to the center of my living room, "At long last, it's done!"

Cassie gave a bit of a nervous laugh, "You okay, Joan?"

"Never better! I've been running on nothing but coffee and jelly beans for the last 24 hours!", she yelled, her eye twitching wildly. "Excuse me for a moment!"

She then fell face down on my couch with a loud thud. Cassie and I grew concerned as she was completely still but we each breathed a sigh of relief as we heard her start to snore loudly.

"Well, let's take it out!", Cassie exclaimed as she pried the lid of the box which was stuffed to the gills with bright, glittery yellow fabric, poofing out like a package of Jiffy Pop.

I pulled it out gently, unfurling it in all its splendor. It must've been the size of a circus tent to wee Cassie but it looked to be just about my size as I held it up against my body.

Cassie let out a small gasp. "Oh, Penny! That's lovely! Just look at that!"

I carried the dress to my full-length mirror and saw that Joanie had really outdone herself as it looked like a true copy of the dress onscreen. Every ruffle, every stitch looked exact albeit tailored to accommodate my mega-sized curves.

I asked Cassie to help me try it on. Thankfully, Joanie was fast asleep as Cassie's one of the few people I trust to see me in my knickers. I'll admit not even Eli has that privilege. Not yet, at least.

After a lot of tucking and squeezing and shimmying, we managed to get the dress on. It was a little snug around the belly when I sat down but otherwise, it was a near-perfect fit! Even the yellow opera gloves fit me like, well, a glove!

I pulled my hair back as I trotted to my mirror, hoping to get an idea of what the finished costume would look like. I hesitated for a moment before stepping in front of the reflection, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself before I took the plunge.

As I stepped lightly in front of the mirror, a startled gasp escaped from my mouth. I was too used to seeing mousy, average Penny staring back at that reflection. Instead, I saw a girl not ready for a Halloween party but for an elegant ball, ready to wow everybody in attendance. I saw a girl who knew just what to say at parties, who could charm a potential suitor or entertain a group with delightful stories.

In my wonderment, I clasped my hands over my mouth as a steady stream of tears fell down my cheeks. Cassie must've clearly saw this as she quickly rushed over and placed a gentle hand on my side.

"Penny, what's wrong?", she asked, her voice strong with concern.

I could only stammer out, nearly to the point of weeping, "Cass....look. I...I...I look...like a princess...."

Cassie let out a short relieved laugh as she hugged me tight. We stood in silence, both basking in the aura I felt I was giving off.

My gasp must've roused Joanie as she stirred on the couch, picking her head up slightly. "Oh, wow!", she uttered sleepily, smiling as if in a daze. Not caring about keeping my identity a secret at that moment, I quickly moved towards her and held her hand.

"Thank you. Thank you so much..."

She must've been too tired to notice how fast I had just moved as she only grinned up at me, her eyes unfocused. "Happy to be of service, your Highness."

.......................................................................................

The night of the party, we had all agreed to meet up at the campus dance studio to put the final touches on our costumes, mainly because of the giant mirrors. I was delighted to see that the girls in Cassie's dance team were inspired by my costume and decided to all go as Disney characters!

There was:

Amanda as Cinderella

Stacey as Snow White

Karen as Alice

Tamika as Aurora

Deb as Cruella De Ville

Lailani as Malificent

Joanie as Ariel ("No offense, Penny, but I needed something simple to dress up as after all that work")

Cassie, always the performer, showed off her Tinkerbell costume in a spectacular way, doing a quick series of gymnastic cartwheels before landing on a mat on one knee.

"Ehh, I'd give it a 7", Stacey joked, "A bit wobbily on that landing."

"Bullshit!" Cassie pouted, "That was at least an 8.5! The wings threw me off!"

Cassie had certainly picked out the perfect costume as it showed off her body: petite, toned and lean from years of dancing and super-speed running.

As Karen helped put the finishing touches on my makeup, we heard a knock at the studio door. In walked Eli, who was covering his eyes with his hands.

"Is...is everybody decent?", he asked timidly.

"No, we're all in our bras and panties having a big pillow fight!", Deb teased.

Eli gasped and was about to run out before we all called for him to come back. He looked very flustered as he stepped in the room, straightening his coat.

While Joanie was busy with my dress, Tamika and Karen had worked together to make Eli's Beast costume. It was the formal attire the Beast wore during the big ballroom scene in the movie with a blue coat with gold trim, a gold vest with white dress shirt and black pants.

To complete the the more beastly aspects, Eli had asked one of the makeup artists from his work to paint his face. Whoever they were, they went above and beyond just painting his eyes and nose, like I assumed. Instead, his entire face was painted the same colors as the Beast with a set of fake fangs poking out of his mouth to complete the look.

He wore a headband with two dark horns attached along with a long brown wig complete with a blue bow for the ponytail. A pair of fake furry paws were slipped over his shoes and, of course, his (normally black-furred but I guessed they either painted or dyed it a light brown) tail poked out of a hole in the back of his pants.

"Oh my!", I said, perhaps gushing a bit as I lightly fanned myself. What can I say? I'm used to seeing Eli wearing just a t-shirt and blue jeans so seeing him in such fancy duds got my heart pumping a bit.

Eli, on the other hand, froze on the spot when he saw me. I was in my wheelchair, still wearing my glasses but also wearing my sparkling yellow gown with my hair up exactly like Belle's, not to mention wearing makeup for once so I perhaps looked a bit more presentable than usual.

"Penny!", he exclaimed as headed in my direction, "You...you look amazing! You look just like Belle!"

I could hear all the girls in the room go "Awwww!" as Eli held my hands, smiling as if he's seeing me for the first time.

"Aw, thank you, luv.", I say, pulling him in for a well-deserved kiss on the cheek. "I thought about losing the glasses but, y'know..........secret identity."

With our costumes juuuuuuust right, we made our way towards the party's outdoor entrance.

We knew the party was gonna be big but we hadn't expected to see such a vast stream of people entering the room. The fog machines must've been working overtime as a a nearly solid wall of mist obscured the doorway. It looked spooky as the partiers seemed to vanish before our very eyes.

Before we got too close, a sudden mental alert popped in my mind. "Oi! Cass!", I yelled over the din of the crowd, "Isn't Talon supposed to be with us?"

Cassie groaned, "I knew it! I knew I forgot something! Oh, she's gonna be pissed at us!"

"You did tell her we were meeting up at the studio, right?", Amanda asked, straightening her gloves.

"Nooooo....", Cassie admitted sheepishly, "I kinda told her we were meeting at the entrance last week. Meeting at the studio was sort of last-second..."

"Well, there's a payphone down by the cafeteria", Lailani suggested, "Maybe you can call to see if she went back home."

"Here's hoping...", Cassie sighed. She stopped in her tracks as a tall silhouette lumbered from the shadows. It being a Halloween party, a few scary costumes are to be expected but Cassie was a bit startled to see Jason Voorhees, hockey mask, machete and all, making a slow beeline towards her.

"Who's that?", she asked, a bit of fear in her voice.

Jason stopped in front of her, pulled up his mask to reveal Talon with a rare Mona Lisa-esque smile on her lips. "Hey."

Cassie laughed, more out of relief than anything, "Oh, jeez, T! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, I'm late. I had some...'business' to attend to. Some guy in an alley trying to take advantage of a girl with too much to drink."

"Wow!", Deb exclaimed, "Great costume! The fake blood on that machete looks so real!"

"Yeah....'fake'....", Talon mumbled.

Karen did a happy twirl, "Great! Everybody's here now! Are you ready to party?!"

We all cheered in response, except Talon who only did a half-hearted fist pump, as we headed towards the entrance and disappeared into the foggy veil.

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The entire ballroom was massive, lit with both Jack O' Lanterns of all shapes and sizes, and swirling, blinking, flashing disco lights everywhere. Sparkling bats and spiders hung from the ceiling, glistening from the lights. Ghosts made of sheets and fabric dangled off the walls, and in the dim lighting, it gave the illusion they were passing through like Shadowcat. A DJ dressed as a skeleton was spinning tracks up on a stage while partiers wearing all sorts of costumes boogied on the dance floor while others chatted and mingled, drinking punch and soda and munching on finger foods.

"Oh man!", Cassie yelled over the music, "This place is bumpin'! Come on, girls! Let's get some snacks before we tear up that dance floor!"

As we all grabbed some plates, Eli and I marveled at the specially made treats laid out in front of us: Deviled eggs shaped like eyeballs, cocktail weenies wrapped in crescent rolls to look like mummies, ghosts made out of white chocolate-covered strawberries.

"Ooh hoo!", Eli exclaimed with child-like glee, "Look at all the creepy food!"

Before I could even dig in, an all-too familiar voice emerged over the music.

"Aw, shit. Everybody better get some food now before a certain little piggy eats it all!"

I could feel my pulse speed up as I slowly turned to see Samantha, dressed as Marilyn Monroe, standing behind me with a contemptuous smirk. As always, Bianca and Nicki were by her side, dressed up as Cleopatra and a witch.

Samantha looked me up and down in mild disgust. "Heh. What are you supposed to be, Piggy? A giant tub of butter?"

"Nah!", Bianca chimed in, "She has to be a taxi cab! She's about the size of one. anyway!"

"No, no! I got it! Piggy's dressing up as the Blob! Hell, it doesn't even have to be Halloween for her to dress up as that!", Nicki giggled, puffing up her cheeks to make herself look fatter.

I could hear Eli start to growl at them, lowering his gaze and bearing his teeth. I started to mentally panic, not only at being taunted by these three yet again but there was a good chance Eli would just straight up murder them by accident if pushed too far. There was a bit of me that wanted that but knew it in my heart that it was the wrong thing to do.

Thankfully, Cassie quickly came between us. "Eli! How about you you take Penny to get some punch? It's really good!"

Begrudgingly, Eli did as he was told, glaring at the trio the entire time as he pushed my wheel chair towards the punch bowl. While we were away from Samantha, I could still faintly hear the conversation between her and Cassie.

"Is there a problem?', Cassie said in a calm voice.

Samantha shook her head, "No, no problem. Except the giant fat-ass about to inhale all the food."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want Piggy to ruin the party although she did manage to roll her sweaty blubber all the way over here.", Bianca stated nonchalantly, gazing at her nails.

Cassie crossed her arms, "There's plenty of snacks for everybody. And her name is Penny. Something you three would know if you actually tried to treat her like a human being."

Nicki scoffed. "A human being?! Look at her! She's a freak! She barely fits anywhere during band practice because she's so fucking fat! She can't even walk! She's literally like a giant pile of pudding stuffed in a bag!"

I could see Cassie clench her fists but she remained still. Her dance friends must've heard the confrontation as they quickly came to her side.

"Something going on here?", Karen asked, her tone much more serious than her usual perky voice.

"Well, I thought I was talking to some ladies from Penny's music class. Turns out I was talking to three assholes instead!", Cassie growled.

Samantha stepped in front of Cassie, their faces nearly touching. "What'd you say, you flat-chested slut?"

Stacey stood by Cassie's side, "You heard her, you little snot! What the fuck is your problem?! Why do you have to act like a bunch of little shits to Penny?!"

"I don't have to justify myself to you, bitch! I'm just doing everybody in class a favor in telling her off! She comes in late all the time because of her stupid 'condition', she has the audacity to be in MY flute section and she makes our orchestra look like a joke with her disgusting flabby body filling up so much space!"

"Pssh! Is that all?", Tamika interrupted, "I though it was maybe because she stole your boyfriend or something. Lord knows he wouldn't want to hang around you all day!"

"Nobody's talking to you, ho!", Bianca yelled, "So why don't you zip your little hood mouth? Grown folks are talking!"

Amanda raised her fist in her friend's defense, about to rush the trio before being held back by Deb and Joanie.

Perhaps sensing that my friends were not going to take their insults lightly and that the dance team outnumbered the flutes by 8 to 3, Samantha started to walk away.

"Come on, girls! I don't want to hang around these losers any longer than I have to! Besides, it wouldn't look good for us to be seen with a dance team that only got second place in competition, would it?"

A volley of middle fingers fired out between the two groups of girls as the flutists strutted away. As the dancers made sure there was enough distance between us, they all immediately flocked to my side.

"Are you alright, Penny?", Lailani asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine...", I mumbled, embarrassed that the girls had to be on the receiving end of Samantha's venomous disdain.

"Jesus Christ, Penny!", Joanie cried out, "You really have to be with those three everyday? I don't know how you do it!"

"If I knew, you'd be the first to know...", I thought glumly.

.................................................................................

Cassie spun around and saw Talon at the snack bar, filling up two plates full of food. "Tal!", she yelled out.

"Hmm?", Talon replied, not taking her eyes off her plates.

"What are you doing?!", Cassie hissed out, "We could've used your help earlier!"

The tall girl bit into a small ham sandwich. "I'm eating. I didn't have lunch today."

She piled on a few more sandwiches on her plate. "Do you think they'll complain if I take this to go?"

"Did you not see Penny getting picked on by her bullies?!"

Talon nodded, "I saw. She shouldn't let them talk to her like that. That's why they act so bad. Because Penny never speaks up, they'll figure they can get away with it every time."

"I know that but-"

"I'm sure Penny appreciates you girls coming to her rescue and all but you can't fight all her battles for her. She needs to learn how to stand on her own two feet. Relatively speaking, that is."

Cassie sighed wearily, "You're right but I don't know how to help her with that."

Talon shrugged, "I wouldn't worry too much. Penny's a big girl. She'll figure it out eventually."

...............................................................................

Despite the festivities and lively music playing all around me, I sat in my wheelchair, stewing in my thoughts. Days and weeks and months of insults and ugly glares were all that came to mind.

Hell, it was only a couple days ago that I accidentally bumped into Nikki while taking my spot during rehearsal. "Oops! Sorry about that!", I said a bit sheepishly.

Of course, she couldn't just let it go. She had to knock my sheet music out of my stand, glaring at me the entire time. "Oops. Sorry about that. Fucking lard-ass."

"Aw, did poor little Piggy drop her notes?", I heard Bianca speak from the other side of me. As she bent down to pick them up, I foolishly presumed that there was some part of her that didn't despise me. Then she spat on them as she handed them back.

"Aren't you gonna tell Bianca 'thank you' for picking up your music, Piggy?", Samantha asked, as she took her seat. "I mean, she took the time to spit-shine them clean for you."

I could feel that all-too familiar sensation of panic and dread overtake me, silencing my voice for me as I wiped my notes with the sleeve of my shirt. I saw that everyone around us could clearly see or hear what had just happened and yet, they did nothing. As usual.

Samantha scoffed, "Ungrateful bitch."

It was only when I heard the faint tone of Cassie's voice that I snapped out of memory lane.

"Huh?", I said, remembering that I was still at the party.

"I said, we're all gonna hit the dance floor! You wanna come with?"

I looked at Eli next to me, who seemed excited to show off his "moves" again, nearly hopping up and down in place.

I sigh with a smile, "How can I say no to that face? Let's go."

Both Eli and Cassie hopped on the back of my chair as I rolled towards the dance floor.

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Dancing seemed to be just what the doctor ordered as it definitely lifted my spirits. I'm sure everyone else at the party were weirded out or in stunned awe by the gigantically fat girl dressed as Belle rolling around on the dance floor in a wheelchair nearly the size of a golf cart. But if they were, I hardly even noticed it as Cassie, Eli and the dance team were always in my line of sight, blocking any ugly glares or finger pointing.

Eli certainly danced like no one was watching as he twirled and shimmied through the dance floor, clearly having the time of his life. Even though they were dressed as Disney ladies, I nearly forgot that Cassie's friends were a dance team as they all moved with such precision and grace, looking like a group of nymphs and dryads, mesmerizing all who witnessed their sacred dances.

And then there was me.

Being stuck in a wheelchair to keep everybody from knowing Miss Thunder was a student here, there wasn't a whole lot I could do other than but jerk my wheelchair's controls, making me bounce and wobble to the beat. Sometimes I spiced things up by spinning in a circle. But the girls must've noticed that my dance moves were severely limited as Cassie and Joanie locked hands with me to do a "pop and lock".

Eli came and took my hands, guiding me in a similar dance from last year, "spinning" me around and doing a type of square dance as we moved back and forth in a line. It wasn't long before the girls joined us in our dance, making us look like some type of Disney Dance Squad.

Talon, meanwhile, only watched us from afar with a bemused expression on her face. While I've always felt uneasy around crowds due to my size, Talon looked especially uncomfortable being around so many people. Cassie and Lailani went up to her during a transition between songs, all smiles and giggles.

"Come on, Talon! Dance with us!", Cassie laughed, beckoning her to follow them.

"No.", Talon said sternly.

"Please, Talon? We just want you to have a good time!", Lailani pleaded.

"I am having a good time. I have free food.", the tall girl replied, popping a grape in her mouth for emphasis. "Besides, I don't dance."

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Suddenly, a loud "OH HO HO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO" blasted from the speakers, signalling the beginning of the song "Kung Fu Fighting".

"Well, then.", Cassie said with an idea brewing in her mind, "If you don't dance, can you fight?"

"...Pardon?"

"If you don't want to dance, maybe you can show us some of your katas?", Cassie asked, striking a karate pose.

Talon was silent for moment before trudging towards the rest of the group, sighing out of exasperation. Eli and I smiled at one another in excitement, eager to see what Talon might do. Cassie fluttered around us, telling us to give her space with a gleeful grin.

The Native girl did a respectful martial art bow before launching into a series of quick strikes and kicks. The crowd started to take notice as the moves become more and more complex with the punches became powerful uppercuts and the kicks turning into spinning roundhouses. She went further with her techniques, adding both front and back flips. I couldn't help but notice that some of her moves looked....rather painful with some of her strikes having gouging, twisting and tearing motions.

By now, the crowd was cheering at the spectacle of a tall, beefy Native American girl dressed as Jason Voorhees doing advanced martial arts in the middle of the dance floor. One poor drunken frat boy made the foolish attempt to "fight" with her only to accidentally run face first into her boot as she did a high kick, knocking him flat on his back. Talon only glared at him as Amanda and Stacey dragged him away from the danger zone. This only made the crowd cheer louder, ecstatic to see some action.

As the song ended, Talon immediately stopped, pulled down her mask, did a quick bow and swiftly dropped a smoke bomb onto the floor. Those nearby all coughed and waved the smoke away, only to see that Talon had disappeared.

"Where'd she go?", Eli asked, trying to sniff her out.

I waved him down, "Leave her be. I think she's had enough social interaction for one night."

I knew how she might've felt. I can only handle being out and about as Penny for so long before wanting to retreat back to the isolation of my flat.

We continued dancing for what felt like hours, boogieing the night away but eventually, I started to feel a bit sweaty coming from a combination of dancing and wearing a big poofy dress. I tugged on Cassie's fake wings to grab her attention.

"I'm gonna head outside for a bit and get some fresh air."

Cassie smiled back, "All right, babe! We're gonna get some more food and we'll meet up with you!"

As Eli accompanied the girls to the snack bar, I rolled myself outside onto a nearby grassy knoll, breathing in that crisp night air. I looked up to see that a nearly full moon shining brightly above the Ocean City skyline. Even though it must've been past midnight, I could still hear the laughter of children and families engaging in Halloween festivities throughout the nearby neighborhoods.

"All in all", I mused to myself, "It wasn't that bad a night."

I might have well as thought "What could possibly go wrong?" with such a fate-tempting line.

"Awww, did your friends leave their little pet whale outside?", Bianca said from behind, followed by a chorus of harsh cackling.

The trio staggered out in front of me, holding each other up with half-lidded eyes.

"Yeah, what's the matter? Did they get tired of lugging you around?" Nicki snarked, taking a swig from her red party cup.

"H...hey, girls...", I stammered, trying my best not to give away how much I wanted to bolt. Even if I did, my wheelchair wouldn't have moved fast enough to outrun them, tipsy as they might be.

Samantha leaned towards me, placing a hand on my shoulder, perhaps to keep herself up. "Piggy, Piggy, Piggy. What are we going to do about you?"

Bianca picked up the bottom of my gown and grabbed a hold of my foot. "Heh! All I know is this little Piggy should go 'Wee Wee Wee!' all the way home. We don't want her scaring all the kids."

"I think I saw a mudhole by the baseball field! Why don't we give Piggy an escort home?", Nicki sneered as she oinked mockingly at me.

The girls howled with laughter as they lurched behind me and attempted to push me forward. They didn't get very far as they were too buzzed and well, I was too heavy. That, and I might have put on the brakes on my wheelchair.

"Fucking Christ, Piggy!" Nicki huffed, "How much does your fat ass weigh?! Five tons?!"

"How the fuck does your boyfriend move you around?", Bianca cursed, her feet slipping in the grass.

Samantha put her back into it and managed to move me by a quarter-inch. "Hey *oof!* what's the deal with *huff!* you and him? *wheeze!* Is he retarded or something?"

The world seemed to freeze as I heard that. I finally felt an emotion in that moment that wasn't terror or anxious panic. It was anger.

"He has to be if he's going out with her! Who else but a retard would go out with a frickin' blimp?!", Bianca spat out.

That was the final straw.

I took a deep breath and turned off my brakes, letting all three girls crash to the ground as I suddenly jolted the chair forward.

"Look here, you bloody pieces of dried-up slug vomit.", I said, in angry yet quiet voice, "Make fun of me all you want but don't you ever, EVER insult my boyfriend."

Samantha managed to climb to her feet after a few moments of struggle. "Well! Look who finally decided to grow a backbone! What are you gonna do about it, honey? Your fat sausage legs can't even lift you up! You're just some...some fat....waste of space who shouldn't even be allowed to go outside! Why don't you go back to stupid England or wherever bumfuck country you're from and just go have a heart attack?! Just fucking get the fuck out of my flute section!"

I lowered my gaze. "Heh. Tough talk....from little Miss Future Second Chair."

"..........What?"

Popping my neck, I cleared my throat. "Well, I know because of all my tardies, Professor Mitra suspended me from running for First Chair for the first half of the semester. But the first half is already over and I believe the Holiday Recital is coming up. And I believe that means a new First Chair tryout is coming up as well."

"Wha...What are you saying?", Samantha sputtered out, a nervous laugh in her voice.

I patted my belly, making sure it gave a good jiggle. "All I'm saying is you better get used to seeing all this blubber between you and the audience! Hmm...I wonder if I can get Eli to help me get a bit heftier. That way, if I'm bigger, the audience doesn't even have to be reduced to seeing three nasty little hellspawn attempting to play the flute!"

The look on Samantha's face dropped all pretenses of mirth as she charged at me, pulling her fist back and yelling like a banshee.

A large hand lashed out from behind Samantha and grabbed her arm, yanking it hard behind her back in an awkward position. She gave a great cry of pain as I could hear a barely audible *crack*. Turning her head, she gasped as she saw Jason Voorhees glaring at her through the hockey mask.

Lifting the mask up, Talon scowled, her face nearly an inch away from Samantha's.

"Leave. My friend. Alone."

Talon tossed Samantha free, who after a moment's panicked hesitation, swiftly turned tail and ran off into the night, back towards the dormitories.

Bianca didn't have to be told twice as she bolted to her feet in fear and ran after Samantha. Nicki, however, proved to be made of more sturdier stuff as she punched Talon behind the back. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!", she screamed.

Talon had hardly even flinched from her jab and slowly turned around, her eyes unnaturally wide. She took a sudden step forward towards Nicki, causing the remaining bully to promptly attempt to get the hell out of there but a certain Beast stood in her way. Eli let out a true animalistic growl as he spat out his fake fangs, showing her a true set of fangs which looked rather unsettling as he had two pairs of canines on his top jaw.

Nicki only trembled as Eli leaned closer and snarled out in a low voice. "Get out."

She shrieked and ran away, flailing her arms wildly. Most people leaving the party hardly paid her any mind as they probably assumed she was just another drunk girl who was really into the spirit of the holiday.

It felt like an eternity before my mind registered what had just happened: I just told off the three girls who seemed dedicated to making my life hell. Not only that, I had enraged my main tormentor to the point that she actually tried to attack me. While I was worried that Samantha and Nicki could try to press charges against Talon and Eli, they only scared/used weird ninja techniques to defend me. Not to mention, as I looked back towards the entrance, I had eight witnesses that could testify on their behalf.

Cassie and her dance friends (I guess I can officially call them "my friends" now) all stood with their jaws dropped, not out of horrified shock but out of celebratory awe. They all whooped and hollered as they ran towards me.

"That's how you do it, Penny!", Cassie cheered, hopping up and down in excitement.

"D...did you hear...everything I said?", I asked, a little embarrassed.

Tamika nodded, "We certainly heard you call them ' dried-up pieces of slug vomit'. Very British of you, I must say."

"Yeah, I just would've called them 'motherfuckers' but your way was more classy!", Deb added.

Despite the immense pride I was feeling from my personal victory, I felt that I had enough excitement for one night and told the girls I was ready to go home. Cassie and Talon offered to walk Eli and I back to my flat, just in the off chance Samantha and her cronies regained their composure and tried to egg us or something of that nature. We waved goodbye to the Dance girls as they headed back to their dorms.

"Eli?", I spoke up as we walked.

He leaned closer to me, "Yes, Penny?"

Seeing my chance, I gave him a peck on the cheek.

His face turned bashful but smiled, "What was that for?"

"To say thank you for coming to my rescue."

If he wasn't wearing so much makeup, I'm sure he would be blushing.

"Anytime, Penny. Anytime."

I looked up towards Talon, who was just moseying along in front of us, looking at the decorations.

“You too, Talon. Thank you.”

“I don’t want a kiss.”, she said stoically, looking over her shoulder, “But.....you’re welcome.”

Thankfully, there was no last minute ambush as the walk back was very pleasant. It reminded me of last year when Eli and I explored the city streets, gazing at all the spooky sights and sounds. However, with it being as late as it was, there were far less people, letting us soak in the 'City in Autumn' aesthetic with pumpkins and fallen leaves decorating the sidewalks.

When we arrived at my flat, I offered everyone a cup of hot cider to shake off that brisk fall air. After all that time sitting in my wheelchair, it felt great to finally stand up on my feet and move about. As I made my way to the kitchen, I couldn't help but stop by my mirror again. Taking off my glasses, I smiled at the girl in the reflection. Perhaps for the first time, I felt actually impressed with myself as Penny.

"This is the start of something new, lass.", I said quietly to myself. On the way home, I had worried what would happen between my and my bullies the next time during rehearsal but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Cassie was right. I can't hide from them forever but now, I hope they realize that I won't be their easy punching bag anymore. I'm a grown-up now and it's time I started acting like one. At least, when it comes to standing up for myself.

After filling up four mugs with sweet, steamy goodness, I headed back to the living room only to find that the lights were off with the sole exception of my spinning disco ball, flooding the room with swirling lights. Talon took the mug I gave her as Cassie tried to show Eli some dance moves to a disco song on the radio. Eli, never one to go along with the crowd, only followed Cassie's steps for so long before he just started doing his own thing, doing some type of cross between a Russian dance and the Robot.

As the song ended and Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" started, Eli held out his hand towards me. "May I have this dance?", he asked.

I gave a soft gasp as I realized this would be Eli and I's first true dance together and not the usual spinning back and forth we do with my wheelchair. As I took his hand, I realized it must've looked odd to Cassie and Talon to see a enormous Belle dancing with a small Beast rather than vice-versa.

We tried to remember the dance scene in the movie as Eli placed his hand on my vast hip as he held my other hand aloft. His hands were tiny compared to mine but he didn't seem to mind as he held onto my thick fingers tightly. Given my size, it was rather hard for him to lead me in the dance, but I let him guide me as best as he could, making sure I didn't step on his toes.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Cassie dash to my CD collection and rummage through my selection. Her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for and held up my copy of the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack to my line of vision. I nodded excitedly as she popped it in my stereo. Eli and I kept swaying in silence until we heard THE song.

youtube

"Tale as old as time...", Angela Lansbury's sweet voice sang out as Eli guided me towards the center of my living room. We both curtsied towards each other as we resumed dancing. As we twirled and waltzed, my flat seemed to disappear as I imagined us both in a beautiful ballroom in an enchanted castle. No bullies. Nobody there to mock or belittle us. Just me and Eli, my handsome prince.

As we danced, Talon tapped Cassie on the shoulder, whose eyes were watery with joy, seeing two of her dearest friends get the fairy tale dance they've waited so long for.

"I think we should let them have their moment.", she whispered to the shorter girl, nudging her head towards the door.

Cassie wanted to protest but knew that she was right as they both crept quietly to the door. I looked up for a brief moment to see Cassie poking her head in and giving a silent wave. I waved back with my free hand as the door slowly shut behind them.

As the final notes of the song started playing, I gently lifted Eli up to my eye level. Without missing a beat, we shared a passionate kiss as he hugged me as tight as he could.

"I love you, Penny.", he whispered softly in my ear.

I could no longer hold back the waterworks as I started weeping. Just hearing those wonderful words that I thought for so long that I didn't deserve.

"I love you too, Eli."

We kissed again, knowing that this would be a Halloween we would never forget.

(OOC: I’d like to thank theatomicavenger for their hard work on this outstanding drawing.)

#happy halloween #I hoped everyone had a fun spooky time #ask miss thunder #also fair warning but there's quite a bit more cursing and insults in this post than usual so be careful reading this at work

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dallongrey · 7 years ago

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dallon grey & christopher sterling - session 001

[ the beginning of the session focused on family and chris’ eating disorders. it picks up a few posts in because initially the session moved so quickly chatzy ate it before i could save things!! ]

Dallon nodded, offering a soft smile. "That's nice. I have a sister here, a half sister. Her name's Maddie, Madeleine. It's always good to get to see your family after you've been apart. I'm glad you see it like that-- but instead of being scared, let that motivate you. And consider why you don't want to see her like this. You know you don't deserve it, deep down, if she doesn't. Right? I know it's not that simple, but start from there." She rested her chin in her palm. "I'll tell you something about me. I left home when I was thirteen because my parents kicked me out. For dating a girl. I ended up doing fentanyl for a couple years. And I wish I'd stayed in my sister's life, because she needed me, just like yours does. All of us make bad decisions, and usually they hurt us, and we need something to pull us back out." She frowned when he switched back to the topic of his heart. "Okay. That sounds like bradycardia to me, possibly combined with a weakening of the muscle. But we'd need to follow up to be sure. Bradycardia won't kill you, at least, not like an arrhythmia will. But it's still not something to be ignored." She took a few notes on his explanation, nodding with a small smile. "Alright. That's good, that you don't necessarily want to take it to the limit. You said you know how far you can go, but your body is constantly changing. What you could do before may not be plausible now. You could do exactly what you've done before and die, just like that. So you have to reevaluate what's most important. Going as far as you can, or living? Being there for your sister? I think I know. And you know. It's just a matter of turning that into action."

"That's cool that she's here, kinda. I mean, not cool that she's at a place like this, obviously, but it's cool that you get to see her and stuff. I've got, uh, two sisters that's are older - Sharon and Ella - and then three younger half sisters. Kimber's the one I'm concerned about, though, she's the youngest. I know I don't deserve it, and she especially doesn't, but I've done it since I was, like, thirteen and nothing's ever changed." Really, he was kind of surprised that he hadn't already died, but he was also glad that he hadn't because then he wouldn't be able to be there for Kimber. "That's kinda fucked up. I've never been, like, legit kicked out but I've ran away before. It's just - I've done a lot of bad stuff, things I don't even want Kimber to ever know about. Drugs, drinking, stripping, the occasional prostitution when things were a little too tight with the money situation. Like, I feel like that on top of my medical problems would just be such a huge disappointment to her when she's older because right now she looks up to me. I don't want her to look back and think that I'm just fucked up or something, I don't want that." Chris sighed softly, shaking his head and rubbing at his face. He hated the subject, it hurt him, but he wanted it all on the table. "Bradycardia, that's a big word. I don't think I like that," Chris frowned, biting his lip for a moment before shaking his head a bit. "I don't wanna ever get back on that brink of death thing. That was some fucked up adrenaline kick that I was getting. Like, what can I do next before I actually die? What's gonna be the thing that pushes me over the edge? I don't go as far as I can anymore. If I really wanted to, I'd stop eating all together. But that's an extreme I'm not willing to go to. I mean, what I'm doing now is like nothing compared to what I used to do. I feel like this is kind of an improvement."

"Yeah, I'm glad I get to be here now. I can try to make up for my absence, at least." Dallon raised her eyebrows. "That's a large family. How was it growing up with so many siblings? Was it fun, or kind of overwhelming? Just because you've done something for a long time doesn't mean you can't stop or change." Dallon took another sip of tea, tapping her fingernails against the glass bottle. "Yeah, it was really horrible. They're intolerant and they don't understand that there's a line separating pure Christianity and using it to push a hateful agenda. It's hard to make them see it. I wish I'd tried harder, rather than giving in and leaving. I'm not even sure they would've gone through with it, but they gave me the ultimatum and I'm stubborn, so I walked. We've all done bad things. I've stolen things and pawned them for drug money, lived with guys who were way older than me, all of that-- you just have to work on getting to the point where you're well enough to know you're never going to do any of that again, where you respect yourself, and tell her. The whole thing. And she'll love you, because you came through all of that and you're still here for her." She nodded and typed a request into his file for a heart consult and EKG. "Well, it's definitely not good. But like I said, it could be much worse. And it's not an official diagnosis, we'll have to see what the test results say." She turned back to her notepad, wrote his words down. "Good. It's good to know what about your disorder upsets you, scares you, so we can work to keep you safe from that. And that's a good point-- anything could come out of nowhere and hit you, whether it's an arrhythmia, a seizure, cardiac arrest, organ failure-- that's why eating disorders are the most deadly neurological conditions. But I'm glad to hear you say that. You made a small improvement-- let's just keep doing that, slowly."

"Oh, I didn't grow up with all of them. Just the older two," Chris smiled a little. "Sharon and Ella pretty much raised me when I was a kid, they were always the ones to help me and get me through stuff. Two of my half sisters are my moms, they're only, like, thirteen, and then Kimber's just six." It was a strange situation with his entire family - there was a lot of them, but a lot of them weren't fully related or anything like that. There were a lot of step-parents and extended family that made it all seem kind of overcrowded and weird. "God, that sounds like my mom's family. Nana and Pop were like that, like, really hardcore. I thought they hated me for a while because they always talked down to me and said what I did was wrong, uh - they wanted to say that I was a sinner and all that stuff. Like... it's just hateful and rude. It isn't right. Ultimatums are bullshit, though. I wouldn't choose if someone gave me choices, I'd do what I wanted to just to piss them off more. I just - hate shit like that. I'm scared that Kimber will think infucked her up, uh - I don't want her to think that, if she ends up sick, I did it to her, y'know? That scares me. Then she really would hate me because I would be the influence of her being sick and I don't want that, ever." Chris let out a shaky breath, rubbing at his face and squeezing his eyes shut momentarily. "I just don't wanna go through one of those cat scan machines where you gotta lay super still, those are scary. Like, scarier than dying. I'm more afraid of that than I am of dying from everything wrong with me. I mean, maybe my progress is fucked up and it shouldn't be considered progress, but it's better than not eating or throwing up so hard that I rip open my esophagus, I guess. A lot of people don't consider it to be progress and I fucking hate it, because for me it is progress. I just - hate all of this."

"Ah. I guess that's a pretty nice way to do it. Not a lonely childhood, but not crowded to the point of lacking individual attention. Are you close with all of them, then? There's a pretty big gap between Maddie and I, too, six years. Ah man, little kids are fun. If I had one, I'd spend my whole paycheck on toys, they're so cute." She sighed quietly and laced her fingers together. "You said you *thought* they hated you. Did they make you think otherwise? I think, or I hope-- in most cases, people realize that their prejudice is wrong when it comes down to the people they love. Which is one reason why I wish I'd stayed at home. Maybe they could've learned to change, and Maddie wouldn't have had to-- deal with it. I feel a need to ask-- are there problems that linger, do you think, based on your sexuality? Or do you feel like you've mostly been able to move past that conflict?" She paused. "I think these kinds of disorders are extremely hard to pass on based purely on influence. Addictions are very easy to pass to new generations. But eating disorders are a bit more complex... I think as long as you show her that she's loved, make sure she's not exposed to the things that hurt you, she'll be able to avoid it. I know that was an assumption, but I do think there are painful reasons for what you're doing. If you want to talk through that, let me know." She reached across the desk to touch his hand lightly. "You don't need to go through a CAT scan to detect what we're looking for. So, don't worry about that. An EKG is simple, they'll put little stickers on your chest, doesn't hurt, and then attach the wires to a monitor. Shows the electrical pattern of your heart." She made another note, a suggestion to be careful with wording. "If you see yourself making progress, don't worry about how other people see it. We're focusing on you, so don't think that anything you do isn't enough. Just make sure you keep it going, that's what matters."

"God, there was still a lack of attention," Chris laughed, almost bitterly. "None of us got attention, not a bit. Sharon and Ella were the ones who pretty much raised me, they cared more than momma or daddy did. I'm close to them, though, and Kimber. Not so much with my mom's other two kids, though. They don't really know me, I don't see them often." He paused, picking at the hem of his shirt before glancing up at Dallon. "Six years, huh? That's about how much is between me and my oldest sister - out of the original three of us, I'm the youngest but we were all mistakes, there was no planning on how far apart we'd be in age." Shifting a bit, the blonde started to pick at his shirt again, tearing out a a couple of strings and letting them fall to the floor. "They didn't. They died hating the way I dressed and acted, and they berated the guy I was seeing when they were still in the nursing home and all that. It was bullshit. They never realized or apologized, but it was always brushed off as them being old and Catholic, so I needed to respect them and pretty much stay closeted but I couldn't do that," He stopped briefly, thinking. "I think there's a lot of problems because I couldn't properly get closure, I guess. I got, um... Like, a lot of pent up feelings toward them and just my mom's family in general, most of them were the same way." It was more than just feelings - a lot of it was aggression, and he was afraid to be around them because he'd snap and cause a scene, which would only make them dislike him more and that was the last thing he needed. "Oh, there are, I know there are. The main reason that this all started was because when I moved in with daddy, I was overweight and he was disappointed. He wanted me to be skinny and pretty, it was expected of me. So he did lipo on me at fourteen and then said I had to stay on a diet to keep the weight off, so I got on my own diet of sticking my fingers down my throat. I never really thought it was a big deal, it's been normal to me for years." Looking back up, Chris made eye contact with Dallon and turned his hand over so he could take hers and give it a gentle squeeze. "Little stickers, huh? I like those. What if it comes out bad, though?" He frowned. "The other doctors and stuff won't accept it as progress, though. They think it's still bad, and it is, but it's better than being worse. It isn't fair 'cause the ones in the cafeteria won't leave me the fuck alone."

Dallon drew a small star and wrote in his words again. **No attention, not a bit. "I see. That must've been very hard to deal with. I'm sure it was comforting to have your sisters there. Do you have any idea why your parents were so absent? --Are you worried your sister might be put in the same position?" She nodded, taking note of the word *mistakes.* "That's so sad... I pity people who die ignorant and blind... I think one of the most important parts of life is learning to adapt and coexist. It's sad to me when people fail to do that." She nodded and flipped the page, wanting to keep what they were about to come to on its own page. "That's totally understandable. I resent my parents, and I know my sister does, too. It's okay not to love or respect toxic people, no matter what people expect." She nodded, kept her eyes on him as she wrote. **Skinny and pretty **Liposuction 14 **Diet --> bulimia. She offered a smile when he squeezed her hand. "I understand, it was-- what you thought you had to do. But you don't. If the test comes out with a negative result, we'll take action. If you're prone to arrhythmias, we might put in an internal defibrillator. The most obvious course of action for bradycardia would be to increase caloric intake, since your heart is likely slowing down to conserve energy. They might also put in a pacemaker." She nodded. "I get what you're saying. It is bad, but each step that's better than the last is progress. We're going to appreciate whatever you can do."

"They were alcoholics, both of them. They had Sharon straight out of high school and daddy was going to college, so he didn't help much and my mom couldn't deal with it, I guess. I dont know. They shouldn't have had kids but they did, and we all suffered for it. It wasn't fair," They were either being ignored or used as punching bags - it had become normalized to them. "Yeah, I am. My stepmom is just as bad, I've always been the one who takes care of Kimber because nobody else can get their head out of their own ass long enough to do it." It scared him - he knew that if things continued how they were, Kimber would come out of it fucked up just like he had, and that was the last thing he wanted. "Right? Like, this isn't the fifties anymore, older people have to learn to adapt to the new age and deal with how we are, whether they like it or not. Like, damn Barbara, I don't like you being a biblethumber but I'm not gonna smack it out of your hands and be intolerant." It was strange to Chris that religion was the first example he could come up with, considering that his entire family was Catholic, but they seemed to be the most intolerable of them all. He took a sip from his bottle of water, rolling it between his hands slowly. "At the time, I had to. I still have to, I think, or else daddy will hate me. He'll hate me if I ever come home fat because he's worked so hard to make me how I am now, it would all be ruined," That scared him - he didn't want to be rejected by the person he'd always worked so hard to please. "Defibrillator? Is that the thing they use to shock your heart if you're dying? What's a pacemaker?" Chris didn't understand much about medical things, and that was pretty clear - he'd never been educated about such things, even his experience at Glendale was the first time he'd ever gotten a real explanation about what was wrong with him. "I just - wanna be better, yknow? I want custody of Kimber and I can't get that if I'm not better."

"I understand... in that situation, I think it's important to realize that-- they aren't necessarily against you, and there's nothing wrong with you that caused them not to give you the attention you needed. I mean, you love your sisters, and they love you-- it was just poor timing. If you had been born after extensive rehab, I'm sure everything would have been different. You're right, it wasn't fair." Dallon nodded and sighed. "Alright. Then we better get you out of here as soon as possible. What are you willing to do to get her back? We'll start there." She took a few notes on his dad, glancing up occasionally. "You think if you treat yourself with respect and get back to a healthy lifestyle, he'll hate you? Why is that? If he never gave you affection when you were younger-- why would you do this to yourself, for him? What's the motivation? The way I see it, his love should be unconditional. If not... it's not worth having." She nodded. "A defibrillator normalizes the electrical conduction of the heart. Electrical pulses travel from the sinoatrial node to the Bachmann's bundle, then to the atrioventricular node, to the Bundle of His, to the left and right bundle branches and the purkinje fibers at the bottom of your heart, making the atria contract, then the ventricles. The defibrillator fixes any problems in the pattern. A pacemaker is like a fake sinoatrial node, and it makes sure your heart stays on rhythm even when there's not necessarily an arrhythmia that requires a defibrillator. Let me know if you want me to go over any of that again. Then if the cardiologist finds a problem, it'll be easier to understand." She gave a thumbs up, taking note of his desire for custody. "Great. That's what I was hoping you'd say. We're gonna get you better. If you work with me, I promise I'll get you out of here."

"It's just - it seems like they didn't care about us, yknow? They were busy drinking and daddy was in school, so there was never any time for us. It sucked, I didn't have a good childhood. Like, at all. Neither of them ever went to rehab, though, they just kinda drifted apart and that helped things, I guess. They were better after they got divorced." His mother had gotten better - Todd, not so much. His alcoholism never quite went away, and Chris had dealt with it his entire life but ever realized just how much of a problem it was because it had become so normal to him. "God, I'd do anything for her. Anything I had to do - I'm willing to do anything for her." Kimber was the most important person in his life, and not having her was such a struggle for him. It was bad, and he knew it, but he kind of relied on her to preserve his sanity. "I know he'll hate me," He shrugged. "I love him. I just - I want his approval. I crave it, constantly. I'd do anything to make him happy with me, I mean I already do. I just... it isn't unconditional. It should be, but it's not. If I do what he wants me to do then he'll love me and he won't leave me again." That seemed to be the deep rooted cause of a lot of his problems; Chris was afraid that daddy was going to leave him again, and he wasn't sure how he could survive without him. Of course, he'd done it in the past during his phase of running away from home, but that was different. That was his decision to leave - he wasn't the one being left. "That's - a lot. Do those things go inside your body, then?" Chris asked, raising his brows. "Do they hurt? I mean, do thy shock you if your heart starts acting funny or what?"

"I'm sure it did. And it's hard to say whether or not they cared. Sometimes with addictions, it's hard to focus on what previously would've been more important than the substance. Sometimes, people are just not prepared to have kids, and don't connect with them like they should. I'm glad the separation helped. It often does with addicts, considering the aspect of codependence." Dallon flashed a quick thumbs-up. "That's good. So, even when it's hard to work and make progress for yourself, remember that you're also working to make her life better. But it can't always be for her-- it has to be for you, at the end of the day." She sat forward and clasped her hands tightly. "If he'll hate you, you don't need his approval. You can't let him maintain such a place of importance when he doesn't reciprocate it. If you have to hurt yourself to be loved by him, it's a toxic relationship. It's abusive and poisonous and it's okay for you to acknowledge that. And realize that you don't need him. I want to address this completely." She nodded slowly, still processing everything he'd said. "Yes, both would be implanted. I've heard that some people can feel the shock, but don't necessarily say it hurts. Some people don't feel it. The pacemaker will send an electrical signal like the sinoatrial node, a low energy signal. The defibrillator will essentially do the same thing, but is typically used for more serious arrhythmias or for people who frequently experience them or cardiac arrest."

"It just feels like they didn't care because they didn't raise us very much, I guess. I mean, they were around, but it was my nana and pop more than anything. They did a lot for us." Chris shrugged, shifting in his chair so he could pull his feet up, propping them in the chair so his legs folded against his chest. "I don't know what I'd do without her, honestly. She's my best friend and, like, confidant. Maybe that's bad to put pressure like that on a six year old, but she's all I've got, yknow? My older sisters have their own lives, I don't really know momma's other kids, so she's what I have left." He felt kind of guilty for doing that to his sister - but if he wasn't doing it for her, then it was all for nothing. Chris didn't care about himself enough to do anything specifically for himself, it all had to be for Kimber. "He's just - I love him a lot, I don't want him to be disappointed in me. He will be if I do anything different than what he wants, yknow? I feel like he knows what's best for me." All Todd had ever done was put him down, but that didn't change anything. He loved his father too much to change anything. "I just don't want it to shock me and actually hurt, yknow? That's kinda scary. Like Frankenstein or something. It'll be bolts out of my chest instead of my neck or something, that's freaky."

"Maybe at some point they would be able to come in for a family session. And we could talk through all of this, since I can't speak for them." Dallon nodded again. "That's okay to see her as a best friend. You can support each other, to a degree. I think you know what's too much for her to know about right now, but eventually, you can tell her everything. And even if your sisters have lives apart from yours, I know they'd want to help you as much as they can." She sighed heavily, not exactly sure how to address this, even after years of school. The memory of leaving home, now knowing what they'd done to Maddie, made it hard to speak positively regarding poor parents. "I understand that you love him. But you can't hurt yourself for him to love you-- that's horrific and abusive. He doesn't know what's best if this is what he's made you do. You will die if you try to please him like this." She shook her head. "It won't be visible, it's all internal, and you may not feel it. And if you do, it'll likely only be once, and then we'll address the cause of the shock afterwards. I'll see when we can get you in for a cardiac assessment."

"Daddy and my stepmom, maybe, but I don't know that my mom would. I mean, maybe it's worth a shot but I doubt she wants anything to do with me, honestly. She still doesn't care enough to do anything for me." Chris shrugged, rubbing his hands across his face and letting out a heavy breath. "Yeah, I don't wanna overwhelm her or anything - she doesn't deserve that. I want her to have a good childhood but I also want her to have a realistic view of things, yknow? I tell her things that'll make her grow up stronger because she'll know things that other kid's would never hear from their parents," He hummed. "Sharon and Ella, I know they love me and care about me, but they've done their time taking care of me. They did it when we were younger, they don't want the responsibility anymore." He almost felt guilty even bringing his sisters into this, but he knew that it would help if he talked to them eventually. "I've just... always been used to it, doing what he wanted so he'd be happy," The blonde started slowly, almost as if he was explaining to himself as well. "I, uh - I don't want him to leave me anymore and that's kept me in the habit of doing what he wants even if it isn't good for me." Chris knew that what he did was bad for him, but that didn't mean he was going to stop. "Will it be,'like, surgery to put it in, then? I've had a lot of those, like, lots. As long as I get pain medicine and stuff."

"We could invite everyone, and if only some attend, that's okay. I think it would be good for everyone to vocalize their feelings. Your sisters, too. You didn't get into this situation by yourself." Dallon raised her eyebrows slightly. "Supporting your family isn't something you do to get it over with. Their 'time' should never really stop-- you'll be prepared to be there for Kimber even when she's a grown woman, won't you? Because you love her. And I'm sure they feel the same about you, and wouldn't want you to think they see you as a burden. They don't have to drop everything and become surrogates-- they'll know what to do if you just let them help you out. Even if it's just a little, I'm sure they'd be happy to do it." She shook her head slowly at his broken reasoning. "If you pushing yourself to the brink of death to look a certain way makes him happy, what does that say about him? We need to address this immediately, but-- I dunno if we have time to focus on it now, someone else will be in soon. I'll make a note, so whoever sees you next will hopefully spend more time on his role in your life." She quickly typed it into his file with one hand, nodding as she listened to him as well. "Yeah--" She finished typing before looking back at him. "If they decide you need one, they'll insert it surgically. Under anesthesia, don't worry."

"I don't want my mom's husband or her two kids here, though. That's my condition - deal?" Chris wasn't close to his twin half-sisters, hell, he barely knew them, and he'd always had a bad feeling about his mother's husband, so he didn't really want anything to do with him either. "I just - I feel like I should be better by now. They worked so hard to try and help me, especially when we were in middle school and high school and I... I don't know, I feel like maybe I've let them down because I'm not better. I'm not fixed or normal or anything and it isn't fair to them because they invested time in me," He took a deep breath. "I'll always be there for Kimber, no matter what, of course. I want her to have a good life, I wanna help her have that." Chris cut himself off almost abruptly - if he kept going into the subject he was going to cry, and that was the last thing he wanted right now. "I - I don't think I wanna talk about any of this anymore, not right now," He said finally, rubbing his hands across his face and keeping them there for a moment, letting out a shaky breath before dropping them back into his lap. "Good - yeah, good, anesthesia," He murmured, giving a brief nod. "Thank you, uh - thanks, yeah. Thanks for letting me talk."

"Alright. If they haven't really been a part of your life, it might not be worth them coming, so I won't try to force that. I'll see about contacting the rest of your family, though." Dallon thought about his words, then laced her hands together. "A person-- especially your family-- is not like a business, or a share in the stock market. You don't invest in them and get frustrated when it doesn't 'pay off' quickly. You keep investing, because you love them, and if they're willing to invest in themselves, you'll see good come of it, no matter how long it takes, and it's worth it. And you are willing to invest in yourself, you've shown me that. So don't worry about them being impatient-- just show them that you're doing your best and it'll be enough for them." She nodded at his next words. "You have to believe that your sisters care as much for you as you do for her." She made sure to note which family he wanted present in case of a session. "Alright. We can finish up for today." She smiled and extended her hand across the desk. "Of course. Thanks for talking to me. It goes both ways."

Chris hated to exclude some of his family, but he didn't consider himself to be close to them. After all, he was the one that had been excluded for all those years when his mother remarried. She'd wanted nothing to do with him, and didn't want him around her children. It hurt, but he was such a people-pleaser that he wouldn't try to fight it. "It's just that it's been so long and it seems like nothing has really changed, I guess," Chris said simply, not wanting to drag the conversation out any longer. "I think they do - I hope they do, I mean." He shrugged, sitting up and reaching out as he stretched a bit before taking her hand, giving a gentle squeeze as he shook it. "Thank you. Have a, uh - like, good rest of your day and stuff, man."

"Alright. If you think of a deeper impact they've had on you, let me know-- just so we can talk about it, if nothing else." Dallon hoped his sisters would be more present, that they'd show him the love she felt for her own sister-- he deserved that much from them. "You don't have to correct yourself. I'm glad you can say you have some faith in them." She smiled and stood up slowly as they shook hands. "No problem. You, too."

Chris nodded, pushing himself up from his seat slowly. After all of this, he felt like he was somewhat strung out - like his emotions were out of whack. Some part of him felt numb and confused, but that wasn't something he felt like bringing up now. "If I think of anything or whatever, I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks, lady," He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'll, uh - see ya soon or whatever." The blonde pushed his chair up to the desk and turned quickly, shuffling out the door and shutting it behind him before heading down the hall back to his room.

#omg i really thought i had it straight from the beginning in my google docs but #when i first checked it was already like /ur late bitch them posts are already gone/#so yeah now they're long gone #rip i'm sorry #session:chris

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drawingsdrawingseverywhere · 8 years ago

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Trollhunters Dadswap AU part 15

Jim’s birthday brings new allies… and new threats.

starting off with Heimdrel again. He currently has his hook hand in place. His eyes are on the sky with a strange totem in his other hand. Heimdrel sits the totem down and gets to work. He digs his hook into the ground around the totem, making an array of markings and runes. He rises back up to his feet and backs away, uttering an incantation under his breath.

The runes begin to glow and the Totem starts to shift and grow. Heimdrel smiles.

“Not even daylight cannot protect you now, trollhunter. Soon there will be nowhere to run.”

Jim’s birthday morning goes similarly to how it does in the show, up until they go to trollmarket. Angor Rot is causing mayhem in the forge with his golems when Jim and Toby arrive, and it isn’t long before Jim is caught and the surprise party is revealed. Jim is happy to see everyone excited and happy to celebrate, but like in canon isn’t very interested in his birthday.

Strickler isn’t as bothered about it as Blinky was in canon, as some humans just aren’t too big about Birthdays, but still asks Toby if he’s alright. Toby explains and Strickler nods.

“I see.... well I suppose we’ll just have to make it up for him.”

“yeah. Speaking of, I’ve got a joyride I owe Jim. We’ll be back later!”

We once again follow most of the episode’s plot up until the Stalkling attack. Once Jim is safe, albeit a bit scratched up, he returns the bike and both he and Toby race back to Trollmarket. During the attack, the beast loses a scale and it gets stuck in Jim’s coat. With this clue, it’s straight to Blinky and Dictatious, however they can only lead them so far down the Rabbit Hole.

“perhaps Vendel will be of more use to you. While we can tell this came from a Stalkling, our records are unfortunately lacking.”

With Scale in hand our heroes enter the Heartstone to discuss things with Vendel, and he is able to more fully explain the creature and what it pertains.

“From what you have described, and from the off texture of this scale, I’m certain this was a Summoned Stalkling, and not your everyday trained breeds.”

“so what’s the difference?”

“Trained Stalklings are more merciful, for starters. It has been some time since I have seen a Summoned Stalkling, but that was because the art of doing so was lost many eons ago at the fall of the Tyreta trolls and their other mountainous cousins.”

“When Heimdrel killed them all,” Angor Rot mumbled under his breath.

“So if this giant death bird is after Jim, he can never be alone?”

“Not unless he’d like to be lifted thousands of feet into the air and then dropped onto rocky terrain. I would suggest staying indoors as well, Trollhunter. Stalklings can fly for days without rest, especially the summoned breeds. I doubt it has stopped to rest even once since it tracked you.”

“great.”

Jim goes to school the next day, already planning what he could do to make sure he’s with someone at all times, when Claire mentions that he has to really step up his game in rehearsals, especially since Steve got in that crash and Jim was the main for Romeo again.

Jim thinks it’ll be ok since he can get his mom to pick him up afterwards.

And like in canon, he is proven wrong when not only is his mom running late, but Toby is nowhere nearby. Jim starts to ride home on his bike, Amulet close at hand. Toby answers his phone after about 3 calls, the first two being unheard over the movie Toby tried introducing Angor Rot to since video games only went kinda well last time.

Cue Jim getting caught by the Stalkling. Jim is starting to be carried higher and higher until he is far above the canal bridge. By that point he is starting to lose his breath, and struggling to get the amulet out of his pocket. Jim swears he can see movement down below, but he’s fading fast.

Jim finally summons his armor and sword, and zaps the Stalkling with lightning like in canon. As he’s plummeting to his doom, Toby and Angor Rot see him falling. Angor Rot quickens his pace, trying to reach him in time, when something leaps from the trees. Something catches Jim mid-air, and lands a few feet past Angor Rot. Angor Rot turns to see Aargamount with Jim hanging out of his mouth by his coat. Angor Rot draws his dagger just in case, but then Aargamount backs up, the remains of the Stalkling crashing to the ground on the bridge.

Aargamount gently sits the weak Trollhunter down into his hands and locks eyes with Angor Rot.

“Angor Rot.... free troll?”

Angor Rot slowly nods, lowering his blade.

“Human trollhunter.... friend to you...?”

Toby slowly approaches once he’s close enough to see Aarghamount. Angor Rot silently nods again as Aarghamount sits. He rubs his hand across the scar around his neck- caused by the collar.

“You free me. I save boy. I am... free troll too?”

Aarghamount watches quietly as Angor Rot puts away his dagger and walks towards him. He winces as Angor Rot raises his hand. It’s clear he’s terrified of being somehow punished or attacked. His eyes slowly open when he feels Angor Rot’s hand gently rest on his shoulder. He looks down at the Assassin.

“If you wish to be.”

“Heimdrel has prison. Still in danger. Fear The Jailer may come for me.”

Angor Rot lets that sink in and nods- giving his shoulder a calm and reassuring pat.

“I will get you your freedom. Even if I have to pry it from both their stone felled hands.”

Aarghamount weakly smiles. Now that he knows it’s safe, Toby joins the group and smiles as well.

“he can stay at my place! You already know how blind my Nana is, I’m sure she wont notice he’s a troll if I tell her I brought home a really big cat.”

“I think that will work, at least until I can convince Vendel to remove the mark of the Witch from Aarghamount.”

“AAARRRGGHH!!!”

Angor Rot and Toby look over at Aarghamount.

“You can call me AAARRRGGHH!!! That was name humans and Angor Gave me.”

Toby put his hands on his hips and thinks it over.

“I like it! AAARRRGGHH!!! it is, then!”

“I will inform Strickler once we are all home safe that AAARRRGGHH!!! will be staying with you.”

“Great! Oh just you wait, new roomie. I have all sorts of games we can play, and movies you can eat, oh! And I can borrow the power washer in the garage and get some of that dirt off of you and-”

as the group walks home, new ally among them, Heimdrel watches silently from the shadows. Once they are gone, the troll leaves his hiding place and picks up one of the stones left of the Stalkling’s body. He lets out an enraged growl, crushing the stone in his hand.

“I am through playing games with you, boy.”

“My lord,” Mr. Takato bows to Heimdrel as the furious troll returns to the building site. “I just received word from our German supplier. He’s arrived with-"

Heimdrel grabs Mr. Takato by the throat.

“It all will be for naught if the Trollhunter interferes! I am done hiding! I want the boy’s head, and I want it now!”

Mr. Takato struggles for breath as he continues, “B-but sir! He.... He says he’s brought someone with him! Another.... another changeling on our side! He says.... that he has the... the keystone!”

Heimdrel’s grip loosens enough for Mr. Takato to breathe and leans forward.

“what did you say?”

At the airport, Otto casually approaches the changeling working there as he does in canon.

“Have you brought the Keystone?” she asks quietly.

“even better” he replies with a grin.

A man approaches from behind Otto with a box under his arm. He is every meaning of the word big- even going so far as to literally tower over the German changeling- with fiery red hair.. A well polished metal cane gently taps and then rests on Otto’s shoulder before the man uses it to make him take a sidestep. The man smiles at the woman and removes his hat as he walks forward for her to more properly see him.

“Bhaltair?” She looks towards Otto before the man uses his cane handle to move her head back towards him.

“that it is, missy.”

His accent was thick and Scottish. The woman nervously bows her head a moment as he takes the box out from under his arm.

“I need you to send a message to my champion brother, The Executioner.”

“wh-what shall I tell him?”

Bhaltair smiles and opens the box for her to look inside. Her eyes widen as she gazes upon the Keystone. She looks back up at the man as he leans forward.

“The Jailer is bringin’ him a gift.”

#Dadswap AU #Trollhunters #He's here

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sportsandfitnessinfo · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on http://fitnessandhealthpros.com/fitness/waking-up-in-vegas/

waking up in Vegas

Hi friends! How are you?? How was the weekend?

We’re back in Tucson after an incredibly fun time in Vegas. It had been a year since our last trip, and we were so pumped to meet up with our friends Betsy and Jeremy for a weekend of basketball and shenanigans at the Pac-12 tournament.

Our flight left early Friday morning, and when we arrived to the Bellagio, our room was ready. We checked in,

and headed with Betsy and Jeremy to our favorite spot for brunch: Mon Ami Gabi. We’ve had a few different breakfasts in Vegas and we always end back up at Mon Ami. Their breakfast is always amazing -they have the ideal mix of sweet and savory offerings- and they have delicious mimosas and Bloody Marys.

I rolled with the gluten-free eggs florentine, and it was everything: perfectly-cooked eggs, crispy gluten-free toast, and a creamy spinach and artichoke sauce.

After brunch, we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner, and lounged at the pool for a while.

(Swimsuit is here! I was looking for a cute “mom suit” that I could chase the girls around in without having to worry about pieces moving around, and it’s become my favorite swimsuit.)

With my favorite guy:

I fell asleep at the pool (oops), and we decided to hit up the gym before dinner. It was shoulders, chest and triceps day, so I toasted my upper body and got in 20 minutes of HIIT on the spin bike while listening to the POSH podcast. The Bellagio gym is pretty impressive, especially for a hotel gym. They have all of the essential strength equipment, plus a surplus of cardio machines -the only thing I missed was a TRX- and we ended up working out twice during downtime on our trip.

After our workout, we met for dinner at Yellowtail. We ordered a bunch of sushi and appetizers to share while we chatted and watched watched the fountains show from the patio.

(We missed them so much.)

After dinner, it was b-ball time!

We had tickets for the last two rounds of the basketball tournament, and I was SO stoked to cheer for my beloved Wildcats. I tried to keep my heckling to a minimum since Betsy went to UCLA and was cheering for the Bruins. 😉 It was such a great game, and it was insane how many people were packed into the stadium: 19,000. As the game let out, the escalators and swarms of red shirts were chanting “U of A!” down the Las Vegas strip.

We went back to the Bellagio and got drinks and snacks for people-watching (the people-watching in Vegas is unlike anything else haha), and then called it a night.

Saturday morning… we didn’t really end up seeing. The Pilot and I decided to sleep “until we woke up,” and that ended up being the bold time of 1pm. 1pm Vegas time = 2pm Tucson time. I can’t even remember the last time I slept that late, and it was so glorious I can’t even begin to articulate it. It’s funny because during this trip, my body was in complete confusion. “Why are you horizontal with your eyes closed for so long? Wait, it’s cocktail time? Ok, now it’s gym time, so we’re being healthy. Wait, now we’re sleeping at the pool. Now you’re jumping up and down screaming and chanting.” It had no clue if it was cocktail time, gym time, crazy cheering Wildcat time, or what. In Vegas, you just roll with it.

We grabbed the fastest brunch in the history of mankind at the Bellagio Cafe, and I took a piece of toast to munch on my way to Planet Hollywood to hit up DryBar with Betsy.

DryBar always feels like the best treat, and I love the way they style my hair (it lasts for so long!) + the super girly movies on the TV screens. This DryBar also had a full bar and a DJ. I sipped coffee and watched pieces of “Now and Then” while chatting with Katie, who reads the blog!!! She did such a beautiful job on my hair, and I definitely felt more awake after the whole experience haha.

Betsy and I shopped around the Miracle Mile shops -I picked up this lotus bracelet from Alex and Ani- and met up with the boys (who were hitting the poker tables) at the caviar bar for a quick snack.

We shared a cheese board, caviar, and got some drinks. Everything was delicious, but the star of the show was the truffle popcorn.

We did a quick change for dinner,

(dress is from Express)

then headed down to Smith & Wollensky, which is the Pilot’s favorite Vegas restaurant. It’s a steakhouse, and while we were all pretty full from our giant afternoon snack, we rallied.

I had my outfit for the game stuffed into my purse, so I could represent the Cats for the Pac-12 Tournament game,

and we made the trek down to the arena.

The game was a liiiiiiittle on the stressful side. Arizona was ahead the entire time, but you could cut the tension with a knife. No one really celebrated until the buzzer, and even then, we weren’t nearly as loud and celebratory as the previous night.

It was an awesome game, and we were so happy we could be there to see the Wildcats win.

(It kinda looks like we’re in the middle of traffic, but we were on a meridian.)

We debated doing the whole club thing -Bruno Mars was playing at the Bellagio- but by the time we got back, we were ready to chill. Betsy and Jeremy called it a night, and the Pilot and I went down to the hotel bar to hang out for a while.

Sunday morning, we had one last Vegas breakfast: the quintessential Vegas buffet. We tried the Paris buffet, and it was pretty good. Any time I can have macarons with coffee, I’m pretty happy about life.

The Pilot and I got in another workout at the gym (legs day. boom), and then walked around the Strip. Before grabbing our luggage to head to the airport, we went back to the downstairs cafe for an afternoon snack. We had coffees + Bailey’s, shared the cheeseboard again, and enjoyed more of the truffle popcorn.

Before we knew it, we were on a plane, heading back to the girls and pups. Madre watched the crew this weekend -she’s the real MVP- and they had the best time with their nanas. While it’s definitely good for the soul to get some downtime every now and again, my heart misses them the second I’m away.

I hope you had a happy weekend, too! What were you up to? Did anyone run the SD half?

What’s your vacation fitness mentality? Do you get in *official workouts* or do more of the sightseeing thing? For me, it depends on how long we’re there and how much downtime we have. If I have time to time a class or get in a hotel workout, I’ll do it, or I’ll just enjoy exploring our destination on foot and get back into the routine when we’re home.

See you soon, friends!

xoxo

Gina